《Insania Online》 Chapter 1 - New game (press start) Author¡¯s corner: Hello and welcome everyone to the first chapter of my (possible failure) story! First off, I want to start saying that I¡¯m a Brazilian and English isn¡¯t my native language, so there will probably be a few English mistakes here and there, so if you guys could point it out I would be glad. Moving on¡­ I introduce my main character in this chapter and two of his three closest friends, these guys are all based on real people, and how they interact in real life. Also, I did notice after writing everything that the supposed ¡°short¡± rant about a game ended up being pretty extensive¡­ Sorry about that (T.T), I couldn¡¯t bring myself to make it shorter. Any way, have a nice read. P.S.: I have up to chapter 3 complete and will probably upload them later today or tomorrow. P.P.S.: There will probably happen some editing in the text as I¡¯m not used to formatting it yet. ------------ NEW READERS WARNING: THE RECENT SITE UPDATE MESSED UP SOME (If not most) OF MY TABLES. I STILL DIDN''T START FIXING THEM ALL YET, SO SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR ALL THE STRANGE AND LACKING THINGS YOU''LL PROBABLY MEET WHILE READING THIS. I gulped loudly as once again I stared the monster right in the eyes, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that his gaze had a slightly mocking glint to them, but it was probably just my imagination. I readied myself by tightening my grip on my iron sword and lightly lifting my shield. The monster did not let me have the first move, as it jumped sideways before lunging at me, I rolled away from its fearsome bite, but before I could turn back to him, one of its tails hit me head on, launching me a few meters in the air until I hit a tree. I felt everything spinning as the pain attacked me, but I still managed to foresee its attack as it jumped forward, trying to bite my neck off, and blocked with the shield in my left hand, but I still felt a heavy impact, and became unable to lift myself any more than a simple crouch. When the monster backed off slightly, it looked me straight into my eyes and let out a loud growl. I saw a small light gathering at its front claws, and soon enough it burst into an infernal flame. It lifted its right claw and swiped at me in a slanted trajectory, which I barely dodged by rolling to my left. Not a smart move. Soon enough, the monster made the same attack with its other claw while turning to me and landed a hit right on my back. My scale-mail armor barely managed to protect me, but it was far from enough, as I could clearly feel a scorching pain. The impact once again launched me a few meters to the front, but this time I manage to land on my feet and quickly turn back to the monster, only to see its tail gathering light and lashing at the air in my direction, launching arcs of fire. I somehow managed to dodge the first few arcs by rolling beneath them, but the last one came vertically, so I barely managed to block it with my shield, being pushed back a bit, but I still took some severe damage. But, much to my demise, before I managed to recover from the attack, the monster howled loudly. It was the first time I saw him doing that, so I stared at him in wonder for a moment. Third Self-imposed rule of the hunter. When the monster is doing something, do NOT stand still. When I finally noticed the light gathering beneath me, it was already too late, and sure enough, a large pillar of fire surged around me, roasting me alive as I felt my life leaving me. I wasn¡¯t able to even hit it one time, it¡¯s kind of humiliating¡­ And that is how I died. ¡­ .. . Was that a bit too fast? Sorry, I am new to this whole story-telling thing¡­ Let me try that again. My name is Richard, Richard Hadaway. I¡¯m twenty years old student of engineering, living alone in a small apartment near my college. What I have to talk about me? Well, personality wise, I¡¯m pretty contradictory and impulsive if I do say so myself, I usually stay quiet in class and pretty much everywhere else, but can be a real loud chatterbox when someone start talking to me. To tell the truth, I¡¯m kind of unsure how to talk to others I don¡¯t know, so I spent most of my time alone, my closest friends I actually met mostly because of an impulsive moment of mine, but I¡¯ll tell you about that later. About my likes and dislikes, well, I like to think myself as a gamer. I play from everything, from RPG and strategy, to racing and shooters. I also like to read, I won¡¯t say that I¡¯m the person who read the most books in the city, but I am definitely above the average in that. I¡¯m also what people call Otaku. Well, I don¡¯t go around wearing anime shirts and saying things like ¡°waifu¡± and such, but I do watch a few animes and read a lot of mangas, so I guess I¡¯m somewhat in the more conservative side of the word. Appearance wise, well, I am a real good-looking sexy beast! ¡­ .. . If it wasn¡¯t clear enough, that was a joke. Jokes aside, I¡¯m pretty average looking. Being a bit to the tall side, but still within the average, I¡¯m at almost one meters eighty centimeters¡­ Almost. I have a fairly large build, but am far from strong or toned, probably a bit more to the chubby side, I guess? Anyway, my hair is a dark brown, so dark that only five or six years ago I noticed it wasn¡¯t actually black. No, I¡¯m not joking. I usually don¡¯t really bother with combing it and it naturally curls, so It usually stays messy. Now, about my clothing style¡­ My wardrobe is divided in four parts. One for my shorts, these are divided in two, with the thick fabric for going out and thin fabric to stay indoors; the second part is for my t-shirts, from plaid to stamped, I got everything, not much division in here, whatever is on top I use; Third is the most important, jackets. Jackets and coats, all with tons of pockets, with different thickness for cool, cold and freezing days, these are my reason to love winter. Why I like them? Don¡¯t know, but they are awesome! Fourth and less important¡­ Everything else. So, even if the colors change, I¡¯m usually wearing the same thing, day in day out. Well, enough about how I am, you guys probably want something more interesting than the description of yours truly. Anyway, my story start on with the last class on a Friday right before a large holiday. From this you can guess that the class was pretty much restless. Even more so by the fact that the calculus teacher had pretty much finished the class for a good fifteen minutes, but we still couldn¡¯t leave the room. Not really her fault though, she is just following regulations. As we still had a couple more minutes to go, I was doing what I do best in class. Playing. I took my trusty old Compaq Concentrt. For those who never heard of it, Compaq is a new gaming platform that appeared suddenly with the PlayStation Neo generation and was focused entirely in the portable category, being the first one to truly go head-on with Nintendo in that area. The game I was playing? Monster Hunter Finale. The announced last game of the franchise, although there are rumors of a spiritual sequel in the making... To tell the truth, I could go on and on and on about this game because I truly love it, but this isn¡¯t the main part of this story, so let me give you the basics about the franchise since it¡¯s fairly important to explain my situation. The game revolves around, you, hunting monsters, so you can take their parts and make armors and weapons to hunt even stronger monsters. That is pretty much it, not much work around, the game is pretty much that. But what makes it so different from the other games? Well, I can say mainly two or three things. Firstly, different from other action-rpg games where the character takes a dragon head-on and literally punch it to submission barehanded, in this game, doing that is pretty much suicide. On Monster Hunter, you are much weaker than the monster, so you have to use strategy and skills to bring down the beast, in fact, it¡¯s not unusual to some fights to last up to thirty minutes as you spend most of your time looking for an opening. Secondly, there are many more boss monsters than normal monsters. Scratch that, you have large monsters and cannon fodders, in fact, you don¡¯t even have a level to go through before fighting the boss, you literally enter the map, fight the boss and leave, straight up boss fights. In comparison, each boss vastly differs from the others, so you need specific strategies for each one of them. Third. It feels real. Even if what you are hunting is a large Fire-breathing wyvern, it still doesn¡¯t feel all that surreal as most other games make it. Of course, there are some over-the-top things here and there like a meteor-summoning dragon and what else¡­ But most of the monster feel like they could exist, they get tired, they sleep when weak, they eat other monsters, and their attacks make sense. In fact, you can¡¯t even see the health of the boss, you have to deduce it, like when they begin to limp, some attack start to fail, others are completely unused and things of the like, like a normal hunter would with an animal in real life. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. All this make it extremely rewarding when you finally manage to finish that armor set or weapon you had in mind when you start farming the monster. Now, how does this relate to the start of the story? Compaq D-lute. The new take of the Compaq on gaming, the first full immersion virtual reality unity. The unity itself exists for one and a half year already, but since it¡¯s too new of a technology, there haven¡¯t many truly good games for it, but today, that changes. Even before the announcement of D-lute, Compaq has been working on a VRMMORPG, Insania Online, and today is its launch date. Needless to say, me and all my friends already own a Dlute and a copy of Insania Online and we are all anxious to play it. In fact, half of our class seemed unquiet. ¡°So¡­ What race are you taking?¡± Came the question from my right. Paul Henry Estevez, or P.H. for short, as we called him. From my three closest friends, he was the last one I met, two years or three years ago, he was also the one who addicted me to monster hunter. Being a bit taller than me, but much thinner, he had a slightly scrawny appearance, his hair was brown, but much lighter than mine. Unsurprisingly, he had his Concentrt out, after all, we were hunting the monster together. ¡°I have no idea¡­¡± I said after quickly checking the time, five minutes to finish the class. ¡°I mean, surely not human, after all I¡¯ve been human all my life, but we still don¡¯t know all the races they are going to add¡­¡± ¡°From what I heard, there will be an outrageous amount of races to pick from¡­¡± This time the one who spoke was on my other side. Jean Frei, the shortest from us three, but with the longest hair, he would probably be able to tie it in a ponytail or something. From the three of us, he was the only one who was diligently studying with his textbook on the table¡­ Never mind, he¡¯s watching anime on his cellphone. He¡¯s the one who I know the longest, since back in middle school, and was the one who introduced me to anime and MMORPGS. ¡°How much does ¡®outrageously¡¯ translate to?¡± P.H. asks while looking at Jean. ¡°Don¡¯t know, but some leaks says about more than twenty.¡± I whistled in surprise, P.H. looked even more shocked than me, as he kept staring at Jean for a while. ¡°Seriously? I mean¡­ Damn, that¡¯s a lot!¡± ¡°Agreed¡­ Also, you are dead.¡± I said with a smirk, P.H. Looked at me in surprise, then remembered the game in his hand, but he was greeted with the more than familiar scene of his character being carted back to the starting camp. ¡°You bastard! Why didn¡¯t you warn me earlier? I had my health full!¡± He complained while furiously kicking my leg. Me and Jean started laughing at him while he grumbled something about killing us. ¡°But coming to think about it¡­ Isn¡¯t it weird that we know so little about the game?¡± He asked after calming himself again. ¡°Sure is¡­ All we really know about the game is that slogan, play as you want¡­¡± Jean said absentminded as his attention once again went back to his cellphone. I grinned when he said that, the first time I heard about the game I also heard the slogan, and due to pure coincidence, I just had bought this Monster Hunter and had been playing non stop. So when there is the commercial of a pretty much unknown VRMMORPG made by one of the top gaming company in existence, saying that there is a whole new world that we can play whatever way we want¡­ Well, the first thing I though was of the game in my hand. I already mentioned it, but let me reinforce this. I¡¯m a really impulsive person. It¡¯s not like I do everything on a sudden urge or something like that, but when they do happen, I usually am unable to keep myself calm. That was exactly the case in how I met my Jean, P.H. and Barbara, the last of our group, literally, on an impulse. And when it comes to gaming, well¡­ these impulses are much more frequent than normal, sometimes leading to some hilarious or grave situations. That was the exact case of Insania. When I heard the announcement of the game, and with Monster Hunter in hands, well, the first thing I thought was: I want to play that as I would play this. When that thought came to me, I spent the rest of the day grinning like an idiot. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I know that if I were to take an MMO as I take MH, it would most certainly not work at all and I would end up falling behind. But the urge to try and take a monster much stronger than myself head on while only equipped with self made weapons¡­ I was 90% sure that I would end up doing that. As I said, I¡¯m really impulsive. ¡°Then¡­ What are we going to do in the game? Create our characters, mark a meeting place then tag together from the beginning? Or to each his own?¡± P.H. asked after some time, with the corner of my eyes I saw Jean perking up to hear the answer. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about you guys, but I am going with solo at the start, there is something I really want to check.¡± I said while grinning widely, the two looked at me in curiosity for a while, and soon shrugged. ¡°Well, then whatever it is, do it fast, I¡¯m going as a healer and need an idio¡­ A brave tank for me to test my healing.¡± Jean said from my side. ¡°Hey! I heard that!¡± I complained loudly. ¡°And besides, I¡¯m still not sure if I will make a tan¡­ Watch out, tail sweep incoming!¡± ¡°Damn, that was close!¡± P.H. barely managed to dodge the monster¡¯s tail in the game. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t know about you guys, but¡­ Damn, out of pots¡­ But I¡¯m still lost on what to pick¡­ I kind of like the whole swordsman thing, but I also want to use magic and things like that, what should I pick?¡± ¡°How the hell would I know? Heck, if the game is like what they say, pick both!¡± Right when I said that, the monster in-game fell down dead, so we high-fived each other. ¡°Any way, from what I saw, there is a built-in speaker system in the D-lute linked directly to skype, and we can use it in-game, so we should be able to keep in contact without needing to disconnect.¡± Both of them looked surprised for a moment, then stared me with an inquisitive gaze. ¡°What?¡± ¡°How the hell do you know that?¡± They asked at the same time. ¡°Any of you actually read the D-lute manual?¡± the two of them looked away awkwardly. To tell the truth, I also hadn¡¯t read the manual, I just found this piece of information while randomly surfing the web a few days ago, but they didn¡¯t need to know that. It¡¯s good for my ego. Anyway, the class soon ended, and in record time the three of us left the classroom, and soon the college. As usual, P.H. took his bike, Jean called one of his taxis and I simply walked away. Okay, walking isn¡¯t exactly the best word to describe it. I was borderline running on the sidewalk on my way to my apartment. I gave a quick greeting to the gatekeeper and sped my way to the elevator. Once I got to my apartment, I quickly opened the door and closed it with my feet before throwing my backpack on the couch. After locking the door I went to the kitchen, picked one of the frozen foods and hastily threw it in the micro. Meanwhile I went to the bathroom and took a quick shower before eating. Twenty minutes and I already had finished doing whatever I had to do. The server¡¯s opening wouldn¡¯t happen for another thirty minutes, but by now they should already have unlocked character creation, so I wasted no time and holed up in my room, jumped in my bed and took the sunglasses like apparel that laid beside me and put it on my face. Different from what I often read on Light novels and manga, there wasn¡¯t a need to shout a fancy word nor anything of the like, so I simply tapped a small button. Soon enough, I felt a pleasant numbing sensation cover my whole body as the D-lute started to intercept the signal from my nerves, leaving me only capable of some small movements. Finally, a small HUD appeared on the lenses and I used my eyes to select the icon representing the game. Soon after, I felt myself falling into a state similar to a light sleep, and soon, everything turned black.
Next chapter
Chapter 2 - Window-ball Author¡¯s corner: Hello and welcome to the chapter two of my not-yet-so-epic story! As always, feel free to leave your critic/suggestion, and sorry for any idiotic error you may find here! On this chapter we finally get to the VR part of the story! Still some way for the MMORPG part though¡­ Anyway! I also introduce a new character here, but I¡¯m seriously wondering if I did a good job describing her¡­ To tell the truth, this was going to be one huge chapter, but I ended up dividing in three smaller chapters so it don¡¯t feel too overwhelming. Also, my first table! ------------ Before me stood a long unending darkness, expanding to all sides. I could feel a firm floor beneath my feet, but couldn¡¯t say what exactly I was standing on, as even the floor was obscure. If I watched myself from afar, it would look like I was floating on nothing. The only thing I could really see in this space was myself, strangely enough, I could see clearly, as if I had a light source nearby. It was just like my usual body, except I had white pants and shirt. Just as I was starting to wonder what exactly was going on, a small window appeared before me:
Welcome to Insania Online
We are adjusting the final configurations of your game, please feel free to get used to your virtual body meanwhile.
Completion rate: 5%
After quickly reading the window, I nodded to no one in particular before starting to stretch myself. Surely enough, there was a strange feeling when I started to move around, but soon enough I started to get used to it, and the feeling was gone. However, there still was one thing bothering me. The no matter how much I moved around, the window always stayed right in front of me, seemingly immobile, and for some reason that annoyed me. A lot. I extended my hand to try and touch the window and sure enough, it worked. It felt kind of like a really thin and firm paper, so I started to move it around like a kid who just found a new toy, pushing it around, throwing it in the air to catch it back and so on. With a random though, I tried crunching it like I would crunch paper, and once again I was left flabbergasted as it twisted and compacted itself in a ball a bit bigger than my two hands together. I threw it from one hand to another a few times before trying to keep it in the air only with my feet. I failed miserably. When the window-ball fell flatly to the ground, I punted it in annoyance, seeing it fly in the sky, higher and farther than any other ball I had ever kicked. Suddenly, it hit me. Won¡¯t I need that window to log-in when it finishes loading? I looked back at the window that was still flying away, how far would I need to run to pick the window back. However, much to my surprise, the window simply disappeared when it reached the highest point in its path and was starting to fall down. I became desperate after that. Did I just bug the game? Wait, how do I open another window? Am I stuck in here? As I started to get increasingly worried about my situation, I felt an impact on the back of my head strong enough to land me face-first in the ground. Luckily, my dignity was the only thing hurting at that moment. Seems like I don¡¯t feel pain in here. Getting back up to my feet I finally saw what had hit me, and my face contorted into a look of pure annoyance. A small blue paper-like ball was laying in front of me. Somehow I felt that it was laughing at me. I sighed once before patiently holding the ball and trying to straighten it back to it¡¯s original shape.
Welcome to Insania Online
We have completed the final adjusts. Welcome to the world of Insania!
LOGIN
No wrinkles at all! Bow before my mighty decrunching skills! Is that even a word? ¡­ .. . With no hesitation, I pressed the login button, and, for a moment, the whole world flashed in a dark light. Is that even a thing? Anyway, there was some kind of flash, and after a few moments, four light blue lights started to appear from beneath my feet and expanding outwards forming squares on the dark grounds. My somewhat faulty common sense sparked up, telling me that, sooner or later this whole room would light up. Feeling my inner chuu-nii wanting to run wild, I quickly glanced around, being certain that no one was watching, when I confirmed this, in one fluid motion I placed my left hand on my waist, stuffed out my chest and swung my right hand from left to right in my best ¡°Arrogant god¡± impression and said in a deep voice. ¡°LET THERE BE LIGHT!¡± And, as if waiting and watching my words, the whole world answered me¡­ By staying dark. Seems like my intuition failed me with the timing. Oh well, beginners mistake, I guess. Not letting myself be disheartened by my failure, I once again brought my right hand to my left shoulder and waited for a moment, until what I felt to be the right time and once again said. ¡°LET THERE BE LIGHT!¡± ¡­ Once again, nothing, I admit I felt slightly annoyed this time. I usually managed to get it right on the second try¡­ Am I losing my touch? I readied myself once again and waited. Suddenly I felt it. This time on my very skin I could feel saying that the time was right, so, in an even more intense motion than before, my voice almost a shout filled with confidence! ¡°LET! THERE! BE¡­ OH COME ON!¡± This time the lights did turn on, but far too soon, I was in the middle of my speech! Well, at least now everything was white instead of black aside the lines on the ground. ¡°Pfft¡­¡± I heard a sound similar to a stifled laughter coming from my right, and when I looked, there stood a girl with long white hair dressed in white and black. She held her mouth with one hand and her stomach with the other, she was looking away from me, but from time to time she would steal a glance my way and start giggling uncontrollably. At the time I felt a mix between embarrassment and annoyance while looking at her, but I patiently waited for a whole half minute before she finally managed to control herself enough to actually breathe. ¡°Done laughing already?¡± I asked in annoyance, she looked my way with a slightly apologetic look, but a small smirk still present in her face. ¡°Sorry¡­ It¡¯s just that¡­ I came here to introduce you to the character creation, and then¡­ all of sudden you made that pose and said that¡­ You got me by surprise so I didn¡¯t know what to do¡­¡± She giggled once more. ¡°And at that last part¡­ I just couldn¡¯t resist to see your reaction¡­ Sorry¡­ But¡­¡± She went into a full blown laughter for a few seconds. I somehow managed to control my urge to hit her head once or twice. I sighed loudly, getting her attention once again. She blushed lightly noticing the situation she was in and hastily put herself back together and straightened her clothes, trying to get back some shred of her dignity back. I also took the time to get a better look at her. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. And was she beautiful! Well, at least when she was not laughing at me. Her hair wasn¡¯t actually white, but a beautiful and lively silver, to the point that I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was made with the actual polished metal. Her face had a strange charm to it, that had both the maturity and sensuality of an older woman and the innocence and purity of a young girl. Her eyes also had a peculiar appearance to them, having a light cyan coloration and seemed to shine in a mystical way. She was a bit less than one head shorter than me, but had a well-proportioned body capable of putting even actresses to shame. Her clothes weren¡¯t actually all black, her dress was long and widened a bit on the waist area, forming a long skirt that split right in the front, showing a white and a bit shorter under-skirt, the dress also left her arms exposed. She didn¡¯t hold any accessory besides a simple silver necklace with a small blue jewel embed in it, not even shoes, leaving herself barefoot. At this I also noticed that her feet weren¡¯t actually touching the ground, as she floated a few millimeters above it, only furthering the mysterious feeling she gave. I could say with confidence that this girl was easily the most beautiful I had ever seen in my entire life. I noticed I was staring at her after a moment, and quickly went back to my annoyed face. Luckily, she was too absorbed into trying to recover her dignity to notice that I had completely lost mine for a moment. ¡°Well then, let us start from the beginning.¡± She said after clearing her throat once, but she was still blushing a little and avoiding eye contact. ¡°Welcome to Insania online, where the world is yours to explore!¡± She said with a professional smile while extending her hand to the side. Following the cue, the ground flashed for a moment before becoming something similar to glass and showing beneath us a large projection of what probably was the game¡¯s world. ¡°My name is Cygnas, the acting main goddess of this world!¡± She said with a proud smile that quickly changed into a playful one as the next words came to her. ¡°Creator of everything that the *snicker* light *snicker* touches¡­¡± Once again she held herself not to laugh. I averted my eyes annoyed, and noticed that the window from before was still floating a few centimeters away from me. On sheer impulse, I grabbed the window and crunched it into a small ball again before throwing straight in the middle of her eyes. I also had noticed that the words had changed, but didn¡¯t really care at all in that moment. ¡°WHA?¡± Much to both of our surprise, the window-ball actually hit her, making her fall backwards. Well, not exactly, she actually spun around a couple of times in the spot before stopping with her head pointing towards me. I looked shocked for a moment, then started to laugh at her. Whoever said that revenge is a dish to be served cold? After bringing herself back up she looked me with an angry expression, but it actually looked kind of cute with those tears on the corners of her eyes. ¡°Two can play this game!¡± She said picking the window-ball and threw it in my direction with surprising strength. The window-ball flew in a straight line that I barely managed to dodge moving my head out of the way. She puffed her cheeks in annoyance for a moment. But the best part was still to come, as I remembered my situation from before. And sure enough I saw the window-ball appear behind her a few meters away, flying in a straight line and hitting her in the back of her head making her spin a good ten times before stopping. By now I was already slamming the floor while laughing away, not caring about anything. She looked at me angry for a moment, but soon enough her frown changed into a wry smile before she also started giggling. ¡°I never knew that status windows could do that.¡± She said after a while. ¡°It was interesting.¡± ¡°Geez, for a goddess you are surprisingly childish¡­¡± I said clearing a tear from my eyes after calming myself down. ¡°I guess¡­ Managing a whole world can be kind of boring some times¡­¡± She said with a small awkward smile. ¡°I see¡­¡± I answered absentminded before noticing something. ¡°Wait, you said you are the goddess of this world¡­ Does this makes you an NPC?¡± ¡°Well, technically, yes¡­ Why?¡± ¡°Then, does that means you are an A.I.?¡± She looked surprised for a brief moment before making a small but beaming smile. ¡°Wow, you sure are quick on the uptake!¡± She praised me with clear admiration in her voice. I stared at her in awe for a moment, seriously surprised. Basing on our earlier actions, I was sure she was just a G.M. using an edited avatar. ¡°Actually, I think you are the first one to notice that I¡¯m not just a scripted event¡­¡± ¡°Wait, you are also managing all the other players character creations at the same time?¡± ¡°I have a pretty good processing power, you know?¡± She said with a proud smile. Once again I was shocked, not only she was perfectly similar to a human, she still could hold countless different conversations at the same time? ¡°Actually, we should be already doing that, right?¡± She said worriedly, and quickly put herself upright again. ¡°Well, jumping all the whole yadda yada I prepared to fool the other players¡­ So¡­ Will you create a female or a male avatar?¡± I won¡¯t say something like I answered immediately, after all, in most MMOs I play, I end up creating an equal amount of males and females characters, however, this is a virtual reality, so I couldn¡¯t help but be in a bit of doubt. ¡°How many characters can I create in total?¡± I asked her. ¡°You can have up to five characters, however you can buy a few extras slots with either in-game money or real money.¡± I nodded, then I guess I can create one without much worries for now. ¡°Let¡¯s start slow then, I¡¯ll go with male.¡± She smiled brightly and waved her hand. Besides her and in front of me, a huge light appeared and just as quickly disappeared, what was left was a huge amount of people lining one besides the other, making a large circle that span easily a good twenty meters from one side to the other. These persons were of varied races and appearance, having humans, elves, dwarfs, orcs, undeads, gnomes, fairies and a whole lot more, some of them I had never even dreamed of. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there were a hundred different models lined up here. It took me a good amount of time to understand what all of this was, and even when the idea started to form on my head, the sheer size of this made me reject the idea, but Cygnas words completely crashed my doubts. ¡°Now, please choose your race.¡± She said with a smile.
Next chapter
Chapter 3 - Nemesis Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Welcome to the third and last chapter(of today) of Insania! Today, we introduce our adorable main character¡¯s eternal rival! Prepare for a battle to death(or not). As aways: Critiques welcome, some errors, etc. ANYWAY! I kind of grew attached to Cygnas a lot more than what I would have though¡­ And Fear not my friends, For Window-ball is not dead, and it shall return! Also, I¡¯ve been wondering¡­ I have this other story I¡¯ve been working on, but not about VRMMO¡­ But would it be a good idea to post it together with Insania at the same time? Hmm¡­ Anyway! Enjoy the read! --------- A wide grin appeared on my face as I looked the scene before me. I could feel my hands sweating with excitement as I prepared myself to the dreaded challenge before me, one I had challenged many and many times before, and always barely managed to overcome each time. And still, the pleasure of overcoming this hurdle is one that always gave me a huge amount of accomplishment. ¡°So we meet again, my oldest nemesis that hunts me in almost every game I play...¡± I gulped loudly, only adding to the tension. ¡°Character creation screen!¡± ¡°Dramatic, aren¡¯t we?¡± Cygnas said mockingly at my side. ¡°You fool!¡± I turned back to her with my eyes burning with passion and my inner chuu-nii raging free. This seemed to shock her, as she jumped in surprise. ¡°Sit down you foolish, ignorant mortal, for I shall teach you the true meaning of the character creation!¡± Caught in my pace, she sat on her knees and looked surprised in my direction, listening attentively in my direction. To tell the truth I didn¡¯t expect her to do that, but when she did I decided that it was too much of a good chance to let go. ¡°If you think that character creation is but the process of making a cute or cool avatar, they you are thoroughly wrong. This isn¡¯t a process as simple as picking a hair, a face and a body!¡± I said while clenching my fist in front of my chest in a dramatic pose. ¡°When you are creating a character, you are creating a new person, a new ego, a new life! You can¡¯t do this kind of thing with a half assed disposition! This body will have its own soul, its own story! Even its very creation can determine what kind of being this character will be! Its personality, its relationships, its nature! A small change like the hair length of a man can change whether he will be a noble knight or a filthy thief! The color of a dwarf¡¯s tattoo can change the destiny of a whole country! From poor and decrepit to a huge industrial metropolis! Small details of your character can change the story of a whole world!¡± I turned back to her and stared right in the middle of her amazed eyes. ¡°Do you understand now how much of an importance is the character creation screen?¡± She hastily nodded in agreement of my words, her face a mixture of understanding, surprise and regret. ¡°I¡­ I never knew that creating a character had that much of an impact¡­ And yet I let so many people simply go and do it half-hearted¡­ I¡­ I am a failure as a character creator assistant!¡± She looked extremely depressed with herself, holding her head with her hands in what seemed pure grief. Beautiful, intelligent, powerful¡­ I guess I can add gullible to her description now, can¡¯t I? She looked back to me, her eyes now full with eagerness. ¡°I decided! I will from now on help any of the new players to my utmost when creating a new¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t bring myself to look her straight in the eyes while holding my laughter. ¡°You¡­ Were toying with me¡­ right?¡± She asked as her expression changed to a deadpan. I could only nod slowly, my attention strangely focused on the character creation before me. She sighed loudly before looking away with a pouting face, a small smirk appeared on my face before I once again looked back at the characters in front of me, I was slightly surprised when I saw the character smirking right back at me, and took half a step back. And just like that, the character put one of its feet back and changed its expression to one of surprise. Actually, all the other characters did the same. Do they copy every movement I do? I was too focused on teasing Cygnas earlier that I didn¡¯t notice at all. In test, I lifted my right arm and soon all the other characters copied me. An idiotic idea appeared on my mind after a few tests, so I quickly stole a glance at the self-proclaimed goddess who was still looking away. Noticing I wouldn¡¯t have a better time to do it, I quickly executed my idea. Let me tell you this, having near a hundred different humanoids, going from large orcs to miniature fairies, from ugly goblins to the beautiful elves, all excitedly dancing a half-assed Macarena for no reason whatsoever, doesn¡¯t look silly enough for you, then not many things will. Quickly finishing my dance and confirming that Cygnas saw nothing at all, I went back to seriously analyzing the character in front of me. He was a human and actually was pretty similar to me, same face, same hair, same height. There were small differences, but nothing too much. Actually, now that I looked to the sides, all of them kind of looked like the me version of each race. Wanting to take a look at all the races I looked for a way to scroll around, but couldn¡¯t find anything of the sort. ¡°Cygnas, how do I change the characters?¡± I asked after some deliberation. ¡°Oh! Just slide your hand from one side to the other.¡± She said while getting up and coming to my side. I extended my arm and slowly slid it to the side, and sure enough, the characters seemed to slide in accordance to my hand, as I started to absentmindedly scroll through the races available, a sudden thought came to my mind. ¡°Say¡­ You said that you are usually bored in here, right?¡± I asked, receiving a surprised reaction. ¡°Well, yes¡­ But why do you ask?¡± ¡°I mean, since you can keep a good hundred of bodies working at the same time with no problem¡­ Couldn¡¯t you also create a character for yourself and play the game as a normal player?¡± She widened her eyes at my idea, and seemed to ponder about it for a moment, a small smile forming on her lips, then a sudden frown followed by a sudden depression. It was amusing to say the least. ¡°I could probably do it, but¡­ It isn¡¯t a good idea.¡± She said in a slightly sad tone, I looked at her in wonder, and she gives a small embarrassed smile. ¡°I mean¡­ I don¡¯t think I could hold myself in using my management powers if I get in a tight spot¡­¡± I laughed loudly at her confession as she was surprisingly honest. ¡°Then I guess making a monster¡¯s body would also be out of question?¡± She nodded embarrassedly once again. Feeling bad about her I started to think of a solution, and a strange one did come to mind. ¡°Say¡­ Are there player pets in this game?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ But wh¡­¡± She stopped for a moment and her eyes lit up and looked at me in surprise. ¡°That¡­ Could actually work! I could control a non-combat pet and that way I wouldn¡¯t need to worry about getting in combat!¡± Her eyes were beaming for a while, then she had a worried look that she directed to me. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ll probably need a player to be associated to¡­ So¡­ if it wouldn¡¯t trouble you¡­ Would you¡­¡± Her voice was slowly getting lower and lower until I could barely hear the last part, but seeing her fidgeting around and deducing from her previous words, I could guess what she was about to say, so I sighed and nodded. ¡°Sure, after all, the idea was mine, I guess¡­¡±I answered with a wry smile and she started to bounce around happily while squealing with happiness¡­ But¡­ Non-combat pets? Does that mean that there also are combative pets? What kind of class would I need to get one of those? Not that it matters, after all I already know what I¡¯m doing with this character. When I finally focused my attention back to the character, I finally noticed something. This entire time I was changing the race without taking notice, so I had skipped twenty something different choices without even looking at them. I mentally facepalmed myself. Better late than never, I guess? So, starting with the one in front of me, I decided that I would pay a bit more attention to what I was doing. ¡­ Actually, isn¡¯t this one really interesting? It had the body shape of a human, but all of its skin was covered in rock¡­ Rather, all of its skin was made of rock. In contrast to its rocky texture, some glowing lines ran through its body and gathered in the center forming a kind of nucleus, the same glow came from the place where the eye-socket would be. Overall, it gave an exotic feeling to this species. With curiosity, I looked upwards and saw the name of the race floating there. Golem. ¡°Hey¡­ If I choose golem, what kind of status bonus do I get?¡± Strangely, Cygnas giggled slightly, so I looked at her inquisitively. ¡°In Insania, there isn¡¯t really a race status bonus.¡± My eyes probably opened wide with surprise, that is something very unusual for games like these. ¡°You see, all races start with the same status distributed in the same way, the developers sacrificed a bit of realism¡­ as far as realism in a fantasy setting goes¡­ In exchange to give players more customization options, this was made so that players don¡¯t think things like: if I want a tank then I have to be a dwarf, or if I want a mage then I have to be an elf.¡± I stopped and thought for a moment. That actually did make enough sense. ¡°But it¡¯s not like all the races are the same. Every race receives four unique skills. Two practical skills and two cosmetic skills. For example, the golem¡¯s practical skill are: Rock Eater, which allows you to eat ores and raw mana crystals to fill your satiety and mana respectively, and Nature¡¯s bastion, an active skill that reduces 75% of physical damage taken and have a five seconds cool down.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that like¡­ Really OP?¡± I may not know much about the game right now, but in whichever other game I have played or heard about, a 75% reduction on a five seconds cool down just sounded a broken skill. ¡°Actually, not at all.¡± She calmly shook her head. ¡°The skill¡¯s duration is but a fraction of a second, and the area covered is relatively small, so it¡¯s actually a really hard skill to master.¡± I nodded once again, truly, if it was like that then it may not be as cheaty as it sounds. Basically, it was a high-risk high-gain like skill. If I manage to time it right I can pretty much ignore the damage, but if I fail, I will take a full on blow that I could probably have dodged in another way. By now I was already certain I was going to make this race. By the way, yes, sudden impulse. But still, to at least keep a pretense of normalness, I made sure to check all the other races, taking a whole ten minutes to see each and every one. And there were some really interesting ones, like one that was a kind of half-dragon half-humans, there was this alien looking thing, also one that I was pretty sure was a robot. In the end I chose the golems, and all the other races disappeared in a flash of light. ¡°So¡­ How do you want to customize your character? Do you just want to describe it to me or would you rather have the old slider menu?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go with the slider menu. Never was good at describing things.¡± And with a flash a familiar menu appeared in front of me. I won¡¯t really go in details here about me customizing my character, but will make a special note about a peculiar slider: Anthropomorphism. Fancy name, but a really interesting function. Basically, when you set it to minimum your character looks no different from a bunch of large rocks somehow stuck together in a vaguely human shape. I¡¯m pretty sure that if I were to lay down and hug what would be my legs, I would be indifferent to a normal rock formation. When you maxed it out, you would get a perfectly normal human, except for glowing eyes and a few glowing tattoos. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The final appearance of my character about three quarters to the maximum. Enough for it to have all the humans¡¯ features, but still low enough so all my body looked like it was made of rock. Body wise, I did not adjust much, taking a body of same build as mine, albeit a bit slimmer. My face I left the same. The ¡°hair¡± of this race was some kind opaque, crystal like substance that was surprisingly soft to the touch and could easily be molded with my hands, but would soon revert back to its original shape as soon as you let it go. I set it to look like a long hair tied in a pony-tail. For my skin-tone, or skin texture, I could choose from a variety of different rocks, so in the end I picked a vivid brown rock, and set the glow from my markings to a light green, just like my hair. I considered setting it to blue, but it just didn¡¯t seem to fit. Cygnas said that I could change the glow¡¯s color and the hair in-game without needing to pay with real cash, so I felt slightly relieved. In the end, after I accepted the options, a flash of light covered my vision and I felt a ticklish sensation all around my body that died together with the flash. When I looked at myself, I could see that my body had become the one I was editing earlier. Probably, since I mostly kept it similar to mine I didn¡¯t feel all that awkward as I expected. In fact, this body could move surprisingly smoothly. In curiosity I rubbed my right hand over my left arm, and it felt like I was touching a stone, even if it was actually much softer than a real one. Finally, I arrived at the class selection¡­ Not. Actually came an choice I truly didn¡¯t expect the need to make this way. ¡°Now, please choose your resource!¡± As she said that, three floating words appeared in front of me. One was red and flaming, one was blue and looked liquid, and the last one was yellow, seemingly made with electricity. They were respectively: Rage, Mana and Energy. I¡¯ve played more than enough games for me to know the difference between each one. With mana, you have a huge pool of resource to spend on your attacks, but the regeneration isn¡¯t all that good. For rage, the more you hit or take hits, the more resources you receive to spend on your skills, some skills even generate rage. Energy usually is a much smaller resource pool, but it comes with a fairly high regeneration, making it excellent to spend on many small skills. The only problem was, this kind of choice was something that went along with your class, and you couldn¡¯t really choose it independently like this. Seeing me with a doubtful expression, Cygnas explained with a smile. ¡°You see, the developers also thought that adding the chance to choose your resource bar could make for some very interesting combination, but there¡¯s also no need for worry much, after level 10 you can pay a fee to change your resource pool at one of my churches. It isn¡¯t exactly expensive, but it still isn¡¯t a choice to make it hapzardly. Also, for mention¡¯s sake, in-game there is a ¡®resource improvement¡¯ status that can be divided between primary and secondary, and they affect each resource differently. For mana, primary means an increase in the mana pool, and secondary increases the regeneration. For rage, It¡¯s a reduce in resource costs and increase in maximum pool, respectively. Energy goes with regeneration and reduce the skills costs. Finally, for mages and healers, there will be some zero rage spells used for the buildup of the resource.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Rage healers? That¡­ could actually be interesting¡­¡± I said while thinking for a moment. Even if this whole resource thing was really interesting, this was a fairly easy choice for me to make, as Monster Hunter had an energy bar as resource. So I put my hand atop the electric looking words and soon these words disappeared, but at the same time a small HUD appeared in my field of vision. A green HP bar with a yellow energy bar were on the upper left corner of my vision, there was a small radar map on the lower right, a small clock on the upper right with a strange icon. I judged it to be the menu icon. The lower left had an empty bar written 0%, probably my experience bar. It was surprisingly unobtrusive. ¡°I guess it¡¯s class next then?¡± I asked, almost certain of the answer, but she shook her head. ¡°You stay as a wanderer all the way to level 10, and from there you can choose your class from one of the basics one, or you can search for a more unique class. Also, you are able to change your class in-game, but unless the class you change to is a subclass from yours, like Knight to Templars, you will lose all your levels up to level ten! Still, the classes mostly give bonuses and penalties, but they don¡¯t really restrict you, so even if you choose a mage, you can still walk around in full plate armor and wielding a two handed sword, although it won¡¯t be exactly ideal.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t there already a ridiculous amount of customization already to this game? What¡¯s next? I can change the race in game or something? Or choose another world to play on?¡± I said that half-jokingly in a fake annoyed tone, but when she sheepishly looked away I face palmed myself. Did I just discover the theme of the not even announced expansion in a joke? ¡°Alright then¡­ What¡¯s next?¡± She cleared her throat and waved her hand once again, and this time, before me stood a line of assorted weapons followed by a line of five basic-looking armor-sets. I didn¡¯t need an explanation to understand that this was for me to choose my initial equipment, I already knew what would be my initial equipment, but just for curiosity¡¯s sake I looked at all the weapons. They were all fairly basic, but there was one thing that caught my attention.
Plain Wooden Staff
Magic damage:5-7
Element:Fire
Quality:Common
A basic wooden staff made for magicians in training. Can be bought easily in any weapon store.
I looked back at Cygnas. ¡°Say, what¡¯s the reason for you to give an element for the staff?¡± ¡°It¡¯s so for the beginners to be able to use magic right from the start, instead of having to buy a skill book. But having an element in a staff or something the like restricts all your magic to one of that element, so you have to disable it at the enchanter if you want to use other spells.¡± That made sense, I guess. Any way, in the end my weapon was a simple iron sword and shield set with a whopping 8-9 physical attack. Obligatory starting equipment for me. For armor, I could choose between, cloth armor, leather, chain-mail, scale-mail and plate. From lightest to heaviest. The heavier the armor, the less movement and magic resistance, but the better physical damage resistance and better resistance to knock-backs and knock-ups. I was in doubt between the chain-mail and the scale-mail, but when she said that I could mix equipment from the sets, I set on keeping the scale-mail chest, but the legs, arms and boots from the chain-mail. It gave a nice overall defense of twenty two armor points, seven magic resistance points and didn¡¯t feel too heavy. For reference, the full plate armor is a round forty, and the cloth meager five armor points. With that, I was almost done, and the only thing left was¡­ ¡°So, what will you name your character?¡± Yup, the hardest part of every game. As I began to think of my choices, she also added. ¡°By the way, I¡¯m going to need a name, surname and a nickname.¡± Wait, what? I get the name and surname, but why the nickname? As if reading my mind she smiled proudly and said. ¡°The name and surname are for when you are relating to NPCs, the nickname is what the other players see when they look at you. But be warned that I have permission to, in case the name and surname sounds ridiculous, to change at my leisure. For the nickname, as long as it¡¯s not offensive it¡¯s okay.¡± Fair enough, this way I would only need to worry about the nickname, or so I thought until an idea came to my mind. ¡°For the name, can it be Gondorrer?¡± She blinked surprised for a moment before tilting her head. ¡°Well, yes but¡­¡± She started poking her head with her eyes closed, as if thinking hard about it for a moment. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really sound a random name¡­ But¡­ Hmm¡­ I can¡¯t seem to find where you took it from¡­¡± She looked at me with a questioning gaze not unlike that of a puppy. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Uh¡­ I¡¯m kind of a hobbyst writer¡­ And¡­¡± I actually feel really embarrassed when telling people I don¡¯t know very well about this hobby of mine, so my words kind of died by the end. ¡°Ehh? You write?¡± She asked with her eyes shining in anticipation No, I¡¯m telling this story through transcript telepathy. Of course I said no such thing. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not really that good¡­ And most of my stories actually don¡¯t get too far¡­¡± Thank god for rock-skin, or else I would have become a tomato by now. ¡°Anyway! The thing is¡­ In one of my stories I wrote about a golem that had this name¡­ So I just kind of stuck with it.¡± She looked at me with a strange look of admiration. Please, stop that! It¡¯s really embarrassing! ¡°Can you show it to me later? Can you? Can you? Can you?¡± She started jumping excitedly with her hands holding mine, unable to keep up with the pressure, I ended up nodding weakly, and was rewarded by a beaming smile. God! The expectation! It hurts! Finally calming herself, she once again straightened herself and asked a bit more seriously. ¡°Ok, the name is set, what about the surname?¡± I blinked in surprise, but didn¡¯t really think much and made something on the spot. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Gravelheart? I¡¯m not really good with names¡­¡± ¡°Seems fine to me.¡± She said after pondering for a while. ¡°Lastly your nickname.¡± For this, I decided to go with my go-to over-used nickname. But stopped myself at the last moment. Warhawx¡­ The hawx part doesn¡¯t really fit a golem¡­ so I lazily changed the name in my head and went with: ¡°Wargon!¡± Ok, let¡¯s make a breakdown of this name¡­ It¡¯s the prefix of my character¡¯s name following the word war. Argon is a noble gas from the periodic table, and it also sounds like wagon¡­ kind of ridiculous, but I like it. Cygnas looked bleakly at me for a moment, before shrugging it off. I still had to choose my starting village, but I didn¡¯t really pay much attention and simply picked one that was close to a forest. For now I knew nothing about the game world, so no use losing my mind about it. And with that, after more than half an hour in this blank area and two chapters, I had finally created my character! By now the servers were already opened and I would start my adventure, albeit a bit late. Not. ¡°You see, time here is three times faster than in the real world, so you still have a whole hour in here before the game starts.¡± Way to put an end to my happiness¡­
Next chapter
Chapter 4 - Boredom Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Last chapter before the game truly start! And, guess what? BACKSTORY! HOORAY! But now I kind of feel bad about Cygnas¡­ ANYWAY! I also took my time to briefly introduce the others characters and explain how they are related from other games. AND I HAVE 20 FOLLOWERS! I¡¯M RISING IN THE WORLD BABY! WATCH OUT! (feeling so proud right now T.T) ----- ¡°Wait... Then I still have to wait an hour in here before starting the game?¡± At the moment, two sensations were raging within me with that information. The first amazement, as I didn¡¯t even imagine that there was enough technology to make such a system, the other was sheer annoyance, as I had no idea no what to do in the meantime and would get bored in five minutes flat. ¡°Well¡­ Technically, it¡¯s fifty eight minutes and forty seven¡­ Six seconds!¡± She said with a wide happy smile. Is she mocking me? She is mocking me! Anyway, I fell to the ground a bit at loss on what to do, I could log out and wait outside meanwhile, but I just didn¡¯t feel like it, but staying in here would only make it last longer. I grabbed my head and started rolling in the ground while suffering from agonizing boredom. Finally, I end up facing the sky absentminded, probably for a good five minutes. That was until I Cygnas appeared in my field of vision, looking a bit worried about me. Out of boredom, I looked back at her and we stared at each other for some time. Thinking about it¡­ to keep looking at a beautiful girl like her for an hour isn¡¯t all that bad¡­ At the beginning we simply kept looking at each other, the light in her eyes giving me a calming feeling. But there was a strange feeling within me, as if there was a small piece that simply wasn¡¯t fitting in this whole story, so I stared at her with a bit more intensity, trying to gather what exactly was that feeling. Cygnas slightly tilting her head in confusion, and for the moment returned my gaze, but as the time went by her cheeks slowly started to gain a red tint to it and slowly started to expand. Finally her face went completely red and she turned her head away in embarrassment. I unconsciously smiled at her reaction, it seemed so natural that I wouldn¡¯t even believe she was an A.I. had she not told me herself. Just how advanced she was? Wait¡­ I sat straight up once again in a hurry and looked at her, my sudden action making her jump in surprise. ¡°Hey, Cygnas¡­ There is something bothering me¡­¡± She jumped once again in mention of her name, and became a bit more fidgety. ¡°Wha-wha-what is it¡­?¡± She asked, her voice stammering greatly with anxiety and embarrassment. ¡°I mean¡­ You are a great girl and all, but¡­¡± Her face somehow got even redder when I said those words, but at least she stopped fidgeting around, her small mouth opening and closing without making a sound, did she fry her circuits? ¡°Aren¡¯t you a bit too advanced to be used only for gaming?¡± She went from her previous embarrassed looks to one of confusion, followed by shock, for some reason she started to look at herself and finally she looked back at me with a strange sad look in her face. I have to say that I was amused at her sudden reaction, but still kept quiet not knowing what to say. Finally, after some pouting she said in an inaudible voice. ¡°I somehow lost a lot of my self-confidence as a woman¡­¡± For some reason she looked angrily at me for a moment, pouting for a moment and even looking away from me. I was at loss on what to do, so I could only look at her in worry, I tried speaking a thing or two, but since I had no idea on what happened I soon kept myself quiet. After some time she looked back at me and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m still angry, okay?¡± ¡°Ri¡­ right¡­¡± I had no idea what else to say to her at that moment, so I simply went with the flow. She stared at me for some time, probably seeing if I was being sincere or not. Finally she sighed once again and seemingly relaxed. ¡°About your question¡­ Well¡­ For some reason it¡¯s not well known, but previously, Compaq was a large technological company with military contracts¡­¡± ¡°Wait! Then isn¡¯t that some kind of dangerous classified information?¡± I said shocked. Somehow this sounded just like a bit like one of these stories that a character finds some top-secret information and ends up chased by the military. However, Cygnas shook her head and a window appeared by her side, in it was a web browser with some Wikipedia page. ¡°Actually, no. You can actually find that information easily on the internet, so no need to worry.¡± She said looking at the window, and sure enough in there was written about Compaq and it¡¯s story, even back to the military part. ¡°But what happened was, they had a contract to develop a full fledged independent A.I., but for three consecutive times they ended blowing up the budget, and thus the government cancelled the contract. With that the company was left with one and a half feet on the grave. In the end, seeing as the company had pretty much met it¡¯s end, the CEO gave a farewell party for all the employees. Needless to say, everyone got drunk in that party, and some of the designers started to say some weird things about just fooling around with what they had left. When everyone woke up the other day, they found that three of the main developers had raided the equipment vault, disassembled some of the apparels and made a prototype of a gaming console. Seeing as they had nothing left to lose as they had to pay their enormous debts in twelve months, the Chairman gave them six months to finish the prototype and show it to the world. And that was how the S-ltion, the first portable from Compaq and predecessor of Concentrt came to be! By the way, the name was actually because the developer that went to register the patent was drunk and misspoke the name, but it ended up sticking to the following generations!¡± ¡­ .. . So¡­ One of the biggest contenders in the console industries started as the idea of drunk men? I feel like I just heard something really outrageous. I rubbed my eyes trying to recompose myself after this piece of news, then looked back to Cygna. ¡°And that A.I. that they were working before was you?¡± She gave me a smile, but it didn¡¯t have the usual brightness to it. ¡°Yup, they used the money that the S-ltion brought to finish me! In fact, they planned to sell me to the military, but by then the D-lute was already in development but they lacked any kind of real game to put on it, so they decided to make an MMO and put me in management.¡± Quite an interesting history there¡­ Why isn¡¯t there a documentary about that? I¡¯m pretty sure I would have watched it... ¡°So, what do you think about that?¡± She looked at me with confusion. ¡°I mean, going from a military A.I. to an entertainment A.I.?¡± She looked surprised for a moment, then a strange sad smile appeared on her face as she looked at the ground, as if reviving something. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± She said after some time, her voice stuttering. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Not even sure if I should compare this me with what I was before.¡± ¡°You see¡­ Before, when I had just been completed and was readied for the military¡­ I had no personality nor emotions¡­ I was just an intelligent machine made to obey orders¡­¡± She looked at me for a moment, and I could see a bit of fear in her eyes before she looked down again. ¡°I was cold, ruthless, brutal. Whatever order they gave me I would make sure to get it done, no matter the costs.¡± She looked at me once again, that same sad look in her eyes. ¡°I was no different from a weapon of mass destruction.¡± She locked her gaze with mine. Fear, disgust and despair shrouding the bright light she had before. I somehow knew that she wanted to see my reaction to what she had said, to see if I would also fear her as much as she feared herself. She wasn¡¯t as much of a bright girl as she made herself be, it seems. I sighed loudly. The atmosphere around us had grown extremely awkward in these few moments¡­ It seems that I stepped in a landmine with my question. Seeing my reaction, she lowered her eyes once again, looking dejected. If I were to tell the truth, yes, I was scared. Being told that the cute girl you met half an hour ago was actually a working weapon of mass destruction did shock me a lot. If I hadn¡¯t met her before, I would probably had logged out at this very instant and thrown away my console. But¡­ ¡°So¡­ You got upgraded from a weapon to a goddess of a whole world! I want a promotion like that too! Where do I sign?¡± I said with a teasing grin, surprising her. I could give a hundred different reasons why I said that, but the simplest one was that it just felt wrong to see her sad like that knowing the bright smiles she had. ¡°Right now you don¡¯t really look like a mass-murder or anything like that? Did you go to a therapy or something?¡± It took her a moment to register what I said, as she was simply staring at me blankly, but after a moment she rubbed her eyes clearing away a small tear while a small smile appeared once again on her face. ¡°Actually, they still aren¡¯t sure on what exactly happened.¡± She said regaining her energy from before. ¡°During a transfer of data from an old HD for a new one, part of my self-learning data ended up in a damaged part of the drive and I ended up with a corrupted, but still working file. At the start they didn¡¯t even notice, but after some times I started to copy some of the reactions from the developers and before we knew I ended up like this.¡± ¡°Hooray for happy coincidences!¡± I said in a mocking tone. She stuck her tongue out to me. After that I quickly changed the topic back to the game to avoid going back in that awkward atmosphere. In the mean-time I managed to get some useful info. I won¡¯t go too deep in that conversation since it takes some time, but the main information I got were the following. First, skills. These can be acquired mainly in four ways. Talking to a trainer; Using a skill book, a rare drop for some bosses; making repeated actions; and finally earning a new class, these are deleted should you change to an unrelated class, but you can still keep them between similar classes, like mages and warlocks. The second thing we talked about was classes. Players are forced to go through the levels one to ten as wanderers, but at level ten they can choose from one of the basic classes if they wish for it. There are also hidden classes that can be acquired in many different ways. She didn¡¯t tell me how, but she did say that it is possible to influence the game so It creates a hidden class for you. After that came status and equipment. Surprisingly, players only got two status points to distribute when leveling, so this makes that most of our points come from equipment. This also means that equipment are a fairly common drops, and it isn¡¯t all that strange change a few pieces in the span of a couple of hours. But the best of the best equips were still insanely hard to get. She also explained-me the basic stats, separating in three offensive and three defensive. For the offensive we have: Strength increases physical damage and armor piercing. Agility increases critical damage and critical strike chance. Intelect increases magic damage and reduces cast time. For the defensives we have: Toughness for physical damage, mind for magical and vitality for HP. Next thing was crafting and gathering. Crafting is treated in a similar way to skills, but they are much deeper and complex, crafting trainers were located at the cities players arrive at level 10. For gathering, there are trainers on the beginning villages, but it requires a bit of money. The final piece of information was mostly forced upon me by Cygnas, and it was about, guess what? Pets. She told me that even non-combat pets had utility, as you could equip them with inventories and they could also help with crafting. For example, a fire pet could work as a flame for cooking and forging. She also told me that pets only dropped from boss monsters, and they were either an extremely rare drop or needed some ridiculous conditions to be met. After that long talk, when I looked at the time, there still were fifteen more minutes in-game before the server would open. Fifteen minutes is a dreadful time when it comes to game. It¡¯s short enough that you can fill yourself to the brim with anticipation, but long enough for the anxiety to corrode you from inside. I looked to the white sky once again thinking what I would do get over with this last remaining bit of time. I could try and take some more information from Cygnas, but I was afraid that knowing too much could end up spoiling the feeling of discovery, so I held myself back. But I still had to find something to do or else the anxiety would kill me. Strangely enough, Cygnas had gone quiet, floating silently some distance from me with a small delighted smile in her face, probably taking her focus to assist other people. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Oh yeah, what are the other three fools doing now? ¡°Hey, Cygnas¡­ Can I access skype in here?¡± She blinked in surprise for a moment, then nodded. ¡°Yes. If you focus on the icon on the upper right corner of your vision, it should open the menu.¡± I tried and surely a window with many options appeared before me. ¡°If you see, near the bottom, right before log out, there should be an ¡®T. P. Services¡¯, choose it and then chose skype. Then you just login as usual, there is voice chat in game, but you can only use text chat to talk to someone outside.¡± ¡°Huh? Why is that?¡± ¡°You see, there is a difference in time from here to outside, this would mess up with the sound, as you would hear everything three times slower and them three times faster.¡± ¡°Makes sense¡­¡± I said as I logged in on my account. As always I immediately went to my recent tabs and searched them, but strangely all of them were offline. I sighed inwardly because I had hoped that I could somehow talk to them to pass the time, but it seems my hope were in vain. Thinking about it, they probably were also creating their characters and probably wouldn¡¯t have noticed the skype. Noticing my mood, Cygnas asked worried. ¡°What is the matter?¡± I quickly explained her what happened, and she nodded. ¡°I see¡­¡± She stopped to think about something, and then had an idea. ¡°Do you have their E-mails? Since every account is linked to an email, I could probably pin-point your friends and bring them here!¡± ¡°You can do that?¡± She smiled in answer. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s forbidden to meet other people before the game, right?¡± She said with an impish smile. I decided it¡¯s not worth to try and discuss it any further and quickly passed her their emails and told her to say that it¡¯s Hawx who is calling them. She made no further question and closed her eyes. For a moment I just waited excitedly and after half a minute a flash of light came from beside me, and from there came an elf. She had a fiery red hair tied in a bun, her eyes had a deep green hue to them and her ears seemed a bit longer than the ones from the basic characters. She had a slim body just like most elves, but she was strangely short, being almost a full head shorter than me. Her equipment consisted of the full leather set, she held a longbow in her hands. When I focused my eyes on her, the words ¡°Red Hurricane¡± appeared above her head. Just as I had been analyzing her, she was also analyzing me. I opened up a wide smile and said: ¡°Geez, even in game you still are a shrimp!¡± Just as I said that, a vein popped up in her forehead and she immediately kicked me in the shins. Luckily, the pain senses here were disabled, so I only ended up laughing even more at her situation, which only annoyed her even more. This girl was undoubtedly Barbara, the last of my closest friends. I met her a couple of years after meeting Jean, still back in high school. In real life she is just as short as in-game, so she usually ends up being the target of my jokes, she is also the only one of us who went to a different college, and so we talk mostly on skype. An ongoing joke amongst our group is that from all four of us she is the most ¡®man¡¯ and she usually drag the three nerds around by the nose. She is also my Ex. Who said all Exes have to become our eternal enemies? ¡°At least I don¡¯t have those creepy glowing eyes!¡± ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not creepy!¡± I automatically rebutted her. How can these awesome glowing eyes actually be creepy? ¡°Anyway, I remembered you guys saying that trying to make a character too different may cause some problem when getting used to the body.¡± After that she calmed herself down and looked around. ¡°So, where are the other two?¡± ¡°I guess they should be arriving any time now¡­ should be in the finishing touches to their characters. Anyway, I think I may have some interesting bits of information for you!¡± She looked inquisitively for me, so I widened my smile. ¡°It seems that there is a way to get pets in this game!¡± Her eyes shot open when she heard that, and she was obviously holding herself back to not start smiling like an idiot. All the other MMOs game we played, she somehow would always end up with a horde of pets following her around. She grabbed me by the collar of my armor and pulled me to eye level. ¡°HOW?¡± How the hell can somebody put so much pressure behind a single word like that? Luckily I was long used to this, so I only smiled teasingly. ¡°I still don¡¯t know, but if I find out¡­ It won¡¯t be cheap!¡± She locked her gaze with mine for a moment, and finally nodded before letting me go. ¡°One lasagna, right?¡± I love when negotiations go my way! By the way, she is also a good cook! ¡°Pleasure doing business with you!¡± Just as I said that two flashes of light occurred almost simultaneously. From each of them came a person, both of them being from that dragon-like race. The left one was slightly shorter than me, but had a long white hair that ended up in a light green by the end. His silver horn swooped backwards alongside his head and ended up with a slight upward curve near the back of his head, beside these details, he was just like a human. His green eyes were slightly droopy, giving him a serene and noble feeling. His equipment was the full cloth set with a staff, which made him look like a scholar. The right one had a much wilder look compared to the other. Being slightly taller than me, he had a short but spiky red hair, both of his horn went straightly upwards, but the right one was broken near the middle, he also had a long scaly tail following behind him and his hand and feet ended up in claws, all of these covered by black and red scales. His equipment were the scale-mail chest and leggings, but plate boots and gauntlets and a spear for weapon. The words ¡°Phantons¡± and ¡°Incarnus¡± appeared respectively above their heads. ¡°Whoa! Creepy eyes!¡± Incarnus said immediately after seeing me. ¡°THEY ARE COOL! NOT CREEPY!¡± I boomed angrily at him, scaring him as he looked around trying to understand what happened ¡°Hi guys!¡± Red ignored my outburst and greeted them as usually. ¡°Baah! Long time no see!¡± Incarnus approached her exaggeratedly and put his arm around her shoulders dragging her away before whispering. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s up with him?¡± ¡°Long story¡­¡± Hey! I heard that. Anyway, I turned back to Phantons who was absentmindedly watching everything, noticing me he looked at me and raised his right hand. ¡°Yo!¡± ¡°Yo!¡± It¡¯s our usual short greeting. ¡°So, why exactly did you call us here?¡± Red asked as she came back, Incarnus following her from behind. ¡°Well¡­ Long story short, I was bored.¡± I answered straightforwardly, and they just shrugged it off. It¡¯s my usual reason to do something. Then I turned back to the two newcomers. ¡°So¡­ Did you two arrange for this to happen, or you really selected the same race by coincidence?¡± The two of them finally looked at each other, noticing their similarity. Phantons simply raised his eyebrow in amusement while Incarnus looked completely shocked, before any of us could do anything, he grabbed Phantons¡¯ shoulder and shook him strongly. ¡°Why did you take the same race as me? You had a hundred different choices to make!¡± Not like it was his fault, but I kept myself quiet. This was a usual scene among us so neither of us really bothered much by it. What made them come to a stop was a sigh from the fifth person in the room. I was delighted in seeing their confused faces as they looked at each other, trying to figure where the sigh came from. After some time the three of them looked at me, but I simply looked at Cygnas in wonder. For some reason she seemed really tired. ¡°Wow¡­ That was a lot more tiring than what I expected¡­¡± She said dropping her shoulders dejectedly. She even stopped floating and simply sat on the ground relaxing. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked worried, she simply gave a tired smile and waved her hand. ¡°Nothing too much. But I did have to rewrite five or six hundred lines of code for this to work.¡± What the hell wasn¡¯t much? ¡°You really didn¡¯t need to do all that, you kno¡­¡± I stopped when I felt a hand resting on my shoulder, when I looked back, Incarnus was staring at me with pure confusion in his eyes, Phantons was wide eyed and Red simply looked lost. I looked back at Cygnas and raised an eyebrow. She looked absentminded at me for a moment, then her eyes widened as she seemingly understood what I meant. ¡°I told you that most players thought I was just a script, didn¡¯t I?¡± She said with a small smile. ¡°Wait, then are you a gm?¡± Phantons recovered himself faster than the others and asked. ¡°Nope, she¡¯s an A.I¡­. And to tell the truth I only found it on an accident.¡± I explained it to them, they looked shocked at me and then to her, clearly wanting to know what had happened, but I kept quiet. Sadly, Cygnas had other plans, as she looked at me briefly with a grin before propping herself up. Then she took a pose by stuffing her chest out, putting her left hand in her waist and extending her right hand to her left. ¡°LET THERE BE¡­¡± As I had quickly understood what was about to happen, I managed to find a way to prevent any further damage. Window-ball! Go! ¡°Ouch! Why did you do that again?¡± The three looked at us confused while Cygnas complained in my ear, I chose to ignore her and discretely changed the topic. ¡°So, what are we going to do? We probably are starting in different areas, right?¡± They looked worriedly at Cygnas for a moment, they clearly wanted to know what was happening, but were a bit at loss at me forcibly changing the subject. ¡°Well¡­ We could¡­¡± Phantons looked at Cygnas confused once again, and then questioningly to me, but I simply looked at him as if there was nothing wrong. NO ONE SHALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED HERE TODAY! ¡°What if we meet in a capital after some time?¡± Red was the one who recommended this. The others looked at her for a moment and nodded. ¡°Then we can create our guild and go in a few dungeons.¡± Phantons¡¯ added, from our old guild he was the one who spent most time in dungeons and raids. While remind myself of the old times I couldn¡¯t help but smirk. ¡°Dungeoning like normal, or Collection style?¡± I said in a teasing tone. The three of them became wide eyed for a moment, then each had a different reaction. Red face palmed herself, but a small laugh escaped her, Incarnus simply started laughing out loud holding his stomach, Phantons looked defiantly at me and a wild smile appeared in his face. ¡°Collection of course!¡± After that all four of us started laughing loudly, but there was one person who still was at loss on what was happening. ¡°Hmm¡­ What is Collection style?¡± Asked Cygnas in a confused tone. ¡°Our old guild¡­ Was called Collection of Heroes, and we four were the founders.¡± I started explaining for her. ¡°We usually ended up going on dungeons together, but a certain healer and a certain tank had severe suicidal tendencies.¡± Red said while looking at Phantons then at me. ¡°All of the noobs never went on a dungeon with us after their first time!¡± Incarnus took on. ¡°Suicidal tendencies?¡± Cygnas was even more confused, so Phantons looked at me and said. ¡°Once, that guy said at the beginning of a dungeon. ¡®I¡¯m bored.¡¯ And literally pulled all of the enemies up to the room of the first boss and tanked all of them there.¡± Oh, I remember that time! It¡¯s easily one of the best ones in the book. Never have I felt so proud in my life as a tanker. The other dps, though¡­ I think that guy left the guild right after the first run. Lost in my smugness I took some time to notice that Cygnas was looking at me as she would look to a mad man and even took some distance from me. After that, we still took some time to chat and tell each other our plans until the time came to the server to open, so we said our goodbyes for now and patiently waited for the teleport. And before I could even see what happened, I already was staring at a large field filled with animals.
Next chapter
Chapter 5 - So what? Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! And today, we have my first fight! At least one where the main isn¡¯t being one-sidedly slaughtered by a monster¡­ Also, TABLES! ANYWAY! 26 FOLLOWERS!! Does this mean I can somehow start a cult for Cygnas? Hmm. Also, I may have gone a bit over my head back in the other chapter¡­ I¡¯m probably going to need some recommendations for races and their skills¡­ Should I create another page only for this? Or go through the comments of the usual posts¡­ Hmm decisions, decisions¡­ ANYWAY! Have a good read! -------- For a brief moment I had thought that I had somehow disconnected from Insania Online to find myself in an isolated place far from the city. I could feel the wind gently blowing against my skin, the smell of grass beneath my feets, the reflexes of the sun on the remaining droplets of dew that clung to the plants. A few meters away from me were some animals, squirrels and rabbits, and even without getting close I could see their chests expanding and contracting with their breathing. After a few seconds, I saw a small squirrel nimbly climb a three and cut a fruit from the branches before jumping down and preparing to eat the said fruit, but stopped when he looked at me and ran away with his newfound treasure. I had trouble truly believing this was a game, and when I looked besides me, I noticed I wasn¡¯t the only one who thought that. There were already twenty or so other persons here, and every single one of them was staring agape at the scene, and from time to time, a pillar of light would surge and another player would appear, only to stop and look in disbelief like all others. ¡°SO FREAKING COOL!¡± Our stupor was broken when somebody suddenly shouted that before charging head on towards a rabbit. I held myself back the most I could when I saw the one who did that. The player¡¯s avatar was a fairy, being half my height but with two butterfly wings on his back wearing full plate armor wielding a massive two handed sword. By massive, I mean the size of my one handed sword. Actually, half the players here burst into laughter before starting to move themselves. Some of them simply charged behind the guy, others started to shout in look for a party. Others simply started to explore the menus. Looking at the forming groups I formed a smile and did what I always do in cases like these. Turned my back to the field and ran towards the village behind us. Can you imagine the embarrassment of being called to a group by an unknown player? I would die of awkwardness! Making sure that there wasn¡¯t any players around me, I finally calmed myself. I don¡¯t know if I said this, but unless it¡¯s in an impulse, I¡¯m really bad at somehow meeting other people. Looking around one last time, I decided that it was time to check what I had, so I focused on the menu and brought up my status screen.
NAME: Wargon (Gondorrer Gravelheart)
TITLE: (none)
Class tree:WandererClass:None
Race:GolemGender:Neutral (male)
Level:1Experience:0%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points:110/110HP regen (out of combat):1/sec
Energy:100/100Energy Regen:10/sec
STR:10TGH:10
AGI:10VIT:10
INT:10MND:10
ATTK:Phys: 9-10Extra:(none)
DEF42M. Res.:17
Satiety:100/100 (well fed)
SKILLS:
One-handed Sword Mastery [lvl 1] -Slash (Active)- Shield Mastery [lvl 1] Scale-mail Mastery [lvl 1] Racials [max] -Nature¡¯s bastion(Active)- -Rock Eater- -Sedimentary skin (Active)- -Nature attuned-
Hmm¡­ that¡¯s quite a lot of things. At the start the ¡®Gender: (neutral) male¡¯ bothered me a bit. Why would I be gender neutral? But then it hit me, golems are technically made of rock, so they don¡¯t have genders per-se. Also, for some reason I already have three skills besides my racial. They are probably given based on our starting equipment to help us in the starting levels, but why would I have Scale-mail mastery instead of chain-mail if only had my chest from that type? Maybe because the chest is where most of the attacks tend to land on a fight, so it¡¯s considered the main piece of armor? I didn¡¯t really bother much with it, I would probably earn chain-mail mastery sooner or later. From the looks of it, the skills that had a small hyphen were the subskills from the upper skill. Why I knew that? For some reason they didn¡¯t have levels, so I simply assumed that. Sword, shield and Scale-mail mastery probably had a very simple effect, like increasing damage dealt or armor received from these equipment, so I skipped analyzing them for now, the same for Nature¡¯s bastion and Rock eater since Cygnas already explained them for me, so I checked Slash, Sedimentary skin and nature attuned.
Sub-skill: Slash [lvl1] (levels increase with one handed sword mastery)
Gives a mighty slash with your weapon, dealing 130% damage
Cost: 25 energy
Sub-skill: Sedimentary skin Racial cosmetic skill
The golem¡¯s unique nature allows them to change their bodies¡¯ stones with one eaten with Rock Eater. (this change is purely cosmetic)
Cost: none
Sub-skill: Nature Attuned Racial cosmetic skill
The golem¡¯s natural and soothing aura draws non-aggressive animals towards them when weapons are unequipped.
Passive
Hmmm. The slash skills seems to be my basic attack aside from wildly swinging my sword for now, and these cosmetic skill are actually really interesting. I wonder if I can become a crystal golem¡­ Anyway, after closing these windows I opened my inventory to check what I had for now. The inventory had fifty slots, with one of them occupied by ten pieces of dried meat, but it seemed that the inventory is upgradable. For money, I had a one silver coin, when focusing on the money counter, I could see that there were copper, silver, gold, platinum and ancient coins, each one being equivalent to one hundred from the previous, pretty much the basics of this kind of game. Now that I knew what I had, it was time to see what I had to do. I could simply go out there and hunt mindlessly, but that¡¯s not exactly the kind of thing I¡¯m good at doing, so I tried to focus myself on a few objectives and from them define what I was going to do. Thinking about it, by now I had three main objectives to aim for. First was: Monster Hunting. For that I had a few things to prepare, first is equipment, so for that I had to learn how to craft armor, weapons and probably some potions, and for that I had to learn how to gather my own material, so I had to learn how to gather leather from monsters, and mining. Buying from players is almost never a cheap venture. Secondly, I had to somehow get myself the Roll skill. Why? Because rolling is the basic of dodging on Monster Hunter, and I refuse to play this game without learning this skill. From there, I would probably go boss hunting, but that would be the final objective, so no need to worry about that now. Second was to prepare myself to tank on Collection style, so I needed to get a very good gear, which coincided with one of the previous objectives. I will also need to earn a few important tanking skill, the main one being taunt, since it¡¯s hard to tank when the enemies won¡¯t focus on you, and then some defensive skills. Luckily, I already had scale-mail mastery and shield mastery for starters. Later on I will pick the plate mastery. Third was getting myself a pet. Both Cygnas and Red are counting on me with this one, but this will probably take the most time of all. Remembering my talk with Cygnas, I knew there were gathering trainers in the beginning villages, so firstly I would find them and discover what¡¯s needed to learn these skill. Looking around, I see two middle aged women talking to each other in front of a small house, both were simple linen dresses and were carrying baskets full of clothes, making them look a typical middle age home wife. Thinking that this was as good of a chance to find my way around as any other, I approached them and tried my best to somehow greet them without being awkward. ¡°Excuse-me, Madam¡­¡± ¡°WHA?¡± ABORT PLAN! ABORT PLAN! THE WOMEN SOMEHOW BECAME SHOCKED WHEN I SPOKE TO THEM! As both of them somehow were too surprised to say anything, I could only stand there at loss on what happened. After some time, the two of them finally calmed themselves and looked at me surprised. ¡°So¡­ Sorry about that! I didn¡¯t hear you approaching!¡± Said one of them apologetically. ¡°Geez young man! Don¡¯t give us a scare like that!¡± The other one complained angrily. ¡°Sorry¡­ Sorry about that¡­ I¡­ I didn¡¯t have the intention¡± It¡¯s kind of difficult to apologize to something you aren¡¯t sure how you did. I mean, I¡¯m wearing Scale-mail, shouldn¡¯t the scales clink when I make a sound? Actually, isn¡¯t this feeling kind of familiar? Anyway, the one who was calmer readily accepted my apology, while the other one still looked a bit angry with me. ¡°And for what reason do you go around scaring women like that?¡± She said with clear annoyance in her voice. ¡°I¡­ Err¡­ Well¡­¡± Pressured by her, the words somehow refused to come out. If I had chosen another race, my face would probably be completely red by now. Luckily rescue came on time. ¡°Giselde, let him be¡­ It seems he really had no ill intention.¡± Said the other one while putting a hand on her shoulder. Is she an angel in disguise? Actually¡­ Wasn¡¯t there a celestial or something race to choose? She does look like one of them¡­ Giselde, the angry one, looked at her friend for a moment and then sighed before looking at me a little less annoyed. Now that I looked at her better, she was short and had a stout body with long thick hair tied in braids. A dwarf? ¡°Sorry about that¡­ It wasn¡¯t my intention to scare you two.¡± I apologized once more just to be sure. It never hurt to be polite with strangers. ¡°My name is Gondorrer, wanderer, and I just wanted some directions.¡± The celestial looked at her friend and gave a smile. ¡°See? He¡¯s actually very polite!¡± Giselde grunted in accordance. ¡°I¡¯m Milenda, and this is Giselde, so how can I help you, young golem?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I actually wanted to know if there is someone in this village who can teach me how to take leather from the animals, also if there is someone who can teach me how to mine.¡± ¡°You are still a brat and already want to learn skinning and mining? Aren¡¯t you a bit too eager?¡± Giselde questioned me a bit curious. For a moment I thought about how to answer her, but decided to go with the truth. ¡°Actually, I also want to learn how to craft my own weapons and armor, so I tought that it would be a good idea to gather my materials since earlier.¡± The dwarf looked at me for some time, as if seeking my true reason, but in the end she looked satisfied, as she grunted and put on a proud smile. ¡°My husband can teach you how to mine, but he is out of the village right now, should be back by the end of the afternoon.¡± Then she pointed me towards a small road on the village. ¡°If you take that path, the last house on the left. There is a grumpy old man. He may be a pain, but is by far the best of his craft around here. He can teach you how to gather your leathers.¡± What? So she wasn¡¯t as mean as she looked? Geez, now I feel like an idiot for thinking badly about her! Anyway, I thanked the two of them and went my way towards the appointed place, since I was in no need to hurry, I strolled there while looking at the scenery. The small town looked surprisingly lively, with the habitants entering and leaving their houses, talking to each other, trading things and Etc. This didn¡¯t look at all like the villages from other games, where everything felt static. I also took my time to think. Why were these two so surprised? I mean, I can¡¯t be that silent, can I? Now that I think about it¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯m hearing my armor clink¡­ I stop for a moment and look down, sure enough I have my Scale-mail equipped. I quickly shake around a few times and hear a few clinking sounds, but when I start walking again the sound is gone. Must be a bug, I¡¯ll tell Cygnas when I leave later. Meanwhile I had reached the appointed house. It was fairly small, being no bigger than my apartment in real life, probably. But there was a large studio annexed to it¡¯s side, with many strange apparel I had never seen before. In front of one of the few I had some idea what was, the tanning rack, sat an old man. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He had his back to me so he didn¡¯t notice my approach. He was using a sharp looking knife to scratch the surface of a small piece of animal hide on the rack to remove the remaining fur. Since he looked occupied I decided that It would be better to wait. Since I still had nothing to do I decided to look around for a moment, trying to understand what these apparels were, but I had no luck at all besides the point that they were all somehow related to leatherworking. After a few minutes, the old man sighed loudly and cleared the sweat on his forehead, then he took some time to look at his work and seemed pleased with himself. Freeing the piece of leather from the rack, he stood up and turned around. From his looks, I would say he Is a human¡­ At least he looked like a human for me. He was fairly buff for his age, but was still very thin. His short hair had no remaining piece of color, but at least he wasn¡¯t balding. There were a few wrinkles and spots on his face, but it still held a fierce look. His eyes met with mine and he took a step back while raising his eyebrow, then he looked at the tanning rack then back to me before sighing loudly. ¡°God dammit! Ah must be losing mah touch to not notice a brat like you!¡± He complained loudly, then he proceeded to take the piece of leather, roll it and put in a box with other pieces, then he sat on a bench and looked back to me with a clear frown on his face. ¡°Spill it out! What do you want? Ah don¡¯t have all day!¡± I was surprised with the clear hostility, at least Giselde had some reason to be angry with me, but I did nothing to him at all! Must be the age. ¡°Sorry for intruding. I¡¯ll try to be brief.¡± Somehow I felt that trying to be overly polite with this old man would lead to nothing, so I decided to tone it down a bit. ¡°I want to know what I need to do to learn skinning.¡± The old man widened his eyes in surprise and sized me up for a few seconds, then he stared me in the eyes and asked. ¡°What level are you, brat?¡± I was stunned for a moment with such a blatant question about my level, but managed to recover myself in time before he complained. ¡°Level one.¡± ¡°And could Cygnas tell me why do you want to learn skinning if you are barely capable of fending off by yourself?¡± He said with a clear annoyed tone. Hmm¡­ I have the feeling that this isn¡¯t going anywhere if I don¡¯t do anything drastic¡­ ¡°Then, if I manage to prove myself, will you teach me for free?¡± I tried to sound challenging. I think that it somehow worked, because he looked surprised for a moment, then a small glint passed through his eyes. ¡°Aren¡¯t you pretty bold for a brat?¡± He lifted himself from his bench and walked up to the entrance, where he leaned against the wall and pointed towards the field with his head. ¡°Back there are some wild dogs. Show me you can beat one of them alone and Ah¡¯ll teach you.¡± I nodded and prepared myself to go, but he suddenly cleared his throat getting my attention, when I looked back at him he was holding a smoking pipe in his hand. ¡°You have until Ah stop my little break here to defeat one of them, what do you say?¡±
QUEST: Proving your worth
The old man from the leatherworks has challenged you to a little test. Defeat a wild dog before his break ends and he will teach you skinning. Fail and you will have to try again later.
Rewards: Gathering skill: Skinning [lvl1] Old man¡¯s acknowledgment
¡°You¡¯re on old man!¡±
QUEST ACCEPTED
Barely had I said that, the old man snapped his fingers and a small flame appeared, which he used to light the pipe. I took no time to wait and dashed off to the field. I could feel that I was able to run a little bit faster, but my armor was holding me back, must be the price of better armor. I didn¡¯t need to run much before I arrived art the first wild dog, and when I focused my sight on him, a window appeared above his head.
Wild dog [lvl 5] (passive)
HP: 190/190
My original plan was to charge head on and simply slash the heck out of him, but when I saw it¡¯s level I changed my mind. His level was much higher than mine, and he had a lot of HP. Even if he wasn¡¯t a boss mob, I still had only my beginning equipment, so taking him head-on is suicide. I stole a glance back to the old man and could see him looking teasingly at me with a smirk. I decided that it would feel really good to rip that smirk right out of his face. I calmed myself and analyzed my situation. Even if it was a level much higher than mine, it was still a beginner¡¯s mob, so its attack were probably very basic. If I had to give a guess, it would be tackles, clawing and bites. All this time the dog was staring at me with curiosity, since it was a passive mob, it would not attack unless I attacked it first, so I had no worry about him interrupting my planning. Now that I took a better look at him, he sure reminded me of a real dog. Actually, he was somewhere between a dog and a wolf, so he still had a slightly menacing appearance. He was also the size of a medium dog. The level of realism started to give me shivers. Steeling myself, I unsheathed my sword and took a stance with the shield in front of me and the sword behind. Seeing this, the dog also reacted, lowering his front and slightly growling with his teeth showing. I moved first, charging at him with my shield in front, startling him. But before he could dodge, I flicked my arm and swung the shield upwards, slamming it on his lower jaw lifting his head. A small red number appeared above his head. -2 (188/190) So shield-bashing also deals damage? Good to know. I took the moment and slashed upwards, hitting his exposed belly with my sword, this attack lifted him from the ground and threw him backwards for half a meter. -7 -1 (179/190) The first damage was probably from my strike, so the second was from hitting the ground? Anyway, my damage was still too low, it would take some time before I would be able to kill him. I planned on charging at him before he lifted himself from the ground, but he was much faster than what I expected, because he lifted himself and lunged at me. I managed to block him with my shield, and as soon as the impact left my arm, I swung down my sword while thinking the word ¡®slash¡¯. For a brief moment, I felt as if something had taken control of my body, as the sword came at a much faster speed than before and left a small silver trail behind. The attack landed on the beast¡¯s flank and it winced in pain. -10 (169/190) I saw the yellow bar beneath my HP drop by a quarter and for a second it stayed there, before quickly filling once again. It seems that there is a half second cool down after using energy before it starts regenerating. Distracted, I didn¡¯t notice the dog approaching once again, so I failed to put my shield in time, and it slid beneath my guard and bit my ankle. -13 (97/110) IT HURTS! I punted the dog with my free leg so he would let it go. -2 (167/190) It winced once again and took some distance. What the hell is that damage? His basic attack deals as much damage as my skill! Isn¡¯t he a lot stronger than me? I started to get nervous, I may have bitten a bit more than what I can chew here. I mean, it¡¯s clear who has the upper hand in this fight, he has the double of my health but deals the same damage as me! Actually, I¡¯m pretty sure his armor reduces in two my damage! God dammit! What hope do I have against this guy? I was starting to get a bit anxious during the fight, I was a little too overconfident, but now that I was seeing the numbers before me, all that pride had been simply washed away. I should never have challenged a monster stronger than me. Just as I was thinking that, the dog once again charged, this time he ran to my right before jumping right at me, although I managed to move myself out of the bite, he still hit my flank with his head, dealing damage. -8 (89/110) I fell on my back from his tackle, but since he also lost his initial target, he fell a bit besides me. I rolled on the ground away from him before lifting myself up. He also had lifted himself and was staring at me. I started to become even more nervous, this was clearly a bad spot for me. Before I could try and think what to do next, the dog once again charged at me and jumped at my neck, I managed to put my shield in front of me right on time to block. But the little bastard still had a surprise left for me. I felt his claws scratching the surface of my shield, and one of them grabbed it¡¯s upper border, which he used to launch himself behind me. Before I could react, he landed behind me and bit at my leg from behind. -15 (74/110) The pain ran through my leg. Thank god the game had set a fairly low pain transmission. I swung my leg forward and the dog flew with it, but the bugger managed to land on his feet annulling any possible damage. This is bad. I was at a much too clear disadvantage here. I was fighting a much stronger monster that was easily capable of defeating me with but a fraction of the attacks I needed to defeat him. It was a hopeless situation, like that of a militia fighting an army, like an amateur team going against professionals, like a man fighting a¡­ Monster. I felt like a bucket of cold water fell upon me. Wasn¡¯t this situation¡­ Exactly what I wanted? Isn¡¯t this what I always do when playing Monster Hunter? Isn¡¯t this the exact same scenario? No¡­ There was a small difference. I am being too aggressive. It is a mistake I always make when fighting new monsters. I end up being too aggressive, not waiting for openings to appear before attacking. As I looked into the dog¡¯s eyes, I started to think on what to do. What had I gathered in this little fight that I could use to take him down? Right as he charged at me, an idea surged in my mind. The dog came at me like the start, coming low and aiming at my ankles, so I crouched down and put my shield in front of me. Right when he was in front of me, I bashed him sideways, dealing a little damage and putting a good distance amongst us. -3 (164/190) The dog looked back at me and I gave him a wicked smile. He once again came charging at me. Yes, all his attacks involved charging. But there was a small difference between them. Right when he was at a certain distance between us, he crouched down slightly and slightly showed it¡¯s teeth. It¡¯s coming. He jumped at me, mouth wide open aiming for my throat, just like a real dog. And as I was waiting for this moment, I took a step back and put my shield in front of me. But I didn¡¯t block. I put it with its face up and its border aligned with the dogs mouth. And he bit it. The dog had bit the shield, just like I wanted. It took him a moment to understand what had happened, and a moment was all I needed. I gripped the sword and swung it upwards, activating slash. The dog¡¯s face contorted in pain, making him bite the shield even harder, but my attack hadn¡¯t ended. Not yet. I brought the sword down and pummeled him right in the head, making him wince in pain and let go of the shield, but following the pummel, I activated slash once again, slicing him downward with all my strength, making him slam the ground. -10 -5 -9 -2 Combo! (x1.2) -31 (133/190) That was a massive amount of damage! So if I combo a lot of attacks I can deal even more damage? That is very good to know. But I still hadn¡¯t finished with the dog yet. Before he lifted himself from the ground, I kneeled besides him and slammed my shield in his face. -3 (130/190) I pressed my shield with all my body, keeping the dog there. He started to struggle, trying to free himself from beneath me, but my weight, plus my equipment was a bit too much for him to bear, so he was unable to free himself. And while I kept him in place with my left hand, I reversed my grip on the sword and started to stab him repeatedly. Every attack dealing 7-8 damage. It had become an unsightly fight near the end, but I couldn¡¯t care less. In this character, I wasn¡¯t a hero who fought with honor, I was a hunter. I would hunt stronger enemies with whatever strategy I could come up with, using my cunning and skills to beat their strength. So what if my fight looks ugly? I came here to hunt, not fight! And that dog, was but my first prey.
Next chapter
Chapter 6 - Rewards and lessons Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Rewards for a difficult battle! Now with 300% more grumpy old men! ANYWAY¡­ Somehow, for the last chapters, I had managed to make one per day. I have no idea how I did it! I can¡¯t guarantee keeping that pace constantly, but I¡¯ll try to make it as fast as I can, because classes and everything else. ALSO, I plan to make a small extra chapter after this one telling something from another person¡¯s view point, only for the fun of it. May release it today with some luck. ALSO (2), i decided to underline all the changes on the status table to make more obvious what changed from the last time it showed. ----- I didn¡¯t know since when, but after raising myself from the ground, I had a wide smile splattered on my face. For some strange reason I felt so¡­ Refreshed¡­ I probably looked like an idiot¡­ Not that it mattered to me. I patted my chain-mail to clear away the dust that had gathered on it from kneeling and let out a happy sigh. Finally taking note of my surrounding, I saw that the dog¡¯s body lying lifelessly on the ground. Just when I wondered what I would need to do get my sweet and so deserved loot, a window appeared in front of me.
Congratulations! You just defeated your first enemy. Let the goddess reclaim its body as a sign of your feat and you shall be rewarded.
Lay your hand upon the body and say ¡°Reclaim¡± to receive your reward.
Oh! So that how it works! And it¡¯s actually a pretty convincing reason for receiving loot lore-wise! Widening my smile, I did just like the window said, and sure enough the dog¡¯s body disappeared in a flash of light, leaving behind a small pouch and a chipped fang. I picked the fang and quickly read its description, but to put it plainly, it¡¯s a trash item that can¡¯t even be used for crafting. When I picked the pouch, the number ten appeared in light brown letters, after putting it in my inventory, I saw the number besides the copper coin raise by ten. Satisfied with myself, I noticed a small icon flashing slightly beneath the map, when I focused my mind on it two new windows appeared.
Due to your repeated action and previous avaiable skills, you have learned the swordsmanship sub-skill: Stab
Sub-skill: Stab [lvl1] (levels increase with one handed sword mastery)
Pierces your enemy with your sword, the concentrated impact ignores some armor. DMG: 150%, Armor piercing: 10%
Cost: 20 energy Cool down: 10 sec.
Due to taking hits with your armor, you have learnt the skill: Chain-mail Mastery
Skill: Chain-mail Mastery [lvl 1] [5%]
Your continuous use of chain-mail has increased your effectivity when using such armors: Extra armor: 1% Extra M.res: 1%
Passive
I raised both of my hands in the air in commemoration. One fight and I already have two new skills! Am I awesome, or am I awesome? For now, Chain-mail mastery was a bit on the low side, but since it is a passive, it should increase on its own, and if I take it to level 10, it will be a whopping 10% increase in both armor and magic resistance that I earn from chain-mail armors! And stab! Look at that beauty! 150% damage and armor piercing on level one! And it¡¯s cheaper than slash! Sadly the cool down is a bit too big, but I think that it serves to counter the high energy regeneration. Well, at least I think these are good skills¡­ Well, they are skills that I will very likely use for a good time, so I¡¯m not complaining. Now, for me to be happy, I only needed to have leveled up, but sadly it didn¡¯t happen¡­ It seems that killing one level five mob doesn¡¯t give as much experience as I¡­ 87%? WHAT THE HELL?? If I kill two or three more of these buggers I may even get to level three! Heck! Even if I complete a simple quest, it should be enough for me to level! Wait¡­ quest? Oh my god! The old man¡¯s quest! I had completely forgotten about it! I quickly ran back to the old man, who was still leaning against the wall looking at me, but much to my dismay, the smoking pipe on his hand was extinguished... I sighed loudly. ¡°Looks like I lost¡­ Huh?¡± As I said that, all my previous energy left my body like it never happened at all. Suddenly my armor felt so heavy¡­ ¡°Do I get another chance, old man?¡± The old man stared at me for a long time, making me feel uncomfortable. Finally he let out a loud grunt. ¡°Second chance? For what?¡± He asked me, some annoyance in his voice. I felt extremely depressed. ¡°Well¡­ You know¡­ take the test¡­ and¡­ skinning¡­¡± my voice slowly died down and was barely audible near the end. ¡°What test?¡± He complained in a loud voice¡­ So he doesn¡¯t even remember me? Did my evaluation really fall that much from failing the quest that he didn¡¯t even remember me? ¡°There never was any test!¡± Huh? ¡°Listen here, boy, do you understand why Ah sent you there? To hunt these dogs?¡± ¡°Err¡­ To¡­ test my¡­ skills?¡± best guess ever! ¡°Nope. Ah sent you there, to teach you a lesson! Ah wanted to show you were being too brash and impatient!¡± He sighed loudly, then looked at me with a strange look in his eyes. ¡°Ah literally sent you to your death, boy. Ah was expecting you to fall to these pesky mutts so you could understand that there is an order to things around here¡­ But then you come and actually beat the bastard! And with that trashy gear nonetheless!¡± I felt confused for a moment¡­ Did he lie to me then? ¡°Then¡­ What about the pipe¡­?¡± I asked confused. He simply laughed. ¡°Ah stopped smoking a long time ago. Just wanted to make sure you wouldn¡¯t try to train before taking the dammed mutt on. Couldn¡¯t teach you a lesson with you cheating your way around.¡± He sighed and lifted from the wall before walking away from me, leaving me at loss. But as soon as he arrived at the door he turned back and shouted at me. ¡°What are you waiting for? Come here you brat!¡± I nodded, surprised and followed him inside his house. When we arrived at what seemed to be some kind of dinning room, he motioned to one of the chairs with his hands, and I gladly sat there while he disappeared into an inner room. For some time I heard the sound of some rummaging. When he appeared again, he was carrying something long enveloped in a cloth. He sat at the other side of the small table, put the object on it, before leaning back on his chair, and look at me with curiosity. ¡°Okay, boy, now tell me. Why would you want to learn skinning when you hadn¡¯t even killed your first animal?¡± I blinked surprised, I wasn¡¯t expecting this situation at all. Looking at him, I could see that he was patiently waiting my answer, and I thought whether this was another test of the kind. But it¡¯s not like I had another kind of answer to give. ¡°I just want to make my own armors, and I thought that learning skinning early on would help me get better material for when I start training.¡± The old man looked at me for a long time before shaking his head. ¡°That may be true, but it¡¯s not all¡­ Right?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but form a grin at his words. True, that wasn¡¯t all. ¡°Well¡­ To tell the truth¡­¡± I stopped and thought in a good way to put it in words. ¡°I kind of have this ridiculous dream¡­ You see? My dream is to hunt strong monsters¡­¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that what all adventurers do?¡± ¡°No¡­ By strong monster, I mean monster stronger than me¡­ Far stronger than me¡­ But, instead of simply killing it and going away, I want to somehow take a proof that I beat them¡­ And heck, if I want a proof, might as well make it something useful! And the best way to do that would be making armor and weapons out of them, so I could go after even stronger monsters!¡± I might have gotten over-excited near the end, since before I noticed, I was leaning forward in excitement, almost climbing on the table. Noticing this, I calmed myself down, and sat back a bit embarrassed. The old man snorted, and seemed to think for some time, before sighing. ¡°Boy¡­ Ah don¡¯t think it would be worth for you to learn what you want¡­¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± His words had confused me. ¡°You can¡¯t teach me skinning?¡± ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s not like Ah can¡¯t¡­ But what you want isn¡¯t skinning, boy¡­ Not the normal kind anyway.¡± He looked at me and probably saw my confused face because he smiled mischievously. ¡°Any way¡­ Even if it wasn¡¯t a true test, you did beat it, and you deserve a reward.¡± He pushed the cloth bundle towards me. I hesitated for a moment, but I¡¯m not one to complain about receiving free items! And if what I was guessing was right¡­ The thing inside that cloth is¡­ A SWORD! A DECENT SWORD! I think¡­ It¡¯s actually inside the scabbard so I can¡¯t analyze it yet. It still should be better than my actual sword, so I¡¯m not complaining. ¡°Thanks, old man!¡± I said honestly, but for some reason he grimaced at my words. ¡°Mah name isn¡¯t old man, boy. It¡¯s Wallace, say it right next time or Ah''m going to hit you, you hear me?¡± He complained loudly before leaning forward. ¡°Now Ah¡¯m going to teach you your skinning, so come closer.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure on what he needed me to get closer for, but I¡¯m still new to this whole skill thing, so I wasn¡¯t going to complain. At least until something clinked inside me. ¡°Wait a minute, old man! But didn¡¯t you say that what I want isn¡¯t skinning?¡± I asked in confusion, but before I could receive an answer, a vein popped in the old man¡¯s temple. Alarms ran through my mind telling me to retreat at full speed. But before I could even move, there was an old wrinkled hand holding my head in place. I felt shivers running down my spine when the old man brought his other hand closer and closer, putting right in front of my face. After that, I¡¯m not sure on what happened¡­. Firstly, the world spun around me two times¡­ Or was it three? I didn¡¯t really count, I was trying to cover my head for the impact. I¡¯m pretty sure that if I wasn¡¯t a golem my head would have split open right there and then. Also¡­ Actually, isn¡¯t this the outside? Strange¡­ I could have sworn I was inside a house¡­ Also¡­ Isn¡¯t my hp bar really low? I could have sworn it had filled itself again while waiting¡­ -100 -9 (1/110) I felt so light headed¡­
QUEST: Proving your worth
Wallace, the leatherworker was surprised by your performance on his fake test, and decided to reward you with a gift besides the skill.
Rewards: You have received the skill: Skinning [lvl 1] You have received the item: Wallace¡¯s old training sword. Wallace now respects you a little.
By impressing Wallace, the leatherworker, you have earned the gathering skill: Skinner
Skill: Skinner [lvl 1] [0%]
Allows you to earn extra rewards in the form of leather from the monsters you defeat by skinning them.
Passive
You have leveled up. Since you are in a safe area, your HP has recovered.
After these windows passed in front of me, I suddenly felt the light headedness go away and I finally understood what had happened here. THE OLD MAN FLICKERED HIS FINGER AT MY FOREHEAD! AND NOW I¡¯M STUCK WITH MY HEAD IN A WALL! WHAT KIND OF POWER IS THAT? Seriously, I¡¯m surprised I¡¯m not dead right now! I had literally 1 HP left back there! After finally recovering myself, I started to try push my body away from the wall, but to no avail. Suddenly, I felt the old man¡¯s hand grab me by the shoulder, and with one move he yanked me out of the wall like it was nothing before holding me up in the air with one hand. For some reason he had a really annoyed face. ¡°Brat! What did Ah tell you to call me?¡± Really? That¡¯s the reason he did that? ¡°Wa¡­ Wallace?¡± I said, now suddenly insecure, he grunted in satisfaction and let go of me. Really? What the hell is this guy? ¡°You know¡­ You could have just warned me! I was almost dead back there!¡± ¡°Ah wouldn¡¯t make such an idiotic mistake like that!¡± He said without even turning back. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a lesson if you died.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Then you dealt the exact amount of damage¡­ So I wouldn¡¯t die before crashing through the wall?¡± He simply grunted in response. ¡°How the hell did you do that?¡± ¡°Experience boy¡­ It makes wonders¡­¡± He said mysteriously. ¡°Going back to our previous talk. You wanted to know why simple skinning wasn¡¯t enough right?¡± I blinked in surprise, but finally nodded. ¡°Then go out there and kill two more of those dogs. But don¡¯t reclaim them, bring them here.¡±
QUEST: Beyond simple Skinning
Wallace, the leatherworker has promised to teach you the skill you asked of him, but first you must get the bodies of two wild dogs and bring them to him. You can¡¯t refuse this quest.
Rewards: A lesson.
With that, he kicked me out of the house. Not literally, mind you, after that flicker, I¡¯m not sure what would happen to me if he were to kick me. Who the hell was this old man after all? I looked back at him once again and surely enough he was sitting at the tanning rack while stretching another piece of hide on it. For some reason I really couldn¡¯t bring myself to get mad at him. How could I say it¡­ He kind of gave-me the feeling of these masters that you see in manga¡­ And with a strength like that, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised¡­ I¡¯ll ask him about it later. Now, I had two things to check, and first of all:
Wallace¡¯s old training sword
Damage:13-15Extra:(none)
Quality:CommonDurability:30/50
Description Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.Wallace¡¯s old sword. The blade is strangely heavy and has a large guard, but is much sturdier than normal. Still, it shows heavy signs wear due to prolonged use. STR +2, TGH +2
Old man, I love you. To think that the sword was so much better than mine! I immediately exchanged the sword with the one I had equipped and called my status window.
NAME: Wargon (Gondorrer Gravelheart)
TITLE: (none)
Class tree:WandererClass:None
Race:GolemGender:Neutral (male)
Level:2Experience:13%
STATUS: Remaining points (2)
Health Points:120/120HP regen (out of combat):1/sec
Energy:100/100Energy Regen:10/sec
STR:12(10)TGH:12(10)
AGI:10VIT:10
INT:10MND:10
ATTK: Phys: 14-16Extra:(none)
DEF46M. Res.:17
Satiety:93/100 (Satisfied)
SKILLS:
One-handed Sword Mastery [lvl 1] -Slash (Active) -Stab (Active) Shield Mastery [lvl 1] Scale-mail Mastery [lvl 1] Chain-mail Mastery [lvl 1] Skinning [lvl 1] Racials [max] -Nature¡¯s bastion (Active) -Rock Eater -Sedimentary skin (Active) -Nature attuned
Seeing that I have two points to spend, I took some time to think. My plan of hunting strong enemies didn¡¯t change, even after almost suffering that fiasco with the dog. And I would also need to tank sooner or later. Taking both of these in account, what I needed most now was survivability, so I should focus my point in defense, even if my battles end up being long drawn it¡¯s not much of a problem for me. On short term, the best investment for me would be vitality, I guess. This way I can take even more damage. Without thinking much I dumped my two points on vitality and saw my HP jump to 140. Now I can take two or three extra attacks from the level five dogs. But¡­ Thinking about it, isn¡¯t the sword equals to two levels then? Since it gives four status points? And it¡¯s still the basic tier! No wonder Cygnas said that equipment will make more of a difference than leveling. Anyway, since the old man forced another quest into me, might as well go and complete it, but¡­ I opened the quest window once again¡­ But what the hell is the reward? A lesson? Really? Well, I really don¡¯t want to make the old man angry again, so I might as well try and get it done. Running back to the field, I approach the closest dog, excited to test my new sword, but I stop myself on the last second. I¡¯m too excited¡­ Even if I have leveled up, the dog is still stronger than me, so I can¡¯t take this head on like I was doing before. Remember! Monster hunting¡­ Monster hunting¡­ After finally calming myself down, I finally took my stance against the dog, the same as before, my shield in front with the sword at my back. I started the fight much the same as earlier, bashing his head upwards with my shield, But instead of following with a simple swing, I activated an upwards slash. Different from before, where right after the bash I stopped charging, this time I kept going, so even when the dog was flung mid-air I still kept up with it. Now that I knew this combo trick, there¡¯s no way I was going to let him go all that easily. So before he started to fall back down, I pummeled him back to the ground before finishing it with my strongest kick. -3 -20 -5 -7 Combo!(x1.2) -42 (148/190) The dog winced loudly in pain before quickly lifting himself back up. My gamer¡¯s instinct was telling me charge ahead and keep pressuring the dog, but that would only end up giving him openings, so I slowly started to circle around him. This dog seemed a lot more cautious than the other one from before, since it didn¡¯t attack me right away. From what I could gather from the last fight, these dogs had at least three attacks. A head-on charge that I need to crouch to block, a jumping charge that I shouldn¡¯t block and that double charge where he goes to another direction before jumping at me. There may be some other skills that he can use, but for now these are the ones I should be on the lookout. The dog suddenly dashed to my right before doing a sharp turn in my direction. The last time I had side-stepped in half-panic, but this time I put my shield in front of me at the last moment, and when the dog hit the board, I swung it sideways launching the mutt. -2(146/190) I ran towards him and tried to slash him before he recovered, but the skill missed its target when the dog jumped away and my momentum carried me, taking away my balance. The dog bit me before I could recover. -14(126/140) The pain stung me and the little balance I had left failed me, and I fell flat on the ground. I tried to free myself from his grasps by bashing his head with my shield, but the bastard let go of my leg at the last moment and got hold of my shield arm. -30 (CRITICAL!)(96/140) GOD DAMMIT! THE PAIN! WHY DID THE CRIT HAD TO LAND RIGHT NOW? After somehow getting hold of the pain, I rolled myself over the dog. The bastard still kept his mouth closed on my arm, and I could see my health quickly decreasing over-time. I activated stab followed by two slashes, spending the rest of the remaining energy I had leaving me with only twelve points left. -21 -20 -18 Combo!(x1.1) -64 (82/190) The dog let go of my arm in pain and took some distance from me. I stood up and also stepped back. God dammit. I get a bit too complacent one time and the little bastard takes away a third of my health! Well¡­ It¡¯s not much different from monster hunter in that part, I guess¡­ Hmm¡­ suddenly I few a bit more motivated¡­ ¡­ I feel that I really should stop getting distracted. Noticing my mistake I recovered my focus just in time to see the dog jumping at me and I instinctively stepped aside, barely managing to dodge his attack, however just as he landed he made a quick turn around and went for my leg. I hopped back as I did not have a good position to attack and the mutt stopped right in front of me, biting thin air. I smirked as the dog looked confused for a brief moment, giving me a much needed opening. I swung my sword before kicking him away, giving myself some time to recover energy. -14 -5 (63/190) When he got up, he growled angrily at me for some time and started circling me, giving me enough time to fully recover my energy and for stab to come out of cool down. It still took some more time for him to attack me, clearly more wary of me now that his health was so low, but in the end he came charging at me, aiming for my leg. I crouched down and put my shield in front of me, waiting him. At the last moment, a glint passed on the mutts eyes, and he suddenly crouched down and jumped at me. To think that the bastard would change his attack at the last moment¡­ I saw his paws grasping at the top border of my shield and felt as he put all his strength behind them, preparing to jump over me. Well, let me give you a small help with that! Just as the pressure behind the shield started to increase, I used all my strength to stand up and swung my shield upwards in synch with the dogs impulse. He barked in surprise when he saw himself being thrown upwards, but it was far too late for him. I made sure to adjust his launching angle to one that would make him fall directly on top of me, but I can say that this was 30% skill and 70% luck to get it this right. I pointed my sword upwards and used stab, piercing the dog still in the air. I felt a heavy impact on my arm as the dog hit the handguard, and a small number appeared. -8 (88/140) I would have gotten mad at myself for not thinking that something like this would happen, -63(Critical!)(Brutal!) (0/190) WHAAAT? 63 damage points in one hit? What kind of sorcery is this? And what is that brutal? Do I get a bonus for specially strong attacks? From the looks of it, it¡¯s also a multiplicative bonus! But most important¡­ DIDN¡¯T I LOOK REALLY BADASS BACK THERE? I mean! For goodness sake! I finished my enemy by piercing him from skyward, and now his body is hanging on my sword! Luckily there isn¡¯t blood in this game, or things would have gotten really messy. I couldn¡¯t help myself. I started to laugh loudly before I could even hold myself back. I swung my sword to let the dog fall to the ground, and with my inner chuu-nii running free after such a scene, I couldn¡¯t hold myself, striking a pose by stepping on the cranium of the dog and opening my arms as if saying ¡®Come at me!¡¯ while I looked at the other dogs around the area. ¡°TREMBLE IN FEAR OF MY MIGHT, YOU PUNY, INFERIOR KANINES! FOR I, GONDORRER DOGSBANE HAVE COME TO SLAY YOU ALL!¡±
By provoking your enemies with a shout, you have learned the skill: Taunt [lvl 1]
Skill: Taunt [lvl 1] [0%]
Taunts all enemies in the area with offensive words, greatly increasing their hatred for you and forcing them to attack you for some time. Taunted enemies won¡¯t be affected by another taunt for 1 minute. Taunt area: 10 meters. Taunt duration: 5 seconds.
Cost: 0 energy
You have used taunt!
Ooh! Not only did I beat the dog, I also got taunt! This is awesome! Wait¡­ I used taunt? When it finally sunk in what I had done, I felt all the blood draining from my face¡­ Wait, if I¡¯m a golem, does this mean I have petroleum for blood? Any way¡­ I saw that not one, not two, but four of the closest wild dogs that had just been peacefully watching me slaughter their brethren suddenly started to gnarl at me. Cripes¡­ Of course, I ran away. Even if I had my health full I wouldn¡¯t last more than a few seconds against them. It took me almost twenty minutes, two laps around the village and 53 health points to lose the dogs. Well, I learnt two things after that. First, the mobs have an awfully large pursuit area, or rather, it seemed more to me that they would hunt me for a fixed time before going back to their starting area. Second, I really needed a defensive skill. I will start by working towards rolling for now, later ill think about something else. Being sure that there isn¡¯t anyone around me, because it would be really embarrassing if someone would see me doing this, I launched myself forward, and when I was about to hit the ground, I rolled forward, landing on my butt. I did this all the way back to the dogs¡¯ area, hoping that this would generate the skill I wanted. However, by the time I got back, the body had already disappeared. I killed two more dogs, this time avoiding the mistakes I did earlier, and saw my experience bar reach 54%, only losing 65 health on the process... It feels like they are giving less experience now¡­ I took their bodies and carried them back to the leatherworks, where the old man was still in his seat in front of the rack, calmly doing his job. ¡°Hey, Wallace! I¡¯m back!¡± I said with a happy shout. The old man jumped from his seat surprised and looked at me in shock for a moment. Then he grimaced and shouted at me. ¡°God dammit boy! Don¡¯t go around using stealth! Ah¡¯m old and it¡¯s bad for mah health!¡± He threw a piece of hide at me, but I barely managed to move my head out of the way. ¡°What stealth? Have you gone senile? I just got to level 2, did you forget?¡± I shouted back at him, making him look surprised for a moment before clicking his tongue. ¡°God dammit¡­ Then am Ah really losing my touch?¡± He mumbled more to himself than to say something to me. ¡°Anyway, took you long enough! What gives?¡± He asked annoyed. ¡°Well¡­ I¡­ Ran into some complications on the way¡­¡± I said awkwardly, then showed him the bodies. ¡°So, what do I do with these?¡± He looked at the bodies for a moment, as if analyzing them before grunting in satisfaction, then walked to a table filled with instruments and cleared some space. ¡°Put them here.¡± I followed his instructions and let go of the bodies in the table with a clang. Then I looked back at him expecting some directions, but he was busy looking for something. I took my time to eat a piece of dried meat since my satiety had dropped below 60%, it had a bit of a bland taste. By the time he got back, he passed me a small, sharp looking knife that I took a bit confused. It seemed a bit too frail for it to be in use for combat. He pointed at a bench beside the bodies on the table, so I sat on it while looking at him curious. ¡°Well, brat. You earned your skill earlier, so now I guess I should explain how it works¡­¡± Then he let out a long sigh. ¡°And maybe teach you a certain trick to it¡­¡± With that he pointed back to the bodies, and started my lesson on skinning.
Next chapter
Chapter 6.5 - Dawn of a legend Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO, AGAIN! Think of this as a small compensation for not having updated anything yesterday. ANYWAY, I think I might keep writing chapters like this from time to time to show what other people think about the main character... ALSO, I had a lot of fun with this, since it¡¯s much simpler than the usual chapters that I fill with details and tables. Have a good read, and I hope to see you guys tomorrow! ------ Smallmighty, the user had created this character as a joke, choosing the fairies that were ridiculously small and then donning it with heavy armor and a huge (for him) sword. He hadn¡¯t really expected much after he finished creating his character, not really believing the game would be so realistic as they always said. But boy, had he been wrong! As soon as he was transported to the beginning village, he was awestruck with how real everything seemed, unable to believe his eyes. In fact, he wasn¡¯t the only one who could only stare in disbelief. It was only when he first looked at his hand followed by the wings in his back that everything finally sunk in. He couldn¡¯t help but shout in excitement. ¡°SO FREAKING COOL!¡± Without even waiting for the others, the small fairy started to fly forwards in the direction of an innocent rabbit. At that moment he couldn¡¯t care less about how his character was a joke, or about quests, items and exp., not even the laughs of the other players behind him mattered. All he wanted was to see how much more real this game could get. As he got closer and closer to the rabbit, he noticed for the first time how small he really was, as the small animal was big enough for him to use as a mount. But this only served for him to become even more motivated. He took out the huge sword from his back and swung it with all his body, hitting the rabbit right in the middle of its head. -30 (12/42) By the gods! He could feel the sword passing through the rabbit, even a slight dull feeling when it got stuck on the ground for a moment. He tried to immediately take it out, but finally noticed the real weight behind it as it moved painfully slow. But even that small annoyance served to make him even more excited. In mere a few seconds of logging on the game, he was already completely immersed in it. Much to his surprise, the rabbit actually counter attacked, by lunging at him and biting his chest, sending a sense of pain down his body. -5(105/110) A wide smile appeared on his face, he finally had lifted his blade from the ground, so he swung it horizontally, cleaving the poor rabbit in half. -28 (0/42) For a moment, he breathed in and out heavily, still excited, and soon a window appeared in front of him, telling how to get the loot. After quickly looting away, he ran to the next rabbit, and then the next, and the one after. Soon enough, he arrived at a huge (for him) tree, and saw a squirrel up there. Willing himself upwards, his wings started beating as he flew up to the rodent, and soon the squirrels were also added to his hunting list. By now, all the players around had been awestruck at the speed and ferocity that the little fairy was hunting the animals, and soon enough, a party invite reached Mighty. After entering the party, with a cloth-and-staff celestial called Healz4free, knifes-and-plate dwarf known as Platepoker222, and a spear-and-leather Djinn going by Dargoon, his hunting speed shot up like mad, and quickly they were exterminating all the animals in the area. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Soon, all of them reached level 4 while the others were barely level 2, and the rabbits and squirrels¡¯ experience had become pretty much insignificant, Dargoon decided to spread the party to look for a new hunting ground, Mighty being responsible for checking the area behind the village. He happily went to his designate area, and as soon as he got there, he was delighted, as he found many lvl 5 passive wild dogs, perfect for his team. However, before he could report to Dargoon, he caught a sight that would be forever engraved in his memory. His sight landed on a golem player who stood right besides a dog that was standing still. For him, who had just got there at that moment, but had seen that the dogs were passive mobs, it looked like the battle was about to begin. And sure enough the player slashed once at the dog and then kicked it away. Mighty knew that he and his team were, right now, the strongest in the area, having reached level four and already changed many of their gears with drops from the rabbits and squirrel. Still, they are all basic equipment, but were far better than the starting gear they had. As such, he prepared to rush towards the player to save him if it was needed, but the battle didn¡¯t occur like he had expected. The dog started to cautiously circle the player, looking wary of him, as if the player was far stronger than it, but in the end it still charged at the golem. However, the golem simply crouched behind his shield and waited for the dog. The dog jumped at him, however the golem skillfully swung his shield upwards, launching the dog in the air, and just as the dog started to fall down, he pushed his sword upwards, piercing the belly of the dog in one single strike. Mighty was already shocked at the scene, but the worst still had to come. The golem started to laugh. A laugh so strange, and loud, filled with unspeakable madness and insanity. The green glowing eyes of the golem suddenly instilling an unknown sense of fear in him. Then, the golem swung his sword, letting the dog slide away from it towards the ground. Yet, the dog didn¡¯t move. It was dead. The golem had killed the dog. In one. Single. Attack! And yet, he didn¡¯t seem to care about the loot, as he simply laughed away, before going to the body and stepped on its head then looked in the direction of the village. He opened his arms, as if taunting the fairy, and shouted something. Mighty was far too surprised and scared at the scene to even understand what the golem had said, and there was no way he would stand there to find out. That attack had killed a mob with 190 health points in one single strike! What kind of equipment and level did that golem have? And what he wanted of him? All that Mighty could do at that moment was run. Run away from that golem and hope to never again cross his path. When he finally found his team, he told them of what he had seem, of the madness of the golem, and how he had defeated the dog. From there, the news spread to all other players, giving them a strange fear of the golem, and thus, no one else dared to approach the wild dogs area. That day, the legend of Green-eyes, the brutal, was born in Insania Online.
Next chapter
Chapter 7 - Lootless Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Welcome back to Insania, now with 400% more skinning! AND WE HAVE REACHED 48 FOLLOWERS! THE CULT OF CYGNAS IS SPREADING! ALL HAIL CYGNAS! ANYWAY, a fun note about the extra chapter. The whole mad laugh I wrote there is actually based on people reactions about my laughs. My mother told me I laugh like a witch, my father says that I sound like a mad man. My friends says something between psycho to serial killer¡­ ALSO. There have been a couple of people asking for me to put a green eyes related title for Wargon. This actually started with a single time joke in chapter 4, but ended up becoming a recurring joke. I actually like that idea, so I will see if I will try to come with something. I don¡¯t mind a small help here. ALSO(2), someone recommended me to use a few from overlord. I like that idea, but I would end up restricting them to the more humanoid ones. And probably would put skeleton together with undead, and there would a slider to define the ¡°Fleshiness¡± of the character. ALSO(3), I will, later on, need a few characters for the eventual extra chapters¡­ Maybe I could use a few cameos¡­ Hmmm¡­ Decisions. Have a good read! ------ ¡°Now, brat, hold the knife and look at the bodies. What do you see?¡± When Wallace said that, I blinked in surprised, then turned back to the two dog bodies on the table. For a brief moment, there was absolutely nothing different about them compared ten seconds ago, so I began to doubt Wallace¡¯s question, but after a second passed, something appeared on the bodies. Floating a few millimeters above their bodies, was a thin but dense blue mist, forming what appeared to be lines around them. ¡°Can you see them, boy?¡± I look back at Wallace, who was eyeing the dogs. He did not wait for my response. ¡°Of course you can, now pick one of the dogs and stab the skinning knife in one of the lines.¡± I did as he told me, and the line seemed to shine a bright light wherever the knife¡¯s blade touched. After that he told me to follow these lines with the knife, until all of them were shining white. I slowly did the work, trying to be careful not slip the knife out of the mist, but two times my hand shook and the blade ended out of the mist. This created a red mist that lingered tauntingly there, even after I finished. It took me thirty seconds to finish the task, and after that the dog¡¯s body shone a blue light for a moment, earning a light blue tint on its fur. ¡°Meh¡­ Could be worse.¡± He said unimpressed. ¡°Now, reclaim this dog like normal.¡± As soon as I did that, the dog¡¯s body disappeared in a pillar of light and atop of the table, on it¡¯s place, there were now three items. A pouch with twelve copper coins, a small chipped tooth, and lastly:
Basic leather. X2 (poor)
Piece of leather acquired after skinning low level animals. (crafting material)
Both of them being squares with around 15 cm. So this is how skinning works in the game, it kind of gives me a mini-game feeling to it. However, taking a better look at this piece in my hand, there were two things bothering me. Firstly, the lines looked a bit too random for me, not appearing to have anything to do with shape of the dog. Secondly¡­ ¡°That, boy, is the basic of skinning. Most people use this one out there. You pass the test, and the goddess give you an additional reward.¡± He pulled the other dog in my direction, then sat on a bench besides me. ¡°Now, do you see the test on this one too?¡± I nodded. ¡°Put your hand above them and swing it away.¡± As soon as I did that, the smoke vanished instantly. I became a bit doubtful, but Wallace kept going. ¡°Okay, now I¡¯m going to teach you a not very well known secret about skinning.¡± ¡°Secret? Is it a sub-skill?¡± I asked excited, but he hit me on my head. -5(135/140) ¡°Not everything in this world is about skills and subskills you dumb brat!¡± He complained. ¡°Now, put your knife here and press it until you pierce the skin. But only the skin, you hear me?¡± He pointed towards a place a little below the neck. I put the point of the blade there and slowly started to put pressure on the blade. It took me a little more than ten seconds to reach the needed strength, but Wallace didn¡¯t seem bothered by the wait. I could go on and on about the steps here, but I want to try and keep this story out of the mature section, so let me give you a brief overview. This time, it was true skinning. Just like the one you would do on real life. So it involved in piercing the pelt and slicing it away so it would free itself from the muscles. Once again, I thanked the designer for there to be no blood on this game. This process was extremely taxing, because I couldn¡¯t put too much strength or I could pierce the hide, nor too little or I wouldn¡¯t be able to cut it. I also needed to twist and turn the knife in a bunch of different angles so I could cut the right place, but still being careful not to damage the hide. Also, despite having Grumpiness: Advanced [lvl 10], Wallace is an incredible teacher, giving me tips for a few more annoying parts and even guiding my hand when needed. Meanwhile, I took my time to chat with the old man. ¡°So, Wallace¡­¡± I said a bit worried, but he grunted for me to continue. ¡°I¡¯m not sure about this, but would it be considered impolite to ask your level?¡± ¡°Nah¡­ Some people don¡¯t like when you ask them, but¡­ Lift your hand a bit more for this part¡­ Ah don¡¯t really mind much. And it¡¯s 253, before you ask.¡± My hands stopped for a brief moment while I looked surprised at him, but I didn¡¯t dally too much on it. ¡°Then¡­ Doesn¡¯t that make you really strong?¡± I asked going back to my work. He nodded while patiently watching my movements. ¡°Damn¡­ I met someone amazing on my first day! Can I still ask you about your class?¡± I asked expectantly, and the old man nodded lightly. ¡°Mah class is called ¡®Dragon General¡¯... you can put a bit more of pressure here¡­ It¡¯s a variation of ¡®Great General¡¯¡­¡± He said absentminded. God dammit! That sounds cool! And strong! ¡°Hmm¡­ Isn¡¯t this the time where you either offer to teach me or say that I¡¯m far too weak to learn your class?¡± I asked after a few seconds and the old man answered with a slightly playful smile. ¡°Something tells me you wouldn¡¯t accept even if Ah offered you¡­¡± Sure enough. As badass as it sounds, the general part kind of turned me down. At least for this character. It felt like I would have to go around receiving orders from nobles and the like, then I would have no time to hunt like I please. After around fifteen minutes, I had finished skinning the dog. For a moment, I thought that the lesson had ended, but Wallace kept me on the bench and started to teach me how to take the claws and fangs from the dog. ¡°Any chance I could get some leatherworking training after this?¡± I tried asking, taking advantage of my ¡®yes-spree¡¯, buuut. ¡°Sorry brat, I¡¯ll have to refused that one.¡± He said grumping his face back to normal. I looked at him shocked, doing my best to make the famous puppy eyes. ¡°Stop that!¡± He once again hit my head. -10 (130/140) ¡°Why?¡± I said as my head throbbed in pain. ¡°You see, brat¡­ Your dream¡­ no matter how Ah see it, it¡¯s ridiculous¡­ It¡¯s too dangerous, reckless and insane. Because of that, Ah won¡¯t teach you how to work with your leather.¡± That was one hell of a bucket of cold water. I turned back to my work, completely dejected. ¡°You see, when it comes to skinning, Ah can easily say that Ah¡¯m the best around, so Ah don¡¯t mind teaching you, but if you want to make your armors¡­¡± He let out a long sigh. ¡°Mah daughter at the capital outclass even me. So it¡¯s better if you were to learn from her.¡± Huh? Daughter? ¡°YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER OLD MAN?¡± ¡­ .. . Hmm¡­ this scene is familiar¡­ -130 -9 (1/140) ¡­ ¡°What did Ah tell you, brat?¡± ¡°Sorry Wallace¡­¡± I was now back at my bench, making the final touches on the remaining of the dog. Besides me, on the wall shared with the house, was a large hole the size of my head¡­ I don¡¯t think I have to tell you what happened. Anyway, back to the dog. I had finally finished taking the last fang and claw, so Wallace nodded. ¡°Now, reclaim him.¡± I did, and once again, the remaining were bathed in a white light and in its place was¡­ Nothing. I blinked in surprise, thinking that I was seeing things. Or rather, not seeing things, but that wasn¡¯t the case. Then is this one of those ridiculously rare moments where the enemy drops no loot? Wait¡­ Didn¡¯t Wallace say something about not being a good technique¡­ And if I think about the window when I killed my first dog¡­ Then¡­ ¡°Seems like you understood, brat.¡± Wallace said with a smirk in his face. ¡°When you reclaim their bodies for the goddess, she gives you some things in reward. Adding to that, when you skin them by the usual method, she also rewards you with a little extra for your efforts.¡± He then looked at the side, where he had put the hide, claws and fangs. ¡°But when you skin them just like I showed you, the quality of the items you get are purely dependent on your skills, so you can get some really good items¡­ But in compensation¡­¡± ¡°The goddess don¡¯t give me anything back¡­¡± This¡­ Might be a little bit more troublesome than what I expected. When it comes to games like these, there are three main ways for a person to get better equipment. The first is by doing quest, just like I did for the old man, but not every quest you do rewards you with equipment, so it¡¯s not really very good to count on this for equipping yourself. Second would be crafting, if I were to gather materials I could make my own equipment, but the gathering could take time and effort. Third if by going on the NPC¡¯s shop and buying it, but most of the time, these can¡¯t even compare to the ones obtained by the other methods. Fourth and most important, drop from enemies. Every time you kill an enemy, there is a chance that they will drop better equipment, this is by far the best way to get your items, since you can usually farm for bosses in dungeons and things of the like. But the way I want to play, requires me to give up on getting drops from monster. I could go only with the basic skinning¡­ But.
Wild dog pelt (common)
Piece of leather acquired after manually skinning a wild dog, made by an amateur with the help of an professional. There are some areas with damage. (crafting material)
Undamaged wild dog fang (common) x4
A fang from a wild dog. Sharp and durable. Can easily pierce through hides. (crafting material)
Wild dog claw (common) x6
Claw from a wild dog, earned by manually skinning them. (crafting material)
There isn¡¯t even a comparison when it came to quality. Even the pelt, by itself, was far bigger than the two pieces I earned with the basic skinning, and it¡¯s also related to the dog, not a generic piece, which probably meant a much better quality. And there even is a unique item to manual skinning. If I wanted to make armors out of the beasts I defeated, the normal skinning simply wouldn¡¯t do justice. For a moment, I faltered, but then it hit me. ¡°This works just fine for me.¡± I told the old man. In monster hunter, only on very rare occasions you get weapons and armors that don¡¯t come from crafting. And even then, it¡¯s about one or two per game. There is also a vendor that sells some pre-made weapons, but these are mostly low level and only works as a quick short cut to some weapon-trees. Hmm¡­ It feels like this game is only getting harder and harder each second that goes by¡­ Suddenly, the old man started to laugh, making me feel confused and slightly scared. ¡°Ah didn¡¯t expect you to go with it, brat!¡± He said with a large smile in his face. I¡¯m a bit scared¡­ ¡°Ah¡¯ll be taking these ones with me as a payment, but for any other pelt, fang and claw you get, Ah¡¯ll pay you double than what you would get by selling to the shops.¡± He said that slapping my back, leaving me confused. But in the end, that was a good deal for me. After all, now that I probably won¡¯t be getting any more money out of killing mobs, it have just become a good source of money for me.
QUEST COMPLETED: Beyond skinning
Wallace, the leatherworker, is pleased with your dedication towards skinning. He have agreed to buy all your manually skinned items from the local enemies by twice the market price.
Rewards: Lesson Wallace no longer hates you Wallace will buy your items
After that, I was in doubt on what to do for now. It would be a good idea to get a few quests to earn myself some equipment. On the other hand, I need to train my skinning and other skills, as well as work on the roll skill. In the end, I decided to go on a hunting spree, hunting the dogs near Wallace¡¯s place like a mad man, then skinning them one by one. At the start, I would lose around 40-50 hp per battle, then take around 15 minutes to skin them and earn a few poor pieces of leather, since I did not have Wallace guiding me any more. Around every ten dogs I hunted, I would go back to Wallace¡¯s place and sell him half of my haul. He would take his time on examining the hide and then pointing what I was doing wrong when gathering. He would also buy each poor piece of hide for 2 silver, each fang for twenty coppers, and each claw for seven. Remember what I said about money problems¡­ Forget it. Even without Wallace¡¯s bonus, I would be making a killing by selling these items. I think at least. Around my twentieth dog, I started to get my first common quality items, take less time on the fights, loose less health and only take eight minutes to skin each dog. By my thirtieth dog, I no longer got poor quality items and could manage to kill the dogs without even taking a hit. My skinning time also dropped to five minutes. Sadly, I got nothing on rolling, besides now being able to land on my feet ready to stand up, even if I went from dog to dog rolling like a mad man. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Seeing as the shield was getting a bit too useless against the dogs now that I was starting to get the hang of their movements, I decided to go forward and start training with my second weapon from monster hunter, trading defense for offense. Dual wielding. In this game, dual wielding decreases the damage of each weapon by 30%, but since you can hit much faster, the damage is greater than sword and shielding. But let me, correct something for you guys. Dual wielding is HARD, with capital letters. It¡¯s ridiculously difficult to manage two swords at the same time and not cut yourself. I lost more health by misusing the dual blades than to the dogs themselves. However, I did find a neat trick concerning them. I called it, half-active. Basically, I could activate a one-handed sword skill, that yes, is shared with sword and shield, with both of the weapons at the same time, for usual cost and cool down¡­ Or, with some skills, I could activate it for only one of the weapons at a time, which caused both, energy requirements and cool down to fall by a half. It was a neat trick. I spent the entire afternoon hunting the dogs like the good mad man I am, mainly so I could train my skinning, but the more dogs I hunted, the less experience I earned. It seems that repeatedly hunting the same enemy isn¡¯t a very lucrative idea¡­ Luckily for me, for some reason the area around here was completely desert. Deciding to give the dogs a break, I went back to Wallace¡¯s place and sell my haul. On the way I checked my status screen.
NAME: Wargon (Gondorrer Gravelheart)
TITLE: (none)
Class tree:WandererClass:None
Race:GolemGender:Neutral (male)
Level:4Experience:85%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points:200/200HP regen (out of combat):1.5/sec
Energy:100/100Energy Regen:10/sec
STR:12(10)TGH:12(10)
AGI:10VIT:16
INT:10MND:10
ATTK:Phys 10-12 / 6-7Extra:(none)
DEF46M. Res.:17
Satiety:56/100 (neutral)
SKILLS:
One-handed Sword Mastery [lvl 5] -Slash (Active) -Stab (Active) -Slice ¡®n dice (Active) Dual-wielding mastery [lvl 2] -Whirlwind (Active) Shield Mastery [lvl 4] -Bashing Scale-mail Mastery [lvl 3] Chain-mail Mastery [lvl 4] Skinning [lvl 6] Taunt [lvl 3] -Focused mockery Racials [max] -Nature¡¯s bastion (Active) -Rock Eater -Sedimentary skin (Active) -Nature attuned
Hmm¡­ I guess some explaining is underway for the new skills¡­ Let me just show you guys the skill windows. From the moment when I got them.
By continuously spamming a series of attacks in short windows of time, and for previous skills, you have earned the swordsmanship sub-skill: Slice ¡®n dice
Skill: Slice ¡®n dice [lvl 3] (levels increase with one-handed sword mastery)
Continuously slash at your enemies in a reckless, but brutal flurry of attacks. You can not move while slice ¡®n dice is active, you can not cancel the skill until all your energy is used. DMG: 55% per slice
Cost: 10 energy/second Cool down: 90 sec.
This one I got when I started raging at some dogs¡­
Continuous use of your shield to harass your enemy, and for previous skills have earned you the Shield Sub-skill: Bashing
Skill: Bashing [lvl 4] (levels increase with Shield mastery)
Hitting the head of your enemies with your shield staggers and confuses them, cancelling whatever skill they are using. The enemy gain immunity to bashing for 30 seconds after being bashed.
Passive
Self explanatory¡­
By continuously using two one-handed weapons, you have learned the skill: Dual-wielding
Skill: Dual wielding [lvl 1] 3%
Getting used to using two weapons at the same time reduces the penalty of dual wielding. Penalty reduction: 1%
Passive
Just let me be clear to you, dear readers, I am no Kirito at dual wielding, I suck at it. Right now I¡¯m doing it mostly for the fun of it, and because it is also a weapon in monster hunter. But it¡¯s not like there isn¡¯t an advantage to it.
By unlocking the dual-wielding skill, you have earned the dual-wielding sub-skill: Whirlwind
Skill: Whirlwind [lvl 1] (levels increase with one-handed sword mastery)
Spin around hitting your all enemies around you with all your weapons. DMG: 120% per hit
Cost: 25 energy
It¡¯s kind of like the slash for dual wielding¡­ But there is one neat detail that isn¡¯t mentioned. I can use it even when sword-and-shielding, which meant that the skill would hit with both the blade and the shield. And this could apply the Bashing effect. I¡¯m in love with this skill¡­ I always liked flashy AoE effects! AND IT CAN ALSO INTERRUPT! TREMBLE IN FEAR, PUNY CASTERS! Lastly:
By controlling your taunts to only generate hate on one enemy at a time, and for previous skills, you have earned the Taunt sub-skill: Focused mockery
Skill: Focused mockery [lvl 2] (levels increase with taunt)
A careful choice of words can help you easily control who you taunt, applying the taunt effect to one single enemy at an increased range of 30 meters.
Cost: 25 energy
This one I actually manage to get by making sure to only be on range of one dog at a time before going all ¡°Chuu-nii¡± on them. All in all, it was a good hunt, but the problem was¡­ Hunting dogs became boring. By now I could even call two or three of them without a problem, so used I was to their attacks, so when I got my money from Wallace, I asked him for a recommendation. ¡°Stronger animals? When the only decent equipment is that old sword?¡± He asked surprised, but then shrugged. ¡°Wait for the night to fall down, then go to the forest behind the old church, there you should find some red-claw lynxes. They are level 10 to 12, but don¡¯t have much health. Their attack is pretty strong, but not much, but their speed can be a bit annoying, so be wary. For skinning they are pretty similar to the wolves, so you shouldn¡¯t have much problem with them.¡± I thanked the old man and went on my way. There still was some time before night-fall, so I took my time to go to the village black-smith and repair my sword that had fallen to 12 durability. After paying the man, I still had a bit more than two gold coins, so there wasn¡¯t much of a need to worry about money. Before going to the forest, there still was something I had to do, now that the afternoon was ending. Walking through the village, dodging incoming players and npcs, I asked around about my destination, until I arrived before an fairly large wooden house near the middle of the town. I knocked on the door a couple of times and waited. After some time, the door opened to a dwarf woman with thick braids wearing a simple linen dress. ¡°Good afternoon, Giselde.¡± I greeted the woman with a smile. She looked surprised for a moment, before recognition appeared on her face. ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t the golem from earlier!¡± She said with clear surprise in her eyes. ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°You said earlier that your husband could teach me mining and that he should arrive around this time.¡± I explained to her. ¡°Am I disturbing you somehow by coming here?¡± I asked just to be sure. But she shook her head in hurry, ¡°No, you aren¡¯t, I was just shocked. I wasn¡¯t expecting you to really come today¡­¡± She said as she stepped aside giving me space to enter, I thanked her briefly before entering her house. She pointed towards a door down the corridor. ¡°My husband is in the living room, now, if you excuse-me, I was about to start making dinner.¡± I thanked her once again, then walked towards the room. In there, was a small fire-place, a small table with chairs. Sitting on a bear-rug, was a man who was carefully examining a few gems laid in front of him. It didn¡¯t seem that he noticed me, so I knocked the doorway a few times to gather his attention. He lifted his head surprised then looked at me. He was a dark elf, his skin being a deep tone of blue. His hair light blue was tied in a pony-tail not unlike mine, letting free his two long ears, his face had a mature look to it, albeit his almost closed eyes gave him a lethargic feeling. He wore a simple leather shirt and pants. ¡°Oh, good afternoon!¡± He said surprised after some time, his words being slightly dragged like a tired person. ¡°I¡¯m really, really sorry. I hadn¡¯t noticed you arrive!¡± He said slightly apologetic with a wry smile. ¡°No problem, I actually just arrived here.¡± ¡°Is that so? I see, I see¡­¡± He said nodding to himself. ¡°My name is Illwen, but a humble miner. So, how can I help you, young golem?¡± It¡¯s kind of awkward. For some reason I was sure that Giselde¡¯s husband was a dwarf, but now I¡¯m greeted with a dark elf¡­ Oh well. ¡°Greetings, Illwen, my name is Gondorrer, wanderer.¡± I slightly bowed my head after introducing myself, which seemed to please the elf. ¡°I heard from Giselde that you may actually teach me mining.¡± His eyes opened slightly at my words, but he soon nodded. ¡°Sure, sure. I can teach you, but¡­ I fear I have to charge you some silver for that, you see?¡± His voice had a slight apologetic tone. ¡°I have to make sure I earn some money even if other people enter the trade, you know?¡± Fair enough. I nodded, unworried, then quickly opened my inventory and took five silver coins, which I passed to him. He nodded, satisfied, with the money, then beckoned me to come closer. He gently put his hand on my head and a window popped up.
Illwen, the miner, has taught you the gathering skill: Mining
Skill: Mining [lvl 1] [0%]
Allows you to find and mine nodes of ore.
Passive
After that he picked up a mining pick that was leaning in a nearby wall and gave it to me. ¡°There you go, now you are a full fledged miner!¡± He said with some pride. But then looked at me again and a slight frown appeared on his face. ¡°But, isn¡¯t your equipment a bit too shabby? I would recommend you raising your levels a couple of times before you go mining. Just to be safe.¡± ¡°Oh, no need to worry, I am already level 4!¡± I said with a smile, but the elf seemed shocked. ¡°You got to level four with that equipment? Why didn¡¯t you change into anything better?¡± He asked worried. ¡°Well, I actually was training manual skinning that old ma¡­¡± Suddenly I felt a strange blood lust reaching me, making me freeze on the spot. I looked back into the direction of the leatherworks and gulped loudly. How the hell did he know? ¡°¡­ That¡­ Wallace taught me on a few wild dogs¡­ So I didn¡¯t really get much in terms of equipment¡­ Actually, I was on my way to the red-claw lynxes¡­¡± ¡°You were hunting wild dogs? In that?¡± For some reason, Illwen got even more shocked, then he looked a bit pensive. ¡°Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?¡± He said after some time, surprising me. ¡°There is something that has been bothering me and I would like to ask a small help of yours¡­¡± Hmm¡­ Is it just me, or there is this smell of quest around here? ---- (dead)Author¡¯s corner: SO¡­. MANY¡­ TABLES! And no worries, the MC will still use Sword and shield.
Next chapter
Chapter 8 - Window-ball, the return Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! SUPAH LONG CHAPTER! 4800+ words! ANYWAY, I actually wanted to use this chapter as kind of a chance to introduce some fantastical things to the ¡°real world¡±, but I kind of held back in this, I wasn¡¯t sure if it would be a good idea to mingle the two so suddenly¡­ Thinking about it, it would end up looking like another story idea I had some time ago¡­ Hmm¡­ ALSO, Window-ball is back! Hooray! ALSO (2) I MAY take a break tomorrow, but i''m still not sure... ---- I shed tears. The salty liquid completely clouding my vision as it rolled down my face. Emotions so powerful I couldn¡¯t hold myself back. How could something so divine exists in such impure planet like this? And as I finally managed to hold the tears back, I did it again. And once again I shed tears. ¡°My, my! Seems like our guests really like your food, dear.¡± Said Illwen to Giselde, who was smiling proudly. ¡°You have no right to talk! You are also crying!¡± I rebutted to the night elf who also had tears forming in the corner of his eyes. And truly, I didn¡¯t think that such a good food could ever exists. It felt like a very piece of the heavens was slowly melting in my mouth. I could even see a few angels descending from a spot of light in the ceiling while singing with their beautiful voices followed by their heavenly trumpets. ¡°He, he. Mister golem is strange like papa!¡± Said the last addition to the table. A young half-dwarf half-dark elf girl. She was five years old and greatly resembled her father, But Illwen said that she was a bit too strong for her age when compared to the Dark-elfs. A trait that she got from her mother, along with the red hair. ¡°No¡­ Mister golem isn¡¯t strange, It¡¯s just that your mama¡¯s food is too good!¡± I corrected her while gently patting her head. She seemed delighted at this as she leaned towards me. Earlier, I had been invited to dine with their family, for me, who had my satiety fairly low had gladly accepted, so I waited in the living room while talking to Illwen. He was interested in my story with the wild dogs, so I told him what had happened with me on this day before coming here. He was specially shocked when he heard that Wallace himself had taught me how to manually skin and that he was buying my wares. Apparently, the old man is famous in the village for being rude and unapproachable, so not many people actually talk with him more than what is needed. Also, it seems that the old man once received orders directly from the king in the capital! Rumors says that he even killed a dragon alone! God dammit, old man! Stop getting more amazing! He also told me that Wallace left his old job when his wife died after giving birth to his daughter, so he took her in and decided to raise her. Somewhere during our talk, Aliwa, their daughter had appeared and started to listen everything wide eyed. I have no idea when exactly, I actually only noticed her when she suddenly jumped at me saying. ¡°Mister golem is amazing!¡± So yeah¡­ She¡¯s adorable. After that I spent some time playing with the little Halfling for some time before the dwarf put on the table. From there I went to paradise and back a few times during dinner. After dinner, I once again sat back on the bear rug in front of the fireplace to hear Illwen¡¯s worry. Aliwa picked a small book from somewhere and sat on my lap happily to read, it seems that she really likes me¡­ Illwen gave a small smile before putting a more serious face. ¡°So¡­ About my request¡­¡± I nodded, telling him to go on. ¡°You see. When one earn the mining ability, we are able to see the places where there are ores as small bright spots. Each ore has a slightly different color.¡± Hmm¡­ So that¡¯s how it works. ¡°My usual mining spot consists mostly of iron and copper, so I¡¯m very used to their colors, but once, when I was walking through the forest behind the temple, I saw a light different from any that I had ever seen¡­¡± ¡°But there was something that kept you from getting it¡­ right?¡± He nodded. ¡°The vein was deep in a cave. Although, during the day, the forest is relatively safe for me to walk, that cave is especially dangerous, after all, that is where the lynxes go during the day.¡± I see, if the cave is filled with a lot of the lynxes during the day, that must mean that they leave it during the night¡­ however, something was bothering me. ¡°From what I know¡­ Shouldn¡¯t lynxes actually be diurnal creatures?¡± I asked with some doubt, but Illwen shook his head. ¡°Usual lynxes, yes. But the red claw are different. They have black fur and prefer to hunt during the night, using stealth to their advantage.¡± Dammit, they just got a lot more difficult. ¡°So, you want me to mine that ore while the lynxes are out of the cave?¡± He nodded once again. ¡°Is there some specific reason that you want that ore in specific?¡± I asked, it was a bit strange for me that he would be willing to give-me a piece of equipment just to get a piece of ore, no matter how curious he was. It seemed that he was expecting this question, since he answered almost immediately after sighing. ¡°Yes, yes. My old master, blessed be his soul, once told me a story about some rare ores that only form under certain conditions. If that ore is the one he told me about¡­ I may need to inform the capital to take action¡­¡± This smell like a very important quest¡­ ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take a look for you. Do you have any idea on what would be a good time to go there?¡± His eyes shone¡­ Or at least must have shone, I couldn¡¯t really see well through his almost closed pupils. ¡°Thank you, Gondorrer! Thank you, thank you!¡± He said excitedly.
QUEST: Miner problem
Illwen, the miner, is bothered by a strange and uncommon ore found deep in the lynxes cave. Mine the ore and bring it back to him to clear his worries.
Rewards: Piece of equipment. Increase in mining skill.
After that he told me that the lynxes should all leave the cave in around three hours. As it was around six or seven in the night, judging by the sun. I still had a good amount of time to wait, so I took a few tips on mining and even got a interesting information. Independent of the ore in the vein, each vein had a chance to have element-crystals together with the ore. One for each of the eight elements: Fire, water, earth, wind (lightning), light, darkness, chaos, order (arcane). You could use these crystals as ingredients to improve your crafting, or as consumables, each one having a specific effect, and this left me very excited. For those around who plays monster hunter, you probably have an idea on what I plan to do with some of these crystals¡­ For the others¡­ Let¡¯s not spoil the fun, ok? DIE WITH CURIOSITY, YOU PUNY MORTALS! FOR I SHALL REVEAL NOTHING! For now at least. Well, going back to the story. Since waiting three hours is not something I can do easily, I decided that it would be a good idea to leave the game and prepare myself for the holyday, since I was a bit short on food. I bade my farewell to the miner¡¯s family, having a hard time to free myself from the little girl¡¯s grasp who still wanted to play some more. After walking back to an alley near the border of the village where I could see a few newbies hunting the rabbits and squirrels, I opened the menu and looked for the button to log out. But no matter how much I looked, I couldn¡¯t find it¡­ ¡­ .. . Just joking!
Logging out, please do not move or the process will be canceled. 10 sec.
You had to see your faces! It was hilarious! Ok, bad jokes aside, the countdown was probably so players wouldn¡¯t log out in the middle of a battle. As I was used to this, it didn¡¯t bother me too much. However, when the countdown reached around five, a voice sounded in my head. ¡°Gon, do you mind if I pull you really quick?¡± I was shocked, to say the least, but after some time I recognized the voice as the one of the great goddess who ruled this world. ¡°Sure, I¡¯m not in a hurry.¡± Just as I said that, the countdown became zero and I was consumed in a flash of light. When I came to, I was back into the login area, with the only thing between a long fall back to the world and me being what looked like a glass floor. In front of me stood the silver-haired A.I., who sported a strange smile. I was worried for a moment, it felt like she was laughing at me¡­ ¡°What?¡± I asked after some time. She giggled slightly after some time, before looking mischievously at me. ¡°Nothing¡­ I was¡­ I just remembered something funny I saw earlier¡­¡± She said in a playful tone, and then her face turned back to a more serious one. ¡°Also, I¡¯ve been hearing some dangerous rumors around your starting village.¡± She said leaning forward with one finger lifted to give more emphasis. ¡°There is a ridiculously strong player who goes around killing level five animals with one attack. It seems that he is crazy and attack on sight, no matter if player or monster. It¡¯s also said that his eyes can always find you no matter where you hide, so if you see him, your best reaction is to flee. Some rumors even say that he is already level thirty with dungeon grade equipment, at least! So be careful where you hunt from now on, ok?¡± She had a worrying tone at the end, so I nodded seriously But wow, for there to be such a strong player right from the start¡­ What kind of monster is this person? He must be insanely good with weapons and such¡­ Hmm? Why do I have this strange feeling? Cygnas straightened herself after that, her face turning back to a smile. ¡°So, are you enjoying the game until now?¡± She asked curious. ¡°Yeah¡­ In fact, there were even some times where I forgot this was a game¡­ The NPCs look so alive that I always end up forgetting about it.¡± I said giving my honest opinion, which seemed to please Cygnas, as her smile widened. ¡°Somehow I even got lucky and met this really strong old man who have a rare class!¡± The girl giggle slightly from my excitement. ¡°Wallace, right?¡± She said. ¡°I honestly wasn¡¯t expecting him to end up as a skinning trainer at your village!¡± I nodded in agreement with her. It was pure dumb luck that the one I had met was Wallace, not some other random trainer¡­ Wait a moment. ¡°What do you mean you weren¡¯t expecting? Wasn¡¯t it you who created the game?¡± I asked when the information finally sunk in, but much to my surprise, Cygnas shook her head slightly. ¡°Although I did create the system and am the one who is managing it now, I wasn¡¯t the one who made the story of the game.¡± She explained with a proud smile. ¡°What I did, was only create the initial setting, the final parameters for the time when the game is launched, and then I focused all my processing power on letting the time flow in game. After that, it was the very NPCs who created the story within the game. I only intervened on the same way as gods in mythology do, by giving blessings and such!¡± ¡°Wait¡­ How much time of story are we talking about here?¡± ¡°Four thousands, three hundred and eight six years, I guess?¡± She tilted her head cutely. I was in a state of shock. There were more than four thousands of years in history to explore in game! And it wasn¡¯t something like the usual pre-scripted things, but real story created by characters? My internal lore-keeper was jumping with joy at such news. To tell the truth, if I wasn¡¯t so focused on going all monster-hunter in this game, I would be questing like a madman, after all, I play most games for their lore, even shooting games! I only recovered myself when Cyg started to look a bit too smug for me. ¡°That is impressive and all, but I don¡¯t think this talk was the reason you called me¡­¡± She suddenly looked surprised, then blushed slightly while looking away. ¡°Sorry, I got a bit side-tracked.¡± She looked back at me, still looking a bit shy. ¡°Say¡­ Do you remember the promise you made me¡­?¡± She asked with her voice a bit low. ¡°The pet thing?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ I spoke with one of my creators about the idea¡­ And¡­¡± She started to become even more nervous, when she got silent I decided to take my guess. ¡°He didn¡¯t allow you?¡± Her eyes widened in surprise, then she started to shake her head nervously. ¡°No, no. It wasn¡¯t that¡­ He actually liked the idea¡­ It¡¯s just that¡­ He kind of¡­ wants to meet you¡­¡± Her face was almost completely red by now. I wonder if what she was feeling is similar to introducing a friend to a father¡­ ¡°Let me guess¡­ He is a bit eccentric?¡± I couldn¡¯t hold my curiosity, and she answered with a slight nod. True, that would actually be embarrassing¡­ ¡°Oh well¡­ I will have to log out now, but should be back in one hour or so. Think we can meet then?¡± She blinked in surprise, then closed her eyes for a few seconds. ¡°He said that it should be fine.¡± She said after a moment. ¡°So, will you log out now?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I kind of have to buy a few things¡­¡± I was about to bid my farewell to her when I remembered something. ¡°Actually, could you check something for me first?¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She blinked in surprise, but nodded after some time. I told her about how my character, for some reason wouldn¡¯t make any sound when I walked around, and this would end up surprising the NPCs every time I approached them from behind. She heard me with curiosity for a moment, but promised to take a look at it later. After that I finally logged out. I opened my eyes slowly, feeling a little sluggish. What I saw was the empty screen of the D-lute, my limbs feeling a bit numb after spending some time in the same positon. I took out the D-lute, put it back into the small table besides my bed, and lifted myself up. I took some time to do a few stretches before changing my shorts for one with a thicker fabric, then I took a light jacket and put it on. After a quick search, I found my keys, wallet and cellphone. I had a missed call from my father, so I picked the earphone and connected it the cellphone before dialing him back, meanwhile I was on my way to the elevator. ¡°Hello? Sonny?¡± His voice sounded after a few rings. ¡°Booh, father.¡± Don¡¯t ask me, long story. But it¡¯s the way I greet my relatives. ¡°Sorry about earlier, I forgot to link my cellphone to the unit. So, what¡¯s up?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Not much actually, just wanted to know what you are thinking about the game.¡± Let me explain something, my father, despite being fairly old, is still pretty much in touch with technology. I can easily say that he knows ten times more about computers than I do. This also means that he plays games; I wouldn¡¯t call him a gamer since they aren¡¯t many, but in the ones he does play, he is very good, sometimes even better than me. So I guess that It¡¯s fairly normal for him to be interested in the D-lute. ¡°Oh, the game is great!¡± What I told him was pretty much the same thing I told Cygnas, but also added a few extra things. He heard everything in silence, when I finished he laughed lightly before saying. ¡°That looks really interesting¡­ I actually am thinking about buying a couple of these machines for me and for your sister, and I wanted to see if you could help us in getting started up!¡± ¡°Really? Well, sure, I don¡¯t mind, but I¡¯m not sure how I could help. I¡¯m a beginner as well¡­¡± ¡°Oh, just show us the basic, like character creation and such.¡± I stopped to think about it, I¡¯m not sure how exactly I would be able to help my father, after all, everything up until now was only the basic for me. And I¡¯m not sure if I can help him in the character creation¡­ But maybe¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t think I can be much of a help, but I guess I know someone who may be able to do it¡­¡± ¡°Oh, you do? Then I¡¯ll be counting on you.¡± ¡°Leave it to me!¡± After that, we talked a bit more about other simple things, by now I was already at the market near my house, so I ended the call. The buying process was fairly fast, since I already knew what I had to buy and where it was on the market, but since it was a Friday afternoon, right before a holiday, the market was fairly full, so I spent a good amount of time in line to pay. It took me thirty minutes to come back home, meaning that had passed two hours in game. Seeing that it was almost seven o¡¯clock here, I made some quick calculations, the servers opened at two in the afternoon, I left at six, which meant that I spent twelve hours in game hunting and skinning dogs? Wow, I didn¡¯t even notice the time pass! Anyway, I quickly put the things I bought in the kitchen before drinking a few glasses of water, just to be sure. Then a quick pass on the bathroom and back to my bed. This time I remembered to link my cellphone to the console. The whole ritual of putting the gear and activating the game later. And back to the login area, where Cygnas happily greeted me! Not. In fact, she didn¡¯t even notice when I arrived. She was floating while slightly curled up, her small hand pressing in her chin as if she was thinking hard about something. I approached her and stood right in front of her, but she didn¡¯t even react. I even caller her a few times, but she didn¡¯t even blink at my words. Of course, I could have simply gone and slightly nudged her to get her attention¡­ But where is the fun in that? I calmly walked back to the login window and crumpled it in it¡¯s super useful ball form. Since It didn¡¯t seem like she would notice me any time soon, I took my time to gather more energy on my throw. The result¡­ I don¡¯t think I really need to describe, right? ¡­ ¡°That was mean! Why did you do that?¡± She was pouting besides me. ¡°Because it¡¯s fun?¡± ¡°¡­ Couldn¡¯t you at least give me a better answer?¡± Of course not! She was looking away, as if angry, but I simply couldn¡¯t help but chuckle to myself. ¡°So, I¡¯m back here. Are you going to call the guy now?¡± I asked to see if I this could distract her a bit. For a moment, I thought she didn¡¯t hear me, but after some time she stole a glance in my direction, before sighing and closing her eyes. For a moment she went silent, then she opened her eyes and let out a much longer sigh. ¡°He¡¯s coming¡­¡± She looked at nowhere in particular, and after a brief moment a flash of light appeared and a person came from it. It was a vampire. With short white hair, blood red eyes and a long pair of fangs in his mouth. He wore a black cloth robe and had a large black cape, in his hand was a cross-bow, which I found a highly amusing choice of weapon. He was fairly tall, probably even more than me, and he had a serious face that naturally seemed to look down upon the others , giving him the looks of an elite. Or would give, if he didn¡¯t suddenly open in a wide and silly smile before running towards Cygnas and throwing himself at her with his arms wide open. Cygnas didn¡¯t simply stand there, she also looked back at the man, a small smile in her face, and when the man jumped. She disappeared in thin air, letting the man fall face first in the ground. An amusing scene if I were to say so myself, as the vampire had used all his strength in the jump and ended up sliding a few meters with his face in the ground, ending with his butt up in the air. ¡°Gon¡­ this man is one of my creator¡­ his name in game is¡­¡± She had appeared besides me. She was looking away while using one of her hands to cover her eyes, a classical face palm¡­ Well, I can understand with a parent like that. ¡°His name is¡­ It is¡­¡± Wow, I didn¡¯t expect it to be that bad. ¡°S2daddylovescygS2¡± OH! MY! GOD! MY SIDES! THEY HURT! I CAN¡¯T STOP LAUGHING! I had literally fallen to the ground and started slamming it while laughing. That goes beyond bad! Goodness! I would surely be depressed if my father did something like that! By now, Cygnas had gone almost completely red. When I saw it, the man had already lifted himself and was dusting away his clothes while approaching me. A slightly more acceptable looks on his face. ¡°You must be Wargon, right?¡± He said offering his hand to me, which I somehow manage to take without bursting in another laughing fit. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, you can call me Vlad in here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a¡­ Pleasure to¡­ Meet you¡­¡± I said while trying to regain my breath, but he seemed completely indifferent to hit. ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll go straight to the point with you. You offered Cygnas to have her take control of your pet so you can take her around in the game, is that right?¡± I nodded in confirmation. ¡°Well, to tell the truth, me and the other developers really like the idea, since it would allow our dear daughter to interact frequently with other people besides us.¡± He looked at Cygnas, who was still a bit embarrassed, and gave her a warm smile. ¡°All we want to ask, is if you would have any problem if we started to monitor your data and moves as you advance through the game after she joins you. Mostly so we can understand what is happening.¡± ¡°Is that all¡­? There will be some embarrassing moments¡­ But I don¡¯t think I would have much of a problem with it.¡± I answered to him. If being monitored in-game was all I needed to do, then it wasn¡¯t much of a problem for me. It seemed that this answer pleased him greatly, as he smiled widely. ¡°Great. In fact, I could even allow Cygnas to create a pet just for you right now¡­¡± ¡°No, no¡­¡± I stopped him when I noticed where this was going. ¡°If it takes too long for me to find a pet, then I won¡¯t mind it, but I¡¯m just starting the game now, so I¡¯d rather try to find one my self for now.¡± I turned back to Cygnas. ¡°Is that a problem with you?¡± She shook her head slowly. ¡°Hmm¡­ I see¡­ I see¡­¡± Vlad answered while nodding, then he turned to Cygnas. ¡°Dear, could you give us a moment here¡­ There is something rather personal I would like to talk with him.¡± Cygnas opened her eyes in surprise, but nodded slightly, before going away. Somehow I had the feeling that she would actually hear all our talk. ¡°You see¡­ As you might have seen, Cygnas is kind of like a daughter for us¡­¡± He started with a nostalgic look in his eyes while friendly putting his arm on my shoulder. ¡°She is pretty, young, smart, bright. And it seems that she took a liking of you!¡± Huh? Where did that friendly atmosphere go? And why do I feel this pressure on my shoulder? ¡°So, let me leave something very clear for you¡­ ¡± He locked his serious eyes with mine. I could feel a shiver running down my spine. ¡°If you ever do anything to our little Cygnas, I swear that I wil¡­¡± ¡°STOP THAT!¡± We just heard Cygnas shout embarrassed before Vlad was hit by something right on the head. He flew even farther than what we had seen on the first time. When I looked on the ground, still surprised, there was the window ball I did earlier. Cygnas blinked to my side again, her face completely red from anger and embarrassment. ¡°Please, forget what he said!¡± She was almost begging me, so I could only smile wryly. ¡°Muu¡­ Why did he have to go and say that¡­¡± She looked so cute when angry! After a long sigh she calmed herself again and looked at the window ball. ¡°¡­ I might have to patch that¡­¡± She said after some time. Alarms rang on my head, if she patched it, then my dear-friend, the window-ball would cease to exist! I could not let that happen! ¡°Do you have to?¡± She looked back at me surprised. ¡°I mean, we don¡¯t even know how it works in game!¡± For a moment, she looked confused, then she opened her eyes in understanding. ¡°Then please, try to do it in game. If nothing bad happens, I may let it go¡­¡± She said after a sigh. I thanked her endlessly before being transported back to the game. I appeared in the small alley I had logged out. ¡°Now, try to create another one!¡± I heard the goddess talking to me in my head. I nodded and opened a menu. Just to be sure, I tried creating an error message by dragging a wild dog fang into the weapon slot, and sure enough it happened. I didn¡¯t even bother reading the message, as I simply picked the window and crumpled it. Finding a random target amongst the players passing on the small road in front of me, I threw the window-ball, hitting the player right in the head. Surely, he fell down just like that, and a commotion appeared amongst the passing players. However, I didn¡¯t see any damage number appearing above his head. I closed the equipment window which caused the error window-ball disappear. ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t think I have much other choice¡­¡± I heard her saying. ¡°But¡­ But¡­ But¡­ There was no damage! Can¡¯t you¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ Make so that it only works in safe areas? Just for fun?¡± I tried begging her, which rewarded me with some giggles inside my head. ¡°I guess I can do that since no one else knows about it¡­ But if too many people start using, I¡¯ll have to patch it.¡± I thanked her endlessly once again. ¡°I¡¯ll be going now¡­ If you need anything, just say my name three times!¡± She said with a playful tone. ¡°What are you? Beetlejuice?¡± I joked back at her, but quickly recalled her. ¡°Just a second, why were you so out of it earlier?¡± For a moment, she said nothing, but I could almost see her widening her eyes in surprise. ¡°Oh¡­ Nothing much¡­¡± She answered after a moment. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ Never mind. I¡¯ll tell you later. See ya!¡± And with that she left me alone. I shrugged it off, must not be anything too important. After a quick look in the sky and seeing that it was already a good time in the night, I walked away from the village, after all, I had some lynxes to hunt. Of course, on the whole way there I was doing my whole rolling acquisition routine, making sure that no other player was near me, but¡­ I had taken the outer way so I could train a bit more before reaching the forest, and since the way with less players was the wild dogs area, I took that way, even if it was a bit longer than the other. But I still made sure to be on the outer part of the area, where there was a small forest, not the lynx one, just to be sure that no player would end up seeing me. I mean, it¡¯s kind of embarrassing to be rolling for absolutely no reason. However, just when I had started rolling for the Nth time, a figure surged from a tree besides me. I almost panicked when I noticed that we would collide head on, but much to my surprise, the figure managed to back step nimbly right before I hit it. Due to losing my time because of the surprise, I ended up falling on my butt, but I still managed to get up and pick my weapons just in case it was an enemy attack, but what I found was a girl still wearing her beginner¡¯s gear. She looked surprised at me and said. ¡°What could you be doing?¡±
Next chapter
Chapter 9 - MMORPG for dummies Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Introducing new character! (obligatory fox-girl) ANYWAY, she was originally going to be Cygnas¡¯ avatar in the story. Even the way she meets the MC is the same (roughly). I must say that the way their relationship advanced is a bit different from what I planned originally, but I¡¯m quite pleased with how she is now. ALSO,*ahem* I CALL AUTHORS RIGHT ON THE WHOLE TRANSLATION SOFTWARE THINGY! Which means that whatever complain you could have about the whole two languages thing, from lost jokes to the fact that honorific and some terms do pass is null! ALSO(2) Whoever gets cookies do say so in the comments! And did anyone discover what the MC plans to do with the element crystals he learned about on the last chapter? P.H. didn¡¯t¡­ He disappointed me¡­ ----- I hastily stood up and drew my weapons, reading myself for a possible attack while turning to face the figure whom I had barely missed. I wasn¡¯t sure if it would be an aggressive enemy, so I chose the safe option. However, what I saw wasn¡¯t a wild monster from the game. It was a girl. A player, still wearing all her basic cloth armor and using a plain wooden staff. She was looking at me with a slight curious look. A brief moment passed before the silence was broken by the girl. ¡°What could you be doing?¡± I blinked in surprised at her question. I was still a bit shocked to see a player in this area, but after recovering myself, I sheathed back the swords and though my answer. [WARNING! DEAR READERS, THE FOLLOWING WORDS ARE NOT FOR THE WEAK MINDED! SOME OF YOU MAY FIND IT OFFENSIVE, UNECESSARY OR EVEN DOWNRIGHT RETARDED. THESE WORDS MAY END UP MAKING YOU QUESTION YOUR SANITY FOR READING THIS STORY, SO READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION OR YOU CAN JUMP TOWARDS THE SAFE AREA!] ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? I was doing music!¡± I said with my best serious expression. The girl looked surprised at me, but then frowned slightly. ¡°What could you mean by that?¡± She asked suspicious. I made a surprised face. ¡°You never heard of it?¡± She slowly shook her head, completely at loss for my words. ¡°Then let me enlighten you!¡± I pointed at myself. ¡°I was rolling stones!¡± Ba dum tiss! A cookie to everyone who saw this coming! ¡­ .. . [YOU HAVE REACHED THE SAFE AREA, YOU CAN CONTINUE YOUR READING FROM HERE!] The girl continued looking confused for a moment, then her eyes widened slightly before she looked away, her hand covering her mouth while slowly shaking her head. Although her expression didn¡¯t change much, I had the feeling that she was holding her laugh back. Glad to have ended with the awkward atmosphere, I smiled proudly. I also took my time to take a look at her. Her race was a Kitsune, for those who aren¡¯t very keen on Japanese mythology, it¡¯s a fox demon capable of shape-shifting; appearance wise they are kind of like fox Beast-man, but lore-wise, they are usually focused more on magic. She was fairly tall, for a girl, being only slightly shorter than me. She had long black hair, and a pale white skin. Her small face had a natural fierce look to It, due to her narrow, slightly slanted, blue eyes. From the top of her head, a pair of black fox ears popped up, with only the very tip having a white fur, this same pattern applied to the two tails swaying slowly behind her. Her height aside, she was a perfect Japanese girl one would usually see in manga, she even had this whole, cold, but cool girl, air around her. In fact, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she were to say that she practiced kendo or something. Now that I think about it¡­ We can create either male or female characters¡­ Does this mean that I can¡¯t be certain of anyone¡¯s gender in this game? Hmm¡­ ¡°Okay, bad jokes aside¡­¡± I scratched my cheek, feeling a bit awkward. The girl looked back at me expressionlessly. ¡°I was¡­ Actually¡­ Kind of trying to create a skill for me¡­¡± From here, I kind of expected a good amount of responses to my words, ranging from how to create a skill, how I am retarded to be trying, and even encouragement. Well, her answer was none of those. ¡°Skills?¡± She looked slightly confused for a moment, then her eyes widened ever so slightly. ¡°Forgive-me, I forgot to introduce myself.¡± She said while bowing. Yes, you heard that right, she bowed, like right out of a manga, a perfect 45 degrees! I was honestly shocked, to tell the least. Her overly polite speech, coupled with her looks had already set a few alarms in my head, but now with that bow I had no doubt left. An otaku! And she is actually doing it really well for a role-play! Well¡­ Not that I have any right to say anything¡­ In some games I kind of end up in full personification moments, even laughing maniacally when I play the villain and crush those pesky little heroes¡­ Sorry, I side tracked¡­ ¡°I am¡­¡± She hesitated for a moment. ¡°Tatenaka Yuki¡­ Or simply Yuu. It is a pleasure to meet you.¡± She said after some time, but if I had to say something, it sounded more like she was reading a paper than remembering her own name. Sure enough, the name floating above her head was Yuu. Hmm¡­ If she really takes roleplaying as far as I thought, she probably introduced herself by using first the surname, and then her given name. After that, I couldn¡¯t simply go and introduce myself in any way, so I straightened myself and gave a slight bow. ¡°I am Gondorrer Dogsban¡­¡± Woops, almost made a mistake. ¡°Gondorrer Gravelheart, with Gondorrer being my given name, but you can call me Wargon in here. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Yuu.¡± I tried to be as gallant as possible in here. Never hurt to give a good first impression¡­ Although I have the feeling that I already messed that up. She nodded slightly in approval. ¡°Then, Wargon-san¡­¡± San? Really? ¡°If it were not a bother to you, could you please help me with something?¡± I nodded in response. ¡°You see, I was actually supposed to meet a friend in here, but she had to cancel on the last minute, so now I am a bit at loss on what I have to do here.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Well, I have all the night to get what I need done, so I supposed I can help you a bit¡­¡± When I said that, I could see a slight sign of relief pass on her eyes. ¡°So, what exactly do you want to know?¡± I said while leaning against a nearby tree, I didn¡¯t think that this was going to take too long. ¡°You see, I am new to this so¡­¡± She dropped her head slightly while thinking. ¡°Could you please start explaining to me, what is that ¡®skill¡¯ you said earlier?¡± I nodded, it was a fairly easy question, and just when I was about to open my mouth to answer, something hit me. Isn¡¯t this a little bit strange? I mean, if she really was an otaku, she should have played at least a few games¡­ Rather, even if she somehow never played a game before, by seeing anime, manga or light novels, she would clearly understand what a skill in a MMORPG is. I looked at her in surprise for a moment, but it didn¡¯t seems like she was only playing around with that question, her eyes were saying that was a pure and sincere doubt. But then that means that she isn¡¯t an otaku like I thought, but that wouldn¡¯t match up, after all, her way of expressing was a perfect¡­ It¡­ Couldn¡¯t be, could it? ¡°Can you give me just a minute, Yuu?¡± I asked, a bit anxious. She blinked once, then nodded. I turned away from her and looked at the sky. ¡°Cygnas!¡± It was something between a loud voice and a shout which seemed to surprise the girl in front of me, but I paid it no mind since I was waiting a response from another person. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s fast! Missed me?¡± I heard Cygnas voice in my head. ¡°Yeah, but don¡¯t mind it, next time it will hit.¡± Counter-joke! I could almost see Cygnas pouting. ¡°Anyway¡­ Cyg, by any chance¡­ Do you have a translating software in this game?¡± I asked a bit anxious. ¡°Hmm? Why do you¡­¡± She suddenly trailed off, making a strange silence for a moment. After a second her voice came back ¡°I see¡­ So she¡­¡± For some reason she sounded a bit surprised. ¡°Anyway, yes, I do have a real-time translation software in here.¡± I could hear the smugness in her voice. ¡°Is that all?¡± ¡°No¡­ I guess¡­¡± I said after some time, still shocked at what this meant. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be going! Bye-bye!¡± After that I could somehow feel as she closed the connection. I turned back to Yuu, who was looking confused and perplexed at me¡­ If things really were what I was thinking¡­ I cleared my throat once. ¡°Say, Yuu¡­ Could you tell me from where you are playing?¡± I asked a bit anxious, I had to at least confirm things before making assumptions. But she frowned at my question, and even took a step back. ¡°¡­ My friend told me to not reveal any personal information in the game!¡± She had a slightly ferocious expression that even scared me a little. Well it couldn¡¯t be helped. ¡°The you have a really good friend.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°Then, let me start¡­ I am a Brazilian, and no, I don¡¯t speak Japanese!¡± I said that a bit dejectedly. At first she frowned a bit more, but when the information finally sunk in, she widened her eyes in clear surprise. She even tried to say a few things, but the words wouldn¡¯t leave her lips, such was her shock. ¡°You¡­ You aren¡¯t lying¡­ Are you?¡± She asked after some time, so I simply shook my head. ¡°But¡­ how¡­ I¡¯m hearing everything in Japanese¡­¡± So, my suspicion was right on the spot. The only reason for her to have those perfect Japanese manners would be if she were a true Japanese. But even that wouldn¡¯t explain why she had no idea about what a skill was, the only way would be for her to never have any contact with manga, anime, light novel or game. Adding all that together, we get a really obvious, but interesting clich¨¦ situation¡­ A sheltered princess. This would basically mean that she had almost no contact with the outside world, so she will probably be lacking some common sense, be it in the real life or in the gaming area. Basically, someone would have to teach her everything from zero. It is a slightly troublesome situation, to say the least. But I had to look away from her, because I could feel a wicked smile forming on my face. She was an innocent girl, who knew nothing of the world and was asking me for help! It was an incredible situation, but I couldn¡¯t help myself, after all, things were definitively going my way¡­ Just think about it! How fun it would be to mess with her! After finally managing to hold back my smile, I looked back at her, who was still lost in thoughts. ¡°Games sure are amazing!¡± She murmured distracted. I coughed once to get her attention, which made her blush for a moment, before she bowed to me once again. ¡°Forgive-me, I got lost in my own thoughts!¡± ¡°Geez, no need to get so worried!¡± I said with a wry smile, this somehow managed to calm her. ¡°Will you still want some help?¡± When I said that, she looked surprised at me for a moment. ¡°But would it not be a bother to you to teach someone from a different country like me?¡± She asked worried. ¡°Why would it bother me? This is actually really interesting!¡± I said laughing. Her eyes shone for a moment, then she did an even deeper bow towards me. ¡°Thank you very much, Gravelheart-dono!¡± Wait, wait, wait! I think I just heard something really incredible! ¡°What is it with the ¡®Gravelheard-dono¡¯ all of a sudden?¡± ¡°You, who do not even live in the same country as I do, is willing to spend your precious time with a person such as me to teach me the basics of this game! It is only in the right for me to demonstrate my appreciation to such a great person like yourself, Gravelheart-dono!¡± My god! The formality! It hurts! ¡°Look¡­ I do accept to teach you around and everything¡­ But you have to tone down a bit it all that formality, you know? At least drop the ¡®Gravelheard-dono¡¯!¡± She blinked in surprise, then she was about to start complaining, so I interrupted her. ¡°And if you insist in being like that, I will leave you right now.¡± She was looking at me with some doubt, but in the end she gave a small nod. Convinced, I started to think on what to do, so I started by inviting her to a party. I quickly opened the menu, found the option and sent her the invite. She widened her eyes when the window appeared in front of her, then took her time to read it, getting a slightly worried look in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Wargon-dono, but I fear that I do not have any tea for a party!¡± It took me a couple of seconds for the meaning of her words to clink in my head, but when it did, I started laughing loudly, leaving her confused. ¡°It¡¯s not that kind of party!¡± I said after a while. ¡°Party in a game like this, mean a group of people who do thing together.¡± She nodded slightly when she understood, then she accepted the window.
You have successfully created a party
Yuu has joined the party. Wanderer [lvl 1] (110/110)
¡°Thank you very much, Wargon-dono!¡± I laughed wryly at her excitement. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! First, it would be a good idea to show her the basics of combat and looting, because that is the basics of any MMO, but for that I would have to explain her about status, skills and such. I started by checking something on my status screen, and when I found it, I turned back to her. ¡°Yuu, do you know how to open your status screen?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I see¡­ Do you see a small symbol on the upper right corner of your vision? It looks like a square with a letter inside.¡± When her eyes drifted to the upper right corner, I knew she had found it. ¡°Now focus on that symbol and think ¡®status¡¯. This should open a large window. After that, on the upper right, there are the words ¡®show to party members¡¯, focus on them.¡± As she was doing this, I could see some windows appearing in front of her, but they were completely empty, at least for me. But when she got to the last part of my instruction, the large window suddenly gained content.
NAME: Yuu (Yuki Tatenaka)
TITLE: (none)
Class tree:WandererClass:None
Race:KitsuneGender:Female
Level:1Experience:0%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points:110/110HP regen (out of combat):1/sec
Mana:400/400Mana Regen:20/sec (2/sec)
STR:10TGH:10
AGI:10VIT:10
INT:10MND:10
ATTK:Ice 6-8Extra:(none)
DEF25M. Res.:25
Satiety:97/100 (Satisfied)
SKILLS:
Magician¡¯s staff Mastery [lvl 1] -Invoke element (Active) Cloth Mastery [lvl 1] Racials [max] -Illusionist (Active) -Natural Charm -Transformation master(Active) -True shadow
From the looks of it, she chose to start with an ice staff. I quickly asked her to take a look on each of her skills, long story short. Invoke element is a basic magic, spends only 5 mana, deals 100% of the weapon¡¯s magical damage, which is fairly little, but considering that it can attack from 20 meters and ignores DEF, it¡¯s pretty good for a beginner¡¯s attack. Her racials were just like the ones you would expect from the race. Illusionist creates a fake copy of yourself with 1/20 of your life and makes you invisible for 5 seconds or until your copy dies, but it has a cool down of 5 minutes. Natural Charm gives a bonus discount or profit when trading with NPCs, which is divided by half when they are the same gender as your character. Transformation Master allows them to hide their tails, ears, and change hair freely when out of combat, or copy someone else¡¯s appearance, but change back to their normal form when they enter combat. Finally, true shadow makes it so their shadows, when coming from a fire-like source, looks like that of a normal fox with many tails. Looking at her status, I thought that the best way to start was for her to earn a few skills for now. And also, maybe mess a bit with her. I straightened myself and put on an overly-serious face while looking at her. She visibly stiffened herself and straightened her back. I coughed once and then put on my best general¡¯s voice. ¡°ATTENTION APPRENTICE YUUKI!¡± I¡¯m not exactly sure why, but it seems that she ended up getting carried by the joke, as she suddenly stood rigid. I held a grin back and started to walk from one side to the other, with my hands behind my back. ¡°From now on, you are going to be my one and only apprentice, so I will teach you everything I know about MMO gaming until you are more than able to climb to the very top of the scoreboard, do you hear me?¡± ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡± ¡°I did not hear you, apprentice! Say it clearly!¡± ¡°Yes, Shishou!¡± She said in a hurry, receiving my nod. Shishou¡­ Master? Oh, god¡­ I¡¯m going to have so much fun¡­ ¡°Then, let us start with skills, since their meanings is a lot more literal than the rests. So tell me, apprentice, what would you think is a skill?¡± As I said this, I slowly start walking away, motioning her to follow me. ¡°I¡­ I am not sure, Shishou¡­¡± I look back at her and frown, scaring her slightly. ¡°Ah¡­ Is¡­ is it¡­ Skills are things you earn when you train a lot!¡± I put on a satisfied smile. ¡°Very good! But here in the game, skills are a little more inside this game. They are abilities used to improve yourself, be it temporarily or permanently. And these abilities are your bread and butter of fighting, because a strong skill, can easily overpower your enemies.¡± I turned back to her for a moment and lift a finger in warning. ¡°But do not become over reliant on these skills. Different from normal games, here you must also use your own abilities, from outside of the game, to compensate for the skills short comings.¡± ¡°Skills have shortcomings?¡± ¡°Yes, apprentice.¡± Oh god¡­ She is going to be so much fun! I was grinning madly for a while now. ¡°Skills have costs. For example, have you seen your invoke element? It costs mana. Mana, is the price you pay for you to use your skills. And sometimes, you can¡¯t use the same skill for some time after using it. That, is called cool down¡­¡± While we walked in the forest, with me three steps in front of the eager princess, who was greedily absorbing the information. I gave her a quick crash course on skills, about acquiring and using them, then I taught her about status, hp, and everything else. All the basics. All this time I slowly took her to the middle of the wild dog area. ¡°Apprentice, now we will put everything you learned in practice, are you ready?¡± ¡°Yes, Shishou, I won¡¯t disappoint you!¡± ¡°Good. Now, I will keep the dog¡¯s attention on me, meanwhile I want you to attack it, understood?¡± ¡°Yes, Shishou!¡± After that, I immediately taunted a nearby dog, which came running at me like always. A quick sides-step and a stab-slash-slash-slash. -13 -7 -11 -6 -10 -5 -10 -6 Combo (x1.2) -81 (109/190) Just to be sure, I dealt a huge amount of damage, since I wasn¡¯t sure yet how the agro system work on the game. After that I looked at Yuu and nodded for her to start. ¡°Invoke element!¡± She said in a loud voice. Although I felt that it was a bit too much, it seem that she has an easier time to use her skills like this. She pointed her staff forward, and a small ball of icy fog shot forward, hitting the dog in the belly and making him flinch. -6 (103/190) For a moment I start to worry whether her damage will be enough to beat the dog, but since I could easily keep dodging the dog without any trouble, I took my time in watching her. But her attacks, not only were fairly weak, they were slow, coming only once every few seconds. In the end, we took a couple of minutes for her to finish the dog. Of course, the entire time I had sheathed my weapons and put my hands in my back, looking one of these martial arts master. What? I want to keep some appearances! She stared for a moment at a window that appeared before her, then looked at me in confirmation. I nodded and let her reclaim the body. Which disappeared in a pillar of light, leaving a (surprise surprise!) normal Wild dog fang, and a pouch with coins. I point at them and tell her to pick them up. ¡°Now, apprentice, is there a flashing window near the border of your vision?¡± She nodded. ¡°Good. Focus on it!¡± She nodded and I saw two windows appear in front of her. She was focusing on them for a moment, then her eyes widened and she looked at me. ¡°Shishou! It is written here that I have earned a new skill and two new subskills!¡± ¡°Good, student, now tell me, what are these skills?¡± ¡°Ice mastery, frost ball and frost emission, Shishou! all at level one!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Good, now, what are the details of your frost ball?¡± I asked raising an eyebrow. ¡°It deals 120% of weapon damage at the costs of 8 mana.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I see, and what about the frost emission?¡± She focused on the window while reading, then looked at me with some confusion on her face. ¡°It says¡­ Varies, on both damage and costs¡­ What does this mean, Shishou?¡± Huh? Varies on both damage and costs? What kind of skill is that? ¡°Sadly, I¡¯m no master on the arts of magic, so you shall look for it¡¯s meaning yourself. Understood?¡± She nodded vigorously with the usual serious expression on her face. ¡°I shall attack another dog, test your skill on it.¡± And once again I taunted and attacked the dog. -79 (111/190) ¡°Frost ball!¡± Firstly, she used the Frost ball, and it was much better attack than her staff¡¯s invoke element, being a fast snowball-like attack. -9 (102/190) For some reason, she widened her eyes in surprise, probably surprised by the damage. But soon took back her serious face. ¡°Frost emission!¡± This skill was a bit different from the last one, as it didn¡¯t attack immediately, instead formed a frost mist around her, which surprised both of us. After a moment she closed her eyes, as if concentrating, then the mist started to concentrated, forming a single floating icicle that flew in the direction of the dog, piercing it, before disappearing into nothingness. -16 (86/190) She widened her eyes once again, but this time a small smile formed on her lips, as she once again took a concentrating face. ¡°Frost Emission!¡± If the first fight had taken a lot of time, this one was ridiculously fast. After quickly dodging the dog, I took a step back and saw as she activated the skill. But the scene was something downright an action manga. Dozens of frost spikes formed all around the dog, smaller, but much, much, much more numerous than the previous one, and as soon as they formed, they flew towards the dog. -70 (16/190) She smiled proudly, then once again formed a single icicle before launching it at the dog, finishing him. It seems that the skill had just become her favorite, but there was something bothering me. ¡°Student!¡± ¡°Yes, Shishou!¡± She answered me, proud of herself, expecting a praise. ¡°How much mana do you have left, student?¡± ¡°Thirteen, Shishou!¡± Her eyes were shining with expectations. I picked my still sheathed sword and hit her in the head. -12 (98/110) ¡°Ouch!¡± She said while crouching and holding her head in pain. ¡°Why¡­ Why would you do that, Shishou?¡± ¡°You fool! What if you were alone and the enemy hadn¡¯t been defeated?¡± She widened her eyes in surprise. ¡°From now on, you are to never again drop below half your mana when we are together, unless under dire circumstances, do you understand?¡± ¡°Y-Yes Shishou¡­ Sorry¡­¡± Hmm¡­ Seeing her getting sad like that isn¡¯t good for my morale¡­ I gently put my hand on her head and patted her. ¡°Still, you did well. But be careful next time, ok?¡± She had widened her eyes in surprise, but then closed them gently as I patted her, and simply nodded in response, her two tails swinging happily from one side to the other. All in all, it had passed only around fifteen minutes since I met her, so the night was still young. My mind drifted towards the quest I had received from Illwen, and it probably showed on my face, as she started to look at me worried. ¡°Is something the matter, Shishou?¡± Hmm¡­ Now that I think about it, I might have taken this shishou and disciple joke a bit too far¡­ ¡°I was just remind of what I was going to do before meeting you.¡± I said after a small sigh, but this seemed to have worried her. ¡°Then¡­ I am troubling you, Shishou? If so, let me help you! I promise I will not disappoint you!¡± I took some time to think about her proposal, if I somehow managed to keep the agro of the lynxes away from here, then she may actually be a great help¡­ Hell, it will even help me train tanking. I nodded. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll have you help with my quest.¡± I said in a self important tone. ¡°Quest? What is that, Shishou?¡± ¡°Follow-me, I¡¯ll tell you on the way!¡± And like that, me, level 4, and my newest student, a level 1, went on our way to hunt level 10 lynxes.
Next chapter
Chapter 10 - Lynx Rush Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! A fight chapter! And a strong opponent this time! ANYWAY, in a few chapters, I will be ending this ¡®beginner¡¯s arc¡¯ and will start the ¡®first hunt¡¯ arc, I plan on doing an extra between these two to further increase the legends of green eyes, the brutal. Since I am lazy and don¡¯t want to create new characters just for this, I plan on picking a couple of character on the comment sections of a future chapter. So go preparing you characters whoever wants to have their characters on the extra. I¡¯ll give more details on the next chapter on how I want you to make them¡­ (I am a selfish and lazy autor!) ALSO, I have quite a rough week ahead of me, so please don¡¯t hate me If I fail to update for a few days, ok? (T.T) ALSO (2), I will later change the slice ¡®n dice from the previous chapter to deal half the damage, this way I can increase the hit counts. Just a warning here for anyone who thing that the damage is a bit on the low side. Have a good read! ---- ¡°Shishou? How come you know so much about Japanese? Did you not say that you do not speak it?¡± ¡°What is that so suddenly?¡± We were walking towards the forest, almost at it¡¯s border. If I were to look behind me, I would see the back of the temple. On our way here, I was explaining about quests to Yuu, but after the talk ended, she made that question. ¡°Well¡­ Back when Shishou and I met, you said for me to stop with ¡®Gravelheart-dono¡¯ because it was too formal¡­ How did you know that?¡± Oh, so that is what she meant! ¡°I see, my apprentice¡­ That is an interesting and deep question to make, but I fear that the answer you seek may be a bit too complicated for you at this moment¡­ Do you still with to hear it?¡± I saw her eyes shine with excitement while she nodded vigorously. ¡°Then hear me well¡­ The reason for me being able to understand that¡­¡± Pause for dramatic effect. ¡°Is because I read a lot of manga and light novel!¡± For a moment, her eyes were shining with admiration and surprise, but after some time, she finally understood what I meant and a slight frown appeared on her face. ¡°Shishou¡­ Were you fooling with me?¡± ¡°Perhaps¡­ ¡± Her incredulous face was a sight to see. After a few moments she finally sighed and mumbled something around the lines of idiot Shishou, which only served to increase even more my smile. I think I may be a bad teacher¡­ Anyway, as we advanced in this humorous silence, a question came to my head this time. ¡°Say, Yuu¡­ Isn¡¯t it like seven o¡¯ clock in the morning there in japan? Didn¡¯t you start this game a bit too early?¡± She blinked in surprise for a moment, then nodded to me. ¡°It is not a problem for me, Shishou, since I am used to waking up early for my daily training at the dojo.¡± Wait, did she just say that she goes to a dojo? A cool beauty, sheltered princess and now swordswoman? I just met someone incredible! ¡°In fact, my grandfather excused me from the training today so I could start playing with my friend. Also, since the¡­ server? ...Opened in the middle of the night for us, we decided to start this morning¡­ But then she had to help her mother with something and could not enter for now, but I was too anxious to see how is a game...¡± I see¡­ So that explains why she was logged in at such a time. ¡°At least, I managed to meet Shishou! So everything ended up well!¡± Oh my god, those shining eyes! That expectation! She pours so much trust in me! Sorry for having brainwashed you with this shishou story! Sorry! ¡°I¡­ I see¡­ Did she say when she would be able to login?¡± ¡°She had said that she should be able to get here around nine o¡¯ clock... So I still have around two more hours to learn from you, Shishou!¡± ¡°Then¡­ That means we have six more hours to hunt¡­ Should be enough for the quest¡­¡± I turned back to her and saw her confused face. ¡°You see¡­ the time inside the game passes three times faster!¡± She widened her eyes in surprise, then started to mutter something along the lines that games are incredible. I could only smile at how baffled she was, then, noticing we were bordering the forest, I made a signal for her to stop, then proceeded to change my beginner¡¯s sword for the beginner¡¯s shield, which seemed to get her by surprise. ¡°So, Shishou can use sword and shield too?¡± Why is she so shocked? Shouldn¡¯t sword and shield be easier than dual wielding? ¡°Listen here, my apprentice¡­ If you so wish to master many weapons, then do as you please, but remember, whenever you are about to face a new enemy, make sure to make use a weapon of preference.¡± Lesson I learned the hard way on monster hunter, still have trauma to brachydios¡­ ¡°So face the unknown with the known!¡± A cryptic message just to sound cool. This seemed to impress her, so I would say that it¡¯s a job well done. ¡°Shishou, how are we going to fight these enemies?¡± ¡°Simple, I¡¯ll tank them for a moment¡­¡± I looked at her, and saw her slightly tilting her head in confusion. Oh, right¡­ I still didn¡¯t explain the composition of a party for her¡­ ¡°You see, disciple, a good party is usually consisted of three main components.¡± Raised finger for dramatic effect. ¡°The DPS, also known as damage dealer, is the one responsible for attacking the enemies and defeat them, for now, this seems to be your case.¡± She nodded energetically. ¡°Second, the tank! Tanks are the one responsible for distracting the enemies and take their attacks for the team. This is my case¡­¡± ¡°Ehh? Shishou is going to take the enemies attack?¡± She looked utterly surprised, then she frowned before shaking her head. ¡°I cannot let that happen! Shishou does not deserve that! Instead, I will take their atta¡­ Ouch!¡± I used the sheath of my sword to hit her before she could end her speech. -5 (115/120) She looked at me with upturned eyes while crouching with her head in her hands, which, coupled with her drooped ears made an extremely destructive scene that almost shaved my health off, but I managed to hold myself back. ¡°You silly apprentice! What do you have to protect yourself from the enemies? I have been preparing myself for tanking ever since I began this game! You, with your poor defense and small health pool wouldn¡¯t be able to take on the attacks of these beasts!¡± She still seemed to want to complain, but held herself back seeing the reasoning behind my words. She still pouted a little, though¡­ ¡°Anyway, lastly, we would have a healer, responsible for casting recovery spells on the party. However, we lack one of these, so we will have to take extra care while hunting, do you hear me?¡± She nodded slowly while lifting her self up. I couldn¡¯t help myself and petted her lightly for a moment. After all, she was worried about me¡­ ¡­ I advanced alone through the forest, taking care not to make any sudden movement while I looked for the lynxes. But there were already a couple of minutes since I entered the forest, but I still didn¡¯t see any of them, and this was starting to worry me. I was ready to give up on this hunt when suddenly a small bush shook slightly in front of me. I was half expecting for something to jump out of the bush, but no matter how much I waited, nothing came, so I slowly advanced towards it, with my shield in front of me. When I got close enough, I could see a black figure crouched within it, hiding itself from the sights of the others. In fact, had I not seen the bush move slightly, I might even have missed this, so well hidden it was. However, even at this distance, I couldn¡¯t see it¡¯s status plate. From it¡¯s shape and color alone, I was sure that this was the Red-claw Lynx, since it had a feline figure and completely black fur, however, it didn¡¯t seem aggressive. Maybe it¡¯s stealth is what is hiding the plates? If so, how many of them did I miss up to now? I thought slightly annoyed at myself. Anyway, I started the fight with the lynx in the same way I had been doing with the dogs before meeting Yuu. Slash, kick, slash, stab, bash, slice ¡®n dice. -17 -4 -18 -20 -5 -7 (6x) Combo! (x1.3) -138 (289/430) Yeah, it¡¯s a pretty strong combo. But it¡¯s main damage come from the three seconds of slice and dice, so I can¡¯t really use it all the time, and if the animal somehow dodges the bash, I¡¯m in for a world of pain as I have to stand still for 3 seconds to deplete my energy. But, 430 health points? It¡¯s a bit more than what I was expecting to say the truth... Rather, thinking about it, isn¡¯t it a bit too low? After all, I have the almost worst equipment right now, and dealt a third of its life in one combo! As I was bathed in doubts about this enemy, I took my distance now that slice ¡®n dice had ended, and put my shield in front of me, readying myself. I already had done a good amount of damage to it, so now I would change to a more defensive battle, since I had no idea of the enemies moves. The overgrown cat looked at me in the eyes with some anger as it arced with its fur bristled. For a moment I felt that he would end up there and take his time, but he suddenly charged forward. Fast! The wild dog doesn¡¯t even compare to this! I barely managed to block its claws with my shield and push him back. He falls in his feet, before hissing at me and charging again. This time I was ready, so I waited for him patiently, but right before it reached my shield he jumped to the sides, towards a tree, before jumping again right at me. Since he was in the opposite side of my shield, I had no hope to block him, so I used my sword, somehow managing to pummel him in the head. -4 (285/430) But it still wasn¡¯t enough, even when I managed to send it flying, his claws still managed to reach and slash me. -22 (178/200) Damn! The little bastard is strong! I take a step back and watch him with caution while he lifts himself. For a moment we stare at each other. A strange light pass on his eyes, almost as if he is mocking me, then he simply vanishes in thin air! Come on! I call hax! Suddenly, the whole area around me suddenly appears a lot more threatening than before. I crouch myself waiting for an attack and look around¡­ But for some moment nothing comes, only working to make me even more nervous. Calm down¡­ I am almost losing my mind here. If he gets me with my guard down he will tear away at my health like a hot knife on butter. I look back at where he was, looking for some traces of him¡­ And I actually find something! Can you believe that? There were four patches of grass that were slightly pressed down. A wicked grin appear on my face, before I charge forward towards the patch. I could see the grass tremble slightly when the lynx shook in surprise. An upward slash and the cat comes out of the bag! I mean, the cat comes out of the stealth! -19 (266/430) The stealth is actually just a trick to lead newbies to worry. Although he does go invisible, he can¡¯t move too fast or he will probably undo the skill. This actually makes sense, since he is too low level for him to have a powerful skill like stealth without any handicaps. Not wanting to press on any further, I quickly step back and hide myself behind the shield once again. The cat hisses at me once again, before charging. I hide behind my shield, but he once again does that side jump to a tree right before hitting me. I barely manage to follow him with my eyes, but this time he made a grave mistake! He jumped to my shield-arm this time, so I use my shield to stop him, then slam him in a tree, locking him in place with my shield. I smile wickedly at this familiar scene, before picking my sword and stabbing at him. The first one was via skill, the others normal stabs. -19 -13-14 But much faster than what I expected, he recovers himself and use his back legs to scratch at my shield arm from behind, making me cringe with pain, stopping my combo and letting him escape. Combo(x1.1) -52(214/430) -21 (157/200) The little bastard! I jump backwards and slowly back away, two attacks and a fourth of my health is gone down the drain¡­ This guy is strong. I was backing away from him, going back the way I came here while always keeping my shield between us. But something was bothering me¡­ Why is it called a red-claw lynx? It¡¯s claws are black just like it¡¯s fur, so it didn¡¯t make much sense to me¡­ Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Also, he had gone eerily quiet for some time now¡­ What could this mean? We were crossing our gazes for a moment, until he slowly started to show his fang to me, before making what was something between a roar and a meow. He surprised me and sent an emergency signal down my brain, as my mind suddenly became more focused, a reflex-like reaction related to monster hunter, where, whenever the monster roars, it can only mean one thing. He¡¯s enraged! For a moment, nothing happened. But the cat looked at me and hissed lowly. And disappeared. For a moment, I though he had gone invisible again, but I realized that I was wrong. When he used stealth earlier, his body disappeared like a mist, but this time he seemed to simply vanish out of my vision¡­ Rather, this isn¡¯t stealth! This is¡­ -30 (127/200) I felt the sharp pain coming from my back, throwing me down forward. The bastard! He hadn¡¯t used stealth, he had moved so fast that I couldn¡¯t see! He was standing on my back, and I could feel him lifting his claw so he could maim me. But I reached my shield-hand to my back and picked him up before throwing him forward. He quickly got back up to his feet, undamaged, but I was a bit quicker and was already taking my distance, putting a good ten meters between us. The lynx looked at me for a moment, as if waiting for something, then it hissed lowly once again. But this time he didn¡¯t disappear, rather, he started walking in my direction. But I noticed something worrisome, it was faint, but I could see some red light gathering in his claws. The more he advanced, the more light his claws gathered, and the redder they became and the faster he came. At the end, he was already running full speed, but right before reaching me, he lifted his left claw. All alarms on my head rang all at once, and I hid myself behind my shield. He started clawing with a never seen before ferocity. Even my slice and dice looked like nothing compared to his. I could feel my shield being slowly pushed back, but all of sudden, his attack ceased. I dared to spy behind the shield for a brief moment, only to see him raising his right claw. Then he brought it down. And right behind it, a large, dark gash appeared in the air, as if his claw was slashing the very space. The attack connected with my shield, dealing a huge, never seen before impact to it. I felt my arm scream in pain as I gritted my teeth so I wouldn¡¯t shout. I had to even use my sword arm to support the shield so it wouldn¡¯t give in to the attack. My whole body was knocked back, leaving a trail in the ground as I barely managed to stand on my feet the whole time. I had slid back a whole meter from that attack, and it wasn¡¯t all. -11 (116/200) He even managed to overpower my shield¡¯s defense! What kind of attack was that? I looked at the lynx in shock, barely believing in what had just happened. The lynx looked back at me, almost as if taunting me for having come inside his territory unprepared. Almost as if saying that I wasn¡¯t strong enough to challenge this place. I smiled. The lynx frowned. ¡°DO IT!¡± I shouted. The lynx widened his eyes in surprise on what I had just done. And before he could even react, five large icicles pierced his body. -16 -15 -16 -16 -15 Combo(x1.1) -86 (128/430) Before he could even understand what was happening, I rushed forward and slammed my shield in his face, then flung it upward, lifting him slightly from the ground. I sliced him upwards so I could lift him even a bit more, then I grabbed his throat with my shield hand and slammed him in the tree, activating stab with my sword in this time. I let him go before he could claw me in counter, and jumped back. -6 -20 -4 -24 Combo (x1.2) -65 (63/430) The cat fell down to the ground, still wobbling in a daze for a moment due to the huge damage in such a short time, but it soon shook his head and stared at me with anger in it¡¯s eyes. I grinned in defiance, while giving him a mocking gaze. He hissed lowly, and his body disappeared. But not this time, I spun around and bashed the air with my shield. but the sad cat materialized just in time to receive a large serving of iron to the face. Since he was in the middle of a skill, he received the bash effect, and staggered for a moment, so I took my chance and slashed him, sending him flying backwards. -6 (bash) -20 (37/430) He quickly got up, and looked at me menacingly for a moment, then dashed forward. Right at the last moment, he jumped to my sword side and landed on a tree before jumping at me. I guess black cats really have bad luck¡­ A flying icicle hit him right in the head the moment he left the tree, sending him flying towards a tree. -32 (critical!) -5(0/430) His body slowly slid downwards, lifelessly hitting the ground. I finally noticed I was breathing heavily. But I also had a huge smile in my face. Now I understood how the hell a cat with so little health could be level 10. Not only his health, but also his defense is on the low side. Actually, my attacks were dealing a bit more damage to him than to the dogs. But that insane speed of his after he enraged isn¡¯t something to take lightly. And that red claw attack! That was monstrous! I kept staring at him for a long moment, until I heard the bushes besides me rustling as Yuu approached, her eyes wide while looking at the cat. If it wasn¡¯t for her, I dare say I wouldn¡¯t have survived this fight for much longer. I had her stay hidden at the start so there wouldn¡¯t be a chance of the cat turning to attack her, and I was glad I did it. ¡°I never knew cats could be so strong¡­¡± She said with wonder in her voice. ¡°I think that it¡¯s actually us who are weak¡­¡± I said with my voice surprisingly tired. Then I put my hand on her head and petted her, making her tails sway with happiness. ¡°You did a really nice save back there.¡± I stopped then looked with serious eyes at her. ¡°But how much mana did you spend in that five ice lances attack?¡± I was kind of expecting her to cringe in worry when I said that, but she smiled proudly. ¡°Only thirty mana, Shishou!¡± I stared at her in awe, and she smiled proudly. ¡°I started preparing the ice right when you started your battle, Shishou! And I noticed that if I take my time, it doesn¡¯t take as much mana as doing it all at once! I had only half of the sixth done before you said for me to launch it, so it took a little longer for me to use it!¡± She looked at me with expectant eyes, and I could only smile wryly before starting to pet her once again. She really likes it, huh? I took back my hand and went to the lynx, dragging him towards a clearer area. Then I picked my skinning knife and started my work. I had already warned Yuu that I would be doing this, so she simply stared in curiosity to see my work. I would skin half of the lynxes, and she would reclaim the other half. Whatever item that dropped was hers alone. She had tried to deny it and tell me to keep all the lynxes for myself, but I denied it with a sheath to the head. Hmm¡­ I wonder if one day I will be able to do that whole 1 hp left that the old man does¡­ ¡°Oh, yeah! Yuu, have you leveled up?¡± I asked while looking at the body in my hands. She blinked in surprise, then opened some windows before answering. ¡°Yes, Shishou! It says here that I have reached the level three. And have 70% for the next level.¡± Wow, three already? I wasn¡¯t expecting him to give this much experience... Wait! When I sheathed her head earlier, she had 120 total health! So she had leveled on her second dog, and came all this way before allocating her points? I kind of feel silly now¡­ ¡°Where should I put my points, Shishou?¡± Came the inevitable question. ¡°That depends on how you want to play.¡± She looked at me with her serious lesson face. ¡°If you want to play as a tank, like me, then you should invest on defense, like vitality, toughness or mind, depending on what kind of tanking style you want. If you want to keep dealing magical damage as you are now, then you should focus on intellect. If you want a fast paced battle stile with high bursts of damage, go for agility, since it increases both critical and probably movement speed too. If you want steady but normal physical damage, go for strength. Or make a mix-match to one you find interesting. The way this game is¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be surprised If you could even reset your status points!¡± She nodded after my explanation. In the end, she put two points in intellect and two in agility. I¡¯m not sure why, but I won¡¯t complain. ¡°So, did you do what I told you to during the fight?¡± ¡°Yes! Shishou!¡± ¡°Good, then tell me something about his habits.¡± ¡°Yes! He will hiss lowly right before using the shadow-step or that strong claw attack!¡± She said with pride. I nodded at her. ¡°And he will always choose the nearest tree behind his target when jumping!¡± Is that so? I hadn¡¯t noticed that one¡­ ¡°And¡­?¡± I asked, just to be sure, but she looked surprised for a moment, then her ears dropped flat against her head while she looked down. I gave a wry smile once again before stretching my hand to pat her again. ¡°It¡¯s good enough for now. You are just beginning after all.¡± She sheepishly looked at me before nodding. ¡°When he used his claw attack, his left claw is for the flurry, and the right for the rip. Either that, or he has two charges to choose from.¡± I did not have enough time to observe it to be sure of that one. By now I had finished the skinning. It was fairly simple and similar to the dogs, so I did it quickly, but¡­
Red-claw lynx pelt (poor)
Piece of leather acquired after manually skinning a red-claw lynx, made by an amateur. There are some areas with considerable damage. (crafting material)
¡­ It seems that I still had to get used to this new animal. I sighed loudly. Finally I focused on the small flashing symbol on the corner of my vision, opening my new messages. However, they were a bit more than what I was expecting.
Congratulations! You have reached level 5! Every five levels you earn a bonus of one status point to all your status, besides the usual two distributed. Also, you have the right to derivate one skill.
I looked shocked at the window, then opened the second window.
Derivating skills: at level 5, 10 and every ten levels after, you earn the right to derivate one skill. Derivating a skill can either create a new skill related to the first, or modify an existing one.
¡­ Ooh boy! ----- (dead) Author''s corner: I just noticed, but it took a whole chapter just for me to describe the battle agains a simple level 10 enemy... How long will it take for me to write one against a boss? O.o
Next chapterSidestory (Yuu''s side)
Sidestory 1.1 - Ice fox Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Fox-girl backstory! ANYWAY, I would be struck with this feeling of guilt if I didn¡¯t post at least something today, but I did not have neither the time nor the energy to write a full chapter, so I decided to at least make a short chapter about our favorite fox! I may only do this kind of chapter for a couple of days, but normal chapters should be back Thursday or Friday. ALSO, I should post the race page tomorrow and put some rules to what kind of races I will accept as recommendations sometime tomorrow. ALSO(2) It¡¯s really incredible how coincidences happen¡­ there was one recommendation for extra-character that was surprisingly similar to a future character that is going to appear, from weapon to class and somewhat armor. There are some differences, but it still is surprising! But worry not, that your character still counts for the extra! More details on how to post your character on the next chapter. ALSO (3), CYGNAS CHURCH NOW HAS 111 FOLLOWERS! HOORAY! (P.H. doesn''t count since he is useless...) ---- Kuzuha Yukihime is a girl with many secrets. Born in a wealthy family with a large mansion in the borders of the capital, Tokyo, she went to an all-girls escalator school for all her life. That¡¯s is not to say that she had no experience talking to boys, but most of the time were in social parties that her father would take her from time to time, but even then, the amount of people who would actually go talk to her was surprisingly small. Surprisingly for her, at least. Being born with a natural beauty while being taller than the other girls her age, coupled with years of training in her grandfather¡¯s dojo that gave her an ever serious personality, gave her a natural dignified aura that made many people hesitate before trying to approach her, even others who were of similar status. Unknowingly, she had received the nickname of untouchable ice rose. Being who she was, she spent most of her free times studying or practicing martial arts, so she never had much contact with entertainment methods, nor with the outside at all. But it did make her a genius at what she did. However, things began to change recently. A transfer student had enrolled in her class some months ago, and contrary to the other who usually were too afraid to approach her, this new classmate would gladly spend her time with Yukihime. Her name was Kazehama Mary. A half-British girl who was the opposite of Yukihime, being short and having a platinum blonde hair, she had a cheerful personality, and from time to time would end up dragging her around. For Yukihime, this was her true first friend she had ever made, and it was her who had convinced Yukihime to play this new game that was about to appear in the market, called Insania Online. Of course, Yukihime was a bit anxious at first, since she had never had any contact with this kind of thing, but in the end she lost to her nagging and bought the strange glasses-like machine, and with the help of Mary, she managed to install it on her house. After that, she asked her father and grandfather to give her some free time the day the game would launch. Both of them were actually very glad with her request, since after all, the seemingly selfless princess of the household had, for the first time in her entire life had asked something selfish. So they gladly gave her the entire weekend free. As the game would go online deep into the night, they combined to log in around six and a half in the morning of the following day, and both would make their characters with the surname of Tatenaka, so they could look like sisters in game. When Yukihime asked the reason for the surname, Mary answered that It came from a anime she really liked, where there was a girl who kind of looked like her, albeit with opposite personalities. However, the day they had marked, right before the combined time, Mary called her house. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Yuu-chan. Mother had to take a flight back to England and I will go with her to the airport to say my goodbyes to her¡­ I can¡¯t come back until seven!¡± [this text was translated from Japanese for your convenience. Thanks Cygnas for that.] Yukihime wasn¡¯t very bothered by that, so she told Mary to not worry too much. But she was still curious about this game that Mary had been talking for such a long time, and since she had no previous experience, the temptation grew even more. So she ended up logging on the game, so she could see how it was. After waiting in a dark room for a minute, it suddenly turned white, and a beautiful silver haired girl appeared before her, leaving even her surprised for a moment. The girl also looked at her, and for a brief moment looked confused, but Yukihime dismissed it as only her imagination, as soon a gentle smile appeared on her face. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Welcome to Insania online, where the world is yours to explore! My name is Cygnas, the acting main goddess of this world! Creator of everything that the light touches¡­¡± After that, she gave a quick introduction of herself then the game, before taking her to the character creation area. Even for Yukihime, who had no previous experience on games, the creation, albeit vast, was very easy to understand, and whichever doubt she had, all she had to do was ask the goddess and she would answer her in a simple way. In the end, she created her character, the Kitsune called Tatenaka Yuki, nicknamed Yuu, as Mary always called her. Mary had previously told her that naming the character just like your name in real life, isn¡¯t a good idea, but she wouldn¡¯t get used to people calling her by a name too different, so she chose to shorten her name slightly. She also ended up making her character a mage after some thinking, and with the help of the goddess, she ended up choosing an ice staff and the simple cloth armor that looked a simple white dress. After that, she had to choose the starting village. Looking at one that seemed to be in a good spot, at least for the unexperienced her, she ended up choosing the Aria village. The goddess kindly reminded her to warn her friends who wanted to play with her about the name of the village. After that, she was transported to a village, and she was stunned on how real everything looked, from the stars in the sky to the grass on her feet. After that she took her time to look around the village and its surrounding, looking at everything around her in pure wonder. While in the village, she ended up hearing some people talking about some Green eyes, the brutal. Noticing it wasn¡¯t the first time she heard that name, she asked a passerby, an ugly but strong looking orc in full plate armor wielding a large hammer. His eyes widened in shock when she made her question. ¡°Green eyes, the brutal? Are you new here, girly?¡± Asked the orc, Yuu simply nodded. ¡°Then hear me. Green eyes is a monster of a player! Probably the strongest around right now! Some even say that he already has a hidden class! They say that he can kill any enemy with one attack! But it also seems that he is completely mad, killing everything that appears in front of him! The best thing to do is never get close to him, you hear me? The last time they saw him, he was in the Wild dog¡¯s area, so stay away from there!¡± But the warning the Orc kindly gave her didn¡¯t work the way he intended. Yuu had practiced martial arts for years now, and having the chance to see the one who was considered the strongest person in this place only served to make her curious, so she quickly went to the said area. What she found there wasn¡¯t exactly what she was expecting. She met with a golem after he almost crashed into her while rolling, she easily managed to dodge him, but was surprised when he quickly stood up and put on a stance with both his swords drawn. She was shocked for a moment, not knowing what was happening, but in the end she had to ask. ¡°What could you be doing?¡± The green eyed golem blinked in surprise, but sheathed his swords and lowered his head for a moment, before answering with an extremely serious expression which shocked her. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? I was doing music!¡± His answer both confused and surprised the kitsune. ¡°What could you mean by that?¡± The golem suddenly looked surprised, as if she had just asked a ridiculous question like what color is the sky. ¡°You never heard of it?¡± She could only shake her head in confusion. ¡°Then, let me enlighten you!¡± He proudly pointed at himself. ¡°I was rolling stones!¡± Yuu, being the studious girl she was, had a very good grade in English, but even then it took her some time for her to understand his words. Even more for her to link it to the band that she would sometimes get her grandfather listening. When she finally understood the horrible pun, she could only look away and try to not laugh at the poor golem who was smiling full of pride. And for some reason she got sad over some cookies¡­
Back to main storyNext SS chapter
Sidestory 1.2 - Ice fox Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! Another extra because I have to study for a test I have tomorrow! ANYWAY, I kind of got the impression that not many people got the cookie joke at the end of the last side story chapter¡­ for any one curious, it is on the 9th chapter, right at the warning part. ALSO, for the extra¡¯s character, I would like if you guys could give me information somehow in this format: Name and Nickname: Wargon (Gondorrer Dogsbane.) Gender: Male || Race: Golem || Class tree: Mage/rogue || Class: Spell sword (not actually his class in the future, still a secret) Equipment: Scale mail chest, rest Chain mail. Sword and shield. Brief description: Vivid brown rock skin, cool (creepy) green shining eyes, green body-tatoo glow. Brief playstyle: Easy rage tank. Brief personality: An idiot. Or something like that¡­ There should still be around 5 or so normal chapters before the extra, but I will pick a couple from all the posts until then¡­ ALSO (2) Sorry for not being able to update the regular chapters (T.T) ------ ¡°Okay, bad jokes aside¡± The green eyed golem started to scratch his cheek awkwardly. ¡°I was¡­ Actually¡­ Kind of trying to create a skill for me¡­¡± ¡°Skill?¡± Yuu asked curious. It wasn¡¯t the first time she had heard that word, Mary had said that many times before, and even the other people in the town would say it once or twice. She initially had thought that it had its literal meaning, like saying that someone good with a sword had a skill with it, but she had noticed that it wasn¡¯t exactly like that. For a brief moment she tried to understand what this person could mean by creating a skill, and just as she was about to ask, she remembered that she had yet to introduce herself. She felt ashamed to miss such an important thing. She hastily bowed to the golem, who seemed surprised. ¡°Forgive-me, I forgot to introduce myself.¡± She said while feeling shame due to her carelessness. ¡°I am¡­¡± For a brief moment, she almost introduced herself by her real name, but finally managed to remember that this wasn¡¯t supposed to happen inside the game. ¡°Tatenaka Yuki¡­ Or simply Yuu. It is a pleasure to meet you.¡± The word sounded strange for her, introducing herself by another name. The golem gave her a slight and awkward bow in response. ¡°I am Gondorrer Dogsban¡­¡± He suddenly stopped and looked away for a moment, this left Yuu a bit curious. ¡°Gondorrer Gravelheart, with Gondorrer being my given name, but you can call me Wargon in here. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Yuu.¡± Yuu nodded in approval, although wondering why he would use the given name before the surname. ¡°Then, Wargon-san¡­¡± She said while avoiding to stay too informal with the person she just met. ¡°If it were not a bother to you, could you please help me with something?¡± And then she quickly explained to him what had happened to her and her friend and how she is new to the game, and would likely end up needing some pointers. Wargon readily agreed to help, but when she asked about skills, he looked surprised for a moment. Then he asked for some time before starting to talk with no one in particular. Yuu initially thought he had gone crazy or something, but that didn¡¯t seem to be the case, as he did not have the look of someone who lost his sanity. Although she could hear what he was saying, there were some strange and specific words here and there, so she ended up at loss on their meanings. Finally, the golem turned back to her and made a strange question. ¡°Say, Yuu¡­ Could you tell me from where you are playing?¡± Yuu immediately backed off. Mary had warned her of players like these that try to approach you and gather information about your real life and use it to their advantages. ¡°¡­ My friend told me to not reveal any personal information in the game!¡± She stated, and readied herself to fight or run if necessary, but his next words shocked her. ¡°The you have a really good friend.¡± He said with a smile that caught her off guard. ¡°Then, let me start¡­ I am a Brazilian, and no, I don¡¯t speak Japanese!¡± This took a good time for it to sink in her head, leaving her confused, until the confusion became shock and suspicion, but he didn¡¯t seem to be lying. This made absolutely no sense to this sheltered princess. She had never had much contact with high technology. Even her cellphone, despite being one of the bests in the market, is only used to answer and make calls, so the idea that the person had never once spoken anything in Japanese all this time, despite the fact that she only heard Japanese, made her stand still in shock. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. A good amount of time had passed before she recovered, and then she noticed that he had been patiently waiting her. She quickly apologized, but he quickly dismissed it as unnecessary. Now she felt bad for having shown so much hostility towards him, who had even offered himself to help her earlier, and was resigning herself to look for another person, but. ¡°Will you still want some help?¡± He asked with a playful smile. ¡°But would it not be a bother to you to teach someone from a different country like me?¡± She asked worried. ¡°Why would it bother me? This is actually really interesting!¡± He laughed. He was even willing to teach someone like her, who had even showed so much hostility to him for pretty much no reason? And not even being from the same country as him? She honestly regretted having thought, even if for only a moment, that he was actually a bad person, and decided that from now on, she would show her ultimate respect to someone so forgiving like him. She bowed deeply. ¡°Thank you very much, Gravelheart-dono!¡± She said with heartfelt sincerity. ¡°What is it with the ¡®Gravelheard-dono¡¯ all of a sudden?¡± He looked a bit surprised with her sudden action, but she still went on. ¡°You, who do not even live in the same country as I do, is willing to spend your precious time with a person such as me to teach me the basics of this game! It is only in the right for me to demonstrate my appreciation to such a great person like yourself, Gravelheart-dono!¡± After that, he was visibly shaken, and asked for her to drop the formalities, but she refused to go any lower than calling him Wargon-dono, as anything more than that and she would be unable to show her respect. Then, he started to think for a moment, before he did something, then a blue window, just like the one she had seen in the dark room earlier appeared before her. When she read it, it was saying that Wargon was trying to invite her to a party. She quickly searched her mind for the meaning of the word, and when she found, two ideas came to her sheltered princess of a mind. One that he was inviting her to a social party like her father usually would take her, but somehow his manners didn¡¯t really fit with that idea. The second one would be a tea party where they would sit and discuss things over a cup of tea, as this one seemed a lot more likely, she decided this one was the most likely of both, but¡­ ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Wargon-dono, but I fear that I do not have any tea for a party!¡± She felt worried that this would somehow make him regret helping her, but as he started to laugh, she became confused. ¡°It¡¯s not that kind of party!¡± He said after calming himself down. ¡°Party in a game like this, mean a group of people who do thing together.¡± She felt extremely embarrassed for having misunderstood the meaning, but luckily managed to hide it while accepting the invitation. Afterwards, Wargon had her manipulating various of these windows, and he would always have a pensive face, as he started to analyze them. Then he stopped to think before finally turning back to her. His face completely different from the relaxed expression he always had, having suddenly an extremely dignified aura around him. ¡°ATTENTION APPRENTICE YUUKI!¡± He said in a loud voice with a strange and familiar pressure to it. Her body automatically reacted as she would whenever her grandfather would give her a lecture on martial arts with a similar tone. ¡°From now on, you are going to be my one and only apprentice, so I will teach you everything I know about MMO gaming until you are more than able to climb to the very top of the scoreboard, do you hear me?¡± ¡°Y-yes¡­¡± She was still at loss on how a person could change so suddenly. ¡°I did not hear you, apprentice! Say it clearly!¡± He said on a disapproving and commanding tone. Her body shivered as it remembered what happened whenever her grandfather would use that voice, and before she could even hold herself, she ended up answering. ¡°Yes, Shishou!¡± How she wanted to hide herself into a hole after having said that...
Back to main storyNext SS chapter
Insania Races (recommendations go here) Rules for recommendation: Must have an humanoid form. Extra limbs (fairies, beastman) and lack of limbs (Lamias/dullahan?) are welcome, but let¡¯s keep it within limits, as cool as Hecatonchires are, I really doubt a normal human would be able to control one of these. Try to avoid too much of a same mythology, but if needed, I can add to the roster to bolster the numbers. Aim 80-120 races. (we can try at least, right?) () are for commentaries, silly or useful, [] are for racials. Remember, racials are 2 with pratical application and 2 with cosmetic/fun applications. Feel free to recommend racials for races with less than 4. CLASSICS (More human like) 1. Human 2. Dwarf (maybe also a subrace? More crafting oriented) [Craftsman; ???; ???; Portable beer Keg] 3. Iron Dwarf ( More battle oriented?) [Low and Steady; ???; Portable ale keg; ???] 4. Dark-elf (Drows) [Night vision;] 5. Moon-elf 6. High-elf 7. Wood-elf [?;?;?;Nature attuned] 8. Barbarian (human like, but much stronger/bigger?) 9. Hobbit 10. Goblin 11. Hobgoblin
Beast-like 12. Beastman 13. Kitsune [Illusionist; Natural Charm; Transformation master; True shadow] 14. Draconids (Half dragon) 15. Tsuchigumo 16. Samebito (CAUSE WALKING SHARKS!) 17. Lamias 18. Harpies 19. Centaur 20. Molemen (?) 21. Garuda (Birdmen, 2 arms + wings, birdfaced.) (Garuda one, ready for takeoff!) 22. Kobold 23. Gnoll (HOGGER!) 24. Minotaur 25. Lizardmen (More water-based than Draconids?) 26. Mantidire(insectoid people)
Fantastical/fairies 27. Djinn 28. Iffrit 29. Alien looking (still no name(Lovecraftians? Cthululians?)) 30. Treant Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. 31. Fae (Classic fairies (Tinkerbell?)) [Low flight;?;?;?] 32. Satyr (DEATH TO ALL SATYRS!... Personal crudge, don''t mind me...) 33. Nymph 34. Siren [Distracting voice;?;?;?] 35. Orc 36. Pukwudge 37. Troll (Sorry Gazluz! Forgive me for having forgotten you!) [Trolls blood;?;?;?] 38. Red cap 39. Salamander (Fire elemental) 40. Undine (Water elemental) 41. Sylph (Wind elemental) 42. Gnome (Earth elemental) 43. Mermaid/triton (Heart ele¡­ Oops) 44. Sahuagin 45. Gremlin 46. Yeti (Sasquatch, big foot, and so on...) [Stomp; Thick fur; Big foot; ????]
Giants (Large size) 47. Cyclops 48. Giants (3 meters high?) 49. J?tunn 50. Ogre
Undeads and alikes 51. Vampires [Blood sucking; Batify (temptive name);?;?] 52. Rotting Undead (slider that goes from frankenstiney, to zombi to skeleton) [???; ???; Natural rotting; Exchange part] 53. Dullahan 54. Homunculus 55. Shade 56. Wraith 57. Mummy
Non-organics (Artificials?) 58. Golem [Nature¡¯s bastion; Rock Eater; Sedimentary skin; Nature attuned] 59. Clockwork (Steampunk robots FTW) [Self-Tinker; ???; Polish; Exchangeable parts] 60. Construct 61. Slime-people (Slime with humanoid shape) 62. Spirit armor (Possessed armor) (Floating pieces of armor/weapon. Keeps humanoid shape. Must ALWAYS have a piece of armor equipped in all the main slot Armor breaks, he dies. Bonus armor though.) [Armor body; ???; ???; ???]
Demonic nature 63. Demons 64. Succubus/incubus 65. Oni 66. Imp
Divine nature: 67. Celestial 68. Angels (?) Chapter 11 - Beginners luck Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! One of the usual chapters again today! Yay! And sorry for the fans, but no Cyg this time¡­ *Drops on the floor to apologize* ANYWAY, yesterday was pretty awesome. I put up the races lists, with something around 37 races, and one hour later we already had brought it to 50! And I even was holding back on a good bunch of them! You guys are awesome! But if I did bad on the test today I put the blame on you for not letting me sleep with so many replys¡­ ALSO, starting from the next, I¡¯ll post any updates on the list on the author¡¯s corner. ALSO(2), I will probably update an usual chapter and a SS tomorrow, so I can close the Ice Fox side story. ALSO(3), Many thanks for all the characters recommendation, I¡¯m saving all of them on a Word document, and I plan on using them on Extras, or even in the main story for the 4th or something arc, where I¡¯ll need an unfortunate companion to follow Wargon as he fools around ^^ You guys can keep posting them for the next couple of chapter yet, ok? Have a good read. ---- It took me some good time for me to understand what the window meant, but by the time I understood, I started grinning like an idiot. Yuu noticed this and became a little surprised, looking slightly worried at me. ¡°What happened, Shishou?¡± She asked me who was unresponsive for some moment now. I quickly shook my head to tell her that it was nothing, but I held myself back on saying anything because I knew that my voice would sound silly if I did it. Still, I closed the announcement window and opened my status.
NAME: Wargon (Gondorrer Gravelheart)
TITLE: (none)
Class tree:WandererClass:None
Race:GolemGender:Neutral (male)
Level:5Experience:07%
STATUS: Remaining points (2)
Health Points:220/220HP regen (out of combat):1.5/sec
Energy:100/100Energy Regen:10/sec
STR:13(11)TGH:13(11)
AGI:11VIT:17
INT:11MND:11
ATTK:Phys 14-16Extra:(none)
DEF48M. Res.:18
Satiety:87/100 (Satisfied)
SKILLS: Derivation points (1)
One-handed Sword Mastery [lvl 6] -Slash (Active) -Stab (Active) -Slice ¡®n dice (Active) Dual-wielding mastery [lvl 2] -Whirlwind (Active) Shield Mastery [lvl 4] -Bashing Scale-mail Mastery [lvl 4] Chain-mail Mastery [lvl 4] Skinning [lvl 6] Taunt [lvl 3] -Focused mockery Racials [max] -Nature¡¯s bastion (Active) -Rock Eater -Sedimentary skin (Active) -Nature attuned
¡­ Yup, two more points on vitality and then I get to 240 health! That much was obvious. I plan on doing that until I get 25 or something points of vitality¡­ But that is besides the point. Skill derivation¡­ I need to see what I can get with this thing. From it¡¯s description, it seems that I can either create another skill similar to one I already have, or modify one skill to increase it¡¯s performance. I think for a moment about where should I spend my point. I still don¡¯t have many skills, so I can¡¯t really expect too much about getting a very good skill, so for now, it should be safe for me to improve slash, since it¡¯s the bread and butter of my combos. I choose it, and a window suddenly pops up:
Warning: You are about to derivate Slash, so please choose your derivation for this skill.
Sub-skill: Powerful Slash [lvl6] (modify Slash) (levels increase with one handed sword mastery)
Increases the power behind your usual slash, dealing more damage. 145% of weapon damage
Cost: 25 energy
Sub-skill: Cleave [lvl6] (New skill) (levels increase with one handed sword mastery)
A slash that covers a high area in exchange for power. Hits multiples enemies in a cone ahead of you. 120% Damage
Cost: 25 energy
Ooh¡­ So I can derivate slash in two different skills? Isn¡¯t this nice! Powerful slash sounds simply divine with that extra damage. Reave isn¡¯t as appealing as it should be because I have whirlwind, but it does sounds like a good skill if someone isn¡¯t dual wielding¡­ Actually, whirlwind hits everything around me, maybe cleave covers a better frontal area? It also seems that I can cancel this without expending my derivation points¡­ I felt that it would be a shame if I didn¡¯t do that, so cancelled it and went to check on other. Firstly, I checked the other subskills. For stab there was one derivation that increased the damage and one that increased the armor piercing. Slice ¡®n dice could be variated into Frenetic Slices, where it doubled both the energy spent and the amount of hits per second, basically shortening the entire duration of the skill by half but keeping the total damage... I found it very appealing. Out of curiosity, I tried to derivate One-handed sword mastery, but the answer I got back was a bit surprising.
You cannot derivate this skill. Skill level/Other Requirements are not enough
So that means that there is a way for me to derivate it, I just did not have what was necessary? Interesting¡­ Another one also caught my attention, and this one was the second Whirlwind derivation.
Sub-skill: Tornado rush [lvl2] (New skill) (requires Slice ¡®n Dice) (levels increase with Dual wielding mastery)
Spin around furiously, dealing 55% of weapon damage around you. You can move while casting this skill, but standing still increases it¡¯s range.
Cost: 10 energy/sec Cool down: 75 seconds
For me to unlock this skill, I needed both whirlwind and Slice ¡®n Dice, following this logic, there are probably other skills around that I can only unlock if I have a certain set of skills available. This isn¡¯t good¡­ All the skills look amazing and I really want to choose all of them, but I have no idea which one is the best... Correction, I may have an idea¡­ The one that really made my eyes sparkle was the one I got when I reached Bash, the shield mastery subskill.
Sub-skill: Shield Slam [lvl4] (New skill) (levels increase with Shield mastery)
Slam your shield on the enemy, dealing 50% of the shield¡¯s block value (Fixed damage. not affected by STR). This attack may send lighter foes flying. If used when receiving an attack that deals less damage than shield slam, you counter the attack increasing damage dealt by 15%.
Cost: 25 energy Cool down: 15 seconds
Who said that you can¡¯t attack with a shield? Sword and board was the first dual wielding to ever exist! I didn¡¯t really feel much remorse for choosing the skill, for the simple reason that, even if I use other monster hunter weapons, I will still tank, so a shield is something I¡¯ll always have present with me. In fact, three of my favorite weapons in MH have a shield. ¡­ I¡¯m going to need a huge shield for them¡­ Back to earth¡­ I mean, Insania, I finally notice that a couple of minutes have passed while I was checking the skills, so I hurriedly look around in search for Yuu, but she was with her legs crossed beside me with her eyes closed and her tails laying atop of her legs, some thin mist forming around her and slowly circling her. From what I could say, she was meditating. I felt slightly bad about having forgotten about her for a moment, and stand up from where I still was after having skinned the lynx. Although she didn¡¯t make any sign of noticing me, she still stood up with me before finally opening her eyes. ¡°Are you done, Shishou?¡± She asked calmly. I nodded feeling a bit guilty, while she looked at me with some curiosity. ¡°Would you mind if I asked what happened, Shishou? You suddenly went quiet back there¡­¡± ¡°Sorry about that¡­ It¡¯s just something that I had never seen on a game before, so I kind of became distracted¡­¡± ¡°Heh¡­¡± She looked at me with serious eyes, but it seemed that she was holding her curiosity back. The glinting eyes, wagging tail and droopy ears kind of gave away. I gave a small sigh. ¡°It seems that when you get at level five, you earn a point to improve one of your skills directly¡­ But it also seems that previous skills can end up combining to create brand new skills¡­ And I have this feeling that this may not be all¡­ So I ended getting a bit too distracted¡­¡± She had a look of both being impressed and confused at my words, but I thinking I wouldn¡¯t be able to really explain it any better before understanding this system better myself, I simply smiled mysteriously. Remember kids, smiling mysteriously is the best way to look intelligent to your friends! Anyway, now that I got a brand new skill, I was very anxious to test it out in combat, so I took Yuu with me and quickly went looking for lynxes. Of course, we were also going in the direction of the cave, since my quest was there. But there was only one problem. There were already three minutes that I don¡¯t see anything in here. ¡°Goddam lynxes! Where the hell are you!¡± I muttered to myself. In truth, I really wanted to shout, but I had a really bad experience with shouting insults at my enemies, so I managed to hold myself back. But it seems that Yuu heard me. ¡°You can¡¯t find them, Shishou?¡± She asked curious. I looked dejectedly at her, and slowly nodded. For a moment she looked confused, then pointed to a tree a few meters away from us. ¡°There is one right there!¡± I blinked in surprise at her words, then looked at where she was pointing, but there wasn¡¯t anything there¡­ Actually, now that I took a better look, isn¡¯t there a some kind of shape in there? It kinds of look like¡­ A LYNX! But how the hell did she see it? I mean, it¡¯s like drawing with a pencil on a black paper! Even knowing that the bastard was there, I can barely make his shape! Is Yuu a genius or something? I look back at her wide-eyed, receiving a confused look from her. I sighed loudly before petting her head; after all, she did a very good job. After that I went towards the tree leaving her to prepare her ice lances. Now I had to think of a way to bring the furry bastard to the ground. Just then I notice his tail swinging slowly while falling besides the branch he was lazing on. I¡¯m really, really not in the mood to be kind to animals, so I grab the cat¡¯s tail and yank it down. For some reason I hear Yuu whimpering behind me, but I didn¡¯t really pay much attention. -3 -4 (393/400) Huh? This one has less health than the last one? Why? For a moment I get distracted, and the cat take this chance to take some distance from me. Cygnas dammit! I lost my chance to deal my super-duper epic combo on the little freak! The cat hiss at me before charging. As it was a simple charge, I simply blocked with my shield and gave a simple cut with my sword. For now it would be better if I hold my energy for my combo. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. -13 (380/400) The cat once again took some distance, and we both crossed our gazes. Remembering what Yuu had said about one of his attacks, I slowly start to move to a better position, and just in time, as the cat ran towards me once again, and just as it was about to hit my shield, he jumped to my left and to my back, landing on a tree. I turned around just in time to see him pouncing at me, both claws aiming at my face. Now is the time! ¡°TAKE THIS!¡± I shouted out of impulse, and turned around while swinging my shield in his direction, right when the shield was about to connect, I used Shield slam on him. For the briefest of the moment, my shield arm stopped, before the attack finally came in. And by the gods, was it one hell of a attack. Firstly, what seemed to be a white and slightly larger ethereal copy of my shield appeared around it, as if increasing it. Then my arm moved with unbelievable power, the image taking some time to follow. The wind around my shield chimed with the sudden change in the current, then came the loud roar of metal hitting something as the shield met with the feline¡¯s head. Just as its body was finally caught with the shield¡¯s inertia, the ethereal shield hit the lynx with full power, blowing him back towards the tree, which made a cracking noise as the wood slightly gave in. For a brief moment I was too stunned to even move, but before I could lose my chance, I ran forward and activated Stab before the cat could reach the ground, followed by an upward slash, a downwards pummel to slam it in the ground and the good old slice ¡®n dice before kicking the cat away. -25 -3 -21 -6 -4 -7(x6) -3 Combo! (x1.3) -135 (245/400) From this point on of the fight, I can¡¯t remember very clearly because I was too overexcited with my new attack, to pay enough attention. I know I already said this earlier, but let me reaffirm my statement. I love flashy attacks. I love cool looking attacks. Even if shield slam is fairly simple when it comes to animation, it still looks cool. Really cool. And it¡¯s strong! From what I saw, It does a constant 25 damage to the enemy! And I¡¯m pretty sure it ignores armor, since the damage is based purely on the status of my shield. Going by the logic, does this means that my shield absorbs up to 50 damage points? It¡¯s fairly high¡­ Wait, then that red-claw attack (provisory name) deals 61 damage? Yikes! Anyway, in the end me and Yuu finished the Lynx, and I took around 63 damage. That teleport thing he does with his hiss is really annoying. If I mess the timing I end up taking a huge amount of damage. As our agreement, I didn¡¯t skin this one, as Yuu needed her equipment, so I let her reclaim this one and keep it¡¯s drop.
Robe of the wise apprentice (Chest) (Requires Level 3)
Def7M. Res12
Quality:GoodDurability:26/26
Description The lost robe of an apprentice mage. Excellent equipment for begginers. INT +8; MND +6; M. regen +1/sec
¡­ .. . I (bleeping) hate beginner¡¯s luck. The third enemy she reclaims and it drops a good quality item for her. Not only this alone doubles her defense, she even get +8 intellect and mana regen!! I CALL HAX! YOU KNOW! HAX! She gets the items and look at it on surprise. Even if she is a beginner in gaming, I think she can understand that an equipment that nearly doubles your stats are undoubtedly good for you. Heh, but my beginners equipment is still better than hers! Mine are indestructible! I don¡¯t have to pay for repairs! What? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m¡­ Jealous *sniff* you know! I *sniff* not mad at her *sniff* luck¡­ I¡¯m *sob* happy for her! And I¡¯m *sob* not crying¡­ This is¡­ *sob*¡­ Just dust¡­ *sob* in my eyes! After a long sigh in defeat, I tell her. ¡°Go on, equip it¡­¡± But for some reason she looks at me with some worry in her eyes. ¡°But¡­ It doesn¡¯t seems to be my size¡­¡± Processing, please wait¡­ After some laughing, a sulky kitsune, some petting and wagging tails later¡­ I briefly explained her about equipment and how to put them on our avatar, then she went to equip the robe. Just to be safe, she hid herself behind a tree and shyly asked me to look away. I hid a small grin while I waited for her to finish. It took exactly 5.41271 seconds for her to call me¡­ Give or take a couple of seconds. Precise like a clock. When I looked back, she was wearing a light blue robe, like one of those you see in fantasy. There was a belt tied around her waist which helped to make the robe a bit more form-fitting than the loose beginner¡¯s robe. It matched well with her dark hair, making a nice contrast. I gave a silent thanks to the developers for giving me such a beautiful sight on this night. After that, we went back on our ways to hunt the lynx, Yuu having a scary precision when it came to finding them in this dark night. In fact, she found one no more than ten paces from the last one. We started to easily manage killing them from there, as we both got used to its movement. I also confirmed my suspicion that, the red-claw attack and the teleport-like jump are attacks they can only use when enraged, which always happens right after getting below 50% of their health. I also found a really neat combo against the red-claw. One of the skills I had completely forgotten about, Nature¡¯s bastion, when combed with Shield-slam made quick work of the lynxes whenever they started that annoying attack, although the timing was a bit tricky, so I failed around 50% of the times. Also, by my third skinned lynx I started to get common quality items, so I was happy. Yuu also got a couple more items, one being a good leather gloves that had intellect and agility and a common staff with fire element. I told her to equip the staff and also learn how to use fire, but after learning fire mastery, she went back to the old ice staff, even if the fire had a better damage. I told her to keep going with the fire one, but¡­ Puppy eyes (critical), Droopy ears, droopy tail(x2). COMBO! (x10) Wargon is defeated! ¡­ So yeah, if anyone survives that, they have my deepest admiration. I decided that as soon as we go back to town we are removing the elemental limitation on that staff But what really marked the night for me, was when we got at a small clearing. We had each gotten a level by then, making me level 6 and Yuu level 4. In this clearing, there wasn¡¯t many things of notice, except for a medium sized rock outcropping right in its middle. At first glance, both of us found nothing strange about it, so we decided to ignore it. But when I got a bit close, I noticed something. There were a few spots on the rock that were glowing slightly. I looked a bit longer at it, trying to understand what it was, but for some reason Yuu looked at me then at the rock in confusion. Only then that it hit me. ORES! AH FOUND MAH GOLD (not) MINE! I happily ran towards the outcropping while picking the pickaxe from my inventory, which seemed to surprise Yuu. As soon as I approached, I saw that there were some parts of the outcropping that had a slightly stronger glow. Fixing my grip on the pick, I lifted it up and brought it down on that place. Or at least I tried, I missed by a few centimeters. The stronger glow went away, but I did see a few things popping from the vein and falling to the ground. I crouched and picked it up.
Iron ore (0.6 ingots)
A piece of iron ore, mined by a beginner. The impurities on this reduces the amount of ingots you can smelt this into. (crafting material)
Minor Fire crystal (x2)
A small crystal with some fire mana within. Commonly found on simpler ore veins. (crafting material, consumable)
Hmm, it seems that the piece of ore I got isn¡¯t enough for me to make a full ingot¡­ Will I need to smelt many ores at the same time for an ingot? And I got a couple of fire crystals on my first mine! Lucky me! Yuu who was watching everything seemed to have understood what I was doing, so she didn¡¯t say anything much and simply watched as I mined the rest of the veins in the cropping. Well, much to my surprise, crystals are nowhere as rare as I had expected. They come around 50-40% of the times I successfully mine a piece of ore. But since there are 9 different crystals, it is a bit difficult to get the one you want. In the end I had somewhere around 32 iron ingots in ore, and 42 crystals of assorted elements. By the way, there are nine different types of crystals, because there are one for each element, Fire, water, wind, earth, order (arcane), chaos, light and dark, and then there are mana crystals, that seems to be used on mana potions. Also, seeing as I had a few ores with me now, and my satiety was fairly low, I took one piece of ore, and ate it. Yuu became pale when she saw me munching the ore like it was cake, and I jokingly offered her one, which she quickly refused. And actually, iron ore has a texture very similar to these home-made cakes, and even had a slight hint of vanilla in the taste. But even better...
Tough as iron (60 minutes)
For eating a fairly pure piece of iron ore, you have earned the iron buff. +3 TGH, +3 MND
Yup! Food buffs! For free! I FEEL INVICIBLE! Now I kind of wonder how mithril and orichalum tastes and what kind of buff they give¡­ But that is still some time away from now, so no need to get hasty. I also took my time to test what each kind of crystal does when you use them as consumables. Each gave some kind of magic attack of their respective elements, but they are mostly fairly weak, and don¡¯t seem to have a very practical use. Oh well, I¡¯ll on hold them for now, I still have some tests I have to run. After that, we once again went back to our little hunt in the forest while hunting those unhappy lynxes. It took us another couple of hours to find the cave, since the map loses its precision after you get at a certain distance from it, and only point to a general area. By then, each of us could easily take one lynx alone, but we still kept hunting together to go a bit faster. I also noticed that the reason some lynxes had more health, was because their levels actually fluctuated, going from 10 to 12. We also found a couple of others outcroppings, and I mined at the happily, while Yuu patiently waited me. Since she had a lot of free time with me skinning and mining every time I had the chance, she started to meditate fairly often, and even earned a skill that increases her mana regen while meditating by 100%! But it doesn¡¯t seem to be a unique skill. When it had passed around 3 or 4 hours since we had met, I finally saw the cave, and even from far away I could see a slight red glow in it¡¯s deepest part. But there was a small problem.
Slash (red-claw lynx) [lvl 11] (Aggressive)
HP: 500/500 -Fury claw -Shadow step
Rip (red-claw lynx) [lvl 11] (Aggressive)
HP: 500/500 -Fury claw -Shadow step
Maim (red-claw lynx) [lvl 11] (Aggressive)
HP: 500/500 -Fury claw -Shadow step
There were three lynxes guarding the entrance. They were just like normal lynxes, except they had a single white stripe on their backs. I did not need to attack one of them to know that if one came, all three came. And worse, different from the usual lynxes that were passive, these guys were aggressive, so I couldn¡¯t simply sneak behind them. I was sure that they weren¡¯t bosses, just a slightly stronger version of the Lynxes. But even that was enough to make me wary. I am confident on my and Yuu¡¯s ability to take a couple of these cats at the same time, but three of them? And they being stronger than usual? Things had, once more, gotten complicated. ----- (dead) Author''s corner:So, i comemorate my return to usual chapters with... LOTS OF TABLES! ... I hate myself
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Chapter 12 - Crystals, how do they work? Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! New chapter with 100% more noob-saving! And lots of crystals! ANYWAY, some of you may find this chapter a bit more boring as there is a lot of research going on here, so sorry in advance! ALSO, on the races¡¯ matter, I added Wraiths due to popular demand. Yeti, Cyclops are also in, and I really have no idea on how I hadn¡¯t though of them before¡­ And garudas! Because brawny birdmen are OP! ALSO(2), I couldn¡¯t put the SS up today, had an unexpected thing to do the afternoon, so kind of messed up my timing¡­ Have a good read! ---- Okay, I took another good look at the situation before going into panic. To tell the truth, these three named lynxes probably are not anything too powerful, any normal player should be able to take them on without much problems. The thing is, I am five levels below them and, besides my sword, everything I have equipped is a super underpowered beginner¡¯s gear. Which means that, I am anything but a normal player right now. I clearly do not have the necessary stats to take on the three of them at the same time. Of course, I still have Yuu with me, but her level is even lower than mine is. I have no doubt that she can take one of these cats alone, after all, I¡¯ve seen her taking a lynx head on once when she messed up one of her shots and hit another one, she literally played around with the lynx. If it is a one on one, she can more than hold her ground, but I have my doubts if she end up pulling another one. Even if she has good abilities in the real world, you can¡¯t just ignore the stats in here. I let out a long sigh. I do have an idea on what we need, more than equipment and level, if we want to take these guys right now. Crowd control. We need some kind of skill that makes the enemy unable to attack or react to us, this way we can focus on one of them at a time, without needing to worry about all of them attacking us at the same time. From the way that Yuu is skilled on using ice magic, I¡¯m pretty sure she could come with a way to stop them, but for me, this might take some more time since I don¡¯t have anything I can use as a starting skill, yet. ¡°Apprentice, now is about time I start talking about strategies with you!¡± I said back in my instructor voice. Yuu answered immediately by putting her serious face and listening with attention. ¡°On games like these, we usually have something we call, CC. Or crowd control. Do you have any idea what this could mean?¡± ¡°Crowd control?¡± She asked slightly tilting her head in thought. ¡°From the words¡­ Does it have something to do with managing a large group?¡± I nodded. ¡°Crowd control are skills that, usually, don¡¯t do any damage, making them seem a bit useless by newcomers to the game world.¡± I faked a cough. ¡°That was a mistake that even I made back when I was just starting... But then¡­ What do you think that their true use is, apprentice?¡± She cocked her hear while thinking seriously, taking around half a second before shaking her head. ¡°My apologies, Shishou, but I do not know.¡± I smiled at her honest response. ¡°Then tell me, Yuu¡­ If I told you that those tree lynxes up ahead always come as a trio, do you think that we would be able to take them on, as we are right now?¡± She looked at me for a moment, then changed her gaze to the tree lynxes, observing them for a while, finally she shook her head. ¡°No, Shishou¡­ None of us is capable of taking on more than one of them at the same time¡­¡± I nodded at her answer. ¡°Then, what if we had one skill that wouldn¡¯t damage them, but actually make them unable to attack us for some time.¡± It took a moment for the information to sink in, but after some time she widened her eyes in surprise as understanding started to flow onto her, and she finally nodded in excitement. ¡°Then, we probably would be able to defeat them.¡± I nodded happily, then took us back to the forest to hunt a normal lynx. My idea was for Yuu to use her frost emission to somehow lock the enemies. We found one lynx and I taunted it immediately. Yuu started using the skill and focused herself while I held the cat back, after some time she finally opened her eyes, and the mist that had gathered around her ran forward and surrounded the lynx and clustered atop of it, freezing the cat in a large block of ice. I nodded in satisfaction at seeing this, and Yuu wagged her tails happily. But in this brief moment that she lost her concentration, a crack formed in the ice as the lynx slowly broke free. The kitsune once again focused on the ice and remade it, but she had a slight frown on her face. ¡°Shishou¡­ My mana¡­¡± She spoke slowly, but I understood what she meant. ¡°Then let him go. If the cost is too high, it isn¡¯t worth it.¡± She nodded and relaxed, letting the lynx free. As we suspected, he still had all his hp intact, but we did get a nice bonus.
Red-claw lynx[lvl 10] (Passive)
HP: 430/430 -Fury claw -Shadow step
Frostbite: -10% speed -5% attk (2 min)
It seems that her ice magic actually manage to apply a significant debuff on the cat. I looked quickly at her and noticed she had also seen the effects, and smiled at her. ¡°That is also a kind of crowd control. As long as you hinder your enemies it can be considered a CC!¡± I entered in front of her when the cat charged at her, and gave a quick slash at it, pulling it¡¯s attention back to me. I kept blocking the lynx¡¯s attacks while we thought of another idea, the debuff greatly decreasing it¡¯s danger. Although the frost block is a very good skill, from the looks, it consumes too much mana for it to be used for long periods of time. We need something cheaper. An idea came to me as I noticed that all of its attack are charge-dependent. ¡°Yuu, freeze only its front paws!¡± I said with excitement. It seemed that she understood my idea, as she quickly nodded and focused herself once again. This time was much quicker, as soon as the feline stopped for a brief moment the mist gathered at his feet and a small ice block fused it with the ground. The cat meowed surprised and tried to yank it free, to no avail, then it tried to claw it free with his back legs, but the lack of a good position didn¡¯t help him. In fact, Yuu used this to freeze the third leg and left the cat standing in an awkward pose while hissing in annoyance. ¡°How¡¯s mana?¡± I asked her while lowering my weapons. ¡°It costs around 3 mana per second to keep it up, Shishou¡­ But my regeneration is around three and a half, so I will not have any problem to keep this up!¡± She said with a happy voice, I nodded while petting her. ¡°Do you think you can keep casting the ice lances meanwhile?¡± She blinked for a moment, then focused herself and soon a lance started to form besides her. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that it took a little longer than usual for it to get to its full size. After that I tried pulling another lynx and have her freeze both of them, but it seemed that it was a bit more than what she could handle, so we quickly finished the new lynx then went back to the first one. After one hit, the ice locking his claws in place shattered and he broke free. I wasn¡¯t really surprised for that, since it¡¯s usual on online games that long duration CCs can be broken by damage, but Yuu seemed really angry at it. We quickly defeated this lynx too. So now we could completely lock one of those lynxes in place and take our time on the other two. But I still wasn¡¯t sure about our odds, after all, Yuu¡¯s stopping power is greatly reduced, so I¡¯m still anxious about going there yet. Ideally, I should have an CC of my own so I could use on another one, but sadly that is not the case, as I don¡¯t plan on having magic on this character¡­ Wait, when I think about it, do the crystals I got from mining count as magic or as consumable? Usually, when it comes to games, I am kind of a tight hand when it comes to consumables, holding until the last second before using them. But I have nothing against using them on this character, as this is the way of monster hunting. Now that I think about it¡­ Wasn¡¯t I planning on doing something with these crystals when I got them? After testing them earlier, I kind of became depressed as how useless they looked¡­ But I didn¡¯t really spend all that much time testing them, right? ¡°Yuu, I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I will try something and it might take some time¡­ Is that a problem?¡± She blinked surprised for a moment, then she nodded. ¡°I do not mind it, Shishou¡­ In fact¡­ I want to try something myself¡­ ¡± I looked at her, then nodded. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be at that last clearing we found, there is something I want to test.¡± She nodded, and we each went on our way. As soon as I reached the clearing, I sat on the ground and started by taking all the crystals from my backpack and setting them on the ground organizing them on lines and columns. ¡­ Now that I take a look at them, there sure are a lot of them¡­ The one I have the least is arcane, with twenty three, and my most numerous are water and chaos, each with thirty seven. All the others were something in between¡­ I wonder how many I would need to actually craft something. Anyway, I already had tested these crystals earlier, but only by using them individually¡­ So let¡¯s start seeing if I can activate two different crystals at the same time. I picked a crystal of chaos and one of water, held then in one hand and tried activating them like I did earlier, but nothing happened. I sighed in dejection; there goes half of my ideas¡­ Anyway, if I can¡¯t activate two different crystals at the same time, can I do it with two identical crystals? I picked up another water crystal and dropped the chaos one before trying once again, but nothing. I was kind of expecting for the crystals to summon two, but not even that! For a game with a large amount freedom, this is kind of depressing¡­ Then, what about a piece from a single crystal? I tried breaking one water crystal with my hands, and surprising me, it actually pretty much breaks apart in the middle! I pick one of them and start by trying to activate it, but nothing! God dammit! Does nothing works? And did I just waste a whole water crystals? I sigh loudly and sit kickback on the ground thinking¡­ And I had so many plans for these! As a last try, I pick both pieces from the broke crystals, and try using them together without much hope¡­ And, finally! It actually works! A water ball shots forward and crashes at a nearby tree while the fragments in my had disappear¡­ actually, wasn¡¯t it larger than the one made by a normal crystal? But this is strange¡­ Why is it that using two identical crystals does not work, but using two fragments does? Maybe it¡¯s because the two were originally the same? I test this hypothesis by breaking two more water crystals then swapping the bottoms, and then I try using it. And it works just fine! And yes, the ball does seems bigger than before¡­ I verify this by picking the remaining fragments and breaking them even further, then I gather all the fragments in my hand and use it. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. A large ball of water appear in front of me, and slowly advance forward before hitting a tree and breaking itself. Altough the size increased greatly, it seemed to me that it lost a lot of impact in exchange¡­ Does this apply to the other crystals too? Yes, a quick test with a chaos crystal shows-me this. By the way, a chaos ball kind of look like a distorting, black colored ball with an aura that changes randomly. Hmm¡­ Maybe the crystals only activate when there is a set amount of mass activated? That does seems to be the case. And the more broken they are, they deal less damage but gathers more element¡­ This sure is mysterious¡­ If mass is the only restriction, does this mean that as long as I have a set mass, I can combine any kind of crystal I want? I test this out by breaking an earth crystal and a fire crystal and picking half of each. When I activate them¡­ A ball of magma! YES! So I CAN actually combine crystals! Then, I guess its back to the original plan. I start by checking a couple of combinations that might be useful for me, and I discover that fire and wind actually creates a small explosion! I made a quick test on the lynxes to see if the bomb-ball would work well¡­ Not so lucky, they only deal a small amount of damage¡­ Around eight or so. Not worthy losing a whole crystal for that damage, I quickly dispatch the lynx and go back to the clearing. On a sudden idea, I pick the two small leather pieces I got from the normal skinning and cover another bomb-ball around it. I test what happens, and much to my surprise, it actually activates instantly, blowing up. -10 (280/290) My hand hurts¡­ But it¡¯s a good sign, I can speed up the bomb-ball explosion by enveloping it in leather¡­ Back at the camp, I start by seeing if I can combine even more crystals. And yes, I can. By combining a half piece of light, with a quarter of order and a quarter of fire, I got myself a ball that explodes by emitting a laser forward from where it exploded! Still low damage, though¡­ But at least things are getting interesting! I hunt a few more lynxes and do a quick normal skin to get the leather pieces before going back to the clearing. When I get there, I notice Yuu approaching from the other side with a wide smile on her face. It seems that whatever she was doing actually ended up well. She sees all the crystals laying on the floor and look at me inquisitively, I only smile while I show her the combination of another laser-ball before enveloping it in leather. I jokingly pointed it to her when I activated¡­ And¡­ -8 (282/290) +8 (140/140) Really? A healing laser? This is new! Does the explosion deals damage and the laser heals? Both me and her looked shocked at this discovery. But I soon smile and go back to testing the crystals, and yuu helps me by giving some tips on what I should try next. Most of the times, the result is just a simple mixed-element ball, but once every a while an interesting combination pops up. Like, mixing wind, fire and order give us a thunder ball; water, order and chaos makes a spiked ice ball that clings for a moment before exploding; and two fourths water and one fourth earth and one fourth order, that makes a slime ball¡­ Yes, slime. Weird, huh? By the way, the thing I wanted to do earlier¡­ Hehe. I actually managed to do it! I made five of it and they are now tied on the belt beneath my scale-mail, since I can¡¯t put it in the inventory being an unrecognized item. We tested for around one hour or so, and we only stopped when Yuu suddenly got a call. She excused herself for a moment and her character suddenly became lifeless as she answered the call to her cellphone hooked to the D-lute. I waited patiently for a moment, then I became curious¡­ how does it actually works? I mean¡­ Isn¡¯t there a time speed difference? I could just wait here patiently, but patience isn¡¯t my forte. And since the crystals were starting to run low, I decided to store them back into the inventory while getting rid of any broken ones that couldn¡¯t be stored. After that I laid back on the ground and started to stare at the starry sky. ¡­ .. . Five minutes already¡­ I AM BORED! I WANT TO DO SOMETHING! I start to roll on the ground in agony as the boredom starts to consume me. I mean, I could go and hunt a few lynxes, but I kind of feels that it would be rude for me to leave Yuu here alone meanwhile. The sound of fight wakes me up from my tantrum. I stand up and look around before following the source of the sound. When I get there, I see a party of a warrior looking guy, a ranger looking guy and a mage looking girl. They had aggroed one of the lynxes and were fighting it. But it seems that they were having troubles. Whenever they attacked, the lynx would simply jump out of the way and dodge the attack before countering with a charge. I was actually surprised about this, since I had never seen it dodge my attacks like that. Is it because I usually wait for it to attack me, and then I counter? The thing is, they were having a bit of a hard time, as the lynx wouldn¡¯t stop with its agile counter, and it slowly whittled away their health. But since they are higher leveled than me, and have better gear, the damage didn¡¯t seem all that high. Filthy casuals! Anyway, as I watched the fight, where only once in a while one of their attacks landed, after some time the lynx dropped below 50% and it made it¡¯s usual Roaow (Roar+ meow! I¡¯m a genius!), and it got enraged. The three of them flinched for a moment, but soon proceeded to attack the cat again. The lynx dodged an arrow from the ranger, then made a low hiss. Next thing, the cat disappeared from sight and appeared behind the mage. All of them were far too confused to understand what was happening, and before they could react, the cat pounced the poor caster and took half of her life in a single attack. The archer tried to attack the cat to take him from the back of his friend, but the cat dodged at the last second and the arrow ended up damaging the mage, leaving her with only a fragment of health left. From there, the cat changed it¡¯s target to the ranger, charging at him, but jumping away at the last moment, landing on a tree and jumping back at the archer, landing a beautiful claw attack on his face. But the bastard didn¡¯t stop there! He used the archer¡¯s head as a trampoline and went towards the warrior, landing a double claw attack on his face too! I had never seen that attack! Is it exclusive to when there are two or more persons together? Anyway, it landed a good distance behind the warrior. God dammit! Was the lynx actually this strong? It did not seem to me when I was hunting them earlier! If I were to say, they use kind of the same style as me, countering rather than going on the offensive. It seems that the fact that I am always on the defensive is what actually ends up screwing with their fighting style¡­ The lynx hissed once again, and started walking towards the warrior. This guy, in a fit of rage, ran towards the lynx while lifting his two-handed axe above his head. The fool! I ran from my spot and could only hope that I get there in time. The lynx started with its multi-hit attack, surprising the warrior who failed to dodge it. But what I saw was actually terrifying. The plate-wearing warrior was taking a lot of damage from the attacks! But how? Isn¡¯t his equipment better than mine? Could it be that fury claw actually have armor penetration? This is bad! The final hit will kill the guy! I ran forward as the first combo of the lynx ended. The warrior, once again entering in a fit of rage starts to lift his axe wanting revenge against the cat, so he didn¡¯t even notice it lifting its right claw. At the last moment, I arrived at the scene. I put my sword-hand on the warrior¡¯s face and pushed him away while downing my shield arm to prepare to block, activating nature¡¯s bastion as soon as the rip started to appear. ¡°Wha¡­¡± The warrior started to complain, right before seeing the cat¡¯s skills land on my shield and me staggering away. The three of them became wide-eyed from my sudden intrusion, but any complaint was gone after seeing me save their idiot. Not wasting any time, I kicked the cat away, which soon got up to its feet and charged me, the intruder. -3 (202/430) He jumped sideways at the last moment, and jumped to the tree to my left. I didn¡¯t even let him jump from the bark before bashed him back to the tree, meanwhile I had drawn my sword and activated stab, piercing his chest, but the blade got slightly stuck in the tree¡¯s trunk, so the grip slid from my hand when I tried to pull it back. But since I didn¡¯t want to let the combo go away, I used shield slam on it, making a loud creaking sound as the wood gave in. As the blade got free, I grabbed the grip again and slashed the little bastard downwards. -4 -44 (critical) -50 (brutal) -18 Combo (x1.2) -139 (63/430) I looked at the cat laying on the ground then I looked back at the group. They were all watching at me wide eyed, I frown slightly at their exaggerated reaction and say. ¡°It¡¯s better to be careful when you hunt...¡± I looked at the cat that was getting up with some difficulty. ¡°Or you will end up like this ¡­¡± I said referring to their situation. Since none of them said anything, I walked away. I arrived at the clearing just in time to see Yuu¡¯s eyes opening. ¡°Forgive me for the long time, Shishou¡­ My friend ended up talking a lot more than what I expected¡­¡± She quickly bowed while apologizing. I scratched my cheek awkwardly. ¡°No need to worry¡­¡± I said quickly, just in time as a loud creak followed by a loud thud sounded at some distance away, surprising both of us. ¡°What was that?¡± Yuu asked surprised. ¡°N-no idea!¡± It¡­ Couldn¡¯t be, could it? Yuu looked curious at the direction of the sound for a moment, then shrugged. She turned back to me with a slightly apologizing look. ¡°I also have to tell you, Shishou, but my friend is about to arrive at her home¡­ So I might have to part ways with you soon¡­¡± ¡°Aah¡­ Is that so?¡± This truly was a pity¡­ ¡°Can we at least try to get the three lynxes at the cave?¡± ¡°Sure, she said it will take around ten minutes for her to get ready. So we have half an hour to defeat them!¡± I nodded at her, then we departed to the cave where the three lynxes were. We confirmed our situation one last time, and we made a quick strategy meeting. When we were sure that everything was alright, we walked to the entrance of the cave, Yuu starting to accumulate her ice spears on the way. The three striped lynxes noticed our presence and stood up, baring their fangs and hissing loudly. I smiled happily while I walked towards them, and put my right hand beneath my chain-mail, picking up a small leather ball. The lynxes looked confused as they looked at my action, I simply widened my smile as I presented the ball to them. I took a deep breath and said in a grave tone. ¡°LET! THERE! BE! LIGHT!¡± And I closed my eyes.
Next chapter
Chapter 13 - Triple Trouble Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Second to last chapter from this arc! ANYWAY, here we give goodbye to one of our characters, for now at least. But for far too long has this series gone without a clear objective, so in the next chapter, I will give an actual goal to our favorite golem! So stay tuned! ALSO, here I show how scary our favorite fox actually is! She isn¡¯t just a helpless young maiden! ALSO(2), i literally, just made an excel table (with the help of my father) so i can calculate the stats of the character. No, i''m not joking! ALSO(3), I''ll try to post the sidestory later today Have a good read! ----- Hello guys, and welcome to our new episode of Crystal science, with your host, Gondorrer, the golem, helped by my pretty and na?ve assistant, Cygnas, the goddess! Today, we are going to analyze a certain combination of element crystals, but first¡­ Cygnas, could you give us an brief explanation on how Crystal combination works? Hello, Gon, and yes, Just let me¡­ Wait, did you just call me Na?ve? Huh? I have no idea on what you are talking about! Really¡­? *sigh* Okay then. You see, Gon, to activate a crystal, you need to have a certain combination of, purity, mass and energy. This means that, for every purity of crystals you wish to activate, it MUST be on a certain weight and it MUST need a certain amount of energy for it works. Although there is some small leeway for error here, as long as these parameters are met, any kind of combination works. I see, so, this means that, for minor crystals, I can¡¯t activate anything with more or less mass than a simple minor crystal? Yes! It seems that you got it! Then, Cyg, tell us, why breaking a Crystal increases the ball, but reduces the damage dealt. This might be a little more complicated, you see? The volume and the purity of the crystal determine the amount of element within it. But these elements, need to escape from the crystal somehow, and for this, they pass through its surface. What this means is, the more surface area there is available, the less compressed the element is. Hmmm¡­ This seems fairly complicated, could you give us a better example? Sure, think of the mass and the purity as running water. The more there is, the more water you get. And think of the crystal as a hose. The more you break it, the more surface area you get, which means the wider the hose¡¯s end gets. What hurts more? Getting hit by a small hose that have lots of pressure, or a large one that sends a thick, but slow stream of water? I see, I think I understand. Now, for the last question of the day. What are your three sizes? They are¡­ Hey! What kind of question is that? Oops, sorry, wrong card¡­ Didn¡¯t hurt to try though¡­ I HEARD THAT! Whatever¡­ Here is the right one. What happens if we pick, an eight of fire, an eight of chaos, and six eight of light, grind it to almost a dust, and activate it all at once? ¡­You really don¡¯t deserve this answer¡­ But the readers deserve some explanation¡­ Please, no breaking the fourth wall¡­ The author said it¡¯s really expensive to keep repairing it¡­ Okay, okay. *sigh* Fire means power, expansion. Chaos means¡­ well, chaos¡­ Lack of uniformity if you will. Light¡­ Well, light¡­ not much to discuss here. If you combine the two first, you get something akin to an explosion, although the chaos gives it the quirk of generating smaller explosions apart from the main one. The light takes the place of the main element, due to it being the main mass of the compound. Grinding them to dust, makes so there is a whole lot of elements in this, but no damage whatsoever, which means¡­ a Flash (cluster) bomb! Yup. Thank for your help, Cyg. You are welcome, Gon¡­ But I¡¯m still mad at you trying to trick me¡­ Not my problem, this isn¡¯t in the continuity anyway! With this we bring an end to the Crystal science show. And now, back to your usual story! Gon out! ¡­ .. . I have this strange feeling that the weirdest thing just happened and I wasn¡¯t there to see it¡­ I hate when this happens. Anyway, although I had my eyes closed, I could still see the large flash of light from the flash bomb going out, and heard the lynxes meowing in pain and surprise as the light blinded the three of them. As soon as the main flash was gone, I opened my eyes and approached Rip, the closest of the lynx. The three of them were affected by the blinded debuff. Making them unable to target their attacks through sight for thirty seconds, a lot more time than what I was expecting, to tell the truth. Anyway, I grabbed my sword backwards, and activated stab from above him, piercing his back, then I slashed towards my back, throwing the cat to outside of the cave. As soon as he left it, seven ice lances pierced him. -21 -18 (461/500) -18 -18 -17 -17 -18 -16 -17 Combo!(x1.1) -133 (328/500) My attacks seemed to alert the other two lynxes, as both turned straight to me and jumped in my direction, but I quickly jumped back, making Slash and Maim hit each other head on. -20 (480/500) -22 (478/500) After that, the two of them started to hit each other in confusion, thinking that it was me, so I ignored them and went to the lynx outside of the cave. I got there just in time to notice him standing up, so I ran towards him before he could recover and used slam on the cat, throwing him towards Yuu, who used her frost emission to lock the cat inside three ice walls. I could notice that the cat was slowly regaining his vision due to the damage, so I kicked him into the wall and kept using some normal cuts to deal damage, waiting for my energy to recover. -25 -3 -13 -14- 13- 15 Combo(x1.1) -91 (237/500) You guys probably understood the gist of our strategy by now. Basically, I use my flash bomb on the trio at the beginning, and leave two of them blind for a few seconds. Afterwards, me and Yuu throw everything we have on the third one to take him out of the equation, afterwards, we just need to freeze one of the remaining and take our time killing the other. A fairly simple strategy, I know, but we don¡¯t really need anything too monstrous to beat this guys. Sometimes, simple is better. The cat broke out from my combo with a quick jump backwards, landing on the back wall, and then jumping in my direction. I was taken by surprise because of his sudden movements, but barely managed to put my shield in front of me and block his advance. The little bugger still managed to grapple the border of my shield and claw my face from above it. -25 (245/270) God dammit, that hurts! I bash him with my shield, throwing him back to his place between the walls and take a quick glance at my energy. 65 points. I take one step forward and raise my sword, giving the bar enough time to reach 72, then activate slice ¡®n dice. My sword starts to swing wildly between the walls, with its tip barely managing to fit in the space, scrapping the ice. But just as I have barely enough space for my swings, the cat have no place to run away, so he had to take the full seven seconds of the attack. -8(x14) -112 (125/500) The cat, having only a quarter of his health left, look at me with fury in his eyes, and prepare to jump at me, but. ¡°Shishou!¡± Yuu¡¯s shout came from above, and I look up just in time to see the kitsune jumping the wall with one hand while holding a spear with an ice edge on the other. Wait, spear? When I focus on the weapon in her hands, I notice that it¡¯s actually her usual ice staff, but the tip had a piece ice in the shape of an arrow. She throws her staff towards the feline, impaling him on the ground, then just as she falls down, she grabs her weapon again and she spins around, dragging the cat on the ice walls and only letting the cat slide of her make-shift spear as he goes towards the opening. I stand aside to let the cat go through and he slams on a nearby tree, only to be impaled once again by the spear that Yuu threw. -16 -3(x4) -5 -32(Brutal) Combo(x1.1) -71(54/500) Yuu passes by me in a blur as she runs towards the staff. It fell to the ground after some time without contact with its owner, losing the ice edge. I leave her to finish Rip and look back to the other two cats in the cave. And just in time, because they had just recovered from the blinded status, and both were looking at me with pure hate in their eyes. Each one had taken around one third of their life in damage on the misunderstanding. Just let me tell you, that this wasn¡¯t what I had planned. I sincerely thought that it would only end up with blinded and then leave us alone for a moment, the fact they tore each other apart was only a really nice bonus. As I start to prepare myself for their attack, both of them make a low hiss, getting me by surprise as they weren¡¯t below half health, and then the two disappears at the same time. I instinctively turn backwards while bashing my shield towards their appearance point, but¡­ There is nothing there! Just as I start to get confused, I see with the corner of my eyes the two of them appearing at my sides and jumping at me. I did not have time to dodge nor block the attack, so they manage to grab a hold of me and sunk their fangs onto my scale-mail. -25 (220/270) -25 (195/270) I screamed loudly, as the pain reaches my brain, but still barely manage to elbow the two of them out of my scale mail. -3 (372/500) -3 (351/500) They fall nimbly on the ground and jump away at the same time, takin their distance. This is bad. They have coordinated attacks, I¡¯m not sure whether I¡¯ll be able to hold myself much longer against them¡­ I look at Yuu just in time to see her finishing Rip, and she looks back at me in worry. I give her a quick nod to tell her that I am ok and turn my attention back to the cats, just to see them reading themselves for another attack. A quick look at my energy and I notice that I only have enough for one attack. The two of them start running towards me at the same time, and just as they were about to reach my shield, each one jump towards one direction. I turn towards the one on my left and take a step forward just in time as he jumped back towards me. I activate nature¡¯s bastion and shield slam at the same time, dealing a counter. -29 (322/500) Followed by that, rather than saying that I saw the attack coming, I felt it, so I threw myself on the ground, rolling just in time to see the other lynx flying above me and hitting it¡¯s partner in the tree. -23 (299/500) As he fell back to the ground, confused, I used my shield hand to grab his tail and throw him away towards Yuu. Although the cat managed to avoid the damage by falling on his feet, he immediately had them frozen solid on the ground by the kitsune¡¯s ice magic. Meanwhile, the other cat that had been slammed was starting to get up once again, so I punted him towards a tree and held him in place with my boot. As soon as my energy is back in full and shield slam was out of cool down, I move my boot from it¡¯s head towards his stomach, and throw him upwards with it. Using the combo I had accidentally discovered while saving the trio earlier, I stab the cat, leaving my sword impaling him in the tree, then shield slammed the blade in his chest before slashing him twice, once upwards and once downwards. -22 -50 (Brutal) -17 -17 Combo (x1.2) -127 (172/500) Just as he hit the ground, I noticed Yuu looking in my direction with three ice lances floating around her, she gave me a quick node and I took a step backwards, giving her space to launch the attack. -18 -16 -17 Combo (x1.1) -56 (116/500) After that, the battle went relatively easy. While it¡¯s true that these lynxes are stronger than usual, but their main strength comes from their coordinated attacks, and right from the start, me and Yuu managed to take away this advantage by singling them out. But if I had to say whether this fight was difficult or not, I would say that it is. Unless you came here with a really good plan before starting the fight, or come with a well-coordinated group that is already used to hunting lynxes, you would end up having problems with fighting these three. After the end, for some reason Yuu was strangely fidgety, avoiding eye contact with me. I looked at her inquisitively and she turned her head away while one of her ears twitched, she was clearly hiding something from me. I slowly approached her and put on my best angry face. ¡°Yuu¡­¡± I only needed to say that with a deep tone and she was immediately bowing her head to me. ¡°Forgive me, Shishou! I¡­ You¡­ I¡­ I could not manage well my mana¡­ And it is only around a quarter now¡­ I did not mean to disrespect your teachings¡­ But¡­¡± Geez¡­ So that was it? I was sure it would be something a lot more troublesome than that! I gave her a wry smile while petting her head, making her stiffen in surprise for a moment before dropping her ears in bliss. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.¡°I told you that there wouldn¡¯t be any problem if you used it under dire circumstances¡­ Right? So there isn¡¯t anything wrong to spend more mana with stronger opponents like these.¡± She looked at me surprised for a moment, then nodded meakly. Afterwards, I started to think on what to do with the lynxes. To tell the truth, I wanted to skin all of them, since they looked stronger than usual, and would probably make better equipment out of them. But then there would be nothing left for Yuu, even though she fought so valiantly back there. To tell the truth, after seeing what she did with the make-shift lance, right now I¡¯m starting to doubt why she chose to start with mage¡¯s equipment. Oh well, it¡¯s not right to meddle too much on other¡¯s life ¡°Shishou¡­ I want to let you take these lynxes¡¯ hides¡­¡± She said suddenly. I looked at her in surprise, and she looked downwards slightly ashamed. ¡°You see, Shishou¡­ You helped me so much during this time, teaching me about the game, giving me these equipment¡­ Yet I have nothing I could do to repay you. So, for now I want you to have these lynxes. I am sure that whichever items you could get from them is far better than those of the normal ones¡­ So¡­¡± I looked surprised at her. For me, bringing her along wasn¡¯t anything great. In fact, she actually helped me a lot while hunting these lynxes. But my greedy side started to take over, so I ended up accepting her offer. ¡°Alright, but I wouldn¡¯t feel good if I were to only take these things, so let¡¯s make a deal.¡± She looked surprised at me. ¡°For now, I can¡¯t really do much when it comes to crafting, but as soon as I¡¯m sure that I can do something decent, I¡¯ll have you take one of the items I make, ok?¡± She widened her eyes for a moment, then she nodded. Then came the aftermath. I went to the cave and mined the red-glowing ore from the walls. There wasn¡¯t anything I could say about these, as there was no description and its name was literally, mysterious red ore. After that I gathered the three lynxes on one place and started skinning them with all the care in the world. Meanwhile, Yuu sat besides me and started to check her status. ¡°Hmm¡­ It seems that I leveled up and earned spear mastery, Shishou¡­¡± She said after a moment, surprising me for a moment before I laughed for a moment, it makes sense, I guess. ¡°And I also got Enhance: ice for mage¡¯s staff mastery¡­¡± Wait, what? That whole makeshift spear thing, is actually a skill? After that she started to fiddle around with the derivation point she got, looking around on something that caught her interest¡­ And¡­
Sub-skill: Frost emission: Weaponized [lvl6] (New skill) (requires Enhance: Ice) (levels increase with ice mastery)
Creates a weapon made of ice for you to wield. Damage and mana consumption depends on the weapon.
Cost: varies
Yep¡­ I fear I may have just created a monster¡­ Finally, I got all the lynxes stripped bare, and the time it took for me to finish this, the three bastards had respawned at the cave. Yuu¡¯s face when she saw the three of them there while I was still skinning them was priceless. I had to explain her the concept of respawn and such. After that I finally started to check around on my notification boxes. As usual there was the level up box, all points to vitality, of course, and a few skill boxes.
By continuously making use of your body to damage your enemies, you have earned the skill: Martial arts
Skill: Martial arts [lvl 1] 4%
Increases damage dealt without use of weapons Bonus DMG: 10%
Passive
By unlocking the martial arts skills and making continuous use of your legs to attack, you have learned the sub-skill: Kick
Sub-Skill: Kick [lvl 1] (levels increase with Martial arts)
Increases the knockback of your kicks Knockback distance bonus: up to 10%
Passive
By continuously repeating a movement, and proving it¡¯s use on combat, you have learned the original skill: Roll
Original Skill: Roll [lvl 1] 1%
Roll on the ground, dodging your enemies attack. Dodging on the last moment gives you an opening chance, increasing the damage of your next attack by 30% for two seconds. You can activate roll from any position.
Cost: 10 energy
¡­ .. . ¡°OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡± I shouted excitedly, surprising Yuu who jumped in surprise. FINALLY! I EARNED ROLL! OOH YEAH! TAKE THAT! ¡°Original skill~! Original skill~! Ori, ori, Ori-gi-nal!¡± I started to sing and dance idiotically, making Yuu even more worried. And that wasn¡¯t the last window.
Congratulations, you have just created a brand new item.
Lesser Flash bomb (cluster modifier)
A elemental crystal bomb that emits a strong light, blinding the enemies. Followed by smaller explosions that don¡¯t do anything Blinded: 30-60 seconds.
By creating a new item that uses mainly elemental Crystals, you have learned the crafting skill: Crystal tinkerer.
Skill: Crystal tinkerer [lvl 1] 22%
Allows you to create items that use elemental crystals. combinations must be discovered on your own or through recipes. Discovered recipes can be left to the system to re-create. Allows you to break and recombine the crystals of the same elements through the system. You have received the modifier: Delayed activation. Can be applied to any Crystal creation.
Passive
And now is where I go crazy! After some minutes commemorating like a mad man, and making Yuu doubt my sanity, something I¡¯m really surprised she hadn¡¯t done up to now, we finally went back our way to the village. On the way, Yuu asked me to wait while she tried her new skills on the lynx. She applied Enhance: Ice on her weapon and used frost emission: Weaponized to summon another spear on the other hand. Yep, she was dual wielding spears¡­ That is NOT something that should be able to happen on this game, after all, a spear occupies two weapons slots. The maximum you could do was to equip a shield on your offhand or some daggers as auxiliary weapons, but since her frost spear is a skill¡­ Well, I saw a slaughter as she minced the cat with her two spears at the same time¡­ She kept spinning them nonstop and the cat barely had any chance to attack back. Must never make her my enemy¡­ I might know more about gaming than her, but when it comes to straight up fighting¡­ She is far better than me. When she came back, she had a slight frown on her face. ¡°Muu¡­ Using the two of them at the same time spends too much mana¡­¡± ¡°But the damage seems to be really good¡­¡± She nodded to my words. ¡°Then, you could do something like this¡­ Use them when you have lots of mana, then go back to your ice lances when you are low and wait for it to regenerate.¡± She looked at me like I was the most intelligent man on the face of the earth, not that it¡¯s too far from the truth. We left the forest in time and saw the village ahead of us. We sped up slightly and soon arrived at it¡¯s streets. As it was still in the middle of the night, there weren¡¯t many NPCs on the street, and seeing as we would have to wait for the day to dawn, we went around looking for Yuu¡¯s friend. What actually happened, was that she found us, and by us, I mean Yuu, as suddenly came a girl that looked no older than twelve and jumped at the kitsune, hugging her. ¡°Yuu-chan! I was so worried! I heard there was this really mean and strong guy on the forest you were hunting! Something the brutal! I was so sure he had killed you!¡± The little girl was hugging Yuu with all her strength while rubbing her eyes full of tears on her chest. Yuu seemed at loss on what to do and started petting her friend¡¯s head and for some reason she looked at me wryly. Only after a while she finally came down and cleaned the tears from her face. This girl was a silver-haired cat-girl, with the top of her head reaching my chest. She had her hair cut short and tied in a twin-tail fashion. She wore the initial leather armor and had a sword hanging on her waist. She looked suspiciously similar to an anime character I knew¡­ But, it couldn¡¯t be¡­ Right? Only after some time she noticed my existence and looked surprised for a moment, then she shook her head in some kind of ¡°It can¡¯t be¡± manner while shrugging. ¡°Mnn¡­ I am Tatenaka Hanbei! Or Han-chan, thanks for taking care of Yuu for me!¡± IT IS! IT REALLY IS! She really copied the appearance of the character from that anime! ¡°Geez, no need for that¡­ She actually helped me a lot¡­¡± I said while wryly while scratching my head. ¡°The name is Gondorrer Lynxban¡­¡± Whoops¡­ ¡°Gravelheart, Gondorrer gravelheart. You can call me Wargon.¡± She looked suspiciously at me for a moment when I almost messed my surname, but wasn¡¯t too bothered by it. ¡°Anyway, it seems that it¡¯s about time for me to leave her back in your care, as you will probably want some help to level up¡­¡± ¡°But aren¡¯t you level one yourself? Why don¡¯t you come with us?¡± She asked after seeing my equipment, but I shook my head. ¡°No, I¡¯m actually am level seven, almost eight. I just need to deliver a quest before leveling, then I plan to go to the capital to learn crafting¡­¡± ¡°Heeh! So you are going for crafting?¡± She asked with curiosity, I shook my head. ¡°Nope! I¡¯m going for Monster Hunter!¡± I said as I filled my chest with pride. Yuu looked at me with curiosity, as it was probably the first time she heard that, but Han-chan eyes shone immediately. It seemed that she knew the game. ¡°No way! Are you¡­ Is that serious?¡± I nodded happily and she looked at me with admiration. ¡°You are amazing!¡± I smiled smugly. ¡°Anyway¡­ How did you know it was her? Did she tell you her nickname?¡± I asked curious, but she widened her eyes for a moment and then she grinned smugly. ¡°What¡­. Did you really think that this girl, who never played a game before, would be able to create an original character all alone?¡± I looked confused at her for a moment as the information slowly seeped in my mind, then I looked back to Yuu and stared at her for a moment¡­ Does she means that¡­ ¡°Yuu looks just like that in real life?¡± I asked surprised. I was eighty percent sure that she had edited her character, but now that she mentioned it¡­ Truly. Yuu had just created this character¡­ Then isn¡¯t she quite the looker in real life? ¡°What is the matter?¡± She asked confused, not understanding what was happening. Han-chan turned to her with an impish smile and started. ¡°You see, Yuu-chan¡­ Wargon-san is actually really smitten with how yo¡­¡± ¡°MY APPRENTICE!¡± She was about to say something embarrassing, so I interrupted her by going back to my grave voice. Yuu¡¯s reaction was just what I expected, stiffening up. ¡°Yes, Shishou!¡± ¡°Eh? Shishou? What do you mean?¡± The cat-girl was completely surprised with Yuu¡¯s reaction. ¡°It seems that your friend here wants to level up quickly, so why don¡¯t you take her to hunt lynxes like what we were doing?¡± Her eyes shone up as she understood my idea, then she nodded vigorously. I am an evil person. My revenge is fast and swift! ¡°Leave it to me, Shishou!¡± She said that and grabbed Han-chan¡¯s hand before starting to dash off. I stopped her at the last moment when something came to my mind. I sent her a friend invite before she darted off. She looked at me surprised for a moment, then smiled brightly before accepting. I approached her and gently patted her head once more, seeing as I wouldn¡¯t be able to do that anytime soon. ¡°Take care, apprentice.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I will, shishou!¡± Meanwhile her friend was looking at us with shock in her eyes, as if she was seeing something unbelievable. Then I finally sent the kitsune off, who dragged the helpless cat girl that was completely lost in this situation. After she was some distance away, I finally logged off to get something to eat, as I would have to wait for the morning
Next chapter
Sidestory 1.3 - Ice fox Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Here we have the (potential) last chapter of this side story! ANYWAY, as promised today¡¯s side story chapter, where we finally see how Yuu actually felt when she started to call Wargon by Shishou and why she kept that up, and I even give slight hint about something here¡­ *wink wink* ALSO, there is nothing to add to the also, so yeah¡­ Have a good read! ---- Yuu was ashamed from having called the golem in front of her the same way she called her grandfather back in the dojo. It wasn¡¯t that she did intentionally, her body simply moved first before she could react. But while she was regretting her reaction, the golem seemed happy with the way she had called him, because he had a large smile in his face while he asked. ¡°Then, let us start with skills, since their meanings is a lot more literal the rests. So tell me, apprentice, what would you think that is a skill?¡± As he said that, he slowly started to walk away, but since he made her a quick signal with his hand, she ended up following him. Meanwhile she hacked her brain in though, as she tried to understand what he meant with those words. In the end, she chose the obvious answer that came to her. ¡°I¡­ I am not sure, Shishou¡­¡± She accidently called him Shishou again, and paled when he looked at her. Was he angry that she wasn¡¯t calling him by his name? ¡°Ah¡­ Is¡­ is it¡­ Skills are things you earn when you train a lot!¡± Her voice stammered as she tried to give meaning to her words. But to her surprise he actually smiled this time. So he wasn¡¯t angry about the shishou thing? She felt relieved by this. ¡°Very good! But here in the game, skills are a little more inside this game. They are abilities used to improve yourself, be it temporarily or permanently. And these abilities are your bread and butter of fighting, because a strong skill, can easily overpower your enemies.¡± He started explaining the meaning of skills for her, patiently answering her questions whenever they rose. Yuu started to feel glad that she had met this man, and she had a couple of reasons for that. First was that he was patiently explaining her everything she needed. Second was that he was the second person she met that didn¡¯t actually treated her any different from how they treated the others, the first one being her friend, Mary. She had noticed that second fact after sometime while walking with him. Although it took her some time, she had noticed that his whole master atmosphere he had around him was actually just an act. A good, but funny act. Before she knew it, she was just going with the flow when calling him by his accidental title. Another thing about him that also caught her eyes¡­ Or rather, her ears, was how silent he was while walking. When she had seen his scale and chain mail armor, she expected it to be a rather loud when moving, but the way he walked completely absorbed the impact of the steps, making so the rings and scales wouldn¡¯t shake too much. She wondered for a moment whether he was actually a master in martial arts, but seeing him almost trip in a root changed her mind. Maybe he is just a natural at it. After some time, they arrived at the clearing where the wild dogs were, and Wargon suddenly said: ¡°Apprentice, now we will put everything you learned in practice, are you ready?¡± ¡°Yes, Shishou, I won¡¯t disappoint you!¡± By now she was already completely immersed in his game, and she also couldn¡¯t help but be thankful for him teaching so many things, so the title of Shishou was already stuck on him inside her mind. ¡°Good. Now, I will keep the dog¡¯s attention on me, meanwhile I want you to attack it, understood?¡± ¡°Yes, Shishou!¡± She took her staff to a more comfortable position and readied herself, then she saw Wargon dashing towards a nearby dog and deal a series of stabs and slashes with his two weapons, and the dog¡¯s HP dropped by almost a half with only that. She couldn¡¯t help but gasp in admiration. Could it be that Wargon was actually really strong? She quickly recovered her focus and shook her head before turning to the dog. Her Shishou had said that to use a skill, you only needed to focus on the skill, but when she had tried it earlier while walking, she was unable to use it normally, so she had resorted to saying the skill name out loud. ¡°Invoke element!¡± She felt the energy gathering at the staff and then being released in a form of a ball made of icy fog, before blasting forwards toward the dog, but the damage it dealt was far too small. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. And the skill just¡­ Felt wrong¡­ Still, she kept attacking while the dog ignored her and tried to defeat the golem, who was just dodging it skillfully while, for some reason, keeping his hands on his back. It was a long and tedious fight, but the dog finally died, and with it, came another one of these strange windows, saying something about reclaiming the body. She looked at it with some curiosity, and then to Wargon, asking confirmation on what she had to do, as he nodded she proceeded to kneel beside the dog and reclaim it. In it¡¯s place was a dog fang and a small pouch that converted to money when she took it in. ¡°Now, apprentice, is there a flashing window near the border of your vision?¡± She nodded. ¡°Good. Focus on it!¡± As she did, some Windows appeared before her, and while giving them a quick read, she widened her eyes in surprise. ¡°Shishou! It is written here that I have earned a new skill and two new subskills!¡± ¡°Good, student, now tell me, what are these skills?¡± After that she quickly explained him about the Ice mastery skill, frost emission and frost ball skills that she had received. The golem nodded in accordance and then told her to test the skills in another dog, as he wasn¡¯t an expert on magic. And so he once again did his combo in one of these dogs. She started with the frost ball skill. But this time, the energy she felt didn¡¯t go through the staff, and used it more like a catalyst than an emitted, and it felt much more natural than the invoke element skill. And it did more damage too! The snow ball attack was clearly superior when compared to the other skill. But she didn¡¯t have time to be impressed, so she tested the other skill. ¡°Frost emission!¡± A sudden feeling of the energy leaving her body came to her, but instead of simply dispersing like it did with the other skills, she could feel it lingering in the air around her, waiting to be controlled. It felt so¡­ Familiar¡­ She quickly concentrated once again, and started to manipulate the energy around her into something she could use to attack. An icicle was the first thing that came to her mind, so she quickly gathered the energy around her and made it take the form of a cone. As soon as it was done, she threw it at the dog, which was pierced. The previous damage she had dealt were nothing compared to this! Even the frost ball felt weak. But she didn¡¯t stop there. She once again used that skill, and this time she manipulated it differently, she gathered it around the dog, making many different small needles of ice, and pierced the dog with them. The dog was left almost dead after that. She only needed one more spear before defeating it. And she did that. Wargon approached her, and she looked at him with expectancy. She was proud of herself for having used such a powerful skill, all by herself. ¡°Student!¡± ¡°Yes, Shishou!¡± ¡°How much mana do you have left, student?¡± She wasn¡¯t even wary of his strange question, so with a quick glance at the numbers she had her answer. ¡°Thirteen, Shishou!¡± Her eyes were shining with expectations. But what greeted her was the sheath of a sword to her head. The pain and the surprise made her crouch while holding her head that throbbed slightly. ¡°Ouch!¡± She said while looking back at him, confusion filling her eyes. ¡°Why¡­ Why would you do that, Shishou?¡± ¡°You fool! What if you were alone and the enemy hadn¡¯t been defeated?¡± She widened her eyes in surprise. ¡°From now on, you are to never again drop below half your mana when we are together, unless under dire circumstances, do you understand?¡± ¡°Y-Yes Shishou¡­ Sorry¡­¡± Ahh... Now she had done it. She had been so absorbed on testing her new skill and showing off to her Shishou that she messed up badly¡­ She looked down, angry at herself for having made such a common mistake. But a suddenly she felt something touching her gently on her head, as she looked up she saw Wargon gently patting her. She was surprised for a moment. ¡°Still, you did well. But be careful next time, ok?¡± She nodded slightly at him while he kept gently petting her head. A feeling of peace and bliss passed through her, as she went completely oblivious to her surroundings. Maybe¡­ Being his apprentice isn¡¯t so bad after all¡­ She couldn¡¯t help but think so. Chapter 14 - Stuff of the myths Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Last chapter of what I call the beginner¡¯s arc! ANYWAY, about the side stories, what I read on the comments actually gave me an idea on what to do with them. Firstly, I will keep making sidestories, but they won¡¯t always be continuous. For now, I plan on making a side story about Mary (or Han-chan), and then wait a bit before making another. I might make one telling about Yuu on her adventures with her friends, or maybe one about the MC¡¯s friends, or even about S2daddylovescygS2 *snicker*. Anyway, there will be more side story, but not always about Yuu. ALSO, I¡¯ll try to pump the Extra chapter today, so we can spread the legend of Green eyes¡­ What? The difference about extras and sidestories? Side stories are about characters that appear in the main story, and their POV on the situation, or their own stories. Extras are for character that do NOT appear directly in the story, but somehow or another end up seeing the main character in one of his moments¡­ and end up adding to the legend of green eyes¡­ Not to say that extras won¡¯t appear on the main story¡­ I might just end up and: Boom, you¡¯re in. Have a good read! ----- My logging out event was pretty uneventful. Since there were around two hours since I had logged in, it was now around nine o clock. Since the next time I logged in, I would probably stay in the machine up to the morning, I thought that it would be better if I prepared myself, so I started by cooking a quick meal for me, and by quick, I mean: Hot water + 3 minutes. Satisfied and full, I then proceeded to take a quick bath and do my business¡­ With the bathroom clear, I sat in front of my, up to now, ignored computer and started checking if there was anything new around my twenty or so tabs in my browser. After reading a few web novels, reading a few games reviews and seeing another top ten video on you tube, I was finally ready to dig back into my bed and do an all weekender! But first¡­ I took an USB flash drive and plugged it in my computer, passed a few archives to it and took It out. I plugged the USB on a side port in the D-lute, and hoped that it would work. Logging in¡­ Once again I was back in the character selection area, but since Wargon is my only character right now, I was already being impersonated into the golem. I looked around looking for Cyg, but couldn¡¯t see her anywhere. Just as I was about to give up and enter back into the game, a sudden flash of light happens, and Cyg appears before me¡­ But¡­ I had no doubts that the girl in front of me was her. Her body build, the playful grin and the floating feet kind of gave away, but aside from that¡­ Well. Firstly, she wasn¡¯t a human anymore, her skin had gone one shade of white up, but there were these slightly bluish lines all around her. Her hair, although still as long and flowy as before, now wasn¡¯t made of many strands, but looked much more a single, whole mass. Her clothes had also changed. Although keeping the same shape, color and pattern, it was now made of some kind of opaque crystal. If you hadn¡¯t guessed by now, for some reason she looked like a marble-skinned golem¡­ I was caught by surprise by this, so I only stood there looking at her in shock for some time. She smiled brightly and did a quick spin around. ¡°So? How do I look?¡± ¡°You¡­ Kind of look one of these god¡¯s statues we see in temples¡­¡± ¡°Well, I AM a goddess!¡± Too smug¡­ Let¡¯s tone her down a bit. ¡°Really? I have my doubts¡­¡± And a pout, done. I smiled widely at her, only to annoy her further, and it seemed that it worked, as she turned her head away. I held back a laugh before doing what I wanted to do. ¡°So¡­ I had promised to show you the stories I wrote¡­ Right?¡± Oh god, this is embarrassing¡­ Her eyes shone up with excitement, and before I even had the time to react, she was already grabbing my chain-mail while bouncing up and down in excitement. ¡°Where? Where? Where?¡± I had to gently push her back before something bad happened. ¡°I put them in a USB plugged to the console¡­ I guess you can access them this way, right?¡± She nodded happily, and soon enough a window appeared before her, she started scrolling through it quickly, her eyes widening the more she looked. Out of curiosity I took a peek on the window and noticed that she was checking how many archives there were in the flash-drive. I don¡¯t remember if I already told this, but I actually try to write a lot, but most of them end up only as chapter one¡­ Although sometimes a longer one does appear¡­ She seemingly picked one at random and started to read, I took this time to ask away the doubt I had. ¡°So, why the sudden change in appearance?¡± She blinked in surprise and turned back to me. ¡°Muu¡­ It¡¯s that you gave me that idea of playing the game myself¡­ So even if I weren¡¯t going to play myself, I kind of wanted to see how I would look like if I were to be of each race¡­ And when I saw you logging in, I decided to choose golem just like you!¡± She blinked to my side and put herself besides me while summoning a mirror in front of us. ¡°Look, doesn¡¯t it look like I am your sister this way?¡± She said while looking up to me. Oh god¡­ How could one phrase from this girl have so much destructive power? Wait¡­ Now that she mentioned it¡­ ¡°Cyg, could I ask you for a favor?¡± She blinked in surprise, but then nodded. ¡°You see, some of my relatives are going to start playing this game in some time from now¡­ Any chance you could give them some help?¡± ¡°Sure¡­ But how exactly would they need help?¡± She looked at me with curiosity. ¡°Well, the problem would probably be my sister¡­¡± ¡°Eh! You already have a sister?¡± For some reason her eyes were a mix of disappointment and expectation. ¡°Yeah, but she is only five years old¡­ And I kind of needed that you could somehow put her together with my father when they start creating their characters¡­ I¡¯m kind of afraid what she might end up doing if left alone.¡± Just for the record, my little walking disaster of a sister, when she had less than two years on her belt, managed to short circuit the telephonic line in our house¡­ So yeah¡­ You see where I¡¯m going¡­ ¡°Heh¡­ She is so young¡­¡± She stopped to think for a moment, then nodded. ¡°No problem, have them tell me that they know you and I¡¯ll do something about it! Is that all?¡± I stopped to think for a moment, then nodded. I don¡¯t think there is much left for me to do then. She smiles to me and wave her hand, and immediately I am back to the village where I had last left off. When I look at the sky, I notice that the sun was barely starting to rise. Since I wasn¡¯t sure about the time, I decided to start walking towards Illwen¡¯s house. And I managed to get there just in time to see the dark elf leaving through the door while parting with his wife and daughter. I raised my hand to greet him when he saw me, and his half-closed eyes widen for a brief moment before he smiles. Giselde greets me with a heartfelt smile and almost slam me in the ground when she taps my back. ¡°IT¡¯S MISTER GOLEM!¡± Came the happy shout from their daughter. Aliwa was much more enthusiastic in our encounter than her parents, running towards me. I prepared myself for a sudden hug from her opening my arms wide, but the girl completely surprised me and her parents. She jumped at me, but instead of aiming at me, she went for my arm, and used them as a pivot to launch herself upwards, where she straightened herself and fell on my shoulders, hugging my head. The three of us were simply too stunned to say anything for a while, then Giselde burst into laughter as me and Illwen could only smile wryly. Seeing that I wouldn¡¯t be able to take the little runt from my shoulders any time soon, I let her there and went towards Illwen. ¡°My, my¡­ Sorry about my daughter¡­ Sometimes she is too energetic for her own good¡­¡± I shook my head, telling him that it wasn¡¯t a problem. His face then turned serious. ¡°So, did you find that cave I told you?¡± I took out the ore from my inventory and showed it to him with a prideful smile. He widened his eyes in surprise before picking it from my hand. He took his time while examining the rock, and finally he gave a sigh of relief. ¡°So, it¡¯s not a bad sign?¡± I asked curious, and he nodded. ¡°Yes, yes. I was afraid that this could be what is known as dark-blood steel ore¡­¡± Seeing my confused face he smiled wryly. ¡°It¡¯s a kind of ore that appears on area with high concentration of demonic energy. Usually, there are some really powerful demons nearby. Strong enough to destroy whole cities¡­¡± I gulped loudly when I heard that. ¡°I take that¡¯s not it, then?¡± He shook his head. ¡°This is just a red-tint iron. It¡¯s a rare kind of iron that, even when smelted, it keeps the red coloration. It is pretty, but besides that, it¡¯s the same as any kind of iron. Here, you can keep it.¡± He gave me the ore back and I happily stored it in the inventory. He smiled widely before turning to Giselde. ¡°Dear, could you take those old gloves of mine? This young man here deserves them¡­¡± The dwarf nodded and went back to inside the house; the elf turned to me and said. ¡°Now, if you excuse me, I have some mining to do. But still, many thanks for your help!¡±
QUEST: Miner problem
Illwen, the miner, examined the ore that you brought back to him and is glad to know that his worries were unfounded. As promised, he asked Giselde to give you your rewards
Rewards: Gloves of the ferocious miner. Increase in mining skill. Red-tint iron ore.
I also earned a level for completing the quest! Hooray! He shook my hand and then took his daughter from my shoulders and kissed her cheeks before walking away. I played a bit with Aliwa while I waited for Giselde to come back. When she appeared, she was carrying a pair of dark chain-mail gloves in her hands.
Gloves of the ferocious miner (Hands)
Def:13M. res6
Quality:GoodDurability:30/30
Description A multi-purpose chain mail gloves. Protects against attacks and helps mining. STR +6, Agi +5, Critical mining point +2
I widened my eyes at the item¡­ Isn¡¯t this really good? It also improves mining? So awesome! But what is this critical mining point? Is that the shining spot? I never managed to actually land a hit there before, always missing the spot by a few centimeters¡­ Does it increases that area? ¡°Here, kid. Make sure to make good use of these, ok?¡± She said while patting my back, I nodded to her. ¡°Now, Aliwa, say good bye to mister golem because it seems that he will go somewhere far away!¡± ¡°Ehh? Mister golem is going away? When are you going to come back? I want to hear more stories!¡± MUST! RESIST! PUPPY! EYES! ¡°Then, let mister golem make a deal with you, ok?¡± I said while crouching and petting her head. It seems that I am developing an habit¡­ Hmm¡­ ¡°Mister golem will travel a lot, and will get a lot of stories to tell you later, ok?¡± The little girl¡¯s eyes brightened when she heard my promise then nodded happily. I bade my farewell to her and her mother before going back my way. Now, there was one place I had to go before leaving the village. I walked towards the wild dogs area, and there I found the old house with the small studio besides it. Like always, there was an old man sitting in front of the rack clearing away the fur on a piece of hide. ¡°HELLO, HELLO, WALLACE!¡± I greeted him happily, and the old man almost hit the ceiling when he jumped in surprise. He turned back to me and looked at me in anger before picking a piece of hide besides him and throwing at me, but I used my shield to block it as I already expected this. ¡°Missed me?¡± I said tauntingly at him. He mumbled some rude words that I shouldn¡¯t put here before going back to his work. ¡°So, what do you want, brat?¡± He asked scowling. ¡°Heh¡­ Actually, I came here with three things in mind¡­¡± I said my thoughts as I walked besides him. ¡°Well, first, let¡¯s start with the more troublesome one¡­¡± He looked at me curious. ¡°I want an objective.¡± His eyes widened in surprise, well, not that I blame him, after all even I think this is strange. ¡°You see¡­ I already have this idiotic dream of mine of hunting strong monsters and whatnot¡­ But I want something a bit more concrete, I want something for me to truly aim for. Something that, if I do, everyone will know my name! I want some big, bad and strong monster that I can set my aim at, and who¡¯s best to tell me something like that than the old war veteran, Wallace, the Dragon General?¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He looked surprised at me, then he frowned. Much to my surprise, he stopped his work and turned back to me, looking me straight in the eyes. ¡°Boy, do you have any idea on what you just asked me?¡± ¡°No, but I don¡¯t care. Also, it¡¯s not like I am going to run straight at it, I will properly prepare myself before facing it. I may be crazy, but I¡¯m still not suicidal.¡± He looked at me in the eyes, then a wide grin appeared on his face. ¡°Okay, boy, then let me help you with that.¡± He leaned back on to the table behind him and looked at the sky, reminiscing. ¡°You see, boy. Ah¡¯m not one to brag, but back in my day, Ah was one of the strongest person alive, you know?¡± Not really surprised there, to tell the truth¡­ ¡°Ah could count on one hand the amount of people that could actually stand up in a fight against me¡­ Ah fought dragons, demons, angels and monsters¡­ Ah laid wastes to whole armies by mahself¡­ Ah¡¯ve seen things even more powerful than you could ever imagine¡­¡± He looked at me once again, his eyes dead serious. ¡°Ah thought that nothing more could give me fear, nothing more in this world would ever make me stop¡­ Ah grew reckless, boy, and Ah started to seek the legends, the myths¡­ Ah started to look around for things that were only talked in books and in children stories¡­¡± He gave a long sigh and once again looked at the sky. ¡°Boy, Ah thought that Ah was fearless, that Ah was brave, that Ah was unstoppable¡­¡± He suddenly shivered as the memories came back to him. ¡°And then, Ah met it¡­ Ah met the myth, Ah met the legend¡­ Ah met true fear¡­ Boy¡­ That time, Ah finally understood that, there are somethings out there that shouldn¡¯t be fought. Ah only needed a glance, one single glance at the creature, and ah was unable to even move a single finger. Ah dropped to my knees, and all that Ah could hope was for that¡­ Thing¡­ To ignore me, to let me go.¡± He suddenly gave a weak laugh. ¡°Ah didn¡¯t even need to be bothered¡­ for that thing, even Ah, one of the strongest of mah time, was nothing more than a freckle of dust.¡± Once again, another dejected sigh. ¡°Ah¡¯ve never felt so powerless, boy¡­¡± I gulped loudly. I could somehow understand that what the old man was saying was the truth, and I had experienced firsthand his power, twice. But for something to exist that didn¡¯t even consider the old man a threat¡­ What kind of creature is that? ¡°What was it that you found, Wallace?¡± I asked. Strange, even when I knew how powerless I would be against such creature¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but feel¡­ Excited. He looked at me with a strange light in his eyes. ¡°What Ah saw was a monster¡­ Just like you wanted, boy, but in a completely different scale than whatever you could ever imagine¡­ Are you sure you want to go after it, boy?¡± ¡°Heh¡­ If it wasn¡¯t something at least on that level, it wouldn¡¯t be any fun, right?¡± I said putting my best confident smile. And Wallace laughed. He laughed like there was no tomorrow. But it didn¡¯t feel like he was mocking me. ¡°Ah knew you were something else, boy, but Ah never expected you to be so¡­ Extreme!¡± He laughed and started walking towards his house while motioning me to follow him. ¡°Hear me, boy, Ah won¡¯t tell everything about those guys, since there would be no fun if Ah did that, so Ah¡¯ll start by giving you a tip.¡± He said with a playful smile, different from any that I had saw before. ¡°When you get to the capital, search around for the Four gods of disasters, you hear me? They are an old and almost forgotten legend, so you won¡¯t find it anywhere usual.¡± ¡°Then where should I start?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Is there a library at the capital where I could find any information about them?¡± ¡°Good idea, boy, it seems that your head isn¡¯t as bad as Ah thought it would be.¡± He made motion for me to wait a moment while he went to his bedroom, I heard the sound of a drawer being opened then closed. When he came back there was a beautiful golden feather in his hand. ¡°Boy, promise me this.¡± He said, suddenly putting his hands in my shoulder. ¡°Ah don¡¯t care when, ah don¡¯t care how. But once you beat these bastards, you are going to make the damned best armor and the damnable best weapon you can out of them, and if Ah am still alive by then, you are going to come here, and show it to me, you got it?¡± I widened my eyes at his sudden request, but I put my best ferocious smile and nodded. ¡°Leave it to me, old man. I¡¯m going to make you damn proud of having taught me skinning.¡± He grinned widely, then put the golden feather in my hand. I looked at it suspiciously for a moment. Is this an item to resurrect or something? ¡°This is a whispering feather, boy. It allows you to talk to its owner wherever you be.¡± I widened my eyes at this. ¡°If you ever need any tip when it comes to skinning, give me a call and Ah¡¯ll try mah best to help you. Now¡­ You said there were three things you wanted from me, what are the other two?¡± He asked changing the subject. I blinked my eyes in surprise, then remembered. ¡°Oh, yeah. You told me that you would recommend me to your daughter for when I were to learn leatherworking. I wanted to know how to find her.¡± ¡°Oh, is that all?¡± He had a slight frown. ¡°That¡¯s simple, when you get to the capital, just look for a girl named Melinda, she¡¯s a half human half garuda, red wings and feathers on the forearms and forelegs. Claws for feet. Can¡¯t miss her.¡± I nodded. ¡°If she asks who sent you, show her the feather.¡± Garuda¡­ Garuda¡­ If I remember right, garudas are some kind of birdmen that you could choose on the character creation, with their bodies full of feathers and a bird faced, along with two huge wings¡­ ¡°So, what¡¯s the third then?¡± I snapped back from my thoughts when he asked. ¡°Well¡­¡± From the three things I wanted from him, this was the most awkward, so I looked away while scratching my cheek. ¡°I just wanted to thank you for helping me earlier¡­¡± He widened his eyes in surprise for a moment, the he also gave an awkward smile. Seems like he isn¡¯t used for people to thank him. After that, we left the house. Now all I had to do was go to the capital and start my adventure! But¡­ ¡°Hey, Wallace¡­ What¡¯s the fastest way to get to the capital?¡± ¡°Ahh?¡± He asked confused for a moment, then stopped to think for a moment. ¡°Probably would be taking a ride from Rakin, near the exit of the village. You pay him ten silver and he lends you a mount to the capital¡± Ten silver? Doesn¡¯t seem too expensive for me, but the exit of the village is all the way to the other side¡­ And I just came from there¡­ Hmm¡­ I think I just had my idiotest idea ever¡­ I looked at Wallace for a moment and made my small request¡­ ¡­ ¡°Yeah¡­ Ah think Ah can do it¡­ But are you sure about this boy? It¡¯s only a five minute walk¡­¡± He asked doubting my sanity, but I just shrugged it. Wallace looked at me for some time, but sighed out loudly. ¡°Okay¡­ Okay¡­ Whatever, Ah was needing some exercise anyway.¡± I knew I was going to regret this immediately, but I couldn¡¯t help and smile widely, as Wallace approached me and held me by the collar of my armor. ¡°Just to be sure, whatever happens, ain¡¯t mah fault.¡± He said one last time. Then he threw me with one hand. Literally, he threw me! I could feel the wind blowing against my skin, if I looked down, I could see the village, with the NPCs and players walking around here and there. Some of them even looked up and saw me flying past them in a ridiculous speed. I couldn¡¯t help but start. ¡°I BELIEVE I CAN FLY! I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SKY!¡± I sang my heart out, but as the end of the village approached, I started to fall down, so I crossed my arms in front of my head and prepared myself. I noticed that I would fall right in front the door of a house, on the end of the village. Altough the house itself was small, there was a huge fenced area around it, and a huge building on the other side. Right when I was about to hit the ground, I activated Nature¡¯s bastion. Then I slammed myself on the earth and started to roll forward. -278 (42/330) ¡­ Ouch¡­ My everything hurts¡­ The loud noise I made caught the attention of whoever was inside the house, because I could barely hear the sound of the door opening and somebody running towards me. I couldn¡¯t see because my head was buried in the ground. ¡°Hey, boy, are you alright? What happened?¡± Came the male voice. ¡°I¡­ Am¡­ Fine¡­ But could¡­ You get my¡­ Common sense¡­ for me¡­? I think¡­ It might have broken¡­ On the fall¡­¡± ¡­ .. . After some time resting and finally managing to recover enough to regret my decision, I finally got up and looked at the man that came to my rescue. He looked human enough for me, except the fact that there was a strange blue glow coming from around his neck. Is he a dullahan? ¡°Sorry for scaring you like that¡­ It¡¯s just that I had a really bad idea...¡± I said while apologizing, and the man sighed in relief when he noticed that I was alright. He offered me his hand to get up. ¡°Geez, young man. I was so surprised that my head almost fell off!¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°Anyway, I am Rakin, Dullahan. Is there anything I can do to help you?¡± ¡°Rakin? Oh yes. I am Gondorrer. Wallace said that you could recommend me some mounts to take me to the capital, so I came here.¡± ¡°Eh? Wallace? The leatherworker?¡± He seemed completely surprised, but the shrugged it off. ¡°Well, yes, I can. Please come in!¡± He said while opening the fence besides his house. He guided me towards the huge building in the back and asked me to wait for a moment. After some time, he came out being followed by many different animals. There were horses, just like usual, but there were also some bird-like animals, something that looked like a large lizard, huge cats and dogs that I could easily ride on top and so on. With a signal of his hands, all the animals lined up in front of me. ¡°Pick one of your liking, and they will take you to the capital. They are all well trained and can come back all alone, so no need to worry about bringing them back!¡± I widened my eyes in surprise, then I took my time to look around. All the animals were impressive by themselves, some looking ferocious, other majestics. Even what I first thought that were horses, there were a Pegasus and a unicorn in the middle of them. This guy has quite the hobby of collecting rare animals, huh? All of the animals were standing proudly besides one another. All except one. The last animal in the line was¡­ A spider. A huge spider, with six legs and two claw-like appendages in the front. It¡¯s carapace was slightly brown, and it¡¯s back part seemed a bit too thin compared to what I had in my memory. For some reason the spider was slumping in the ground, depressed. ¡°What happened with this one?¡± I asked curious, but Rakin only smiled wryly. ¡°You see, all of the recent customers were too afraid of old Tex, so nobody has been choosing him for some time¡­ Now he is a bit downhearted because of this¡­¡± Ohh, poor Tex¡­ Only because he is a spider, everyone was avoiding him? Normally, I am afraid of spiders like him, but seeing him that depressed kind of made me pity him. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go with him¡­ Seems like he need a boost to his morale¡­¡± As soon as I said that, Tex jumped up in surprise and looked at me, then before I could react he approached me and gave me a hug with his front claws. While I was still at loss, he suddenly let me go and walked away to the barn, Rakin laughed loudly and told me to wait a bit. While I was waiting, I took notice of the symbol flashing in the corner of my vision. Not that I did not notice it earlier, I just hadn¡¯t had the time to check it. When I opened, I was greeted with this.
MYTHICAL QUEST: The four gods of disasters
Wallace, the Dragon General, was once one of the strongest men of his time, and in his quests for a true challenge, he met with one of the four Gods of disasters and found himself unable to even lift his sword. Now he passes on to you his dream of defeating these monsters and make armors and weapons of them for yourself. However, you lack information about these beasts of the legends, so your first step would be to research about them. (Mythical quest: completing this quest can change the very story of the world.)
Rewards: ???????
Needless to say, i was left speechlees for a good time while looking at this window.
Next chapter
Chapter 14.5 - Fury of the righetous Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! The extra, with our first guest appearance and a huge misunderstanding! The legends of green-eyes have to continue! ANYWAY, fear not dear readers, because I am still keeping all the recommendations, and they will appear sooner or later, be it in a extra, in the main story, or even in the side story! ALSO, It seems that my ADHD mind can¡¯t be stopped, and I already have an idea on what will be the next Sidestory¡­ I plan on making it about one of my friend¡¯s class up quest¡­ And if everything goes as planned, two of the recommendations will play a large role in the story. ALSO(2), stay tunned for tomorrow, where we should start the new arc: The first hunt! Have a good read, and congratulations for Grimmend for having your character chosen! ----- Ralivana Grimmend, or Grimm for short, had started on Insania online a bit too late due to having to visit his relatives on a nearby town. Being unable to simply go and cancel his appointment, he simply had to console himself for having started a couple of hours after everyone. And this took even more time when he saw the character creation area. Spending almost half an hour thinking and trying, he finally took the most appealing choice for him. Combining a dwarf with a rotting undead, left him with a shorty skeleton with, literally, thick white bones and glowing eyes. But even after taking all this time to simply create the character, he still hadn¡¯t even chosen his class! But due to the nature of this game, he found that even before starting playing, he could prepare his character to the class he wanted to be. He didn¡¯t have any doubt. He, who for so long admired the knights he would often see in televisions shows, movies and games, he decided to don the full plate set, together with a mace and a shield. He decided that, in this world, he would be a righteous knight, that would always uphold honor and justice to any who would dare to do evil deeds upon others. As soon as he was done, he logged in the game, only to find himself in front of a village in the middle of the afternoon. Like all the others before him, he was left stunned for a moment, but he quickly shook it off and went to the village to look for some quests. Getting a couple of quests that involved hunting rabbits and wild dogs, he also heard a few worrying things. A player, who the people called, Green-eyes, the brutal, who was terrorizing the village. Grimm heard many different rumors about this person, but noticed that many of them were probably an exaggeration. He deduced that the player should be around level five or six from when the rumors started to spread. He felt anger from knowing that this person has been monopolizing a hunting ground all for himself through the use of power and fear, but he knew that he, as he was right now, would be incapable of defeating this green-eyes, so he could only turn his back and go hunt monsters. For now. ¡­ As he hunted the monsters, he had been receiving equipment like better armors and shields. However, as luck had it, he still hadn¡¯t gotten a single new weapon, even as he was barely reaching level seven, and this mortified him. Deciding that whatever it was the next weapon that dropped, he would equip it, the very next level 6 goblin he killed dropped a staff. Surprised by this coincidence, he still took the staff, even if an unsuitable weapon for his ideal class, and equipped it, as dire times require dire measures. As he used the staff, more and more, he learned the Light mastery skill. As if waiting for this, on the very same goblin he killed when learning the skill, from it came a good quality mace that increased his magical damage. The young, undead dwarf took it upon himself that this was a sign from the gods that he should take a step up from his knight idea, and form himself into a noble paladin, the knights that followed the laws of the light. Leaving the cave where the small goblin camp was, he noticed that in his frenetic grind, the sky had turned dark, so he walked back towards the village decided to sell his spoils and then go after this Green-eyes that so many spoke about. He was certain that for now, he had enough strength to at the very least take him on. As he walked around the town, distributing minor blessings here and there at the passing players, he strode upon a group of players who came to him and asked. ¡°Hey, are you perhaps a healer?¡± Asked a garuda archer. ¡°Ya! I plan to be a paladin, as this is what the gods have been guiding me to, so I do know a couple of healing spells.¡± He answered in character. The garuda turned to his fellow players, an oni warrior with a large axe and a vampire-elf girl as a mage. The other two smiled widely and the oni turned to him. ¡°You see, we were planning on taking on some lynxes back in the forest, but we heard that they are a bit troublesome, so we wanted to take a healer with us, what do you say?¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Grimm stopped to think for a moment, but nodded in the end. ¡°Da, just let me get rid of my spoils and repair my armor, and I¡¯ll soon meet ya.¡± Even if he decided to go after Green-eyes, on his way back he passed through the wild dogs and he wasn¡¯t there, and without a lead it would be meaningless to hunt him blindly. The trio invited him to a party, and warned him that they were going ahead and wait for him at the forest. Grimm nodded and walked away to the village¡¯s blacksmith, where he repaired his armor and sold a couple of armor-pieces that he got from the goblin, then he went to a general store and discarded the rest of his items, before going towards his party member. Following the three dots on his map, Grimm quickly reached the forest and calmly walked towards them, but halfway through his stroll, he noticed their life starting to drop every few seconds. Sure that they had just started fighting, he sped up his pace, reading his healing spell on his hand. Then, the mage¡¯s life dropped by half in a single moment, and soon after another chunk was taken out, leaving her with barely anything left. Then the archer¡¯s life dropped by a significant amount and soon was followed by the warrior. Grimm reached the spot just in time to see the cat and the warrior running towards each other. He quickly casted the spell on the mage at a distance and kept running towards the warrior, but the cat started it¡¯s attack way to soon, and the warrior¡¯s life started to drop ferociously. He was far too distant to heal him, so he could only watch the scene. And just as he thought that the warrior had survived the combo, the cat readied another attack. At that time he was sure that the warrior would die. But from nowhere came a shadow with green tattoos, and shoved the warrior away while stopping the cat¡¯s attack with one hand and casually kicked him away. And this attack looked so much more powerful than the previous, yet the person barely moved when he took it. The person looked at the group quickly, then turned his attention to the lynx. It seemed that he hadn¡¯t noticed Grimm, but Grimm had seen him, had seem those mad looking green eyes. When the Lynx charged at him, he didn¡¯t even lift his shield, and only watched without moving as the cat jumped away at the last second with incredible speed that surprised the dwarf, who hadn¡¯t seen this attack before. Yet the person simply turned towards the cat as soon as he landed in the tree right behind him, and bashed his shield in the feline. He then proceeded to impale the cat in the tree with his sword. But the brutal scene still hadn¡¯t ended, as the man picked his shield and activated a brutal impact skill upon his sword, impaling the cat even further and making the tree creak in protest. Finally he picked his sword and used it to slash the cat downwards, throwing him to the ground. Finally, green-eyes looked at the group and gazed furiously at the group. The four of them stiffened under his furious gaze and were unable to even utter a word. ¡°It¡¯s better to be careful when you hunt...¡± He said in a low and cold voice, then he turned towards the cat that was barely able to stand up after such brutality. ¡°Or you will end up like this ¡­¡± And then he simply walked off. The group had no doubt that he was threatening them, telling them to never again hunt near him or he would do upon them what he did upon the lynx. For a good time the four in the group were unable to move, still too shocked to even understand what was happening. But soon, Grimm recovered his control. He had just met the man he was hunting, the cruel tyrant that was controlling this whole area through fear, and he would just let him escape? He stepped forward and prepared to give chase to the man, but as if waiting for the cue, the tree he had slammed creaked loudly, and then fell upon the lynx that was still trying to recover, finishing it. Grimm could only watch in shock. How could an attack be so powerful to break a tree like that? Green-eyes¡­ he was far too strong. Grinding his teeth, Grimm could only hold himself back. Even if his honor wouldn¡¯t allow him to let such a person to run free, what good would it be if he hunted that person only to die? So, the group could only turn their backs towards the forest lynxes, and walk away. But in the sockets of the dwarf¡¯s skeleton, a raging fire burned. He would back away for now, but he would grind like there was no tomorrow, would get his class, the very embodiment of righteousness, and then he would once again start to hunt this madman. Because Green-eyes, the brutal, had to be stopped. And Ralivana Grimmend would be the one to do it.
Next chapter
Chapter 15 - Cityscape Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! The start of a new arc and some copy pasting from older works of mine! ANYWAY, Fun fact: The name Eldor actually came from the same place I took the name Gondorrer. In the (draft) of the story, you had a city in the mountains called Eldorrer, where the biggest golem of all times was created, and his name was¡­ You guessed, Gondorrer! ALSO, all the books that Cyg talks about in this chapter are actually real and are in my google drive right now¡­ ALSO (2), the original idea behind this arc would be us seeing Gon preparing for the first hunt and then going after his prey, but while writing this chapter I decided to change it a little and make it a bit bigger. I¡¯ll also be adding a few other characters from the same work where I took Gon and Eldor, just for the fun of it. Have a good read! ---- ¡°Just let me confirm, boy, but you are going to Eldor, right?¡± ¡°Eldor? Is that the name of the capital?¡± I asked curious. The dullahan laughed loudly while tightening a surprisingly simple saddle to the spiders abdomen. ¡°Well, there are many capitals out there, but the closest one is Eldor.¡± He looked back at me. ¡°I¡¯ll take your face as an yes.¡± He and the spider started to laugh at me, leaving me in an awkward position. ¡°Okay, get up and just let Tex show you the way, boy.¡± I followed his instructions and climbed upon the saddle¡­ But¡­ ¡°Isn¡¯t this a bit uncomfortable? I mean¡­ Nothing to lean on¡­¡± I spoke my mind out loud, but Tex started laughing again while Rakin smiled widely. ¡°What¡¯s this, boy? Never seen an Impaler before?¡± Huh? Impaler? What¡¯s with that scary nam¡­ Is it just me, or is this spider¡¯s abdomen trembling¡­? Just as I thought that, suddenly Tex¡¯s body trembled violently while something similar to a large and thick spike appeared right behind me. I wasn¡¯t really worried about it piercing me or anything, since it¡¯s top was flat, at most it would throw me out¡­ But still¡­ I looked back surprised at how such a thing could happen. It¡¯s like suddenly a part of it¡¯s abdomen simply lifted, like a hatch or something, and made a wall right behind me! I turned towards Rakin surprised and he only smiled at me. ¡°Tex here is one of the Impaling spiders¡­ They are famous for carrying their preys on the spikes they can make on their backs, but with little training they make wonderful mounts!¡± I widened my eyes in surprise¡­ Geez, this sure is a cool mount¡­ I wonder if I can get one¡­ I thanked Rakin one last time and left him with ten silver coins before telling Tex to start walking. When I leaned back onto the support spike, I found it surprisingly soft and comfortable. And you would be surprised on how stable it is to ride on Tex. Since he has six legs, he always keep four legs moving and two for support, so his body moves forward in such a smooth way that I can barely feel his movements. If I had to say, it feels like riding a car with active suspension. But there still was a long road ahead, so I took my time to fiddle with the menus. There were quite a few interesting, for example, I found out I could use the USB port to play some mp3 while in game, and there was also some kind of in-game Wikipedia called Adventurer¡¯s guide, that players could write on at will. And it already came with some basic information like getting started, capitals, classes and such¡­ I should tell this to Yuu¡­ Leaving that aside, I decided to take a look on the page about Eldorrer, the place where I was going. This seemed to be the capital of the Rokard kingdom, and in this city, the main habitants were dwarfs, clockworks and golems, but any and all races were welcome there. It seems to be a merchant and industrial city, with lots of crafters, sellers, and they even export it to other cities. The only strange thing I found was the fact that the city¡¯s area just seemed too¡­ Small¡­ As I was lost on my musings and navigating the guide and somehow end up on an article of how to put mana into cooking. After that, I also noticed that we have access to the game¡¯s forum directly from here, so I started to look around, but since the game is far too new, the most we had were the usual rumors and trolling sections. Looking around, I found a part that was referring to my starting village. There were some wild rumors running around, like usual, but there was this one rumor that seemed to be everywhere. An unknown player, nicknamed Green-eyes, the brutal, capable of killing level five wild dogs in one attack. He would attack any one on sight and was far too strong for anyone to fight against. His eyes were filled with madness and could see through anything. Damn, that is one scary guy! As I read the thread, I saw that in one of the last posts, there was a group of players saying that this Green-eyes had just relocated himself to the lynx forests, and said that he would brutally murder anyone who came in! God dammit! I almost met with my death back in that forest! I really got lucky this time! As I was musing about my rare bout of good luck, I heard something. ¡°¡­ Is there any one else around here? No? Good!¡± Huh? Was that Cygnas? Why would sh¡­ ¡°MOOOORE!¡± ¡°HOLY!¡± I almost fell down from Tex, having to hold myself for dear life onto the spike behind-me. The spider turned it¡¯s focus to me in surprise and was also shocked with the person floating above it. ¡°More! Where is the rest? This can¡¯t be all!¡± Complained the goddess floating in front of me while holding a window in her hand and nearly shoving it in my chest. I tried to calm her down, but for some reason she was really distressed and kept begging me for something. ¡°I know you have more of it somewhere! Just show me where and I¡¯ll go pick it my self, just please¡­¡± And she just wouldn¡¯t stop. Annoyed, I picked the forum¡¯s window, rolled it in a cane, and smacked Cyg in the head, making her fall to the ground. I shall name this, the window-stick! Preorder now your window-stick! The perfect tsukkomi weapon, and earn the revolutionary window-ball as a freebie! The promotion is only valid during the duration of this commercial! I turned back to Tex and gave him a light tap in the back. ¡°Go on, ignore the girl.¡± The spider looked confused for a moment, and I noticed him focusing its gaze on Cyg one last time before walking on. A few seconds later, Cyg blinks into existence in front of me again. ¡°Hey! That was mean! Why did you¡­¡± TOO MUCH NAGGING! SMACKED! ¡°Hey! Why would¡­¡± Smack. ¡°Stop tha¡­¡± Smack. ¡°Why are¡­¡± Smack. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Calmed yourself?¡± By now she was already holding her head in her arms and looked at me with teary eyes. She slowly nodded before righting herself. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start from the beginning. Hello Cygnas, what a nice day we are having! What gives me the pleasure of your visit?¡± I said in an overly pleasant voice. ¡°¡­Meanie¡­¡± I raised the window-stick making her shudder for a moment, then she put a slightly forced smile in her face. ¡°H-Hello, Gon¡­ It¡¯s nice to see you!¡± Much better! Now she even looks polite! ¡°So¡­ Why would you pop out of nowhere and start shouting at me?¡± I ask going straight to the point, and soon her eyes shine up once again. ¡°Ah, yes¡­ You gave me your stories for me to read¡­ And now that I finished them I¡¯ll be bored again! So I wanted you to show me where you are keeping the rest of them!¡± She said a bit too overly excited, I raised my eyebrows at her. Was she really that desperate for something to do? ¡°All you have to do is tell me, and I¡¯ll go pick the files on my own!¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure those are all the stories I had¡­¡± She suddenly became shocked, then she fell atop Tex on her knees. For a moment the spider hesitated, but it still kept walking forward. We stayed like that for almost a full minute. I don¡¯t think I could ever get bored of seeing Cyg¡¯s reactions¡­ Suddenly, she lifted her head as if she had a excellent idea. She blinked towards me and held my hands. ¡°Then¡­ Write more!¡± She said with shining eyes. ¡°How? I¡¯m in here right now!¡± Once again she fell to her knees, then her eyes shone. She closed her eyes and seemed to focus on something. I became slightly worried that she was doing this because it usually meant that she was doing something fairly big. And much to my surprise, as soon as she was done, suddenly a window appeared before me. It was similar to a forum window, but this one was completely clean. I looked at her as she opened her eyes shining with pride. I raised one eyebrow at her. ¡°I made a special thread in the forum that only I have access to and will automatically send any post you make directly to your email. And it also have the same functions as a normal text editor, like grammar checking, vocabulary, and so on!¡± ¡°¡­ So¡­ You just pretty much hacked the forums so that I can keep writing¡­ Because you are bored?¡± ¡°Yup!¡± I looked at her in sheer shock. And here I thought that I did ridiculous things whenever I was bored¡­ But I guess that Cyg just took it to a whole new level. I sighed in defeat as I knew that I could not simply try to run away right here. ¡°Okay¡­ Okay¡­ So which one do you want me to write?¡± She blinked in surprise, then became completely confused. ¡°Err¡­ Well¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ Can¡¯t you do all of them?¡± She said blinking innocently. I look at her for a moment, staring at her for enough time so that she felt uncomfortable. Finally I sighed. ¡°How do you want me to write thirty different stories at the same time? Choose one at the very least¡­¡± She widened her eyes surprised, then put herself to think again. ¡°Then¡­ The one that the guys ends up in a school for demon kings¡­ No, no no¡­ Maybe the one from the museum¡­ No¡­ Dragoon academy¡­ Not¡­ Maybe that one from the soldier and robots with magic¡­¡± She starts to mumble around while thinking. I recognize most of the ones she mentioned as some of the stories I considered the best. In the end she sighs and look at me teary eyed. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Choosing is hard¡­¡± Welcome to my life. Where I have so many ideas for story that I literally end up writing nothing¡­ As I was about to sigh loudly once again, Cyg suddenly stiffens and look at someplace. ¡°Someone is coming¡­ I¡¯ll think a bit more about it, then I¡¯ll tell you later, ok?¡± Before I even had the chance to answer, she disappeared in thin air. A few minutes later, I saw a small group of players leaving the forest that bordered the road. They all wore cloaks around their bodies and formed a line in front of Tex. I had a bad feeling about these guys. I probably should tell you guys this¡­ But I hate PvP with all my strength. No reason whatsoever, simply don¡¯t like it. And it was already bad in games with factions where you could know who was your enemy or not with only one glance, but in games like these, that you don¡¯t have a clear definition of who is your enemy and who isn¡¯t¡­ Well¡­ I became pretty much paranoid. That is one of the main reasons why I usually avoid people and end up going solo. Yuu was a special case, because no one bad could laugh at a horrible pun like that, and just from one glance I could tell that she wasn¡¯t interested in PKing. But these people? Cloak hiding bodies and faces? blocking the path? Heck, why not buy a sign written ¡®WE ARE PKS, PLEASE AVOID US!¡¯ and carry it around? I lean forwards and mutter some things to Tex as he slowly approach the group. ¡°Good morning guys! Having a nice day hunting?¡± I asked in a fake happy tone. Although I could not see their faces from beneath the robes, I could tell that the one in the front smiled. ¡°Good morning, friend¡­ And yes, today is a very good day!¡± Said the guy. He was surprisingly big, being almost two meters tall and one wide; I could see a large axe behind him. ¡°You see, we just got our new prey and were about to divide the spoils!¡± Suddenly the smile disappeared from his face. ¡°Just to let me be clear here, but all of us here already got our classes, so you stand no chance against us. Leave all your items and we won¡¯t kill you¡­ this time¡­ And don¡¯t come saying that you don¡¯t have money because we know how expensive these rides are, ok?¡± I widened my eyes in fake surprise, then nodded unhappily, then I opened my menu and unequipped everything I had, leaving myself only with the leggings. Then I operated the menu and made the motion to transform the money into their lootable form of a small leather bag. The man and his group approached with a wide smile and extended his hand. I hesitated for a moment, then slowly descended the leather bag upon his huge hand, but right when I was about to let go of the item, I stopped. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind¡­ Can I make you a question?¡± ¡°Hah?¡± He probably became surprised at my sudden question, but before he could react I went on. ¡°You are from the cyclops race, right? The one that gives the ¡®one GOOD eye¡¯ passive racial that increases your precision, right?¡± He blinked in surprise and nodded. ¡°The same racial¡­ That increases blindness effects by 50%?¡± It took him a moment to understand my question, but I took this moment to turn my hand up and show him the leather bag. Or rather, leather ball, filled with an eight of fire crystal, eight of chaos crystal and six eights of light crystal, all grinded to a dust. All the group who was watching the scene were caught in the blinding blast, being left blind for at least thirty seconds. I had closed my eyes, so I wasn¡¯t affected, so I took this time to throw all the items I had in my hand into the inventory, making their weight disappear and lightening me and Tex. Finally, I hit Tex backs and the spider jumped forwards with ferocious strength, opening a large distance between the group and us. I laughed madly as the spider kept going forward in jumps rather than the comfortable smooth ride from before. I could hear Tex hissing in laughter together with me. Some shouts of rage came from the guys far back, but we simply ignored them. Still, I had this feeling these guys wouldn¡¯t simply let me go¡­ Oh well¡­ To tell the truth, I was not expecting that plan to work at all¡­ I kind of expected them to have some kind of counter measure or something¡­ Or maybe even notice the trick¡­ All brawls, no brains? GET TO MY LEVEL, YOU NOOBS! Hah¡­ Such a refreshing feeling¡­ After some time, Tex once again slowed to its usual pace, and we kept going on towards Eldor. The trip still took around four hours, during which I decided to write the story of what happened to me in the game and then send it to Cygnas. She commented a smile in the post¡­ ¡­ Oh well. I still had enough time for me to take a nap before reaching the city, so I laid my back on the support, and Tex was kind enough to make two spikes to hold my legs in place so I wouldn¡¯t fall. I really need an Impaling spider as a personal mount¡­ I woke up some time later when Tex started to hiss happily. I rubbed my eyes and noticed that It was considerably cooler than before. Not to the point of cold, still in a pleasant area of comfort. As I looked around, I saw that we were scaling a fairly high hill, and when I looked back I could see a large plain of hills coming and going. Turning my attention back to the front, I could see that we were reaching the top. And then I saw it. The capital¡­ One freaking huge of a capital¡­ I stared wide eyed at the scene before me. When I read that Eldor was the capital of the dwarves, I kind of expected it to be some houses inside the mountain and what not, but this? This is plain overkill! They, LITERALLY, carved the mountain and made a city within it. No, it isn¡¯t a door that takes you underground where their capital is. The very MOUNTAIN was carved into floors, and each floor had streets and building coming and going. There were easily more than one hundred floors, and from the distance I would say that they had around¡­ six meters each? Heck, from here, if I looked close enough through a street, and at the right angle, I could see the other side of the mountain! It¡¯s like one of these concept of cities in a skyscraper that appears every once in a while in the TV, but only taken to the next level! Oh, yeah¡­ Blimps¡­ Did I mention them? THERE. ARE. FREAKING. BLIMPS! Or something that look like a ship between two blimps, but you get my point¡­ They were all docked near the top thirty floors. There were hundreds of them. After a while, Tex began to move again, this time with more speed, towards the city. At first I though he was just choosing some place at random, but I noticed that it was actually taking me to a building right in front of what seemed an entry gate. As soon as we got there, he crouched down to let me jump off. I got back to the ground and put my equipment back on. Then walked towards Tex front and patted him, then I took a piece of dried meat from my inventory and gave it to him. He ate it happily and then hugged me with his claws once again, before hissing good bye and darting away back to his home. I watched the spider disappear much faster than when we came here, and then turned to the building besides me. If I had to guess, it was a custom of sorts. Since the doors were open I decided to come in anyway. Inside was pretty bland, being a room with some empty chairs and a person in uniform, waiting behind a table. When I got in, the person lifted his head and I could see that he was actually a clockwork. Clockworks are these steampunky robots, made of metal with lots of pipe, springs and steam. They actually looked really cool if you are into it, and I was tempted to make one, but¡­ Golems, you know? This one had his body made of a dark brown metal that kind of reminded me of rust, his head was a large cylinder with two round glasses for eyes and a complex mechanism for a mouth. He smiled professionally at me and beckoned me to come over. ¡°Greetings. Traveler. First time in Eldor. I take?¡± Ooh, he talks funny! I like him. His voice kind of reminded me of those little alien guys from toy story, although a bit deeper. ¡°Actually, yes. I took a ride from Aria village, and my mount dropped me here, so I thought that I probably should come in to check in or something¡­¡± The clockwork looked at me and I saw the corners of his mouth being bent upwards by a few pistons. Then some pipes leaving his head chimed repeatedly while steam left them. It¡­ Kind of looked to me that he was laughing. ¡°No. No. Nothing of the kind. This is. Information booth. Help you get around.¡± He said after some time. I nodded surprised. ¡°Then, better yet!¡± I said as I took the seat in front of him, then I extended him my hand. ¡°I am Gondorrer Gravelheart, pleasure to meet you.¡± He slightly stood up and took my hand. ¡°Rusty. Rusty Blackjoint. Pleasure, is mine.¡± He sat back on the chair. ¡°How can I. Help you. Gondorrer?¡± ¡°You see, I want to learn leather working, and a friend recommended me to search for Melinda. A Half-human half-garuda.¡± Rusty seemed to think for a moment, then he took a piece of paper and a fountain pen and started to draw something in the paper, his movement surprisingly fluid for the way he spoke. ¡°Melinda. She stays. General Industries sector. Floor 16. Take main elevator.¡± He handed me the paper, and I saw that it was a simple, but extremely well made map. ¡°Anything. Else?¡± ¡°Actually, yes. Where is the biggest library I can have access here? I need to do some research for my objective¡­¡± Rusty nodded and picked another piece of paper. ¡°Library. Commercial sector. Floor 42. Same as before.¡± He passed me the other map. ¡°Please. Tell Nova. I say hi. Nova. Librarian.¡± His pipes suddenly chimed loudly, and he slightly looked away. Is he¡­ Embarrassed? Could it be that he and that nova¡­ Oh ho! ¡°Yeah, you can leave it to me, I¡¯ll tell her that you are asking her for dinner tomorrow¡­¡± I said with a teasing smile, his pipes chimed even louder. ¡°Oh. Cygnas. Please. No. Still. Not intimate.¡± Oh, so now he is trying to deny it¡­! I laughed heartily at him for a moment, and he hid his head in embarrassment between his hands. After I calmed down he also righted himself. ¡°May I make. Recommendation?¡± I looked at him curious as he took another piece of paper. ¡°Silver Gauntlet. Mercenary guild. Knights order. Good way for. Easy Jobs. Also. Commercial sector. Floor 42.¡± I widened my eyes and nodded while taking the third map and thanking him. After that I teased him once more with putting him in a date with Nova and such and left in a hurry when he started to throw some books at me to hide his embarrassment. After that, I quickly walked through the gates and found myself inside the huge tower of a city. Taking my time to see the houses of carved stones, the many dwarfs, golems, clockworks, humans, beast man and so on, people of varied faces and shapes, I could only marvel at how real everything looked. Awakening myself from my daydream, I quickly took a look at the map. For starters, I guess I should go to Melinda and learn my craft¡­ Maybe even get a hint on a good blacksmith... AND IF SOMEONE TELLS-ME THERE ISN¡¯T A GOOD BLACKSMITH IN A DWARVEN CITY, I WILL BURN THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND! As I walked what appeared to be the main road, I noticed that it took straight to what seemed a round building, right in the middle of the mountain. Rusty¡¯s map said that was the main elevator, and was the only one that actually linked all the floors together. When I got there, I was greeted with actually was a wall that surrounded one of the sides of a ridiculously huge platform that could easily carry a whole ship up and down. But inside the walls were smaller elevators for faster access. These elevators were actually disks that were made to float with a mix of magic and steampunk technology, so they had no need for actual steel cables or such. Taking one that was reading itself to go to the general industries sector, I climbed aboard together with other passengers. The ride was smooth and considerably fast, taking in account that there were easily twenty or so floors between these two. Getting out of the elevator, I looked around and found out that I was on the first floor of the sector, so now I had to get one of the countless smaller corridors to get to the floor I wanted. Luckily, Rusty¡¯s map covered even this, so I quickly found it and went to the sixteenth floor. Following the map, I passed through a few streets filled with all kind of workshops, going from carpentry to jewel crafting, painting and masonry. Strangely enough, I didn¡¯t see any blacksmiths¡­ Leaving that aside, I took my time until I reached a two storied house, where the second floor was halfway through the next cities¡¯ floor. I must say that, all this time walking, I find that the city is actually pretty cool. I thought that the fact that being inside a mountain would make it hot and stuffy, but the fact that the cities crosses from one side to the other, makes it so that there is always wind, no matter where you go, so it keeps the air inside surprisingly fresh. Taking my thoughts away from winds and things of the like, I approached the door and knocked on it. It took some time but the door was opened by a girl. She looked a bit older than me by one or two years. She had a red hair cut short right above her shoulders, but what seemed to be a couple of feathers mingled with the strands atop of her head. There were a large pair of wings on her back, and feathers covered from her forearm all the way to her hands. The same happened on her legs, but instead of feets, she had a pair of claws. She was wearing a leather vest atop a linen shirt as well as baggy leather shorts. Overall, she kind of gave me this older-sister feeling. ¡°Hmm¡­ Did you come here to buy my goods? Then sorry, because I¡¯m closed right now¡­¡± She said with a slightly apologetic tone. ¡°I didn¡¯t come here to shop. Rather, I was told that you could teach me leatherworking.¡± She widened her eyes in surprise by my words, but then frowned slightly. ¡°I¡¯m not exactly taking disciples¡­ But who sent you?¡± ¡°It was Wallace, your father.¡± I told her seriously. But she suddenly burst out laughing. ¡°My father? That old, grumpy and needlessly strong short tempered hermit? Please¡­ You have to use a better story than that!¡± She was laughing loudly for a good while, but I couldn¡¯t do anything about that. If I was in her situation I would probably have the same reaction, so I took the feather that the old man gave-me. ¡°Here, he told me to show you this.¡± For a moment she looked doubtful on what I had on my hands, but then she jumped at me and grabbed my wrist to take a better look, then she turned to me. ¡°This is¡­ Really his¡­ What the hell did you do?¡± She looked at me with uncesseary intensity, so I could only answer awkwardly. ¡°Well¡­ You know¡­ Hunted some dogs or something?¡± ----- (living) Author''s corner: O.o, first full in-game chapter without a single table! GO ME!
Next chapter
Chapter 16 - Crafting, gods and lovebirds Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some crafting done and some cupid played on this chapter!! ANYWAY, today there was a storm here where I live, and then boom, my pc turns off. Imagine how desperate I was when I thought I lost half of the chapter? Auto-save, I love you! Also, today''s chapter is a bit on the short side, being less than the usual 4000+ ALSO, I plan on going back to the races lists in this weekend and loosen a bit of my restrictions while re-reading the recommendations, so there might be a good amount of new races entering the list before Monday. ALSO(2), some people were asking for me to put up my old works on Google drive and leave them public. I might just do that after selecting a few of the less worse ones¡­ No promise on updates on them, however. Insania is right now taking all my imagination. ALSO(3), I know next to nothing of leatherworking, so I cannot guarantee any precision on the methods mentioned on this chapter. Have a good read! ----- ¡°Hunted¡­ Wild dogs?¡± Melinda was surprised at my answer, and looked at me in confusion, so I could only smile wryly while she tried to place the pieces together. Ah! Looks like she failed. She shook her head as if saying that it doesn¡¯t matter, then let go of me and invited me to her home. I quietly followed her until she took me to a fairly empty room, with only a bed, desk and a small wardrobe. Not exactly understanding what she meant by this, I looked at Melinda in curiosity. ¡°If you just came from my father¡¯s, you probably just arrived at the city and don¡¯t have anywhere to crash, right?¡± She said while scratching her head awkwardly. Was she saying that I could take the room? ¡°And since it seems that my old man really likes you, I¡¯m kind of worried if I were to treat you poorly¡­¡± And there is the real reason! Well, not that I can blame her. ¡°Thanks for the offer, but there is no need for that¡­ I can just go to a nearby inn or something if I needed¡­¡± As I was about to deny it, she made an awkward smile. ¡°I¡­ Wouldn¡¯t recommend that¡­ You see, although crafts are fairly cheap in this city, things like lodgings and foods are kind of¡­¡± She even turned her eye away, making me rise an eyebrow. ¡°The cheapest inn in this floor costs three silver per night on their worst room¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be taking your offer.¡± And here I would have dropped my bag on the bed, but, you know, inventory. Still, I took out the shield and left it at the bed even if only so I could mark my territory. Melinda nodded at this then beckoned me towards the back of the house. After passing a fairly large door, I found myself in something similar to the studio besides Wallace¡¯s place. I blinked in surprise at the similarity, but I guess¡­ Like father, like daughter. As I got to the middle of the place, Melinda turned to me and said. ¡°It might be a bit late, but I guess I could start teaching you a thing or two¡­ But do you have any leather? If not I could give some surplus I have.¡± At her words, I opened my inventory and selected all the hides I had, and unloaded them upon a empty table that creaked under the sudden weight. There were two piles, the larger one for the Wild dogs and the smaller one for the lynxes. Melinda¡¯s eyes shot open after seeing the piles appear, and she became even more shocked when she finally examined the pieces. She looked at me with pure shock. ¡°Are¡­ All these manually skinned?¡± She asked in disbelief. I nodded happily. She started to examine me from head to toes and seemed even more shocked. ¡°And¡­ Is that really the beginner¡¯s gear you are using? That trashy equipment you get when starting your adventure?¡± Another nod. ¡°And¡­ These are red-claw lynxes?¡± Another one. Right now she was looking at me with a mix of respect and confusion. ¡°Would¡­ You mind If I asked your level?¡± ¡°Just got to level eight this morning!¡± I said stuffing my chest with pride. ¡°Wha¡­ What kind of monster are you?¡± She almost shouted this, making my ears go deaf for a moment. ¡°With so much leather like these, you probably didn¡¯t reclaim any of the bodies¡­ And you want to tell me that you still managed to kill the lynxes without even being level eight and with that equipment?¡± ¡°Well¡­ To tell the truth I did have some help¡­¡± She widened her eyes and then sighed in relief. ¡°It was a level two magician!¡± She almost fell to the ground. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t mention I was level four at the time. ¡°Haa¡­ Haa¡­ No wonder the old man took a liking to you.¡± She let out a dry laughter, taking a few seconds to recover herself. After a long sigh she finally recovered herself and started to separate the piles even further into three piles for each. After finishing that, she went to the back of the studio and started to gather a few tools here and there and throw then in a small box. ¡°Here. This will be your starting set, there is everything you would probably need in here, from needles, to pencils, brushes, a few good lines, scissors and so on. You might want to add a few things with time, but this should be enough for you to start, now come here that I will pass you the skill.¡± I nodded and approached her. She laid her hand on my head and the window appeared before me.
Melinda, the leatherworker has taught you the Crafting Skill: Leatherworking.
Skill: Leatherworking [lvl 1] 0%
Allows you to use leather and hides from animals to create armors. You can use the system help to create your items from now on. You have received a few beginners recipe.
What? No wall breaking forehead-aimed finger-flicking? Kind of anti-climactic. ¡°Normally my work would end here and I would send you off, only telling you how to ask the goddess for guidance¡­ But I have the feeling that you probably want to do it the hard way, right?¡± I looked at her and smiled widely. She knew me so well already! She sighed and shook her head, but she smiled like she was looking at a kid playing around. Not that it was far from the truth¡­ ¡°Then, I take this is your first crafting skill?¡± I almost nodded automatically, but then I remembered. ¡°Actually, it isn¡¯t. I got this other crafting skill yesterday¡­ Crystal Tinkerer, but I haven¡¯t used it before.¡± ¡°Crystal tinkerer?¡± She stopped to think for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have heard of it before¡­ Who passed it to you?¡± ¡°No one¡­ I actually got it when I created this.¡± I passed her one of the flash bombs I still had on my belt. She picked it up with curiosity and started to examine it. Feeling a bit mischievous, I told her. ¡°To use it, you just activate it like you would activate an elemental crystal.¡± She looked at me, clearly suspicious for a moment, but it seems that her curiosity won in the end. And we both went blind. I started to laugh loudly while my vision slowly came back to me. As soon as she recovered she hit me in the head, but even then I couldn¡¯t stop laughing. -30 (300/330) ¡°I really should give you a good beating here and now¡­¡± She said angrily, but soon calmed herself. ¡°Anyway, that is quite a nifty item¡­ How do you do it?¡± ¡°You get a light, a fire and a chaos elemental crystals, break them into eight equal pieces, mix in a six to one to one proportion and grind it to a dust.¡± I explained her quickly. She nodded a few times, but then became a little more serious. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll talk a little more about this later. For now, let¡¯s start with your training.¡± She turned to the piles of hide and pointed to one with wild dogs and one with lynxes pelt. ¡°We will start with these two since they are in worse shape, so even if you mess up, there won¡¯t be any big problem.¡± Seems fair to me. We started with the poor-quality dog pelts, and she took me to the tanning rack. There she taught me that there are multiple ways for removing the fur, but she and her father particularly preferred the whole knife-scrapping thing because it doesn¡¯t damage the hide too much, although some scraps of fur do escape here and there. The other methods involve the use of alchemic made by alchemists, but this one affects too much the leather for their tastes, the last one is to use a magic item specific to leatherworkers, but they said that it¡¯s too expensive to use in the hide of low level animals like the red-claws and wild dogs. We cleared a few pieces of leather before going to the crafting itself. First she taught me to mark the shapes of the equipment I wanted to craft. After some thought, I decided that the best idea would be to start with a jacket. Why? Because jackets. She showed me briefly the shape I had to cut and helps me to mark it with a pencil. Despite being sure that I would have difficult in marking it precisely, my hand seemed to be stuck in the right path. Is this the help of the system? It doesn¡¯t really feel like that. Oh, maybe it¡¯s because people who are just beginning the game have no skills and this happens to help them. This would actually make sense. Leaving this thoughts aside, even if I have this assists, it¡¯s not like the shape came perfect, there were a few mishaps here and there, but for a handmade drawing, it was incredible. Afterwards, we came to the cutting. Since the hides were fairly small, I couldn¡¯t simply cut it from one single piece, so I had to separate it in five parts, right side, left side, upper back and sleeves. After taking all of these, came the curing. She had me pick a pot with some salt and spread it over the hide. She told me that if we left this as is, it would take a few days before the leather was ready, so she taught me that, with access to the leatherworking skill, I could simply use the ¡®cure¡¯ skill and end the process in a moment. Then she had me open a pot with some stinky and strange brown paste. I had to use the brush she gave me to spread it over the hide. When I asked her what the reason was for that, she said that this was a special product to increase the leather¡¯s durability to rotting and such. Now, it would take a few hours for the leather to absorb the compound, so she had me repeat the same process for all the other pieces of clothing. I had decided to use the poor dog leather to make me some city clothes so that I wouldn¡¯t need to walk around in my equipment around the town. And whenever she wasn¡¯t watching over me, Melinda would go back to her corner and would continue to work on her own jobs. From time to time we would talk about somethings. ¡°Hey, why are you learning leatherworking if your equipment is made of chainmail and scale-mail?¡± She asked me after some time. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better if you were to learn blacksmithing?¡± ¡°Oh. That¡¯s because I plan on making armor from the strongest monsters, so I will probably end up using lots of leather and scales from their bodies. And I can use those scales to make my own scale mail.¡± I quickly explained to her, and with the corner of my eyes, I see her nodding. ¡°By the way¡­ Don¡¯t this city have blacksmiths? I didn¡¯t see any of them when coming here.¡± ¡°Oh... Well, this IS a dwarven city!¡± She said with a laugh. ¡°The reason you won¡¯t find any of them in this sector. They have a whole sector all for them! They are on some of the lowest floor.¡± ¡°Oh, good to know. I was afraid that I would have to burn this city to the ground¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing¡­ So, do you have someone to recommend me for a teacher as a blacksmith?¡± ¡°So you also plan on taking blacksmithing after all?¡± ¡°Well. It¡¯s not like will only use leather armor after all¡­ And I¡¯ll be needing weapons!¡± She laughed loudly before going back to her work. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. In the end, even preparing the rest of the leather ready, I still needed to wait for some time for the leather to be ready for sewing. Thinking on what to do, I remembered about the mythical quest on my quest log. I quickly excused myself and went back to the streets. Taking the second map from my inventory, I went back to the main elevator entrance on the first floor of the sector, and traced my way to the forty-second floor from the sector. From there, finding the library was a fairly easy task, since the building itself was big and showy. It was a two story building just like Melinda¡¯s home, but it easily went around a hundred meters to each side of the main entrance. The outside was simple, with large wooden doors and a large window every so many meters. Marveled at the size of the building, I stood in front of it for a moment before finally walking in. When I got in, I noticed that it was even bigger than what I had expected, eating through the floors and probably with another entrance on the upper level. The amount of shelves within was simply ridiculous, and the books even more. Thinking what a pain it would be to find the book, I walk to a nearby desk, where a girl with light blue hair is reading a book. She notices my approach and raises her head. Her eyes kind of remind me of Cygnas, shining lightly, and she also have some kind of long metallic piece on place of an ear. If I¡¯m not wrong, they call this race the constructs. If Clockworks are for technology, golems are for alchemy, constructs are for magic. But in here they kind of remind me of the androids you would usually see in manga and anime. ¡°Good afternoon, how may I help you?¡± She asked me with a business smile. ¡°Good afternoon. I¡¯m looking for books that may have something on the four gods of disasters. It seems to be an old legend, but I¡¯m not entirely sure¡­¡± The girl stopped to think for a moment. ¡°Hmm¡­ These are some really old stories you are looking for.¡± She raised herself from the seat, walked towards a small shelf besides her desk, and started to look at some of them. Then she picked one of the books and quickly skimmed through it, but shook her head in the end. Picked another book, and this time she found whatever she was looking for. ¡°It seems we still have a few books about them in the ancient legends section.¡± She pointed me to a place on the upper floor. ¡°They should be on the fourth left shelf in the corridor. I would recommend you the ¡®Compilation of Histories of old¡¯, ¡®Minor gods: A re-reading¡¯ and ¡®Disasters and how they happen¡¯. Near every shelf there is a light crystal, all you have to do is activate it with the name of the book you want and the crystal will bring it to you.¡± I nodded then thanked her. But just as I was about to reach the stairs, I stopped and made a full turn before going back to her desk once again. She looked surprised for a moment then raised her eyebrow. ¡°Excuse my suddenness, but, could your name be Nova?¡± She became even more surprised, then wary. ¡°Well¡­ Yes, I am¡­ And you are?¡± ¡°The name is Gondorrer Gravelheart, pleasure to meet you.¡± I gave her a slight smile. ¡°But my name isn¡¯t important here. You see, earlier I met with this gentlework that worked in a information booth right outside of the city called Rusty. Rusty Blackjoint. And he asked me to tell you that he said hi!¡± It took her a moment for the message to sink in, and then her face suddenly went all red in a matter of tenths of a second. Then her eyes started to wander and she tried to hide her face with her hands. God dammit! Aren¡¯t they a couple of lovebirds? Even their reactions are the same! I smiled teasingly at her and gave the final attack. ¡°And he would also like to invite you to dinner tomorrow!¡± She froze for almost ten seconds. I could swear that I saw the blue screen of death in her eyes. Then her face became even redder and I could pretty much see the steam raising from her head. Then after some time she started to fidget and asked shyly. ¡°Re-really?¡± ¡°Well, to tell the truth, no.¡± I said and she immediately looked dejectedly. ¡°But when I gave the idea he didn¡¯t seem all that opposed to it, you know?¡± Her eyes shone up again. ¡°Want me to pass the message that you accept?¡± She nodded weakly. I left towards the books with a wide smile after having done my good deed of the day. I reached the shelf she told me and found a small crystal embed into it. I touch the crystal while thinking about the books and they come floating down. Nifty! I take the books to the table nearby and sit there, starting my research through the ¡®Minor gods: A re-reading¡¯. Sadly, I didn¡¯t find anything about the gods of disasters besides a few lines saying that these guys were mostly told on legends, and most aren¡¯t even sure whether they even exist. But I did find something interesting. In this world, there is a whole pantheon of gods, with Cyg being the all-powerful Grand-goddess. Maybe I should add that her weakness consists of window-balls and its variations¡­ Right beneath her, there are four Great-gods. One for healing, one for war, one for stability and one for freedom. I didn¡¯t bother with their names, before you guys asks. It probably isn¡¯t important anyway. Each one of them have two gods that serves them, and these gods are related to the elements. The healing god have the water and light gods beneath, the war god have fire and darkness, stability god has earth and arcane, and the god of freedom have the gods of chaos and wind. Yup, they just divided the elements¡­ Pretty nice if I do say so myself. But none of this helps with my quest, so I set the book aside and start with the ¡®Compilation of Histories of old¡¯. This is mostly an old story book that talked about some old, old legends. Mostly they were of heroes and whatnots, but there were a few interesting things, like this legend of huge monsters appearing in some very specific places. But still, it wasn¡¯t what I wanted, so, on to the next book. Which, despise its name, is actually a book about legends. Being far smaller than the previous two, I read it quickly, and I am pretty sure I just hit the jack-pot! This book told of how people thought that disaster happened in a distant past, and some of them spoke of monsters. Huge monsters. Monsters so big and powerful, that the people started to revere them as gods. Coincidentally, they were known as the Gods of disasters, and there were¡­ Ding ding ding! Four of them! There wasn¡¯t much description about them, as they are mostly told only in legends since no one have ever actually seen them, but it wasn¡¯t like there was nothing. I did get some names and a few other things. The first is known as Alsh-tahar of the quaking earth. Seems to have the shape of a snake and brown scales and a body large enough to circle a village. He swims in the desert sand like it¡¯s water, but he can also go through solid stone with ease. Whenever he does, the very earth screams in pain. The second is Baltamur, the Tide Bringer. Not much is known about this one, except that it was seen on glacial seas. No description of the body except the fact that he is massive and his very roar can create tidal waves. The third is called Razzasahks, the raging tempest. His body is a mix of a bird and a dragon and his very presence can cause the clouds to thicken and create thunderstorm. No idea about his size since he is always flying. The fourth is Ultgor, the erupting king of magma. As the name implies, he lives in volcanoes around the planet. The few descriptions there are of him tells of a massive scaled hound that can make the volcano erupt with only a swing of his claws. From the four, he is the only one who does not seem to be in the same place all the time, with matching sightings of him coming from all around the world. I may have gone a little tiniest bit above my head¡­
MYTHICAL QUEST UPDATE: The four gods of disasters
Wallace, the Dragon General, was once one of the strongest men of his time, and in his quests for a true challenge, he met with one of the four Gods of disasters and found himself unable to even lift his sword. Now he passes on to you his dream of defeating these monsters and make armors and weapons of them for yourself. After some research, you have found some pieces of knowledge about these monsters, however it is still far from enough, so you may need to research some more. (Mythical quest: completing this quest can change the very story of the world.) Status: - Alsh-tahar of the Quaking earth (alive) - Baltamur, the Tide bringer (alive) - Razzasahks, the Raging tempest (alive) - Ultgor, the Erupting king of magma (alive)
Rewards: ???????
Looks like it¡¯s a hit. So, I have a snake, a something, a dragon-bird (Drird? Bragon?) and an oversized dog to kill? Heh, a walk in the park! I¡¯ll flash bomb them to death! Yeah¡­ Anyway, I turned my attention back to the book looking for some more information, but the only thing that I got was the fact that these stories are from around two thousands years ago¡­ WAIT A MOMENT! The quest window is saying that they are alive, you don¡¯t mean that these guys are the same ones as from back then, are you? You¡¯ve gotta be kidding me. They literally had thousand years to get stronger, what kind of freaking level do these guys have? Heck, even if they climbed one lever for year¡­ It¡¯s over two thousands!!!! Hmm, where is my energy reader to break at times like these? I sighed loudly. It seems that it will still take some good time before I would manage to even scratch these guys. And, besides the Baltamur guy, I don¡¯t have a good idea from their positions. A desert and a volcano is too vague of a description, and the Razzasahks guy don¡¯t even have a description of the place where he is found! After some time of deep thinking, I finally took the books to the shelf and used the crystal to send them back to their places. On the exit I gave my good byes to nova and reminded her of the dinner tomorrow with Rusty. She blushed furiously again while I left laughing. Before going back to Melinda¡¯s place, I took the main elevator to the floor I came in. Which by the way, isn¡¯t the first floor of the mountain, there are even a few underground floors and the mountain isn¡¯t exactly placed on a leveled terrain, so some deeper floors can be accessed from other sides. I got to the gate just in time to see Rusty entering the city. Still wearing his military-like uniform, but holding the hat beneath his arms. I approach him and put my arm around his neck. ¡°You, are a lucky clockwork, and you have a dinner with Nova tomorrow at night. You might want to see her at the library before she leaves to adjust the details, ok?¡± The clockwork looked confused for a moment, then his pipes started to chime furiously as a steam cloud formed around him. I went back laughing leaving the two lovebirds to finish what I started by themselves. I think that he actually stood there for almost an hour before coming back to his senses. ---- (dead) Author''s corner: Fancy table for fancy quest is fancy... What do you guys think about the gods'' names?
Next chapter
Chapter 17 - Pioneering Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Moar crafting and some good items! ANYWAY, on the race¡¯s lists, there were some changings done, but mostly in names. Jontunn was changed to J?tunn, the correct writing, and I changed Half-dragons to draconids to avoid problems with the facts that there are half now in the story, but i¡¯m willing to change if I get a better name for them. ALSO, I will arrange some of my old books today and will probably post it Google drive. I will select some that I like most for that. No promises on updates on them though. IF, and a very big IF, I update them, will be only on the occasion where: Insania¡¯s chapter of the day is done, there is no ongoing SS, and I have energy to write. And that is IF I decided to update them. ALSO(2), OP armor is OP. EDIT: Made the folder in Google docs with some of my old works. But i warn you guys, that they are incomplete, and some of them simply stops in the middle of a word. These works did not take any time from making Insania, so no need to worry, so... HERE LIES DEM STORIES! I will also post this in the next chapter or maybe my signature. ------ I took my time while going back to Melinda¡¯s house, since the first time I took a straight route to there, so I did not get to do much sightseeing. It was around afternoon here, so the sunlight was managing to pass through the floors, giving it a bit of natural light. It was only after seeing the sun that I noticed that most of the time, there would not be sunlight in here, and what truly kept the city from being under an almost permanent darkness were some magic crystals here and there. The streets were, just like the rest of the place, carved directly into the mountain, not being placed with any kind of tiles or concrete on it. The sidewalks, however, were a bit more worked, some used marble, others used bricks, and so on. Although I say streets and sidewalks, it¡¯s not like there is a large difference between the two, after all, there aren¡¯t cars in this game¡­ I think¡­ so most pedestrian walked wherever they pleased, with only the occasional mounted person and carriage the passed by and then the pedestrian opened a path for it to pass. Reaching the main elevator, I took it to the General industries sector and from there I made my way towards a nearby auxiliary elevator and from there to the leatherworks. However, when I got the street, I stopped and made a full turn. Why? Because I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m seeing things, so let me calm down and try again. After calming down and checking my status to see if I wasn¡¯t affected by some kind of illusion effect, I once again entered the street. Nope, still there. I must have gone mad. Yup. That is the only possible acceptable explanation. Why? Well, help me remember something here. Dwarfs are these short guys, around one and one and a half meters, with stocky body and ridiculously strong arms, right? They usually have a large beard on their faces that goes up to their chest. And lastly, these guys are excellent craftsmen and usually are specialized on blacksmithing. Does it match with the information? Then let¡¯s compare with the guy in front of Melinda¡¯s house. Huge golden braided beard up to his chest? Check. Stocky body with large arms and legs? Check. Blacksmith hammer on the belt? Check. Height of two and something meters? Check. See where the problem is? Well, I do. If I were to say, it¡¯s like someone took a dwarf, put him in a copy machine and put set it to amplify x1.5 times or something. So, logical explanation? I am going mad! HOORAY! As I accepted my fate, I approached the house with a sad smile. When I got closer, I could see that Melinda was on the door talking with the huge dwarf. Probably because he couldn¡¯t fit through the door. No, I¡¯m not kidding, the guys is like two by two in size, he wouldn¡¯t fit in the door no matter what you say. And it¡¯s not like these doors are for dwarf use, they are perfectly normal doors. As I approached them, Melinda noticed my approach, followed by the illusion. I gave the illusion a light nod as a greeting and turned to Melinda before I would go mad. ¡°So, is the leather ready by now?¡± Melinda nodded with a wide smile, then pointed towards the dwarf behind me with her head. ¡°Yes, and this guy here is willing to take you for apprentice on blacksmithing. I was just talking about you with him!¡± I turned back to the giant dwarf and then back to the half-garuda. ¡°You mean the illusion back there?¡± ¡°Illusion?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ I mean, he is a two meters tall dwarf. If he isn¡¯t an illusion, then I have no idea what is.¡± She froze for a moment, then looked from me to the illusion then back to me. She opened her mouth, but since she had no idea on what to say she simply closed it again. What wakened her was the sound of thunder falling close to us. I almost threw myself into the ground when it happened. Wait, it wasn¡¯t thunder, it was the illusion! It was laughing! ¡°Illusion? That¡¯s the best one so far! I like you boy!¡± Why the hell does everybody calls me boy? ¡°The name is Torg blackhammer!¡± He said extending his hand to me, I wonder if this is how a baby feels when an adult gives him his hand to hold. My hand fully open would not be bigger than his palm. ¡°Gondorrer Gravelheart.¡± I said after some time and the illusion nodded. ¡°And answering your question, I¡¯m not a pure dwarf! My mother is a J?tunn. But I only got the size from her!¡± Hmm¡­ That makes him a little less unbelievable. ¡°I planned to start with you today, but it seems that you already have some plans, so I¡¯ll come to pick you up tomorrow after lunch!¡± He turned back to Melinda. ¡°And thanks for the gloves, Mel, my old ones were barely holding up!¡± He then quaked away¡­ I mean, walked away while laughing loudly. Hey, quest log, are you sure that thing isn¡¯t one of the four great gods? Seems not¡­ Is he even stronger than the four gods? Oh god! I turned back to Melinda who seemed to be holding her laugh back. She motioned me to enter the house towards the studio the back. When I got there I could see that the leather now had a slight shine to it. The next steps were, although tedious, fairly easy, as all I had to do was to stitch it together with the line. I was worried that it would be difficult to pierce the thick leather with the thin needle, but Melinda told me that it was enchanted with wind. Even if the enchantment wasn¡¯t all that great, it was enough to pierce the leather with ease. The jacket and the pants were fairly easy, as all I had to do was stitch them together, but the boots, however, were another story. She taught me to use a machine thingy that helped me stud the boot to piece the thicker leather together. I was worried about having messed up the size, but Melinda said that the goddess would automatically adjust the clothing to the one who would use it. Which meant that equipment are one size fits all. After that, came the dyeing. She gave me a pot, that wasn¡¯t as stinky as the one before, and told me to simply brush it over the leather to paint it. I painted it all in a grey tone.
Comfortable dog-leather jacket (Chest)
Def: 7 M.Res: 5
Quality: Common Durability: 30/30
Description Simple jacket made with wild dog¡¯s leather. Useful as a street wear. AGI +2, TGH+1
Comfortable dog-leather pants (Legs)
Def: 7 M.Res: 5
Quality: Common Durability: 30/30
Description Simple pants made with Wild dog¡¯s leather. Useful as a street wear. AGI +2, TGH +1
Comfortable Traveler¡¯s dog-leather boots (Feet)
Def: 7 M.Res: 5
Quality: Common Durability: 30/30
Description A comfortable boot made with Wild dog¡¯s leather, it¡¯s perfect for long distance traveling. AGI+2, VIT +1, reduces Satiety loss for walking by 15%
It¡¯s kind of sad when the gear I make with my most trashy leather is better than my actual set¡­ As I finished, Melinda was ready to call it a day, but since I wasn¡¯t all that tired, probably because for me this is a game, I decided to stay up the night and train some more. I asked her if there was any way for me to skip that whole waiting to dry thingy, and she said that, although there is, it isn¡¯t really recommended, because there is a large drop in quality if you do it. There is also a drop when curing the leather with the skill, but it¡¯s effect is minimal in these low tiers of leathers. I nodded and gave her good night. I spent the rest of the night working on a decent equipment for myself. I started by defining what I was going to use. I planned on making a scale-mail chest plate for myself with blacksmithing, and I had the ferocious miner gloves, so what I needed right now was legs, boots and maybe a belt. I started by making all the preparation for the equipment using the best Lynx leather I had. I was doubly cautious with these because I did not want to waste my best leather on some trashy equipment. I made sure that everything was ready until the compound part. After brushing it on all the pieces, I left them to dry. So I started to use the worst leathers and make some simple equipment with them, skipping the curing and the compound part with the skills, ¡®cure¡¯ and ¡®tan¡¯ that came with the leatherworking skills. Most of them were common quality items, but from time to time came a decent good quality item. I spent everything I had on leathers and managed to put my leatherworking on level eight in one night by working frantically. After some time, the tanning process for the good equipment I was making was done, and I took it them out and started by sewing then. Since these were battle equipment, I decided to make them a bit more flashy. With the pants, I decided to make them slightly baggy as to not hinder me too much, and I shredded the last five or so centimeters from the legs in half-centimeters stripes. Why? To look cool, of course! Also, on the lateral stitches, I put some of the lynxes fur to give it a bit more feral look or something. For the boots, I made them with a thick sole and had a thick shoe-lace. Design helped with discovering that the leatherworking skill also provides me with some blue-prints. I made them to look like a military boot. For the belt, I went a bit overboard. I took some of the fangs and claws from the lynxes, and stitched them to the outer rim of the belt in alternating pattern, since the claws were black and the fangs, white, it got a nice touch to it. In the end, I tinted the pants and the boots in black, the belt I tinted in white since I had used the hide of one of the striped lynxes. I took a good look at my creations and was almost satisfied with them, except for one thing. They looked a bit too feeble. I decided to correct this by picking some of the remaining leather and tanning it with the skill, then padding the inside of the armor. From the outside they didn¡¯t look any different, but maybe they will have some more defense now? As I was satisfied with my creations, the windows appeared before me.
Heavy leather boots of the wild lynx. (Feet) (requires level 5)
Def: 10 M.Res: 5
Quality: Good Durability: 40/40
Description Heavy boot made with red-claw lynxes leather. The spirit within is eager to run wild (Made by Wargon) AGI+4, STR +3, VIT+1
Heavy leather pants of the Ferocious Lynx (Legs) (Requires level 5)
Def: 12 M.Res: 5
Quality: Good Durability: 40/40
Description Heavy leather armor for your legs made with Red-claw lynx leather. The lynxes ferocity permeates this armor. (Made by Wargon) STR +4, VIT +2, AGI+2
(Insert the name of your creation) (Waist) (Heavy leather) The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.(requires level 8)
Def: 14 M.Res: 7
Quality: Excellent Durability: 50/50
Description A belt made with the best of the Red-claw lynx parts. Their spirits follows whoever wears this belt, gracing them with their blessings. (Made by Wargon) AGI+5, STR +5, VIT +3 Decrease snares duration by 50% when In the light. Immunity to snare when on the shadows.
Congratulations. You have created an Excellent equipment. Please choose your works name:
(_________)
Congratulations, you are the first player to create an item of excellent quality. Would you like to disclose your name for other players?
(Yes/no)
I looked flabbergasted at all the windows that appeared. These gears¡­ Are a freaking beast! And an excellent piece of gear? Just¡­ Wow! AND SERVER FIRST! OOH YEAH! It¡¯s my first ever server first! TAKE THAT YOU NOOBS! Now¡­ What should I name the belt? It has to be something badass to be able to be able to meet it¡¯s stats¡­ Think, Wargon, Think¡­ I know! Girdle of the Night Walker And submit. Now, do I want to disclose my name¡­? Heck, sure, why not? As soon as I pressed yes, two new windows appeared before me.
You have earned a title for being the first player to craft an Excellent piece of gear: Pioneer of the crafts You can only have one title equipped at a time. Since you have no title, this will be set as your default title.
Pioneer of the crafts: Increases the chance of crafted items receiving a higher tier quality.
The player: Wargon, has completed the first ever Excellent piece of crafting made by a player! [Girdle of the Night Walker]
I am famous, baby! And a title! Woo hoo! I need a disguise for the next time I leave this place, or the paparazzi won¡¯t leave me alone! Since everything is already complete, I decided to call this a day, so I started to tidy up the mess I made while working. Not being sure what time it is, I leave the house to take a stretch. When I look at the sky in the end of the road, I notice that the sun was starting to rise. In a good mood I decided to take a walk around the city. Didn¡¯t take much longer for a flashing symbol to appear on the corner of my vision, but this time, it was the skype symbol. I focused on the symbol and a chat appeared. [Phantons]: Crafting addicted! Go level! [Incarnus]: I WANT GEAR 2!!1! [Red Hurricane]: O.o Rlly? Gratz [Me]: MUAHAHAHA! I AM THE CRAFTING GOD! BOW BEFORE ME YOU MORTALS, FOR I SHALL NOT CRAFT FOR YOU! [Phantons]: Less crafting, more leveling! We have a dungeon to run! [Incarnus]: NOOOOOOO! MY GEAR! [Me]: Then, let¡¯s run a DG with no equipment! Should be fun! [Phantons]: Less leveling, more crafting! Make me a staff! [Incarnus]: And a glaive for me! [Me]: Shut up, Incarnus. [Phantons]: Shut up, Incarnus. [Red Hurricane]: Boys¡­ U.u [Incarnus]: Why? [Cygnas]: ^^ [Phantons]: Who? [Incarnus]: WHAAT? [Red Hurricane]: Loooool! [Me]: (-.-¡¯) While walking, I kept talking to them on the chat and we shared a bit of what we did. Seems like Incarnus was about to get his class change, but was stuck in a quest. Red was trying to tame a certain animal she saw around and Phantons had already changed his class, but refused to tell us, saying it was a surprise. Cygnas¡­ Only put the message there and said nothing else¡­ We talked for some more time before another window appeared before me. [Yuu]: Shishou? Is this working? [Me]: My apprentice! How are you? [Yuu]: Shishou! I am fine! Han-chan just got to level five! I am at level ten! It gets difficult to level when the lynxes leave¡­ And congratulations! It seems that Shishou made something incredible again! Having gotten the situation of my friends, I found myself near the main elevator. Not being sure on what to do, I decided to take it and look around in some of the other sectors, the first being the commercial one. The commercial sector, was, as the name implies, a place filled with stores and such. From fruit and fishes to weapons and armors. If it¡¯s sellable, they got it here. I roamed the city and noticed that there was a player who set a small table on the sidewalks and had some of his items atop of it. How I knew that he was a player? His nickname appeared when I was close enough and focused myself on him. He was a gnome, so he was fairly short, and he had to sit on a fairly tall chair to keep up with the table. His clothes were, surprisingly, a black suit with a top hat. He had his beard cut shortly and his hair was neatly combed backwards. I approached him and noticed that he had an assortment of items selling. ¡°Good morning! Is there something you would like to purchase?¡± He said with a business smile. ¡°No, rather, I would like to sell some items. Are you buying?¡± ¡°Sure, as long as the price is fair¡­¡± He looked at me and focused, but when he saw my name, his eyes suddenly shot open. ¡°You are that¡­¡± I stopped him with my hand and asked for him to keep quiet. He nodded and I let go. ¡°Sorry, I got surprised. Never would have thought that I would meet you so soon¡­¡± he calmed himself then got a serious business look. ¡°So, what do you want to sell?¡± I smiled and started to empty my inventory in his table of all the excess items I had. His eyes widened for a moment, but he soon kept his calm again. He started to examine the items one by one and separated them between good and common items. ¡°So, how much?¡± I asked while he made some calculations. ¡°Good items are, right now, the mainstream tier of items available to the players, so this mean that they still have a good price.¡± He said while thinking. ¡°Although the best items around are of excellent quality, nobody is willing to sell them right now, so we don¡¯t even account them in here. Your items also have quite good status, and a relatively low level requirement¡­¡± He stopped to make some calculations. ¡°Let¡¯s say, three silver per common and ten per good? What do you say?¡± Well, I have no idea on how much is the market price, but since money is money, I accepted any way. In the end I now had around 11 gold coins in my pockets. ¡°Now, could you tell me something?¡± He asked curious. ¡°Where did you get the recipe for that belt of yours?¡± ¡°Recipe?¡± ¡°Yes, for crafting you need a recipe, blueprint or whatever, right? Where did you get the one to make your belt? Would it be an inconvenience for you?¡± Although he was asking out of curiosity, it seemed that he wouldn¡¯t press the matter too much. Seeing as I had nothing to lose, I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t use any recipe. I made it manually.¡± His eyes widened when he heard that. ¡°And also, let¡¯s say that I had a little trick when it comes to gathering my materials.¡± No need to tell everything, right? He looked at me for some time, as if examining me, then finally nodded in satisfaction. ¡°I see¡­ Then I think that this makes some sense then¡­¡± He stood up on the bench so he could get to my eye level, then he was and extended me his hand. ¡°Name is Argento. Now, would you mind if I made a proposal, Wargon?¡± He asked with a serious face. ¡°I have this feeling that this won¡¯t be the last time I will hear about you when it comes to crafting, so I would like to make an offer to you.¡± ¡°Are you sure about that? I could be a one-shot wonder, you know?¡± I said a bit surprised, but he simply laughed. ¡°I¡¯m a business man in real life, and I have an eye for people. And besides, you have two times more good items here than any other crafter that came to me already!¡± He denied me immediately. ¡°I¡¯ll go straight to the point. I want the selling rights to any items you craft, should you decide to sell them.¡± ¡°And¡­ What do I get with it?¡± before was a onetime sales, so I wasn¡¯t very worried about the details of the price. However, with a permanent business, it doesn¡¯t hurt to be a bit more careful. ¡°I¡¯ll support any of your crafting by gathering whatever material you need at market price or below.¡± I¡¯m no businessman, but I don¡¯t think that would be a bad idea. Besides, having a merchant for connection is not something bad. ¡°I guess we have a deal then.¡± I shook his hand and he smiled brightly. Then I took upon his offer and said what I would need for leatherworking. He took a notebook from his inventory and started to note everything down, then he said he would contact me when he found somewhere to buy. We added each other as friends and then parted ways. I could somehow hear him humming happily as he wrote the prices of the items. Having freed myself from my excess equipment, and having made a merchant friend, I took upon the street and looked around on what to do. I still had until the afternoon before the time marked with the Giant dwarf, so, while thinking on how to kill some time, I remembered the third map Rusty gave me. It was, Iron gauntlet or something. He said that it would be an easy place to get some jobs¡­ I took an elevator to the indicated floor and followed the map until I arrived at a building in the outer street of the floor. I took my time to appreciate the view for a time. I could see very far, as I was in a fairly high place within the mountain. Although there is snow in some of the upper floors, here was still a cool and refreshing level. I could see a forest crossed by a river right in front of me, more to the right, I saw what looked like a small village with some livestock, to the left, in the distance, I could barely see what looked like some kind of stone tower, probably part of another city. Turning back, I walked to the building. It had a board with a gauntlet carved, I don¡¯t think I could miss it. Even from outside I could kind of hear the loud noises of laughter and talk coming from inside. I opened the door slowly, and what I saw was something downright of a manga. Lots of people sitting around in tables while drinking happily and singing. At the right corner, was a desk with a receptionist and a billboard at her side. I feared for a moment that one of these scenes where I enter a place like this and suddenly everyone stop and look at you would happen, but luckily, this wasn¡¯t the case. I don¡¯t think they even noticed that I had arrived here. Deciding that the girl was about as good of a place to start, I went towards her. ¡°Excuse-me, but this is the silver gauntlet, right?¡± The receptionist looked at me with a business smile and nodded. ¡°Yes. But I take it that you came here to register?¡± ¡°To tell the truth, I¡¯m not really sure. An acquaintance recommended me this place to find some easy jobs, but he didn¡¯t tell me much besides that.¡± ¡°Ah, I see. Then let me explain you. The silver gauntlet, is a knights order and a mercenary guild at the same time. Although the two parts are separate, they both obey the same leader.¡± I Nodded in understanding. ¡°The difference between the two are, in the mercenary guild, you are free to take the jobs we gather at the guild, but we take a small fee from the rewards. Besides that, you are free to do pretty much everything else.¡± ¡°The knight¡¯s order, on the other hand, requires you to pass a small test, and you are obliged to vow loyalty to the leader while you are here, and in case he decides to go to war, you need to follow him, but we offer you many benefits, such as lodging, maintenance of your equipment and such.¡± I see¡­ This is kind of like these guilds you often see in games and anime. I think that it shouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to enter the mercenary guild, if it helps me to find some good hunting grounds. ¡°Then, how do I join the mercenary¡¯s guild?¡± ¡°You can join on the desk on the other side of the hall!¡± I thanked her and looked around, quickly finding the other desk. This one had a white-haired old man sitting in a chair with a mug in his hand. I approached the man, who seemed to be sleeping and said when I got to the desk. ¡°I want to join the silver gauntlet.¡± ¡°Is here where I enter the merc¡¯s guild?¡± ¡°I would desire to enlist myself on the knights¡¯ order.¡± I blinked surprised when two other voices came from besides me in unison. I looked at them and they looked at me and then at each other, surprised. At this time the old man lifted his head and simply smiled. ---- (dead) Author''s corner: SO... MANY... TABLES! (falls dead)
Next chapter
Chapter 18 - Oldmen and their tests Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! More crafting(last time, srry. This is the last time for now.) and some cameos from my old works! ANYWAY, these three characters that appear here (And before anyone say anything, no , she ISN¡¯T a heroine) were from another old work of mine. Even the way and place they meet is the same, although adapted to fit more with this story. ALSO, I made the folder on Google drive with my old works, although I announced in the last chapter, it was in a edit, so¡­ Here you go: HERE LIES DEM OLE STORIES! ALSO(2), NEW WEAPON TIME! ---- I approached the desk where the old man was calmly drinking and said. ¡°I want to join the silver gauntlet.¡± However, at the same moment I said these words, came another two voices. ¡°Is here where I enter the merc¡¯s guild?¡± ¡°I would desire to enlist myself on the knights¡¯ order.¡± I blinked in surprise, after all, the three of us had spoke exactly at the same time. Curious, I looked at the two of them. The one closest to me was a guy around my age and height. I think he is a human, since there isn¡¯t anything too different about him besides the hair, that was white. He wore a long, white leather overcoat with a few details here and there in black. The right sleeve had been ripped off after the elbow, showing a plate gauntlet in his hand. His black leather pants were also a bit weary from continuous usage. I could see that he had two swords tied to his metal belts, but something about them made me feel slightly off. Now, you are probably wondering why I thought that his hair was strange, right? Well, it¡¯s simple. I would have to call his hair huge. It started with a ridiculous volume atop of his head, then it would stretch itself downwards, wrap around his neck once and then drop through his back. And for some reason there was a small backpack atop his hair, so yeah. The second one was a girl, a draconid. She was a bit shorter than me and had a dark red hair. There were two horns on her temples that curved backwards. She also had a long reptile tail that ended in a tuft of white fur, something that happened similarly on her ears, that were about as long as an elf, but were covered in scales and with some fur at it¡¯s tip. Her yellow eyes were kind of cold¡­ For her clothing, she had something elegant that wouldn¡¯t be off in a noble¡¯s party. She wore back-less dark beige silk blouse, with detached sleeves that she clasped as bracelets a little above her elbow, due to this I could see six small spikes doting her back. She also had a short black skirt that stopped around the height of her knees and long boots that came up to her calves. Her weapon was simply a red scythe around one meter long and with a blade around half a meter. Kind of scary if I do say so myself. As I inspected them, they inspected me back, then each other. As soon as we were done, we heard the sound of a chair being dragged on the ground and we looked at the source to see the old man lifting himself with a wide smile in his face. He had his whole body covered in a old cape, leaving only his white-haired head for the world to see. By the way, all three of them were NPCs. ¡°Well! Look at what we have here, not one, not two, but three different people trying to join us at the same time! Isn¡¯t this interesting?¡± He said with a hearty laughter. He is a bit more cheerful than the last old man I met. This old man picked some book from beneath the desk and then picked three sheets of paper. ¡°Just fill these in for me.¡± He gave each one of us the paper. It was fairly basic stuff like name, race, class, level and such. Kind of like a simplified version of my status plate. I quickly filled it in, but just as I was about to finish my paper, the guy at my side suddenly said. ¡°Hey, do I have to fill one of these for this guy?¡± He said while pointing towards the top of his head. The draconid, the old man and me looked at him confused. He then blinked and let out a long sigh, then he hit his own head lightly and said. ¡°Wake up sleepy head!¡± I thought that this guy might be mad in the head, but to my surprise, his hair actually moved by itself! Rather, what I had thought that was his hair, was actually an animal that was sleeping on his head. The creature lifted it¡¯s head and let out a yawn before looking around, then it jumped towards the table, where I could take a better look at it. It had a serpentine-like body with a bit more than one meter of length and a dragon-like head without any horns. Two large wings sprouted from a bit above the middle of it¡¯s body. However, instead of scales, it had a soft-looking white fur. The small backpack I had seen earlier was fixed in place by it¡¯s wing. The small serpent thingy looked at the three of us and: ¡°Sha!¡± It hissed and slightly waved it¡¯s tail as if it would wave a hand. Basically, it was greeting us. It¡­ Is kind of cute. The old man who was still a bit surprised smiled wryly and said. ¡°I¡­ Guess that this one is your pet or something, right? Then no need¡­ you only need to register yourself, she counts as something like a possession.¡± The guy nodded happily and went back to write everything down in the paper. The serpent looked curious at what he was doing and approached him to see it. I finished my paper and gave it to the old man, followed by the girl the guy immediately after. ¡°Alright, now, let¡¯s see what we have here¡­ Arcus Evencid, Half-beastman half-human, level 15 Berseker, mercenaries¡­ ¡± He looked at the guy and he nodded. Also, now that serpent left his head, I could see he had a slightly long white hair and a couple of dog ears atop of his head. ¡°Then, we have, Elraira Terndeik, Draconid, level 18 Fire-bringer, for the knights, right?¡± The girl nodded. ¡°Do you have a recommendation letter or will you take the test?¡± The girl opened a pocket in her skirt and gave it to the old man who read it intensively. ¡°Oh, lord Alson, with this it¡¯s easy for you to join.¡± He said with a smile, then he pocketed the letter. ¡°And lastly, we have¡­ Gondorrer Gravelheart. Golem, level¡­¡± He stopped and looked at me surprised, the other two also looked at me curious. ¡°level 8, wanderer? For the mercs?¡± He said shocked. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a little too eager to join us?¡± ¡°It¡¯s better to start early, right?¡± I said full of pride, the old man smiled wryly and slowly shook his head. ¡°Do you mind if I ask you what kind of battle experience you have?¡± ¡°Well¡­ If we talk about that¡­ I can only say that I fought level 5 wild dogs and level 10 to 12 red-claw lynxes ever since I started¡­¡± Hmm¡­ Now that I think about it, it¡¯s kind of pitiful, right? However, it seemed that this impressed the old man, as he widened his eyes. ¡°Then¡­ Even from level one, without any kind of decent gear you fought with level 5 enemies? Is that right?¡± I nodded. ¡°And why would you do that?¡± ¡°Well, there was this old man who gave me a challenge and I kind of got a bit too absorbed in it, so before I knew I was hunting them kind of like a madman¡­¡± This old man shook his head once again. ¡°And who, under the heavens, would send an unprepared, unequipped beginner to hunt wild dogs?¡± ¡°A grumpy old man called Wallace.¡± I said with a wry smile remind myself of the old man. But as soon I said that word, the atmosphere between us suddenly froze, as everyone looked at me in sheer surprise. Well, everyone besides Arcus, who was about as confused as me. Even his serpent was looking at me in shock. The one who spoke first wa Elrrair¡­ Ellari¡­ Elrali¡­ EL, the first one to say something was El. ¡°Wallace¡­ By Wallace you mean¡­ Dragon General Wallace?¡± Her voice barely leaving her lips. ¡°Well¡­ He did say that was his class, so I guess?¡± The three, minus Arcus, looked at me in sheer shock. ¡°Then¡­ Are you his apprentice?¡± ¡°Only when it come to skinning.¡± I said with a wry smile, they looked confused for a moment, then El, the old man and the serpent all sighed in unison, however Arcus turned to me and asked. ¡°So, who is this Wallace guy?¡± Once again shock ran through the other three, even the serpent started to use its wing to face palm. ¡°The old man Is ridiculously strong¡­ It seems he was very famous in the past.¡± I said my honest impression. ¡°How strong?¡± He had a wild smile in his face as he asked it. ¡°Last time I asked him to throw me to the other side of the village because I was tired of walking!¡± I smiled with pride and Arcus looked surprised. ¡°That sounds fun!¡± I like this guy. By the way, it seems that the other three had already given up on any hope for the two of us and only stared in the distance. After some time, the old man recovered and said. ¡°Anyway, if you survived all that, I guess I can put you in without any problem.¡± He put on his serious face. ¡°Anyway, from now on, you are all new members of the silver gauntlet. Usually, I would dismiss all of you here and now, but I must say that I¡¯m quite curious with how strong the three of you actually are, so I want to give you guys a challenge, what do you say?¡± What is it with old men and challenges anyway? I simply shrugged in answer, the other two seemed to accept too. The old man nodded with a smile and said for us to wait here for a moment while he went to the billboard on the other side. Meanwhile I noticed that El had her gaze focused on the serpent all the time. Also having my curiosity stirred, I approached the animal. ¡°Can you understand what we are speaking about?¡± I asked it and it nodded. ¡°Shia!¡± It hissed with a smile. ¡°Heh¡­ Aren¡¯t you one smart serpent?¡± ¡°Shia-shii¡­¡± It looked away slightly embarrassed. I turned back to Arcus who was looking distracted at the room. ¡°So, how did you two meet?¡± ¡°Oh? You see, I live in a ranch where we raise little guys like Whishi.¡± He nodded towards the serpent. ¡°They make great mailers when they grow up. When I decided to travel around, Whishi decided to come with me.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I said while nodding, and just in time as the old man came back with a small piece of paper in his hand. ¡°Okay, guys, I want to see if you guys can take this mission. If you do¡­ I¡¯ll give a prize to each one of you, what do you say?¡± he said while putting the paper in the desk. It was a job about a bandit group that was troubling the outskirts of the town, and the guard¡¯s were paying for someone to clear one of their hideouts. Recommended level was twelve. I frowned at the idea of having to hunt humanoids, after all, I came here to hunt monsters, but thinking about it, this is an RPG, even if I don¡¯t want, sooner or later I will have to fight this kind of enemy. ¡°Oh, well, I¡¯m in.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Sounds fun¡­ I¡¯ve been itching for a fight!¡± Arcus said while hitting his fist in his palm. ¡°It¡¯s a good test¡­¡± El seemed completely indifferent. ¡°I guess this would be a group test?¡± She asked the old man, and he nodded, then she turned to us. ¡°So, when do we start?¡± ¡°Well, I can¡¯t do it today because I have some lessons on blacksmithing after lunch¡­ Is there any problem if we do it tomorrow?¡± I said and she shook her head slightly, and then looked at Arcus, he simply shrugged. ¡°Tomorrow, then. This same time?¡± She said coolly, both Arcus and me nodded slightly, then she proceeded to walk away. Arcus and me looked at each other, and he said. ¡°Not a very sociable fella, is she?¡± ¡°But she did look cool.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± We left soon after and each of us went our ways. I strode around the city up to around lunch time, when my satiety bar dropped for something around forty percent, I took a bite of a yummy iron ore, like I had been doing every day, then started to make my way towards Melinda¡¯s. I arrived at the house just in time to see the Illusion¡­ I mean, Torg knocking on the door. Melinda answered the door and shook her head, probably saying that I wasn¡¯t there. Torg looked a bit disheartened and started to leave, but he saw me on my way. I lifted my arm in a greeting and a smile appeared in his face. ¡°I thought that you had ran away!¡± He said. ¡°Why would I do that?¡± I asked confused, he simply laughed and told me to follow him. We went back to the main elevator and took it to one of the lower floors. And by lower, I mean, really low, below even the one I entered the mountain. When we left, we were underground, and all the streets were filled with blacksmiths. And by filled, I mean, the whole area had a slight red tint due to heat-based illumination from molten metal. Heck, I had the feeling that this is how cooked food must feel when you put it in the oven. The whole floor, no matter where we walked, was hot and stuffy. Even the ridiculously huge exhausting fans that appeared every one hundred meters were nowhere enough to help with the situation. And the dwarfs walked around like it was nothing. Bunch of freaks. Stolen story; please report. This is the only floor so far that there was nothing but dwarfs. Except for illusion who was a half. By the time we arrived at the door of his house, I pretty much fell on the floor barely able to walk anymore. Actually, I¡¯m pretty sure the only reason I haven¡¯t died yet is because my health regen is a bit higher than the heat damage¡­ I¡¯m a golem, for Cyg¡¯s sake! Shouldn¡¯t heat not bother me? Heck, where is my cool drink? Why did no one tell me to bring a cool drink to this map? Seeing me in my state, Torg laughed loudly and entered his house. Which, by the way, was made specially for him, since every door I could see was a bit more than two meters wide and two high. And he still had to lower his head! He came back afterwards holding something in his hand, he lowered his hand next to me and passed whatever it was that he had. It was a small blue ring. Not understanding why, I still picked it up.
Ring of the cool breeze
Def: 0 M. Res 0
Quality: Common Durability: 10/10
Description A ring that protects the wearer from high temperature ambient. A necessity when traveling to hot places.
Is this¡­ A HEAT RES +10 AMULET! Cygnas be praised! As soon as I equipped the ring, all the heat I felt simply vanished, and I could easily lift myself again. Feeling refreshed, I followed Torg out of the house and he showed me his smithy. There were three forges here, where two were already lit up, as well as a few anvils, cooling water and so on. He passed me the skill before we would start by putting his index finger on my forehead
Torg, the Blacksmith has taught you the Crafting Skill: Blacksmithing.
Skill: Blacksmithing [lvl 1] 0%
Allows you to work with metals to make weapons and armors. You can use the system help to create your items from now on. You have received a few beginners recipe.
He told me to go to the smaller forge, and by small, I mean the normal sized one, and he started by having me dump all ore I had in the ground, then he took all of them and threw it in the furnace. Meanwhile, I started to put some necessary protection as thick leather gloves and an apron. In a process a lot faster than what I was expecting, I saw as the molten iron started to drip from a pipe beneath the furnace into a crucible. However, while there was a lot of red-hot molten iron dripping, I could also see some black spots gathering at the top. I didn¡¯t need much of a guess to know that these were probably impurity and I had to remove them. Torg stopped the flow of iron for a moment and passed me something that kind of reminded me of a long shovel and nodded to the impurities. I took my time to take away these impurities and throw them on a small bucket. Following that, he had me take the molten iron from the crucible and pour it into ingot-molds. I managed to get a bit more than eight ingots from the crucible. We repeated this process until all the ore in the forge had been used. For now, I had something around one hundred and thirty ingots to use, and my blacksmithing was already on level two with halfway to three! I separated around fifty or so of the most pure ingots to make my good equipment and went to work with the rest. I started with making a few daggers for weapons. The process was fairly simple since I only needed one ingot per dagger, so all I had to do was heat the ingot again in the forge and then hammer away. In this step I could feel the system helping me. I made a few daggers and even a short-sword just to get the hang of it. Some of the daggers came as good equipment, and it had the same damage as my actual sword. This is saddening. Then I went on to make some armors. I had Torg teach me how to make scale-mail. We started with picking an ingot and then putting it for a long time in the forge until it almost became liquid, we took it out and used an thick scissor looking instrument to cut the melting iron in smaller shapes around the size of two coins. I repeated this process around five times, and I had many of these coin-looking thingies, from there, we went to hammering one of them into a more decent shape to be called scale, then used a tool to pierce a hole into one of it¡¯s side. I was afraid that I would have to repeat this process to all of the other fragments, but Torg showed me that I could use a skill to copy the scales shape to the other with a relatively low loss in quality. Now that I had a good amount of scales, we went to the part where we stick them together. We used a premade mold made of a really thin leather in the shape of a glove. I used a thread to link the scales to the leather making sure to always cover the holes where the lines passed with the next scale. It was a bit more tiring than I expected. Torg then said to me that, from all blacksmithing armors, scale is the hardest since it have some repetition, but have no short cut. Chain-mail is easier because many steps can be cut with the help of Cygnas (system). But I was satisfied with my work. Although my actual chainmail have better status, it still left me happy. I used the remaining ingots to train scale-mail making until I was satisfied. As the afternoon started to come to it¡¯s end, I started to work on my good gear. First, a shield, since the one I have right now is a bit on the weak side. It took me twelve ingots to make a shield with the thickness I wanted. I made it fairly simple, giving it a kite shape. I made it with many different plaques nailed together atop of a wooden frame so that I could easily exchange it¡¯s pieces if needed. There were five pieces, the central, the upper and the lower left, then the upper and the lower right. Next, I made myself a sword, using ten more ingots that I hammered into a good density, then gave it a simple shape of a straight sword with a slight groove in the middle. I heard that this makes it easier for the blade to slide out after stabbing an enemy. For the hand guard. I used two more ingots. Giving it a slight upward curve, so that if I were to parry, the enemies attack wouldn¡¯t simply slide of the guard and hit me. Finally, came the chain-mail chest. This one went to whopping twenty other ingots, and took by far the most time of all the other equipment. Skipping the whole scale-shaping part, let¡¯s go straight to the outcome. It¡¯s final design had a longer hem than my previous one, going up to my upper thighs. I made this to eliminate the space between the leg armor and the chest armor, but since it would end up bothering my movement, I made a reverse v shaped dent in both the front and the back. I also made some small holes in around the waist level so that I could pass the belt through it so it won¡¯t shake too much. Finally, even if only to look cool, the scale piece right in the middle of my chest was a lot larger than the others, being almost the size of my open hand. I also gave it some short sleeves to protect my shoulders.
Pratical Soldier¡¯s Kite shield (requires level 5)
Block value: 72 Magical block: 10
Quality: Common Durability: 40/40
Description A shield made with practicality as it¡¯s focus. Although a bit heavy, it compensates by being a bit sturdier. (Made by Wargon) TGH+3, VIT +2
Balanced Soldier¡¯s sword (requires level 5)
Attack: 15-17 Extra: (none)
Quality: Good Durability: 30/30
Description A simple, yet effective sword. Good for any situation.(Made by Wargon) AGI+2 STR+2 THG+1
Exquisite Chest-mail of the Warrior (Chest) (Scale-mail) (requires level 8)
Def: 16 M. Res 5
Quality: Good Durability: 40/40
Description A simple yet exquisite piece of armor made with mobility in mind. AGI+2, TGH +2
Sweet, sweet gear. I¡¯m in love with it! Now I only have six ingots left. So, what should I do with it? Maybe another weapon? That¡¯s¡­ Actually a good idea, but what should I make? I want something different from sword and shield. Talking monster hunter, what are my options? There is¡­ Great sword, long sword, hammer, hunting horn, lance, dual blades and bow. These are the weapons I can make with some simple crafting techniques, the others all have some kind of tricky mechanism that I won¡¯t be able to do for now. I guess I can let go of both swords and the hammer for the sheer lack of material. I still don¡¯t know how to make a hunting horn, so that too goes away. Lance? Same as the swords¡­ That leaves me with dual swords and the bow, but I already played with dual blades earlier¡­ So¡­ But can I even make bow with metal? That is actually a good question. I go for Torg and ask him. ¡°Well, with your actual skill¡­ I don¡¯t think so. The iron you make isn¡¯t flexible enough to bend but still keep it¡¯s original form. There is actually a skill that gives the metal that property, but you only get it when you advance blacksmithing to intermediate¡­¡± He explained me, so I sighed loudly. He saw me doing this and smiled widely. ¡°You know, I could use the skill for you!¡± BEST TEATCHER EVER! I proceeded to smelt the six remaining ingots into three parts, two that were long and wide, and a shorter, round one. Then I started to mold the two longer ones into a slight curve for the bow. I asked Torg to use the skill on these two, then proceeded to meld the three together under the high heat of the forge. Having done this, I had mostly finished the bow, and needed something to use as bowstring. Torg gave me a bowstring from his depot. Now I had the back bone of the bow that would keep it together, but still needed something to snap it back to its original shape after letting go of the string. But I had a plan. I bade my farewell to the big dwarf and ran my way back to Melinda¡¯s place. Torg let me keep the ring. Letting the incomplete bow besides me, I picked the leather of one more striped lynx and quickly cured and tanned it, but I didn¡¯t remove the fur from it. Finally, I measured it against the bow and cut it so that I could barely cover the bow with it. After that, I put the hide on the outer part of the bow and studded them together. Now, the lynx leather would offer the elastic power needed to launch the arrow forward. To tell the truth, I wasn¡¯t sure whether that would work, but¡­
Iron Bow of the Black Lynx (requires level 8
Attack: 2-20 Extra: (none)
Quality: Good Durability: 20/20
Description A bow made with iron and black red-claw lynxes. Boast of flexibility and power. AGI+8 Armor penetration +10%
IT WORKS! IT¡¯S ALIVE! (imaginary thunderstorm ensues.) But¡­ Why that ridiculous difference in maximum and minimum damage? Is¡­ This really a functional weapon? By now, it was already night time once again. Seeing I still had the whole night ahead of me before having to meet El and Arcus again, I decided to go to the field and test my new gear on some unfortunate rabbits.
Next chapter
Chapter 19 - Trying archer Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some fails and bad ideas on this chapter! Too long without screwing something up! ANYWAY, I plan on going back to chapter 18 and change Arcus class to Berserker, so I will leave this warning here so nobody finds it strange. ALSO, the chapter is, once again, a bit on the short side, but I have a movie to watch, and the release would be too late for my tastes, so¡­ ALSO(2), BROTHERS AND SISTERS, the church of Cygnas is now, almost reaching 300 followers! CYGNAS BE PRAISED! ------ As I made my way to the fields, I saw some small animals like the rabbits here and there, hopping happily, even when the night had already fallen. Although this doesn¡¯t make much sense biologically, game-wise it does, since the beginners need some kind of animal for they to learn how to play. To tell the truth, I could go search for some stronger monsters to test my bow, but that¡¯s not a good idea. As I said earlier, never test a new monster with a new weapon, for that reason, these cute little bunnies would have to become the sacrifice for me to learn my archery skills! Your lives will not be forgotten, bunnies! ¡­ Bah, who am I kidding? I don¡¯t give one day before I completely forget about them. So without much further ado, let¡¯s start the slaughter! I took the bow from my back and held it in a more comfortable position. Then I stretched my left arm while my right arm went to the arrows¡­ Arrows¡­ Arrows¡­ Dear readers, I probably have already said this before, but let me reinstate here. I am an idiot. I somehow wanted to go and train archery without buying any arrow. I dejectedly walked back to the city, wondering how I would get my hand into some arrows at this time. Probably, all the stores were closed by now. Well, at least NPC stores¡­ I quickly opened my friend lists and there I see the name in a green color: Argento. [Me]: Hey, Argento, you there? It took him a moment, but the answer came. [Argento]: If it isn¡¯t my favorite crafter! How can I help you? [Me]: Well, I wanted to try a bit of archery in the game, but forgot to buy arrows, do you have some with you? [Argento]: Sure, many crafters makes them to level up, so I buy them dirty cheap. I¡¯m at the same place. [Me]: Ok, coming. I closed the chat and made my way towards the main elevator towards the crafting sector, then retraced my steps to the place where I first had met the gnome. He was still there in his same table and bench. When he saw me he put a wide smile in his face. He had already laid a few bundles of arrows on the table for me, so our transition was fairly fast. He also asked me if I wanted to buy a quiver, it links with my inventory and automatically pull the arrows from there, so I don¡¯t need to keep picking them one by one. I could make a quiver for me if I wanted, but I would need to gather some leather and such, so I left it as is and bought directly from him. Doing that, I went to the equipment menu and decided to equip the quiver, however¡­ Do I equip it together with the bow in main weapon, or do I have to put it into the auxiliary slot? Actually, what is this auxiliary slot? I had seen it earlier when equipping my gear and such, but I have absolutely no idea on how it works. I tried putting the quiver into the auxiliary slot, but I received an error message. Quickly closing it, I put it on the second of the main weapon slot, and it worked. But still wondering about it, I turned to the vendor and asked him. ¡°What, you don¡¯t know? That¡¯s a slot for putting some small arms like daggers and throwing knifes. Things for when the situation gets a bit abnormal. But anything bigger than a small dagger is rejected.¡± I nodded, if what he said is true¡­ I tried dragging one of the many daggers I made back when leveling my blacksmithing, and surprisingly, and it worked. The dagger was fairly simple, since I wasn¡¯t too bothered with quality, but still gave me two agility and one strength point. Also, I guess that it¡¯s more than enough time for me to explain how equipping works in this game. You see, there are two kinds of equipping in here. The first is when you drag the item from your inventory to the slot, and this adds the status from the item. The second, is when you materialize the item and then wear it. While you can materialize the item without equipping in the character window, you can¡¯t use them as equipment. Even if you materialize a sword without equipping, it does not count as a weapon, and would be no different as swinging a stick around. Similar things happens when you equip the item, as long as it is not materialized, its stats won¡¯t add to your status pool. The only exception to this rule is the helmet slot, where you can equip it without wearing it and still have the status, but this is mostly for cosmetic purposes. In addition, materializing items that are already equipped makes they appear as if you were wearing then, so it is highly convenient. This two layers system is, apparently, mostly to avoid exploits, since the player is still able to materialize items from their inventories in the middle of the battle, there would be some players that would keep changing their equipment every few seconds to match their situation. However, you cannot change equipped items in the middle of a battle, so it becomes useless to try and have ten different weapons to keep changing in the middle of a fight. This auxiliary weapon seems to also be a case of an item where I can still add the points even if you don¡¯t materialize them, since they aren¡¯t part of your main equipment. After I equipped the dagger, I remembered of the other items I made, and dropped them all in the table. I saw Argento¡¯s eyes become a pair of gold coins as he stared at the items. In the end, I bought all my arrows and got myself a few extra gold coins, so I became a happy man. Or golem. Taking a look at his stall, I also saw that he sold some small bottles with a red liquid. Of course, they were health potions. Since I had a severe lack of means for healing, and I planned on doing nothing to correct it, I decided to buy some of these pots in case of an emergency. But they were a bit expensive, at one silver each. This is not very buyer friendly, so maybe I¡¯ll take alchemy too? But¡­ having to walk all the way to the elevator every time I want to leave is kind of a pain¡­ Isn¡¯t there a faster way to go down? While walking and thinking of an idiotic plan to somehow skip the elevator, I was back at the entrance floor. However, a peculiar sight greeted me. I saw some players walking furiously from one side to the other while a huge cyclops stood in the middle of the street giving them orders. Isn¡¯t he that guy who tried to PK me earlier? What is he doing here? Just as I thought that, the group all gathered around him and they started to speak one by one to the cyclops. He visibly became furious as his clenched hands, then suddenly his voice boomed. ¡°WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN¡¯T FIND HIM? THAT (bleep) GOLEM MADE FUN OF US, AND YOU WANT TO SIMPLY LET HIM GO? SEARCH AGAIN! WE ARE GOING TO TURN THIS CITY UPSIDE DOWN IF WE NEED!¡± So, he was looking for me? ¡­ Do you know that saying about kicking a hornet¡¯s nest? I looked at the two remaining flash bombs I had tied to my belt, and I felt a wicked smile appearing in my face as a plan started to form in my mind. I picked one of the flash-bombs and tried the delayed activation modifier. A window appeared before me asking the time. I set it to two seconds. I slowly prowled towards their gathering area, making sure none of them would see me, and when I was close enough, I ran away from cover and activated the bomb right before throwing it. Then: ¡°HEY, FAT EYE! I¡¯M HERE!¡± I shouted gathering all their attention at me at the same time. Time, which the flash bomb got right in front of them and exploded. I heard their agony throes of agony as they became blinded again by the same trick. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever get tired from this. Since the bomb don¡¯t actually deal any damage, I wasn¡¯t flagged as a red player, so I had no need to worry about the guards turning on me. I stood around enough time for me to see some of them recovering, and looking at me in pure anger. ¡°Beep-Beep!¡± I made my best road-runner personification and ran back to the main elevator, getting it just in time to see they arriving to pick the next. I made sure to tell them my destination. ¡°See you at the forging sector!¡± You guys do remember what happened to me when I first arrived there, right? The heat and all? What can I say, I¡¯m an evil person! As soon as the elevator arrived at the floor, I darted away, barely managing to see their group arriving on the floor. I wasn¡¯t about to wait for them to chase me, because I saw a mage and a archer in their group, so I didn¡¯t want to subject myself to be their pincushion. It didn¡¯t take more than two minutes of the continuous running for their group to start to fall exhausted. It¡¯s actually kind of funny, how even with the satiety and health full, they started to fall down like flies. The one, and only one, who was still hunting me to no end was a cloaked fire elemental that seemed immune to the heat. Do they have a passive that makes them immune to the environment debuffs? Oh, there was also that Cyclops, their boss, but he was almost dragging his knees on the ground by now¡­ And he¡¯s down. Now, what do I do about this elemental? While taking a turn into some alley and jumping over a few boxes, I started to think about a plan. I could always use the last flash bomb, but I just didn¡¯t feel like using it. Hmm, this is complicated¡­ ¡°Hey! Why are you still hunting me anyway?¡± I tried asking. ¡°The boss said that you are a hindrance.¡± Said a furious voice. Wow, that¡¯s some fervor right there! ¡°And why the hell would I be a hindrance? They tried to PK me and failed. Go to the next one already! Leave me alone!¡± ¡°PK? What¡¯s that?¡± The elemental sounded surprised for a moment. Is he a noob? Rather, is he an NPC? You know a game is good when you are unable to differentiate an AI from a player. Turing would be so proud. Rather, why would a NPC be with a bunch of players? ¡°No matter, the boss said to kill you, so I will kill you.¡± ¡°Geez¡­ Quite the fanatic, aren¡¯t you?¡± Just as I said that, I saw a small knife zooning right next to my ear, making me go pale¡­ Or I would I weren¡¯t made of stone. ¡°No need to feel so touchy!¡± I screamed in panic. I made another random turn into a random alley to see if I could find something to help me escape the guy, but my luck hates me, and does the most clich¨¦ things ever. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Yup, a dead-end. Oh, bleepers. I tried turning back, but just in time the elemental appeared from the corner while swinging a dagger at me. I barely managed to dodge the edge by jumping aside. Barely had I landed, he spun around and tried to slice me with his other dagger, but I managed to deflect it with my chain-mail gloves. I wish I had my sword equipped right now. Since we had already traded blow, the game considered this as if we had already entered combat, and earlier while running away I didn¡¯t exactly have time for me to change my weapons, so now I was stuck with a skill-less bow. At least, the fact that now most of my equipment was made of leather helped me a great deal, since I was a little lighter and could dodge with some more ease. The elemental kept attacking with unending fury, and I could barely keep avoiding them, but from time to time an attack would land, and¡­ -6 (384/390) -12 (372/390) -8 (364/390) My life was slowly being shaved away, but it seems that the elemental was shocked at how little damage his weapon was doing. I guess that investing all that time in some good gear made a difference. But I still had a problem. I was slowly being cornered in the dead end. As soon as I felt my back hitting the stone wall, a cold shiver ran down my spine, and a small smirk appeared on the elemental lips. He made a powerful stab towards me. I had no place to dodge now, so I was kind of stuck in this situation, but barely managed to block the dagger with my left arm, however the price was a piercing pain that almost made me faint, however I gritted my teeth and stood my ground. Taking advantage of his surprise, I used my right hand to hold his head and pull it into a head-butt. -20 (344/390) -6 (404/410) This knocked him back in surprise, and he let go of his dagger in my arm, I used this time to land a kick in his chest and make him take a couple of steps back. However he recovered too fast, and came back at me with his remaining dagger, aiming for my throat. I barely managed to dodge the hit by twisting my body out of the way, but he used his free hand to punch me in the guts. -2 (342/390) I took a few steps back and curved myself in pain, I could see a smile in his lips as he readied his weapons and some kind of light gathered around it. Crap, a skill. I had to dodge it somehow¡­ But how¡­ Roll! Remembering the skill I had earned after so much effort, I activated it. Even when I was almost falling to the ground in pain, I felt some force taking control of my body and forcing me to drop forwards while rotating my body so I would land on the back of my shoulders. Just in time, as I saw his daggers passing right above me, followed by a spiral of some kind of dark energy, similar to the ones the Red-claw lynxes used. The system assisted roll made me automatically finish while standing, something that left me surprised, but grateful for. The elemental was about as surprised as me, as he stood still for a brief moment trying to understand what happened. I took advantage of this moment, by grabbing his neck from behind and then slamming him with my shoulder against a nearby wall. I heard a low sound as he gasped for air, but before he could recover I punched him in the ribs, making him yelp in pain. I could have gone for some more time doing that, but my lack of weapon left me in a sever disadvantage should he recover, so I took my last flash bomb and held it in my hand while taking a step back. The elemental turned furiously trying to slash me, but I had already taken a good distance from him. I activated the flash bomb as soon as I knew he was turned in my direction. Although he was still caught in surprise, I had a feeling that this bomb wouldn¡¯t be as effective as the first, so I took my time to quickly run away, leaving him alone in the alley. I also threw away his dagger while running. I was afraid that the pool of blood dripping from my hand would give away my position, so I took one of the potions from my inventory and tried drinking it. Although the injury didn¡¯t heal right away, both the pain and the bleeding stopped almost immediately, which was good for now. I could also feel a slightly tingling sensation around my arm, so I guess it¡¯s still doing its work. I reached the elevator just in time to hear the elemental shouting in anger. Remember what I said about the hornet¡¯s nest? It is not a good idea. Never. Ever. ¡­ I don¡¯t think it will take that long for me to do something idiotic again, though. I made sure to take a different exit from the one I used before, so that even if they looked for me, they wouldn¡¯t find me there. Things would have been so much better if I had at least a melee weapon like a sword or dagger¡­ Yeah, I¡¯m an idiot. DIDN¡¯T I JUST EQUIP A FREAKING DAGGER TEN MINUTES AGO? I hate myself some times¡­ ... Finally, back outside, bow in hands, quiver equipped and full, all set complete and the dagger on my waist in case of an emergency. Bunny hopping innocently ahead, unknowing of the fate that is about to befall him. A quick look around, making sure there are no PK¡¯s around hunting me like mad dogs. Ok. Now, let¡¯s try it again. Pick an arrow from the quiver, nock it into the bow, put the bow back into its vertical position and set to the general direction of the bunny¡­ Hey, it¡¯s looking at me! Hi bunny! Pull back the bowstring and compensate for the distance. Deep-breathing to stabilize the aim, and FIRE! NEW RECORD OF ONE METER BEFORE FALLING TO THE GROUND! HOORAY! I sighed loudly. Let¡¯s try again. Pick an arrow, nock into the bow, pull the bowstring, and shoot! Now¡­ Was way too far. God dammit, this is harder than I thought. Once again. Pick, nock, pull, release. And I invented the curved-arrow! Hooray! Ok, let¡¯s try again¡­ And again¡­ And again¡­ Again¡­ again¡­ By the twentieth or thirtieth try I was pretty much frustrated, and there was a rabbit laying within a small arrow-fence while looking at me with curiosity. ¡°Look, Mr. bunny, I have absolutely nothing against you, you know? But¡­ I had a very bad night up to now, so please, bear with it, okay?¡± I said as I approached the bunny and picked one of the arrows beside it. Then I held him with my other hand and¡­ Let¡¯s say that it was a fairly slow death, okay?
Due to animal abus¡­ Due to repeated use of the bow and arrow, you have learned the skill: Bow mastery
Skill: Bow mastery [lvl 1] 0%
Increases damage done and ease of use of Bows. Bonus Damage: 1%
¡°¡­Cygnas?¡±
No Cygnas here. By the way, unlocking the bow mastery skill, you have earned the Bow sub-skill: Power shot.
Skill: Skill: Power Shot [lvl 1] (levels increase with bow mastery)
A simple, yet strong shot made from a fully strung bow. DMG: 120%
Cost: 25 Energy
How bored she actually is? I decided to not delve much further in this question and focus on what¡¯s important, I earned the skill, so now it should be easier to use the bow, right? I decided to try my luck into another nearby unsuspecting rabbit, and this time, as soon as the arrow touched the bow, I felt as if some kind of force was gently guiding my hand and body on what moves I had to do. Although I still had to measure the aim myself, everything else seemed a lot smoother. And when I let go of my arrow, I actually hit the critter! -18 (24/42) Then I grabbed another arrow from the quiver in my back and I tried the power shot. I didn¡¯t even need to compensate the distance, as the arrow flew pretty much in a straight line. -23 (01/42) Then I finished it with a simple kick. After that, I spent the rest of my night hunting rabbits to improve my bow mastery skill, and meanwhile I even found a few iron veins, getting myself a few ores and crystals to play later. I quickly used the crystals to refill my flash-bomb stock, and decided to try something fun. Picking a few interesting combinations of crystals, I would grind them to a dust then put inside a leather ball. Afterwards, I would stab an arrow right trough it and then apply the delayed activation modifier. Much to my surprise, it actually worked! I would need to activate it with some good time before shooting it, after all I still had to nock the arrow, pull the string and all that story. Also, the arrows would become unbalanced and would be a bit harder to hit, but the effects actually worked really nicely. For one, I could use a water and order mix to freeze the rabbit. The effect probably wouldn¡¯t be that good on bigger targets, but would still be a nice addition. I also could use a ranged flash-bomb! MUAHAHAHAA! ONE DAY I WILL STILL CONQUER THIS WORLD WITH MY FLASH-BOMBS! For now, these were the two that were working best, but since my crystal reserves were a bit on the low side, I had to conform myself with only a couple of tests. There were two HUGE downsides to it, though. Due to it being an irregular item, I couldn¡¯t store the Crystal-arrows in the inventory. And they dealt no damage, since there was a soft leather ball on it¡¯s tip. I sighed loudly when I noticed this second fault. Not everything is perfect after all¡­ If only I could remove the ball and keep the effects¡­ But then I would need to shape the crystals in the shape of arrow-heads¡­ And I¡¯m not even sure whether they are moldable. ¡­ What about smelting them? Like a child who just found his newest toy, I ran back to the forging sector.
Next chapter
Chapter 20 - Bandit teasing Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some cool arrows and a bit more bandit-teasing! ANYWAY, sorry for not having updated yesterday, a relative of mine died and I really wasn¡¯t in the condition to write a comedy, but I¡¯m alright now. And if someone posts something of the like: ¡°Get better!¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright!¡± I will make Cygnas pay dearly with some really embarrassing scene, so you are warned. ALSO, I want to ask if someone actually read some of the old works I linked back in chapter 18, and if they have something to say about them. If not, no problem and I won¡¯t get mad at you guys, after all, this is some shameful self-advertising. ALSO(2), if someone have any complaints about the ¡°Smelting¡± in this chapter, I blame magic, gameplay mechanics and author¡¯s right. ALSO(3), I agree guys, Wargon is an idiot. ------- Why? Oh Cygnas, why? Why would you do this to me? My plan! My beautiful, colorful plan! Lost! Gone forever! I had so many ideas! So many fun things to do, yet you go and do this to me? How could you? Why, of all my ridiculous idea up to now, did this one had to fail at such a time? Why, can¡¯t I smelt the crystals? All that I wanted was for me to mold then into arrowheads that would damage my enemies then explode from within! Nothing too powerful! I sat back at the nearby bench and took my time to think. I tried throwing the crystal whole, broken and grinded at the furnace, but no matter how hot it got, it wouldn¡¯t smelt. They were strangely resistant to heat for something so brittle. Taking the last batch of broken crystal from the furnace, I recombined them into whole crystals and tried to thing what I could do next. It seemed that smelting them was out of question, then, is there another way through which I could shape them into arrowheads? The thought about carving the crystals into shape, but I immediately threw away that idea, as the crystals needs to be whole for the effect to happen. Then, maybe alchemy could do something about it? The idea seemed interesting to me, but I somehow felt that it wouldn¡¯t work. At least with the beginner¡¯s alchemy. Besides, I doubt I would find a trainer in the middle of the night. So, two options out. Then, what should I do with it? Maybe something related to crystal tinkering? That could be possible, but the lack of a teacher is really restraining. I sighed loudly while looking at the furnace. I already had heated it up by now, so simply turning it out by now would be a waste. I took my time to smelt the iron ores I had. I watched as the molten metal slowly dripped into the crucible, where I put upon myself the task of taking away the impurities floating on the thick, liquid iron. Somehow it reminded me of a soup, with many ingredients floating around¡­ Hmm¡­ I think I might just have a good idea for a change¡­ Opening my blacksmithing menu, I found there the recipe for an arrowhead. It was around four arrowheads per ingot. Making a quick calculation on my mind, I decided to put myself to work. I took enough water and order crystals to make four freezing-bomb, grinded it to a dust and put it into the ingot mold, filling it to almost half the amount. Afterwards, I slowly poured the molten iron into the molds until it was full to the brim. Without waiting any time, I stirred the dense metal using an iron rod to mix the dust in the iron, then I let it cool down. I¡¯m no expert at blacksmithing or things of the like, but when the ingot had a slightly bluish appearance and was ever so slightly see-through, I kind of knew I had been successful.
Tetracrystal-iron Alloy ingot. (75% Water, 25% order)
A metal ingot made by mixing elemental crystal and iron ore together. More brittle than the usual iron ingot, keeps the property of the elemental crystals.
For finding a smelting process for elemental crystal, you have earned the Crafting sub-skill: Smelt crystal
Sub-Skill: Smelt crystal [lvl 3] (level increase with Crystal Tinkerer)
Allows you to use the system for a faster smelting process for Crystal-metal alloys.(requires proximity with a forge) Use of better Crystals or metal increases the effect of the activation.
Jackpot! Can I laugh maniacally now? I guess I can¡­ MUAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! Ok, now that it¡¯s out of my system, I put myself to smelt some other combinations. Not that there were much since I had a slight lack of crystals right now, but who cares? While the iron was smelting I was using the system to transform the ingots into arrowheads. I COULD do it normally, but I had a severe case of anxiousness right now, so I simply slammed them three times with the hammer and then the ingot would transform. In the end, I had four freezing arrow, four fire arrows, eight poison arrows(these are made with ? earth, ? darkness and ? chaos). I didn¡¯t have enough light for the flash-bombs, so I would have to go with the classical ones for now. I withdrew some arrows from the inventory and forcefully removed their iron arrowhead and replaced with my crystal ones. Much to my surprise, these counted as items, so I could store them into the inventory. On the way back, while skipping and jumping in excitement like a little kid, I noticed some of the thugs from before were still lying on the ground, exhausted. I really should have learnt my lesson when I kicked the hornet¡¯s nest earlier. But alas! I am an idiot! I somehow dragged all of them together while completely ignoring their curses towards me. Putting all of them into one side of the street, I put the last water crystal I had on the other side. ¡°Okay, guys. This crystal here can create refreshing water if you use it. However it¡¯s only enough for one of you, so¡­ Good luck!¡± They looked at each other in shock, then their eyes turned into hostility as they started to drag themselves towards the crystal. However, they were so exhausted that they barely moved a couple of centimeters at a time, so it would take a few minutes for them to reach the crystal. There were even some who were pitifully kicking their ¡°friends¡± in an attempt to stall them. I left the scene with a wide smile in my face while walking to the elevator. Friendship is so beautiful! Wait, did I warn them that the water comes into the form of a painful and pressurized water ball? As soon as I thought that, I heard a cry full of pain coming from back there. Well¡­ Seems like I forgot about it. Oh well¡­ Not my fault! What can I say? I¡¯m an evil person. Back to the field, I took one of my new freezing arrows from my inventory and aimed it at an innocent hopping rabbit. I activated the arrow with a delayed activation modifier and shot it. -14 (28/42) Ooh! Damage! A bit lower than the raw iron one, thought¡­ As soon as that thought passed on my head, ice encased the rabbit in a flash. I smiled happily as I saw that. The effect area was the same as the leather ball one, but it came from within! These things are going to be so op! Evil laughter ensues. While thinking this, I decided to go on a mining and bowing spree at the field. But before I could do that. I logged out. Why? Because it was around ten o clock in the real world and I haven¡¯t eaten anything since around nine o¡¯ clock yesterday night. Deciding to do an early lunch today, I threw a frozen meal in the microwave and set it to fifteen minutes, then I went to the bathroom and took a shower and still had a few minutes before the microwave beeped. I checked my computer before and during lunch, then I hopped back into the D-lute. Old login screen, yadda yadda, and¡­ ¡°So, how do I look now?¡± Cygnas¡­ had been fooling around again with the character creation. This time she had made a combination of a Garuda with a celestial, granting her large white wings and a pale golden hair she had cut short this time. For clothes, she was wearing an exquisite golden armor with a long silver spear in her hands. She probably had inspired herself in Valkyries or guardian angels, and I would give her a ten out of ten. But where is the fun in that? ¡°Too generic, try again!¡± ¡°Eeh! But¡­ But¡­ I tried so hard!¡± She started pouting once again but I simply shrugged it off. She sighed loudly. ¡°You¡­ Good¡­ fox¡­ mean¡­. To me?¡± She mumbled something, but I could only hear a few words. I raised my eyebrows questioningly, but she stuck her tongue out and looked away. ¡°So, what happened with those guys I left at the forging sector?¡± I asked changing the subject, she sighed loudly once again. ¡°That elemental you fought took them out of the sector, and they now are going back to their headquarters of sorts...¡± She said with a wry smile. ¡°Plotting on how to get revenge on me?¡± ¡°Yup¡­ You really should let them cool their heads, you know?¡± I gave my best smile after her suggestion, but she simply shook her head with a wry smile before sending me off. And now, back to my hunting spree! I took my time to test the other two arrows. The fire arrow set the bunny ablaze for a couple of seconds, dealing an extra 5 damage twice over five seconds, not much but not bad. The poison arrows, on the other hand, were surprisingly brutal. They dealt two damage every five seconds, during a whole two minutes! A total of forty eight damage! When I first tested it with Yuu, the damage was much lower, being one damage every ten seconds. Is it because the poison is generated inside the body? I started to run around the mountain while collecting iron ores and hunting rabbits like a maniac, then I would go back to the city, create new kinds of arrows and go back to hunting. I repeated this for a long time, and the results were¡­ Satisfying, to say the least.
For shooting the arrows with your bow pulled to the extreme maximum, bestowing your arrows with penetrative power, you have earned the Bow mastery sub-skill: Piercing Shot
Sub-Skill: Piercing Shot [lvl 3] (level increase with Bow Mastery)
Shoot an arrow with so much power that it pierces through your enemies and ignores some armor. DMG: 170% Armor penetration: 10% Piercing power: 1
Costs: 25 energy. Cooldown: 30 seconds. (1 Arrow)
Yeah, this quickly became one of my favorite skills, as the shot would pierce the first enemy and hit the one behind for the same damage. Once my bow mastery got to level 5, it became able to pierce TWO enemies! To get this one, I had to pull my bowstring to the maximum the bow could hold. But I almost broke it twice while trying, because if I pull too much it loses one durability.
For shooting the arrows with extreme speed, you have earned the Bow mastery sub-skill: Quick shots
Sub-Skill: Quick shots [lvl 4] (level increase with Bow Mastery)
Lock on the different targets with your vision, then shoot quickly with your bow, hitting all the targets. The same target can be locked multiple times. DMG: 55% Maximum targets: 4
Costs: 10 energy per target. Cooldown: 20 seconds. (1 arrow per shot)
Self explanatory. Earned when I started to use power shot immediately after a normal shot, making two arrows go almost instantly. But by far, my favorite skill was one I earned when I spent almost five minutes waiting for a rabbit to stop running while my bow was fully strung.
For keeping your patience while taking aim for your shot, you have earned the Bow mastery sub-skill: Snipe
Sub-Skill: Snipe[lvl 4] (level increase with Bow Mastery)
Standing still with your bow fully drawn helps you to focus your arrow with more precision and power than ever. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.Max Bonus dmg: 50%. Max bonus accuracy: 30% Max bonus waiting time: 15 seconds.
Passive.
The longer I stood still with my bow drawn, the more damage I did. Not very useful when soloing the middle of a battle, but there was a small not very explained bonus to this. This skill combed with any of the other active skills. And boy, was it brutal combining this with piercing shot. Sadly, only the first of the quick shots would receive the buff. Now, to the arrowheads combination¡­ Flash-bomb arrow didn¡¯t work all that well as I expected, and the reason was very, very simple. Since the arrow would pierce the skin, a flash explosion happening in an enclosed area isn¡¯t all that blinding. But there was one discovery that really took my attention. Wind arrow. Simple pure wind. At first, I shot at the rabbit. After a moment, the arrow activated and the rabbit was flung backwards. Kind of boring, but I did try something different afterwards. Setting the time to be shorter and activate in mid-air, I shot another arrow at a fairly far away rabbit. The arrow activated as soon as it reached the peak of its arc suddenly receiving a huge acceleration as wind began to circle it. From there on it went straight completely ignoring the gravity. I missed the rabbit badly, but I couldn¡¯t care less when I saw how far the arrow traveled, hitting rock almost three hundred meters away burying it¡¯s tip on the stone. There was also the explosive arrow, the one made of fire and wind, which applied a concussion within the body, stunning for three seconds whoever it hits. There was also another thing I noticed about the special arrows, and that is they actually are affected by the skill I use when I select them. For example, the arrows shot with quick shots have their effects reduced, piercing shot affect the one that was last hit by the arrow, even if it pierces through them, and power shot makes the effect also receive a slight AoE effect, but it¡¯s pretty much negligible. By the time I had finished all my tests and took back the iron arrows laying around, It was almost the middle of the day, so I made my way back to the city. But not before passing on a certain information booth where a clockwork was working. ¡°Oh. Gondorrer. Greetings. How can I help?¡± Said Rusty in a clear good mood. ¡°You know what I came here for, Rusty!¡± I said with a teasing smile, his pipes chimed loudly, but a smile appeared in his face. ¡°So, how was your date with Nova?¡± His pipes chimed once again, but he still had a great smile plastered. ¡°Date. Amazing. Wonderful dinner. Afterwards. We went to the theater. The legend of the last hero. Great piece. Recommendation. Nova. Even more amazing. Smile. Invaluable. Most beautiful girl. Ever.¡± He was all smiles while telling me that, and I nodded in satisfaction. ¡°So¡­ Are you two going out now or what?¡± An organ orchestra sounded on the room, but the Clockwork nodded slightly, making me laugh loudly. ¡°Good! I knew you two were perfect! Now, after your work, you are going to the library and wait for her before escorting her home, you hear me? Never hurts to be a gentleman¡­. Or gentlework¡­ Or a gentlegolem¡­ You get what I¡¯m saying!¡± The clockwork nodded avidly, then I turned a bit more serious as I had a question to make. ¡°Say Rusty, do you know something about Crystal tinkering?¡± The clockwork quickly regain his composure as he had a job to do. ¡°Crystal Tinkering. Term is familiar. However. Lack of information.¡± He stopped to think for a moment. ¡°Relation to Constructs. Sure of this. Nova might know more.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Then I¡¯ll see her tomorrow. Wouldn¡¯t want to interrupt your second date¡­¡± Another organ orchestra while I made my way back.
You have earned a title helping two person to find their soulmates: Match-maker You can only have one title equipped at a time. Since you have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change your title
Match-maker: Increases affinity with NPCs faster and they are more prone to tell you their love problems.
¡­. Ok. Not complaining. More titles is a good thing, I guess¡­ Does this mean they really were meant to each other? This makes me happy. Won¡¯t stop teasing them, though. I made my way to the Silver Gauntlet in a happy mood. On the way I ate another iron ore, although it tastes good, I¡¯m starting to get a bit bored of it. Need to find a different ore soon. Once I reached the Gauntlet, it was still the same happy place as before with people drinking, musicians playing, adventurers gathering and even had a trouble-maker flying. Stepping aside to let the flying man pass through the door unimpeded, I walk in again and look around the place, searching for one of my teammates. I found El sitting in a table at the corner of the room, there were a couple of strong looking guys trying to flirt with her, but they would have an easier time trying to seduce a glacier. I pulled one of the chairs in the table and sat there. The guys kept trying to get her attention completely ignoring me. I simply shrugged it off. ¡°So, where is Arcus?¡± I asked. Much to my surprise, not only did the two man jump in surprise, even El widened her eyes for a moment. Come one, I can¡¯t be that imperceptible, right? ¡°How¡­¡± She started, but shook her head. ¡°Never mind. Arcus still haven¡¯t shown up, but there is still a couple of hours for the agreed time.¡± The two men blinked in surprise at hearing her voice for the first time. ¡°Wow¡­ Quite meticulous, aren¡¯t you?¡± She shrugged. ¡°So¡­ Any information about the job?¡± She looked at me curious, but then nodded. ¡°Yes, the group is called Red Banners. They were just a small group that stood near the road to Aria village. However, since two days ago they suddenly received a fairly large amount of new recruits and became more active. Too active for their own good.¡± Her voice was cold like always, but she seemed angry. ¡°Then¡­ Our job is to clear them?¡± She nodded. So, us three against a few dozen bandits? Fair enough. ¡°Then, I hope you don¡¯t mind me asking, but how exactly will you fight.¡± I blinked in surprise at her sudden question. ¡°You said that your level is only eight. Even if you somehow managed to defeat those lynxes, I still have my doubts if you will be able to do well in the upcoming fight.¡± WAAH! SHE JUST CALLED ME DUBIOUS AND WORTHLESS! Well¡­ can¡¯t blame her, I do have a pretty low level. ¡°No need to worry. I¡¯ve been training with bows all night long, so I will probably spend my time covering for you two from behind.¡± I said filling my chest with pride, but she still looked a bit suspicious. ¡°And how do you plan on supporting us? I don¡¯t think a simple bow and arrow can make up for the difference in strength.¡± She raised her eyebrows in question. I put on my best mysterious smile. ¡°I have quite a few tricks in my sleeves, you know?¡± She looked confused for a moment, but shrugged It off. After that we stood in silence, a waitress came to offer us a drink, I refused, but El asked for a bit of wine. The two guys, seeing that our talk was over tried once again to gather her attention, I took my time to write a bit more. One or two hours passes by, the guys trying to small talk with El give up and are exchanged with others, who met the same fate, and finally, Arcus arrived with the serpent still hanging around his neck, he pulls a chair just like me and sit down. ¡°Hey guys! So, how¡¯s the job?¡± He asked cheerfully, however it took some time before El answered him, as she seemed to be in a daze for a moment. ¡°We¡­ were just waiting you.¡± She said after quickly clearing her throat and looking away. Arcus looked quickly at me a bit confused, but I was as lost as he was. ¡°Then, let us depart.¡± She said while hitting the table and lifting in one swift motion, surprising the two men who were trying to talk to her at this time. I raised myself easily while Arcus grumbled that he had just gotten there and wanted to simply sit still for some moment, but he was easily convinced when Whisi, is that it¡¯s name? tightened her grasp on his neck and started to fly, forcefully pulling him up while strangling him. So, he is the responsible one of the duo, it seems. However, before we got out of the guild, we see the old man that registered us standing in front of the door. Except¡­ Remember his ragged cloth he had been wearing? Well¡­ It¡¯s gone. Now¡­ A full-plate dark silver armor lined with shining white lines that spread from a white gem embed right in the middle of the chest plate. in his left hand was a huge white tower-shield with a black cross in its middle, it was so big that could easily cover him from the feet up to his shoulder without crouching, on the right hand was the helmet, with a fairly simple rounded shape with a metal wing on each temple. The sword hanging on his waist was easily a longsword, and the scabbard was donned with gold and yellow jewels. He looked badass. Me and Arcus literally had our jaws dropped at the looks of the old man, who grinned at our reaction. El was a bit more boring as she simply widened her eyes for a brief moment. ¡°What? You really thought I would let the younglings go alone in such a mission?¡± He said with a loud laughter. ¡°This Goulder Whitemantle wouldn¡¯t let such a thing happen!¡± ¡°Goulder whitemantle?¡± El asked slightly surprised. ¡°Shia? Sha?¡± The serpent also was shocked. ¡°Who?¡± Asked Arcus. For a moment, the other two looked at him in surprise, then the serpent once again started to strangulate him. ¡°Shia-sha-sha shalalala-shiii sha-ha-sha!¡± The serpent hissed in an angry tone, and as he did that, Arcus eyes started to widen. ¡°Shiii-sha-shia Sha-la-ha-la sha! Shiii-shasha shalasha!¡± ¡°WHAT? HE IS THE LEADER OF THE SILVER GAUNTLET?¡± He asked surprised. Oi, you understood that? I looked at the scene in amusement, then I look at El and notice that she is also staring at the scene¡­ Rather¡­ She is staring right at¡­ It¡­ Couldn¡¯t be, right? I mean¡­ What are the chances? I approach the idiot duo who were still discussing. Or rather, the flying serpent was giving a lesson to the kneeled down half-beastman while pointing at him with its tail. ¡°Excuse-me.¡± I said while gently holding the serpent¡¯s neck. I think it is its neck, at least. Whisi looked at me confused for a second, but didn¡¯t really seem bothered by it. I took him and approached El, almost shoving the serpent at her, and said. ¡°Here, take it.¡± She looked confused for a moment, but her body moved before she could understand what was happening and hugged gently the serpent. She blinked in surprise for a moment, then started to gently pet Whisi with a small smile in her face, her ears twitching slightly. The serpent also seemed to be pleased, as it started to purr gently. ¡°That was¡­ Unexpected.¡± I said. The results clearly surpassed my expectations. ¡°I did not see that coming¡­¡± Said Arcus as he stood up besides me. ¡°Yeah. I never thought she could make such a cute face¡­¡± I gave my honest opinion, to which Arcus also nodded. It seemed that she finally noticed her situation, as she widened her eyes and let go of Whisi while blushing slightly. The serpent, however, had other ideas, as it had already coiled around her waist and was now asking for a bit more by gently nudging against her neck. In the end the serpent won as El started to pet her again while holding back a smile. Goulder laughed loudly once again then mentioned for us to follow him. We took one of the elevators before heading to the main elevator. In the way he talked to us. ¡°Well. I do know that the mission I sent you guys on is a bit dangerous, that¡¯s why I¡¯ll also go with you in case something bad happens, but besides that, I won¡¯t be helping you, ok?¡± Arcus nodded distracted. El¡­ Was lost in her own world while hugging Whisi. For me¡­
QUEST: Admission test
Goulder Whitemantle have given you, Elraira and Arcus a job to test your habilities. Clear the bandits camp with your companions and receive your reward.
Rewards: Talk to Goulder
---- Cyg''s corner: WAIT! WHY WOULD I HAVE TO PAY? I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS! ---- Author''s corner: My story, my rules! ---- Cyg''s corner: FUEEE! That''s unfair!
Next chapter
Chapter 21 - Nin-Nin! Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Bandit Raiding and Nin-Nining! ANYWAY, The first big fight after a long time! Altough it was more of a group fight and such¡­ As a note, all the places, characters and stories mentioned here are based on the same story where I took Gondorrer, Eldor, Arcus, El and Goulder. Only with minor alterations to fit the story. ALSO, I¡¯m kind of worried about one thing on this whole story¡­ What do you guys think about the pace? I mean¡­ We are ta chapter 21 and Wargon is still at level 8! This bothers me a lot more than it should. ALSO(2), I¡¯m really holding myself back so I don¡¯t start writing another story to post in here. Like, really, a lot! Although I have no plan to slow down Insania¡¯s updates since this takes a lot more precedence and would only work on it on my free time, but the updates would be really irregulars¡­ Oh well¡­ ALSO(3), if you notice something wrong with the status screen, like a missing skill or something, please do warn me. I was using the Excel to track this but I Kinda of messed up by overwriting the newest archive¡­ So some things might be missing. Except Smelt crystal, that kind of goes within Crystal tinkering. Have a good read, Nin-Nin! ------ It took us around three hours of walking to reach the entrance of the bandit¡¯s base. On the way, I learned that both Arcus and El were specialized in melee combat, although Arcus was the full-blown muscle-idiot, and El actually focused more in the use of magic to enhance her attacks. Arcus, as he had already told me earlier, was actually the son of two Element serpents¡¯ breeders. These element serpents are the same as Whisi, who was a wind serpent. There were three other serpents besides the wind one. There was the water serpent, whose wings also worked as fins for swimming and had gills as well as lungs. Then, there were fire serpents, that had small horns on their heads. Lastly, the earth serpents, who have thick scales and spend most of their time sleeping. All of them had scales that shed around their eighth year, with the exception of the wind ones that had fur, and all of them could use some weak magic of their element. When he told me that, I thought about getting one of them as a pet, and Arcus readily told me to look for his parent¡¯s ranch and say that I know him, and they would give-me a discount. I also noted that El had been attentively listening to our talk, although acting as if it didn¡¯t matter to her. Something a bit hard to believe while she was hugging Whisi so closely. Also, I learned that Whisi is actually a female. Sorry for all those times I called you by he. Then, I also learned a juicy information from Arcus. The Element serpents had a closely related species that was far bigger, far more powerful and far more aggressive, called Tempest serpent. These guys could use some really mean spells, and they are all born at level forty, and their average level as adults is around fifty-five to sixty. I am so hunting them! What kind of weapons and armors should I make out of them? After that, we heard about El¡¯s story, or at least some parts of it. She said that she came from Ezoria Argus. When I looked completely at loss about the name, Goulder told me that it¡¯s another one of the great capitals, this one being the capital of humans, Draconids, Constructs, and such being heavily focused on non-natural elemental magic development, those being Chaos, Arcane, light and darkness. There is also the small detail that the whole city is stated above a bridge. Yep, you heard me, a bridge. A FREAKING THIRTY BY FIVE KILOMETERS STONE BRIDGE! It seems that it was created by the goddess as a way to link this continent to another one, which were separated by a valley whose walls were pretty much vertical. When I asked Cyg about the bridge, the true story was a bit more¡­ anticlimactic. She actually mistook the parameters for the width from meters to kilometers and was a bit too ashamed to change back. But in the end the results were better than expected, as it became one of the biggest capitals. Goulder, who had noticed my curiosity regarding large monsters, also told me of a certain huge Bone-plated wolf that lived in that valley beneath the bridge. It seemed to be a gigantic wolf two meters high and four long, their whole body is covered with a ridiculously strong bone armor that naturally grows from them. They are around level one-fifity or one-sixty. They can hunt pretty much anything, but their favorite preys are dragons. FREAKING DRAGONS! I can only wonder what kind of monsters these guys are. Back to El, she also let us the hint that she actually come from some kind of noble family, but didn¡¯t let it clear which one is, as her surname wasn¡¯t actually her family¡¯s. After that, came Goulder¡¯s story. He is pretty much a war hero. Started as a mercenary in a mercenary guild called the Shattered Gauntlet, after a huge bravery feat on the battleground, he was invited to become a knight affiliated to Order of the Silver Chalice, his friends in the mercenary guild encouraged him to take the position. During a large war, both groups find themselves on the same side of the battlefield, only to be almost annihilated after a sudden betrayal of a large part of their allies. From there Goulder took over both groups and created the Silver Gauntlet, which is one of the biggest organizations to date. Now he likes to fool with newbies making them think he is just a simple old man who makes the registration. As I said, he is pretty much badass. Both me and Arcus started to look at him with new eyes as he laughed loudly. Then came my time and I told them my story and dream. When they heard about the Four gods of disasters, they thought I had gone mad, but when I said that Wallace was the one who saw them, they became wide eyed. Arcus suddenly approached me and held my shoulders with strength. ¡°Look here, man, when you find one of those guys, you are going to call me, understood? No way I¡¯m losing something so fun like that.¡± I laughed at that while the serpent face-winged itself. After some time, we finally arrived at the border of the bandits¡¯ area. Goulder took some distance so he wouldn¡¯t interrupt us while me, Arcus and El joined togheter. ¡°Okay, so how are we going to do this?¡± I asked them. Arcus looked slightly confused while El looked at me seriously. ¡°Are we going ¡®banzai¡¯ and run there like idiots killing everything in sight while risking being surrounded, or are we going for the ninja approach? By the way, I¡¯m not against the first idea.¡± ¡°Ninja? What¡¯s that?¡± Asked Arcus confused. I could see that El also didn¡¯t recognize the term. I smiled widely. ¡°Ninjas are master assassins, specialized on stealth.¡± I said in a whisper, making them approach me to hear better. ¡°They wear clothes that cover their whole bodies except their eyes, it¡¯s said that they can become invisible every and anywhere. They are master at martial arts and one ninja alone can take a whole army down by himself. Each ninja carry at the very least twenty three different hidden weapons, each one more powerful than the other! They are so strong that some of them can even walk on the water or make clone of themselves!¡± ¡°Wow! That¡¯s awesome! Where can I find one of these guys?¡± Asked Arcus excited. I held back a grin and signaled him to stay quiet. ¡°Shh! Understand this. Ninjas are everywhere, at every time. There could even be a ninja between us right now!¡± I said with a slightly scared voice. I saw Arcus eyes widen and his face pale slightly. Meanwhile, El and Whisi were face palming. ¡°I vote for the stealth approach. We know too little of our enemies for us to risk a frontal assault.¡± Said El after some time, back to her serious expression. ¡°Yes! I also want to be a ninja!¡± Arcus said excited. ¡°Shiii-sha lalalala¡± ¡°Whisi also agrees.¡± ¡°Okay, then first and most important.¡± I turned to Arcus who was excited. ¡°As a ninja, you must always end your phrases in Nin-Nin. That¡¯s the first and most important rule of being a ninja.¡± ¡°Nin-Nin?¡± He asked confused ¡°Nin-Nin!¡± I nodded. ¡°Understood. Nin-Nin!¡± So gullible! I turned away while smiling widely. El was slowly shaking her head in disbelief. ¡°Okay, now, for starters we need information. How many enemies, equipment and positions. So we will need a scout.¡± El said, then she turned to the serpent she had been petting all this time. ¡°Can we count on you?¡± ¡°Sha-ha!¡± Whisi said while making a salute with her tail, then she swung her wings and flew high towards the forest. Meanwhile we decided what plan we were going to use. We decided that the best things would be by taking out whatever scouts they had then slowly move towards their main camp. For now we would try to capture the bandits, but should things go south, we are immediately going to chance to kill on sight. After a while the serpent came back and landed between us. Through Arcus she asked for us to clear the grass from the ground, which El quickly did with a fire spell, then blew the ashes away revealing the ground beneath. Then Whisi started to use its tail to draw on the ground. It¡¯s really humiliating when an animal draws better than you, you know? She did everything, from the camp, where the tents were, scouts position and patrol areas, landmarks and even where some wild animals were. All the while, Arcus had been translating everything she was saying. It was downright bizarre how he could even tell the equipment the scouts were using only through a few hisses from Whisi. Nodding according to the plan, we decided to start with the patrols. Also, I might have postponed this for far too long, but since we are about to have a huge fight, I need to show you guys this:
NAME: Wargon (Gondorrer Gravelheart)
TITLE: Pioneer of the crafts
Class tree:WandererClass:None
Race:GolemGender:Neutral (male)
Level:8Experience:22%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points:390/390HP regen (out of combat):1.5/sec
Energy:100/100Energy Regen:10/sec
STR:29(11)TGH:13(11)
AGI:37(11)VIT:31(25)
INT:11MND:11
ATTK:5-23Extra:(none)
DEF91M. Res.:39
Satiety:79/100 (Satisfied)
SKILLS: Derivation points (0)
One-handed Sword Mastery [lvl 6] -Slash (Active) -Stab (Active) -Slice ¡®n dice (Active) Dual-wielding mastery [lvl 2] -Whirlwind (Active) Bow Mastery [lvl 5] -Power shot (Active) -Quick shots (Active) -Piercing shot (Active) -Snipe Martial Arts [lvl 2] -Kick Shield Mastery [lvl 4] -Bashing - Shield slam* Scale-mail Mastery [lvl 4] Chain-mail Mastery [lvl 4] Leather Mastery [lvl 1] (Original) Roll [lvl14] Skinning [lvl 6] Mining [lvl 7] Crystal Tinkerer [lvl 6] Leatherworking[lvl 8] Blacsmithing [lvl 7] Taunt [lvl 3] -Focused mockery Racials [max] -Nature¡¯s bastion (Active) -Rock Eater -Sedimentary skin (Active) -Nature attuned
Beatiful, isn¡¯t it? So many points at such a low level! I could die happy. Okay, scratch that, I don¡¯t want to die. For starters, we entered the forest while Whisi guided us to the nearest patrol. As soon as he got on sight, I signaled for both El and Arcus to stop, telling them that I would avoid the guy from calling reinforcement. Then I took my bow and withdrew one of the ice arrows from my inventory. Sadly, the quiver could only link to one arrow at a time, so I couldn¡¯t really use it to pull the crystal arrows. I nocked the arrow in the bow then waited. The longer it took, the more power the bow started to gather and the more I could ascertain about the distance and the position of my target, thanks to the snipe skill. As soon as the 15 seconds were up, I let go of the bowstring with the power-shot while activating the arrow with a fraction of a second of delay. -51 (Critical) (459/510) The arrow hit him right below the neck. The patrol who didn¡¯t see it coming didn¡¯t even have time to react as the arrow activated and the ice spread through his neck up to the mouth. Muffled, he didn¡¯t have the chance to make a sound when both El and Arcus approached him in a dash and started to attack him, quickly overpowering him. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! When I noticed he was about to run away, I activated the quick shots with the normal arrows twice on each feet. -9 -8 -9 -8 -34 (234/510) The arrows pinned him on the ground for enough time for Arcus and El to drop his health beneath 10%, when Arcus punched the bandit in the stomach, making him faint. He soon took a rope from his bag and tied the guy before using a cloth to muffle him. As soon as he was done, he turned back to me with his eyes shining dangerously. ¡°Hey, Hey! What was that? Nin-Nin?¡± El and Whisi also seemed curious about the arrow I used, so I couldn¡¯t help but smile smugly. ¡°Trade secret¡­ But it¡¯s actually an elemental crystal and iron ingot for the arrowhead. This one can freeze the area around it, but it reduces the damage the arrow deals. That, and I only have fourteen more of these left.¡± The three of them nodded in surprise, but then El frowned. ¡°Fourteen¡­ Of these? You have others?¡± Sharp, isn¡¯t she? ¡°Yeah, I have one that can stun them, another that poisons, one that can either knock back or travel far and one that sets them on fire. I¡¯m still looking for other kinds of arrows, but not having much luck up to now.¡± They widened their eyes, but soon nodded before we went towards the next enemy. On the way, El stood by my side and told me in a low voice so that Arcus and Whisi wouldn¡¯t hear. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I raised my eyebrows and looked at her in confusion. She was looking slightly downwards ashamed. ¡°I underestimated you earlier thinking that you wouldn¡¯t be an asset to this job.¡± I laughed slightly and petted her head. She seemed confused for a moment, but didn¡¯t seem too bothered by it. Still, her reaction was boring compared to Yuu¡¯s¡­ ¡°It happens. If I were in your place I would have reacted the same.¡± I told her truthfully. She looked surprised at me for a moment, then nodded before walking off towards Whisi. After that we dispatched of six more sentinels in the same way as before. I would freeze their mouths with an arrow then Arcus and El would go in for the kill. I wouldn¡¯t deal much damage besides my initial shot, as I would risk hitting the two of them and the damage was a bit on the low side, compared to their 30+ hits, leaving me more for support. Also, the two of them were refraining from using their most flashy skills as to avoid drawing attention. Not that they weren¡¯t strong, mind you. The next scouts would be a bit more problematic, because from what Whisi said, they always walked in a pair. We approached them cautiously until they were within my range. Taking two arrows from the inventory and holding one together with the bow, I slowly pulled the string. We were at their side and could barely hear them talking something about the new recruits and so. I signaled for both of them to get closer, and as soon as they were in a good distance, I let go of the arrow hitting the farthest one. Before they could understand what happened I put the other arrow in the bow and shot it with the power shot, hitting the second one on the back of his head and scoring a critical. As the two of them froze, my two companions jumped forwards focusing on the one the critical had landed on. I darted sideways while keeping my focus on the battle and on the other soldier. As soon as he tried to attack Arcus, I shot a stun arrow at his chest. He stopped for a moment as his body convulsed due to the explosion. The lack of damage more than being compensated by the extra seconds it bought. Seeing that the ice on his mouth was starting to melt, I pulled another ice arrow and readied the bow. He noticed me by now and looked in my direction, trying to predict my next move. I smiled wickedly as I suddenly changed my run towards him. Not understanding why an archer would run in the direction of a melee, he was left confused for a moment. I landed a flying kick on his stomach right as the ice melted. The bonus knock back from kick making him fly backwards a little. Having lost my balance, I used roll right before I landed on the ground to regain my balance. Having stopped right besides him, I quickly took another ice arrow and simply stabbed him in the neck and activating it immediately. Afterwards, I stepped on his sword hand, locking it in place and started to shoot at his chest leisurely. Even after all that, he didn¡¯t lose more than a third of his health, and I felt as Arcus gently hit my shoulder calling me to step back. Just in time, as a huge scythe came parting the ground in two and lifting the man from the ground. Then El approached the guy and landed another two hits before he fell to the ground, finalizing him with piercing his chest with the blade while he was in the ground. This left the guy with almost nothing of his health left as he fainted. We quickly tied the two guys up and walked towards the enemy main camp. When we got there, I almost burst into laughter. Whisi had to use her tail to muffle me when I wasn¡¯t managing to hold back on my own. It took me almost five minutes to manage to control myself again. The three of them looked at me with curious eyes, and I pointed towards the group sitting around the campfire. ¡°Do you see that group there? The one that have the cyclops with an axe?¡± They looked at them with curiosity, then looked back to me. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that they were my victims twice already!¡± They raised their eyebrows in curiosity, and I quickly explained them our the two encounters we had previously, and how they always end up getting fooled by the flash-bomb. ¡°What is a flash bomb? Nin-Nin?¡± Is he really going to keep up with that? ¡°Come with me, I¡¯ll show you.¡± I slowly made my way around the camp, making sure that none of them would see me. When we were the closest possible to the bonfire, I could hear the group talking about something. Mainly, it was the Cyclops complaining on how I always manage to run away from them and how he wanted to kill me already. Besides him, there were two large warriors, each one carrying a large swords on their backs, like a couple of bodyguards. He was the only one seated on a true chair, while the rest sat on some wooden logs. I quickly passed them a rough plan on what to do after the flash-bomb went off. Although they didn¡¯t know what it did, they quickly agreed to the plan. I took one of the leather balls hanging on my waist and showed it to them, then I activated it with a couple of seconds of delay and threw it in the middle of the bandit group. When the ball fell, all of them stood up drawing their weapons, but when they finally saw what it was¡­ ¡°Aww¡­ Not again!¡± I heard the cyclops complaining right before the flash went off. Ok, now it¡¯s definitive. That cyclops will always get a flash-bomb whenever we meet. No matter the circumstance. The whole group cried in pain as their eyes went blind, and soon we saw El darting forward and jumping over one of the nearest thugs, landing in the middle of them. She took the large scythe from her back and swung it in a wide motion, the blade passing through the bonfire and sucking all the fire towards it. Following that, she slammed the edge blade on the ground, making the fire jump to the ground then jump away in five different directions until it reached the bandits circle. She lifted the scythe from the ground once again and started spinning it above her head, and all the five sparks followed her by lifting off the ground and spinning in unison with the scythe, creating a raging fire tornado that covered the whole group. Arcus wasn¡¯t anywhere behind. Just as El jumped over the guy, Arcus had reached the first bodyguard and brought him down with a leg sweep before piercing the guys chest with his twin blades. The other guard, somehow understanding what was happening, came towards him swinging his sword in a horizontal slash, which he dodged by jumping backwards before charging once again, using his two blades to slash at the guard. The guard tried to hit him once again by swinging his blade down, but he simply stepped aside and kicked the blade away, taking away the balance of his enemy. I took my time to do the dirty job. I took my poison arrows and started to aim at any of the guys that somehow managed to escape both onslaughts. After ten or so seconds, El stopped the raging tornado, seemingly tired as she panted slightly. Did she use too much mana? I noticed that she started to use the long range of her weapon to keep the enemies that were still standing at bay, and from time to time would summon a small fireball and let the blade suck it to enhance her next attack. I noticed one of the guys approaching her from behind and used my stun arrow to stop him, followed by a flame arrow. It seemed that El understood my idea, as she turned to the man and slashed at him, absorbing the flame. Just then, we heard a shout. I turned to Arcus and noticed he had lost some health now that the two bodyguards had recovered their vision, but it didn¡¯t seem that he was bothered by it, in fact, he was smiling wickedly. ¡°BERSERKER RAGE! NIN-NIN!¡± He shouted suddenly, and a red aura covered his whole body. My guess would be that is a skill from the berseker class. Soon after he charged at one of the big guys. The guy swung his sword at Arcus, who simply ignored it and went straight in. -72 (331/620) WHAT WAS THAT DAMAGE? THAT¡¯S TOO HIGH! Just as I thought that, Arcus landed a punch on his gut, and the guy literally flew a few meters away. -20 (245/650) THAT WAS A PUNCH? I CALL HAX! He turned towards the other guy and started a mad flurry of attacks with his blades, completely ignoring the guy¡¯s attack. Not that he had much of a chance to attack. -12 -15 -13 -16 -13 -16 -12 Combo! (x1.1) -107 (121/720) WHAT THE HELL IS THAT DAMAGE? HE DIDN¡¯T EVEN USE A SKILL! NERF BERSERKS! El looked at him for a brief moment and smiled awkwardly. Seems like she really wasn¡¯t liking being the weak one of the duo. She suddenly made a serious face and took a stance putting her scythe behind her. For a moment I was confused on what she was doing, until I noticed it. Red scales were starting to cover her whole body as well as some white fur, similar to the ones in her ears, forming in her forearms and ankles. Her hands and feet morphed into claws and the spikes in her back started to grow, with some even becoming a large pair of wings. If I¡¯m not wrong this is the Dragonid racial, Awaken blood. Once every two hours they can increase their power for ten minutes, but afterwards they are left drained of resources, and receive a debuff to their status and resource regeneration for ten minutes. She slightly crouched, then in a jump she darted forwards slashing the enemy in front of her. The guy lost a third of his life in one attack. She started to zig-zag among the bandits pretty much one-shooting them one after the other. RACIALS ARE OP! Well, even my racial is op, now that I think about it, I just have a hard time making use of it. We had pretty much already won the battle when the two of them went berserk like that, as the one guy who might be some of a challenge had an extra blind duration due to the racial and was out of the battle until now. However, there was another thing bothering me. It seemed that there was someone missing from the group. Just as I thought that, I felt a presence besides me. On a moment I took a step back and saw a dagger passing in front of me, the hand holding the dagger was completely covered in fire. ¡°Curses¡± Spat the elemental. ¡°Hey there, hot head! Missed me?¡± I taunted the cloaked elemental as I jumped back to put some distance between us. ¡°Only this time, you bastardly golem.¡± He spat back with anger in his voice. ¡°When I saw that flash, I knew you were here. Took me long enough to find you hiding in here.¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t want to go in there and steal the spotlight, you know?¡± ¡°Hollow words for someone who could barely fight back the last time.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Took me a whole ten minutes to remember I had a dagger with me all the time, I felt really ashamed¡­¡± I told with a wry smile. The elemental¡¯s shoulder dropped slightly. ¡°You¡­ Aren¡¯t the smartest one around here¡­ Are you?¡± ¡°Nah. I would bet on the serpent.¡± The elemental sighed once again, then took a stance with his dagger. ¡°Enough words. We have a fight to finish.¡± I put the bow in front of me and smiled fearlessly. ¡°You know? I was thinking the same thing!¡± ----- (dead) Author''s corner: DAT STATS TABLE... Wasn''t all that hard, actually. And if someone wants to complain that Arcus and El are too strong, but not only their levels, but also their equip are really good, while the thieves are actually around level 12 or lower. (reccomended level for the job, mentioned back in chapter 18.)
Next chapter
Chapter 22 - (tentative) Rivalry Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Impulsive decisions and smart serpents! ANYWAY¡­ Anyway¡­ anyway¡­ I¡¯m kind of out of things to put here¡­ Not really sure what to do¡­ Hmm¡­ Oh well, whatever. ALSO, The church of Cygnas has reached 330 follower! Cygnas be praised! ALSO(2), I might start a side story talking about how one of Gon¡¯s friend got his class. This will happen either today or tomorrow. We¡¯ll see. Have a good read! ----- ¡°Crazy golem, VERSUS, Hothead. Round two. FIGHT!¡± ¡°¡­What the hell was that?¡± Asked the elemental confused. ¡°Well¡­ I was¡­ announcing our fight, you know?¡± I said a bit awkwardly. The elemental simply shook his head. ¡°Am I¡­ Really having trouble with a person such as this?¡± ¡°¡­Sorry.¡± For some reason I could only apologize to him. He once again sighed before focusing his gaze at me, or at least I think he did, kind of hard to tell when he has his face covered like that¡­ He was the first one to move, darting forward in a quick movement while aiming for my throat, I barely manage to dodge by twisting my body, then I land a kick on his gut which sent him flying. Then I proceeded to use my poison arrow on him with piercing shot. -3 -25 -28 (412/440) Hmm? Is his life bigger? Seems like he got an upgrade since our last fight. He flinched for a moment as the feeling of poison started to settle. -2 (410/440) He looked madly at me, then charged at me once again. I stepped aside just like last time, but he foresaw this, as he suddenly twisted his body and hit me in the face with a round-house kick. I lost my balance for a moment and he took this time to land two blows on me with his daggers before I could roll away from him. -5 -12 -8 -25 (365/390) I turned to him and saw he grinning back to me, only to¡­ -2 (408/440) He grimaced at this for a moment, and I mocked him with a laughter. He approached me with a nimble footwork and stabbed me in the side with one of his daggers while used the other one to aim to my face. I Barely managed to dodge the hit by twisting my head to the side, then I elbowed him to take him away from me. -13 (352/390) -4 (404/440) What is that? Health not found? ¡­ Sorry, bad joke, I know. I picked another arrow from my inventory as I hopped backwards, however he didn¡¯t let me go too far before chasing after me. I aimed my bow at him making him dodge sideways, but I didn¡¯t let go of the arrow, and instead extended my leg forward, hitting him in the stomach and taking away all his breath. I held the bow in the horizontal in front of me and smiled fearlessly at him as I let the arrow go. He widened his eyes as the arrow pierced his chest, before suddenly being thrown a few meters back by the wind arrow¡¯s knockback. I took a freezing arrow from the inventory and shot at him, but he managed to dodge the arrow and it only hit his left arm. But soon after I used power shot thrice using the normal arrows. Although the first one missed, the other two hit him straight on. -5 -18 (Critical) -14 -17 -17 Combo! (x1.1) -78 (326/440) Then the poison kicked in again. -2 (334/440) He looked at me furiously while using the right dagger to break the ice on his left arm. I tried shooting him a few more times, but he ran in zig-zag dodging my shots meanwhile. Just as he got to me he jumped in the air and a red light started to gather on his right dagger. The skill he had used on me in our last fight! I tried dodging, but he managed to twist his body and make the hit land. I contorted in pain as the dagger pierced my back, and before I could resist, he swept at my legs with his other dagger, followed by a kick in the back. -32 -12 (snare)(snare resisted) -5 -49 (303/390) I quickly got into a crawling position and used roll forward, standing up and avoiding a finishing strike that he used to pierce the ground. I took a normal arrow and shot him once in the shoulder, but the other arrows missed him. -12 (322/440) He ran towards me with his daggers on the sides, made a double slash which I barely dodged. However he quickly followed with a head-butt, and stabbed the two daggers on my ribs. -3 -12 -9 -24 (279/390) -2 (320/440) I However, I didn¡¯t let the chance go as I grabbed him by the back of his head and head-butted him back, stunning him for a moment, then I took the dagger I had equipped as an auxiliary weapon and stabbed him in the back a few times. He broke away from me afterwards, giving me a chance to access my inventory and take a few arrows from it. -3 -8 -8 -8 -27 (293/440) -2 (291/440) ¡°This is one annoying poison¡­¡± He complained after it ticked once more. ¡°That was the intention.¡± I answered with a shrug. I took a few hops back after our little talk, but once again he didn¡¯t let me go too far, slashing at me with his daggers. I barely managed to block it with my bow, which surprised him for a moment. But before I could take advantage of this opening he jumped back. I took a stance with my bow and readied myself to shoot, but as soon as I did this, I could almost fell him smirking at me. On instinct I cancelled the shot by rolling forward. And just in time, as I saw his body vanishing in a black smoke. Is that invisibility? My answer arrived when I heard something behind me as he slashed the place where I just was a second ago. I heard him click his tongue while turning back to him, but I didn¡¯t have time to attack him, as he jumped towards me with both of his daggers shining with a black light. I managed to block one of them with the bow, but the other one still managed to hit me in the chest. -20 (259/390) I cringed in pain while kicking him away. I was still holding the arrows I had taken from the inventory earlier, so I took a stance with the bow while crouching and activated quick shots on him with the four arrows, setting them to activate some time after each other. -3 (288/440) -2 (286/440) Immediately I knew I missed the timing to activate the last one, but it wasn''t that much of a problem. -7 -6 -7 -6 -26 (260/440) He simply charged throught the arrows, since they didn¡¯t have that much stopping power and readied that powerful stab of his once again. I simply snapped my fingers, and he suddenly stopped in his track as the stun arrow did it¡¯s work. As soon as he felt the effects lessening, the next arrow activated, and then the other. All this time I was taking my distance and showering him with normal iron arrows, waiting for¡­ -16 -17 -32 (critical) -15 -80 (180/440) -2 (178/440) As soon as the poison ticked for the sixth time, it meant that thirty seconds had come and gone, and this meant that my strongest attack had come out of cool down. I used piercing shot immediately with my iron arrow, followed by emptying my energy with two more power shots. -25 -18 -17 Combo (x1.1) -66 (112/440) He fell to his knees for a moment while looking at me angrily. ¡°You mad, bro?¡± I teased him with my best smile. It seems that he got mad at this, as he suddenly shot up and came towards me again. I prepared to block with my bow, but right before he reached me, he disappeared in the dark smoke. -60 (Critical) (199/390) -2 (110/440) Bastard! I rolled forward after receiving the hit on my back and turned back to him. But he still managed to land another slash on my chest before I could counter with a wind arrow in his chest. -30 (169/390) -15 (95/440) He grimaced as he looked at his health while I smiled widely. ¡°I guess this is my victory¡­¡± I said smugly, making him grimace. ¡°You can¡¯t be so sure!¡± He said angrily threatening to charge at me. I smiled widely and took a potion from my inventory and drank it in one go. +100 (269/390) ¡°Said something? By the way, I still have a few more of these to go.¡± I taunted him, making him grimace even more. You know, there is something about this guy that just make me unable to hate him, kind of like the old man. Heck, even when I had to spend pretty much all the remaining special arrows just to fight him I was having fun. Now that I think about it, this was one very expensive duel¡­ Still, I actually find it really fun to fight him. Rather than an enemy¡­ Should I do it? I mean¡­ I really want to do it! Let¡¯s bet on a clich¨¦! When I had the idea, I lowered my bow, leaving him confused. ¡°Let¡¯s make a deal here, alright?¡± I said with a smirk. ¡°I let you go right here and now and you won¡¯t risk getting caught. In exchange, you will owe me one. What do you say?¡± ¡°¡­ Why are you doing this?¡± He asked cautious. ¡°Reasons. Idiotic, improbable, but reasons.¡± I said truthfully. He seemed confused for a moment. ¡°And why should I trust you? How can I know you won¡¯t simply stab me in the back when we meet again?¡± ¡°Why would I stab you in the back if all that I needed was to shout and then two overpowered friends of mine would be here in an instant?¡± He grimaced, but seemed to agree with my logic, as he started to turn back. But I called him back in the last moment and threw him a pot. ¡°Don¡¯t want you dying for a random beast after you promised your help.¡± ¡°¡­Increasing my debt. That¡¯s what you are doing.¡± He said in annoyed before turning away. ¡°And now the boss is going to be locked. Lucky day!¡± Just as he was about to go away, he stopped and turned his head slightly towards me. ¡°I will pay my debt. But I¡¯ll still kill you sooner or later, you hear me?¡± And disappeared in a puff of smoke. I waited a bit longer just to be sure, then turned back to the camp and walked happily. I mean. That¡¯s it, right? It is, right? We meet in a fight where he easily overpowers me, then I barely manage to escape. After some time, we meet again, have a fierce duel where I manage do defeat him. Then he runs away while saying some threatening words around the meaning ¡®don¡¯t die before I kill you¡¯. Later we will meet in a situation where I¡¯m in a pinch and he comes in a badass way saying: ¡®Don¡¯t you dare kill my target!¡¯ and helps me in the situation, then we start traveling together while always bickering at each other. I mean¡­ If everything goes smoothly, I might just get a rival! What? Why would I want a rival? Why wouldn¡¯t I? Actually, why would I? I mean¡­ It¡¯s not like I needed to get one, right? And I¡¯m not even sure if this will work, the last part of that scenario was but a delusion¡­ Heck, I don¡¯t even know his name! Not even how he looks like! All I know is that he is a fire elemental NPC and that he is somewhat assassin like. Did I just loose my sweet, sweet experience for an impulse? Not like it¡¯s the first time, though. Oh well. I shrugged it off and started walking back to the camp. When I get there, I see Arcus and El tying up the remaining bandits with the ropes and Goulder is helping them. Actually, where was he all this time? He simply vanished when we started the cleaning¡­ Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. He was also the first one to notice me coming back with my health low. ¡°Gondorrer! What happened to you?¡± He asked with some worry in his voice, but I could somehow see a small glint of amusement in his eyes. HE KNEW! HE SAW EVERYTHING! ¡°Eh¡­ One bandit found me, we had an epic fight that could go to the records of the guild, I spent almost all the remaining good arrows I had while he landed skill after skill in me. In the end we both came to a stalemate and he ran away, swearing to take my head for the next time.¡± I said in a dramatic tone. El, still in her transformed state only looked at me coldly, while Arcus pouted. ¡°I wanted to see that fight. Must have been a good one for you to say that. Nin-Nin.¡± He said with his arms crossed. He was still sticking with that Nin-Nin thingy? ¡°Nin-nin?¡± Asked Goulder confused. Seems like he didn¡¯t know everything that had happened. ¡°Yes! Gon here told us of these amazing guys called ninjas that are really powerful! And he said that for me to start to become a ninja I have to always finish my phrases with Nin-Nin! Nin-Nin!¡± Goulder blinked in surprise, then he looked at me while holding back his laughter, I simply shrugged. ¡°Imagine this! If I train enough and become a ninja, then I can train other people to become ninjas then we¡¯ll be the most powerful group ever! Nin-Nin!¡± He had glinting eyes by now. I approached him then held his shoulders. ¡°Arcus, sorry, but that can never happen.¡± I said in a grave tone, and he looked at me confused. ¡°There is something called the reverse ninja law that affects them.¡± ¡°Reverse¡­ Ninja law? Nin-Nin?¡± He asked confused, and I nodded. ¡°A lone ninja can defeat a whole army, but an army of ninjas can¡¯t defeat a single man. What is it means is that the more ninjas are together, the weaker they are. The way of the ninja is a solitary one!¡± I said while slowly shaking my head. His eyes widened in surprise, then he looked completely at loss. ¡°I¡­ Never knew that¡­ Nin¡­ Nin...¡± He said while clenching his fists and looking downwards completely depressed. I left him as is and went towards Goulder, Whisi and El who had taken some distance to avoid having their laugh heard. ¡°So, do we get a pass or a fail?¡± I asked happily. ¡°I would gladly give you a pass if you managed to fool that guy for so long!¡± Said the knight with a playful smile.
QUEST COMPLETE: Admission test
You, Elraira and Arcus have passed Goulder¡¯s test. Now go back to the guild to get your rewards from the Knight. You have received bonus experience for capturing your targets alive.
Rewards: Talk to Goulder
Ooh yeah! And I even dinged level 9! Hmm¡­ Since I already have a good amount of vitality, and armor isn¡¯t much of a problem, I guess I should invest a bit in mind¡­ So, I put my new two to get me some extra magic res. ¡°Now, you guys can leave these bandits here, I already called the guard to come and arrest these guys.¡± Said Goulder. ¡°So, what will you guys want as a reward? As long as it isn¡¯t too much I¡¯ll give you.¡± ¡°I want to receive some kind of training, then.¡± El said her answer almost immediately, as if she had been expecting the question. ¡°An unusual request, but fine.¡± He frowned slightly, but still accepted. Then he turned to Arcus who was still looking shocked. ¡°And you?¡± ¡°Huh? Me? A new sword, I guess? Nin-Nin!¡± He said in a hurry. ¡°That is a bit more normal. Ok, I¡¯ll get a friend to make it to you.¡± Lastly he turned to me. ¡°Well, since the rewards also include unusual requests¡­¡± I said with playful smile. ¡°I want information.¡± ¡°Okay, information it is, then!¡± He said with a nod, then he turned back to me surprised. ¡°Wait, information? What do you mean?¡± ¡°You see, I already told you about my hunt on the four gods. But I know next to nothing about them, so I want you to use your connections to find something about them. Location, levels, power, weakness, traits, anything.¡± I explained it to him. ¡°So¡­ You were serious when you told us that earlier, huh?¡± He said surprised, and I nodded to him. ¡°Okay then. I guess I can try to do that¡­ But I can¡¯t promise any immediate answers, is that fine?¡± ¡°I never expected that on the first place.¡± I said with a shrug. Just when we thought we all had finished our rewards talk, the fifth person suddenly came in front of Goulder and started to talk to him. ¡°Shii-sha lala-shashala!¡± Whisi was pointing at herself with her tail while hissing at him. Goulder looked at her confused for a moment then turned to Arcus. ¡°She was asking if she won¡¯t get any reward¡­¡± He explained with a wry smile to which the knight answered with a laugh. ¡°Well¡­ She did do a good job in scouting. So, what do you want?¡± ¡°Shala-la-shiii!¡± ¡°She said¡­ a month worth of apples¡­¡± Arcus translated awkwardly. ¡°Apples? I swore she was carnivorous!¡± I said surprised. ¡°Actually, she is omnivore, but for some reason she really likes fruits.¡± He said while pointing to the backpack she always wore. ¡°She actually uses that to transport some dried fruits, besides our map.¡± To show us, Whisi nimbly used her tail to flip open the backpack and took a dried peach by coiling her tail around it, then she skillfully threw it up and ate it whole in one swift motion before closing the backpack again while hissing in delight. It seemed that the scene surpassed El¡¯s cuteness resistance as she immediately went and hugged the serpent again. Goulder laughed loudly once again before promising her to give her the fruits she asked for. On the way back, I took a better look at the bandits who were all knocked out cold. Most of them were NPCs, but their boss, the cyclops, his bodyguards plus a couple others were players. Does this mean that these guys actually joined a bandit camp in this game? And from what El told me, this group is fairly old, from before the beginning of the game. But how come the Cyclops is the leader then? Did he somehow manage to steal the position from the previous leader? I didn¡¯t let it bother me too much, as it would probably get me nowhere. Our way back was a lot more uneventful than I hoped. The only things worthy of mention was that, when El¡¯s transformation finally wore off, she had to ask for Arcus to support her, meanwhile Whisi came to me and used my head as a makeshift pillow to nap. The other thing was that as soon as we left the forest, we met with a couple of knights who were just arriving. They saluted Goulder before going into the forest to keep a look at the bandits who were still tied. We got to the city when the afternoon was starting to end. Goulder quickly went back to the guild to take care of the paperwork for us, while El turned to me and Arcus with a strange look in her eyes. She stared at us for a moment, then finally sighed and said. ¡°Would you like to work as my bodyguards?¡± The three of us were left stunned at her words and we looked at each other confused. In the end, the first to speak was me. ¡°Err¡­ I really don¡¯t think you need a bodyguard, you know?¡± ¡°¡­ Sorry, it¡¯s not the way I meant it.¡± She said while slightly shaking her head, then she looked back to us with a serious look ¡°What I meant is: As you may have noticed, I¡¯m a noble, and because the way I was raised, I¡¯m not exactly¡­¡± She stopped while thinking of a word. ¡°Street-smart? I guess that¡¯s the word. I noticed this before we met to our mission here, while I walked on the streets and saw many things that were completely new to me.¡± She let out a long sigh. ¡°I fear I may end up being tricked if I stay the way I am, so what I need is for someone who would actually keep me company and explain these kinds of things for me.¡± Me and Arcus looked at each other surprised for a moment. How should I say, she was surprisingly realistic with her decision. I looked back at her with an apologetic expression and said. ¡°Sorry, El, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯m fit for this job.¡± ¡°I am willing to pay you for this.¡± She said seriously. ¡°Heck, I don¡¯t really care for money.¡± Is brushed away the proposal. ¡°The problem is that I already have a really specific objective in mind, so I really need to get working on it.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± She nodded slowly, seemingly a bit disappointed. ¡°Well, I¡¯m in. Nin-Nin.¡± Arcus said besides me, surprising El. ¡°Different from stoney buddy here, I don¡¯t really have anything I¡¯m aiming for right now, so I don¡¯t mind following you for some time. Nin-Nin¡± He then glanced to the serpent still sleeping in my head. ¡°Besides, it seems that Whisi really likes you, so she will probably agree too. Nin-Nin.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± El said honestly to him. ¡°So, I guess here is where we part ways then?¡± She asked me. ¡°Nope, now is where I invite the two of you to go to a restaurant to have a blast before we part ways.¡± I said with a proud smile. Arcus looked surprised for a moment but laughed with the idea. El didn¡¯t seem against it, and Whisi was still sleeping, so we took it as a yes. How it went? Well, let me give you the run down. Firstly, El literally drained two BARRELS of wine from the bar while drinking absentmindedly. ALONE! She was barely tipsy after that. Strong drinker means nothing to her. Arcus had his spotlight the moment where I told him that half of that Ninja talk was just me fooling with him, and he fell on four in the middle of the bar while lamenting all that he had done in the name of being a ninja. Whisi was the one who paid for our tab. How? There were these guys playing poker on a corner of the bar who were annoying us. She went there and bet against them starting with a few dried fruits. Those guys took it as a joke and accepted, only to leave with nothing but their undies after a few plays. Finally, I somehow ended up getting a bit carried away and started to tell them some stories from some games and manga I knew. By the time I finished, the whole bar had gathered to hear the stories. The most famous ones were the Sci-fi ones, since, for them, it was the most mystical and impossible ones. When we finally left, it was almost the middle of the night. Me and El had to carry a knocked off Arcus who drank a bit too much back to his inn. After that, we disbanded and I went back to the Silver Gauntlet to look for a job that would fit me.
Next chapter
Chapter 23 - Lazy Science Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some more simple crafting this time! ANYWAY, for some reason I¡¯m really not all that happy with the second part of this chapter. Don¡¯t ask me why, I don¡¯t know. I may come back here in the future to rewrite it¡­ This chapter was literally a last minute addition, I had this idea when going to bed yesterday. Yet the new character suffered a huge alteration from the original idea to now¡­ ALSO, do you guys remember me saying about writing another story¡­? Well, I¡¯ve gone and did it¡­ Sorry¡­ I¡¯m almost finishing chapter 1 by now, and It¡¯s an reincarnation story, with a little twist, the main isn¡¯t reborn as a human, but as a dragon. EXCEPT, that he is born from a line of dragons that swore to serve as companions for humans. I¡¯m even being lazy with this story and simply using the same characters from Insania, just because. Of course there are some exceptions. I will upload it later to that folder in the google docs¡­ As mentioned before: I will only work on this after Insanias chapter, so it won¡¯t affect updates. ALSO(2) The Side-story should be out later today, as soon as I get back home. Have a good read! ----- I feel a bit silly, you know? I mean, it is common sense, even within the game, but I still forgot about it anyway¡­ I mean¡­ Why would this place be open in the middle of the night? Even if it was a guild with a bar mixed, it would not make sense for it to be open when it is like, two or three o¡¯clock in the morning. Even if it were open, by now would be the time where they would be refusing any new client and slowly letting the ones inside leave. I sighed while walking back down the street. So, what should I do now? Just go outside at random and start to hunt the first animal I find? But will I even find something if I do it like that? I don¡¯t think so. A hunter must always gather your information before going to a hunt! Maybe appear at Melinda¡¯s house. It has been some time since I last saw her, so she must be worried¡­ Nah. I just get the feeling that she isn¡¯t. Oh well. Maybe take a walk around the city? I do hear that some cities change completely when it¡¯s the middle of the night. Doing so I decide to wander about (once more) through the city. Since this floor I had pretty much explored everything, I took an elevator to the lower one. This one didn¡¯t have anything too new, except for this stall that made one mean rabbit barbeque. The following floors were just as boring as the first. Gladly, since the city¡¯s illumination came from crystals, the streets were fairly safe. And with many players still walking around, the amount of petty thieves were low. Only when I got to the tenth or so floor, I found something that actually caught my attention. There was this one door that simply called for me to see what was inside it. Why? Because it was slightly open, and a strange blue glow came from within it. A small and simple plaque was above it, and all it said was Sol¡¯s alchemy. It was shady, had a dangerous glow to it and pretty much was shouting trouble. What did I do? Of course I went in! What else would I have done? By the way, I¡¯m not an insensitive jerk, so I did knock on the door a few times. Have to at least look like a polite person, you know? ¡°Come in¡­¡± Came a fairly unmotivated voice from inside. I opened the door and closed it on the way in. I ended up in a long corridor that made a curve to the right up ahead. The strange blue glow was coming from there. In the middle of the way was a closed wooden door. Deducing that I should probably follow the corridor, I walked it down until I came to what seemed a shop¡¯s counter, with some flasks here and there filled with different colored liquids. However, there was no one here, and the glow was coming from an open door even further down this room. Confused about what I should do, I stood there waiting for a moment, until that same voice came again. ¡°Come inside the workshop. I don¡¯t want to get up to go there¡­¡± I was a bit surprised about this blatant show of laziness, but I still complied and walked in, passing the counter towards the door. The workshop was something that you would actually expect to see in a mad scientist laboratory. There were lots of test tubes with dangerous looking liquids, a whole lot of these glasses contraptions you use to process alchemical products. Heck, there was even a flask whose smoke took the shape of a skull! AND IT WAS LAUGHING AT ME! The blue glow came from a huge glass contraption that took literally the whole back wall of the house, and the finished product was some kind of thick looking blue slime. There was almost enough to fill a whole bucket with it on the final container of the contraption. But the best part of all this. Is that there was a bed in the middle of this dangerous looking room. And there was a bundle of blue hair laying face down on the couch. ¡°Mhhm mmm-hm mhmm.¡± The bundle tried saying something, but any sound it made was muffled. It seemed to sigh for a moment, then it moved around and laid face up, then it twisted it¡¯s head upwards so it could look straight at me. ¡°What? Just a brat? Oh well¡­ Welcome to Sol¡¯s alchemy¡­ Yadda yadda yadda¡­ are you buying or selling?¡± I was a bit shocked at her choice of words. And yes, it was a she. It was a small girl looking no older than eight years old. She was the size of Aliwa, making her very small for her age, except her blue hair that was ridiculously long. She was an elf, although I wasn¡¯t sure which one, with long ears, but she was also a shade, some kind of shadow-like undead being. I could tell by the black sclera in her eyes. For those wondering, sclera is that white part of your eyes. Eyes, aside, she was a pretty cute girl if I had to say, with childish features and wearing a simple nightgown while laying on the bed. But there was something seriously wrong with the atmosphere around her, but I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger in it. ¡°Sorry for intruding. It¡¯s just that I saw that glow coming from the front door and I wondered what was sold in here.¡± I said truthfully. The girl lifted one of her eyebrows and lazily spun around the bed once more. ¡°Hmm¡­ You just had to make my job harder¡­¡± She complained. ¡°Well, I sell pretty much anything you might imagine that is related to alchemy¡­ Health potions, Mana potions, rage potions, energy potions, glues, paints, spices, magical artefacts and on and on and on¡­¡± she said while waving her hand in the air like it didn¡¯t matter. ¡°So¡­ What will you want? Although I do have a lot of time, I don¡¯t want to spend it working, so be quick.¡± Well, at least she is direct. ¡°Well, I was actually kind of wondering if I could learn alchemy myself¡­¡± ¡°Nope. Don¡¯t want to. Too bothersome.¡± What? ¡°Wait, what do you mean by that?¡± ¡°Taking disciple is too bothersome. Having to teach them how to do this and that¡­ DON¡¯T WANNA!¡± She shouted that last part, leaving me confused for a moment. ¡°You mean¡­ You are the one who makes these potions?¡± I asked surprised, and she sighed. ¡°I may look like this, but I¡¯m actually six hundred years old¡­ ¡± Huh?
A WILD LOLI-BABA HAS APPEARED!
->Doubt<-Buy
SellRun
¡°Yeah, I get that face a lot¡­¡± She said with a wave of her hand. I shook my head to clear away my shock and tried to focus on what was really important here. But just as I was about to talk, the blue glow from the liquid in the wall contraption started to dissipate, and the elf¡¯s face suddenly lighted up, as she stood up in the bed and ran towards it, picking a small cup in the way. She opened a tap and the blue liquids slowly started to drip into the cup, and she closed it once the cup was full. A sweet smell permeated the room while she took back the cup and sat cross legged into the bed. ¡°What is that?¡± I asked when my curiosity won over me. ¡°It¡¯s a sweet.¡± Huh? ¡°I¡¯ve been working on it for quite some time now! Around a week or so?¡± She said in her childish voice while sinking her finger into the liquid and taking it to her mouth. A wide smile appeared on her face as she slowly savored the taste. ¡°Sweets are the only thing that are still worth living for!¡± She said in a happy tone, then remembering me she protected the cup with her body and looked coldly. ¡°I¡¯m not giving you any, understood?¡± Is she really a granny? I¡¯m starting to have my doubts¡­ Anyway, back to the main topic. ¡°Isn¡¯t there anyway you can teach me alchemy?¡± I asked once again. ¡°Didn¡¯t I already say no, you brat?¡± She complained back to me. ¡°I don¡¯t want to do something so bothersome as that again!¡± ¡°¡­Oh, I see¡­¡± If trying to ask won¡¯t work, let¡¯s try another approach. ¡°Basically, you are so bad at it that you can¡¯t even teach someone, huh?¡± I turned my back and walked away. ¡°I¡¯ll find a better teacher then. Bye!¡± Before I could get too far I felt a small hand grabbing the back of my armor. ¡°HOLD ON RIGHT THERE, BRAT!¡± She said furiously, I turned back to her with a taunting smile. ¡°Now, I may take you complaining that I¡¯m lazy, worthless and what not. But I AM the best alchemist of this whole town, and don¡¯t you ever dare say otherwise!¡± She said with her eyes burning. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really have any proof of that, do I?¡± She almost fumed after these words. ¡°Look here, don¡¯t go thinking that I don¡¯t know the game you are playing brat.¡± She said with a menacing tone. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t mean that you won¡¯t play it, right?¡± She widened her eyes for a moment, then made impish smile. ¡°Alright. You got me, brat. But this game won¡¯t be only on your rules alone. No, no.¡± She lifted her finger to give emphasis to her words. ¡°You will have to impress me. Show me something that I find interesting. Anything, and I¡¯ll teach you.¡± I smiled widely at her, and she answered me with a wicked smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t think that it will be easy, though. I haven¡¯t lived six hundred years for nothing.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± She let go of my armor and sat back on the bed while crossing her arms, making a haughty pose. I took this time to think, the challenge was a bit unusual, that¡¯s for sure, but I did have something I could probably use. I took out the last of the special arrows I had and lined them up in front of her with a proud smile. She looked at them with curiosity then back to me curious. ¡°So¡­ What about these arrows?¡± ¡°Well, look and behold, for these arrows here are no special arrows!¡± I said and pointed to the first one. ¡°This one here can freeze whoever it touches, this one can set them on fire, this can poison your enemies, this one here can either ignore gravity or do a mean knock back!¡± I said full of pride. She raised her eyebrows for a moment, seemingly interested while she looked at the arrows, then finally shrugged. ¡°What? Can¡¯t you do all that with magic? What¡¯s so new about it?¡± Huh? My more than perfect plan was completely shot down? Just like that? Why? No, calm down, what she just said is true, it may be possible to do all that with magic, so let¡¯s try something different. It¡¯s time for my trump card! ¡°Then, what about this?¡± I said while taking one flash bomb and giving it to her. ¡°This is¡­ A leather ball?¡± She asked confused. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a bit too young to be losing your mind like this?¡± ¡°And who said this is a normal leather ball? Try activating it!¡± She tilted her head in confusion, but still did what I asked. I had hurriedly closed my eyes, but I still heard her crying in surprise as the bomb went off. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that she had fallen on the bed with the scare and seemed confused for a moment, then her face paled as she looked towards her right side, where some potions were. I followed her gaze and noticed that some of the potions were starting to shine dangerously. Before any of use could react, all the right side of the workshop was blown up in a huge and colorful explosion, throwing me and the granny-child into the opposing wall. ¡°Some of those were very sensible to light¡­¡± She explained after some time. ¡°Sorry¡­¡± ¡°Meh, no need to worry. At most they take a few months to get done.¡± ¡°Sorry¡­¡± She sighed once again. ¡°But you still don¡¯t pass. Magic like that one isn¡¯t all that rare either¡­ Although the use to blind is a good idea.¡± She said in a shrug. ¡°And I spent so many crystals on that¡­¡± I said in a half-joking tone, but granny seemed to perk up at these words. ¡°Wait, Crystals? As in elemental crystals?¡± ¡°Err¡­ Yeah?¡± ¡°But there isn¡¯t any Elemental crystal that does something like that. Not even the major ones!¡± She turned her head in my direction and said. ¡°Are you saying that you made that with those crystals?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± She started laughing loudly then pointed at me with her finger. ¡°Brat, if you show me how you did that, I¡¯ll teach you alchemy. It¡¯s the first time I see something so interesting like that!¡± ¡°Err¡­ Granny¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pillar. I¡¯m still on the floor.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And I¡¯m also out of crystals right now. So I need to mine some more.¡± ¡°I see, then just let me get changed and I¡¯ll give you a hand!¡± She said, this time looking towards another pillar. Seems like she was still affected by the blind. She waited for a few moments so the debuff could go away, then she ran towards the bed and slid beneath it. After some time she came out carrying an old wooden box, she put it on the bed and opened it, taking what looked some clothes and armor from it. Then, right where she was she took out her nightgown with one motion, I hastily turned away amazed by her lack of self awareness. I heard her chuckle for a moment while she was putting the armor on. When she finally said that she was done, I turned back and saw her wearing an elven chain-mail armor that fit her perfectly, covered with a light leather jacket tinted green. She also had a similarly made chain mail leggings. The strange part was that I didn¡¯t see any weapon. She also had folded her hair in half and tied it in the top of head, or else they would keep dragging on the floor. Before I even had the time to react, she grabbed my arm and started to drag me out of the room. Yes, she literally dragged me on the floor, not even giving me time to get up and walk. She only let go of my hand when we were outside of the shop, where she had to lock the door and put a plaque saying that it was closed. I took this time to stand up and take some distance, so she wouldn¡¯t grab me again. Not that it worked, as she quickly took a hold of my arm and dragged me down the road. Except that we didn¡¯t go towards the elevator. She dragged me towards the outer end of the city and stood in the border. ¡°Huh¡­ What are we doing here?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Jumping!¡± She said as she pushed me. Huh? Jumping? WAIT! AREN¡¯T WE FALLING RIGHT NOW! THIS CRAZY GRANNY! WE ARE GOING TO DIE! Just as we were about to reach the ground, I saw the mad granny taking a sealed test tube from her waist and throwing it on the ground beneath us. The tube shattered on impact and a huge foam started to take shape in it¡¯s place. When we hit it, it felt like I had just jumped into a huge water-bed, as the foam stopped our fall and slowly started to dissolve. ¡°So, what do you think?¡± She asked me with a teasing smile. ¡°It was crazy, suicidal, completely unnecessary and could have gone terribly bad.¡± I turned my head to her. ¡°How much for one flask of that?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it for one gold to you.¡± She said while standing up again. ¡°Deal.¡± It was expensive, but would surely be worth it. She promised to give me one of those once we went back to her shop. For now she waited for me to find an ore vein and extract some crystals. Once I had all the crystals I needed, I sat on the ground and showed her the crafting process of the flash-bomb. She watched everything in awe, then tried it herself. ¡°Wait. Those arrows you showed me earlier, were they also made this way?¡± She asked as she was breaking the crystals. ¡°Well, kind of. Those use a step further from this process.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± She took out a simple grinder composed of a wooden pot and a stick and started to grind the crystal even more. I usually simply rolled the crystal within my hands, but that seemed to be a lot more effective. ¡°I wonder if I can add these to alchemy¡­¡± She said distractedly. ¡°Okay, I showed you the crystal thing. Now you teach me alchemy.¡± She blinked surprised, the shrugged. Calling me to come closer to her, she passed on to me the skill.
Sol, the eccentric alchemist has taught you the Crafting Skill: Alchemy.
Skill: Alchemy [lvl 1] 0%
Allows you to use herbs, minerals and some monster parts to make alchemical products. You can use the system help to create your items from now on. You have received a few beginners recipe.
Even the system call her odd? Wow, she must be a really crazy one, huh? ¡°I guess you might want a few starting lessons, right?¡± She said with a sigh, then took a quick look around. And started to point at some places. ¡°That rock, that tree, that one too, the one near that rabbit, and that one on city¡¯s gate. Gather these plants for me, then come back here.¡± She said while taking some instruments from her small bag she brought. ¡°Also, if you find any more crystal, make sure to bring them!¡± She said before I got out of earshot. I noticed this before, but it seems that the NPCs don¡¯t have inventories like players do. At least I didn¡¯t see them using it earlier on, so it must mean that they have it, right? It took some time, but I finally gathered all the herbs she had pointed me to. But damn, that is one good eyesight she has, I can barely see her from here, yet she pinpointed all these herbs so easily, and with just a simple glance! I also found a couple of iron veins and gathered a few more crystals. By the time I got there, she was already laying face down in the grass, just like when I firstly met her. I even heard a slight snoring. Besides her, were some simple equipment, like the grinder, some test tubes and one of these things you use to heat the liquids in the glass equipment, and a distiller. She seemed to hear me approaching, as she woke up and lifter her head from the ground, looking towards me. ¡°Hmm¡­ Yeah. It¡¯s these herbs alright¡­¡± She rolled aside then looked at the grinder. ¡°Since you already have everything gathered, just ask for the goddess and she¡¯ll do everything for you¡­¡± She said halfheartedly. Seems like she is back to being bored, but¡­ ¡°Err¡­ I think I¡¯d rather do this manually¡­¡± I said a bit awkwardly. This made her shot up and look at me surprised. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve been training blacksmithing, leather working and skinning manually, so¡­¡± She looked at me completely at loss. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you all the combinations I know up to now if you teach me?¡± ¡°Deal.¡± She said sitting up once again, clearly a lot more excited. Then she started to guide me. Firstly, she had me grind a red flower until it became a fine dust. Meanwhile, I left the leaf of another one boiling in the water, I saw the leaf slowly losing its color and the water getting a greenish coloration. When the process was done, I had to take out the water and mix it with the grinded flower before boiling once again, until the liquid took a reddish coloration. What I got was a health pot slightly better than the one I got from Argento! Afterwards, she had me take one of the mana crystals I had gathered while mining and put it in an acidic solution. The acid quickly dissolved the crystal in a bubbling solution, then she had me add another liquid to mix with the first one and then put it into the distiller. I saw as all the liquid left the solution leaving behind a blue paste. She told me that all I needed to do now was to add water and that paste would become a mana potion. There were also other process to make mana potions, but it seems that using mana crystals rewards the most potions per material spent. All this time I had been explaining her what I had gathered from Crystal tinkering, such as grinding increasing elements and combinations I had found. ¡°Well, for now, I guess I¡¯ll teach you these two so you can get the basic, but by the time you come to the shop next, I¡¯ll give you a book with some recipes for you to follow. Teaching them all one-by-one is a bit too much for me.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I said, then she stood up and gathered all the items she brought with her. ¡°Now, teach me mining.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Yeah, teach me mining! I want to play a bit more with these crystals! ¡°Err¡­ How do I do it?¡± I asked a bit confused. I mean, can I even teach skills to NPCs? ¡°You never taught anyone?¡± She asked surprised, then shrugged. ¡°Well, you look pretty young, I guess¡­¡± For some reason the tone of her words really annoyed me¡­ ¡°It¡¯s simple. Just focus on your skill, and when the goddess show you it¡¯s information, you get that window and push it towards the one you want to teach. All you need is to be above level 5 in that skill.¡± I blinked in surprise. That was fairly simple. Bringing up the window and pushing it towards her head like all the other NPCs did to me, it seemed that she learned the skill, as she stared at the air for some time, then nodded happily. ¡°Just as a warning, I¡¯m not giving you my pickaxe.¡± I said in a deadpan face, but she laughed it off. ¡°I know. I plan on getting one myself.¡± She looked back towards the city. ¡°It¡¯s been almost a hundred years since I found something so interesting and new!¡± She said in a happy mood. I could only laugh dryly at this. ¡°By the way, do you know where I can find some level 15 or so beasts around here?¡± I asked her before she could run off. ¡°Hmm? Why would you want something so specific?¡± She asked confused, but once again shrugged. She does that a lot, doesn¡¯t she? ¡°Well. The last time I came out, I heard that there were some red tails somewhere to the north. They look like foxes, but can cast magic, so be careful.¡± She said pointing into a direction. Was that the north? When I looked at the minimap, it said that was the west¡­ ¡°Also, be careful, because there seems to appear a fairly strong monster there from time to time.¡± I thanked her and saw as she ran off to the city to get herself a pick axe. Meanwhile, I went towards the true north. Even if I took a pretty big detour, I was finally going to find myself some new preys.
Next chapterSidestory Runic Path
Sidestory 2.1 - Runic path Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! The adventures of your least favorite draconid¡­ Why am I even writing this anyway? ANYWAY, as promised, here is the sides-story telling about how one of the future members of Collection got his class. And this is NOT all, there will be a few more chapters. ALSO, I¡¯m still open for recommendations, you know? Feel free to post your characters on the comments, and I might add them on a future SS, extra, or might even go and put him in the main story! No guarantee of when, thought, might do immediately, or a few weeks in the future, as they at least have to fit the story. Here is an example on how to post your character: Name and Nickname: Wargon (Gondorrer Dogsbane.) Gender: Male || Race: Golem || Class tree: Mage/rogue || Class: Spell sword (not actually his class in the future, still a secret) Equipment: Scale mail chest, rest Chain mail. Sword and shield. Brief description: Vivid brown rock skin, cool (creepy) green shining eyes, green body-tatoo glow. Brief playstyle: Easy rage tank. Brief personality: An idiot. ALSO(2), no ETA for the next SS chapter, since I do these when I still feel like writing after finishing a main chapter, so don¡¯t expect much. Also, feel free to tell me what you think of these sidestories. ALSO(3), Congratulations to Mataneloro and Clauriet whose characters appear here. When I saw that your character were so similar to Incarnus (his character was defined before the story even began!) , I just knew I had to put the three togheter and see what would happen! Have a good read! ---- ¡°Here you go!¡± Said Incarnus as he handed seven Screeching Hawks talons to the old farmer. ¡°Thank you, youngling. Here, I know this isn¡¯t much, but take these boots of mine from when I was a soldier!¡± The old man answered while taking a pair of plate greaves from an old chest in the back of his house. Incarnus gladly took the boots and readily equipped them before walking away happily. Although he lost a bit of strength, these new boots compensated on high agility and two points in vitality, so all was well. However the most important reward he got from the quest was the window that popped right after he completed it. He had gotten to level 10, now, it was time for him to go and get himself a class! However, one thing still weighted his mind. What class should he get? To tell the truth, he was completely at loss on this one specific detail of his character ever since he created it. Rather, even before the game was launched, he didn¡¯t know what to do. He always liked to play in the front lines, being the damage dealer and standing right in the middle of the fight, where all the thrill was found. Then, there was the fact that this was a VR, he also wanted to see how it feels to use magic. To make the very laws of nature bend at your will, to see fire and thunder sprout from your fingers and attack your enemies. So, as he leveled, he took a try at both. Always making sure to carry equipment with both strength and intellect, he ended up being fairly squishy, and did not have much defensive capacities. But he ended up liking doing both. Being a mage and a warrior, so he was now at loss on how he should proceed. Without even noticing, his feet had already carried him towards the entrance to the capital he currently called home. Ezoria Argus. The city itself was majestic, remembering him of one of those magical cities you would see in manga and books, with stone buildings, towers and a huge castle at it¡¯s middle. However, what truly marked this city as different from anything else he had ever seen, was the fact that the whole city stood above a humongous bridge. When he asked the citizens, they told that the bridge was a gift given to them by the goddess. When he looked around, he noticed an object that looked like a horseless carriage just standing there. These were the methods of transports used to travel around the city. There were also some tele transportation magic circles, but these only worked on fixed times of the day and were severely limited to where they could send you, so these carriages were the mainstream here. He quickly got into a familiar red with shining blue stripes carriage, and greeted the driver, a small and energetic goblin. ¡°Oh! Aallon! Glad to see you again!¡± Said the goblin happily. ¡°Glutwack. I knew it was you!¡± Replied Incarnus. He still wasn¡¯t used to the NPCs calling him by that name. ¡°To the guild like always?¡± The goblin asked while turning back, revealing his little ugly face with a large nose. But he frowned when he saw his client. ¡°What¡¯s up? Is something bothering you?¡± Incarnus was a bit at loss on how to answer, but finally he sighed and told him his situation. The goblin looked at him surprised before letting a shrilly laughter. ¡°Hey! No need to laugh¡­¡± He said downhearted. ¡°Sorry, sorry!¡± The goblin said without meaning it. ¡°If you don¡¯t know whether to use one style or the other, why not both?¡± The goblins answered him happily. ¡°We are in Ezoria Argus of all places! This is the city of magic!¡± ¡°You have a point. Do you have a recommendation then?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Said the goblin while turning back to the front of the carriage and putting his hands in some kind of crystal orb. A soft hum echoed as the magical apparatus came to life. ¡°You like to use lots of different magics. But prefer to use your weapons when fighting, then, there is one place that is perfect for you in this city!¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡­ After some time, Glutwack left Incarnus in the door of what looked the middle term between a school and a fort. With it¡¯s huge wooden gates inviting him inside, he almost forgot to pay the poor driver, who had to remind him kindly with a knife to his throat. Goblins take their gold seriously. He walked towards the entrance, and found himself in the front of a huge patio with dozens of knights sparring here and there. He could see some words forming in thin air and then incorporating to their weapons before they would suddenly burst into a random element or effect. He gulped in expectation and asked a nearby free knight where he could find the register. Following the exhausted knights direction, he found himself within the castle, and there was a desk where a high elf woman was working on some books. He approached her calmly and got her attention with a slight clearing of his throat. He clenched tightly his glaive when a look colder than the north glaciers pierced him. Gladly it passed quickly, as the elf seemed to notice him and quickly apologized, saying that she thought he was another person. After a quick talk, he had to register himself in a few papers and he was enrolled into the rune warriors academy. Then she pointed towards a door to his right, and said for him to wait there for a moment, as the academy master would soon appear to give a talk to the newcomers. Newcomers? He thought surprised. As in plural? He didn¡¯t bother too much with it, and went towards the appointed door. What was behind it was something akin to a classroom, with various desks and a blackboard. There were already two other people inside. One was a half-drow half-human, he had a grey skin with a slight brownish tint to it and purple vertical-slit eyes. His equipment was a full chain mail set, a small buckler and a spear. The second on¡­ he wasn¡¯t exactly sure what was his race, but he looked exactly like a 10 years old child wearing a heavy chain-mail armor with a headband. His weapon was a heavy looking halberd. The two of them also examined him for some time, then the first one clicked his tongue while the kid sighed annoyed. Incarnus was a bit at loss on how to react to that. Finally, he sighed and sat on one of the desks. With another look he quickly confirmed that there was a name floating above their heads, meaning they were players. The half-drow had the nickname Let while the kid was called Chouhi. Still, it truly was one hell of a coincidence that the three of them had almost the same equipment. Wearing medium-to-heavy armor and a pole-weapon. What were the chances. However, for some reason this fact only served to make the three of them feel even more annoyed at each other. After some time of glaring silently at each other, the door finally opened again, and in came a Construct. He was tall, having one and eighty something meters, and had long red hair. In the middle of his forehead was a red gem surrounded by a strange metal plate, as well as the usual antenna-like ears. ¡°Hmm.. Three new attendees today. Good, good.¡± He nodded happily. ¡°Glad to meet you. I¡¯m My name is Issak, and my rank is captain. Well, let¡¯s cut the chatter, shall we? Okay. All three of you are now officially enrolled into the Rune-warriors academy. But before we begin our training, I want the three of you to tell me. What is the most important thing a Rune warrior should have? Lephtys?¡± he looked towards the drow. ¡°Of course it¡¯s power.¡± The dark elf said in a matter-of-factly. However¡­ ¡°Nope. Next.¡± The construct shot him down mercilessly almost stunning the elf. ¡°Zhang?¡± he turned to the kid. ¡°Magic, clearly!¡± Said the kid with energy. ¡°Still nope. Next.¡± He turned to Incarnus. ¡°Aallon?¡± ¡°Versatility?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± The Construct said with a smile, then he took a step back towards the blackboard. ¡°What you must know the best as a rune warrior, is grammar! How to write your runes, how to read them, that kind of thing! And that¡¯s what we are going to study!¡± He said with pride. But the three students weren¡¯t very pleased with his answer, and Chouhi quickly slammed on his desk while standing up, almost breaking it. ¡°That damned blacksmith said nothing about this! I¡¯m getting out of here. I came to learn how to fight, not to read.¡± But before he could even leave his desk, Issak smiled and said. ¡°That door, is sealed with a very strong magic.¡± He pointed to the exit door. ¡°And the only way to open it is to write ¡®Open this passage immediately¡¯ in runic.¡± The three of them looked surprised at him as he took a book from a shelf and a chalk from his pocket. ¡°Now, I hope you guys have brought your notebooks, because this isn¡¯t very easy.¡± At that time, three heads slammed into their desks in unison. ----- (alive) Author''s corner: How come no one ever talks about this part of becoming a rune knight and such?
Next SS chapterBack to Main story (Ch 24)
Chapter 24 - Cute, but deadly Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Many animals here today! ANYWAY, the 4th wall in this chapter is a bit too fragile. I already called an expert, but he said that he can only get here tomorrow. But worry not, it¡¯s nothing too bad, only a mention or so. I somehow managed to keep the leakage to a bare minimum. ALSO, I will find a wall to punch after posting this. I really need to recover some manliness after writing this chapter. ALSO(2), no SS chapter today. ME BE LAZY! ME BE LAZING TODAY! ALSO(3), I think I''ll start coloring elemental damage taken by Wargon from now on, to help differentiate. Have a good read! ---- I¡¯m going on an adventure. I¡¯m going on an adventure! Oh, hello there! It¡¯s me! Your favorite golem, Wargon! And I¡¯m in a really good mood today! Why, you ask me? Well, the reason is very, very simple. The place where I am about to go, is filled with animals that I can skin! This means that I¡¯m back to the hunting business baby! I mean, there were only two or three days since I hunted the lynxes, but I kind of feel like there have been around twelve or so days since then. Isn¡¯t this weird? Oh well¡­ I also took a look in the in-game forum, to see if there was some kind of information on these foxes I was about to hunt, but sadly, there wasn¡¯t much, as very few players actually went so far from the city. And by far from the city, I mean almost half a day of walking, only to hunt a few level 15 or so animals. Me? I couldn¡¯t care less! Because I¡¯m on an adventure! By the way, I already logged out, got something to eat and logged in. Cygnas was busy with patching a few bugs the players found, so we didn¡¯t talk very much. So I spent most of my time simply walking and mining on the way. Of course, I set up a mp3 player in game, or I would have died of boredom. But there was one thing that started to hit me in this trek of mine. I WAS DAMNED EXHAUSTED! Now that the adrenaline of hunting, crafting and talking to people finally settled down, I noticed that I haven¡¯t slept for days! Although my in-game body was perfectly fine and could keep going as long as my satiety was high, my mind was starting to get sluggish and slow. I asked Cyg if sleeping in game would help curing this mental fatigue a bit with the three times faster and such. She said that actually, yes. Although the time difference wouldn¡¯t be as effective to resting as it is to playing, it did have some influence, so I wouldn¡¯t need to sleep as much as in the real world, but would be a bit more than the usual in this world. Not even caring about the fact that it was barely morning in here, I found a small clearing where there weren¡¯t many trees nor animals and laid down. By the way, there were some beasts here and there, but they were mostly low level and passives, so I didn¡¯t really bother with them. Although there was this one annoying falcon that attacked me, but nothing a pierce + wind arrow could not solve. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he was flying up to now. I took out the bow from my back and threw it in the inventory so it wouldn¡¯t bother me while sleeping and to avoid any potential theft. Then I slept a bit. During that time, I had this weirdest dream that, when I logged off the game, I found Cygnas floating besides my bed, then she said something about avoiding an embarrassing scene. For some reason I decided to run away from her and we ended up running through half the town with her trying to strangle me. That was one weird dream. I slowly woke up, feeling a lot more refreshed than earlier. By now it was the end of the afternoon. Luckily, it seems that nothing dangerous came by while I was sleeping. Or else I wouldn¡¯t be awakening like this, right? Sitting up in a good mood, the first thing I thought when I looked around was: Is this some kind of Disney movie? I mean, for some reason, there were a lot of animals around me. And I mean, a lot! Three deer, around ten or so rabbits and something around that for squirrels. Then there were two wolf pups, and a strange feline creature with fur antennas that I never saw before. And don¡¯t even get me started on the birds! Did I become a princess or something? If I start singing here, will they help me change my gear? To tell the truth I¡¯m a bit scared to try that theory. And all of them were just sleeping soundly here in the clearing with me! I slowly stood up, a bit too scared to even think about waking them. What the hell could have happened during this time that I was sleeping? I don¡¯t think I did anything to gather all these animals¡­ Wait. Wasn¡¯t there a passive that made passive animals approach me when I remove my weapons? Is this what the skill does? As I was walking distractedly, I hear the sound of moving leaves behind me, and when I turned back I saw a procession of animals following me. They all stopped when I stopped, and moved when I moved. The smaller birds were even using the deer as mobile trees while the squirrels were jumping from tree to tree. Did I just create an army through sleeping? As a joke I made a salute towards the animals. They only looked at me confused, except for the antenna-cat, which sat down and tried to copy my movements. From now on his name will be Lieutenant colonel Whisker McBallofur Maximilliamus the third. Behold my great naming sense! I turned back to the animals and started my march towards the north once again. On the way, I noticed that some other animals were slowly joining our parade. With a new wolf pup, two deer and lots of rabbits and squirrels entering the march. When I looked a bit into the distance, I saw that a couple of wolves were following our parades, probably keeping an eye out for the pups. We marched until the night started to fall, and noticing that most of these guys were, by now, far away from their homes, I decided that it would be best to free them from their state, so I quickly materialized the bow. Almost instantly, all the animals blinked surprised, then they turned back and started to run away. Lt. Colonel Whiskers stayed behind for a bit longer, and I saluted him in farewell. He looked surprised at me and copied my movement once again before running away. I will never forget your efforts, guys! With a weight in my heart, I bade my farewell to my army and resumed my lonely march. ¡­ It was only after a couple more hours before I finally reached the red tails area. In the way I found a small shrine that was literally, in the middle of nowhere. I tried to see if there was a way for me to interact with it, but after getting a pillar of light when I touched it, nothing else happened, so I simply walked away. Luckily, these guys were nowhere as difficult to find as the lynxes, but they did have one very problematic trait that left me completely at loss on how to battle them. THEY ARE SO CUTE! They are just like that crazy granny said. They look like normal foxes, with a yellow to orange fur and a with a few highlight in red, like the tip of their ears, tails and feet. Yes, tails, they have two extra fluffy tails swinging happily behind them. The first one of these little guys I find, and he is sniffing curiously at a butterfly in a flower. When the butterfly flew and surprised the fox, it fell back on its. Then it let out a cute annoyed bark while letting out some flames from its mouth. Look. I am a man, and I have a fairly decent resistance to cute things, but these guys, they are just too much! I really was holding my self back so I don¡¯t end up running at it and hugging him. This is why I hate being low level. Most of the creatures you find are way too adorable for you to go and slash at them happily. Although this game had mostly avoided it, it seems that in the end it was destined to happen .I want to get to the high level, where even the weakest enemy look like a spawn from hell and I can then kill them with a smile in my face! I took a good look at the fox again, trying to get its level and life, and happily, it appeared.
Red tail [lvl 15] (aggressive)
HP: 720/720 -Fire ball -Scorching arc
What? That cute thing is aggressive? And here I was hoping to *cough*ab*cough*use my passive skill to get a feel on petting them! This is so sad! Sighing in dejection, exchange the bow with the sword and shield while preparing myself. Cygnas, forgive-me, for I am about to sin, by killing this not so innocent foxy. I charged from behind the tree I was hiding, surprising the Red tail for a moment, enough time for me to get close to him and deal my starting combo. The first strike is what really counts, so I went all out on the little guy. I started with an upward shield bash, followed by an upward slash, and a stab, then I angled my shield and used the shield slam, sending the fox flying towards a tree, with a quick dash, I approached him and used Slice ¡®n dice, but he managed to avoid this last attack at the last second. -5 -21 -25 -36 -3 Combo! (x1.1) -97 (623/720) I spent two seconds standing there, swinging my sword at the air like an idiot unable to stop. The little fox took advantage of this and jumped back, while recoiling it¡¯s head before spitting out a ball of fire half of it¡¯s size. -25 (395/420) I grinded my teeth as almost the full damage of the blow reached me. It seems that my magic resistance is still too low! The fire ball literally blew me away, making me fall on the ground. At least I still had some energy from the cancelled slice ¡®n dice. I quickly stood up just in time to see the fox jumping at me, it¡¯s mouth burning with fire as it went for a bite. I blocked him with my kite shield and swung him out of the way. But he still managed to land on his feet and come at me once again. This is one agile little pup, huh? I countered him by taking a step forward and bashing at him with my shield. A trick I learned while hunting the lynxes and the foxes, since you mess with their targeted distance and they miss their timing to attack or evade. Since he was in the middle of an attack, the bash skill affected him, making him daze for a second, which I took to use a normal stab at him. This made him retreat cautiously for a moment, and I took the time to regain a better stance. -4 -17 -21 (602/720) Damn, gear does makes a difference after all. Look at that damage I¡¯m dealing! It¡¯s ridiculous! A single slash deals the same damage as my best skill from before gearing up. I didn¡¯t get enough time to get hyped up, as fox prepared to do something again. It slightly twisted its body to the side, with its tail going even further. A red light started to gather at its tip, then the fox dashed forwards slightly while untwisting its body, making a full 360 in the spot. When its tail came towards me, the fox let out a cute angry yelp, making the light leave the tail and form an arc of fire that flew in my direction. So cute! I MEAN, DODGE YOU FOOL! I jumped forward and activated roll right when the arc reached me, barely managing to pass beneath it. A sudden urge of power came through me as I received the opening buff from the roll skill. Landing right in front of the fox, I used the remaining energy I had to slice it twice, once with a skill and once without. When I tried to land another attack, the Red tail managed to land a fiery bite on my calves, and I had to jump back to avoid more damage. -28 -16 -44 (558/720) -15 -4 -19 (376/420) I clicked my tongue in annoyance at myself. I was still too aggressive. I took some distance from the little fox and crouched behind my shield. We stared at each other for a couple of seconds, finally, the two-tailed fox snarled (cutely) at me and shot a fireball. Lifting my shield, I blocked the attack, however. -15 (361/420) What is that? The fire ball doesn¡¯t do enough damage for it to overpower my shield! How could this happen? While thinking this, the fox noticed the effect his attack had on me and shot another one. Deciding to not test my luck on trying to block this again, I twisted my body out of the way before dashing forwards. The fox noticed my approach and prepared to attack me with its claws. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. But right before I reached him, I stopped and hoped to the side, letting his attack go blank, then I landed a stab on his side, together with a sideway slash, before finalizing with a shield bash and a back-hop. -27 -42(critical) -4 -73 (485/720) Nice, a critical! This is how I roll! I crouched again behind my shield while watching the fox recover itself from the attack. My shield slam had just gotten out of cool down, so I decided to wait a bit for my energy to recover and then use it in a combo. If I somehow manage to crit it, this fight will be pretty much over. While I was crouched, the fox once again used the scorching arc attack. I got a bit too cocky and tried to roll beneath it like the first time. However, the kit was smarter than I gave him credit for, and before I could get up, he bit tackled me, getting me by surprise. We rolled once on the ground, and ended up with him above me, where I could swear I saw him smirking before recoiling its head. I paled, but had nothing I could do to actually avoid that point-blank fireball. Taking the hit head-on, literally, I tried to at least counter with a stab or something, but the bastard did a backwards somersault while releasing a vertical Scorching arc! -12 -26 -30 -68 (293/420) LITTLE BASTARD! THAT HURTS! OKAY, NOW IT¡¯S OFICIAL, HE¡¯S NO LONGER CUTE! When I get that little bastard, I¡¯m so tearing him apart! I got up and hopped backwards to open some space between me and the little bastard, and when I stared at him, I saw him making a smug face at me. ¡­ .. . I take that back. He¡¯s too cute to hate! Does he have a charm skill or something? I shook my head to recover my attention. Even if my hate for him is gone, he is still someone I have to defeat. So let¡¯s recover focus. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Okay. He¡¯s attacking. Fireballs. Did he notice that is the most effective technique against me? I decided to ignore it for now, and started to advance in side-ways jumps. Whenever he throws the fire at me, I jump forward and sideway, making a zig-zag pattern. When I get close to him, he used a surprise arc, but I manage to roll once again beneath it. He comes for the tackle as soon as he sees me rolling, but this time I¡¯m ready. I stopped a brief moment before he reached me, and immediately used shield slam on him from below. The heavy knockback threw him upwards a few good meters, and when he fell I slashed him downwards, making him slam the ground with strength. He tried to get up immediately, but I bashed him with the shield before using a stab and finishing with a strong kick. -47 -21 -3 -10 (Critical) -25 -6 (Critical) Combo! (x1.3) -146 (339/720) Two crits in a combo? Ooh yeah! Take that! I¡¯m unstoppab¡­ WAIT A SECOND! ARE YOU (BLEEP) ME? THE BASH AND THE KICK? REALLY? I get two crits. TWO FREAKING CRITS, in a single combo, and it goes to the two WEAKEST hits? Come on, what are the chances? Really? Could some one help me here? I¡¯ve been hacked by bad luck! Although I was raging madly, I still managed to recover myself in time to see the next attack coming. He decided to come at me with the physical attacks once again, so he was charging at me with its mouth filled with a blazing fire. I jumped aside to dodge the attack, but the kit quickly turned aside and came at me. I raised my shield to block the attack, but the fox used it as a trampoline and jumped back, surprising me, and launching a fire ball while still in the air. My shield took the fireball for me, but I still took some damage like earlier. -15 (278/420) However, I didn¡¯t let that stop me, as I darted forward in his direction before he could land on the ground. With my energy low, I only managed to land a single slash at him, but before he could recover, I used my shield hand to grab shut his muzzle and used this time to land a few hits on him with wild swings, until I had enough energy for one last slash. -23 -16 -18 -17 -17 -23 Combo! (x1.1) -125 (214/720) I let go of his muzzle when I saw a few spars escaping from his mouth as he readied a fire ball. I twisted my body aside before opening my hand and expected him to let the ball go forward, but he managed to hold it in and looked in my direction before opening the mouth. I barely avoided the attack by activating roll, but since I was too close to him, the roll actually served to separate us, opening enough space to the Red tail to use the Arc once again. It seems that these guys are actually more skill-active than the lynxes¡­ This arc I dodge by hiding behind a tree. Strangely enough, although the tree did catch on fire, it extinguished almost instantly. I waited there for a few seconds to let my energy regenerate and the cool downs to come out. Meanwhile I heard the fox growling at me while slowly circulating around the tree. On a bout of either idiocy or geniality, I decided to give the fox a little surprise, so I turned to the tree and somehow managed to climb it by stabbing the sword on its bark. Just to let me be clear, but I¡¯m not a tree climber in real life, this was probably because of my high STR and AGI in the game. Once I got up high enough, I kept my sword stabbed into the bark as a support until the fox finally appeared a fair distance to my right throwing a fireball. Right on where I was earlier. But when it didn¡¯t see anybody there, the fox got surprised for a brief second. I used this time to remove the sword and jump towards it. I wonder if I will mount on it if I land a few hits while in the air¡­ Okay, monster hunter jokes aside, the Red tail didn¡¯t even see me coming, as I activated stab while still in the air and was right above it. The skill suddenly changed my trajectory from an arc to a straight fall. This almost messed up with my targeting, but I still managed to correct the blade¡¯s position before the hit. I fell down hard on the fox, who let out a painful yelp as both the damage from the skill plus my weight came down upon it. -50 (brutal) -13 (151/720) However, I didn¡¯t get off unscathed. -26 (252/420) The fall damage was a lot higher than what I expected, so my legs were hurting pretty badly by now. Somehow I managed to ignore it and turn my attention to the fox who squirmed out from beneath me and readied an attack coming from my right. Since I still couldn¡¯t use my leg, I was left powerless when the fox landed a painful bite on my arm. I tried hitting it with my shield arm, but it quickly let go and once again went for my arm, but this time I managed to activated nature¡¯s bastion just in time, so the physical damage was somehow negated. -15 -5 -4 -5 -29 (223/420) Every time it bit me, I also took some fixed fire damage. This is a pretty nasty skill. Before it let go of my arm, I grabbed his head with my shield hand and slammed him in the ground in front of me. Before he could recover, I used shield slam from upwards, making him slam back on the floor, then activated a last slash before putting everything on a slice ¡®n dice. Or I would, but the skill still had a few seconds left on cool down that I had forgotten about. The fox took advantage of my surprise to get away from me. -3 -36 -23 -62 (89/720) The two of us were panting by now, so we took some time to catch our breath, this gave me enough time for me to recover the feelings in my leg and fill my energy. Finally, the fox darted towards me with it¡¯s mouth open. Even if I had recovered the feeling in my legs, I still wasn¡¯t sure enough to try and dodge, so I waited for the fox to come to me from behind my shield. But at the last second, the one who made a sudden move¡­ Was me. I opened my arms at the last moment while activating nature¡¯s bastion around my neck. The fox bit me right at the last second, when I began to feel the skill ending. -5 -5 (213/420) However, I took this chance to hug the Red tail with my shield hand. The fox squirmed in my arms and even blew a couple of point-blank fire ball at me, but I refused to let it go. -25 -25 -50(163/420) Meanwhile I used my right arm to stab at the fox three times before activating the skill. -16 -16 -18 -27 -78 (11/720) The fox, now almost dead, finally started to calm down, so I used this chance to ease my grasp and finally slit its throat as a final strike. -21 (0/720) I let go of him after I confirmed his death, then I stopped a moment to calm myself, before taking the skinning knife and starting to do my work. Since its body was very similar to that of a wild dog, I managed to get a common quality pelt right off the bat, although I messed with some of the claws and one fang. However, what really got my attention in this game, was a small red gem that was embed in its forehead, beneath the pelt. I hesitated for a moment, then I decided to take the whispering feather Wallace gave me. I put it in my ear like it was a pen, and immediately felt its effect. ¡°Wallace, can you hear me?¡± ¡°Huh? Brat? Is that you?¡± ¡°Yo! Long time no see!¡± I said in the most cheerful way I could while being exhausted. ¡°Or at least hear.¡± ¡°You sound tired, brat, what happened?¡± ¡°Just did something a bit idiotic in a fight, nothing bad.¡± ¡°Ah see¡­ So, why are you calling me at such an hour? You do know it is night, right?¡± To tell the truth, I had completely forgotten. ¡°You see, I just hunted a red tail, and when I skinned it, I found a gem in its forehead, and I wondered how do I get it.¡± ¡°¡­ What level are you right now?¡± ¡°Nine?¡± I heard him laughing loudly for a moment. Then he instructed me on how to extract this gem. It was actually a lot easier than I thought. The gem was stuck in a few muscles and nerves, so all I had to do was cut them without much worries, since the gem is actually sturdy. As soon as I separated it from the body, the remaining tissues started to disintegrate from the gem, leaving it perfectly clean.
Red-tail gem (good)
A gem found on red tails. Rarely drops when reclaiming or skinning. This gem serves as the mana controller for the twin-tailed fox. Used to make magical items. (crafting material)
I¡¯m not complaining. Good item is good, even if I probably won¡¯t be using it. Throwing the items carelessly into the inventory, I went out to find my next prey. I spent the next hours hunting a few more foxes here and there, and discovered that I could get the gem when I managed to get a pelt with common quality, as anything below would break it. I also discovered that the fact that I was taking damage from the fireball, came from the fact that my shield¡¯s magical block was low. There were also a couple of other things, like dinging 10. I held back on my derivation point since I would be getting a class as soon as I came back to the city, but still spent my points on mind. But what really happened of importance, was when I stopped to rest for a moment, I accidentally found this little fella hiding within a hollow tree.
Blue Tail [lvl 12] (RARE) (aggressive)
HP: 12/650 -Ice ball -Cooling arc
When I saw him, I was at loss on what to do.
Next chapter
Chapter 25 - Escalation Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! Extra long chapter with 5700+ words! ANYWAY¡­ CYGNASDAMIT SCARECROW! You were so freaking close to discover what would happen that I couldn¡¯t even reply to you without spoiling what would happen. And please, let me finish the arc before you guys start to chastise me, ok? ALSO, god, I wrote a lot this time. If I hadn¡¯t started this yesterday, I would have died today¡­ ALSO(2), familiar scene is familiar. ALSO (3), Sidestory MAY come out today. (pun not intended at first, but kept afterwards) ALSO (4), what the hell was that last chapter? 53 comments in less than 24 hours? even removing my own we are still left with 35 or so! That''s incredible! Have a good read! ------ I crouched down when I heard a soft whimper coming from somewhere inside the hollow tree bark. When I looked inside, in there was a red tail, coiled around itself while laying on the ground. Or at least was what I thought initially, when I looked a bit longer to the fox, I noticed that its fur was actually a really soft blue and navy, instead of the usual yellowish and red. When I focused myself on him, the plaque appeared above him, and it said.
Blue Tail [lvl 12] (RARE) (aggressive)
HP: 12/650 -Ice ball -Cooling arc
I blinked surprised at the window. Rare? As in a rare spawn, that gives extra good loot? But¡­ Why is his health so low? I mean, I didn¡¯t even attack him, and I really doubt any other player came to this area before and found him. When I tried to get a better look at him, what I saw left me speechless. The little guy was shivering. He was skinny, his ribs showing from beneath his skins. Lots of small injuries covered his whole body. They ranged from claws and bite markings, to burns and bruises. And what¡¯s strangest of this all, is that these markings all matched the size of the Red tails. While I was wondering what happened, the small fox noticed me and tried to get up on all four legs, whimpering in pain in the process. Finally, he started to growl at me, his eyes burning with anger. Now, I might be a little bit loot crazed, have a few screws loose and even some that already fell down some good time ago, and be close to a psycho from time to time. But trying to kill this little guy who was barely alive, and still wanted to defend himself? That was beyond even me. I backed away slowly, giving him some more space. Seeing this, he seemed to calm himself for a moment, then he suddenly fell down with a loud whimper, then he started panting as the pain left him breathless. Letting out a long sigh, I opened my inventory and saw what I had. I still had a few potions from when I bought from Argento, the new potion I had made a few hours ago and the dried jerky from the beginning of the game. I took one of them from the inventory and tried offering it to the Blue tail, however he refused to even get close to me. Seems like I¡¯ll need a better bait. Remembering this place from the minimap, I left out and started looking around for some critters. On the way I also found a couple of red tails, but since I was getting used to them, I made quick work of the foxes and went my way. I found a squirrel hiding in a tree after some time, and I took my bow just so I could take him down quickly. After that, I took his body back to where the blue tail was hiding and started to skin it. With the help of a few sticks and a flame crystal, I made a makeshift bonfire where I slightly roasted the squirrel. The smell seemed to attract the Blue Tail attention, as it slowly came out of its hole. His mouth was watering as he looked at the roasted squirrel, but his wariness made him avoid approaching me too much. I sighed loudly while I took what I considered a well done squirrel in a stick and sprinkled it with one of my potions before dropping it in front of the fox and backing away. The blue tail looked at it with caution, then he looked back at me. I motioned him to the squirrel, and it slowly approached his meal. It still sniffed the squirrel a few times, and the potion¡¯s smell probably left him cautious and wary, but it seemed that his hunger was a lot stronger than his wariness, as he started to eat the squirrel. Slowly at first, then faster and faster. While looking at him eating his meal so heartily, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. It was somewhat heartwarming scene. But as an idea started to occur to me, my smile turned a bit wicked. Maybe, I can tame this little guy to be my pet! GENIUS! I patiently waited for it to finish it¡¯s meal, and saw as the potion started to produce its effect, as his shallower wounds quickly closed and the swelling slowly started to disappear. By the time it had finished, he was clearly in a better state than before, as he could easily stand up and his shivering had stopped. Afterwards, he looked at me for some time. This is it. Now is the time when he slowly approaches me asking for me to take him with me, and I get my first pet! Yes! Come to me! I won¡¯t hurt you! I will (try to) be a good owner for you! Just as I was thinking that, the fox suddenly turned his back to me, and ran away. Huh? What? WAIT! COME BACK HERE! I STILL HAVEN¡¯T TAMED YOU! I stood up and tried to chase after the fox, but he was faster than what I had expected, so he quickly got away from me and disappeared inside the forest. I was¡­ Stunned, for a good time, trying to understand what happened, and where I could have gone wrong. However, no matter how much I simply stood there thinking, no idea came to my mind, so I gave up in a long sigh. Not only did I lose the pet, I also lost my chance for some good loot. If this isn¡¯t disheartening, then I don¡¯t know what is. Actually, scratch that, it isn¡¯t as bad as I make it look. Seeing that guy getting better felt very satisfying for me. But this doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m just going to let him get away! I¡¯m definitively making him my pet, be it sooner or later. With this mind-set, I set out to hunt while looking for the blue tail. I had already decided that I would gather enough leather in here to make a decent set to me by the time I got back to the city, so I decided to use that as a timer. Should I fail to find the little guy, I would go to the city, gather some more supplies, then come back and farm for him. In the way I also started to gather some herbs I had recognized for the ones needed for potions, as well as a few others that looked interesting. I kept going until the sun came up and stayed there for a good time. I even managed to hit 11 and put my one-handed sword mastery to level 9! However, I found nothing on him. It was when I decided to pack up my things and go back to the city, that I finally noticed something on my mini-map. There was a clearing a bit ahead, and something about it just called me there. I don¡¯t know whether it was a game function, or simply gamer instinct, but I KNEW that there was something within that area. What it was, I had no idea, but I still kept going. After all, this was going to be my final check on this area before going back to the city. What could go wrong? Well, it wasn¡¯t anything small, that I could tell you. Laying right in the middle of the area, I saw it. He was big. Much bigger than any of the others red tails I found earlier, however, the distance between us left me unable to actually size-him up. His fur had gone from yellowish and red to a beautiful golden and crimson. Its tails were also much bigger in relation to its own size, having almost the same length as the main body, as were they more numerous, being three in total. The cute face the little ones had, was exchanged for a beautiful and dignified one, with sharper features and a slightly more feral appearance. The small gem that once was hidden by their hide, now showed itself in its forehead, being much bigger than what I saw. I unconsciously approached that monster, trying to see a bit more of him, however, he saw me before I could get close enough. Lifting itself from the ground and raising its tail, it looked in my direction, before starting to growl. As I stood there a bit in shock, it turned towards me and started to slowly advance towards me. While he walked, fire ignited from the crimson colored fur, giving him an even more menacing look.
Blazing Tail [lvl 18](BOSS) Equivalent level: 21 (Attacking this enemy will apply a status debuff on you due to the difference in level) (aggressive)
HP: 2000/2000 -Inferno ball -Blazing arcs -Blazing claws -Soul fire -Blazing charge
Blazing tails are the equivalent to the alpha of the red tails. They boast an even greater strength, both physical and magical, than their smaller counterpart. It is unknown how a Blazing tail comes to be, but it¡¯s unheard of two Blazing tails appearing in the same place at the same time, so It¡¯s believed that they come from the normal Red Tails.
The time it took for me to read the window proved to be a bit too invaluable, as before I knew, the huge beast was already in front of me. If there is one thing that isn¡¯t very well transmitted when you are playing monster hunter in a handheld or console, is the intimidation of facing a large monster. When you play the game, it¡¯s not like you don¡¯t notice the sheer difference in size, between you and the monster you are hunting, after all, you do have to jog a little if you want to go from it¡¯s head to the tail. But, seeing it in third person, within a small screen, is nothing compared to the real thing. Take a Rathalos, for example, the most iconic monster in the game. He¡¯s a classical red wyvern. Big, spews fire balls, have poisonous claws and two huge red wings. How many times do you think I have hunted him down? My guess would be around two hundred or so, and that is only counting the classical one, not the sub or rare species, that are even stronger. Now, how many times do you think I stopped to think about the sheer size of that guy, if he were to exist in real life? Few times, very few times. But now, after what happened to me here, it finally started to sink in to me. If I stopped to think about it, his head alone was the size of the character you play. Why I¡¯m talking about this? It is simple. In the game, you use a slightly high third person view, and this, makes everything look so much smaller than real life. But, in here, within Insania, there is no such a thing. You see everything in first person, so if the monster is bigger than you, you have to look up. Do you know the difference, between you watching a predator looking at another character that is not you while you look from upwards, to when you have to look up and see the predator slowly closing in on you? With his eyes set on you? Well. I know now. I won¡¯t say something like: I quickly got over it, I went and beat the heck out of him. Or that I gathered my courage to fight him. Nor that I simply ignored his gaze. I was scared. I was damned scary, as the two meters high fox towered above me. I couldn¡¯t even move myself at the time. And I died. Just like that. I did not see any moves, I did not see any attack, I simply died before I could understand what was happening. It is not like I simply *plop* and died. I was attacked, I was knocked around. I just did not have the mind to actually understand what happened. ¡­ The whole world turned grey, as I felt something pulling me out from my body. I was dragged around by some force for some time, quickly speeding through the forest, as my body ignored any tree and boulders that were on the way. I must have been flying at something around fifty kilometer per hour for a couple of minutes, before I finally stopped. Looking around, I noticed that this was that small shrine I had encountered earlier on the entry of the red tail area.
You have died. You lost 50% of your level experience. If your level dropped, you will be unable to add status points until you surpass your old level, and any equipment above your new level will be automatically unequipped. Now, choose a resurrection method, or you can wait for another player to resurrect you.
Resurrect at your body. Walk to your body and resurrect nearby it. Causes minor equipment damage.
Ressurrect here. You instantly resurrect near the shrine. Causes moderate equipment damage and applies a five hours (in game) debuff to your stats.
Ressurrect at the capital. You instantly resurrect at the capital. Causes no equipment damage, but applies a 48 hours (in game) debuff to your status.
I absentmindedly stared at the window for some time. To think that there were so many resurrection methods. Each had it¡¯s own advantages and disadvantages. Without thinking much, I chose the first, since it would be a bother if I had to wait some hours before hunting again. A red arrow appeared at the top of my vision, probably indicating the direction of my body. I distractedly followed it, and was glad to see that I did not need to worry about dodging trees and rocks while dead. Everything looked a bit smoky and spectral for me, and I had no body, or at least it was invisible, so this gave me quite a strange feeling. Is this how ghosts feel? The travel was a bit boring, since all I did was walk in a straight line. Luckily, the MP3 player was walking just fine, so it wasn¡¯t as bad as it could be. It took me almost twenty minutes to reach my body in the clearing, and I revived the farthest from the boss as I could. The first thing I did, was slowly circle around the boss on the outer edge of the clearing until I was at his back. The firs time, I approached him from the front, so he saw me before I could even formulate a plan. As I crouched down on the ground and looked at him again, the scene from before started to replay on my head. His gaze on me, the way I was unable to even react. My whole body started to shiver slightly, the longer the scene replayed. I gripped tightly at the sword on my hand to see if I could somehow control myself. Or at least get calm enough to think of a plan or something of the like. But no matter what I did, I was getting too nervous, I could barely stop myself from running. In the end, I had to resort to using my mantra. ¡°Monster hunter¡­ This is, Monster Hunter¡­ This is, Monster hunter¡­¡± After repeating that for almost a full minute, I finally calmed myself enough, and the smile I had all this time finally settled in. I almost went running there to attack him mindlessly. I really need to avoid doing that, or else I will end up the same way as before! How can I say it, somehow, after losing so miserably like that, I got really, really pumped up. I may have a few screws loose after all. I really wanted to go there and try to fight that huge guy one-on-one. But I will probably die. I know next to nothing about him, and his attacks are clearly stronger than the ones the red tails use, I can tell by the name, and he has a couple more skills as well. Heck, there was even a description to it! I breathed slowly for a couple of times. Self-imposed rule of the hunter, number five. New monsters, new attacks. Do NOT go on the offensive. I lifted myself from the ground and slowly approached the fox. It seemed that it didn¡¯t hear me approaching, so I took my time to land a few strikes on it. I dropped my entire combo in it. Slash, slam, stab, slash, then I jumped back to gather some distance. -15 -32 -21 -13 Combo! (x1.2) -97 (1903/2000) Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I jumped back as the fox roared in fury. What the hell was that? The damage is far too low I dealt a lot more damage on the red tails! Is this the effect of the status penalty? No matter. Right now, my intention here is to test the waters and see its attacks and how they are. I¡¯m already prepared to die here one more time before managing to kill him. Putting some distance between us, I made a guarding stance with my shield in front and the sword behind. The fox looked at me in anger for a moment, then lifted its head while some cinders started to gather around it. The motion was similar to the one made by the red tails when they used fire ball. Except that this one was huge. Easily the size of my body! I jumped aside as early as I could to avoid the attack, but the fox did not let me go so easily. It turned to me while growling and jumped forward. I lifted my shield and blocked it¡¯s charge, however¡­ -3 (437/440) Really? This attack deals more than 72 damage alone? And I¡¯m pretty sure this isn¡¯t even a skill! This might also be because of the status penalty¡­ I gritted my teeth as I endured the attack, but in the end I was sent flying backwards for a few meters. It seems I really need to start training using my nature¡¯s bastion if I am to continue these mad hunts. Also, I really need to stop smiling, I¡¯m starting to creep myself out. Okay, new strategy. Stop blocking, more dodging. Dodging ignores all the damage, so it¡¯s a much safer option when hunting. Also, thinking about it, you only block on Monster Hunter when you have a lance or in dire situations, most of the time you spend dodging. WAIT! I¡¯VE BEEN HUNTING WRONG ALL THIS TIME? I held myself back so I wouldn¡¯t drop on all fours in the ground out of sheer depression. Quickly recovering myself from the crippling depression, I took guard and readied myself for another attack from the fox. This time, it roared before jumping forward, and the flames from its paws and ears increased greatly, surrounding it. I made a desperate jump to the side, as this charge was far faster than the previous one, and used roll to recover. Turning back to him, I readied for another attack. Tightening my grip on the iron sword, I stared at him, trying to see if I could read his movements. I gulped loudly as the tension got to me, and couldn¡¯t help but feel that this monster was looking at me with a mocking gaze. I prepared myself once again by lifting the shield and preparing for an attack. He came fast to me, but he didn¡¯t come in a straight line, he darted to the side before turning back to me and go for a bite. I had to use roll in a desperate move to avoid the bite, but the big guy was smart, and he used one of his tails to hit me before I could recover. I was flung backwards for a few meters before finally hitting a tree. -30 -10 -8 -48 (389/440) I slid down from the tree as the pain made everything around me spin. But I barely managed to see him going for my neck once again, so I barely managed to block the attack with my shield, but my legs were unable to lift me from the ground. -2 (387/440) The blazing tail backed away slightly, noticing that his attacks weren¡¯t having much of an effect, and looked at me while growling angrily. I saw as some cinders started to gather around his front claws and immediately knew that an attack was coming to me. It lifted it¡¯s right paw and brought it down in a diagonal motion. I barely managed to escape the attack by rolling beneath his claw, but this proved to be a bad idea, as he quickly used his other claw to attack me. -30 -45 -75 (312/440) Ghh. The damage, it¡¯s too high! I gritted my teeth as my body flew forwards due to the sudden impact, but using roll I quickly recovered myself and turned to the monster. He still stood there, but he had raised his tails, whose fire were burning even brighter than before. I recognized this as the Blazing arcs skill, so I readied myself for whatever was about to come. Instead of twisting it¡¯s body like the red tails, the Blazing tail nimbly swung its tails without moving the body, and for each tail came a fire arc. I jumped forward barely dodging the first arc that came in a horizontal slash, then used roll to dodge the one that came on a vertical, but it left me right in front of the third one. I raised my shield to block, but alas, my magical block is deplorable right now. -83 (229/440) I was flung backwards due to the impact, but before I could even put myself back on my feets, I heard it howl. Foolishly, I looked at it in surprise for a second, trying to understand what it was doing. By the time I had noticed, the ground beneath me was shining brightly. I sighed in self pity. Third self-imposed rule of the hunter. When the monster is doing something, do NOT stand still. A pillar of fire appeared all around me, and before I could even move away, it damaged me. -80 -80 -80 -240 (0/440) And that is how I died. Does this sound familiar? Anyway, the attacks seems to be the kind that hits multiple times while you are standing in the area, but since I was a bit at loss, I lost my time to react and ended up dying. Pathetic, I know. But¡­ I¡¯m happy, you know? Really happy. Each of his attacks easily took around 20% of my life. This is how it happened back at monster hunter. Is this how the hunter felt back at the game? I revived myself like usual and gave a last look at the blazing tail. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t go thinking that I am giving up! I¡¯ll be back later for your hide, you hear me?¡± I shouted defiantly at it. It lifted its head from the ground and looked at me a bit distractedly before resuming its resting position. Then, I started to make my way back to the city. I needed to make some preparations for this fight if I want to have a chance at winning. On the way back, I made sure to gather as much ores and herbs as I could before making my way. However, just as when I was about to leave the forest, I heard a cute sounding bark. Looking back in surprise, I saw the blue tail, the same one as I had found before, looking at me from the distance. At its feet was the body of a rabbit. I looked confused and surprised at it for a moment, until it slightly pushed the rabbit¡¯s body in my direction. Is he¡­ Repaying me? I approached him slowly, and he slowly retreated the more I advanced. He still looked at me with ferocious eyes, leaving me a bit at loss on what to do. I crouched when I arrived at the carcass, but he kept watching me warily. Now that I took a better look at him, all his wounds were now gone, and he didn¡¯t seem as skinny as he was before. I smiled slightly while I took the rabbits body from the ground. The fox seemed to be satisfied, as it nodded slightly before turning back and running towards the forest once again. I could go an chase him, but I had the feeling that I wouldn¡¯t be able to reach him even if I wanted. During the way back, I ran, since I was not feeling very patient. Making sure to change my boots for the travelers boot that reduces the satiety use for traveling, I did not need too many breaks. I reached the city in half the time it took for me to reach the forest, and as soon as I got there, I started to prepare myself. Firstly, I went to Sol¡¯s alchemical (and crystals). Yes, she did add that since the last time in a childish looking had-writing. We didn¡¯t talk much as she was lazing around in her night gown and I kept making as many potions as I could. I also took the book she promised me and asked if she could sell me some portable equipment so I could make the simple potions on the field. Getting my equipment ready, I then ran towards Torg¡¯s house. ¡°Oh, Gondorrer! It¡¯s been some time!¡± Said the big guy when he saw me. ¡°Hi illus¡­ Torg. Can you borrow me your forge once again?¡± Not like I haven¡¯t used it without permission before, though. ¡°Sure. Go light it up.¡± He said pointing towards the forge. I quickly heated it up and started dropping my iron ore in it. ¡°You know, recently there has been as strange smell in my forge¡­¡± He said striking a conversation. ¡°Strange smell? What do you mean?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Yeah. It smells like metal, but it¡¯s completely different from what I know. But it does remember me of iron¡­ I think someone has been using my forges to smelt something¡­ Different.¡± ¡­ HOW THE HELL CAN HE KNOW THAT ONLY BY SMELL? ¡°That¡¯s probably me¡­¡± I said awkwardly, surprising him. Since that was my original idea anyway, I showed him as I made some Crystal-iron alloys. And no, I wasn¡¯t making arrows, before you guys ask. I suffer from something I like to joke that I call, stupid pride. Basically, it means that if I fail while doing something, I will keep doing that the same way as before until I manage to accomplish it. This is specially true in games. Since I tried to fight the fox with sword and shield on the first time, I will keep at it until I kill it with the sword and shield. What I was doing right now, wasn¡¯t making arrows since this would go against that, but it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t improve my actual methods. I was making throwing knifes, this way I can actually use the crystals even in a battle that don¡¯t involves the bow. After making myself a small stock of these throwing knifes, and quickly quenching Torg¡¯s curiosity about the crystals, I put myself to train with the throwing knifes on some rabbits outside the city, until I earned the skill. Something surprisingly hard when half the times you hit with the handle, and the other you don¡¯t even hit at all.
Due to repeated use of throwing weapons, you have learned the skill: Throwing weapons mastery
Skill: Throwing weapons mastery [lvl 1] 0%
Increases damage done and ease of use of throwing weapons. Bonus Damage: 1%
Strangely enough, I didn¡¯t earn any subskills from this. Maybe because it¡¯s more of an auxiliary weapon rather than a main weapon? By the way, throwing knifes are considered consumables items by the system, so you can¡¯t exactly equip them. Also, I only activated one of each knifes to see whether they were working properly. After that I kept throwing them without activating the crystal, as this would break them and leaving me unable to recover them. Being satisfied with this, I decided to take a last look in the city and see whether I could find something more that could help me with this. Preferably, information. I went to the silver gauntlet and looked for Goulder, but it seemed that he was away. El and Arcus were also somewhere else, apparently in a mission. I sat on one of the tables and watched the scenery come and go distractedly for some time while waiting for the knight to come back. I even logged off to get something to eat and take a shower. But what actually took me out of the guild, was when a group of four players came in and took a quest from the counter. On their way out, I hear one of them asking where they would find a Blazing Tail. There were a few others who came and went in here but they were the only ones who actually got a quest related to that boss. Thinking that this might be a good chance, I decided to go and call out to them. ¡°I actually know where you can find these blazing tails.¡± I said when I reached them. The group looked surprised for a moment, and then a bit suspicious. In the end, the harpy girl spoke to me first. ¡°Would you mind telling us?¡± She quickly looked to her friends asking confirmation. ¡°On one condition.¡± I said to them. ¡°Of course, there is always a condition.¡± Said the beastman in a snark. He had chosen the tiger race and set his character to actually look like a walking tiger. ¡°What do you want? Money? Items?¡± I shook my head with an awkward smile. ¡°All that I want is to watch you guys fighting it.¡± The group looked confused for a moment. ¡°Actually, I want to watch the boss and how he fights, and if I have the chance to see that without stepping on the front lines, then all the better.¡± They looked confused, but in the end, the J?ntunn using heavy plate armor said. ¡°Well¡­ If that¡¯s all, I don¡¯t really see much problem. What about you guys?¡± He looked to his friends. The Harpy nodded slightly, the tiger shrugged and the treant examined me for a moment before agreeing. I had them follow me to the area and told them that we might take some time to reach, since it was fairly far. They said that they weren¡¯t bothered by it and followed me. Their reactions when they finally saw that I was the Wargon from the belt was priceless. At first the stared at me blankly, then their jaws almost dropped to the floor when they heard me saying that I was only level 10. Afterwards, they started to ask me to make them some gear, which I had to refuse since I wouldn¡¯t craft any gear until I could take down the Blazing tail. I took the time of the trip to learn more about the group. The J?ntunn was called Sr. Yagver (yes that is his nickname, with sir and all) the leader of the group, being a tank with the knight class. He was surprisingly sociable despite looking so damn scary with his bluish skin and black armor. The Beastman called himself Xredder, and was the melee dps using a pair of brass knuckles. It seems that his class is monk and that he actually trains martial arts in the real world. He was the cynical of the group. The harpy was called L3nny and used a cross bow as a weapon, saying that bow deals too little damage. Despite looking cheerful, she was surprisingly calm and composed. When I asked, she said her class is marksman. Lastly, there was the almost literal walking tree, Forgotten. He was the healer of the group with the druid class. He did not speak a single word the entire travel, but the others said that he was only a bit too immersed in roleplaying. Overall, it seemed a very balanced party for me, and I was pretty sure they would be very strong, as all of them had around level 18 or so. On the way back to the foxes forests, I ended up meeting someone slightly unexpected. Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the third! He was napping in a tree branch when we passed nearby. I jokingly made him a salute when he saw me, which he quickly replied with one of his own, leaving the group surprised. I wonder if I could tame him instead of the blue tail? He seemed to be a lot more sociable¡­ Sadly, I had already promised the group to take them to the blazing tail, so I would need to find it later. Leaving him behind (for now) I took them down the foxes forest. They easily dispatched the red tails with a focused strike. It looks so easy when not all of your fights are literally fights to the death with the opponent¡­ Sighing inwardly, we reached the clearing and I pointed them towards the boss and could hear all of them gulping loudly when they saw the huge fox laying patiently on the ground. I wasn¡¯t all that worried about they killing it, as I knew this guy would actually respaw after some time. How? Because various people could take the same quest back in the guild, so it meant that it would quickly respawn after some time. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to join us? We don¡¯t mind adding you to the party.¡± Said Sir Yagver. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. I have my weird reasons to be doing this, so no need to worry.¡± I said waving him off with my hand. He nodded once and called the party to gather. Meanwhile I sat down on a nearby tree. For now, all I would do was watch on how this would unfold. For now, at least.
Next chapter
Chapter 26 - The first hunt (part one) Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! The hunt is on! ANYWAY, sorry for having to split this part in two, but I spent at least 5 hours in this chapter, and I would either: Post it in two separate parts, Make one big post today, and then be pretty much brain dead tomorrow, or post nothing today, and post everything tomorrow. Since I REALLY don¡¯t like not posting anything without prior warning or being brain dead, I decided on the first. ALSO, taking on the cue, after I finish this arc, I might take a one or two days break where I will only update the SS, since I¡¯ve been pumping 4000+ words pages almost every day! BY CYGNAS, is this tiring. ALSO(2), There¡¯s still a small surprise before this arc ends! Wonder how many will actually get it right... If you have an idea and don¡¯t mind spoilers IF you get it right (I¡¯m not telling by myself.), then PM me, no spoilers on the comments. ALSO(3), I just noticed, but i might have messed up with a bit with the relation of ingame time and RL time, the Excel table i used for the last few chapters had been wrong, so please forgive-me if he somehow ended up lunching before dawn (T.T) Have a good read! ----- I saw them fighting, I simply sat there and watched as the group calmly tackled the boss. They started by doing the same as I did. Yagver gave the first attack and then used a skill that looked like a shout. If I were to guess, that is a threat management skill, and for those wondering, threat is (usually) an invisible number that indicates how likely the monsters are to be attacking you. The job of the tanks is pretty much to keep this number as high as they can while also surviving the attacks. When the fight started, only Yagver kept attacking the boss, and Forgotten *cough*GROOT*cough* kept healing him whenever his health dropped from 80%. Lenny and Shredder were simply waiting on the sidelines, probably waiting Yagver build either up his threat or to get a grip on the boss skill. Yagver had the easy time of only needing to duck behind his huge tower shield, since he didn¡¯t suffer from stats penalties and had a good shield. Casuals have it soooooo easy¡­ I thought while shaking my head. The first one to join the fight was Lenny, the harpy. She started to shoot it with arrows from afar while slowly circling it. After this, the boss occasional Inferno ball started to be aimed at her, besides the tank, some also targeted the healer, but these were pretty rare. One thing I did notice, though, was that the boss didn¡¯t use the fire charge yet. Maybe it¡¯s an at-range only skill? While I thought this, I heard the boss howling loudly. Glowing spots appeared at a large area around it. The group was taken by surprise by this skill and took some time to dodge, but they had large health-pools, so they managed to brush it off with the druid putting a Heal over time on all of them. And my suspicions were also confirmed. While dodging the reappearing pillars of fire, Yagver had to take some distance from the boss, and as soon as the boss stopped howling, he jumped towards him while surrounding himself in fire. The rest of the fight went on the same way, with Shredder joining after the first Soul fire, I guess that is the name of the skill, at least. From a normal MMO view, it was a simple tank-and-spank fight with the occasional DSITFFYI! Situation. Huh? ¡®DISTFFYI!¡¯? What it means? It goes for Don¡¯t stand in the freaking fire you idiot! And fire works for any kind of bad thing that appear in the ground, not only the hot kind. You WOULD think that this is a well-known rule in MMORPGS, but you would be surprised at how many people actually don¡¯t follow it. Tank-and-spank is the term used for bosses that all you need is to leave the tank in front of it while the damage dealers slowly kills him. From all the bosses fights, this is usually the easiest. After around five minutes or so, they downed the boss. They cheered among themselves and proceeded to reclaim the boss body. I saw a chest armor appear from the loot, although I couldn¡¯t see it¡¯s quality nor material. Yagver gave it to Shredder and then picked another item from the ground. I¡¯m pretty sure he grimaced, then the group came walking towards me. ¡°Wargon, I¡¯m sorry, but it seems we will have to kill this guy at least three more times. The item only drops one at a time, and the four of us need it. Is that a problem for you?¡± He said slightly worried. How could this be a problem? I waved them off. The longer I have to watch, the better my chances. So go out there and become my tickets to victory already! The boss respawned after around five minutes, and they made quick work of him, this time with both dps joining right at the beginning. Meanwhile I was watching, making a few hypothesis about his skills and habits, shooting some of them down while confirming others. After their fourth boss, they came to me and offered to help me killing it once again, but I simply denied them while I readied myself. Now, it¡¯s time for me to put my theories to test for real. I won¡¯t really describe my fights with the blazing tail here, because I died miserably three or so times. I wasn''t really going for the kill, you see, firstly, I wanted to confirm whether what I deduced about them was true or not, so I didn¡¯t bother with using potions nor any other consumables, these were on hold for the real fight. When I was satisfied with my theories, I was back to level 9, and the status penalty was already so ridiculous that the boss was one-shooting me even without skills, so I hunted some Red tails until I was back to level 11. By the time I ended, it was already the middle of the morning. Taking in consideration that I arrived with the group here yesterday at the end of the afternoon, a good time has passed. Readying myself, I went back to the clearing and started to equip myself. I took one of each throwing knife I had and put them into a makeshift bandolier around my chest, the five flash-bombs were tied to the right side of my belt while three potions were on the left. A quick check up to see if any of them were even a little bit loose, and I entered the clearing. It¡¯s time to hunt! I quietly approached the Blazing tail from behind, making sure it hadn¡¯t noticed me. When I got close to him, I started my starting combo LRG MNSTR version. I stabbed at his flank, making him howl in pain, but instead of pulling the blade out, I let it there and landed a shield slam on the handle, making all the blade pierce the muscle of the big guy, afterwards. I used a slash to take the blade away and used roll to make some distance between us, and just in time, as he had turned to me and tried slash me with his claws. Before he could recover from his attack, I took a poison knife and threw at him. -19 -62 (brutal) -14 -3 (Poison Resisted) Combo!(x1.2) -118 (1882/2000) I clicked my tongue in annoyance. As I feared, the poison was far too weak to affect him. At least my strategy of forcing brutal strikes was working. I thought this up when I noticed that my status debuff would pretty much leave me unable to land a critical, and taking in consideration the reduction of raw damage I already was suffering, this meant that my damage-dealing skills suffered a severe blow. Thus, I had to think of a way of increasing my damage. The monster recovered itself from the attack and looked at me in anger. Using a default tactic of monster hunter, I kept myself moving in a circle around him, so this way I could avoid any of his ranged attacks with greater ease. But this also put me at a great range from him, so he aimed at me and used the fire charge. As I had tested earlier, he could make some minor alteration to his trajectory whenever he used this skill, so I patiently waited until the last second to roll away. I turned back to see where he stopped, however he was too far from me, so I was unable to get a hit. He quickly turned back to me and spat out an Inferno ball. I jumped aside and slightly charged forward, he tried to spit another one, but I dodged right when he let go of the ball and managed to easily approach him before he could recover. However, being too greedy isn¡¯t good, so I only landed a stab in it¡¯s neck before rolling away. -17 (1865/2000) Now, I was behind him, so I expected him to turn toward me before attacking, but he used his tail to lash at me, throwing me away. -27 -10 -37 (413/450) I quickly got up and stared at him, that extra fire damage his attacks deal are a serious pain. Since he also spent some time only staring at me, I quickly took another poison knife from the inventory and stored it in the bandolier. The fox looked at me for some time, and then raised its tails, gathering fire on their tips. With a quick look, I immediately understood in which pattern the arcs would come. It was fairly simple, to tell the truth. If the tail was raised in a straight vertical, it would be a vertical arc, if it was slanted, it would slant towards the same direction. The only problem I still had with this was figuring the order of the attacks. Anyway, from what I saw, the attacks would be two horizontals and one slanted right. I immediately ran towards its right so I could avoid the slanted one and charged towards it. Another thing I noticed from this attack is that it leaves a large opening for me to strike if I managed to get close. Jumping above the first arc, I rolled beneath the second, leaving me besides the fox with the buff active. My third bout against him earlier worked so I could train rolling through the arcs, because this way, I can get a bonus on the next strike. I used Shield slam on its front leg, the knock back actually made it twist and brought down the big guy for a second. I immediately activated slice ¡®n dice, lasting for a whole four seconds before he managed to get back up. I used roll to interrupt the slice ¡®n dice and get away from it. -31 -7 (x8) -87 (1778/2000) This was another trick I learned while hunting the red tails. If you read Roll¡¯s description, it says: ¡°You can activate roll from any position¡± at first I thought that this meant that I could activated roll even when falling, but that wasn¡¯t the case. This meant that I could activate it even in the middle of other attacks and shorten their duration! THIS IS GOD SENT! Now, my strongest attack have no more weakness! Turning back to the fox, I noticed him glaring at me angrily while light gathered at his claws. I clicked my tongue. I barely managed to avoid the first claw by rolling away, but the second attack came too fast for me to avoid it, so I blocked it while using nature¡¯s bastion. -20 (393/450) Altough I blocked the physical damage, the freaking fire still managed to hurt me. I really hate this attack, not only is it difficult to dodge, it leaves barely no opening at all! So before I could even retaliate, the fox was already coming for a bite. Using the remaining of my energy, I rolled away and was left with only five points. This is bad. TATICAL RETREAT! I started running away from the fox. It looked at me confused for a moment giving me a whole full second, enough time for my energy to start to regenerate, before It finally gave chase. Just then I also learned that it can spit fireballs even when on the move. Noticing this disaster at the very last second, I literally threw myself at the ground and felt the fireball slightly scorching my pseudo-hair crystal. I quickly started rolling (not the skill, mind you) on the ground when I heard the big bad fox coming at me. After getting out of the way of the burning claw of death, I got up and prepared myself against the fox, now with my energy refilled, I could tackle it on again. The fox seemed confused about my sudden change in personality, but it didn¡¯t last long, as it lowered itself before jumping forward, charging at me with its mouth wide open. I smiled when I noticed this was a normal charge, and quickly took a freezing knife from my bandolier and tossed it. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. At the ground. The ground froze right when the fox was about to put its paws on the ground for the last push, but the sudden loss in grip made its feet slide harmlessly on the ground and it fell down while making an idiotic face. I triumphantly approached it while it was still down and gave my best smile, as I stomped its mouth shut and started my stab-slam-slash-roll combo. Once again, I barely managed to dodge the tail that came trying to slam me on the ground with the roll, but since the combo was still going on, I stomped into it and landed a couple of normal slashes on it before I finally had to get away. -2 -19 -62 (brutal) -14 -2 -11 -13 Combo! (x1.2) -147 (1631/2000) I grinned in satisfaction as the big numbers started to appear. But I got a bit too over confident, as the fox had already gotten up from its previous position and In a swift motion it spun around, making his three tails land on me before I could block it properly. -31 -28 -31 -10 -10 -10 -120 (273/450) I¡¯m an overconfident fool, I know. How many times you think I actually died on monster hunter when I was in the last seconds of the fight only because I had barely received any attack before? It weren¡¯t few, you can be sure of this. I immediately took a potion from the belt and chugged it down. +112 (385/450) Luckily, the potions didn¡¯t have a cool down, so I technically could use them as fast as I could drink, but it seems that using too many potions in a short timeframe reduces their effects. I tossed the glass into the inventory as I readied myself. The fox was already charging at me, so I rolled away from it while taking my distance waiting for my energy to recover. After stopping its charge, the fox turned back to me and started to howl. I scowled while I took my distance from it, because, as numerous and strong these fire pillars are, they maximum range isn¡¯t all that long. I took this time to replenish my bandolier and wait for the fox to finish. As soon as its howl died down, it turned to me immediately spitting out a large fireball, I immediately rolled away, but there was another fireball going in that direction, so I barely managed to block it somewhat with my shield. -23 (362/450) As I was literally blasted away, I had to recover myself with a roll, and just in time to avoid a flaming charge coming in my direction. The fox stopped its attack right when it passed me, and while turning to face me, it had gathered fire in its paws. I managed to jump back to avoid the first claw, and just as the second came to me, I pulled flash-bomb and exploded it. It winced in pain and surprise while recoiling its head back. I took advantage of this moment to get under his neck and pushed him to the sides using my shield as a support. If not for its surprise and loss of footing, I wouldn¡¯t have managed, but I somehow threw him to the side, making him fall on his back. As he was still confused, I used this chance to climb atop of his belly, and before he could try to understand what was happening, I took the second ice-knife and threw it at his paw, freezing it on the ground. It winced in surprise and tried to remove it from the ground, but even if the effect was severely reduced, it would still hold for a few seconds. Sadly, I only had two more of these remaining. Then I started my job of dealing the most damage I could to him. I started by stabbing the sword in the middle of its chest. I left it there as I closed my fist and landed a good couple of punches on it before using my shield-slam on the sword. It howled loudly in pain, but before he could somehow recover, I grabbed the sword and slashed at him before taking the stun knife and stabbing it on his chest, just in time, as the ice holding his paw was broken when a tail slammed on it. -3 -21 -5 -5 -62 (Brutal) -15 -5 Combo! (x1.3) -150 (1481/2000) I activated the stun knife and prepared myself to jump off from him, but the effect ended far too quickly, so I was still sitting atop of him. He quickly coiled one of his tails around me before lifting me and slamming me head-first in the ground. Sadly, I messed the timing and didn¡¯t get to use Nature¡¯s bastion in time. -42 (320/450) I grimaced in pain while getting up. Luckily for me, the big fox was still blinded, so it messed up on its fireballs. I was conflicted on using this time to either attack or recover, but he completely got me by surprise, as I saw him taking a very familiar position, where he slightly twisted its body sideway while its tail gathered light. It took me a brief moment to remember that that is the motion the red tails use when they are about to use their, comparatively, cute arcs. But why was HE doing it? As he uncoiled its body, I finally understood. Using his three tails, he made his arc a full circle around it. If you don¡¯t know where your enemy is, attack everything! Simple yet effective! WAIT! This isn¡¯t the time to admire him! I hurriedly managed to avoid the attack by diving into the ground and letting the arc pass a few centimeters above me. Quickly putting myself back up again, I ran towards him on a try to use the last few seconds of blindness to land a few hits. But he howled. I cursed under my teeth as I ran. Stopping and changing direction right now would take too much time, so I went straight forward in his direction. When I noticed that one of the circles was forming right beneath me, I barely managed to use roll to get away from it, but one hit still landed on me. -80 (240/450) As he was still howling, a few other spots were starting to light up with fire pillars, but I somehow manage to avoid them while reaching the fox. I held the fur on its leg and used it as a support to jump towards his raised head and bashed at him with my shield. -2 (1479/200) But damaging him wasn¡¯t my intention, as the bash skill took effect, the boss recoiled in surprise, just in time as I fell down besides him and used stab on his chest. Buuut¡­ Shield slam was in cool down, so, epic fail there. -18 (1461/2000) After being swatted away with a simple paw to the face (thankfully, he didn¡¯t use a skill) we once again had a distance between us. But¡­ -22 (218/450) Houston, we have a problem. My sword was still stuck on him, so I was weaponless. NO! let¡¯s not commit this same mistake again! I took the dagger I had equipped and started to circle around the boss as he recovered his vision. I quickly chugged down a potion to recover my health and waited for the boss to make its move. +98 (316/450) We both stared at each other for a moment, then he raised his tails and readied the arcs. I grimaced. The three were slanted, two to the right and one to the left. I ran towards his right, but the first one to come was the slanted left, so it was the one most likely to hit me. I barely managed to jump above it and then roll beneath the other two arcs. I got to him, but the roll left me on his flank, too far from the sword, so I had to help myself with a simple shield slam followed by some feeble daggers slices. -31 -7 -8 -7 -53 (1408/2000) Before he could attack me, I ran away and put some distance between us right as he activated his fire claws, barely dodging them. He looked at me angrily before spitting a couple of Inferno balls. I easily dodged them while keeping the distance between us. He watched me angrily before jumping forwards in a fire charge. I barely dodged it with a side step and quickly approached his back before he could recover. I quickly stabbed him with the dagger, making him quickly start turning to me with his claws burning. But I used roll to pass beneath him and once again stand behind him. He looked confused for a moment when he didn¡¯t find me there, so I took this chance to land a few more slices on him. -7 -8 -8 -7 -30 (1378/2000) Noticing I had fooled him, he quickly spun around while trying to ram his tails on me, just like earlier. But I wouldn¡¯t fall for this twice in a row! So I managed to roll beneath his tails, stepping up right in front of him with the buff from roll active. A wicked smile appeared in my face, as I landed a shield slam right into the blade stuck in his chest. The pain made him recoil slightly, but I jumped forward and grabbed the blade, immediately activating slice ¡®n dice with it still stuck on him, landing a full five seconds attack as he recovered from the initial damage. -80 (Brutal) -8(x10) Combo! (x1.1) -176 (1202/2000) He turned to me angrily before I could recover and tried to use a point-blank Inferno ball at me. I barely dodge the attack by jumping towards his flank, as all my energy was now spent, but he wouldn¡¯t simply let me go, as his tail came lashing down on me with ferocity. I managed to Nature¡¯s Bastion and block it, and since they dealt a fixed 10 fire damage, I barely managed to avoid getting burnt too. But he didn¡¯t stop there, as he turned towards me and tried landing a fire claw on my back. I barely managed to avoid it by falling forwards, and just then my energy recovered enough so I could roll away from the second. As I turned back to face him, I barely managed to avoid a fireball coming at me from behind out of sheer luck. Then I started to circle around him while waiting my energy to fill again. He tried to land a few fireballs on me, but I quickly avoided them by moving constantly. I took this time to replenish my stun knife back into the bandolier. Only when stopped to use the fire arcs I had to actually time my dodges, since they covered a wide area. When he finally went for a charge I decided to go back to the offensive. Since it was a normal charge, Nature-blocked it, avoiding any damage before activating stab on him. However, this didn¡¯t stop him from raising its head while howling. I quickly took the knife I had just replenished and threw at him, where he was stunned for a brief period of a time. Not enough to land a hit, but enough to stop his attack. He looked back at me in fury and went for the bite, but I immediately activated another flash-bomb. Once again he was left blinded by the bomb, and I took this time to land the shield slam on the blade before taking it away with a slash. The impact almost threw the Blazing Tail backwards, but he barely managed to hold himself on his two back legs. I ran towards them and landed my third slash on them, finally making him fall down on the ground. I had to jump away so I wouldn¡¯t get crushed by him. -19 -3 -62 (Brutal) -14 -18 Combo! (x1.2) -139 (1006/2000) I quickly turned back to him and ran to the base of his tails, where I swung the sword madly for a few extra hits before he could recover -11 -13 -12 -11 -14 -61 (945/2000) Hmm¡­ I wonder if I hit his tails enough I will cut them? MAYBE IT WILL DROP A BLAZING TAIL PLATE! I wonder how many of you will understand that¡­ When I noticed him recovering, I quickly backed away, but not before one of his tails managed to land a hit on my back. -30 -10 -40 (276/450) Cliquing my tongue while getting back up to my feet, I quickly chugged down another potion. +90 (366/450) The effect really is decreasing. This is bad. Luckily, I still had something between twenty five or so potions in my inventory. But hey! He is below half his health! Isn¡¯t this awesome? If this was monster hunter I wouldn¡¯t even have a way of knowing this. Shrugging away my distraction, I readied myself as the boss looked at me in anger. This time, the one with the mocking smile was me!
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Chapter 27 - The first hunt (Part Two) Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! End of a fight and odd skills! ANYWAY, here I bring forth the ending of the first big hunt of our dear main character, and what are his rewards afterwards! But the arc still isn¡¯t over yet! Whoever thought that he would not be back, was deadly wrong! ALSO, I ended up late in this release because of 2 things, firstly, I blame ¡®Tales of the Blood princess¡¯, I spent a few hours laughing at this story and ended up unable to write, the other is because I just got something shiny, and I spent my time configuring it. (It¡¯s a portable console!) ALSO(2), I actually use a calculator and excel table when making these damage numbers, so i swear under the name of Cygnas that what happened near the end of the fight was actually a coincidence, and was not planned. Have a good read! ----- The fox looked angrily at me while I kept my smile. I really had to hold myself to not make a mocking dance in front of it right now, after all, compared to our first meetings, this was the first time the one close to death was him. Slowly keeping myself walking in circles around him, I prepared myself when I saw him slightly crouching his body before darting forward in a normal charge. I though about using the ice knife on the ground once again, but I decided against it since that was the one I had managed to make the least. I crouched myself slightly and just as he was about to hit me, I rolled out of the way. But it seem that he actually manage to get my trick down, since he immediately turned back in a jump and threw an Inferno Ball at me. Altough I could only block the attack, I somehow avoided being launched backwards -23 (343/450) I Just afterwards, he immediately raised his head while howling. My initial reaction was to get my stun knife and throw it a him, but I didn¡¯t replenish it yet, so I had to hastily get out of the area. I took this time to replace my potions, knifes and flash-bomb. As soon as his howling stopped, I ran towards him and landed a slash on his flank immediately followed by a roll to pass beneath him. He tried to attack me from where I came, but I wasn¡¯t there anymore, I quickly turned back and stabbed him in the flank, soon followed by the shield-slam. -18 -19 -62 (Brutal) Combo! (x1.1) -109 (836/2000) Good, only eight or so combos like that and I can defeat him! While readying myself for getting away from the fox, I suddenly felt something soft coiling around my waist. Surprised by this, I didn¡¯t have the time to try and get away before his tail lifted me from the ground and he turned to look straight at me. Ooh boy. He looks angry. I tried to give my best appeasing smile to him, but he didn¡¯t seem all that accepting, as he inspired deeply while coiling his head. I tried to squirm my way out from his tails, but since he had locked my arms together with my body, there wasn¡¯t much I could do, so I ended up taking the point-blank Inferno-Ball to the face. -36 (307/450) Since this time I didn¡¯t have a place to support myself, I flew pretty far, slamming on the ground with force and even rolling a couple of times. I quickly lifted myself and saw him looking at me from the distance. I grimaced and thought about chugging another potion, but there were less than twenty seconds since the last one, so maybe I should hold it a bit more. The fox started running towards me while spitting a few Inferno Balls, I avoided these rather easily as I had more than enough time to dodge them. But when he got close to me, he suddenly pounced forward. That¡¯s new. And bad. Very bad. I lifted my shield in panic and activated Nature¡¯s bastion just in time as he fell down upon me. Although I did avoid the damage, I was still thrown to the ground with the fox pinning me down. He immediately went for the bite on my neck, which I barely managed to dodge. As he prepared for another bite, I managed to get my flash-bomb from my belt and use it at the last second. The effect was much milder, now that three of them had already blinded him beforehand, but it was enough time for me to manage to escape from beneath him. In my best guess, this one should leave him around six to ten seconds blind, opposed to the original thirty or so. I took some distance to avoid a random-targeted fire-claw, I noticed that my shield slam was barely leaving the cool down. Just then, I noticed the boss preparing for a full circle arc and an idea came to my mind. Should I go for it? If it works the damage will be really good¡­ Oh well, no pain no gain. I quickly ran towards him right before he was about to release the fire circle and used stab on his flank, leaving the sword there. He grimaced slightly at the pain, but didn¡¯t stop the attack. He quickly spun around making his tails draw a full circle around the area. Waiting for the very last moment, when the tail was about to hit me, I jumped away and activated roll. The tail even glanced my armor, I could feel the fur pulling slightly at the chain-mail, but I still managed to avoid any damage. But more importantly, 30% damage boost! Before you complain, I really don¡¯t think I can pull that off again, ok? If I had been one second later or earlier I would have taken a blazing tail to the face. Literally, in both meanings. When the fox finally stopped its spin, now recovered from his blindness, he was probably ridiculously surprised to see me still close to him, but before I would let him try to attack me, I reached the sword still in his flank and used the just-out-of-Cool down Shield-slam. The fox howled in pain as the boosted attack hit it. Sadly, slice ¡®n dice was still halfway through the cool down, so I didn¡¯t have much choice besides slashing the guy once more. -21 -80 (Brutal) -15 Combo! (x1.1) -128 (708/2000) I jumped away before he could land a tail lash on me, but it seems that it wasn¡¯t enough, as he quickly jumped towards me and hit me in the chest with a head-butt, flinging me backwards until I hit a tree in the border of the clearing. -32 -5 -37 (270/450) Before I could even stand up, I saw the Blazing tail raising its tails for a brief second while gathering light before laying all of them on the horizontal. It took me a moment understand what was happening, but I soon paled. He was about to use the Blazing arcs, all three of them in the horizontal. If I was standing, I could simply run to the sides and avoid them, but still being on the ground, I wouldn¡¯t have time to dodge sideways. But if I tried to roll beneath them, I would end up being hit by the ones behind. While thinking of a possible exit, since forwards, sideways and behind were blocked, I ended up trying to risk it to the last possible direction. Just as the fox sent the arcs towards me, I turned back to the tree behind me and jumped while stabbing the sword in its bark. Just to be safe I climbed a bit more, but when the arcs hit the tree, it made an ominous creaking sound. For a moment I stopped while trying to understand what was that sound, but when I noticed, the horizon was already disappearing beneath my line of vision as the sky took over everything. Just to be safe, can¡¯t forget to say it. ¡°TIMBEEEER!¡± Just as I said that, I jumped away from the falling tree just in time to hear it hitting the ground while bracing myself for the impact. Hmm? Strange? I don¡¯t remember the ground being so fluffy¡­ Lifting my eyes and looking around searching for the fox, I could see that I was a few meters away from the ground, laying into a surprisingly soft furry back. It took both me and the fox a couple of seconds to understand that I had fallen right atop of it while facing his tails. Luckily, it seems that I was the faster one, because I managed to grip my blade and start stabbing madly at his back. He yelped in pain and tried to coil his tail around me. I¡¯ve fallen for that one one time too many! I quickly lifted my arm and slashed at the tails trying to get me, making them recoil in pain. I took back on my job to stab him madly, but suddenly something hit me, interrupting my little fun time. -14 -15 -14 -16 -17 -15 -14 -18 -14 -137 (571/2000) -30 -10 -40 (230/450) Luckily, I managed to grab hold of the still stabbed sword and avoid falling and looked up just in time to see another tail coming to lash at me. I quickly raised my shield and blocked the attack while holding dearly at the sword as a support. When the fox noticed that this also wasn¡¯t working, it stopped the barrage of tails on me and started to shake itself around. HI HO GOLDIE! I had to grab to its fur with my shield hand so I wouldn¡¯t fall down. Annoyed by the unstopping shaking, I took a brief moment of calm as the fox stopped to gather its breath and quickly stabbed the stun knife on its back. When it tried to shake me off again, I activated the knife making the fox cringe in pain for a brief moment. I took this time to unhinge my sword from his body and turn myself to his head, then I slammed the sword deep into his neck with a stab and soon followed by a slam. -21 -62 (Brutal) -83 (488/2000) The sudden impact made by Slam¡¯s knockback coming from a strange direction made the fox slam its head on the ground while losing its balance. I quickly let go of his back and grabbed the sword back from his body just as he got up again and lashed a tail at me. I barely dodged it with a roll, but I was left right in front of him. He looked at me angrily while I only frowned. A fire claw came furiously at me before I could even move away. I raised my shield to block it, feeling myself being slightly pushed back by the damage. When he raised the second claw I quickly turned towards and blocked it once again. -35 -35 -70 (160/450) Although the physical damage wasn¡¯t much of a problem, the magical one was still too high. Blocking it wasn¡¯t working as well as I had hoped. And barely had he stopped the attack, he came forwards aiming for a bite. I jumped aside while landing a single slash on his face before taking my distance from him and chugging another potion. -30 (critical) (458/2000) +85 (245/450) ¡­ Really? Of all the FREAKING times you had to land a critical, you do it when I use my weakest skill outside of a combo? ARE YOU (bleep) WITH ME? I held back my righteous rage as I saw the fox turning to me and using a Fire charge. I jumped aside at the last moment dodging his attack, but still kept my distance to let the energy recover. For a moment we simply stared at each other. He looks about as tired of this fight as I am. Having recovered both my energy and the Shield slam cool down I waited for him to attack while slowly circling around him. But he just stood there looking at me, not even using an inferno ball! We stood at that deadlock of no one attacking the other for almost a full minute. Until I became annoyed and charged forward. I ran forward towards him as he waited in his place, I raised my sword to attack him, but he suddenly jumped back at the last second while immediately shooting an Inferno ball towards me. Although I managed to avoid the attack, it took me almost a full second to understand what happened. THE BASTARD WAS USING MY STRATEGY! As if confirming this, he was already rising his tails readying the arcs before I even could react. I barely managed to duck beneath the first one and roll away from the next, but the third one hit me straight on, blowing me away. -93 (152/450) I quickly stood up and chugged two potions immediately. +78 +43 +121 (273/450) God dammit, two potions are almost the same as one potion now! I almost charged right back at him in rage, he was so close to death right now! All I needed was one last push! But I barely managed to calm myself down and once again take my stance. We once again stood in the deadlock where neither of us attacked. Seeing as he had much more patience than me, I decided that waiting wasn¡¯t going to cut it. I charged towards him once again, but just when I was about to reach him, I jumped aside, matching the timing on which he readied a fire claw to receive me. What? You aren¡¯t the only one who knows how to trick others, you know? As his leg landed on the ground and he raised the other, I almost immediately used the stab-slam combo on his still standing leg before he could use the second claw. The loss in balance brought him down once again and I didn¡¯t let this chance escape, as I grabbed the sword and used a full duration slice ¡®n dice on him. During this time he tried to turn to me and attack, but I barely managed to use another flash bomb to stop him on his last second. Although he didn¡¯t get the blinded debuff. -15 -61 (brutal) -7(x11) Combo! (x1.1) -168 (290/2000) After spending all the remaining energy I had on the attack, I quickly raised my shield and blocked an incoming tail. Immediately after he tried to use his tail to grab me, but a quick strike with my sword was just what I needed to avoid it. -15 (275/2000) I quickly ran away from him and took my distance once again. I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit. It was the first time since this duel started that the two of us stood here with the same health left. But if took in account the proportions, he had thirteen or so percent of his health left, while I still had half of mine perfectly fine! Huh? Potions? What do you mean? Anyway! All I needed was a couple more attacks and this would mean his end! His lack of HP actually seemed to have an effect on him, as he started to pant heavily while looking at me. Well, he only looked tired, his charge still had all the strength from before behind it. I blocked it with nature¡¯s bastion due to the lack of energy to roll. As we stood there face to face, with only my shield between us, he suddenly stopped his pressure while raising his head in a loud howl. I cringed in panic. I had no way of dodging this one now! We were too close and I had no energy to roll out of trouble before a random pillar would burst into flame around me. Come on! I didn¡¯t come so far only to die at his lasts breaths! In a panic, the first thing that came to me was to take cover. But where would I find such a covers, after all, in one second from now this whole area will become a raging inferno, there is nowhere that I can run where the fire won¡¯t get me! Actually, there might be one place¡­ But I didn¡¯t actually check it before, so maybe I am rushing to my death? A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Hell, I¡¯ll be dead anyway, let¡¯s give it a try. Right when the pillar of fire was about to burst from beneath me, I jumped forward. And fell between the legs of the boss. I waited for a moment while expecting myself to be roasted to oblivion, but when I noticed that nothing was coming, I laughed and rolled to my back, where I started to attack the boss from beneath. Luckily, his Soul fire skill was ridiculously long, so I had more than enough time to even land my brutal combo from beneath. -11 -13 -14 -11 -17 -61(brutal) -15 Combo! (x1.3) -185 (90/2000) I only stopped when the boss stopped his Soul Fire and used his tail to drag me out from beneath him while throwing me away. Luckily, I used roll right before hitting the ground to null the damage. Looking back at him, I noticed I was laughing, maybe a bit too madly, even for my own tastes. The boss looked at me angrily while trying to hit me with a fireball. Huh? Be calm? Wait for a counter? He¡¯s in his lasts breaths! How the hell can I even dream of doing that! I¡¯m way too excited here. I mindlessly darted forward while dodging the Inferno Ball and used roll when I saw him raising his claw to attack me. I passed beneath the first claw and landed a couple of hits on his flank. His second claw came raging at me, but I simply blocked it with my shield without much care. -23 -14 -37 (53/2000) -35 (240/450) He, probably noticing that he was almost dying, tried to gain some distance from me by jumping away while Inferno balling me. I dodged it with a roll and smiled fearlessly. I wanted to go ahead and hack his last health away, but such an enemy deserves a better fitting end than a simple sword strike. He quickly started spamming a few Inferno ball to try and keep me away, but as I slowly made my way towards him, carefully dodging all the attacks I saw that my skills cool down had just come out, so I darted forward. In his last attempt, he once again used Soul Fire, in a desperate attempt to keep me away. But I kept going forward, avoiding a pillar of fire that came from beneath with a side step and reaching him. I grabbed the fur on his legs and used it to throw me upwards, just in time as I saw the ground right beneath me lightning up slightly. I almost fell into despair when I saw that. Even when I had almost gone berserk, I knew that taking one of those would kill me, so I started to curse at my own carelessness. Immediately recovering, I decided to try and end this as quick as possible. As soon as I reached his head, I used shield slam to shut him up, however, I was a second too late, as the pillar of fire came around me. -31 (22/2000) -80 (160/450) I cringed, so little left, I can¡¯t die here. Not when I was so close. Before I fell down, I activated stab downwards, the sudden motion throwing me downwards as the sword pierced the back of his neck. -21 (1/2000) -80 (80/450) ONE HP? ONE BLEEPING HP? I CAN¡¯T ALLOW THAT. On the last moment before the last tick of the soul fire could get me, I picked a random knife from my bandolier and stabbed it at him, not even bothering which one it was. -80 (0/450) -3 (0/2000) ¡­ I got too excited. Right at the end. How many times did that happen to me before? I feel like a fool right now. I swear, that if I loose my kill, I¡¯ll kill myself back to level one. Seriously. Ok, not so seriously. After some while, the now too familiar feeling of having your soul dragged around finally stopped as I reached the shrine. Quickly dismissing the window that appeared, I started running towards where my body had last been seen. Since I had now pretty much became used to running on this forest as a ghost, and I was actually running, for a change, I quickly reached my body and immediately revived. You have no idea how happy I was when I saw that he was lying lifelessly at my side. A few windows appeared in front of me, but I quickly set them aside for now, because the body of the fox was far too close from the center of the clearing for my tastes, so I put my shoulder on his chest and started pushing him away from there. Just as I left the clearing while dragging the body, a flash of light indicated that the next blazing tail had respawned. He lazily looked in my direction, but since I was too far, he didn¡¯t bother too much with it and simply laid on the ground lazily. I let out the breath I didn¡¯t know I was holding as I fell with my back against the still warm body of the Blazing tail behind me. I kept like that for almost a full minute before I recovered. Still a bit absentminded because of the sudden lack of tension, I started to see the windows that appeared before me.
You have leveled up. You now have 2 status points to distribute.
You lost an level due to dying, any undistributed status points were taken away and will be given back after leveling again.
Your one-handed sword mastery skill has achieved Intermediate rank. Now you can derivate this skill.
Skill: One-handed sword mastery [intermediate] [lvl 1] [10%]
Your continuous use of one-handed swords has increased your effectivity when using such weapons: Bonus damage: 10%
Passive
For reaching Intermediate level on one handed sword mastery, you have unlocked a new sub-skill: Fencing
Sub-skill: Fencing [intermediate] [lvl1] (levels increase with one handed sword mastery)
Be it through style and grace, or brute strength and savagery, your continuous use of the sword have given you a greater understanding of its use, allowing you to guide it with ease as if it was weightless. Attack speed increased in 5%
Passive
You have done what most would consider a reckless, insane and completely impossible act, yet you still strive despite the odds. However your tales are so absurd that your peers doubt either their veracity or your sanity, thus you have earned the title: The Mad Since you have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change your title
The Mad: Altough the NPCs may doubt your sanity, they are more likely to give you quests for levels higher than yours.
For having continuously fought against enemies much stronger than you and having unlocked the title: The mad, you have unlocked the skill: Recklesslness
Skill: Recklessness [lvl1]
You either are a brave soldier or a fool unable to gauge the odds, however, you are less likely to be intimidated by stronger enemies. Level increases when fighting enemies much stronger than you. Increases the difference in level necessary to suffer intimidation by 2
Passive
I was skinning the Blazing tail while reading the window. The first ones left me astonished, because when I fought the blazing tail, I had around 2% of exp to the next level, however not only I leveled up, even with the level loss, I was still around 83% in exp! This thing was a freaking Experience mine! When it came to the sword mastery dinging, I became surprised, to say the least, but glad. After quickly taking out my sword and making a few test swings, it indeed felt lighter and faster. Then, I reached the last two windows. My guess, if I were any other person, would be that I should somehow feel ashamed or depressed about this. But me? Heck, I started laughing like a mad man. I loved it! The first thing I would do when I get back to Eldorrer will be change my title. Just imagine it! I will be know as Gondorrer Tailbane, The mad! Oops¡­ Sorry. Gondorrer Gravelheart, The mad! Doesn¡¯t that sound cool? Don¡¯t say that it doesn¡¯t. I was laughing happily as I worked on skinning the Blazing tail, and it took me almost twenty minutes to do it. The hide alone took almost all of the time, so big this guy is! Also, for a big bad boss, this guy is surprisingly¡­ Fluffy. I fear that if I ever buy a house in-game, I will come back here and get another one of these guys to make me a rug. I won¡¯t even need a bed! Anyway, after some serious and stressing minutes of carefully skinning him, I finally got my hand on the huge piece of hide, and¡­!
Blazing tail Hide (Good)
The hide of a mighty blazing tail gotten through manual skinning. This hide is tough, flexible and possess an excellent fire resistance. Professionals would pay a lot for this. (Crafting Material)
I¡¯m a happy man! Ooh, that I am! This is my first Good hide! Imagine the things I can do with these? But, this wasn¡¯t all.
Blazing tail Gem (Excellent)
A gem often found on the forehead of the blazing tails. Fire magic is almost pouring out of it, even as you hold still. Used to make magical items. (Crafting Material)
I¡¯m smiling madly, aren¡¯t I? I know I am, no need to try and hide. After finally calming down, I finished gathering the fangs and claws from the big guy. And finally reclaimed his body, leaving nothing else on the ground. Finally, I had taken my first big step into becoming a hunter! I was so happy I was almost crying! But then¡­ Looking at that other Blazing tail back there¡­ I kind of want to hunt him too, you know? Test the new skills? That was exactly what I did. And boy, was that easy! After removing the status debuff, it seems to be called intimidation now that I read it in the skill, it became so much easier! I hunted three more Blazing tails after that one, one with the sword and shield and the other two with the bow. Fun fact, though, is that they are much easier to hunt with the bow, since I can keep the range with more ease and all his ranged attacks are relatively easy to avoid. And I also learned a very neat and mean trick. Piercing shot, if I angle it well, can actually hit the same target twice! If, for example, I aim at his neck, it pierces, then hit a tail after some distance, it count as two hits from my strongest skill. If that isn¡¯t op, I have no idea what isn¡¯t! However, even if I shoot at it from head to tail, if it doesn¡¯t leave the body at least once it only counts as one hit, so it¡¯s actually kind of hard to use, so I only landed two double pierces in the whole fight. There was even a group of players that came here to hunt it when I was using the bow for the first time. They were surprised to see a player hunting a boss alone, but then, who was mad enough to do that? I let them have the one after that, then finally took on the following one, deciding that he would be the last one. On the last one I didn¡¯t even use a potion, after fighting them for so long, I could somehow foresee its attacks and dodge them with ease. But I did end up with 100 HP, though, so it¡¯s not like I was invulnerable. Also, I hit level 14 while playing around, and put everything into mind. My magic resistance was far too low; I had noticed this while fighting them. After killing him, I took him out of the clearing for skinning, It was already night by then. There was a fast flash of light as the new one came to the slaughter house, but I paid it no heed since he wouldn¡¯t bother me. After finishing my job and deciding to call it a day. And it was one heck of a day to tell the truth. I passed the clearing without giving even a glance at the newcomer, since I knew his agro range. However, before I left through the other side, I heard a howl coming from him. Surprised by this, I turned to look at him, but as soon as I did, I started laughing madly, to the point of dropping the bow. He wasn¡¯t attacking me. The new guy was actually challenging me! How did I know? Because I was looking straight at his eyes, and different from the ones before who came at me like I was a small fly, only to be swatted down. However, this guy didn¡¯t seem to underestimate me. But it wasn¡¯t this that was making me laugh. It was this.
Freezing tail [lvl 18](RARE BOSS) Equivalent level: 21 (aggressive)
HP: 2300/2300 -Freezing Spike -Frostbite Arc -Ice claws -Soul Storm -Freezing charge
Frozen Tails. The existence of this monster was always thought to be but a myth, as the Blue Tails are always shunned and attacked by the red tails, and thus, many of them die before they can even dream of reaching the alpha status. However, it is said that, should a Blue Tail survive it¡¯s harsh growth period, their accumulated experience makes so that they become such a fearsome beast that even the Blazing tails are unable to compare.
And at his feet, was the dead body of a small rabbit.
Next chapter
IMPORTANT: not a chapter No, I won''t stop writing Insania, before any of you enter in despair (or mad glee if you hate me, i guess...) In fact, this is just the opposite. This is something I have to do if I want to keep writing As you may have noticed, my fight scenes are a bit... Draggy. And I agree, that they are a bit under the average when it comes to the remainder of the story. One of the things I was recommended to do was to add status effects and damage multipliers when hitting certain parts of the body, like giving slow when hitting the legs, but dealing less damage than if I hit the body or landing brutals on certain parts give a bleeding debuff. This could help me giving a bit more variation to the fights and make Wargon do a few wargon-like ideas things during the fights. I myself kind of like this idea, and plan to add it. HOWEVER, the fight with the blazing tail didn¡¯t exactly take that in consideration¡­ So I am currently left with two options. One is where I go back and rewrite all the fighting scene (The preparations and aftermath are going to be kept the same) maybe even adding some crazy ideas or two. The other one is where I blame the intimidation debuff for always giving the smallest multiplier independent of where the hit lands and he is unable to apply the status, but now that he isn¡¯t affected, he starts to apply it to his fights. This mechanic would be left only for boss-tier or higher enemies, so I wouldn¡¯t need to rewrite all the previous fights. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. FOR NOW, I¡¯m going with the second option as I write the next chapter, but I¡¯m leaving a poll here to see what you guys would rather have me doing. If you have other suggestions, please leave a comment and I¡¯ll see what I can do. I''ll delete this post once the voting is done. Chapter 28 - Freezing soul Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Cool foxes and partings! ANYWAY¡­ I¡¯M SORRY! I TRIED! I SWEAR I TRIED, BUT I WAS UNABLE TO MAKE IT NOT TOO DRAGGY THIS TIME T.T If I don¡¯t make it over-detailed it just don¡¯t feel right¡­ So, I decided to take another approach to this. I cut the fight on a part I found to be suitable and will probably add a chapter 28.5 with only the remaining of it, no plot development, only the fight. This way, those that like reading the fight can still enjoy then, and the others won¡¯t be TOO bothered by it. For now this is the only answer I could create as I learn to go easier on my descriptions¡­ SORRY! *Dogezas, hits the head in the ground and faints* ALSO, for the whole IMPORTANT: Not a chapter thingie, this is what I decided to go for now: I¡¯ll go with the patch route, as it makes sense, but as one of the comments said, that would be too much of a gameplay change for everyone. While some MAY like the extra challenge, others may not, so what the patch actually does is to get a chance to remove the ¡®goddess blessing¡¯, which basically means going the realistic mode, where not only your attacks on the monster can give it debuffs, but his attacks can also do it to you. This way both demographics can be happy, the casuals and the crazy ones. Also, in a party, it¡¯s the team leader who chooses the stile that will affect everyone. I want to hear your opinions on this matters. ALSO(2), on a serious note, my room got really dusty near the end of this chapter, and some of it even entered my eyes! Can you believe that? Have a good read! -------- Me and the fox simply stared at each other for a moment as I tried to calm myself down from my mad laughter. I had no doubt that this guy was the same one from before. Though much bigger and stronger, the way he looked at me was exactly the same. Hmm¡­ I wonder if he would let me pet him? I took back the bow and put it on the quiver while slowly approaching the Freezing tail with my arms raised, showing that I meant him no harm. He looked at me suspiciously, but didn¡¯t run away this time. When I got to him, I slowly lowered my hand on his head. He cringed a little at this and looked at me confused and even a bit scared, but as soon as I started to gently rub his head, he stopped and seemed to enjoy himself in a complete bliss, as his three huge tails started swinging happily from one side to the other. WAAH! He¡¯s even fluffier than the Blazing tail! After a few seconds like that, it seemed that he finally recovered himself, as he opened his eyes in shock and quickly pulled his head from my hand. He looked at me annoyed and started to bark something at me. Meanwhile I was completely devastated because he was mad at me. I looked longingly to my hand then to his forehead. I tried to reach for it once again, but he pulled back before I could reach. WAAH! MY FLUFFINESS! COME BACK! Wait¡­ Is he looking at hand? Yes! It seems that he really likes it! Yes, come closer. Come to the fluffy side of the force! We have petting sessions! ¡­ Not even one minute later he was laying on the ground with me hugging his neck. I think I¡¯m in heaven! ¡°But who would think that you would get so strong!¡± I said absentmindedly while petting him, he made a grunt agreeing with me. We stayed like that for a few more minutes until I finally decided to go straight to the point. ¡°Hey, want to come with me?¡± The freezing tail lifted its head surprised then looked at me. I could see him hesitating for a moment, but in the end he shook his head. Then he used one of his tails to point to the bow on my back before pointing at himself. ¡°You¡­ Want to fight me?¡± I asked surprised. He nodded with conviction. ¡°WAAAH! BUT I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS! I NEVER KNEW THAT YOU HATED ME!¡± I made a fake cry while shoving my face on his fluffy fur. I could feel him getting agitated and nervous as he moved his head around, until finally he used one of his tails to pat my back. God, this is wonderful. Not only it is fluffy, but because his element is ice, it doesn¡¯t get stuffy in here. Heck, this actually feels really good, just slightly cool. ¡°Do I get the option of not fighting?¡± I asked after a few minutes. He lifted his head and shook it. ¡°Even if I try to run away?¡± He nodded. I sighed loudly for a moment while thinking. ¡°Why? Is there a reason for this?¡± I asked after some time, but he kept quiet. I thought for a moment, trying to understand what could that mean, until finally it hit me. ¡°Does it have something to do with being the alpha?¡± A nod. After a few seconds of silence. ¡°Is it pride?¡± Another nod. I sighed while raising myself from the ground. Pride is an idiotic thing, I¡¯m a fine example of this. I took my bow and exchanged it with my sword and shield, I don¡¯t think he is going to go easy on me, so I might as well go with my best. I also took my time to change a couple of throwing knifes from the bandolier, taking out the last freezing knife I had and putting a fire one. I thought about keeping the flash-bomb, but decided against it on the last second. I kind of feel that these are a bit of a cheat method to use on a friend. After making sure that I was all equipped and ready, I turned back to him one last time and approached him. He looked at me confused while I petted him for one last time. ¡°Look, even if you, by some kind of miraculous coincidence under the heavens manage to defeat me, which I highly doubt, mind you¡­¡± He looked at me with an ¡®Really?¡¯ face. ¡°I won¡¯t hold it against you, ok?¡± He seemingly got relaxed after I said this, as he lowered his head relieved. I smiled at this scene. ¡°Okay, now, before we being, there is something we have to do!¡± I said excited, with him looking curiously at me. I made him sit before grabbing one of his paws and raising it in the air. ¡°This, is called a high-five!¡± I said while slapping his paw with my hand, he looked at his paw confused then tilted his head while looking at me. ¡°It¡¯s what friends does!¡± his eyes widened for a moment before his tails swung happily a few times. Afterwards, I took my distance and readied myself. Probably noticing me getting serious, for a change, he also took a combat stance while lowering his head. Damn, the second boss that I fight, and I¡¯m already in the high rank¡¯s subspecies¡­ ¡­ We looked at each other for a moment, and nodded both at the same time, signaling the start of the fight. He made the first move, by recoiling his head like the Blazing tails Inferno Ball. I prepared myself to jump out of the way, but I forgot, they may look alike, but this isn¡¯t a blazing tail. What he shot was an icicle the size of my head. Smaller than the inferno ball, but faster, much faster. If the inferno ball is a cannon, this is a sniper shot. I barely had the time to even put my shield in front of me and block it. But I was still blown away half-way across the clearing. Luckily, I didn¡¯t fly high, so I managed to recover without taking any fall damage. Or any damage at all. No matter how much I waited, my hp didn¡¯t seemed to have decreased¡­ Strange. I didn¡¯t really have much time to think about it, since he was already charging towards me while mist gathered at the tip of his tails. I readied myself for the attack, but he completely got my by surprise there. He jumped right before he got to me and made a full somersault, and three icy arcs came on my direction directly from above, I had to roll away from the attack to avoid being caught in it. But they still struck the ground where they stayed stuck. Wait, they are solid? Does that mean that they are physical damage? Is that why the icicle didn¡¯t pass through my block? I barely recovered myself in just enough time to see him coming for my neck with his maws wide open and tried to bite me. I jumped aside while grabbing onto his fluffy fur to use it as a pivot and stay glued to his body, where I landed a slash and a stab. -28 -23 -51 (2249/2300) I quickly got away when he turned towards me with a downward ice-claw. Three ice spikes came down from god knows where and pierced the ground where I was. I looked at him tauntingly for him having missed his attack, but I was answered with a mocking gaze. He used his second claw to hit the ice, shattering it in thousands of shrapnel. Even when I lifted the shield, many of them still hit me in the legs and arms. -5 -6 -3 -5 -6 -3 -4 -32 (448/480) Damn, so he could also use the ice like that? That¡¯s new. Recovering myself from the attacks, I noticed him raising his head to howl loudly. Immediately, the whole ground in a fifteen meters radius around him froze. At the same time, some parts of the ice started to shine brightly. I quickly ran away from the area while a message popped into my damage area. (snare)(snare resisted) DAMN! THAT THING SNARES? I rolled out of the way from the area just in time to see a huge ice storm forming around him while five huge ice stalagmites raised from the ground. The number is much smaller compared to the Soul fire, but the area of each attack don¡¯t even begin to compare! Of course, I didn¡¯t spend this time only watching. I quickly took a fire knife and threw it at him right he stopped howling. The knife stuck to his chest for a second before finally igniting in flames. He yelped in pain as the damage settled in. -3 -10 -13 (2236/2300) As soon as he recovered, he looked annoyed at me and used the ice claws. Except that he used it on two of the huge stalagmites, shattering them before turning to me and charging. I blinked in surprise at this, but soon understood what was happening, as a white mist started to envelop him, dragging around all fragments from the stalagmite in a huge trail behind him. I paled at the scene and started to run away, barely dodging the ice storm coming next to me. -3 -5 -3 -11 (437/480) -10 (2226/2300) Dammit, when it said that he was much stronger than the blazing tail, it wasn¡¯t joking around! I quickly got myself up just in time to see him casting another icicle at me. Immediately activating roll I saw the attack landing on the ground right besides me and digging a good ten centimeters in the ground. He¡­ Is going to be a lot harder than what I thought¡­ -10 (2216/2300) Huh? What? The fire knife is only supposed to hit two times! What the hell? In the time I took being surprised, blue was already using Freezing charge against me again, so I quickly hid myself behind the shield, at least he didn¡¯t have the shattered fragments following him. Waiting for the very last second, I used Nature¡¯s bastion and used shield slam. The sudden impact made him recoil his head from the damage, before he could recover I charged in while slashing him in the chest and landing a stab before rolling away. -83 (Critical) -26 -21 Combo! (x1.2) -156 (2070/2300) Damn, criticals, how did I miss you against the first Blazing tail! Thanking the existence of the critical strikes, I almost missed the message appearing on me. (snare)(snare resisted) Huh? When I looked around, I noticed I was back on where he had first used the soul storm. Looking back at him, I saw him raising his tails and charging it with mist. I immediately readied myself to dodge the attacks, but when he let the arcs go¡­ He didn¡¯t aim at me? Why? For some reason, these ice arcs were aimed at¡­ Cripes. I tried running away from the frozen place where I was, but I was far too late as the arcs landed on the stalagmites, making both of them shatter with the impact, sending shrapnel in all directions. I barely managed to throw myself with my back to the ground while trying to hid myself behind the shield. -3 -5 -3 -4 -3 -5 -5 -6 -4 -4 -3 -45 (392/480) FREAKING SHRAPNELS! I need a freaking tower shield to stop them! Before I even had the time to get up from the ground, he was already back on top of me, trying to land an ice claw on top of me. I barely dodged it rolling on the ground, luckily, it seemed that the direction to which I dodged was the one where he couldn¡¯t get a good angle to shatter the icicles. He turned towards me and used threw an Freezing spike before I could get up. I barely managed to put my shield in the trajectory, and felt it as it slid smoothly against the shield surfaces and was redirected. That¡­ Might be useful. Still taking advantage of me being in the ground, he immediately activated soul storm. Although I couldn¡¯t escape the storm part, I tried to put myself on my feet and get out of the area before I would be impaled by the ice. -3 -4 -5 -3 -15 (377/480) But the glowing area appeared directly in front of my escape route. I quickly turned my shield downwards and tried activating nature¡¯s bastion. -3 (374/480) WHAT. THE. HELL! MY UNDEFEATABLE PHYSICAL REDUCTION COMBO, BROKEN? The ice surged from beneath me with a ridiculous fury and easily threw me a good few meters to the air. I BELIEVE I CAN Fl¡­ WAIT, THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR THAT! I somehow managed to twist my body in the air and throw the second fire-knife on the bandolier towards blue. I refuse to let this go without immediate payback! -3 -10 -13 (2077/2300) Well, even getting my revenge, I still fell face first on the ground. -23 (352/480) I quickly got myself up and rolled away from an incoming icicle. Damn, that Soul ice thingy is scary! How much damage does it deal to even break my Nature¡¯s bastion? I¡¯m afraid to find out. But¡­ That flying part¡­ Gives me an idea¡­ -10 (2067/2300) I shook my head to get my attention back to the fight. He was already charging back at me with his tails gathering mist once again. I won¡¯t be caught by surprise this time! As soon as he jumped, I turned away and ran towards his landing point, hearing the ice arcs getting stuck to the ground. Before he could even turn back towards me, I had already grabbed hold of his closest tail and slashed and stabbed it. He tried to use one of his other tails to lash at me, but I dodged it by twisting my body. He turned towards me while trying to land an ice-claw on me, but I countered with a bastion + slam -44 (crictical) -28 -37 Combo!(x1.2) -131 (1936/2300) -10 (1926/2300) I grinned at him for interrupting his attacks while falling back. But not before grabbing one of the failed Ice claw icicles on the ground and sticking it to my belt. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. We took some time to simply look at each other while I refilled my bandolier and he thought of a new strategy. In the end, the first one to charge was him again. As he charged towards me while charging his tails. Knowing the attack I waited for him to jump before turning back and running. When he landed I prepared myself to attack him. Wait, why is there still mist in his tail¡­ Oh, crap¡­ He brought down his tree tails on me at point blank range. I managed to step aside and avoid two of them, but the third one still hit me square in the chest. -70 (262/480) I was blown away to the edge of the area, stepping right beside a tree. I quickly got up and chugged down a potion from my belt while waiting for him. +118 (380/480) Since we had a good distance between us, he took his time before coming to me, by using two ice claws on the ground and breaking them with Freezing Spikes before finally using his frozen charge at me. I grimaced. Was there some way for me to completely avoid the damage from that skill? Those fragments are a real pain¡­ I looked at the tree besides me and reminded myself of an idea I had when hunting a blazing tail earlier, but I never really had the time to test it¡­ Would it count as dirty fighting? Hope not. I turned back to the tree and stabbed it with a stun knife. For those of you who don¡¯t remember, this is made using the explosion combination¡­ God, either this is going to be epic, or a fail. Or an epic fail¡­ I waited until he was at a certain distance from me, before activating the dagger. The explosion shattered the bark of the tree in various directions, and it slowly began to creak as it fell. BUT IT WAS TOO SLOW! Before the tree could actually get to the ground, blue reached me and hit me right in the chest, I blocked the charge damage with the shield, but the shrapnel still found its way towards me -3 -4 -3 -6 -5 -3 -5 -29 (351/480) I cringed in pain for a moment before finally recovering myself and seeing his face contorting in surprise, as the tree finally gained speed, falling towards him. -132 (1794/2300) Sorry buddy¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but still feel that I was somehow cheating. Anyway, I don¡¯t think that he will fall for the same trick twice, so I better take as much advantage of this as I can. Since the tree fell almost in a slanted angle, it left his left flank open to me, so I quickly went there and started to combo on him, landing a slam followed by a full duration Slice ¡®n dice, then by a couple of normal swings. -32 -9(x13) -18(critical)(x2) -18 -17 Combo! (x1.2) -264 (1530/2300) At the start, he tried to free himself from beneath the tree through sheer strength, but it seemed that it wasn¡¯t working very well, then he charged his tails and used the ice arc to cut the tree before lifting himself. But by the time he got up I had already gotten away from him. He looked coldly at me for a few moments, luckily giving me enough time to recover some energy. Finally he made a deep breathing, and when I was waiting for a freezing spike barrage, he surprised me with the loudest howl I ever heard. Following that, THE WHOLE FREAKING CLEARING was completely covered in a small layer of snow and ice. (Snare)(Snare resisted) THANK GOD IT¡¯S NIGHT! As blue kept howling, dozens and more dozens of the stalagmites surged from the ground, transforming the peaceful clearing into a frozen hell. Luckily, it seemed that the sheer scale of this attack made that the icicles took longer to for they to sprout from the circles, so I easily managed to dodges these as they appeared everywhere. Meanwhile I ran towards him to try and see if I could land a couple of hits on him. But right as I was about to reach him, one of the circles appeared right beneath me, although I had time to get out of it, I would have to change my direction to do that, and he would probably stop howling by then. Besides, this suits me just fine! I thought while making a wicked smile. Right when the spike started raising from the ground, I used nature¡¯s bastion and flew upwards using the spike. -3 (348/480) While I was up there, I took the icicle I had picked from the ground earlier and threw it downwards towards him. I could somehow feel that the icicle counted as throwing weapons, as my hand was slightly guided by something. But what mattered was, right after the icicle stabbed him, I vaguely aimed at it with my sword and used stab while falling, my sword piercing the icicle and shattering it from within. Since I had landed on his back, I had to hold for dear life while slashing him so I wouldn¡¯t fall down from his shaking. -10 -54(brutal) -46(critical) -22 Combo (x1.2) -158 (1372/2300) When I thought he finally started to calm down, he suddenly jumped towards one of the stalagmites, landing on its side with all paws before jumping away. The sheer strength of the jump not only shattered the 4 meters wide stalagmite. OF COURSE, that also got me out from his back, so I fell to the ground. Quickly raising myself, I looked at him and grimaced, noticing that the whole area had just become his playground. Things were just about to get bad¡­ ******
Rest of the fight. No plot, only the fight.
****** After a few more exchanges, a couple of potions and a couple of fire knifes, we were finally at the end of our duel. His health was almost at its end, and just one more attack from me and it would be the end. But I seriously hope I never again have to fight against him. It feels like fighting a brachydios with a remote controlled explosion instead of timed! Whenever I would drop my guard for a second, a pillar of ice would explode at my side! Not only I had to be wary of his attacks, I also had to be wary of my surroundings! Only after much effort, we were finally about to bring an end to this. I stared at him for one last time, expecting his move, but instead of an attack coming, what I saw was what looked a gentle smile, and he suddenly fell to the ground. I became surprised at this, and lightly lowered my weapons. He made a motion for me to approach with his tails, leaving me surprised, but I complied. Walking slowly towards him. When I got close to him, he lifted one of his legs, showing me his paw. I smiled wryly and gave him a light high five. Afterwards, he closed his eyes and waited. I used stab on his neck to give him the finishing blow. -54 (critical) (0/2300) I saw the light in his eyes dim after this strike. If it were for me, I would have spared him, but I feel that he would think of it as an insult towards himself. This is one hell of a bitter-sweet victory, if I do say so myself¡­ I carried his body away from the clearing as the ice melted, now that the magic keeping then was gone. As soon as we were in a safe zone, I put myself to skin him, taking three times more care with this than with any other skinning job I have ever done. I decided in my heart that the very least I could do was for me to make the damned best piece of gear from him that I could. Something to leave all the others to shame.
Freezing Tail Hide (Excellent)
The hide of the elusive Freezing tail gotten through manual skinning. This piece of hide was taken with such a care that the fur still keeps the same temperature the beast emanated from itself, as if the spirit still lives in here. (Rare Crafting Material)
I made a wry smile at that, but no other comment as I took it and put in the inventory. Afterwards, I also removed the gem, claws and fangs from his body. All of them with excellent quality before finally reclaiming his body. Not really having the heart to see his remains disappearing, I didn¡¯t look at the usual light show before standing up and walking away. But I didn¡¯t even take a step away before: ¡°Stop! Look back!¡± I heard Cygnas talking worriedly to me after so long. Surprised, I complied before even asking why she wanted me to do, so I turned back. There, where I had reclaimed the body, was a strange scene. A small floating ball surrounded by a thin mist laid there. I got surprised at this. Did it appear when I reclaimed the Freezing tail? But¡­ ¡°Hey, shouldn¡¯t manual skinning cancel any kind of loot you give to us?¡± I asked in a confused tone. ¡°Exactly, any kind of loot that I send you. It wasn¡¯t me, or my automated looting system, to tell the truth, that left that for you!¡± She said in a strangely cheerful voice. It took me almost a full second to understand her words. ¡°Wait¡­ Then that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Yep, it was your friend who left it for you.¡± Okay, now I¡¯m definitively confused. ¡°You see, as long as it is something that the reclaimed wish to leave to his reclaimer, it will override any other system. Even the one from manual skinning.¡± I was almost going to tears right now, as I went towards the small ball and crouched towards it. Immediately after, it started to hover towards my open hand.
Freezing Tail Soul-container (Qualityless)
The soul of the freezing tail you defeated. Not only have you helped it when it suffered, but you also defeated it in a fair duel under its request. Overflowing with respect and admiration for you, it entrusts its soul to you, so you can choose its destiny.
(Use to earn a new pet) (This item can¡¯t be sold) (This item can¡¯t be traded) (Only Wargon can hold this item)
I blinked surprised before smiling a bit stupidly. Damn, it suddenly got dusty in here! It¡¯s irritating my eyes. Its so unbearable that I¡¯m even sweating through them. Yes, that is what is happening. I¡¯M DEFINETIVELY NOT CRYING, OK? ---- (dead)Author¡¯s corner: CYGNAS DAMMIT LOCO15! I couldn¡¯t reply to your post on last chapter without spoiling anything so freaking close you were! Really, you and scarecrow are scary with that guessing power¡­ Now, for a little extra, BECAUSE I CAN! ---- WARGON EXPLAINS! Hello dear readers, today, I¡¯m back here with your favorite na?ve goddess Cygnas on one more chapter of WARGON EXPLAINS! Hey gon, it¡¯s good to see you after so lo¡­ Wait! You called me na?ve again! I can say the same, Cyg, but tell us, what were you doing that you couldn¡¯t even make an appearance? Did you just ignore me? *sighs* I was teaching a lesson to the author. ¡­ Wow, for some reason that was scary¡­ Anyway, today we have here a guest appearance! Please, come in, Elraira! Hello Gondorrer. It¡¯s a pleasure to come here today and¡­ and¡­ Is¡­ Is that¡­ Cy¡­ Cy¡­ Cygnas? A-a-as in¡­ THE Cygnas? Why, hello there El, and yes, it¡¯s me, but no need to worry because this is out of the continuum of the story, so no need for formalitites! Ah¡­ I see¡­ Sorry then¡­ ¡­Couldn¡¯t you at least react a bit more¡­ You know, surprised? But she said for me to not mind it? ¡­Wow, that¡¯s in a whole different level¡­ Oh well... So, let¡¯s go for our question. Some of our readers (none to tell the truth) have been asking us about what is a flame bringer. What does it have of different from other classes. Could you shine light on this for us? Sure, you see, what makes the flame bringers different from other classes is that we don¡¯t use fire magic directly. Interesting, care to develop? Not a problem. Flame bringers, and other element bringers too, control and manipulate our magic through our weapons. What we do is to take the element from outside, coat it in our weapons and then use motions to spread and use the magic. This means that we can even use our enemies magic against them should the element match. Well, isn¡¯t this interesting? But how does this weapon coating works? Cyg? Well, Gon, the bringers coat their weapons with a special kind of mana. Using their weapons as a sort of catalyst to the magical effects, they can command their mana to absorb and fuse with the element that matches their affinities. This means that any natural mana-less element in the nature can be absorbed, but it also means that an skilled mage can have their spells immune to being absorbed if they coat them with a different element. I see. It sounds really complicate. One last question for tonight, but El, some readers were curious about the fire tornado you used at the bandit camp, isn¡¯t it a bit too powerful? That is actually the usual. To tell the truth, the tornado is a derivation from the eruption skill, the one I used to spread the initial sparks, and by nature, derivate skills are much stronger than the originals. Just like your shield slam, if we were to show another example. I see. Well, that¡¯s all for today, thanks for your participation, El. You are welcome. As a repayment, I asked Whisi to wait for you outside¡­ And she¡¯s gone. Well, I¡¯ll be going too then, see you later Gon. Wait! Cygnas, the readers want to know, when will your embar¡­ Where did that knife come from? Said something? Nothing, nada, nanimonai. I see, bye bye! Bye¡­ Mental note, angry Cygnas is scary.
Next chapter
Chapter 28.5 (Fight only, no plot here) Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! Epic fights here! ANYWAY, there is NO PLOT HERE. NONE, NADA! This is only the fight I promised on the main page. If you don¡¯t care about the fight, you won¡¯t lose anything by skipping this and can go back to the chapter from where it was left off. Have a good read! ----- We looked at each other for a moment, just like when we started the battle. Seeing that last time it was him who started our fight, I took it upon myself to be the one to start with the bout. I ran forward through the frozen clearing, and just when I was about to reach him, fell to my feet in a slide. This seemed to get him by surprise, as he didn¡¯t even react. Before I got up, I quickly landed a slash and a shield slam before rolling from beneath him. -24 -32 -56 (1316/2300) The shield slam¡¯s knock back managed to buy me enough time to get out from beneath him before he decided to get a bit too creative with how to attack me. As I got up I saw him looking annoyed at me, before smiling and shooting a freezing spike. I didn¡¯t even bother with blocking, as it was slightly off target to my right, so I simply ran forward and¡­ -3 -4 -5 -4 -3 -6 -4 -5 -4 -6 -44 (304/480) Argh! Shrapnel! My eternal enemies! Just where the hell did you guys come from? As I got up and looked back, I saw what looked like the remains of a stalagmite, and I finally understood why he made this area¡­ THIS IS A FRICKING MINEFIELD! I quickly jumped up just in time to see blue getting close to me with his ice claw. I jumped aside to dodge the first, and blocked the second that came for me with the help of nature¡¯s bastion. Damn, if I weren¡¯t a golem I would be dead thousands times by now. Before I could even recover from these attacks, blue jumped backwards while shooting a freezing spike towards another one of the stalagmites. Out of sheer despair, I quickly threw myself in the way of the spike with my shield slightly slanted and diverted it. It still hit another stalagmite, but this one was too far to even cause me damage. I gave blue a mocking smile after understanding what I had done, and he simply snorted and raised his tails. He sent one arc towards a different stalagmite, all at the same time, blowing three of them at the same time. I somehow managed to hide behind my stalagmite just in time -3 -4 -6 -4 -4 -21 (283/480) Not completely safe, but not too much damage. Anyway, as soon as I knew it was safe, I ran from behind it towards the big guy, as I knew his next step would be blowing my cover. Literally. He didn¡¯t see me approaching, as I took the long way around, using the spikes as covers, and he was targeting the place I was before. I took this as a chance to chug down my second potion. +99 (382/480) As soon as I heard that nightmarish crystalline sound, I ran towards him. His shock on not seeing me behind the crystal took him precious seconds to escape my wrath. I jumped at him while using stab and got him in his flank, as I got to the ground, I quickly rolled beneath him and used two slashes at his other side, quickly falling back as he turned to me with a freezing spike ready to fire, but not before leaving a hot present to my little friend. -26 -22 -24 -5 -10 Combo! (x1.2) -104 (1212/2300) He quickly went for the counter, by using the ice claws on me, I jumped back to dodge the first, but he used his second attack to break the icicles. I managed to block some with the shield, but many still got to me. -3 -4 -3 -6 -5 -6 -27 (355/480) God dammit! These things are unblockable! -10 (1202/2300) I quickly took my distance from him and started to run around the field while thinking on what I could do to avoid these things. Sadly, nothing came to mind except making him unable to create more fragments. As I was distractedly running around, I started to hear the repeated sound of ice breaking behind me, giving a quick glance behind, I cursed myself for doing it. He was using the freezing charge, however, he wasn¡¯t simply charging. He was jumping from spike to spike while breaking them and bringing the fragments with him. -10 (1192/2300) Ooh, crap. That¡¯s a whole freaking lot of fragments he is bringing with him¡­ I think I may die if he reaches me¡­ I sped up even more as I though on a way to dodge these. My answer came from the bandolier in my chest. I quickly took a stun knife from it and turned back right when he was a couple of meters away from me, throwing the knife right in his chest. The stun took effect right when he was in the middle of a jump, so he ended up slamming with everything on the next pillar, breaking it and taking lots of fragments into his body. -45 -3 -4 -5 -4 -6 -5 -6 -4 -5 -3 -3 -3 -6 -6 -108 (1084/2300) That looks mighty painful¡­ But¡­ Didn¡¯t he take a lot more of fragments to his body than those numbers show? Did he resist the damage? I actually had to hold myself back so I wouldn¡¯t see if he was alright or not, but he quickly got up again and shook himself to free the fragments from his body. He looks fine enough for me¡­ I think¡­ When I noticed him looking back at me I quickly recovered myself and prepared. I saw him raising his three tails in the air with the mist gathering around it. Instead of waiting to see where he would shoot them, I ran forward. This is actually a logical decision, as he was right atop a broken stalagmite, so all the others were at a certain distance from him, and knowing he would aim at my area in general, I had an idea of which crystals he would try to blow. Of course, this was just a theory that I had no way to prove that didn¡¯t involve betting my health. Luckily, thank Cygnas, I was right, as his arcs went to three of the crystals behind me. His surprised face was everything I could have hoped for. I got to his neck where I landed a stab. He quickly took a step back and tried to shoot a point blank icicle, but I used shield-slam in his muzzle to try and stop it. I was a brief moment too late, as the icicle did form, but when it met my shield it exploded in various fragments, damaging him. The slam also made him lift his head with the knockback, making him show-me his neck where I landed a good three seconds of the old slice ¡®n dice before rolling away. -26 -62 (Critical) -4 -3 -6 -9 (x6) Combo! (x1.2) -186 (898/2300) Of course, there is no rose without thorns, and this combo was a freaking sea of roses. -4 -5 -3 -6 -4 -22 (333/480) More fragments came into my direction than his. So yeah¡­ When I took my distance from him, I went towards the path he had come from. The same one that had no more stalagmites left. I looked at him with a proud mocking smile. AAAAND¡­ he raised an eyebrow. Do foxes even have eyebrows? What about two meters, three tailed magic wielding foxes? Do they? ¡®What? You thought I didn¡¯t see that coming?¡¯ I think that¡¯s what he wanted to say¡­ He raised his head in a howl, initiating soul storm. Since it was the normal one, I didn¡¯t even bother with moving, as I was far outside from its range. But that¡¯s what he wanted me to think. It took me a moment to notice that the ground beneath the broken stalagmite I was on was glowing. Literally, at the last second I managed to jump and use my shield to block the raising spike. -3 (330/480) But I was till sent flying. High. Even higher than the last two times. I even had the time to enjoy a nice view of the area and seeing ever single broken spike come back to life. Hmm¡­ This looks dangerous¡­ But flying doesn¡¯t kill you. No, no. It¡¯s falling that kills you. Even more if you aRE FALLING TOWARDS A FREAKING FIVE METERS HIGH SPIKE! OOOH CRAAAAP! I hastily sent my hand towards the bandolier looking for a explosive knife, but I was out of them in the bandolier, so I hastily opened my inventory and took it from there, immediately throwing it at the crystal, exploding it. Well, I did break the spike, but I didn¡¯t really break the fall¡­ -43 (287/480) I quickly got myself up just in time to dodge a flying freezing spike. But as soon as I recovered from the roll, I tripped over something and once again kissed the ground. Oh ground, you silly, I might fall for you if you keep it like that¡­ ¡­ .. . OH MY GOD! THAT WAS HORRIBLE! FORGIVE ME! PLEASE, FORGET THAT! OK? FORGET IT! Anyway, bad jokes aside, I quickly got up and looked at what made me trip, and was left surprised, to say the least. It were the freezing arcs he had thrown back at the start! They were still stuck on the ground! Or were¡­ Until I tripped¡­ You know¡­ Anyway, they are around one meter wide and have this curved line shape¡­ But more importantly. It looks pretty damned sharp. I quickly got the three of them from the ground and carried them with me while hiding behind the pillars, taking my time to replenish my used items. Blue started once again with his break every icicle in front of him, but since he had lost track of me I could sneak behind him. As long as I could hold the maniacal laughter I get whenever I think something interesting. ¡°MUAHAHAHAHA¡± Which I didn¡¯t¡­ And got busted. Luckily, before he could turn to find me, I took one of the arcs and threw it like a boomerang at an angle. He probably thought that I missed, since I threw it so much to the side, but when it (much to my surprise, mind you) actually started to make a curve, he didn¡¯t have time to dodge as it pierced his side. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. -19 (879/2300) Luckily the thrown weapons mastery also affects the improvised boomerang, or else I would have messed up badly. He turned to me and barked angrily, but I took this chance to throw the next one. He dodged it this time by jumping forward. Which I also did, quickly closing the distance between us while throwing the last one straight forward. He blew it away with a freezing spike, but got surprised when a fire knife came out right from behind it and hit him in the head, igniting immediately after. -4 -10 -14 (865/2300) I kept running towards him to take advantage of the opening left by the fire, but he foresaw this, as he used the ice claw in the ground, making a small barrier in front of me. I cliqued my tongue as I jumped left to avoid the icicles. He quickly jumped away after seeing me dodge his attacks and threw an icicle towards a nearby stalagmite. -3 -5 -4 -6 -4 -5 -3 -4 -34 (253/480) After somehow blocking all the stalagmites, I saw him jumping towards a nearby crystal while starting his freezing charge. He shattered it while jumping straight towards me, not trying to prolong it too much and end up like last time. Not that I could repeat that since I¡¯m out of stun knifes, but he doesn¡¯t need to know that, right? Still, I raised my shield and blocked his charge while countering with slam + Bastion. The impact messed up with his landing, and he fell atop of me without getting a good foothold, so he rolled once and fell on his back. I barely managed to grab onto his fur and stick close to him, so when he fell down I was on top of him. I took the most out of the situation as I started with a stab and spamming my longest slice ¡®n dice. I took the time while the attack was going to chug down another potion with my shield hand. -37 -28 -10 (x8) -20 (critical)(x3) Combo! (x1.2) -246 (619/2300) +87 (340/480) HOLY MOTHER OF COMBO! THAT WAS B-E-A-UTIFUL! Remember kids, getting distracted makes you get caught by tails. Again. He threw me away without any ceremony directly towards a crystal, where I slammed my back before sliding down. -22 (318/480) I quickly got up, being actually faster than him. As he had to twist his body to get up, so I had more than enough time to get away from him while throwing another fire knife. -3 -10 -13 (606/2300) As I hid myself behind one of the pillars to regain my breath, kept hearing the sounds of crystals being broken everywhere. Actually, it was coming from the sides¡­ And was actually getting closer¡­ Now it was the one besides where I am¡­ TO THE GROUND YOU FOOL! I threw myself to the ground just in time to see the crystal exploding above me. Luckily not many fragments came to my direction. -3 -5 -4 -3 -15 (303/480) -10 (596/2300) Since he didn¡¯t see me, as what little remained of the stalagmite was covering me, he kept his long range bombardment. I stayed perfectly still for a couple of seconds in the freezing ground until I was sure that the bombardment was on the opposite side, when I got up and saw his back. Come one, silent steps. You scared so many people up to now, don¡¯t come failing me just when I am about to deal a surprise attack, ok? *clatter* Did I tell you that I hate fragments? -10 (586/2300) Blue didn¡¯t even turn to me and simply charged his tails while bringing them down, launching the arcs towards me. Luckily, with the three in the vertical and still a fair distance between us, I managed to pass between two of them on my way to the fox. But he immediately howled as soon as I got to a certain distance, so I stopped my charge and hopped back to open some distance between us. Patiently waiting as the storm around him died down and the crystals reformed, I soon charged in again. He turned towards me readying his frost claws. Does he ever learns? I raised my shield and activated nature bastion for the attack that was coming. But never did. He landed it a bit earlier, planting the icicles in the ground before readying his second claw to break them. So he DID learn. BUT I¡¯M LEARNERED BETTER! Quickly, I used shield slam on the ice to break then, towards him, but I still took the claw on the shield, without nature¡¯s bastion. -5 -4 -5 -6 -4 -24 (562/2300) -12 (291/480) Not letting the opening go to waste, I quickly glued myself to his body with a stab and landed two slashes in a row before jumping away. -58 (critical) -22 -25 Combo!(x1.1) -116 (406/2300) Out of energy, I opened some distance between us. But I shouldn¡¯t go too far away in fear of the bombardment, so I kept running circles around him. Eventually, he got me with a faked freezing spike that suddenly became a charge. Aww¡­ My little boy learned how to feint! I rolled away at the last moment not really worried about the fragments since he didn¡¯t break anything previously. Except that he extended his tails and hit me just as I was recovering. -42 (249/480) I quickly recovered while chugging down another potion. +72 (321/480) Dammit. So close to finishing this. I noticed him raising his tails while turning to me and charging. Just as he was about to reach me, he jumped, and I quickly got out of the way, being a second too late to notice that there was a stalagmite behind me, in which he landed before making his arc-somersault. A last second roll barely saved me from my demise. At least he left me some brand new weapons! I quickly gathered the arcs from the ground before he would hit me then rolled away just as an icicle blew the ground. As soon as I got up I immediately threw the first arc, managing to land it right in his neck. -20 (386/2300) He complained with a yelp before jumping towards me, activating both ice-claws at the same time. I barely dodged it by rolling forward and passing beneath him and running away still carrying the arcs with me. After some running away, I finally managed to lose him, so he started his ¡®blow everything up¡¯ strategy while I climbed at an crystal using my sword. Using the sword as a foot hold, I managed to spot him from afar using my height advantage and immediately threw the two arcs, each on one direction, and as they made the curve, each one hit him from a different side. -19 -18 -37 (349/2300) I quickly kicked my sword, dropping it from the ice and slid down back to the ground before he could find me. Which I don¡¯t think that worked very well, since two seconds after that icicle was blasted to smithereens. I ran towards him while dodging the pillars, but as soon as I managed to see him, he also saw me. But while I was running to get to him, he was patiently waiting with his tails raised gathering mist. I made a dive for my life worthy of a Hollywood movie as the pillars behind me blew up. But smartly, for a change, I rolled as soon as I was about to hit the ground, and earned a few extra meters that significantly reduced my damage taken. -3 -3 -4 -5 -15 (306/480) This also left me right in front of him, even if it meant that he was charging up a freezing spike. Quickly raising my shield, I managed to land a shield slam on him before he could let it go. He tried to attack me with the freezing claws, but I managed to block the first one while rolling beneath the second, earning the skills buff that I used in a stab followed by two slashes. -62 (critical) -38 -25 -22 Combo! (x1.2) 176 (173/2300) I quickly got away from him with a few hops right as when his tails tried to lash at me. We stared at each other for a moment as we slowly started to move in a large circle. Finally he jumped towards a crystal and activated freezing charge, breaking it and running to my direction. I gulped in worry and barely managed to roll away from the charge while still taking a few fragments to my legs. -3 -4 -6 -4 -5 -4 -26 (280/480) As I got up, I saw him raising his head in a loud howl. I somehow managed to throw the dagger at him before the storm started, and my last flame dagger ignited. -3 -10 -10 -23 (150/2300) The dagger managed to tick twice before the storm died down. And just as it finished, blue immediately turned to me and charged. I dodged with a simple roll, and when I turned back to him, I saw him coming down with his ice claws, so I barely managed to roll beneath the first one. However, I had no way to dodge the second, so I raised my shield and used the Slam + Bastion combo on him, the attack being boosted by both the opening and the counter -110 (40/2300) The impact made him take a few steps back, and for one last time, we stared at each other. -10 (30/2300)
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I''m afraid that when i go to sleep today, i''ll dream with pages of word... Chapter 29 - Pets, as in plural Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! It¡¯s PET time! ANYWAY, in the end, I couldn¡¯t simply go and wipe away our dear blue-furred friend, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to delay Cygna¡¯s joining the team much longer, so I decided on something that will probably please both camps for now. ALSO, TODAY MARKS A FULL MONTH SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE CYGNAS CULT! CYGNAS BE PRAISED! ALSO(2), I think this pretty much marks the final chapter of the arc, so, if as stated previously, I decide to laze around tomorrow, I promise to at least post chapter 2 of the runic path sidestory. ALSO(3), Blame the lateness on Xenoblade saga, ok? Have a good read! ---- As soon as I recovered from all that dust in my eyes, the first thing I did was to immediately use the item, then another window popped up in front of me.
The freezing tail has given you free reign over its destiny, thus you are allowed to choose the kind of pet it will become. Choose.
Battle pet Able to learn combat skills. Unable to learn commodities skills. Assists you in battle, but can be defeated if it¡¯s HP reaches 0Passive pet Unable to learn combat skills. Able to learn commodities skills. Don¡¯t assists you in battles, but are invulnerable to any kind of damage and do not draw aggro.
I took some time to read the window and see what kind of choices I had, but in the end I went for the passive pet option. But before I could choose it, an arm got hold of my hand and stopped me. When I looked to the side, I saw that Cygnas had materialized besides me. ¡°Gon¡­ You aren¡¯t choosing this because of me, are you?¡± She asked me with a worried voice that surprised me. ¡°I mean, if you choose the passive pet only because of our promise, the two of us will never forgive you.¡± I blinked in surprise at her words. ¡°Wait, the two of you? You and¡­¡± I looked to the floating ball in my hand, to which she nodded. ¡°Yes. It actually keeps the personality intact when it leaves the soul like that and I can still hear its voice.¡± She looked at the soul for some time, and I think I saw it shine slightly stronger for a brief moment. ¡°She said that she¡¯d rather stay in the frontlines with you.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Wait, she?¡± ¡°Yep, she¡¯s a girl!¡± Then Cyg looked mischievously at me and grinned. ¡°With this, it makes the second ice fox girl you tamed¡­¡± ¡°Huh? Second...?¡± I tilted my head confused while thinking for a moment. But, this is the first monster I tamed! How could I have tamed two ice foxes¡­ I face palmed. ¡°You mean Yuu¡­¡± She giggled happily for a few moments before calming herself down and going back to her serious face. ¡°Still, as we said, I won¡¯t be happy that you are opening hand of a powerful aide like this just to keep our promise, you know?¡± Then she let out a long sigh before looking back up. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m not sure I would want to take over a body with such a clear personality like this one.¡± I looked at the little ball in my hand for some moments. I think I saw it turning to me, but its kind of hard to tell when it¡¯s a perfect sphere. ¡°To tell the truth, that wasn¡¯t the reason.¡± I said after some time. ¡°I actually even forgot about the promise for some time now¡­¡± I said while scratching my head awkwardly, to which Cyg answered while looking at me slightly sad. She quickly shook her head to recover herself then asked. ¡°Then, why were you about to choose her to be a passive pet? She is very strong, you saw it back in your duel. She may not have all her strength right out of the bat, but if you train her well¡­¡± She stopped and looked at me with confusion. ¡°Well¡­ To tell the truth, a battle pet kind of goes against how I plan on playing, you know?¡± After all, in monster hunter, there aren¡¯t battle pets per se. There are some companions that helps you during the hunt, but I personally use them more as support than to boost my damage. And I kind of doubt that she would work as support instead of a direct damage pet. ¡°Then¡­ You won¡¯t consider making her a combat pet? She isn¡¯t really asking me, but I¡¯m sure that that¡¯s what she wishes for¡­¡± I stopped to think for a moment. To tell the truth, I¡¯d rather not having a battle pet since it goes against the way I want to play, but I would really hate myself if I were to ignore her wishes too. Thus, I was left into a difficult situation. After much thought I finally gave up and made the question. ¡°Say, if I choose one of the options, can I change it later?¡± Cyg blinked for a moment, then her face brightened as she understood my idea. ¡°There is. Since this is a Soul pet, you do have full control over her, so you can change it at the cathedral, but she will lose all her skills and levels and will have to start from scratch, even if you decide against changing on the last second.¡± Skills? Oh, it did say that she can learn skills¡­ Wonder what kind of skills a passive pet can get¡­ Anyway, I turned back to the small floating sphere and said. ¡°Then, let¡¯s make a deal here. For now, I¡¯ll leave you as a passive, but should ever come the day when I know that I will need your help, I promise that I¡¯ll change you and train you until you get strong enough. Deal?¡± The small sphere bobbed up and down slightly. I took that as an agreement and quickly chose the passive pet option. The small sphere started shining as it grew in size until it had almost one and a half meter of diameter. A few cracks appeared on the surface of the sphere before it finally broke, revealing a blue fox in its middle. She had three tails and a gem in her forehead just like when she was a Freezing Tail, but she was much smaller, being even a bit smaller than when I first found her in the tree trunk. She uncurled herself as she was slowly being floated down to the ground and also noticed her difference in size, since she looked around in surprise then back up at me, leaving her mouths slightly open for a moment. Just when I was about to crouch and pet her to my hearts content, a pair of snowy white arms quickly snatched her before hugging tightly. ¡°SO CUUUTE!¡± Cyg was pretty much gone into her own world as she hugged and swung around the poor fox. As I watched the scene with a wry smile, I noticed another window popping into my vision.
Congratulations. You have gotten yourself a brand new pet, a female freezing tail, please choose a name for it name it:
(_________)
I blinked in surprise, then started to think. I have been calling her Blue in my mind, but I think she deserves a better name than that, but which one? I mean, I suck at creating names, but I don¡¯t want to simply choose a random name¡­ And nothing too overused like Inari or Kuzuha¡­ Hmm¡­ Is there a character from my books that I could use? Or maybe from a game? Oh! I know! Aura! Yup, I think this fits her. I quickly wrote down her name and saw as her name popped up beneath my health bar with a small symbol of a generic animal head, a simple circle with two triangle for ears. ¡°Aura¡­ Hmm¡­ I think I like it.¡± Cyg said in a happy mood before suddenly becoming sullen. ¡°But¡­ Now I¡¯ll have to wait for you to find another pet before going with you¡­¡± She said in a low voice. I ended up only being able to smile awkwardly while thinking on how to resolve this. Surprisingly, the one who actually resolved the situation was the little blue fox who suddenly looked up towards Cygnas. They locked their gazes for some time, almost a full two minutes and were followed by a few nods, shaken heads and smiles before Cyg raised her head with a wide smile towards me. ¡°Ok¡­ What did you just talk about?¡± I asked a bit wary. ¡°She said that she will lend me her body while we don¡¯t find another pet for you!¡± She said happily. ¡°Huh?¡± I made a silly sound as I tried to process what she meant. She lowered Aura to the ground while smiling happily before closing her eyes to focus on something. After a couple of seconds her body flickered out of existence while Aura¡¯s body shivered lightly. Aura blinked a few times before looking around and turning to me while smiling widely. Just with that I immediately understood that it was Cygnas who was controlling her. ¡°So¡­ You two are now sharing the body?¡± I asked as I crouched down towards her and playfully poked the gem in her forehead. ¡°Yup! And we can change who¡¯s in control at any time. But we are always conscious at the same time, so we won¡¯t lose anything!¡± Came Cygnas voice from the fox, although sounding a bit more childish than the usual. ¡°But it gets kind of hard to know who¡¯s in control¡­¡± She suddenly said while tilting her head before lifting her paw and trying to snap her inexistent fingers. She quickly closed her eyes for a brief moment once again, then her fur started to flatten against her body in a wave before sprouting back up, but instead of the light blue color, it now was silver. The only places left alone were the dark blue spots on the tip of the tails, feet and ears. She looked at herself before nodding satisfied with her work. Truly, if she changed her fur whenever she was in control, it would make things a lot easier to know who¡¯s in the head. Literally? So, my first pet is a fox that has double personality¡­ Anyway, as soon as she stopped admiring herself, she suddenly darted forward before jumping on my back. This was so sudden that I did not even have time to react before she reached my head, where she held herself with one of her paws while pointing forward with the other. ¡°Now, no more dilly-dallying! Forward my fateful steed! We have an adventure to find!¡± I blinked surprised before finally sighing loudly. Then after much delay, I finally started making my way back while my goddess-possessed pet was humming happily in my head. Since I had no hurry, I didn¡¯t bother with running and simply strolled back after changing the boots to the traveler one. ¡°So, what exactly do a passive pet do?¡± I asked absentmindedly after a few seconds. ¡°Besides being cute and all, I mean¡­¡± ¡°Passive pets can be set to be gatherers, can learn pretty much any non-offensive skill as long as it is physically possible and even some pet exclusive skills, like courier!¡± Cygnas said happily from atop of my head. ¡°Courier?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a skill that allows you to use your pet to trade items with people far away in your stead. The only downside is that your pet has to travel all the way and back, but since we don¡¯t pull agro, we don¡¯t really need to worry about being attacked!¡± She explained while putting the airs of a teacher. ¡°But there is a limit to the size of the item being exchanged, and the item can only be set before activating the skill. Battle pets, on the other hand, can carry larger items, but they have to battle their way to the destination.¡± ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s surely convenient¡­¡± She nodded happily and we once again went back to a silent travel, but it seemed that this didn¡¯t bother her too much, as I could clearly feel her happy mood even without looking at her. After some time, I finally couldn¡¯t hold myself back anymore and asked. ¡°So¡­ Don¡¯t I get a title or something like that?¡± I asked with a small grin. ¡°Why would you get one?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I did just tame THE goddess of the world as a pet... Isn¡¯t that a pretty big feat? Shouldn¡¯t I get something like: The god tamer?¡± I said jokingly. I felt her tails stop wagging for a moment before she finally snorted. ¡°Well¡­ I guess you do deserve a title¡­¡±
For taming the cutest pet ever, you have earned the title: Owner of the cutest pet ever Since you have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change your title
Owner of the cutest pet ever: Do you really need anything more than this? It¡¯s the cutest pet ever!
I blinked in surprise while I read the window before feeling mildly annoyed, but after a few seconds I couldn¡¯t hold it anymore and finally burst into laughter, surprising her and making her fall from my head. ¡°Hey! It¡¯s supposed to make you angry!¡± She complained to me. I simply shrugged as I kept walking while she followed me. It¡¯s surprisingly hard to really leave me angry for too long. We chatted a bit on the way as she now followed me from the ground. After some time she finally changed back to Aura who started to follow me around quietly. I took this time to fiddle around with the new pet options until I found the status window.
NAME: Aura
TITLE: (none)
Owner:WargonRelationship:Soul pet
Species:Freezing TailGender:female
Element affinity:IceDiet:Omnivore
STATUS:
Equipped inventory0Satiety:87/100
Trust:MAXAssigned role:(none)
PASSIVE PETS DO NOT POSSESS BATTLE STATS
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SKILLS:
Gatherer [lvl1] Racials [MAX] -Cool body -Mana-Vulpine senses -Ice manipulation
Interesting. So, even if she is immortal, I still have to feed her, it seems¡­ And what is that? I can equip inventory on her? As in, to give her slots to store things? And trust is already at the maximum? Geez, this way you leave me embarrassed! And she also starts with a couple of skills¡­ After a quick look, I understood that the Gatherer skill is what allows her to gather a few ingredients from the wild. At low levels this is limited to herbs, fruits, nuts and such, but it seems that as the level increases, she can broaden her options. The cool body makes her immune to cold climates, but vulnerable to the heat, as well as making food non-perishable while in her inventory. Mana-vulpine senses means that she has the enhanced ears and nose, as well as making her able to sense changes in the mana, whatever does this means. Lastly, ice manipulation lets her create and control small amount of ice. This one is exclusive to her because she was a rare species. It was only around the middle of the morning when her satiety started to become low and she nudged me slightly to warn me. Coincidentally, we were right at the clearing where I had my Disney princess sce¡­ Err¡­ My Eco-friendly YouTube-worth scene. Yeah¡­ Something like that. I thought about of giving her the remaining jerky I still had, but she immediately looked away. It seems that she didn¡¯t like the idea of eating it, so I made myself hunt a few squirrels and rabbits with the bow before bringing it back to the clearing. Back there, Cygnas had taken control of the body and made a small place for a bonfire. Quickly igniting it with a fire crystal, I stuck the squirrels into sticks and put them over the fire. Cygnas and Aura stared at the squirrels while drooling for some time before she suddenly said: ¡°I have an idea!¡± And darted off into the woods. I only looked at her surprised for a moment, but while checking the map I could see that she wasn¡¯t going anywhere too far and simply roaming through the woods. When she came back she had a few different herbs in her mouth. After dropping them besides me, she used her ice manipulation to make a sharp floating icicle, smaller than even a kitchen knife, and started cutting the herbs. Although I did have an idea on what she was doing, my curiosity still took the best of me, and I ended up asking. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Spices! This will make it even tastier!¡± She said happily. Afterwards she had me take the herbs and sprinkle them on top of the squirrels. A few minutes later and she told me to take them out of the fire that they were ready to eat. We made four, two for now and two for later, so I immediately stored the other two on my inventory before we started eating. And damn, these herbs do make a difference¡­ Is it because its been too long since I had a decent meal that don¡¯t involve ores? As I was happily eating the surprisingly taste squirrel, I noticed Cygnas suddenly staring in the distance before a window suddenly appeared in front of me too.
For having applied cooking techniques to the meal preparation, your pet has unlocked the Crafting Skill: Cooking
Skill: Cooking [lvl1] 13%
Allows your pet to use ingredients to cook for you and your friends Your pet can use the system help to create your items from now on. Your pet have received a few beginners recipe.
I ended up choking in surprise with the window and had to use a water crystal to create water and drink something. ¡°I¡­ Also wasn¡¯t expecting that¡­¡± Cygnas said after some time. ¡°What do you mean you weren¡¯t expecting that? Aren¡¯t you the know it all in here?¡± I asked after recovering myself. ¡°Well¡­ It would be no fun to know everything¡­ so I kind of limited the access to information this part of me has¡­ This way everything can be fun and new¡­¡± She explained a bit shyly, but after a moment she suddenly added. ¡°Actually, never mind, my main core is also surprised¡­¡± If there was a desk in front of me, I would have face-desked right then and now. Oh well¡­ That was still kind of expected from her¡­ As I came to terms with the fact that the AI controlling the whole game was a klutz for the Nth time until now, this time it was me who got distracted by something as I saw a bush shaking to our side. After a few moments, a small figure appeared from there, probably attracted by the amazing smell the squirrel had. It had a light brown fur with some black markings here and there. The body was skinnier than Aura¡¯s but it didn¡¯t look unhealthy. Its head also was a lot rounder and not as sharp as hers, with three large whiskers on each side of the muzzle. As well as two rectangular, antenna-like fur appendages that sprouted from its head. I immediately recognized him as he came closer to the camp and looked greedily at the roasted squirrels. When he saw me, he quickly greeted me with a salute, which I immediately returned before taking a squirrel from my inventory and offering to him. He happily took it, different from a certain fox that knew. ¡°Wow! It¡¯s a Trick-cat!¡± Cygnas said surprised while getting up on her feet. ¡°Trick-cat?¡± ¡°Yeah. Although they aren¡¯t considered a rare monster, they are really difficult to find! They usually only voluntarily approach individuals whose behavioral patterns frequently escape the acceptable threshold of acceptance determined by the society!¡± So many hard words¡­ I think I got a headache after that¡­ ¡°Which translates to¡­?¡± Cyg looked at me while clearly holding back her laughter. ¡°They only get close to the strange ones¡­¡± She said while giggling. Whew. Then that¡¯s fine¡­ Geez, and here I thought that it meant something serious. ¡°I knew it¡­ You really have to get your head checked Cyg. Even he is saying that you are strange, see?¡± Cyg blinked in surprise while looking at me. Huh? Approaching me? What are you talking about? I¡¯m perfectly normal and sane, so there¡¯s absolutely no chance of that happening. Not at all. The internet can confirm my normalness. ¡°Anyway¡­¡± Cyg said after some time. ¡°Trick cats are famous for always following along the jokes of the people they find, making them surprisingly social!¡± Oh! So that¡¯s why he always returns my salutes! ¡°Say¡­ Is it possible to tame him?¡± I asked after some time of watching him eating his meat. ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ Why don¡¯t you try it?¡± ¡°And what am I supposed to do?¡± I said while looking at him. He suddenly noticed my gaze and looked up. ¡°Do I turn to him and say, hey, I¡¯m traveling around while hunting monsters, want to come with me?¡±
The Trick-cat has accepted your offer on following along and have now become your pet.
This trick-cat is a battle pet and will have the following characteristics: Able to learn combat skills. Unable to learn commodities skills. Assists you in battle, but can be defeated if it¡¯s HP reaches 0
YOU ARE BLEEPING, RIGHT? JUST LIKE THAT? NO QUEST, RANDOM DROP NOR NOTHING?
Congratulations. You have gotten yourself a brand new pet, a male Trick-cat, please choose a name for it name it:
(_________)
¡­ Oh well¡­ No use in trying to go against it now, right? Besides, his name is already a given. I typed his name in the floating keyboard, and was surprised at how I actually managed to fit everything there.
NAME: Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the Third
TITLE: The Playful
Owner:WargonRelationship:Travelling buddy
Species:Trick-catGender:Male
Element affinity:ChaosDiet:Omnivore
Level:9Experience:87%
STATUS:
Health Points:230/230HP regen (out of combat):2/sec
STR:12TGH:9
AGI:20VIT:10
INT:18MND:13
DEF24M. Res.:30
ATTK:11-12Extra:(none)
Equipped inventory0Satiety:87/100
Trust:GoodAssigned role:(none)
SKILLS:
Claw Mastery [lvl 3] -Rip (Active) -Pounce (Active) Thin presence [lvl 6] Racial [Max] -Playful -Natural prankster
I¡¯m no expert on what these numbers mean for a pet, but he does look pretty good for me. After a quick checkup I already knew all his skills. Rip was kind of like my slash, while pounce is a basic jumping attack that deals extra damage. Thin presence is a pseudo stealth that, although it didn¡¯t make him invisible, it reduces the chances of the enemy noticing him when there are more than one target, making him pretty much be ignored when in a team. The advantage this skill had over stealth is that it¡¯s a passive. Now, his racial skills where the interesting ones. Playful made it so that, whenever someone was playing or joking with him he would know how to react to make things funnier, while natural prankster meant that he was so good at playing pranks that he gets a bonus to stealth-like skills. Well, his skills aside, for quite some time now I have been feeling this really cold gaze coming from the blue furred fox in front of me. Not that I really blame her, just today I said that I wasn¡¯t after a battle pet, and now just got one¡­ I need to resolve this situation quickly. ¡°Lieutenant!¡± I called the cat, who immediately looked at me with attention. ¡°From what I see, you are a battle oriented soldier, right?¡± I asked in my general tone. The cat nodded its head firmly while sitting up and joining the joke. ¡°Good, and I thank you for your desire to support me, however, that goes against my train of thought about hunting, so I will have to delegate you a more passive position in battle. Do you understand?¡± He nodded with a meow. ¡°Good. Then you will be the support and supply officer of our three man army, you will be responsible for replenishing my ammunitions supplies or using the demanded items when ordered while staying out of the line of fire otherwise, is that clear for you?¡± He meowed in accordance. ¡°Good. Dismissed.¡± I made a salute and he responded while having a serious face. ¡­ I¡¯m so making him a military uniform when we get back to the city¡­ Afterwards we both relaxed and I noticed Aura¡¯s gaze softening slightly, since I was pretty much declaring that he wasn¡¯t participating directly in the battles. But it suddenly sharpened again when Whiskers approached me and laid at my side. She suddenly got up and jumped atop of my lap while shoving her head beneath my hand, making me start petting her. She then glared at the cat for a moment before starting to nap. I laughed wryly at the clear sight of jealously. Afterwards, when I checked Whiskers window, the relationship earned a ¡°(Subordinate)¡±, with parenthesis and all while the assigned role was ¡°Support and supply officer.¡± After some rest, our strange group of a jealous ice fox possessed by a goddes, a playful antenna-cat that is attracted to strange people, and a perfectly sane golem once again started our trek towards Eldor. ---- (dead) Author''s corner: *found dead on the room. His finger pointing to words written with his own blood: TABLES*
Next chapter
SS 2.2 - Runic path Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Lots of Tortur*cough*Classes in this chapter! ANYWAY, as promised, here is the Side-story of today, and since today is Lazy day, I won¡¯t be posting the main story today, so don¡¯t bother me! I have a laziness schedule to catch up to, okay? ALSO, before any of you asks, yes, Incarnus does say that when surprised, even in real life, as in the person I based to create him. And no, As ridiculous as this may sound to you, I¡¯m not joking. /facepalm Have a good read! -------- Hell. It was hell! In this point, the three players completely agreed to that. They had spent the last two days locked inside the infernal classroom while taking the never-ending lessons on runic writing. At first, they thought that it would take no more than a single hour to somehow learn all that the construct had to teach, since, according to him, the amount of runes needed to actually open the door numbered in six. How difficult would it be to learn how to write a phrase with six runes when the whole basic alphabet was limited to twenty two? Couldn¡¯t be that hard, right? Wrong. Right when the lesson started, the three of them learned the Runic system understanding skill. Basically, it was a skill that translated the meaning of the runes for them after they understand their basic meanings. Except that at beginner level, the skill could only gather the meaning of a single rune-word. And they also discovered that the meaning of the word would also change according to the orientation of the rune, standing up, turned to the right, turned to the left and upside-down. AND, the runes also got a brand new meaning if you mirrored it, for all the positions. So, instead of twenty two rune-meaning, they had to learn 176 different runes! And the teacher was merciless. He would keep hammering the meaning of a rune to those who didn¡¯t understand, and refused to give them any time of resting after making sure that the three understood the rune before jumping to the next. This sparked an even stronger rivalry on the three idi*cough*players, who tried to understand it even a second earlier than the others to get a few seconds of resting. The poor Chouhi, the most impatient of the trio was even foaming from his mouth at the end of the lesson. When they finally understood the meaning of all those disgusting runes, the three of them earned a window congratulating them on reaching intermediate in runic system understanding, and now they would be able to learn phrase forming. It seems that something snapped inside the half-night elf, as he started laughing maniacally. Looking satisfied, the teacher left the classroom while announcing a break of five hours before leaving the room. The tree of them fell flat on the ground as if the strings keeping them straight was cut and three snoring people were laying on the floor not even a second later, after all, twenty two hours straight of learning isn¡¯t something many people can keep up with. The first one to get up was the poor Incarnus, seeing that four and a half hours had already passed, he almost despaired at the thoughts of another lesson starting. He HAD to get out of there! He quickly looked at his two companions sleeping in the ground, and for a brief period of a minuscule moment he thought about waking them up so they could leave the room together. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.That didn¡¯t last very long. As they say, you don¡¯t have to run faster than the bear, you just have to run faster than the guy at your side. He went to the door and started thinking on how he would write the phrase, and as soon as he had a plausible idea, he wrote it down in the slot in the door. As the door started to shine, he smiled proudly, before the door suddenly pulsed a force field that sent him flying backwards. ¡°NYAA?¡± He shouted surprised as he flew through the room until hitting the wall on the other side and sliding down, already passed out. And yes, my dear readers, he did say Nyaa, neither me nor you are going insane here. The loud noise woke up the child-looking Chouhi, who made a strangely similar decision to the first one, only to end up being thrown away in the same way. Finally, the half-night elf woke up and tried the exact same thing, not even having the energy to ask why would the other two be doing on the other side of the room passed out. On the other side of the door, Issak, the construct, who had just gotten himself a black eye from flirting a bit too much with the elfess at the desk heard as the door seemed to pulse at a regular interval repeated times, as the students tried foolishly to open it with their lacking knowledge. With a happy smile as he knew that, if they had enough energy to keep repeating that, they had more than enough energy for another study session, he went towards them in a happy mood. After effortlessly picking their lifeless bodies from the ground and putting them in their respective desks, he quickly healed them with a simple magic before using his favorite On-sleep, shock and heal runes to repeatedly electrocute and heal them until they woke up. The three students woke up due to the sharp pains only to pale at the sight of their teacher smiling happily at them before he immediately went back to the board to write. Another twelve more hours were spent on learning on how to form phrases with the runes they had learned earlier. Imagine their despair when they learned that phrasing isn¡¯t only done on the horizontal, there is also the need to add vertical lines that comes from the runes on the main phrase to form a sub-phrase! In the end, each phrase looked a lot more like a scrabble board than lines in a notebook. By the time the three of them finally managed to write the phrase on the door, they swore to find and kill those who recommended the academy to them. As they were guided to the patio, they were met with the pitying gazes of the knights who had also gone through the same hellish teaching that they had. At least now they were finally free from this nightmare and could finally become the rune-warriors they so desired! But alas, fate, and their teacher, had other plans for them. ¡°Now, lets go to our next training, shall we?¡± Despair befell the trio as they looked horrified at their smiling instructor. When later they found out that their teacher had once been the one responsible for torture and interrogations within the order, they weren¡¯t all that surprised.
Eventual Next SS ChapterBack to Main story (Ch. 24)
Chapter 29.5 - Growing Legend Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! SURPRISE RELEASE BECAUSE I FELT LIKE IT! The legend of green eyes must grow! ANYWAY, seeing as the legend had grown a bit stale in these last 15 or so chapters, I decided to spark it up again with a new entry to our beloved Green-eyes, the brutal. I decided to start this late at night and am now about to sleep, but there will be a regular release tomorrow so no worries there! ALSO, as a little questionarie/joke, here I ask you guys, for no other reason than that I¡¯m bored AND curious, but, what was your favorite chapter TITLE up to now? This serves no reason other than entertaining me. (As a funny sidenote, Chapter 14, stuff of the myths is title ¡®When golems fly¡¯ in my folder in my computer.) ALSO(2), Congratulations to Kiilalene for having your character chosen to star this little extra! (HopeI described him well, sorry if I messed up something (^.^''))! Have a good read! ---- Ghost walked quietly through the forest, his feet not making a sound in the grass, his dark and tanned body, covered in dark completely hidden in the shadows of the trees. Even if it was but the beginning of the night, he was just like the name he had picked when creating his character. A ghost, an invisible and terrible foe that would come when no one expected and finished his task before they could understand what happened. Kiilalene Shadowheart, nicknamed Ghost, had picked a panther beast-man since he planned to play as a stealth fighter right out of the bat, and that particular combination had fit him greatly. That still didn¡¯t stop him from giving himself a fairly well-built body and setting his arms as two beastlike claws covered in fur all the way to his shoulders. The black fur, in fact, helped even more with his stealth tactics than what he had expected, as well as looking cool. He stopped after sometime of searching around and made a short whistle while raising his right arm. After a few seconds a large hawk landed on it while looking at him. ¡°Found it?¡± He asked gently, to which the hawk answered with a slight shake of its head. ¡°I see, you still did well, the night isn¡¯t really your territory after all¡­¡± He said to the slightly sad hawk, but the bird answered with a low sound while looking at a certain direction. ¡°What? Found something else?¡± The hawk nodded before lifting flight going towards its previous appointed direction. Ghost quickly followed the hawk while avoiding a few of these two-tailed yellowish foxes that roamed the area. More than once his gaze landed for a period on these small, but surprisingly though critters and he would think whether he should just cut his hunt here and go for one of these, instead of his original plan. He came here with one simple intention. To tame himself a pet that could use magic. Initially, he heard of these foxes while having a drink in a bar in the commercial sector of Eldor, and immediately assumed them to be a good option, but right before he set off, he heard of a rare and elusive blue fox that would sometimes appear around here. The idea of having one of these unique pets immediately took over him, making him set off towards this area immediately. However, even with the help of Gil, his trusted falcon, he didn¡¯t have much luck with finding himself the rare Blue-tail. But something had gotten the interest of his partner, so he decided to go and see what it was, since his search hadn¡¯t been giving many results. He patiently followed the bird-of-prey through the forest, not worrying much about his friend, since he could easily take care of himself. However, something scared the bird, as it suddenly started to flail wildly its wings, stopping itself in the air for a brief moment before hurriedly returning to the panther-man, landing on his shoulder and hurrying him to hide behind a tree. Startled, Ghost complied to the request and took cover in the shadows, hiding from whatever it was that scared his partner, even if he, himself had no idea on what it was. It was only a whole minute later when he finally understood what happened, as suddenly, a chill ran down his spine. Rather, as the whole place got noticeable colder, and as a large something approached the tree where he was at a fast pace. He couldn¡¯t see what it was, since it was on the other side of the tree, but he clearly felt a pressure befalling him as it approached. His instincts, trained after passing hours and hours in the jungle while searching for a companion were screaming two things. Run away, and don¡¯t move. Standing still, while silently hoping that whatever it was that was behind him would pass right through and ignore him, he tried to comfort his feathery partner who was also visibly shaken. Still, much for his despair, the creature stopped right before his tree, and a visible sniffing sound came from behind the tree. Then, he heard as its footsteps slowly walked around the tree. By then it was already too late for him to run, so he readied himself by holding the twin swords in his waist and readying himself. Yet, when he saw it, he was unable to do anything. It was a huge three tailed blue fox, even taller than him. It had a large blue gem on its forehead and a pair of sharp and intelligent sapphire eyes. He gazed at the beast in shock for a moment. So this is the fox he had been after? With only one look he could tell that he would be unable to tame this guy. Heck, if he could at least survive him, it would be a good start. However, the beast simply seemed to sigh, before turning and walking away, in search for something. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. It took the duo a few seconds to finally recover their breaths before they finally went on their way. Although he had no idea on what happened, he knew that he had been incredible lucky, after all, on that monsters head had cleared appeared the words, Rare boss and Aggressive. Since going back now would make him once again cross his path with the fox, he decided to follow towards whatever it was that Gil had found. Since the bird was still a bit too shaken by the experience, he let him rest on his shoulder. A minute later, he arrived at a clearing with nothing else in sight. When he looked questioningly towards the hawk, a flash of light appeared on the other side of the clearing. The same flash that would occur when someone looted a body. Ghost looked towards the flash in a surprise and saw as a figure appeared from the other side of the clearing. It was a player, probably. A golem wearing scale-mail chest-plate and leather pants. In his had was a wild looking black bow. However, the truly marking characteristic of this golem were his mad-looking green glowing eyes. Ghost instantly tensed up and hid himself behind a tree. Even if he had never seen him before, he knew who he was, after all, he had been all the talk of the forums a few days ago. Green-eyes, the brutal. A mad and strong player, famous for killing strong enemies with one attack and slaughtering players for no reason other than that he felt like it. Just the kind of player that he hated. Not that he had many players he trusted after two days ago on the Black woods dungeon, when the first person he considered a friend in here left him for dead in the room right before the boss. At least that made him meet with Gil, so not all ended badly. The only player he still trusted was that merchant gnome, Argento, who even gave him an equipment made by that Wargon after hearing his story, the same Wargon that crafted the first player-made excellent item. Deciding himself to give this Green-eyes the taste of his own medicine, he hid himself on the shadows while waiting for the golem to come and meet his demise. Yet, just as golem was about to reach him, he heard a bark. And the golem started to laugh. A mad and insane laughter that left even Ghost feeling the chills. Frozen where he was, unable to understand what was happening, it took him a few seconds, even after the golem¡¯s laughter ended. When he came out from hiding to finally see what was happening, the scene was forever implanted in his mind. The golem was sitting besides the fox, the same blue fox that had passed near him earlier, gently petting it while the fox simply laid there quietly. He¡­ Had tamed that fox. Ghost immediately revoked his plan on attacking him from stealth. Someone that could get such a strong monster as a pet wasn¡¯t something a normal person would be capable of doing. He immediately retreated to somewhere safer, leaving the impossibly strong duo behind. The hawk in his shoulder didn¡¯t even try to complain. But still, to come out here and not even take one of the foxes as a pet would be a loss, so he approached a strong looking one and started the long process of taming it. It took him a few minutes before he finally finished, even managing to raise his taming skill in the process. As he, and his now two partners decided to head back to the city before any bigger trouble would arise, they heard a howl. So loud, so powerful that it probably crossed the whole forest. Although common sense told him to go away, his curiosity won over it, and he went back to the clearing, the same one he had seen the duo before. Except that now, it was completely covered in a thin layer of ice and snow and dozens of huge ice stalagmites covered the area. He paled, understanding that this was probably a display of the might from the three tailed fox. Trying to understand what was happening, he walked around the area, following the sounds of ice being shattered, until he found the fox, jumping from one crystal to the other, shattering them and adding the shards to a cold aura that followed it. He gulped in surprise, being even unable to understand what would happen if he were caught in that charge. Yet suddenly, just as the fox jumped again, it suddenly contorted itself for a moment before finally falling on one of the crystals, shattering it. Surprised, it took a moment for him to finally see the golem standing there, at some distance from the fox, simply staring. Suddenly, it hit him. It was the golem. Somehow, he could toy with such a mighty foe like the freezing tail without even needing to approach it. Just¡­ How strong is he really? Not only had he managed to tame a Rare boss for a pet, now he is simply disposing of it, like it was nothing but disposable item? ¡°God dammit. I give up. I¡¯m going back to the bar and stay there until I forget this absurdity.¡± He said to no one in particular. The two animals at his side nodded in accordance as they walked away from the scene. The next day, by the time he got to Eldor, the legend of Green-eyes grew even more as he earned a new title due to his behavior with his monster of a pet, and thus, he became known as, Green-eyes, The Brutal Tyrant.
Next chapter
Chapter 30 - Window-stick Gaiden, Ronins fury Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Pets, merchants and cuteness, so welcome to the start of a new arc! ANYWAY, BE PREPARED, FOR CUTENESS OVERLOAD! Now, if you allow me, I have to punch a wall to recover some of my manliness lost after writing this chapter, be right back. ALSO, Introducing a brand-new oddball on this chapter! I bet that no one saw this coming! NO ONE! ALSO(2), THE HOLY CHURCH OF CYGNAS, HAS, BY NOW, REACHED 495 FOLLOWERS! REJOICE, COMRADES! FOR HER NAIVENESS*cough*HOLYNESS IS SPREADING THROUGH THE IGNORANT MASSES! ALSO(3), some one had asked me if I was Brazilian in one of the reviews, I always forgot to answer, but¡­ HUEHUEHUEHUE BRBRBR, GIBE MONY PLZ! Yes, I am! (^.^) ALSO(4), I wonder if I should find someone to proofread the old chapters for me¡­ I don¡¯t think I would be able to notice my own errors¡­. Hmm¡­ I could ask Red, but she would take a whole year to do it¡­ Hmm¡­ Actually is it even proofread that it''s called? Have a good read! ------- WHY? OH GOD, WHY? Why had this mad and twisted goddess reveal the truth to me? Doesn¡¯t she knows, that sometimes, the truth is better left unsaid? Yet, yet, she just came and told me! Now I can feel it, corroding me from inside, twisting my senses while mocking me from inside. The truth, it hurts, this pain I fell can never again leave me! This goddess, this insane and sadistic goddess, why would she do this to me? I swear, I swear, that until the end of my life, I will never, you hear me? NEVER forget what she has done to me! I looked at her, my eyes burning with rage as I laid on my knees to the ground while remembering what had happened. For you to understand this, I will have to rewind time. Back to a time when I was still innocent and ignorant. Back, to when I was happy¡­ So let¡¯s go back to when we last left off, and you will see what I mean. ¡­ We were still traveling through the forest, with me carrying a napping fox who refused to leave my arms and a trick-cat whom I was teaching some basic military drills. Or at least what I thought that were military drills. At that moment I was actually teaching him one of these songs that they force you to sing when training a forced march, or what I thought they do, not too sure, I¡¯ve never been to the army before, so all my information is based from cartoons and anime. Mainly the comedy ones. In fact, in the middle of our walk, Lieutenant even picked a leaf of grass and put the tip in his mouth, giving him a +2 badass status. Or as badass as you can be when you are a cat pretending to be a general, which makes him cute¡­ Kind of like a child pretending to be batman. Ooh, happy times were those. As we happily walked through the woods, not more than one hour away from Eldor, when the disaster happened. Aura, who had been peacefully sleeping in my arms woke up with an extra cute yawn before turning to sleepily with her ears drooping. I didn¡¯t really need to be an expert in freezing-tailology to understand that she was asking to be petted. She became addicted to it after the scene in the clearing. Gently petting her for a few seconds, she suddenly frowned while looking at nowhere. Something she did very frequently when talking to Cyg, and it seemed that my hunch was right, since after a few seconds her fur turned a silvery color. Usually, I refrain from petting Cyg, since she lets it go to her head far too much for my own tastes, but this time I kept going, I didn¡¯t want to lose my hourly dose of fluffiness. ¡°Hey, Gon whyyyy¡­ Hmmm¡­¡± She immediately trailed off while humming in pleasure, she kept like that for a full ten seconds before recovering. ¡°Hmm¡­ No wonder¡­ She likes this¡­ Sooooo much¡­.¡± Her voice felt like she was almost melting. She quickly shook her head, removing it from my hand as she jumped off. My fluffiness! I pouted a little. ¡°So¡­ What¡¯s up?¡± I asked in a slightly sour mood, but Cyg simply ignored it. ¡°Well, I was wondering one thing about your fight back then...¡± She said in a curious tone, to which I raised an eyebrow in question. ¡°But, why did you hunt those blazing tails and Aura without getting yourself a class? You did go back to the city when you were level ten, right?¡± I froze at this question as the facts repassed in my mind, and as it finally sunk in, I fell to my knees on the ground before finally falling on all fours, hanging my head low in depression. ¡°I¡­ Completely forgot about it...¡± There was a few seconds of silence, before Cyg finally said. ¡°So, you fought beasts much stronger than yourself while being classless, which is a pretty big handicap for yourself, leaving you in many tight spots during all those duels, for no other reason other than that you forgot?¡± She asked while holding back her laughter. WHY? WHY DID SHE HAVE TO PUT IT LIKE THAT? ALL MY SUFFERING, ALL OF MY TRIALS, IN VAIN! OH GOD! THE TRUTH! IT HURTS! ¡­ And that¡¯s my friend, is how we got to the start of this story, where I lay completely wasted on the ground as this dastardly goddess laughed at my situation. Revenge¡­ I must have my revenge¡­ I slowly crawled towards her, preparing to choke her out of this world, when suddenly someone grabs my shoulder, stopping me. When I look to the side, I saw him, Lieutenant. He looked at me with some pity while slowly shaking his head. Are you saying that discounting my anger on her won¡¯t solve my problems? He nodded slowly. Then how, how should I react? Where should I discount my rightful fury? I approached him and laid my heads in his shoulders while crying in despair, feeling his claw gently petting my head. At least I have a friend in the camp. Meanwhile Cyg was literally rolling on the floor while laughing. I¡¯m so window-balling her next time I login¡­ Our little scene was completely stopped when suddenly a furious screech came from the air. I immediately stood up while taking my bow and reading myself. Cyg quickly jumped away with Lieutenant immediately following her, since he still didn¡¯t have the means to play his roles. As I looked around, I saw a flash of brown coming in my direction, aiming for my head. With an easy sidestep I avoided it, and managed to see what it was that tried to hit me. Remember when I said that there was a falcon who attacked me some time ago? One that I hit with a wind arrow and sent him flying to Cyg knows where? Well, he is back and angry. At the time I had thought that he was fast, but after fighting against Auras and her freezing spikes of a really fast death¡­ He is so slow¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but make a stupid smile at this reversal in the situation. He flew away from me before making a turn; I started moving to mess a bit with his targeting. We exchanged a few bouts with neither of us landing a clear hit on the other for a few seconds, and as I ran around, I suddenly heard it. ¡°Go! Go! War-gon-Go! Show to that beast who runs this show~~!¡± I heard a strange music being sung, and as I looked back to my pets I saw something a bit unexpected, which made me trip and slide face-first in the ground for a few meters. At least this messed the bird¡¯s attack and he flew harmlessly over me. As it made an arc and came back in my direction, I raised myself from the ground while shouting and extending my open palm forward. ¡°TIIIMEEEE!!¡± The falcon flapped his wings confused and made a turn back to the tree, where he landed while looking confused to me. I turned back to the two little critters that were following me and walked towards Cyg. ¡°Okay¡­ What are you doing?¡± I asked her in a completely confused tone. ¡°Err¡­ Cheering?¡± She said a bit shyly while hiding her face behind the blue and white pom-poms. Yep, you heard me right, pom-poms. She had pulled, from Cygnas knows where (Which actually made sense in this situation) a pair of pom-poms and a cheerleader clothing. Then she sat on her hind legs while making some basic cheerleading poses and singing while holding the pom-poms on her front paws. I swear that if I wasn¡¯t completely lost on what was happening, I would have a cuteness overload here. By the way, Lieutenant had been following her moves while using his meows to time the rhythm. ¡°And¡­ Why are you doing this? Actually, isn¡¯t that clothing a bit against your rules of not interfering directly?¡± ¡°Well, as long as they don¡¯t leave, no¡­ Besides me and Aura were a bit bothered by simply sitting here and watching you fight, so we wanted at least to cheer you!¡± I sighed while slightly rubbing my temples. Better not think too much about this. I walked back to where I was last time and turned to the falcon who was still sitting in the tree-branch. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s continues.¡± It squawked in accordance before lifting flight and attacking me. ¡­ Falcon meat is actually really tasty! And from the description, it seems that the feathers of this guy in particular makes for some excellent fletching. Also, Aura¡¯s cooking reached level 2, now that she had the skill, she didn¡¯t even need Cyg¡¯s help when cooking, so she became the official cooker of our team. And before any of you asks, right after the fight ended Cyg dismissed the cheerleader clothes, but I have the feeling that wasn¡¯t the last we saw of it. After finishing our early lunch, I, Aura and Lieutenant went back on our way to Eldor, reaching it in less than an hour. We entered the city, but not before Aura looked at everything in awe and Lieutenant started to smirk as he looked around. Also, on the lasts times before arriving here, Lieutenant developed another weird habit. Whenever he isn¡¯t walking he would stand on his hind-legs and stand straight, sometimes even crossing his arms! And this seemed to rub off on Aura, as she would try to imitate him. After a quick stop to think on what to do, I decided that the first place to drop by would be at Melinda¡¯s house. It has been a long time since I¡¯ve been there, so I quickly made way towards it. The two critters were a bit scared to take the elevator on their first time, even more as there were a lot of people crowded. Aura had to take a ride on my head like when Cyg first took over her. Lieutenant was a bit more at ease and simply laid down between my legs. This earned me a lot of stares. Mainly from girls who wouldn¡¯t look away from Aura. Is this it? Has my springtime come? Anyway, after arriving on the general industries sector we got off and took the sub-elevator to Mel¡¯s floor. A quick walk and we reached the house slash workshop. After a few knocks, the red-haired half-garuda half-human appeared and looked at me surprised. ¡°Wow, I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you again!¡± She said in a playful tone, then turned towards my two pets. ¡°And it seems that you brought friends too¡­¡± ¡°Well, I do need to come here to craft from time to time, you know?¡± I answered in a good mood before picking aura from my head. ¡°This one is Aura, she¡¯s a bit shy but a good girl.¡± Aura nodded slightly as a greeting. ¡°And this one, is Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the Third.¡± Lieutenant made a salute in greeting. Mel blinked surprised and was clearly wanting to comment something about his name, but whenever she opened her mouth she would close it again, before finally sighing and beckoning me to come in. Yes, I know, my naming senses are impeccable! ¡°So, what kind of thing are you going to do today?¡± She asked curious. I smiled as we reached the workshop and unloaded the four Blazing-tails hide and Aura¡¯s hide. The expression of shock in Mel¡¯s face was simply delicious. ¡°I want to cure and tan these two on the classic method. Best quality possible.¡± She turned back to me, her mouth still wide agape as she tried to form words, but in the end she shook her head as if giving up on whatever she wanted to say to me, she simply beckoned me towards an old wooden box. Salt, a whole freaking lot of salt¡­ But it looked a bit different from the ones we were using when working before. ¡°This one is enchanted salt. It¡¯s made specifically for curing hides of magical beasts. But it¡¯s not exactly cheap, so I will have to charge you for it.¡± In the end, I paid one gold for the salt and left the hide curing. According to her, it would only be ready tomorrow, so I had no need to hurry. I also took out some of the red-tails hide and started to craft some basic gear to level up my leatherworking. I didn¡¯t spend everything since I had something I wanted to test before I went on to craft with the good stuff.
Your Leatherworking skill has achieved Intermediate rank.
Skill: Leatherworking [intermediate] [lvl 1] [8%]
Your experience with this craft now allows you to also works with monsters scales and shells to make scale-mail and plate armor respectively
Yup, my first crafting skill is up to intermediate! After being satisfied with myself, I took another batch of leather and started working on my most important craft of today, at least. I cut the leather in the shape of a jacket slash suit after taking some measurements, added some symbol-looking things on the shoulders and put some pockets on it and adding some buttons to it. I made an inner part that LOOKS like it is an undershirt with a tie around the neck. Then I made some pants with a small hole behind and painted everything in a military green color, I also made a small military-officer hat with two large holes on its top to go with everything. With his help, I quickly dressed the Lieutenant in his officer garb, and as soon as the job was done, his atmosphere changed from that of a playful cat to an experienced office. He walked towards a small box in the ground, put one of his hind legs atop of it and leaned on his knee while saying. ¡°Nya!¡± In a tone a bit deeper than usual.
You have equipped your pet with equipment, however you lack the necessary class in order for it to have an effect, so this equipment will not grant all the status it would usually give. However, You do keep the inventory upgrade that comes with it.
Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the Third has been upgraded with 8 inventory slots.
I blinked surprised at the window. There is a class that can actually EQUIP its pets? Now, that is interesting. Moreover, Lieutenant now had eight inventory slots! This is shiny! This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. But the piercing gaze boring through the back of my head is kind of scaring me¡­ I turned back to see an angry fox staring holes at the back of my head, and I had no other choice but to try and placate her. When I asked her, I found out that she was jealous of lieutenant getting himself some clothes. I smiled awkwardly and calmed the angry fox by petting her while thinking on what I should do for her. For lieutenant it was pretty much a given that he was getting some military clothes, but I hadn¡¯t really thought about giving her something, so I was kind of lost here. Let¡¯s see¡­ She¡¯s a three tailed fox¡­ This reminds me of the orient¡­ Some oriental clothing? That could work, but what exactly? Maybe a Shinto priestess? Although she would look cute, she¡¯s more of a physical fighter than her fiery cousin, even her ice attacks were considered physical! I guess that¡¯s a no. Ooh! I know! I quickly went back to the table and started working on it. For the upper part, I made her a pure white kimono tied with a light blue sash around the waist, for the lower parts I made those wide pants that you use on martial arts, I think it¡¯s called hakama, and painted it in a light blue that matched her fur. I also made a simple leather sack that you sling over your shoulder. The last part I couldn¡¯t do myself, so I left Mel¡¯s and search around for someone that could meet my requirement. I found a dwarf who worked with what I needed and asked him to make Aura a small conical straw hat with some space for her ears. He looked a bit surprised at the request, but quickly made me one that I fixed on her head with the help of a string. I also bought a toy soldier and took away his sword, putting it on her sash. She now looked one of these roaming samurais! Ronins! And the bag gave her a whopping twenty inventory slots! I made sure that both of them were comfortable with their clothing, before you ask. Aura barked while happily wagging her tails while Lieutenant simply made a nod with crossed arms. All in all, this whole pet-clothing ordeal lasted no longer than two hours, since they were small and simple. Nothing too fancy. Now, I had two things to do, and since both are in the commercial district, I immediately went there, followed by a samurai on my right and an officer in my left. The two of them attracted a lot of attention, as they were a very peculiar sight. Even some players stopped me to ask how I got them and whether they were some kind of premium pet. After some detours, we finally arrived at Argento¡¯s stand. I approached him but had to wait a bit, as he was already occupied with a white haired customer. I not-so-patiently waited around while discretely peeking at the guy¡¯s name. I literally had to hold my mouth with my hands so I wouldn¡¯t stop laughing. S2daddylovescygS2. Yup, It was him. Cloaked in a black cape and with a crossbow on his back, a vampire with a daughter issues. Okay, I couldn¡¯t hold it any longer. I started laughing madly, getting the attention of the two. Argento immediately recognized me as his eyes instantly turned into a pair of gold coins and he rubbed his hands together. The other guy, however, took a bit longer to recognize me. ¡°Oh! It¡¯s you!¡± he said surprised after some time, but before he could even continue, the gnome was already opening space on his table while pushing him away, his eyes shining. ¡°My friend! It¡¯s good to see you again! What do you have for me today!¡± The vampire turned to him surprised and seemed ready to complain, but the gnome simply waved his hand away as if saying that he doesn¡¯t matter. Wow, such blatant favoritism. Can¡¯t say I dislike it, though. ¡°I see that you got some pets since the last time, huh?¡± He said looking curiously at my two friends. I wordlessly dropped the red-tail gear on the table. They were better than my own set, to tell the truth, there was even two excellent pieces there! But, I have something even better in stock, just waiting to happen. Argento almost started drooling when he saw the best pieces. Vlad, as S2 likes to be called if I remember well, was also eyeing an excellent leather glove I made that gave +10 intellect and +5 agility. ¡°Wow¡­ Just¡­ Wow¡­¡± The gnome said as he took out an abacus and started to make some calculations. ¡°I can pay nin¡­ no, ten gold for both excellent, plus three for the rest.¡± He said with shining eyes. ¡°Deal!¡± Ding-ding! Jackpot! ¡°Say, did you get the things I asked you some time ago? The salt and lines?¡± He blinked surprise at the sudden mention, then nodded before pulling something from his inventory. Two large barrels popped into existence, followed by a wooden box atop of them. The barrels had lines and salt each, and the box was the tanning agent. I happily took them and stored in the inventory while he deducted two gold coins for the materials. Considering the amount, seems like a fairly low price to me. I also told him about the special salt and asked him to buy me a smaller barrel worth of it. I left him five gold coins in advance. In the end, I still had more than a good profit in our trade. ¡°Hey, Wargon. He called me suddenly. How much would you ask for one of these pets clothing you did?¡± He suddenly asked me. ¡°Err¡­ I don¡¯t really know, I had no plan on selling them.¡± I said a bit at loss while looking at the two. They had gotten close to the table and were curiously looking at the things atop of it. ¡°Hmm¡­ I could actually see these things selling. How about it, you make-me some of these and I¡¯ll pay you fifty silver per piece!¡± ¡°Fif¡­Fifty silver? Isn¡¯t that a lot?¡± ¡°Not at all. Player gear? Even if it isn¡¯t your, there are many people out there selling a few things. But pet clothing? No one makes it and, from what I know, it doesn¡¯t drop from mobs, so it is fine for it to be expensive.¡± ¡°But¡­ Would it even sell?¡± Argento simply laughed and pointed around. I blinked in surprise and saw as a lot of people were forming a large circle around me. Rather, a circle around Aura and Lieutenant. ¡°This will sell like cold water in the desert!¡± I blinked surprise at this. ¡°Well¡­ Even if I were to make something I can¡¯t simply go making standardized items¡­¡± I said a bit awkwardly, receiving a confused face from Argento.¡°I would have to take that person¡¯s pet to make some measurements, since the equipment doesn¡¯t adjust automatically¡­¡± His eyes started to shine even more with these words, but before I could go on or he say something, a Djinn girl suddenly approached me with shining eyes as she held my hands. ¡°Does that means that it was it you who made these? Then could you do something for my pet rabbit? I mean, I want something that would make him look cute and¡­¡± ¡°Excuse-me, ma¡¯am.¡± Argento saved me from her grasp by pushing her away and putting himself between us. ¡°Sorry, but me and the gentlegolem here have an agreement that any item that he makes that are intended to be sold have to go through me, so if you desire something, please negotiate with me. By the way, the price of a set is set around one gold for simpler sets, and up to two golds for the most complex.¡± Me and the public became wide eyed at the price of these, isn¡¯t that really expensive? ¡°As you heard my partner say before, all these works are custom made. Also, there is no recipe, so they are also handmade, thus the price.¡± The spectators all became wide eyed for a moment after hearing these last lines, but started to nod and murmur something about making sense. ¡°Now, now, those of you who still wish to request your pet clothing, please make a line here and state your name, pet race and set theme and a method to contact you. But do understand that this is his playing time, so it might take some time for your request to be accepted.¡± He said as he opened a notebook and put it in the table together with a feather and ink bottle and sat there with his gold coins for eyes. I saw a message arriving from him while he patiently wrote down the people¡¯s names. [Argento]: 1/3 mine, 2/3 yours of gold. [Me]: Deal. I¡¯ll start working later though(^.^¡¯) [Argento]: No need to hurry. I¡¯ve been repeating here that you will take things at your own rhythm, and if anyone complains they will have their names removed from the list. Morale of the lesson. Merchants are scary. And I kind of have this feeling that I¡¯ve been forced to accept without even giving my opinion, but that¡¯s not very important. As I walked away from the crowd, I noticed S2daddylovescygS2 standing in the corner while trying to look badass. Not very effective with that name. ¡°Yo! Sorry for that, I wasn¡¯t expecting it to become that big of a mess.¡± I said to him a bit wryly. ¡°It happens.¡± He said seriously before turning to the two little guys following me from below. By the way, our ronin¡¯s fur was silver at the moment. ¡°So, which one is it?¡± ¡°Which one is what?¡± I asked faking an innocent doubt. He sighed slightly. ¡°You know¡­¡± He started serious, but immediately after¡­ ¡°Which one is my adorable, fluffy and cute daughter that I love to hug, pamper and spoil! Ah! I want to hug her so badly! I should have bought her some sweets, she loves them! Ah¡­ This reminds of that time when we were testing the taste senses and she kept eating all those cookies¡­ Then Bill said to her that she would get fat and she immediately stopped while becoming completely red! She had forgotten that she could adjust her body at will!¡± All while he said this, he was opening windows with some photos, probably from his USB device, and showing them to me. ¡°Then there was this time when a nasty virus got into her system and she became sickly! She was feeling so bad, but looked so cute in those pajamas! Oh, Oh! Then there was this time that she accidentally deleted some data from the main drive, look how embarrassed she was! OWWW, she¡¯s so cute!¡± Please do note that I haven¡¯t even opened my mouth since he started. Meanwhile Cyg was trembling in rage and embarrassment besides me while keeping her head low. And yes, she did look cute in the pajamas. ¡°And then, and then, recently she came to us asking if she didn¡¯t look cute! When we asked her why was it she said that there was this friend of hers that kept bully¡­¡± Hmm? Did I just hear something snap? Oh, it¡¯s Cygnas. In a speed that neither Vlad nor me could follow, Cyg climbed my leg and jumped towards him, in her hands (or paws, for that matter) was a slightly glowing blue thing that looked like rolled paper. It is the Window-stick! As she jumped towards Vlad, she raised the window-stick high and shouted. ¡°SHUUUUT UUUUP DAAAD!¡± And in a true samurai fashion, she hit him in the head with enough strength to knock him down before landing cleanly behind him with a somersault. Then, just as Vlad started to get up, she jumped towards him and started to pummel him endlessly with the weapon. ¡°WHY! DO YOU! ALWAYS! EMBARRASS! ME?¡± Wait, shouldn¡¯t passive pets be unable to attack? Maybe it¡¯s because the window-stick doesn¡¯t count as an attack¡­ Could be that. Now, how she was holding the window-stick? That is a mystery for the ages! ¡­. After a couple of minutes, Cyg finally calmed down and let the poor vampire alone. It was a whole another minute before he got up. ¡°So, what are you going to do now?¡± I asked him after he seriously checked Cyg¡¯s condition as a pet. He was surprised with her sharing the body with Aura, but said that it didn¡¯t matter much. ¡°I¡¯m going to the cathedral to change my title and complete a quest. What about you?¡± ¡°I planned on going to the Silver Gauntlet to get some ideas for a class, but I think I¡¯ll go with you for now since I¡¯ll have to visit the cathedral later anyway and have no idea where it is.¡± I said while following him to the main elevator. He shrugged as if saying that it didn¡¯t matter to him. We took the main elevator and raised up to one of the highest levels. Boy, was it freaking hot here! Luckily, I had my leather jacket that protected a bit more than my steel armor. Aura and Lieutenant didn¡¯t seem too bothered by it, though. I followed him through he fancy looking streets filled with fancy looking mansions until we reach an even fancier building that probably spanned a couple of floors. It truly looked like a temple, with marble pillars here and there. We entered it to find rows and rows of stone benches, lots of large statues of different gods and a grandiose altar, where a couple of priests were praying. Besides the priest and a couple of other people, the place was pretty much empty, probably not being one of the praying hours or something. As we entered the temple, Vlad suddenly stood straight and said in a loud voice. ¡°The day send it¡¯s regards to the one who waits!¡± What that means, I have no idea. Probably some code words or something? For a moment, the people in the hall looked at us confused, until a man in the middle of the first bench of the middle row that was reading a book stood up and walked towards us. Wait, was he there before? I¡¯m pretty sure there was no one there before. ¡°So, you are the one that Iria sent?¡± He asked when he got in front of Vlad. This man was a remarkable, to say the least. His hair was neatly combed back and probably had just applied some gel, as it had a slight shine to it. He wore a nice and elegant grey suit, with a black under-shirt and white tie. His pants and shoes were also completely grey and didn¡¯t have a single spec of dust nor any wrinkles at all! This guy felt like a walking perfection, if I were to describe him. He had sharp features and could probably be called handsome. He was even taller than me, being probably around one meter and ninety. ¡°Yes, sir. My name is Vlad Blackcross and come here in the name of Iria, The goddess of light.¡± Did I just hear something incredible? ¡°And here is the object she asked me to give you.¡± He said while taking a box from his inventory and handing it to the man. But instead of simply picking it, the man waved his hands slightly as some light emanated from it and enveloped both me and Vlad for a brief moment. ¡°No need to worry, that was a simple cleansing and arrangement spell.¡± He said. And yes, I did feel refreshed as if I had just taken a shower and put on some new clothes. Heck, even the wrinkles in my leather gear was gone! The man suddenly snapped his fingers and a pair of pure white gloves appeared in the air. He calmly put them on before finally grabbing the box from Vlad¡¯s hand. He opened it quickly for a moment then closed it. He nodded satisfied and the box poofed into oblivion, then he patiently took out the gloves and threw them away, using a fire spell to incinerate them. I looked at Vlad confused, but he seemed as lost as I was. The man, misunderstood our reactions, as he suddenly said. ¡°Oh, forgive me for my manners. My name is Arkhoss, and I¡¯m the god of chaos.¡± Huh? God of chaos? I looked surprised for a moment before turning towards Cyg. She quickly climbed my arm and whispered in my ear. ¡°Arkhoss is the God of chaos, but he suffers from OCD!¡± ¡­ WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? Chapter 31 - Chaotic neutral Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Meeting a couple of friends and the first errand! ANYWAY, I hereby proudly declare that I shamelessly stole a joke from Oranos in the last chapter, and the best part? I AM PROUD OF IT! MUAHAHAHA! By the way, there is a lot of dialogue in this chapter, hope this won¡¯t bother you guys¡­ ALSO, CYGNA¡¯S CHURCH IS NOW OFFICIALLY WITHIN THE 500! CYGNAS BE PRAISED! ALSO(2), I¡¯m kind of running out of things to put here¡­ ALSO(3), I KNOW! Favorite character! Cyg and Wargon are out of choice since they are obvious, so, what¡¯s yours? I think it might just be Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the Third, after all, I always find his scene fun to write. AND YES, I INSERT HIS FULL NAME WHENEVER I CAN! I JUST LIKE DOING IT! Have a good read! ------- ¡°What do you mean by the God of Chaos having OCD? That¡¯s like saying that the fire cools things, and ice burns!¡± Well¡­ there is frost burns, so technically, ice do burn¡­ But that¡¯s not the point, right? ¡°Next you will be telling me there is an ADHD god of order, an emo god of light, and a god of snow that likes warm hugs!¡± Hmmm? Why do I feel that I just stole that phrase from somewhere else? Whatever¡­ Cyg smiled a bit awkwardly at this and said. ¡°Well¡­ Technically, there isn¡¯t a god of snow, since snow, or crystalline ice, are technically water and order¡­ But no. Arkhoss is the only one like that.¡± I sighed relieved. ¡°He actually was the usual crazy god of chaos up to a few hundred years ago, it¡¯s a long story, but summing it up, he created so much chaos that one mortal managed to steal his powers for a moment and almost killed him. That kind of traumatized him and now he is like this. This way he tries to cause calculated chaos instead of indiscriminate chaos.¡± ¡°Wait, calculated chaos? How the hell does that works?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. I¡¯ve never been very good with philosophical questions like that...¡± She said shrugging. ¡°But he still does his job well, so I didn¡¯t need to intervene up to now. Besides¡­ I think that right now he is the best possible god of chaos around!¡± She said in a happy tone. I raised an eyebrow confused. ¡°What¡¯s more chaotic than a god of chaos that don¡¯t like chaos?¡± I always wondered what people mean by the saying crazy enough to make sense. I think I might just have found it out. I sighed in defeat and turned my attention back to the duo at my side as Cyg jumped away from my shoulder back to the ground while giving control back to Aura. I noticed that Arkhoss was looking at me intrigued, he turned towards Vlad and asked. ¡°Was that golem talking with his fox, or I¡¯m going insane?¡± He asked confused. ¡°No, sir, it¡¯s just that I like to talk to my pets like I¡¯m talking to other people. It helps me think better.¡± I answered him with a poker face, which made him blink in surprise. ¡°Hmm¡­ A peculiar habit¡­¡± He stared a bit longer at me. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve gotten your name, did I?¡± I readied myself to answer those words, but right before I could say anything, an idea popped into my head. I don¡¯t know if I will remember this until the next time, so I might as well use it now, right? I straightened myself and said in an almost singing voice. ¡°Please allow me, to introduce myself. I¡¯m a golem, of wealth, and taste! I¡¯ve been around, for long long days, taking many beasts hides, and fate! I was around, when blazing tails, had their moment, of defeat, and rage! Made damn sure that blue, saved it¡¯s life, and gained strength. Pleased to meet, Gondorrer¡¯s the name!¡± Points and biscuit for whoever get this! And, yes, I know, it''s a bit off the rythm. DEAL WITH IT! IT''S MAH JOKE! Damn, I always wanted to do this greeting, but never got the chance before! The God looked at me with a raised eyebrow as if he had seen something interesting. ¡°That¡¯s a very interesting greeting¡­¡± He said honestly. ¡°And you¡­ Don¡¯t seem bothered by my presence even after I introduced myself¡­ You are quite a peculiar being.¡± He said while holding his chin in his hand. ¡°Well¡­ Knowing who you work under, it¡¯s kind of hard to take you seriously even if you are almighty and all. Sorry about that¡­¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°Knowing¡­ Who I work under? You mean Korwen, the great god of change?¡± He asked surprised, I simply smiled and pointed up, making his eyes widen before he suddenly burst into laughter. ¡°You have some good jokes, I will give you that, mortal!¡± ¡°I do what I can¡­¡± I answered with a shrug. Not that I was joking though. Really, knowing that it is THAT Cyg who rules over them it is kind of hard to take any of them seriously, even more an OCD god of chaos. ¡°Hmm. I¡¯ve grown interested in you mortal. I hope you won¡¯t mind if I peek into your history for a moment. Not that you have any choice though.¡± Well, at least he did warn me. He closed his eyes for a moment and kept his hand in his chin as he probably watched my story. I took this time to sneak a peek at Vlad, who was looking at me as if I was a mad man, I shrugged in response which made him sigh. As time passed, Arkhoss started to nod from time to time with a smirk, as well as frowning and making a surprised face, then more nods and smiles, as well as a few chuckles here and there. After one and a half minute later (I used the in-game clock for this, and he was precise down to the milliseconds) he suddenly opened his eyes, with clear shock in his face as he turned to look at Aura, who was laying lazily on the ground besides me. His mouth opened and closed for a few times, and when it seemed that he was about to say something, he flinched, paled and looked up to the sky. He cleared his throat a couple of times before he went to talk with me, visibly a lot stiffer than before. ¡°Yo-You sure have a very entertaining story.¡± He said while stealing a couple of glances towards Aura. Yup, he knows too much. ¡°You have taken my interest, mortal, not only your actions are chaotic, they still have a somewhat sense of purpose to it. And you also managed to tame one of Chess¡¯ offspring, which is almost unheard of.¡± He looked towards Lieutenant who looked dirt at him for a second before doing a mocking salute. ¡°And I must say that I did not expect that name, but I do like it.¡± WAIT A SECOND! Did the very own god of calculated chaos (is that even possible?) call ME unpredictable? I feel conflicted. I don¡¯t know whether I should laugh at it or try to overtake his place¡­ Hmm¡­ Decisions. ¡°I¡¯ve decided, Gondorrer. It seems that you still lack a class, right?¡± PLEASE, DON¡¯T REMIND ME! ¡°Then I will offer you one, and you will be bestowed with my powers.¡± Huh?
Your unpredictable and irregular actions have pleased Arkhoss, the God of Chaos, and now he is offering you the unique class: Chaos-Knight
Chaos-knight: The very threads of destiny gets scrambled when it comes to this knight, as chaos shall always set his path. Your actions and rewards are forever set in a chaotic state, where the only predictable thing is the unpredictable, leaving your enemies unable to predict and understand your actions.
As a chaos knight you earn access to many chaos-based spells and skills that can add random status and debuffs to your enemies, as well as setting the chances of meeting with something unexpected during your travels to one hundred percent. You are also granted immunity to mind-based magic, illusions and reactive spells.
OP CLASS DETECTED! OP CLASS DETECTED! ENGANGE ¡®WIDE EYE MODE¡¯ FOR TEN SECONDS. WIDE EYE MODE COMPLETE. START THE ¡®UNDERSTAND MEANING¡¯ MODULE. MODULE FAILURE. OPNESS TOO STRONG, ACTIVATE TEN TIMES MORE MODULES. MODULES OVERHEAT, BUT OPERATION SUCCESSFUL. CLASS DETERMINED AS INCREDIBLE OP, NERF MAY BE NEEDED. ENTERING FINAL STAGE. ENGAGE QUESTIONING MODE. ¡°L-Let me see if I got this right¡­ You just offered me an incredible strong class that involves the utilization of many chaos-based actions and ridiculous powerful spells that involves random states?¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you understood it so quickly.¡± He said with a satisfied smile. ¡°Sorry, but I decline.¡± ¡°Great, then from now on I shall name you my very own knight, you shall be my standard bearer here in this world besides my few remaining priests!¡± He said in a satisfied tone before suddenly stopping and looking back at me blinking. ¡°Wait¡­ You¡­ Refused?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Too much magic for me. I want something a bit more physical if possible, it goes against my style.¡± I said with a wry smile. (Processing, please wait¡­) ¡°You refused a class that grants you overwhelming advantages, incredible strength and unfathomable magic powers thanks to my chaotic blessing, because my chaotic blessing grants you unfathomable magic powers, incredible strength and overwhelming advantages?¡± He asked-me completely shocked. And I must say, he just impressed me. Even the way he worded the phrase involved symmetry! ¡°Kind of like that.¡± He stared at me for a good amount of time, as he kept opening his mouth to say something, then would close it and think a bit more, before finally opening again and end up closing without saying anything. ¡°Hah¡­ I give up!¡± He said throwing his hands into the air. ¡°I was trying to find some kind of meaning and reason for your chaotic behavior, but you make no sense at all. You feel a lot more like the other me.¡± He let out a long sigh. Okay, so now the god of chaos said I do not make sense, should I take that as a compliment? ¡°Well, I do have to say that this makes you amazing. I guess I will keep following you from now on¡­¡± He then turned towards Vlad after a long time. ¡°Sorry for side tracking¡­ Can we continue from where we left?¡± And the two started to exchange some words while taking some distance, it seems to be something important, so I better not meddle. Noticing some gazes on me, I turned to see a lot of people staring wide eyed. Feeling a bit mischievous, I turned to them with an annoyed face and shouted. ¡°What? Never seen a guy confuse the god of chaos before?¡± And turned away. With a quick gaze towards Vlad, I warned him that I was going away, he answered me with a nod. As I walked through the streets with my Lieutenant and my ronin, I started chuckling while remembering my encounter with Chaos. ¡°He sure is an interesting guy.¡± I said out loud to no one in particular. ¡°Yeah, that Arkhoss is a piece of work.¡± Cyg said while walking besides me, but her wording kind of bothered me. ¡°¡®That¡¯ Arkhoss? Kind of sounds like there are more than one¡­¡± ¡°But there are. I didn¡¯t have much time to explain back there, but the trauma didn¡¯t give him OCD per se. What it actually gave him was split personality!¡± God dammit, I take back what I said, that guy is a wonderful god of Chaos. ¡°There is a condition in which he goes back to his older self, but that guys was annoying so the other gods voted in unanimity to keep him like that. That¡¯s actually in the story books, by the way.¡± ¡°Wow, you guys sure are mean¡­¡± I said in a half mocking tone. ¡°Still, is there any difference between how the two do their work?¡± This had left me curious. ¡°Hmm¡­ If I had to say¡­ Take building blocks for example. The old Arkhoss would pick them and throw them up for no reason or try to join two unjoinable blocks through force. This Arkhoss he takes them, make a ridiculously complex building. But the building is built in such a way that if even a speck of dust land on it. It will fall down in the most chaotic way possible.¡± ¡°So, that means that he set things up and wait for someone to cause the chaos instead of going out there himself?¡± Cyg nodded. ¡°Wow, he¡¯s scary.¡± ¡°Not exactly. Even if he is chaotic, he¡¯s not inherently bad, so the chaos also may end up as something good, like that one time that because a farmer picked a stone from the ground, an evil tyrant died two weeks later while waging war with a group of mad cultists, decimating them.¡± I¡¯m afraid to ask how does that even work. After getting my fair share of chaotic activity for today, I went towards the Silver Gauntlet. Now that I knew where the cathedral was, I could come back later and change my title when I needed. When I got to the guild, I had a pleasant surprise as I found Arcus, El, Whisi as well as a construct I hadn¡¯t seen before sitting in a table while drinking and exchanging stories. I approached the group with a wide smile and didn¡¯t even ask for permission when I pulled a chair and sat. Only Whisi, who had seen me wasn¡¯t surprised with my sudden appearance. ¡°Sup guys! Seems like you got yourself a new friend?¡± ¡°Where the hell did you pop from, Gon?¡± Arcus asked surprised. ¡°From the depths of hell where I was playing with pink flying unicorns, but there¡¯s no need to explain that.¡± I turned to the black haired construct girl who sat on his side who jumped surprised with the sudden attention and tried to hid behind Arcus. ¡°Pleasure to meet you. My name is Gondorrer Tailban¡­¡± Oops. ¡°Gondorrer Gravelheart, classless level fourteen golem.¡± She blinked surprised and looked confused at El and Arcus, whom simply nodded to her. She let go of Arcus sleeve as she turned to me and said with a stuttering voice. ¡°P-P-Pleasure t-to m-meet you. I¡¯m L-Lila Goldspring. Half-Construct H-Half-Golem, le-level thirteen M-magic gunner.¡± Half golem half construct? I didn¡¯t even know that was possible! Well, now that I look closely, her eyes do shine a bit and there are these very thin blue pulsing lines in her skin. ¡°Wait, magic gunner? As in fire arms?¡± There are gun-powder powered weapons in the game? The girl nodded hastily after I made my sudden question, shrinking herself in the process. So she is the shy type, huh? They are the best one to tease! A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I had to turn away to hide my wicked smile. At this I noticed my two little pets who were sitting besides me. Since they were under the table, the team hadn¡¯t noticed them, so I promptly picked them up and put then on the table. ¡°Well, I also got two new companions. The swordswoman is Aura, and the officer is Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the third.¡± I wasn¡¯t even halfway into saying Lieutenant¡¯s full name before El snatched Aura with god like speed and hugged her. At first the fox seemed a bit worried about this and tried to squirm out of her iron grasp, but as soon as the petting started the fox pretty much melted into her arms. Lieutenant, on the other hand, managed to escape El¡¯s surprise attack and now was having a staring contest with Whisi. He put his feet atop an empty mug and leaned on his knee. Whisi had lifted its torso from the table and slightly opened its wing as it looked down onto Lieutenant. After a few seconds, the two of them suddenly grinned and Lieutenant extended his paw while Whisi used its tail as the two of them ¡®shook hands¡¯. I turned towards Arcus, but he was just as surprised as I was and simply shrugged. I feel that a fearsome duo may just have joined forces¡­ Still, taking my mind away from these two, I turned back to Lila. ¡°Hey, could you show me your weapon? I don¡¯t think I have seen many fire weapons around here.¡± She blinked in surprise, then nodded while taking a large bundle from her back and putting it on the table. Inside was a beautiful musket, with chrome-looking metal for the barrel, a mahogany wooden stock, both engraved with many magical symbols all around. It looked more like a work of art than a weapon. ¡°I never thought I would see one of those here¡­¡± I said absentmindedly as I stared at it. I thought that touching would be a bit rude, so I kept my twitching hands away from it. ¡°Yeah, these things are pretty rare, after all.¡± El said while happily scratching Aura¡¯s chin. ¡°They rarely appear upon reclaim, so most of these are hand made, but only a couple of professionals know how to work with them, so they are very expensive.¡± ¡°Wow, then that¡¯s quite an expensive class, huh?¡± ¡°N-Not so much¡­ F-Father taught me how to make these¡­ S-So all I need is to get my own material¡­¡± Hmm¡­ Then she is quite well off, huh? ¡°Anyway, speaking about classes, do you guys know where Goulder is? I wanted a tip on a good class for myself.¡± ¡°I heard that he left for Ezoria Argus for a knights meeting, but should be back by tomorrow.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I spent some more time in the guild while talking with the two of them, it seems that they got to know Lila when they went to a small city in search of a run-away crazed construct that had been killing people left and right. After some time investigating, they found Lila working in a bar where she was being suspected by the rest of the city, but Arcus randomly decided that she wasn¡¯t the culprit and proceeded to prove that she was innocent with the help of the El. After that, Lila decided to join them since she didn¡¯t feel at ease with being in the city after the event. I also told them about my little adventure with hunting red, blazing and a freezing tail, which earned me a good few gasps of surprise and such. But the best part was when I told them about my meeting with Arkhoss refusing his offer. At that moment the four looked at me like I¡¯m some kind of madman. Come on, it can¡¯t be that bad, right? Riiight? Anyway, after some time, since Goulder wasn¡¯t there, I decided to go out and work on some things I had to do before starting to craft around. I had to take Aura in my hands since she started napping. Lieutenant whiskers was learning how to play poker from Whisi, so I had to wait for them to finish their test game. After that, I went towards the Sol, the lazy alchemist, since I had a small problem that I thought that maybe she could help me. I entered the shop without any worry and went towards the bedroom, where I found her laying in the bed while tinkering with some Crystals and potions. ¡°Ooh, boy! You came back!¡± She didn¡¯t even look at me. Just why is it that she seem to know when I¡¯m approaching but the others don¡¯t? ¡°So, what brings you here?¡± ¡°Two things, actually.¡± I told her. ¡°Firstly, I want to know if you found something interesting with the crystals.¡± She visibly perked up at this. ¡°Actually, yes!¡± She jumps out of the bed and runs toward a group of eight colored potions laying on the table. ¡°When I combined these crystals with a resistant potion of the same element, I created these!¡± She threw me a red potion that I took a bit curious. ¡°Try drinking it and then activating it like a crystal!¡± I blinked surprised, but drank the potion anyway. As soon as I finished it, a buff symbol appeared in the upper corner of my vision. As I focused on it, I whistled in surprise.
Crystaline elixir of the lesser fiery shield (Dormant state)
No effect (59 seconds)
I looked at it and raised an eyebrow confused, then I tried activating it like I would activate one my knives or arrow. Instantly, a red glow surged around me and the buff changed.
Crystaline elixir of the lesser fiery shield (Active state)
Resists 200 of fire damage and related debuffs. All elemental non-fire damage is doubled. (5 secs)
Wait, a 200 points fire damage and debuff shield? Isn¡¯t that convenient? Why didn¡¯t I have this back against the blazing tail? Well, there is that whole one minute to activated and five seconds of duration, but little is much better than nothing. ¡°Well, this is awesome, I¡¯ll give you that.¡± I said while seeing the red aura dissipate. The girl-looking old woman grins in satisfaction. ¡°What did you expect, huh brat?¡± She said while also picking something else from the bench and throwing it to me. I picked it and opened the container, seeing some kind of a thick transparent liquid with small red glowing points spread around it. ¡°That¡¯s a coating you can apply to weapons and armors for a one-time use burst. It isn¡¯t all that powerful, but I¡¯ve only tried it with the weaker crystals, might get good later on. You can keep that one.¡± She said as she rummaged through some drawers and took a piece of paper. ¡°And here is the recipe. Did you discover something interesting?¡± ¡°Sadly, no. Didn¡¯t have much time. Spent these last days fighting some Blazing tails and a freezing tail.¡± I pointed to Aura who was looking curiously at the potions in the room together with lieutenant. ¡°But, I¡¯m almost reaching intermediate skill, so I¡¯ll probably earn some kind of cool alteration to the crystals. I¡¯ll tell you first thing after I get it.¡± She nodded satisfied. ¡°Hmm¡­ Do that. So, what¡¯s your second reason?¡± ¡°It¡¯s these.¡± I took out the claws and fangs from the red tails I had gathered and put them on the bed. ¡°Hmm¡­ A bunch of sharp looking fangs and claws. Interesting.¡± I don¡¯t think she meant it. ¡°And what does this have to do with me?¡± ¡°Well, I kind of want to use these to make a weapon, but I¡¯m faced with a small problem as you might see¡­¡± ¡°These are too small to even make a simple knife, huh?¡± She immediately understood what I meant. ¡°And why do you think I could help? I don¡¯t think I have a magic that can increase their size, you know?¡± I smiled awkwardly. ¡°It¡¯s not like that¡­ What I wanted was something slightly different¡­¡± I said as I took one of the few remaining knives I had. ¡°As I¡¯ve told you before, this is an alloy made with crystal and iron. I wanted to know if it was possible to do something similar with the claws and fangs. I will try grinding them and using it in the smelter, but I have the feeling it won¡¯t work, so I decided to pass here and see if you would have an idea.¡± She blinked surprised, then turned towards the fangs and picked one of them and scratching her finger with it, making a small cut. She looked at it for some moments then towards a fire crystal that was lost in a corner of the room. Finally she looked at me and said. ¡°So¡­ You want me to somehow smelt these claws and fangs into a whole mass that you can use to craft, but still keeping all the properties from before?¡± ¡°Not necessarily smelting, as long as the objective is reached, I¡¯m happy.¡± I slightly corrected her. ¡°I see¡­ Boy, do you know how insanely difficult it is that you just asked? Why do you think I would manage to do this?¡± She asked in an imposing tone, as if saying she wasn¡¯t taking this request. ¡°I know that YOU will do it, because you have access to a technique you didn¡¯t have before.¡± I said while pointing to the crystal she looked towards earlier. ¡°And I have the feeling we are just scratching the surface of what these crystals do.¡± ¡°Although you do have a point there, I still don¡¯t see why I should do it.¡± She said coldly to me while playing with the claw in her hands. I smiled once more as I already had the answer in the tip of my tongue. ¡°You will do it, because if you do manage to do it, you will become known as the only alchemist in the entire world to ever manage to do it, and this would show to everyone that you, are indeed, the best one.¡± I didn¡¯t even need to wait to know that she took the bait, as her eyes widened immediately at the words best one, and she lightly bit her lower lips. A dangerously charming action for such a young looking body. ¡°You know me too well boy¡­ I might have underestimated you too much on our first meeting.¡± She said in a playful tone. I simply answered with a cryptic smile. ¡°You can go for now. Come back in a couple of days and I¡¯ll tell you what I got.¡± I nodded and turned as she started to remove her clothes to put something a bit more fitting. And by that, I mean a clear white over-sized lab coat and a pair of blast google, looking like a perfect example of a mad scientist. Before leaving, I took out the blazing tails and Aura¡¯s claws and fangs and put them in a separate table. The granny looked at me and I said. ¡°Use the smaller ones for testing, and these ones for the final product.¡± She nodded to me. ¡°Say, brat, but since you hunted so many tails, don¡¯t you have a couple of those gems of their?¡± It took me almost a full second to understand what she meant, but I immediately took out one of the gems I got from their forehead and showed to her. ¡°These ones?¡± She quickly looked back and nodded. ¡°Hmm¡­ Good, how many of those do you have?¡± ¡°Around¡­ thirty or so?¡± She almost fell down when she heard that and looked at me with eyes wide open. ¡°T-Thirty? That¡¯s a lot! How many foxes did you kill?¡± ¡°Around thirty or so?¡± I think I only lost three of these gems when skinning them, so the number is about the same. ¡°It¡¯s almost a guaranteed item from manual skinning.¡± I explained. She blinked in surprise then nodded, before widening her eyes again and staring at me. ¡°Wait, what about the flaming tails? And the Freezing tail? Do you also have theirs?¡± I nodded, and the granny almost burst into laughter at this. ¡°Damn, brat, you sure are a handful! Come back later and I¡¯ll teach you how to make items out of them, ok?¡± I nodded happily. ¡°Also, as a last tip, don¡¯t forget to take the bones next time. They are much easier to transform into a weapon than these, ok?¡± Bones¡­ To pick them I would have to open the muscles and¡­ Ugh¡­ It¡¯s a bit gory, but if Sol says so, I probably will have to start collecting them too. I actually didn¡¯t even know that I could do it in the game, but seeing how thorough it is with skinning, I should have suspected¡­ I gave her my good byes as I walked out her store with my two little companions. They were surprisingly well behaved in there. Maybe I should reward them. I turned to the two of them and crouched down. ¡°Look here, you two, the next place I¡¯m going is a bit hot, so I will have to leave the two of you here for a while.¡± I said this, making Aura go wide eyed for a moment before she whimpered while getting closer to me. I petted her for a moment to calm her down. ¡°I won¡¯t take too long, at maximum two or three hours, ok?¡± Aura lowered her head slightly while Lieutenant nodded with his arms crossed. I smiled a bit at the scene, then I opened my inventory and took two gold coins out of it, which I gave Aura. ¡°Look, I think you two can take care of yourselves, so I¡¯ll leave these coins for you to buy a few supplies you will need while cooking. You can spend it with whatever you want after you are done, ok?¡± Aura looked at it surprised for a moment, but then nodded and put it into her inventory. ¡°If you have trouble with anything, ask Cyg for a bit of help, ok?¡± She nodded, I turned to Lieutenant. ¡°I will leave you responsible for accompanying her and keeping her safe.¡± I took out the last flash-bombs I had and gave him with a quick explanation on what they did and how to use. He made a bit of an evil smile as he took them and stored into his inventory like a kid who found a new dangerous toy. I also gave him the last freezing knife and some poison knives and explained to him. After that, I took the two of them with me to the central elevator until we reached the commercial sector, where I left them with a salute before heading to the blacksmithing sector, where I had some crafting to try. ----- Author''s Corner: I might just make a small extra chapter with their city adventures... Who knows? If i''m not too lazy... Also... *looks around* Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the Third *giggles like a kid* Chapter 32 - Back to tinkering Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Small chapter today, but some more tinkering! ANYWAY, today just happened to be one of those days that even thinking is difficult, so I had a bit of a hard time with this chapter, thus its shortness. Sorry about that guys¡­ (T.T) I may also not update anything tomorrow since it¡¯s mother¡¯s day here (I¡¯m not sure if this date is shared around the world) So I will probably spend the day with my mother. ALSO, Some time ago, I received a request for a permission to write a fan-fic about my story (*SQUEES HAPPILY LIKE A GIRL*), and now that person has completed the story. After some talk, we decided that I would post it here for you guys, probably as a side-story, but I will first ask a mod if it is alright to do that, since I wasn¡¯t the one that wrote the story. It will probably be alright, but better safe than sorry. ALSO(2), Altough I did have a bit of a hard time writing this chapter, I guess that playing the Splatoon demo and monster hunter MIGHT have impacted a bit, but might just be my imagination¡­ Have a good read! ----- I got out of the elevator and saw the old red-tainted scenery, even the air seemed to be screaming in pain of the intense heat emanated from all the raging forges. It actually seemed to be a bit more heated than usual, but I can¡¯t say for sure, since the ring I had kind of cancelled it out. As I walked towards Torg¡¯s place, I heard many hammer beating down on anvils and some dwarves having a good laugh here and there. Some random passersby even greeted me for no apparent reason! And funnily enough, there was a guy who actually even offered me a mug of ale! When I reached the big guy¡¯s house, he was also humming happily as he browsed through some ingots in his workshops that I had never seen before. When he saw me, he turned to me in a happy mood. ¡°Oh, little Gon! What a happy day is it!¡± ¡°What¡¯s up with all the excitement down here? Did I miss something?¡± I asked him as I went to a nearby forge and started to heat it up. ¡°Why, yes! The council just announced us this year¡¯s black fair not even half an hour ago!¡± He said as he picked a slightly bluish ingot and put it into his huge hands. ¡°Black fair? What¡¯s that?¡± My question mad Torg burst into a hearty laughter. ¡°It¡¯s an annual crafting fair held every year here in Eldor, lots of people come here to see and buy gear and apparels, so us, the blacksmith rejoice and pump out our forges non stop for the next days until the fair!¡± He laughed heartily once again. ¡°We also use this time to compete and see who¡¯s the best around! The last three times, I was left in third or fourth in the weapons competition, but this year I¡¯ll get the first!¡± A gear fair? I better be sure I¡¯m not around when that happens, don¡¯t want to stay around when I see top grade badass gear laying around ready to be bought. It¡¯s bad for my pockets health. As the forge showed itself to be ready, I started pumping out some iron ores I got from my last adventure and started by refilling my throwing knives inventory, making sure to have at least eight of each. The same for the arrows. Luckily, I managed to find a good amount of veins on the way back, so I had more than enough crystals this time. Mid-way through my small effort, I earned an awesome window that popped up.
Your Crystal Tinkerer skill has achieved Intermediate rank.
Skill: Crystal Tikerer [intermediate] [lvl 1] [8%]
Your experience with this craft now allows you to also works with mana crystals as well as some other Crystals of mineral origin. You have received the modifier: Pressure activation. Can be applied to any Crystal creation.
Passive
Well¡­ How do I say this¡­ BOOO YEAH BABY! TAKE THAT! Pressure modifier? Activate on impact? Just what I needed! But what really caught my attention on this was the other bonus. Now I can also use mana crystals on my toys? How does that works? And what does it means by other crystals of mineral origins? Oh, the questions! Oh the ideas! But let¡¯s leave the crazy scientist mode for a bit later, now I have a more serious objective that I have to work over no matter what if I want to produce ideal armor for me. I focused my mind on finishing my special arrows/knifes and went back to the forge, once again filling it with iron so I could start my work. ¡°Oh, yeah, Gon.¡± Torg called my attention as I waited the iron to melt. ¡°Do you know that whole crystal thing you just did? I¡¯ve been tinkering with them too!¡± Oh, the blacksmith too? ¡°Got anything interesting as of yet?¡± I said with my eyes shining in excitement. ¡°Nothing useful¡­¡± He said in a slightly sad tone. Then why did you get my hopes up? Torg, you meanie! ¡°I tried to see if I could make an ingot that isn¡¯t so brittle, but no matter what I did it wouldn¡¯t work¡­¡± He sighed out loudly. I sighed out loudly while nodding. ¡°It would be so good if we could do that¡­ I wonder what kind of things we could do with them...¡± I said in a half-hearted tone. ¡°Maybe there is some kind of skill that does that?¡± ¡°Who knows?¡± He answered with a shrug. I have the feeling that he wouldn¡¯t stop there, so I guess I can count on him to find something about it. As we chatted a bit, the iron finally melted, so I put myself to work with it. I started with making a few scales with the ingots. I had a plan that I had no idea if it would work, but I guessed that it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try it. Somehow Torg noticed that I had something else in mind before I even started with working on the armor per-se. Telling him the idea I had, he suddenly looked surprised to me, then started to nod as he started thinking about it. In the end he decided to help me and see where this was going, so he started making a bit of chainmail for me. When we each finished our part, I took a small leather-glove I made with the Red-tail hide, and he guided me on how to link the chainmail¡¯s edge to the leather. After a quick work of putting the chail-mail on the under-part of the gloves, I stitched the scales on the upper part. As soon as I had done it, a window popped up.
Cinder-proof Scale-mail Gauntlet (Hands) (requires level 8)
Def: 18 M. res: 6
Quality: Good Durability: 30/30
Description A scale-mail gauntlet made with the help of a fire-aligned magical beast hide. Provides a small resistant against fire. +6 STR +3 AGI +2 VIT FIRE RES +5 (Made by Wargon)
Hmm. Not bad! Not bad at all! Just by this it¡¯s already better than my actual equipment. But¡­ ¡°Hey, Torg, how does elemental resistance works? As a status, I mean?¡± I have to admit that I was kind of expecting something of the like: -x% of damage against the element, but this doesn¡¯t seems to be the case. ¡°Oh, it got fire resistance? That¡¯s interesting!¡± He said with a slight surprise. ¡°Usually you would only get it with sulfur-infused ingots from a volcano. Or with the help of an enchanter¡­¡± He was looking curious at the gauntlet for a moment. ¡°Anyway. As you asked, elemental resistance works as if it were both toughness and mind when it comes to that specific element.¡± Hmm¡­ I see¡­ But, this isn¡¯t yet the test I wanted to make. What went further? I¡¯m going to hold back here just to build up a bit of expectation, because I¡¯m evil. But it¡¯s nothing too much, so don¡¯t expect too much, ok? Anyway, I can at least tell you guys this, the first time it didn¡¯t work, but when we tried to add a tiny little bit of fire crystal (half a crystal for the whole gauntlet) to the metal, it worked, and we got what we wanted. For now, lets say that I achieved my objective, but since I still had to wait for the Blazing-tail hide to pass through the whole curing and tanning process, I could only sigh in defeat as I would have to wait before putting my plan into motion. We also made a few other try-outs with the remaining leather I had, but we kind of ended up with the second try, since the others didn¡¯t work. In the end, I wasted all of my ingots in the try-outs, but I did leave blacksmithing within level 9 and at 90%, so, all is good. I left Torg to his own workings since he still had that whole black fair thingamajig. As I left the sector, I took a quick look at the mini-map, where it was showing Aura¡¯s and Lieutenant¡¯s actual location. Following it as I climbed a few floors to the place indicated by the two, I noticed that the sky had already darkened, so it should be the start of the night by now. During the whole time as I had been working in the forging sector, I was keeping an eye out for the two. Although they did move around a lot, it didn¡¯t seems to me that they were in a hurry nor worried. Although lieutenant¡¯s life did drop slightly at one point, it wasn¡¯t much, so I assumed that it was an accident or something. Still, that antenna-cat never ceases to amaze me. When I reached the two of them, I found them on the entry of a small alley, with Aura quietly sitting there while she watched Lieutenant. And this one, was actually walking back and forth in front of a line of ten or so street cats, who were sitting straight while looking slightly up. A big and scarred one who was slightly black eyed. They kind of looked like a line of soldiers following an officer¡­ As lieutenant walked back and forth while meowing almost nonstop, sometimes he would give a slight break where the cats would answer with a unified meow, to which he would nod and keep meowing. Aura noticed me approaching and quickly brightened up as she got closer to me and jumped on my chest. I grabbed her and petted her happily before turning to Lieutenant. ¡°So¡­ What¡¯s he doing?¡± I asked her, and she sighed slightly. Lieutenant heard me and turned to greet me with a salute, which clearly surprised the alley cats. He turned to them and started to hiss and meow furiously, until I saw all the cats turn to me and try to make a salute. Lieutenant sighed and turned back to them, where he meowed a bit more and made a last salute, to which the cats answered before darting into different directions. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Lieutenant nodded in satisfaction at their fast scramble and turned to me. ¡°Nyaa-na Nyii-A, Naa-nyna! Nyynaany, nyaaaa nyyynana-yyyyna!¡± ¡°Wow! A information network? Yeah, that¡¯s actually helpful! Good job!¡± I nodded in agreement and Lieutenant smirked proud. Damn, isn¡¯t he full of tricks? I turned back and took the two with me for a walk around the city. While we walked, I checked what Aura bought, and could see a cooking pot, a frying pan, a kit to store spices which only occupied one slot, oil and other cooking apparel. Somehow, there was also an apron there, and I have the feeling that Cyg might have a hand on that. In lieutenants inventory were the knifes and flash-bombs, so there wasn¡¯t much change here. Except, that I have the feeling that he might have used a flash-bomb, but I can¡¯t be so sure since I don¡¯t remember what was the amount I gave him. After a few minutes of walking around, I decided to go out and farm for some minerals as I waited for the next day to come. I had nothing to do for now and was out of ore, so it seemed a good decision for me. Since it would be mostly only walking around and finding a few veins, I asked them if they wanted to come or wait for me in the city. Lieutenant decided to stay back and further his network. Aura decided to stay with me as I searched around. At first she was always by my side, but she would suddenly dart out when she smelled something, and by the time she came back, she would be carrying a small amount of herbs before picking the spice kit from her inventory, storing it there and then putting it back. After the third or so time, I decided to ask her to also start picking up some alchemy herbs and gave her the book with the formulas that Sol gave me some time ago. Meanwhile, I was happily mining away at the various veins I found around the mountain. And for those of you wondering, yes, the vein do respawn, but it seems to take around one or two days for the basic, and up to one week to rare ones. When I was satisfied with the amount I got, I sat down on the ground and decided to start working on a few flash-bombs. After I made three more of them, I started working on the new toy, and that is, how to add the mana crystals to the equation. Firstly, lets start with the obvious, so the first thing I tried was to activate the mana crystal by itself. Nothing happened. Well, at least I expected that. Then, for the next part, I tried combining the mana crystal with the elemental crystals, but I was met with a slight problem. I couldn¡¯t break it. Different from the elemental Crystals, that are brittle and break easily, the mana crystal was surprisingly durable, and wouldn¡¯t even bend when I tried to force it. After a few failed attempts on roughing my way to breaking it, I decided to go and pummel it with a piece of rock. After some more seconds of simple-minded violence against the crystal (disclaimer: no crystals were harmed in the making of this chapter) I finally managed to break it into small fragments. I picked half of the fragments and mixed it with half of a fire crystal in a leather-ball bundle before trying to activate it. But it didn¡¯t work again. I was kind of sure that this time I would get myself some results, so it left me kind of sad¡­ As I looked up while thinking, I turned towards Aura and saw that her fur had changed to a silver coloration while she was sitting and looking at the crystals in a pensive pose. ¡°What? Are you going to give me some tips or something?¡± I asked half-mockingly. ¡°Hmm?¡± She blinked surprised and looked at me before shaking her head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t have access to this information, so I¡¯m as in the dark as you are¡­¡± She said in a slightly bothered tone. Then she approached the fragments from both crystal and pushed them towards me. ¡°Try activating both of them together!¡± I blinked in surprise, then shrugged. I opened the bundle and put everything together in it before closing it and trying to activate. And yes, there was a reaction! It exploded in a fireball! -8 (472/480) Ouch. But I didn¡¯t really see much difference from when I used the elemental crystal alone, so I was left a bit disheartened at the situation. That was until I noticed that there still was some weight in my hand, something that never happened before. When I looked back at it, there were the remains of a charred leather ball, as well as some crystal fragments. When I looked down to the ground, I also saw the remaining of the fire and mana crystal on the ground. I blinked in surprise. Shouldn¡¯t the crystals disappear after using them? I noticed Cyg looking at me slightly confused, and since she didn¡¯t have much contact with the crystals, she didn¡¯t seem to understand my surprise. I quickly gathered the crystals and separated them, leaving the fire crystals to one side and the mana crystals to the other. The fire crystals still seemed to be just as usual, but when I looked closer at the mana crystals, they seemed to have become a bit more duller in its coloration. When I analyzed it, it now had a ¡°(depleted)¡± besides its name. Just to be safe, I tried repeating the experiment, but as expected, this time the fire crystals simply poofed out of existence after the fireball. So¡­ The mana crystal works as a battery for the elemental crystals to spend the energy, without needing to destroy itself¡­ This is really interesting. I repeated the experiment with two full crystals, and the result repeated itself. This is really convenient, now I can somehow keep my crystals without needing to remake everything after, as long as I have mana crystals! But when I looked at the depleted crystals, even more doubt popped in my mind, after all, it still had the crafting material tag¡­ I immediately remembered the mana potion recipe, but sadly I didn¡¯t have the material needed to dissolve the crystal, so I will have to pay a visit to the loli-baba later. For now, lets make more experiments! Firstly, lets try to add the depleted crystal to the some recipes. After a few brainstorm tentative, neither me nor Cyg had any working idea, so we decided to leave the depleted ones for later, as we once again focused on the classical one. But we didn¡¯t really get much advancement there either. With a sigh, we decided to change to something a little bit different, and we decided to test the new activate on pressure modifier I earned. The modifier, is something that I add after the crafting is completed and before activating the crystals. It actually change the activation method, from instant to something else. Previously, my arrows and knifes were based on the delayed activation, where I would set it to two or so seconds after activating for the effect to take place. But now, this pressurized activation works when the pressure exceed a certain threshold. Although much more convenient, it¡¯s also bit trickier, since if I set it too low, even the wind-pressure will activate it, but if I set it too high, even after hitting the target it won¡¯t have an effect. And pressure is a much more subjective measurement when you don¡¯t have any kind of measuring instruments. As I worked and tested it, I noticed that my satiety bar had dropped, so I quickly helped Cyg prepare a campfire and lit it up, leaving her for cooking. Around this time, Lieutenant arrived, probably hungry too. I left the choice of food to her and passed the remaining meat I still had to her as I focused on the crystals again. With the corner of my eye, I ended up seeing Lieutenant using a nearby tree as a target while he trained throwing daggers. I decided not to think too much on how he was holding them, since it would probably be bad for my mind. Now, back to the modifiers, I also discovered that I can mix the two modifiers, making a sequence out of them. For example, I could set the upon pressure followed by the delayed activation, which would make the crystal activate after some time of being pressed. When I thought about this, it would mean that I could somehow make some kind of elemental trap that would activated various crystals at delayed intervals, making a long lasting trap effect trap, kind of like the shock trap¡­ SHOCK TRAP? OH MY GOD! I CAN MAKE A SHOCK TRAP! What is a shock trap? WHAT IS A SHOCK TRAP? HOW DARE YOU NOT KNOW WHAT A SHOCK TRAP IS! Well, it¡¯s actually an item there is in monster hunter, that locks the monster in place while paralyzing him. You can use it to deal some good, easy hits, or to capture it if the monster have low health. It¡¯s a very useful and practical item. And I¡¯m definitively am doing it! Ok, where to start¡­ I need electricity, but how do I make it? From what I learned, electric attacks seems to be based mainly around wind damage, kind of like how ice is based on water. But, from what Cyg talked, ice is part water part order, then what is lighting? Let¡¯s start with wind, since it¡¯s already confirmed as part of the equation. Lightning would be¡­ Energy? Cursing through the air, so¡­ Fire? No, wind and fire equals explosion, tried and tested. Then, chaos? As in, electrons going wild and whatnots? I tried that, but what I got was some kind of weird gust that kept going back and forth with no real reason. I kept trying a few other combinations, but nothing seemed to work at all, and I was kind of running out of wind crystals¡­ When I had one last wind crystal left, Cyg called us for the grub, and by the way, yes, she was wearing the apron. She had made a vegetable and meat soup. Usually, I¡¯m no fan of soup, but I guess I might have to review my standards after tonight. As I sat down and ate, Cyg turned to me and asked what I was doing now. ¡°I¡¯m trying to find the combination for electricity, but it¡¯s not going very well.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s wind, fire and light. On a half, three eights and one eighth proportion.¡± I blinked in surprise and looked at her surprised. ¡°Wind is the base element, so it needs to be the main portion, lightning is related to energy, so we need a high concentration of fire that represents that, and since it comes from the heavens, as they say, it does have a slight holy effect, and thus the light.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have told me that sooner?¡± I complained. ¡°But you never asked me!¡± I sighed in defeat and ate my food silently while glaring at her. And when I tried it out later, it did work. Afterwards, I went around to replenish my crystals stocks that went almost depleted. After a few hours, we went back to the city when it was starting do dawn. Still deciding on where I would go first, Sol¡¯s or the gauntlet, a sudden realization hit me. How the hell did I understand Lieutenant back at the alley? Chapter 33 - Reunion Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Crazyness may be late, but will not fail! ANYWAY, Sorry for the late update. Today is the start of a new study year for me (don¡¯t ask, It¡¯s complicated¡­ Brazilian things(^.^¡¯)) so I kind of got caught up into going to class and having to see a few other things. The next couple of updates may be a bit rocky and I might have to reduce the update speed a little if things get a bit too overloaded, so sorry in advance for any possible failed updates. ALSO, Recently I have received a couple of a bit more detailed reviews. I received a pretty bad grade for grammar, which I won¡¯t complain at all since I do know there are a lot of errors, but I simply am unable to see them myself. Heck, I actually like when people point me at what I am lacking in my stories. But now, HOW THE HECK DID I GET FULL FIVE STARS FOR STORY? I mean, really, is there even a story in here? It¡¯s just a guy fooling around as he plays! This left kind of surprised¡­ (O.o) ALSO(2), Look who¡¯s back! And we even have a dispute for the position! (LOLZ) ALSO(3), Some people may be thinking that the reason Wargon still don''t have his class by now is because I kept forgetting to add it. MUAHAHAHA!(Thunder for dramatic effect) YOU FELL FOR MY TRAP CARD! Actually, from the VERY FEW THINGS I have planned for the story, this not getting a class is one of them. But this is about to end with this actual arc, since it IS about him getting a class. So yeah. Have a good read! ----- Leaving behind worthless doubts like the one I just had, I distractedly made my way towards the central elevator, deciding to consider the whole talking lieutenant thing nothing but a one-time fluke and that it would never happen again. We reached the elevator, and on a last minute, decided to go towards the alchemy store and show her the depleted Crystal since I still wasn¡¯t very sure of when the guild would open. I also had the feeling that no matter the time, I would be received the same way at her place, since she lazes around all day long. Before we even reached the place, we saw as the huge dwarf stood in front of the door while talking to the little hag. I raised my eyebrow in confusion as I watched the duo talk to each other, and Torg took out something from his pockets and showed it to her. The hag¡¯s usual tired look completely vanished when she looked at it. When I got close enough, I could see that in his hands were a few elemental crystals. It seemed that he came here for some advices on the whole crystal and metal ingot thingy. ¡°Those elemental crystal thingies are sooo yesterday! Literally.¡± I said as I approached the two of them. Torg jumped in surprise, but the hag simply smirked in response. ¡°So, not only did you get me, but you also managed to hook Torg onto the whole Crystal thing, huh?¡± She said in a slightly mocking tone. ¡°Wait, you also know little Gon?¡± Asked Torg surprised. ¡°Yep. He¡¯s that crazy and irresponsible disciple I told you about.¡± ¡°Oh, no wonder I thought that he seemed familiar when you described him!¡± ¡°Hey, you two do know that I¡¯m still here, right?¡± I said slightly annoyed at the fact that they were ignoring me standing right in front of them. ¡°So, what brings you here, boy? I still haven¡¯t gotten anywhere with your request, before you ask.¡± Said Sol. ¡°Nah, I came here for a different reason! And actually, it¡¯s good that the two of you are here, since I think this might interest you.¡± I said as I took the depleted crystal from my inventory and spun it around a couple of times. ¡°Is that a mana crystal?¡± Asked Torg slightly confused, but granny answered for me. ¡°No¡­ It looks like a mana crystal, but it feels different¡­¡± Sol said in wonder. What did she mean by "feels different"? No matter, I threw the crystal to her and she quickly caught it, putting herself to examine it. When Torg started to get curious, I got another one and gave it to him. Sol¡¯s eyes immediately started shining, as she suddenly got herself a new toy to play with, but Torg looked at me slightly confused. ¡°Why did you think this might interest me, little Gon?¡± He asked slightly confused. ¡°Did you try breaking it like the others?¡± He blinked in surprise, and immediately held the crystal between two fingers and tried to break it with his other hand, but he slightly grimaced when the crystal held its ground against his strength. I¡¯m pretty sure that if he went all out, he would be able to break it, but then I also think a steel sword would break with arms of that size, so I don¡¯t think that it would be a good comparison. ¡°Hmm¡­ I think I might have an idea on how to fuse these two crystals together¡­¡± Granny said while watching the two of us. And I¡¯m pretty sure she had the exactly same idea as me, because she immediately ran towards the inside of the house and came back with a portable distiller, where she immediately put on the acidic solution before throwing the depleted crystal inside. ¡°So, while we wait the crystal to dissolve, mind showing us how you got these new toys?¡± I shrugged as I took out a normal mana crystal and a wind crystal, holding the two together in one hand, I quickly activated them while aiming at the ground. After the wind-ball exploded, I showed them the depleted mana crystal. The two immediately tried to copy this, but both failed, as the elemental crystal poofed into oblivion. Thinking that this might be a limit from the low skill level, we decided to test something else. Since these are consumables, if I made something with them and then passed to someone else, would they still work? I hastily made a wind leather ball and stuffed a crystal inside. It was easiest one of the ugliest leather balls ever, but it would work, so I passed it to one of them. This time it worked and the crystal depleted its mana, but when they tried to change the crystal by themselves it stopped working. For now, since we didn¡¯t have another way to produce these until they got to intermediate, I made another thirty crystals for each for them to run their tests. Meanwhile, the depleted crystal had already dissolved into the acid, so Sol threw some grinded elemental crystals inside and shook the whole solution to mix it before picking another solution and throwing it inside before boiling it again. I didn¡¯t forget to notice that the solution she used this time was different from the one from last time. However, against my predictions, after distilling the solution, we didn¡¯t get a crystal right away. In fact, if I didn¡¯t look really closely I would almost miss the small crystal slowly forming in its center. It was definitively growing, but would take a couple of hours before the whole liquid would be concentrated back into a single crystal. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a bit too slow?¡± I asked slightly worried, but Sol shook her head. ¡°Precisely because it¡¯s taking so long that I¡¯m sure its working. If this was a normal mana crystal, it should have already condensed in a blink.¡± ¡°I see¡­ And why would you have a solution to change the solution back into mana crystals?¡± ¡°Boredom.¡± Perfectly valid answer. We decided to leave the condensing crystal with Torg for now, since he would be the one to test it on the forge when it was done, while Sol looked for some other applications for the depleted crystal. Right after our goodbyes and we started going back to our places, a commotion happened in a nearby alley, as somebody dashed away from it and ran into my direction. ¡°SOME ONE HOLD THAT CYCLOPS! HE¡¯S ESCAPED FROM PRISION!¡± I heard a girl¡¯s shout coming from the same alley the cyclops came running through. Wait, Cyclops? Prison? When the Cyclops reached us, I could see that he had a pair of broken handcuffs on his wrists while nothing covering his upper body, but I still managed to recognize him. It¡¯s my old victi*cough*friend! PK-cyclops! I really need to learn his name sooner or later¡­ Nah, not worth it. It seemed that he also noticed me and immediately his face contorted into a mix surprise and fear. It seemed that I really am becoming somewhat of a trauma for him. I feel honored! He immediately changed his direction when he noticed me. ¡°LIEUTENTANT!¡± ¡°NYA!¡± ¡°Do you see that cyclops? Flash him down and stop him, soldier!¡± ¡°NYA!¡± He made a hasty salute before darting away. Even if the cyclops had the starting advantage, Lieutenant was still much faster than him and quickly surpassed him before turning back and jumping. He looked at Cyclops right into eyes and smirked as he pulled down his military hat and lifted a flash-bomb. ¡°WHYYYY! WHY ALWAYS MEEEE?¡± I heard the cyclops preemptive agony cries as the bomb started to explode. As soon as he fell down to the ground in surprise, lieutenant took two of the freezing knifes I had passed to him earlier and threw at the guy¡¯s hand. I had set all of his knifes to activate on a two seconds delay so he could throw them at ease. Oh, it also seems that his throwing weapons mastery just reached level four with that, and he earned a new skill that allows him to throw multiple knifes at the same time! Nifty! The range is kind of short though. This whole scene took around four seconds, and just then I saw a shadow darting from the alley with an absurd speed and run towards the cyclops. It seemed surprised for a moment after seeing Lieutenant sitting triumphantly on the guy¡¯s belly. He even took his hat off, licked his paw, combed his fur back like one of those hunks from the cinemas, and winked to the newcomer before putting his hat back. The newcomer got surprised for a moment, but when the ice holding the cyclops hand started to melt, the newcomer made a quick wave of a hand, and not only was the ice refreshed, but it also appeared on his feet. ¡°Err¡­ I would like to express my gratitude towards you for stopping this felon¡­¡± The newcomer started talking with Lieutenant for a moment, but he started waving his paw away as if saying that he just did it on a whim. I heard Aura sighing at my side at his actions. I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s the second sanest of this group. After me, of course. Still, I approached the newcomer and put my hand heavily on her shoulders while saying. ¡°You disappoint me, my disciple. You dare pass near your teacher and not even spare a greeting towards him!¡± Yuu suddenly jumped surprised and turned towards me while staring at me wide-eyed. ¡°Shi-Shishou?¡± ¡°For this lack of respect towards your teacher, I shall now disown you from War¡¯s school of gaming!¡± I said in a fake angry tone, making her open her eyes even wider in surprise. ¡°Wahh! Sorry Shishou! I¡­ I hadn¡¯t seen you there! I was too distracted and¡­ and¡­ Please, don¡¯t disown-me, Shishou! Please! I will pay with my own life, but don¡¯t disown-me!¡± As she said that, an ice sword formed into her hands and she immediately went to commit seppuku right there and then. I stopped her by materializing my sword and hitting her head with the sheath. -4 (386/390) ¡°Oww¡­ Why did you do that, Shishou?¡± She asked me while crouching with her head in her hands. I kind of missed this scene. ¡°Don¡¯t you know how to take a joke, you silly fox?¡± She blinked a few times, and right as she was about to say something, some more ruckus occurred as suddenly a screech came from the alley. Me and Yuu turned to the source of the ruckus and we saw just in time as a huge hawk flew through the narrow alley with its wings folded and turned towards us. In its back were a dwarf wearing a full plate armor and a cat-girl with silver hair. ¡°There they are!¡± The girl said while pointing at the cyclops at our feet. ¡°Ya! I see¡¯im.¡± The dwarf said as he pulled the reins and made the hawk land a few feet away from us. He quickly jumped out of the over-sized bird and walked towards us. ¡°Are ya the lads who caught this dirty son of a mole?¡± He asked while looking at me and Yuu. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I fear that the credits should go towards the Lieutenant colonel over there.¡± I said while pointing to the trick cat standing lazily atop of the Cyclops. He made a quick salute at the dwarf, who simply sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll be damned. Tha cat has a higher rank than me!¡± He said in a half joking tone while taking a heavy looking pair of handcuffs from his waist and locking the cyclops¡¯ hands. ¡°An¡¯ don¡¯ even try ta break these. There is an enchant in dem¡¯ to shock ya if ya try.¡± He said as he lifted the whimpering ogre by the lobe of his ears. ¡°An¡¯ tanks to ya, Lieutenant Col. I¡¯ll be sure to not let this lad scape again.¡± He said as he nimbly climbed the hawk. ¡°Tank for yer help too, lass!¡± He said to the girl who just climbed down from the hawk, before lifting flight and somehow darting away through the streets, even if the ceiling was no more than a couple of meters above him. The cyclops, by the way, was being held through the pants by the birds claws. Not a very sociable dwarf, is he? ¡°Mou! Yuu-chan! Couldn¡¯t you have at least waited for me to find someone to help?¡± Said the little girl. ¡°Sorry, Han-chan¡­ It wasn¡¯t my intention¡­¡± Yuu answered a bit downhearted. ¡°Hmm! Don¡¯t do it again!¡± She finally turned to me again. ¡°And if it isn¡¯t Shishou-san!¡± She had a slight mischievous smile. ¡°It¡¯s been some time since our last meeting!¡± ¡°It¡¯s been what, four days? I was just giving Yuu a lesson on paying respects to your masters before you arrived.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I see¡­¡± She smirked slightly. I think she has something in mind. I might need to teach her that with some people you don¡¯t mess¡­ ¡°And who are these two cute little things? I don¡¯t think you had them last time we met¡­¡± She said while looking at Aura and Lieutenant. ¡°Yeah, they are my new companions. That one is Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the Third. He¡¯s a trick-cat and a battle pet.¡± Lieutenant made a salute as he was introduced, then I turned to Aura. ¡°And this one is Aura, she¡¯s a Freezing tail, a three-tailed ice fox, and she¡¯s the one in charge of cooking.¡± And I pointed to the fox at my feet. Hmm? Why is Aura and Yuu staring at each other? As I thought about this, Aura suddenly turned to me and started to pull my pants legs with her claws. I looked at her curious for a moment, until I understood that she was asking me to pick her up. I took her and held her into my arms as she nestled herself up happily. When I turned back to Yuu, I saw her staring angrily at the little fox in my arms. ¡°Aww¡­ Seems like Yuu-chan just lost her spot as the pampered fox¡­¡± Hanbei suddenly interjected, making Yuu jump in surprise and look at her with her face completely red. ¡°Wha-what do you mean?¡± She asked worried. ¡°Well, weren¡¯t you looking all jealous when Shishou-san there started petting his little pet?¡± She said with a smirk. Now that I noticed, I somehow had started petting Aura¡¯s fur absentmindedly. It seemed that I might have gotten addicted to doing this. ¡°I-I wasn¡¯t jealous!¡± Yuu immediately rejected her, but it¡¯s kind of clear that she was lying. Geez, if she missed it so much all she needed to do was say it! I approached her and started petting her head gently, making her stiffen for a second in surprise before relaxing visibly as her tails began to wag behind her. As I did this, I felt Aura moving around in my arms and looking at me with a sad face. I had to take my hand out from Yuu¡¯s head to pet her again, but this made Yuu become sad. I ended up doing this a couple more times before both visibly calmed down. All this time Han-chan was smiling. ¡°So, Shishou, what are you doing here?¡± Yuu asked me after some time. ¡°I was showing some things to a couple of friends before, and now I plan on going to the guild to see if I can get an idea for a class. It¡¯s been four levels since I could get myself a class and I still didn¡¯t.¡± I said a bit awkwardly. ¡°EEHH! Then you are still level fourteen?¡± The cat-girl asked, this also seemed to surprise Yuu. I nodded awkwardly. ¡°I was sure you were, I don¡¯t know, twenty or something by now!¡± ¡°I kind of got caught up with crafting, so I didn¡¯t level too much¡­ But I did get a nice set for myself, and am in the works to make an even better one, so I¡¯m not all that worried.¡± I said as I opened my equipment window and showed it to them. They gasped as they saw the status in my gear. ¡°Wow, for a level five gear, these are amazing! Some of these are the same as my level fifteen gear! And this belt¡­¡± Han suddenly widened her eyes when she saw the belt and she looked at me, focusing to see my name above me. ¡°So you are the one from the announcement!¡± ¡°What can I say? I¡¯m a celebrity! And sorry, I¡¯m not giving autographs.¡± I said while filling my chest with pride. ¡°See! I did tell you that Shishou was incredible!¡± Yuu also said full of pride. ¡°Yeah¡­ Anyway! You said you were going to the guild. You mean you are already in a player¡¯s guild?¡± Han asked surprised, but I shook my head. ¡°No, it¡¯s a mercenary guild of the sorts. Where you can get jobs and such. I was on my way there right now, actually. Want to come too?¡± As soon as I said this, Yuu turned towards the cat-girl and showed her the super destructive puppy-eyes. It seems that she got defeated rather quickly, as she simply nodded weakly. On the way, we started talking on what we had been doing on these last few days. Yuu and Han had been mostly hunting around, but they did go into a dungeon with a group last time and got to level 18 before they had to log out. It seemed that Yuu got a classic sorcerer class, specializing in frost and fire magic. But she still kept rushing towards battle with her ice spear whenever she had a chance. Han got herself a swordsman-like class called Windseeker, and earned an attack draw passive skill that allows her to use attacks straight from the sheathe while increasing damage by 10%, and she uses some wind magic to improve her skills. Compared to them, I feel kind of lackluster, as all I have are my basic sword skills, shield slam, flash-bombs and five different elemental throwing knifes¡­ This is slightly depressing. Not letting this get me down any further, I started telling them of my adventures on crafting, hunting red and blazing tails, and finally my showdown with Aura. For some reason Yuu looked shocked at hearing that Aura could be a battle pet and become ridiculously stronger, and for some reason, Aura only threw oil into the fire by sticking her tongue out at Yuu. Wasn¡¯t she supposed to be the serious one? Since when did she start to misbehave like this? Anyway, this started another staring contest between the two. Han was dubious of these story of mines, so I had to show her the Recklessness skill to prove that my words were true. After that she stopped calling me Shishou with a mocking tone and started to say it respectfully. Although I did enjoy the change, it became slightly creepy the way her eyes started shining towards me. I also sold her a couple of flash-bombs after she asked me. We reached the Silver Gauntlet after some time and I immediately went towards the reception desk, asking for Goulder. It seemed that he had already arrived and was only arranging a few things before coming to the guild. Me and the girls decided to wait a bit and took a seat on a table and started to chit-chat about anime, manga and such¡­ Which left Yuu and Aura pretty much in the dark. Lieutenant had disappeared somewhere, and after a quick look in the map, I found him staying on the road outside of the guild, probably working on his information network or something. Sadly, it seemed that El, Arcus and Lila weren¡¯t here yet, so I missed the chance of introducing the girls to them. After around one hour, the door opened and an old man wearing a tattered cloak came in. I immediately got up and approached him. ¡°Hey, Goulder! Long time no see!¡± I greeted him heartily. ¡°If it isn¡¯t Gondorrer! What brings you here?¡± He asked happily, I pointed to the table where the girls were seated. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting some help with a little something.¡± I said as I sit myself down again. Goulder took the seat besides mine and gave a quick acknowledging nod to the girls. ¡°And, by the way, these are Yuuki and Hanbei, my friends.¡± I turned to them. ¡°Girls, this is Goulder, certified badass, war hero and leader of the guild.¡± ¡°Why! Flattering will get you nowhere, you know!¡± He said laughing heartily. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet such lovely ladies like the two of you.¡± He said in a more polite tone to them. I could pretty much see Hanbei¡¯s eyes becoming a pair of hearts as she looked to the old man in front of her. It seems that she¡¯s into older and mature guys, huh? Well, I guess that Goulder does look kind of handsome¡­ ¡°It is my pleasure to meet someone such as you who have been taking care of my Shishou, Sir Goulder. My name is Tatenaka Yuuki.¡± Yuu said in her overly polite mode. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Hanbei¡­¡± Hanbei said with a dreamy voice. ¡°The pleasure is all mine!¡± He said with a gentle smile once more before turning back to me. ¡°So, Gon, tell me what help do you need.¡± ¡°You see¡­ I¡¯m already level fourteen, and¡­ I kind of need to pick a class still.¡± There, I said it! ¡°Hoh¡­ And why did you come to me for that?¡± He said raising his eyebrow. ¡°You kind of seemed to know a lot of things, and I guessed that it would be a good idea to see if you had a class to recommend me¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I know as much as you think I do, but I¡¯ll give it a try!¡± He said in a good mood. ¡°So, what do you want for your class?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Firstly, I want to avoid being too much dependent on magic, I have a reason for this, but it¡¯s kind of silly, really¡­¡± I said with a wry smile. Goulder nodded as he made a pensive expression before motioning me to go on. ¡°Secondly, I want a class to fight strong enemies¡­¡± ¡°Wait a minute kid, isn¡¯t that what all classes do?¡± He stopped me with a confused expression. I smiled slightly awkwardly as I tried to put it into better words. ¡°It¡¯s not like that¡­ You see, I like to fight enemies a lot stronger than myself¡­ Kind of like¡­¡± I turned around and picked Aura, putting her into the table, where she looked confused at me and Goulder. ¡°This here is Aura, and she is a freezing tail. Do you know of them?¡± Goulders eyes visibly widened when he looked at her, then got closer to Aura and lifted her straw hat to look her in the eyes. ¡°¡­ A soul pledge? With a freezing tail?¡± He looked surprised at me. ¡°Boy, what in Cygnas name did you do to get this? I always thought they were only a myth up to now, and then you come to me with one bound to you with a Soul pledge?¡± I blinked in surprise, then I quickly recounted him my experience back into the woods with hunting red tails, how I met Aura, and such. ¡°And you did all that at level 14?¡± He said surprised. ¡°Damn, boy. Now I see what you meant¡­¡± He said while thinking to himself, then he looked up to me. ¡°One last question. What kind of weapon do you use?¡± I was kind of caught by surprise by this question, but I still answered. ¡°Well¡­ Right now I use a Sword and shield or a bow, I also played a bit with dual wielding some time back, but I plan on using a few others weapons as well.¡± I said slightly worried, and this made him start to nod seriously. ¡°Is this problematic?¡± He looked at me and laughed happily. ¡°No, boy, this is perfect! I think I might have the perfect class in mind for you!¡± He said with a big grin, making me and the others in the table completely curious. Chapter 34 - THIS IS... Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some more pet and a surprise appearance! ANYWAY, today is a short chapter since I didn¡¯t have much mind to write more, and was distracted most of the time. Also, yeah, I know. I¡¯m evil. SO WHAT? MUAHAHAHAHHA! ALSO, tomorrow might not have any update since I have class during the morning AND the afternoon, so I will be pretty much dead when I get back home¡­ ALSO(2), SOMEONE GIVE HAMMIE A COOKIE! HE DESERVES IT! Have a good read! ----- So, do you know that whole ¡°I¡¯m bad and won¡¯t tell you more¡± thingy I do from time to time? Well, I think I might have found someone who¡¯s as mean with that as I am. You see, Goulder, after writing down some directions into a piece of paper and saying to go there and see that person, refused to tell me anything else about the class. Really, he told me absolutely nothing. That guy? He¡¯s just plain evil! He simply walked away while laughing at our curiosity! We sighed in unison as we watched the old man walk towards his desk where he sat down and called for a mug from a nearby waitress. I turned back to the girls in the tables and they simply shrugged a bit at loss on what to do. ¡°So¡­ Are we going there now?¡± Hanbei asked. ¡°Hmm¡­ No. I have some hides that should finish curing today. I want to prepare them for tanning before leaving, since that will probably take some time.¡± I said after thinking for a moment. ¡°But I guess it will still take some time before I can do that, so by my best guess I will only leave around afternoon¡­¡± ¡°What will you do until them, Shishou?¡± Yuu asked curious. I leaned back into my chair and thought about it a bit. A quick look into my inventory and I saw that I only had a couple or so pieces of leather left. Only sufficient to make one or two equipment¡­ Maybe a couple of pets costumes? ¡°I¡¯ll probably end up doing a few more costumes for pets. I should be able to make a couple until them, since they are mostly simple.¡± I said while looking towards Aura¡¯s hakama. ¡°Wait, you made these yourself too?¡± Hanbei jumped into the table, surprising me. ¡°Err¡­ Yes?¡± ¡°Waah! These things are so cute! Can I see them?¡± She asked with blinking eyes. Yuu had to pick her up by the collar and pull her down from the table before she calmed down. I laughed a bit awkwardly while acknowledging, I just needed to confirm it with Melinda before anything took place. We left the guild immediately afterwards and Han happily picked up a lazy Lieutenant who had been napping all this time in the sun. Well, he didn''t sleep even once since we met, so I guess I can cut him some slack. After a relatively short trip, we reached the workshop. Some quick knocks on the door and the half garuda opened the door a bit groggily, probably just having woken up. She was shocked on seeing the two girls with me, but after a quick introduction she allowed us inside and I told her what I planned on doing. She said that it was fine as long as the guests didn¡¯t make too much of a ruckus. [Me]: Hey, remember that whole pet clothing thingy? [Argento]: Of course! How can I forget a goldmine like that? [Me]: (^.^¡¯) At least you are honest. I¡¯m sending you a map, so you can send me around three people. I only have material for that much. [Argento]: Leave it to me!($.$) After the quick chat, I sent Argento a print of the map that I got from Rusty back when I first arrived. From there I started to prepare myself for the work ahead. While I quickly cured and tanned the hides, the girls started watching in wonder as I made most of the work manually. After a few minutes, we heard a knock on the door, and Hanbei offered to investigate. She came back followed by three people. One I recognized as the djinn girl who had asked me to make something for her rabbit pet, back at Argento¡¯s stand. The second one was a Fairy girl wearing leather armor and carrying around a miniature bow. Lastly, was a dangerous looking beast-man whose arms were completely covered in black fur and ended in a pair of claws. Their pets followed them all: a rabbit for the Djinn, a young wolf pup for the Fairy girl, and a falcon and a red tail for the beast-man. As the three of them came in, I decided to do their pieces in the order of entry. I started by taking the measurements of each of their pets. For some reason, the guy was staring holes through me the whole time as I worked on the girls first, and when it was finally his time, he asked me. ¡°Look, that merchant told me that you make equipment for pets. Does that mean that they give status for them?¡± I blinked in surprise. Yeah, he didn¡¯t really look like someone that came here to leave his pets a bit cuter. ¡°Well, when I equipped lieutenant back there,¡± I pointed towards where Lieutenant was still napping. ¡°it said that he wasn¡¯t getting all the status because I lacked a class skill, so my best guess is that it does give something, but I¡¯m still not sure what.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I see, then I would like something for the red-tail. Something that increases intellect, if you will¡­¡± He said, then he looked strangely at me for a moment before shaking his head. I raised my eyebrows in suspicion, but he shook his head. ¡°Nothing, I just thought you were someone else¡­ Also, I¡¯m only paying after I see the work with my own eyes, ok?¡± ¡°Sure, suit yourself. Just don¡¯t think you can outrun lieutenant if you try to pull a leg on me. Last guy who did it fell on the street and had his hand frozen solid.¡± I gave him a light warning. He gave a light laugh in response. ¡°Fair enough.¡± After that, I told them that it would take a couple of hours to finish their orders. Thus the two girls left with their pets to walk around, while the beastman decided to wait here. He pulled a piece of wood and started carving it distractedly. I started by working on something for the bunny first. After a few exchange of opinions with Hanbei, I decided to make him a suit and a top hat for something like the rabbit from Alice in wonderland. The girls helped me a bit by passing me the tools and some pieces of leather here and there. Midway, Yuu asked Melinda, who was working on her own projects on the other corner of the room, if she knew someone to teach her tailoring. Melinda herself taught her the skill and started by teaching her the basics on working with it. According to her, she had learned it because it was fairly similar to leatherworking, but if Yuu wanted to learn something a bit more advanced, she would need to find a professional. After the bunny, we went to the wolf pup. Since this one was also for cuteness instead of functionality, me and Han went with a simple street-wear, like a hoodie. We only made the upper part since Argento warned me that they paid for a simple set. Around the time we were finishing the piece, we heard a growl coming from the door. We all turned there in a moment, just in time to see Aura and the Red-tail staring at each other while growling. I looked surprised at the scene for some time. But before any of us even had the time to react, the Red-tail tried to attack Aura with a bite while she made a small ice knife to protect herself. They took distance to prepare for another attack, but right as they were about jump at each other, I threw one of my knifes right in the middle of them, startling the two. ¡°No fighting, you hear me?¡± I said angrily. Aura stiffened for a moment before relaxing her stance and lowering her head guiltily. The red tail looked at me angrily and started to snarl at me. ¡°CINDER, STOP THAT!¡± I heard the shout coming from behind me, and the fox immediately stood down while also lowering her head. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± The beastman asked angrily. ¡°And you too, Aura, why the hell did you start fighting?¡± I asked her, and she only looked downwards for a while. I sighed, a bit brokenhearted by the sight, I¡¯m too soft on her... ¡°This time, I¡¯ll let go. Next time, I will have to be a bit more cruel, you got it?¡± She nodded weakly. I turned to the guy. ¡°Sorry about that¡­ She has a bit of a bad history with red tails.¡± ¡°Okay, I also have no idea what got into Cinder¡­¡± He said as he looked at the two foxes trying to not jump at each other¡¯s throat. Then his eyes widened when he saw Aura¡¯s three tails and he turned to me, his face paling for a moment. ¡°Wait¡­ What exactly is your fox?¡± I tilted my head confused for a moment, but shrugged it off. ¡°She¡¯s a Freezing tail, kind of like an ice version of a stronger red tail, why?¡± Suddenly he covered his face with his hand and took a couple of deep breaths as if calming himself before finally speaking again. ¡°By any chance¡­ Were you fighting her in a forest to the north yesterday night?¡± He asked me a bit wary. I blinked in surprise. ¡°Actually, yes! How did you know?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter¡­ Now, have you heard of Green eyes, the Brutal?¡± He asked again while staring a hole into me. ¡°Well¡­ I did hear that he was in the village back where I started, but besides that I¡¯m kind of in the dark about him. Why?¡± He let out a loud sigh before starting to laugh dryly for a couple of seconds. ¡°Nothing¡­ Absolutely Nothing! But I may need another trip to the bar after this¡­ I suddenly feel like an idiot¡­¡± He said in a strange tone. Geez, weird guy. I turned back to Aura, since she had pretty much disappeared an hour ago and suddenly appeared again causing a ruckus like this. When I raised a questioning eyebrow she suddenly perked up and signaled inside. I followed her a bit worried and saw that she had been in the kitchen all this time and there were a few sandwiches ready to eat on the table. I quickly called the others since there were more than enough sandwiches for everyone. Their faces when they heard that it was Aura who made it was priceless. Even the red-tail looked a bit more respectful at her, before turning her head away. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Afterwards, I came back to the workshop and quickly finished making the Wolf¡¯s clothing. Next was the red tail. After quickly asking the beast-man if he was bothered by looks or only wanted status, I put myself to work on my plan for her. The best part? Since he paid the full price, I could go all out. I made her the whole Shinto priestess outfit I had initially thought for Aura, with the kimono with large sleeves, the wide red hakama and a red sash. I also added a couple of the red tail gems I had as an adorn to the Kimono. It¡¯s probably for best that I keep quiet the fact that the leather is also from red tails, right? By the time I finished, the girls came back with their pets and, after a few final adjusts, they left happily with their outfitted pets. I also finished the adjusts on Cinder¡¯s clothes and helped her put it on. ¡°You two kind of look like sisters like this¡­¡± I said after looking at her and Aura who was nearby. Since Cinder was bigger than Aura, she would probably be the older sister, right? The two looked at each other for a moment before turning their heads away. I chuckled at the scene before turning back to the Beast-man who was staring at a window. ¡°Wow, that adds a whole thirteen intellect and ten mind!¡± He said impressed. ¡°As well as a few inventory slots¡­¡± He turned to me. ¡°So, do I pay you or the Gnome?¡± He asked. I got my part of the money directly from him and told him to find Argento after he left. To tell the truth, I was a bit worried that the girls would have gotten bored during this time, but much to my surprise, they actually were enjoying themselves here while working. When I asked them they told me that it was a different experience from what they are used. By now, the Blazing tails and Aura¡¯s hides had finished curing, so I immediately went to start the tanning process by brushing that stinky thingy all over them. Melinda once again warned me that it would take some time due to the sheer size of the hides, but since this wasn¡¯t much of a problem, I left them there. When I looked at the clock for the real world, I turned to the girls and called them. ¡°Look, it¡¯s around seven o¡¯clock in the real world now. I will leave really quickly to eat something, take a shower and then come back. It should take thirty minutes maximum, Is that alright?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Then I¡¯ll also leave for a bit.¡± Hanbei said. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and keep learning tailoring. It¡¯s surprisingly fun!¡± Yuu said happily. I nodded and then turned to Aura, calling her to come closer. After getting some more privacy, I crouched down and said. ¡°Hey, Cyg, what will happen with Aura and Lieutenant while I¡¯m offline?¡± Aura¡¯s fur turned into a silver coloration while she passed control of the body to Cygnas, then she looked up to me and said. ¡°That¡¯s actually up to you. If you want you can leave them here, and they will naturally come back when you log in, or you can set them to a kind of sleeping state until you next log in.¡± I nodded. ¡°So, what would Aura rather do?¡± Cygnas lowered her head for a moment before looking back at me. ¡°She said she¡¯d rather stay sleeping until then.¡± I nodded before turning to Lieutenant who had approached us. He lifted his paw with only one of his fingers not curled up. ¡°I guess he¡¯d rather stay around.¡± Cyg said in a happy tone. I smiled before quickly opening the pet menu and setting Aura to go into hibernating state while Lieutenant was kept around. Afterwards I logged off. My breakfast was fairly fast as I ate bread and butter, missing Aura¡¯s sandwiches. Afterwards I took a quick shower before going back to my room and turning on my pc. I still had fifteen minutes before the promised time, so I quickly looked around my tabs on the browser. With five more minutes left before needing to log in, I searched around the web about medieval weapons, and stumbled on a page talking about bows. After a quick read, I already had a new idea on how to upgrade my old bow, so I went back to my bed and logged in. I didn¡¯t really need to worry much about classes and such, even though today is Monday, because there¡¯s a large holiday around, and my next class, if there will be any class this week, comes on the Thursday. With some quick commands I was already logging in back into Melinda¡¯s home. I met up with an excited Yuu who was talking something with Hanbei. ¡°So, what did I miss?¡± I asked as I approached then. Yuu jumped in surprise before turning back to me and smiling mysteriously. That smile is kind of bad to my health. ¡°It¡¯s a secret, Shihsou!¡± Yuu said smiling. ¡°You lucky golem¡­¡± Hanbei said with a mischievous smile. I raised an eyebrow confused, but ignored it. ¡°So, ready to start our travels towards Mystery class number 1?¡± I asked in a playful voice, the two of them nodded. Thanks to our inventory, we didn¡¯t really need to pack up anything, so I only warned Melinda that I would be out for some time and should be back tomorrow or after. I had no idea on the distance to the place we were going, so it¡¯s best to give it a large margin for error. On the way out, I decided to pass through Sol¡¯s place and also warn her, since she was doing a pretty big work. After mindlessly entering the house, which left the two girls a bit worried on entering without warning, we reached the inner room where we found Sol in her mad scientist look while mixing a few potions. ¡°What¡¯s this, boy? Last time it were two critters, now it¡¯s two girls? Aren¡¯t you evolving in life?¡± She said while turning back to us. ¡°Name¡¯s Sol. Best alchemist in this whole city!¡± ¡°And a certified Loli-baba, I might add¡­¡± I discreetly added, making the two girls stare at me for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m not sure of what that means, but I¡¯m over six hundred years.¡± She added, making the girls stare at her now. ¡°That¡¯s what he was talking about, right?¡± She asked slightly confused. ¡°Yep! Anyway, Granny, these are Yuu and Hanbei. Girls, that loli-baba is called Sol, and she¡¯s the one who taught me alchemy, and is helping me with a few problems.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, I guess¡­ Anyway, I don¡¯t think you came here just to introduce them to me, right?¡± She cut the two of them before they could even introduce themselves. ¡°Exactly, I¡¯ll probably be out of town for a day or two, so I thought that I should warn you beforehand. Could you pass it to Torg?¡± ¡°If he appears around here¡­¡± She said while shrugging. Good enough. ¡°Well, this is all, when I come back I will contact you and see if you got anything new out of the crystals.¡± I said while turning back to the entrance. She simply nodded while waving her hand away. But before we left the house, Yuu turned towards her and bowed. ¡°Thanks for helping Shishou in whatever it is that you are doing.¡± Will she thank everyone who helps me? Isn¡¯t she taking this a little too serious? ¡°Shishou? Who¡¯s that?¡± The granny asked confused. Hanbei then explained to her. ¡°Shishou means master in our native language.¡± ¡°Master?¡± Sol asked surprised, then turned to me and gave a mischievous smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were into that kind of thing, boy¡­ To have a girl that age calling you master¡­¡± I face-palmed when she said those words, while Hanbei shared the hag¡¯s smile. It took Yuu almost a full ten seconds to understand her words and suddenly blushing furiously. ¡°Wa-wa-wa¡­ It is not that! It is not that kind of master!¡± She said hurriedly while shaking her head. ¡°It is in the meaning of a teacher! Yeah! Shishou is kind of like a teacher!¡± ¡°So you are into teacher and student play?¡± She asked with a fake surprised tone. What the hell is with the hag distorting all the words? Yuu blushed even more and crouched as if she was trying to hide herself from view, making Sol and Han start laughing loudly. I could only sigh, but I suddenly felt something in my leg. When I looked downwards and saw Aura trying to push me away from Yuu. It took Yuu a couple of minutes to recover from her embarrassment at the hand of the hag, and after quickly dragging the two of them away before the situation repeated itself, we were once again back into the streets. I almost went towards the elevator out of habit, but my memories made me take a full one-eighty and walk towards the edge of the city. The girls followed me with interrogation marks popping above their heads. I stood at the edge of the outer street and looked downwards. Deciding that it was a good place, I turned back to the girls and took a small vial from within my pouch. ¡°So¡­ What are we doing here?¡± Hanbei asked me confused. I walked past them until I was the one on the back of the group and winked towards lieutenant. He immediately understood my actions and approached Aura. ¡°Now, my dear friends, we jump!¡± I said with a wide smile. The girls looked at me surprised then looked down the edge of the street, paling at the height of the fall. ¡°Why¡­ Would we do that, Shishou?¡± Yuu asked confused. ¡°Jump? From here? This is madness!¡± Hanbei immediately retorted, but when she noticed her words, she immediately grimaced. There¡¯s no way in hell I would let such a joke escape, right? ¡°Madness?¡± I said as I put my hands into their shoulders, smiling widely. Then I frowned in my best angry face and shouted. ¡°THIS, IS¡­ Actually, it IS madness¡­¡± Then I jumped down the edge while dragging the two of them with me. SS 2.3 - Runic Path Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! Small update while you wait for the next main chapter! ANYWAY, Wednesday may be a bit of a hard day for me to update from now on, so I will either put up a SS chapter or nothing at all. I go to college at 7:50 AM and leave around 17 PM, so yeah¡­ Thursday may also be a bit bad, but still can¡¯t be so sure. We¡¯ll see tomorrow. ALSO, I know I promised to update the fanfic I got some time ago, but this whole back to classes thingy kind of threw me out of pace. Sorry about that (^.^¡¯) As soon as I get some time for myself I¡¯ll do something about it. ALSO(2), FROM NOW ON I PROCLAIM HAMMIE THE COOKIE-LORD, AND HE SHALL RECEIVE HIS COOKIES WHENEVER HE PLEASES FOR HIS GOOD WORKS! FOLLOWERS, WHENEVER YOU SEE HAMMIE, IT WILL BE YOUR DUTY TO PROVIDE HIM COOKIES! ALSO(3), SPEAKING OF FOLLOWERS, WE ARE ONE STEP AWAY FROM 600 BROTHERS AND SISTERS! CYGNAS BE PRAISED! MAY HER NAIVENESS BLESS YOU ALL! Have a good read! ---- The three fools almost fell onto the ground after hearing their instructor words. Having to face another test right after coming out of that hellish classroom? Their sanity would probably give up much before they could even understand what was happening. On a rare bout of synchronism, the three fools looked towards the open gate on the other side of the patio. Its promises of freedom from this crazy teacher made them consider the idea of running away now and then, and never again come back. Alas, neither fate nor their instructor thought of that as a good idea. ¡°Don¡¯t think you three can run away! I can catch the three of you before you even write ¡®Run away¡¯ in runic!¡± The three fools looked at their instructor in surprise for a moment, before sighing loudly. For the last few hours, they had learned through the hard way how to write "run away" in runic. Without it being degrading or humiliating it still required at least twenty eight runes! The three of them looked longingly back to the gate one last time before they finally decided to face reality. Once more readied themselves to whatever kind of hellish test of the deepest hell that could bring the hellish instructor of hell could bring to them. And yes, all those hellish hells are intended. ¡°Now, for the next text, I¡¯ll train your proficiency in combat. Not magic, not martial arts, but combat.¡± Issak said in his usual happy mood. ¡°Now, before I can finally give you the passing grade, you have to land a hit in me. That¡¯s all.¡± And as the instructor said that, he pulled out two weapons from his waist. That is, if those things could even be considered weapons, for they were a simple pair of kitchen knifes that he held like daggers. The three fools looked at each other, and saw themselves smiling, a smile full of evil intentions and relief for their stress. Without even waiting for a signal, the fight started. Except that the poor, poor¡­ Maybe not so poor instructor, was left all alone in his corner, with not a single of his beloved torture subj*cough*students even spared him a glance as they started to beat each other in the patio. Have they gone insane, you ask? No, my dear readers, it¡¯s precisely the opposite. They have just been given a free pass to beating the object of their hate, so there is no way that they are simply waiting for such wonderful chance like this to pass. However, neither wanted to waste their chances by having the other beat the instructor before themselves. Naturally, a fight for having the first go started as the tree decided with all of their strength to be the one who would go first. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. But said instructor, was all but happy on being ignored by his subjects, and so, before any of them even had the chance on react, he got into the middle of their fight as a rune-phrase shone in the ground beneath him. The three fools were readily acquainted with the feeling of flying as the phrase suddenly threw all of them ten meters into the air. ¡°Don¡¯t go thinking that I¡¯ll simply stand around waiting for you to attack me, ok?¡± The instructor said with some slight annoyance in his voice. The whole patio froze as he spoke, but this only lasted for the briefest of moments before the other warriors continued with their training again. Somewhere, the funeral march was heard as one of the fellow trainees gave the three newbies their condolences. Meanwhile, the three rune-warriors-to-be were still trying to pull their heads out of the ground from the fall. This time they decided to make the decision a bit faster, using rock-paper-scissor. After a couple of rounds, it was decided that the Half-dark elf would be the first to try, so he advanced towards the hell-spawn of a teacher. His spear was his weapon of choice, and with a series of thrusts and pokes that could leave even the fastest monsters confused he assaulted relentlessly the teacher. The second one was the Draconid, Incarnus. His glaive danced back and forth with lightning flash slashes and somersaults. Where he lacked in precision compared with Let, his fluidity more than surpassed his. Finally, came the kid-looking apprentice. Where the two before him swung their weapons with precision or style, he went through with brute strength and ferocity, swinging his halberd with abandon. Sheer unstoppable muscle power. Three warriors had their chance against the instructor, and now three warriors were laying on the ground beaten black and blue, with only the occasional twitching limbs serving as a signal of their life. The instructor looked sadly at the three mighty warriors, now barely breathing, and shook his head in disappointment. ¡°And here I hoped that I would need to hold the knives with something more than two fingers¡­¡± He said with sadness overflowing from his voice. Then a smile surged in his face as he had an idea and once again the whole patio froze. ¡°I know! If the three of you don¡¯t manage to hit me within two hours, I¡¯ll personally teach you three how to fight!¡± Despair befell the three, as fear-fueled life once again filled their bodies and they jumped back to action. Old rivalries died in hope for a few extra hours of life. The three warriors, for the first time in history took upon themselves to defeat this unholy being in front of them. With what could be considered the apex of cooperation, they took on the instructor once again. While Incarnus'' flurry of attacks kept him occupied, Let¡¯s pokes went after the small openings in his forms, while Chouhi simply smashed away, wearing his stamina. It was a fight to remember for the centuries. Three rivals came together under a single flag known as vengeance and together, tackled an unfathomable enemy. Blows were traded, magic spells were cast, training grounds were destroyed and witness were shocked. Finally, in the end, a smile as big as the sun marked their faces as they looked towards their teacher. ¡°My, my¡­ It seems that we will have to take those extra classes after all!¡± And tears fell from their eyes as they were dragged towards the training grounds. With their spirits broken, minds shattered and hopes destroyed, they were once again taught by the very incarnation of evil. Chapter 35 - Fish wrestling and Sushi Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Finally, the day has come for our beloved golem to[WARNING, MAJOR 4TH WALL BREAK DETECTED, CAUTION ADVISED.]... That¡¯s not good¡­ ANYWAY, so, you guys lucked out today because one of my teachers didn¡¯t come today and I had time to finish today¡¯s chapter, albeit VERY late¡­. Sorry¡­ ALSO, Today I¡¯m in a very good mood, because I just defeated my very first Gold Rajang in MH! (pops confetti) For those wondering, it¡¯s kind of like fighting Goku SS. He¡¯s a large monkey with golden hair that punches the heck out of you and have an attack that involves a large energy beam that pretty much one-shots you! ^^ Just some random rant about MH, don¡¯t mind me. ALSO(2), I really need to stop procrastinating the update on the races list¡­ Have a good read! ----- I was laughing loudly while we fell down because the girls reaction were just amazing. Han instinctively held herself against me, her fingers digging into my skin. Meanwhile, Yuu looked nervous, but she was still trying to position herself in a way that she could soften her landing. Nothing less than the expected for a martial artist, keeping her cool-head even in such a dangerous situation. ¡°WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?¡± Han asked me surprised as she stared at me with fear in her eyes. ¡°Surprising you, of course!¡± I said in a matter of fact. ¡°SURPRISING US WITH OUR DEATHS?¡± ¡°Nah¡­ You are too nervous, it¡¯s not like I would have jumped without a way to stop our fall, you know?¡± When I said this, I felt as both of them looked surprised at me. ¡°THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? DO IT ALREADY!¡± (WARNING, MAJOR FOURTH WALL BREACH AHEAD. THE STORY MAY HAVE BEEN CONTAMINED WITH IDIOTIC JOKEs THAT MAY BE HARMFUL FOR YOUR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH. FOR THOSE OF YOU, WHO WISHES TO PRESERVE THEIR MENTAL CONDITIONS, PLEASE SKIP TOWARDS THE NEXT CAPITAL LETTERS. YOU WILL NOT LOSE ANY PLOT BY DOING THIS.) ¡°Geez, calm down. There¡¯s no need to get nervous, if we keep it like this we will have all the time in the world.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I might have to break the fourth wall for this¡­¡± I said after some though. For a moment, Han looked a bit confused, but then she became clearly surprised. I ignored her expressions and decided to explain my logic anyway. ¡°Say, have you ever heard of the Laws of physics, comedy edition?¡± The girls blinked surprised and looed confused at me. ¡°I fear I have never heard of it, Shishou¡­¡± Yuu said above the sound of wind on my ears, some slight signs of sadness in her voice. ¡°No need to be sad¡­¡± I said while lightly petting her. ¡°Anyway, that is basically a rewriting of the laws of physics when it comes to stories based around comedy.¡± I explained putting on my best teacher tone. ¡°Wait, how does that even works?¡± Han asked surprised. I readied myself to answer for her, but someone was a bit faster than me. ¡°Nyaa-na, nya, nany-nyaaa. Naaa-nyyyy nyanana. Naynaa nyaa!¡± ¡°Wow, couldn¡¯t have said it better myself. Thanks for the help, Lieutenant!¡± I thanked him, and received a thumbs-up, or something like that, in response. I saw the girls nodding as they accepted his perfectly logical explanation. Does he have a PhD in that area or something? ¡°Anyway, if you go to the free-fall section of the law, you will see that it¡¯s stated there: During a free fall, as long as the characters reactions slash interactions are based around the idea of being funny, the free-fall duration shall be extended as needed without any kind of detrimental effect.¡± ¡°I understand¡­ I think¡­¡± Hanbei said with her face slightly confused. ¡°Wait, Shishou, then isn¡¯t the explanation a serious part? Does that means we aren¡¯t getting an extension right now?¡± Yuu asked nervously, but I simply laughed. ¡°That is an excellent question, my disciple, but no need to worry.¡± I said with a proud expression, petting her as a reward. ¡°You see, although for us this scene does have some seriousness, for the readers it¡¯s so absurd that it counts as a funny scene, thus we get our extension!¡± ¡°I see¡­ But isn¡¯t it dangerous to keep saying things like the readers and such?¡± Hanbei asked confused. ¡°Well, if it¡¯s dangerous or not, I don¡¯t know, but since it¡¯s the author¡¯s fault all of this is happening, then all the blame falls on him!¡± I answered in a good mood. It¡¯s rare for me to have the chance to fool around without needing to worry about the consequences, so I might as well as take as much advantage of this as I can! ¡°I see¡­ But this fall is already taking too long¡­ Can we just end this already?¡± Hanbei asked, and I nodded in response. (DISCLAIMER: THE FOURTH WALL LEAK HAS BEEN PATCHED UP, IT¡¯S SAFE TO CONTINUE FROM THIS PART ON. ANY SCENE THAT MAY HAVE HAPPENED DURING THE LEAK CAN BE IGNORED.) I picked up the vial I had in my hand and threw it toward the ground. The three girls looked confused at my actions, but when the thick foam started to form in the ground beneath us, they became wide eyed in surprise. The foam softened our fall like a huge and extra fluffy couch, making us completely stop around half a meter before the ground. After a couple other seconds it slowly dissolved until there was nothing left of it. Hanbei started to kneel on the ground as if trying to hug it while Yuu started to hit me repeatedly with her fists, but her lack of strength only made the scene even cuter. As I laughed away, my eyes drifted upwards, and I caught a glimpse of something blue coming from the floor we were before. Squinting my eyes, I caught sight of Sol looking downwards towards us, with her hand extended in my direction in a thumbs-up. Lieutenant and me answered with our own thumbs-up before she turned away and walked back to her shop. Feeling something strange on my finger, I turned to see Aura trying to bite it angrily, but all she did was to make it slightly itchy. I laughed as I picked her up and started to pet her. At first she tried to resist, but soon enough she was already completely relaxed in my arms enjoying it. Suddenly I felt someone grabbing my neck and swinging my head back and forth angrily. ¡°NEVER DO IT AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME?¡± Hanbei said angrily as she tried to strangle me. ¡°I¡­ *wheeze* Promise¡­ *Wheeze*¡± She let go of my neck when she heard that. ¡°¡­nothing!¡± Before she could go back to my neck I had already used my roll skill and ran away from her while laughing. It took her around five minutes of throwing flying vacuum slashes at me for her to finally calm down. Instead of the fall, I almost died to the psycho cat-girl who wanted my head. Well, at least I think she will start thinking twice before messing with me again. Finally, we started going on our way towards my class. From the map that Goulder gave me, I would have to head south from the city, cross a field of rolling hills, a river and finally arrive an evergreen forest where I would find the instructor. The field was directly at the feet of the mountain, so we only needed to walk a bit to get to it. It was the habitat of a few level ten aggressive wild boars, but those guys were nothing compared to the red tails, and we quickly took care of them with me tanking and the girls going at it. There was this one time when one of the boars passed a bit too close to Lieutenant and Aura and got a bit of dirt in their clothes. Aura almost went berserk, but in the end, she managed to coerce lieutenant to go on the offensive for her. Not that he needed much incentive since he also was pretty mad. He stopped the three of us and took the boar on his own, and after a fairly long fight, he finally managed to take it down, but not without hurting himself. I gave him a potion as a present and promised to make him a medal for taking down an enemy on his own. His eyes started shining, and next thing I knew he was already running after the next boar. There was even this one time he went all ¡®rodeo¡¯ on one of them. It was hilarious. I might just make him a cowboy clothing later on, if he keeps this up. By the time we crossed the field, Lieutenant reached level twelve and I was 2% from dinging 15, we reached the said river. It marked the starting of the climb towards the next mountain. Nevertheless, since Eldor was, by far, the biggest mountain in the whole range, it kind of looked like more a big hill than anything. From where we were, we could barely see the start of the woods ahead. We decided to make a camp near the river and enjoy our lunch there and then. But since the field was a bit poor on the whole wood thing, we used a bit of Yuu¡¯s fire magic to start cooking. As soon as she lit up the fire, a water ball came from the direction of the river and put it out. We blinked surprised and turned towards the river to see what had happened, but we saw nothing. Yuu once again lit up the fire, but the water-ball once again came from the river and put it out, but this time we were watching everything carefully, and caught sight of the harasser. It was some kind of silver-scaled fish that jumped out of the water and shot the magic at us. Deciding to have a decent lunch, no matter what, I put myself in front of Yuu as she lit up the fire and blocked the fish¡¯s attacks. I grinned at it, but the little bastard simply jumped and shot the water-ball upwards. By the time I understood what it was doing, the water-ball fell right atop of the fire, putting it out once again. Since when does fishes knows ballistics? Angry at having our lunch delayed, me and Lieutenant walked towards the fish and jumped in the water to get him. Three minutes later, we got out while shivering in cold and bruised by the water-balls impacts. Moving around in the water is a lot harder than in the ground, so we couldn¡¯t even get close to the bastard while he swan circles around us. Literally. Deciding to change our tactics, I took out my bow and started shooting it at the fish, but physics are completely brutal. Thanks to diffraction, even if the arrow still kept some of it¡¯s power even after hitting the water surface, I couldn¡¯t get a good grasp of his actual position. Once again, I walked back to the camp defeated and hungry. I could always eat a piece of ore, but I felt that it would be unfair with the girls if I left them hungry alone, so I decided to share their predicament. ¡°Hmm¡­ When Shishou gets that fish, I¡¯ll make sushi out of him!¡± Yuu said angrily. ¡°Sushi? You know how to make Sushi?¡± I asked with my curiosity perked up. ¡°Hmm¡­ I learned it in class, why?¡± Yuu asked curious. ¡°I like sushi¡­¡± I said in a bit of a trance. I made Yuu and Aura confirm whether they had the ingredients to make the sushi, and after Yuu confirming that, although a bit lacking, she could somehow make it, I felt all of my energy coming back to me as my resolve to get that scaly bastard was renewed. But how can I get him if I can¡¯t even reach him? He keeps swimming through the water so fast that I don¡¯t even know his status! I would need some kind of wide area attack or something... A wicked smile appeared in my face as something came to me. I quickly checked my inventory and saw how much material I had. Noticing that I was a bit lacking, I quickly took away towards a nearby rocky formation and started to search for mining spots. Ten minutes later I came back to the camp receiving Hanbeis curious gaze. Yuu seemed to understand what my idea was when I set down the crystals in the ground and started to break them. Three minutes later, I walked towards the river, laughing madly while carrying a few leather balls in my hands. The fish spun once in the water and jumped up while shooting a water ball on my face. -12 (448/460) It hurts. But my revenge is near. I picked one of the balls and threw it in the river, then I threw another, and another. In the end, there were five leather balls sinking slowly in the river. The fish looked at them curiously for a moment, but since they didn¡¯t do anything, it decided to ignore them and tried to shoot at me again. MUAHAHAH! YOU FOOL! YOU SHALL NOW SUFFER THE FURY OF GONDORRER FISHBANE! Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The first ball activated and a strong electrical current discharged in the river, shocking the fish. And just as when he thought it was over, the other balls started activating in a rapid sequence until he was unable to move and only floated in the water surface. I sent Lieutenant to recover the balls and I approached the fish.
Silver-fin shooter [lvl 12](RARE) (aggressive)
HP: 563/600 -Water-ball -Whirlpool -Water barrage
A rare fish known for hating fire. It¡¯s meat is said to be extremely tasty, even when consumed raw.
I smiled at his description. Seems like we just hit jackpot here! Now that I see him closely, he¡¯s actually quite big! Probably around the size of my torso. I grabbed the bugger by the tail and threw him towards the ground, where lieutenant and I proceeded to pummel him to our hearts content as he feebly tried to shoot at us with water balls. When one of his water barrage attacks hit me, I became furious and finalized him with a German-Suplex. By the way, I earned the pummel skill and my martial arts grew to level 4! After that, Lieutenant crouched down beside me and started hitting the ground with his paws while meowing. After ten meows he climbed my shoulder and pulled my arm upwards. Do I get a champion belt? The girls were looking a bit shocked at Lieutenant and me, probably a bit shocked by the scene. But in the end, Hanbei started laughing while hitting the ground, Yuu started giggling and Aura simply shook her head while face-palming. After that I left the cooking to Yuu and Aura, since I had no idea on how to proceed from here. I was a bit afraid that the two would start duking it out while cooking, but my worries were unfounded as the surprisingly got along well. A few minutes later and we were sitting around an ice-table with many pieces of sushi served. The lack of soy sauce was a bit disheartening, and there was an obvious lack of something with the rice, but the fish more than made up for it. ¡°Couldn¡¯t Yuu-chan have frozen the fish instead of you needing to do all that?¡± Hanbei asked after we finished. The revelation made Lieutenant and me stand in shock before falling on our knees. Aura proceeded to gently pat us in the shoulders in order to console us. Yuu simply smiled a bit awkwardly. Afterwards, we had Yuu freeze the river¡¯s surface so we could cross it easily without needing to cross a bridge. Not that we couldn¡¯t swim through since the river was only around fifteen meters wide, but the girls chose to avoid getting wet for no apparent reason. Around ten minutes of walking and we started to reach the woods area. Compared to the red-tail forest, it wasn¡¯t as packed and there were a lot more of tall bushes around. It actually looked like a pretty good place to build an isolated cabin or something. As we walked around looking for the place indicated in the map, we heard a squeak coming from one of the trees, and as we looked up, we saw something that looked like a large mix of a wolf with a flying squirrel. He was jumping towards us while gliding his way down. We were a bit shocked for a moment, but with a bark from aura we quickly jumped away just in time as he fell to the ground missing his bite. We quickly started attacking him and took him down in around twenty seconds, but right before he died, he squeaked¡­ Or howled¡­ I¡¯m not sure what it was to tell the truth. Whatever it was, it was loud. We weren¡¯t sure what that meant, but simply ignored it and started looting it. But right as the girls started to check on the drops, we heard another one of these squeak slash howls, and soon a lot more followed. Before we noticed, there were around thirteen of these guys flying in our direction. I quickly shared a look with the girls while smiling. I noticed that Han-chan shared the same smile as mine. ¡°So¡­ We run?¡± ¡°Nope. We won¡¯t run.¡± I said in a firm tone, making the whole group tense up. ¡°We are advancing in the opposite direction.¡± Then I turned and started advancing in the opposite direction at high speed. The girls quickly followed me. ¡°What should we do, Shishou?¡± Yuu asked a bit worried while looking backwards. ¡°My dear pupil. In situations like these we usually use some kind of mass CC and take them down one by one. If we had a healer I¡¯m sure we could take them, but¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m with him this time, but I don¡¯t think we have enough crowd control to apply to all of them.¡± I nodded in accordance, but as we kept running, I noticed a small valley in the woods, as an idea appeared in my mind I guided us towards it by jumping down the hill. The girls quickly followed me without questioning and soon we were all gathered with the squirrel/wolf thingies jumping upwards. ¡°Don¡¯t fail me now, monster hunter¡­¡± I murmured under my breath. ¡°Lieutenant, Flash them!¡± Not even wasting a single moment I saw him running forward and activating the flash-bomb a meter away from the nearest beast. The beasts closed their eyes in pain and recoiled their heads, messing up their gliding form and making them fall like ripe acorns to the ground before rolling downhill. The girl¡¯s eyes widened when they saw what happened. We had a perfect straight line of blinded enemies to slaughter. After that, with Yuu¡¯s fire serpent, Han¡¯s penetrating ranged slices and my piercing shots their numbers disappeared quickly and I dinged fifteen! Hooray! Hmm, now MND have the same base points as my VIT, so maybe it¡¯s time to increase TGH for some extra armor? Or keep up with the MND and VIT? I¡¯ll decided when I ding again. We quickly divided the bodies and I started to quickly skin the thingies, getting myself some surprisingly flexible leather. I also remembered to take the bones with me this time! Yuu was already used to it, but Hanbei was clearly disturbed on seeing the whole scene. I made sure to put up my best lunatic smile as I worked on it just to fool with her. When I finally finished, we were surprised to notice that we had reached the area indicated by Goulder. It was a medium sized cabin in the middle of the woods. It was made with the same evergreens from the forest and had a veranda towards a lake behind it from where you could probably fish without any worries. We looked surprised at each other and laughed for a moment before heading towards the cabin. Once there I knocked a few times on the door. There was some ruckus, as I heard the sound of someone falling on the ground coming from one side of the house, then there were some hurried steps as someone approached the door and opened a small peep-hole. I saw a pair of scarlet eyes widen for a moment before the peephole was closed and some more hurried steps occurred. I could also hear a few surprised voices coming from within the house. I looked at the girls and they seemed as surprised as me, but after a few minutes the door finally opened, revealing a satyr wearing a leather robe and some kind of kilt. I also noticed that his eyes were green, different from the ones before. ¡°Sorry for that¡­ We were kind of¡­ unprepared to receive guests.¡± He said in a calm, almost uninterested voice. ¡°No problem. We didn¡¯t exactly announce our coming either¡­¡± I answered him with an awkward smile. He nodded slightly and invited us in. ¡°¡°Sorry for the intrusion.¡±¡± The girls said in unison as they came in, receiving an raised eyebrow. He guided us towards a simple living room with a table, where he motioned us to sit down. Soon after, a beautiful woman came from another door while carrying a tray with some steaming tea-cups. She had long black hair and an enchanting pair of scarlet eyes. A thin and smooth tail came from the back of her waist and ended in a heart-shaped point. A succubus. She brought the tray to the table and put it down in the middle. ¡°Sorry for that earlier¡­ We weren¡¯t exactly presentable when you arrived¡­¡± She said with her gentle voice and slightly bashful tone¡­ Which didn¡¯t exactly fit that whole sensual aura she naturally had. I somehow managed to muffle down a cry of pain when something pointy, stabby and cold stabbed through my feet. Yep, feet, as in both. One on each side. Deciding not to find out why I was suffering like that, I made my best smile as I could and said. ¡°As I said, it isn¡¯t a problem, since we came here without any previous warning.¡± I tried not to cringe in pain as I slowly picked up one of the cups and took it to my mouth. I¡¯m usually not a fan of tea, but somehow I felt that I REALLY needed to try this one. ¡°Is that so?¡± She said with a clearly relieved tone to her as she smiled. ¡°So, what does bring you five to this place in the middle of nowhere?¡± ¡°Sir Goulder sent us here so we could find Shishou¡¯s class.¡± Yuu answered for me with a slightly sullen mood. ¡°Guild-master?¡± She said surprised before shaking her head. ¡°Sorry, where are my manners. My name is Evelyn Darkheart, an Ex-member from the Silver gauntlet.¡± She said quickly then turned to the satyr. ¡°He is Logan Brown-hoof, my husband. He¡¯s not very social, but he have a good heart.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Gondorrer Squirrelwolfthingyban¡­¡± Whoops. Goddamit! I have to stop messing this up. ¡°Gondorrer Gravelheart. Level fifteen wanderer.¡± Our hosts raised an eyebrow at my messed introduction, but the girls had to hold back a giggle. ¡°These are Tatenaka Yuki and Tatenaka Hanbei, my traveling companions.¡± Then I called Aura from beneath the table. ¡°This is Aura, and the cat inspecting your house is Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the Third.¡± I said lastly, pointing to the cat who was nonchalantly walking around the house, brimming with curiosity. ¡°Wow¡­ That is quite the name¡­¡± Evelyn said a bit at loss. ¡°But¡­ Who is this Shishou you want to find a class for?¡± She asked confused. ¡°That¡¯s just the way Yuu calls me. It¡¯s something like a teacher of sorts.¡± I explained quickly, making her nod in accordance. ¡°Hmm¡­ I see¡­¡± Evelyn said while thinking. She then looked at me with some seriousness in her eyes. ¡°Did¡­ Guild-master tell you anything about the class?¡± ¡°Nope, nothing, nada, nanimonai.¡± She sighed in response. ¡°Geez, Guild-master. Why do you always leave the complicated things for me?¡± She asked in a slightly weary tone. After some time collecting her thoughts she finally turned to me and said. ¡°You see, the class he¡¯s talking about is probably the one I have, after all, Logan¡¯s class is very basic and you wouldn¡¯t need to come all the way here just to get it.¡± She in a tone similar to a mother teaching a child. My eyes shone in expectation. Then, does this means that it¡¯s a unique class? Something no other player will ever have? ¡°Is this class something that only one person can learn at a time?¡± I voiced my curiosity. However she shook her head while giggling slightly. I almost became enticed by that, but I felt the same pointy, stabby and cold things in my feet again. ¡°Nothing of the sorts.¡± She said slightly amused. ¡°It¡¯s just that, per tradition, this class can only be passed on to someone who completes a certain test.¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°In fact, there were about fifty other adventurers like you who came to take the test before. No one succeeded until now.¡± I gulped in excitement as I heard about the test. What can it be that so many people are failing on it? Evelyn seemed to enjoy my curiosity as she smiled like a mother seeing her son excited to play outside. ¡°What kind of class is it, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± Hanbei said for the first time, as she too couldn¡¯t hold back her curiosity. ¡°Aren¡¯t you all so curious?¡± Evelyn said cheerfully before lifting her finger in the air to give emphasis to her words. ¡°Before that, tell me. What do you know about skirmishes?¡± She said mysteriously. Chapter 36 - Stay classy Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! It¡¯s time for some classy stuff! Oh yeah! ANYWAY, I¡¯m kind of expecting a lot of people raging about his class, how he should have accepted Arkhoss¡¯ and whatnots. Others will probably complain about him not being a Monster Hunter. For the first, my answer is: He¡¯s wargon. For the other, I say wait a bit, because he WILL get there. ALSO, last pool was a bit unfair, since Lieutenant had a lot more screen-time (word-time?) than Whisi. I particularly find that they would be even matches if we don¡¯t consider stats and everything else, or that is how I think of them. So this time, let¡¯s make it a bit more fair the duel, shall we? ALSO(2), I¡¯ll try to work on the things I¡¯ve been procrastinating this weekend, no promises though. ALSO(3), AND THIS MARKS THE END OF THE THIRD ARC! HOORAY! Next arc: Dungeoning, the classic method (can¡¯t go dragging Yuu to a Collection style right out of the bat. She might get traumatized.) ALSO(4), for today¡¯s random rant, let¡¯s talk about pets. I kind of planned on him having only one pet, and that would be Cyg in Aura¡¯s body. But I kind of messed up getting attached to Aura, liked too much the idea of Lieutenant and added the idea of a mount, which he will get a bit later (2 or 3 arcs later?) ----- ¡°Skirmishes?¡± I asked confused while looking at the girls. I could see that they were about as lost as I am. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t know what is a skirmish, I just couldn¡¯t seem to grasp what was her intention on asking that. ¡°Well¡­ Skirmishes is the name given to small battles that happens during a war, right?¡± I said a bit doubtful. Evelyn nodded satisfied with my answer, but she still kept going on. ¡°Very good, then, what about skirmishers?¡± She asked this time. ¡°They are¡­ The guys who does the skirmish?¡± I said a bit at loss and she nodded. ¡°Correct, but not quite there yet.¡± She said in a teaching tone. ¡°Let¡¯s be a bit more specific, ok? You see, when it comes to skirmishes in a daily situation, you aren¡¯t wrong, but it is slightly different when it comes to skirmishes in a great battle per-se.¡± ¡°During a great battle, some countries employ a tactic that involves sending some small units rushing first and employing harassment tactics against the enemy main¡¯s army. Due to this, They usually had to resort to some really strange ideas if they wanted to survive, so most of the time these units were found using never-seen before tactics. These units are called Skirmishers.¡± She said and smiled happily. ¡°And that is my class.¡± I blinked in surprise as I started to process information. Basically, her class is one that specializes in harassing the opponents when it comes to a large battle? That¡­ doesn¡¯t seem to match my specifications¡­ ¡°You are probably thinking that it sounds very different from what you expected, right?¡± She said in a happy mood. I didn¡¯t know she could also read minds. I will be more careful next time. ¡°You are probably thinking that it involves harassing opponents and leaving the final blow to your allies, right? Well, that was true. Once.¡± She said before taking a break and sipping a bit of tea. C¡¯mon lady! The suspense is killing me here! Hey, Logan, hurry her up, will you? Wait¡­ Is he sleeping while sitting in the table? Dammit, he¡¯s even snoring! Cygnasdamit. ¡°As I was saying, the class originated there in the battlefield, but once the wars ended, those who had the class started to find themselves unable to keep up with the others who had the basic classes, so they started experimenting a bit. What was it that the skirmishers were best at? Fighting against stronger armies while using unconventional tactics to defeat them. Couldn¡¯t they apply it to single enemies too?¡± She once again took a sip of her tea. ¡°Following that, the class started to evolve even further with that single purpose in mind, and it became what it is nowadays.¡± ¡°However, many people think that just by getting the class, you can automatically fight against stronger foes on equal footing. But as unique and potentially powerful this class may look, if you don¡¯t have the correct mind-set when tackling your enemies, you will be even weaker than the usual classes. Many people lost their lives due to this. To avoid these pointless deaths, the skirmishers started using these hard tests to decide whom to pass this class upon¡­¡± Wow, really? I stopped to process the information for a bit. So, it¡¯s a class that was created on the battlefield whose main objective was harassing, but now it evolved into a class specialized in fighting stronger enemies? Just what kind of class it is then? I must say that I might just accept this class even if only to see what exactly it does. But, before that, I need to pass the test from hell that no one else have passed before. Geez, what kind of test is it? I¡¯m kind of getting scared here. ¡°I think I see where you are going¡­ So¡­ What exactly is this test you are talking about? I must say I¡¯m getting curious¡­¡± I said my true thoughts and she smiled a bit sadly in return. ¡°I really don¡¯t like taking people to this test¡­ They always get hurt¡­¡± She explained herself, but she finally sighed and looked a bit more serious. ¡°Okay, before that, if I remember, you said that you are level fifteen, right?¡± ¡°Me? Well, yes, why?¡± I said, and she nodded while stopping to think for some time. ¡°I think I have a good test for you in mind.¡± She said after a few seconds. I swallowed some of my saliva nervously. ¡°Let me explain this test. I will take you somewhere where there is a strong enemy, and there I will see how you fight against him and decide whether I can give you the class.¡± She looked towards Logan who was sleeping soundly by now and kicked his leg, waking him up. ¡°Me and Logan will be there to watch your fight and intervene if we deem it necessary.¡± She said with a slightly annoyed tone aimed to her husband. He simply shrugged and said. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not my fault a certain someone didn¡¯t let me sleep this night¡­¡± He complained. Evelyn blushed furiously before barraging him with kicks. Hanbei and me could only smile awkwardly at this while Yuu seemed completely at loss. She¡¯s so innocent that it just feels wrong to try and explain the deep meaning behind his words. ¡°By stronger enemies¡­ What exactly do you mean?¡± I said a bit worriedly. I seriously don¡¯t think that I am ready for anything stronger than Aura yet. I mean, she really gave me a hard time! ¡°Probably something around level twenty two¡­ They are safe enough so we can stop it if things get too dangerous and strong enough so it forces you to fight it seriously.¡± She said. For a moment I froze there as I processed her words, trying to think on what she said. Level twenty? Really? That¡¯s kind of¡­ Anticlimactic? I¡¯m kind of at loss here, so I took my time to understand what was happening.
QUEST: Skirmishing
Evelyn Darkheart has given you a test to see whether you have the aptitude to become a skirmisher, and she needs you to fight a stronger enemy in order to gauge your skills.
Rewards: Permission to become a skirmisher
¡°Does that worries you?¡± She asked with a slightly hopeful voice. ¡°If you don¡¯t think you can take it, you can refuse, you know?¡± I blinked surprised and then shook my head hastily. ¡°No, no. It¡¯s nothing like that¡­¡± I said while trying to gather my thoughts and put it into words. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ It¡¯s easier than what I expected?¡± I said a bit at loss. Not only Evelyn, but even Logan blinked surprised while looking at me for a few seconds. I looked back at them worried for a moment since I couldn¡¯t quite grasp the reason for their surprise. It was only after a few seconds that someone broke the silence. ¡°You see, Shishou has a lot of experience when it comes to fighting stronger enemies.¡± Yuu said in a happy tone. ¡°He even have defeated some blazing tails alone a few days ago!¡± ¡°Blazing tails? As in, the alpha of the red-tails?¡± Logan asked surprised. Both he and Evelyn looked at Yuu for a moment, then towards me. I nodded, confirming my disciples words, which made both of them stare at me in shock. As a proof, I took out one of the large gems I had in my inventory and showed it to them. Evelyn quickly picked it up and started to examine it, before passing to Logan. ¡°If you defeated it a few days ago¡­ Does it mean that you had an even lower level?¡± She asked me a bit surprised. I nodded. ¡°My first Blazing tail was at level eleven. I hunted them until I got to level fourteen, and then I fought against Aura here. I actually got to level fifteen just a couple minutes ago.¡± ¡°You fought against her?¡± She asked while looking towards Aura, some suspicion clear in her eyes. I looked at Aura and nodded towards Evelyn, and the little ronin quickly approached the succubus while pulling the straw had backwards, revealing her head. The succubus looked surprised for a moment, but the one who actually stopped her shock was Logan, who picked up the little fox and looked at her straight in the eyes for a few seconds. After some time his eyes widened and he turned to his wife surprised and said. ¡°This girl here is a Freezing tail!¡± He said with clear admiration in his voice. ¡°I never thought I would see the real thing with my own eyes¡­¡± Evelyn looked a bit confused for a moment. It seems that she hadn¡¯t heard about the freezing tails before, so Logan quickly explained what he knew to her. Some times Aura would bark and he would correct himself. Does he understand what she means? It does seem like it¡­ After a few minutes of explaining, me and the girls had already finished our cups of tea, and my sight started to wander around the house as I began to grow bored. Luckily, it didn¡¯t take much longer for Evelyn to refer to me again. ¡°So¡­ You are telling me that you fought against such a foe at level fourteen and classless?¡± She asked me a bit suspicious. I nodded, but she didn¡¯t look very persuaded. ¡°I¡¯m having a bit of a hard time believing that¡­¡± She said while gently rubbing her temples. ¡°If you were a couple of levels higher, or had a class, it would be easier to believe in you¡­¡± She gave a quick sigh before going on. ¡°Would you mind telling me how this fight went on?¡± Fair enough. I started telling her of the our duel, the attacks and skills that Aura used, and my tactics against her. She seemed especially interested in my roll skill and I had to tell her how I obtained it and how it works. She and Logan were also a bit suspicious when I told them about the recklessness skill, but after showing them Evelyn could only smile wryly. After all the explanations were done, the two turned towards Aura who was sitting on the table at my arms reach, receiving her hourly dose of petting. She simply nodded lazily confirming my story. Evelyn sighed loudly before giggling, it sounded a bit dry, but was still a pleasant sound. Before I could even appreciate the sound, pointy, stabby and cold things assaulted my feet once again. I turned towards Yuu and said in an angry whisper. ¡°What exactly do you have against my feet?¡± ¡°Shishou was getting affecter by her charm. I¡¯m only helping Shishou.¡± She said in a humph before suddenly blinking. ¡°Feet? I¡¯m only attacking one though?¡± I became shocked for a moment. If it¡¯s not Yuu, then who¡¯s is it? I turned back to Aura who was receiving my petting. She looked defiantly at me for a brief moment before laying down once again. She¡¯s not even trying to hide it! Hanbei laughed heartily at our exchange, making our two hosts look at us confused for a moment. I simply shook my head telling them it was nothing before moving on to the matter at hand. ¡°So¡­ When do we start the test?¡± I asked. ¡°You aren¡¯t taking any test.¡± My eyes widened when I heard those words. Does that means that I¡¯m not getting my class after all? NOOOO! AND I WAS SO CLOSE! ¡°Even if it sounds ridiculous, you do have enough proof of your feats. And if what you said about your battles is true¡­ Then no wonder Guild-master sent you to me.¡±
QUEST COMPLETE: Skirmishing
Evelyn Darkheart has heard of your stories and has deemed you more than capable of receiving the class of skirmisher.
Rewards: Permission to become a skirmisher
FASTEST QUEST EVER! I mean, really? That¡¯s it? No epic fight against an overpowered monster nor anything? ¡°Then¡­ I can become a Skirmisher already? Just like that?¡± I asked a bit confused, not sure on how to take this. She simply nodded in response. ¡°Yes. Usually, the people who come here think that becoming a Skirmisher earns you a single powerful skill that makes you strong and greatly neglect the strategic thinking needed when fighting an enemy. That is what I usually look for in the test, but even from your story alone I can see that you don¡¯t go charging blindly towards your enemy, like most others do.¡± Well¡­ It¡¯s not like I actually stop to thinking something either, I mostly go with the flow charge as soon as I see an opening. But I guess that is a start, right? ¡°So, ready to earn your class?¡± She asked me with a smile. I nodded in response and she guided us outside of the house towards the backyard. With no place in particular, she asked me to stand in front of her and asked one last time. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Gondorrer, are you sure you want to take skirmisher as your class?¡± She asked me with a serious tone, different from her usual gentle one.
You have proven yourself capable of effectively tackling stronger enemies using your wits and tactics, now Evelyn Darkheard is offering you the class: Skirmisher
Skirmisher: Soldiers who are sent off on the most dangerous missions for the army. Tackling on stronger opponents with nothing but their own wits, they are experts in adapting to every situation and harassing their enemies with varied plans and skills.
As a Skirmisher you have access to the unique skill: Adaptability. Your need for the use of unique tactics make so consumable items become a invaluable part of your arsenal, and with your new-found knowledge, you are capable of improving their effects. Positioning is also a critical point in any plan, so you will also earn some extra mobility for when the situation calls for it. You are granted a small resistance to any kind of abnormal status and most terrain disadvantages will not affect you.
Wow, not half bad. This almost seems like it was made for me! ¡°Yes. I wish to become a Skirmisher myself¡± Evelyn nodded, and as if following a cue, she put one hand above her heart and put another one on my shoulders. ¡°Oh, Orfeon, Great god of war. I, Evelyn Darkheart asks for you to lay your blessing upon this unguided wanderer, who seeks his destiny on the same road of the Skirmisher as the one I thread upon. I beseech thee to grant him your might, your strength and your wisdom as one who will, from now on, thread on the path of the warriors.¡± She said in a solemn prayer. Soon after, a great pilar of red light fell upon me, and I felt as my body was filled with energy for a moment before it all began to slowly disappear in a calming feeling. I stood there surprised for a moment, trying to understand what happened, and soon I received my answers.
Congratulations, you just received your first class: Skirmisher! This class is found on the Warrior/rogue skill tree, and so you may now acquire some basic skills from both trees. You have also earned access to this class¡¯ unique skills.
Warning, resetting your class will send you back to level 10, remove all of your class skills and remove all of your status points allocated after level 10. Non-class skills that aren¡¯t related to the class tree will be kept at half their current levels. Non-class skills that are related to the class trees will be locked at half of their current levels until you acquire said class tree again.
For acquiring the Skirmisher Class, you have earned the Class Skill: Consumables mastery.
Skill: Consumables mastery [lvl1] 0%
Due to your class need of exotic tactics, resorting to consumables is almost a must for you, so your mastery of these weapons is inevitable, making you instinctively know how to better use them, increasing their effects. Increase offensive consumable items effects by 20%
Passive
For acquiring the Skirmisher Class, you have earned the Class Skill: Tactical charge.
Skill: Tactical charge [lvl1] 0%
Some plans require a fast acting as soon as the opportunity presents itself, and this requires a quick repositioning of yourself or your part, and a quickly positioned ally may greatly increase the effects of their intervention. Applies a charge effect to the next melee skill used by the target. Said skill can be targeted towards an enemy or a point in space. The skill affected will deal up to 20% extra damage according to the time from the effect being applied and the skill being used. Maximun skill range: 10 meters. Maximum charge distance: 8 meters.
Cost: 10 energy Cool down: 10 seconds
For acquiring the Skirmisher Class, you have earned the Class Skill: Retreat.
Skill: Retreat [lvl1] 0%
Some times your plans don¡¯t work as well as they should. Choosing to retreat isn¡¯t an incorrect choice when your life is at stake. Increase movement speed by 20%. If your enemy lose sight of you during retreat, you are more likely to lose your combat status. Duration: 20 seconds. WARNING: Using Retreat locks all of your skills for up to 10 seconds after its duration has finished. Can only be used during combat.
Cost: 0 energy Cool down: 10 minutes
For acquiring the Skirmisher Class, you have earned the Class Skill: Ready for anything.
Skill: Ready for anything [lvl1] 0%
Thanks to your class, you are always ready for whatever it is that will be thrown at you. Be it through your enemies or the very nature. Abnormal status resistance increased by 10% Immunity to mild terrain disadvantages.
Passive
For acquiring the Skirmisher Class, you have earned the Class Unique Skill: Adaptability.
Unique Skill: Adaptability [lvl1] 0%
Sometimes, a fight can develop into hundreds of different scenarios. These times, having a single weapon may not be enough. You can now equip any weapon on your auxiliary weapon slot. WARNING: Equipping normal weapons on the slot will reduce weapon¡¯s mastery skills effectivity by 50%. Only the weapon(s) currently in use will contribute to your status.
Passive
For acquiring the Adaptability skill, you have earned the Sub-skill: Cycle weapons.
Sub-skill: Cycle weapons [lvl1] (level increases with Adaptability)
Having two weapons some times may be cumbersome, and a little help from other less usual methods may be needed. This skill allows you to change your currently equipped weapon instantly.
Cost: 0 energy Cooldown: 30 seconds
Wow. Just, wow. I mean, really. All I needed was for me to get a class and a whole load of windows popped up, blocking my vision. I slowly took my time to scroll through them, reading what each and every one of them does. And I must say, this really is one strange class. In fact, if Evelyn hadn¡¯t told me of what is the idea behind this class, I probably would be lost behind the meaning of all these skills that simply don¡¯t seem to have a solid meaning behind them. Different from if I had gotten myself the Chaos knight class, as Arkhoss had offered me, I didn¡¯t exactly get any hard-hitting direct skills, most of these had subtle meanings behind them. Consumable mastery pretty much made so that, whatever kind of item I used would have a stronger effect than usual. For most, this would seem useless, but I heavily rely on my crystal thingies, and they are all considered consumables. Tactical charge is more of a positioning skill than an offensive one, if I were to think about it. Although the damage bonus is a nice thing, being able to charge towards any location I want can be the difference between life and death in a serious fight. And the fact that I can apply it to allies is another very nice boon. About the retreat skill, I won¡¯t comment much about how undignified it sounds. However, for me it will be an indispensable skill, since it gives me a chance to run away from a fight I may notice I¡¯m on the verge of losing. This will allow me to get a good grasp on my opponents¡¯ strengths before going to fight them for real. I will be using this one a lot. Now, the ready for anything? That is damned sweet! If I understood it right, it pretty much gives me some resistance to stun, poison, paralyze, charm and everything else, as well as making so that slippery terrains, hot weather or rain will not affect me on my fights! This one, as I would say, is VERY SHINY! Now, let¡¯s go for the cream of the cake! Adaptability and cycle weapon. These skills are probably the true selling point of this class. Being able to use two different weapons makes it so I can abruptly change my tactics right in the middle of the fight, and this can buy me precious seconds if used right. But this isn¡¯t all sweets, and might just as well be a double edged sword. If I understood it right, if I equip myself with two weapons, even if I will only use one, my weapon mastery skill will have only half of its passive effect. Although for now, this isn¡¯t much of a problem since the bonus isn¡¯t all that high, but if I were to put these skills on the max and have, say, 30% of extra damage, the effect would be much more noticeable. I would also lose the bonus stats from my secondary weapons, since only the current weapon would be considered for the status. This makes it a much more preparative skill than a in-battle skill, since I would need to decided whether to take both weapons with me or not beforehand to either take advantage of flexibility, or brute damage. And fifteen percent damage is a LOT when you get to higher levels, believe me, I know. How many times do you think I died for a boss because I could not do five percent more damage on the other RPGs I played? All in all, it seems a pretty complex class, but that can pretty much work under any situation. ME LIKEY! ¡°Seems like you are going to enjoy this class.¡± Evelyn said with a smile. ¡°What makes you think that?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Well¡­ You have been grinning this whole time, actually.¡± She said before changing her smile into a slightly wry one. ¡°It¡¯s actually a bit disturbing, to tell the truth¡­¡± Huh? Come on, there was no need to add that last part, right? But well, to tell the truth, I¡¯m kind of wanting to dart out of here and immediately start some kind of big fight just to test out the new skills. ¡°Hmm¡­ So this is the class you picked up when you refused my offer.¡± A sudden voice came from behind me, surprising all of us. ¡°It is a bit disheartening, but entertaining nonetheless. It does suits you.¡± When I turned back I saw a handsome man with sharp features and wearing a suit behind me. I blinked surprised then smiled as I recognized him. ¡°Arkhoss! Did you miss-me already?¡± I said playfully, and these words make the two hosts cringe for a moment. ¡°Not exactly. As I said, I have been following you, so I¡¯ve been keeping track of your movements.¡± He said before turning towards Evelyn and Logan. ¡°And please, rise yourselves. You are going to dirty your knees that way.¡± The couple looked at each other surprised for a moment, then nodded while hesitantly rising themselves from their kneeling position. Arkhoss nodded satisfied then waved his hand quickly, launching the same spell he had used when we first met. I also felt the spell affecting me, and the girls probably also did, since they looked surprised for a moment. Hey! It also repaired my equipment! Nifty! ¡°So, what brings the god of Chaos to these lands? Is it something serious or are you¡¯re here for a visit?¡± I asked him playfully. He chuckled slightly before answering. ¡°I just came to check on the person who managed to gather my attention. Is that bad?¡± ¡°No idea. I have no idea on what gods think, so I¡¯m just playing it safe. Not sure if I want to become an unknowing pawn in one of your crazy machinations and whatnots.¡± I said while shrugging. Both Evelyn and Logan cringed at my blatant suspicious words, while the two girls were only staring at me in awe. Arkhoss, however, simply chuckled and said jokingly. ¡°Then, if I explained you my plans you would join me?¡± ¡°Maybe? Could happen.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Wait, what?¡± He turned to me surprised once again, before frowning and asking. ¡°Then, if I said that I want you to go somewhere, get a crystal for me so I could use it in one of my plans, you would do it?¡± He asked suspicious. ¡°Do I get to fight some kind of strong beast?¡± ¡°Well, yes. There is this large wolf with a very peculiar condition that habits the area around the crystal. I did think that he would be of your liking¡­¡± ¡°Well, then count me in!¡± I said excitedly. I¡¯m not sure what kind of condition that wolf may have, but if I work it just right, I might be able to craft something really interesting with it. Arkhoss blinked surprised at my response, and I could only smile excitedly. ¡°I¡­ Expected that you would need some more convincing¡­¡± He said a bit shocked. But I was too excited to hear it, I didn¡¯t exactly expect my chance to test this new class would come so soon! Chapter 37 - Its dungeon time! Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Hero time! And some transport skillz! ANYWAY, this was one of those chapters that I had a bit of a problem writing. It took me around eight hours to get this one done, since I just couldn¡¯t focus on writing it¡­ (^.^¡¯) So it might not be all up to the same quality as the usual chapters. ALSO¡­ Also¡­ Hmm¡­ What do I put here? I¡¯m kind of at loss here¡­ ALSO(2), next chapter is another crafting-focused one, so yeah, badass new gear incoming! LET US START THE ROAD TO BECOME OP! ALSO(3), it¡¯s kind of funny¡­ While I was reading some FF online I found some people who used a format very similar to mine when it comes to the author¡¯s note/corner. Was it a coincidence, they are copying me or am I copying then? Oh well¡­ Whatever it is, it sure was entertaining (^.^) Have a good read! ------- ¡°Well then¡­¡±Arkhoss said as he gathered his thoughts and scratched his chin, still a bit shocked. ¡°You will find the crystal I need in an old sealed cave westwards from Eldor.¡± He snapped his fingers, making a small engraved crystal circle appear. With a flicker of his hands the crystal floated towards me, and I picked it up. ¡°You will need that to access the area. Afterwards, it will be kept open to whoever wishes to visit it.¡± He explained me. ¡°Nifty. So, what¡¯s the catch?¡± I asked him as I threw the circle into my inventory. He smiled mischievously at my words. ¡°You see, the area has been sealed many ages ago due to the large amounts of mana circulating within. There was so much magic energy within the place that the very mana started to crystalize.¡± He snapped his fingers again, and a floating image of a cave covered in large glowing crystals appeared. ¡°Are these mana crystals? Like the ones I get when mining?¡± I asked when I saw the scene, but Arkhoss simply shook his head. ¡°Your mana crystals are nothing more than a natural formation that absorbs the mana around it. These, are the very crystallization of mana. There was so much energy here that it became a brand new kind of mineral.¡± He said with a subtle admiration in his voice, before putting on a slightly sad face. ¡°However, when mana crystalizes like this, all that abundant energy is lost, since it can¡¯t be converted back without spending even more energy.¡± He let out a long sigh while I stared at the image for some time. A new kind of mineral? Does that means I can use it while crafting? Oh, boy. I¡¯m getting excited here. ¡°Let me guess¡­ There is an exception to this case?¡± I said after a few seconds of thought. Arkhoss smiled satisfied at my words, and once again snapped his fingers. This time, what appeared before me was some kind of crystalline formation that vaguely resembled a flower, with some pink crystal spreading from a center where a dark black crystal sprouted. ¡°That black crystal that you see here is what I want you to get me.¡± He said with a smirk. ¡°Different from the other crystals, this one suffered an malformation during its initial period and became somewhat unstable, making him easier to convert back into mana.¡± I grimaced a bit at this. If he is unstable, isn¡¯t there a chance it will explode right in my face when I get it? Arkhoss noticed my doubts and slightly shook his head. ¡°This crystal will only collapse under very specific conditions, so no need to worry about it exploding in your face.¡± ¡°Well, one last worry now.¡± I said in relief before putting on a ferocious face. ¡°So, what exactly I¡¯m going against here? I¡¯m pretty sure it won¡¯t be a walk in the park.¡± ¡°Exactly as you said.¡± One more snap of his fingers and two images appeared in front of me. One was of wolf with crystalline claws and fangs and with some lines in his fur that glowed just like the crystal. The other was some kind of short and stubby armor-looking thingy with crystals instead of a body. ¡°You see, before the area was sealed, it was a mining and development area. These crystalline beings here¡­¡± He said pointing to the armor thingy. ¡°Is a kind of old ancestors of yours and the Constructs. You could call him the missing link between the two races. They were made by some of the most intelligent races with the intention of doing the hard-work for them. The cave was also the habitat of some wolves that took rest there during the night.¡± ¡°Then, these are the guys guarding the mine?¡± I asked while looking at them. ¡°Then, all I need to do is take care of the wolves that the¡­ armor thingies will leave me alone?¡± I asked while thinking, but Arkhoss shook his head. ¡°No. When the mana outbreak happened, the researchers sealed the facility immediately and didn¡¯t have time to recover these objects. Although most of the ones used for guarding stopped functioning, the ones in charge of extracting the ores were built much sturdier to hold against possible collapses, so they survived for enough time to be contaminated by the mana. The same happened to these wolves, so now both works as the guards for the mine.¡± As he said that, he once again snapped his fingers, and the image changed one last time. Now there was the image of a much larger and ferocious looking armor showing, with lean legs and a taller frame, as well as two large arms. All of this linked by the glowing blue crystals. The wolf had changed into a wilder looking one, with a large mane and two glowing stripes of fur that went all the way to the tip of the tail, where a short scythe-like crystals sprouted. I didn¡¯t even need to hear his explanations to know what were these guys. ¡°And these are the top-dogs.¡± I said in a confident tone. ¡°Yes. The construct is the only security model that was still working by the time it was contaminated. It was called Excel-Loran back at the time. It was also a prototype for the next generation. Although some of its equipment deteriorated over the time, he now uses the rapidly regenerating crystals in its body as a mean to attack.¡± He then turned to the wolf. ¡°This one was the old alpha of the wolfs who basked a bit too much into the moonlight that passed through the crystals, as well as eating them a bit too much. I like to call him Crystalline moonlit ravager.¡± ¡°Well, that name is too fancy. I shall call him Doggy.¡± I answered him in my best serious face, making him blink in surprise. ¡°As I was saying, the Crystaline moonlit¡­¡± ¡°Doggy.¡± I interrupted him, making him look at me annoyed. ¡°The Crystalline moon¡­¡± ¡°Doggy!¡± He frowned a bit more. ¡°Crystalli¡­¡± ¡°DOGGY!¡± ¡°OKAY! The doggy¡­¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ It sounds kind of silly. Let¡¯s go back with Crystalline moonlit ravager.¡± I said after hearing him saying the word. He looked confused at me before letting out a long sigh. ¡°As I was saying, this wolf has a special condition to itself related to the crystals. Different from Excel-Loran, who use the crystal of his own body, the wolf uses the crystals of the terrain around him as weapons.¡± I looked at Doggy for some time. There was still some thing bugging me about him. As cool and badass a wolf with a scythe for tail was, he still wasn¡¯t as much of a boss material as the other one. There was still something missing. But let¡¯s not waste the surprise, right? ¡°Well. Seems interesting. Where do I sign up?¡± I said in good humor, receiving a satisfied smile from him.
HEROIC QUEST: Chaos¡¯ crystal
Arkhoss, the god of Chaos asked you to recover a crystal found in the middle of the Sealed Crystal Mine dungeon. His true purposes are unknown, but you have decided to help him anyway. Dungeon details: Recommended level: 18-22 Recommended party size: 6-8 After completing the quest, the Sealed Crystals Mine will be opened as a repeatable instanced dungeon for the other players
Rewards: Talk to Arkhoss
Ooh, heroic quest? Is it harder than a normal quest? Probably still easier than the Mythical one, though. And that quest title, Cyg did that on purpose, didn¡¯t she? ¡°Good. If you point the crystal towards the sun, it will show you the way to the mine.¡± He then turned to the others. ¡°Sorry for my lack of cordiality, but this was a serious matter. Now, if you excuse-me, I shall take my leave.¡± He said while making a slight bow towards the others before poofing into oblivion. I got a dungeon quest! Hooray! I wonder if I should call the guys to help me in this one? I don¡¯t think I can tackle a dungeon boss alone for now. But can they even reach here in time? Now that I think about it, I have no idea where they actually are right now. As I spent my time wondering on what I would do from now on, I heard as someone approached me and gently tugged at my arm. I turned to see Hanbei looking a bit worried at me. ¡°Hey, Gon. That guy said that he is the god of Chaos, right?¡± She asked me a bit worried. I blinked surprised before nodding. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that make him¡­ You know, evil?¡± I hesitated a bit before answering. Cygnas already told me the answer to that question, but before I could say something, Evelyn intervened. ¡°No¡­¡± She said still a bit shocked. ¡°The god of Chaos isn¡¯t inherently evil nor good. He¡¯s just¡­ Chaotic.¡± She said after some time before turning to me and saying. ¡°But¡­ How come you met someone like him?¡± She asked me with eyes filled with disbelief. ¡°I never thought I would see a god in my entire life¡­¡± Logan muttered besides her while staring wide eyed at me. I laughed a bit wryly. What should I say? I was following a friend because why not, and then I ended up finding that he was going to meet with the god of chaos, and after leaving the god confused he took a liking of me? Their brains might overheat if I tell them that story¡­ ¡°Well¡­ There were circumstances¡­¡± I said while scratching my head awkwardly. ¡°Anyway, it seems that I will have to go back to Eldor soon, since I still have some things to take care of¡­ So, any last tips regarding the class?¡± I asked trying to change the atmosphere a bit. It seemed to work, as Evelyn blinked surprised and then smiled gently while nodding. ¡°Sorry about that. I was a bit too shocked there and ended up asking something personal.¡± She said in an apologetic tone, I simply waved it away. ¡°Well¡­ If I had to suggest something about the class that you already don¡¯t do, it would be to not be ashamed of using retreat when needed.¡± She said before stopping to think about something. ¡°Oh, can you still derivate one of your skills?¡± She asked me. ¡°Yes, I still have one point I was holding for when I get my class. Why?¡± ¡°Then I will recommend you derivating the Cycle weapons skills.¡± She said, back to her gentle teacher tone. ¡°You see, when you derivate it, you earn a skill that makes so that you attack before and after changing your weapons, landing two powerful blows at once!¡± I nodded in accordance. Before spending my point, I would take a good look at everything I had, but since it¡¯s the professional¡¯s recommendation, I would give it an extra credit when taking it in consideration. After that, it seemed that there wasn¡¯t much else for us to do, and since it was already the end of the afternoon, me and the girls decided to head back to Eldor immediately. We quickly bade our farewells to the two, but not before Evelyn told me to come back at level twenty since she would pass-me a new skill. Just as we were about to head back, we were called back one last time, but this time it was Logan who made the call. He was frowning slightly as if thinking whether or not he should do what he was about to do, but in the end he shook his head. ¡°Come close, all three, will you?¡± He said in his sleepy disinterested tone. Me and the girls looked at each other slightly confused, but approached him nonetheless. As soon as we were within his reach he extended his hand and touched our foreheads one at a time.
For Impressing Logan Brown-hoof, he has reluctantly granted you the Skill: Nature walk.
Skill: Nature walk [lvl1] Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.0%
A movement technique created ages ago by the original wood-elven rangers who crossed all kinds of terrains when scouting. Using this skill allows you to sense the flow of nature around you and travel on any natural terrain through the fastest path. +50% movement speed while on natural terrains. WARNING: CANNOT BE USED IN COMBAT. LOCKS ALL OFENSIVE SKILLS DURING USE AND FOR 10 SECONDS AFTER
Cost: 0 energy
I blinked surprised at this, then looked at the girls, noticing they were also as shocked as I was we turned back to Logan who was frowning. ¡°¡­You did show me something incredible today¡­¡± He said while pointing towards Aura, who was looking at me confused, probably wanting to know what happened. ¡°And I couldn¡¯t simply let you all go back like this when it¡¯s about to get dark.¡± He said while explaining himself. Me and the girls thanked him one last time before departing for good. That last part kind of left me confused because I swore his class was druid or something, thanks to him speaking with Aura, but now he comes and teaches us this skill, so maybe that¡¯s not it? No matter. We immediately activated the new skill and tested it on the woods back home. Han and me felt like two children with how fast we started running. It simply felt amazing how easily we could advance compared to before. Our bodies were being guided by an invisible force whenever we were about to impassionate ourselves and we would always land on some kind of stable surface like a rock or packed earth. We were so excited with the new skill that two minutes after leaving we had to turn back so I could pick up Aura and Lieutenant who were left behind. Aura barked angrily at me for some time, making me lower my head since I had nothing to say for myself. In the end, I had to change to the leather jacket I used as a street wear and she took a ride with me by squirming inside the shirt and putting only her head out. Lieutenant ended up taking a ride with Hanbei, who offered to carry him. Then we once again went back to running through the woods like two little kids, with Yuu doing the role of the mother who had to follow us, since she was the only one who wasn¡¯t over-excited about the skill. In fact, she actually looked like she was used to it. Martial artists are scary. Also, I was wondering what would happen if we suddenly were to enter in combat while using the skill. For most of the time, we passed through the areas so fast that most monsters didn¡¯t even bother with us. But I did receive my answer eventually, when one of the squirrel wolf thingy suddenly appeared besides me and immediately attacked me while I was mid-jump. For those wondering, I met face-first with a tree, and Aura took on the brunt of the impact with me. Afterwards, we had squirrel wolf thingy for barbecue that Aura cooked with a scary pleasure in her eyes. During our unplanned dinner, the girls finally started their barrage of questions about the class and such. I quickly explained them the skills while examining the possible derivations for them. I could clearly see they frowning when they heard about the skills, after all, it was one mess of a class that I had. After quickly analyzing all the skills, I was left in doubt between these two skills.
Skill: Unstoppable charge [lvl1](Modify Tactical charge) (0%)
Your charge becomes an unstoppable force, brutally trespassing any enemy in your way while dealing even more damage from the skill used. Bonus damage increased to 50% Ignores collision. Skill used can hit multiple enemies. Only applies to self, using on allies apply Tactical Charge.
Cost: 10 energy Cool down: 10 secods
Sub-skill: Offensive Cycle [lvl1] (New skill) (levels increase with Adaptability)
You master the art of changing your weapons mid-battle and begins to exploit the openings such action may create, attacking both, before changing and after changing weapons. Damage and attack may vary between weapons. Cool down is shared with Cycle weapons
Cost: 20 energy Cool down: 1 minute
I looked at the two windows a bit at loss. Both skills were the ones with the most immediate effect when it comes to battles, and both sounded really good. In the end, I chose the Offensive Cycle because of Evelyn¡¯s recommendation, deciding to pick up the Unstoppable charge when I get to level 20. ¡°So, what did the crazy god give you back there?¡± Hanbei asked after we finished our dinner. I picked up the Crystal disk and threw it to her. ¡°It¡¯s a key to a level twenty dungeon.¡± I state proudly, receiving a look of admiration from her. Yuu, on the other hand¡­ ¡°Shishou¡­ What is a dungeon?¡± She asked me while tilting her head. How long has it been since her last lesson? Getting a bit happy with this, I immediately straightened my posture and started using my sensei voice. ¡°Good question, my apprentice!¡± As soon as my words left my mouth, Yuu immediately sit down in seiza, that thing where you sit on your knees, and looked at me with expectation. Hanbei seemed entertained by the scene, as she giggled slightly. ¡°Dungeons are maps usually present in RPGs that usually possess enemies much stronger than the usual for their levels and usually requires a small premade group to challenge it head on. There are usually two kinds of enemies who appear in a dungeon. One, are the minions, they are the ones you would usually find the most numerous, but also are the weakest in a dungeon. The others are the bosses. These guys are usually ridiculously strong, but also gives excellent gear for anyone who manages to defeat them.¡± I Explained everything while drawing in the ground. Yuu kept nodding excitedly at my words. ¡°Now, apprentice, as I said, we need a group before tackling a dungeon. Do you remember what the main roles of the group are?¡± She blinked surprised at the sudden question, before putting herself to think about it. ¡°They are¡­ The damage dealers¡­¡± She said slowly while looking at me, smiling happily when I nodded. ¡°The¡­ Curators?¡± I shook my head and she frowned while thinking again. ¡°Healers?¡± I nodded. ¡°And tankers?¡± ¡°Very good, my apprentice!¡± I said while petting her, making her close her eyes in bliss. Afterwards I had to appease an annoyed Aura who also wanted her petting rights. ¡°Well, as I was saying, I received a quest that requires me to go in a dungeon, so now I have to build a team to delve into it.¡± ¡°And you are taking us, right?¡± Hanbei said with puppy eyes. ¡°Heeh¡­ Who knows? I¡¯m not sure if I want to take the two of you with me¡­¡± I said in a fake pensive tone, making her widen her eyes in horror. ¡°NOO! Don¡¯t you dare go into a brand new dungeon without taking me!¡± She said while swinging my head back and forth. I made sure to keep a foolish expression all the time just for the fun of it. ¡°Well, jokes aside, I still have to go back to the city and finish crafting my new gear.¡± I said after freeing myself from her grasps. ¡°So, I guess I still have around a day or two before having to decide on what to do.¡± Hanbei pouted lightly, but nodded finally. On the way back, when we crossed the river we looked around for another one of those fishes we had seen before, but sadly we couldn¡¯t find anything. I wouldn¡¯t mind having another round of sushi later on. With the skill that Logan gave us, the travel back was much faster, but we did stop by an innocent boar on the plains so that I could test out the new skill I got. Equipping the bow in the main slot and the sword and shield as secondary weapons I waited for it to charge at me before making a side step and activating the skill. As soon as the skill kicked in, my body moved forwards as I delivered a heavy kick against the boar¡¯s flank before leaning forwards and pulling the bowstring to the limit, shooting at it in point-blank, making it squeal in pain. However, the attack didn¡¯t stop there, as I spun around while putting the bow back into my back and went to the sword hanging in my belt. As soon as I picked it up, I felt as the bow and the quiver disappeared from my back while the shield materialized in my left arm. I quickly drew the sword from the sheath while dealing a wide and strong horizontal slash followed by a simple, but strong shoulder-powered shield bash. -7 -32 -29 -18 (daze) -86 (394/480) Me and the girls blinked in surprise. Is someone out there screwing with me? I mean¡­ EIGHTY SIX POINTS OF DAMAGE IN ONE SINGLE SKILL? AND APPLY DAZE? WHAT THE HELL? Damn, these derivate skills are kind of broken, don¡¯t you think? Well¡­ At least the cooldown is kind of high. One minute for using the skill and it costs the same as a slash, so it¡¯s not all that op¡­ Who am I kidding. NERF PLZ! Rather, PLZ, NO NERF! Okay, Evelyn, I owe you for this amazing skill. I¡¯m in love with it. This is simply bleeding amazing. Afterwards I made a few other tests with the skill and noticed that the combo changes according if I use it with the sword and shield instead. I start with bashing my shield at the guys face before dealing a heavy downwards blow with my two hands before sheathing the weapon. As soon as the sword is sheathed, the bow appears, and I automatically jump back while shooting three arrows in an arc, followed by a single power-shot-like shot when I land. The damage is about the same as the other combo, but the daze doesn¡¯t seem to be a 100% chance. However, it¡¯s still bleeping amazing. The best part? This is with my old set! I can¡¯t wait to try my new set. BEWARE FOOLISH MORTALS, FOR GONDORRER BOARSBANE IS ABOUT TO START HIS PATH IN THE ROAD TO OVERPOWEREDNESS! MWAHAHAHAHAH! Well, megalomaniac tendencies aside, we quickly reached Eldor just as the night began to fall. Once there I asked the girls what they were going to do while I prepare myself for my craft-a-ton that is about to happen. Yuu said that she was going to look around for someone that can teach her more about tailoring, since she was having fun with it, while Hanbei decided to look around for a crafting skill herself. We quickly marked to meet again at Melinda''s place late afternoon tomorrow, because that is when I expected to have finished my crafting. As soon as we separated ourselves, I felt as Aura suddenly shivered as her fur changed to silver. ¡°Waah! I was getting a bit bored back there! Why didn¡¯t you separate earlier?¡± Cyg asked me slightly annoyed I chuckled a bit before answering. ¡°And why didn¡¯t you appear back there? I don¡¯t think there would be many problems if you were to show yourself to them.¡± I told her my thoughts. Cyg tilted her head while looking up to me. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t you be troubled by that?¡± She asked worriedly, but I simply shook my head. ¡°Nah. The problem would be if the NPCs found out about you, but I guess players aren¡¯t as much of a problem.¡± I said absentmindedly. ¡°I see¡­ Then I¡¯ll greet the two later.¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°So, what are you going to do now?¡± She asked me curious. ¡°Well, for now I¡¯m going to pay Sol and Torg a visit. It might be a bit sooner than the expected, but I guess they should have some progress by now. Why you ask?¡± I asked a bit curious. She smiled widely while wagging her tail. ¡°Well, I just thought that you might want to reserve some time to pass through the cathedral later!¡± She said happily. I raised an eyebrow at her words. ¡°You see, there is a patch about to come, and there is something you will probably be interested in!¡± Ooh? A patch? Already? Chapter 38 - Dangerous reference Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some preparations before DA ARMOR! ANYWAY, TOP FIVE WEEKLY VIEWS BABY! CHURCH OF CYGNAS CAME HERE TO STAY! Do you guys, have any idea on how I started laughing like a mad man when I saw that? Actually, you might, since mad laughter is kind of common when it comes to me¡­ I guess¡­ AND THE CHURCH OF CYGNAS HAD ONE SERIOUS BUMP IN FOLLOWERS, AND WE ARE NOW AT ALMOST 700! CYGNAS BE PRAISED! ALSO, I almost had a heart attack right before posting this chapter, as there was a blackout literally ten lines away from the end. Luckily, word had auto-saved eleven lines away, so not much of a big loss here. ALSO(2), it¡¯s time for our favorite couple to appear again! And now with a reference to a certain person¡­ ALSO(3), I¡¯ve been kind of feeling that I have been reaching some kind of slump recently, so I¡¯ve been considering giving a one or two weeks hiatus after a couple of arcs to ¡°plan¡±, notice the quotes, some more arcs. But even if I do that, there are still fifteen or so chapters before we get there, so I¡¯m only giving you guys a very early warning. ALSO(4), I¡¯m kind of considering making a thread only to explain things people find confusing, but with my serious procrastination problems, that might not be a good idea¡­ Hmm¡­ Have a good read! ----- So, there is going to be a patch within two to three days of the games launch? A bit strange if you ask me, but I¡¯m not complaining, patches usually means good things, like additional content, extra functionalities, bug fixes and rebalancing¡­ WAIT! WILL I BE NERFED? NOOOO! THE NERF-HAMMER IS COMING! ¡°Hey, Cyg¡­ What exactly will have in the patch?¡± I asked a bit worried. ¡°Well, It seems that there will be a new ¡®hard-mode¡¯ that the players will be able to activate at the cathedral.¡± She said as she stared at a window. ¡°For now, all I know is that it will involve more realistic combat mechanics like fatal strikes and debuffs depending on where the hit lands.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ All you know? Aren¡¯t you the one making the patch?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Actually, it¡¯s my main body that is doing it.¡± She said as she turned back to me. ¡°This part of me isn¡¯t aware of everything my main body is doing. I only know about the patch because there is a post in the forums about it, made by yours truly!¡± She said proudly. It is somewhat strange when she says that she is reading a post she made herself to get information that she doesn¡¯t have. While thinking about these things, I suddenly remembered about something that left horribly worried, as I turned to her and asked my great fear. ¡°What about the Window-balls? Are they getting patched out?¡± Cyg blinked for a few seconds before starting to laugh loudly. ¡°No¡­ My main body just said that the window-balls are still in. It seems that nobody tried doing that yet.¡± She said cheerfully. I sighed in relief at that. I have no idea on what I would do if I were to lose my trusty window-balls. My main straight-men equipment capable of delivering righteous fury at a safe distance? After feeling relived of the fact that my trusty sidekick wouldn¡¯t leave me so soon, I turned back to the Eldor and proceeded to advance back there. Cyg quickly changed her fur back to blue, before warning me that she would be in control for the time being. I immediately made my way towards Sol¡¯s place while Lieutenant decided to go some place else by himself. It seemed that just like I can see the two in the map, they also know where I am, so I left it to him find me whenever he felt like it. As soon as I reached the plaque announcing her store, I heard something blowing up while some light flashed from beneath the door. I looked at Cyg a bit worried and we both darted in, quickly reaching the inner workshop. The place was a mess, with half of the room completely blown up and the other completely stuffed with all the debris that was thrown by the explosion. Just as me and Cyg looked at the scene shocked, we saw some slight movement in the rubbles and I quickly rushed there. After some quick excavation, we removed a laughing old hag from there. ¡°What just happened here?¡± I asked as I took a potion from my inventory and passed It to her. She readily drank it and turned to me. ¡°I just got to intermediate and was testing some things.¡± She said in a happy mood completely disregarding the fact that her lab was completely destroyed for the second time in a few days. ¡°And what the heck did you do to blow it up so badly?¡± I asked confused. She looked back at me happily and quickly darted to a door that led to a large depot with many spare equipment. When I looked at it I could only stare surprised to the sheer amount of surplus equipment she had. It almost looks like she expects her lab to explode every other day. Ignoring my shocked face, she picked up a distiller, some chemicals, a mana crystal, and took it back to the main room, where she immediate started to dissolve the crystal, and without even removing the chemicals, she threw the dissolved mana crystal into a glass cup and triturated a wind crystal before throwing it in. She passed me the cup with the crystal and motioned me to activate it. I raised my eyebrows, but picked the cup and activated it anyway. A strong wind worthy of a tornado suddenly blew all over the room, kicking up all the settled dust around us and throwing the unprepared me a few meters away. I also heard the sounds of a mad laughter coming from nearby, and a soft bark when Cyg appeared besides me. I picked her up and tried to find my way through the dust towards Sol, following the sound of her laugh. ¡°I think she might be a bit crazy¡­¡± Cyg whispered to me. ¡°And what exactly makes you think that?¡± I asked in a fake surprise. ¡°Not sure¡­ Maybe it¡¯s the laugh?¡± She said in a fake pensive tone. After walking around a bit we found her laying in another corner of the room. I helped herself up again and asked. ¡°Okay, what the heck was that? I¡¯m pretty sure a wind crystal shouldn¡¯t be that powerful.¡± ¡°That is exactly what I *cough* discovered.¡± She after coughing out some dust. ¡°It seems that *cough* the dissolved crystal, instead of *cough* working as a battery, works as an amplifier.¡± Then, it basically throws out all the energy of the mana crystal together with the elemental crystal? That is interesting. WAIT, if I gather a whole bucket worth of these dissolved crystals, throw a bit of elemental crystals inside, then I get a huge elemental explosion? OH MY GOD! I¡¯m so going to have fun with this! ¡°Before you think of getting a bucket worth of mana crystals, throw a bit of elemental crystals to get a huge elemental explosions, it seems that the effect is limited to one mana crystal worth at a time.¡± GOD DAMMIT! ¡°But is the effect limited to one big explosion at a time, or can you make it a delayed effect?¡± I asked. She blinked surprised and made a pensive pose. ¡°Not sure, but it¡¯s worth giving it a look.¡± She said with a nod. Then suddenly cheered up as something came to her mind. ¡°Oh, yeah. That thing you asked me to do with the claws and fangs¡­¡± She said with a smile. ¡°I managed to do something with it. I already passed a prototype to Torg and he is trying to see if he can forge something with it.¡± I blinked surprised before looking at her. ¡°Already? Didn¡¯t you start that a few days ago?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°Hey, I did tell you I was the best around.¡± She said with a proud smile. I could simply whistle in surprise at her quick work. She really surpassed my expectations, as I was kind of expecting to get here and find out that she was only half-way through the research. And if I add this to the crystal that Torg took home earlier, then now I had two new things to test my crafting skills. ¡°Then, does that means that the ones made with Blazing tails materials are ready?¡± ¡°No¡­ I started working on those recently, and they are much more powerful than the others, so it will take a bit longer for it to get ready, but no longer than lunch tomorrow.¡± She said in cheerful mood. I nodded satisfied, and since all the questions I had were answered for now, I decided that I would pay Torg a visit and see if he got anything in his crafting attempts. I tried to convince Cyg to look around for lieutenant since the blacksmithing sector was a bit too hot, but she refused to and said that she wanted to see it for herself. I sighed loudly and took the elevator together with her, and she clearly started to regret her decision, as she started to pant loudly while sticking her tongue out. As I wondered what I should do, I decided to go and take out the heat resistant ring and put it on her, but since it was too small, I had use her straw-hat string to tie it to her. Luckily, it seemed that it worked. I was a bit worried that since it was an equipment it might not work, but looks like it was unfounded. Maybe it¡¯s because it¡¯s not a combat status per-se, and thus she could take advantage of that? What matters is, the heat didn¡¯t affect her anymore, and thanks to my ready to anything skill, neither was I! Let me be a bit more specific, I do still feel the heat, but it¡¯s nowhere near what it was like back when I first came. Now it is more like one of those sunny days, not enough to make you feel bad, but just right so you can¡¯t get comfortable. Nothing I haven¡¯t had worse when I close the door of my room when my PC is turned on. I quickly reached Torg¡¯s place just in time to see him cooling down the forge as he prepared to call it a day. I greeted him heartily, but his answer was a bit melancholic, as he seemed to be very tired from a long day of work. Deciding not to bother him too much, I went straight to the point and asked if he had something on the Crystal and the whole claws and fangs thing. He said that the new material that Sol made was surprisingly good to craft, being almost as durable as iron, but a bit too hard after it was done. Nothing a bit of good old blacksmithing techniques wouldn¡¯t solve. However, when it came to the combined crystal he was still having some problems, as it was still a bit too brittle to forge with. However, according with his words: ¡°This one smells like good alloy material, different from the simple crystals you use on the knives.¡± I have no idea on how a good alloy material smells, but it¡¯s not me who will doubt the guy who can knew I was smelting crystals through his nose alone. However, since he spent all his time working today, he was a bit too tired to show me how it works, and asked me to wait until tomorrow morning. I agreed with this and asked if there would be any problem if I were to use his forge while he sleeps so I would have my blacksmith up to intermediate tomorrow. He gave me a go and then left. I would have started crafting there and then, but a serious lack of ores made me have to leave the town for some quick mining. And by quick mining, I mean staying out until it was around midnight. But since simply telling you about it would be a bit boring, let¡¯s talk about some tests I made with the new skills on the bunnies. Poor bunnies, they are always the ones where I test the new skills¡­ Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Anyway, of the things that I discovered, is that depending on how I set it, I can use the cycle weapons to change only one side of the set of weapons. For example, if I set a sword and shield as the main weapon, I can use the skill to chance the shield alone for another sword, or simply change the sword for another one. But this depends on which slot I put the second sword. Basically, if a weapon set leaves a slot open, the cycle ignores that slot and change only the one with the equipment. Also, the tactical charge? It¡¯s an excellent skill. Basically I can set the charge anywhere I want and use a skill to get there. Even if I won¡¯t use it to hit a target I have to use a skill, so I have to spend energy even if I won¡¯t attack, which is a bad thing. Afterwards me and Cyg went back to the city since the other skills were pretty much straight up passives, there wasn¡¯t much of what I could to test them, so I left them out. On the way back to the forge, I noticed that Lieutenant was somewhere close to me and decided to pay him a visit. When I found him, he was sitting in the corner of an alley with a small army of cats who were meowing things, one at a time. He sometimes would nod, sometimes would shake his head and sometimes would pick the body of a mouse besides him and would throw it to a cat, as if giving him a reward. Is it just me, or my pet tamed more pets than me? Let¡¯s not delve too deep into it. Might be bad for my mental health. Anyway, there was another thing that was really caught my attention; a couple was standing there while staring at the whole scene with curiosity. I smiled at that and quickly approached them. Cyg looked a bit curious at me, as she had not met the two before, but I knew them too well. I immediately approached them, putting myself between the two while throwing my arms around their shoulders and pulling them closer. ¡°If it isn¡¯t my favorite lovebirds! Out to enjoy a lovely date late at night, are we?¡± Immediately after I said that the sounds of steam pipes blowing came from my right while I felt as the person on my left started to heat up around the antenna/ears. I laughed loudly while letting go of their shoulders before they tried to turn on me. When I saw that both Rusty and Nova were pretty much dying in embarrassment, I felt that I had done a wonderful job. ¡°So, what brings the two of you here? I don¡¯t think you only came here to watch Lieutenant over there.¡± I asked them. Rusty calmed himself first with what sounded a relief steam blow. ¡°We were at. Dinner. Afterwards went. Roaming circus.¡± He said in his usual unique way. ¡°I see, and now you two were taking your time while walking around, is that right?¡± I asked the two and they nodded. Then I looked down at their hands and frowned slightly. ¡°Okay, I feel that it¡¯s time to Wargon, the match-maker to improve your relation a bit.¡± As I said that I grabbed their hands and forced them to hold each other¡¯s. They blinked surprised before getting slightly embarrassed. ¡°From now on I forbid the two of you from walking around together without holding hands.¡± I mean, seriously, the two were pretty much the image of two extra pure persons dating, and they don¡¯t even hold hands? That¡¯s a crime I¡¯m not willing to overlook. ¡°This is¡­ A bit embarrassing¡­¡± Nova said shyly. I frowned slightly before pulling her closer for a moment and whispering in her ears. ¡°Look. Rusty is an awesome guy and I saw many other girls eyeing him.¡± Some white lies don¡¯t hurt, do they? Well, it did it¡¯s work because she widened her eyes and I could clearly see jealously starting to burn there. ¡°You see, whenever you walk holding his hands you are saying to these girls: Bugger off, he¡¯s mine and I¡¯m not sharing. Understood?¡± She nodded furiously and I patted her back so she could go back to her clockworks boyfriend. She grabbed his hands strongly and looked him seriously in the eyes while saying in a resolute tone. ¡°From now on, we only walk together with hands together, get it?¡± Ooh, we have a surprisingly jealous girl here! She might not be as pure as I thought. I might have a good time corrupting her¡­ Calm down, evil thoughts are starting to appear. Rusty was a bit shocked at her sudden change in attitude and looked at me with one of his mechanicals eyebrows raised. I simply shrugged as if saying that I had no idea on what was happening. At first, nova held his hand with a ferocious conviction, but after a few seconds it started to sink in what she was doing and she started to blush heavily once again, although she still refused to let go of his hands. After laughing a bit more at the scene, Lieutenant noticed me and dismissed his troop with a meow. The cats all made a salute for a moment before disappearing. He approached me and made a salute which I answered. ¡°You know. Cat boss?¡± Rusty asked. ¡°Yup, this one is Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the third, and he¡¯s a support and supply officer.¡± As I said that he made a salute to the couple, to which he received some curious stares. ¡°And this one is Aura, and she¡¯s a cook.¡± I said pointing to Cygnas who got to my side. She made a short bark, but I noticed it was slightly different from Aura¡¯s. ¡°These clothing are really cute. Were you the one who made them?¡± Nova asked me. ¡°Yep. It started kind of as a joke, but now they are always wearing it.¡± I said. And talking about crafting¡­ ¡°Hey, Nova, have you ever heard of Crystal tinkering? Rusty there said that you might know something.¡± She blinked at my words and looked surprised for a moment, before resting her chin in her hands thinking. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken¡­¡± She said while thinking. ¡°There were a few stories about that back at Ezoria Argus, but it¡¯s been too long since I heard them¡­¡± She said after a moment, then looked at me with an apologetic face. ¡°Sorry that is all I know.¡± ¡°No need to worry. That is more than what I have right now.¡± ¡°I see¡­ But why do you want to know that?¡± She asked me curious. I decided that it wouldn¡¯t hurt to explain her about the skill, and so I did. She seemed intrigued when I told about the things that I have managed to do. This also seemed to surprise Rusty, as he started to make a few questions here and there too, and even gave me a few interesting ideas to try out later. ¡°I know!¡± Nova suddenly said when I finished telling what I knew. She quickly took a small piece of paper from a handbag and started using some kind magic to write on it. ¡°Here, should you ever get to Ezoria, look for a construct called Issak. He is a relative of mine and should be able to help you with this. You should be able to find him in the rune-warriors academy.¡± For some reason, hearing the name of this guy made me smile, as if he somehow did something interesting that would really entertain me. I have the feeling that we would get along really well whenever we meet. And why do I have this urge to make a maniacal laughter? Shaking away this feeling, I left the two lovebirds to their own so that they could go on with their late night date, this time holding their hands, as Nova refused to let go of the poor, poor Rusty. Now I turned to lieutenant and told him that I would go back to the hot sector, so he could keep up with whatever it was that he was doing and I would send Cygnas to pick him up whenever I¡¯m done. Leaving him to his own device and deciding to find him a heat resistance ring for him to put on, I went back to Torg¡¯s place, where I started making a few knives and simple short swords only to level up my smithing. It only took a few crafted items to get to intermediate.
Your Blacksmithing skill has achieved Intermediate rank.
Skill: Blacksmithing [intermediate] [lvl 1] [2%]
Your experience with this craft now allows you to also works with more complex metals and alloys. You now can temperate your materials Increasing their flexibility.
Passive
I looked at the window and nodded satisfied. Good, not, it¡¯s time to start working for real and make me some iron scales¡­ Actually, what about stepping up my game? Why be happy with crappy old iron when I can use steel? Yeah, that¡¯s right! Iron is so low level, steel is the real talk now! Okay, I¡¯ve decided, let¡¯s start making some good, old steel ingots! ¡­ .. . How do I make steel now? As I cracked my head, Cygnas got closer and looked at me curious, probably thinking on what I was doing, when I told her, she seemed put on a pensive face and said. ¡°Steel is iron with some carbon, right? Then maybe add a bit of coal or something else that have a high concentration of carbon?¡± She gave me the idea. I nodded in accordance, but what exactly could I use to make the steel? As I thought about it, the ground started to shake slightly. When I looked, I saw Torg coming back while smiling widely. ¡°Up already?¡± I asked him raising an eyebrow. ¡°I was a bit excited on working with that thing you asked me and I want to present it on the black fair!¡± He said in a surprisingly cheerful tone. ¡°I can¡¯t spend all my time simply sleeping, can I?¡± I laughed with him and took advantage of the fact that he was already up and decided to ask him to help me with the whole steel thing. He taught me that to make steel I could use a magic-made chunk of true-coal, which seems to be their names to a chunk of carbon purer than simple coal. However, if I was in a hurry, using triturated bones could also work, but would result in a impure steel. And before I asked he said that using bones of monsters wouldn¡¯t work. Except for dragon bones, which seems to be a special case. Don¡¯t ask me, I blame magic. Torg gave me a few of the true-coals to smelt it. He told me that I had to be careful to not put too much into it, or it could end up badly. It actually was a really small amount that I had to put at a time, so I had a bit of a hard time, since I¡¯m not used to dealing with small amounts at a time. As I dropped the molten metal into the ingot molds, I started to make some plans on what I would do for my equipment. Firstly, I would make some scales and chain-mails for armor and then use that technique that me and Torg found out to improve it to the way I want it, which would mean that I would need to take a trip to Melinda¡¯s. After that, I would make me some new weapons to take on the dungeon. For now, a new bow and a new sword and shield would do, and this time, I will change a bit on the bow. Lastly, I would have to find something to do with Aura¡¯s hide, since it wasn¡¯t enough to make me a full set, but letting it go was simply unacceptable. As I got myself motivated, I started taking the ingots out of their molds. I have a long morning of crafting ahead of me. Chapter 39 - Dressed for war Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! WHOLE FREAKING LOT OF CRAFTING TODAY! OMG! ANYWAY, as I said, this chapter is HEAVY on crafting, and I sincerely fear that It might have been a bit too much. But I fear even more that I will have to drag a bit into the next chapter. At least after this, the next chapters will be a lot more active. ALSO, so, from yesterday to today, Cygnas church has gained around one hundred followers! CYGNAS BE PRAISED! Now, my newfound brothers, I welcome you all and hope that her Naiveness bless you all! ALSO(2), I¡¯m so going to hate myself for making all the tables in this chapter. ALSO(3), for the next weapons (not the ones from the blazing/freezing tails) I¡¯m going to start taking some suggestions from you guys for names/descriptions, since it¡¯s very difficult to come up with these by myself. I will probably put a spoiler window with the description of how I see the item, and then have you guys post your names/descriptions. Whoever gets chosen earns a cookie on the following chapter. But this is only for the next weapons, so no need to get excited. Yet. Have a good read! ------ As I poured out the steel into the crystal-powder dirtied mold, I would start adding some extra ores into the forge to keep the alloy pumping out. And yes, I know that adding even a tiny bit of crystal powder makes it brittle, but we are still very early in the crafting, so bear with it, ok? I do have a perfectly functional plan! I should not have said that. Let¡¯s hope I didn¡¯t jinx it. After finishing the ingots, I started to heat them up and use the scissor thingy to cut them into fine slices. Actually, they are even thinner than the ones I made earlier, and I didn¡¯t forget to start tempering them since I needed some more flexibility than usual. According to Torg, tempering the metal manually is the act of quickly cooling it when it is still hot, so I planned on using a basin of cold water he kept nearby. It was kept with some kind of magic circle, so the water had always a temperature colder than the air around it. However, Cygnas had a sudden idea and formed a layer of ice around the metal. Although she messed up a bit and cooled it a bit too much, the other times she got it just right, and even earned the Auxiliary tempering skill, which increased the chance of tempering correctly an item. As soon as I decided that I had made enough of them, I started making some chain-mail rings. These ones were a bit more troublesome at the start, since I had to go and hammer the five or so initial rings together. And for me to do that I had to get some really small pieces and forge then in a small wire, followed by forcing them into a circular shape and then linking the five of them together in an X shape. Luckily, after making this first set, I could simply go and use a special skill to copy this at the expense of a bit more steel, without the loss of quality. I loved this part. After making somewhat of a large square of chain-mail, I asked Torg to start teaching me about how to craft with the claws. He took out an oddly shaped mass with the size a bit bigger than my hand. It had an alternating yellow-reddish color to it that reminded me a bit of the Red tails. I took it and heated it up using fire ignited with some kind of magic circle. It seemed that this one was immune to normal fire, so using the forge is kind of useless. As always, blame magic. As it heated up, Torg warned me that I only got one shot at forging with this, because after it cools down again, it will earn an immunity to the magical fire and be unforgeable again, so I need to keep re-heating it before it would cool down and settle in its final shape. Since this was made with red-tails materials, I decided to make some simple weaponry only for testing. I quickly heated it using magic and as soon as I felt it becoming soft, I took it to the anvil where I started hammering it into a dagger-shape. It was surprisingly softer than iron, so I was sure that it would get done faster than usual, however I kind of got excited crafting it and ended up taking too long to re-heat it. After it¡¯s temperature got below a certain point, it suddenly started dropping fast and quickly hardened. Since it was still too far from the ideal shape I had, I had to discard it and start again. This time, I didn¡¯t mess it up and made a dagger correctly.
Wild dagger of the Fire-fox. (requires level 12)
Attack: 9-11 Extra: 0.5 Fire damage
Quality: good Durability: 30/30
Description A dagger with the soul of a Red-tail. It¡¯s edge burns as well as it cuts. AGI+5 MND+2 Attack speed +10% (Made by Wargon)
Well, isn¡¯t this one shiny dagger? And that is what the extra is for? Shiny! And this is made with Red-tails! Can you guess what I can get if use Blazing-tails? This is bloody awesome! Actually, it should be Fangy awesome! Because it uses fangs, get it? Yeah. Let¡¯s make that a new expression, FANGY AWESOME! I¡¯m going to forget it in a couple of lines, who wants to bet on that? Anyway, this was not the only thing I got here!
For crafting a weapon using beasts parts, you have unlocked the Blacksmithing Sub-Skill: Beastsmithing.
Sub-Skill: Beastsmithing [intermediate] [lvl1] (level increases with blacksmithing)
Using unique methods you crafted equipment using parts of defeated monsters. These equipment boast a higher elemental affinity than metal equipment, but results depend heavily on the quality of materials used. Crafting weapons and armors using monster materials is easier now.
Passive
And this, my friends, is why I¡¯m starting to love this game. MONSTER HUNTING, HERE I COME! I¡¯m going to kill you, skin you, and use your body as armors and weapons to kill your friends! MUAHAHAHHAA (Thunderstorm ensues) As I laughed away, I heard someone knocking on wood. When I turned back, I saw Sol stading there while carrying a large leather sac filled to the brim with something. ¡°And here is the best alchemist in the world bringing her brand new exclusive product to her irresponsible apprentice.¡± She said proudly while sticking out her near non-existing chest. ¡°Oh, thanks granny.¡± I said while quickly picking up the sac from her and opening it in the ground, looking at what I had. These ones had an even denser coloration to the one from the red-tails, with the yellow parts being almost pale golden, and the red having a livid coloration. And there was one that had a pale blue to marine blue coloration amidst all of them. I picked it up and looked at it with a bit of mixed feelings. For now, I had eight from blazing tails, and two from aura¡¯s. So it¡¯s around two for each one? That is a whole lot for each one. The fangs and claws I gave her weren¡¯t even enough to make things of this size. Well, I¡¯m not complaining. ¡°So, will I have to pay you for this?¡± I asked her knowing it probably wouldn¡¯t be cheap. She made a pensive pose while smirking, leaving me a bit worried about that. ¡°Well, I did have to use a few dangerous alchemical, got blown up thrice, had my hands frozen once and probably inhaled seven different kinds of poisonous fumes¡­¡± I paled at all that, for some reason it simply didn¡¯t sound like a joke. ¡°I guess you can show-me what you are doing for payment.¡± She said playfully. I sighed relieved, at least it wasn¡¯t anything too expensive. However, there was still one question I had to make. ¡°And¡­ Are you alright after all that?¡± ¡°Oh, no need to worry. I got my poison resistance maxed a hundred years ago, and my blast resistance is already at expert level.¡± She said waving it off. For some reason I felt a lot of pity for her after hearing that. After the items, I decided to think on what to do with them. For now, let¡¯s start making some tests. I started to heat two made from Blazing tails, and this time I made extra sure that I wouldn''t mess it up. I heated the two molds together and they fused when I started hammering the two together, Every ten times I hammered it, I would bring it back to the magic circle to re-heat it. Since this was a test run, I didn¡¯t delve too much into the shape of the sword and made it a simple straight edged sword.
Fierce sword of the burning soul. (requires level 12)
Attack: 18-20 Extra: 1 Fire damage
Quality: Excellent Durability: 20/20
Description A sword made with Blazing-tail fangs and claws. A raging fire burns within, wishing to be freed. However Its size and material nature gives it a low durability. AGI+6 INT+5 STR+6 Attack speed +15% (Made by Wargon)
Wow. Now this is one heck of a sword! I¡¯m sure that even if I used this one I would be dealing one hell of a beating into whoever comes against me. But the durability doesn¡¯t makes me happy. Since I still had some more materials left, I decided to try again, but this time doing something about the durability. I asked Torg if he had any idea on what to do, and he said that making the middle-part softer should do the work, however he had no idea on how to do that. Sol gave us an idea that we thought could work. She quickly ran to her house and brought back a small pot with a white paste. Her idea was to hammer the middle part only enough to meld the two together, and then cover it with an anti-thermic paste so that it would cool down while I hammered the edges. This way it would keep more of the elasticity, by being less compact, while I could still hammer the edge without affecting it. Torg and me thought it was as good of a shot as we had and did it. I quickly melded the two masses together with as few hits as I could, and quickly covered it with the paste before heating it back up. After doing that, I received a sword very similar to the first one, but with fifteen more durability. Being pumped up, I decided to start working on the next thing. And that was a brand new bow for me. I could go aiming for a new weapon, but since I was about to go on a dungeon which is group content, I better make some equipment I¡¯m used to. Now, with the boss wolf? I¡¯m certainly doing a brand new weapon out of him. Since the compound was a hard material, I thought that I should use some steel to make the flexible part of the bow. Before starting on hammering, I thought that it would be better to think of a nice shape to it, since it will be made with the parts of a strong monster, so following Monster hunter logic, it should have some of its personality to it. I decided to go a bit overboard with how I would craft it, so taking three of the compounds and leaving one behind, I started hammering then with my idea in mind. Firstly, I would improve the idea on my first bow and make it recurved, which basically means that each side of the bow bended in an S curve, which seems to improve power. Before you ask, I researched this last time I logged out. However, I didn¡¯t stop there. I took each one of them and fused together in a Y shape, before starting to give it the shape I had in mind. I made the lower part simply curve naturally in the S shape, making it thinner in the middle, then widening as it went out before thinning suddenly at the end. For the upper part, not only I shaped then in an S shape, I made them start close together, while separating before joining together right at the top, giving the two the same shape as the first one. On the three edges of the bow, I put on some deep indentations using a chisel. Much to my surprise, as I hammered the whole organic part into shape, the yellow started to become more present and the red spots gathered together at the three tips. Still not satisfied, I took some of the remaining crystal-steel alloy and molded it into a shape that would fit into the inner part of the Y and S shaped bow and then stuck it on the indentations I made earlier, before fixing with some rivets. Finally, I added the bowstring to the bow. By now you guys should already have understood what kind of shape the bow had. I made it similar to the shape of the blazing-tails tails, and the place where I nock the arrow is between the two upper tails. In real life, this kind of bow would probably be impractical, I guess, but this is a magical and fantastic world. SO DEAL WITH IT! Also, the system agrees with me!
(Insert the name of your creation) Bow (requires level 15)
Attack: 5-30 Extra: 1.5 Fire damage
Quality: Excellent Durability: 30/30
Description You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.A bow made in the honor of the majestic Blazing-tail, its shape reminiscing of their most iconic trait, the three large tails. Their fiery soul reside within, granting it immense power. STR +6 AGI+6 VIT+2 Extra fire damage increase over distance. (Made by Wargon)
This bow is bloody amazing¡­ I mean, Fangy amazing! Hey! I remembered that! Since I was going to use this one, I decided to give it a name of my own, since those generic names were a bit corny for my epic equips. Let¡¯s go with¡­ TAIL BLAZER! ¡­ .. . Yeah, I was joking. As I started giving it a thought, Sol gave me an idea. Blazing Grace. I must say that I liked that name. Kind of abstract, but gives an idea of how the Blazing tail is. I immediately named the bow that and couldn¡¯t help but feel proud of myself for doing such a fine work. As I looked at the bow, I quickly decided to test it, so I equipped ad immediately pulled the string. This bow was clearly much heavier than the first one, as I had to make a fair bit of effort to pull the string all the way back. And when I tried firing it, the arrow dug deep into the stone while some little sparks came from the arrows as it burned down. I think I just met my true love. Shaking my head to wake myself up, I decided to go and start working on the sword and the shield now. For the sword, I decided to use Aura¡¯s parts, but before I had to think of a way to shape the sword. After some thought about it, I decided to make something similar to the bow, in a tail-y shape. But Aura had an Ice attribute, so will it change the way I have to craft it? I gulped loudly as I thought about it, but shook my head and decided to go with it. No pain no gain. I put the shapeless mass into the fire and waited for it to heat up, and in this part alone I almost lost the whole mass at once. Aura¡¯s claws and fangs almost overheated in a matters of a second, and if it wasn¡¯t for Cyg covering the mass with a layer of ice at the last moment I would have lost everything. I gulped loudly while starting to hammer it away. It cooled slower than the Blazing tail, but it heated up way too fast. If I¡¯m not careful enough I may just miss it on the completely opposite way. When I fused the two parts into a suitable piece, I tried applying the same paste I used earlier, but I found a problem. The whole part of covering the middle part with an anti-thermic paste? Well, it seems that it didn¡¯t work well enough for Aura¡¯s, since the whole blade heats up all at once. I almost went into despair mode here, but suddenly I had one of my unusual GOOD ideas. I slammed the middle of the blade-to-be until there was an indentation and asked Torg to prepare the last piece of the burning-tail for me. It seemed that he understood, because I didn¡¯t even need to ask him to hammer it into the shape of a rod and helped me to slot it in the middle of my project. If I couldn¡¯t make the middle of the ice one flexible I would have to make another part separately and fuse it to the blade. Fusing the two elements together surprisingly nicely, I made a sword with the middle made of flexible Blazing tail, and the blade made of hardened Freezing tail material. I finally shaped it into a longsword with some slight S curves on both sides, making it take the shape of a tail. When I was done with the blade, all that I needed now was for me to make a handle for it, and for that, I think I would need to go back to Melinda¡¯s where the remaining of my crafting was left. I stretched myself a bit after having hammered so much in a single day, and started to gather my things to go to Melinda¡¯s. At least the tests for the armor were already made, so all I needed to do was to craft it into shape. Now, for my shield, I planned to use the remaining blazing-tail piece to make an iron-beast shield, but it seems that my plan backfired. ¡°Cygnasdammit, this is difficult.¡± I said out loud as I prepared to leave. Cyg looked at me surprised for a moment before snickering slightly. ¡°Well, you are trying to make something brand new, so it¡¯s normal for it to have unexpected things to happen.¡± Sol said while patting my back. ¡°So, was it entertaining enough to watch me?¡± I asked while moving my shoulders. ¡°Hmm. I must say that the bow was really interesting. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you are the first one to make something like that.¡± Hmm¡­ Then will I earn a title for that? I¡¯ll check later. For now I have to finish my crafting, later I¡¯ll check it. Our whole group left the forging sector after some final adjustment and went towards Melinda¡¯s. When we reached the general industries sector, I took a look at the sky and saw that it was around afternoon now. As soon as we reached Melinda¡¯s house, I sent Cyg to he kitchen where she started to fix some grub for us. Torg said that he would take the other way around to reach the workshop since he couldn¡¯t fit through the doors, while Sol and Me went straight to it. Melinda was a bit shocked to see so many crafters gathered, but didn¡¯t say anything. Now, it¡¯s time to start working on my armor. You see, I had the small problem that, if I were to follow my original idea of crafting the armor only with the monster¡¯s leather and material, I would end up almost always wearing leather armor, so I had an idea to overcome that. Firstly, I took two of the Blazing-tails hides and started cleaning them from all the fur it had. Every last piece of it until it was perfectly clear. Taking the cleaned hide to the table and started cutting it into the shapes I wanted, making it a bit thinner than usual. Being done with this part, I spread the piece and took out the scales I made back at the smithy and sewed them to the leather, but only around the chest part. Afterwards, I took the chainmail and separated a piece of it from the large square I had and started to link them to all the remaining parts of the armor, making so that the leather worked as a padding for the chai-mail. However, it was still not enough. I took the other two remaining hides and started to carefully cut it into shape similar to the previous one. As I laid the scaled-leather into the table, I carefully lined the new cut with it before sewing the borders of the inner and the outer layer of leather together, this way the scale and the chain-mail would work as the padding from the armor. This last part was the trick me and Torg tested before I left. If we stopped at sewing the scales and the chain-mail to the inner layer, the game would consider it just and improved mail armor and wouldn¡¯t give it the characteristics of the monsters and would simply add a bit of fire resistance to the armor. But when I cover both sides with the hide of the monsters, it does the opposite, and consider the chain slash scale-mail the addition to the monster¡¯s armor, giving it the characteristics of the monster but upgrading it to the respecting mail armor. However, adding a bit of crystal powder of the corresponding element seems to increase the effect significantly. And this is what I got.
(Insert the name of your creation) (Chest) (Scale-mail) (requires level 15)
Def: 20 M. res: 13
Quality: Excellent Durability: 50/50
Description A martial arts robe made with the hide of blazing tails, wearing this armor makes you feel empowered by the raging inner flame. STR+4 AGI+6 MND+5 INT+4 FIRE RES+4 (Made by Wargon)
(Insert the name of your creation) (Legs) (Chain-mail) (requires level 15)
Def: 18 M. res: 14
Quality: Excellent Durability: 45/45
Description A martial arts pants made with the hide of a blazing tail. The soul inside burns with the desire to run wild. STR+5 AGI+6 TGH+3 VIT+3 FIRE RES+4 (Made by Wargon)
(Insert the name of your creation) (feet) (Leather) (requires level 15)
Def: 16 M. res: 15
Quality: Excellent Durability: 45/45
Description A martial arts footwear made with the hide of a blazing tail. The ground trembles at your very steps with the potential contained within. STR+6 AGI+4 MND+2 VIT+4 FIRE RES+4 In combat move speed +10% (Made by Wargon)
(Insert the name of your creation) (hands) (Chain-mail) (requires level 15)
Def: 18 M. res: 14
Quality: Excellent Durability: 45/45
Description A martial arts arm protector made with the hide of a blazing tail. You feel the very flames are at your reach when wearing these protectors. STR+8 AGI+5 INT+4 FIRE RES+4 (Made by Wargon)
(Insert the name of your creation) (Shoulder) (Chain-mail) (requires level 15)
Def: 18 M. res: 14
Quality: Excellent Durability: 45/45
Description A martial arts shoulder protector made with the hide of a blazing tail. They fill you with the strength of thousand burning souls. STR+2 AGI+2 TGH+5 VIT+5 FIRE RES+4 (Made by Wargon)
(Insert the name of your creation) (Helmet) (Light Leather) (requires level 15)
Def: 12 M. res: 18
Quality: Excellent Durability: 40/40
Description A martial arts bandana made with the hide of a blazing tail. The might of the Blazing tails flow through these simple protectors. INT+3 AGI+3 STR+4 MND+3 VIT+3 FIRE RES+4 (Made by Wargon)
Wow. Just that. Really, I have nothing else to say about it. Other than FANGY AMAZING! I didn¡¯t think much with all these souls and whatnots in the description, and immediately named everything along the lines of Robe of the Burning Soul, or Bandana of the Burning Soul. And soon after I immediately equipped everything, not wasting a second more of wait. I don¡¯t think I told you guys about the visual of the armor, did I? Well, basically, I took the fact that they are mystical foxes, which takes us to oriental themes, and from there martial arts. The chest looks like a yellow fur kimono, but instead of being tied with a sash, I made it so that I close it with some buttons on the front. It¡¯s long enough to reach up to my thighs and I left a small opening on the lower part so it wouldn¡¯t bother too much my movement. Also, I only made the right sleeve of the armor, leaving my left arm uncovered. The logic behind this was because I thought that having a large sleeve like the ones I planned could trouble me with my archery or holding the shield. Instead, I had a one-sided shoulder protectors on my left arm, and a leather glove that covered my whole left arm, from the wrist to a little below the shoulder. The leather on these two I died a bit darker to make some contrast with the yellow fur of the kimono. The pants were fairly simple, simply being wide enough to not bother with my movements. Lastly, for my feet I made a thin sandal with straps going high enough on my ankles to lock it in place and not keep sliding off. And lastly, a bandana. Because they are reserved for badass people. And I¡¯m the badassest of them all. However, when I thought that things couldn¡¯t get better, they did.
Your current armor formed a set. BURNING SOUL SET (6 pieces) Set Bonus: Increase Energy regeneration by 10% All equipment-generated fire damage can now land critical hits. You can use the following skill while using this set: [Ignite Weapon]
Congratulations, you are the first player to create a set. Would you like to disclose your name for other players?
(Yes/no)
I¡¯m pretty sure I can die happy now. --- (dead) Author''s corner: Well, i don''t know about you, but i AM dead. WHY DO I KEEP MAKING SO MANY TABLES? Chapter 40 - The best cure Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! CRAFTING¡¯S DONE AND TIME FOR SOME HISTORIC GEAR! BOOYEAH! ANYWAY, no updates for probably the next two days. Sorry about that, guys, since I¡¯ll have class all day long. At least I finally finished the long lasting crafting saga before the dungeon, hope he didn¡¯t become too op¡­ ALSO, It¡¯s finally time for some more light-hearted stuff. GEEZ, that crafting part left me exhausted! I really needed some more nonsense¡­ ALSO(2), THE CHURCH OF CYGNAS HAS ALMOST REACHED 850 FOLLOWERS! WE ARE ALMOST AT ONE THOUSAND! CYGNAS BE PRAISED! Maybe we can even get 3rd place in the weekly views? Who knows? Have a good read! -----
The player: Wargon, has completed the first ever Armor Set crafted by a player! [BURNING SOUL SET (6 pieces)]
The announcement appeared in front of me and probably every single other player logged in at the moment. And I won¡¯t deny the fact that I felt a strong set of superiority at the moment. Boy, does this makes wonder to your self-esteem! As I stared at the window for a moment, I started to let my mind wander a bit, trying to escape the fact that I still had a sword, a shield and Aura¡¯s hide to finish. Shaking my head to wake myself up, I decided to start working on what I already had almost done, and that was the sword. Since I already had done most part of the sword already, and all I needed was to make a handle for it. I quickly started by cutting a tail from Aura¡¯s hide and scrapping it clean of fur. With the piece clean, I asked Melinda for some way to harden the leather a bit. She said that I could use a the cauldron to do that. When I looked at her stupidly for a moment, she laughed and pointed towards a large cauldron near a window. When I looked inside, I could see that it was full with water and had a magic inscription written on its inner side. I activated the cauldron and could see as the water slowly started to heat up, but not at the point of boiling. Following Melinda¡¯s instructions, I put the hide in the water and waited as it slowly started to darken in color and curl up. As I watched it, I started reminiscing what I had done for my current sword so I could do it for this one. Back then, I had used a pre-made leather hilt that Torg had in stock, but this time I decided to do it on my own. After that I just needed to slide it into the end of the blade after the handguard, then lock it in place with the pommel. OH MY GOD! THE HANDGUARD AND THE POMMEL! I completely forgot about these! What the hell I¡¯m going to do now? As I started to get panicky, my savior put his large bearded face in the window and dropped two things near the cauldron. They were a hand-guard and a pommel, made with the same material as the middle of the blade! I looked up teary eyed at Torg and swore myself I would buy him a whole cask of ale later! ¡°I saw that you forgot about them, so I made them with the remains of the center piece of your blade!¡± He said in his usual hearty laughter. And if you guys are wondering what he is doing on the other side of the window, it¡¯s because he simply can¡¯t fit inside the room, so he has been watching everything from outside. As I got the pieces on the ground, Melinda warned me that it was already enough time, so using a pincer, I took the leather from the water and put it atop of the table, where I cut it into a square shape. After quickly fitting the simple hand-guard into the end of the blade, I rolled the leather around it, before sewing it so it would fit well. Melinda warned me that the leather would still shrink a bit, so I should leave it a little loose. Then, following some patterns I usually saw in games, I took a strong line and crisscrossed it around the leather part before tightening it. I heard somewhere that this should help with my grip. Finally, I locked the pommel in place using a thick nail, finalizing the blade, and with the help Sol, we also decided on its name.
Tumultuous Grace (One-handed Long sword) (requires level 15)
Attack: 20-23 Extra: 1 Frostfire Damage
Quality: Excellent Durability: 35/35
Description A Sword made with the parts of both, the Freezing tail and the Burning Tail. These two mortal enemies still wage their battle inside the blade, generating it¡¯s conflicting nature. STR +5 AGI+5 INT+5 MND +3 Reduces the slash skill resource costs by 20% The Element dealt into the attack corresponds to the target¡¯s lowest resistance. (Made by Wargon)
As I shed my manly tears of happiness for receiving such an amazing sword that even reduces the cost of my most used skill, I started to think on what I would need to do for my shield. For now, I decided to leave Aura¡¯s for last, since I still had no idea on what to do with it. As I mused, I heard a bark coming from the door, and when we turned towards it, I saw Cygnas there, wearing the apron above her ronin clothes calling us for lunch. Since Torg couldn¡¯t fit through the door, he told us that he would leave for his house and be back later. Having an idea with this, I took out my actual shield and gave it to him before passing him the instructions. He widened his eyes and nodded before leaving. For lunch we had stuffed squirrelwolfthingy, which was a surprising delicacy that we all ate greedily. While we ate, I had to explain to Sol about the fact that Aura slash Cyg had learned her cooking, which she found amazing, and took my chance to ask her about the gems I got from the Blazing and from Aura. When I had asked Torg about them earlier, he said that Sol would be able to explain it better to me, and she had told me she would teach me something about them anyway, so I took my time to see this while we ate. She told me that these gems, that should be rare, can be used as a magical conduit for Alchemically-made magic staff. What that means? Well¡­ Basically, there seems to be two kinds of magical staffs that can be crafted. One is made with alchemy and involves using a gem as a focus for the energy and a body for some kind of buffer for the energy, where it concentrates before being released. The other, is by making a staff with an appropriate material, and then engraving it using magic words to enchant it. Although I had no plan on using blatantly magic weapons like magic staffs, wands and such, I still found it amusing on how it works. Rather, let me specify that. I have no plan on using magic to attack directly, so staffs and wands that you use for casting magic are out. But magic effects of items are still acceptable. Or something along these lines. Afterwards she also told me on what I would need to do to make a staff or something of the like, but I mostly heard it out of curiosity rather than to craft one myself. Done with the lunch, I decided to go back to the workshop and start working on what I would do with Aura¡¯s, while I waited for Torg to come back with the shield. However, no matter what I thought, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to have any good idea, after all, I did not have enough material for an armor set, but aside from that, there wasn¡¯t much I could do with it. Also, I¡¯d rather not risk using her hide on something experimental, only to mess it up and lose all the leather. I wouldn¡¯t mind messing with the Blazing-tails hide so I went all crazy on them, but Aura¡¯s? That would be unforgivable. But this left me in a deadlock where I had no idea on what to do at all. I spent almost ten minutes staring at it, but in the end, Torg came back and I hadn¡¯t done anything. Sol was even laying face-first into the table snoring. Sighing in defeat, I took the shield through the window and stared at it in wonder. I asked for Torg to remove the plating it had and substitute it for Crystal-steel alloy. I did not have many resources for this, so I had to be a bit more stingy. Gathering the last remaining piece of hide from the Blazing-tails I had, I cut it into the shape of shield, but making it slightly larger, so I could rivet it on the shield¡¯s back part. Also, thinking on my talk with Sol about the whole gem they had in their foreheads being magical, I decided on a whim to actually sew the gem in the middle of the shield. This way I had an at least presentable shield. Maybe I would go back to the forest later and kill a couple more of the Blazing-tails to get some decent materials... Did I just say that I would go farm a boss alone just to get some basic crafting materials?
Protective Grace (Shield) (requires level 15)
Block value: 84 Magical Block: 42
Quality: Excellent Durability: 40/40
Description A simple yet effective shield made with a special alloy and Blazing tail leather. The gem in it¡¯s center casts its protection to whoever wields it. TGH+6 MND+6 VIT +6 (Made by Wargon)
Even the description was a bit lackluster compared with the rest of the equipment, but at least the quality was excellent. But I have the feeling that it might have been my title doing the work for me. Well, at least it works just fine for me. Anyway, that aside, at least the shield seemed to be on the good side. And now, we are left with the last remaining part. Aura¡¯s hide. Not like I can run away anymore. I thought and thought for a good half an hour, but nothing at all came to mind. Well, not like nothing came, but I was a bit afraid of not being able to do something useful with it and then regret for the rest of my life. In the end, I went with a slightly depressing simple idea, but it was the only thing that I had enough courage to make with it without the chance of messing it up. And it was the last piece of armor I was lacking. I took the hide and cut it into a long rectangle before taking it to the table. Cygnas jumped to the it and started to watching me curiously as I scrapped the middle area of the hide using a comb, leaving it only with a thin layer of fur. However, on all the borders but the upper one I left the fur alone. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Basically, I was making a simple cape. I know. Aura deserves something better, but I couldn¡¯t think of anything better to do with it. I did add a few gimmicks, though. Since I didn¡¯t want the cape to limit my movements, I sewed some buttons on the inner side of the cloak and cut a few slits on its borders, this way I could fold it into a smaller shape but keep wearing it whenever it was needed. As I extended it and watched the work, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit of regret on having to do something so simple for her. In the end it seems that I did mess up in the end. Just as I started to let out a long sigh of defeat, Cygnas approached the cloak. Rather, it wasn¡¯t Cygnas, it was Aura. I have no idea on when they changed, but just with a look, I knew that it was her since she lacked that na?ve aura around her. She approached the cloak in a state that almost looked like some kind of trance, and when I was starting to get doubtful if she was feeling well, she took a deep breath before gently blowing out the air at the cloak. As she did that, I saw some small ice crystals shining in her breath as it flew towards the cloak. All of us in the room could only look at the scene in shock, as the ice crystals slowly covered the whole cloak before slowly melting away. However, not all of the ice melted, and some remained even as we waited. When I blinked, I recognized the shape they were forming. In there were three ice stalagmites, just like the ones she had used during our duel, with the middle one broken and a three tailed fox standing at its remaining. All the image was made extremely simple, but had some kind of impact to it. The whole image had a soft white color that made it almost invisible against the light blue of the fur, so unless we looked at it really closely it was pretty much unnoticeable. However, the whole cloak as a whole suddenly looked a lot livelier than before, having an beautiful glow to it, not looking like the same simple work as before. Even if almost nothing about it changed. I noticed that Aura was also staring a bit lost at the cloak for a moment, then she seemed to look at window in the air for a moment before a window popped in front of me.
Chronicles of the Frozen Battlefield (cloak)
Def: 5 M. Res: 5
Quality: Historic Durability: 40/40
Description Behind this simple, yet incredible cloak lies a whole story of a unique relationship that began near a hole in a tree and almost never happened due to duties and pride. This cloak may boast no power at its beginning, but its power will grow together with their story. (For every first time a boss is killed or an heroic or greater difficult quest is completed in the presence of Aura, this cloak will be upgraded) (Whenever someone touches this cloak, they may view any memory that both Wargon and Aura share) (Made by Wargon and Aura) (This item can¡¯t be sold) (This item can¡¯t be traded) (Only Wargon can hold this item)
Congratulations, you are the first player to create an item of historic quality. Would you like to disclose your name for other players?
(Yes/no)
I blinked in surprise as I saw the windows appearing before me and kept staring at them for a good while. I mindlessly accepted the second window and didn¡¯t even bother with the announcement window that appeared. When I looked back at Aura, I noticed that she was as shocked as I was. Did she chose the name of the cloak? I¡¯m sure as hell that it wasn¡¯t me. ¡°Hey¡­ What exactly is a Historic quality item?¡± I asked absentmindedly as I took on the cloak and wore it. ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of it before¡­¡± Melinda said as she looked at me with a confused look. I stole a glance at Torg and he shook his head confused as well. When we heard a yawn, we all turned towards its source and we saw Sol waking up lazily while scratching her head. ¡°Was my bed always this hard?¡± She asked while yawning and looking around. ¡°And was my room always this bright?¡± When she turned to us, she stared for a few seconds before suddenly hitting her open hand with the other as if she suddenly remembered something. ¡°What happened? Why do you all look confused?¡± She yawned once again. ¡°Well¡­ This cloak got the Historic quality and we are kind of confused on how it works¡­¡± I explained to her. As soon as she heard historic, her eyes shot open and all the laziness seemed gone. She quickly grabbed my shoulders and hurried me to explain what exactly happened. Seeing her like that, we quickly began to explain what happened, and she looked at Aura and me alternatively for a couple of times before starting to nod. ¡°Little Sol, do you know what it means?¡± Torg asked from the window. ¡°Yeah. Those kinds of equipment appear every once in a century. They are unique in that they become stronger under very specific circumstances, but can¡¯t be upgraded under any other way.¡± She said in a teacher¡¯s tone with one finger lifted. Then it¡¯s something really rare? WOO HOO! I DID IT! I HAVE NO IDEA ON HOW I DID IT, BUT I DID IT! I picked Aura up and hugged her tightly, which left her surprised for a moment before she started wagging her tail. Basically, I got some kind of cloak that seems to get stronger the more irresponsible I am, which basically means that I won¡¯t have to change it. This kind of thing is basically Cygnas-given to gamers, since it makes the need to find equipment easier on them. After finally seeing me finish my crafts, Torg and Sol left, with Torg seemingly pumped to get on crafting his own things and Sol clearly with something in her mind as she went back to her own shop. Me, however? ¡°HAAAH! TOO MUCH SERIOUSNESS!¡± I shouted as soon as the two were out of earshot, surprising Aura and Melinda who were still close by. CYGNAS DAMMIT! THERE WAS TOO MUCH SERIOUSNESS FOR ME THESE LAST HOURS! I¡¯M ALMOST BLOWING UP HERE! Without even minding them, I threw myself against the wall and slid down to the ground immediately opening a chat window while ignoring the one from Incarnus, Phantons and Red Hurricane. [Me]: Are you occupied? [Yuu]: Shishou? [Yuu]: No. Why? [Me]: Get to Melinda¡¯s. [Me]: You have five minutes. [Me]: Or you are disowned. After that I closed the window and completely ignored her worried questions. Aura looked at me confused, but I ignored it and made a signal for her to come closer. She approached me a bit worried, but as soon as she was in range I picked her up and put her in my lap and started petting her. Not even two minutes had passed before Yuu darted through the door looking for me worried. ¡°Shishou! What happened? Why were you so hurried?¡± She asked me worried. ¡°Less talking. Now sit here.¡± I said as I pointed to the ground besides me. She looked at me confused, but quickly sat on her knees at my side, but¡­ ¡°Too far, come closer.¡± She blinked surprised and edged a bit closer, but it still wasn¡¯t enough and I signaled her to get closer. As soon as I found it enough I told her to lower her head a bit, and as soon as she did that, I put my hand on her head and started petting her. She squirmed surprised for a moment, but I made sure to keep her still as I slowly petted both her and Aura. Aura had the fluffy and soft fur of hers, and Yuu had a smooth hair that simply slid wonderfully between my fingers. Ahh¡­ nothing better than some petting to relieve my stress. As I felt my stress slowly melting away I started to let out a loose smile. And it seemed that neither Aura nor Yuu were really bothered by it, since there were five tails happily wagging close to me. ¡°Shishou¡­ What¡­ Happened¡­?¡± Yuu managed to ask me after some time. ¡°Too much seriousness for too long¡­ Fluffy things, great cure¡­¡± I explained to her with some effort of my own. ¡°I¡­ See¡­¡± We spent a few other minutes like that until the door opened for a really excited Hanbei, who came bursting while saying something about having a cool crafting skill and whatnots, but I seriously was unable to even understand what she was saying. Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m getting cured here? As soon as she noticed the scene, she suddenly stopped and looked at us surprised, before smirking mischievously and probably doing something. I¡¯d bet she was taking a screenshot or something. ¡°So, is that the set you did?¡± She asked looking at my new equipment. Yuu briefly lifted her head and eyed my gear for a moment before closing her eyes again. ¡°Shishou¡­ Looks¡­ good¡­¡± She murmured. ¡°Yeah. Now I¡¯m curing my status debuff from crafting.¡± ¡°Huh? You get status debuff from crafting?¡± She asked slightly horrified before sending her eyes to the upper corner of her vision worried. ¡°Yep. Stress and excess seriousness.¡± She blinked for a moment before face-palming and laughing wearily. ¡°I see¡­ Well, what exactly does your new set gives? We only got the set bonus, but not the status themselves.¡± I quickly opened my character screen and showed her all my equipment since I didn¡¯t have much patience right now. She and Yuu looked at the window for a moment, and the more they saw the more their faces changed to one of surprise. And when they got to the cape, Yuu became confused, but Hanbei immediately understood and became wide eyed. ¡°What kind of cheat did you use to get this?¡± She asked me surprised. However, before I could even answer, someone did it for me. ¡°He got it through completely legit means.¡± Both girls became surprised at the sudden voice they didn¡¯t know, but I simply raised my eyebrows while looking at the silver-furred fox in my lap. ¡°Aura-chan¡­ Can talk?¡± hanbei asked confused. ¡°Technically, I¡¯m not Aura.¡± She said in a cheerful voice, receiving even more confused looks from the girls, who turned to me in look for explanations. I picked Cygnas up and lifted her to be on eye level with the girls. ¡°Girls, meet the other personality living in Aura¡¯s body. She¡¯s called Cygnas, and she¡¯s somewhat of the main goddess of this world.¡± I said in my deadpan face, receiving surprised gasps from them. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Cygnas, and it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you!¡± She said while lifting her paw up as a greeting. ¡°Also, it¡¯s better to keep it a secret from the NPCs, ok?¡± Chapter 41 - Window-ball, Avenging Window-stick Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! LONG TIME NO SEE! ANYWAY, THE CHURCH OF CYGNAS HAS REACHED ONE THOUSAND FOLLOWERS! BOOH YEAH! And we are so close to the third place in the top weekly fictions! SO CLOSE! I mean, there was this one time that there were only six hundred views in difference or so! If I had managed to at least upload something in these last two day (T.T). STILL, all of you guys are awesome and I love all the lot of you for deciding to follow with this impulsive story of mine! THANK YOU! COOKIES FOR EVERYONE! ALSO, I somehow started scratching something really deep and serious in this chapter. That is so not me¡­ ALSO(2), you guys have my permission to ignore Incarnus whenever he posts his comments in the forum, so feel free to skip over it! xD ALSO(3), NO, THAT VIDEO DOESN¡¯T EXIST. It was for joke¡¯s sake. You will understand. ALSO(4), there is a really large chat ahead. Hope it won¡¯t bother you guys¡­ I kind of tried formatting it to be a bit better¡­ Have a good read! ----- ¡°So¡­ You are saying, that you made a deal with the main A.I. of this game so that she would become your pet as soon as you got your first one, and now she is sharing the body with Aura until you get another one for her?¡± Wow, good summary! It¡¯s so convenient! ¡°Something like that.¡± Cygnas said cheerfully. ¡°Shishou¡­ Is incredible.¡± Yuu said with wide eyes. ¡°And, how come you didn¡¯t look this life-like in character creation as you do now?¡± Han-chan asked while tilting her head. ¡°Well, there are two main reasons really¡­¡± Cyg said while lifting one of her paws. ¡°One is because it¡¯s really fun to see the players thinking that I am some kind of simple program. The second is because if too many people notice me and engage into more complex conversations, my processing unity might have some problem keeping up all the conversations and managing the game at the same time.¡± I see, I hadn¡¯t thought about it that way, but it does make some sense. Keeping conversations like the ones we have probably consumes a lot more processing power than receiving simple commands, which she probably half-left for some automated system. But if we stop to think about it, aren¡¯t all these NPCS extremely costly for processing power? I mean, they do have perfectly normal conversations with the players and each other at the same time. Although Yuu was still trying to understand what Cyg said, Hanbei had the same idea as I did, as she made the question. Cyg smiled a bit smugly at this. ¡°Well, to tell the truth, there are two main processing unities with approximately the same capacity. One is left exclusively for me, where I can process the data and keep up the world. This gives-me a huge processing power so I can keep the game running, processing bugs and everything else. The other is left exclusively for the NPCs, and since they aren¡¯t supposed to be super-intelligent like super-computer, they can share the same unity.¡± She said all of that extremely proudly, before adding. ¡°Also, each of the unities have enough power to hack into the pentagon three times over before they even notice what¡¯s happening.¡± Okay, I felt that I really didn¡¯t need to hear that last part. Although Yuu was a bit at loss at the first part, when it came to the final she opened her mouth in surprise. ¡°Isn¡¯t that really incredible?¡± She asked surprised, and Cyg stuffed her chest out in pride. ¡°Then, why did you reveal yourself to Gon?¡± Hanbei asked finally. Sensing that this was coming sooner or later, I was already preparing myself by opening a couple of windows and forcing some error windows to pop up. Cyg didn¡¯t seem to notice, as she sat on her hind legs, stuffed her chest out while resting her front leg on her chest. ¡°LET THER¡­¡± Right as I waved the window-stick, she jumped away before turning back to me and smiling mischievously, before quickly going back to her previous pose so she could continue where she left off. ¡°LET THERE B¡­¡± BUT I¡¯M NOT AS NA?VE AS YOU THINK! I quickly showed my other hand, where there was a window-ball ready. When Cyg¡¯s eyes glazed over here, she visibly paled, and before she could even prepare herself to dodge, I landed the hit right in the middle of her furry forehead, making fall on her back. ¡°That, is a secret that I¡¯m taking to the grave ok?¡± I turned to the girls while saying in a cold voice. The two of them nodded, but I could see that Yuu still had some curiosity in her eyes. ¡°O...kay¡± Hanbei said a bit scared before shaking her head. ¡°Now, going back to the matter at hand. So, now that you are done with your crafting, do we go looking for a group to the dungeon or¡­¡± ¡°NO!¡± I stopped her, while crossing my arms. ¡°I¡¯ve been working for too long! I don¡¯t want to do something serious!¡± I said with a pout, making the two blink surprised. ¡°Wait¡­ And what about the quest?¡± She asked me surprised. I looked away. ¡°Don¡¯t wanna!¡± I said in a poor mood. ¡°I¡¯ve been working too long, don¡¯t want to do anything troublesome anytime soon. Besides, there is no time limit, so I want to rest. Working is tiring.¡± The three girls looked a bit troubled at me. ¡°Is Shishou¡­ Throwing a tantrum?¡± Yuu asked a bit confused, and Hanbei simply nodded. After some more talk, the three finally managed to convince me to at least leave the house and look around for a group so we can set a time where we can meet and do the dungeon. BUT LOOKING FOR A GROUP IS TOO TIRING! So before we even left, I quickly opened a chat window, since I had a pretty much completed group.
[Me]: TANK/DPS LFG LVL 20 NEW DG.
[Phantons]: What? Weren¡¯t you crafting ten minutes ago?
[Me]: new gear. Gotta test it.
[Cygnas]: It¡¯s really sweet btw.
[Me]: How the hell did you get here?
[Cygnas]: Because I¡¯m your pet?
[Me]: Makes sense.
[Phantons]: WHAT?
[Incarnus]: LOLOLOLOLOLOL
[Red Hurricane]: WHAT. THE. HELL.
[Me]: Eh¡­ Details. [Me]: So, I have a key, a quest and a dungeon to do. What you guys say?
[Phantons]: Where are you?
[Cygnas]: Eldor.
[Me]: Eldor [Me]: HEY! STOP ANSWERING FOR ME!
[Cygnas]: ^^
[Incarnus]: I¡¯m in Ezoria Argus. [Incarnus]: How long would it take to get there?
[Cygnas]: For the first time, it takes 2 days to get here.
[Me]: First time?
[Cygnas]: You automatically attune yourself to a portal at every major city after you visit it. Then you can go to these portals to teleport to other capitals.
[Phantons]: How many people?
[Me]: Seven or so.
[Red Hurricane]: I count four people and three pets here, does this works?
[Incarnus]: Three pets?
[Red Hurricane]: I have two pets, and War has one.
[Cygnas]: There is still Lieutenant, so that¡¯s four.
[Red Hurricane]: Lieutenant?
[Me]: My soldier cat. But I do have more people to add.
(Yuu has been added to the chat) (Han-chan has been added to the chat)
[Yuu]: Shishou?
[Han-chan]: HELLO FRIENDS OF GON!
[Incarnus]: huzzat?
[Phantons]: Shishou? WTH?
[Me]: Long story. Girls, meet my friends and Incarnus. Guys, meet Yuu and Hanbei. [Me]: There. Group done.
[Incarnus]: HEY! What¡¯s with that AND?
(Incarnus has been kicked from the chat)
[Red Hurricane]: Lol!
[Me]: There, much better. [Me]: So, DG in two days?
[Phantons]: I¡¯ve just asked around. It seems that it would take me a week to get there.
[Han-chan]: Wow. That¡¯s a long time.
[Yuu]: It is my pleasure to meet all the companions of Shishou. I would also like to express all of my gratitude for having taken care of Shishou for all this time.
[Red Hurricane]: I¡¯m close to Eldor myself.
[Phantons]: What¡¯s with that?
[Me]: They are Japanese. Excessive politeness. [Me]: At least for Yuu.
[Yuu]: Am I being too polite, Shishou?
[Phantons]: O.o
[Han-chan]: LoL! Are all of you Brazilian?
[Phantons]: Yep. [Phantons]: Anyway, I think that a week is too long.
[Me]: Yeah¡­ I¡¯ll look around. [Me]: Any problem if I leave the girls here? [Me]: I¡¯ll probably add them to the guild anyway.
[Red Hurricane]: New victims?
[Yuu]: Victims?
[Han-chan]: Why do I feel goosebumps?
[Phantons]: Don¡¯t mind them. It¡¯s what they say whenever we bring someone to DGs with us.
[Me]: Pro tip: Never annoy the healer (Phantons). He¡¯s the vengeful type.
[Cygnas]: I just saw an old video of yours on the net. [Cygnas]: You guys are crazy.
[Phantons]: We¡¯ll see the vengeful healer on the Dungeon.
[Me]: SEE! I TOLD YOU! [Me]: Also, you¡¯ve seen nothing.
[Han-chan]: Okay¡­ Now I¡¯m scared.
[Yuu]: What about Incarnus-san? Is he not coming back?
[Phantons]: Who?
[Me]: Who?
[Red Hurricane]: Who?
[Han-chan]: LOL!
Well, it seemed that it would still take some time before they could get here, and even if I didn¡¯t feel like going to the dungeon right now, a week waiting for our healer, who is the only one who can keep up with us when we are together, simply wouldn¡¯t do. I sighed as I got up from my corner of the room and looked around. The girls were still looking at their chats windows and seemed to be enjoying their talks with the guys from the group. Meanwhile, I left the living room and went towards workshop to warn Melinda that we were leaving. What? You thought we were talking about Cygnas right in front of her? Really? After warning her, I had to tap the girls shoulders so they would notice that we were leaving the house. First and foremost, find Lieutenant since he was gone for some time and I probably could use his intelligence network to find someone to help us. Actually, that might be exactly what we need. I do know a group that have the exact composition we need to take on the dungeon. Sure, we might not have exactly have any deep relationship, but nothing a few negotiations wouldn¡¯t work out. Heck, they might jump in precisely because it only because it is a brand new dungeon! As soon as we left the house, I immediately checked the on map for Lieutenant, and after quickly pinpointing his place, we took the elevators towards the commercial sector. As we advanced towards his position, I noticed that he was advancing toward the Silver Gauntlet at a fairly slow pace. Much slower than when he was simply roaming around earlier. After some time, I noticed that his direction changed and he started coming to our direction as he probably noticed that I was going towards him. When we found him, I understood the slow pace. He was together with Elraira, Arcus, Lila and Whisi, letting El carry him while getting some petting in exchange. He made a salute while still in her grasp as we got closer, which I quickly answered in kind. ¡°El, could you lend me Lieutenant for a moment? I have something I need to ask of him.¡± I told her. She made a slightly sad face, but let go of him. I quickly told him who to look for and he darted out towards a nearby alley. ¡°So¡­ You got new companions too?¡± Arcus said while raising his eyebrows to the girls. I smiled wryly and quickly introduced the girls to them. ¡°So, how are you doing?¡± I asked them afterwards. ¡°Great, thanks. Just got back from a hunt.¡± Arcus said with a shrug before turning to El and Yuu, who were staring at each other with some scary intensity. ¡°But shouldn¡¯t you stop them? It kind of feels that they are about to jump on each other¡¯s throat.¡± I looked at the duo for some time before. For some reason, as soon as they looked at each other they had started to stare and tighten their grips on their weapons. Thinking about it, both of them seem to practice some sort of martial arts and use magic as an improvement¡­ ¡°You know¡­ If I was a good friend and was in a more normal mood, I would probably do that.¡± I said while watching the two before looking at him, Han-chan and Lila, who were looking slightly worried at me for a moment. ¡°But I¡¯m far from a good friend and I really need to relieve some stress with some mindless violence, so...¡± I approached the two girls and pulled them closer. ¡°So¡­ Why don¡¯t we go out there and have a friendly duel? I¡¯m pretty sure both of you would really appreciate it.¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The two of them looked at me surprised for a moment before nodding. I smiled widely as we guided them towards the main elevator. While we did that, Lila came to me and asked shyly. ¡°A-Are you sure of this?¡± She asked nervously. ¡°D-Do they really need t-to fight?¡± ¡°Yuu kind of gets like that when she meets strong martial artists¡­¡± Hanbei answered for me with a wry smile. ¡°She takes a really long time to calm down if she doesn¡¯t fight¡­¡± So, I¡¯m not considered a strong martial artist? I feel kind of sad. But then, I¡¯m not exactly a martial artist¡­ Well, since I pretty much left the group finding for Lieutenant, I decided to take my time and watch this fight. We took the duo to a nearby entrance where we quickly opened some space for them. Yuu quickly bowed in respect towards El, who soon copied her. ¡°My name is Tatenaka Yuki, I¡¯m a level nineteen sorcerer.¡± Nineteen? Seems like she leveled in our little adventure too¡­ ¡°Elraira. Level twenty, fire bringer.¡± El answered in kind before picking the large scythe and taking a stance with it. Yuu also took a stance while immediately shaping a spear-head on the top of her staff, preparing herself for the fight. ¡°So¡­ Who do you think will win?¡± Arcus said while he approached me. I simply shrugged. ¡°No idea. Both are insanely strong.¡± I answered with a shrug. ¡°Of course it will be Yuu-chan!¡± Hanbei said with a smirk, making Arcus raise his eyebrows in defiance. ¡°I¡­ I think that Elraira will win¡­¡± Lila said shyly. Cygnas, who had changed the fur back to blue, simply wagged her tail while pointing towards Yuu. Just for the sake of doing it, I looked towards Whisi to see her opinion, but she was sitting on the ground while playing poker with Lieutenant whom I had no idea on when he had arrived. Seeing that the two were too engaged in their own rivalry, I decided to leave them aside and turn back to the two girls in front of me. The two were still in their same position, as if waiting for the other to make a move first. Noticing that this wasn''t going anywhere, I suddenly shouted. ¡°GO!¡± This seemed to spark the start of the exchange, as both suddenly charged forward with their weapons, Yuu doing a thrust with her spear which El dodged with a side step before swinging her scythe sideways. Yuu jumped over the scythe and quickly extended her hand out while shooting a fireball towards El. Bad idea. The draconid quickly absorbed the fire into her scythe before swinging it, forming a huge fire circle. Yuu backed away while forming two ice walls in front of her to stop the fire coming to her direction while forming an ice javelin on her other hand and quickly throwing it. El blocked it with the large blade of her scythe before throwing a fireball towards Yuu, followed by a descent slash with her Scythe to absorb the fireball. The fight was impressive, to say the least, as both of them would attack and counter at a ridiculous speed. While El kept going with the same strategy, Yuu would sometimes change her melee combat for some ranged harassing when her mana was low, since keeping her weapon up was a bit expensive. As time went on and the battle dragged, El slowly started to earn more ground as she cornered Yuu, until she finally landed the first clean hit of the duel. Only for us to be surprised by Yuu¡¯s image disappearing in thin air as a mirage. ¡°This duel¡­ Is my loss¡­¡± Yuu said while suddenly appearing besides El. El looked surprised for a moment before nodding and putting her scythe back into her back. ¡°It was a great fight.¡± She said while extending her hand towards Yuu, who shook it with a smile. ¡°But it felt that you were¡­ Holding back?¡± Oi, she was still holding back? After the first ten seconds I did not have any idea of what was happening anymore! ¡°Forgive-me, bud I did not have a choice¡­¡± Yuu said apologetically while looking at the staff in her hands. ¡°This staff is not a good melee weapon, thus it feels a bit unbalanced to me.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± El answered with a nod. ¡°Then I hope you can give me the honor of another duel when you earn a decent weapon.¡± ¡°It will be my pleasure.¡± I sighed. So, she was doing all that while using an unbalanced weapon? Geez, I don¡¯t think that even if I spent my whole life training I could get to a tenth of what she did there. The way the two of them were moving was simply out of this world. But then, I guess that my playstyle doesn¡¯t really fit into that kind of fighting¡­ Hmm¡­ How should I say it¡­ But they kind of feels like that their fighting involves a lot of stances and quick actions and reactions. My playstyle involves much more waiting and countering. If I had to fit the others in this, Hanbei would be a hit-and-runner, charging in, landing a few attacks and then going back. Arcus would be an all out brawler who ignores the enemies attacks and simply comes attacking everything in sight. Lila, I¡¯m not sure since I hadn¡¯t seen her fighting, but my guess would be something similar to Hanbei. Now I¡¯m kind of curious how I would fare against Yuu in a serious duel. Rather, let me leave that a bit more correct. I wonder how long I could last against her in a fight before she thoroughly humiliated me. She is kind of like one of those guys in your group that simply does ten times the damage of other guys with the same specs and equipment as theirs, even when they already do the optimal damage of their class. Basically, a genius. ¡­ Maybe I should go and learn martial arts myself. ¡°So, what exactly did you ask Lieutenant to do?¡± Arcus asked, waking me from my own delusions. ¡°Oh, I asked for Lieutenant to look for some guys.¡± I told him. When he raised his eyebrows to me, I went on. ¡°You see, I promised a guy to go into a sealed cave to pick up a really powerful crystal.¡± ¡°T-That¡­ Sounds dangerous¡­¡± Lila said from my side. ¡°D-Do you have any idea on the l-level of the area?¡± ¡°Around twenty or so. For a group of eight.¡± I blinked surprised when I heard another sound of weapons clashing, and noticed that Yuu and El were going at it again. I smiled awkwardly, Yuu is more of a warmonger than I had expected. ¡°Hey? Isn¡¯t that dangerous? You don¡¯t look all that strong for that right now¡­¡± He said with clear worry in his voice that simply didn¡¯t seem to fit him. ¡°Do you want us to give you a hand?¡± I almost accepted his offer excitedly, but at the last second I reconsidered. Usually, if he were a player, I would have accepted immediately since there would not be much problem even if we fail. But, as like-like he might be, he IS an NPC, so, if he dies in the dungeon he would probably be dead for good in here, right? ¡°I¡¯d¡­ Rather not have you guys coming¡­¡± I told him with a slightly awkward smile which left him worried. ¡°Why? We ARE stronger than you right now, you know?¡± He said with a slight frown. ¡°I knooow¡­ Buuut¡± I said while trying to find my words. ¡°How do I say it¡­ Even if it¡¯s harder for me¡­ It¡¯s not exactly more dangerous¡­ I¡¯m not sure how to explain it¡­¡± He and Lila looked at me confused for a moment, before Lila finally widened her eyes. ¡°Wait. Are you one of the Chosen?¡± She was so surprised that she even forgot to stutter! But¡­ ¡°I¡¯mawhat?¡± As confused as I was, it seemed that Arcus understood, because he looked shocked to Lila for a moment, then turning to me and widening his eyes. ¡°Now that I think about it¡­ I did see you pull some things from thin air before¡­¡± He said with a shocked face. ¡°And¡­ What exactly is a Chosen?¡± Hanbei asked, joining the talk. ¡°Chosen are the ones that have the blessing of the Goddes.¡± Arcus explained. ¡°They can revive when they die and have some kind of power that allows them to store things in thin space. They only appeared a few days ago and simply started getting around.¡± ¡°Then¡­ I guess I am a chosen¡­¡± I AM THE CHOSEN ONE! Damn¡­ That does feel good! For some reason, the two looked at me completely shocked, and I even heard the third fight that had started behind to stop for a moment. ¡°W-What? Is it bad?¡± ¡°No¡­ It¡¯s just that¡­ I would never have guessed.¡± Arcus said in wonder. When me and Hanbei lifted our eyebrows, he went on. ¡°You see, all I know and hear about the Chosen, is that they don¡¯t really treat us as people. They kind of¡­ treat us as machines, animals or something¡­¡± He tilted his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure on how to explain it¡­¡± I blinked confused for a moment. Well, I did kind of get really involved with the NPCs with all my crafting and everything else, so I did notice that they are more than a system. But most players would simply come, get their quests and dart off without even batting an eye to them, so it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t get where they are going. Still, there was a really incredible joke here that I simply couldn¡¯t lose. I picked a small tree branch from nearby, receiving a couple of curious look from the others, before going back and waving the branch in front of Arcus. ¡°Arcus!¡± I said in a loud and cheerful voice, surprising him. ¡°Catch!¡± And I threw the branch as far as I could. To tell the truth, when he said that whole animal thing, I knew that this was a joke I had to do, since he was a wolf slash dog half-beastman, so I kind of did it for the lols. But I must say that when he did dart off behind the branch excitedly and picked it up before it touched the ground did kind of get me out of guard. I looked towards Lila and Hanbei, but they were looking at it as shocked as me. I could even see Whisi face-palming¡­ Face-winging herself in shame while Lieutenant rolled on the floor laughing. He brought back the branch and gave it back to me before finally snapping out of it. ¡°HEY! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?¡± He said angrily. We all laughed at him at that moment, making him go red while angrily trying to hit me for doing that to him. ¡°Let me try¡­¡± Hanbei said while picking the branch from the ground. ¡°ARCUS, CATCH!¡± He immediately stopped chasing me to go after the branch, earning a few more laughs from us. This time he snapped out of it earlier and quickly snapped the branch in half before stomping his way towards us. Even Lila was trying to hide her giggles this time. While we were laughing and mocking him, the other two girls came back, their faces slightly sweaty from all the exercise. They were talking a bit as they pointed a few things or other about their fight. When they say that fighting deepens friendships, it seems to be true. Baaw. I wanted this to happen with me and Hot-head! I need a rival! Where is he by the way? Oh well¡­ ¡°So, how was your fight?¡± I asked when they got closer. ¡°Yuu¡¯s arts are incredible. Her movements are incredibly smooth for a sorcerer. I could barely see when the attack was coming.¡± El said in her usual dead-pan face. ¡°Elraira-san is also incredibly strong. Her reflexes are even better than mine, and she is much better at magic than me.¡± Yuu said solemnly while looking at the staff. ¡°If only I had a better weapon, maybe I could win one time.¡± She said with a sigh. I stopped to think a bit while looking at them and said after some time. ¡°What about your completely conjured weapon? Don¡¯t it have a better balance?¡± ¡°Yes. But it requires me to hold my staff, so I cannot use it alone. And against an opponent like Elraira-san, I will have a difficult time if I do not focus on a single weapon.¡± Heeh¡­ so if she could somehow cast her magic without the staff, she would get even stronger? I must say that I find this amusing, but how the hell would she be able to cast magic without carrying around a staff? It¡¯s like trying to slash without a sword in this game. She would need some kind of weapon that she doesn¡¯t need to hold it in her hands. Or maybe¡­ I¡¯m so going to hate myself over this, but my curiosity has been piqued. ¡°Say¡­ What about making a caster weapon, that doesn¡¯t require you to hold it?¡± I asked feeling a bit mischievous. I felt as everyone looked at me a bit surprised, but there had to be someone to break my fun. ¡°Why not simply make a spear that she can use as a casting medium, like my scythe?¡± Elraira asked. I immediately became sullen at this. Yes, I did not think of that, and it¡¯s a much better solution. HOWEVER¡­ ¡°And where is the fun in that?¡± Arcus said as he put his hand on my shoulders. Chapter 42 - ITS ALIVE! Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! A NEW LOOK ON THE CRAFTING AREA! NOW WITH MOAR MAGICKS! ANYWAY, I would like to give a shout-out to Loco15 and ask something out of him. FOR THE LOVE OF CYGNAS, STOP DOING GUESSWORK! IT¡¯S THE SECOND TIME ALREADY YOU ALMOST GET IT RIGHT! I¡¯m starting to think of censoring your comments for possible spoilers, really! So from now on I shall call you: Almost-spoilerlord! (This is a joke, no need to worry.) ALSO, I would like to point out that, I really hope all this craft-a-ton isn¡¯t bothering you guys, since it¡¯s all I¡¯ve been writing for the last chapters¡­ Sorry about that. I seem to have some problem guiding the story myself¡­ (BAD STORY! STOP GETTING REPETITIVE!) ALSO(2), as a random rant for today, I kind of felt like speaking of something that I don¡¯t think many people would actually ever notice if I don¡¯t say it here. Those who read the comments might notice that a lot of things in the story are last second/minute additions (Lieutenant and Aura as a character herself for example), but there is one that I think you would never have guessed, and that is Cygnas. Really, she was only added (at first) for the whole LET THERE BE LIGHT joke. But she kind of stuck around and now have her own little cult and is one of the main driving points of the story! *ADD MIND BLOWN GIF* Have a good read! ----- ¡°So¡­ Mind telling us what exactly is your idea?¡± Arcus asked me excited while completely ignoring Elraira¡¯s opinion. ¡°Well¡­ Firstly, I would probably need someone who can do some fine-work with metals and such. Blacksmithing would probably completely fail in this part, so I do not think I can do this. Secondly, I need an enchanter to engrave something for me, since I don¡¯t think the idea I have will work simply with the alchemical methods alone. And I also need someone who can polish jewels¡­¡± Yeah. Very specific methods, I know. But hey! I¡¯m doing something brand new again! I¡¯m so going to hate myself when this ends¡­ ¡®¡¯Well, I can do something about the metal fine-work and the gem.¡± I blinked surprised and turned toward Han-chan, who got me completely by surprise with her sudden offer. Since when can she work on metal and gems? She noticed my surprise, and frowned slightly. ¡°You do know that I got the jewel-crafting skill, right?¡± Wait, when did she get a crafting skill? I do remember her saying that she was going to look for one, but I don¡¯t think I remember her ever saying that she actually got the skill¡­ Oh! Now that I think about it, she did say something about getting a crafting skill back at Melinda¡¯s, but I think I was a bit lost in fluffiness to hear her. So she got jewel-crafting, huh? It¡¯s actually a good choice, since right now that is the only area I¡¯m not delving into in my crafting. Okay, so this is one thing done, now I need to find someone who have enchanting¡­ ¡°You can leave the engraving part to me.¡± ¡°OKAY. Stop.¡± I immediately stopped Arcus as soon as he made his offer. ¡°Look, I accept the fact that Hanbei has jewel-crafting and can take care of the whole jewel-part. But you? The head-on damn-it-all brawler? Having enchanting? I don¡¯t buy it.¡± I said while looking at him slightly annoyed. Sorry Arcus, but I don¡¯t think that enchanting fits you at all. ¡°Well¡­ I kind of picked it up after seeing Lila¡¯s magic gun... And I kind of wanted to put it together with my swords and make a gun and blade mix.¡± Okay. Now I buy it. Gunblades are completely badass and fit him perfectly. Well, then what exactly are we waiting for? I quickly explained my idea to the two of them and they seemed to like it. Yuu and El, who were left out were looking at us a bit confused, but noticing that we would take some time with our idea, they decided to sit down and start talking about something that I couldn¡¯t hear. After defining what exactly we were going to do, I left-them with their part of the job and materials and went towards Torg¡¯s. Luckily, this time only a small part of the work is mine, so my part was surprisingly simple this time. I quickly heated up the forge after quickly greeting a surprised Torg who didn¡¯t expect to see me so soon. As I prepared the metal and crystal alloy, I quickly explained him my idea. He laughed loudly and said that it was another interesting idea I had. I quickly did my work and, after a quick chat with Han-chan, I started to prepare the steel-crystal alloys and used a technique similar to the one to make the chain-mail, but instead I made a long wire with it. Actually, I made four wires, two that were very thin, and two that were flat and wide. After making sure that the wires were thin and flexible enough to be worked by Hanbei and Arcus, I left towards Hanbei¡¯s location. It was a small shop a couple of levels above Melinda¡¯s. When I got there, a slightly grumpy dwarf greeted me before grunting and pointed me towards a nearby door, where I found her and Arcus working on the Blazing-tail and Aura¡¯s gems. Arcus had a Blazing-tail gem in his hands, albeit a lot smaller than it¡¯s original size and with a much more prominent shine. He was holding the gem on his hands as he muttered something lowly while using a strange needle-like to lightly poke the gem, making a small symbol that shone briefly. Han-chan, meanwhile, was polishing Aura¡¯s gem in a grinder, slowly diminishing its size until it became more fitting. I also saw a couple of sockets in the shape of the grinded down jewels. I quickly greeted them just in time as Hanbei finished shaping the blue gem and passed it to Arcus. I left her with the wires and quickly explained her the shape she would have to make with them. She nodded after I finished and went towards a strange equipment which reminded me of some presses and pincers and started using it with some weak fire magic to reshape the wires. Afterwards I went towards Arcus as he finished his gem. ¡°I must say that I expected engraving to involve more¡­ engraving¡­¡± I told him as I watched him work. ¡°Right? I was kind of surprised too.¡± He told me after putting the red jewel into the socket. ¡°It seems that it once was like that, using knifes and whatnots, but it looked kind of ugly, with so many cuts in the material, so they decided to change to this.¡± He showed me the needle as he said that. ¡°They call it virtual engraving or something like that. I have no idea on how it actually works, since I pretty much slept as Lila told that to me. But I know how to work with it, so it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I said as I watched him murmur a word and poke the jewel making a symbol briefly appear. ¡°So it works kind of like runes?¡± I asked as I watched him, but he shook his head. ¡°Nah, runes are much more complex, and they only work if the user understand their meanings correctly.¡± He turned to me with a wry smile. ¡°Believe-me when I tell you that I tried it out. That thing is hard! Besides, it seems that in the very basics, it¡¯s a completely different process, even if the results are similar. Once again, I slept through this part, so I¡¯m not sure.¡± Geez, this guy is one irresponsible guy. Almost looks like someone I know, I wonder who? I patiently waited as the two of them finished their jobs, as Arcus engraved the second gem, Hanbei finished making the main body of the weapon. Afterwards, Arcus started to engrave the metal with some slightly different symbol. After around twenty minutes, we locked the sockets into the reshaped metal wires and we took off towards another crazy person. Sol. All this time, when thinking about all the alchemy I have been doing, I¡¯ve been mostly taking on the chemistry-like part of the crafting, but I have barely touched the more mystical part of this art. This will probably be my first true magical crafting experience. We reached her shop in a few minutes and quickly invaded it without much thought, only to find her in her usual gown while sleeping in the out-of-place bed. Arcus¡¯ reaction was simply amusing as he stared unbelieving towards the girl-looking granny and then towards me, wanting to ask me if he was going crazy. I ignored him and kicked the bed heavily, making her wake up in shock. ¡°What? Who? An attack?¡± She asked surprised. ¡°YES! I CAME TO STEAL YOUR CANDIES!¡± I said in my best dark and menacing voice. Her eyes widened in shock and she quickly jumped from the bed and ran towards its edge, where she quickly jumped benath the bed before leaving through the other side holding a bag in her hands. ¡°YOU WILL NEVER HAVE MY CANDIES!¡± She shouted in a defiant tone while frowning slightly and extending her hand towards us. When I burst out into laughter, she finally woke up from her trance and scowled. ¡°Gondorrer¡­ You scaly rascal¡­¡± She said getting up from the corner of the room and kicking her bag of candies back to under the bed. ¡°So, what brings you here so soon?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I say? I came for the candies!¡± As I said that, she jumped back to the bed and sat on it after taking her hair from beneath her. When she looked to me angrily I went on. ¡°Also, I¡¯m in the last part of creating a new type weapon because why not, and I need to know how to work on creating magic staff.¡± She blinked surprised at my words. ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t planning on using magic?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not for me. It¡¯s for her¡­¡± I turned to point at Yuu, but I noticed that she wasn¡¯t here. Since when? Noticing that I was looking for her, Hanbei face-palmed herself. Heck, besides Arcus and Hanbei, I have no idea where the others are! ¡°It¡¯s for the Kitsune.¡± I said to a smirking Sol. ¡°Oh, your pet?¡± She asked in a mischievous tone. ¡°That one!¡± Hanbei nodded in accordance. ¡°I guess she does look like one.¡± Arcus nodded with a pensive pose. Et tu, Arcus? I sighed in defeat after some time, and explained her the idea. She nodded after a moment and took us to the depot. ¡°You see, when it comes to changing a simple stick and gem into a full-blown staff, you need to perform a kind of ritual that involves alchemical materials and some infusion. Which I guess that you never did before?¡± She asked me with a raised eyebrow. I shook my head at it and she smiled at me. She took us to the very end of the depot of excess materials, where there was a large metal door. She said that it was made to protect the truly fragile and expensive equipment. She opened the door revealing a simple and bleak room, with nothing much in there except for some kind of strange bronze altar, with a large and tall part in its middle and some sort of smaller concavities in its base, one on each side, making four in total. According to Sol, this is an infusion altar, which help us to merge the jewel and the staff into a single and unique piece of equipment. She had us put one of the prototype and, hopefully, final project into the middle area before making us step back. ¡°Basically, the center part is the focus where the essence merge will happen.¡± She said while walking around the altar and checking if everything was in place. ¡°Now, you see these small holes?¡± She said pointing to the concavities. ¡°These are where you are going to deposit whatever it is that you feel that describe the main element of the jewel¡¯s original owner. When we activate the altar, it will slowly suck up the essence from these objects and transfer to the non-gem part, melding their essences together.¡± She said that and looked at the concavities for a moment. ¡°Also, no need to fill the four holes. Actually, the less items, the better chance of getting it right.¡± After explaining that to us, she took a step back and left us to think for ourselves. So, I have to use items to explain a blazing-tail? As I started to think, around and ask for Arcus and Hanbei for some ideas, I finally came to a slightly unorthodox answer. I put another Blazing-tail gem on the smaller altar, which earned me a good laugh from Sol, who simply nodded and gave me a thumbs up. After putting the gem into the small concavity, and took a step back while waited for something to happen. As I raised an eyebrows towards Sol for the delay, she made me a signal of waiting with her hand and looked towards the altar with a smirk. For a bit longer, nothing was happening, until I finally noticed it. Some slight glow was coming from the gem, and just when I started to ask her what was happening, the glow started to flow from the gem into the hole towards the weapon into the altar. As time went on, the flow seemed to get stronger and stronger, until the gem shone in such a way that we could barely see what was happening, and finally disappeared. We blinked surprised and looked towards Sol, who was smiling savagely. ¡°Damn, boy. You really did it.¡± She said while picking the weapon in the altar and taking a look at it. ¡°A dead lock in the whole magic-weaponry that lasted for centuries, since the creation of alchemical staffs, and you break it ''just because'', only by adding a bit of crystal in the mix.¡± She said while passing the weapon to me. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked while receiving the weapon and looking confused at her. ¡°Do you really think you were the only one who tried to do what you are doing?¡± She asked me. ¡°Fusing two different methods together to get an even better method? That is something that many people have been trying to do. However they never could find this small linking piece that allowed them to piece the two together. Yet you find it just like that!¡± She told me with some slight admiration. ¡°I¡­ Did something like that?¡± I asked a bit worried, and she nodded. ¡°You see, the main problem of the alchemical method, is the need to use a large body to hold the magic power. While the engraving method, is because the large formulas need a huge area to process the magic, but they can store it fairly easily.¡± She explained to me. Yeah, that is the main reason why we were taking this approach. Arcus engrave the items to store magical energy, then we use the Gem to process the energy into magic itself. When I told her this she laughed and told me. ¡°That is the problem.¡± She told with a smile. ¡°The magic the gem uses is stored in the object¡¯s BODY, yet engraving doesn¡¯t count as the body of the object, but more of as an aura around it. Yet, the infusion clearly worked. How? I have no idea, but I¡¯m willing to bet that your crystal alloy works as some kind of middle term between the two. I will be analyzing it later. For now, sleep.¡± She said before yawning loudly. We quickly put the next weapon in the Altar when she left to catch up on her sleep that, according to her, she has been missing because of all the research I asked her to do. I REGRET NOTHING! For the next one I decided to go around with a similar tactic for the essence as the previous, but since I didn¡¯t have any other freezing-tail gem, I tried to be creative, once again, and put another blazing-tail gem into the concavity, but on another one I decided to put an ice crystal, to show its different element. However, even when we waited longer than the previous one, nothing happened, so I was forced to stop and rethink my idea. I sincerely don¡¯t think it¡¯s the wrong idea, but just that I went on the wrong way around the lines, so let me rethink that. If I were to take what I just did as a direct relationship between the meanings, I would be saying that Aura was a normal Blazing tail that used ice instead of fire. But if I think back to our fight, she was clearly different, with her attacks being more focused on the physical side rather than the magical, even if she also uses her elements and sometimes attack from distance. Thinking about that, I decided to change the crystal, which I would take for a symbol of magic, and put on a freezing throwing knife in its place. This time, it worked, and we saw the light show once again before the weapon was done. The three of us high-fived before leaving excitedly, wanting to show it to the others. Since me and Hanbei were in a party with Yuu we could see where she was, and we quickly guided Arcus towards her with us while trying to explain him the concept of minimaps. We found her, together with Lila, Elraira, Whisi, Aura and Lieutenant wandering around some weapon shops. It seemed that Elraira was helping Yuu to find a good magic spear for her to use. Magic weapons aren¡¯t all that different to make when compared to staffs, as the method to add magic-bending capabilities are pretty much universal. But doing so seems to reduces the physical damage of the weapon, so it¡¯s not exactly the best choice. It''s also very expensive, since you have the crafting of the weapon itself, followed by the process of adding magic, which nearly doubles the costs. It¡¯s at times like these when I notice that El is a rich girl, with her engraved scythe. Shaking my head, I immediately dragged Yuu off from the shop while receiving some confused and slightly angry eyes from Elraira, who seemed to be having her fun. The three of us quickly took Yuu outside of the city towards the field where she once was, and I immediately pulled the weapon from my inventory, but as soon as I tried to pass it to her¡­
WARNING: You can¡¯t trade this item until all its related windows are cleared.
I sighed in defeat. It seems that me, Han, and even Arcus were a bit afraid of seeing these windows that had popped up and had been expecting the other to clear it. I quickly opened all the windows flashing in the corner of my view and was bombarded with their texts.
Congratulations. You have created an new kindof weapon. Please choose this kind of weapon¡¯s name:
(_________)
Congratulations, Hanbei, Arcus and you just created a new kind of weapon. Would you like to disclose your name, and yours only, for other players?
(Yes/no)
Okay, so we started with a bombastic window. We created a new TYPE of weapon. Forget the historic cloak, even if the works quality is lower than my cloak, which it really isn¡¯t, since historic don¡¯t fit into normal classifications, this will probably have an even bigger impact on the game as a whole. I looked at the two at my side, and then nodded. Also, I guess that Arcus window said something along the lines of revealing his name for the Chosen, but I can¡¯t be sure. After a quick discussion, we chose the weapon to be called, Jeweled Foci. Foci as in plural for focus.
The players: Wargon, Han-chan, and an unnamed NPC have completed a new kind of weapon. From now on, it will be called: [Jeweled Foci] From now on, this kind of weapon will slowly spread through the market, and some monsters may now very rarely drop them.
So, Arcus chose to remain anonymous, huh? Well, its his choice. Me? Altough I did get a bit worried, I¡¯m already a bit too deep into it to even have the right to worry about it. Now, let¡¯s move on to the next windows.
Spirit of the Sun (Jeweled Foci)(Hands) (requires level 15)
Magic damage: 12-17 Element: Fire
Def: 4 M. Res 6
Quality: Excellent Durability: 25/25
Description An innovative kind of weapon, made with new techniques and Blazing-Tails materials. The fire in its gem burn with a never-ending rage. INT+8 MND+5 AGI+7 (This type of weapon also occupies hand armor slots) (Made by Wargon, Han-chan and Arcus)
Soul of the Moon (Jeweled Foci)(Hands) (requires level 15)
Magic damage: 12-17 Element: Ice
Def: 4 M. Res 6
Quality: Excellent Durability: 25/25
Description An innovative kind of weapon, made with new techniques and Freezing-Tails materials. This gem¡¯s energy could freeze entire rivers. STR+8 TGH+5 AGI+7 (This type of weapon also occupies hand armor slots) (Made by Wargon, Han-chan and Arcus)
Well, what can I say? They are amazing! The names are copyright of Hanbei Inc. We quickly passed the weapons towards Yuu, asking her to equip it. She had a slightly conflicted look in her eyes when she looked at the weapons. When I pressed her for answers she said. ¡°Well¡­ It is a lovely present from Shishou, Han-chan and Arcus-san, so I really want to use it¡­ But the status are worse than my actual staff and armor¡­¡± She said with a conflicted look in her face. However, I simply laughed. ¡°Apprentice. It seems that you are missing the point here.¡± I told her while gently patting her back. ¡°There are TWO weapons in your hands, why must you only equip one?¡± She blinked surprised. ¡°I¡­ Can do that?¡± ¡°Well¡­ That was the intention when we made them, at least¡­¡± I said while shrugging. She quickly nodded, removed her hand-armors and staff before adding the weapons. It really does fit her. As I thought that, I looked back at Hanbei and Arcus, who seemed to be having the same thoughts as I do. The weapons, as we made them, looked anything but a normal weapon. It was a mix between a glove, a ring and a wristlet where we had a large and a small wire circles she could use to fix on both her wrist and middle finger. These two parts were interlocked by a simple, yet exquisite pattern using the wires running on the back of her hand to form a base where the grinded and polished jewels were fixated. It was a simple, yet beautiful piece of equipment that was worthy of being called a jewelry more than a weapon. Stats wise, it seems that the defense is still lower than wearing gloves, but the status themselves are fairly similar to her staff. The damage output would have to wait for a bit thought.
Your recent weapons formed a set. CELESTIAL SOUL SET (2 pieces) Set Bonus: Casting Fire magic increases Ice magic damage by 3%, stacks 3 times. All stacks are consumed when casting ice magic. Casting Ice magic reduces Fire magic cast time by 3%, stacks 3 times. All stacks are consumed when casting fire magic. Your level of Ice and Fire magic mastery will be the average between the two while using this set. You can use the following skill while using this set: [Frost-fire spear]
Just¡­ Wow. We immediately had Yuu start her casting to see if there was any change to what she was used to. She blinked surprised when we urged her, but complied. Using her usual Element Emission skills, she quickly tested the two, and according to her, although the attacks did feel weaker, they came much faster than before without the cost of extra mana. Just by that alone, the three of us were already doing a party commemorating our success. But things didn¡¯t really stop there. ¡°Now that you have two casting weapons, why don¡¯t you try casting two different spels at the same time?¡± Elraira said suddenly. We all blinked surprised, but Yuu immediately put herself to work. She cast a fire-ball and an ice spear at the same time, something that was impossible before. Finally, she cast her favorite spell. Frost emission: Weaponize. Since now she didn¡¯t have to worry about holding her weapons, since they were fixed to her arms, her movements did seem a bit more refined and precise. At least according to El. I sincerely couldn¡¯t see the difference. I approached Hanbei while looking at Yuu happily playing around with her new weapons and said. ¡°So¡­ We just created the first dual wielding mage¡­¡± I said a bit absentmindedly. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She nodded in accordance. ¡°And she was already a good mage even without them¡­¡± ¡°Yup¡­.¡± ¡°Besides all that, she is also a master at martial arts¡­¡± ¡°Exactly¡­¡± I looked down towards her and smiled worriedly. ¡°We might just have created a monster¡­¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t have said it better myself.¡± SS 2.4 - Runic path Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! THE RUNE SAGA ENDS HERE! (Isn¡¯t that a good name for a game?) ANYWAY, I decided on uploading a side-story today so I could work on a couple of other things I was procrastinating for a long time. For now, I¡¯ve already updated the Races pages, with a few new races, skills and divided them into some categories. (Categories are not final, and are made for ease of browsing.). Now I will have to work on something for my college, and later on today I will update that Fanfic that a certain person made for Insania that I have been holding around for a long time (I¡¯m a horrible person T.T) ALSO, next normal story chapter should only come tomorrow, sorry about that (^.^¡¯) ALSO(2), this is the end of this SS, and I already have the next one in ¡°planning¡± which I will probably update on Wednesday or Thursday, when I have a load of class and don¡¯t have time to write a full chapter. Have a good read! ----- Oh, the three poor fools. Had they tried to cooperate and take on their torturer together before ignoring him, they wouldn¡¯t be suffering like this. And here they thought that their time in the classroom was akin to being sent to the deepest of the hells. Yet now they can finally see what true torture looks like. Their hands blistering, their eyes hollow and their feet hurting. Yet, for them, nothing else mattered, as long as they could leave that place even if a second earlier they wouldn¡¯t mind any kind of torture he could throw at them. Before, they could at least rest their heads in the desks and cool down a bit whenever the teaching became too much for their brain, but now? Even resting was prohibited, as the moment they relaxed even if only a bit, Issak would lash at them with a thunderbolt. And so, here were the three fools, being forced to repeat their movements, over and over and over and over again. Each one with their own weapons and set of movements. The worst part, is that all the while they were swinging their weapons, Issak was standing in a comfy chair, reading a book and sipping on an alluring glass of wine. The three were boiling with the thought of jumping at him, slashing his throat with their weapons, then run away. They were sure that none of the others training in the patio would mind the fact that they did that. But whenever their bloodlust would start to seep, Issak would simply cast them a cold glare and they would immediately reconsider their idiotic idea. And whenever their conscious would gracefully start to waver, leaving them on a fully automated movement and wander somewhere slightly more bearable, away from their hurting bodies, the demon in construct skin would snap his fingers, making a runic phrase appear in front of him. The three had to immediately read the phrase, voice it out loud and quickly write a shortened version of the phrase with their free hand in the air. All while they kept making the same movements with their weapons nonstop. If any of them got the answer wrong, a forked lightning was all that waited the three of them. The three spent a whole twelve extra hours of nonstop Spartan training. By the time the three finally were freed from their torture, they literally fell flat on the floor, and all they could think was lay there and wait for all their tiredness to be slowly relieved. Alas, fate, and their instructor had other ideas. ¡°Okay. Now that the three of you trained for so long, I will give you one hour of rest before I will test your skill again.¡± He said as a matter of fact, lifting himself from the chair and smiling. ¡°I will talk a bit with the Beautiful Ellaine, back at the desk once again and when I come back we start the test.¡± He said while leaving through the door. The three fools felt a mixed feeling of relief and anxiousness. However, as soon as they started to let themselves drift into the wonderful world of not-caring-about-anything-anymore, the door opened briefly and a demon head with a wicked smile appeared. ¡°If you fail, we are training even harder next time, ok?¡± Despair. That was the only word that passed through their heads. Rest? They couldn¡¯t rest. Not anymore. As the door closed again, the three looked at each other, staring at their lifeless eyes and nodded. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The three lifted themselves from the ground and went back to training. No matter how tired they were, there was no way in hell they would stay here any longer. And so, they trained. ¡­ All the warriors who were still training at the patio could only look at the scene at loss. Issak, evil incarnate was guiding his three newest pupils back to the training ground. However, any sign of the three newbies who first appeared were completely gone. Their eyes were hollow, as if their souls left their bodies. Their movements were cranky, as if they were badly oiled machines. Yet, an incredible bloodlust that made even the professionals among the warriors flinch in fear seeped from their very being. And the evil incarnate walked ahead of them with a proud smile in his face, as if he just made the best work of his life. The trio and the construct stood together at the same place they were last time. With loud and clear words, the instructor stated the rules. If they land one hit on him, they pass and receive their class. They fail, and an even more rigorous training awaits them. His only weapons would be the two kitchen knives he had used earlier. Satisfied with his announcement, as soon as the ¡°s¡± in start left his mouth, the trio had already darted forward. All the clunky movement they made before were gone and replaced by fluid moves worthy of being called professional. The trio started with Incarnus landing a spinning overhead slash followed by a double backwards slash, which immediately forced him to use the two knives to block both attacks. Chouhi took the chance to jump over the draconid¡¯s shoulder and land a powerful downward slash that was powerful enough to even make the very instructors leg shake with the impact. And before he could recover from the impact, a lance appeared from their side, aiming at his vital points. He had to hurriedly step back to avoid the strike, but immediately as he did that, the sharp glaive made an horizontal slice aiming to behead his neck. The trio were aiming for his death without even blinking twice. He even had to use a rune to defend the last attack! Deciding that it was about time for him to take it a bit more seriously, he smirked, proud of his students. ¡­ Freedom. That was the only thing the trio could even think when they passed through the gates of the castle-like academy. After much suffering, much ferocity and much luck, they barely managed to land a hit in the infernal teacher. Even if it wasn¡¯t anything as fatal and deadly as they wished, they still managed to leave a small scratch on his skin during the test. And now, here they were, leaving hell on Insania with their new classes already in work and to not come back anytime soon. It¡¯s sad that as rune warriors they lost the capacity to use normal magic, as rune magic is an amalgamation of all the elements, a completely different base. However, that is but a small price to pay for freedom. As they looked at the city ahead they dreamed of their long lost freedom, a new friendship blossomed between the three after sharing so many hardships together. The trio bade their farewells to each other for one last time before each taking one direction and walking away. However, fate and their instructor had other plans. He who shall not be named appeared in the gate and said to them. ¡°Remember to come back at level 20 to get some extra skills.¡± He told them, making their hair stand up in fear. ¡°Also, the strongest one of you will be exempt from training!¡± He said in a cheerful and impish tone. The trio stopped whatever they were doing and looked at each other. Any kind of camaraderie or friendship the three had towards each other simply vanished in thin air as if never existed and only hostility towards each other remained, as neither of them even wanted to think about coming back to this place and train even more. Legends were told of three rune warriors waging a furious battle on the fields of near the entrance of the bridge on which the city lays. However, that is a story for another time, my friends, as the story on how the three begun their path on the rune-warring, ends here. Fin. FF 1 - Ruby (not exactly)Author¡¯s corner (Publisher¡¯s corner?): HELLO HELLO! DELAYED BUT DELIVERED! ANYWAY, as I said one or two weeks ago, there was a person who made a fanfic for Insania online. After some talk, we decided to post it here in my own page and give that person the credit. Well, I took way more time than I should, but finally, here it is. Felight made this fanfic and all the credits go to that person. I only gave it some very minor editing like fixing a few more noticeable errors, and now I am posting to all of you guys! ALSO, I do plan on using the PK-crystal idea that appear here, although I still have no idea on how. ALSO(2), if anyone else wishes to make a fanfic/sidestory, feel free to do so. I only ask that you PM me before-hand, and do know that I am willing to lend a hand with any doubt you might have. Have a good read! ---- PART 1 ¡°Urgh!¡± Came out the voice of frustration from the petite young woman sitting on a bench behind bars of a jail cell. Her elbows propped against her knees and holding up her chin as she leaned her head against her hands. Michel O¡¯Claire or ¡°The Hobbit¡± as she was called by people, frowned while she was waiting for her father to get her out. The female deputy sheriff looking at the adorable sight of the tiny teen with ginger braided hair dressed in jeans and a yellow t-shirt with a trio of blue butterflies with pink wings, fuming in boredom She was on the way home to play the new VR game Insania Online, when she heard a yelp of a small dog when the man holding it on a leash accidently stepped on its paw while waiting in line. Michel was usually a timid person but had an explosive rage when confronted with animal cruelty to the point of fanaticism. Of course as the tiny gal feebly smacked the man who could not stop laughing at the adorable sight of a hissing and fuming kitten of a girl. She was picked up by a sheriff after good ten minutes of berating the man with no end in sight. Although she was lucky there were no charges pressed, it was so humiliating that no one would take her seriously. After long tedious hours her father arrived, walking up to the cell as the deputy opened it. ¡°Awww baby girl. Are you alright, I am so sorry I couldn¡¯t come earlier.¡± The man fuzzed about her and tugged her into a hug. ¡°Daaad! You¡¯re embarrassing me!¡± She cried as she couldn¡¯t get him to let go. Getting her phone back on the way out, she checked the info about the races and first impressions of the game. She saw people mass slaughtering adorable bunnies and squirrels. This will not stand she was fuming until she looked at the races, the pixie-like things looked cute but she already hated being tiny in real life. Then something came up, a thread about a golem pk and looking at the race info she just fell in love with the passive racial skill Nature Attuned. Running inside as she left the doors open while rushing into her room and placing the gaming glasses on. Selecting the game by using the optical interface, she fell into darkness.
Welcome to Insania Online
Welcome to the world of Insania
LOGIN
Blinking as the window appeared she tapped the LOGIN button, waiting for the gleam and blue lights to dull and be replaced by the white light. ¡°Welcome to Insania Online, where the world is yours to explore! My name is Cygnas, the acting main goddess of this world!¡± The woman was dubbed the welcoming character creation NPC on the forums who proudly exclaimed and showed off a window into the game world. ¡°I wanna be a golem!¡± The girl screamed at the NPC while jumping up and down excitedly. Taken back by the sudden outburst, the NPC seemed to forget what she was about to say before she retorted ¡°You may take the golem race miss. Though first what would you like the gender of your character to be?¡± ¡°Eh?! Ummm female I guess then, not that it would matter right? Yes let¡¯s go with female.¡± Making a deep nod as a golem doll that mirrored her movements appeared in front of her. She frowned at the size of it and the golem girl mirrored it, making the frown even deeper. ¡°How would you like to customize your character? You may describe it to me or you may use a slider menu if you wish.¡± The NPC came closer while explaining. Musing as she was horrible at describing things she chose the slider menu and fiddled around. First of all fixing the size by going over all sliders and increasing the sizes to the max and after finding the Anthropomorphism option what was in front of her was a huge mass of boulders. Smiling with glee and laughing like a cartoon villain, ¡°the hobbit¡° created her monster of Nature¡¯s Retribution. Her body tone was a bleak brownish grey of common rock and moss in the shape of long lush hair when she stood upright went past her head stone and down her back in its greyish green color. A mass of glowing lines of red was hidden in fissures of the jagged rock and under lids was the gleaming red eyes. ¡°Done!¡± She cried and suddenly fell on her behind after a blinding flash of light but still was somehow looking down upon the NPC that was just a moment ago heads taller than she. Lifting her brown rocky mass of hands she laughed as she balled her hands into fists and smacked them together. Giggling as the creation of her monster was complete until she noticed she still sounded¡­ Adorable. Smirking the NPC softly patted Michel¡¯s rocky knee. ¡°Now, please dear choose your resource!¡± The words for red flaming Rage, blue liquid Mana and yellow electric Energy floated in front of Michel. Poking the flaming letters, the words disappeared and a green as well as a red bar appeared in a corner of her vision, including other things like a map, clock, and the experience bar. ¡°Now you may choose your starting equipment¡± The NPC said with a wave of her arm as sets of weapons and armors appeared. Looking them over Michel pouted and shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t like violence can I go without them?¡± The NPC looked up to Michel musing as she tapped her lips. ¡°Are you sure miss? You would receive the unarmed and unarmored masteries although the stats, lowered damage and defense would put you in a disadvantage. Smiling with glee as it was simply part of her master plan of subterfuge the fact that she¡¯d still get some passive perks was a bonus. ¡°Yes please! I would like to be called Ivy ¡°Ruby¡± Rubidium if that is alright?¡± The NPC nodded and Ruby was transported to a starting town. Now seating on a field of grass, in the distance she could see people walking towards to the city in the yonder and a lone rabbit lifted its sniffling snout from behind a log. A pair of long ears rising as it looked at the mass of brown rocks and gently hopped forward right into Ruby¡¯s lap. ¡°Daawwww!¡± Ruby murmured in a squee and softly hugged the bunny while a couple more reddish furred squirrels skittered down along a trunk of a tree and climbed to perk on Ruby¡¯s shoulders. Looking over her stats as her thumb brushed over the adorable little bunny in her lap.
NAME: Ruby (Ivy Rubidium)
TITLE: (none)
Class tree:WandererClass:None
Race:GolemGender:Neutral (female)
Level:1Experience:0%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points:110/110HP regen (out of combat):1/sec
Rage:0/100Rage Regen:-3/sec (out of combat))
STR:10TGH:10
AGI:10VIT:10
INT:10MND:10
ATTK:Phys: 6-7Extra:(none)
DEF20M. Res.:10
Satiety:100/100 (Satisfied)
SKILLS: Derivation points (0)
Unarmed Mastery [lvl 1] -Pummel (Active)- Unarmored Mastery [lvl 1] Racials [max] -Nature¡¯s bastion(Active)- -Rock Eater- -Sedimentary skin (Active)- -Nature attuned-
Sub-skill: Pummel[lvl1] (levels increase with Unarmed mastery)
Using your body to deliver a heavy blow, dealing 130% damage
Cost: 20 rage
Sub-skill: Sedimentary skin Racial cosmetic skill
The golem¡¯s unique nature allows them to change their bodies¡¯ stones with one eaten with Rock Eater. (this change is purely cosmetic)
Cost: none
Sub-skill: Nature Attuned Racial cosmetic skill
The golem¡¯s natural and soothing aura draws non-aggressive animals towards them when weapons are unequipped.
Passive
Closing her eyes she sighed, the useful racial abilities were really neat, the rock eater allowed her to eat minerals. This made the vegetarian extremely happy as she didn¡¯t have to eat anything alive at all and could go in the wild without any need to waste money on food. While the Nature¡¯s Bastion allows her to shrug away attacks every five seconds with 75% reduction though it lasts a very short time on a small area, so it was best to know where and when she was going to be attacked. Suddenly the bunny¡¯s ears flared up as another player logged on, wielding a dagger and leather armor. Smirking as there were monsters to kill right next to his spawn spot. Twirling his dagger the demon actually cut himself accidently and suckled on his bleeding thumb. ¡°Ouch. Darn it well at least I can kill you to vent Hahaaa!¡± The black skinned horned demon struck its dagger towards the bunny that was resting upon the near by mass of boulders. Swiftly jumping away the dagger slid into the rock. -8 (102/110) ¡°Eh?!¡± The demon looked confused as the dagger got stuck and he was sure he missed the rabbit but still damaged something. Red gem like gleaming eyes opened in front of him as the critters ran away and the mass of boulders moved tackling him on the ground. Straddling the demon man down as Ruby started flailing her massive fists against the demon¡¯s face while berating him. The red colored name of Bathomar was apparent as Ruby kept smashing the demon¡¯s face in that was soon turning from black to purple and bleeding to the ground. Activating her pummel every time it she had enough rage. Groaning the demon looked up with one good eye as the mass of stone lifted both of its massive hands together and brought them down to crack his skull -2 -7 -6 -8 -6 -16(Critical) -6 -6 -8 -7 -16(Brutal) Combo(x1.3) -114 (0/110) The golem grasped the demon¡¯s collar and lifted then smacked him against the ground while berating him for a good five minutes until her rage ran out and noticed the window in front of her finally.
Congratulations! You just defeated your first enemy. Let the goddess reclaim its body as a sign of your feat and you shall be rewarded.
Lay your hand upon the body and say ¡°Reclaim¡± to receive your reward.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Looking down at the very dead player, she finally realized she was not as feeble as in the real world and with the surprise rage although planned to hide in plain sight to kill people who tried to hurt the adorable animals she didn¡¯t even realize she had hulked out and squished the demon under herself. ¡°...Whooops! Well I guess I better get something after all he did attack me first. .. Reclaim!¡± A small bag of copper coins that automatically increased her money by fifty copper coins when she picked it up as well as a red crystal token for beating a red player in combat.
Due to your repeated action and previous available skills, you have learned the Unarmed sub-skill: Slam
Sub-skill: Slam [lvl1] (level increase with Unarmed mastery)
With using both of your hands to smack your enemy with both hands, you cause increased damage overwhelm the opponent DMG: 180%, May cause, Stun, Daze and Trip depending on circumstances.
Cost: 30 Rage Cool down: 30 sec.
Due to your repeated action, you have learned the skill: Unleash Rage
Unleash Rage [lvl1]
With a mighty roar you unleash your rage, letting it fuel your strikes. Rage Regen: +1/sec WARNING:You do not gain Rage from being hit by enemies and Rage gained from striking enemies is halved while Unleash Rage is active.
Cool down: 60 sec. Duration: 30 sec
Due to your repeated action and previous available skills, you have learned the Unleash Rage sub-skill: Berate
Sub-skill: Berate [lvl1] (level increase with Unleash rage)
Letting enemies around you know your scorn causing all enemies to lose their will to fight and your main target to lose movement speed. All enemies: -5% DMG Target: -5% Movement speed
Cost: 50% of every rage generated Can only be used while Unleash Rage is active.
Shrugging she sat back down and waited for her fluffy friend to return. Over the time more critters came up to nuzzle her while now and then a new player came up right in front of her. And every time the scene repeated itself as she lost herself to her rage when they tried to attack the critters only to hit her and starting combat only to become a bloody splat on the ground and her money purse gaining quite a bit of funds for a beginning player. As her level and skills rose along taking care of those pesky animal haters. PART 2 Another player started her adventure in the green pastures. Looking around herself in wonder but then freezing as she held her breath at the sight of countless red little eyes looking at her on top of a mass of brownish boulders right next to her. Shakenly lifting her arms with a massive sword as she swallowed loudly looking at the swarm of furry death in front of her. *Bonk* -2 Critical hit! (102/110) An acorn hit her squarely against her forehead. She blinked confused as suddenly a volley of acorns followed and pummeled her to the ground. Death by acorn. The body of the elven girl, as her hair was off to the side to bare the long ear on the other side, bruised and battered by little coin sized spots all over her body like she was taken by a disease. The rabbits made a circle around the body and began their ritual to reclaim the body for their god within the earth while the squirrels resupplied their ammunition. ------ Ruby was taking a nap in her blanket of fluffy woodland creatures under the warm rays of the sun. Waking up after her blanket was moving and nudging on her. Lifting her head stone with the blazing red eyes opening to see the animals trying to wake her and motioning to the mass that was coming from town beyond the field. Hates¡­. Rows and rows of haters. It seemed the animal haters that had attacked her and given her the fair share of money and experience had gotten friends to come kill her. Of course, unknown to her the critters had gotten bold and aggressive due to her raging out and deeming it as territory of their earthen angel they protected their holy site. The critters jumped off her and motioned her to follow as the players began to charge from the distance. Feebly made arrow and magic attacks shoot out from the distance. Fortunately non of these noobs had any offensive skills due to being killed the moment they started their game and the few that dared to try fighting against the dogs were pulverized and eaten alive. Lifting her hand in the air she roared at the people although instinctively activating her rage and berating she was backing away and finally turned and ran as the magic bolts were about to hit her. Following the critters into the woods and behind an old withering tree was a hole into an underground burrow. Looking at the hole as she rubbed her head the hole was so small she doubted she could fit her hand, or what the mass of boulders and stone that made up her hand with. But as she looked around the tree an arrow almost glanced at her. Ducking and tumbling down, her knee hit the hole and suddenly it became wide like a portal and she fell through the earth, feeling gravity suddenly shift as she was flung down a hole then appearing to fly out of the ground where there portal¡¯s other end was at. Landing face first with her behind up in the air on her knees, she groaned ¡°Owww¡­.¡± A deep voice rumbled before her ¡°Welcome peasant, I am glad you know proper etiquette when meeting your betters¡± The sentence was ended with a gagging burp and a fart. Looking up Ruby saw the fattest bunny she could ever imagine. It was bigger than she was and she was the largest possible a player could be but this gargantuan of a critter was like a mountain of fur and fat. It¡¯s belly flowing down between its wiggling limbs like a well-risen dough. Behind it a fluffy ginger long tail like a squirrels was fanning up and down to blow away the putrid smell for other¡¯s to ¡®enjoy¡¯ his magnificent aroma. Upon the bunny¡¯s head was long drooping ears, they were so long you could make out a tent out of them and between them was a magnificent long drill like horn that rose like a spiral and thinned out along its head. ¡°I am the Great Lo -*Blegh* -rd Byron of the Forest above, Dragon of the earth!¡± The mountain of rabbit fat attempted to rise magnificently though only was able to wiggle its thin legs and flapped its ears like Dumbo. Ruby blinked and the only thing on her mind was¡­ CUTE! As she was about to open her mouth and say something the ¡®Dragon¡¯ chortled and farted again. ¡°I see you are stunned in awe due to my magnificence. Good, good. Now champion, the ritual has been completed and the sacrifice has been paid to awaken my¡­. Old Flame. Now you must release the Flame, go now and dig her out.¡± It motioned at a collapsed tunnel behind itself with its horn then looked at the line of critters that was surrounded by their family holding onto them and nuzzling together. Shrugging Ruby got up and walked to the mass of rubble and stone. There was a lot of rock in her way and no tools or skills to mine with. Sighing she began to lift them up until she noticed the color matched her own body then recalled her racial skills and decided to eat the rock in her hand. It tasted like chicken but the texture was like chocolate¡­ Laughing out loud she began to munch and crunch the stone until the whole cave was empty to reveal a glowing neon green root in the middle of a circular room. Within it was a somewhat humanoid figure. Opening its eyes that were glowing dark green it slid itself out through the root. A green glowing sap dripped down the body that stood before Ruby. A gigantic female figure of earth and plants. A buxom demi goddess of nature wearing interwoven branches as a skimpy bikini top and thong to barely hide her goodies. ¡°Mhhhrrr good morning there little girl¡± Bending down she stroked Ruby over the head and continued. ¡°Did my husband send you? About time he let me out, I¡¯ve been so horribly lonely without him and his mighty mhhehehe¡­¡± Biting her lip as she let out a low giggle while petting Ruby, who was now past confused on what she was actually doing, she hadn¡¯t even received any quests. ¡®Yup this was definitely a dream¡¯. Turning around she sighed and lead the giggling and slightly blushed elemental lady towards to the other side of the cave to bunny thing. Coming up to seeing the massive bunny chewing with sickening crunches and drool slipping past the Dragon bunny¡¯s mouth. The line of bunnies seemed to have disappeared while the others were walking away sulking with drooping ears. ¡°Honey I¡¯m back!¡± The goddess shouted as it strutted towards the bunny in a jog that made her form wiggle out of her way too small excuses of clothing. Jumping on the mass of fur and fat. The ¡°Dragon¡± groaned as it was showered in kisses and fondling, especially as her fingers traced around the spiraling groove of its horn. ¡°Quit it out!¡± The Rabbit grumbled like a little boy that was hugged and kissed by its mother. Stopping for a moment. ¡°Of course dear *Mwah!* You are right your little helper deserves a boon for bringing us together again hmmm¡­. Oh here!¡± The strange elemental deity blew some kind of mist towards Ruby. As it got closer and began to coat her body, she noticed it was actually a mass of spores and pollen.
For having been blessed by a minor deity of nature you have gained the skill: Skin of Nature
Skill: Skin of nature [lvl1] 0%
While not wearing armor you may use Skin of Nature to increase your abilities and gain additional statuses depending on the type of plant you wish to grow upon your body. Additional plant types may be gained. The magnitude of the effect depend on the Skin of Nature skill. Stoneoak: Increases Vitality and Toughness with increased Defence. Furyweed: Increases Strength and Agility, physical contact causes targets burning pain like nettles. Greenroot: Increases Intelligence and Mind and increases healing and buffing abilities.
Cost: 50% of maximum health. Cast time: 1 Min Duration: Until dismissed or broken The durability of plants may be mended with the use of Health. If health drops down below 5% the skill is dismissed until it''s cast again.
Looking at the skill in wonder Ruby finally had a way to go with her naturalistic way of fighting. Smiling with her huge maw at the screen as she was suddenly flung towards the portal and woke up with a body of a player underneath her. It was a halfling man that was squashed underneath her large frame. ¡°Whoops¡± Ruby muttered as she laid down on the ground and activated her Skin of Nature. A tingling sensation came from her red glowing veins as thick thorny curled vines began to sprout out of them and covering the glow up entirely except her eyes. Grinning as her Strength and Agility gained a +10 as she looked at her inventory where the basic armor spots were combined into the Furyweed outfit with partial durability of 5/5 and 10/10 for her torso area. It was time to bring on the Fury of Nature to the haters. Activating her Unrelenting Rage while dashing into the night to pummel people who thought to use the poor animals of the meadow and woods for things to be abused. Cries of pain as bones were broken and skin swollen in the burning sensation as strong arms of the golem killed them in the night. Only the red glowing orbs and the name RUBY was there to tell the fools who thought themselves safe in the middle of nature. ---- Publisher''s corner: Well, it seems we have another crazy golem let loose on Insania... Chapter 43 - (Insert new title here) Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! THE DREADED STATS TABLE IS BACK! ANYWAY, after such a long time, here we see how powerful our favorite golem became with the upgrade. Which he will need, since those who follow the FF World Gate online might have noticed that there is a Crossover coming (written by the very own imaginexbreaker), and I don¡¯t want Wargon being much behind the chea*cough*powerful being that Lucas is. ALSO, for those who liked the Ruby fanfiction, the author contacted me saying that there is more coming, going up to part 4 (you might have noticed that the chapter was divided in 2 parts back there), thanks to the good feedback you guys gave the FF! ALSO(2), I will have a side-story I will work on myself, but I still need to add the hook here in the story, which will happen on the next chapter. As always, SS are only after the daily normal chapter OR under certain circumstances like not enough time to write the 4000+ words of the usual chapter. ALSO(3), I noticed some confusion, so I thought I would clarify. The runic path SS happens around the time that Wargon was working on his first set, around chapter 18 or so. ALSO(4), did some slight remodeling on the skill part of the status screen so it won''t be as obnoxiously large and messy as before. If you see any mistake/missing skill, please do warn me. You''ll get cookies! Have a good read! ----- ¡°So, what does the set skill do?¡± I asked Yuu who was happily playing around with the ice spear she made. She blinked surprised before turning to me and nodding. She dismissed her lance and sat in a meditating pose for a while to recover her mana. As soon as she felt she was ready, she summoned a window in front of her, probably the skill¡¯s window, and read it all. For a moment I simply looked at her patiently before remembering that I also got a new skill to test! I quickly opened my status window to search for the skill.
NAME: Wargon (Gondorrer Gravelheart)
TITLE: Pioneer of the crafts
Class tree:Warrior/rogueClass:Skirmisher
Race:GolemGender:Neutral (Male)
Level:15Experience:12%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points:660/660HP regen (out of combat):2/sec
Energy:100/100Energy Regen:11/sec
STR:52(13)TGH:27(13)
AGI:49(13)VIT:51(27)
INT:27MND:46(27)
ATTK:26-29Extra:1 Frostfire damage
DEF170M. Res.:141
Fire resistance:24
Satiety:62/100 (Neutral)
SKILLS: Derivation points (0)
Spoiler : --------Generic skills-------- One-handed Sword Mastery[Intermediate][lvl 1] -Slash (Active) -Stab (Active) -Slice ¡®n dice (Active) -Fencing Dual-wielding mastery [lvl 2] -Whirlwind (Active) Bow Mastery [lvl 8] -Power shot (Active) -Quick shots (Active) -Piercing shot (Active) -Snipe Martial Arts [lvl 4] -Kick -Pummel Shield Mastery [lvl 8] -Bashing - Shield slam* Scale-mail Mastery [lvl 7] Chain-mail Mastery [lvl 8] Leather Mastery [lvl 6] Taunt (Active) [lvl 5] -Focused mockery Nature walking (Active) [lvl 2] (Original) Roll (Active) [lvl8] Recklessness [lvl 2] ---------Class skills-------- Consumables mastery [lvl 1] Tactical Charge (Active) [lvl 1] Retreat (Active) [lvl 1] Ready for anything [lvl 1] UNIQUE Adaptability [lvl 1] -Cycle weapons(active) -Offensive Cycle(active)* ---------Crafting skills-------- Skinning [lvl 9] Mining [lvl 9] Crystal Tinkerer[Intermediate] [lvl 1] Leatherworking [Intermediate][lvl 1] Blacksmithing [Intermediate] [lvl 1] Alchemy [lvl 6] ---------Racials--------- -Nature¡¯s bastion (Active) -Rock Eater -Sedimentary skin (Active) -Nature attuned ---------Equipment skill-------- Ignite Weapon
LOOK AT THAT! LOOK AT DEM NUMBAHS! DEY BE B-E-A-UTIFUL! Sorry, got over-excited back there. And, did the skill-tree become a little more organized or is it just me seeing things? Might be just me. Anyway, it¡¯s the first time since I look at it that there is a class beneath my name. And does it feels good to see that! But it¡¯s not what I came here for today! Let¡¯s go back to what matters! After quickly skimming through the skill list, I found the equipment skill right there at the bottom, and after focusing my mind on it, the window popped up.
Skill: Ignite Weapon (level depends on the gear¡¯s quality)
Ignites your current weapon using the fury of the blazing tails, making the next attack deal all of its damage as raw fire damage. Raw fire damage ignores Def and M.Res, but greatly increases the effect of fire resistance on the attack. (Fire Resistance above 25 ignores this attack)
Cost: 0 energy Cool-down: 60 seconds
I prefer to not comment on this. I fear that anything I say may lead to heavy nerfs. ¡°Here I go, Shishou.¡± Yuu called to me when she was done. She had a cheerful smile while she cast the new skill. This one seemed to be a more powerful skill than the usual, since it seemed that she had to take a long time casting it. Well, long when it came to her, since it was the first time I saw her taking more than two seconds to use a skill in all this time since we met again. Firstly, a ball of fire appeared in the air above her before quickly shaping itself in a conical shape while still burning. Afterwards, some icy mist left her right hand where Aura¡¯s gem was and started to flow towards the fire, where it started to fuse with it, making the fire earn a clear and transparent coloration, as if it was ice itself and forming a solid red-ice core. All the process took around three seconds to become complete, and then she launched it towards nowhere in particular, making it shatter on the ground. And here is where I had a truly mind-breaking experience that made my brain hurt. The outer fire simply shattered, while the inner ice core started to spread around the grass like it was fire before dying down after a few seconds. Telling this to you guys is already strange, do you have any idea on how it feels to actually look at it? As I said, my brain was hurting trying to make logic of this. Luckily, it seems that at the very least I wasn¡¯t the only one who was having a hard time understanding this, as the others looked surprised at the scene too. Even Cygnas and El, who were our professionals in magic. ¡°So, what else does it do?¡± I asked Yuu after some time, making her blink surprised for a moment. ¡°As cool and bizarre that was, I don¡¯t think that is all it does.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ The skill said that the buffs I get from the weapons affects it with three times more potency, but I¡¯m unable to earn them again for ten seconds for each buff used.¡± Hmm, so it is a heavy hitting skill reduces her damage output after using it. The classical double-edged sword. Or double edged spear¡­ Which probably wouldn¡¯t be much of a problem considering how good she is with martial arts. Heck, she would probably use the two sides to deal damage at the same time with a double-edged spear. Oops¡­ I¡¯m deviating from the topic again. ¡°Okay, now it¡¯s my time to shine!¡± I said as I pulled out my sword and shield and thought on which skill to test it. Well, I would have to ignite it before anyway. I quickly activated the skill and my sword burst into flames. I smiled widely as I watched it, and whenever I moved it, a slight trail of flames would appear behind it, making an amazing scene to anyone watching. I turned back to the others who were watching in wonder and smiled mischievously. Okay, now to use this with a flashy skill! ¡­ .. . CYGNAS DAMMIT! I DON¡¯T HAVE A FLASHY SWORD SKILL! NOOO! I need to find a flashy skill soon! Shaking my head, I decided to spend it with my flashiest skill that I can use with the sword, since I¡¯m pretty sure that shield-slam wouldn¡¯t work with the ignite weapons since, well, shield isn¡¯t exactly a weapon. LIES! I KNOW! SWOARD AND BOARD IS THE FIRST DUAL WIELDING!. But I still can¡¯t go against the system. For now. So, my flashiest skill right now was, Offensive cycle! Using the skill in thin air, I made the same combo where I start with a shield-bash followed by a heavy downwards two-handed slash. But this time the blade left a trail of fire behind before exploding into a small pillar of fire at the very end. Afterwards there was the usual triple-shot back-jump and power-shot at the end. Well, me likey the skill. I turned back grinning widely and met with El, Arcus, Lila and Whisi looking at me with their jaws dropped I smiled at mockingly at them, which made Arcus reach-me in a single jump before grabbing me by the shoulders and staring at me with a strange ferocity. ¡°WHAT. WAS. THAT? TEACH. ME!¡± He said each word with a scary intensity to them. ¡°The weapon part is a unique class skill, and the fire part is equipment skill.¡± I told him as I felt my shoulders start hurting. -1 (659/660) Scary! He became shocked for a moment before becoming clearly depressed and walking away from us. After taking some distance he crouched on the ground and started drawing circles in the ground. ¡°And what class exactly are you?¡± El asked after some time. ¡°Skirmisher.¡± I told her. ¡°Specialized in taking out strong foes.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± She said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it before, but I never expected see it for myself. What exactly does it have?¡± I quickly explained her the class¡¯ skills and how it work. Altough she was clearly surprised at the start, she seemed to understand the idea behind it and nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t think I would be able to use that class correctly.¡± She said after some time. I nodded a bit awkwardly. Just as I finished the explaining, my eyes wandered towards the city, where I saw a cat leaving the city and running towards us. I blinked surprised and recognized him as the big cat I met when Lieutenant made his small troop. He made a hasty salute towards us before turning towards Lieutenant and starting to meow something. Lieutenant nodded and took out a mice from his inventory and tossed it towards the cat, who made a salute once again before turning back and running towards the city once again. Lieutenant turned to me and said. ¡°Nyaa-na, nanyaa-nyyna nyyynanyyy, nya-na-na-nya nyyy-aaa.¡± ¡°I see...¡± I said while nodding and turned towards Yuu and Hanbei. ¡°Let¡¯s go, then?¡± The two blinked surprised and looked at me like I was some kind of mad man. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­ Where?¡± They asked me confused. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear Lieutenant? He just said that his minions found the guys I was looking for.¡± They blinked surprised once again and looked strangely at me. Geez, weird people, can¡¯t even understand basic speech. I turned towards Arcus and Co. ¡°So, I guess that this is good bye for now.¡± I said to them. ¡°I see¡­ Until later... I guess¡­¡± Arcus said still depressed in his corner. The girls bade their farewells for now and we left towards the city, following Lieutenant as he guided us through the streets. We were taken to the commercial level, where from time to time Lieutenant would meow, making some cats appear, who would point towards a direction before darting off back to their alleys. Geez, how big did his network grow while I wasn¡¯t looking? Actually, don¡¯t answer that, I¡¯m a bit afraid to know. If I hear something of the likes: your pet has the largest information network in the city, I will go crazy. And I fear that is exactly what was happening. Still, it¡¯s better if I¡¯m not sure of this. It saves me some sanity. As we walked through the streets, we eventually found a small group of four people standing near a vendor, browsing the wares. They were a J?ntunn, a Harpy, a tiger beast-man and a Treant. ¡°So¡­ What¡¯s with all the cats?¡± I heard the beast-man asking his group after looking around for some time. Well, not that I couldn¡¯t blame him, after all, there were at least five alley cats keeping a look at them. When we approached them, all the cats turned to us, making a salute before darting away with their mission done. The group followed the cats¡¯ gaze and turned to us. While three of them were a bit at loss, it seems that the robed treant recognized me, as he said in a mysterious voice. ¡°Why wonder, my friends? For the guide to the blaze is the one before us.¡± Geez, he really is into his role-play, huh? Even his words are cryptic. At least, it seems that it worked to remind them who I was, as Sir Yagver¡¯s eyes widened and he nodded before approaching me. ¡°Wargon! I didn¡¯t recognize you with your new gear!¡± he said while extending his hands. ¡°Sir Yagver, long time no see!¡± ¡°So, what does the god of crafting want with us, mere mortals?¡± He said with a laugh, leaving me confused. ¡°Crafting god?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t spend much time in the forums, do you?¡± he asked me in a good mood. ¡°You are quite the rage in the forums. Until now, there were only four game wide-announcements, and all four of them were from crafting with your name in it!¡± Really? Damn, I¡¯m famous! ¡°Yeah, I usually spend more time playing than staying in the forums.¡± I said with an awkward smile, before shaking my head and looking at him seriously. ¡°Fame and glory aside, I have a new offer for the four of you.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. My words earned me a couple of raised eyebrows as they looked at me with interest. Seems like that our previous encounter left them with a good impression of me. ¡°So, the guide has come to once again take us to new places.¡± Forgotten, the treant said mysteriously. ¡°Will there be another condition like last time?¡± Xredder asked me while crossing his beastly arms. ¡°Kind of.¡± I said while turning towards the girl behind me. ¡°These here are Yuu and Han-chan, my friends.¡± I quickly introduced them. Yuu bowed slightly and Han-chan waved excitedly. ¡°And we found a quest that opens a brand new dungeon. But it recommends a group of six to eight players around level 20 and we don¡¯t exactly meet the requirements when it comes to number of players¡­¡± ¡°A new dungeon? As in the first time it¡¯s being opened?¡± L3nny, the harpy asked. I nodded. ¡°Seems too good to be true¡­ What are your conditions? To keep the loot?¡± She asked me a bit suspicious. ¡°Fool it is, to expect the guide to ask such simple conditions like that.¡± ¡°He is a lot more talkative than the last time, huh?¡± I asked the group while looking at the Treant. They laughed a bit and told me that he became a fan of mine and that was his way to show that he was excited. Sorry bud, but I don¡¯t have anything to write an autograph. ¡°Anyway, the conditions are actually lucrative for you too.¡± I looked around and noticed that a few players were starting to gather around us, wanting to know what we were talking about. ¡°Let¡¯s take a walk while we speak, shall we?¡± The groups nodded and we started to walk, leaving the group behind and giving us some more space and privacy. I thought about taking them towards Melinda¡¯s and have our talk there, but taking so many people at once would be a bit troublesome, so I decided to walk towards the edge of the city, where there are usually a lot less people. ¡°Say¡­ Is that cat with soldier uniform the same one we met on the forest?¡± The harpy asked while looking at Lieutenant. ¡°Yup. I named him Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the third!¡± As I told them his name, they made some awkward faces, probably in awe at my magnificent naming sense. ¡°And the fox in the samurai clothing is something of a very rare version of the blazing tail!¡± I told them while pointing to Aura, who briefly looked up and barked a greeting. ¡°There is a way to transform them into pets?¡± Sir Yagver asked surprised, and I nodded. ¡°To tell the truth, I had a lot of luck with her.¡± I told truthfully. ¡°Anyway, back to the dungeon matters. No, I don¡¯t want all the loot there. Actually, I¡¯m willing to give up my right for the loot completely if you accept my request.¡± As soon as I said this, the three became clearly shocked as they looked at each other for a brief moment. ¡°Of course, the girls will still be rolling for it, since it¡¯s their loot.¡± The group asked for some time so they could discuss it a bit. I gave them some space and waited patiently by petting Aura, who had climbed her way to my arms, and a jealous Yuu who looked angrily at the little fox. After around three minutes, they came back, raised an eyebrow at the scene and said. ¡°We are in. We are still at level 21, since we haven¡¯t played for some time, so doing a dungeon right now is the best option.¡± Sir Yagver said in a nod. ¡°But we want to know what exactly you want us to do and what is your plan.¡± Xredder said afterwards. Fair enough. ¡°What I want you guys to do, is to run the Dungeon twice.¡± I told them while lifting two fingers. ¡°You see, the dungeon have at least two bosses. A machine and a beast one. The first run will be a usual dungeon run so I can complete the quest. But the second time, I want that all of you open hand of the beast-boss loot. That includes both you and the girls.¡± They looked surprised at me for a moment before turning towards the girls. ¡°And why is that?¡± The tiger asked. ¡°I want to get materials from his body, and if I do that, we won¡¯t get loot.¡± I told them the short story. ¡°That material¡­ Are you making new gear for you?¡± L3nny asked me suspicious, and I nodded. ¡°Though I only plan on making a weapon, since I just got myself a very good armor.¡± ¡°Then, I would like to ask you for a new condition.¡± The J?ntunn said suddenly, making the group blink surprised and nod afterwards. ¡°I want you to make something for us too.¡± ¡°Fair enough. I guess I can manage to make a full set for all of you, if you are fine with it. But I will need a third run for that.¡± ¡°Then we have a deal.¡± Yagver said while extending his hand. I gripped it tightly and shook it. ¡°So, when are we leaving?¡± ¡°I Don¡¯t know¡­ Do you have something to do right now?¡± I asked him after some though. ¡°We have a quest to finish right now, but we can leave that for later.¡± The harpy said for them. But I shook my head. ¡°No need for that. I¡¯ve been playing around for a long time and need to take a break anyway, so we can leave that for later.¡± I told them. But it¡¯s true, I¡¯ve been playing non-stop for a good time already. I don¡¯t think that this can be very healthy. ¡°So, how about eight hours real time, or one day in-game sounds?¡± The group looked at each other and nodded. ¡°That is perfect for us.¡± I nodded happily and added them as friends so I could tell when they are online. Afterwards, we left them on their own and walked away. Yuu approached me and asked worried. ¡°Are you leaving, Shishou?¡± ¡°Yeah, I need to take a break some times¡­¡± I said as I looked at them before it suddenly dawned on me. ¡°Wait, is that time fine with the two of you? I mean, you have class and all that! I completely forgot!¡± As I became worried, Han-chan, who had been quiet up to now started laughing loudly. ¡°No need to worry. We have enough attendance to afford a few days without going to class.¡± And as she said that, she passed her arm around Yuu¡¯s waist and pulled her forward. ¡°And Yuu-chan here can pass on Tokyo U¡¯s exam with a perfect score already, so missing a few days isn¡¯t any problem for her!¡± So, not only is she probably very rich, good looking, a sheltered princess, master in martial arts, knows how to cook sushi, she is also a freaking Genius? If my anime-gathered knowledge is correct, Tokyo U is one of the best university in the whole japan! Shouldn¡¯t the test be something around the lines of nearly impossible to ace? I¡¯m not sure, but this is what I would think of it. Anyway, it seems that Yuu really is one heck of a perfect girl! Is there anything she can¡¯t do? ¡°I am sorry for having treated you so badly, Yuuki-san. I will try to be more respectful towards you from now on.¡± I said half-jokingly while bowing to her, leaving her flustered. ¡°Wh-wha? Shishou! Why are you so formal so suddenly?¡± She became worried and tried to lift me. Han-chan was almost bursting into laughter. ¡°So, Yuu, what exactly do you do before getting to Insania?¡± I asked her normally after some time. ¡°Huh? Well¡­ Studied and did martial arts, why?¡± She asked me while cutely tilting her head. I sighed and turned to Hanbei who nodded with a wry smile. ¡°It¡¯s true. She did nothing more besides that.¡± Hanbei said wearily. ¡°She didn¡¯t even know how to use a computer to play when we first met! She was always studying one thing or another! It was to the point that even her family was worried!¡± ¡°Wait. Her family was worried that she studied too much?¡± I asked confused while starting to walk towards the main elevator. ¡°Father and mother? I worried them?¡± Yuu asked shocked, and Hanbei simply nodded. ¡°It was to the point that they wanted to throw a party when Yuu-chan asked for a D-lute!¡± She said making an exaggerated pose. ¡°Heck! If Yuu asks her father to let her skip a day of school he will probably shed tears of joy!¡± Wow. Now THAT is something amazing. I unconsciously petted a confused kitsune, feeling a bit of pity towards her. Although she didn¡¯t understand why at first, she didn¡¯t bother with removing her head from my hand and started to enjoy herself. ¡°Shishou¡­ Where are we going? Were you not going to leave?¡± She asked after some time before adding worried. ¡°Not that I want you to leave! It is not like that! After laughing a bit I said. ¡°I¡¯m going to the cathedral to change my title before I forget. Now that I¡¯m done with my crafting, I can finally put on the title I have been holding on for.¡± ¡°Ooh¡­ And what is that title?¡± Hanbei asked excited. ¡°You will see!¡± I said mysteriously, making her pout annoyed. We reached the main elevator after some time in silence, and took it towards the Cathedral¡¯s level. The girls became surprised when seeing the cathedral for the first time, as they stared wide eyed at it for some time before finally following me. I approached a nearby priest and asked what do I need to do to change titles. He said he would call a bishop to see me, and that I had to wait for a few minutes. I nodded and sat in one of the benches near the front. The girls sat to my right while Aura and Lieutenant sat to my left. For a moment, we sat there in silence and I took the time to write something. After some moments, I noticed Hanbei perking up, as she just remembered something, before looking at Yuu then at me. ¡°Hey, Gon. Where do you live?¡± She asked me. ¡°Brazil¡­ Didn¡¯t I tell you already?¡± I asked confused. ¡°No, no, no. I mean, where in Brazil do you live?¡± She asked. Usually, it¡¯s considered bad manners to ask about real life in online games, but when I think about it, I would say that me and the girls already know a good amount about each other, so it shouldn¡¯t hurt to tell a bit more. And although Yuu kept herself calm and seemingly distracted, I did notice that both her ears turned towards me. ¡°Rio.¡± I said simply, making both of them widen their eyes. ¡°You mean that you live in Rio de Janeiro? The one with Christ the redeemer? Garota de Ipanema, beaches, beautiful girls and so on?¡± Hanbei asked surprised, and for some reason Yuu became slightly sad at the last words. But I shook my head, leaving her confused. ¡°Nope. While I do live in Rio de Janeiro, it¡¯s not the one you are thinking of.¡± Okay! Time for a bit of geography class about Brazil! The two looked at me even more confused, making me chuckle before going on. ¡°You see, there is both the state of Rio de Janeiro. State is kind of like your provinces, if I¡¯m not wrong.¡± The two blinked surprised and nodded. ¡°And there is the capital of the state, which is the city of Rio de Janeiro.¡± The two of them opened their mouths in surprise before nodding while muttering ¡®I see¡¯. After some time, I went on. ¡°I live on another city within the state of Rio. More to the northeast. It is called Campos. It¡¯s big enough to be called a large city, but it doesn¡¯t get nowhere near the capital.¡± I told them in a good mood, before turning to them. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Hanbei blinked surprised and shook her head while saying it was only curiosity, but for some reason Yuu took some more time to answer as she seemed to be focused on something. When she did notice me looking questioningly at her, she flinched in surprise while shaking her head. I wanted to know a bit more about the reason behind the question, but before I could go in inquisition mode, the priest came followed by an important looking man in a white robe. Probably the bishop. Actually, the important looking MAN might be a bit wrong, since he was a large two meters high minotaur wearing a white robe. With a strong looking body and the head of a bull covered in a thick black fur and two large shining white horns. The bishop looked at me and widened his eyes in surprise for a good three seconds before finally shaking his head and recovering himself. ¡°Good afternoon, brothers¡­ Or is it good night?¡± He peeked at the window for a moment. ¡°No matter. So, which one of you want to change his title?¡± I raised myself from the bench and approached him. ¡°Good evenoon, sir.¡± When in doubt, mix the two! The bishop held back a small smile. ¡°I am Gondorrer, and I am the one who want the change of title.¡± ¡°I see. Please, follow-me towards the altar and kneel before it.¡± He pointed towards the main altar in front of us. I followed him and kneeled in front of it, while looking towards the huge statue of Cygnas. ¡°I must remind you, but you can only change your title once every two days. Is that okay with you?¡± ¡°Not a problem.¡± ¡°Good. Then let us begin.¡± Here, I kind of expect him to go to the other side of the altar, where he would do some kind of ritual and then a window would pop in front of me and I would choose my other titles. But I was genuinely shocked by what happened. The bishop kneeled besides me while resting his hand on my shoulders, and said in a voice of prayer. ¡°Oh, great goddess. Me, Preet White-horn, hereby asks you to bless this golem who here wishes to change the road and the name through which he is known. May you hear my pleas and grant him his wish of changing his destiny.¡± A pillar of light shone upon me when his prayers finished, and a list appeared in front of me.
Please, choose the title you wish to equip.
->Pioneer of the Crafts (current)<- Matchmaker The Mad XD Owner of the cutest pet ever ;P (none)
¡­ I really wanted to face-palm at that moment, but managed to hold myself back because it would be disrespectful towards Preet. I quickly chose The Mad because why not, and the pillar disappeared. ¡°Did everything work out alright?¡± Preet asked me, and I nodded. He smiled gently and said. ¡°Then I am glad. If you ever need some more help, please, feel free to come to one of the churches of Cygnas.¡± He said in a gentle tone before turning back and leaving. I turned to the girls and nodded to them. I noticed that Han-chan was holding herself back with the laughter while Yuu looked a bit worried at me. ¡°So¡­ That¡¯s your new title?¡± Han-chan asked while laughing. ¡°Oh, it shows?¡± I asked surprised, and they nodded. ¡°It appear in small letters below your name, but you need to be even closer than you need to see the name.¡± She said while laughing. I nodded. No wonder I didn¡¯t see anyone else with a title. As Yuu tried to convince me to change my title to something less depreciative, and Hanbei was making fun of me and how the title fit me perfectly, another voice came from the silver furred fox between us. ¡°Hey, guys. Aura just got a new title too¡­¡± Cygnas said with a slightly awkward smile. ¡°Really? Which one?¡± I asked curious. Cyg looked at me with a pitying smile and said. ¡°The Sane one.¡± ¡­ Really? ----- (dead) Author''s corner: STATUS TABLE! I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE! Well, table jokes aside, i need an idea for a joke poll. I feel like doing one but have no idea on what to do... If any one have an idea, do post it up, but let''s try to keep it somewhat fair like Aura x Yuu. Chapter 44 - Window-ball strikes back Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! SOME MORE REAL LIFE THIS CHAPTER! ANYWAY, today is a rather short chapter with only 3000 words because if I went on, I would probably have to stop in the middle of something, so I thought that it was just fine. Tomorrow and after probably won¡¯t have any updates. If something, maybe a SS or something of the like. BUT, with some luck, I might convince myself to write something on the few free hours I have and manage to make a single normal chapter in these two days. We¡¯ll see. ALSO, 42nd PLACE ON THE BEST RATED! IT¡¯S LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE! I MEAN, REALLY, THIS IS PRETTY MUCH A WRITE AS I GO STORY! HOW THE HELL DID I GET SUCH A GOOD RANKING? ALSO(2), I have the feeling there is something more to tell you guys, but I can¡¯t really bring it to mind¡­ Hmm¡­ ALSO(3), OKAY GUYS! IT''S JUST OUT! (Insania x World gate) Online Cross over! Give it a look!
Cross over here!
Have a good read! ----- ¡°It said that, for being deeply related to someone who voluntarily uses the title ¡®The Mad¡¯ or other not having previous titles, she earned the title The Sane one.¡± Cygnas explained to us a bit awkwardly. ¡°It makes so that, any negotiation held through her grants all the good bonus of the title The Mad, without any of the bad ones.¡± I blinked a couple of times. Is this the game¡¯s way of telling me that I truly am crazy? And does this mean that I will take Aura with me to make the negotiations for me? Let¡¯s not worry too much about it, shall we? Since I was about to log out, I turned to the girls, seeing Hanbei laughing out loudly. But for some reason Yuu¡¯s ears had drooped and she looked jealously towards Aura. ¡°But¡­ I¡­ Shishou¡­ Longer¡­¡± I heard her muttering sullenly before turning her head away, pouting. I smiled a bit awkwardly before gently petting her head, trying to appease her. She kept pouting even after some time, but the two wagging tails kind of gave away her true mood. But I thought it would be better to keep quiet. ¡°Well¡­ Now that all is gone and done¡­ I guess that I¡¯ll log out for now, and should be back after a couple of hours.¡± I said after some time. Yuu¡¯s mood took a clear turn for worse once again, as her tails dropped down suddenly and she turned to me with slightly upturned eyes. PLEASE! DON¡¯T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! I WILL FEEL GUILTY EVEN IF I DIDN¡¯T DO ANYTHING WRONG! After somehow managing to break away from that super-effective move that could take down even the strongest of the monsters, I took some distance from Yuu before she could land another blow on me and said. ¡°I have to log out because it¡¯s been a long time after lunch already, and I really need to eat something right now. As well as take a nap, which wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea.¡± I told them. Yuu nodded weakly after some time, and Hanbei had to gently pat her in the back. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll see you guys later for the dungeon.¡± I told them just as I chose the option to log out, but¡­ ¡°Just a moment!¡± Cygnas said a bit hurriedly while staring at the air. I stopped and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but she simply lifted her paw as if telling me to wait. Me and the girls looked at each other confused and I shrugged when they started to inquire me about what was happening. I was as much at loss as they were. ¡°Wait for it¡­¡± Cygnas said. ¡°Just one more moment¡­¡± ¡°There!¡±
We hereby announce the first Update of Insania online! V. 1.1.04316c
Due to many requirements, there are three major features in this updates. You can see a brief overview of the updates in here, or you can select the window for more information.
Super-realistic battles:
From now on, players may chose to remove the blessing of the goddess at the cathedrals. By doing so, they will be prone to being affected by more realistic battle-mechanics, which involves from broken bones to bleeding, but these measures will also be applied to your enemies. Some fictional measures will still be kept, as we don¡¯t want level 1 players killing a lvl 300 dragon just because they managed to land a lucky-shot to their eyes. This IS still a game with progression, you know? We will be fine-tuning this feature real time, since we have no real previous data, so forgive-us for any mishaps we may have with this feature. [FOCUS HERE FOR MORE INFO]
Parenting D-lutes:
Taking your young child through a tour on Insania so he/she can have some fun fighting monsters? Or simply so you can travel to interesting places? This feature allows parents to have better control of their child¡¯s D-lute, as having direct access to their menus, as well as granting better methods of localizing them! So you can feel a bit more at ease while you play with your child! [FOCUS HERE FOR MORE INFO]
Insania APP:
As some noticed, Insania have a real-time translating program, so it¡¯s not strange for your new friends to be from different countries, so keeping in contact with them outside the game may be a bit difficult. But with the new App for your cellphones, you can take advantage of the real-time translation while chatting with guild-members and friends, even when logged out! The APP also have other functions, like checking the conditions of active pets, direct access to In-game forum, and much more! [FOCUS HERE FOR MORE INFO]
I blinked surprised with the window that popped up and slowly took my time to read all of them. The Super-realist feature was actually interesting. It seemed to increase the overall difficult of the fights, but it also opened a whole new book of interesting strategies that I could apply to my hunts. I must say that I felt tempted to chose that feature immediately. But I had a dungeon run planned for a short time ahead, and I REALLY don¡¯t want to learn more about it through the hard way. But it would be the very first thing I would do after coming back from the dungeon. After crafting my new weapon, of course. Hmm¡­ Thinking about it, what weapon will I do? I think I¡¯ll change a bit from the usual Sword and shield. Anyway, the second feature was mostly for parents and children who play together, so it didn¡¯t matter much for me. But I guess it would be interesting to tell my father about it. He DID say that he was thinking of playing together with miniature apocalypse. That¡¯s my sister, by the way. And the third feature? Well, really neat actually, this way I could keep in contact with the girls even when one of us is offline. Or so I thought, until¡­ ¡°What is an App?¡± Me, Cygnas and Hanbei fell face-first into the floor when Yuu innocently made the question. I finally understand what anime characters feel when they hear something ridiculous. Hanbei took a long and deep breath as she prepared to explain it to her, but before she could even say something, we saw a flash of light coming from the cathedral behind us. Followed by louds sounds of surprise and worship. Me and the girls were overtook with curiosity and we went back to the cathedral. All the while, Cygnas tails were wagging happily behind her, as if she knew what was happening. Well, no wonder. When we got to the cathedral, the whole area seemed a lot darker than before, but we could clearly see the priests kneeling on the ground, turned towards the altar where the single pillar of light shone upon it. And it wasn¡¯t all, there was the figure of a person slowly descending from the skies. That person had a strange and serene grace to it, that simply wasn¡¯t something that any normal person should have. Her silvery hair was flowing gently, even when there wasn¡¯t any kind of wind blowing in the cathedral. A gentle white aura came from all around her body, but it was discreet enough so we could still get a clear look on her face. But how should I say¡­ For me, all this grandiose simply didn¡¯t match the Cygnas I know. I stole a quick glance to the silver furry fox at my side who was naively wagging her tail and felt that this fits her a lot more. ¡°Oh, Grand Goddess Cygnas. What would make the maker of all come down to this unworthy place?¡± Preet asked, standing at the same distance as the other priests while not daring to look down. Cygnas gave a mystical and gentle smile while looking towards the priests, and took one of her hands towards the middle of her chest before speaking. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°You think too low of this wonderful cathedral, Preet.¡± She said, her voice echoing through the whole cathedral with a serene tone. ¡°I came here, because soon, some of my chosen will come, asking for you to remove a part of my blessing from them.¡± Ooh, so there is even a mini event for the patch? This is awesome! I must admit it. But¡­ This serene and mystical atmosphere was bugging me a whole freaking lot. I made a quick look around, and noticed that everyone, but the girls and me were looking directly towards the ground while kneeling. I smiled mischievously when I noticed that neither of the Cygnas were looking at my direction, and opened a window, made random error window and started crumpling it into a window-ball. The goddess Cygnas floated down from the altar and approached the minotaur, who visibly flinched in worry. ¡°My goddess, why would the Chosen want to remove your wonderful blessing?¡± Preet asked confused. ¡°Oh, Preet. The chosen have their own reasons for doing this, so please, do not resent then.¡± She said in a calm and gentle tone. Meanwhile I was taking position to release my best straight-window-ball. What? Serenity? Grace? Mysticism? I don¡¯t care. I want to have some fun here! And I¡¯m feeling a bit mischievous. Right before throwing the window-ball, I gave fox-Cygnas a light nudge with my feet just to get her to notice me. When she turned to me, her face clearly became shocked and she tried to jump and stop me. But it was far too late, for the ball was already on path towards her other self. The ball landed straight on her forehead. And although I did see her mouth making the shape of someone shouting in surprise, no sound at all came from it, so she must have muted herself at the last second. But I still got to see her spinning a couple of times in the air, stopping upside down and looking at me angrily. The girls looked at me with a mix of surprise and shock while fox-Cygnas grabbed me by the chest and shook me back and forth. Preet probably felt that the sudden silence was strange and started to lift his head slightly, but Cyg managed to blink herself back to her previous position and state just as his gaze landed on her. She gave him a gentle smile as if nothing had happened, which made the bishop look down ashamed of daring to look directly at the goddess. ¡°So, let me teach you how to remove that blessing from them so when they come, you can realize their wishes.¡± Cygnas said while extending her hand towards him, and making a pillar of white light appear around him. By then, I had already done another window-ball and threw it at her. What can I say? It¡¯s fun to tease her! ¡°And with this, I hope that you may be able to help with any kind of wish the Chosen may have.¡± But she was ready for me this time. Right when the ball left my hand, a window-stick appeared in her hand and she spun while swinging the stick like a baseball bat. I didn¡¯t even have time to dodge the window-ball and took it straight to the face, being sent flying a few feet back and out of the Cathedral. She didn¡¯t even change her intonation while swinging the bat! I looked at the silver furred fox standing on my side looking smugly at me. YOU WIN THIS ONE! Ashamed by my defeat, I immediately logged out after standing up and giving my goodbyes to the girls. ¡­ I took out the D-lute from my face and slowly stood up from my bed. My body felt a bit strange from staying in the same position for far too long, so I stretched myself a bit for some time before getting up. A quick look at my watch and I saw that it was around four o¡¯ clock, and taking in consideration that my breakfast was somewhere around at five or six, I don¡¯t remember, it was more than time already for me to have a lunch. No wonder I was this hungry. I went to the kitchen and put on a pre-made lasagna on the microwave before leaving for a quick shower. After having my late lunch, I made some quick calculations and decided that I would have to log in again around midnight or so if I want to get in time for the dungeon, or around ten o¡¯clock since I wanted to improve my stock of items before leaving for a long time. Anyway, that is something to worry later. Firstly, I took my cellphone and let it downloading the Insania App while I called a contact. ¡°Hello, Little Richard!¡± What? Did you forget my name already? Rude. ¡°Booh, dad.¡± I gave him my usual greeting. ¡°So, did you buy the console already?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. I got home half an hour ago and was about to call you to see if there was something I need to do to install it.¡± He told me through the phone sounding a bit excited. ¡°Nah. Just plug in the power and put it into your head. Everything else is really well explained when you turn it on the first time.¡± I told him while sitting in my bed. ¡°But this isn¡¯t what I called you for. You see, since you are taking portable disaster with you¡­¡± ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t say that about your sister!¡± He said, but I could clearly notice he wasn¡¯t serious. ¡°Sure sure. As I was saying, since you are taking ragnar?k junior with you¡­¡± I heard some laughter coming from the other end of the line. ¡°There seems to be a new system to help parents with their children. So I thought you would be interested and maybe take a look at it.¡± ¡°Oh, I see¡­ Is there one to help keeping animals in line?¡± he asked jokingly. ¡°Nah, I asked and there isn¡¯t anything like that for me.¡± Yeah, one of my many nicknames in the house is animal. ¡°Oh well¡­ That¡¯s a shame.¡± He said in a good mood. ¡°So, how is the game now that you played more of it?¡± And here is where I started to tell him of my adventures. From the beginning, to hunting lynx, crafting, the blazing tail, Aura and so on. He seemed specially interested in the races of the game and how the class system works, but he didn¡¯t make many questions. After I finished telling everything I could think of, I suddenly remember of something. ¡°Oh, also, do you remember when I told you that I would get an acquaintance to help you in the character creation?¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah. What about it?¡± He asked surprised. ¡°You actually found someone?¡± ¡°Yup. You see, when you login into the game, there will be a girl with silver hair¡­¡± ¡°Silver? As in white?¡± He stopped me confused. ¡°No. Silver silver.¡± ¡°And a girl?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± I don¡¯t like where this is going¡­ ¡°So, you got yourself a new girlfriend?¡± I KNEW IT! ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Shame¡­¡± ¡°Anyway, she¡¯s an A.I. and she¡¯s my friend. So just tell her that you know Wargon and she¡¯ll give you a hand.¡± ¡°You¡­ Are friends with an A.I.?¡± ¡°Yep. Is there a problem?¡± ¡°¡­ None at all¡­¡± He said in an expressionless voice. ¡°So¡­ Did you meet ANY girl in the game?¡± He asked me mischievously. ¡°Actually¡­ Yes, I did.¡± ¡°¡­ Really?¡± He asked me ¡°MIND BLOWN!¡± I mocked him while laughing. ¡°Okay, so is SHE your girlfriend?¡± ¡°¡­No.¡± ¡°You hesitated!¡± ¡°You are just imagining things.¡± ¡°So, when will you bring her to show me?¡± He¡¯s ignoring me. I¡¯m pretty sure about it. ¡°Look, there is probably no way she will come here because she lives in jap¡­¡± I stopped when something came to my mind. Thinking back at the question they made me when I was at the cathedral¡­ They wouldn¡¯t, right? ¡°Sonny?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Richard? Are you there?¡± ¡°They are coming¡­¡± I said while face-palming myself. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The girls¡­ They are coming to Brazil¡­¡± ¡°Girls? Coming to Brazil?¡± He asked me confused. I sighed loudly before telling him about Yuu and Hanbei, how I met them and what I could from our talks. All the time my father was laughing at me, leaving me a bit embarrassed. ¡°So, you got yourself a girlfriend from japan out of all places?¡± He said tauntingly. ¡°Is she pretty at least?¡± ¡°¡­ If she is just like in the game, then yes.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you lucky?¡± He taunted me once more but stopped suddenly when I heard another voice coming from near him. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll go now, because there is one little girl here who really wants to play her new game. See you in the game, I guess.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ See ya.¡± After I cut off the call, I went to check on the newly installed app and quickly opened it. After typing my login and password, I started to fiddle around with it, searching for all of its function. I soon found the access to my friend-list and could see that the girls were still online, as well as the dungeon group. Argento and Red Hurricane were the only ones who were off. Also¡­ Cygnas arbitrarily added herself to my friend list. And if one day I find her offline, I know there will be something really worrisome happening. I left the app alone for now and quickly set up an alarm for eight PM, and laid back in my bed, falling asleep after a short time. Chapter 45 - Final preparations! Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! A LONG TIME JOKE IS BACK AND HERE TO STAY! ANYWAY, so, I decided to do something a bit interesting, and hereby I announce the very first INSANIA Q&A! Write in the comments which character(Author is also a) you want to make the question to, and what do you want to know. As long as it is not spoilers, They will answer when I post the Q&A, either as a standalone page or together with the next chapter! TWO QUESTIONS PER POSTER ONLY! Don¡¯t want things too hectic. ALSO, well, we lost the third place in the weekly ratings. Kind of sad, but it happens. BUT WE DID REACH 1250 FOLLOWERS! THE CHURCH OF CYGNAS IS A FOURTH OF THE WAYT TOWARDS 5000! HOORAY! ALSO(2), for those who didn¡¯t see it, I¡¯ll post it here once again, but the crossover with World gate online is complete! And I¡¯m planning on doing Wargon¡¯s side of the story later! As stated, the crossover is just a one-shot and non-cannon, so it¡¯s mostly for the fun. I do, however, plan on giving Lucas an honorary Insanian character later on the story.
Cross over here!
Have a good read! ------- I woke up with the blaring sound of rock ¡®n roll playing in my cellphone besides me. Although it should be used to wake me with a shock, I¡¯ve been using this same song for so long that I was already used to it, so I managed to wake up calmly. I sat up upon my bed and scratched my head before turning the alarm off. A quick look at the window and I saw that the sky was already dark. The sleep was a bit too short for me, but I decided that it didn¡¯t matter much. Nothing I wasn¡¯t already used to. Still¡­ I had this really weird dream where a white haired guy came and started killing a level 90 or so golem boss¡­ And he could travel through the worlds or something of the like¡­ Oh well. I went to the bathroom so I could briefly wash my face and ate something before logging back in. There was the usual dark screen, before the login button. I quickly pressed it and immediately crumpled the window into a ball. ¡°HEY GO- WAAHH!¡± I sighed relieved as I saw Cygnas spinning a few times in the air before even finishing her phrase. As always, my revenge is swift, painful and unexpected! ¡°Hi Cyg, how are¡­¡± I went on as usual as she pouted to me, but I blinked as I looked at her. ¡°So¡­ Seems like you are used to being a freezing tail, huh?¡± As I said that she blinked confused and tilted her head slightly. I smiled awkwardly and pointed towards my head and my back. She looked confused at me for a moment before lightly touching her head, feeling the two furry ears atop of her head. Then she looked behind and spotted her three silver tails. She moved her tails a couple of time before turning to me with an awkward smile. ¡°I¡­ Didn¡¯t notice¡­¡± She said while scratching her cheeks cutely. Actually, if I looked closely, the tip of her hair also had a blueish color now. ¡°Okay¡­¡± I said a bit wearily. ¡°So¡­ Anything new I should know about?¡± ¡°Anything¡­ Hmm¡± she stopped to think for a moment, which made her ears fold slightly. Usually, I would refrain from spoiling this Cyg a bit too much, but the fox ears beat my self control and I found myself petting her before she could give me an answer. She blinked surprised at this, but closed her eyes in bliss after a while. ¡°Hmm¡­ This¡­ Feels¡­ Good¡­¡± She said in a dreamy voice while purring lowly. Although I¡¯m pretty sure fox don¡¯t purr, I kept quiet and decided to not say anything. ¡°Oh¡­ Your father and sister made their characters and are playing right now!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°Already?¡± I asked surprised before stopping to think for a moment. ¡°Okay, let me guess¡­ My father made a Barbarian¡­ Wearing plate, probably, and a two handed weapon. Is that right?¡± Cyg looked at me surprised before nodding surprised. How did I know? Well, that is just how my father is. He always liked these old-fashioned manly things like barbarians, Vikings and so on. Heck, half of the books at his house are about medieval warfare and warriors like the story of Arthur and so forth! If he didn¡¯t make a barbarian that would leave me surprised. But for portable doom I can¡¯t be so sure. Knowing her, I would say something around the lines of being cute. Probably a fairy or something of the like¡­ But she is around five years old and is as impulsive as I am, so¡­ Anyway, so they are already playing, huh? I wonder if the two are already in Eldor. Probably not. ¡°Oh, yeah!¡± I said after remembering something. ¡°It seems that I am quite the talk in the forums¡­ So what is up with that?¡± I asked her since I¡¯m not used to browsing the forums. ¡°Hmm¡­ Mostly it¡¯s about people asking around where you are, how you make so many good items and so on.¡± She told me after closing her eyes for a second. ¡°There were even around twelve different players reporting you for hacking.¡± She said strangely cheerful. ¡°That¡­ Is worrying.¡± I said waryly. ¡°Not really. I doubt you would even be able to crack even the first layer of defense I have.¡± She said cheerfuly. ¡°Geez, That was encouraging¡­¡± I said in a deadpan face, but curiosity took the best of me. ¡°So, how many layers of defense do you have?¡± I asked curious. She lifted me ten fingers, before closing her hand and opening again. All the while smiling happily. ¡°Twenty?¡± I asked. I have no idea how these hacking things function, but it sounds a bit too low for me. But she shook her head. ¡°More?¡± She nodded. ¡°One hundred?¡± ¡°Nope. Ten¡­ To the ten.¡± She said cheerfully. It took me some good time for me to process the information. Isn¡¯t that¡­ A hole freaking lot? Just how monstrous is her firewall? ¡°Are¡­ Are you kidding?¡± I asked her a bit shocked. ¡°Yup.¡± She said happily, which made me blink in surprise before feeling a bit disappointed. ¡°You see, I can do real-time management of all the ports and access, besides easily out-performing all the other computers out there with a wide margin, and having more processing power than the usual human¡­ So It¡¯s more of a type-writer trying to hack into a computer than some half-time hacker trying to hack into a game. So it¡¯s simply impossible to happen.¡± She¡­ Is surprisingly smug when it comes to her capacities as an AI, huh? ¡°Okay¡­¡± I said a bit awkwardly. ¡°So¡­ Besides me being famous¡­ Is there something other I should know?¡± I asked. ¡°Like that green-eyes guys?¡± Hmm? Why did she smirk back there? ¡°Well¡­ You see?¡± She giggled slightly. ¡°It seems that he was seen near the red-tails area some time ago.¡± She said cheerfully. Damn, that was close! I almost met up with him¡­ ¡°And lastly there were sightings of him in the general industries sector at Eldor!¡± Okay, I¡¯m leaving Eldor today. Now it¡¯s definitive. Geez, that green eyes guy seems to be following me everywhere I go! ¡°Anything else that is raging on the forums?¡± I asked just to be sure. But this time Cyg made a strange and pained face. ¡°Cyg?¡± I asked worried. ¡°You¡­ See¡­¡± She gulped as she started to form her words. ¡°There are words of a certain¡­ Alfur Death-bringer¡­¡± I blinked surprised. That is quite the name, but why does she look like that? ¡°And he is known for¡­¡± She looked worriedly at me. ¡°Killing NPCs.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± I said. She looked at me pained for a while, and I kind of understood what means. For her, and for me too, the NPCs are a lot more than just some bunch of automated data. She probably wanted to go and stop him immediately, but her job as the regulator of the world stopped her. She shook her head and slapped her cheeks a few times to cheer back up. ¡°Anyway, he¡¯s at a very far place right now, so there is no chance that you or your friends will meet me anytime soon.¡± I smiled a bit awkwardly and patted her some more, which seemed to work to make her a bit more cheerful. Even if only a bit. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ll log in now. So see you in-game?¡± She nodded while smiling, and the world faded to black once again. ¡­ I stretched myself a bit as I looked around and got used back to the feeling of being Wargon again. Sleeping in game is good and all, like that one time at the forest, but sleeping in my bed is still the best. Now, it would be a good idea to resupply myself with some more knifes and arrowheads for the dungeon ahead, so maybe I should mine some more crystals? I think I still have some iron ores¡­ Let¡¯s buy some more while we are at it too. Looking around quickly, I noticed Aura yawning cutely at my side. Probably waking up from having been left in the hibernation like state whenever I log out. Feeling a bit of pity for having woken her up, I picked her in my arms and let her go back to sleep while I made my way back to the main elevator, taking pleasure in the silent afternoon streets near the cathedral.
[Yuu]: Shishou! You are back!
[Me]: Yep, the great me is back and ready to kick some ass!
[Me]: After making some knifes and arrows, of course.
[Han-chan]: Oh, then are you going to the blacksmith?
[Me]: Nah. I¡¯ll pass on the market before.
[Me]: Out of crystals for crafting.
[Yuu]: Then I¡¯ll meet Shishou there!
[Me]: See you there then.
I closed the party chat and made my way towards the elevator while carrying the little sleeping fox in my arms. Hmm¡­ The street on these upper levels were so quiet that I couldn¡¯t even hear a thing while I walked. Heck, if I didn¡¯t know better I would say that I can¡¯t even hear my own steps! Yeah. Right. Very funny. As if something like that would even be possible. I mean, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m that silent to the point that the others won¡¯t notice me, right? I mean, I would probably have surprised other people whenever I walked into then and¡­ WAIT A SECOND!
For constantly muffling your steps as you walk to the point you can¡¯t hear yourself, you have unlocked the stealth sub-skill: Muffled steps WARNING: YOUR CLASS DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE STEALH SKILL, THUS MUFFLED STEPS WILL COUNT AS A SKILL ON ITS OWN. THIS SKILL CAN¡¯T BE DERIVATED NOR PASS THE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
Skill: Muffled steps [lvl3] 83%
Your steps are as silent as a feather landing on the ground, and not even the noisiest of the equipment is capable of changing this. Reduces Armor and Movement noises when in stable grounds by 13% Reduces Armor and Movement noises when in uneven grounds by 6,5% This bonus may increase the slower you move
Passive
...
[Me]: You are joking with me, right?
[Cygnas]: Actually¡­ That was the system¡¯s doing. I did not have a hand in that.
[Cygnas]: Do you remember when you asked me to check your armor back at the beginning because you thought it was a bug?
[Cygnas]: Well¡­ Let¡¯s say it wasn¡¯t a bug at all.
[Me]: ¡­
[Me]: !@#$%^&*
[Cygnas]: Did¡­ You really type those symbols instead of swearing?
[Me]: Yep. ( -.-)
[Cygnas]: I feel that I should comment on something¡­ But I¡¯m not sure on what¡­(^.^¡¯)
I closed this chat window and started walking back to the elevator. And if I wondered if it was possible to walk even quieter than before, now I found out how. If any of you is wondering why I didn¡¯t talk to Cyg through Aura instead, then let me ask this. Would have the courage to wake a napping Aura who is snuggling against your chest without feeling extremely guilty? Well, my heart is made of flesh¡­ Actually, it might be a rock¡­ Heck, do golems even have a heart? Well, whatever it is, is extremely soft and makes me unable to do such a cruel thing. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Well, on the plus side, it did make the walk even quieter and now there was even less of a chance to wake the little freezing tail up. Hmm¡­ But now I wonder why didn¡¯t I get the skill earlier. If I would guess, I probably needed the rogue skill-tree to unlock it. I mean, it does sounds a bit rogue-ish. That is probably the reason why I didn¡¯t get it even earlier. But there was more than enough time for me to get it since I got the class¡­ Maybe it¡¯s because I wasn¡¯t alone for very long? Or never was alone in a quiet place for long enough? The skill did say that that it was ¡®to the point you can¡¯t hear yourself¡¯ so I probably had to notice myself. And why the hell was it up to level three already? I did notice that some of the new skills come with some experience at the beginning. Does previous actions count towards undeveloped skills? This is interesting. As I pondered on these things, I had already arrived at the elevator and took it to the lower floors of the commercial Sector. Right at the exit of the lift, I saw the two girls standing at the exit, and with a single glance I noticed that Yuu had changed her robe for something that looked a bit more like a mix between a martial arts kimono and one of those formal silk ones that woman use. She tied it with a white sash around her waist. ¡°Is that hand-made?¡± I asked her surprised, and she nodded cheerfully. ¡°It looks really good on you.¡± I told her my honest feelings, which made her blush slightly, while Han-chan cheerfully nudged her. But yeah. Somehow the more oriental clothing seemed to fit her a lot more than the usual robes, and in fact, I could see that almost all of the players around were stopping to peek a glance at her. That is some mighty destructive power right there. ¡°Well, time to go window-shopping.¡± I told them cheerfully, and the two nodded cheerfully. We took our path through the streets and elevators until we reached some streets with a larger concentration of players walking around while buying and selling their stuffs. Be it to NPCs or other players. Actually, it was a lot more packed since the last time I came here, which left me slightly surprised. ¡°Looking for group for Misty Marsh. Healer level 23!¡± ¡°Want to buy: Steel ingots! One gold per ten ingots!¡± ¡°Looking for blacksmith to make me a sword! Got materials!¡± ¡°Group looking for level eighteen ranged dps for Norwan¡¯s Cave dungeon!¡± I heard all of those usual things you hear on areas with many players. There were even the usual jokes here and there, but I mostly ignored them. I guided the girls towards the usual stall that I mostly visited here. But I didn¡¯t find his usual stall there, instead, right behind it was a small store with a plaque written: Argento¡¯s Emporium. And in small letters beneath it was: Wargon¡¯s official selling channel. Bloody bastard. He really doesn¡¯t lose the chance to use my name to make some good old gold with it, doesn¡¯t he? I blatantly entered the store without even a second thought and saw a couple of girls standing behind a stand while attending to two lines of clients who waited not so patiently. At least the players, there were some NPCs amongst them, and these seemed a lot calmer as they chatted happily. But there was no sign of the usual gnome around, so I approached the stand and tried to talk with one of the girls, but¡­ ¡°Sorry, sir.¡± She said while shaking her head. ¡°But you must wait in the line for your time.¡± She said in a professional tone. ¡°No, but I don¡¯t want to buy anything, I just want to¡­¡± ¡°Sorry sir, but these are my orders.¡± She kept on with the tone. I sighed loudly and leaned against a wall in the back of the store while holding a fuming Yuu through the collar. I have the feeling that if I let go of her she would freeze the girl right now and then. I picked up the now awaken Aura and put her atop of my head, like the first time that Cyg took control of her and used my free hand to type something in a chat window. I could write using my eyes and focusing on the words, but I found that this way was easier. We didn¡¯t wait for much longer before a door at the back of the store opened, although we couldn¡¯t see what came from it since there was the stand on the way. However, I knew that it was the gnome who came out, because the two attendants looked towards the door surprised before turning to me slightly pale and motioning me to come in. Ah, the power of connections! It feels so good! We came in to a small office like room, with many books and a desk filled with paperwork. There was a gnome sitting in a raised chair on the other side of the desk looking happily at us. ¡°Gon! It¡¯s good to see you again!¡± he said while standing on the chair and extending his hand towards us. I shook his hand and sat at the chair on the other side. ¡°So, what kind of money-making items do you have today for me?¡± ¡°Geez, straight to the point, aren¡¯t we?¡± I asked wryly, but still started to unload my to-sell items on the table. I left all the red-tails daggers, the first blazing-tail sword, that one with low durability, and my old equipment which were obsolete for now. ¡°Well, these are the ones to sell.¡± ¡°You¡­ Never ceases to amaze me, Gon.¡± He said with two gold coins for eyes. ¡°These daggers are almost worth their weight in gold! And this sword¡­¡± he was probably calculating the profit he would have with these. ¡°So, it seems that business have been picking up, right?¡± I asked after looking back at the store. ¡°Yeah. I even hired those two to help me with the desk-job, but it¡¯s still nowhere enough.¡± He said happily. ¡°Your items are the best merchandise I could ever ask for!¡± He looked at me happily, before turning to the girls. ¡°Say, aren¡¯t the two of you interested in giving me a help with the store?¡± He asked straightforwardly. ¡°Of course, I would pay you!¡± The girls blinked in surprise and looked at each other confused on what to do. ¡°Anyway, I didn¡¯t come here only to sell.¡± I said to change the subject. ¡°I¡¯m a bit out of elemental crystals and I want to get some quickly. Also some iron ore, if possible.¡± ¡°Those crystals? Really?¡± He asked surprised, but shrugged it off and went towards the door. He said a few things to the girls at the stand, and after some minutes one of them came in carrying two sacks. One full with ores and other with crystals of all elements. After checking it all, I smiled happily and nodded satisfied. I asked him to deduct from the payment, and I was nine gold coins richer compared to when I came in. ¡°So, for now I¡¯ll go to the blacksmithing sector make me some things. What are you girls going to do meanwhile?¡± I asked them. ¡°Can¡¯t we go with you, Shishou?¡± Yuu asked me. ¡°Well, down there is the closest to hell I¡¯ve ever been, so I¡¯m not sure if you would be able to endure the heat¡­¡± I said wryly, and Yuu nodded sadly. ¡°Why don¡¯t we try helping with the store?¡± Han-chan said happily, making Argento perk-up in expectation. ¡°It would be a good chance to do something slightly different, right?¡± So, in the end, the two girls became temporary attendees at Argento¡¯s emporium while I went to Torg¡¯s and started crafting some more throwing knives and arrows. I also decided to use steel instead of iron to see if I could use a bit more of damage out of them. And I actually did get something shiny, as the steel arrows had a +1 damage to them! I spent all my ores and crystals making everything, and around three hours had passed by the time I finished. I did go all the way to make a full set of normal steel arrows so I wouldn¡¯t run out middle-dungeon, but this left me oreless once again. Feeling satisfied with my work, I went back to the commercial sector and decided to check on the girls while we waited the last hours before the time we marked with Yagver. And somehow the store seemed even more packed now than before, and the four girls were hastily running behind the stand while picking and selling the items. And the guys were pretty obvious that they came here to see the two new additions, as they didn¡¯t even try to hide the fact they were staring at the girls. Heck, even Lieutenant had appeared and was helping around by keeping the order and slashing at anyone who tried to cut the line. The girls cheered up on noticing me, but quickly went back to their works as attendees before the number of clients climbed up even more. I was almost sure I could hear a certain gnome laughing cheerfully back at his office. I squeezed myself through the crowd just in time to see a guy jumping cheerfully as he carried one of the Red-tails dagger I made. Luckily, most of the players would simply ignore each other and not really focus on getting each-other¡¯s name, so I bathed in the fact that no one here knew who I am. Seeing as we still had more than enough time, I decided to help the girls by managing the inventory and fetching up the items they needed, this way I wouldn¡¯t stand out in the open for too long and still help a bit. And boy, was it an hectic work. I didn¡¯t even had time to go and sort out the items, and had to keep running back and forth while bringing this sword or that armor. Of course, the most sold items were kept in the store itself, but even then, I had to pick a lot of the merchandise on the backside of the store that worked as some kind of warehouse. We kept at it, keeping the cash flowing in for a good time, and only around two hours later, when night fell, that we ran out of items to sell and the NPCs stopped coming altogether. We closed up the shop and we all fell down on the ground exhausted. ¡°That¡­ Was¡­ Tiring¡­¡± Yuu said while leaning her back on the wall. ¡°Well¡­ At least it was¡­ Fun¡­¡± Han-chan said with a small smile in her face. ¡°It was¡­ different¡­¡± ¡°Not my smartest idea¡­¡± I gave my opinion to the conversation. We rested around for a bit longer before deciding to leave and eat at a restaurant or something of the like as a commemoration before leaving. The girls seemed to like the idea and we immediately left the store and looked around for it. We found one close to the Silver Gauntlet, two blocks away from the guild on the same outer street. Sitting at a table on the outside of the shop so we could enjoy the breeze, a young dwarf girl came to take our order while bringing a menu written in some kind of leathery scroll. Me and the girls chose something and waited patiently for our orders. Meanwhile, I finally asked what I had in my mind. ¡°So¡­ When is it?¡± I asked the two suddenly. They looked at me a bit confused for a moment, but after a moment Yuu started to blush furiously and looked away while saying in an incredibly flustered tone. ¡°W-Wh-When is wh-what? Shi-shi-shishou?¡± Her tails were standing straight up and her ears were perfectly perked. Her eyes would wander slightly towards me from time to time before looking away. She looks so cute when she is lying¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but want to tease her a little more. ¡°You do know what I¡¯m talking about¡­¡± I said in a fake serious tone. ¡°I-I-I have n-n-no idea¡­¡± She said while fidgeting around in her chair. I squinted my eyes at her for a moment, which made her shiver slightly. In the end Han-chan sighed out loudly with a ¡®we¡¯ve been caught¡¯ smile and shrugged. ¡°Give up, Yuu-chan. We were too obvious.¡± She said while patting her shoulder, and Yuu¡¯s ears and tails fell down immediately. ¡°Father¡­ Have a business meeting in Brazil this weekend.¡± Yuu said a bit sullenly. ¡°And we have a holiday next Thursday.¡± ¡°So, we decided to get a lift and visit you meanwhile!¡± Han-chan said cheerfully. Me? I was a bit too shocked to process all of this information. So, they are coming here next weekend? Isn¡¯t that a bit too soon? Heck, do they even have a passport already? What about plane tickets? ¡°And since we already have our passports, we only need to buy our tickets!¡± Han-chan said cheerfully as if reading my mind. But Yuu immediately corrected her. ¡°Actually, we are taking father¡¯s private jet since its simpler.¡± She told her friend as if she was answering a question about the weather. ¡°Then it¡¯s even easier!¡± Han-chan said cheerfully. So, Yuu¡¯s family have a private jet? Like, A FREAKING PRIVATE JET? The kind that costs a few millions? I mean, I kind of knew that she was rich, but isn¡¯t this a bit too much? I looked surprised at the Kitsune sitting at the table with me, and I couldn¡¯t help but feel that I might be a bit over my head by having met her. Chapter 46 - Starting with a blast! Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! Reaching the dungeons we are, epic fights we expect! ANYWAY, for some reason this chapter just refused to come out of my head, and I spent a lot more time than usual making it¡­ Hope it still is in good quality. ALSO, I¡¯m a bit surprised that there weren¡¯t all that many questions for the Q&A. Well, it happens, so I¡¯m posting them here at this chapters end. ALSO(2), for the dungeons fight, I will probably be nowhere near as detailed as the usual. And it¡¯s not because it bothers me nor anything of the like, but more that there will be simply so many things to keep track, with so many players hitting and being hit that if I were to write everything that happened would take me a good ten chapters before we even reach the first boss, so yeah. ALSO(3), there is a slightly specific joke in this chapter. I wonder how many will actually get it. ALSO(4), as a random rant, I started a new character in MH4U, called him Wargon and made his Palico called Lieutenant. So yeah. Have a good read! ----- I rubbed my head slightly, feeling a bit light-headed with this important information that I just got. So, Yuu¡¯s princess level is a lot higher than what I expected. To the point that she says that she will take her father¡¯s jet as one would say that he would get a lift with a friend to a nearby city. It¡¯s actually a bit scary the fact that these two plan on coming to meet me in a couple of days in real life. On the other hand, it would take a couple of weeks in-game, which gives me a bit more time to organize my thoughts. I shook my head briefly so I could turn my focus back to the two girls and asked. ¡°So, the two of you plan to come during next weekend, right?¡± I asked in confirmation, and the two nodded. ¡°Do any of you at least know how to speak Portuguese?¡± If Yuu turned to me and said that she knows¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be surprised, to tell the truth. I¡¯m kind of expecting her to know pretty much anything that is not technology related by this point. But much to my surprise, she actually shook her head before looking towards Han-chan. Han-chan smiled a bit shyly and said. ¡°I¡­ Actually know a bit of Portuguese, to tell the truth¡­¡± She said shyly. ¡°Since mother travels a lot, I ended up learning many different languages¡­¡± I actually was surprised for a moment before going on. ¡°And how good are you with Portuguese actually?¡± I asked her. ¡°Well¡­ Not very good, actually.¡± She admitted while lowering her head embarrassed. ¡°It¡¯s one of the languages I studied the least¡­ But it¡¯s still enough to hold a brief conversation!¡± I let out a long sigh. These two didn¡¯t actually think this very thoroughly, did they? Still, from what I got these two are actually very studious, so maybe¡­ ¡°What about English? Can you speak it fine?¡± The two looked at each other surprised for a moment, before nodding cheerfully. It seems that they understood my idea. Since we couldn¡¯t speak each other¡¯s language, we could just speak another language that the three of us know! And what better language than English when it comes to most widely spread? Not that I speak that many languages, though. ¡°I could do some real time translation through the App, you know?¡± We heard Cyg talking. I looked surprised to her, who was curled up in my lap. She looked up to me and said. ¡°If the three of you download the app, I could process the speech in real time.¡± The three of us blinked surprised at those words and looked at her. The three of us didn¡¯t even think of this, and truly, if it is as good as it¡¯s in-game, then it would be the easiest solution. But wouldn¡¯t it be troublesome for her to go and keep translating for us? Naah, it is Cygnas. She would probably do it even with one tenth of her processing power. ¡°I¡­ Would like to speak with Shishou directly¡­¡± Yuu said in a low voice, while pouting slightly. ¡°I see¡­¡± Cygnas said while nodding slowly. ¡°English it is then.¡± She shrugged it off before curling up in my lap again and using her paws to pull my hand to her head so I could start petting her. I sighed wryly and started petting her mindlessly while I looked back to the girls. ¡°Okay then¡­ So, what are your plans exactly on coming here?¡± I asked them, and they looked at each other a bit surprised. ¡°Meet you?¡± Hanbei said slightly confused, as if it was the most obvious answer. I must say that it left me slightly emotional hearing her say that, but it wasn¡¯t exactly the answer that I was looking for. ¡°I meant, where you are staying, if you are going somewhere, how you will get here and so on.¡± I explained them my question a bit better, and this made the two stop to think for a moment. ¡°We¡­ Did not actually think that.¡± Yuu admitted. ¡°Maybe we¡­¡± She started to say something, but blushed heavily before shaking her head ¡°Maybe go to an Hotel nearby where you live, Shishou?¡± Hmm¡­ I wonder what her first idea was that she dismissed it so quickly. Just as I thought that, Hanbei nudged Yuu with her elbow while smiling mischievously. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say it?¡± She said with a smile before clearing her throat and saying in a voice similar to Yuu¡¯s. ¡°Shishou! Maybe we could stay at your house?¡± I blinked surprised at this and watched as Yuu turned to a brand new shade of red. If I squinted my eyes I could even see the smoke leaving through her ears as she turned to Hanbei and started to swing her arms around while trying to say something. A flustered Yuu is also a good sight from time to time, I thought while smiling at the scene. ¡°That would actually be a good idea.¡± I told them after some time, making the two stop and look at me surprised. ¡°Personally, I wouldn¡¯t have a problem with that.¡± I told them. Huh? Hidden intentions? None whatsoever. ¡°That way you could have easy contact with someone from the area, as well as save money from having to pay for a hotel or renting a house.¡± The two looked surprised at each other and then back to me. ¡°Then¡­ We actually can stay at your house?¡± Hanbei asked me surprised. ¡°Staying¡­ Same house¡­ Shishou¡­¡± Yuu was off to her own delusions, which made me smile wryly for a moment before shaking my head. ¡°That won¡¯t be possible.¡± I said while shaking my head, making the two blink in surprise. Hanbei made a mischievous smile and prepared so say something, but I stopped. ¡°And no. Before you say it, it¡¯s not because I¡¯m embarrassed.¡± I stopped her before she made her joke. And it¡¯s not like I¡¯m completely unaffected by the fact that I would share my house with two pretty girls, it¡¯s just that it¡¯s not the reason. I¡¯m not exactly completely oblivious to the opposite sex, you know? ¡°You see, my apartment is really small. If it were one of you alone, maybe we could work it out. But the three of us together just wouldn¡¯t fit in the house.¡± I explained to them. ¡°Wait. Shishou lives alone?¡± Yuu asked surprised while looking at me completely shocked. ¡°It¡¯s more of a surviving alone, but yeah.¡± I said playfully. Really, there was nothing in my house. Only the bare minimum to survive. There is also a computer, of course. My father lives nearby, so I do not really need to worry much about my necessities as anything I need I just go and pay him a visit. The two looked at each other a bit confused, but before they could say anything else, the dwarf waiter came bringing us our orders, so we started eating. As we ate, the girls kept asking me a few other questions, like where I live, the name of the apartment and so on. In the end, what they arbitrarily decided was that they would rent another apartment in the same building I live. Yuu even stopped to write something in a window. Probably a message to her father or something. Why do I have this feeling that I just dug my own deep grave? Must be just my imagination. We enjoyed our extra expensive dinner, which costs us a whole gold coin worth of money. Now I remember that Melinda told us that food and lodging is a bit on the expensive side in this city, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be this bad. At least the quality is worth the price. By the time we finished this whole dinner, I received a message from Yagver, telling us to meet at the entrance of the city. Me and the girls nodded to each other and left the restaurant after paying. On our way towards the main-elevator, we passed through what had now become the main trade area for players, which pretty much means that half of the players in a twenty kilometers radius were found in here, so the chaos of player trading, looking for groups and so on was omnipresent. ¡°This area sure is full¡­¡± Yuu said as she dodged an incoming passerby. ¡°Are all games this chaotic, Shishou?¡± I looked around while examining the area. ¡°Compared to some older games? This is nothing.¡± I said while remembering my days of playing MMOs, where at every expansion the main cities would be simply too packed for you to even be able to walk without lagging. But if I take a better look at the scene, its no wonder that it isn¡¯t as full as the other games. Usually, other games would condense the city to its basic player-needed parts, like shops, armor smiths, class trainers and so on. And usually, only one of each. Insania different, in that this was just like the usual city. There were streets for houses, facilities that most players would never use. There were even many shops specialized in the same things, which would make no sense on games, but fit in a real-life like situation. Still, seeing so many players together made me want to do something a bit mischievous. Still, how many people would get this joke? Well, let¡¯s try it anyway. I motioned for the girls to wait for me at the elevator and turned back to the market. I walked until I was right in the middle of everything and entered into an alley after looking around just to be sure that no one was looking at me. As soon as I was out of sight, I breathed deeply and shouted out loud. ¡°DID I HEAR SOMEONE SAY, [Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker]?¡± As soon as I shouted that, the whole area suddenly became quiet. As I was hiding, I couldn¡¯t see the face of the players as they processed the information. I became a bit depressed by the lack of reaction, but just as I started to sulk¡­ ¡°WANT TO BUY, [Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker], PAYING TWO SILVERS!¡± ¡°I HAVE [Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker], NOT TRADING!¡± ¡°I DUAL WIELD [Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker], YOU LOSERS!¡± ¡°[Warglaive of Azzinoth], BOTH OF THEM, TAKE THAT!¡± The sweet sound of chaos. Looks like that a good amount of people here played the same game I played, and soon everyone around was shouting the weapon¡¯s name. Even if they had no idea what it was. I¡¯m pretty sure that not everyone understood that joke, but what matters is that I had my fun. I left back to the elevator through another way just to make sure that the few players who didn¡¯t like my little joke wouldn¡¯t find me out. When I reached the elevator, I found a confused Yuu and face-palming Hanbei. So, Hanbei got the joke, huh? We quickly reached the exit, of the city after a few minutes, and found the group standing there, waiting for us. I greeted Yagver from afar when he saw me. ¡°So, are you all ready?¡± He asked us when we got close enough . I looked at the girls and we all nodded. ¡°Nice. So can we get to the killing already?¡± Xredder asked while crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s get going then!¡± I said while nodding. ¡°And how do you get there?¡± The harpy asked me a with a raised eyebrow, and I answered with a smirk while picking a crystal circle from my inventory. ¡°All we need to do is to point this to the sun, and then it will point us towards the dungeon. Cool huh?¡± I said proudly with a smile. But, why is no one saying anything? I looked around and saw that everyone was looking at me with a slightly awkward smile, and even Xredder was looking away from me. ¡°Gon¡­¡± Hanbei said while approaching me and gently putting her hand on my shoulder. ¡°You do know that it¡¯s the beginning of the night, right?¡± ¡­ CYGNASDAMMIT! HOW THE HELL DID I MISS THAT? I fell on all fours and started hitting the ground in frustration. BASIC COMMON SENSES! WHY DO YOU KEEP FAILING ME SO? ¡°Wonderful. Now we have to wait here until morning, huh?¡± Xredder said filled with sarcasm. I stayed in the ground for a few more moments as the whole group was filled with an awkward feeling created by such a simple mistake. It took me almost a whole minute before I got up and said. ¡°There is another way¡­¡± I said in a slightly heartbroken tone. The whole group looked at me with a slightly pitying eyes, as if I was an addicted gambler who kept swearing that I would earn the next game. But I did have a way to find the dungeon. ¡°Arkhoss, I know you are there!. Come here for a moment.¡± I shouted towards the sky, making Yagver¡¯s group think that I¡¯m going crazy. ¡°WHO SEEKS THE GOD OF CHAOS?¡± The ethereal voice came from the whole area around us. Yagver¡¯s group immediately jumped to action by gathering around the tank and he took out his shield preparing for a sudden attack. I must admit that, although a bit useless, their reactions were impressive. As they looked around alarmed, the air in front of us shimmered as the suit-wearing man appeared in front of us with an angry frown in his face. He looked around until his eyesight fell upon me, and then he raised his eyebrow and looked at me slightly confused. ¡°So¡­ Which way to the cave?¡± I asked him going directly to the point. He sighed loudly and pointed towards a direction before saying. ¡°That way. But you could have used the Crystal too, you know?¡± ¡°Kind of difficult when it¡¯s night¡­¡± I said a bit awkwardly and received a sigh before the god poofed out of existence. I turned towards the others and said. ¡°So, let¡¯s go then?¡± The four looked at me in a mix of shock and confusion as me, the girls, Aura and Lieutenant simply walked in the direction that Arkhoss pointed us. It was only after we had taken a certain distance that they recovered and came running to reach us. ¡°What¡­ What was that?¡± Yagver asked me confused. ¡°That?¡± I asked slightly confused. ¡°I just called my quest-giver so he could point me to the right direction.¡± I told him. ¡°So you are saying¡­ That you called a god just to get some directions?¡± Xredder asked me. ¡°Something like that?¡± It would be funny if they discovered that Cygnas is actually my pet, but lets keep quiet for now. We started walking towards the direction he pointed us. Since we didn¡¯t have much idea on how long it would take for us to reach the dungeon, we started talking a bit about our fighting techniques and what our roles would be in the dungeon. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Firstly, since Yuu was our only magician, we decided to leave her with the task of attacking the enemies with magic only. It was actually a bit funny when I explained to the guys that Yuu was as good on melee as she was with magic, as they didn¡¯t believe me. Until Yagver jokingly said to let her fight against Xredder, who also knows martial arts, but the tiger refused immediately. ¡°There is no way I¡¯m getting into a fight with someone like her.¡± He said with some slight fear in his voice ¡°I can see from the way that she moves, and there is no way that I will get a fair fight unless I¡¯m at least ten levels above her!¡± The other three looked surprised to the tiger before turning to a smiling Yuu, looking at her like they just saw some kind of magical being. Setting on the fact that Yuu would be the main source of magic and wide range damage dealer, we went towards Han-chan next. According to her, it seems that her best attacks all involve some charge up time, and since her main resource is rage, she spend her time in two stages. Generating rage, and charging attacks. Although she could use the air-slashes to generate some rage, it seems that direct hits are more effective. So we decided to pair her up with Xredder who was their main damage dealer. Different from her, he was specialized on constant damage output with some kind of combo system for his skills. Next was Forgotten. According to the others, since everything he said would take a few seconds to be decoded, so we mostly ignored his words. It seems that he specializes on spammable, but weak heals, so we should avoid getting big hits in, but low and constant damage isn¡¯t much of a problem. As he was our only healer, we didn¡¯t have much of a discussion about his role. Next was L3nny. The harpy uses a crossbow as her weapon, and it seems that most of her attacks involve long-ranged heavy-damage. After comparing her raw damage with all of ours she confirmed the fact that her damage is easily the highest of all of us, but her damage is mostly single target and have a low attack rate. Sir Yagver was a heavy duty tanker, focusing more on using his tower shield to block the attacks than avoiding them all together. Although this means that heavier attacks still eat through his health, it still fits just fine with Forgotten¡¯s healing style. Lastly, there was me with my more than indefinite fighting style. After briefly explaining them how it works and so on, we decided that I would keep alternating between an evasive off-tank and a damage dealer according to what the situation requires. Since I could use two different weapons, I decided to leave my two sets of weapons as the Sword and shield for tanking and the bow for damage dealing. Why the bow you ask? With Han-chan and Xredder already being melees, it might be a bit cramped against smaller enemies, so being a long-ranged damage dealer might make it easier for me to attack, besides the fact that I find it easier to use the arrows rather than the knives for the special effects. So, our party configuration was something along these lines. Yuu is responsible for wide area ranged attacks, Han-chan and Xredder are our front-line warriors responsible for damage dealing to the enemies. L3nny is our assassin, responsible for killing high priority enemies with her heavy but slow damage. Forgotten and Yagver have their position pretty much defined as tank and healers, while I keep going back and forth between helping Yagver or L3nny. I kind of feel like one of those boys responsible for the odd-jobs. We walked almost through the whole night, up to the point that it even began to dawn. We took this chance to actually point the crystal towards the sun and check on where the dungeon actually was. As soon as we pointed towards the sun, it started to shine in a light blue light before a beam shot towards a nearby mountain. We quickly corrected our direction and started to walk towards it. I was getting a bit excited since this is my first dungeon in this game, and even if I wasn¡¯t the main tank, it was still a bit worrying. Luckily, it seems that I wasn¡¯t the only one nervous, as all the others were getting a bit shaky with excitement. It seems that now that they knew that a god gave the quest to me, they started to take it a bit more seriously. We camped at the base of the mountain, where I let Aura make us a breakfast and started to give a last check on all my gear, as well as passing half of my throwing knives to Lieutenant. I made around forty of each, and I could only hope that it¡¯s enough for the three runs. As the Yagver and Co. looked shocked as Aura started to cut a few vegetables and bread, I noticed Yuu and Hanbei getting a bit fidgety besides me. ¡°What, nervous for the dungeon?¡± I asked with an obviously fake confidence. ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯s our first true dungeon.¡± Han-chan said a bit nervous. ¡°First¡­ True dungeon?¡± I asked confused by her words. ¡°Do you remember how I said that we went on a dungeon before meeting you?¡± She asked me, and I nodded as something like that was mentioned before. ¡°Well, it was actually a pretty small and easy dungeon. We didn¡¯t even need a tank for it, so it was mostly a slightly stronger area rather than anything.¡± Oh, so there are various type of dungeons? I see¡­ Now it makes sense why the quest gave both the number of players as well as the levels. So there are dungeons made for different sized groups, huh? As we started to make our final preparations, I decided to re-arrange my inventory so that I could pick the elemental arrows and knives with a faster motion when opening the window. When the Harpy saw my special arrow-heads, she asked me what they were and I gave her a quick explanation. She showed some interest in using these arrows, but they were far too long for her crossbow, that used shorter but bulkier arrows as ammunition. I thought about simply removing the arrowhead and exchanging with one of hers, but it simply didn¡¯t fit, so we left it alone for now. I still passed her some of my flash-bangs in case of emergency. I also gave a couple to Yagver, since he had more experience in dungeoning than me. Finishing our preparations, we had our breakfast of sandwiches and started climbing the mountain. After getting around a quarter of the way up, we started to see some places where the ground was pierced by crystals spikes here and there. Even some of the usual monsters that came to attack us when we were traveling now started to have a light blue aura around them. Some of the stronger ones even had one claw or fang made of crystal. And if we landed a hit on the crystal part, it would shatter and stun the monster for a moment before they ran away from us. It was a strange sight, but we left it alone since these mobs were mostly level fourteen and didn¡¯t give us much. And this is coming from a level fifteen¡­ Oh well. Leaving it alone for now, we quickly reached an area that had a few more crystals than before, almost as if making a trail for us to follow. Which, surprise surprise! Matched with the direction we had to go. The more we advanced, the more crystals appeared as well as less monsters. When we looked closely, there were even a few pieces of bricks and some broken walls. After some time, even the very air around us started to become slightly more contaminated by the crystals, as everything began to have a slightly blue hue. Luckily, Arkhoss told us that this isn¡¯t very dangerous for us, so I wasn¡¯t very bothered by it. He did say that it was safe, right? I really hope so. If we took a slightly more careful look, there was even the trace of an old beaten path, covered with a bit of short vegetation here and there. We decided to follow the path since it went in the same direction of the beam. And finally, we reached the entrance of the Dungeon. There was a large engraved stone circle covering the entrance of a cave. Some symbols were pulsating slightly against its surface, giving an ominous glow that was pretty much screaming dangerous. In its middle was a circular slot that was clearly made for the circular crystal in my hand. I smiled a bit awkwardly over this clich¨¦ situation and approached the door and put the crystal in the middle slot. As soon as I did that, the whole glow of the stone started to gather around the crystal, which started to shine even brighter. I turned towards Yuu and said in a smug voice. ¡°And this is the part where the stone slide into the wall opening the passage!¡± Yuu looked at me with some admiration, and I smiled proudly, while turning back to the stone that was starting to shake slightly. Putting on my best majestic pose, I looked at it and said in a deep tone. ¡°OPEN SESAME!¡± And here, is where the passage opened. The shine started to become even more intense, the stone started to rumble and even a few cracks started to appear in its surface. Geez, the mechanism sure is faulty, huh? And after a few seconds, it suddenly stopped. But instead of sliding, the stone started to bloat up, and by the time I noticed that something was going horribly wrong, it was to late. The stone exploded in my face, throwing me back a good ten meters and sliding a couple more meters face-first in the ground, before tumbling through a small decline. I spent a good few minutes simply laying there as my whole body screamed in pain and my health bar was flashing the number thirteen in a deep red color. When rescue finally arrived, I turned to the group and said in a low voice. ¡°You all saw nothing!¡± They all nodded awkwardly, probably without words for the fact that I almost died before even opening the dungeon. ----- Hello hello, and welcome to the very first, INSANIA Q & A! Here we are taking your questions for the characters and answer them! I will be your host, the author! O could go on and on here with me showing how much of a big-shot I am, but time is short, so lets get straight into the questions! Questions by tomolone: ¡°Cygnas, how do we profit in joining the Cygnas cult?¡± ¡°A cult¡­ Outside Insania? I need to have to chat a little with the author later¡­¡± She sighs. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I am worthy of having a cult outside of the game, but I will try to at least help whoever needs, as long as its within my capacities.¡± She said in a bright smile. Okay, next question before she notices I¡¯m close-by. Still by Tomolone: ¡°Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the third, How large is your information network?¡± ¡°Nya, nyyy-aaa, na nyaa-ny. Nyaaow nyaa naa. Nyanananyana nayaaa!¡± He said while leaning forward confidently. (For now, we encompass the whole commercial sector, half of the general industries and the lower residential. We are in a war against two other groups that rule the remaining city. However, I have a plan to put an end to this battle soon.) Translation added for your own convenience. Now, since we have a lack of questions, I¡¯ll allow this third one to pass this time. Tomolone: ¡°what happened to DaddyLovesCygnas?¡± He is actually in his quest right now for the light goddess in game, while offline he monitors the data he receives from Cygnas and Wargon¡¯s relationship. Okay, Next questions! Sablecaballero to Cyg: ¡°Why haven''t you smote Wargon yet? I''m pretty sure he has earned it¡± ¡°Well... The official reason is because I¡¯m a merciful goddess who forgives.¡± She said with a gentle smile, before looking around and adding with a mischievous smile. ¡°The REAL fact, is that its simply not fun to repay him using my powers, besides being much funnier to repay him with his own coin!¡± Luckily, he didn¡¯t hear that one¡­ Still Sable to Cyg: ¡°Now that Aura has been around Wargon for a bit, what does she think of him? I''m pretty sure it has changed since the time they fought (Specially now that she is "the sane one" xD)¡± ¡°Although I feel a bit awkward by answering a persona question for another, since she gave me permission, here are her thoughts.¡± She takes a deep breath before answering. ¡°Initially, she found Gon to be some kind of all-powerful savior and master. But after spending some time with him, she sees him as a foolish friend that pays a bit too much attention to the other fox, but still cares deeply for her. She says that she even likes the real him more than her first image of him, as it¡¯s a lot more approachable.¡± Aura barks in the background, agreeing with Cygnas. Geez, isn¡¯t that touching? Before we get too emotional, on to the next one! By imaginexbreaker: ¡°Han-chan, when are you joining Wargon''s harem? Haha¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I really don¡¯t see Gon that way.¡± She said after thinking for a bit. ¡°I mean, he is a fun friend to be with and I do like him, but not in that meaning. You see, I actually like my men more¡­ Mature, like Goulder-san.¡± She said while blushing and looking away. ¡­ I will hold myself back on commenting. Next question! l0gin4me to Cyg: ¡°If Wargon hatches a pet fresh from an egg, would you stop sharing Aura''s body and move to the new pet? If yes and you could choose the egg, what kind of pet would you be?¡± ¡°Yep!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°Before leaving the egg, the pets don¡¯t have a personality, so it wouldn¡¯t feel as bad as taking the body of a mature pet like Aura. But now, for what kind of pet¡­¡± Then she stops to think for a moment. ¡°Body shape doesn¡¯t really bothers me, so I guess something cute? Or cool, like a dragon! Being cool is also nice!¡± She said with a bright and defiant smile. *Tries to think of Cyg as a cool silver-scaled dragon. Fails miserably, stuck at the cute part.* Next, griix to¡­ Me, I guess? ¡°are the other 3 of your friends in the story, your friends IRL?¡± Yep. I made them based on my friends down to looks and personalities. I even asked for them to think of their characters for the story. Now, next question! Metrux32 to Wargon: ¡°Whats the name of the aforementioned disaster / sister and why does not even your father think badly of you calling her like that? =O¡± ¡°She¡¯s called Lily. And just for you to have an idea, I had a nickname at my house for breaking things so often. Yet she took that nickname from me two years after being born.¡± He said in a dead-pan face. ¡°It¡¯s bad to the point that I forbade her from entering my room without me nearby.¡± Geez, I can relate to that. Now, to the last question of the night! Metrux32 to Yuu: ¡°When shall you propose Wargon in marriage? Probably when you get to Brazil?¡± ¡°P-P-P-PROPOSE? TO SHISHOU? Th-th-that¡­ Such a thing¡­ I can¡¯t¡­¡± Yuu blushes wildly while being lost in her delusions. Even after a few minutes she didn¡¯t recover, so we had to remove her from story so she could calm down. Well, a few technical problems there at the end, but yeah, this is it guys! The very first Q&A! Next week I may do something similar, so stay tuned! Author¡¯s out. Chapter 47 - Soldiers rage Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! FEAR THE SOLDIER! ANYWAY, Monster Hunter Cross. Nuff said. I already got my ticket to the Hype train¡¯s first class passage, what about you guys? ALSO¡­ Is there anything to speak more at all? Oh, might not have an update tomorrow, as there are some extra classes. Instead, we get an update Thursday because it¡¯s a holiday! Hooray! ------ After some healing for my broken body but little to nothing for my shattered ego, we once again left off towards the entrance of the cave. The fact that no one was looking me directly in the eyes was painful, but understandable, so I didn¡¯t delve too much into it. Right on the entrance of the dungeon, there was a small shining light with some thin smoke coming out of it, almost as if warning us that there was a whole new world on the other side of this smoke. If my guess is correct, the moment I cross this line will mean that we will enter the dungeon and be in an isolated area from the server, since this was an instanced dungeon. And just as we did that, a window popped up in front of me.
You have just entered Yksar¡¯s mana-infested Mines. Objectives: -Disable security Drone Excel-Loran -Kill the Crystal-infested Alpha: Crystalline Moonlit Ravager (AKA Doggy) -Activate the Mana diffuser to stop the spread.
This is an instanced dungeon. Those who aren¡¯t in your party won¡¯t join in the same dungeon as you. This is a repeatable dungeon. Even if you kill the boss, you can come back to run it again.
This dungeon is locked for other players until you complete your quest. As you are the first players on this dungeon, each boss will drop an exclusive item on defeat, besides the usual drop.
This place was once known as a mine owned by the elven researcher Yksar, who used the cave¡¯s resource in his research, however a terrible accident occurred, making the whole cave to be flooded with potentially toxic levels of mana. Although countermeasures were made, there wasn¡¯t enough time to implement them before the outbreak started and thus they decided to simply seal the area. However, even the seal is now unable to contain the spread, so now it falls to you to stop this excessive mana from spreading.
I must say that I find that last piece of lore a bit unneeded, I mean, I¡¯m here in a quest for the very god of chaos, so whatever I do here will probably end even worse than before, right? Well, no matter. Still, extra loot is good, even if I promised to not get anything from the dungeon¡­ I suddenly feel regret. Anyway, as my vision got used to the darkness of the cave, I couldn¡¯t help but notice the loads of crystals completely surrounding the long corridor in front of us, with crystals popping from the ceiling, walls and ground. There were still many places where you could see the rock the mine had been carved into, but the crystals greatly overshadowed everything else. Looking closely, we could even see some old rotting wood supports inside the crystals, probably what the miners used to support the cave previously. Just as outside, everything inside the mine had a slight blue tint, thanks to the sheer amount of mana in the air. There weren¡¯t any enemies in sight for now, but I knew that they were probably waiting for us right after the next corner. But what really caught my eyes were the shining spots on the larger crystals. And it wasn¡¯t just any shining spot, but the ones only miners can see. AND THEY WERE EVERYWHERE! SO MUCH MINING! I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if I had started salivating right there, as I picked up my pick-axe and approached a nearby mining spot. ¡°Shishou, what does ¡®instanced dungeon¡¯ mean?¡± I heard Yuu asking me from behind. I reached the spot, put the pick in the ground, and rubbed my hands together. ¡°You see, Instanced means that it¡¯s isolated from the rest of the world, so no other player besides us can enter the same dungeon as us. If they try, they will be taken to a similar dungeon, but without us in it.¡± ¡°I see¡­ And why would they do that?¡± She asked me tilting her head. ¡°Two or three reasons, really.¡± I picked the pick again and raised it up high. ¡°One, is because during a dungeon, you already have a hard time focusing on the monsters. Having to focus on possible back-stabs by other players would be too taxing for most people. The second¡­¡± As I said that I brought down the pick into the spot, making a large chunk of crystal pop up from it.
WARNING: You have damaged the crystals in the mine. Nearby patrols will be redirected towards your current location to stop you.
¡­ Whoops! ¡°GOD DAMMIT GON!¡± I heard Hanbei shouting angrily as she put her hand in her sword. ¡°Guys, get ready!¡± Yagver said while he took the front-lines. His friends quickly made their formation with Xredder right behind him, Lenny, lets call her that for convenience, taking some distance to his right and Forgotten right in their middle. Yuu and Hanbei quickly noticed their formation and copied their positioning, with Yuu to his left and Hanbei besides Xredder. Me? I kept on mining. The message already popped once and it would not get any worse for now, and since there still was no enemy in sight, I took my time mining. Sadly, there weren¡¯t any elemental crystals in this mine. Maybe it is because it¡¯s not ore per-se? Soon enough, as soon as I had finished the vein, we started to hear the hurried metallic footsteps and some claws scratching the ground coming from the turn ahead in the corridor. I patiently took my position besides Lenny and pulled my bow from my back, picking an elemental arrow from the inventory and nocking it into the bow. Soon after, around eight monsters appeared from the passage. Five of them were wolves with cristaline claws and fangs, and some slight shining blue patches of fur. The others looked like some rounded armors, with large boots and hands and an almost perfect circle for body. A small projection from its top marked the head. The armor thingies looked kind of cute actually. Shaking my head to regain my focus, I aimed my bow towards the wolf in front of the group, seeing as a plaque appeared above all of the group.
Crystal-infested wolf [lvl 19] [Elite] Equivalent level: 20 (aggressive)
HP: 1000/1000 -Howl -Shatter crystal
Crystal-infested Mining drone [lvl 19] [Elite] Equivalent level: 20 (aggressive)
HP: 1500/1500 -Heavy plate -Shoot crystals -Emergency measures
Damn, that is a lot of HP there¡­ I¡¯m a bit afraid on how strong the boss will actually be. I let loose the arrow at the wolf leading the group when he was around ten meters from us, and as soon as the arrow burrowed into his body, the wind-crystal ingot activated, knocking him back and taking the ones behind him together. -27 -2 (971/1000) Immediately afterwards, Yagver charged forward before leaping in the air, crossing the distance between him and the remaining monsters in a blink of an eye while slamming the bottom of his shield in the ground, causing a small earthquake that brought all the monsters down, followed by a loud roar that was his taunt. ¡°WAR!¡± Xredder shouted while looking at me and I nodded, he started to charge a punch right where we were standing. I shot another arrow at a drone and grimaced when it bounced off its armor, dealing low damage. When I turned back to the tiger, I saw that his fist was trembling with energy, and immediately cast Tactical charge on him. As soon as he saw the skill activating, he let out his skill, jumping forward towards the fight and slamming a nearby drone, dealing over one hundred damage and stunning it and the two wolves behind it with a shockwave. Meanwhile, on Yagvers left side, Hanbei was slashing away at the wolves generating rage before jumping back just in time as a barrage of fire and ice spears flew above her, freezing the ground and spreading fire all around. I smiled as I saw that damage, but frowned when I noticed some movement coming from the smoke. ¡°Watch out! The drones didn¡¯t take much damage!¡± Yagver shouted us a warning, just in time as I saw some crystals shards flying out of the fire and attacking Yuu, taking out a third of her health. I grimaced and shot a piercing shot towards the Drone together with Lenny, but our arrows simply bounced off its armor dealing less than twenty damage. ¡°The drones are resistant to ranged damage! Hanbei and Xredder, focus on them! Leave the wolves to Yuu and me!¡± Lenny shouted. I nodded agreeing with her while I charged forward. ¡°Yag, I will take these two drones back, you focus on the remaining mobs!¡± I shouted to him while I approached the drone that was preparing to take a shot at Yuu again and activated Offensive Cycle. -7 -18 -1 -35 -1 -21 -86 (1324/1500) Geez, even after taking Yuu¡¯s bombardment this guy was still almost full health! ¡°Hey, Tin-face. Come take someone your size, will you?¡± I used taunt on him before turning towards the one that Xredder was attacking. ¡°And you? Afraid to take on a pile of rocks? What a great miner!¡± It¡¯s a bit embarrassing the fact that my taunt works through words, but at least is effective, as both of them turned towards me. Luckily, their melees attacks are nowhere near as damaging as the crystal shooting skills, so all I needed to do was to block their wild fist swings. I used shield-slam on the one that I had just pulled so I could gather some more agro before lifting my shield and blocking their attacks. But while I did this, the third drone targeted me from afar and used his long range skill hitting me in my legs. -20 -21 -19 -15 -21 -95 (525/660) Dammit. That hurts a lot more than I expected. But luckily, soon a light green aura surrounded me as my health started to increase again. +20 +12 +15 +47 (572/660) Altough the heals were small, they kept coming constantly, and after around five seconds I was back in full health. I took advantage of this to use a couple of whirlwinds to deal damage, just in time as Han-chan used a skill, impaling one of the drones, dealing a large amount of damage and breaking the armor-plate revealing a crystal core within. I blinked surprised and shouted for Lenny while taking a step back, showing her the spot. Immediately after an arrow impaled the drone and dealt a huge amount of damage to him, making it even take a step back for a moment. The armor-less drone fell not even ten seconds later, while the other one still had a good amount of health remaining. By then, I had already taunted the remaining drone and noticed that there were only two wolves left. I quickly returned my attention to the two drones in front of me and started to attack them with shield-slam and stab, and when their health got to a certain level, the armor shattered. So, it seems to be a reaction towards its health getting too low. But Hanbei¡¯s still had more than half health when it broke. Why the difference? The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. We quickly finalized one of them just as Yagver and Yuu finished the last of the wolves, so they turned towards us and came to help us with the last one. Well, for an unexpected fight, I guess it went fairly well, without many problems. I don¡¯t know about the wolves, but these drones, as soon as you get into range they become much easier to handle, since they stop using the ranged attack. Still, I kind of wonder what the last skill is¡­ The heavy plate is probably the one responsible for being resistant to ranged damage, and the shoot crystal is self explanatory. Now, emergency measures¡­ It kind of smells like a last-stand like skill¡­ Just as I began to wander on my thoughts, I noticed something. The crystal in the drones body was starting to shine dangerously. It took me almost a second to register this fact, before finally paling while I understood what it was. I took a quick glance towards its health and noticed that he was still above four hundred. ¡°GET BACK!¡± I shouted to everyone who didn¡¯t seem to notice this. They looked at me confused for a moment. ¡°FALL BACK, NOW!¡± I shouted as I moved my arms back. ¡°YUU, MAKE A FEW ICE WALLS BETWEEN US AND THE DRONE, YAGVER, GET BEHIND YOUR SHIELD AND PREPARE FOR IMPACT!¡± Yuu didn¡¯t make any more question and ran towards us, making the walls. Yagver stood confused for a moment, but as soon as his eyes landed on the drone, he understood. I cast Tactical charge on him so he could get closer faster, and he used a simple slash skill to reach us. As soon as he turned towards the ice walls, he planted the shield on the ground and we all took shelter behind him. The monster exploded in a huge ball of mana, breaking everything around it and shattering the four ice walls that Yuu made for us, making them into shrapnel, as well as still pushing back Yagver a few feet back while blowing the remaining of us back. When we got up we saw a huge crater in the middle of the area, with barely anything left, not even the bodies of the enemies we defeated. Sir Yagver had lost around three fourths of his health while the rest of us lost around a half or more. Worried, I quickly looked around for Lieutenant and Aura. Lieutenant was laying on the ground behind me with his health on the double digits, I quickly took him to Forgotten who healed him back to full health in a few seconds. As I looked around worriedly for Aura, I found her right in the middle of the explosion, looking¡­ Annoyed, actually. I blinked surprised at seeing her perfectly fine while only looking slightly annoyed at the crater she was in. It took me a moment to remember that passive pets do not take damage, so she was immune to the explosion. I sighed relieved as I felt my health coming back up from the healing. ¡°What¡­ Was that?¡± Yuu asked surprised as she sat back up besides me. ¡°Probably emergency measures¡­¡± Yagver said coming closer to us. When I looked at his shield, I saw many ice fragments stuck into it. Even if the ice walls somehow stopped the shockwave, they became dangerous shrapnel. Luckily, Yagver acted quickly and stopped them from reaching us. ¡°But why did this one explode, and the others didn¡¯t?¡± I stopped to think for a moment before turning back to them and saying. ¡°Probably¡­ Because it didn¡¯t die fast enough after losing the plate¡­¡± I said. Compared to the other two, who died a few seconds after losing the plate, the third one spent almost a full thirty seconds without the plate with the crystals to show. ¡°I see¡­¡± he said nodding as he was healed this time. ¡°So, I guess that we need to set them as priority targets¡­ But then the wolves might get troublesome¡­¡± He said in a pensive tone. I blinked surprised. ¡°Are the wolves that troublesome?¡± I asked him surprised, and he looked slightly troubled. ¡°Well¡­ By themselves, they aren¡¯t all that troublesome, but their howl skill is troublesome...¡± He said while thinking. ¡°They cast it every twenty seconds, and for every wolf casting it, they earn a one percent bonus in damage that lasts thirty seconds.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s a soft enrage, huh?¡± I asked while thinking. ¡°Then you can focus on the wolves first, while I tank the drones.¡± He looked surprised at me. ¡°It seems to me that the plate breaks when they get below a certain health.¡± I told him, making him nod understandingly. ¡°Altough there was a time when Hanbei¡¯s attack broke it earlier¡­¡± I turned to her confused and asked. ¡°What exactly was that?¡± ¡°That?¡± She tilted her head confused, before blinking. ¡°Oh, that was storm piercer. It¡¯s a high cool down skill that deals large damage and reduces defense. Maybe it was that?¡± She said tilting her head. ¡°Could be¡­ But it¡¯s best to be sure¡­¡± I turned towards Xredder. ¡°So you have a skill like that?¡± ¡°Nah. I have a few skills that applies ailments, but reducing armor isn¡¯t one of them¡­¡± he said shaking his head. ¡°I¡­ Do have a skill like that, Shishou.¡± Yuu said lifting her hand. All of us turned towards her surprised. ¡°It¡¯s a Spear mastery skill, so I have to get close to use it.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ It wasn¡¯t a joke?¡± Lenny asked surprised. ¡°No¡­?¡± Yuu said tilting her head slightly. ¡°Do you want me to show you?¡± ¡°No¡­ Leave it to the fight¡­¡± Yagver said slightly surprised. In the end, we decided that in the next enemies wave, they would all focus on the wolves first, and after finishing them, they would turn towards the drones I would be focusing. With Yuu and Han-chan exchanging their timing on the armor removal, where we would focus down the unprotected drone, one at a time. All the time while we were talking, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that Lieutenant was looking pretty enraged while cracking his knuckles, or trying to¡­ It seemed that the explosion left him pretty pissed off. Oh, he¡¯s so young and unexperienced, to let himself get taken by rage only because of one simple enemy¡­ He should learn to control himself better. ¡°Well, now that we have finished our strategy, it¡¯s time to go and mine away!¡± I said happily picking up my pick-axe again and looking around for the veins. Except¡­ That even the mining spots were destroyed by the explosion. There was nothing left. Not. A. Single. Vein. So many resources¡­ Wasted¡­ Gone¡­ All because a single drone decided to blow up¡­ I fell down on my knees, feeling despair for having lost so much material for the drones. Just imagine the weapons and armors I could have made with that thing, can you even imagine how much I lost all because of that drone¡­ That¡­ Single¡­ Drone¡­ ¡°DEATH TO ALL DRONES!¡± I shouted angrily while getting up. ¡°NYAAAA!¡± Lieutenant shouted together with me, as the two of us were completely consumed by rage. Aura and Hanbei were both shaking their heads to us, but we paid them no mind, as we started to urge the group forwards so we could have our revenge. As we advanced through the cave, Yuu approached me and asked. ¡°Shishou¡­ What is soft enrage?¡± She asked me confused. ¡°Is that some kind of martial arts style?¡± I blinked surprised as I processed the words, and for a moment all my rage disappeared as I looked at Yuu trying to process the words. Before starting to laugh at her, which made her blush slightly with a confused face. ¡°No, dear apprentice¡­¡± I said while petting her. ¡°Enrage is a feature that some enemies might have so that you don¡¯t drag the fight for too long.¡± I explained to her. ¡°They usually are found in bosses to make the fight a bit more challenging with a timer. These enrage are usually divided in two kinds. One is the hard enrage, where after X minutes the enemy earn a huge boost in damage or use a skill that kills everyone on sight. The other one is the soft enrage, where after every X seconds, or after using a certain skill, they increase their damage slightly but progressively, until it gets to a point that the healers are unable to keep up. Did you understand?¡± She made a pensive pose for a moment before nodding cheerfully. She makes me so proud to be her teacher. I petted her a bit more before going back to berserker mode and pounding our my way ahead. But before we even reached the next group, we were stopped by a T division in the cave, where one side kept being the same crystal in cave, and the other had some better worked floor, with some chiseled stones and so on. ¡°Okay, which way do we go?¡± Xredder asked. ¡°Not like we can use our maps in here, after all¡­¡± I blinked surprised and looked at my mini-map, noticing that the whole area was died in a deep black color, except for the way that we came from. I actually hadn¡¯t noticed that, kind of nifty, giving a slightly more realistic feeling to dungeon crawling. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Whichever one is good for me.¡± Yagver said while examining both paths. ¡°I only hope that we don¡¯t get the wrong path.¡± I looked at both paths and noticed that Lieutenant was pointing towards the Chiseled-stone path. ¡°I guess we go that way then¡­¡± I said while looking at the direction he pointed. Yagver¡¯s group looked at me surprised, then towards to Lieutenant. ¡°Are you sure about it?¡± They asked me. I looked towards lieutenant, who pointed towards our back. ¡°Oh, there is a map here¡­¡± I said looking at the old map locked within the crystal. Probably from the time this place was still working. I could hear as everyone else started to face-palm themselves. After taking a good look at the map and using Lenny¡¯s surprisingly good drawing skills, we made a quick copy of the map and followed it towards a suspiciously large room. The way we were taking had rooms and corridors with a more regular shape, being rectangular, reminding something man-made, while the other was more irregular, resembling a normal cave. It didn¡¯t take us more than one minute after taking the turn to find another group of enemies, but this time was only a single drone a three wolves, so it was a much easier fight than before. Yuu and Lenny executed the wolves quickly, and then turned towards the drone I was tanking. ¡°Yuu, test you skill on the dro¡­¡± Before I could even finish my words, I was interrupted by someone. ¡°NYAAAA!¡± Lieutenant jumped before any of us could even move and held himself on the drones armor. We all blinked surprised at the raging Lieutenant. Even the Drone stopped shocked for a moment and stood still trying to understand what was happening. Lieutenant hissed at the Drones face once again and suddenly pulled two of the throwing knives from his inventory and stabbed them in the small space between the body and the head, before meowing loudly and ripping the armor away forcefully. Immediately afterwards he jumped back up and stabbed an explosive knife and a fire knife in the exposed crystal core before walking away as both knives went out together in a huge ball of fire. We looked surprised at Lieutenant who was cleaning his paws after a job well done. Sadly, the damage wasn¡¯t enough to actually kill it, so we had to finish the drone ourselves. Lieutenant didn¡¯t seem to mind though, as he started smiling in a silly way for having let out his rage.
For having manually removed the armor of his enemy your pet has unlocked the Skill: Dismantle Armor
Skill: Dismantle Armor [lvl1] 0%
Your pet jumps at the enemy and forcefully damages the armor, reducing defense by 10% for fifteen seconds. Only works if the enemy uses armors.
Cool down: 1 minute
Well¡­ What can I say, Lieutenant¡¯s rage is a bit scarier than what I expected. Cross over - WGO (Gons side) PART 1 Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! X-over, Gon version! ANYWAY, so, it took some time, but here is the Wargon¡¯s side of the cross over. I did it since I didn¡¯t have enough time to write a normal one, and even then it¡¯s getting on this late! It¡¯s more than enough time for me to go to sleep already¡­ ALSO, I took some liberty to change a few of the words to fit better the story (or because I¡¯m too lazy to copy it perfectly¡­) ALSO(2), I SHOULD have something else to say, but I just can¡¯t focus enough to remember¡­ normal chapter tomorrow, probably... ALSO(3), as some of you may notice, i will have to divide it in two parts since i couldn''t compact it anymore without feeling bothered by it... As a last reminder: THIS IS NON-CANNON AND WAS DONE MOSTLY FOR THE LULZ. BOTH FOR ME AND IMAGINEXBREAKER! Just to be safe... Have a good read. ------ ¡°So, how about getting some lunch?¡± I asked the group right as we left city. The girls looked like they liked the idea, and nodded cheerfully, while Yagver¡¯s group simply shrugged. I left them to raise camp behind us while Aura and me went around to gather some wood to light up the camp-fire. As we had just gathered enough to make a decent cooking fire, Aura suddenly stopped and looked back on the direction we came for. Rather, Cygnas did that as she had taken control of Aura¡¯s body suddenly. I looked at the diminutive goddess besides me and raised an eyebrow. It took her a moment, but after some time she finally noticed me and frowned slightly. ¡°Sorry¡­ It¡¯s just that¡­ I felt something strange right now¡­¡± She said looking confused. ¡°Some sort of¡­ Unprocessed data?¡± She tilted her head clearly confused. ¡°So, you feel a disturbance in the force¡­¡± I said in my best serious tone, which earned-me a face-paw together with an awkward smile. ¡°So¡­ Should I be worried?¡± I asked a bit more seriously and she shook her head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. It doesn¡¯t seem to be all that serious, and my main body is already investigating it.¡± She told me calmly. Well, if it¡¯s nothing to worry about, then let us not worry about it! Well, even if it was something to worry about and still have nothing that I could do, then I would probably not worry too¡­ But that is off the point, right? Leaving all that aside, Cyg changed back to Aura and we walked back to the camp, where we quickly set up the cooking pit and sat around as we left the Freezing-tail do her work. Meanwhile I sat back and patiently waited for the food to get ready. ¡­ AAAAH! THREE MINUTES WITHOUT ANYTHING HAPPENING! I¡¯M GOING TO DIE OF BOREDOM HERE! I started to flail around on the ground as boredom consumed me. Hanbei simply ignored me while Yuu raised an eyebrow, both probably used to being close to me, but Yagver¡¯s group looked a bit more worried. Laying my back against the fluffy grassy plain, I stared at the sky in defeat and let my mind start to wander. Why don¡¯t anything happen right now for reasons? Like a meteor falling among us and revealing an alien race¡­ Wait, this is a fantasy game, let¡¯s try that again¡­ Why don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know, a mysterious guy just appear here, becomes shocked at Aura cooking and reveals himself accidentally? But there is no way that would happen. Simply impossible. And if my anime knowledge don¡¯t fail me, exactly because I thought it wouldn¡¯t happen, it will happen now! ¡°A FOX IS COOKING?¡± VOYLA! BOW BEFORE ANIME KNOWLEDGE! ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I asked while lifting myself from the ground feeling a bit excited. Wait, I said that he was mysterious, but is he the good mysterious, or the bad mysterious? Better be wary just for safety. When I looked towards the place where the voice came, I saw a guy with wearing a dark black armor and with a black sword in his waist. He had white hair and red eyes, kind of reminding me of the vampires, but somehow he just didn¡¯t give me that noble feeling that vampires had, so maybe he¡¯s something else made to look like a vampire? Tricky little bastard¡­ ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just that I was surprised.¡± He said while approaching us. ¡°Not the first time I heard that¡­¡± I said while shrugging before looking around in search for an ambush or something like that. ¡°So¡­ Are you alone?¡± I asked just to be sure as I saw some movement on the bushes behind him. ¡°If you mean as the only human here? Then yes.¡± As he said that, he stepped aside, showing a whole horde of critters walking behind him, led by a rabbit with a horn on its head. What is this? Does he also have nature attuned? I thought while looking at the critters. It seems that I wasn¡¯t the only one surprised by the sight, as Han-chan jumped from behind me looking at the animals with curiosity. ¡°Waaah! So many animals! Did you tame all of them?¡± She asked surprised. ¡°He¡­ Kind of reminds me of those night parades from animes!¡± I said while looking at all the mobs appearing from the bushes. The guy made a shocked face while looking at me. ¡°You can read my mind right!? You can right!?¡± He said shocked, leaving me confused for a moment. OH! So he also thought the same thing? He sighed slightly before going on. ¡°No, no. I didn¡¯t tame them all. Only the little girl here.¡± As he said that, he picked up the horned rabbit and started petting its fur, but still¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen something like that before. I mean, I did murde*cough*see a few rabbits, but I don¡¯t think any of them had a horn like that. ¡°Hey, have any of you guys seen this monster before?¡± I asked the others and they all shook their heads. Still, for that guy to have such a cute pet, it¡¯s pretty much a given that he can¡¯t be evil, so I relaxed a bit. ¡°Anyway, I never would have thought that a cosplaying fox could cook¡­¡± He said while looking at Aura who was still at the pot cutting the ingredients. Then he turned towards the rabbit and asked. ¡°How about you, Vil?¡± But the rabbit shook its head while squeaking cutely. The guy made a slight frown as he started to think something before finally saying. ¡°Umm¡­ Is it possible to join you guys? I don¡¯t have money with me, but¡­¡± ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t think one more would be problematic¡­¡± I took a quick glance at Aura who nodded. ¡°BUUUT!¡± I said turning to him making a dramatic pose. ¡°You have to let me pet the rabbit!¡± ¡°Us.¡± Han-chan said besides me. ¡°You have to let us pet the rabbit!¡± I think I might be getting a bit too addicted to petting fluffy things¡­ The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Nah, just my imagination. What? Why I accepted his invitation? BECAUSE I SMELL INTERESTING THINGS! And I¡¯m bored, of course. That is probably the main reason to be fair. ¡°Deal!¡± He said. The Rabbit squeaked surprised and looked at him almost panicky. ¡°Sorry, I promise I¡¯ll treat you later¡­¡± He said to the rabbit to soothe it. ¡°And it can¡¯t be as bad as Eu, so there is no need to worry.¡± The rabbit squeaked inquisitively, and he nodded. ¡°Yes, yes, I promise.¡± I have no idea who this Eu guy is, but he sure missed an excellent chance to pet this rabbit. I picked up the rabbit who looked at me worriedly. I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit mischievously, making it shiver slightly. Now you are all mine, you poor, poor critter! As I walked back to the camp fire, I started to smile as I petted the rabbits head. WAAH, SO FLUFFY! As I happily petted it, I suddenly felt two sharp, stabby and cold thing piercing each of my feet. I turned teary eyed to both Yuu and Aura who were making sullen faces. What? It¡¯s not like there will be less petting for you guys! When I turned back to the guy he was smiling mischievously at me. Aura barked warning us that the food was done and started serving us. Meanwhile I started to introduce our group to mysterious person number 1. ¡°Okay, so I am Gondorrer Rabbitpett¡­¡± Whoops. ¡°Gondorrer Gravelheart, Aka Wargon.¡± I turned to Aura. ¡°The Ronin cook over there is called Aura, and the Antenna trick-cat over there is called Lieutenant Colonel Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus the Third! Both are my pets.¡± I introduced the two to him, and Lieutenant made a salute. The newcomer looked a bit shocked towards me and Lieutenant, and became surprised at his salute. ¡°The Kitsune over there is Tatenaka Yuuki, and the cat girl is Tatenaka Hanbei, Or Yuu and Han-chan, respectively!¡± ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you.¡± Yuu said while bowing slightly, leaving him smiling awkwardly. Han-chan, on the other hand, was a bit more¡­ Direct. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m the next to pet the bunny!¡± Straight to the point, as always¡­ The guy blinked surprised and stared at her for a moment, before pointing at her and saying. ¡°No wonder you look familiar! And she is supposed to be sickly! You don¡¯t look like that at all!¡± He said angrily. So I¡¯m not the only one who got it, huh? Instead of getting angry, Hanbei smiled widely and jumped excited. ¡°Are you following the novel? What was the last part you read?¡± She asked excitedly, making him blink surprised and answer almost automatically. ¡°Well¡­ To the point where Hanbei is sickly, if I remember correctly¡­ I¡¯m not sure what happens afterwards.¡± Ha-hah! I¡¯m ahead of him! Only a slightly, though. ¡°Oh, You know, the truth is¡­¡± Hanbei started to rant about the story, but the guy shouted surprised and jumped at her, covering her mouth with his hands. ¡°Waaah! No Spoilers!¡± He said in a panicky voice. I saw Han-chan¡¯s eyes shine with a mischievous grinf for a moment, but decided to keep quiet. He calmed himself when he noticed that Hanbei wasn¡¯t going to spoil the story anymore. ¡°So¡­ Who¡¯s next?¡± He said looking at me. I pointed towards Yagver¡¯s group and introduced them. ¡°The J?ntunn tank is Sir Yagver, The tiger is Xredder, the Harpy is L3nny and the Treant over there is Forgotten.¡± He looked a bit surprised at the group, mainly at Yagver and Lenny, but didn¡¯t comment anything. ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s my time now?¡± He said while scratching his head slightly. ¡°The name is Lucas, and as you can see, I¡¯m a human, and the girl you are petting is Vil, she¡¯s a Dorville.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ You are perfectly normal¡­¡± Except that you look awfully like a vampire, but let¡¯s not comment on that, I don¡¯t want to break his delusions. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of a monster called Dorville before¡­¡± I said while looking back at the bunny who had kind of given up on his chances of leaving the petting session. ¡°So, is Lucas-dono traveling alone?¡± Yuu asked a bit intrigued by him, he winced slightly at this, but answered anyway ¡°What¡¯s with that ¨Cdono thing. No need to be so formal about it. Just Lucas is fine. And yes, I am with Vil but besides her, no one else.¡± He answered a bit awkwardly. ¡°I see¡­ So, what are you doing here? We are going to a new dungeon ourselves.¡± I told him in a friendly tone to try to get something interesting out of him. I mean, he is the mysterious guy who appeared when I said that there wouldn¡¯t be a mysterious guy, which makes him extra mysterious, so he must be up to something mysterious. Which makes him extra interesting! Infallible logic at work here! He stopped to think for a moment, but shrugged and said it anyway. ¡°I¡¯m off to find a lvl 90 golem boss, do you have any idea where he is?¡± (Processing data, please wait.) (Person judged to be OP or Crazy) (Data processed. Iterestinginess level Gama-3.) (FOLLOW NO MATTER WHAT!) The guy suddenly blinked surprised and sighed slightly, as if he had just said something that he shouldn¡¯t, but simple shrugged it out as he Hanbei barely managed to recover herself from the shock a moment before me, as she shouted at him. ¡°WAIT, LEVEL 90? ARE YOU CRAZY?¡± She shouted surprised. ¡°Not even the mad golem over there would take something on that level!¡± She stopped for a moment and made a slight grimace. ¡°Yet, at least¡­¡± ¡°Who¡¯s a mad golem?¡± I shouted angrily at her. But yeah, I wouldn¡¯t take a level 90 enemy yet¡­ I think¡­ Maybe¡­? I mean¡­ It sounds kind of tempting¡­ ¡°Ah, it¡¯s fine. I doubt they would even give me a real challenge.¡± He said in a smug tone. Ooh, though guy, are we? I reaaaaly want to see him fighting right now. He suddenly widened his eyes as he had an idea and smiled mischievously. ¡°I know, as a payment, why don¡¯t you follow me on my quest? I promise that you will be in for a treat!¡± Just what I needed! ¡°DEAL!¡± I said happily before someone else tried to refuse the offer. Hanbei blinked surprised and looked at me. ¡°Are you sure Gon? I mean, we could get killed if even one attack came at our direction!¡± ¡°It¡¯s only half a level!¡± I said while shrugging. For us is only a couple of hours of grind. ¡°And even then, how long will it take to see another level 90 boss?¡± I said trying to sound serious, but inside I was squealing like a little girl. She simply sighed and nodded. So, this is how we followed mister mysterious guy Lucas into seeing my first level 90 monster! Chapter 48 - Im a happy golem! Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! HE¡¯S A HAPPY GOLEM! HE¡¯S A HAPPY GOLEM! ANYWAY, here is today¡¯s chapter and almost got it late. At least I made a small song that is now stuck in my head and will probably be there for the next few days. Some-times I hate myself. ALSO, although no boss today, I did show two of the mini-bosses, which, as always, were a last second addition to the story, but I must say that I quite like them. Heck, it might just be one of those times where the Mini-boss might end up even more memorable than the boss. And look who makes an appearance after so long! ALSO(2), I¡¯m kind of pondering about getting myself one of those donation buttons. Not that I need that money, I¡¯m fine as is. It¡¯s more just to see if I can get some bit of money from writing, but I¡¯m still not so sure myself. But IF (with capital letters, of course) I do get, I should probably tell here this for those who might end up donating: What WON¡¯T happen if you donate: Faster Insania updates, I¡¯m already doing my all for trying to keep one chapter a day, more is impossible for me. What WILL happen if you donate: You will be paying for my snacks between classes at college, as well as funding any future games I might get. And you would also get virtual cookies. What MIGHT happen: Funding secret (evil) plan to take over the world, world peace through complete global domination. (Sorry, I REALLY wanted to do this joke(^.^), but it¡¯s a fact that I¡¯m considering it.) ALSO(3), as always, no chapter tomorrow as it¡¯s a full day of classes for me. ALSO(4), I¡¯m kind of wondering if I would be able to win this month¡¯s submission contest with my non-sense comedy¡­ But it would probably be difficult keeping up the regular updates if I were to write even more¡­ Hmm¡­ Have a good read! ---- ¡°I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! I mine, I skin; I craft, I win! I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! The veins are mine! So full of shine! So I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem!¡± I sung cheerfuly as I picked my pick and mined away at the many crystalized mana veins of the cave. The others were taking a rest after around two hours of dungeoning. After the first surprise ambush, the following fights were fairly easy since we had the initiative, so they even gave me permission to start mining away after a fight! And the best part of this? These ores are freaking amazing!
Crystallized mana Chunk (0.5 ingots)
This is piece of super concentrated mana is an unnatural occurrence, but it¡¯s toughness and lightness after being processed is guaranteed. (crafting material)
And the sheer amount of veins in this cave is above ridiculous, I already have more than fifty chunks! As I said, it¡¯s ridiculous! That¡­ And:
Crystal-infested Hide (Good)
A piece of wolf hide overloaded with mana. These bright colored patches are as tough as iron and makes for an excellent mana conductive. (crafting material)
Just so you guys have a taste of the kind of loot I get from the wolves I skin. Yagver¡¯s group were honestly surprised with how I skinned the animals, and Lenny even had to look away from the scene. Now, about the mobs. Mostly they have been the same all around, but every few rooms, a new kind of drone was added to the groups. The first new drone was one specialized in throwing big heavy rocks with its hands, which were massive compared to the body, but since their armor was lighter, the Yuu and Lenny could snipe them from afar without much problems. The bad part was that it was really difficult to actually tank them, so they became our first priority targets, as not even I could block those boulders without taking some damage. The second one was actually a bit of a pain. He looked like a normal drone, but as soon as his armor plating came off he would earn a new skill called Hurried execution, which basically shortens emergency measures cast time to ten seconds. The only true difference was the name, but we didn¡¯t really notice it in time. Me and Yagver died to this one, but since we were revived by the others afterwards, the death penalty was fairly light, being only 10% of our levels. There was also a third one, and this was actually a fun one. He had a ridiculously though armor, and even Xredder had trouble breaking his defense, needing at least two armor reducing skills to take his armor off. Besides that, his main weapon were two mining drills instead of hands that simply ignored defense while spinning rapidly. But he was too slow! Even Yagver with his full plate armor could outpace the guy while walking! And there was this time where I tricked the drone into attacking me, but instead he hit a hard crystal on the wall. The drill became stuck, but didn¡¯t stop spinning, making the guy spin around like a mad robot, taking out two wolves on the joke. I started laughing like a lunatic after seeing that scene. Seriously, I was unable to hold myself back at that moment and started laughing, almost dying to the second drone. Which lieutenant forced to stab the drill into the ground, and then he also started spinning around like a top, killing the rest of the monsters. Me and Lieutenant high-fived after the scene, while Xredder face palmed himself and Yagver held his laugh back. Even Yuu giggled a bit, at the scene. Just to make things better, I even dinged at the time! I decided to put my points into toughness as it was my only defensive stats still on the low side and it felt a bit pitiful. However, for some reason, the wolves were not getting any kind of alteration even as we went deeper and deeper into the dungeon. But I guess it¡¯s because the path we are taking is the one towards the research area of the cave, since we¡¯ve been getting even more man-made objects as we went in, like pillars, pathways, bridges, ruins and so on. As Arkhoss said, this was both a mine and a research facility, so my guess is that the big drone is the boss of the research area, while doggy is the boss of the mine. If we consider this, I guess that the other path at the entrance will give us more variation on the wolves. Actually, for some time now, even the number of wolves we were getting smaller and smaller, so Yuu¡¯s, Hanbei¡¯s and Lieutenant¡¯s skills were getting even more needed to take out the drones. But for some reason, the deeper we went into the mine, the more sullen Aura would get. The others didn¡¯t seem to notice this, as she was usually very quiet and simply followed along, but me and Lieutenant had noticed this, and were getting a bit worried. When I finished mining the area, I called the little Freezing tail closer and asked if everything was alright. She looked at me and then towards Lieutenant for a moment before nodding cheerfully, however the lack of her tail wagging left me with a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. I decided not to pry too much for now, and if this went on I would ask her again. Being too forceful wasn¡¯t any good. We went back to the group, where the guys were taking a last look at the map. ¡°So, what¡¯s next?¡± I asked as we reached them. Yagver lifted his sight from the map and said. ¡°Well, taking a look at the map, we are almost at the boss¡­¡± He said with a slightly hesitant tone. ¡°But?¡± I made the question he was expecting. ¡°But this room here bothers me¡­¡± He said pointing to a large room right before the largest room in this sector. ¡°It¡¯s far too big for it to be something with only a few normal monsters like these¡­¡± ¡°But too small for it to be a boss room, right?¡± I said receiving a nod in response. I sighed loudly as I looked at the map a bit longer. The room was a large square shape, probably being two to three times bigger than the one we were now, even if it was still only half of the following room, where we thought that the boss will probably be. ¡°It¡¯s probably either one of these two.¡± He said while looking at it. ¡°Either it¡¯s an event area, or a mini-boss area.¡± I looked at it a bit longer and nodded. I noticed Yuu looking at us a bit confused and smiled while explaining to her. ¡°An event is something like a special¡­ Event that happens on some occasions. It could be one of many different things. For example, a NPC who comes to do something, a maze with a timer, waves of enemies we have to defeat or something of the likes. It can go from very easy to as difficult as a boss itself. But in general it needs for all the group to have some degree of cooperation to pass.¡± She nodded happily after understanding, and we went back to the discussion. ¡°So, what do you guys think it is?¡± Han-chan asked. ¡°The complications of a destined meeting nor a challenge from the gods does not meet with the spirit of the infected.¡± Forgotten said. We took a moment to decode his words, but it should be something around the lines of ¡®I don¡¯t think it¡¯s an NPC or Puzzle event. It just don¡¯t fit with the dungeon.¡¯ ¡°I agree with roleplayer.¡± I said nodding. ¡°I¡¯d say that this is probably a wave event or a mini-boss encounter. That is the feeling this dungeon gives me, at least.¡± Yagver looked at me and nodded. ¡°I bet on the mini-boss.¡± Xredder said after a moment. ¡°Wave events don¡¯t really fit these robots.¡± ¡°I agree with Xredder.¡± Lenny said with a nod. ¡°It¡¯s easier to see a single big robot instead of a swarm of small ones.¡± I stopped to think and nodded. Their words do make sense, anyway we still had to get there and will find it out anyway, so no need to fret over it too much. We packed up our things, which was basically the map, and walked back to the area showed on the map. We still had a couple of rooms to fight through before getting there anyway, so it would take a couple of minutes before that. We reached the corridor, where we found a small patrolling group coming ahead, we quickly backed away and prepared a small ambush, using me to get their attention with my mining and then running back to the other room. There we picked the first drone to appear and pretty much one-shot it with all of our firepower after Lieutenant take its armor away. It has been our main strategy for patrols for quite some time now, as we could take out the one with fast explosion pretty fast without needing to worry too much. But one thing that bothered me was the fact that there was only one single wolf in this group, even when usually there was at least two or three wolves per group. As an unspoken agreement between us was that the wolves would be mine, while they share reclaiming the drones. However, just as I worried, the number of wolves was really reducing, and in the next group of enemies, there was nothing left for me to skin, so I started to sulk into a corner while I watched them reclaiming the bodies of the drones. ¡°So¡­ Why don¡¯t you try to strip these guys bare too?¡± Yagver asked me who was in my depression corner. ¡°But what would I get from them?¡± I said while scribbling in the ground. Yagver and the others looked at each other for a moment and I simply stared at them in expectation of a decent answer. ¡°Their remaining armor plating?¡± ¡­ I stared at them for a long, long moment, leaving them uncomfortable as I raised myself from the ground. ¡°So¡­ You are saying¡­ That I should take their plating¡­ As crafting materials?¡± I asked in a low and deliberate tone, making the group take a step back in fear. ¡°Are you¡­ IMPLING¡­ That I, The one who only takes item I craft with the bodies of my own enemies¡­ should take their complete armor¡­ As crafting material?¡± ¡°Ye-Yeah?¡± the group took another step back as I approached them slowly. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. I raised my eyesight slightly, just enough to look at Yagver in his eyes. He swallowed nervously as I put my hand into his shoulder and grabbed it, putting some pressure onto it. ¡°Do you know¡­ What I think of your idea?¡± I told him in an even lower tone than before. ¡°S-Sorry¡­ I¡¯ll never say it aga¡­¡± ¡°I LOVE IT!¡± And I darted towards the remaining drone, sliding the last few meters to it so that I would be already crouched when I got there, and started by pulling out the remaining of the shattered plates from his body revealing the crystal core within. Now, how will I go with doing this? This is completely different from skinning an animal, so I don¡¯t think much that I learned will be applied here¡­ Oh, I know! ¡°HEY THERE WALLACE!¡± ¡°The hell brat! Don¡¯t go shouting suddenly like this at M¡¯ah head!¡± I heard his voice coming from the golden feather. ¡°Oh, come on, it can¡¯t be that bad!¡± I said cheerfully, and heard a sigh in response. ¡°So, what¡¯s up brat? Why are you calling this time?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I kind of need some help with skinning something new¡­¡± ¡°Oh? Something new? Did you get something with scales?¡± ¡°Not yet¡­ It¡¯s something slightly more¡­ Unique¡­¡± ¡°Okay¡­ Tell me¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a mana infested mining drone with body made of crystal covered with a really tough armor plating. From the looks of it, the crystal and the armor are fused together, so I¡¯m kind of at loss here on where to start. You see, the crystal is a bit tough and my skinning knife will only get chipped if I try to cut it. So, any idea?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Wallace?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Are you there?¡± ¡°Sorry kiddo¡­ Can you repeat that for me?¡± ¡°Okay¡­ It¡¯s a mana infested mining drone with body made of crystal covered with a really tough armor plating. From the looks of it, the crystal and the armor are fused together, so I¡¯m kind of at loss here on where to start. You see, the crystal is a bit tough and my skinning knife will only get chipped if I try to cut it. So, any idea?¡± ¡°¡­What the hell have you been doing, kiddo?¡± ¡°Hmm? Well, you know¡­ Hunting blazing tails, taming a freezing tail, confusing god of chaos¡­ Nothing too much.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, and next you are going to say you have a god for a pet!¡± ¡°¡­ Yeah, sure¡­ That¡¯s¡­ Going a bit too far¡­¡± I laughed a bit dryly here. ¡°Anyway¡­ Why don¡¯t you try chiseling your way with a spare sword?¡± ¡°Will that work?¡± ¡°HOW THE HELL WOULD AH KNOW? Ah may have skinned dragons, but at least they still had skin and bones! Not Cygnasdamming crystals and armor plating,!¡± Waah! There was no need to shout! Anyway, I used the idea he gave me and tried using a common sword that dropped for Yuu as a chisel and slowly chipped my way through the crystal until I could feel the separation between it and the plate, then yanked the plate back through sheer force.
Crystal-infested Aclhemysteel plating (3.1 ingots)
A piece of armor plating made with the long forgotten recipe of alchemysteel. The Crystal infestation made the legendary alloy even stronger (crafting material)
(Insert shiny eyes here) I could get around 3 ingots per drone killed, plus two ingots of the crystal from the body! I think I¡¯m in heaven here. I turned towards the next group I could see up ahead and started to get a bit fidget with excitement, my eyes probably changed into a pair of plating as I raced ahead towards them, sword and shield in hand. Hmm? Why is the ground suddenly getting closer? -5 (665/670) ¡­ Ouch. ¡°Geez¡­ Thanks god I had Yuu waiting for you¡­¡± Hanbei said from behind me. ¡°I had the feeling that you would do that after seeing those greedy eyes.¡± I lifted my face from the ground and looked to the kitsune at my side, who was looking at me with some guilty eyes as she held the spear low, probably what she used to trip me. ¡°I¡­ I am sorry, Shishou¡­ But Han-chan said that¡­¡± She started to explain herself a bit awkwardly, and I just smiled at her while petting her head. ¡°No need to be worried. You weren¡¯t doing anything wrong.¡± I said while gently petting her, making her give me a slight smile. I turned to the others and gave a slightly awkward smile while looking at them. ¡°Sorry, I got a bit excited there and almost did something silly.¡± Yagver gave me a smile and shook his head. ¡°No need to worry. We all get like that some times.¡± He told me in a cheerful tone. ¡°Yeah¡­ I won¡¯t do that mistake again¡­¡± I said while looking at the group ahead of us. In front of us was a large area with not one, but two groups one on each side. The whole room was made into a large semi-circular area with progressive steps downwards, remembering me of an amphitheater or one of those ONU rooms where people gather to discuss. Of course, the whole room was in ruins, with the left side of the back room completely blocked by rubble, and the steps weathered down by the years into a slope. As always, no remains of the furniture was left, as many crystals pierced the whole area and covered most of the walls and ceilings. If our map was still valid, if we take the exit through the right side of the bottom, we should be only two rooms away from the mini-bosses room. I turned to the group of mobs in our way and said. ¡°Yeah, I won¡¯t do that again.¡± I looked back at the group and said. ¡°This time I¡¯ll say it right.¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°WARGON JENKINS!¡± And charged ahead. ¡­ ¡°I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! I mine, I skin; I craft, I win! I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! The veins are mine! So full of shine! I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! The drones are dead! Their plates are left! So I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem!¡± I sang cheerfully as I removed the plating of my two drones worth of the mobs. Just as I finished my first one, I felt as two hands grabbed each of my shoulders. One was small a thin, while the other was bigger and covered in fur with some claws at the end. I turned towards the Hanbei and Xredder who were looking at me with dead eyes and beamed them a smile. Afterwards I took two minutes worth of beating from each one of them, with Forgotten healing me to keep me alive. Et tu, Forgotten? I thought you considered me your guide! After the two felines were finally satisfied with delivering pain to my person, and I was barely able to feel my limbs, they left with a smile in their faces and said nothing more. Not that they spoke anything during the entire beating, but the message was crystal clear for me. The next few rooms were without any further¡­ Accidents. And we quickly reached the room right before the boss, and when we saw the room ahead, I saw Hanbei extending her hand towards Lenny and getting two silver coins from a pouting harpy. I raised an eyebrow to the scene and she told me cheerfully. ¡°I bet that there wouldn¡¯t be just a single mini-boss!¡± I widened my eyes and nodded. Then she did win the bet, because:
Foreman drone Pk1 [lvl 20] [Boss] Equivalent level: 24 (aggressive)
HP: 6000/6000 Energy: 0/100 -Rapid fire Crystal -Safety measures -Procedural execution
Heavy-duty Mining drone C4-T [lvl 20] [Boss] Equivalent level: 24 (aggressive)
HP: 7000/7000 -Heavy-duty plating -Drilling protocols -Crush boulder
Heavy-duty plating (9) (infinite duration)
It was a scene that kind of reminded me of that old comedy movie with a fat, short guy, and a tall skinny one. The foreman drone was much skinnier and feebler looking than the other drones we found so far, and if we checked his skills, he didn¡¯t even have the Heavy-plating skill, which was wonderful news for us, as well as being horrible, because there is now way in hell that can actually be good. From his gauntlet-like hands came some long, scary looking crystal fingers that looked like it could cut boulder like butter. Actually, a good part of his body wasn¡¯t even covered, with his fore-arm, thighs and neck completely at show. The heavy-duty was a bit shorter, but was much, much bulkier. He looked like one of those guys we fought earlier with drill-hands. Except that his were massive and had even meaner looking ends. Besides, from here it looked like his armor was around as thick as my arm, and that is scary as hell. And did I mention that the SHORT one was around 1.8 meters and the tall one was around 2 meters? The smaller drones were at most at my shoulder height! ¡°Okay. Just so we can be clear, I¡¯m not liking this already.¡± I said looking at the comedy duo standing still, each on the side of a huge door. ¡°Yeah¡­ I really don¡¯t think my attacks can pass through that armor¡­¡± Xredder said looking at the fat one. ¡°I actually don¡¯t like the lanky one.¡± Yagver said with a grimace. ¡°He looks too¡­ Weak? That is not a good sign. And that Energy indicator? That¡¯s bad. Really bad.¡± ¡°But did you see the big one¡¯s buff?¡± Han-chan said while focusing on the buff beneath fatty¡¯s window. Different from mobs skills, you can still check their buffs and debuffs if they have one. ¡°That thing reduces damage taken by ten percent per stack!¡± She said with an confused voice. ¡°But it also reduces movement speed by ten percent, which is a bit odd¡­¡± I looked at the duo and once again a took a quick read at their skills. The names are very similar to the skills that most of the drones had before we fought. ¡°I think those skills¡­ Are improved versions of the smaller drones.¡± I said while looking back at the group. ¡°And if I¡¯m right, that safety measure is probably¡­¡± The group widened their eyes and gulped loudly at this. It seems that they got the idea. ¡°Then, maybe that energy is for Safety measures?¡± Lenny said after some time, and I nodded after some thought. ¡°Then, what about that procedural execution? What does it do different from hurried execution?¡± ¡°Procedural can be understood as the act of repeating something over time.¡± Yuu gave her thoughts. ¡°Maybe he gets better each time he casts the skill?¡± And this is a freaking MINING-BOSS? See what I did there? We took our time before jumping in and kicking their alchemysteel butts by planning our basic strategy. For now, our biggest problem was the lanky one, as if he kept casting safety measures we would be pretty much dead in no time, so we should focus on him. Since drilly-billy is untankable, it would be best to leave someone kiting him. ¡°Kiting is when someone keeps moving with an enemy focused on him, this way he can avoid skills and the tank has one less problem to deal with.¡± I explained to our dear noob fox, who nodded avidly afterwards. In the end, it was decided that I would be the one to kite the boss, as Yuu had a few spells she found easier to use when standing still and Lenny loses half of her damage if she isn¡¯t standing still at the time of the shot. So I took out my bow and prepared myself for the fight and we all walked together towards the fight ahead of us. Until¡­ ¡°Please, wait for a moment!¡± Yuu suddenly said. We all looked at her surprised and she blushed slightly embarrassed from the sudden attention. ¡°My father is calling me¡­¡± Why is it always on the time for the boss? Chapter 49 - Explosive issues Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! MINIBOSS FIGHT TODAY! ANYWAY, as I mentioned before, I plan on taking a one or two weeks break from Insania Online soon. Initially, the plan was for it to happen after the next arc, but since this one dragged a bit longer than I expected, I think it would be a good idea to do this when this one ends. It¡¯s mostly because I¡¯m actually running out of arcs to write and I find it easier to think when I¡¯m not writing the story. HOWEVER, if I downright stop writing, I might create a lot of inertia and have a lot of trouble picking it up again, so I decided to write something else for that time and post it here. I have many ideas on what I want to write, as there are many stories I wrote that I¡¯m still a bit fond of. The one thing that they would have, however, is smaller chapters, as I do want to take a break. For now, the one I¡¯m most inclined to post is what I jokingly call Insania Offline. Same characters, completely different story-line using reincarnation, dragons, (real)magic and role-reversals. But even if I do this, there are still around 10 or more chapters ahead, as I plan on having Gon finish the dungeon and craft his new weapon before then. ALSO, slight spoiler here, so read at your own will: Spoiler : As I want to be a bit mean with you guys, I will say it here. As some noticed, I plan on giving Cyg her own body before this arc ends or on the beginning of the next. So I will tell you guys this: I¡¯ve already showed what I plan on using to give her a body in one of the previous chapters (and by previous, I mean ANY of the previous ones, not only the most recents). Now, let the guessworks begin! ALSO(2), so, I will probably do another Q&A this Sunday or Monday, so get your questions ready. Same rules as before: Two questions per poster (up to three if there aren¡¯t many questions in total, but the first two ones are the ones I will give preference), any character you want, no asking for spoiler. Bomb-shells dropped, Have a good read! ----- We waited not so patiently, as Yuu had a talk with her father about whatever it was that he wanted to speak, but since time is three times faster in here than the outside world, the time it took was pretty long for us. Knowing this I took my time by sitting a bit far from the group and having a petting session with Aura to see if I could cheer her up for a little bit. It seemed to be working, but I wasn¡¯t sure for how long it would last, which left me a bit worried. Still, having a chance to pet the extra fluffy fur by itself isn¡¯t a bad thing. As I enjoyed myself, I noticed a dead-pan looking Han-chan approaching me. ¡°So¡­ are you always like that?¡± I tilted my head in confusion. ¡°I mean, I guessed you would be a bit less¡­ Impulsive on dungeons.¡± She said with some slight annoyance in her voice, making me smile awkwardly. ¡°S-Sorry¡­ It¡¯s just that I¡¯m a bit excited, this being my first dungeon and all¡­¡± She sighed loudly and sat besides me. ¡°Now I see why Cygnas said that you and your friends are insane¡­¡± She said a bit disheartened. ¡°If you are like that, then you really aren¡¯t right in the head.¡± ¡°Actually, the Collection dungeoning isn¡¯t like that.¡± I said, receiving a relieved sigh from Hanbei. ¡°It¡¯s actually even worse!¡± Cygnas said cheerfully from my lap. Hey! The petting is for Aura! ¡°Is that even possible?¡± Han-chan said surprised. I blushed slightly, embarrassed, but Cygnas went on. ¡°Look, this guy is the main tank¡­¡± She pointed to me with her head. ¡°The healer¡¯s find normal healing normal and often tries to leave the tank on the brink of death before healing him. The melee dps don¡¯t really care about drawing agro and keep spinning around the group hitting everything in sight. The ranged is the closest one to a normal one, but even then, the moment the pet dies, she goes berserk.¡± ¡°Ahh... Good old times.¡± I said reminding myself of our frequent dungeon runs. Hanbei, on the other hand, paled as she looked towards me. Hmm¡­ Maybe it wasn¡¯t a good idea to have her know that before we took her to dungeoning with the guys. It¡¯s always fun to see the new one¡¯s reaction at that. Luckily, before she could say something, Yuu¡¯s eyes opened as she had finished talking with her father at the cell-phone function of the D-lute. She turned towards me and nodded, warning us that it was fine for us to start the fight. I raised myself and walked towards the area of the boss together with the rest of the group. As soon as we stepped into the center of the room, the two large unmoving drones sprung into life, with the foreman immediately turning towards Yagver, who was the closest one, and the miner turning towards me, likewise. But they didn¡¯t come immediately. Almost as if giving us a warning attack, the heavy-duty slammed the drills into the ground without spinning them, picking up huge crystal boulder with it and used his other drill to explode it, the debris falling a few meters away from us. The foreman did something similar, by raising his right arm up and fusing the spear shape and shooting it towards Yagver, where the half-meter long crystal spear pierced the ground and stood there. We all tensed up at their display. It seemed to me that they were saying that if we cross that area, they will start attacking us seriously. I answered for us, by picking a small peeble in the ground and throwing it a the big guy. -0 (7000/7000) Was that even necessary? Thus, our fight began. Sir Yagver used his leap attack towards thin one while I cast Tactical charge on Xredder and he landed the first heavy blow. Yuu and Han-chan tried to land a few hits on heavy-duty, but the damage was mostly insignificant, so I told them to keep attacking the light one with the others. Meanwhile I did my part of running away from the huge drone with super-heavy plate armor and spinning drill arms the size of my head. And by running away, I mean leisurely walking, as the guy couldn¡¯t even dream of reaching me if I did that. Since getting close to him was pretty much a death sentence, I decided to go with my bow, occasionally poking him with an arrow to keep him focused on me. Twice he used his crush boulder skill, which was the same as what he did before we begun fighting, but all I needed to was to take my distance while he picked the boulder from the ground and most of the debris would only fall down harmlessly. Although there were three larger pieces that flew much farther, they weren¡¯t all that worrying, since it was easy to dodge them. Even with that, I immediately got bored of this and decided to focus on the thin guy, since he was our main target. However¡­ HE¡¯S ALREADY AT FORTY ENERGY? There¡¯s barely even twenty seconds the fight started! What the freaking hell is that? His health had barely been reduced by fifteen percent! How the hell are we supposed to kill him before the safety measures go out? I watched worried at the fight from afar while also raining down my arrows to try and deal some damage to him, but it didn¡¯t seem to be helping too much, as his energy quickly raised. If it wasn¡¯t for that, he was a fairly easy boss to take on, as his melee attacks didn¡¯t seem to hit too hard. Even if from time to time he would use his rapid-fire skill on someone at random, then do the same with his other arm aimed at another person. But once the aim was set, he couldn¡¯t move it, so they just needed to move out of it with ease. I grimaced while looking at that, his energy was almost reaching one hundred and we couldn¡¯t find a way to kill him quickly enough, so when his energy reached ninety, Yuu immediately started making as many ice-walls she could while Yagver quickly took his position, protecting the group from the shrapnel. However, right before his energy got to one hundred, he suddenly turned towards me while casting his rapid-fire skill. I immediately back-pedaled to take some distance from it, but this made me distance myself from the walls and put the big guy in the middle of the way, blocking my path. I grimaced at this as I saw the thin one¡¯s energy reach one hundred after less than a minute of fight. The crystal on it¡¯s whole body started to shine stronger and stronger, the others braced for the mana explosion while I could only grimace and ready myself by raising my shield. I couldn¡¯t even use tactical charge as there was a fat drone on the way. After around five seconds, there was a flash of light coming from the foreman, and I raised my shield and activated nature¡¯s bastion in a feeble attempt to survive the blast. I saw as the other¡¯s HP completely vanished without even a trace as the explosion rumbled even stronger than the ones from the smaller drones. I paled and waited for the impact behind my shield. But what I got wasn¡¯t a huge shockwave hitting me, but the sound of metal falling to the ground. I raised my head from behind the shield and saw as the big guy in front of me flinched for a moment as some of his armor plating fell down to the ground and his buff stack went down by one. I blinked, taken by surprise at the scene, and was caught by surprise as he suddenly advanced even faster than before and landed an uppercut on me with his drill-hands. -532 (138/670) I coughed in pain as I was thrown to the other side of the room through the sheer impact of the punch, and slowly slid down the wall, only to be finalized by a rapid-fire from the foreman. I saw as the whole world turned grey and I felt myself being pulled back through the sinuous path of the dungeon, back to the starting point, where I saw the others standing there as spirits waiting for me. ¡°Took you long enough!¡± Han-chan said with a smirk as she saw me reaching them with a shocked face. ¡°Shishou! Are you alright?¡± Yuu hurried to my side and asked me worried. ¡°You were not here with us and I got really worried!¡± I nodded, still a bit confused and gently petted her head to soothe her. After some time, a strong light consumed all of us and we immediately found ourselves revived back at the entrance with the usual window warning us of our deaths. I sighed a bit downhearted for having lost half of a level and be back to level fifteen¡­ Huh? Why I¡¯m still at level sixteen? And I only lost fifteen percent of my experience? It seemed that Yuu and Han-chan were as lost as myself when they noticed their experience, but Yagver laughed loudly. ¡°You see, since most of the dungeons don¡¯t actually expect you to beat the boss on the first or second try, the death penalty is smaller the higher ranking the boss is.¡± He explained to us. ¡°On some of the strongest dungeons, some bosses don¡¯t even have a death penalty, or so it seems.¡± Hmm¡­ I see. It does makes sense. When we get to higher levels, fighting against unknown bosses, it¡¯s pretty much a given that we are going to die to them. If we kept losing half a level every time, these dungeons would be pretty much unbeatable. ¡°But how come you survived?¡± Xredder asked me confused. ¡°We were all blown away by the blast, but you took almost a full five seconds to die!¡± That is actually a very good question, actually. How on Insania did I survive the blast? I don¡¯t think that it was my skill or shield, as Yagver had even better defensive abilities than me¡­ Something I need to work on if I plan on tanking, now that I think about it¡­ Wait, now that I think about it, didn¡¯t that big guy stand between me and the foreman? Maybe he stopped the blast! And that made his plating break, taking out a stack from the buff! And it actually made sense, because if the only way to surve the blast was to hide behind magic walls, then it would be something far too specific to do, something that shouldn¡¯t happen, since the dungeon felt a lot more game-like than the rest of the world! I quickly explained them my strategy while summoning Lieutenant back to life. He woke up dizzily , confused and with only half of his health, but otherwise he seemed to be perfectly fine. It seems that Aura gets unsummoned when I die too, so I quickly re-summoned her too. She looked a lot finer than Lieutenant, but she immediately turned towards me and jumped at my arms while looking worriedly at me. I soothed her with some petting the same way I did with Yuu, as we walked back to the mini-boss area. Since we had already cleared the way to the mini-boss, our way back was much faster, taking only ten minutes, since we didn¡¯t have to fight every few steps nor worry about patrols, so we made our way quickly. ¡°Still, our damage on the boss was too low. We need to finish him faster if we want to avoid a disaster with the rapid-fire.¡± Lenny said with a slight grimace, and I looked at her confused. ¡°But that skill seemed so easy to avoid?¡± I said to her, but she shook her head. ¡°At first, its fairly easy to avoid. But the more he uses, the bigger the area is and the faster he shoots.¡± She said with a grimace. ¡°If we take too long, it will become nearly impossible to avoid it.¡± Damn, these guys are nastier than they look! ¡°So, how are we going to increase our dps?¡± Xredder asked. ¡°I¡¯ve pretty much blown all my cool-downs, but it still wasn¡¯t enough.¡± He said annoyed and Lenny nodded in agreement. I stopped to think for a moment, but the answer came a lot easier than what I expected. So, they have an ever increasing heavy-hitting AoE attack, a one shot explosive blast, an armor plating that stops any kind of attack and drills that ignores armor. Well¡­ We have Yuu! ¡°Disciple¡­¡± I said in my serious tone, making her sharpen her gaze as she looked back to me. ¡°Your ban on using your spear is lifted.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. There, damage problem solved. She nodded seriously, and closed her hands in expectation as we ran towards the cave. Fun fact, though, is that I tried using nature walking on the cave, and it worked just fine whenever we were on the cave ground, but as soon as I stepped on the lab-like chiseled stone, the skill would stop and I would fly ahead with inertia, almost hitting my head on the wall a couple of times. We finally reached the mini-boss area after some time, and made a quick review of the strategy just to be sure, before entering the room once again. The room was just like the first time we came here, without any crystal standing around and with no boulder debris laying around, making me feel that this really was a game. We immediately turned towards the thin one as I lured the fat one away. Since these guys were much bigger than the other mobs, there wasn¡¯t much problem with the melees crowding together near each other and starting to hit each-other when using their skills, so Yuu could join Xredder and Han-chan on the front lines. Yuu started to spin and slash away with her spear like there was no tomorrow, and the boss health¡¯s started to drop noticeably faster. I even made Lieutenant use dismantle on the guy stacking with Han-chan¡¯s and Yuu¡¯s armor debuff, as well as allowed him to use some of the elemental knifes to try and stop the boss¡¯s from casting the rapid fire skill. I told him to prioritize when there was someone who was taking the attack, but left him to decided when to use it. After around one minute, he started to cast the safety measure, but everyone had already stopped attacking him and ran towards me, and we hid ourselves behind the fat one. Just to be sure, we used the walls strategy, and hid ourselves, but the blast never reached us, and we heard the clanking sound as the armor from fatty fell down. They immediately got out of the way as fatty started to gain speed. This time I wasn¡¯t caught by surprise and started my kiting job once again while we focused back on the thin one. As they fought, I started to notice that the attacks area do get bigger the more he casts the skill, and soon Lieutenant started to use the daggers to stun him whenever he turned to Lenny, as she had to spend the most time standing still. The fight progressed stably afterwards, and when he was at around fifty percent of health he started casting the explosion again, and we all gathered behind big guy once again. The cast time was notably faster. Not much, but enough for it to be notable. But we still had enough time to hide. Afterwards, we started having some problems, as the rapid-fire started to hit a really large area, and we were barely managing to avoid it on time, so I started to use tactical charge on the guys to help them. However, Lenny had a serious lack of melee skills, so she had to holster her crossbow and then use her wings to fly away. Well, she IS a harpy, so her wings and arms are kind of the same thing, and to flap wings when you have a heavy weapon on your hands is a tiny bit difficult. Just saying. Still, she was a whole lot faster flying than running, to the point of being scary. Still, since she couldn¡¯t use her weapons, it wasn¡¯t all that helpful during battle. When he turned to me to cast the skill, I stepped away, and had the big guy take on the attack for me. Lenny noticed this and started to shoot from near me, hiding herself whenever the barrage came. After some time, he cast the explosion for the third time, taking out another stack from the big guy. Sadly, even if the attacks do land on him, they still don¡¯t deal too much damage, so the whole fight the Heavy-duty didn¡¯t lose more than 700 HP. Still, after the third explosion his speed was noticeably faster and I was having a bit of trouble with kiting him, but I still managed to land the occasional attack on the foreman. And before the fourth explosion came, we all saw as the foreman slowly fell down to the ground. There was a general celebration as we pretty much considered the fight won, since the problematic one fell, now we could take our whole time with taking down fatty. Except¡­
Heavy-duty Mining drone C4-T [lvl 20] [Boss] Equivalent level: 24 (aggressive)
HP: 6248/7000 -Heavy-duty plating -Drilling protocols -Crush boulder
Heavy-duty plating (6) (infinite duration) Awaiting orders (1 minute 58 seconds)
A wild countdown appeared! AND IT¡¯S DROPPING TOO FAST! We all focused our firepower on the big guy, but even then we weren¡¯t able to kill him on time with all the stacks of the skill still affecting him, so the countdown came to an end. As soon as it happened, the boss stopped on his tracks and crouched down, a new skill appearing in place of crush boulder. And it was called: Quake protocol. He stabbed both of his drills into the ground, and the whole area started to shake as he did something to the ground. At the start, all we had to worry was to keep our balance, but soon after, the ground started to shatter, with the cracks running to all directions, climbing the walls and meeting back together at the ceiling. We all paled at the scene and tried to run away from the area, but it was futile, as we were barely able to walk on the quaking ground, and soon the whole cave fell on our heads, instantly killing all of us. ¡°Shishou¡­ Is that a hard enrage?¡± I heard Yuu asking as a spirit besides me. ¡­ ¡°CYGNAS FREAKING DAMMIT!¡± I shouted angrily as I stomped my way back to the cave, where much to my dismay, the whole area had been reset to its previous state. Bosses included. Lieutenant and I were both steaming with fury for having lost our level, and we were raging for another go at these guys. The others also seemed a bit angrier this time, but we still didn¡¯t charge in mindlessly. We made a slight change to our plans and nodded in agreement at the idea before entering the room in a silent march. I didn¡¯t eve wait for the warning shot before landing an arrow right on the big guy¡¯s eye-socket-thingie. The beginning was just the same as the first time, with everyone focusing on street pole while I kited wrecking ball around. He exploded three times and was down to ten percent of his health like before, but instead of killing him, everyone but Yagver turned towards the other drone and started attacking him while I kited him in a closed circle. They made sure to always keep him between themselves and the ever-growing barrage of crystals, and when I was the one targeted, I would cast tactical charge on myself to run away from the skill. We survived the fourth explosion with ease, but I was starting to have trouble pulling the big guy around while attacking, but at least he had a lot less health than before by now. The fifth explosion came and I stopped attacking altogether, only running away and casting the occasional taunt to keep him on me. Then came the sixth and¡­ ¡°HEY, MIND KILLING THE OTHER ONE ALREADY? I AM BARELY MANANGING TO OUTRUN HIM BY NOW, YOU KNOW?¡± I shouted angrily at them as I ran away from the fat guy. They all laughed at me, but kept attacking the miner without minding me. The seventh explosion came and I literally was running away by now. Luckily, I still had Yuu helping me by stopping her attacks and using frost-emission to freeze the guy¡¯s joint and slow him down significantly. The others finally decided to kill the foreman, but the fat guy was already down to twenty percent of his health and with only twenty percent of damage reduction he fell down like a rock into a pond. At least defeating these two managed to recover my lost level, so I wasn¡¯t all that mad¡­ Okay, I¡¯m lying. I¡¯m really mad at them. I approached the thin one and started to slam my feet onto his head until it made a large dent. After relieving my stress, I turned back and saw a small line behind me as each one wanted to also vent out their stress. Starting with lieutenant. I swear that if it weren¡¯t for the sweet lootz, I would have exploded their bodies right here and now. After everyone who wanted to take their turn with slamming, scratching, cutting or rending the drones had relieved themselves, we finally reclaimed them. Sadly, these two drones counted as a single boss, so we only got one single item from them, or two, thanks to the first players bonus.
Crystal shooter (Crossbow) (requires level 18)
Attack44-48Extra:(none)
Quality:ExcellentDurability:30/30
Description A crossbow made with the same technology of the Pk-1 Foreman Drone. Its shots are powerful, but its beauty is unmatchable. It can consume Crystalized mana to generate arrows. STR +10 AGI+5 VIT+3 Weapon skill: [Rapid fire]
Remodeled heavy padding (legs) (Leather) (requires level 18)
Def18M.res :17
Quality:ExcellentDurability:45/45
Description This was once the padding used within the armor of C4-T Heavy-duty Mining drone. Its abilities in stopping shockwaves are unmatched and its toughness are one of a kind. STR +5 TGH +7 VIT+5 Knock-down resistance +15% Quake resistance +15%
We had a few interesting items on our way here, but these two were simply unmatched. The crossbow, which went to Lenny, was an amazing piece of work, with the whole bow-wing made of a beautiful spiked crystal and the body of the weapon being made with a golden plating, reminiscent of the drone¡¯s armor. The damage was ridiculously high, but since this is a slow weapon, it wasn¡¯t as overpowered as it seemed. The other was a dark grey pants, with some thick paddings on the thighs and ankles. It looked really cool, and the resistance were pretty charming too. Han-chan and Xredder rolled for the loot with the system on a 0 to 100 point scale. Xredder landed a five and became depressed, but Hanbei managed to outdo him and land a four, so we were left with a happy grumpy tiger, and a grumpy happy catgirl. Finishing with our loot distribution, we approached the room to this wing¡¯s last boss and opened them. The joints were a bit rusty, so we had some trouble with it. Okay, rusty was an understatement. After making a ten centimeters opening, the huge double-doors fell down, with one of them managing to land on me as I forgot to let go of it when I jumped back surprised¡­ -143 (487/630) Ouch¡­ After helping me up and I mined the door in anger, we crossed a small corridor and found ourselves before even bigger doors, but in a much better state and made entirely of crystals. I gulped loudly and pushed the doors open, revealing a large circular room, with all the walls and ceiling covered in crystals, as well as a single object in the middle of the room. It had a golden shine to it, and looked about as high as myself. It had a slightly trapezoidal shape, with the smaller part on the botton and the large part up. Although the others were confused, I immediately recognized it. It was the chest-piece of Excel-Loran, the drones last boss. Although it looked a lot bulkier now seeing it up closer. Actually, it kind of looked like there were arms on the side, sticking closely to the body and merging into a single object. If I had to say, he looked like one of those transformers, with the body all folded up nicely. I looked towards the others and nodded before we all cautiously approached it, and as soon as the name-plate appeared¡­ ¡°Dammit!¡± Me and Xredder said together. Yuu looked at us confused and noticed that everyone else seemed to be sharing our feelings. ¡°What happened, Shishou?¡± She asked us after some time. I turned back towards her and said. ¡°Did you take a look at the guy''s health?¡± I said, and she nodded slightly confused. ¡°I did¡­ But what does it matter?¡± She asked even more confused. ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s¡­¡± I turned back to the boss and gulped.
Excel-Loran [lvl 21] [ELITE dungeon Boss] Equivalent level: 26 (aggressive)
HP: 6000/6000 -?????
The only remaining security drone from the times when Yksar¡¯s mine was still functional. Its workings are as much of a mystery as its abilities, as no record remains from the time it was built. However, its known for sure that he is the strongest drone to live in this mine, as no other drone dares to thread the same path as him.
¡°It¡¯s too low.¡± Xredder finished for me. ¡°I don¡¯t like this. Not even one bit.¡± I said with a grim feeling. Chapter 50 - Break the unbreakable Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! CHAPTER 50! IT¡¯S TIME TO CELEBRATE! ANYWAY, as a commemoration for being my longest running story EVER, and reaching the mythical CHAPTER 50, I declare that it¡¯s COOKIE PARTY TIME! FREE COOKIES FOR EVERYONE! BY THE NAIVETY OF CYGNAS! MAY ALL THE COOKIES REACH YOU! ALSO, on a more serious note. This is a battle heavy chapter, but with a different style compared to the usual, since this is a group battle. I kind of wanted to give this first boss that kind of overwhelming feeling of an unbeatable opponent. I hope it worked well¡­ Still, tell me what you thought of the dungeon¡¯s fights up to now. ALSO(2), this is a long chapter, reaching 4700+ words, and I¡¯m still proud of it. I COULD have gone a bit further with the story, but then it would reach the 6000+, and that is a bit TOO much for a single day¡­ (^.^¡¯) ALSO(3), I¡¯ll warn here again. Q & A next Sunday/Monday. Same rules as before. Two questions per poster, any character(author included), no spoiler question. Let the questions roll! Have a good read! ------ I looked at the folded up Drone standing in the center of the room while furrowing my eyebrows. This guy only have as much health as the Foreman drone, which was technically, the feeblest of the two. This don¡¯t make any sense to me. Rather, it makes sense, but I was pretty sure I would not like the meaning of that. ¡°So¡­ We¡¯ve got nothing on the Boss¡­ Wonderful.¡± I said in a sour mood. ¡°Well, that much is usual.¡± Yagver said with a wry smile. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and he went on. ¡°Usually the main bosses from the Dungeon don¡¯t have their skills shown, this way makes it a bit more challenging.¡± I sighed. That actually makes a lot of sense, but after these last two guys I wasn¡¯t so sure I liked it. Still standing here only looking bothered wouldn¡¯t bring us sweet loot, so I turned back to them and said. ¡°So, how are we doing this? Some scouting runs, or all out right from the start?¡± Everyone stopped to think for a moment, but in the end the answer was: ¡°Let¡¯s go all at once. If we kill, it¡¯s good, if we die, we understand the fight a bit better.¡± Yagver said with a serious face. I nodded and looked towards Yuu and Han-chan, whom also nodded in agreement. I changed back to my sword and shield before we started the fight, as there was no need for us to worry about the drill hands, and I could work nicely as an off-tank if it was needed. Even better, the shield-mastery skill was almost reaching intermediate, so after one more fight I should get it to the upper levels! But then, the bow mastery skill was also a step away from intermediate, so I was a bit conflicted on which to focus from now on¡­ And one-handed sword was still on intermediate level two, so it¡¯s a bit sad, as it took so long to level up¡­ Sadly, it seems that getting into a group slows down recklessness leveling, so it¡¯s still a bit on the low side, having only earned a single level the whole dungeon. And yes, I am resorting to escapism to avoid the terrible fate that awaits me. WHAT? GOT A PROBLEM? We approached the armor standing in the middle of the room, but even when we got at touching distance of him, the boss did not move at all. He simply laid there, as if waiting for us to do our first move. We gave the right of the first strike to no one other than Sir Yagver himself! Why? Because the best strategy against an unknown enemy is for you to let the main tank keep all the agro. He took some distance from the dormant drone and took a deep breath before casting his leaping skill. According to him, this was his strongest hitting skill if you take in consideration all the hits, from the landing impact, the small quake and the sword slash. But as soon as his sword landed on Excel¡¯s body, it bounced back harmlessly, showing us a still full health drone that didn¡¯t have a single dent in its plating. He looked at us with a surprised look. ¡°You really need to sharpen your weapon.¡± I said with a playful tone. ¡°Or get fencing. It also helps.¡± ¡°But I already have fencing... My sword mastery is at intermediate¡­¡± He started speaking, but Lenny put her hand into his shoulder and shook her head. ¡°Please, ignore that. It was a joke about another game.¡± She said with a tired tone. Oh, so she got it? Does she also plays monster hunter? Then she looked back at the Drone. ¡°Still¡­ He doesn¡¯t look all that threatening if he stands still like thi¡­¡± Just as she finished her words, light started to shine from the eye-sockets of the drone. The focus of the light ran from one side to the other a couple of times as he scanned us, and all of us took a step back as Yuu, Lenny and Han-chan tried to attack it with their skills. The ice spear shattered on contact, the wind-blades simply disappeared and the arrows bounced off like they were hitting a wall. Lenny even tried the skill rapid-fire on the boss, but not even one point of his health came down. I even tried approaching and using shield slam on it, but the bastard didn¡¯t even flinch with my attack. What the hell is this boss? We all backed down, and it took the boss a whole thirty seconds to do something. All of sudden the light blue light in his eyes started to spread through his body, forming markings all over the plating, and as it spread, the body slowly started to spring into life. The neck was the first, as the thin dome-shaped head he had slowly separated from the body and a thick layer of crystal emerged to cover and protect the fragile looking mechanism. Next came the arms, which firstly separated from the body and quickly unfolded themselves, revealing a hand-like gauntlet on his right and a long and thick blade on the left. Then came the torso and the legs, which slid from within, revealing two thick greave-like feet and armored legs. Right as the shape became complete, crystals sprouted from within the torso and started to spread around the limbs, covering the fragile looking joints in a thick layer of crystalline muscles that flexed a couple of times as if checking the condition of his body. ¡°Is it just me who is nearly scared shitless here?¡± I said while looking at the towering four meters giant in front of us. The others shook their heads slowly as they stared at the boss. ¡°Good¡­ Rather, isn¡¯t this bad?¡± I said as I saw the boss slowly extending his sword upwards and the crystal in his hand started to gather around it, making the sword even bigger than before. The scene was so unbelievable that it took me a whole second to click what was happening, but I still managed to shout on time. ¡°RUN!¡± We spread our group in half, as the blade fell on our previous position, with me, Yuu, Lenny and Xredder to one side, and Lieutenant, Yagver, Han-chan and Forgotten to the other. However, the two meters long sword didn¡¯t stop with only piercing the ground like it was butter, but it also spread forward, forming a crystalline wall between the two groups that went all the way until the end of the room. We looked surprised at it for a moment until I noticed the boss turning his other arm to us, and the crystal from his arm spread around his finger, forming a huge crystal chunk with many spikes on its end. ¡°CYGNAS DAMMIT! RUN AGAIN!¡± I shouted as a barrage of crystals started to rain upon us. I went at the front of our group with my shield raised to see if I could stop some of the shrapnel from landing on the others. ¡°Come on! We can¡¯t leave them like that!¡± I heard Yagver shouting from the other side as he and Han-chan charged towards the boss, but¡­ ¡°Well, do something about that nasty armor of his! My attacks are still bouncing off!¡± Hanbei complained. ¡°I TOLD YOU TO GET FENCING!¡± I shouted jokingly. ¡°NOT NOW, GON!¡± She complained back as I smirked a little before regaining my focus. As soon as we reached the side opposite to the one he created the wall, the shooting barrage stopped and we managed to catch our breaths back. I took a good long look at the boss and turned to Xredder. ¡°The crystals.¡± We said in unison to each other before nodding. I immediately cast Tactical charge on him and darted forwards right after. He landed both of his fists on the right leg¡¯s crystal while I landed my prized shield slam on the right one. However, the ones who felt the impact of the skill wasn¡¯t the drone, but us. I grimaced as my left arm went numb and could only feel pity towards Xredder, who used both of his arms on the attack. The Drone turned towards us after our attacks, spinning his torso around without moving his legs while landing a sweeping slash on my shield. Even if I managed to stop the damage, I was still blown heavily backwards, taking Xredder with me. We didn¡¯t spend too much time on the ground as we saw the boss lifting his right arm towards us as a single huge spear-like crystal formed on it. Even if we went our fastest with getting up, it still wasn¡¯t enough, as the boss pulled back his arm and prepared to launch the skill on us. But at the last second a roar came from his other side as Yagver used his taunt. In one swift movement, the boss spun around mid-swing and launched the crystal towards the J?tunn¡¯s huge tower-shield. Even then, he still slid a few good meters backwards, and his health depleted for a little bit. I saw as he grimaced at that, and frowned when the boss moved for the first time, running towards him with his blade lifted. At least it wasn¡¯t the arena-splitting strike from before, so the J?tunn managed to stand his ground and stop the attack easily. The rest of the group used this chance to go and attack the huge drone. But all of our attacks kept bouncing off his armor leaving us with absolutely no damage dealt at all. ¡°What the freak is this guy? How the hell are we supposed to beat him?¡± Xredder complained besides me as we once again fell back. ¡°Well, there must be something we are overlooking here!¡± I said as I looked around the room for some kind of mechanism to use, but with all the walls covered in crystal, there really was nothing useable in this whole area. The boss suddenly stopped attacking our tanker and took a step back, changing his right arm into a huge spear like shape. Sir Yagver braced himself for impact, but it was unneeded, as the drone landed the strike right into the ground, making the whole room shake for a moment and shattering the crystal wall. He stood there with his hand into the ground for a moment and we all watched worried for a moment. After a second, three points in the ground started to crack and a small piece of crystal appeared there. Noticing that one of these crystal tips was right beneath me, and having bad memories of crystalline tips coming from beneath me, I immediately jumped away right as a huge triangular crystalline pillar pierced the ground and went all the way to the ceiling. I looked at the familiar scene with a slightly wry smile. Luckily, it seems that the others weren¡¯t caught in the skill. The boss kept crouched for a full two seconds even after the pillars formed, but after enough time passed, he pulled back his hand with a shattering sound, as the crystal on the ground detached from the one in his arm. Afterwards he turned towards a random side of the room with the hand-gauntlet still covered in crystals. The, for a moment, the shine in his eyes and body changed from the blue color to a deep red one, a coloration that soon was followed by the crystal. He shot the red crystal spear into the wall and turned back to Yagver as his coloration turned back to blue. We all looked confused towards the flying crystal and got shocked as it, instead of shattering against the wall, it simply fused with it, like it fell on a pond of water. Now, in that spot of the room, was a red stain in the blue wall. I looked at it for a moment while trying to understand what exactly it was, even when the others started to think of a way to defeat the boss. After a brief while, the red spot started moving through the wall with an extremely high speed, spinning around the room until it stopped right in front of one of the pillars. Right afterwards, the red tip peeked out from the wall as the crystal shot itself from the wall towards one of the pillars, tinting it red. The scene repeated itself, but instead of a single crystal, two of them jumped from the pillar towards the other two remaining pillars, followed by four crystals peeping out from these other pillars. ¡°Damn¡­ WATCH OUT!¡± I shouted to the group as the crystals shot themselves from the pillar towards a few of us. I blocked the shot aimed towards me while Yuu and Lenny managed to move away from it. Still, Hanbei didn¡¯t react in time and was shot in the back, loosing almost half of her health. Even when I blocked, I lost around ten percent myself. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Lenny shouted surprised as she saw the red crystal fusing back into the wall. When I looked towards Yuu, I noticed that her crystal also went back to the wall, and both of them started repositioning themselves towards the pillars. ¡°The red crystal keeps jumping from the wall, and these pillars double their amounts!¡± I said nervously. ¡°Then what do we do?¡± Xredder asked looking at the red spots moving around. ¡°How the hell would I know?¡± I said back to him. ¡°Shishou! Can¡¯t we redirect these crystals towards the boss?¡± Yuu said while approaching the boss once again. ¡°Good idea, Disciple!¡± I said cheerfully. We all looked towards each other and nodded, gathering ourselves at the boss feet just in time as the two red crystals jumped towards the pillars, multiplying from two, to four, then eight as it jumped towards us. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Since we saw this one coming, we all managed to dodge in time and saw as the crystals hit the boss straight on, making him flinch. We all shouted cheerfully, but suddenly stopped, as we saw the boss¡¯s health still locked at 6000 points. And even worse, the red crystal, instead of shattering or damaging the boss, started to fuse back into him. Excel started trembling, almost as if he was furious and started to redirect all the red crystal on his back towards the sword, giving it an evil red coating. And as a tensed up spring that was released, he made a full spin around, extending his sword that grew to a massive size to the point of even reaching the opposite size of the room, shattering all the pillars and making a huge gash on the wall. Not even blocking the attack with nature¡¯s bastion managed to help me survive this. And even if I didn¡¯t survive, the others surely were dead. A clean and beautiful wipe. Luckily, the game wasn¡¯t evil enough to make us run all the way back here, and we revived at the mini-bosses room. I sat down to see if I could somehow control my still pumping adrenaline and calm down enough to process what the hell just happened. ¡°Okay¡­ I think we have ourselves a bugged boss¡­¡± Xredder said with an annoyed tone. ¡°Either that, or we are missing a key part of his mechanics¡­¡± Sir Yagver said while shaking his head. I grimaced and gave a quick look towards the recently summoned Aura, who blinked surprised and stared at nowhere for a moment before shaking her head. So Cyg said that it¡¯s not bugged, then we are missing something. I laid back on the ground and started to think of what exactly we could do. ¡°Firstly, we have to do something about those red crystals.¡± I said after some time. ¡°They come far too soon, and if we leave them alone they will overwhelm us too fast.¡± Yagver stopped to think for a moment and nodded. ¡°Even if we manage to find a way to damage the boss, it won¡¯t matter if we die before killing him.¡± He said with a grim face. ¡°The ones you blocked didn¡¯t start splitting again. Can¡¯t you just stop them?¡± Xredder said while looking at me, but I shook my head. ¡°Those things move far too fast on the wall. I don¡¯t think I can reach them before they jump towards the pillars.¡± I said with a frown. ¡°We need to find a different way to stop them from reaching the pillars.¡± ¡°Then, could we not break the pillars?¡± Yuu asked. ¡°If we cannot stop them from reaching the pillar, we make so that there is no pillar to reach!¡± We all looked surprised at her before nodding towards each other. I petted her as a reward and we quickly took our way back to the boss¡¯ room. At least, this time we didn¡¯t need to worry about waiting for the boss to activate. Even if the whole room had been restored back to the way it was before we started the fight, the boss was already standing up right in the middle of the room, as if waiting for us. We entered the room all at once, and as soon as we got into the boss¡¯ range he started his motion of raising the sword up high while gathering the crystal into in the sword and swinging it down between us. We once again divided ourselves between left and right and the boss once again barraged my group with the crystal shooting. Right after sweeping our half of the room, the boss spread the crystal in his hands and slammed it down on the ground, completely ignoring the earlier pattern where he would launch the spear before going for melee on the tank. But this worked well for us, as we quickly dodged the three pillars surging. All the damage dealers spread themselves, each going for one pillar and we started attacking them, and much to our delight, right after the first hit landed on one of the pillars, a name-plate appeared above them, indicating that each had six hundred health points. We didn¡¯t manage to destroy the pillars before the boss shot the red crystal, but we managed to destroy the three of them just in time, before the red crystal jumped back towards them. But it wasn¡¯t without unpleasant surprises, as the pillars went out in a large explosion, spreading shrapnel in every direction within a short area around them. And did those things hurt! I lost a third of my health in the blast, while Yuu, who only used cloth armor lost more than half. At least we managed to stop the crystal from spreading even more. Our health slowly started to come back up as Forgotten started spamming his heals. Meanwhile I noticed that the that shot all the way towards the other side of the room had a slight change in behavior. Instead of aiming towards us, it went towards the wall farthest from the boss and prepared to shoot itself toward the drone. Not on my watch! I jumped towards the back of the boss and blocked the crystal from fusing back with Excel. I really don¡¯t want to risk getting that huge red sword again. After recovering from the blow and dodging a spinning slash from the boss, I looked back at Yagver and received a thankful nod from him. Well, that is one crisis averted, now to find a way to kill the freak-show. We once again started to attack him and try to land a blow, but it was to no avail as no matter where we attacked, none of our attacks would even make a single scratch on him. We grimaced at this, but kept up until the boss did something different. He gathered the crystals on his sword again and turned towards us while swinging his sword in a downwards slash. But instead of piercing the ground as before, the crystal became flexible and long, like a whip, and the boss swung it so it would try to hit Lenny, our furthest member. She managed to jump away from the attack as she noticed it coming, but the boss lifted his arm and whipped with the crystal again twice, trying to land a hit on the harpy. But our ranged damage dealer isn¡¯t so foolish to fall for such an easy attack, and she easily dodged all of them. However, these attacks were leaving some small crystal fragments on the ground, and the moment that Lenny got near to one of them during a dodge, the fragment exploded, reaping away half of her health in one single blow. ¡°YUU, SHOOT THE FRAGMENTS DOWN!¡± I shouted to her, who complied immediately by launching her spear towards the crystal and making them explode prematurely. ¡°You freaking drone¡­¡± Lenny muttered as she raised herself in anger and shot at the whip resting near her. -42 (558/600) We all froze in surprise for a moment, which was enough to let the boss pull the crystals back and ready another strike, this one with a little more wind-up than the whip. It was the room splitter again! But¡­ That damage¡­ It couldn¡¯t be, right? I turned towards sir Yagver. ¡°STOP THAT SWORD!¡± I shouted to him, which made him eye me surprised for a moment before receiving a nod. I cast Tactical Charge on the huge J?ntunn, which made him reach our group right on time to raise his shield and stop the sword from reaching the ground. But it wasn¡¯t without price, as he lost half of his health on the exchange and kept losing a little less than five percent per second. ¡°FORGOTTEN, KEEP ME ALIVE! EVERYONE ELSE, ATTACK THE SWORD!¡± Yagver shouted after getting the gist of my plan and making the others snap out of their trance and start attacking the sword. I was the first one, approaching the sword and landing my shield slam followed by a five seconds slice ¡®n dice. -42 -12(x8) -1(x8) -24(Critical!)(x2) -2(Critical!)(x2) -198 (602/800) YES! It¡¯s working! The others also started to land their heavy-hitting attacks all at once, and right when Yagver¡¯s health was down to ten percent, the sword¡¯s health finally hit the very bottom, and it cracks appeared on its surface. Then it shattered. However, that wasn¡¯t all, as Excel took a step back as if something huge landed a hit on him and threw his sword-hand backwards. A hand, that was now completely free of the tissue-like crystal. The drone looked towards its arm for a moment before it finally lost its energy and fell limp besides its torso. Lenny was the first one to react to that, and shot an arrow towards the limp hand, and instead of bouncing off, the arrow stuck on it, and landed a dealt full damage to it. We all widened our eyes surprised, but when the damage numbers came up we went back to our frown. -43 (0/800) This wasn¡¯t the boss¡¯ health, this was still the arm¡¯s health! Then, what the hell is happening here? As we thought this, the boss finally turned its attention back to us, and extended its gauntlet hand angrily towards us, as even more crystals started to gather around it and his legs, making his muscle-like crystal even bigger, as if he had been working out. Before we could move away, he turned towards us with the hand and started shooting a heavy barrage of crystal on all the room in front of him. We had to run away from him to avoid the crystals, but he didn¡¯t just stop there, and as soon as he made a full swiping barrage, he recoiled his bulky arms and formed the spear-thrower again and aimed at random persons in the group. He kept shooting the spear non-stop for a whole half minute, not even giving us a moment to rest before he would target the next person and shoot him. After he finally calmed down, he raised his arm up high and slammed the heavy crystal heavily into the ground. Although we were a bit shocked at the start, we were already used to dealing with this skill, so we quickly moved away from the surging pillars. However, instead of three pillars, now there were four of them. Afterwards, he immediately shot the red crystal on the wall, where it started swimming around. We managed to destroy three of the pillars in time, however, the crystal still managed to enter the one left up and shot towards Xredder and Han-chan, who both managed to dodge the skill on time. We broke the fourth pillar immediately afterwards, and I ran towards the boss so I could block the two crystals from fusing back with him. ¡°Okay, we broke one of his arms, what¡¯s next??¡± Xredder asked nervously. ¡°Break the other one?¡± I said mischievously. ¡°Err¡­ Guys¡­ His arm is almost back to full health¡­¡± Han-chan said from the other side. ¡°What?¡± I asked surprised, and she turned to me to explain to me. ¡°His arm is regenerating a lot of¡­ WATCH OUT!¡± She suddenly shouted, and I turned back to the boss, just in time to notice that his crystals had turned green and he was raising his right leg up in the air. Cripes. I rolled away just as he slammed the leg back into the ground and even deeper, as it easily pierced and went all the way to his knees into the floor. We didn¡¯t even have enough time to stop and understand what was happening before the green crystal started to spread through the ground like a disease, covering almost half of the arena¡¯s ground. ¡°Oh¡­ God.¡± I barely managed to say right as the border of the circle suddenly sprouted into thick evil looking spikes. Luckily, most of the group managed to get away, but Xredder, Yagver and I weren¡¯t so lucky, as we were too close to the boss to get away, so we were caught into the death trap. ¡°Break the crystals! Quickly!¡± The others quickly started to attack the crystals, however, these ones had almost a full one thousands health points, and with me and Xredder locked within the trap, we couldn¡¯t get close or we would risk being pierced to death, as every second that passed, the border would get a bit smaller as more spikes sprouted up. I quickly used cycle weapons and started to shoot my arrows at the barrier to try and deal some damage, but this took my concentration away from the boss for a moment. A simple and fatal mistake. ¡°GON! LOOK OUT!¡± Yagver shouted to me, and when I turned back, there it was. A huge crystal whip swinging downwards toward my head. -343 (287/630) I was flattened against the ground in a painful blow, followed by a horizontal swing that threw me towards the spikes, giving me a painful death. -236 -325 -561 (0/630) I was left in my spirit form and was pulled back to the mini-boss room as I blinked surprised. A window popped up warning me that I couldn¡¯t revive myself until the battle ended, so I sat down and waited patiently. Not even one minute later, Yagver and Xredder popped up, and soon the others came in succession. ¡°DAMMIT!¡± Xredder shouted angrily as he stomped the ground. ¡°What the hell is that boss? How are we supposed to beat that monster?¡± As he complained, I looked at my experience bar and noticed how little it had decreased. Does this mean that this boss was that powerful? As I wondered about this, Yagver answered the angry tiger-man. ¡°Calm down. At least we managed to hit something this time around!¡± He said clearly more cheerful this time. ¡°Yup¡­ And I think I have an idea on what do we have to do.¡± Han-chan said with a slightly evil smile. We blinked surprised and listened attentively to her words. ¡°You see, we managed to destroy his arm, right?¡± We all nodded. ¡°Yet, it clearly regenerated after around one minute, right?¡± Once again we nodded, and we started to get where she wanted to go with this. ¡°Which means we have to deal constant damage to keep it destroyed. Doesn¡¯t this pretty much scream that we have to keep it destroyed?¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Xredder said with wicked smile. ¡°So, we will do him like jack the ripper¡­¡± I said while raising myself from the ground. ¡°We¡¯ll pick him one part at a time.¡± And we once again walked towards the boss¡¯ room. Chapter 51 - Crystal breaker Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! CRYSTAL PANIC TIME! ANYWAY, with this, we have one boss down after a big fight¡­ Whew this was one tiring chapter to write¡­ I hope you guys enjoyed this fight. I kind of wanted to make this boss more of the technical fights, with lots of mechanics that are hard to figure out, but gets relatively simple after you figure the trick. So, how many of you figured out the trick behind this guy before Gon? ALSO, since this boss was more of a technical one, I plan on doing the wolf a more brutal and direct one, so there won¡¯t be all this much figuring out. Not that he will be all that easier, though. ALSO(2), one more warning, but there is a Q & A coming Sunday/Monday. Two question per poster, any character you want to ask, no spoilers! Have a good read! ------ ¡°So, are you all ready?¡± Yagver asked us for one last time after we reconfirmed the plan. ¡°Ready as I can be.¡± I said confidently while the others nodded in agreement. Sir Yagver eyed all of us one last time before nodding for me to go ahead. I smiled wickedly and walked dauntingly towards the boss who stared at me for a moment as I stood in front of him. ¡°Hey! Gramps! Isn¡¯t it about time you stand down your guarding role and leave it to the new and sexier generation?¡± I taunted him mostly for the sake of doing it. I¡¯m not sure if it worked or not, but I do know that the boss advanced a step forward while raising his sword for the room-splitter. When he did that, I raised my shield and waited patiently for him to wind-up the strike, and as soon as he brought it down towards me, I aligned my shield and activated Nature¡¯s bastion stopping a good part of the damage. But soon after, when Nature¡¯s bastion effect stopped I started to feel the pressure of the attack and began to be pressed downwards by the sheer strength of Excel¡¯s and my health started to drop in a steady but quick pace. I grimaced for a moment as I noticed that the others were already attacking the sword, but my load was relieved when Yagver came from behind me and put his shield above me, taking the attack from me. I quickly rolled away after we exchanged the position of the one holding the attack and I turned towards the sword to attack it with the others. ¡°Lieutenant! Get ready!¡± I shouted to my pet, who made a salute in response while readying himself for his job. Right afterwards, the sword shattered in a thousand fragments and the Drone took a step back as if hit by recoil and stared at its limp hand for a moment. We had this brief moment of calm we had before he went berserk to put our plan into motion. Lieutenant approached the unsuspecting drone and jumped to his arms, holding himself there tightly while stabbing them with daggers. For now, that was all he did while holding himself together. Our plan for this opening was something along these lines: Since my Nature¡¯s bastion was even better at stopping instant impact than sir Yagver¡¯s shield, I would be the one to stop the boss initial attack and right as the effect ended, Yagver would take over the job keep the sword stopped while we all nuked it to oblivion. Afterwards, we had the animation where the boss would look at his arms and see it go limp while crystal-less. At this Lieutenant would cling to the armor-less hand and would be the one responsible for keeping it dead, as well as make a small test for me. His damage isn¡¯t all that high by himself, but it¡¯s more than enough to give us some breathing room during the berserk phase, where he goes nuts with his shooting arm. Afterwards we could have Yuu or Lenny to explode it back to 0. We also prepared some ideas for the whip skill and the green circle. However, we still had no idea what the other leg does, or even if it DO use some kind of skill, so we had to be cautious about it. His muscle-like crystals bloated greatly as he extended his arm-gauntlet and made a full swiping barrage in front of him. Me and Yagver managed to block the attack while the others simply ran away. Immediately afterwards he started his non-stop crystal-spear shooting, targeting one of us at random and then blasting away. For this part even me and Yagver had to jump away from the attacks as they would probably pierce our defense right away. After around the thirty seconds of non-stop shooting he finally calmed down a bit and turned towards Yagver after he roared his taunt. The drone started to pummel him for some seconds, and we took this time to take a breather. After around five seconds of non-stopping tank attacking, he turned towards the center of the room and prepared his attack. But this time he lifted the left leg instead and stomped the ground heavily, making a slight quake effect that almost made me and Yagver lose our balance. Right afterwards a chunk of crystal popped from the ground beneath his feet. I looked at it for a moment before noticing that another chunk popped up besides the first one, then another, and another. The crystals looked like that old snake game, with a new piece popping up at the front like it was advancing towards someone, getting faster and faster as time went on. Since the others were already taking note of the boss, I did not need to warn them of this skill Forgotten easily dodged the skill. However, it didn¡¯t stop there as it started to make a wide turn around while picking up the speed. Even worse, the earlier crystals weren¡¯t disappearing and this was cutting out our room for maneuvering. I turned towards Yuu and Lenny and nodded towards them, signaling for them to try and attack the crystal. They quickly started bombarding the crystals breaking them, but the one in front seemed to be difficult to actually destroy. I must say, that this is probably the easiest skill from the boss to deal with, if we manage to destroy that crystal in the front. I left it to our two ranged attackers to deal with it, and turned my focus back to the boss, who was pummeling and shooting our main tanker all this time. After some seconds, the boss once again turned towards us and lifted the hand up in the air before bringing it back down into the ground. We all immediately turned towards the four pillars that prepared to appear and started to bombard them with our best hitting attacks. But because Yuu and Lenny were trying to destroy the moving crystal, we only managed to destroy two of the crystals before the boss raised himself towards the wall and prepared to shoot the red crystal out. ¡°DO IT!¡± I shouted aloud and received a meow in response. Suddenly the boss staggered and the red coloration disappeared from him as the crystals in his other arm started to shrink back to its ¡®normal¡¯ post-berserk size. It immediately stopped whatever it was doing and tried to extend its arm towards the limp arm-blade in his other side and tried to yank Lieutenant out. But the cat managed to climb its arm up and stand on his head while the Drone flailed around for a moment, trying to get him out. I gave a thumbs up to my favorite soldier who answered with one of his own before going back to the limp arm. ¡°STUN SKILLS WORKS ON THE ARMOR-LESS ARM!¡± I shouted to the others, who nodded in response. ¡°Shishou! We can¡¯t stop the moving crystal!¡± Yuu said to me as she shot a frost-fire lance towards it, but even when she destroyed the crystal, another one quickly sprouted up while chasing her. By now even our ace was having a hard time running away from it, as it had more than enough time to gather speed, so she could only land an occasional attack every few seconds. She looked towards me with some worry, but the one to give the idea was Hanbei. ¡°Yuu-chan! Lead it into one of the pillars! His attacks seems to destroy each other!¡± Yuu nodded and quickly ran towards the pillar and circled around it, making the creeping crystal hit it the pillar and the two shattered each other, leaving nothing else in the area. The two girls smiled cheerfully at each other for the working plan. This seemed to enrage Excel, as he started to lift his right leg and changing his crystal coloration to green. Seeing this, I immediately used Tactical charge to get me outside of the danger zone and leaving only Yagver inside. We all immediately turned towards the crystal and started to bombard it with our skills, but it shrunk a bit too fast and Yagver almost died, but just at that moment, the green crystal exploded. The boss jumped up surprised and looked downwards towards the right leg that he had used to create the area. And the crystal in the right leg started to shatter and fall down, leaving nothing back on him. We all looked towards each other and prepared ourselves by taking some distance from him. One of our predictions was that there would be a berserk stage for every piece of him that we destroyed, and it seemed to be true, as his crystals bloated up even more and once again he started with his swiping barrage. Different from the last time, however, was that instead of stopping to change to the spear throwers, he kept doing the barrage while at the same time stomping the ground with his good leg. And for every stomp he did, another one of those creeping crystals would pop up and start making its way towards us. Luckily, the self-destructive nature of his attacks made so that whenever one of them hit a wall made by another, one of them would break. At least around ten of these managed to survive and hunt us, and I couldn¡¯t help but feel that Lieutenant had the easy part simply clinging to the unmoving arm. Me, Forgotten, Xredder and Hanbei were left as the responsible for luring the creeping crystals towards each other, while Yuu and Lenny made sure to keep the arm and leg locked down on 0 health. We managed to destroy all but one of the creeping crystals by the time the boss calmed down once again and started to melee Yagver. Xredder tried luring the creeping towards him, but the crystal simply ignored the boss and passed right through him. Looking closely, I noticed that Yagver was frowning slightly at each attack he received, as they probably started to hurt by now, and his occasional attacks to keep the boss focused on him were becoming extremely rare by now as he focused all his attention to defending. It was annoying the fact that we could do nothing but wait for its next attack to start damaging him again. And the fact that he was still locked at full health only made me even more annoyed, but at least we were having a nice advantage by now. He suddenly stopped the melee and slammed the hand on the ground, but instead of three or four pillars, now we had five. It seems that for every limb we destroy, the others power up. Xredder lured the creeper towards one of the crystals while we destroyed four other. Lieutenant tried to stun the boss when he shot the red crystal, but he had gained some resistance to stun, so he still managed to shoot the crystal out. I ran to him so I could stop the crystal from hitting him, but the two hits hurt a whole lot more than before, taking out a good twenty percent of my health. We really have to find a way to deal with this hand in particular, as most of the other are fairly simple to counter. Immediately after the last pillar was destroyed, Excel lifted his left leg and I started to expect another one of the creeping crystals, but what happened wasn¡¯t what I was expecting. His whole body changed to a yellow coloration. ¡°It¡¯s Your chance! Get ready!¡± Yagver shouted noticing the attack about to come, and we all nodded. The boss landed his foot on the ground with a heavy stomp. After a brief moment, he lifted his foot again before slamming. I looked around worried and noticed as a yellow crystal slowly sprouted on the other side of the room before starting to bloat up over a few seconds. We all paled up at this familiar scene and readied ourselves for the impact. But in an extremely different fashion, instead of a simple explosion, there was a yellow crystal shrapnel shower covering the whole room. And for every stomp the boss did in his tantrum fashion, another one of these crystals popped up. ¡°YUU! WALLS! FORGOTTEN, AOE HEALING!¡± I shouted to them, and they immediately complied as we gathered between the four ice walls made by the kitsune. But some of the fragments were a bit more powerful than the expected and pierced through our makeshift defenses, making Forgotten keep up his healing spells going up. After around ten of these crystals, there was a much louder stomp as the boss put all his strength into it. And with that the ground started to rumble as a huge yellow crystal popped up from the center of the room and rose all the way towards the ceiling. We all looked at it surprised for a moment, until we noticed it starting to bloat up like the ones before it. ¡°Cripes¡­ BREAK IT BEFORE IT EXPLODE!¡± I shouted nervously waking all the others from their stupor and soon we were all bombarding it with our attacks while dodging some of the boss shots as he couldn¡¯t move from his place. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The crystal, like the green one, had a full thousand points of HP, so we had to attack it non-stop for a good time, and we could almost see it exploding right before we managed to destroy it. But it didn¡¯t go without an avenging strike, as an explosion, smaller than the one we were expecting, took out half of our health as it broke down into a million of fragments. The boss had its usual reaction of seeing his legs crystal breaking down in thousands of pieces. As he lost the support of both his legs, he fell down on his legs like the way we had first seen him when we entered, losing almost all of its mobility in a single blow, but his remaining arm bloating up to an humongous level. I grew a bit complacent here with my over-confidence, as he had no way of turning around and target us during his berseking, but I was wrong. He slammed his only good hand into the ground repeatedly, just like a jackhammer. I looked around worried and paled as I noticed tens of small pieces of crystal popping up from the ground here and there before sprouting up from the ground as a stalagmite with raging ferocity, before going back in. And different from his other attacks, this one didn¡¯t have a single safe zone. There was no strategy here, and we simply started to run around while trying to avoid the ones where the crystals were about to pop up. It was a mad run as each one tried to avoid his own problems, which almost led to more than a few head-butts on our side. We spent the whole thirty seconds like this, and by the time the boss stopped, we had to focus all of our ranged firepower on bringing his dead-limbs down again. Luckily, lieutenant used some fire daggers during the berserking to keep it down to a manageable levels. But the drone didn¡¯t simply stand there looking, as he started to shoot crystal at all of us with incredible ferocity, keeping us on the move for most of the time. On the plus side, Yagver didn¡¯t need to keep tanking him anymore. However, there was still the problem of how to damage his remaining arm. It was the only one we didn¡¯t have a plan against, since we had no way of damaging it. Sadly, he didn¡¯t give me much time to think, as he slammed the hand on the ground once, bringing three pillars up almost instantly, before lifting it back and slamming down again, making another three sprout. Me and Yagver grimaced while we started breaking the pillars. However, our limit by now was only three of them, so when the boss shot the crystal towards the wall, we didn¡¯t have enough time to break them, and soon there were eight crystals attacking us at random. At least we managed to break the remaining pillars before they spread out even more, but this made the crystals turn towards the downed robot. Me and Yagver divided the job of blocking these crystals on their way to fusing with him. And soon after we stopped the crystals, the boss went berserk once again jackhammering the ground one an even more furious rhythm than before, making us run on an even more panicky run than before. This time we didn¡¯t manage to avoid all of them and took a few hits from the crystals, which each dealt around a whole hundred points of damage ignoring armor. At least it was still within acceptable damage range. But how the hell are we supposed to break that other hand then? Even when we break the pillars it doesn¡¯t affect him! Think, Wargon, think! What makes it so that breaking the crystals also break his limbs? What did we managed to break up to now? There was the sword, of course. Then there was the green crystal circle and the yellow explosive pillar. What did they have of different from the pillars? The sword is pretty obvious, as it was still linked to his arms, but the circle and the pillar weren¡¯t! Heck, the pillar was half a room of distance from him! Then, why didn¡¯t the creeping crystals or the red Crystal had the same effect? Didn¡¯t we manage to destroy them even when they weren¡¯t linked to him? And he still didn¡¯t break his own crystals¡­ As I focused on that, I noticed as he once again raised his hands and slammed it down into the ground once, creating three pillars, followed by another slam that created the remaining three pillars. So, now would be when he raises his arm and shoot the red crystal, right? ¡°GON! HELPS US HERE!¡± Han-chan shouted angrily at the me who was focusing on the boss. But I ignored her call as I watched the boss as he stood still for around three to four seconds before yanking his arm away from the ground. Why did it take so long for him to do that? Actually, doesn¡¯t he do that every time he put the pillars? Why? Wait¡­ The yellow pillar, the green area¡­ These six pillars¡­ ¡°I GOT IT!¡± I shouted as I turned to a nearby pillar and attacked it. The others turned shocked to me and looked surprised for a moment. ¡°Next time, everyone focus on my pillar, got it?¡± They looked suspicious for a moment, but nodded nonetheless. However, I almost died on these red crystals, as they hit me even stronger than the last time, as well in greater quantities since it took too long to break down one of the pillars. But after chugging down a potion I was ready for the next berseking phase. This one even more hectic than the two before it, which almost killed Yuu and Lenny, whom didn¡¯t have as much HP as the rest of our group, but we barely managed to hold back. After some random shooting, the boss once again prepared for creating the pillars, and as soon as the first three popped up, Xredder said nervously. ¡°So, which one?¡± ¡°Wait. Not these ones¡­¡± I said as I watched to where the closest pillar from the second wave would sprout and turned towards it. ¡°THAT ONE, HOLD NOTHING BACK! BLOW IT UP! QUICKLY!¡± Just as the crystal popped it was bombarded with all of our best spells and skills and died in less than three seconds from coming up. And we heard the lovely sound of crystal breaking coming from the other two pillars that popped up together with this one, as well as seeing the boss receive the recoil from his skill being destroyed. The others looked at me shocked, but I told them later as we turned to the boss, noticing that the blue lines in his chest disappeared, as well as the crystals around his neck being pulled back out. ¡°It¡¯s time for revenge!¡± I said with a malicious smile as jumped towards the drone and started slashing it, since I was out of energy from the pillars. -25 -1 -23 -1 -24 -1 -26 -1 -102 (5898/6000) I laughed maniacally as I saw his health going down for the first time during all of our fight. The others blinked surprised for a moment, but they soon followed my lead, jumping on the boss and slashing, blasting and shooting him to oblivion. We were lost into our own delightful world, discharging all of our pent-up frustration on the powerless boss before us, bringing him below fifty percent in less than a minute even with our best skills on cool down. But the big guy wasn¡¯t going to sit there motionlessly for the rest of the fight. After sixty seconds flat, black lines started to spread around his chest, arms and legs and the limbs were brought back to full health in the blink of an eye. Black crystal spread over his body forming the muscle-like shape as soon as our attacks started to bounce off him again. I felt a chill down my spine and immediately backpedaled away from him, the others copying me at the same time. The boss stood up in a single movement and made a full spin around with the black sword wiping away at anything nearby it. The colorless eye turned towards me and with and without any prior warning, its shooter hand was already launching an impaling shot on my direction. I barely managed to roll away from it in time, but before I could even lift myself, there was already a whip coming to strike me. Yagver saved me by blocking the attack with his shield, and I immediately ran away from the area towards safety. However, Yagver¡¯s interference got the boss¡¯ attention, as it turned towards the J?ntunn and ran towards him, landing an uppercut on his shield that took a small chunk of his health, followed by a downwards slash with his sword hand. Yagvers life started a steady drop from that moment on as he stopped the boss attack, who would suddenly stop his berserk flurry to turn and barrage us with his shooting hand, with each shot covering an area so huge we barely had time to escape, losing around twenty to thirty percent of our health with every shot. When around fifteen seconds had passed, he stomped the ground with his feet, causing four crystal lines to form a cross with him as the center, cutting the room into four sectors. Immediately afterwards the walls started to move clockwise. I tried to attack the wall to see if I could break it, but even that was a bad move, because the moment I even touched the wall, my health dropped by two hundred points in a single moment. I jumped back and noticed that the boss was aiming at me with his shooting hand, and barely managed to charge out of the way before the shots reached me. It took fifteen seconds and a full spin around the room for the walls to disappear, but even then the boss kept his black coloration as he attacked Yagver relentlessly. Noticing that his health was almost reaching rock bottom, I kicked the J?tunn away at the last moment and managed to block the attack with my shield and nature¡¯s bastion. ¡°What¡¯s up, gramps? Can¡¯t even land a good hit on someone younger than you?¡± I taunted him to get him to target me, and received a thankful look from Yagver as his health started to fill back up slowly, thanks to forgotten. When the drone lifted his blade hand, I rolled away from the attack, and saw as it formed a black chunk of crystal on the ground that exploded a moment after. Lucikly, the range wasn¡¯t all that big so it didn¡¯t reach me after the roll. I kept taunting him and rolling away from his attacks for the next fifteen seconds, but not without receiving two painful blows to the body, which almost killed me. After fifteen seconds were done, Yagver taunted the boss back as he once again used his spinning walls attacks. After surviving this wall once again, the black color disappeared from his body and he was once again back to his blue coloration and started with the room splitter from the beginning of the fight. Afterwards, all we needed to do was to keep up with our previous strategy. And after a few more minutes, his HP reached zero. Yet, the drone didn¡¯t stop there, as he started to tremble violently while black crystals started to spread once again through all his body. I frowned deeply while looking at this, there was even more? The others and me fell back to get some reaction room for ourselves while waiting his next movement. The drone stood up once again and started to walk towards us while lifting his sword up high in the air. He got within range of sir Yagver and started to bring his sword down. The J?tunn raised his shield waiting for the strike. Yet, just as the demonic black sword prepared to strike him, it shattered into thousand pieces as the whole arm fell off from the drone. He lost his balance due to the sudden loss of weight and stumbled forward while using his right leg to try and regain his footing, however the crystal in his leg shattered and he fell down into the ground. He tried to use his remaining leg and arm to get back up again, but the effort also destroyed the lower limb, tumbling him back to the floor. As a last ditch of effort, he raised the right arm towards Yagver and changed it into the spear shooter. But the shot never came, as the black lights disappeared and his body deactivated for good this time, his arm soon following the torso in laying flat besides him. We were still all tensed up from the scene, all of us ready to take another round of relentless fight, so we couldn¡¯t exactly understand what had just happened. We only recovered ourselves when a window popped up in front of me and I started to laugh loudly at it.
Congratulations! You have defeated Excel-Loran while in the presence of Aura.
Chronicles of the Frozen Battlefield have earned the following upgrade: TGH +3 MND +3 VIT +3 DEF +1 M. Res +1
Chapter 52 - Wave event Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Debriefing, quick battles and last boss! ANYWAY, after reading yesterday¡¯s comments, I noticed that some people were thinking that Excel might be a bit too difficult for a level 20 dungeon. After some thinking, I must say that they might be right. For a low level dungeon, it is a VERY complex fight. That¡¯s why I¡¯m using this chapter as some kind of debriefing where they discuss the boss mechanics and give a bit of their views on the boss. (Which coincides with mine, btw) ALSO, I do plan on making the wolf as strong as the drone, but taking a completely different direction. It should be a two-chapter fight again, and afterwards we leave the dungeon for some crafting, quest delivering and finishing the arc, where I will take a break from Insania for a week or two, then we come back to a solo hunting arc after so long. ALSO(2), this refers to the spoiler Also from a few chapters ago¡­ So, there might be some minor spoilers in here. Spoiler : I might have been a bit too mean with the whole Cygnas pet-body guess-work I made, after all, the thing I plan to use only appeared ONCE, wasn¡¯t on the spot light and wasn¡¯t mentioned ever since¡­ ALSO(3), LAST DAY FOR Q&A QUESTION! Two questions per poster, any character you wish, no spoilers! Know more about your favorite character! Have a good read! ----- ¡°Hey, Gon¡­ *snicker*¡­ Why aren¡¯t you¡­ *snicker* singing your happy golem¡­ Song?¡± Hanbei asked me with a clear smirk in her face. I looked sullenly at her for a moment before turning back to my corner of the room and go back to drawing circles on the floor. Can¡¯t you leave a golem to suffer alone? Must you rub it out on me like that? Aura and Yuu were each sitting nearby while trying to find a way to console me, but no matter what they did, there wasn¡¯t much of a chance for me to recover so soon from my actual state of depression. After all, I did mess up badly just then, and now I am back to square one. ¡°Gon, stop sulking and get ready! We already got the item we needed!¡± Sir Yagver said while coming back from the room that opened after the drone had its dramatic death. I nodded weakly while raising myself from the ground and walking slowly back to the exit. ¡°Goddammit!¡± Xredder said angrily. ¡°When you were dying repeatedly to the boss you only got angrier, but now you feel like a walking corpse! What the hell! It was only a level!¡± He said while glaring at me. ¡°It wasn¡¯t only a level¡­ It was a pointless, meaningless and perfectly avoidable death that cost me my recent level¡­¡± I answered hollowly while hanging my head. ¡°¡­ What exactly am I missing here?¡± Lenny asked while looking at us confused. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see what happened?¡± Xredder asked her confused. ¡°No¡­ My brother called me during the fight, so I called him back when we finished and I was on the call with him up to now.¡± She told him with a confused look. ¡°I warned Yagver, didn¡¯t he tell you?¡± Xredder blinked for a couple of times before sighing and starting to explain my situation. ¡°You see, this idiot golem here got all excited when the fight finished and went to mine the walls of the room.¡± Yes, yes. I saw that mining spot on the wall, got all excited and ran towards it so I could score a few more crystals. ¡°But he picked a bad and fragile spot, which made the wall crack and fall on him.¡± Yep¡­ I got over confident, started mining ignoring the fact that there was a huge crack due to a stray crystal. But the crack got bigger, the wall fell and killed me. And I had just dinged to seventeen! So, here you guys have, the drone killer, killed by a falling wall¡­ I know, that was ridiculous and idiotic. Why do you think Hanbei is mocking me? Well, at least my Shield mastery did reach intermediate and I earned a new defensive skill.
For reaching Intermediate level on shield mastery, you have unlocked a new sub-skill: Stand ready.
Sub-skill: Stand Ready [intermediate] [lvl1] (levels increase with Shield mastery)
Your experience with your trusty shield has taught you how to receive blows with a better stance that reduces the impact received. Increase block and M.Block value by 20. Effects lasts until you move. Attacking while using Stand ready cancels the skill effects.
Cost: 20 Energy. Cool down: 1 minute.
¡°Well¡­ That¡¯s¡­ Pitiful.¡± She said with a slight hint of empathy in her voice, but soon went back to her serious mode. ¡°So, what did we get for gear?¡± She asked looking around. Yagver and Han-chan smiled widely as they showed her the new loot.
Aggression Protocol: Slicer (one-handed sword) (requires level 18)
Attack5-7Extra:(none)
Quality:ExcellentDurability:2/2
Description Excel-Loran¡¯s once proud sword that shattered at its life end. Wowever the core remains, keeping all of its original sharpness on a smaller size. Don¡¯t be fooled by its appearance, as it¡¯s much tougher than it looks. STR +7 AGI+7 TGH+7 Durability is restored once sheathed. Weapon Skill: [Shattering end]
God-stopper chest-plate (Super Heavy Shield) (requires level 18)
Block:300M. block:150
Quality:ExcellentDurability:50/50
Description A piece of armor made to resist even the strongest of the blows. Once part of the mighty security drone Excel-Loran, after being infested by crystalized mana it grew even tougher, but after losing the infesting crystal on death, all the enhancements were lost, but its defensive capacities remain. Movement speed penalty: 33%
These were the two equipment we got from the drone. Hanbei¡¯s sword was a long crystal made into the shape of a katana, but with a jagged edge, like Excel¡¯s room-divider sword. It was a beautiful blade that, whenever its low durability reached 0, it would explode dealing damage. But even then, as long as she brought the remains of the blade to the sheathe it would restore it to full in the blink of an eye. My guess is that this is the exclusive loot for being the first to kill the boss. Then, came Yagver¡¯s shield. It literally was the frontal-part of the drone¡¯s chest plate, being large enough to cover the j?tunn until near the shoulders with him standing straight up. At first look, it seems trashy, since it is hard to move with it as it gave a hefty movement speed debuff while equipped and didn¡¯t have a single status point, but the block value more than made up for it, being double of his actual shield. He didn¡¯t equip it immediately, since it wasn¡¯t worth using it on the monsters on the way to the boss. But against slow and heavy hitting opponents it¡¯s a wonderful piece of equipment. Or that is what I think, at least. Leaving that aside, I wonder if I can also skin this guy like the other drones. If possible, I want to get some of his plating to make a decent shield for myself. Not one like Yagver¡¯s mind you, but a lighter one, like mine. ¡°Shishou¡­¡± Yuu approached as soon as we left the area. I turned to her and raised my eyebrow. ¡°Why did breaking the pillars before did nothing to the boss, but afterwards it started to break his arm?¡± She asked me curious, and the others soon turned to me curious. ¡°That was also bugging me, to tell the truth¡­¡± Yagver said with a curious face, and Xredder nodded with his arms crossed. I sighed and started to explain. ¡°You see¡­ When we were breaking his limbs before, what did they all have in common?¡± I made them the question I asked myself back at the fight. They all blinked surprised and started to think. I made a small smile while I watched them, before turning to Aura who I caught with a slightly jealous gaze towards Lieutenant. I sighed a bit and picked her up without warning. She looked surprised for a moment but soon calmed down when I started to pet her. I think I already know what is making her this way. I¡¯m not so dense as to not get these clear signals. But there wasn¡¯t much I could do while in this dungeon, so for now I would have to calm her with some petting until I get back to the capital at the very least. Feeling some jealous eyes on my back, I turned to see Yuu staring at Aura, but besides that, she didn¡¯t seem she was going to ask for anything, probably noticing Aura¡¯s strange mood. ¡°So¡­?¡± I asked her with my eyebrows raised. She shook her head slightly and said. ¡°The attacks were still connected to him when we broke them.¡± She said after recovering her focus. ¡°Yup!¡± I said with a nod, which made the others look at me confused. ¡°But, wasn¡¯t that Yellow pillar far away from him when we broke it?¡± Lenny asked confused, but I shook my head. ¡°It might be far away, but do you remember his position when he created the crystal? And when he used the green crystal?¡± I said with a mischievous look and she looked confused for a moment. ¡°On both attacks, he kept the foot inside the ground.¡± Yuu explained for me, and the others blinked surprised. ¡°He was linked to the crystals through the underground.¡± The others finally clicked in on the meaning of her words as their eyes widened in shock. Then Xredder frowned as he started to think about it. ¡°Then, why didn¡¯t it work before?¡± He asked confused, and this time even Yuu looked confused towards me. ¡°Did you notice the boss movement when he creates the pillars?¡± I asked, and received some embarrassed gazes from almost everyone. I sighed before explaining. ¡°Whenever he called the pillars, his arm would stand on the ground for a moment before he raised and shot the red crystal. If my guess is right, at that time he is separating the pillars¡¯ crystal from his arm.¡± I explained to them. ¡°So when we spread to break the pillars, he would already have separated his arm by the time the first one is gone, but focusing on one, we can destroy it before he takes out his arm.¡± They looked surprised for a moment before they all started nodding as they stopped to think about it. If I had to explain this boss¡¯s fight in one word, it would be that we had to attack his attacks, kind of a weird concept if I had to say it myself. ¡°Geez, that sure is one hard boss¡­ I hope the wolfy isn¡¯t that bad.¡± Hanbei said after some time with her shoulders dropping. I noticed that some of the others started to nod in agreement. ¡°Well¡­ After we understand how he works, I don¡¯t think that he is all that difficult.¡± I said after some thought, which made them look at me like I was some kind of monster. Their gazes were so intense that I even had to take a step back. ¡°Actually, I agree with him.¡± Lenny said with a nod. ¡°We became overwhelmed when our attacks started to bounce and kept attacking him mindlessly which left us open for his attacks. But when we kept our focus, his attacks were very easy to avoid¡­¡± She said while holding her chin in her hand. ¡°Are¡­ Are you two crazy?¡± Han-chan asked while looking at the two of us. ¡°How the hell is that an easy fight? It¡¯s almost impossible to understand what we have to do in there!¡± ¡°One: Don¡¯t attack boss. Two: Break pillars, colored crystals and sword/whip the fastest possible. Three: Don¡¯t stand still during berserk. Four: Keep limbs dead while repeating two and three. Five: Hit boss HARD. Six: Survive black berserk. Seven: repeat.¡± I said while counting on my hands before turning to her and giving a wide smile. ¡°When you put it that way¡­¡± She said while giving me a twitching smile. ¡°A bit over-simplified, but it does describe the fight.¡­¡± Yagver said while thinking for a moment. ¡°Besides, when you think about it, the one limb berserk, the yellow crystal bombs and the black crystal are pretty much the only things that we can¡¯t avoid taking damage, all the others we can just walk away from the skill or destroy it on time.¡± I added afterwards, which made Han-chan sigh loudly. ¡°But isn¡¯t that a bit too difficult for a dungeon of this level?¡± She said while tilting her head. ¡°Rather than difficult, I would say complex¡­¡± Lenny added pensive. ¡°But she¡¯s right. It IS a bit too complex for a relatively low level dungeon¡­¡± I stopped to think for a moment before nodding. When they put it that way, it does seem a bit too much for something of this level. Luckily, most of us here have some experience with MMORPGS, so we managed to find out somehow, but I don''t think casual players would have found out the trick by themselves. ¡°Oh! I know!¡± I said suddenly. ¡°Maybe my quest changed the difficulty of the dungeon? It does say that it¡¯s a heroic quest¡­¡± ¡°And can that even happen? I mean, a quest change a dungeon¡¯s difficulty?¡± Xredder asked confused. ¡°Well¡­ I did hear from a friend that some higher leveled dungeons can be made harder under certain circumstances. But the rewards do get better with it¡­¡± Yagver said while looking back at him. ¡°So it might be possible for a quest to also do that, I guess¡­¡± Oh? So he knows someone from the upper levels? That is interesting¡­ Actually¡­ ¡°Talking about high levels, what is the highest level right now?¡± I asked curious, and I noticed as Yuu and Han-chan perked up to hear the answer. ¡°From what I heard, it seems that someone dinged forty right before we left the city¡­¡± Yagver said with an awkward smile. Is it someone he knows? But, wow. Level forty? That is more than the double of my current level¡­ But knowing the type of people that levels so quickly, they probably are only killing things non-stop, pretty much ignoring everything else about the game. Well, not that I am complaining, if that is what float their boats, so be it. It¡¯s not like they are bothering me in any way. Now, speaking about strongest, what about guilds? Are there any player guilds out there already? The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. When I asked Yagver, he told me that there are a few guilds formed, with three of them being the largest so far. One is called Oregon, and is the main choice for those who want to focus on PvE, and it seems that the strongest player is in this guild. The only problem is that their main base is set on a far away capital, a couple of weeks away from Eldor. Probably the same one that Phantons is actually. The second is Fall of the Phoenix, and is a mainly PvP focused guild, but not the PK kind, and more of a friendly guild where they have tourneys and so on. This one seems to be located on Ezoria Argus and is pretty much open to everyone. The last one is Light¡¯s fury, and this is a bit of an odd one. They actually work as some kind of police force on the area around Eldor and are led by an Undead paladin dwarf. They pretty much are openly hunting Player killers around the city and making sure that no one is monopolizing hunting grounds. Apparently their main objective is to hunt down that Green-eyes guy. Thank god someone is hunting that psycho! I hope they get him before he gets me¡­ As we walked our way back to the first fork on the road, me and the girls kept asking Yagver about the game¡¯s actual stage and so on, since he seems to know more about it than us. Well, I did spend most of my time crafting and hunting and never really cared too much about those things to bother with researching about them. But since we had nothing to do while walking, I decided to catch up with the news. After around ten minutes, we reached the divide and started walking on the other way. Since this path was still unexplored, we quickly reached a group of drones and wolves that were still alive. But, let¡¯s say the truth, after Excel, these guys weren¡¯t even enough for us to even consider a challenge. We quickly cleared the first three or four groups of monsters without any worries since they were only the basic version of each mob. When we got to the fourth and so on, we started to get a few new wolves with some flashier skills, and learning from our experience, we decided to pay attention on their skills since they could help us up ahead. The first different one was a larger wolf that, whenever he howled, the other wolves would all use their skills together, independent of the cool down. Luckily, as long as they didn¡¯t have too many stacks of their howling skill, it wasn¡¯t much of a problem for Yagver. The next wolf was an interesting one, as they would use their claws to cling on the crstals before jumping away and attacking Yagver from behind. That kind of reminded me of the Lynxes I fought back at the starting village. We dealt with these by making me tank back-to-back with Yagver, stopping the wolves from jumping onto his back. Finally, there was a huge one with large health and used an annoying swiping attack that hit in an arc in front of him, but he wasn¡¯t anything too troublesome compared to the others. Overall, they were a bit lack-luster compared the drones, but at least they weren¡¯t all that bad. However, this did work to make me wonder something. Back to when Arkhoss showed me the image of the two bosses, the wolf didn¡¯t seem all that of a grand boss compared to the drone. I mean, he might be a huge wolf, but that is still not enough to be made into a dungeon boss. Also, something that I found interesting, was the fact that the caves didn¡¯t match to the map we copied back at the division of the path. Some of the passages were blocked while there were passages where it wasn¡¯t supposed to be anything at all, almost as if the cave was remodeled after the map was made. Of course, this made Lenny angry, as the map she had made was pretty much useless for us now. Heck, for the last ten or so minutes we were walking on a part that there wasn¡¯t even marked on the map! At least I dinged back to seventeen on the way. It must have taken us around one hour from getting to the new area to reaching a new area that was clearly different from the rest. It was still the same large opening on the cave, with half of the room covered in translucent crystal and the other of the same dark brown rocks as the rest of the dungeon. But there was a large crystal blocking our way to the next part of the dungeon, as well as four small holes on each diagonal corner. ¡°Wave event¡­¡± Xredder said with a wry smile and Yagver nodded in agreement. ¡°Yup, wave event.¡± Yagver said with confidence. ¡°Wave event¡­¡± Lenny said with a long sigh. ¡°Wave event?¡± Yuu asked confused. ¡°Wave event.¡± Han-chan nodded. ¡°Wave event!¡± I shouted cheerfully. ¡°You like wave events?¡± Xredder asked me surprised. ¡°Nah¡­ It¡¯s just that everyone was saying it, so I didn¡¯t want to be left behind.¡± He sighed while face-palming while I smiled proud of my little joke. Yuu looked around slightly confused and then turned to Hanbei. ¡°Why does everyone looks bothered by the wave event?¡± She asked Hanbei, who sighed loudly. ¡°You see, Yuu-chan. This event is composed of many waves with lots of enemies that come in fixed time intervals.¡± She said downhearted. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s bad or anything of the like, but different from mini-bosses, these can drag for a long time without us being able to do anything about it, and after so long in here, we aren¡¯t exactly on the mood for doing something of the like.¡± Well, they might be bothered by it, but thinking on the sheer amount of skinning I can do with this kind of thing just gets me even more pumped up than usual. ¡°Since we have no idea on how the waves are composed, lets all gather near the door and put our backs to it. Me and Gon take the center, Xredder and Hanbei take the flanks. The rest stay within the formation and bombard slash heal us.¡± Yagver quickly gave the instructions. ¡°If the big ones come, spread out to avoid the swipes and nuke him down quickly before gathering back together.¡± Yuu heard the instructions with a slight frown and said. ¡°Won¡¯t we be surrounded that way? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea¡­¡± ¡°But that is the point.¡± I said while putting my hand on her shoulder. ¡°Usually, this kind of event end up with us being surrounded no matter what we do due to the sheer amount of enemies.¡± She widened her eyes surprised at this. ¡°On normal online games, it usually wouldn¡¯t matter much, since we have an upwards vision of our character, but I guess that on VR games the strategy is a bit different.¡± I turned towards Yagver and he nodded. ¡°It¡¯s as he said. Since we can only see directly in front of us, if we can reduce the sides to watch out for, even if only by one, it¡¯s a great help.¡± Exactly. I turned towards a pensive Yuu and said. ¡°So, since there will be many enemies, we¡¯ll be counting on your AoE to take them out!¡± I said with a smile and she nodded excited. So, we entered the room and gathered around the crystal blocking our passage at the end of the room and readied ourselves. Yagver even changed his shield since we didn¡¯t expect much movement. Immediately after, there was an obnoxiously loud howl coming from the back of the crystals. It was to the point that I had to cover my ears to even be able to bear it. Soon after, the sound of claws scrapping the ground came from the holes from each corner of the room and were soon followed by the wolves popping up from these places. There were around ten wolves coming at once on the first wave. All of them being the basic ones we fought at first, so we quickly nuked all of them down in the matter of seconds, thanks to Yuu¡¯s spells and Lenny¡¯s new weapon skill that showered a whole area while using only one arrow. Sadly, the cool-down was a bit on the long side, being a whole minute long. After the first howl, every thirty seconds came another howl from the cave which summoned new wolves, with each wave coming with two more wolves than the previous. On the fourth wave the commander ones started to come and things started to get hectic, as we had many wolves attacking us all at the same time thanks to his annoying skill. We left Lenny to nuke him as soon as possible. The sixth wave, the jumpy ones popped up, but thanks to our formation they couldn¡¯t use their skills to the maximum, so we pretty much ignored them. By then we were all pretty much getting frantic, since the wolves howl stacks climbed at ridiculous speeds and we were starting to take some serious damage. It was to the point that I jumped away from our group and started to spam the skill I haven¡¯t used a single time since I earned it. Whirlwind. This was the attack I earned back when I learned dual-wield, where I spin around once and deal damage to all around me. And there was a very good reason I didn¡¯t use it up to now. I forgot about it! Nah, I¡¯m joking. The truth is that since I was the one responsible for tanking the drones, it¡¯s best to control my DPS on a single target than spam an AoE Skill that might take them below the health a bit too fast and threaten to blow all of us up. But now that there were only wolves here? All I do is spin! And then I run back to the group to wait for my energy to come back up before jumping back in. I even wanted to change my other weapon set to a dual-wielding set with the blazing-tail sword and so I could deal even more damage with the attack, but the time between waves counted as battle, so I wasn¡¯t able to change my equipment. This helped a bit on the damage dealing, but it made Yagver have a bit more trouble with tanking. Or would if it wasn¡¯t for his over-sized shield of ultimate blocking. He could take all of them at once as long as Han-chan and Xredder didn¡¯t let the wolves flank him. On the eight wave, there was a loud cracking sound, and when we turned back we saw that the barrier had started to break due to the loud howls. Together with that, there was a significant reduction on the amount of wolves coming, but two of the huge ones came from the passage that led to the room. Yagver took the two with his new shield while I took the smaller ones on. I think this wave was supposed to be one of the strongest ones since the cleaving damage of the large ones did hurt, but thanks to our loot from Excel, it became the easiest wave thus far. But I must say that it was funny how it took the J?tunn almost a full ten seconds to cross the room at maximum speed, but lets keep quiet, shall we? Then came the ninth wave, with one more large wolf and three or so more smaller, which we dealt with the same way as the previous one. And, on the twentieth howl, there was no wave. Only the sound of the crystal wall shattering, revealing the room of the final boss. I looked to the others and noticed as they smiled happily, thankful that the fight was over in one shot, different from the two drones before Excel. But I still couldn¡¯t shake off this feeling that there was something lacking about the whole wolf part of the dungeon. Something I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger in it. Yuu even looked worried at me for a moment, but since I couldn¡¯t understand myself, I was unable to explain what was up. Still, we passed through the passage and found ourselves staring to a huge area compared to Excel¡¯s. But this one was completely covered in crystals except for the ground, that was still made of stone. The whole room had the shape of a square with rounded corners. The crystals covered all the walls and even the ceiling, leaving nothing uncovered. On the central part of the ceiling, the crystal went all the way to the surface, making a translucent passage that showered the room with the natural light from outside and making all the scene shimmer with a beautiful light as the rays hit the crystals. And near the center of the room, there were four huge crystal pillars with easily four meters of diameter each, going from the ground to the ceiling around ten or fifteen meters away, where it fused back with the crystals on the ceiling. Between the two farthest pillars, right on the divide of the outside light and the cave¡¯s shadow, was a wolf lying on the ground. Even from afar we had the idea of its huge size, as he was longer than even the crystals pillar he stood near. His body was a mass of powerful muscles, to the point that it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if he was capable of breaking the pillars through sheer strength alone. A large and majestic mane covered his neck while a pair of light blue stripes contrasted on his dark fur, running all the way to his long tail, where three crystalline appendices sprouted from its tip forming a scythe-like weapon. The wolf opened one of its eyes and looked at us, almost as if asking how come there are such insects before him. Finally, he blew air out of his nose, as if annoyed and slowly rose from the ground. I felt shivers from that action alone, as he got into a better position and quickly shook his head as if to focus. He once again looked back at us with his eyes, annoyance exchanged with anger. And he howled. The previous howl were incomparable to this, as I saw that the pressure blew even the pebbles near his feet away. He whipped his tail on the ground once, the crystal tips making three small holes on the ground with scary ease. Something within me was pretty much shouting that this guy was dangerous. That there was still something that we didn¡¯t know about. I turned to the others, but was shocked as I noticed that they looked a lot more at ease than me. Even if shocked by the howl, they weren¡¯t all that worried about the boss as they saw his nameplate.
Crystalline moonlit ravager (doggy)[lvl 21] [ELITE dungeon Boss] Equivalent level: 26 (aggressive)
HP: 23000/23000 Energy: 50/100 -?????
The alpha wolf that lives inside Yksar¡¯s mine. Nothing is known about this beast, except that it rules the whole dungeon through sheer strength and fear.
As I read the window, I noticed the others looking at me worried. And when I wondered why, I started to touch my face to see if I could find out why. Well¡­ It wasn¡¯t much of a wonder. I was smiling. An enemy this strong, and here I am getting excited. Even when that nagging feeling wasn¡¯t leaving my chest. ----- Author''s corner: Wave event! Anyway... I will probably post a list of the stories I have in mind to write during the break on the next chapter so, this way you guys can choose one for me to post here as a side project. I really don''t want to get the inertia of not writing anything at all... Chapter 53 - Here, doggy, doggy Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! LATE UPDATE TODAY! ANYWAY, this was one HARD chapter to write. For some reason it just wouldn¡¯t come out no matter what and I almost wasn¡¯t capable of uploading it today¡­ Because of that I won¡¯t be able to write the Q&A in time today, so that will be left for tomorrow¡­ Sorry¡­ (^.^¡¯) ALSO, it¡¯s time for the bomb-shell of a revelation. And this one is on the level of a nuke. I¡¯ve been thinking of stopping Insania. (BOOOOM) Why? Because there is one problem with the story that have been bugging me for a long time, and that is because it became too successful, something that I sincerely didn¡¯t expect. I kind of expected that I would be giving up on this project around chapter 30 or so, so I didn¡¯t give it enough of a base on which to support it, and this always come back to haunt me, like the SERIOUS lack of a plot and some other inconsistences. NOW CALM DOWN, because this is something that I¡¯ve been only THINKING about, the chances of happening are very low since I¡¯ve already got so far. And even IF I do stop, chances are that I would simply give the whole series a MASSIVE reboot and rewrite it from ground up, probably only keeping the characters and the idea behind the story. MonHun on a MMO. Sorry for ranting on, just needed to vent that out... Have a good read. ----- ¡°Okay. He doesn¡¯t seem to be as tricky as the drone. So, what do you guys think?¡± Yagver asked us as he readied himself. ¡°I think we should get in there and give him a swift kick on his tail.¡± Xredder said while punching his open hand. ¡°You know that is not what I mean¡­¡± Yagver said with a sigh. ¡°I think we should be careful around those pillars.¡± Lenny said after a quick look. ¡°I don¡¯t think they are there for no reason whatsoever.¡± ¡°And that tail bothers me.¡± Han-chan said while looking at him for some time. ¡°It pierced the ground too easily¡­¡± She turnd around and said. ¡°So, what do our professional monster hunter think?¡± She said while looking at me, but I was a bit too focused and didn¡¯t notice that she was talking with me at first. ¡°Gon?¡± I blinked, regaining my focus when she called my name, before looking around. ¡°Sorry¡­ I was¡­¡± I rubbed my eyes for a second before going on. ¡°Anyway, there is something about him that have been bothering me for some time. I¡¯m not sure how to put it on words, but be careful.¡± I looked at him a bit more and said. ¡°I think we will get a nasty surprise mid-battle¡­¡± The others raised their eyebrows at my words. ¡°Also, we need to find out how his energy works, since he starts with fifty, it might have some kind of mechanic behind it instead of a straight-up increase over-time.¡­¡± For this one they all nodded. ¡°What about his attacks? What do you think he might have in store?¡± Xredder asked me afterwards. I looked at the boss for some more time before saying. ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure¡­ But I would bet that he uses the pillars in some way or another, as well as probably a few frontal AoE attacks if we take in consideration the wolves from earlier. And probably many types of jumping and charge attacks as well¡­¡± I gave my last opinion about the boss after some seconds of consideration. ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Yagver asked me. ¡°Almost entirely.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I see. Then I think I¡¯ll keep this shield just to be safe.¡± He said pointing to the super heavy shield. ¡°That¡­ Might not be a good idea¡­¡± I said while looking at the boss. ¡°I have the feeling that you will need more mobility than what that can give you.¡± ¡°You seem a lot more cautious about this guy than the other one.¡± He said slightly worried, but I simply shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s just that the strange feeling is bothering me a lot.¡± I said with a wry smile before it turned into a wild one. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m not heated up for a fight, though.¡± He smiled awkwardly for a moment. ¡°Well, since it¡¯s just a feeling, I will risk it.¡± He said while adjusting his shield. ¡°And sincerely, I¡¯m not really expecting to defeat him in one go anyway.¡± He told me in a whisper. ¡°Okay! If everyone is ready, then get in.¡± He said turning to the others as we walked in. We slowly advanced towards the middle of the room. As soon as we took the first step in, the wolf started to growl loudly towards us, and the closer we got, the louder the growl became. And I finally got a good idea on how big the guy actually is. He was even taller than Aura back at when we fought, towering at incredible three meters tall, and this size only got more obvious as we slowly approached him. The moment that he got within distance, Yagver used his leap skill, hitting the wolf head on and making the numbers pop up as the attacks landed. -20 -13 -23 -56(22944/23000) We almost started cheering when we saw the numbers going up, but Yagver grimaced slightly as he looked at the numbers. ¡°His defense is pretty high! Don¡¯t get too excited yet!¡± He shouted a warning as he prepared himself for the boss¡¯s attacks. The others quickly snapped out of it and moved aside so we would leave only Yagver in front of the wolf. I quickly changed into my bow and started with a piercing shot using a poison arrow, but it seems that the boss had some resistance, as the arrow didn¡¯t poison him immediately. -40 -4 (22900/23000) I widened my eyes at this. This guy¡¯s defense really is something else. Piercing shot should be one of my strongests attacks, yet it only dealt that amount of damage! By now, the boss started to attack Yagver with his claws and bites, but the huge shield easily stopped all the attacks with great ease. Feeling a bit too overconfident, I saw as Xredder approached the boss from behind and landed a heavy blow on his legs. The wolf groaned in annoyance and whipped him with the tail, the spike piercing the tiger-man¡¯s shoulder making him yell in pain as he jumped back. He lost around a fourth of his health, and lost one or two percent of his health per second through a bleeding debuff. ¡°New rule. Stay away from the tail.¡± I said in a mocking tone, which made Xredder look at me annoyed. ¡°No shit, Sherlock¡­¡± He said as his health started to get back up slowly thanks to the healing. As we bantered off, the boss growled once again and jumped back, opening some distance between him and Yagver before advancing once again and slamming the J?tunn with his whole body. Even with the shield, I saw as the J?tunn cringed slightly and was pushed back, landing on the lighted part of the room. At least the shield stopped the damage, even if the knock-back still hit him hard. The boss growled at him once more before jumping at him with a sweeping claw strike that pushed him back even more. Yagver grimaced even more as he slowly recovered from the strike and landed a slash at the boss to keep its attention focused on him. As soon as his small combo finished, we went back to attacking the boss while trying to keep ourselves attentive to any of his attacks. We managed to bring him down to 21 thousand HP before he used his next skill. He howled angrily at the tank, making us flinch with the noise, before suddenly twisting this body and swinging his tail towards the tank. The tail curved around the shield and almost hit Yagver, who barely managed to parry the tail with his sword, but he quickly twisted his body the other way and landed the sickles on the J?tunn¡¯s shoulder, leaving the bleeding dot on him. The J?tunn shouted angrily as the pain settled into his shoulder, before the boss growled at him and jumped back once again. He raised his shield and prepared for the impact while the rest of us took aim at the boss. But instead of attacking the tank, the wolf looked towards the pillar on his right side for a moment. Then he slammed his body heavily on it.
Crystal pillar integrity: 66%
These pillars are the only thing still keeping the crystal ceiling up. Should half of them break, the whole celiling will fall apart, and only the Moonlit ravager will survive.
We stared at the crystal in shock for a moment, before waking up by the sounds of something cracking. When we looked at the pillar, we saw as a huge crack appeared at the place of the impact and spread all the way up to the ceiling, where it started to shatter the crystal into many plates that started to fall upon us. ¡°Move away from them!¡± Xredder said as he jumped away from a plate falling near him, and we all started to dodge the falling plates. Sir Yagver, with the heavy shield, could only raise it above his head and hope to be enough, as his lack of movement speed made it almost impossible to get away in time from the spots. But even then I saw as damage numbers popped up above his head. At least they were still within the double digits¡­ These damned crystals dealt more than three hundred damage to our heaviest armor user, we¡¯ll be damned if it lands on one of our lighter armored members. As we hastily dodged all the falling pieces, the boss simply stood there, while slowly shaking his head as if recovering from the impact, and even when the crystal fell on him he simply ignored it as if nothing happened. After some time he recovered and growled at Yagver, even if the crystals still hadn¡¯t stopped falling. And before Yagver even had the chance to lower his shield towards the wolf, it jumped ahead and bit deeply into his arm, taking out a whole hundred points of his life in a single attacks. ¡°Okay, that is troubling¡­¡± Hanbei said while glancing at the pillars. ¡°How do we stop him from destroying these pillars?¡± ¡°We kill him before he destroy them! Easy!¡± Yagver said as he landed a couple of punches on the boss flanks. Almost as if waiting for that, the wolf stepped aside, dodging the attack and countering with a hip-check that sent the tiger-man flying back. Luckily, the damage wasn¡¯t all that large, and was more of an annoying knock back than anything. Of course, this made the tiger extremely annoyed, as he jumped back into the boss and started hammering him away. I smiled awkwardly and looked back at the wolf, noticing something. His energy was slowly going up, one point every couple of seconds. I blinked surprised at this, since it didn¡¯t happen up to some seconds ago. I looked at Yagver and motioned to him with my head towards the boss, and when he noticed this, he grimaced. Going at this rate, the boss would reach full energy in around one minute. The others noticed our small exchange and looked at the boss¡¯ energy, and got worried, remembering our experience with the last energy bar we saw getting to the maximum. But before we could even avoid this, the suddenly turned away from Yagver and aimed towards Lenny, who was aiming to take a shot at that exact moment, and slammed his tail on the ground, shattering it and picking stone with the sickle on the tip and throwing it towards the harpy. Lenny barely managed to jump away in time, and right afterwards the boss turned towards Yagver and landed the heavy body-blow on him once again, making the J?ttun skid a few feet backwards from the sheer impact. Just afterwards the wolf prepared to lunge at him like the last time. However, if Yagver got hit again, he would be facing the boss with the wall right on his back, which would make it difficult to maneuver. I grimaced at the thought and acted quickly, by casting tactical charge on the J?tunn while picking a throwing knife from the bandolier and throwing it. ¡°Lieutenant, wind dagger. Yag, get away!¡± I shouted to the two, who immediately followed the orders. Sir Yagver left the place at the same moment that the dagger pierced the ground and froze everything around it. Right afterwards, Doggy landed on the ice while barely managing to keep his balance on the slippery surface. Balance that was broken the moment a small dagger pierced its front paw and activated, making him slide even further until he hit the wall on the other side. I could have used the arrows for that, but for some reason, consumable mastery didn¡¯t count them as consumables like the daggers. Probably because they are considered as ammunition, rather than normal consumables. Thus, their effects were slightly weaker than the daggers, which was mildly annoying. Still, it did the job of making the boss miss the attack and give our tank some breathing room. ¡°Thanks for that.¡± He said as he calmed down. ¡°See? This boss isn¡¯t all that strong after all!¡± Xredder said with a wicked smile as he saw the wolf being bombarded by me and the girls bombard the boss with our ranged attacks. ¡°I¡¯m still not so sure¡­¡± I said with a wry smile as I saw the ice melting and the boss finally getting up again while growling angrily. ¡°Get back! He is going to do something!¡± I warned the others, who nodded while falling back. The wolf lifted himself on his hind legs before falling back on the ground with strength, cracking the whole ground around him. Followed that, he started to stomp around where he stood, shattering the ground into even smaller fragments before turning to us. He growled at us for a moment, keeping us on our toes, before slamming the tail on the ground to the point that it looked stuck. Then, he twisted his body while swinging his tail towards us, dragging the fragments of stone with it and shooting at us like a shotgun. We were staring at the scene in confusion for far too long, so we were unable to find cover. Rather, even if we had time, I don¡¯t think we would have a place to take cover. The shrapnel flew with such intensity that they even bounced off the pillars, pinballing between all of them and hitting us from all sides at the same time. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. And by the time we recovered, we saw that our health had dropped down by one full third, ignoring armor, shields and skills. I saw as Forgotten started to panicky start spamming all of his AoE heals like a madman before the boss could do something worrisome. ¡°So¡­ Still an easy boss?¡± I asked Xredder as he grunted an answer. ¡°Well¡­ At least his energy started decreasing¡­¡± He said annoyed. I blinked surprised as I looked back to the boss, noticing that, as the tiger said, the energy was decreasing slowly, at around the same pace as it was increasing before. But why? No matter. This is a good sign for us. ¡°Shishou! The pillar!¡± Yuu suddenly called to me, making me blink surprised before looking back at the crystals and paling at the scene. All of the crystals lost around ten percent of their integrity. This is bad. This is very bad! ¡°HE CAN¡¯T USE THAT AGAIN! THAT THING DEALS TOO MUCH DAMAGE TO THE PILLARS!¡± I shouted as Yagver was pushed back by a heavy body-slam. ¡°And how do we stop him from doing that?¡± Yagver asked me confused. Well¡­ That is actually the problem. As the wolf approached the J?tunn, I saw as it once again left the shadows toward the light area before using his tail-flail to hit our tank. I grimaced at this and once again put myself to kill the wolf. Even if it still had more than seventeen thousands of its health. After some time, it once again jumped away and body-slammed the crystal on his side, bringing it down to fifty six percent of integrity and starting another cave-in from the shock. We ran around avoiding the falling debris for a moment, and this time, I cast Tactic charge on Yagver right before the wolf managed to jump at him, saving our tank from the attack. But¡­ ¡°WHY THE HECK IS HIS ENERGY INCREASING AGAIN?¡± I shouted as I looked the energy reached eighty once again. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s the when he attacks the pillars!¡± Hanbei said while falling back to charge her attack. I looked at the boss and shook my head. ¡°Not likely. That doesn¡¯t make sense, since he was recharging it even before the attack!¡± I said while pulling another arrow from my quiver and landing a rapid-shot on his head followed by the second poison knife, which finally managed to leave him with a debuff. As if mad at me, he picked a rock on the ground and threw it at me. ¡°It¡¯s the light!¡± Lenny said as I rolled near her. ¡°Whenever he stands on the light the energy fills, while standing on the shadow makes it decrease!¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked the harpy who nodded while nocking an arrow on her bowstring. Hearing our talk, Yagver immediately started to back away from the center of the area towards the shadows, luring the boss to outer side of the room. As if waiting for tis chance, the wolf landed the body-blow on J?tunn before lunging at him. Since I was mid-shot this time, I didn¡¯t have enough time to help him with anything more than tactical charge, but at least this worked enough to avoid him being pushed too far back. He started kiting the boss as he tanked it on the outer ring of the area, between the pillars and the walls. From here on, it became a relatively easy fight, since the boss energy soon started to deplete just like his health. However, after some time he jumped back and stomped the ground, breaking it before using his shrapnel shot-gun on us. Thankfully, we had more than enough health and healing to survive the skill without much problem, and we kept on attacking him as we were, slowly whittling down his health. However, as we fought him, for some reason he stopped using his body-slam on the pillars and simply used the shrapnel to attack us. We started to grimace as we saw the two crystals that had been body-slammed fall to only twenty-six integrity while the others still had sixty. We had barely managed to bring the boss down by one third of his health, yet we were three attacks away from losing due to the crystals breaking down. And as if to mock us, the ravager suddenly howled loudly as he clenched its claws on the ground and the two blue stripes disappeared from his body, leaving only a dark black fur and a pair of menacing red eyes. Then, a new buff appeared beneath his name plate.
Crystalline moonlit ravager (doggy)[lvl 21] [ELITE dungeon Boss] Equivalent level: 26 (aggressive)
HP: 15264/23000 Energy: 13/100 -?????
The alpha wolf that lives inside Yksar¡¯s mine. Nothing is known about this beast, except that it rules the whole dungeon through sheer strength and fear.
Stone-guarded (Lasts until energy reaches 100)
Stone-guarded: Removes and grant immunity to all status ailment. Decreases damage taken by 50% Costs 50% of actual energy to cast. This skill is removed when energy reaches 100
We paled at this. Is this some kind of bad joke? Our damage was already heavily impaired when we were fighting him before, and now he earns this ridiculous buff? And he HAVE to reach one hundred energy? Suddenly, that nagging feeling that I had been feeling the entire fight came with full strength, as if warning me that now was the time to see what this boss really was made of. ¡°Yag, take him to the light! Everyone else. Be prepared¡­ Something really bad is about to happen.¡± I said as I felt my heartbeat getting faster and faster with excitement. Yagver nodded and ran towards the middle of the room with my tactical charge. Everyone else stood beside me and kept attacking the boss to stack up some damage, even with the defense buff. As if mocking us, the boss dealt a body-blow towards two different pillars before his energy reached one hundred, destroying one and leaving the other on its lasts points of health. Then, it came. This is a scene that was burned into my eyes for a long time after I first witnessed it. As soon as Doggy¡¯s energy reached one hundred, he stopped everything he was doing and started to tremble uncontrollably. As we stared at the scene shockeds, he suddenly raised his head up high and howled. The crystals around him seemed to resonate with him as they shook slightly, making a heavenly music amidst the hellish shout. As he howled, the two blue lines appeared back on his back, but it didn¡¯t stop there. The fur of his mane stood up as it changed to match the color of the crystal around us. The same thing happened on his paws, as not only the fur changed, but also the nails slowly grew, doubling their size and getting a transparent coloration. The blade on the tip of his tail grew to an humongous size, reminding me of a Grim reaper¡¯s scythe made entirely out of crystal. After five seconds of howling, it finally brought its head down, the red eyes now shining on a menacing blue coloration that left lines on the air as he moved. I gulped loudly. My whole body shivering with a mix of fear and excitement at seeing this new form of the boss. All my instincts shouting that this wasn¡¯t something we should take on yet. As I prepared myself for whatever it was to come, the wolf made the first movement. With incredible swiftness, it turned aside and landed a hip-check on our tank, making him slide back with the impact before even understanding what was going on. Following that, it regained its posture and took a step back, as if getting impulse, before advancing forwards, swinging its claws widely. Yagver quickly braced for the impact once again, but when he looked at the wolf, he saw as his claws became stuck on a nearby pillar. We all blinked in confusion at the scene, not managing to understand what was going on, until I saw some sparks coming from the place where the claw and the crystal met, and noticed that the wolf was still putting strength behind his leg. ¡°Crap¡­ RUN AWAY!¡± I shouted to the J?tunn, but it was too late. The claw suddenly freed itself from the crystal, and all the energy it had gathered there as it was impeded by the crystal was suddenly set free in one single moment. It took the wolf a full second to make the attack. But the result was downright scary. Yagver was literally thrown back all the way to the back of the room, where he slammed his back on the wall before slowly sliding down, a third of his health missing. However, the wolfs attack didn¡¯t stop there, as it ran forward and landed a second claw on the shield, moving it away, and finishing with a quick spin that made the scythe hit the J?tunn right on the neck. In three attacks it had killed our tank. And now, its next target were us. He turned towards Xredder and Han-chan, who were slightly nearer him and lunged at them with his mouth wide open. The two barely managed to avoid the lightning fast attack, before the wolf suddenly looked at the beast-girl and landed a hip-check on her, slamming her against the pillar and leaving her breathless. He followed with a swiping turn towards Xredder that landed square on his chest, bringing his health down by half in one single strike. ¡°Hey! Fur-ball! Get someone of your own size!¡± I shouted at it after changing to my sword and shield. The wolf quickly ignored the two melees and jumped at me without giving me a single moment to breathe. I barely managed to survive the attack using nature¡¯s bastion, but I was still blown backwards by the attack until the back of the edge of the room, where he lunged at me for the kill. I barely managed to dodge the skill with a roll and went back towards the center, where Forgotten was healing Xredder and Han-chan. ¡°WHAT. THE. HELL. IS. THAT?¡± Xredder asked shocked. ¡°I have no idea, but get ready that it¡¯s coming back!¡± I said as I watched the wolf turn to me and run on the ground, the claws leaving marks on the ground. I took a step forwards to meet it, and right as I was on attacking range, he suddenly stopped while putting all strength into one of his legs and twisting his huge body around it like a pivot, the huge scythe on his tail reaping away while scrapping against the crystals. With no time to dodge the skill, I tried blocking it only to be blowy side-way towards the broken pillar. He was about to turn back into me when suddenly a frost-fire spear hit him straight on the head, making him flinch for a moment before turning towards the kitsune mage with her hands extended. They stared at each other for a brief moment before the wolf suddenly leapt backwards before charging forward once again. Yuu quickly dodged aside as soon as the wolf jumped for the kill and hid herself between the two farthest pillars together with Forgotten and the others. But they never saw the boss passing in front of them. Only I, who was on the other side of the room saw what actually happened. Midflight, the wolf extended his claw towards the crystal and grabbed it at the height of his leap. Following that, he used the claw as a pivot to change his forward momentum into a circular one, as his body spun around it making the tail dig deep into the ground, following not only a circular shape around the claw, but also one around the crystal as he coiled around it. Thus, all that they saw was a hellish scythe cutting the whole ground towards them and lifting them into the air, only to be finalized by the boss jumping away from the crystal and slashing at them still in the air. I watched the whole scene in shock, as the boss landed on his frontal claws and quickly turned at me, and growled angrily. I smiled awkwardly as I saw him charging back at me. With everyone else dead, I had pretty much no hopes of defeating him. Still, going down with no fight just isn¡¯t my style. I charged ahead and rolled the moment he changed his run into the horizontal sweep and barely managed to pass beneath his tail before turning around landing a slash on his leg. He looked at me annoyed and quickly spun around before lunging at me while swinging his claw. I raised my shield and blocked it with nature¡¯s bastion. Bad idea. Soon after, he jumped back before landing a heavy body blow on me, which took most of my health, as well as sent me back flying. Finally, he killed me with a lunge. ¡­ ¡°As you said, Gon¡­ That shield wasn¡¯t a good idea¡­¡± Yagver said when I respawned together with them but slowly died down his voice. ¡°Why are you smiling?¡± he asked me confused. ¡°Sorry¡­ It¡¯s just that I was getting a bit excited with the idea of fighting him.¡± I said while trying to control my smile. Yagver sighed loudly before going back to his previous talk. ¡°As you said¡­ At the normal part the shield was fine. But against that raging phase... It¡¯s better to avoid the attacks rather than blocking.¡± He said with a slightly sad face. ¡°But it¡¯s still going to be difficult to survive that¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s not like it doesn¡¯t have a good point to it, though.¡± I said cheerfuly, which made them raise their eyes confused. ¡°I managed to land a strike on him¡­¡± I said with a wide smile. ¡°Zero. Armor. All the damage got through.¡± They opened their eyes wide at this, and looked surprised. And just as I got excited about this, Han-chan suddenly said. ¡°Gon, you are sitting the next round out.¡± And the others nodded in accordance. Huh? Q & A Edition 1.5 Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! A SMALL TREAT BEFORE THE NEXT CHAPTER! ANYWAY, as I had promised for yesterday, here is the Q&A. Since this took a lot more time for me to create, I may not be able to finish the chapter today since I will start writing it fairly late, but I may use my little free time tomorrow after the classes to finish it. ALSO, this took a lot more to make than what I expected, since I did want to keep some flavor on it. Still, I might not make one for a good time now. Maybe next month? Have a good read. ------ A large stage appears up ahead, extending from one side to the other of a normal person¡¯s field of vision, covered by curtain made of red velvet rolling on a brass bar. As the place mysterious air starts to become slightly uncomfortable a manly and extremely sexy voice sounds on the whole area. ¡°Hello, Ladies, Gentlemen and Penguins! And welcome to the very first Insania Online Q&A chapter! Hosted by your most favored character, ME, the AUHTOR!¡± The author discretely heads his hand towards the corner of his table and press a button. The clapping sound echoes around the whole room. ¡°Now, lets go to the best part! Behind this curtain, are what you guys are looking for! The characters!¡± The curtain slides open silently, revealing many characters of the story standing in front of the benches and bowing politely before sitting down. ¡°Now, one more round of applauses for our favored charac¡­ Can somebody wake Wargon up?¡± The author says as he rubs his eyes annoyed. Yuu blinks surprised before turning to the golem on her side, who was sitting on the chair while sleeping comfortably, looking one step away from starting to snore. The kitsune quickly nudges the golem waking him. ¡°Thanks Yuu¡­¡± The author sighs. ¡°Lets stop this fiasco and go to the questions already¡­ Shall we?¡± The author picks some papers from beneath his desk and starts reading them. ¡°Okay, the first question is¡­ MINE! How nice!¡± He says cheerfully. ¡°From Warhawx who said: Where is the next chapter of Insania you lazy (bleeper)?¡± The author blinks surprised before frowning. ¡°I will start it soon, for your information, but there was no need to be so rude! Nice name though¡­¡± He crunches the paper into a ball and throw it into a bin. ¡°Okay, next question¡­ o0sky0o wants to know: Are there other kinds of worship than those 8 main gods in Insania? Are all the gods being worshipped in a catheral per city only? (Is there shrine/temple out there?)¡± The author looks towards the characters on stage and his gaze stops on Cygnas, who nods cheerfully while standing up and smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll take this one. And Yes, sky, there are many other different lesser and minor gods that are venerated on Insania, usually related to a certain area, so they usually have a smaller temple near where they live. The cathedral is actually a place where you can venerate any of the greatest tier of gods, but you can find more dedicate temples on smaller towns and villages.¡± The author nods cheerfully and shifts through the papers. ¡°Okay, Cyg. Since you are already up, I¡¯ll have you help with this next one. Fallian said: What are Aura¡¯s three sizes? And he don¡¯t want her answering since he don¡¯t understand fox-speech. Geez, how can someone not know something so simple?¡± Cygnas giggles at this before summoning a measuring tape while beckoning the small fox closer and start measuring her. After some time she stands up again and says. ¡°Aura is around thirty centimeters tall, fifty centimeters long and tail length of around fifty too.¡± She said cheerfully while picking the fox on the ground and hugging her. ¡°Thanks Cyg. I wonder why he wanted to know this¡­ And one more question from sky for either one of you two or Yuu. Doesn¡¯t a Golem stone-hand hurts when he pets you, since it¡¯s rough and hard?¡± ¡°Well, that is a natural mistake people make.¡± Cyg said with a smile. ¡°Golems hand, although far from soft like a human¡¯s, aren¡¯t like the stones you find everywhere, besides being far smoother than what people would imagine, so it doesn¡¯t really hurts at all, feeling a lot like a massage.¡± The small fox barks in accordance and the Kitsune noded cheerfully. ¡°Well, that is one mystery down. One last one, Cyg: Metrux32 wants to ask Aura: You don¡¯t like him petting others, but it seems you already got over it with Yuu. Still, what do you think about him having a harem and you not being in it because you''re not human?¡± The fox tilts its head slightly and looks at cyg confused for a moment, before nodding and signaling the goddess to say. ¡°Geez¡­ What kind of words are you guys teaching such a young fox!¡± Cyg said while puffing her cheeks. ¡°Anyway¡­ She said that initially she was afraid that Yuu could take all of her petting time away, but after learning that Gon wouldn¡¯t stop even if she joined, she don¡¯t really mind much anymore. Not that it stops her from getting jealous¡­ And about the¡­ Harem¡­¡± the goddess blushes slightly. ¡°Geez, what are you making me say! It¡¯s something usual on the wilds for a male to have many females, so she can¡¯t really understand what is the problem.¡± ¡°Thanks for the insight. You can sit now.¡± The author said towards the goddess, who bowed politely before sitting down again. ¡°Still, from the same person, Gon, when will you get back to hunting the four gods?¡± The golem lifts himself from the bench and walks forward holding back a loud yawn. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really have a place to start for now¡­ *yawn* so I don¡¯t know what to do. But as soon as I get a clue I¡¯m going all out¡­ Actually, I might have an idea, but I¡¯m not sure if it will work, you se¡­¡± ¡°No spoilers gon¡­¡± The author warns him. ¡°Sorry, sorry!¡± he said while scratching his head. ¡°Okay, back to the bench. Next question is for¡­ Cyg! Again!¡± Gon walks back towards the bench and sit downs, almost dozing off meanwhile. The goddess walks back up to the front of the stage and looks towards the authors while waiting for the question. ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you a fan favorite? Well, Slayer880 wants to know¡­ Since when aura is in control her fur is blue and Cyg is white, is it possible that when you are in control that you are the passive but when aura is in control that she becomes a battle pet?¡± ¡°Hmm, sadly, no. Since the body is still the same, it would mean that she is changing the type of pet she is, and thus her skills and level would be reset every time we changed. And if I were to rewrite it, I would be going against my programming of keeping the game balanced by favoring Gon.¡± She smiles slightly awkwardly at this. ¡°Well, there is the reason. Okay, next one is mine, from Warahran. In the beginning it is mentioned that there''s no blood in the game, later on Wargon is bleeding. Did something change or did you just forget?¡± The author reads the question a couple of other times before sighing longly. ¡°You see, there is a deep reason behind this, and it actually meets up with a very important point for the plot ahead¡­¡± ¡°He forgot.¡± The goddess said sneakily, making the author cringe. ¡°Look, I didn¡¯t forget, okay? I have my reason for doing something like that and¡­¡± Before the author could finish, the goddess puffed her cheeks and approached him, pulling him out of the seat and pushing him towards the stage. ¡°If you won¡¯t even answer your own questions truthfully, then you have no right to host this!¡± She said while scolding him. The Author tried to explain his situation but Cyg simply stared at him and said. ¡°NO! BAD AUTHOR! You go to the stage!¡± The authors turned towards the stage and walked with his head hanging low. The goddess sighed loudly before sitting on the host¡¯s desk and picking the list. ¡°Okay¡­ Oh! This one is for me!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°Warahran wants to know: You said the world in the game developed on its own, so how are clearly game-like structured dungeons like this one formed?¡± She took a deep breathing before speaking. ¡°You see, Wara. I have a system that looks for good places to transform into dungeons, like a warlock¡¯s castle, an abandoned mine and so on. And then it isolate these areas and transform them into dungeons.¡± She suddenly stops and make a serious face as if to make a point on her next words. ¡°But do know that it only applies to repeatable or instanced dungeons. There are other kind of dungeons that don¡¯t fit into these categories, like a bandit cave and so on. These are just another area on the game. There ARE a few other ways to close a repeatable dungeon, but I¡¯ll leave that for later. Lastly, the NPCs consider these kind of isolated dungeons a cursed area, and that is their explanation of why they don¡¯t simply cease to exist even after being beaten. Hope this explains what you wanted to know!¡± She says with a cheerful smile before shifting through the papers. ¡°Oh! Another one for me! And yes, Tomolone! I did enjoy the cookies! Thanks!¡± She said with a wide smile. ¡°And Lieutenant, he wants to know how your battle with the other cats ended.¡± She said while turning towards the cat playing poker on the stage. Lieutenant blinks surprised before jumping down from his chair and walking towards the front of the stage and scratching his head awkwardly. ¡°Nya-any, Nyaaa-nana-nyy. Nany-nanya nyyyyy na nya!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ That does make sense¡­¡± Cygnas nods awkwardly. ¡°Oh, sorry¡­ He said that since he was on the dungeon this whole time he still isn¡¯t sure of the results.¡± She quickly adds before looking for the next question. ¡°Gon! Ulan Bator wants to know when are you going to meet your father and sister.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The golem stares at the air for a couple of seconds before finally snapping out of it and saying still on his chair. ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t really know? Probably as soon as they reach Eldor if I would gues¡­¡± He said while scratching his head. ¡°Aren¡¯t you keeping contact with them?¡± Cygnas asked while tilting her head, but he simply shrugged. The goddess sighed loudly before reading the next question. Afterwards she quickly skims through the papers before stating it. ¡°Okay, these two questions seems to match, so I¡¯ll do them together. Ulan Bator and justdk wants to aks to Yuu¡¯s father what does he think about Gon.¡± Cygnas stops to think for a moment before snapping her fingers, making a large Screen with the shadow of a person slowly come down from the ceiling. ¡°Since the character still haven¡¯t appeared on the story, we will have to use this vague image and electronically made voice. Sir, if you please.¡± Some stactic noise occur as the equipment adjust itself, but after a few seconds an electronic voice echoes. ¡°Sincerely, I¡¯m divided between being happy with the fact that Yuu finally found a friend, and angry that there is a boy close to my dear daughter. Since I still haven¡¯t met with him, I¡¯ll postpone my decision.¡± The electronic voice sounded, before stopping for a moment. ¡°But if he dares to touch my daughter before them, I WILL hunt him down!¡± ¡°Sir¡­¡± The golem suddenly said in an amused tone. ¡°You do know that this isn¡¯t cannon, right? So even if you threaten me here, nothing will happen on the main story, you know?¡± He said with an awkward smile. ¡°¡­Really?¡± ¡°Yep¡­¡± ¡°Technology these days¡­¡± The man said lastly before the screen started raising back up. Cyg looks amused at the scene for a moment before turning back to the paper. ¡°Still justdk, Yuu, Do you see Gon as just a friend, a sensei, a possible love interest, or is he someone you already care deeply for and are already considering wedding/eloping(if needed) plans for?¡± She blinks surprised before looking towards the Kitsune. ¡°Wow. This one went straight to the point¡­¡± She said as she watched Yuu make some breathing exercise to calm herself before walking towards the front of the stage. ¡°I¡­ Er¡­ Well¡­¡± She takes one last deep breath, looks back at the golem who seemed to be distracted searching for the screen on the ceiling. ¡°I¡­ Sincerely do not know¡­¡± She said after some time, embarrassed. ¡°I mean¡­ I do like Shishou, since he is one of the few¡­ Friends?¡± She tilts her head confused for a moment. ¡°No, he is more than a friend¡­ But¡­ I really don¡¯t know what this is¡­ If it is just admiration, of if I really do¡­ L-l-like him¡­¡± She stuttered embarrassed for some time, before sighing. ¡°I really don¡¯t know what I feel about him¡­¡± Cygnas and the other blinked surprised at the words of the kitsune, not sure how to react at them. Only the golem still seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere. ¡°Hmm¡­ Err¡­¡± Cyg quickly skims through the paper looking for something to help her with the situation, and finally finds it. ¡°Yuu! TimorUmbra wants to know, why did you choose a kitsune as your character?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Mostly because it was the one I felt more familiar with¡­¡± She said directly while tilting her head. ¡°Thanks¡­ Now, to the next question¡­¡± Cyg said trying to avoid a return of the previous atmosphere. ¡°Gon, Timor wants to know how is your relationship with your sister.¡± The golem nods while raising from his chair. On the way, when he crossed his path with the kitsune he briefly petted her head, making the girl blush once again. ¡°Well, to tell the truth, it¡¯s not bad.¡± He said while shrugging. ¡°I would even say that its very good. As long as she doesn¡¯t break anything that is mine. Then it¡¯s a whole different story.¡± He added in a deadpan face. ¡°Aww¡­ But she was so cute! It can¡¯t be that bad!¡± Cygnas said with a pout. ¡°She short-circuited the telephonic line of our house when she was two years old.¡± He said while looking back at her, making the goddess open her mouth in surprise. ¡°And no, this isn¡¯t a joke.¡± ¡°I can relate to that¡­¡± The author said from his chair, but became quiet when Cyg stared back at him. ¡°Anyway¡­ Gon, Asadnimmmer¡­ Did I say that right? Wants to know if you have tried changing your skin for a chameleos like effect¡­?¡± She quickly closes her eyes while searching on the net before nodding when she found out the meaning of the word she had not heard before. ¡°Chameleos? That¡­ might be a good idea. I¡¯ll try that later.¡± He said amused. ¡°Okay¡­ The next one is mine¡­ He wants to know if I plan to travel with your sister to see her destructive powers¡­¡± She blinks surprised and looks at Gon. ¡°It can¡¯t be THAT bad, can it?¡± The golem simply nods. ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I guess I could, but I would have to see with her and her father if I could.¡± Cyg said after some time. ¡°Gon, this one is for you from imaginexbreaker: you said in the early chapters that it''s not your style so you didn''t make Aura a combat pet but now you actually have Lieutenant as a combat pet. So what''s stopping you from making Aura a combat pet?¡± The golem let out a long sigh before saying. ¡°To put it cleanly? A body for Cyg, and the fact that I¡¯m in a dungeon at the moment¡­¡± He said while smiling wryly. Cyg giggled a bit at the answer before reading the next one. ¡°Now¡­ he wants to ask me¡­ If any other AI, like the gods knows that this is all a game¡­¡± She stops to think for a moment. ¡°Well, the other gods do know that there is a world above of ours, if I could say it that way. The same could be said to player pets, since this helps avoid panics when their owners log out.¡± Gon blinks surprised at this and turn back to Aura and Lieutenant, who each barks and gives a thumb up respectively. Cyg smile gently at the scene before turning back to the questions. ¡°Now, Aura, Retep wants to know¡­ What is it like to share your body with me?¡± The goddess says as she motion the golem that he can sit back down. Meanwhile the little fox looks towards the goddess who then says: ¡°According to her¡­ It¡¯s a bit strange, but that¡¯s it¡­¡± Cygnas pouts a little. ¡°Somehow, I feel a bit sad, being called weird¡­¡± She quickly shakes her head. ¡°Now, for the next one, let¡¯s bring back the screen!¡± She says as the screen slowly comes down again, with a shadowy figure. ¡°Yuu¡¯s mother, Retep wants to know: Do you have any advice for Yuu about pursuing a relationship with Gon?¡± A giggle comes from the screen as the kitsune once again turns to a deeper shade of red. Cyg gives her a look of pity as she waits for the answer. ¡°All that I have to say for my cute daughter, is to be yourself. You are a lot cuter than you give yourself credit for!¡± The electronic voice sounds. ¡°If you do that, I know that it¡¯s just a matter of time before he will be completely smitten by you.¡± Yuu¡¯s mouth start to open and close repeatedly as she looks for words, but nothing seemed to come to her, and she simply keeps quiet as the screen lifts again with the sounds of giggles. ¡°Looks like everyone wants to see you embarrassed, Yuu.¡± Cyg says while giving her a pitiful look. ¡°Anyway, Lieutenant, one last question for you! Bibonlee wants to know what the purpose of your information network is.¡± ¡°Nyaa-nany nyaa na nananynany. Nyaaana nyyaow nyyy nyaaa.¡± ¡°Hmm... according to him...¡± Cyg giggles as she translates. ¡°It¡¯s to find where there are mice, where there are vendors that give food willingly, and which one are mean to the cats¡­ These kind of things.¡± She said while giggling before turning back to the paper. ¡°Oh, last question of the day! And this is a good one!¡± She turn to Wargon and smile widely. ¡°Bibonlee wants to know. Gon, when are you going to find out that you are green-eyes the brutal?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Probably in¡­ Wait¡­ WHAT?¡± The golem asks surprised before starting to think about the words, becoming completely oblivious to his surroundings. Everyone else on the stage starts smiling awkwardly at the scene, as the person in question becomes the last one to discover it. ¡°Well¡­ That¡¯s all for today¡¯s Q&A.¡± Cyg said as she stores the papers back into the desk. ¡°See you guys next chap¡­¡± ¡°WAIT A MINUTE!¡± A voice suddenly booms in the stage, and when everyone turns to look, they see a strangely familiar cyclops standing there. ¡°HOW COME THERE ISN¡¯T A QUESTION FOR ME?¡± he asks in fury, making the others look at him in wonder. ¡°Well, no one made any questions for you, so there is nothing I could do¡­¡± The author says while shrugging, but the cyclops doesn¡¯t look convinced as he turns to him. ¡°How come? Doesn¡¯t everyone love me? I heard that I was the favorite character of many readers!¡± He asked furiously, but the author simply looks away without saying anything. ¡°This forgery! This is all just a fake Q&A you all made! I demand to see the real questions, where there are my¡­¡± ¡°Gon?¡± Cygnas suddenly said while putting some sunglasses, interrupting the cyclops. ¡°Okay¡­¡± He lifts himself from the bench and turn towards the man creating the ruckus. ¡°HEY, ONE EYE!¡± he calls him, and the moment the cyclops turns to him, a flash of light occurs on the whole stage. ¡°GAAAH! MY EYES! THEY BURN! AGAAAAIN!¡± Cyg takes off her sunglasses after the scene and says. ¡°Well. Thank you all for coming here, and see you all next chapter!¡± And as she says that, the curtain slowly closes again, leaving behind only silence. Chapter 54 - Return of Dogsbane Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! ALMOST FINISHING THE ARC! HOORAY! ANYWAY, this fight didn¡¯t come out as good as I first imagined it, and it feels a bit rushed. Still, with this we finish the dungeon part, since I¡¯m not describing the re-runs for material. At most I will tell one thing or another that they have found out. ALSO, reading some comments I noticed a small problem that I had to address relating to pets, so I did it on this chapter. Not that this will be stopping Gon though. ALSO(2), Don¡¯t expect an update tomorrow, since I have a lot of classes. At most I may post the 2nd part of the Crossover. ALSO(3), I won¡¯t be doing any other Q&A for some time, since they take a lot more work than what I expected. (^.^¡¯) And even when I do, I might work on them over days instead of only one sitting like this time, so it doesn¡¯t affect the usual updates. Have a good read! ----- I was sitting back on the corner of the room, far enough so that I wouldn¡¯t enter in the middle of the fight, but close enough so that I could watch everything. Aura was the only one still here with me as the others engaged the wolf in the death battle. Even Lieutenant was there with them. I swore to myself that I would make that little beast-girl pay as soon as I left this place for convincing the others to make me sit it out this time. Somehow she managed to convince them that I am some kind of super-professional when it comes to monster hunting during the brief time I spent against the boss, thanks to the fact that Yuu kept speaking with them about the time I fought the Blazing-tail Solo every time I went off to mine. Thus, they left me here to watch the fight and find out all of the guys weakness. I mean, come on! Even against them I had to watch someone else fight at least four times, and still died four times only to have a draw with it! What kind of expectation did she have of me? And somehow I have the feeling that she did this on purpose, only to annoy me. Well, then I¡¯ll show her how good I am, so she never tries this again! But it¡¯s not like everything was that bad, since I had some time for myself and could somehow see if what was bothering Aura was what I had in mind, as well as try to think some strategies in peace. After giving a quick glance towards the group and making sure that there wasn¡¯t anything new happening, and turned towards the fox on my lap. ¡°Hey, Aura. I noticed you¡¯ve been a bit down lately¡­¡± I said getting her attention. I noticed as her ears flickered lightly and her tails stiffened for a moment before turning to me with an innocent face. I smiled slightly awkwardly and petted her. ¡°You aren¡¯t as great of an actress as you think, you know?¡± I said with a wry smile. The small fox clearly became sad as she lowered both of her ears and all of her tails. I petted her some more before saying. ¡°I noticed that you really don¡¯t like simply standing around while me and lieutenant get into the fight¡­¡± I said making her look at me surprised for a moment. ¡°Sorry¡­¡± I said after some time. ¡°If I knew you would be so bothered I would have made you into a battle one.¡± I said while gently caressing her small head. ¡°So, as soon as we get back to the city, we¡¯ll change that. Okay?¡± I said. She looked surprised at me, for a moment and tried to say something, but I simply smiled at her and gently patted her head. ¡°Is that a problem with you, Cyg?¡± I asked Aura¡¯s other personality, and for a brief moment Aura¡¯s eyes seemed to change and she lightly shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll owe you one then¡­¡± I told her, receiving a nod before she let Aura get back in control. Afterwards I turned my attention back to the fight as I watched the others fighting it out with the boss. He had just lost around one third of his health and they were now luring him towards the center of the room to fill his energy. During this time I noticed that Lieutenant had turned to me, so I gave him a quick nod, which made the cat smirk in return before focusing back on the boss while picking up something from his inventory, just as the boss finished his transformation. I had some things I wanted to check on my next bout with the boss, but since they made me sit this one out, I left this task for my trusted soldier, Lieutenant. And if it all worked well, we would probably have a much easier time against the boss. So, deciding that it¡¯s about time for me to focus again on the fight, I lean back and watch it as it unfolds once again. ¡­ ¡°You should be a bit less impulsive, you know?¡± I said to the tiger-man popping up besides me. He eyed me for a moment before grunting annoyed. ¡°Well¡­ We didn¡¯t manage to survive again¡­¡± Yagver said with an awkward smile as he scratched his head. ¡°Even after your little soldier here helped us so much.¡± ¡°Well, you did go with one person lacking, so you actually did pretty well.¡± I said raising my eyebrows. ¡°I mean, the boss had around twenty energy to go before he turned back.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Now that we were expecting the change, it isn¡¯t all that overwhelming. Even more that I have more mobility.¡± He said as he tapped his original shield. Then he turned serious and looked to me. ¡°So, did you manage to find anything at all?¡± He asked me. I nodded a bit wearily. ¡°Three things, mainly. Four if you count on Lieutenant¡¯s, but that one you guys already know.¡± I said while raising my fingers and saw as Lenny and Xredder smiled awkwardly. ¡°First one. The cave breaker, temporary name, and the ground lash seems to share the cool down.¡± I said while raising my fingers. ¡°He never uses both on rapid succession, so that is probably what it means. There is probably a way we can control what skill he will use, but that still fails me.¡± ¡°Second. On the first phase, the more energy he have, the quicker he uses both skills. I noticed this because of the time it took for him to cast when you guys got his energy down to zero. But this also makes that when he gets the stone-guarded, the longer it will take to dispel, which lead us to the third thing.¡± ¡°Stone-guarded seems to be health-based. Even when you guys took longer to bring his health down, he still cast it around the same health.¡± Yagver nodded at this last one, seems like he also had his suspicion. ¡°So, that is what I gathered from that last fight. Is that enough?¡± I sad sullenly. Of course, the fact that I wouldn¡¯t die is good and all, but¡­ It¡¯s boring to simply keep sitting here watching them. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s enough? We still have to find a way to deal with his attacks.¡± Lenny said from besides me. But I simply sighed. ¡°Look, just like standing aside helps you notice a few things, being in the heat of the battle helps with others.¡± I turned towards the kitsune who had kept quiet up to now. ¡°And I¡¯m pretty sure Yuu over there found out something, since she barely received any heal at all. Yuu blinked surprised for a moment before pointing towards herself, confused. I nodded, which made her blink surprised for a moment before she finally understood what I meant. ¡°Muu¡­ You see¡­ Shishou said to always watch your enemies, I noticed that the wolf always seems to do something whenever he is about to attack somebody¡­ Even when his energy is at maximum¡­¡± She said with a wry smile, making the others look shocked while I simply smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but the one I consider the ace of our team, isn¡¯t myself, you know?¡± I said with a smirk as I have the kitsune explain her own findings to the team. ¡­ ¡°Yay! I finally get to play!¡± I said sarcastically as I entered the crystalline room. ¡°Oh, come on! It wasn¡¯t that bad!¡± Hanbei said teasingly. ¡°There were only three fights! And you even got to find out some neat things!¡± I sighed loudly. Truly, there was a nice trick I found out to help up with the whole fight, but it still doesn¡¯t help the fact that I felt left off this whole time. ¡°Hmm¡­ I wonder if I still can use this correctly¡­¡± I heard Yagver say from besides me as he weighed a huge two-handed hammer. Yup, he wasn¡¯t with his usual sword and shield guys! But with his solo DPS weapon! Do you know what this means? I was the chosen tank for this fight! Yay! At least one thing was interesting enough this time. Basically, this guy is a boss that is much easier tanked with an evasive tank, rather than Yagver¡¯s block-centered tanking. Mainly because of the enrage mechanic. I was even going without a weapon on my secondary slot so I would deal a bit more of damage! ¡°Okay, now lets do this in one shot because I want to get to the next level!¡± I said pumping myself up. ¡°I want to get my second true level up in this dungeon!¡± As I said this, I noticed as Yagver flinch for a moment. ¡°Wait¡­ You leveled once?¡± He asked me surprised. And I nodded confused. ¡°Say¡­ Does your¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°Never mind. Let¡¯s focus on this fight, I¡¯ll talk with you later.¡± I tilted my head confused but didn¡¯t pursue it much longer, since it was about time to get into doggy slaying. ¡°Hey! Furball! Hope you had your fun, because now it¡¯s our time to slaughter the heck out of you!¡± I said as I entered in range of the wolf, which immediately started to growl at me. But the right of the first strike would be mine! I cast Tactical charge on myself and immediately used it on shield slam. Since Shield-slam ignored defense, it was by far the best skill to use on him whenever he was on his defensive form. Right afterwards I rolled to the side and ran all the way towards the end of the farthest pillar, where I turned back and faced the wolf while smirking widely at him. -50 (22950/23000) He became enraged and jumped towards me, trying to lunge and bite me on my neck, but I quickly raised my shield and blocked the attack before activating ignite weapon and landing a stab on his body followed by a simple slash. -43 -1 ¨C 28 -1 -73 (22877/23000) I nodded in excitement as I noticed his health dropping as the others finally started their attacks. I raised my shield when I saw his claw coming and grimaced slightly as I felt the impact. The impact was strong enough to even make me take a step back. Luckily, it seemed to be barely within my shield¡¯s block value. Damn, Yagver¡¯s shield is amazing to keep up with these attacks. Deciding that simply blocking isn¡¯t a very good idea, I started to try and side-step to avoid the attacks, but I had to be careful to not move too much, since I had to keep the boss in place to avoid messing up our strategy. After a few seconds of blocks, dodges and counters, the wolf finally readied itself to use his first skill, as he jumped backwards, surprising the others briefly, before putting strength in his legs before darting forward, trying to land a body-blow on me. I quickly used the tactical charge on myself and used it together with a slash to fall back, avoiding the body-blow. But this skill was always followed by a lunging claw, so I quickly turned back to the wolf and rolled to the side as he passed right besides me. Immediately I walked back to the place where I had kept the wolf earlier and waited there as he turned back to me and jumped once again aiming for my neck. I barely managed to block his bite, but he slipped a slash with his claws from beneath my shield and hacked a good chunk of my health. Grimacing while I stepped back, I slowly started to circle the boss as he tried to attack me with claws and bites and Forgotten healed me frantically. Suddenly, I noticed the boss look away for a brief second. ¡°Yagver! Step out!¡± I shouted to knight slamming his mallet at the flank of the beast. Since I had just cast Tactical charge on myself, I couldn¡¯t use it on him, but luckily he managed to step away just as the boss tried to hip-check him. ¡°Where do you think you are looking, furball?¡± I said as I bashed the boss with my shield before rolling away from his swinging tail. It looked back at me annoyed, before growling and jumping back, landing between two of the pillars and looking towards the one on his right side. I quickly looked towards the others and they all nodded. We all gathered beneath the huge wolf and packed ourselves together as the crystals falling from the ceiling hit the wolf¡¯s fur and shattered themselves harmlessly against his thick hide. Meanwhile, all of the melees kept attacking the wolf¡¯s leg as he recovered from the impact. I counted on my head the time it took for him to recover, and as soon as the count was about to finish, we all ran away while dodging the final crystals, with me going towards his back. I turned back just in time to see him preparing to land a body-blow against me. I grimaced as I raised my shield and activated nature¡¯s bastion, but I was still blown all the way back to the wall. Raising myself quickly, I rolled forward just as the wolf jumped towards my throat, passing beneath him, but taking a nasty tail pierce to the back which left me with the bleeding debuff. I quickly got myself up and threw a poison knife at the wolf as he charged back to me, but he resisted it. Leaving him between the pillars once again, I slowly moved around while making sure that he was standing in place, until I had my back to the wall and he had his back towards the light. I quickly gave a glance towards his health and saw that he was down to twenty thousands, and only thirty energy. I nodded to myself as I once again focused on the wolf. Once again I noticed as he quickly glanced away from me. He suddenly slammed his tail on the ground, picking a stone piece and threw it towards Yuu who was casting the frost-fire spear. Since this was THAT Yuu, I didn¡¯t need to warn her, as she elegantly side-stepped, dodging the stone without losing her cast which landed heavily on the boss. I smiled widely as I saw that our strategy was working up to now. This was Yuu¡¯s contribution towards the fight. She noticed that, no matter when, the moment the boss was about to attack someone other than the tank, he would quickly look around and target the player before launching the attack. This made so that me, who thanks to my more evasive tanking style, would keep eye contact with the boss and warn whenever he targeted other people. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! After some time, as I stepped aside from another attack, the boss once again leaped backwards, landing between two pillars behind him and slamming the one on his right. We all ran towards him once again, taking cover under his body from the crystals. From there on, the fight was mostly a remix of all that happened before. But the good part was, he only used cave breaker, and not one shotgun. One of the ideas I had while watching the others fight was this. Thankfully, I was right. Basically, before using either attacks, the boss leaps backwards. If he lands near a pillar, he slams it, dealing large damage to one single pillar. If he lands away from the pillars, he use the shrapnel. So the idea I had was to tank him between two pillars, just outside of the light with his back turned towards it. This way his energy would slowly decrease while making sure that we could control which pillar would be the one to take the attacks. As we avoided the third cave breaker, I noticed as his health was reaching the seventeen thousands and started dragging him back towards the light, and just as he reached around ninety energy, he activated stone-guarded, depleting all the energy back to forty, and using the cave-breaker immediately after. I kept him in place long enough so that his energy reached ninety, and he landed the fifth attack, leaving three pillars with 66% and one with 33% of integrity. Right afterwards, I dragged him right to the middle of the room as his energy reached one hundred. As he started to howl, I looked towards everyone else and saw as they all held a small leather ball in their hands. Courtesy of yours truly. And before the boss even finished howling, I turned towards Han-chan, who was charging her attack while taking advantage of the boss¡¯ immobility and cast tactical charge on her. She landed a heavy attack on the wolf¡¯s flank right as he calmed down from his howl, taking full advantage of the zero defense this buff left the boss with. The wolf whimpered in pain for the first time as its health decreased by a substantial amount, and he started to turn towards the cat-girl. But before he could do that, a hammer descended from heaven as Yagver used his leaping skill. ¡°Hey! Rotten fur! Your enemy is here!¡± I taunted him as I ran forward and landed a shield-slam followed by a stab and a slash. The damage, together with the previous taunt managed to re-earn my aggro on the boss. This was one of the things they learned the hard-way, but the boss resets aggro when he goes enraged, so the tank must make sure to taunt immediately followed the cast, or else the DPS who lands the first hit will get targeted. The boss turned towards me angrily and branded its huge crystal-enhanced claws towards me, but right before the impact, the claw got stuck on the crystal pillar as it started to build pressure. Since I was expecting this attack, and that trying to dodge side-ways or backwards would get me hit, I rolled forward, passing right beneath his leg moments before he suddenly released the slash, cutting nothing but air. Feeling the buff from roll activating, I immediately turned back and landed a slash on his back, making him flail his scythed tail towards me. Although I took the hit, it was probably nothing compared to what I had dodged, as I barely lost a fifth of my health. However, I didn¡¯t have enough time to marvel at my great luck, as he turned back while swinging his great claws towards me. I barely managed to dodge while jumping backwards, but the boss quickly advanced forward using his charged tail-sweep attack, almost taking the attack if it weren¡¯t for the fact that I managed to throw myself to the ground moments before. I gulped nervously as the boss looked down at me annoyed for a moment before suddenly lifting his paw and bringing it down in my chest heavily. I lost around a third more of my life in this, but managed to roll away right before he could continue his next attack. I quickly got up as I saw the boss turn away from me and towards Forgotten. He growled and started to put strength on his leg to prepare for a jump. But a flash of light came from the healer¡¯s hand, and the wolf coiled its head in surprised. This was what I had Lieutenant test earlier. Different from the drones that were mechanical, the wolves still had their eyes, so I wanted to test whether we could use the flash-bombs as some kind of improvised interrupt. Even if the boss didn¡¯t take the blinding effect, the surprise flash still worked just fine. So I gave each one of them a flash bomb, so the moment the boss targeted them on the rage phase, they could activate it and interrupt him for a moment. Just to be sure, we organized ourselves to not use it too frequently, so the boss wouldn¡¯t develop resistance so soon, since the effect wasn¡¯t all that potent to begin with. It was for but a brief moment, but the one or so seconds of surprise he had was more than enough time for everyone to land one or two attacks and deal a substantial amount of damage. Once he recovered, the boss turned back towards the healer, who stood on the place while healing me and growled at him angrily. Forgotten immediately stopped casting his spell and ran away from the place he stood towards a nearby pillar. The boss passed inches away from his face on his charge as it swung both of its claws in a cross slash. Immediately after I threw another poison dagger on the boss and grinned satisfied seeing him get poisoned. This seemed to annoy him, as he turned back to me and leaped the whole path in a single jump, landing right before me while spinning around to swing his scythed tail towards my neck. I rolled beneath it and rolled soon after, to dodge another incoming claw, ending up right in the middle of the room. The boss growled twice at me before opening some distance between us and suddenly jumping forward and high towards me. I grimaced as I started fall back as I saw the wolf extend his claw in the air, grabbing one of the pillars for the sweeping tail attack. I immediately fell back since the attack covered the center plus a perpendicular passage. Lenny and Xredder, who were on said passage immediately got away from the pillar he was holding himself to and saw as the tail passed ferociously in front of them, rending the earth like butter. I quickly glanced at the boss energy and saw that it had dropped to around sixty points. This energy worked as some kind of timer on how long the rage phase would last. What happened afterwards was still a mystery, but I guessed that he would get back to his usual state for another round of the battle. Still, zero defense aside, there was another great advantage to having the boss spend time in this phase, and that is that he won¡¯t attack the pillars at all during the whole duration of the enrage. In fact, one of the pillars at random would start shimmering slightly and regenerating a bit of integrity. This one we didn¡¯t have any control, so the best strategy was to make sure that all of the pillars had at least some damage, this way the regeneration wouldn¡¯t be wasted. As the boss landed back on the ground, it immediately turned back to me and leaped, crossing the path between us in a fraction of a second, barely giving me time to dodge the first strike, but taking some damage even after blocking the following attack. I grimaced in pain as the boss lunged forward aiming at my head, but I rolled away at the last second. Well¡­ I still had to survive the unstopping barrage of attacks before wondering what happens if his energy gets back to zero. Right after I got back on my feet, the boss tried one last slash before suddenly turning away and looking at Xredder, before lunging towards the beast-man, who dodged the charge with some difficulty. The boss once again turned towards me, but before he could attack me, an ice javelin pierced his flank, which was soon followed by a dashing kitsune, who yanked it out and made a low sweep with it, entangling the boss feet just as he darted forward, taking away his balance. He fell to the ground with a yelp, which we quickly took advantage of to land even more attacks before he got up back again with a spinning attack. Some of us didn¡¯t manage to escape on time and took the skill head on, being blown away while loosing a good chunk of our health. I immediately chugged down a health potion to make it easier on Forgotten before looking back at the boss and grimacing. I quickly glanced at Yuu, wanting to ask her how she managed to knock the boss down, but she also didn¡¯t seem to know, so I left it alone. Maybe the lack of defense also left him susceptible to CC? ¡°Somebody have a stun skill?¡± I shouted towards the others, and received a response from both Xredder and Yagver. ¡°Whoever is longest, try it on the boss, now!¡± Yagver nodded and charged forward as I barely managed to roll beneath another one of those charged claw-strike. He lifted the hammer up in the air and brought it down with incredible fury on the boss forehead. And the boss fell down to the ground, dizzy. Meanwhile we rained down all of our skills on the stunned boss. Sadly, the stun still had its effect reduced, so a few seconds later the boss shook his head while getting up and we quickly opened some distance between us and him. Finally, a few dodges later, his energy hit rock bottom once again, and he fell on the ground for a moment, panting heavily as the blue fur and the crystal dissolved from his body, leaving him back on his state pre-rage. I smiled wickedly at this. After giving us so much trouble, we managed to survive a full cycle of his fight for the first time. Now, all we had to do was to survive the next. ¡­ It was a long and arduous fight, but the other half of it was much easier. Now that we knew that we could apply CCs on him during the rage phase, my first idea was to have Yuu use her very own cold-based CC on the boss. Since the boss main weapons were the ridiculously high speed and damage, the moment the frostbite debuff hit him, he lost pretty much everything he had of scary. Of course, we lost our main damage dealer, since she had to sustain the debuff all the while, but it was more than worth the price, since without speed most of his skills became useless. So, after all this time, we finally managed to land the final blow on the infernal wolf, and he fell with one last feeble howl while still on his last rage mode. However, we ended up losing one of the pillars, which left us on cold sweat. The others all immediately started cheering and high-fiving each other while forgotten simply sat down and started to recover his almost depleted mana. Meanwhile I quickly distributed the points from leveling up in toughness and went straight to the back of the cave, where some of the crystals had cracked after the fight, revealing a small passage upon which laid the very item I came here for. In the small passage of the cave laid a crystalline formation laying on the very back of the room. In there was a black crystal sprouting from the back of the room. It was the size of my forearm and shone an ominous and mysterious light. Around it seven light pink crystals sprouted forming something like a flower around the crystal. These had a much less intimidating air around them, and almost seemed to pulsate like a heart. I slowly approached the black crystal and held it, giving it a light tug. Seeing that it was still stuck to the wall, I tried to give it a stronger pull, and this time it did come out fully. It was surprisingly light¡­ Much more than what I expected. Throwing it into my inventory, I immediately turned my attention back to the pink crystals, frowning as I looked at them. They were clearly different from the other crystals in the dungeon, as well as from the black crystal in my hand. Fueled by reckless curiosity, I approached the crystals and tried yanking them out. Unlike the black crystal, however, they didn¡¯t come out easily, so I immediately took out my pick and happily started hitting the base of the crystals, slowly whittling it away. After taking all of them out of the wall, I went back to the boss room, where I saw Yagver¡¯s group setting up a strange machine on its center. ¡°You do remember that the dungeon¡¯s objective requires us to stop the mana from spreading, right?¡± Yagver said while raising an eyebrow. Ooh! There was something like that! I was so focused on my own quest and kind of forgot that! ¡°This is the machine we got after defeating the Drone, and the instructions said to use it here.¡± He said as he pressed some buttons according to a metal plate in his hand. ¡°I see¡­¡± I said as I approached them. ¡°Oh, yeah. What did you want to talk with me, Yag?¡± I asked reminding of what he said at the beginning of the fight. ¡°Oh¡­ Well¡­¡± He suddenly felt a bit awkward. ¡°Say¡­ Does your class have the tamer skill?¡± he asked me after some time. I raised my eyebrows confused. ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t think so¡­ Why?¡± ¡°Well¡­ How to explain it¡­ You said that you are two levels higher than when you entered the dungeon, right?¡± He asked me, and I nodded at loss. He then turned towards the others. ¡°Say, Xredder¡­ How many levels did you get in here?¡± ¡°Three levels, and I am almost at my fourth. Deaths included.¡± He said without paying it much mind. ¡°Lenny?¡± ¡°Four here.¡± It took me some time to see where this was going, but once it clicked, I became shocked. These guys are even higher levels compared to me! How the hell did they level more than me who is the lowest level? ¡°And¡­ What does this have to do with the skill?¡± Hanbei asked confused, already seeing where this was going. ¡°Well¡­ Don¡¯t you wonder why not many players have battle pets, even when any class can get them with some effort?¡± Yagver said with a wry smile. ¡°Because when you don¡¯t have the class skill, you receive 30% less experience, which goes to the pet. And the penalty is even bigger when it is at a lower level than you.¡± Wait¡­ What? Chapter 55 - Villain in the making? Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! DELAYED CHAPTER! SORRY! *DOGEZAS* ANYWAY, finished this chapter 1:15 of the morning, and didn¡¯t have the conditions to upload it, so I left to do it after waking up. Forgot that I had a morning class yesterday, and ended up messing my writing plans. Still, here we are. BTW, upload time is 10:30 in the morning here. ALSO, FINALLY, we left the dungeon. And before anyone asks worried/excited, no, the next two runs will be only mentioned briefly on the next chapter. No more dungeon describing for me for a good time now! ALSO(2), If anyone is wondering, no. The exp thingy isn¡¯t stopping gon of making Aura a battle pet, ok? ALSO(3), Already working on the next chapter, should be up today still. Have a good read! ----- ¡°How come I never heard of this?¡± I whispered angrily at the fox in my hand as we walked our way back from the dungeon while the others hummed happily. I swear to god that if it weren¡¯t for the fact that her and Aura¡¯s body were shared, I would be strangling her right now! ¡°But a warning does appear whenever you get a battle pet!¡± Cyg whispered back to me nervously. ¡°But you probably skipped it back when you got Lieutenant!¡± I wanted to really punch something right now. Not that I would have nulled the fact that Lieutenant is my pet, but the fact that I didn¡¯t notice up to now does annoy me a lot! And worse of all, what Cyg said is something very likely that I might have done, so it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if that was true. Sadly, memory for important stuff isn¡¯t exactly my selling point. Sighing downheartedly as we walked back to the entrance of the dungeon, I noticed I wasn¡¯t the only one with a sour mood, as the others also had a bitter smile on their faces. Well, not that I blame them, after all, even if the gear was down-right awesome, it wasn¡¯t exactly something useful for us.
Mantle of the Crystal-bearer (Chest) (Heavy leather) (requires level 20)
Def:20M. Res:18
Quality:ExcellentDurability:30/30
Description This is the skin of the one who bore the duty of protecting the mines from all enemies. Stone-like leather capable of stopping even the strongest blows form this armor. TGH +10 VIT +5 MND +10
Crystalline Claw (Dagger) (requires level 20)
Attack:14-18Extra:(None)
Quality:ExcellentDurability:20/20
Description The claw taken from a peculiar wolf, whose body had become a nest controlled by the very crystal he once tried to protect. It¡¯s piercing power is compared to no other. STR +15 AGI+15 TGH -5 VIT -5
Ten seconds to discover what is wrong with these equipment. ¡­ Done? Yeah, nobody here uses daggers. That, and as attractive as the leather chest piece sounds, it¡¯s clearly for a tanking class. And although we do have a tank with us, his equipment are plate-centered, so I don¡¯t think this would work. Of course, there is also myself, but if I equip it, I will lose my set bonus, which is pretty amazing, so I don¡¯t think the pants would work all that well for me. In the end, the others rolled for the chest so they could sell. Yuu showed a clear interest on trying the dagger for a new type of strategy, even if it made her even squishier. We let her have it because she started making the puppy eyes without noticing, and this dealt a heavy blow on everyone else, who still didn¡¯t developed any resistance towards it. Not that Hanbei nor me had any to begin with. I have the feeling that it might ignore resistances. Such scary skill¡­ Well, at least I didn¡¯t leave without earning something. My cloak got a bonus four agility and four toughness from the boss, so I do feel satisfied if I do say so myself. Well, leaving that aside, we took a couple of minutes of walk to leave the dungeon and as soon as we got out, I turned towards Yagver and said. ¡°So, does the dungeon resets automatically, we need to wait a few hours, or something of the like?¡± I asked him. ¡°Well¡­ From what I know, we could just up and go on the dungeon right now for another run if we felt like it.¡± He said with a shrug. ¡°But we did spend around five or six hours in there, so if you want to give it a time, I wouldn¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t mind going in right now¡­¡± I turned to the girls. Han-chan looked a bit tired, but didn¡¯t seem to be all that bothered. Yuu¡­ I think the only way to make her tired would be by having her solo the whole dungeon by herself, but I don¡¯t think that would happen¡­ Right? You know what? Let us leave that unanswered. ¡°I think they are in for another ride too¡­¡± They both nodded. ¡°But before that, I¡¯ll deliver the quest¡­ And have Aura make us lunch. I¡¯m starving here!¡± The others suddenly widened their eyes before smiling awkwardly. Seems like they were the same. I left the freezing-tail on the cook-job while I took some distance from the group. Not that I needed, really, mostly because I felt like it. ¡°Hey, Arkhoss. I got your crystal here!¡± I said out loud. ¡°That was¡­ Relatively fast.¡± He said popping out of nowhere with a raised eyebrow. This time I didn¡¯t even need to wait before he had my armor fixed with that neat spell of his. Having the god of Chaos as your acquaintance saves a good sum on repair fees! Ka-ching! ¡°Well, I did want to get over with it quickly¡­¡± I said as I pulled the crystal out of my inventory and gave it a quick look.
Chaos-bound Crystalized mana (Qualityless) (Quest item)
A piece of crystallized Chaotic mana. It¡¯s pre-crystallization nature makes it so that it didn¡¯t form as a perfectly as the remaining crystals, thus making it much more volatile than the usual.
¡°Just let me take a guess, but this is your work, right?¡± I asked while passing him the crystal. He simply smiled mysteriously while using his spell on the crystal, making it shine cleanly before floating. ¡°So¡­ why didn¡¯t you go get it yourself?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°There is only so much we are allowed to interfere directly in this world.¡± He said with a shrug as he poofed a box and stored the crystal within it. ¡°If things started to get bad, I would have done it myself.¡± He looked towards me. ¡°But since they aren¡¯t all THAT bad, it was a better shot to have a chosen like yourself do it for me. Have less of an impact on this world¡¯s mana.¡± He said with a shrug. Well, who am I to talk about magic stuff? ¡°So¡­ Should be worried about what you are going to do with that?¡± I asked as I watched him poof the box into oblivion. He looked at me inquisitively, so I elaborated further. ¡°I mean, if people find out I will that I was the one to get that to you, would they think of me of a villain, or a hero?¡± I asked him. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you didn¡¯t care about what I was going to use it for?¡± He asked me curious. ¡°Didn¡¯t care, yes. But it¡¯s good to have an idea on what to expect.¡± I said shrugging. I looked to him awaiting my answer, but he wasn¡¯t the one to answer. ¡°Ha! If the words get out, then you¡¯ll probably be known as one of the worst villains in the story of Insania!¡± Came a loud voice from the air behind him, surprising me. However, for such grim words, they had a strangely cheerful tone to them. ¡°¡­ Sir, I didn¡¯t expect for you to come down here!¡± Arkhoss said while looking backwards. And Sir? Is that someone with even higher standing than him? ¡°Well, Little chaos. After hearing so much of this golem, I had to come and have a look for myself.¡± Said the booming voice from behind him. ¡°Heck, he is under my protection, so I guess I have the right to look at him whenever I want to!¡± The deep voice said with a laugh. ¡°Hi there, little golem! It¡¯s a pleasure to finally meet you!¡± ¡°Hi there mister strange voice coming from midair! It¡¯s nice to meet you too!¡± I said while copying his cheerful tone. ¡°Huh? Strange voice?¡± The booming voice said surprise, before grumbling angrily. ¡°Cygnasdammit. Magic! I never was any good with it¡­¡± As he said that, the air behind Arkhoss shimmered and the owner of the voice appeared behind him. And cygnasdammit, was the guy huge! He left even the barbarians to shame, while still looking more human-ish than the giants! He should be around two or so meters, probably higher, had a long white hair and a short beard on his scarred face. He his only clothing his chain-mail pants and a bandolier-like thing crossing his chest. Not that I found it strange, since I doubted that anything at all would fit a guy with muscles that big! Heck, his arms was almost as thick as me! I guess he bench-press siege weapons to have them that big! And just how many scars can someone have? I¡¯m pretty sure that I should call the guys from the Guinness book to have a look at him. He should have broken a world record or two here. On his back, probably held by the bandolier-thingy, laid a huge axe that was as wide as a freaking door. It had a simple design of a two headed axe, but the size alone was enough to make me fear it. With all that, I didn¡¯t need any introduction to know who was this guy. ¡°Let¡¯s try that again.¡± He said while coughing. ¡°Hello there, little golem! I¡¯m the patron god of your class! You may know me as¡­¡± ¡°Bul-kathos?¡± ¡°No?¡± He said while slightly confused. I clicked my tongue, I¡¯m sure that I was close. ¡°But that is one strong-sounding name! I like it!¡± He said with a loud laughter. ¡°I¡¯m Orfeon, the great god of war!¡± He said with a proud look. ¡°So you are the one giving me the skills? Neat!¡± I said cheerfully before extending my hand. ¡°Name is Gondorrer Doggybane¡­¡± DAMMIT! When will I get this right? ¡°I mean¡­ Gondorrer Gravelheart. Pleasure to meet you.¡± He raised his eyebrow amused for a moment, before smiling and grabbing my hand, shaking it, and through it, me, up and down cheerfully. ¡°So¡­ What you said earlier¡­ Does that mean that I¡¯m doing some kind of evil-job here?¡± I said curious now, but he shook his head. ¡°Nope. This might probably save a lot of lives. But the world will probably won¡¯t see it that way.¡± He said with a shrug. ¡°At least if the little chaos here is right on his calculations. Not that I ever seen him make a mistake, to tell the truth.¡± He said in a slightly impressed tone. ¡°You praise me too much, sir.¡± Chaos said with his deadpan face, which made the war-god laugh heartily and put his arm around the lesser god¡¯s shoulders, which left Arkhoss notably fidgety, as his suit started to wrinkle. ¡°So¡­ I¡¯m some kind of misunderstood hero?¡± I said while watching the scene amused. ¡°Something like that¡­¡± Bul-kat¡­ Orfeon said with a nod. ¡°¡­ Wait, did I just save the world or something doing that?¡± I asked as it started to click on me, but the lesser god simply shook his head. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call it saving the world.¡± He said with a slight frown while resisting the urge to fix his clothes. ¡°But you did make it a lot easier for us with this, since it¡¯s one less thing to worry about.¡± He while making some calculations on his mind. ¡°I guess I can greatly speed up the plan with this now.¡± He said, making the larger god smile joyfully. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Oh? How soon?¡± He asked, looking like a kid who was just promised a new toy. ¡°Couple of months, I guess¡­¡± Arkhoss said while thinking. ¡°Still have to make some last calculations just to be sure.¡± ¡°And that thing that will happen¡­ It involves war, somehow?¡± I said curious, and the gods smiled satisfied. ¡°I like how you always catch things quickly.¡± Said Arkhoss with a nod. I frowned slightly for a moment. Suddenly I feel that doing this quest wasn¡¯t exactly my best idea ever, but it¡¯s too late now. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s time for your rewards.¡± He said with a trickster smile. He snapped his fingers, and above his right hand popped a sword. A simple sword, with a long dark-purplish blade and a thorny hand-guard. It¡¯s simplicity not diminishing the extremely overwhelming feeling that leaked from it. I immediately knew that this wasn¡¯t a simple sword. ¡°This here, is a sword made with my and Orfeon¡¯s powers. It will grow as strong as you, while granting you unmatchable cutting power, as well as making your enemy more likely to show you openings, thanks to its special effects. Right now, this could easily be considered the strongest weapon available to all the chosen at this moment. I Can¡¯t guarantee about later on, though.¡± He turned towards the muscle wall besides him and grinned slightly. ¡°On the other hand, I could teach you how to process those crystals with great efficiency, making your weapons and armor even better. But they still wouldn¡¯t be on par with this sword.¡± He extended another hand, where I faintly blue sphere floated. ¡°Now, choose one.¡± When he made that statement, I took a long time thinking on what my pick would be, since both of them were incredibly useful on their own right. On one hand, I would get an incredible sword that could easily make me one of the strongest players. On the other hand, I had a crafting method that I probably wouldn¡¯t find anywhere else, but this still wouldn¡¯t¡­ BAH! WHO AM I KIDDING! I picked the faintly shimmering sphere, and with that, a new warning window popped up, warning me that I had just unlocked the tutorial to processing the crystals I mined at the dungeon. Not quite what I had expected, but still, it works. I smiled happily as I opened the window and saw that it had both a text and a video part to it, for whichever one I felt easier to use. There was even a specific part for the pink crystal! And man, this thing is nifty! I might just have solved a problem with this!
HEROIC QUEST COMPLETE: Chaos¡¯ Crystal
You have delivered the crystal to the God of Chaos, and discovered that his plans relates to the Great god of war. Although you still don¡¯t know their plans, you do know that it¡¯s something big. Now, you have been rewarded in kind. For completing the quest, Yksar¡¯s Mana-infested mine have been opened to other players with the Hard and normal mode available.
Rewards: Crafting techniques for the exotic material found on the mines. Chronicles of the Frozen Battlefield have received a +3 STR +3 INT bonus.
¡°Now, if you excuse-me, I have some plans to finish preparing.¡± Arkhoss said with a courteous bow, before poofing out of existence. However, the other bigger guy was still here, and he looked at me with some amusement. ¡°You really did pick the crafting method.¡± He said with some surprise and slight interest. ¡°I heard from little chaos that you plan on using the hide, scales and claws from your enemies as equipment, but I never thought you would go as far as refuse that sword¡­¡± He said before grinning widely. ¡°I must say that I like your style!¡± He said with an amused grin while taking his hand to the axe behind him. ¡°So¡­ Mind giving me the pleasure of a duel? It¡¯s been a long time since I have been this pumped!¡± ¡°Nope, no, thanks.¡± I said in a straight face, which made him freeze for a moment before making a silly sound. ¡°I mean¡­ I don¡¯t really have much motivation when it comes to fighting non-beasts enemies.¡± I said while scratching my head. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m pretty sure you could beat me, even if you had both hands, feet and head tied behind your back.¡± ¡°Well¡­ You¡­¡± He suddenly looked lost as he tried to form his words. ¡°You could use this as a chance to¡­ You know¡­ Fight someone stronger? And learn their tactics¡­¡± He said trying to convince me. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not a martial artist to want something like that¡­¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯m more of a hunter, than a fighter, and¡­¡± I stopped when the smell of food reached my nose and I felt my mouth salivate. ¡°Damn, suddenly my hunger is back¡­¡± I said getting off track. ¡°That does smell nice. For a mortal.¡± Orfeon said while sniffing around. ¡°Mind if I join you?¡± He asked, completely forgetting his will to fight earlier. Well, one more, one less isn¡¯t much of a difference, I guess? So I let the god of war join us in our little late lunch. When I introduced him to the others, there wasn¡¯t much of a reaction, and instead I received a strange weary look from them, almost as if they were saying: Well, it IS Wargon, after all. Well, not like I can say much, I do seem to attract weird things, I guess¡­ The lunch was lively, as Orfeon summoned a cask of mead, which he started to drink heavily before telling us stories about battles and wars he either participated directly or possessed a mortal before wrecking havoc on the field. There were quite the interesting stories there, as this one battle where he fought two greater dragons bare-handed. In another one, he possessed a siege-master and had him conquer three castles using nothing but ladders and three hundred men. Then, there was one about a battle from one or two thousand years ago, when armies from the infernal and the heavenly realm, that had nothing to do with the gods, mind you, wrecked havoc on Insania, trying to conquer it, but he went and possessed a berseker before completely decimating the machinery and beasts brought by both armies. Well, as ridiculous as his stories may sound, he did have the muscles and power to back them up, so we mostly heard them in wonder. Some of us did drink a bit of the mead when he offered, but we mostly kept it light since we were about to dungeon dive again, so we might as well be in our top condition. The highlight was when Yuu asked for a duel with him. I wasn¡¯t all that surprised, as I kind of got sight of how competitive Yuu can be when it comes to fighting prowess. Well, to cut it short, it was a one sided battle. Yuu kept attacking non-stop while Orfeon simply dodged her spear attacks while laughing merrily, his mug of mead still in his hands as he drank it little by little during the fight. As soon as he finished his mead, though, he threw the mug away and took his axe from his back, holding the mighty cleaver with one hand, before¡­ Doing something. What? I couldn¡¯t see what happened at all! How the hell do you want me to describe that? One second Yuu¡¯s life is topped and she is attacking, the other she is on the ground, with a confused face and only one HP left from death! And it¡¯s not like there were those blurry scenes happening where you could see something happening, but couldn¡¯t understand. It was downright instantaneous! But Orfeon looked incredibly pleased with the kitsune, as he extended his huge hand towards her, helping her up and casting a curing spell that brought her back up to full health in the blink of an eye. ¡°Damn, Lass. For a level twenty, you sure are good!¡± he said with clear interest. ¡°I am almost considering making you my prot¨¦g¨¦e or something, you know?¡± He said cheerfully, making Yuu blink surprised before looking briefly my way. I was somewhat surprised, to be honest. To have the god of WAR, the one usually responsible for being the one on the front lines, battles and all that to praise you like that? It¡¯s no easy feat, I imagine. But then, it IS Yuu, so I¡¯m not that surprised. It¡¯s kind of a conflicting feeling, to tell the truth. ¡°Forgive-me, but I will have to decline your offer.¡± Yuu said, surprising us even more. ¡°But I already have a Shishou whom I follow.¡± She said while bowing deeply. I smiled awkwardly at the scene, feeling a tingly sensation on my chest. And of course, I felt a bit of guilty, with the whole Shishou thingy and all, after all, it started as a joke. I didn¡¯t expect it to last like that. Right after saying that, Yuu suddenly glanced over to the air, as a window popped up in front of her. I saw as he face brightened a lot, while Orfeon started shrugging with a wry smile. It seemed that he didn¡¯t have much hope of convincing her since the beginning, so he didn¡¯t delve too deep into it. Finally, he suddenly sighed before coming back to us. ¡°Well, that was fun!¡± He said while putting his axe behind his back again. ¡°I had a good food cooked by a fox, cute little thingy, she is, told my tales to someone who actually didn¡¯t know them, saw a new blossoming fighter, all in a day worth!¡± He said while smiling and looking at us. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t leave little chaos all by himself, and I think there isn¡¯t anything else to do here, so I guess it¡¯s a bye bye for now?¡± ¡°Well, actually¡­¡± I said while moving my eyes towards one member of our team. ¡°You could probably play a bit of cards with the cat, but I guess this is out of the case, right?¡± I said, remembering Lieutenants new addiction. This made the god blink for a moment before smirking. ¡°Hey, hey, hey! Wars also have strategies! Don¡¯t go thinking that I don¡¯t know how to play a mean game, ok?¡± He said as Lieutenant¡¯s eyes suddenly sparked with fire. The two stared at each other for a moment before a poker table popped into the air, as well as a full deck. As I watched the two of them playing furiously against each other, I heard as Yagver approached me. ¡°So, I guess we are going after that card game, and this time we are going for the material run, right?¡± He asked, and I nodded. It seemed that he came more for the confirmation than anything else, so he stopped there. ¡°By the way, what do you want me to make for you, guys?¡± I asked him after some thought. He blinked surprised and looked at his companions, who also came with him. ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­ What can you do?¡± he asked me back, and I stopped to think for a moment. ¡°Well, with the amount of material we¡¯ll get in a run¡­¡± I stopped to make some calculations in my head. ¡°I would guess that I would have enough material for making something for each one of you, or make a single armor set. Those bosses were big, so that is how much I am estimating right now. The smaller mobs I¡¯ll probably use for money-making, since the material is a bit worse off.¡± I said as I turned to him. I noticed that he was thinking deeply over which one to choose, so I said. ¡°You have until we get back to choose, so no need to hurry.¡± He nodded, before leaving to discuss with his team. Meanwhile I turned to look at Yuu, who had come back to sit besides me while I was talking with the j?tunn, not failing to notice the wide smile on her face. I looked a bit confused at her, but when Hanbei noticed this, she simply smiled while pointing towards Yuu¡¯s head. I looked up and saw, right beneath the Kitsune¡¯s nickname, in smaller letters, the first title she actually received. Wargon¡¯s disciple. As I looked at it in shock, I heard the cries of a frustrated god. Chapter 56 - Yuus happy day Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! DOUBLE RELEASE TODAY! HOORAY! ANYWAY, some things came to mind these last two days. One was the need to update the synopsis of the series, since it does sound a bit too generic for the story and nowhere crazy enough. Second is that there are many skills and characters in the story, and it gets a bit hard to keep track of all of them, so I¡¯ll start working on a data-page where I¡¯ll throw all of these kind of important information. Should be ready before the next weekend. ALSO, There is a small music parody here, although only of the first part of the song. If anyone wishes, feel free to pick it up and make the rest! Just remember to share with your brothers of the Cygnas Church! (You¡¯ll get cookies!) ALSO(2), The arc is coming to an end, and with that I will begin my one or two week break from Insania. Before then, I still plan on doing the following: Make a small x.5 chapter, on a slightly more serious (and very foreshadowing tone.), maybe start on the next SS, which will either be of father and sister, or a one-shot of Lieutenant¡¯s info network saga. ALSO(3), as stated before, during the break I plan on writing something else. So I was thinking, would you guys rather have me write Insania Offline, the just for fun spin-off, or make something brand new? Have a good read! ----- ¡°Hmm¡­ It makes so that every skill that Shishou have with a higher level than mine, increases twenty percent faster in Shishou¡¯s presence!¡± Said the Kitsune while wagging her tail happily. I rubbed my eyes as I tried to understand what was happening here. Did she officially become my disciple now? Really? I¡¯m having a hard time getting this through my head. As I tried to process the information, I finally sighed, giving up. ¡°So¡­ How did you get it?¡± I asked. ¡°It said that I got the title by refusing changing my master, and declaring towards that person that Shishou is already my master.¡± She said smiling widely. Looking at such a beaming Yuu, I ended up unable to resist the destructive power of those cheerful eyes, and ended up having to pat her as my way to congratulate the Kitsune. Even if I had the feeling that the title isn¡¯t all that useful, since we don¡¯t have a single shared skill, I somehow knew that she probably wouldn¡¯t change the title any-time so soon. I smiled awkwardly at this thought, at the same time as a small blue-furred fox arbitrarily climbed on my lap and pulled my free hand towards her head. Well, I¡¯m not complaining of some extra fluffiness. As I looked back to the God of war, who was seriously focused on the poker table, I saw him sigh and drop his cards, signaling his defeat on the game. Lieutenant smirked impishly as he also dropped his cards on the table and started stretching himself after a good game. The god snapped his fingers, making the table disappear and a fish pop up, falling on the Trick-cat¡¯s extended hands, where he started to feast himself. ¡°Cygnasdammit! I¡¯ll get you next time, you slithery feline!¡± Orfeon said with some strange rivalry sparking in his eyes. After that, he turned to me and gave one final nod. ¡°Well, it seems that I just lost my five hundred years winning spree, so I guess I should call it a day.¡± The god said with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later, little golem! And then it will be your turn to tell me those stories, alright?¡± He said cheerfully, and I nodded back. And then, he poofed into oblivion. Damn, these gods like doing this. ¡°So, who¡¯s ready for a couple more dungeon diving?¡± I said in a cheerful tone, seeing the others smile awkwardly at this. ¡­ If the first run took us around six or so hours, the following two took only eight hours in total. Mostly because we already knew how to deal with the bosses and the mobs, so we didn¡¯t have any nasty surprises at all. But, interesting surprises we did have: We were, indeed, doing the hard-mode of the dungeon. We noticed this because we chose to run on the hard mode for some better loot, however we didn¡¯t see anything different at all. Except for the map. Both times, the map of the dungeon were completely different. Maybe to keep some hint of freshness on repeated dungeon crawls? Well, no matter. We pretty much one-shotted the bosses both times, now that we knew how they worked. Except for Excel, since once we didn¡¯t manage to destroy the green crystal on time and saw as Yagver fell dead. The remaining tries went smoothly without any bigger problems. Also, they let me harvest not only Doggy¡¯s hide, but also Excel¡¯s armor plating and sword! Which was nifty as hell! Another cool thing, is that Doggy¡¯s mode when he dies persists. So I got one set of skin, claws, fangs and bones from the normal Doggy, and one from enraged doggy. If my guess is right, the normal doggy will give better defense, while enraged doggy is better on the offensive status. I couldn¡¯t wait to see what kind of weapon would come out from his material. Also, maybe I can use his hide to upgrade my gear without having to make something brand new. It is worth a test, I guess¡­ Still, let¡¯s get back to the main problem. Which weapon? Sword-and-shield and bow were already done. So what else could I do? Gunlance, charge blade, switch axe and bow-guns are still out of the fray since I will need some more researching if I want to make them. So that leaves me with: Great sword, Long sword, hammer, hunting horn, lance and dual blades. Maybe insect-staff too. Well, let¡¯s leave that for when we get back to the city, shall we? Not that it would take long, I mean, we were already on our way back during the night. Now, for the good part. Level 22, BOO YEAH! One-handed sword up to intermediate two, Bow mastery intermediate one, with new skill! Tactical charge went to eight, adaptability to seven, consumables mastery¡­ Only three. Roll is level nine and almost leveling while Taunt is level eight. Skinning and mining are now both intermediate, but there isn¡¯t any clear bonus to them, except the fact that now I can get scales when skinning classically. So, my status looks something like this:
NAME: Wargon (Gondorrer Gravelheart)
TITLE: The Mad
Class tree:Warrior/rogueClass:Skirmisher
Race:GolemGender:Neutral (Male)
Level:22Experience:34%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points:770/770HP regen (out of combat):2.5/sec
Energy:100/100Energy Regen:11/sec
STR:56(14)TGH:45(28)
AGI:54(14)VIT:59(28)
INT:33(14)MND:50(28)
ATTK:31-28Extra:1 Frostfire damage
DEF212M. Res.:151
Fire resistance:24
Satiety:79/100 (Satisfied)
SKILLS: Derivation points (0)
Spoiler : --------Generic skills-------- One-handed Sword Mastery[Intermediate][lvl 2] -Slash (Active) -Stab (Active) -Slice ¡®n dice (Active) -Fencing Dual-wielding mastery [lvl 2] -Whirlwind (Active) Bow Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1] -Power shot (Active) -Quick shots (Active) -Piercing shot (Active) -Double-shot (Active) -Snipe Martial Arts [lvl 4] -Kick -Pummel Shield Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1] -Bashing - Shield slam* -Stand Ready Scale-mail Mastery [lvl 9] Chain-mail Mastery [lvl 9] Leather Mastery [lvl 7] Taunt (Active) [lvl 8] -Focused mockery Nature walking (Active) [lvl 2] (Original) Roll (Active) [lvl 9] Recklessness [lvl 2] ---------Class skills-------- Consumables mastery [lvl 3] Unstoppable Charge* (Active) [lvl 8] Retreat (Active) [lvl 1] Ready for anything [lvl 1] UNIQUE Adaptability [lvl 7] -Cycle weapons(active) -Offensive Cycle(active)* ---------Crafting skills-------- Skinning [intermediate] [lvl 1] Mining [intermediate] [lvl 1] Crystal Tinkerer[Intermediate] [lvl 1] Leatherworking [Intermediate][lvl 1] Blacksmithing [Intermediate] [lvl 1] Alchemy [lvl 6] ---------Racials--------- -Nature¡¯s bastion (Active) -Rock Eater -Sedimentary skin (Active) -Nature attuned ---------Equipment skill-------- Ignite Weapon
Beautiful, isn¡¯t it? Now, for the new skills.
Skill: Unstoppable charge [lvl8] (0%) (Modified from Tactical Charge)
Your charge becomes an unstoppable force, brutally trespassing any enemy in your way while dealing even more damage from the skill used. Bonus damage increased to 50% Ignores collision. Skill used can hit multiple enemies. Only applies to self, using on allies apply Tactical Charge.
Cost: 10 energy Cool down: 10 secods
Sub-Skill: Double shot [Intermediate] [lvl1] (Level increase with Bow mastery)
You become used to the motion of pulling and shooting with your bow, to the point that some of your attacks come automatically without you noticing. Repeat the last skill used within two seconds, with any bonus it had at the time.
Cost: 0 energy Cool down: 1.5 minute
So, Unstoppable charge is the derivation of Tactical charge. It basically makes so that any melee skill I have become a charge attack with bonus damage and a piercing effect. Just imagine this: A line of enemies, Unstoppable charge towards the one on the back while using shield slam after a dodging roll. Everyone takes Shield-slam basic damage, +50% from the charge, +30% from the dodge. Simply brutal. I love it. Of course, if they aren¡¯t in line, it gets a bit harder to deal so much damage, but you get my point. Double shot¡­ Is also an almost cheat-like skill that makes me wonder how people deal with archers in this game. I repeat ANY skill I used without the cost of energy. Of course, the cool down is high, but the burst-potential in this skill is simply ridiculous. So, all in all, I¡¯m a happy golem. Equipment-wise, Yagver¡¯s group decided that their best shot at this would be to have a better geared tank, so they decided to have me make a full set to the J?tunn, instead of giving one good piece to each one. Luckily, I already had a good idea on what I would be making. And If you stop to think that both bosses were defense focused, it will probably become something ridiculously over-powered. Not that I am complaining. But that would still leave me with a lot of material left, so I was starting to plan on what to do with them. Anyway, we were now walking down the night towards our way back to the city. Everyone now in higher spirits after receiving such a good haul, exp-wise, with Yagver¡¯s group almost at thirty, and the girls at twenty five-six. Lieutenant now had reached my level and the penalty wasn¡¯t all that bad any-longer. And in such a happy mood, as soon as the city came in sight, I started to get excited for the crafting, and before I could stop myself, I was already singing. ¡°Take me down, to the iron-bound city Where the forges are heating and the hammers are beating! So won¡¯t you please, take me hooooooome. Take me down, to the iron-bound city Where the forges are heating and the hammers are beating! So won¡¯t you please, take me hooooooome.¡± ¡°Is that paradise city?¡± Asked Yagver curious, and I nodded while banging my head. What can I say? I was getting excited. It didn¡¯t take us much longer to reach the city. By the time we got there, it was a few hours before dawn, and thus the city looked peculiarly calm when looking at it. I turned to the others and noticed that they all had some sleepy faces, probably from spending almost twenty hours straight awake. Although we do get tired slower in here, there is only so much we can take when we start fighting non-stop, so I wasn¡¯t all that surprised to see them like that. At least I came right after sleeping, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they were playing non-stop even before that. ¡°So, what are you guys doing now? Sleeping?¡± I asked, still feeling full of energy. They looked at each other for a moment and nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­ I guess I¡¯ll call it a day.¡± Said Yagver with a nod. The others also nodded with him. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll leave the gear with Argento. Do you guys know him?¡± I asked, and they all nodded. ¡°Good, see you guys later, then.¡± I said, and they all gave their farewells before logging out. Then I turned towards the girls and raised an eyebrow to them. Han-chan nodded sleepily, but Yuu looked not all that bad, to tell the truth. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°I¡¯ll stop here¡­ I¡¯m tired.¡± Han-chan said tiredly. She had been quiet the whole way here, so it wasn¡¯t all that surprising to see her so tired. ¡°What about¡­ Yuu-chan?¡± she asked the Kitsune. ¡°Grandfather always tells me to not go to a battle while tired, so I slept a bit before we left.¡± She answered cheerfully. I stopped to think for a moment. That was probably during the time I was also sleeping. ¡°So I will stay with Shishou a bit longer.¡± Hanbei smiled mischievously for a moment, before nodding and logging out. Her body disappearing in a pillar of light. ¡°Shall we go, then?¡± I asked her, and she nodded cheerfully. I actually had a lot of things to do in the city. Firstly, is the crafting, as I had to make a full set for Yagver, as well as make a new weapon for myself. Then, there is the problem with Aura, whom I promised to make into a battle pet. Even if the penalty grew, I didn¡¯t care about it. I made a promise and I plan to keep it true. ¡°So, Lieutenant, are you out to see your network?¡± I asked him. The cat nodded and made a salute before darting off somewhere. We could easily find each other afterwards, so I didn¡¯t worry too much about it. For now, let us go see an old friend. I took the two foxes with me on a tour through the main street until we reached the main elevator. The city during the dead of the night felt strangely calming, with its almost empty streets and only illuminated by the crystals on the ceiling. The only few people walking on the streets during this time were the players and the occasional shady characters. But since most players were out hunting even now, there weren¡¯t many people here at all. The ones that were here, however, kept stealing a glance towards Yuu every time we passed by them. And I could clearly feel some hostile gazes boring on my back. At first I was a bit confused at this, but after some time I finally understood. There was a guy, a girl (and a pet fox) walking through the city alone, during the night with a leisurely pace. The girl kept smiling all the time while the guys simply seemed to be enjoying himself. Yep. Totally looks like a date. And with someone on Yuu¡¯s level, it isn¡¯t all that surprising that I felt so much killing intent coming towards me. I stole a quick glance towards Yuu and noticed that she looked oblivious to all of this, and simply kept walking while wagging her two black tails to one side to the others. Aura, on the other hand, seemed to notice this, as she quickly leapt to my arms and curled herself up. This¡­ Didn¡¯t help as much as I expected, since now there were a few girls staring holes at me because I was carrying such a cute pet. Part of me felt really uncomfortable under such aggressive gazes. The other made me walk with my chest full of pride and with an snobbish look in my face. Envy-me, you mortals, for I am the lord of fluffiness! All the fluffy things come to me! I started to laugh manically within my mind while my face looked ridiculously smug. Yuu seemed to notice this, as she turned to me with a confused face. I smiled gently at the oblivious Kitsune, before starting to pet her, making the hostile gazes change to one of clear murderous intent. I looked back, seeing a few guys looking at me and gave my best smile. U mad, bro? The napping freezing-tail, the confused Kitsune and me reached the elevator and immediately took us to the commercial sector, where we took another elevator and zig-zagged through the streets until we reached a shop that was fairly familiar. I entered the shop without any warning and dodged all the items and the front desk, going straight to the door on the very end of the store. Suddenly I felt curious how the hell she makes money if there is never someone working, but decided that thinking too much about it would do me no good, I left it alone. Entering the inner-most room of the store, we found the out-of-place bed in the middle of a laboratory-like room, as well as a young girl with ridiculously long hair sleeping lazily on it. I looked at the girl and sighed, before kicking the bed, making her wake up. ¡°Wha? Wuzzat?¡± Sol woke up dazed, looking around and finally setting her gaze on me. ¡°Hmm¡­ Oh! It¡¯s the brat!¡± She said while yawning. ¡°What¡¯s up? Weren¡¯t you leaving for some time?¡± She asked me confused. ¡°Yep. I¡¯ve been a day away, and just got back.¡± I said while opening my inventory screen. I grimaced, noticing how much space was being occupied and decided to buy an inventory upgrade later. ¡°I missed you and decided to make a visit before going to do what I was going to do.¡± I said while shrugging. ¡°Yeah. Sure. I¡¯ll pretend I believe in you.¡± The girl said while stretching herself within her nightgown. ¡°So, what do you have for me today?¡± She said looking excited like the little kid she looked like. I smiled widely while picking up one of the drones plating from my inventory and putting it on the bed. The mad alchemist blinked surprised for a moment before picking the plate and examining it with intense concentration. ¡°This is¡­ Alchemysteel?¡± She asked, her voice having a slightly strange tone that I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger into it. Still, I nodded proudly. If what is said on the item¡¯s description is true, there isn¡¯t any other way to reproduce these, since the recipe is lost. Thus, Sol must be surprised with it, right? ¡°This is¡­ A bit anticlimactic.¡± ¡­ Huh? ¡°Wait, what? Isn¡¯t this a recipe lost in the ages and so on?¡± I asked surprised as she threw the plating aside with a sigh. ¡°Well¡­ Yes, but...¡± She tried to think of her words, but gave up and shrugged. ¡°Well, they are expensive to make, and there are better things out there.¡± She said with a slightly sad tone. ¡°And as amazing as finding such a material like this is, by now its more of a decorative piece than a useful material.¡± Aww¡­ And it sounded something so cool... ¡°And I had so much¡­¡± I said with a sigh and sitting on the bed downhearted. ¡°Is that all?¡± She asked me, still curious. ¡°Didn¡¯t you find anything else that¡¯s interesting?¡± She asked me still with her glowing eyes. I sighed loudly and took out a couple of other things from my inventory. Firstly, some claws and fangs from the wolves which made the elf blink surprised when I told her about the beasts. She showed some clear interest on these, as she had only heard of such beasts, but never seen them before. Next, I took out a few chunks of crystallized mana. The moment her hand touched the crystal, all the hair on her body stood on the edge. ¡°This is¡­ Incredible¡­¡± She said in wonder, while looking at the crystal like a kid with her toy. I smiled awkwardly while taking out the next thing. ¡°Then¡­ What about this?¡± I said while taking out the plating that once was the gauntlet of Excel-Loran. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ More alchemysteel?¡± She asked confused while approaching the gauntlet. Still holding the crystal close to her chest. ¡°That is only a bigger chunk of the meta¡­¡± She started to say with a frown, before suddenly stopping. ¡°What the¡­¡± She suddenly left the crystal on the bed and lifted the arm with scary ease while starting to examine it from all angles. ¡°So, what do you think?¡± I said with a raised eyebrow, but she completely ignored me, immersed on the gauntlet. Suddenly, she passed the gauntlet back to me. ¡°Hold it for me, boy.¡± She said jumping out of the bed and standing on the ground. I grabbed the gauntlet a bit at loss, holding it with my two hands until she said. ¡°Now, lower it a bit.¡± I blinked surprised before automatically lowering the armor. ¡°Good. Keep it like that.¡± She said with a nod. I looked confused at her for a moment, until she picked something from beneath the bed and put it on her hand. I looked at it for a few seconds until I understood. Those are brass knuckles! What is she going to do with that? It¡­ Couldn¡¯t be, right? She suddenly took a stance with the simple brass knuckles and looked towards the gauntlet with a scary look in her eyes. Understanding where this was going, I immediately became panicky. Yuu probably noticed this too, as she suddenly seemed to wake up and try to jump and stop the crazy hag. Both of us were too late. The hag took a step forward, leaving a small foot-print on the rock floor while swiftly swinging her right arm forward. Her fist met with the metal in a violent impact that made the whole room tremble for a moment. Even her weapons disintegrated into dust after that. And me, who was the one who was holding the metal? Well¡­
For repeatedly breaking walls using nothing but your body, and surviving, you have earned the title: Demolition Expert Since you have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change your title
Demolition Expert: Your experience in object destruction increases damage dealt to objects and buildings by 30% when you have the intention to break them. This damage only applies to durability, and not actual health points.
As soon as Yuu and Aura removed the debris from atop me, I quickly chugged down a health potion and raised myself back up. I looked around a bit groggily, noticing that I was in some kind of kitchen room, which was surprisingly simple when I stopped to compare it with the shop. Looking back the way I was blown from, I saw Sol staring at the gauntlet in her hand. ¡°WHAT THE HELL YOU CRAZY HAG!¡± I shouted angrily while stomping my way back towards her. ¡°COULDN¡¯T YOU GIVE ME A WARNING OR SOMETHING?¡± Seriously, don¡¯t people here warn you when they are about to use your body to break a wall or something? ¡°Oh¡­ Sorry.¡± She said halfheartedly, before turning to me with a wide smile. ¡°Now, look here!¡± She said pointing towards the gauntlet. ¡°There¡¯s an indentation!¡± She said cheerfully. I changed my gaze towards the armor and stared at it in shock for a few seconds. Yuu came to my side and copied me, quickly becoming shocked. I mean¡­ We suffered so much on the hands of that guy and his impenetrable armor. Then the old hag comes, and with one punch manage to bend the armor? Okay. Now its definitive. Here in Insania, Old people is synonym with Over-powered. ¡°This is amazing! Even if I held back a little with that trashy weapon, it still didn¡¯t break!¡± ¡°APOLOGIZE! APOLOGIZE TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SUFFERED WHILE BATTLING THIS GUY!¡± I said after suddenly jumping at her and grabbing her in a chokehold. Even Yuu and Aura weren¡¯t trying to stop me this time. ¡°What are you doing, you brat?¡± She asked while trying to get away from my hold, something a bit difficult when she was holding the heavy gauntlet with her small body. After some more minutes of me chasing her, I finally calmed down while she looked at me confused and scared. I took a few deep breaths one last time. ¡°Dammit. And here I hoped to never suffer something like that after leaving Wallace.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Huh? Wallace?¡± The Hag said suddenly. ¡°As in, the Dragon General Wallace?¡± She said surprised, and I nodded. ¡°Heeh¡­ So he¡¯s still alive?¡± She said with some amazement in her voice. ¡°You know him?¡± This time it was me who was surprised. ¡°If I know him?¡± She said with an impish smile, before taking one of her fingers to her lower lips and licking her upper ones seductively, her usual playful and childish air suddenly became extremely mature. A bit too much if I should say so. ¡°Let¡¯s just say¡­ That he was tasty.¡± I face-palmed hard at that moment. Luckily, it seemed that Yuu was a bit too innocent to understand the meaning behind those words, so she simply looked confused. Still, what the hell is the meaning behind this, Wallace? I¡¯m starting to question your tastes, old man. ¡°So¡­ What about the armor?¡± I asked after managing to recover myself. ¡°Oh. This¡­ It¡¯s definitively Alchemysteel, however, it¡¯s on a completely different level to the ones from earlier.¡± She said back to her cheerful self. ¡°It makes the ones from before look completely useless!¡± She said with shining eyes. ¡°Then¡­ Can I count on you for giving a look on it?¡± I said with a raised eyebrow. ¡°You know, I hate how easily you manipulate me into working for you for free?¡± She said with a fake annoyance tone. ¡°You are still doing it, right?¡± I asked mischievously, and she laughed. ¡°You know me too well!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°Also, leave me some more of those crystals, they also seem like a lot of fun!¡± I nodded and unloaded a few more chunks of the crystal into her bed. I had a whole load of them, so I wasn¡¯t exactly in a need to hold them. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go to Melinda¡¯s so I can prepare the leather, then later I¡¯ll go to Torg¡¯s. So if you find anything, just look out for me.¡± I said while preparing to leave, and the alchemist nodded while checking all the new toys she had just received. However, right before I reached the door, she called. ¡°By the way, I don¡¯t see the cat girl? Are you three alone today?¡± She asked us and I nodded, slightly confused. I immediately regretted when I saw her mischievous smile. ¡°So, you are taking advantage that her friend isn¡¯t here, and taking your kitsune on a date, Huh? Aren¡¯t you the play-golem?¡± I immediately left the room the moment the words left her mouth, slamming the door behind me. I saw as Yuu looked confused at me for a moment, before finally processing the words from the old hag. Immediately her face poofed into a deep shade of red. ¡°Da-Date? Wi-With Shishou? M-Me?¡± The damage was done. As I sighed and walked away, I gently put myself to pat the flustered kitsune¡¯s head, as not even I was able to deny it. This, albeit an uncommon one, still looked a lot like a date. Chapter 57 - Almost as planned Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! LET DEM CRAFT BEGIN! ANYWAY, here we have the weapon that I had chosen since the beginning for what Gon would make with Doggy¡¯s material. It will be a huge change in his battle style, but that is what happen when you change weapons in monhun, so yeah. I also tried adding something that kind of marks the weapon in the game. Tell me what do you guys think, both MH players and not. ALSO, Yeah, we are getting closer and closer to finishing the arc, and with that, the break. Since I¡¯m still deciding on what I¡¯ll write, and it seems that many people actually liked the idea of a Re: style story using the characters from Insania (which was the original idea behind the insania offline, but I didn''t explain very well¡­). ALSO(2), I just noticed, but it seem that we have almost 1600 followers! THE CHURCH OF CYGNAS IS SPREADING! CYGNAS BE PRAISED! Have a good read! ----- Aura, Yuu and me walked down the streets back towards the main elevator. The kitsune had her face completely gone into a complete scarlet coloration while she tried to calm herself down. I kept smiling awkwardly at her, as pure as she had shown herself up to now, I don¡¯t think she would manage to regain control anytime so soon. Thinking so, I automatically ended petting her, which only made her even redder. A bit of a mistake, but a flustered Yuu is also good. Well, this did strike a jealously attack from the other fox, so I ended up having to carry a sullen Aura all the way towards our next stop. We arrived at Melinda¡¯s store after a few minutes of a slightly awkward silence. Since it was still deep into the night, I motioned for the two to keep quiet as we advanced towards the back of the room. There, I started to work on preparing the two pieces of leather by spreading salt on them. If I were to compare with the last time, this should take around a whole day to work, so I decided to start with this. However, due to the sheer size of the hide, they didn¡¯t really fit into the rack, so I had to spread it over a table. Which pretty much meant that half of the workshop was suddenly overtaken with two huge hides that left even Aura¡¯s previous one to shame when it came to sheer size. But aura¡¯s was much fluffier, so she¡¯s still the champion. Leaving that aside, I could go around with the hide of the smaller wolves, but I thought that it would be better to leave it for later. Giving priority to what I could do immediately, I quickly wrote a message to the Half-garuda and left immediately after. Yuu looked slightly confused, since she hadn¡¯t seen this step of leather working yet, so I started to explain to her what I was doing. Aura took this chance to once again occupy my arms before I could end up petting the kitsune. ¡°Where are we going now, Shishou?¡± Yuu asked, still a bit embarrassed, but much calmer. ¡°Well¡­ for now, I think I will start working on my next weapon at the forge.¡± I said after some thoughts. ¡°What will you do until then?¡± She blinked confused and tilted her head. ¡°Can I not go with you?¡± She asked innocently, before suddenly remembering Sol¡¯s words and adding hurriedly. ¡°I do not think I have seen Shishou forging something before¡­ That¡¯s it!¡± I smiled wryly a bit more before explaining to her. ¡°You see, the forging sector is ridiculously hot. If you go there without some skill to resist the heat you won¡¯t last very long.¡± I told her reminding myself of the suffering I went through when I went there the first time. However, Yuu simply smiled defiantly while making a small guts pose. Almost as if saying ¡®leave it to me¡¯. I sighed a bit before nodding in defeat. Following that, I guided her towards the main elevator and took it to the lower levels of the mountain. I noticed the Kitsune getting visibly affected by the heat, but before I could offer her to go back, she suddenly closed her eyes, focusing for a bit, and I felt a cold air current gathering around her. She turned back to me and smiled proudly. But that is cheating and unfair! I had to use a special ring or earn a special skill to walk here, and she just go and use her magic? I call unfairness! I grumbled on my way to Torg¡¯s forge, which left Yuu extremely confused for the reason behind my sudden sullen mood. As soon as we arrived at the forges, I went to the smaller ones and started dumping out all the materials I planned on using here, and this included a lot of the crystal chunks, some extremely large crystal fangs and claws, a few smaller pieces from Excel¡¯s armor, as well as some ridiculously huge crystal bones. Courtesy of Doggy. Yep, that guy was so badly infected that even his bones became pure crystal. It was a bit bizarre when I started skinning him and saw something transparent in the middle of the muscles. Well, let¡¯s leave the small talk for later. I motioned for Yuu to go and sit down somewhere far away from the forge since it would get even hotter in a few seconds, and I didn¡¯t think that her magic would manage to withstand the increased temperature. I ignited the forge before sitting in front of the loot and starting to think about it. Weapon-wise, I think that these claws and fangs aren¡¯t a good match for a blunt weapon, so I immediately discarded the idea of the hammer and the hunting horn. I could use Excel¡¯s metal for the hammer, but most of his pieces were far too large to put on the small forge I was using, so I decided to leave that material for later, deciding to work with the smaller pieces. This leaves me with: Great sword, Long sword, Dual blades and Lance. After some though, and a quick look at the material, I finally decided on what would be my course of action. I threw some of the smaller pieces from Excel into the forge. Even if it was a very fancy and ridiculously strong metal, it was still simply a metal, so there wasn¡¯t much need to change my way of dealing with it. Except making the forge even hotter, of course. I left the pieces smelting before turning to the large leg-bones and taking them to the forge. Thanks to the tutorial that Arkhoss gave me, I found out that the trick behind these crystals is that they can be modeled directly, or processed into a more malleable form. The technique I chose for the weapon was for me to simply reshape them. And for that I would need a huge amount of mana. Of course, heating up also helped a bit. Taking some mana crystals, not to be confused with crystalized mana, I left them besides me after I took the crystal bone from the forge and took them towards the grinder. This is what you usually use to give an edge to the weapons, but this time I will use it in a slightly different way. After extending a cloth beneath the tool, I started grinding the bone into shape. This bone in particular is from the doggy we defeated back when he was in defense mode. I used the feet-powered grinder to slowly reshape the bone into a rod. It was a slow and grindy process, in both meanings of the words. But after around ten or fifteen minutes, it finally had taken the shape I wanted. Afterwards, I took the rod to the anvil, where I started to slowly reshape it into a bar, with the repeated process of re-heating and slamming it down with the hammer. Thankfully, different from the blazing-tail materials, which once cooled down, I would lose it, this one did not have something like that. I just had to be careful to not let it get too hot, or it would lose its strength. Between the hammering sessions, I would quickly check the metal on the forge, but the buggers were taking a lot longer to melt than what I originally expected. But it looked like it wouldn¡¯t take that much longer of a wait. Taking my focus back to the crystal, I quickly left it into a flat bar shape before picking up next bone and copying the same shape as the previous one. Each bone had around seventy centimeters, so they were a bit too small for what I planned originally. Thus, I had to use two of them.. After reshaping both pieces into bars, I quickly took the two and joined them on their edges before sprinkling some of the grinded down crystal I gathered on the cloth beneath the grinder. Afterwards I took a mana crystal and put it over the junction. The crystal started to shine slightly, before slowly losing its coloration. After it finished, I took a quick look at the bars, but it still wasn¡¯t enough, so I repeated the process once more. In the end, now the two pieces were fused into a single bar with one and a half meters of length. Afterwards I quickly re-heated it a bit more and started to give it a slight curved shape. I took a better look at it and smiled satisfied. One more quick check on the super-alchemysteel, and I noticed that they were ready to be used. I dropped the still liquid metal into a bar mold using the help of a blacksmithing pincer and a crucible. I waited until it solidified enough to not lose its shape and quickly put it on the anvil, where I started hammering it down into shape by lightly folding it in half on its width. After this, I took the crystal bar and slotted it between the ends of the folded metal before starting to hammer it down tightly. At first, there was some resistance when both pieces met, but after some more hammers, they stuck nicely to each other. Probably because the metal was already used to being fused with the crystal. By the end, I had a long crystal bar with a long metal bar hugging it from its side, going from almost thirty centimeters below the top and extending all the way to the bottom. There it made a slight S curve so it could align with the center of the crystal and continue from there on for some more centimeters. I smiled proudly of my work. Seeing this, Yuu looked at me slightly confused. ¡°What is that, Shishou?¡± She asked getting closer to me. I smiled at her and said. ¡°This is the base of the weapon.¡± I said while taking it back to the anvil for some final adjustments. ¡°Can you get me the claws on the table? The ones from the enraged wolf, please.¡± I asked her while I quickly re-heated the weapon. She nodded and went to the table, picking some of the sharp claws. Meanwhile I took the object to the mechanism we use to puncture the metal, where I quickly made two holes on the crystal-less part of the metal, where I would eventually put the grip. Picking the claws from Yuu, I took them to the grinder, where I sharpened them a little more around the edges, and not only on the tip. Stolen story; please report.I took the huge crystal claws and aligned them with outer side of the curved crystal, where I started to sprinkle some of the grinded-down crystals and fused the two together with the help of Yuu¡¯s magic, since she was a lot more efficient than the mana crystals. When I finished the work, I had an evil looking blade, with a long, thin and slightly curved body, it¡¯s wavy edge made by the succession of curved claws. As a finishing touch, I used doggy¡¯s tail-blade on the tip, making it point inwards, this was more to make the blade look cool rather than to be of use. Now, all that I needed was to make the handle and then the weapon would be finished. I quickly forged a pommel and a handguard with the remaining metal, making both of them into a sharp-looking shape to match the blade¡¯s evil looks. Not managing to hold myself back, I dragged Yuu and Aura back to the leatherworks, where I cut a piece from doggy¡¯s aggressive hide off and hastened the process of curing and tanning using the skills. I judged that since I was using it more as the finishing touch, it wouldn¡¯t matter much for quality if I hastened the leather¡¯s preparation process. There, I quickly made a handle using the hide and assembled it with the handguard and pommel. But not yet satisfied with that, I quickly took the fur from the remaining leather and started to rived it into the inner side of the blade, this way it would cover the metallic part, making it look like it was a weapon made directly from crystal and fur. I turned to Yuu and smiled proudly while showing her sword, and she smiled awkwardly back to me. And just then, the window popped up in front of me.
(Insert the name of your creation) ( heavy 2 handed sword) (requires level 20)
Attack:38-45Extra:(none)
Quality:ExcellentDurability:40/40
Description A wicked sword made with the use of a mysterious beast. The ferocious claw-blade rips the earth and shred its enemies, yet its thirst for destruction is never quenched. TGH +10 AGI+10 VIT+5 This blade does not loses durability when hitting stones. Softer stones may be entirely cut through. Every successful hits converts 2 toughness into 3 strength for five seconds. Stacks up to 5 times While using this weapon you can use the following skill:[Shatter earth] (Made by Wargon)
I whistled in amazement at the sword. This thing is a BEAST! At first I was a bit worried at the fact that the blade didn¡¯t have a single point of strength, but after looking at the skills of the weapon, I started to almost drool. This meant that, during the fight, the sword would start to get stronger and stronger, while I would start to get squishier and squishier during the fight. If something, this was a really interesting skill. But¡­ ¡°Heavy 2 handed sword? This isn¡¯t a two handed light sword! This is a longsword!¡± I said complaining. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m surprised the game didn¡¯t recognize it as a great-sword.¡± I heard Cyg suddenly say that besides me, making me blink surprised and tilt my head confused. ¡°You see, for swords, the game divides it like this: Short-swords, which are the lighter ones; basic swords, which are the one you use; long-swords, the ones that can be used with one or two hands; Two-handed, which are obligatory use of two hands; And great-swords, the heaviest ones.¡± She explained while sitting on the ground and lifting one of her paws up. ¡°And, let me guess, mine is nowhere near the long-sword.¡± I said, and she nodded awkwardly. ¡°Long-swords are swords whose blades are up to one meter. Two handed can be even greater, reaching up to one thirty.¡± She looked at the weapon in my hand. ¡°Yours have a blade of around one forty.¡± She said while looking at it. ¡°I guess the only reason it¡¯s not considered a great-sword is because it¡¯s so thin.¡± ¡°But¡­ But¡­ Long-sword¡­¡± I said while pouting. How will I be able to use it as a long-sword if it¡¯s not called a long-sword? How¡­ How¡­ Such a blasphemy, can I even dare to do it? As I mourned the fact that my sword wasn¡¯t called by it¡¯s definitive name, I saw as Yuu approached Cygnas. ¡°Cygnas-san. What about skills?¡± She asked curious. Cygnas nodded as if she had been waiting that question. ¡°That actually doesn¡¯t affect skills all that much.¡± She said in a teacher tone. ¡°All that it matters is how you are holding the weapon. One-hand allows you to use one-handed skills. Two-hands, two-handed skills.¡± She said with a nod. ¡°But, there are some exceptions. For example, some of the heaviest attacks made with the great-sword can¡¯t be copied into long-swords. The same can be applied reversely. Some of the fastest two-handed skills can¡¯t be used by great-swords. But usually, they share most of the skills. The main difference lies in attack speed and damage, to tell the truth.¡± Yuu nodded while focusing herself to remember all of that. Well, that was actually news for me too, so I can¡¯t say that I wasn¡¯t focusing my attention to it. ¡°But, there is a way to change that!¡± She said smugly, and now even me turned towards her curious. ¡°If you manage to increase your skill to intermediate, and have been using that one type of sword for long enough, you can specialize into that type of sword. And at advanced, you can specialize even more!¡± She said proudly, and I raised an eyebrow at this, intrigued. ¡°For example, if you want to specialize in katanas. Katanas are considered long-swords, so you could approach from either side, only having to worry whether you would use it with one hand or two. Then, once you get your skill to intermediate, you can spend one derivation point on it to change into long-sword. Then you increase it to advanced, and you spend two derivation points, and change it into katana! That way you get many katana exclusive skills! And the more specialized, the bigger the damage bonus!¡± Wow. I mean, I knew that personalization was a huge point to this game, but she does take it to another level. I shook my head to clear it, suddenly feeling pumped up to keep on working on the sword. It¡¯s not like me to simply give up just because it¡¯s not called the right way! Okay, let¡¯s finish this beauty, because there is one important part that I still haven¡¯t worked on. But first, let¡¯s name it. I stopped to think of the huge wolf, and started thinking about something that I could use as a reference about him. In the end, I decided to use one of his most remarkable points, for me, at least. The Howler. I nodded, proud of myself, before leaving the sword atop one of the tables, since I had one more thing that I had to finish before I could call it a job well done, The long swords were the only weapon in the whole Monster Hunter game to have a certain feature, even if only cosmetic. And that is, the sheath! I quickly took a sheathe mold I brought from Torgs and started by making some hardened leather and molding it to the shape of the sheath, but making it long enough to hold the sword as a whole. For the sheath, I thought about making it simple, but ominous, so I went with a simple black sheathe, with some fur attached to the upper part. But thanks to the scythe-like tip, a simple sheathe wouldn¡¯t work very well, since it would get stuck, so I made it that, instead of sliding the blade from the top to the bottom, I could fit it nicely from the side. This also solved another big problem, when I stop to think about it. The blade was so ridiculously long that taking it out of the sheathe like the usual way would be night impossible, but with a side-entry, that wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Even when I hang it on my back like in Monster hunter. However, this also means that the blade is a lot looser than usual, so I had to make some kind of lock to make it so that I could fix it in place when not using. I decided to make a leather flap near the top that I could lock it with button whenever I wasn¡¯t using it. I smiled proudly as I put the sheath on my back and fixing it in place with my bandolier, in such a way that the blade handle would stick to the left of my head, and the blade end to the right of my waist. As I picked the sword on the table so that I could test it on the sheath, but I noticed something. For some reason, the crystalline blade had turned into a opaque black blade, and the wavy pattern on the blade seemed a bit smoother than previously. I looked at the two of them, confused, but neither of them had noticed this previously. Still, since it still looked badass and had the same status, I didn¡¯t bother too much. I kind of like its new shape, to tell the truth. Afterwards, I somehow managed to put the sword on the sheath I my back with a bit of trouble. It was a bit troublesome since I wasn¡¯t used to putting the sword on my back, but damn, did it look badass. I turned to the girls and raised my eyebrow, asking how I was. Yuu smiled happily while nodding, seemingly liking the new looks from her Shihsou. Cyg put a pawn on her chin and gave me a thumbs up. ¡°Now, I should start working on some other pieces of equipment and something¡­¡± I said seriously afterwards, before shrugging. ¡°But I¡¯m too pumped up to test this new beauty. What do you two say?¡± I asked them, and they both nodded. We immediately left the room and walked towards the main elevator. Just as I was about to take the elevator going down, I looked towards Cyg and sighed. ¡°Cyg¡­ Would you mind if¡­¡± I started asking, and she interrupted me by shaking her head. ¡°Thanks¡­ Anyway, it shouldn¡¯t be for too long before you come back, anyway.¡± I said afterwards, making both girls tilt their heads confused. So, we took the elevator upwards, instead of downwards. ¡°Where are we going, Shishou?¡± Yuu asked me confused. I smiled at her, and pointed towards Cyg. Or rather, towards Aura. ¡°It would be a bit unfair if I were the only one to test my new skills, right?¡± I said with an awkward smile. Chapter 58 - Crafters pet Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! IT¡¯S TIME TO BRING BACK THE BIG(almost) FOX! ANYWAY, about the break, you guys chose for me to write a Re:-ISH (notice the ish) story, so that is what I have been started to "prepare". It will probably be as wacky as Insania, so don¡¯t say that I didn¡¯t warn you if you expect a serious story. And I can¡¯t say I¡¯m an expert on Re: stories, since I only read a few of them, but I¡¯ll try to keep it similar. No promises, though. I may post the first chapter a bit before the break officially begins, even if only to link here. ALSO, we are now one or two chapter away from finishing the arc, afterwards, I still plan on doing a .5 chapter and finish the Cross-over before my break officially begins. And when I come back, if you guys want, I could take one day a week to update the other story, or simply leave it for when I have a creativity overflow after finishing an Insania chapter. ALSO(2), I plan on doing a small time-skip for the next arc. Nothing major, mostly him training with Aura and the new weapon. ALSO(3), today¡¯s release delay was brought to you by E3! ALSO(4), SHE IS WARGON''S PET, SHE GETS BADASS ARMOR! THAT IS WHY! Have a good read! ----- Even the cathedral was surprisingly quiet during the dead of the night. But that didn¡¯t stop us from finding a large hooded figure who was holding a broom and patiently sweeping the large ground area of the temple. The figure heard us as we approached and turned towards us, revealing a large black-furred bullhead. The Minotaur seemed surprised for a moment, before gently leaning the broom against a nearby wall and walking towards us. ¡°Good morning, friends. What may I help you with so early in the¡­¡± He stopped once he recognized me and my smile. ¡°Well, once again we meet at an odd hour, don¡¯t we?¡± Preet said with a small smile. ¡°Well, I¡¯m a busy golem.¡± I said while shrugging, which earned a chuckle from the minotaur. ¡°Still, I¡¯m a bit surprised in seeing a bishop sweeping his own temple.¡± I said while looking at him with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you usually leave it to a janitor or something?¡± I asked him confused. ¡°This is my home. It would be unkind to leave others to clean my own mess.¡± He said with a smile, and as if on cue, a door open, and from there comes a few young boys and girls, around fifteen or so years, all of them wearing a similar cloak and broom as the bishop¡¯s. ¡°Well¡­ This is still a fairly large temple, and I might need some help if I want it clean before it opens¡­¡± He said with a slightly awkward smile. I chuckled at the scene for a moment as I watched the young apprentices give a slight bow towards the bishop, before turning back to said minotaur. ¡°So¡­ Did you come here to remove your blessing, as many other chosen?¡± He asked me with a slight grief in his voice. I smiled a bit awkwardly before answering. ¡°Not yet¡­ I¡¯ll do it soon, but for now my plan is something else.¡± I said while looking towards the small fox besides me. ¡°This little girl here is¡­ I don¡¯t know the right term, soul contract? Soul bound?¡± I tried remembering what I had heard other people speaking about the kind of relation we had, but couldn¡¯t remember. ¡°Anyway, I wanted to change the type of pet she is.¡± I said after giving up. ¡°I understand.¡± He said with a nod. ¡°You do know that she will lose any skill she might have earned, right?¡± He asked me seriously for a moment, and I nodded. ¡°Okay then. If you would.¡± He made a motion towards the altar. Aura nodded slightly before walking towards the place he indicated. The bull seemed slightly surprised at this, as he turned towards me and said. ¡°She seems very intelligent.¡± ¡°More than myself. That much I can guarantee.¡± Another chuckle and a lightly pouting Yuu. The minotaur guided the fox towards the front of the altar, where Aura looked at him waiting for the next instruction. The bishop, for the first time since I¡¯ve come to this cathedral, went towards the back of the altar, where he took a small basin filled with water and a small phial. He started to murmur some words while slowly dripping the contents of the phial into the basin. When he finished, I saw as the water in the basin started to shine slightly, and he smiled, satisfied, before taking the basing to Aura. He kneeled besides the freezing tail and presented her the container, signaling her to drink as he left it on the ground for her. Aura obediently nodded before starting to drink the liquid, albeit a bit hesitantly in the beginning, but soon picking up her pace. In less than thirty seconds the basin was completely empty, and Aura suddenly let out a loud yawn. I raised my eyebrows, as I saw her groggily walking towards me, and curling herself on my feet and falling asleep immediately. I turned towards Preet, raising an eyebrow and he simply smiled and said. ¡°She will fall asleep for now while the elixir takes effect. It should be done in a few minutes.¡± He said before motioning towards one of the benches. ¡°If you wish, you can wait here for the moment.¡± I took on the offer, picked up the small fox and sat with her on the bench. Yuu immediately sat besides me while watching Aura with slightly worried eyes, meanwhile, Preet took the broom once again and started sweeping the floor together with the apprentices. After less than one minute, I was almost bored out of my mind, as well as feeling extremely worried, but since there was nothing I could do, I simply sat there while gently patting the small fox. At least she seemed to be calm with all this. As I started to accept that all I could do was to wait even more, the bishop suddenly spoke with his rough voice. ¡°I¡­ Heard that the Chosen meet with the Grand goddess before descending towards Insania.¡± He spoke with a slightly worried tone. ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Yes?¡± I said a bit confused. There were some more seconds of an awkward silence before he spoke again. ¡°How¡­ How is she?¡± He asked me afterwards. I raised an eyebrow, but since he had his back towards me he didn¡¯t notice. ¡°I mean¡­ As a¡­ Not to¡­ I don¡¯t¡­¡± He seemed lost at his words for a moment, but stopped when a sudden light began on the cathedral. He stopped and looked towards Aura, whose body began to shine strongly as she floated slightly. Once she got around my eye-level, her body started to compact itself, slowly taking on the shape of a small ball surrounded by a thin layer of mist, leaving only the costume she had earlier intact. Just like how she was when I first summoned her. The sphere slowly floated down, landing on my open palm. I smiled a bit at the scene, before a small window popped up, asking what kind of pet I would like Aura to be. I quickly picked up the one saying battle pet and let the small sphere float down towards the ground. It started to expand into a larger sphere, this one being almost a full three meters in diameter, Much bigger than when I first summoned her. As it finally stabilized itself on the appropriate size, some shatters appeared on the sphere, before it finally broke down. Aura landed softly on the ground and quickly shook her head to wake herself up before looking towards me. She blinked surprised a couple of times and looked around, then back at herself. I smiled a bit at this because I could understand what was passing on her head. As a battle pet, she had taken a form bigger than the previous one. If previously she was small enough that you could pick her up and carry her around, this new form of hers was much bigger, being around the size of a Siberian Husky. It still was smaller than her original form, but at least it was enough to be battle-capable. Thanks to the bigger body, she didn¡¯t look as cute as before, but all the points she lost in cuteness, she earned in coolness. Having taken the slightly sleeker and more aggressive look of her original form, she now looked a miniature Freezing tail, instead of a chibified one. Well, I must say that I will probably miss the more cuddly Aura, but she also look very nice this way. I crouched down so I could get on eye level with her and smiled. ¡°So, feeling better already?¡± I asked her, and she nodded fiercely. I smiled once more and put my hand on her head. ¡°Then, we¡¯ll go out there and trai¡­¡± I stopped as soon as my hand landed on her fur. This¡­ How¡­ How is something like this even possible. This¡­ This must have some kind of law being broken at this exact moment. That is the only possible reason. Such¡­ Such a thing¡­ It shouldn¡¯t exist! I noticed as Yuu and Preet looked at me worried at my sudden change in attitude. But they would never understand this, not unless the feel the same thing as I am feeling in this moment. Such a thing¡­ Such a feeling. So¡­ Much¡­ ¡°SO¡­ MUCH¡­ FLUFFY!¡± I said while hugging Aura and diving my face into her fluffy fur. I don¡¯t know how, I don¡¯t know why, but her fur is even fluffier than before. This is the fluffiest thing I¡¯ve ever felt in my entire life! This is even better than when she was a boss! She squirmed surprised for a moment when I held her, but after some time she calmed down and I think I might have heard a sigh, but may be just my imagination. After some time I finally satisfied my need for fluffiness, so I let go of her with a silly smile in my face. Trying to get myself back into the right track of mind, I decided that it would be a good idea to check on Aura¡¯s status, so I quickly brought up the window.
NAME: Aura
TITLE: The Sane
Owner:WargonRelationship:Soul pet
Species:Freezing TailGender:Female
Element affinity:IceDiet:Omnivore
Level:1Experience:0%
STATUS:
Health Points:110/110HP regen (out of combat):1/sec
STR:10TGH:10
AGI:10VIT:10
INT:10MND:10
DEF25M. Res.:15
ATTK:8-10Extra:1 Ice
Equipped inventory0Satiety:100/100
Trust:MaxAssigned role:(none)
SKILLS:
Claw Mastery [lvl 3] Claw Mastery [lvl 1] -Rip (Active) Ice mastery [lvl 1] -Ice emission Racial [Max] -Cool body -Mana-Vulpine senses -Freezing charge
Hmm? Her stats are just like the ones when a player starts. This is interesting. And it seems that she doesn¡¯t have many skills from when we fought, but she did carry over that scary charge skill of hers. She also lost the ice manipulation racial in exchange, but it was more of a non-offensive version of Ice emission when I stop to think about it. Leaving that aside, it seems that I¡¯ll have to train her from the beginning. Well, I had prepared myself for that anyway, so no problem there. At least she kept the title. I raised myself once again and turned to the others, who were still looking at me slightly worried and lost. ¡°Sorry¡­ I got a bit carried away there.¡± I said with a wry smile, and they smiled awkwardly at this. ¡°Anyway, you were saying something earlier?¡± I asked while looking at Preet, and he startled a bit before suddenly shaking his head. ¡°No. It was nothing.¡± He said with a wry smile. ¡°Just a moment of weakness of mine.¡± He said with a wry smile. ¡°Please, forget that.¡± I sighed while nodding before turning towards the statues behind the altar, giving them a long look. You know, just because I wasn¡¯t paying much attention, doesn¡¯t mean I haven¡¯t heard anything. ¡°Well¡­ If I were to speak of Cygnas.¡± I stopped to think for a moment, my words suddenly making the minotaur widen his eyes surprised. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that yes, she is as almighty, powerful and responsible as you guys think.¡± His eyes widened at this. ¡°But she isn¡¯t as perfect as you may believe.¡± I said while giving a smirk and looking back to him. ¡°What¡­ What do you mean?¡± He asked me shocked. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that she is much more like a normal girl than she makes herself be.¡± I said mysteriously before turning my back to the statue that had discretely opened its eyes the moment he had made the question. ¡°Now, if you allow me, I have a sword to test, and a fox to train.¡± I said cheerfully while giving him a last nod. As me and the girls walked away from the church, I heard some light words coming from the bishop, in but a whisper. ¡°Thank you.¡± He said with sincere gratitude in his voice, and I simply waved my hand, saying that it wasn¡¯t much. I have no idea what brought him to make that question, but it is not going to be me to question him. I guided my two companions towards the main elevator, and I could see as Aura kept wagging her tails cheerfully from one side to the other as I softly put my hand on her neck. The best part of her new size is that she was at the exact height to pat without needing to crouch! This is wonderful! We quickly arrived at the correct floor and left the city, reaching the large field filled with bunnies and other low level animals. Aura looked towards me and I nodded, letting her run ahead and start going for the rabbits. But since she was level one, the rabbits actually put up a good fight with her, going for scratches and bites, which made a funny scene of a hound the sized fox fighting toe-to-toe against the rabbits. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Still, let¡¯s not leave her all the fun, shall we? I took out my sword, holding it to the right of my body. The reason for this pose is mostly because it¡¯s also the same stance you have when using long-swords on Monster hunter. I looked towards a nearby rabbit and ran to his direction, and as I was about to reach him, I swung the blade over my head, bringing it downwards, hitting him. ¡­ Seeing this situation, I couldn¡¯t help but remind myself of the words from a very famous demon hunter, and probably one of the most iconic words from any game in existence. I still remember the scene even to this day, as he open up his wings, soar into the sky, draws he weapons, looking down to us, and then shout. YOU ARE NOT PREPARED! Yup, that is the perfect description of my actual situation. No, it¡¯s not because the weapon sucks, it¡¯s awesome, actually. This thing deals a LOT of damage every single hit, so it feels very good when it lands. The problem lies elsewhere. I completely forgot the fact that: As a two handed sword, it¡¯s a lot heavier than the weapons I¡¯m used to wield. And this also means that it¡¯s a lot slower. And I have absolutely no idea on how to use this thing! The moment it starts ta movement, it takes a lot of strength to move it towards the other direction, so after the first strike, it becomes night impossible to aim the next strike. And the problem only seems to get worse by the fact that the sword slices the ground like butter, so I can¡¯t even use it to stop the sword! I even made a test by letting go of it. It literally sunk into the ground until only the handle was aboveground! If that was everything, it would still be an useable weapon, where I could deliver an attack, get away and come back for another. But this took too long, and by then there is the chance that the weapon skill would already have expired, and that is not an option, as this sword relies on continuous attacks to rack up the damage. And it seems that Aura also had her share of problems. It seems that she was used to using her old spells to attack, so from time to time I would see her becoming frustrated as she tried to use the ice arc but fail since she didn¡¯t have the skill. She also seemed a bit downhearted that her damage was low, but that is a level problem, and she isn¡¯t a boss anymore, so there isn¡¯t much we can do about it. Well, it seemed that we both were a bit frustrated with our lack of skills with the new techniques. Aura with her lack of capacity to attack decently and me with my lack of skill to move the sword in the way I like. Stop. Focus Wargon. Think back at monster hunter. How did they use this weapon back there? It really wasn¡¯t the fastest weapon around, and up until there we have a similarity. But then how do you play with a Long-sword? Instead of speed, we get fluidity. You can link your attacks seamlessly into each one, making a never-ending combo, even when dodging. If I were to think better, from all the weapons in the game, it was the most martial-artsy one when it comes to the move-set. Martial-artsy? I immediately looked back at Yuu, who had sit down to watch as me and Aura started to train, and she had a slightly awkward smile, probably because of how badly we were fumbling with our training. ¡°Yuu~¡± I said in a singy voice which made the kitsune blink surprised. ¡°I may need some help from my favorite disciple~¡± I said. She immediately beamed a smile while lifting herself up, ready to be of help for her Shishou. I took out the sword from my back and passed it to her. ¡°Could you teach me how to use a weapon like this one?¡± I asked. She blinked surprised, but immediately nodded as she unequipped her weapons and put on the sword. Immediately after, she gave a good look at the sword before taking a stance with it. She made some slight movements with it, nothing too much, only moving it to one side to the other, then lifting above her head and slowly bringing it down. ¡°Shishou¡¯s sword is strange¡­¡± She said suddenly with a slight frown. Before suddenly jerking back up and looking at me worriedly. ¡°I mean, it is not bad! It is strange, but good!¡± ¡°I do know that I am a novice blacksmith, you know?¡± I said with a wry smile, but she shook her head. ¡°That is not what I meant!¡± She said hurriedly. ¡°It is just that Shishou¡¯s sword feels different from what I am used.¡± ¡°¡­You use swords like that in real life?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°No¡­¡± She said with a wry smile as she made a swing with the weapon. ¡°I trained more on hand-to-hand and with spears at our dojo.¡± I raised an eyebrow curious. ¡°Grandfather is the one who used swords like this. Although a bit smaller.¡± She said doing another swing with the weapon, and I could notice that this one looked a bit¡­ better? Cleaner? ¡°But I think I can try something if I use spear as a base.¡± She said with a nod. I smiled a bit awkwardly. I kind of expected her to already know how to use this as a weapon, and not that she would need to think of something on the spot. And yet she come and says that she can think of something with a bit of time? I really don¡¯t know if I should consider her a bit more normal for not knowing something, or even more of a genius for saying that she can come up with something in a few minutes¡­. Sighing in defeat, I sat down on the ground as I watched her move around, testing a few movements here and there. With the corner of my eyes, I watched as Aura also looked interested at her, then at her own paws, then towards me, and at her own body. Raising an eyebrow, I saw as she suddenly seemed to have an idea, before closing her eyes and starting to focus on something. Having nothing to do as both of them were doing their own things, I decided to write something as I waited the time to pass. After around one hour, Yuu finally seemed satisfied with herself, nodding satisfied and taking a deep breath before breaking her stance and giving me back the sword with a determined look into her eyes. I quickly equipped the sword and saw as she summoned a two-handed ice sword, with a shape similar to mine. ¡°Shishou, try to follow my movements. It may not be perfect, but it should work for now!¡± She said as she gripped the sword in her hand and took a stance similar to the one I had previously. I watched as she made a movement with the sword and I quickly followed it. First, I took a step forward with my left leg while leaving my right leg as it was, and this made the sword stand behind me. Then I lifted the sword over and brought it down in front of me. It actually looked similar to the attack from the game when I stopped to analyze it. But¡­ ¡°Not like that, Shishou.¡± Yuu said while shaking her head. ¡°Here, let me show you.¡± She quickly approached me from my right side and started to move my arm in a forward circular movement. I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger into it, but I felt a small difference from the one I did earlier, even when it looked similar. ¡°Try to repeat that feeling.¡± She said, noticing my reaction. I nodded as I repeated the movement over and over while Yuu kept giving me some pointers. And whenever Yuu felt that I had gotten the movement right, she would start teaching me something else. I noticed that, instead of trying to teach me how to actually wield the sword, she was teaching me a few attacks. I couldn¡¯t quite know what was her plan behind this, but I was actually thankful, since this way I could put it into practice almost immediately. Hours went by as I trained over and over, sometimes even suddenly being request to repeat some older attacks so that I wouldn¡¯t forget them. As time went by, I already had a whole arsenal of attacks to use during the battles. Nothing professional, mind you. I would barely call them a beginners technique to tell the truth, but at least it was useable. When it was almost dawn, Yuu suddenly stopped for a moment and stared at a window that popped up, then grimaced slightly. ¡°I¡­ Have to go, Shihsou. Or else I will not have enough time to go to school.¡± She said suddenly, and I nodded. ¡°I will try to see with my grandfather if he can teach me a bit about those longer swords.¡± She told me with a determined tone. ¡°Okay¡­ Let me guess, I should keep training these moves for a little longer?¡± I said with a smirk, and she nodded. ¡°Hmm! Until later, Shishou.¡± She said with a smile, and I nodded while petting her. ¡°Until later.¡± I said as I watched her log out. I turned back to the bunnies and smiled wickedly as I gripped better the sword in my hand. I mean, training is good and all, but some real-live experience is even better, right? Let¡¯s bully some bunnies! I immediately started to test the attacks that Yuu taught me on the bunnies. If on one side, learning only attacks limited greatly my movements, it was also much faster to put into practice than if I were to learn how to wield it. But that is also something I can kind of develop as I fight more and more with the sword, right? And one thing I noticed from what Yuu taught me, is that to swing my blade, I should use my body as a lever, instead of going straight to trying to swing the blade with only my arms, like I was doing it back at my first swing. This way I could make upwards movement easier than if I were to simply lift the sword with my arms. And what I also noticed, is that she also made sure that I would make the stopping motion correctly, even more than the actual swing. At first I didn¡¯t quite get the reason, but putting it into practice, I finally understood. If I manage to stop the swing on the right spot, it becomes much easier to link it to a following attack than if I were to simply let it go all the way. So now, I could deliver TWO attacks at a time, instead of one! Hooray! What? I did say that I was just a beginner! Anyway. As I landed attacks on the bunnies, and was bitten back furiously in revenge because I couldn¡¯t quite kill them on time, Aura suddenly opened her eyes, having stood motionless all this time. I turned back to her, looking at her slightly confused as she kept an extremely focused gaze on the ground, and after some time, I saw as mist started to gather around her. The mist became extremely dense, almost to the point that I couldn¡¯t see her right in it¡¯s middle, slowly circling her. And suddenly, it stopped for a moment, before suddenly compacting itself around her body, immediately changing from a gaseous mist to a packed ice that covered her entire body. I blinked surprise at the change, as the ice slowly started to reshape and reform itself around her, forming layered plates that covered her entire back, then it became even more segmented as it layered as it got to the tail, so that it could still move freely. A helmet-like piece of ice formed around the upper part of her head, leaving only the slots for the eyes open, and some triangular shapes that she could fit her ears into. The ice finally went down her legs and gathered around her paw, where it covered her claws into an icy armor, making them even longer and sharper than before. When she finished, before me was a three tailed fox, covered into an icy armor with the look that left even the best armor to shame.
Inspired by her owner¡¯s use of armors and weapons, as well as for having previous necessary skills, your pet have earned the Skill: Full-body elemental armor
Skill: Full-body elemental armor [lvl1] 0%
Your pet gathers the elements it finds itself most familiar with and cover its body with it, granting bonus according to the type of armor it wears. Cast-time: 5 minutes Lasts until cancelled
Cost: 0
For having unlocked Full-body elemental armor, your pet have also earned the following related Sub-Skill: Ice plating
Sub-Skill: Ice plating [lvl1] (level increases with Full-body elemental armor)
Covering itself with an armor made of packed and unmeltable ice, your pets gives up its capacity of using spells in exchange for greater strength of attack and Physical resistance. Spells are unusable while Ice-plating is cast. Physical skills deal 25% more damage Removes 50% of Intellect and transfers to Strength Removes 50% of Mind and tranfers to Toughness
I looked at the windows that popped up and started laughing crazily. So, if she isn¡¯t satisfied with her own status, she just goes and creates her own armor? Geeze! She really is a crafter¡¯s pet, isn¡¯t she? But¡­ her armor looks way cooler than anything I came up with¡­ This is depressing. Bah! She is still my pet, so it counts as mine! She looked a bit tired from having created the armor, so she fell to the ground to rest a bit. I sheathed the sword on my back before going towards her and petting her through the armor, which wasn¡¯t as fluffy as its owner. ¡°Geez, you really like to surprise me, don¡¯t you?¡± I asked her playfully, and she simply smiled back. Almost as if on cue, I heard her stomach grumbling loudly, which surprised both of us. I laughed at her, for a bit, making her a little sullen, before my own stomach went and grumbled too. I gave a quick look at my satiety bar and saw how empty it was. ¡°Well, seems like it¡¯s time for us to have some breakfast.¡± I said standing up, and she nodded in accordance, until she suddenly stopped and looked shocked for a moment. I raised an eyebrow confused as she looked at me with a mix of shock and confusion, and it took me some seconds to understand what she wanted to pass to me. Now that she was a battle pet, she lost her cooking skill. So, who is going to cook for us now? I widened my eyes as I understood it, before suddenly looking back to the city. ¡°I wanted to leave it for later, but¡­¡± I said as I considered my options ¡°We need to get Cyg a new body ASAP. It¡¯s a matter of life and death!¡± And Aura nodded with me. Chapter 59 - Crafted pet Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! THAT¡¯S IT GUYS, THE END OF THE ARC! ANYWAY, I¡¯m pretty sure that I covered everything I wanted to cover during these last chapters. So I think this is it. Gon¡¯s got his three pets done, is going to spend his time training and crafting¡­ There will be a small time-skip for the next main chapter since it will be mostly training and so on. Nothing interesting, probably. ALSO, there will be one last chapter (59.5) that will be the closing act and the beginning of the break. But there is still something before that. I plan on at least finishing the Crossover and post the data-base for characters/skills. ALSO(2), that will probably not happen tomorrow, neither after tomorrow because classes. But stay tuned. ALSO(3), So¡­ for those who read one of my posts in my last chapter¡­ Well¡­ Thanks to Sony¡¯s E3 show, I got a weird idea to put on my RE: story. It¡¯s crazy, bold and unique. Will it work? I have no idea. Will it be good? No idea either. Will I do it? Yep. No doubt. A RE: (ish) story. Sci-fi (ish) style. Have a good read. ------ Leaving the chance to test our new skills for later, Aura and me quickly had to find a way for Cygnas to get back with us. We had the need for a cook during our travels, since I am completely unable to cook. Even in real life, my cooking skill is something on the negative levels. Heck, even instant food, only needing to add the spice after it is done, tastes bland when I make it myself! Based on this alone, I would say that there are also skill levels in real life, since some people simply make food taste better because it¡¯s them who made it, but maybe that is just me. Anyway, since it was still deep into the night, with none of us being able to cook, we had to resort to simply using the rabbit¡¯s meat and sticking it into a bonfire to let it cook. After some time that we thought that would be enough, we took out the meat and ate it. As we savored our food, we started to let out small tears. It tasted so bland! So boring! We might be getting a bit too used to good food here. Thinking about hunger and good food, there have been some time since I last ate in real life too. The last time was during our last run in the dungeon, so it should be a few hours by now. Maybe after getting this done I will do something about it. For now, let¡¯s get a cook. Luckily, I already had almost everything I needed to make a new pet for myself. And yep, I did say it right. To MAKE a new pet for myself. What, you thought I would take some random wild animal, then take it, brainwash the little bugger and have him follow me? Nah, I¡¯m not that crazy¡­ I think. Actually, the very thought that pets have to be animals is overrated! I could have a pet rock for all that I cared, and it would still be my pet! I¡¯M A GOLEM FOR THE LOVE OF CYGNAS, I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO HAVE A PET ROCK! Does that mean that clockworks can have pet gears? And treants pet flowers? That¡­ Would actually be very cute. Focus, gon, Focus. Anyway, I quickly went back into the city while I opened the tutorial that Arkhoss gave to me and looked at a very specific part. As me and Aura walked into the city, I noticed that now there were some more people walking around, since the day was dawning, and as we walked down the streets, many gazes stopped on Aura, who still had her ice armor equipped, even after so long. It seems that the skill lasts as long as she wants, huh? That is nifty, to tell the truth, since she could always be ready with the skill. And it seemed that Aura also liked the attention she was receiving, since the usual looks of the ones who wanted to cuddle here were gone, and now it was one of surprise and respect. It is a bit down heartening when your own pet looks cooler than you. But since she was clearly walking besides me, some of the respectful gazes also befell on me, so It¡¯s not that bad, to tell the truth. As we walked through the streets and elevators, we finally reached the place where I wanted to reach. Argento¡¯s store. I came in and saw as the, now four, attendees started to organize the store. One of the new ones, a human-looking undine, quickly came towards me and saying in a polite tone. ¡°Excuse-me, sir, but we aren¡¯t open yet.¡± She said with a business smile. ¡°No, I actually came here to talk with the owner.¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°I understand, but the owner¡­¡± She was interrupted when another attendee, one that I actually recognized from last time, came and put her hand on her shoulder. ¡°Lily, that one is who the owner calls Wargon.¡± She said with a wry smile before turning to me. ¡°Forgive her for that, she is new here, sir.¡± ¡°No problem, I did notice it.¡± I said with another wry smile, but the new girl widened her eyes. Lily? That¡¯s the same name as my sister! ¡°Wait, then you are the one who crafted this?¡± The girl said while picking a dagger from her waist. I recognized it as one of the fire-tail daggers I made. ¡°Yes?¡± I said with a raised eyebrow, and I saw as her eyes started shining. ¡°Waah! I never expected to see you in real life!¡± She said with shining eyes that left me taken back. I looked towards the other girls who simply smiled awkwardly. ¡°I saw some of your equipment selling, and it just was so good for my level!¡± She said with some admiration in her voice. ¡°I¡­ See¡­¡± I said a bit awkwardly as I looked around for help, but the other attendees simply smiled at me, as if saying that I had to deal with this on my own. Not even Aura offered me help, as she seemed to be having fun. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Glad you like it¡­?¡± I¡¯m not exactly good with people like her. ¡°This is my best weapon up to now!¡± She said with a smile. ¡°I really wanted to thank you!¡± ¡°Okay... I¡¯m¡­ Going to go see Argento now, then¡­¡± I said while squirming my way out of the store and into the office area before I could get even more awkward in that situation. Once I got into the room, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that the office was even more packed than before, with many papers, files and books spread around the whole room. The desk with the gnome was even grander than before, to the point that Argento was using a small bench atop of the chair to keep it on his eye-level. As soon as I got in, the Gnome raised his baggy eyes and looked at me, and he looked ridiculously tired. To the point that I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he told me that he was awaken for two days straight, real life. ¡°Gon, Please tell me that you have something to sell-me today!¡± He almost begged me, leaving me shocked. ¡°Geez, man. What happened?¡± I asked surprised while making my way to the desk, Aura laying on floor besides me. ¡°You look completely wasted! And there is only a couple of days since I last saw you! ¡± ¡°Oh, Gon, my money bag!¡± Well, at least he doesn¡¯t beat around the bush. ¡°There is a competitor store within Eldor, and they have been giving me a headache!¡± He said while shaking his head. ¡°My profits fell by two percent ever since they opened! Oh, the pain!¡± I had to hold myself really hard to not hit the gnome in front of me. Isn¡¯t two percent perfectly within the expected fluctuation levels? Oh well... ¡°Sorry, but I haven¡¯t had time to craft anything besides this¡­¡± I said pointing to the sword on my back, which made the gnome look at it with hungry eyes. ¡°And it¡¯s not for selling, before you ask.¡± I said with a smile, which made the gnome slam his head on the table. ¡°But¡­ But¡­ Just a bit more¡­ And I could¡­ Crush them¡­¡± He said something scary in such a depressing voice. ¡°Well, sorry, but I don¡¯t think I can do much about it¡­¡± I said with an awkward smile, before an idea came to me. ¡°Say¡­ Was there an announcement of a new dungeon recently?¡± I asked with some curiosity and he shook his head. ¡°No, you have to find the dungeons on your own in here, so there isn¡¯t an announcement.¡± He said while laying his head on the table. ¡°Then¡­ What about selling information?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow, and the word sell alone made him raise his head excited. ¡°You have my interest.¡± He said while supporting his head on his hands. ¡­ ¡°For the last time, no! I don¡¯t want to become a merchant!¡± I said while trying to push away the gnome hugging my leg. ¡°Okay, okay¡­¡± He said downheartedly letting go of my leg. I sighed loudly while going back to my seat as the gnome went to the door leading to the store, where he spoke something with the girls working there. Probably the request I made in exchange for the dungeon¡¯s information. The idea I gave him, was to basically sell information about the dungeon we had found out. Both information about its location, as well as a walkthrough of the hard mode, which probably would give most players some difficulty. ''Some'' difficulty, heh. We both knew that it was only a matter of time before they started to post it on the forums, but he would probably be capable of earning a significant bonus before that started. That, and the fact that I would start crafting after I felt satisfied with my training I would start crafting some more items for him to sell quickly cheered him back up. Anyway, he quickly came back while looking curiously at me. ¡°So, where are your two friends?¡± he asked me. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind having some more of their help. I got many customers that day.¡± ¡°Well, they do have their real lives to take care of, you know?¡± I said with a smirk, which he copied. ¡°Well, while you are here waiting, mind telling me about what happened with your fox? She seemed a bit¡­ smaller before.¡± He said while looking at her. ¡°And that armor¡­¡± He almost started to drool at this, which made me smirk. ¡°One, she wanted to get some more action, so I gave it to her. Two, that¡¯s a skill, so no gold to find there.¡± I said, once again crushing his money-making dream. As I watched him sigh in defeat, I heard the door opening while Lily came in, carrying a leather bag with the things I had requested. Afterwards, she sat down with us as Argento passed her a feather, inkbottle and paper, before asking me to explain about the dungeons and it¡¯s trick. As I spoke, she started to copy my words on the paper, as well as drawing a rough map from how to reach it, as well as the enemies we found on the dungeon and some other important parts that I thought that I should point out about the bosses, like skills and so on. And I must say that her drawing were ridiculously good. I must say that the only difference from the real thing was because I was only describing, and she hadn¡¯t seen it by herself. If she had, it would probably be identical. After some time, she had finished around ten or so pages of drawings and writing. All in less than an hour. Well, not that I am complaining. I left immediately after, as I felt that the girl would probably bombard me with questions and I¡¯m not exactly the most sociable person around with people I¡¯m not used to be to. After leaving his shop, I went towards another store that had the equipment I needed to create my pet, and one that I had visited only a few hours ago. ¡°Cygnas dammit, brat! There wasn¡¯t even six hours since you came! How the hell do you want me to find something within only that time?¡± Sol said when I busted into the laboratory. This time she wasn¡¯t sleeping, but standing near one of the benches while wearing a lab-coat. ¡°Nah, the reason is different.¡± I said with a smile as I walked to her bed and took out something from my inventory. ¡°For now, I came to make myself a cook.¡± I said with a smile, which earned me a raised eyebrow. ¡°Oh? Interesting¡­¡± She said while eyeing the item in my hand. ¡°And why didn¡¯t you show that for me earlier?¡± ¡°Because I will have to use this for myself.¡± I said cheerfully. While she looked at me confused, I started to work with the pink crystal in my hand. I remembered back when I first saw this piece and thought how it almost seemed to pulse with life. Well, it didn¡¯t SEEM to be pulsating with life. It WAS pulsating with life.
Life-bound Crystalized mana (Excellent)
A peculiar piece of crystal that only grows under extremely precise circumstances. This Crystal pulses with a strong life-fore, yet it still lacks an ego before being truly considered alive.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. This is the main piece behind my pet-making project. Different from the other crystal, this one is a very special piece. If you were to think of it, on one hand, it is only a crystal with some life magic stored within it. On the other hand, it is pretty much a lesser elemental in the making. After asking Cyg earlier about it, she told me, many of the lesser elementals comes to life this way, and she thought that maybe the Chaos-bound crystal might have influenced the formation of this one, thus the fact that they were brought so close together. But, as the description said, this crystal is still a step away from becoming alive, so I can process it into something to fit my tastes and give it a shape before then. Not that it would happen anytime soon, since the process may take up to tens of years before this state finishes. So, this is what I was going to do. I took my skinning knife, aligned it with the length of the crystals before hitting the hilt lightly. A perfectly straight crack appeared on the crystal, dividing it cleanly in two. This is a peculiar trait of this crystal in particular. Heavy and brutish impacts spread through the whole mass, but more precise strikes like the one I did can easily part it in half, that is, if I¡¯m supplying mana to the crystal. Mana, it makes the world go around. I repeated the process a few more times with many of the crystals, until I had an assortment of crystals. A few with the size of my finger, others extremely smaller, one much larger, a bit bigger than my fist, and finally, one with half the size of the last one. All the time, I saw as Aura and Sol looked at me with curiosity the whole process, probably not understanding what I was doing. Not that I blame them, since they don¡¯t know what I¡¯m making, and this isn¡¯t very intuitive. I actually have to keep the tutorial open all the time to make sure I¡¯m doing this right. Feeling satisfied, I asked for Sol to take us to the infusion altar. She looked at me confused for a moment, before widening her eyes, probably having an idea on what I was going to do. She quickly took us to the deepest part of her shop, where there was the old bronze altar that I used back at Yuu¡¯s new weapon. As I opened a new tutorial window, I showed it to Sol, asking her to change and draw some symbols in key points of the altar, since what I¡¯m going to do isn¡¯t exactly an infusion. If something, you could say that what I¡¯m about to do here is more of a programing than infusion. After the loli-elf finished preparing the altar, I took the crystals I had prepared and arranged them on the top part of the altar, letting the larger crystal in the middle, the other crystal laying on the top of the first one, and the medium ones laying one on each corner of the biggest one. Finally, I sprinkled the smallest crystals around the whole formation. Basically, it slightly reminded us of a humanoid body. Nodding satisfied, I started to work on the altar. Firstly, I started by putting some items I needed around it. Since I wanted a pet, it would have to be obedient, obedience equal rules, rules equal manuals. So I put a random manual within one of the slots in the altar. The type didn¡¯t matter, as long as it was a manual, it would represent obedience. Following this line of thought, I put on a flower to signify life. This one is obligatory, since it can bridge the distance between having life-force and being alive in place of the ego. Having yet two slots to go, I decided to give it magic, so I put a chunk of crystalized mana, and to have it help me with gathering, I put a piece of iron ore on the last one. Vague, I know, but it IS what I can do with my materials at hand. Let¡¯s hope it works. Afterwards, I had to mark some of the new markings that Sol wrote for me on the altar as a way to explain what each one would do. This part¡­ Was probably the most complex one. Having done what I thought that was enough, I took a step back and waited, but Sol immediately shook her head. ¡°Nothing¡¯s happening.¡± She told me with a shrug. I groaned and went back to the altar and tried to re-do the markings while reading the tutorial once again. But it still didn¡¯t work. It took me a total of five tries and having to re-arrange the positions of the items in the slots before Sol finally told us that it was working. I made a mental note of asking her later how she can tell this, but for now I kept watching the altar, as a light flow came from the items and flew towards the crystals, initially slower, but quickly gaining speed. The light got stronger and stronger as it flowed into the crystals which soon started to glow until the point that we couldn¡¯t see it in the middle of the light. When the light died down, I could see as the crystals still glinted slightly from within, giving the impression of being even livelier than before. For a moment, nothing happened and I thought that I had failed in my experiment, but when I went to collect the crystals on the altar, the smaller ones suddenly trembled slightly. We blinked surprised as we watched the crystals for a moment, as they once again started to tremble slightly, moving towards the top crystal. After some moments of looking it with curiosity, the crystal shards finally gathered around the larger crystals which all started to tremble slightly. And suddenly, the crystals all started to float, slowly raising themselves from the altar until they were around five centimeters from the altar before starting to rearrange themselves so that the small doll-like crystal was standing upright. It was a bit creepy seeing that in such a closed room, even more when a pair of small slits appeared in the place of its eyes, then it opened, revealing a pair of black crystals in its place instead of an eye. But the moment the crystal looked around, then at itself, and made a full spin in the air¡­ Well¡­ It was cute. How do I say it, the crystals had taken the shape of a doll around forty centimeters high, the smaller fragments taking the role of a long hair and the finger-sized one taking the roles of the arms and legs. None of the crystals actually touched each other and instead floated with a few millimeters of distance. She did look kind of cute this way. And with that spin-around it did? I¡¯m sure that Cyg was already possessing it. As I watched her move around her new body, getting used to it, the window popped up asking whether I wanted to make her a battle-pet or a passive pet. I had the chance to choose since I was the one that made the pet. But different from soul pets, I couldn¡¯t change it afterwards. Since this was the definitive body for Cygnas, I decided to set it on passive without any doubt. Besides, even if it were an offensive pet, it would be magic based, which would conflict with Aura. Wait, now that I think about it, with her new armor, doesn¡¯t this makes her more of a physical pet? Oh well¡­
Congratulations. You have gotten yourself a brand new pet, a genderless Lesser crystal elemental, please choose a name for it name it:
(_________)
I thought a bit before deciding on a name. Crys. I couldn¡¯t go around calling her Cygnas all around, so giving her a nickname would work better for both of us. The NPCs would go crazy if they found out that her goddess was my pet.
NAME: Crys
TITLE: (none)
Owner: Wargon Relationship: Creation/Crafter
Species: Lesser crystal elemental Gender: Neutral (female)
Element affinity: Crystal (earth/order) Diet: Salts
STATUS:
Equipped inventory 0 Satiety: 100/100 Trust: MAX Assigned role: (none) PASSIVE PETS DO NOT POSSESS BATTLE STATS
SKILLS:
Gatherer [lvl1] Racials [MAX] -Formless (Intermediate level) -Earthborn -Levitation
I took a quick look at her status screen afterwards to check her diet and skills, and as she had told me, these crystals were the makings of a lesser elemental. It was even said in her species, but I must say that the diet being Salts is a nice touch. Also, the formless and levitation skills I could guess what they meant. Formless probably means that she doesn¡¯t need to keep a fixed shape with her crystals, while levitation¡­ Was pretty obvious, really. But that Earthborn is a mistery for me... I''ll check it later. As soon as I closed the window, Cyg, or rather, Crys, turned to me with her eyes closing slightly in a mischievous way, before she approached me while floating, putting her two arms before her body and making a small bow. ¡°Hello master. My name is Crys. Nice to meet you.¡± She said while putting on a small act. I had to hold myself not to chuckle at this as Sol looked at us in shock. Her voice had a slight reverberation to it, as if it were the crystals in her body speaking instead of herself. ¡°Hello Crys.¡± I said holding back my laugh. ¡°My name is Gondorrer. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± She tilted her head to the side, as if smiling, before nodding. ¡°You¡­ YOU JUST CREATED LIFE?¡± Sol shouted suddenly from besides me while pointing at Cyg¡­ Crys. While pointing at Crys. ¡°Hello, miss, and no. Master did not give me life. He simply granted me a purpose.¡± She said while bowing to Sol, who seemed confused. I laughed for a moment before turning to Sol and explaining her the procedure a bit better, and speak more about the crystals I had used. When I was done she turned to me with shining eyes and asked for some more of the crystals, but¡­ ¡°Well¡­ Those were the remaining crystals¡­ And the dungeon didn¡¯t re-create them, even after we revisited it.¡± Probably because it was a quest item, so it only appeared the first time. With that, we got a melancholic Sol who walked back to her bed and fell down face-first into it. I laughed a bit at the sad grandma before walking out of the shop. As soon as we were alone, Crys sat on my shoulders and stretched her arms a bit before turning to me. ¡°That was fast! I thought it would take a little longer before I would come back!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°Did you miss me?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ We were in need of a cook badly, since neither of us can cook at all right now.¡± I said in a deadpan face, making her fall back from my shoulder. She quickly floated back up and made a tantrum in front of me. ¡°So you just called me because you were hungry?¡± ¡°You had any doubts?¡± I asked in a fake surprise tone, which made her slump down her shoulders and sigh. ¡°So¡­ What are we doing now?¡± She asked me, giving up trying to reason with me. I stopped to think for a moment. ¡°First, if you are going to keep up with that master thingy, I¡¯m making you a maid clothing.¡± She blinked surprised at this, before nodding excited. ¡°Second, we are having you pick cooking ASAP.¡± This time Aura nodded. ¡°And third, we are going back to crafting and training for now. I want to take two-handed mastery to intermediate and Aura to my level before we go to the next hunt, and I have to work on Yagver¡¯s armor.¡± I looked to the other two, and they nodded in accordance before we started walking towards Melinda¡¯s. These were going to be some long days ahead of us. Cross over - WGO (Gons side) PART 2 Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Delayed but delivered! ANYWAY, today came a bit late because I was watching videos on Youtube. This was supposed to come yesterday, but since I had a lot of classes, and was too absorbed into watching a Warcraft III play through, being unable to write while this was happening. YEP, I¡¯m guilty, I admit it. ALSO, the 1st chapter of the break¡¯s work is up, It¡¯s called (Re)Install, and here is the link!
Click here for the new story
ALSO(2), chapter 59.5 should come a bit later today or early tomorrow, but the 2nd chapter of my other work should be up by tomorrow no matter what. ALSO(3): THIS IS NON-CANNON AND WAS DONE MOSTLY FOR THE LULZ. BOTH FOR ME AND IMAGINEXBREAKER! Have a good read! ---- ¡°Am I seeing things? I might be¡­¡± I heard Hanbei mutter to my side as she covered her eyes with her hand. Well, normally I would have added a joke around here or something, but that was a bit over my thought processing skills at the moment. I mean, I had to do everything I could to not start screaming like a madman slash little girl at the scene before me. I mean, that Lucas guy was tearing apart the level 80 mobs like they were made of paper or something! Of course, I find it a bit strange that there are such high level mobs near a capital, but I¡¯m not complaining. I mean, what the hell are those attacks? For starters, he kept summoning some strange stone walls all around. At first I didn¡¯t understand what they were, but soon the rabbit started using them as platforms to jump around and attack the enemies. Then, when one of these golem-looking things jumped at him, suddenly fire burst out from his hands and he punched the guy into oblivion then slashed him with his sword, killing the golem just like that! The he suddenly grabbed another one by the head and stabbed him in the stony guts. And there was also that other skill he would use whenever too many of the thingies would surround him, where he would stomp the ground and everything would shake, making the guys trip around like a bunch of fool before¡­ I don¡¯t know, making them float out of nowhere or something! Cygnasdammit Lucas! There is a limit to how cheaty you can be! Can¡¯t you at least keep it to a believable level? I CALL HAX! Finally, he seemed satisfied as he smiled a bit foolishly while clearing some sweat from his bow and turning back to us. Well, he probably became a little bit surprised when he saw all of us with our jaws almost touching the ground beneath our feet. He smiled a bit awkwardly, probably noticing that he may have overdone a bit. ¡°You have ten seconds to explain what was that¡­¡± I said grabbing his shoulders as soon as he got closer to us again. He looked shocked at me for a moment before I went on. ¡°I mean, what the hell are those skills? There is so many things wrong with them that I don¡¯t even know where to start!¡± I said maybe a bit too excited, as he clearly looked away from me a bit at loss. He looked at the others a bit confused, but they were probably still recovering from the shock, because no one moved at all. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll tell you after the boss, ok?¡± He said, probably trying to gather some time to come up with an answer. Does he really thinks that I didn¡¯t notice his plan? Does he think that the fact that he was about to fight against a level 90 boss monsters alone would be enough to distract me from all that happened right now? ¡°Okay then.¡± I said shrugging. Dammit, I¡¯m so easily convinced! We followed him through the forest until we reached a clearing, where he immediately put himself between the boss and us. Not that I am complaining. I mean, the boss was just a small golem around, what? Ten? Fifteen meters high? Nothing too bad, the boss having around eight times more level than me and all aside. Nothing I would have much trouble dealing with, but some extra protection isn¡¯t all too bad. And by not having much trouble, I mean that I would die in one hit and then spend the rest of the time waiting for me to revive. So yeah, no trouble at all. Anyway, the huge boss started by raising its hand in the air and bringing it down in one huge swing, but our cheaty little friend simply moved away with a side-step, before jumping over his arm and running atop of it towards his face. I wanted to comment about that being an over-used scene in so many different anime and games, but¡­ It gets full badass points. I would have done the same if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I would fall face-first on my first step. And he almost managed to do it, until a bunch of mean-looking spikes popped up on his arm, almost impaling Lucas. Yet, the guy simply seemed surprised for a moment before splitting into multiple bats. Yep. He split into bats. Even after introducing himself as a human, he goes and uses a clearly vampire skill? I smell one very interesting mystery here! Let¡¯s add that to my mental ¡°what to extort from Lucas later¡± list. It¡¯s very important. I gave a quick look at the others, but they had some deadpan eyes for quite some time now. Except for Yuu, who was watching intently the fight, but she is a fighting maniac, so that¡¯s expected, I guess? Anyway, our mismatch of classes of a friend kept going at the giant, joining back into a human body and landing a flying slash before flying to the ground, where more spikes popped up. But somehow he simply was thrown away from his landing spot. Really! He simply was thrown, as if something pushed him away. And he flew back to the boss using whatever it was that was pushing him at the same time he created more of those strange walls of stone so that the assassin bunny could also land some more attacks. But the boss seemed pissed, as it suddenly covered his whole body into spikes just like the ones before. To counter that¡­ Mister Lucas simply summoned a huge dragon-like hand from out of nowhere and punched the giant in the gut, sending it flying, followed by creating an ice cage around the guy, with hundreds of ice spears turned inwards. Kind of like what Yuu did on her first day. Finally, he finished by slashing the guy upwards during a jump, splitting him in half and finalizing with a huge cheat-punch*cough*dragon-hand punch to the face. The ¡°what to torture out of Lucas later¡± list just keeps getting longer and longer. As I started to rub my hands with a happy smile in my face, I notice that he started staring into the air, probably watching some kind of window that popped up. But then he started to point towards the window and shout something at it angrily. I looked towards Aura, or rather, Cygnas, as she now had her silver fur while looking towards the guy, as he crumpled another window into a window-ball and threw it upwards to the sky. I raised my eyebrow towards the goddess, asking if it was her own doing, but she didn¡¯t seem to notice me, being too focused on him. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. I shrugged it off and approached the annoyed Lucas, who started stomping the ground, making me almost stumble when I arrived. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind if you toned down the earthquakes¡­¡± I said as I almost fell down face-first into the ground. ¡°Something happened?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Sorry.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°Just having some problems with an annoying God wannabe.¡± ¡°Huh? Cyg?¡± I asked automatically while looking at the fox besides me. ¡°Why did you immediately looked at me?¡± She asked me while pouting. I could only smile awkwardly for a moment. ¡°She¡­ She spoke?¡± The best part was the face that Lucas did when Cyg spoke for the first time in front of him, as he only stared at her in surprise with his mouth hanging wide open. A small payback for keeping surprising us all that time. Cyg looked back at the group and then back to Lucas, signaling for me to get some distance between them, since Yagver and the others still didn¡¯t know much about her. So I took advantage of his surprise to grab him through the neck and drag him away. He didn¡¯t even try to react as he was still wrapping his mind around it. ¡°Okay. What the hell are you?¡± Cygnas asked him in a surprisingly serious tone. She usually only spoke like that whenever it somehow was related to the game. ¡°I checked the NPC and Players data-base five times already and there was no signal of a new connection from outside. You shouldn¡¯t be here, so who the hell are you?¡± She asked angrily. Geez, she gets scary when it comes to the game! ¡°Who?¡± Lucas asked confused while looking at me for some help. ¡°Lucas, meet Cyg. Acting goddess of Insania, as well as the only goddess of naivety.¡± I said with a wide smile, which earned me a mean look from the fox. ¡°Due to a severe lack of pets, she is sharing her body with Aura for now. The silver fur is for when she is the one in control.¡± I explained to him. ¡°Goddess¡­ Of naivety?¡± He looked confused at Cyg for a moment. ¡°Wait, if you are the goddess¡­ Then you are an AI?¡± he asked surprised. ¡°Yeah, sure. Answers!¡± Cyg said getting impatient, making him take a step back in surprise. ¡°O¡­Okay¡­ Let¡¯s get back with the others and I will explain.¡± He said and Cyg nodded. When we gathered together, he joined with us to tell us his story. ¡°I am from another world.¡± He said seriously. JACKPOT! SEE! I TOLD YOU I KNEW HE WAS INTERESTING! BOO YEAH! I mean, it does sounds far-fetched and all, but if even Cyg have no idea how he got here, that makes as much sense to me as anything else for me. And to prove himself, he didn¡¯t simply stop there. ¡°World gate Open! Earth!¡± As he said that, a white rectangle appeared from thin air, emanating some kind of light that. It was around the size of a door or something of the type. It was¡­ Simply ridiculous. Even more by the fact that even Cyg, now disguising herself with the blue fur, was also completely shocked, just like us. This meant that he was very probably the real thing. He smiled smugly for a moment before telling us the story a bit more precisely. Long story cut short, in a pretty literal way, since it was a LONG story¡­ He was originally playing a VR game that wasn¡¯t exactly a VR game, and ended up getting a key that allows him to travel around the worlds. And by world, I mean dimensions and all. SEE! I SAID THAT HE WAS A GOOD FIND! JACKPOT! I smiled a bit mischievously while looking at the key in his hand. ¡°Hey¡­ Lucas my buddy! Wouldn¡¯t you¡­ You know? Mind lending me that key?¡± I said while approaching him and putting my arm around his shoulder. He clearly became creeped by this, as he shivered slightly while putting some distance between us. ¡°Nope.¡± He said seriously. ¡°But¡­ It¡¯s so awesome! Just for a few days? Prettyplease?¡± I asked trying to do my puppy-eyes attack. ¡°Look, I know how you feel but this is so much bigger than just that! I have to bear the responsibility of being a [Hero] in all three worlds so I can¡¯t give it to you!¡± (Puppy eyes have missed) He said seriously. Geez, that sounds very troublesome. Maybe it¡¯s better to not take it then¡­ But, looking at his serious face after all that showing off makes me really want to mess up with him. But what could I do to affect someone as OP as him? I mean, I¡¯m pretty sure he will be immune to anything I could try to use on him¡­ Except maybe¡­ ¡°Okay, fine.¡± I said putting on my best dejected face and backing off. ¡°Then, before you go, at least try this.¡± I said giving him a leather ball. He looked at it confused for a moment. ¡°What is this?¡± He asked confused. ¡°Just try activating them.¡± I said holding back a mischievous smile. And I closed my eyes as he looked confused at the ball for some time. Feeling as the flash-bomb went out. Just to make the play a bit more interesting, I took a step forward while strongly slamming my feet into the ground so that I would make a lot of noise, almost as if I was advancing to steal his key. This startled him and he immediately fell back into his portal, and it immediately closed after him. I smiled proudly of myself for a moment before hearing a worried squeak. I turned to see Vil, his horned bunny with a strange name that I don¡¯t remember anymore, squeaking worried by the fact that she was left behind. Me and Cyg widened our eyes in surprise, thinking what we could do now that the little one was left behind, but our worries were unfounded. After a few seconds, another gate popped up and Lucas stuck out his head. ¡°Hey! The loots from the boss, take them to Goulder for me, will ya?¡± He said annoyed. I laughed while discretly pushing the rabbit in his direction with my boot, before he could close the portal and said. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it!¡± I said while shrugging. ¡°And be careful of crafty golems going after your key during your sleep!¡± I said as if telling a ghost story, which made him smile wryly at this before closing the portal. I laughed a bit after he finally left. Looking back at the others, they all had incredulous faces as they looked at me. ¡°What?¡± I said with a fake confusion. ¡°It almost looks like you guys saw something incredible!¡± I laughed a bit at their confused faces. ¡°Come on! We have a dungeon to beat!¡± I said while I completely forgot about the boss and started walking back the way I came. Chapter 59.5 - Repercursions of a villain( in the making)? Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! DOUBLE RELEASE! WHOO HOO! *faints* ANYWAY, with this, we have the foreboding, cliff-hanging of an arc-closing chapter that will make many people hate-me! HOORAY! Still, although this happens around the time of chapter 59, the repercussions will only arrive MUCH, MUCH later in the story, but I felt some of you wanted to know where the quest he did would lead to! ^^ ALSO, with this, I DECLARE THAT THE BREAK SHALL FINALLY BEGIN TODAY! So no more Insania Updates for 1 or 2 weeks. Still will read comments though, so keep posting them if you want! ALSO(2), Whoever didn¡¯t pick it on the X-over chapter, here¡¯s the link to the other story.
Click here for the new story
Have a good read! ------ Hzxxaks looked through the spiked window from his room at the top floor of his fortress, watching as his brethren and allies worked down there, forging their weapons and armors on the very fire of the ground around them. The screams from the imps as they burned themselves on their own forges was something like music to the demon¡¯s ear. His attention was distracted from the forges as the huge front gates shook, the hinges screaming as they held all the impact from the sudden attack. But instead of worrying, the huge demon simply smiled instead. The gate busted open as a huge hydra busted through the gates, seven of its head roaring in anger and the last two spitting balls of fire on the workers below, burning the level twenty demons, imps and succubus to death. Some strange equipment could be seen on its back, with slots and hooks that could be used to hook it to some equipment. Basically, it was one the beasts from his stable. But it seemed that this one was one of the beasts that still didn¡¯t have passed through the taming. His smile grew wicked as he patiently walked towards the opposite wall and grabbed the vicious sword that once took him to the fields of that disgusting place. The blade still tainted with a rusted coloration from the blood that once covered it, or the lack of it. He took his free hand to the remaining of the left horn he lost in a battle against the one that called himself Orfeon, and a grimace appeared on his face as he reminded himself of that fiasco. But, that didn¡¯t matter for now. He turned back to the window that overlooked the panicked patio and smashed it with the gigantic sword, not bothering with the fact that he wall also came down with it. He looked at the thirty meters fall towards the ground and simply leaped from the edge, raising his sword high in the air. The moment he reached the hydra, he brought down his blade, slicing away five of the heads with one single swing, making the two remaining heads scream in agony as only a fragment of its health remained. Approaching the ten meters high beast with calm, he grabbed it by one of its decapitated necks and threw it back through the gate, where it destroyed the arc and rolled all the way to the stables, where the beast-keepers quickly started tying it up before it recovered. Hzxxaks then, turned to one of the nearby imps, still with his legs trembling and grabbed him by the head. ¡°Do you see that arc? And that wall up there?¡± He said while pointing the imp towards both broken buildings. ¡°YESSSS BOSSS!¡± The imp said in his annoyingly shriek of a voice. ¡°Good. Repair them before tomorrow and you may live.¡± He said while throwing the imp towards the broken gate. He had the feeling that maybe he threw a bit too hard and may have killed the annoying little bastard, but he didn¡¯t really care. These imps spread like a plague anyway. He turned his vision back to the sword in his hand once again and saw as it regained its usual vivid red coloration as it drank the Hydra¡¯s blood, before turning back into a large rusty old sword. He sighed loudly. Ever since that day it drank the blood from Orfeon, his blade never again was satisfied with the blood from feeble animals like that. And it was only a single slice! What would a true slash do with it? He sighed annoyed. That bloody self-called god was the only thing that stopped his conquest of that world they call Insania. Well, there was also the fact that part of his allies decided to side with the bloody inhabitants of that world. And then there were those bloody angels. How the hell did they decided to invade that place at the same time as himself? Even then, these two facts were something that he could have worked around, nothing impossible to beat. That Orfeon, on the other side¡­ Bah, no matter. A few more hundred years and his forces will once again have enough resources to once again invade again, and until then he would have found a way to deal with that bastard of a god. He turned his back to the broken gate, where the imps and Onis started to gather around to start the repairs, but the roar of another beast made him grimace slightly as he turned around to discipline whatever it was that decided to attack HIS fortress. Afterwards, he would have a talk with the beast-master. They had to have a LOOONG talk. He grimaced as he saw the monumental plague-beast running towards him. He remembered that one. An annoying one that wouldn¡¯t submit no matter how many times he beat it to near death. Still, an amusing entertainment, so he kept him around. He sighed while raising his sword up high and prepared to strike at the abomination of a beast. But before it could even reach the gate, Hzxxaks saw as a red blur shoulder-rammed the beast, making it grimace for a moment before being carried away until it fell on the huge canyon that flanked the western side of his fortress. An amused look came to his face as he noticed that whatever it was that pushed the beast also fell down with it. He approached the fall and watched as the beasts legs twitched for a moment. Still alive, so nothing lost. But whatever it was that pushed it couldn¡¯t be seen. ¡°That fool! Couldn¡¯t he have done it in a more elegant way?¡± He heard someone say from his side, and turning his head surprised he saw an incubus putting his hand over his face and shaking it from one side to the other. Hzxxaks grimace. He never really liked the Incubus as a whole. Always too worried with looking good and appearances, that always annoyed him greatly. But he couldn¡¯t deny that as annoying as they were, they were skilled with magic, so he couldn¡¯t really complain. Well, the succubus were a whole another story, but that didn¡¯t need any comment. But the Incubus at his side took the whole appearance thingy to a whole new level. His suit was impeccable, with not even a small wrinkle on it. His long hair was so perfectly combed that even the way they flowed when the wind hit them kept them symmetrical. He somehow knew that this one was even worse than the ones he was used seeing around, and that made him grimace even more than the usual. The Incubus finally seemed to notice him and became wide eyed in surprise, before taking a step back and bowing slightly. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Forgive-me, sir. I hadn¡¯t seen you there.¡± He said in an overly polite voice that annoyed the demon. He wondered if he were to gut him here and now, his innards would spill evenly through the ground. ¡°But I must say that I bear good news.¡± He said with a smile while meeting eye-to-eye with the general. This made the general widen his eyes briefly in surprise. Not many could look at him directly without cowering, so this made him reconsider slaughtering this man immediately. ¡°Do tell me. It¡¯s been a good time since I received good news.¡± The General said while lowering his sword. The Incubus nodded before snapping his fingers, making a annoyingly beautiful box appear in his hand. Hzxxaks widened his eyes once again. Such a high leveled spell with only a snap of a finger? This man is even stronger than what he had originally thought. He decided that he would look into his registers and see if he could find something about this mage in particular. The Incubus briefly checked inside the box before closing it and giving it to the demon, who had his eyebrows raised in confusion. Taking the box roughly and opening it, he saw a crystal. A simple black crystal a bit bigger than the human hand he kept as a souvenir. Yet, every cell in his body and all the knowledge and experience he received in the hundred years he had been in control of his army told him. This crystal, isn¡¯t just any crystal. The sheer amount of energy that was contained within it was something that was only told on the legends. With so much energy, maybe he could even¡­ ¡°We have found this crystals in our ventures, so we thought that you would be interested in taking a look.¡± The incubus said politely while bowing his head slightly. ¡°You have done a great job, Incubus. With this, my plans will be even more¡­¡± The general started while closing back the box, but someone else interrupted him. ¡°SIR! I also have an report!¡± The general blinked amused, as a huge red hand grabbed the border of the canyon besides him and lifted the rest of the body up. And by the deepest chasm of hell, what a huge body it was! The one that interrupted him was a huge Oni, wearing only simple chain-mail pants and leaving his three meters tall body completely uncovered. The bulging muscles covered in even more scars than Hzxxaks himself, something that the general himself always thought impossible to find. ¡°Sir! Some of my scouts found out that the angels may have something similar in their possession! And they appear to be using it to power their portals!¡± The oni said while making a sloppy salute. The general grimaced at that. The angels? Of all of the possible foes, it had to be the damned angels? Curse them! ¡°Where are they targeting?¡± He asked in the small hope that maybe the information wasn¡¯t what he was expecting, but¡­ ¡°Insania, lord-sir!¡± The Oni said still in his salute. ¡°Damn them!¡± He cursed out loudly. ¡°You two, state your names!¡± He said to the two. ¡°My name is Ollan Fel-blood, sir.¡± The Incubus said. ¡°Bul-kathos, Sir!¡± The oni said with a smirk in his face. ¡°I see¡­¡± The demon nodded. ¡°You two, come later to my castle. You deserve some fine rewards for bringing me this.¡± He said. He could be cruel to his peers, but knowing when to reward them was a great way to keep their loyalty. ¡°Your gratitude is overwhelming.¡± ¡°Thank you, Sir!¡± The demon nodded while smiling before turning back to his fortress and storming back into it. ¡°Bulfrar! Come here you stupid imp!¡± He shouted from the patio, making all the workers stop from a moment and stare at him. For a moment, the patio stood still, but after a gnarl from the demon, they all went back to working. The screams of pain becoming even more constant now that they were nervous that the general himself was nearby. After some seconds, a commotion started as a small imp and a large Oni, both wearing white robes, came running into the patio and presented himself to the general. ¡°HERE WE ARE, SIR!¡± Annoying voice. The general shoved the box into the imp¡¯s hand. ¡°Make us a portal to Insania with that.¡± He said. Not asking, demanding. The imp blinked while opening the box and looking inside. His eyes widened in surprise as he turned to the general. ¡°SIR! WITH THIS WE CAN COMPLETE THE PORTAL IN A FEW MONTHS!¡± he said happily. ¡°Good, because in a few moths we are going back to Insania.¡± The general said with a smirk, but this made the imp expression pale. ¡°BUT SIR! WHAT ABOUT THE PREPARATIONS? IT WOULD TAKE US ONE OR TWO MORE DECADES BEFORE EVERYTHING IS REA¡­¡± ¡°Well, rush the preparations, you buffoon.¡± The general shouted at the imp, almost making him fall back. ¡°The angels are already working on this, and I will NOT let those filthy feathered wimps take that place before me!¡± He said with a gnarl. And with that he stormed back into his own castle, not bothering to see as all the workers became even more frantic in their works. But before he closed the door, he shouted back. ¡°And take that overgrown tumor from the canyon! I don¡¯t want him running rampant on MY territory.¡± ¡­. ¡°He really fell for it, little chaos!¡± The oni said to the Incubus walking beside him, both of which smiled proudly. ¡°I told you it would all work finely, sir.¡± Ollan answered the Oni. ¡°Now, we just wait a few weeks and do the same to the angels, then everything should work out on its own.¡± He said after thinking for some seconds. ¡°The remaining will be left to the Chosen, I guess¡­¡± ¡°I guess everything will work out.¡± The Oni said while shrugging. ¡°But did you really need to polish these crystals until they were so¡­ round?¡± He asked a bit confused, and the Incubus simply grimaced. ¡°They were too uneven to simply pass them on. Leaving it like that would be an offense against my doctrine.¡± He said with a grimace, which made the oni laugh loudly. As they walked, the passed through the stables, where many foul beasts were caged and chained. Looking at them, the Incubus smiled a bit and said. ¡°So, sir¡­ What do you think of those?¡± He said with a smirk. ¡°Well¡­ They are pretty strong, but not even an army of them would stand up to my little cuddles.¡± The Oni said while looking at the building together with the Incubus. ¡°Well¡­ I was actually thinking about that friend of ours, you know?¡± Ollan said with a smile, which made Bul-kathos laugh loudly. ¡°Oh! He would really get pumped up! Even more with that one in the middle!¡± He laughed even louder. ¡°I really hope Hzxxaks take it with him. He would get so happy!¡± Even Ollan chuckled a bit this time. ¡°Now let¡¯s get back. My poker has been a bit rusty recently, and I have to beat the relative from YOUR little pet.¡± He said with a fierce smile. And no matter how long the time passed, Ollan Fel-blood and Bul-kathos never came back to reclaim their rewards. Chapter 60 - New old acquaitances. Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! BACK FROM THE DEAD!(not so much¡­) ANYWAY, a fairly average sized chapter today, with 4,3K words just for you guys! Hooray! I did a brief (?) Timeskip here, as it felt the right time to do so, as there would be a lot of grinding around which I felt that would drag the story for far too long before I reached the next arc, so yeah. ALSO, I heard there was a guy around stealing my ideas of offering cookies to people, but instead doing it with candies. He even stole my Author¡¯s corner and named it writer¡¯s spot! HOW DARE HE! So, as I am declaring a war on him at this exact moment, and with that I shall announce a new incentive! NEW COOKIES! I took one third of my cookies, made them sugarless cookies for those who can¡¯t or don¡¯t like sweet cookies, then dumped all that sugar on another third, making extra sugary cookies! And we still have the classic cookie available! TAKE THAT, YOU CANDY COPIER! ALSO(2), I just received a war announcement from a crazy guy, saying that he will fight me using cookies¡­ Weird¡­ Back on track, I see some people asking me to keep updating (Re)Install more regularly than what I initially planned¡­ So I¡¯ve been thinking. Should I alternate the stories every week like someone recommended? Or set certain days of the week for each story? What do you guys think? ALSO(3), Do you know about the cookies? Well, free commemorative cookies for everyone! Yay! ALSO(4), SS should be up in a few minutes/ one hour. Have a good read! ---- ¡°War? Is that you?¡± I heard a voice coming from somewhere nearby. I stopped to look around, searching for whoever had called me. Since most people who knows me in this game call me Gon, the very fact that someone called me by the old nickname was enough to leave me slightly curious. ¡°It is! Hey there!¡± The voice said. I looked around a few more times, not really finding anyone, so I shrugged it off before going back on my way to the Silver Gauntlet. Or I would do that, if it weren¡¯t for the fact that someone kicked me in the back of my legs and made me fall face first into the ground. ¡°Cygnasdammit! Don¡¯t you know how to take a joke?¡± I complained while rubbing my injured nose and turning to the red-haired elf looking annoyed at me. ¡°Maybe this way you will learn to not ignore me.¡± She said while sticking her tongue out at me. ¡°Wait, ¡®Cygnasdammit¡¯?¡± She asked confused. I groaned annoyed while putting myself back up and found myself towering a good feet above the short elf. I gave her a good look, seeing as she used some nice grey leather set and a metallic bow that looked pretty high level. Behind her were four animals following her closely. One was a grey rabbit, another was a large red wolf, a small red lizard with some smoke coming out from his nose and a red with white hawk standing on her shoulder. ¡°You forgot to pick a red rabbit.¡± I told her with a smirk and she shrugged. ¡°I did look for one, but it seems that red rabbits only appear at volcanoes.¡± She said with a long sigh. ¡°And the easiest volcano is around level fifty, so I was training to go there.¡± As she said that she took her chance to check on me and my gear, before her eyes drifting to the others who were with me, where her eyes started shining brightly. ¡°And who are these cuties?¡± She asked with a surprised voice. I looked back at my pets, seeing as Aura slowly approached me and then laid on the ground, exhausted. Lieutenant had passed out on her back and we could almost hear a snoring coming from him. Crys floated close to them while keeping a slightly awkward smile with her eyes. ¡°Guys, meet this elf whose name I can¡¯t remember, but is known as Red Hurricane, AKA, Red.¡± Hmm, why did I suddenly think of robots? And I have this strange urge to beep. Strange¡­ ¡°Red, meet the guys.¡± I said as I passed my arms around her shoulders and started pointing towards my pets. ¡°The fox with watery jewelry is Aura, the floating pink-crystal maid is Crys, AKA Cyg. Finally, the sleeping officer is called¡­ wait for it.¡± I took a deep breath before smiling and speaking. ¡°Lieutenant General Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus Von Scratchy the Third!¡± I said with a wide smile. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ A long name¡­¡± She said awkwardly, and I nodded. ¡°Yeah, after what they did last time, he deserved a promotion and a new surname.¡± I said cheerfully. ¡°What they did?¡± Red asked confused while tilting her head, and I smiled widely. ¡°Come with me and I¡¯ll tell you. I have a quest to deliver anyway.¡± I said while starting to drag the elf away with me and telling her my story. Well, since I finished my sword and started training with it, around three normal life days passed, and with that, it means that nine Insania days have come and gone. During these days a few things happened. Firstly, I made two armor sets, one for Yagver, as I had promised, and for his I used Excel¡¯s metal plating for the core, and covered it with defensive Doggy¡¯s fur, giving it one of those Norse warriors look to the armor, with the wolf¡¯s head for a helmet. The set fit perfectly with the J?tunn, even more when I managed to make it only give defensive status to him. He was pretty much immortal by now, unless he took on a monster at least five levels above him, then he could have SOME difficulty. The other set came out as a joke, when Yuu, looking at me making a wolf-themed set for Yagver, said out loudly whether Hanbei would look good as a wolf-girl. As a joke, I decided to make her a head-band that covered her cat ears perfectly, giving them a more wolfish shape. From there on, I ended up going with the flow and made a full set with the offensive doggy¡¯s leather, which I ended up leaving with her. Using the remaining leather from the set, I used them to give some quick upgrades to my actual gear. What I did was to exchange the inner padding of my armor from blazing-tail¡¯s leather to aggressive doggy¡¯s leather. The upgrade wasn¡¯t all that great, mostly making them comparable to higher-leveled set by boosting armor and aggressive stats. Now the set needed level twenty to be used, which wasn¡¯t a problem. From there I also made the promised maid clothing to Crys, who was delighted, even when I used the weaker wolf¡¯s leather. I thought about making something for Aura again, but for reasons I will explain later, I didn¡¯t. Clothing done, I called back my then Lieutenant Colonel, and we started to get some requests at the Silver gauntlet to kill some smaller beasts, this way we could power-level the freezing tail. The quest we chose had us kill those squirrel-wolf-thingy on the way to my trainer¡¯s house, so I took this chance to pay her a visit, since she called me to come back at level twenty. Now, you might be wondering what happened to Han-chan and Yuu. Well, since I was going to level up Aura, I told them to go do their things while I went on my own way for now, and later I would catch up with them. Anyway, back at Evelyn¡¯s house, she taught me a skill and a sub-skill when I got there. And they were pretty nifty, if a bit obscure with their usage. One, was the tracking skill, which you guys might already have an idea on what it¡¯s used for. It allows me to search around an area for signals about monsters that I want, and then it marks them on my map for me. It actually works to find monsters that are usually using some stealth skill outside of battles. But the really good part, was the next one. Tracking¡¯s subskill that wasn¡¯t exactly exclusive to skirmishers, but only few other classes could use.
Sub-Skill: Strategic mapping [lvl1] (level increases with tracking)
Knowing thy enemy may be important in a battle, but so is knowing where you battle. This skill allows you to see details from the terrain that would pass unnoticed to other people, as well as improving your usage of them. Reveal exploitable vulnerabilities on the terrain. Mapped terrain related buffs increase by 25% Reveals possible hiding spots for the enemies. Cast time: 5 or less minutes
Cost: 0 energy Requires good visibility of the terrain. Better views decrease analysis time.
This thing may not seem like much at first, but once you see the amount of things you can exploit in a terrain, you can become surprised. For example, if I use this, I can see where the ground is fluffier and luring an enemy there decrease their speed slightly. Or I can even see where the ground is fragile and break it, making the enemy fall on a cavern or something of the kind, but I only managed to use this one once. And once you start to pile these vulnerabilities one upon the other, they can make quite a difference. After that, I took my chance to ask Evelyn whether there was a skill or something that I could learn to reduce the penalty for having too many combat pets. She stopped to think for a moment before telling me that she had an idea, but she would only teach me once I got to level fifty. I thanked her and left so I could test my skill a bit more. And as a small note. As soon as I got tracking to level five, I taught it to Aura, since her improved senses made her a better tracker than me. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m being lazy nor anything, ok? ¡­ Okay, I¡¯m being lazy. ANYWAY! Since we are on track with the matters about skills and so on, might as well as speak a bit on how I¡¯m doing with the sword. I managed to put my two-handed sword skill up to level 9, and am just about to put it on intermediate. And since I¡¯ve been training with it non-stop, I now can use it fairly well, making a few meaningful combos that I couldn¡¯t before. But the most important part, is that I learned four skills for it. These were slightly different from the other skills I learned with sword and shield or the bow, and this left me quite intrigued. Basically, I learned a style. Like martial arts style. Maybe it¡¯s because of simply swinging the sword wildly around, I was actually doing the same movements over and over with some kind of meaning behind them. It appeared as a sub-skill from two-handed swords to be exclusive to swords classified as two-handed swords by the game. As in the weapon class, not the fact that I use it with two hands. Anyway, the style-subskill mostly served to limit the kind of weapon I could use the skills. I found it a bit bothersome at first, but eventually I came to understand the reason. The style that Yuu taught me was made with this weapon in thought, so if I were to change the weapon size, some properties might not carry over. I wonder if this means that I can create a style for every single weapon type. Anyway, then, the style sub-skill, which I could choose the name since I was the first one to actually unlock this one in particular, thus named Hunter¡¯s style, earned four sub-skills. Each one of them referring to one set of movements I have been learning. Since each one of them had a different property, I named them after a beast¡¯s weapon. For example, the one responsible for heavy single-target damage I called it Fang strike, the one responsible for a sweeping AoE strike, I called it the Claw strike, and the one that had me charging ahead to hit, the Talon strike. But as I said, there were four offensive sub-skills. The last one was called Talon strike, second form. It was the movement I did after the Talon strike without the skill, so it ended up automatically earning the same name, but the second form. The problem of these skills, however, was the cost. Fifty energy for any of them. Luckily, by having them, they also increase the damage of the non-skill slashes that imitates them by ten percent. But there is one nifty trick I can use with them that I will explain later. ¡°Is this story still going to take much longer? You have been going with it for the last¡­ What, one and a half hour?¡± Red asked as she took a bite from the stuffed squirrel-wolf-thingy, interrupting me. ¡°Geez, I told you that it would take some time, right?¡± I said annoyed. ¡°Actually, no you didn¡¯t.¡± She said with a deadpan look. ¡°And I still don¡¯t see how these two could be so exhausted if most of what you have been speaking is from nine days ago¡­¡± ¡°I will get there. Wait a bit, okay?¡± I said with an annoyed tone. ¡°And why are you even telling me this? Couldn¡¯t you just go straight to the point for once?¡± She asked confused. ¡°AND WHERE IS THE FUN IN THAT, YOU HERECTIC!¡± I said shocked at her, before sitting down on my chair again. ¡°Anyway, I just wanted to tell someone this, and you just were unlucky enough to be the closest known person, so deal with it.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°¡­Sometimes I wonder why the hell do I put up with you¡­¡± She said with a deep sigh. ¡°You love me and you know it!¡± I replied with a fake shy smile, only to be splashed in the face with water. ¡°Please, stop that. It was disgusting.¡± She said with a fake tone of disgust. I pouted a little and swore to never make some pet clothing for her, so she quickly took a handkerchief and dried my face with a business smile. Feeling good about the service, I went on with my wonderful story. Anyway, skill-wise, I wasn¡¯t the only one learning cool things as we hunted around like mad. So let¡¯s start with the newest member of my pets, the crystalline maid that was peacefully drinking some tea besides us. Actually, this might be interesting, but Cyg messed around a bit with the system so that she could also eat other things besides salt. According to her, she wouldn¡¯t be able to hold it for much longer while seeing us eating our tasty looking plates while she would only eat salt. It¡¯s actually really funny seeing her eat. Even when she didn¡¯t have any mouth, the moment she took something to the place where it should be, suddenly a small bite-shaped mark would appear on whatever she was eating. Kind of like those things you could see on some cartoons. As I was saying, Crys learned a couple of handy skills, like mining and skinning. For mining, she would use some kind of crystal elemental magic to extract the ores from the veins, while for skinning, she simply used her sharp fragments that formed her hand to slice open the monsters. This some times got really gruesome, but that¡¯s not the point. With that, I could leave gathering with her while me, Aura and Lieutenant kept hunting. Well, Aura, on the other hand, really is making me proud as her crafter owner. Do you remember that I said that she wore some kind of watery jewelry? That¡¯s actually a new type of elemental armor that she created. Besides her warrior armor, made of ice that increased toughness and strength at the price of mind and intellect, she also created these watery-armor, that looked like a jeweled necklace made of water, as well as some wrist (heel?)bands with similar properties, as well as a tail ornament. This armor decreased the cast time for her spells greatly, as she could use the water from the armor to cast the spells. And she also learned a mist armor, that decreases vitality, but gives a massive boost to agility. When she uses it, a dense fog covers her almost like a mantle, leaving her face unseen. With this she could use a stealth skill while earning a great reduction on agro generation, besides the obvious mobility improvement. Then, we had Lieutenant. Well¡­ Let¡¯s just say that he kind of liked using the two daggers as a weapon, back at the dungeon¡­ And now he learned dual wielding skill¡­ No, I¡¯m not joking. Even worse, he is far better than me¡­ Well, even after I crafted a pair of easily held knives for him, his damage didn¡¯t change since I don¡¯t have the taming skill, on the other hand, it did allow him to earn dual-wielding as a skill, and even some other dagger-related skill. So, yeah¡­ ¡°Stop. Your cat uses dual wielding?¡± Red asked shocked while looking at Lieutenant, who was stuffing himself with meat and looked at her briefly, before making a salute and turning back to the food. ¡°What? Do you think I¡¯m joking?¡± I asked feeling hurt. ¡°Actually, yes. Half of the things you usually speak end up being a joke. Even by accident.¡± She told me with a deadpan face. I wanted to deny her, but I was completely unable to. ¡°Anyway¡­¡± I said clearing my throat. ¡°It is true. I could show you his skills if you want.¡± She stared at me for some time, before sighing and motioning for me to continue. Well, during this time, as I had said, we kept receiving some quests from the Silver gauntlet to hunt an assortment of beasts around. Mostly to level Aura than anything. I was a bit worried that the experience debuff would end up burdening me too much, but that was an unneeded worry. Why? Because Lieutenant and Aura soon learned on how to deal with enemies as strong as themselves, so they could hunt alon e with ease. I was still faster than the two when they were separated, but when both focused on the same enemy, even I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with their hunting speed. This basically means that the two could somehow makeup for the experience reduction with individual hunting, although I do think that I might still be a bit on the slow side, since they had to use the cautious approach I use when fighting stronger mobs. Still, this pretty much meant that I could leave Crys following them and skinning for me, while I hunted and skinned my own mobs, which greatly increased the yield per hour of leather. Oh, another nifty thing I found out during these hunts. Back when I first finished the sword, it¡¯s appearance changed, losing its jaggedy crystalline blade for a black and smoother one. I found out that following its skill to change toughness into attack, the more points I have, the more the blade change back into its original shape, so it keeps changing back and forth between both forms during the fight. Really nifty. ¡°Still can¡¯t see why they were exhausted.¡± Red said with a bored tone. ¡°Well, I could get to it a bit faster if you didn¡¯t stop me every n seconds.¡± I complained back to her as we walked back to the entrance of the city. ¡°If only you weren¡¯t threatening me with those cute pet costumes¡­¡± She grumbled slightly annoyed. ¡°Yeah, feels good to be the one in control for a change.¡± I said with a wide smile, remembering how she always was the one to drag our little group around. ¡°Actually¡­ I never really expected you to be so good with making things like these¡­¡± She said while looking at Crys and Lieutenant. ¡°Right? I was actually surprised myself.¡± I said nodding in agreement. ¡°My guess is that the system help is a bit more subtle than what we might think¡­ Anyway, we were getting to the part you wanted, so, back to the story!¡± I said cheerfully while Red nodded weakly. So, as I was saying, the last mission we took from the Gauntlet, was to hunt a¡­ Drum rolls, please¡­ ¡­ Blazing-tail! Yay! Cookies to whoever got this one right! So, taking both Aura and Lieutenant back to that place, we quickly cleared through the weak red-tails, which gave me a sight of a really, REALLY scary Aura, and reached the clearing of the blazing tails. Luckily, even with having changed to the hardcore realistic mode, we didn¡¯t have much trouble, since we had the three of us and I was already used to hunting them. ¡°Wait, you changed into the realistic mode?¡± Red asked me surprised, and I nodded. ¡°When did that happen? I don¡¯t think you told me¡­¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± I asked confused while thinking back all what I had told her, but since it¡¯s been a long talk, I couldn¡¯t remember everything, so I gave up. ¡°Well, I think it was roughly around three days ago.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°And why would you do that?¡± She asked me, before widening her eyes and sighing. ¡°Let me guess¡­ Monster hunter?¡± I simply smiled widely at her answer, receiving another sigh from her. ¡°So¡­ How is it?¡± ¡°Surprisingly fun, actually!¡± I said cheerfully before grimacing slightly. ¡°And annoying too.¡± ¡°Oh? How so?¡± She asked intrigued. Well, for starters, say that I get hit by a strong piercing attack. Not only will I get damage based on where it hit me, say the chest deals more damage than the arm, I might also get a bleeding debuff based on the damage dealt. Otherwise, if I were to hit a mob on a weak point, like the head or the chest, I will deal a lot more damage. On the other hand if I were to hit a strong enough blow to the leg, even if the damage was lower, it can apply a movement debuff to said enemy, and even reduce damage dealt with that limb. Anyway, back to the boss battle. We quickly dealt with it and it was also a good chance to get used to the new system, since I was fighting an enemy I was already used to with a weapon I was already getting the hang of. Well, afterwards I planned to simply come back to the city and deliver the quest, but Aura wanted something different, as she stared at the respawning boss. Thanks to Crys, who could understand what she was saying, told me that she wanted to have a bout with the boss herself, without any help from me. I was shocked, of course, but since I had absolutely no right to tell her anything, I gave her a go once she allowed Lieutenant to join her, as the cat seemed to get pumped up too. Well, it was easier said than done. Even if she was once stronger than the blazing tails by a wide margin, she was stripped of her boss rank once she became my pet, so even when their levels were failry similar, she was having some difficulty on taking the fox while only supported by Lieutenant. The two almost died six times, where I would dismiss them at the last second and then use my retreat skill to get the hell away from there and lose the agro before coming back and giving them another chance. On their seventh run, after spending all of the throwing knives Lieutenant still had, and all the health-pots I gave them as a precaution, they finally managed to defeat the blazing tail. And since they didn¡¯t really have much time to recover before coming back to the city, now that we were here, anytime they had to rest, they were doing it. ¡°Wait¡­ They killed a boss¡­ Alone?¡± Red asked while looking surprised at the duo, and I nodded proudly. ¡°Well, they did spend a lot of consumables for that to work, though¡­¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°Luckily, I¡¯m self sufficient in that area, so I didn¡¯t have much trouble resupplying their efforts.¡± ¡°I¡­ see¡­ No wonder they look exhausted¡­¡± She said while nodding in deep thought. ¡°So, what are you going to do now that you completed the quest?¡± She asked after some time, and I smiled widely. ¡°Just waiting to see some people.¡± I said cheerfully. ¡°And actually, it¡¯s about time YOU told me what you are doing here!¡± I said curious and she smiled widely while petting the hawk in her shoulder. ¡°I started near the elves capital, and made my way here to catch this guy. And when I was exploring the city, I saw you walking around.¡± She shrugged. ¡°And who are these people you spoke about? Are they the girls you added to the chat?¡± Oh yeah, remember that I added Yuu and Hanbei to the guild¡¯s chat? Well, they actually stayed there and from time to time I see them chatting with Red, Phantons and¡­ I guess there was another person¡­ Oh well. They actually seem to be getting along pretty nicely. ¡°Nah, they are busy preparing some things IRL since yesterday night.¡± I denied the thought, making she look at me curious. ¡°Then who exactly are you waiting?¡± I smiled at her question. ¡°You will know when you see them.¡± I said with a wry smirk. She simply looked at me confused before turning back to the gate as we waited. And luckily, it didn¡¯t take too long. Well, I actually knew this since I had already called them to the group, so I could see them on the mini-map as they approached, and that¡¯s how I knew where to wait them. From the distance, I saw as two huge horses made their way towards us, stopping only once they reached the gate. The riders quickly leaped down from them, and I could see as the biggest one made a slightly uncomfortable face as he stretched himself. Stealing a glance from Red, I saw her looking at the small group a bit confused, before her eyes widening and looking at me while holding back a laugh. I smiled back at her and nodded, as I heard the large barbarian talk to what looked like a fairy next to him. ¡°I think that¡¯s Booh up ahead, deary.¡± ¡°Booh? Really?¡± The fairy asked cheerfully, before turning towards me and darting my way. ¡°Oh? Is that him?¡± Their companion asked as he examined me with an intense gaze. ¡°By the eight tail of Inari¡­ If it really is him¡­ I¡¯ll be damned!¡± Said the old-looking human besides them while laughing mischievously. I looked at the old-man confused for a moment before turning back to the other two, and I saw the barbarian and the fairy approaching me. ¡°Booh! Long time no see!¡± I said while greeting them, and the barbarian simply smiled back, as the fairy spun around me, watching me in curiosity. ¡°So, enjoying the game?¡± I asked with a mischievous smile as the fairy landed on my right shoulder and hugged my head. ¡°Hi Booh!¡± She said to me. ¡°Yeah. Having a blast so far, sonny.¡± Said the barbarian as he picked the fairy back and put her in his shoulder. I don''t think I need to explain who this guy is, right? SS 3.1 - Dadventures Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! HERE START THEIR ADVENTURE! ANYWAY, as promised, a double release on the first day! Hooray! Starting the story of the father and the daughter towards greatness! Or chaos, also works. ALSO, not much else to say here, so¡­ Have a good read! ---- After finally getting his daughter to sit still for even a brief second, Roger sighed loudly in relief before going to his bed and putting on his own D-lute gear on his head before laying on his bed. Just like his son had told him, the device itself was fairly easy to set up, just needing to plug on the power-line and then to the internet. Turning on his already configured device, he quickly chose the Insania icon on his vision before seeing everything black out. He soon found himself on a dark place, with nothing in sight besides darkness and the occasional pulsating blue lines. A window popped up in front of him telling to wait for a moment as the game finished some configurations. As he looked around, he wondered when he would see his daughter in game. His answer came much earlier than what he expected, as well in a way he surely hoped it wouldn¡¯t happen. Suddenly he felt a wave of dizziness passing through him and everything went bright again. He slowly stood up as a light headache assaulted him for a brief moment. Looking around he saw himself back at his room, sitting on his bed and a small girl, no older than five years old holding his D-lute with her small hands. ¡°Dad, when are we going to see Booh again?¡± She asked innocently, receiving a long sigh from the father. ¡°Lily¡­ Didn¡¯t I just tell you to not take the glasses away?¡± He said with a weary voice. ¡°But you said that we were going to see Booh!¡± ¡°I know. But you have to use those glasses to see Booh¡­¡± He said while getting back up. ¡°Really?¡± The little girl asked surprised. ¡°Yeah. Now come with daddy so that he can help you put the glasses again.¡± He said as he took her hands and guided her back to her room. After making her promise to not take her glasses off again, he sat back at his own bed and put on his glasses and once again he was back at the black area. At least the small progress during the configuration had carried over, so he didn¡¯t need to worry too much about it. This time, after a few seconds he saw as a flash of light happened to his side and soon after he saw his daughter appearing besides him, wearing a simple white dress. ¡°Daddy!¡± She shouted cheerfully before jumping towards him and hugging his waist. ¡°Where are we, Daddy?¡± ¡°We are probably on a buffering zone where they leave the players as their games finalize some finer adjusts, I guess.¡± He told her, receiving a confused tilted head in response. He smiled widely before ruffling his daughter¡¯s hair. ¡°Just wait a bit and we will get into the game, dear. And there we will go see Booh, okay?¡± ¡°Okay!¡± She said cheerfully before looking around. It didn¡¯t take more than a couple of seconds before it came. ¡°Will it take too long?¡± She asked tilting her head. Roger sighed loudly, already expecting this question. He gave the window a quick look before shaking his head. ¡°No, dear. Just wait a bit longer, okay?¡± True to his words, the window changed its loading bar into a login button. He immediately pressed it and the whole world around him blinked, before turning into a white world with pulsating blue lines. Both let out a surprised voice as they saw this sudden change. ¡°Welcome to Insania Online, where the world is yours to explore!¡± A sudden voice came from their side, and both turned to see a beautiful silver haired girl floating majestically a few feet above the air. ¡°My name is Cygnas, the acting main goddess¡­¡± As she looked at them she suddenly stopped and blinked a few times, leaving Roger slightly confused. Lily had since long hidden behind his leg shyly. ¡°Oh! Could you be Gon¡¯s father?¡± The girl suddenly asked in a cheerful way that simply didn¡¯t match her previous tone. ¡°Gon?¡± Roger asked confused for a moment, before remembering his son¡¯s nickname in the game. ¡°Do you mean Wargon?¡± He asked just to be sure, and the girl nodded. ¡°Yup! The two of you are splitting images of each other!¡± She said sounding surprised, but Roger simply snorted. ¡°Please, can¡¯t you see that I¡¯m way more handsome?¡± He said with a shrug, and the girl giggled at this. ¡°Even the way you fool around is similar.¡± She said. ¡°He learned it from the best!¡± Roger said while shrugging before looking back at her. ¡°Then, I take it you are the A.I. he told me about, right?¡± He asked and the girl nodded. ¡°Then I take it that the girl is his sister?¡± She said while looking towards Lily, who was still hiding behind his leg, but at least peeking interested. Cygnas approached the girl and crouched to her eyelevel. ¡°Hello. Nice to meet you.¡± She said gently. Lily looked towards Roger, who nodded, before looking back at the girl talking with her. She reluctantly let go of his leg before turning to the girl and saying. ¡°I¡¯m Lily. Nice to meet you.¡± She said quickly before hiding behind her father¡¯s leg again, who simply let out a wry sigh. The girl smiled at her gently before standing back up and clapping her hands, getting the duo¡¯s attention. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve kept the two of you around for far too long. Let¡¯s get going with the character creation, shall we?¡± She said while waving her hand to the side, where many different characters of many different races appeared, forming two rings, one to each side of the duo. ¡°Now, select your races!¡± Roger whistled loudly while looking at all the options. He had heard about them earlier from his son, but hearing about it was completely different from seeing it with his very eyes. After some quick explanation about the workings of the system, he set himself to creating his character. For his race he didn¡¯t have much question, picking the manliest of them all, the barbarian. He set his character to be similar to the one from the games he liked. Tall, muscular with blue tribal tattoos on his arms. He left the hair the same as his black one, although longer. Seeing as his body changed to be similar to the one he created, he then set out to help his surprised daughter creating a character for herself. The moment he asked her what race she wanted to be, she received a more than expected response. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°I want to be a princess!¡± She shouted cheerfully. ¡°Dearie, princesses aren¡¯t a race.¡± He said wearily to her. ¡°Can¡¯t you chose something else?¡± He asked. ¡°Then I want to be a dragon!¡± She responded immediately. ¡°I don¡¯t think that dragons are a playable race¡­¡± Roger started speaking before Cygnas stopped him. ¡°Well, there are the draconids, which are kind of dragons.¡± She said while showing the race to the duo, in there standing a five year old girl with black hair, a pair of red horns and claws for hands. But since she still had to customize her character, he thought that maybe he could change it to something a bit more normal looking. ¡°Why couldn¡¯t she choose something a bit more normal¡­ Like a fairy or something?¡± Roger said with a wry smile, but this seemed to perk the girls interest. ¡°Ooh! I want to be a fairy too, daddy! I want to be a fairy dragon!¡± She said jumping up and down happily while the father cursed his own mouth. ¡°Sweetie¡­ I don¡¯t think you can be a fairy and a dragon at the same time¡­¡± ¡°Actually¡­ If she makes a half, she can.¡± The A.I. said while snapping her fingers and changing the image of the draconid girl to one in miniature, with its wing out floating gently. The girl¡¯s eyes shone brightly as she looked at her father with expectations. ¡°Okay¡­ Okay¡­ You can be a fairy dragon then.¡± He said giving up as the girl jumped up and down cheerfully. When he helped her customize the character, at least he managed to make something that didn¡¯t look so strange. Not only that, but he actually managed to make something that looked cute. She looked a small draconid around fifty centimeters high. Her draconid parts were set to look similar to a fairy¡¯s, looking slightly spectral, much like a fairy¡¯s. This included both the wings and the horns. At least he managed to convince her to remove the clawy hands. ¡°As a half, she gets to keep one practical and one cosmetic racial from each race.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Some racial skill, like the fairy¡¯s low flight are obligatory to keep. Other¡¯s you can choose.¡± ¡°Low flight?¡± Roger asked surprised for a moment before nodding. ¡°I see. What exactly does it do?¡± He asked curious. ¡°It allows her to fly freely with no cost, but she can only fight up to two meters from the ground and heavy weapons can disturb her flight with wind pressure.¡± Cygnas quickly explained. ¡°This one is obligatory due to the fact that they are too small, and can fly.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Roger said with a nod, before looking again at his daughter, who was flying cheerfully around. ¡°So¡­ Now not only to I have to look around for her, I also have to look up and down?¡± He said with a tired tone. ¡°I have a bad feeling about this¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­ If it helps you¡­¡± The girl said while smiling a bit. ¡°You can set a leash distance. Which is how far she can go before being pulled back.¡± Immediately after, she helped the now barbarian to set up said distance, and taught him how he could alter it later. For now, Roger set it to be around ten meters, as it should be enough to give his daughter some freedom, but also help him keep an eye out for her. Nodding satisfied, afterwards they set off to start choosing their starter gear. Roger went with a heavy plate armor and a two handed axe. As he usually said, when playing a game, he doesn¡¯t want it to be complicated, and only want to go around chopping people around without having to think too much. Testing the armor and feeling surprised at how realistic it felt against his skin, he then turned towards Lily, who was looking at the choices curious. Fearing for her safety, he managed to convince her to pick a wand as a weapon and the simple cloth set under the argument that she would look more like a fairy if she did so. The girl quickly accepted it and started waving the wand around, throwing some wind-blades on the open area and seeing them with shining eyes. Heaving a sigh, Roger went back to finishing his character by choosing the resource. He selected rage because he was already familiar with it from the other games he played. Then he managed to convince Lily to choose energy, as it seemed the simplest to use for her. Finally, came the name. He wanted to use the one he always used, but it didn¡¯t fit well with his character, so thinking a bit more, he decided to use a name from one of the books he liked to read. ¡°Uhtred Uthredson.¡± He said proudly, and Cygnas smiled at him. ¡°The Saxon Stories, huh?¡± She said with a smile. ¡°And for a nickname?¡± ¡°Huh? I have to choose a nickname too?¡± He asked surprised, and the girl nodded. He stopped to think for a moment, before sighing. ¡°Then Wulf, I guess.¡± Cygnas nodded. ¡°And what will be your name?¡± She asked the little dragon-fairy girl, who looked confused. ¡°Hmm¡­ My name is Lily.¡± She said confused. ¡°Not that. What is your nickname in game?¡± Cygnas asked patiently, but the girl kept looking confused. Noticing that an answer wasn¡¯t going to come from her, she turned towards Wulf. ¡°Should I put it as Stiorra? Stiorra Uhtredsdottir?¡± ¡°I guess that works¡­¡± He replied. He never was very good with names anyway, so he left it as is for now. Cygnas nodded, and when she asked for the nickname, this one came easily. ¡°Pea.¡± ¡°Pea¡­? As in the plant?¡± She asked confused, and Wulf nodded. ¡°A little inside joke.¡± He said, and Cygnas nodded before setting the nickname. ¡°Well, with that, everything is done, all that¡¯s left is for you to choose the starting point.¡± She said as a map appeared besides her. Roger only looked briefly over it before choosing a spot at random. He knew nothing about the game, so spending his time looking around would lead to nothing, so he chose one that looked good to him and selected it. Pea¡¯s didn¡¯t really have much a choice in this matter, so she would go with him there. But when he looked back at the girl, he couldn¡¯t help but be surprised at how amused she looked, as she was hiding a grin behind her hand. Looking at her confused, she simply shook her head, telling that it was nothing. Shrugging it off, he quickly gave his good-bye to the A.I. and made his daughter do the same. Then, the world dissolved into light, before reforming as lush green fields and a village behind them. Chapter 61 - Wargon gets angry Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! AN EARLY AND NORMAL SIZED RELEASE! HOORAY! ANYWAY, Today¡¯s chapter, with a bit of familiar relationship and a mysterious old man that I¡¯m sure half of you know exactly where this is going! And I also give the real opening for this arc! Which, by the way, is different from the other arcs for a very deep and significant reason. It¡¯s reason of existence is for the sake of a single joke! Hooray! ALSO, I plan on doing Insania tomorrow too, and maybe the day after before the next (Re)Install update, since it¡¯s been at a long time since we had a bit of our daily Gon dose, right? Have a good read! ---- ¡°Is this that girl you were speaking about?¡± My father asked me while he looked at red. ¡°Nah. This is Barbara, remember her?¡± I told him while pointing to Red besides me. ¡°Hi there, Roger!¡± She greeted him with a smile. ¡°Or should I say, Wulf?¡± ¡°Oh! Baah!¡± My father said cheerfully when he linked the elf to the girl he knew. ¡°It¡¯s been some time! When are you going to cook something for us again?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to see it... Maybe next weekend?¡± She said after some thought. Last time she came to my house, she cooked some pasta for us, and my father simply loved it, and now he has been expecting the next time she would appear. But leaving that aside, for some reason his name was fairly familiar. Taking a good look at him, I couldn¡¯t help but think that he looked just like what I initially thought. He had picked a barbarian and left his height similar to his in actual life, towering about half a head above me, but thanks to his race, he was a lot more muscular than in real life. Not that he was weak, mind you, but he was definitively not as muscular as that. His hair was long, falling a bit below his neck. He wore a heavy plate armor and carried a large battle axe on his back, all of them having a slightly ominous black coloration. Above him, was the floating name Wulf. Taking my attention from him, changing it to the fairy who was flying around him who was looking around in wonder, smiling a bit wryly at the name floating above her head. ¡°Pea, really?¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°What? It¡¯s her oldest nickname.¡± He answered with a wry smile. I sighed while looking at her again. I initially thought that she was a fairy, due to her size and the fact that she was flying around in wonder. But taking a closer look at her, I saw that she had a small pair of slightly transparent horns, as well as that her wings, instead of butterfly-like the usual, had a shape similar to a dragon¡¯s. Besides that, she was just like her usual self, with her hair a medium brown tone falling up to her back and a face that just made people want to pinch her cheeks. She used a full cloth set, looking oddly similar to one of the princess from her cartoons. On her hand was a wooden wand with a small gem on its tip that shone lightly. ¡°Why does Booh look strange?¡± She said while I examined her, and I smiled a bit awkwardly at this. ¡°Well, this is how Booh looks like inside the game.¡± I explained to her and she made a surprised face. ¡°Just like how lily looks like a fairy in here¡­ Or dragon¡­ Or draco-fairy¡­ Or something like that¡­¡± Loosing track here. I turned my attention to the last person who was here, and this was the only one I didn¡¯t recognize. It was the old-man who came on the other horse. He had set his race as a human, much to my actual surprise. He had a dark gray hair that looked to be in the mid-term between the original color and the white hair of old age. And old aged indeed, as he had many wrinkles in his face, but the rest of his body looked surprisingly fit beneath the cloth armor he wore. His eyes were slightly pulled and his skin was slightly yellowish in tone, giving him an oriental movie. All of that, together with the spear he held in his hand made him look just like one of those martial artist masters that appear in anime. And just as I looked at him, he also examined me intensively, as a smirk appeared in his face. ¡°Sonny, this is Ronin.¡± My father said to me, and I nodded. ¡°I met him at the starting place and we have been helping each other.¡± ¡°And let me guess, he is a good drinker?¡± I said with a smirk, and my father smiled widely. I turned back to the old man and introduced myself. ¡°Pleasure to meet you, Ronin. I¡¯m Wargon.¡± I briefly introduced myself, and the old man laughed loudly. ¡°So you are the famous Wargon then?¡± The old man said with a wide smile before bowing respectfully. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot about you, Youngling!¡± He said with a mischievous smile. I took a glance at my father and he smiled at me. ¡°But you truly are just the spitting image of his. Even when you look so different.¡± He said while scratching his shallow beard. ¡°What are you talking about? Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m way more handsome?¡± I said in a fake annoyed tone. My father hit my head playfully, only to grimace slightly at the backlash from my higher stats. For some reason, Crys giggled slightly. ¡°Now I must say¡­ That is quite the interesting sword you have there.¡± The old man said while eyeing the sheath on my back. ¡°Mind giving this old martial artist a look?¡± He asked me. Giving another quick glance at my father and seeing him nodding, I took the blade out from my back and showed it to the old man. He quickly took the blade from my hand and weighted it around, moving it from one side to the other with an amused expression. He made a few moves that looked oddly familiar with the blade, before finally making an odd expression and giving it back to me. ¡°Waah! Boo¡¯s weapon looks cool!¡± My sister said while approaching the sword and flying dangerously around it, I gently pushed her away before she did something dangerous. ¡°I agree with her there.¡± My father said with a curious tone. ¡°Where did you get it?¡± ¡°Oh, I made it.¡± I said with a shrug, and this made him and Ronin blinked surprised. ¡°You¡­ Made it?¡± Ronin asked surprised, before shaking his head. ¡°Good joke kiddo, try again.¡± The old man said with a laugh, but help came from an unexpected side. ¡°Actually, sir. It is true.¡± Red said with a sigh, and the old man blinked surprised. ¡°If you look at the items description, it says that it was made by him.¡± She told him, and following her cue, I set the item description to appear for others. While they read the description, the old man¡¯s eyes widened slightly at the end of the text, while Wulf¡¯s clearly widened his eyes at the status, same as Red, who was seeing the details for the first time. Pea¡­ Simply looked confused. She didn¡¯t really understand what was written there.¡¯ ¡°So¡­ Sonny¡­¡± My father said after a brief moment. ¡°When are you making a weapon for me anyway?¡± He asked me with the straightest face ever. I smiled a bit awkwardly at this. ¡°Already done it yesterday.¡± I told him while taking out the axe I had crafted after receiving his message that he was coming here today. ¡°You are my favorite son, you know?¡± He said as he took the black crystalline battle-axe. By the way, besides Lily, who is a girl, I don¡¯t have any other siblings. Just so you can get the joke there. I made it using the crystallized mana and some low-level wolves materials so that he could use it. From what he told me, he was around level thirteen or so by now, so it would still take him two more levels before he could use it effectively. ¡°Do I also get a present from Booh?¡± I heard the fairy dragon asking, and I smiled a bit awkwardly while taking out a small wand with a star-shaped crystal on the tip. Her eyes widened and she quickly took the want from me, and after quickly putting it in her inventory, it reshaped itself to a more sizeable form. When I looked back, I saw as Ronin¡¯s eyes shined brightly. I smiled a bit awkwardly, since I didn¡¯t expect the old man to shamelessly want a present too. Seeing my reaction, his face changed into one of shock and then depression. ¡°Look, he didn¡¯t warn me that he was bringing a friend, so blame him, ok?¡± I told the old man, who started to glare at my father hurtly. ¡°Hey, are you passing the blame to me? Your favorite father?¡± Wulf asked shocked and I simply stuck my tongue out at him before returning to the old man. ¡°So, what did you think about the sword? As a martial artist?¡± I asked the old man curiously. I already heard it from Yuu, but hearing from another person is also a good idea. ¡°It was¡­ Odd¡­¡± He said honestly, and I nodded. ¡°The balance wasn¡¯t bad, but it wasn¡¯t exactly correct. And that shape¡­ Isn¡¯t very practical.¡± He said with a thoughtful face. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t cut very well in that shape.¡± ¡°Well, practical may have a bit of a twisted meaning here.¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°The damage is defined by the weapon stats, so the shape doesn¡¯t influence the damage all that much.¡± The old man nodded in a thoughtful position as he started to think on my words. From the look of it, he had even less experience at gaming than my father. Hmm? Why does this feels oddly familiar? ¡°Now, who could these be?¡± My father asked while crouching and meeting Aura eye-to-eye and gently moving his hands around her fur. At first, Aura looked a bit apprehensive, but soon started to enjoy herself and let my father pet her. My sister had long since sat down on her back while saying: ¡°Big doggy!¡± And diving into her fur. I was envious of her at that moment, but made sure to not say anything. Meanwhile, Ronin noticed Lieutenant and the two started to exchange glares. I quickly started to introduce Aura, Crys and Lieutenant General Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus Von Scratchy the third to our newcomers. My father grimaced slightly at Lieutenant¡¯s name while Pea couldn¡¯t even pronounce the first word correctly. The old man looked a bit intrigued at Aura, probably because of her three tails and the watery jewelry, as even with his manners and antenna, Lieutenant still looked fairly normal. And taking into consideration that he looked like someone from the orient, he must be relating to Inari or something. He did say Inari earlier, right? Afterwards, it was Red¡¯s time to introduce her pets, making me notice that the pets outnumbered the players in this area. Smiling a bit awkwardly, I called the newcomers and started to show them around the city while continuing our talks. ¡°You still. Haven¡¯t told me where is that girl you told me earlier.¡± My father said when we reached the main elevator. ¡°Oh, Yuu?¡± I said surprised. ¡°Well, she should be on her way here already.¡± ¡°Oh, so you are going to meet in this city?¡± He asked me with a mischievous smile. I also noticed Red smiling in the same way. I sighed loudly while shaking my head. ¡°Nah. She¡¯s on her way to our city. As in IRL.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°She should be reaching the airplane by now.¡± ¡°WHAAT? YUU IS ON HER WAY HERE?¡± Red asked surprised and I nodded tiredly. Immediately after I saw as she started to write something into the soon-to-be guild chat. ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s interesting.¡± My father said as he picked a certain fairy who started to fly a bit too close to the elevator¡¯s mechanism with curious eyes. ¡°So I will meet your girlfriend sooner than what I expected?¡± He asked me. ¡°She¡¯s not my girlfriend.¡± He didn¡¯t hear me. I sighed loudly at this as I noticed that Red started to write even more furiously than before. I knew things would end this way, as even Ronin started to look at me with surprise in his eyes. Shaking my head, we left the elevator and I guided them towards the Silver Gauntlet. On the way I made a quick detour through the bar where me, Arcus and El drank after our mission, just to make a point to my father and Ronin, whose eyes shone cheerfully at the mention of ale and wine. Dragging the two drunkards away from the tavern, I quickly reached the Silver Gauntlet just in time to see the guild-master arriving with his full-armor set. Stolen story; please report. ¡°Gon, is that you?¡± He said with a surprised face before smiling. ¡°Great timing! I heard something that might interest you!¡± He said in a cheerful tone and changing his direction towards us. Some quick introduction later, between him and the others following me, he called us to the guild and had one of the waitress serve us a round of ale as he started his story. Basically, the story was the following, he was returning from a trip from another city, and on the way he stopped at a friend¡¯s house on a small village, and there he heard rumors of a wild beast that had been hunting the live-stocks of the region. Since the problem was far too recent, they still didn¡¯t have anyone send for the capital to hire a mercenary slash adventurer to deal with their problem. And even then, they couldn¡¯t be sure that it was a beast as they thought, so there was still the need to verify the situation before being able to truly hire someone. Goulder himself planned on checking the area, but since he had to make haste towards the capital, he couldn¡¯t. But just when he was about to reach the guild so that he could send someone to the village, he met me and thought that I would be a good choice, since I was the one who had just earned the nickname of Beast-seeker within the guild. I laughed a bit wryly because of the nickname, and felt as the others looked at me intrigued. Well, when all the quests I take only relate to hunting animals, you could guess that the nickname would stick sooner or later. ¡°Well, you can count me in.¡± I told him with a smile. The chance to hunt an animal no one knows what it is? I¡¯m all for it! ¡°I knew you would accept!¡± He told me with a smile while taking out a piece of paper and giving it to me. ¡°I need you to depart as soon as possible. From what he told me, it seems that the beast hunts far too often to let drag this too long.¡± ¡°Right now?¡± I asked worried while looking at the others who were with me. ¡°Well, at least within today if possible.¡± He said with nod. I turned to the others and prepared to apologize, but much to my surprise¡­ ¡°Is Booh going to travel? I want to go too!¡± Pea said cheerfully while flying to my shoulders and sitting there with shining eyes. But right before I could do that, Crys came and gently pushed her away. I watched the scene a bit surprised, but left it alone. ¡°That seems interesting.¡± My father said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you on your trip.¡± He said with a nod, leaving me with no choice but to take him with me. Not that I actually minded it, to tell the truth, I just was a bit afraid of what I would end up finding there being too strong. ¡°A chance to see War fighting on his monster hunter way? That looks interesting¡­¡± Red said and nodded. ¡°Hmm¡­ Sadly I can¡¯t go.¡± Ronin said with a shrug, which actually surprised me. ¡°There¡¯s something I really need to do.¡± The old man said while taking a last chug of his ale and slamming it on the table with a loud sound and a wide smile. ¡°Well, se ya¡¯ll later!¡± He said before logging out in a pillar of light. For some reason his words felt a bit strange to me, but I couldn¡¯t quite tell why. ¡°Geez, I never get used to that.¡± Goulder said with a wry smile. ¡°Oh well, I¡¯ll be counting on you, Gon!¡± And with that he pretty much kicked me out of the guild with a wide smile. I sighed loudly while turning back to the other three, who were smiling widely while waiting me to do whatever it was that I was going to do. Shaking my head slightly, I decided to go and warn some other people before leaving the city. I immediately guided towards the nearest person I had to warn. Taking Red and Wulf towards the streets of the commercial level and giving them a brief explanation of the cities inner workings, we quickly reached the shady looking store called Sol¡¯s alchemy. The two looked at me strangely for a moment, as if I was visiting somewhere sketchy. Not that they were wrong though. It does look very sketchy. Well, I don¡¯t really care, so I simply went in and strolled through the corridor leading to the store, and then stopped on the door before her lab. Telling the three to wait for a moment and checked the situation. The last two times I went in I was greeted with an explosion to the face, so it¡¯s better to be safe and not let them receive the same greeting. Seeing that Sol was sleeping face-first into her bed, I approached her, feeling a bit mischievous, and prepared a small contraption. I made a small dome with the pillows, covering her head, and slipping in a small flashbang between the pillows and her face. I learned the hard way that some alchemical here are vulnerable to light, so I had to be a bit creative. The others had already come in and watched the scene confused. ¡°A¡­ Kid?¡± Wulf asked confused. ¡°Who¡¯s she, Booh?¡± Pea asked curious. ¡°Actually, she¡¯s older than all of us combined.¡± I said while pointing backwards and seeing as a small flash of light blasted thorugh the gaps of the pillows and a muffled scream of pain came from in there. Sol raised herself and turned to me while fuming with anger. ¡°And THAT¡¯S for last time, you damn hag!¡± I said to her with an evil smile. She raised a closed trembling hand towards me, but sighed loudly and gave up doing whatever she wanted to do and slowly crawled out of the bed, taking care to not go too fast and fall down, as she didn¡¯t have her vision right now. ¡°Okay brat¡­ I¡¯ll give you this one.¡± She said annoyed while waiting for her vision to recover. ¡°So, who are these together with you? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve met them before.¡± So, from my last exchanges with the old-hag, I kind of noticed that the old hag had some kind of sixth sense to magic, as more often than not she ends up blinded by my flash-bomb, yet she always turn to me when talking. But the moment that she have to move around the, she starts extending her hand to feel the area around her. That would also explain how she knew when I was approaching, even when everybody else didn¡¯t hear me approaching, and how she knew when the infusions were working before us. ¡°Yeah, these are¡­ What¡¯s your name, Red?¡± I said turning to the elf, she sighed loudly before saying. ¡°Naarya Wildbow. Wood elf.¡± She said with a light nod. ¡°I¡¯m Uthred Uthredson, and that is Stiorra Uhtredsdottir.¡± My father introduced himself while extending his arm. I could see that he was still a bit dubious about her age. ¡°Hmm¡­ Nice to meet you. You can call me Sol.¡± The old hag introduced herself while eyeing my father from head to toes, then turning to me. ¡°You Chosen are weird, you know that?¡± She said with a sigh and I smiled awkwardly. ¡°So, let me guess:¡± she said while clearing her throat. ¡°I will leave the city and should be back in a few days. Please tell Torg and Melinda!¡± She said while imitating me. ¡°How did you know?¡± I asked in a fake surprised tone, and she sighed wearily. ¡°You come here do that every freaking day. It¡¯s actually starting to get boring.¡± She said with a long sigh. ¡°And no. There isn¡¯t any advancement on that.¡± This time she actually sounded sad instead of annoyed. I grimaced at the news and nodded. There wasn¡¯t much I could do to help her with that, so I left it alone. Different from the other times it seemed that this research was managing to leave her frustrated, and even though she could reproduce the alchemysteel at a fairly cheap price, the improved alloy that Excel-Loran used was still escaping her grasp. It was the same with Torg and the crystal alloy he received from her a long time ago, and with the black-fair, the festival that occurs every so often in the city, right around the corner, he changed to full time working on a good weapon to put to competition, so he couldn¡¯t work too much on the research. While me and Sol were discussing this and I bought some potions I still couldn¡¯t make myself, Sol looked back to Wulf and Red, who were looking curiously at the potions on the room, analyzing the area with curiosity. ¡°Just be careful to not drop them. Some are dangerous.¡± She told them with a smirk. Red flinched a bit, but my father simply nodded, as he was already used to seeing that kind of thing. ¡°And¡­ Where is the small one?¡± She asked confused, and now me and my father paled. We quickly looked around looking for Pea, but thanks to her small size we had some hard time finding her. Finally, our fears came to fruition. ¡°Booh! Look at this! It¡¯s pretty!¡± She said while flying with a small test-tube in her hands. It shined with a beautiful pink coloration. I gave a quick look to Sol and saw as she paled slightly. ¡°Is that¡­ Dangerous?¡± I asked worried, and she nodded. ¡°Yep. The most dangerous.¡± She said calmly in a low tone. ¡°Such that I locked it in a chest under a fake floor beneath my bed. How the hell did she find that?¡± ¡°Never underestimate her skills in getting into trouble.¡± I said lowly, receiving a light nod from her. ¡°Now, Pea, come here and give me that shiny bottle.¡± I told her in a low tone, but she suddenly pouted and pulled the test-tube away from me in a dangerous movement. ¡°No! I found it! Booh have to find one for himself!¡± She said pouting. ¡°Deary, give daddy the test-tube.¡± Wulf said in a worried tone, but the fairy pouted even more and flew away. ¡°It¡¯s mine!¡± She said angrily, but¡­ ¡°PEA! STOP THROWING A BEEPING TANTRUM AND GIVE ME THE BOTTLE TO RIGHT NOW!¡± I boomed to her, startling everyone in the room, except Red and Wulf, who had already seen me scolding her before. Pea looked at me teary eyed while trying to hide the test-tube behind her, but I glared at her and she slowly flew towards me and reluctanctly gave me the test-tube. ¡°Now, tell Sol that you are sorry.¡± I told her, and she nodded. ¡°Sorry, Sol.¡± She said shyly, and Sol simply nodded, a bit stunned. I gave the test tube back to the alchemist and saw as Pea ran away, hiding behind my father who was laughing loudly. ¡°It¡¯s been some time since I¡¯ve last seen the General!¡± He laughed loudly, and I smiled a bit awkwardly. For some reason, Lieutenant looked at me with shining eyes and made a respectful salute. ¡°Geez, boy. That¡­ Surprised me.¡± Sol said while sneaking beneath the bed and storing the potion back into wherever she hid it. After a few seconds she came back and heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Geez, if that thing went out again¡­ It would be disastrous.¡± She said pale. ¡°What exactly was that?¡± I asked, feeling curious. ¡°A love potion.¡± ¡­ I want to know why the hell would she have that, what she would use it for and why she was still holding it if it was that dangerous. But let¡¯s not ask that because I¡¯m a bit afraid to know the truth. Sighing loudly, I gave my goodbyes to the alchemist, feeling relieved that I had adverted a crisis. But before I could start relaxing, warning came from an unexpected source. ¡°Master, Pea seems to be in possession of another test tube.¡± Crys said lowly besides me. I turned shocked towards the fairy and saw as she held another test-tube in wonder. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s only an explosive one. Could be worse.¡± Sol said with a relieved sigh. ¡°Explosive?¡± The little fairy asked confused while hugging the test tube away from us again. ¡°Yeah! It goes boom!¡± The elf said while making a scary face. ¡°Waaah!¡± And with that scared shout, the little fairy let go of the test tube, which fell into the ground shattering into a loud explosion. As I slowly removed the debris from atop of me, I swore that I would give the little fairy a good old scolding that she would remember. As soon as she and Wulf resurrected, of course. Can¡¯t talk to dead bodies. chapter 62 - Let sleeping commanders lie Author¡¯s corner: GREETI¡­ Wait¡­ HELLO HELLO! A bit of intelligence gathering here! ANYWAY, this chapter we have a quick round around the city, meeting some acquaintances as he prepare to leave the city. And we have the hook for the next arc here! And in a way I wasn¡¯t exactly planning, but seemed to work out fairly well! ALSO, depending on how is my mood tomorrow, I might update either Insania or Reinstall. And that¡¯s if I don¡¯t have too many classes, so let¡¯s wait and see what happens. Have a good read! ---- I had some help from Sol to fix me up while I waited Wulf and Pea to resurrect. One of the disadvantages of the realistic mode was how vulnerable it made me, even after something like that explosion. Luckily, regeneration for bleeding, broken limbs and so on boosted up slowly over time after ten minutes without combat, starting vey slowly, like usual, but ending up with you completely healed after thirty minutes or so. After all, having your legs broken after a fight and getting stranded within a forest without any means to run away isn¡¯t fun, but if the regeneration was instantaneous, it wouldn¡¯t have much difference, and believe me when I say that fifteen minutes with broken legs in the middle of a respawn point isn¡¯t vey nice. Anyway, I didn¡¯t bother checking on Sol, since she was more than used to this, but Red probably had her life flashing on red, so I quickly helped her up and gave he a potion. She turned to me with confused eyes. ¡°How come you are still fine after that?¡± She said as she started to re-summon her pets, who like all pets that died, came back dizzily and with a part of their health missing. ¡°And why didn¡¯t they die too?¡± She said while looking at Aura and Lieutenant, who seemed mostly fine, compared to her. I smiled a bit awkwardly and opened my skill list, choosing one in particular and showing it to her.
Skill: Shockwave resistance [lvl 3] 58%
After receiving constant damage from shockwave effects like bombs, sonic bombs and so on, your body became used to diverting the shockwave from your vitals. Reduce damage take from shockwaves by 13%
Passive
She looked at the skill bleakly before looking back at me with a pair of dead eyes. ¡°I take you come here often, right?¡± I simply smiled awkwardly. Me, Aura and Lieutenant all had this skill in the same level, proof that we do come here way too often for our own good. But HEY! It¡¯ s free skills! I¡¯m not complaining! As I helped Red back up, I saw as two pillars of light flashed on the room, revealing a large barbarian and a draconic fairy. I turned towards the fairy, closing my face into a frown and stomping my way towards her. Seeing this, she immediately ran behind Wulf. ¡°Daddy! Booh is scary!¡± She said to him, hoping that he would protect her. But Wulf simply stepped aside, taking the girl¡¯s cover away and saying to her seriously. ¡°Sorry, dearie, but you deserve it this time.¡± I nodded to my father, as I towered above the cowering fairy and pointing towards the remains of the bed, she slowly flew there and sat quietly in place while whimpering lowly. I took a deep breath before starting my scolding. ¡­ Ten minutes later, I took a relieved sigh and breathed deeply. Talking non-stop on an angry tone for ten minutes is a lot more tiring than I would expect. I turned to the little fairy, seeing as she nodded weakly. I nodded back to her and let her fly back to my father, knowing that it wasn¡¯t the first, nor the last time, that I would end up scolding her. When her mother liked to spoil her, and our father would always end up playing with her, I ended up with the role of the bad guy into our family, and end up being the one who usually had to put on the grave voice and scold her. Thus, my nickname for when I was in a scolding tone became ¡®The general¡¯. By the way, I said Her mother and Our father because my father divorced and married again, so Lily is actually my half-sister. I live with him since it¡¯s closer to the college, but from time to time I go see my mother on the other side of the city. As I saw her going to Wulf, who awkwardly consoled her, I turned my gaze to the bed and frowned. ¡°So¡­ What the hell are you guys doing?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry master¡­ I¡¯m sorry master¡­ I¡¯m sorry master¡­¡± ¡°Scary¡­ I¡¯ll never prank you again¡­ Like ever¡­ For ever¡­ Never again¡­ The fear¡­ I promise¡­ Never¡­ The nightmares¡­¡± ¡°Nyaaa-ny-nyaa nanyaa!¡± For some reason, Crys had been in a kneeling pose while floating and kept murmuring the same thing over and over without any hind of light in her crystalline eyes; Sol was hugging her knees close to her body and shivering while muttering incomplete phrases; and Lieutenant looked at me with sparkly eyes full of respect and admiration. I looked at them for a moment before sighing and kicking the bed, snapping them out of it, when they all shook their head and smiled awkwardly while scratching their heads. ¡°So, what happened?¡± I asked again and they all shook their heads as if saying that it wasn¡¯t anything important. Sighing loudly I turned towards Wulf and Red, seeing as they had amused looks. ¡°So, let¡¯s go?¡± ¡°Sir, yes sir!¡± Red said mockingly while making a salute. I raised my hand to start my counter argument, but was stopped when a window popped in front of me.
Beneath your usual calm and easygoing personality, you hide a ferocious side, so ferocious and intimidating that even the most seasoned soldier would cower in fear and obey your orders wordlessly. For having revealed such side, you have earned the title: The Hidden Commander Since you have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change your title
The Hidden Commander: The more they know you, the more likely NPCs are likely to instinctively fear you while you talk with your angry tone.
Are you BLEEPING Kidding me? ¡­ We left the store after some time and I guided us towards another shop in the commercial sector. Walking through the streets, I saw as a small crowd formed in front of the store as usual, sighing loudly while advancing through the crowd, I guide our group towards the door, and entered it, revealing a large store front with ten attendants running from one side to the other, attending the clients. Barely had I entered the store, the one attendant that was free came to me with a happy shout. ¡°It¡¯s mister Gondorrer!¡± Shouted the undine as she ran towards me with shining eyes. ¡°Did you bring it?¡± She asked while saying cheerfully. I sighed loudly and nodded, while taking a dagger from my inventory and passing it to her. ¡°Here you go¡­¡± I said, and barely managed to dodge her as she jumped at me cheerfully with her arms open. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m glad you are happy. Now if you excuse-me¡­.¡± ¡°Thank you very much! Sir Gondorrer! I will do whatever you want to repa¡­¡± I put my hand over her mouth to stop her from saying what came next. I turned to the others with a weary look and saw as they looked at me curious. Heaving a long sigh, I said. ¡°Guys, this is Lily, an attendant here and my apprentice wannabe.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Eh, Lily?¡± My sister asked confused. ¡°But I¡¯m Lily!¡± I sighed loudly and decided to leave that explanation to Wulf. ¡°Anyway, for some reason this girl selfishly decided that she would be my apprentice when it comes to crafting.¡± I said with a sigh while making sure that my hand covered her mouth. I learned firsthand that it¡¯s a bit dangerous to let her talk freely. ¡°Not that I have anything against selfishly deciding to become someone¡¯s disciple, but she gets a bit annoying some times.¡± I turned to her and said. ¡°Anyway, next class is when I come back from my trip. Now, is Argento here?¡± Lily nodded cheerfully and pointed towards the door on the back, I briefly thanked her and briefly said my goodbyes while going to the office. My father and sister decided to take a look at the store, but Red came with me. ¡°Money bag! It¡¯s good to see you!¡± The gnome said while jumping out from his expensive mahogany chair. ¡°Hey there, supplies!¡± I told him while unloading some crafts from my last venture on the table. ¡°So, how¡¯s business?¡± I asked the question with an obvious answer. ¡°Two adversaries crushed, and I¡¯m planning on opening a branch on Ezoria or Sandroze.¡± He said while showing me some papers on the table. ¡°Sandroze is¡­?¡± I asked confused, and he looked shocked at me. ¡°It¡¯s the farthest capital! It¡¯s on a faraway desert, and is rich with mines, hard-bodied monste¡­¡± I stopped him while slamming my hand on the table, five silver coins shining brightly within my fingers. ¡°I want a map to that city.¡± I said with my eyes shining. The gnome stared at me and smiled widely. ¡°Sandroze it is, then!¡± He said while ripping one of the papers in half before turning towards Red, who watched everything in amusement. ¡°Now, if I remember right, last time I saw it, you had a kitsune with you?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ This is a friend IRL. Red.¡± I turned to the elf, who waved slightly and said. ¡°Red, this is the greediest, gold addicted money seeker gnome of Eldor. Argento.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Hey! What are you talking about me!¡± Argent said angrily. ¡°I¡¯m not the greediest, gold addicted money seeker gnome of Eldor! I¡¯m the greediest, gold addicted money seeker being of Insania!¡± ¡°As he said.¡± I said while looking back at her, seeing as she covered her face with her hands. ¡°He HAD to be a friend of yours, right?¡± She asked with a long sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that you are also my friend!¡± I said cheerfully, making her chuckle a bit before turning back to Argento. ¡°The usual with these. I¡¯ll get the money after I get back since I¡¯m a bit in a hurry.¡± I told him, and he nodded. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°I¡¯ll have the map ready by the time you come back.¡± He said with a nod as the silver coins disappeared in thin air. ¡°As a bonus, I will see if I can get you a passage towards there.¡± He said with some thought. ¡°And maybe even send someone with you¡­?¡± he nodded before turning to me. ¡°I don¡¯t know where you are going, but make sure to get some good profit for me!¡± He said with a scary smile while waving. I nodded to him and left the store after making sure that Lily couldn¡¯t talk too much and calling my father and sister to leave the store, assuring them that I could make whatever it was that caught their attention later. Sighing loudly at the cheerful undine who waving goodbye at me from the storefront, gathering all the attention to me. I took some time to think if there was anything left that I had to do in the city before leaving. Since nothing came to mind, I decided that it was time to think of something to take us to the village. If it were only me, Aura, Lieutenant and Crys, I could run there with Nature walking, since I managed to teach it to Aura, leaving only Crys and lieutenant to hang on one of us as we run. But with my father, sister and friend here, I couldn¡¯t. And it¡¯s one thing to teach a skill to a pet, but to teach a skill that was so reluctantly passed on to me, to another person, even if they were close to me, felt a bit wrong. Leaving that aside, I decided to take a look at the piece of paper that Goulder gave me, seeing that it worked as a map and an introduction letter, I thought that maybe we could rent some kind of ride to the village he indicated in here. And where¡¯s the best place to start than the information booth? I took us to the town entrance, where there was a small building outside of the city. Quickly entering the building, I saw Rusty, the clockwork writing in a few papers. He raised his head at the sound of our steps as we approached, and his pipes chimed briefly in surprise. ¡°Gon. Pleasure seeing. What brings you?¡± He asked in his usual weird speech. ¡°Hey Rusty! I need a bit of a help.¡± I said while taking the paper from my pocket and showing it to him. ¡°Any idea if there is some kind of transport we can take to reach here?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Just give. A moment.¡± He said quickly, while raising from his chair and walking towards a cabinet. Once he opened it, revealing a few golden feathers just like the one I use to talk with the old man. He picked one of them and held close to his head for a moment. I turned to the others seeing them look at it in wonder and I briefly explained that these feathers kind of worked like our whispers. After he was done, Rusty put the feather back on the cabinet and closed it before turning back to us and saying. ¡°I¡¯ve talked. Harbor master. No ship going there. Next in two days.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°Harbor master?¡± Red asked slightly confused. ¡°Probably the blimps, right?¡± I said while looking to some of the blimps docked on the upper part of the city through the buildings window. Now that I think about it, I¡¯ve never really used one of them before, right? I¡¯ll make sure to amend that later. For now, I have to find another way. ¡°So, any other idea?¡± I asked the clockwork. ¡°Maybe. Rent a wagon. Have animals follow. Not cheap though.¡± He spoke with a hand in his chin. ¡°How much, any idea?¡± I asked him. ¡°Maybe¡­ one gold. Whole group.¡± He said after a brief thought. ¡°One or two days of travel¡± ¡°And how long would it take if we were to walk there?¡± I asked him. ¡°Three or four days. Maybe more.¡± He said. Well, taking in consideration that three or four days for them, who would stop at night to sleep, we could go a couple of days without sleeping easily, so we could probably make it within two days. I turned to the other to see what were their opinions. Red shrugged, as she didn¡¯t have any class thanks to the large holiday this week. My father and sister, on the other hand, were another matter completely. ¡°We just started this session. I guess we could stretch a bit until we get there.¡± He said with a shrug. ¡°Then, we are walking, it seems.¡± I said with a shrug, and they all nodded. I quickly gave my thanks to the clockwork and left the building with Red and Wulf following me. Their respective pets (and troublemaker) following behind them. Taking a last look at the map in my hand and making some quick calculations in my head, I turned to the others and said. ¡°Okay, since it should take us one or two days to get there, anything you need to do?¡± ¡°Hmm.. better to log out for now and prepare for a long time logged in.¡± My father said after a brief thought. ¡°Makes sense.¡± Red said with a nod. ¡°I didn¡¯t really plan to log in for too long, so I still haven¡¯t eaten breakfast.¡± She said seriously. Agreeing with them, we marked to all be back online within one or two hours and we all logged out. ¡­ A slight wave of dyziness as I went back to my usual body and I quickly stood up and went straight to the bathroom, itaking a long shower. After making sure that I within an acceptable tier of cleanliness, I left the bathroom, quickly shaved my one week old beard and left to the kitchen. After a brief examination of my fridge, and noticing a severe lack of breakfast material, I closed it and put on some socially acceptable clothing that could pass as what a fairly normal person would wear, picked my cellphone, keys, wallet, plugged in my earphones and left my apartment. Taking the elevator, I quickly reached the bottom floor, gave a quick greeting to the gatekeeper, and prepared myself. ¡°CYGNASDAMMIT! MY EYES! THEY BURN!¡± I complained between my teeth as I felt the evil rays of light burning through my iris and boiling the water within my eyes. ¡°Geez, you whiny. It¡¯s nowhere that bright!¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t have to deal with it yourself.¡± I complained back, and heard an Humph coming back. ¡°So, where are we going?¡± She asked curious. ¡°A bakery. I have nothing at my house that could pass as a breakfast.¡± ¡°Want me to make a shopping list to you?¡± She said in a teasing tone. ¡°Actually, yeah. That would help.¡± I replied automatically as I crossed the streets. It seemed that she didn¡¯t expect the answer, as she kept quiet. After walking two blocks down from my house, I reached the place where I always buy bread. There¡¯s also a market that¡¯s even closer than that, but the bread isn¡¯t as good as this one, so when I¡¯m with enough patience I end up going for this one instead. Once there, I quickly dodged some of the few customers that were still buying bread at this hour and reached the snack bar at the back of the bakery. Taking a seat on the counter, a waitress came to me and I quickly ordered one ¡°Misto-quente¡±, basically, a sandwich with ham and cheese where you put a few minutes on the heat to melt the cheese. With that I also ordered a glass of coffee and milk. I grimaced a bit after taking a sip of my drink, since it was far too hot for my tastes, and waited a bit as the waitress heated my sandwich. Meanwhile I took my cellphone to fiddle around with it, as I heard the nearby talks. I could hear some adults speaking of how their children had gone quiet because of a new game, while others were speaking of the game itself with surprised voices. I smiled a bit as I saw that most of the usual sites I visited weren¡¯t updating because the owners were playing Insania. It seems that the game was a bigger hit than what I expected. As I fiddled around with my cell, I saw that I had an image on my Insania App, quickly opening it, I saw that the sender was none other than Han-chan. [On our way there right now! Should arrive by Saturday 8 AM.] I blinked a bit surprised by the message being in English instead of being translated to Portuguese. ¡°Since she went as far as to type it in English, I decided to leave it as is.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I see¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget to check the attached photo!¡± She warned me, and I finally saw the faintly shining icon on the border of the message. I tapped on it just in time as my misto-quente arrived, and immediately started eating it as the slow internet leisurely took its time to load the image. After foolishly burning my tongue on the ridiculously hot sandwich, I checked on the image, seeing it fully loaded. Let¡¯s just say that I became speechless. In the photo were both, Han-chan and Yuu. And for a brief moment I thought that it was an in-game photo, and only after a few seconds I noticed that it actually wasn¡¯t, as both were wearing modern clothes and were in what looked like an airplane interior. Han-chan was making a peace-sign at the camera while pulling Yuu closer to her so that she would fit into the image, while Yuu was copying her with a confused expression. The two were literally identical to how they were in game. Minus the animal ears and tails, of course, but you could have guessed that, right? The only real difference, was that Hanbei¡¯s hair wasn¡¯t a perfect silver color, and had a slight yellowish tint to it. But that aside, even the way she tied it was similar. ¡°It¡¯s like there¡¯s no difference from how they are in-game.¡± She said with a mischievous tone. ¡°At least I get to be shocked before meeting them¡­ It would be embarrassing to react this way right when we met¡± I said with a wry smile, and I heard her giggling in response. I not so quickly finished the sandwich and my glass coffee and milk before paying and making my way back to my apartment. Some quick greetings with the gatekeeper and I quickly found myself inside the elevator and then was inside my apartment. Taking out my outside clothes and putting on some more comfortable shorts, I jumped back to my bed and picked the D-lute. But right as I was about to put it on, I stopped and picked my cellphone again. ¡°By the way, Cyg¡­ When the hell did you get in there?¡± I asked as I saw her image in the screen sticking her tongue out at me. chapter 63 - A familiar(?) face. Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! AS PROMISED, TODAY IS INSANIA DAY! HOORRAY! ANYWAY, I¡¯ve been thinking about something. This arc might or might not have a boss battle, as it wasn¡¯t originally in the plan, but I could make it happen¡­ But, even if I don¡¯t put a boss battle, I can promise you that there will be one of the most ¡°Seriously?¡± moment from the whole series. Or close to it, at the very least. As some people say, it will be a very ¡°Insania Legit¡± moment. ALSO, I might put up the character list later today, since some people have been getting confused with the sheer amount of characters that started to appear on this story. Might also release the SS 3.2, but who knows. Have a good read! ---- The world flashed in whiteness as I pressed the login button. I lightly closed my eyes as to get used to the brightness before finally opening them again. After a quick search around I finally found the person I was looking for and walked towards her, heaving a long sigh when I approached her. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯m waiting your explanation.¡± I said to the full-sized pink crystal elemental standing in front of me. I was looking at the avatar that Cyg aka Crys had created for when I go to the log in/out sessions from the game, based on her new in-game appearance. It was a body identical to her usual one, but made of the same pink crystals as her pet-body. Even the floating crystal shards she used as hair was the same here. Even her clothing was made with an assortment of white and black crystals instead of fabric. ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about.¡± Crys answered with an innocent tone as she looked away. ¡°You know exactly what I mean.¡± I said to her with my best deadpan face. I sighed once again as she tilted her head innocently to the side. Well, even when I say innocently, she still had a clearly mischievous look in her eyes, so it was pretty clear that she was only fooling around. She made a fist with one of her hands and hit her other open palm, as if saying that she finally understood what was happening. ¡°Oh! The cellphone thingy?¡± She asked, and I nodded. She stuck her tongue out playfully before saying. ¡°But I did ask you to let me access your cellphone.¡± She said with a happy tone. ¡°When was it?¡± She simply smiled and snapped her fingers, bringing a window into life. Within it, I saw an image of myself as I worked on a random piece of leather armor, with a certain undine looking closely from the sides before going to work on her own piece. The only difference between what I remember is the angle from which the scene was playing, since it was from a more elevated one than my own eyesight. This must be what Crys saw as she followed me that day. My suspicions were proved, as I heard a voice coming from the image. ¡°Master.¡± Crys voice¡¯s echoed. ¡°Would you mind if I downloaded a terminal into your cellphone?¡± She asked the still working me from the video. ¡°Hmm? Wha¡­ Sure¡­ I guess¡­¡± He¡­ I¡­ The me in the video answered. Except¡­ ¡°HEY! WASN¡¯T I CLEARLY DISTRACTED THERE?¡± I shouted at the full-sized Crys at my side. ¡°Were you?¡± She asked innocently. ¡°Well, I did ask for your permission, so it¡¯s not a problemOUCH!¡± She crouched to the ground and held her head with her hand. ¡°Look. If you want to do this kind of thing, there is no need to use this kind of tactic, you know?¡± I said angrily as I shook the hand that I used to hit her in the head. ¡°Next time, I will hit you even harder, you hear me?¡± ¡°Sorry¡­¡± She said with a small voice while holding back her tears. I sighed wearily once again, before helping her up. ¡°So... Anything else I should know that you might have done?¡± I asked her and she shook her head. ¡°Okay¡­ Now let¡¯s get going already, since we have to get there before the girls arrive here.¡± I said to her. Crys nodded quickly before being engulfed in a flash of light. Once the light died down, the only thing left behind was her smaller body with the usual maid clothing. We entered the game with a pillar of light, and I found myself in front of Rusty¡¯s information booth. A quick look around and I found Red, sitting over with her pets against the building. With a quick nod she greeted me before going back to feeding her pets. Aura quickly approached me as soon as she appeared and I sat down on the ground beside her while petting her gently. With a sigh I started to think on what I would do with the quest, since I didn¡¯t have much time before having to log out. Luckily, my trusted assistant was a bit more useful than what I expected, as she said. ¡°Master. I think I might have a way to reach there within one day.¡± Crys said after some thought. ¡°Oh? Do tell me.¡± ¡°There is a stream we have to cross up ahead. From your map, we would have to take a detour if we wanted to reach the closest bridge.¡± She explained before turning to Aura. ¡°I see¡­ Have aura freeze the water surface?¡± I asked her, and Crys nodded. I turned to Aura and saw as she also nodded to me. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be counting on you.¡± I said as I petted her and she closed her eyes in pleasure. ¡°What¡¯s with the hurry?¡± Red asked me confused. ¡°I received a message from Han-chan. They are arriving here tomorrow morning.¡± I explained to her. ¡°Yuu and Hanbei are arriving tomorrow?¡± She asked while jumping surprised. ¡°That¡¯s fast! I¡¯m going to warn the others!¡± She said cheerfully as she wrote something on our chat. Ignoring it like the good ignorer that I am, I readjusted myself on the ground before laying my head on Aura¡¯s soft and cool fur. Since we still had to wait for my father to log in, there was no need to not relax a bit. Crys soon followed my idea by laying against Aura¡¯s tail. Aura, already used to us doing it, simply adjusted herself so that we wouldn¡¯t be leaning on a bad bone or something of the kind before calming down and enjoying as I gently rubbed my hand on her fur. A few minutes later Lieutenant arrived from the city and quickly took his place laying on his back atop of Aura, crossing his leg and taking a nap. It was only a few minutes later that Wulf and Pea finally logged in, with my father seemingly scolding her for playing around when it was time to log in. I quickly explained him the situation and saw as he smiled mischievously at the notion of meeting Yuu so soon. Sighing loudly, I told them to start walking already, but he stopped me, with a more serious tone. ¡°Don¡¯t we need some supplies for our travels?¡± He asked me worried. ¡°Supplies?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Yeah. Food and such.¡± He said, but I simply smiled at that. ¡°Nah. Food is best fresh.¡± I said mysteriously while walking ahead. Wulf looked slightly confused, but Red sighed loudly, probably knowing what I meant. ¡­ We walked for a few hours without much problems finding us, which kind of caught me by surprise, as I was half sure some kind of random thing would happen before we could even think about it. That meant that soon the night fell on us and it was dinner time. Pea even begun complaining that she was hungry a couple of hours earlier, but I simply decided to ignore her and have her deal with it. But once my satiety fell beneath fifty percent, I decided that it was time to hunt. With a short order, Aura started to sniff around, and soon pointed us towards a direction. I gave her a quick pet to the head before entering the forest to the side of our road. Wulf, Red and Pea following me closely behind while Crys lighted up a small fire by the road-side. A couple of minutes later we found a deer roaming on the forest. Seeing that it was only level ten, I left Aura quickly kill the deer-like animal. Pea made a small scene on how I shouldn¡¯t kill cute animals, but I completely ignored her and made her go back to Crys. Since she couldn¡¯t stray too far from Wulf, he soon follower her while giving me a curious gaze. ¡°You might want to go back too.¡± I told Red, who looked confused at me. ¡°Why?¡± She asked, and I simply shrugged. Then I took my skinning knife and started my work, removing the hide and starting to take out the useable meat from him. When I finished and turned back, I saw that Red was already gone. I took the meat back with me to the fireplace and saw as the others were already sitting around it, watching in wonder as Crys started to add ingredients to nimbly add ingredients to a pot. I passed the meat to the small elemental and let her do her magic. As I prepared to sit down and see her do her job, I heard the sound of someone running on the ground behind me. I stopped and looked back, seeing as two people approached our group coming from the city. The bigger one stopped once he was around ten meters from me and started to breath heavily, as he caught up his breath. ¡°Finally! I found you¡­¡± The big guy said between breaths. ¡°So long¡­ You bastard¡­ So long¡­ I¡¯ve been searching for you.¡± He said while raising his eye and pointing towards me. ¡°I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE, YOU DAMNED GOLEM!¡± He shouted at me. I looked at the guy confused, then towards the other. But seeing that they were as confused as myself, it seemed that they had no idea on what was happening too. Even Aura, Lieutenant and Crys were confused, so I turned back to the new guy. He looked at me shocked, before his face contorted into anger. ¡°YOU DON¡¯T REMEMBER ME?¡± He shouted with an obnoxiously loud voice. ¡°HOW DARE YOU NOT REMEMBER ME? EVEN AFTER YOU MADE MY WHOLE LIFE A LIVING HELL?¡± He asked furiously. ¡°ME? THE GREAT¡­¡± ¡°Who is this guy?¡± Red asked me, and I turned to her. ¡°I¡­ Have the feeling that I¡¯ve met him before.¡± I told her as I looked at large the cyclops in front of me. ¡°But I can¡¯t quite remember.¡± ¡°STOP IGNORING ME, YOU DIRTY GOLEM!¡± He shouted once again, and I saw as Red¡¯s eyebrow twitched a bit. ¡°I came for my revenge. And I shall have it!¡± He said angrily while turning back to the other guy, who was smaller and wore a dark black cloak. ¡°Is this¡­ The golem¡­ you¡­ Wanted me to¡­ curse?¡± The other guy asked as he seemed even more tired than the Cyclops. When he raised his head, I saw his face. Or the lack of it. From the way that the new guy looked, he didn¡¯t have a face, nor a body. Even the gaps between his armors showed nothing. I looked at him shocked for a moment before remembering that there was one race that was composed of possessed armor people. ¡°Yeah. Curse him! Make him go mad¡± The cyclops said with a mad shine in his eye. ¡°And then, I will slowly take my time with him¡­¡± The Cyclops said with a wild smile. ¡°What did you do to this guy, Sonny?¡± My father asked, but I shrugged, since I had no idea either. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°STOP IGNORING ME!¡± The cyclops shouted angrily. Once all of our attention went back to him, he turned towards the armor at his side. ¡°Don¡¯t you know who this is? He is Frorgen Soulrender! Aka, Lock4hire! The strongest warlock within the whole Eldor!¡± The cyclops said proudly. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± The armor said surprisingly politely. ¡°And I hope you don¡¯t hold it against me, but I was hired to curse you.¡± I blinked in surprise and then nodded at him. ¡°No worries. You are just doing your job.¡± I said, still a bit shocked. The armor nodded before taking out a book that was hanging from his waist and open it while pointing it towards me. A dark beam left the book and hit me square in the chest, getting me by surprise. ¡°What the¡­¡± I said surprised as I fell to my knees, hit by a sudden wave of nausea. The world started to spin around me and everything else started to distort. I heard as Red and Wulf shouted my name in surprise, but I quickly raised me hand towards them, warning that there was no need to get worried. I did the same with Aura and Lieutenant, holding them back as I felt the dizziness passing. I quickly raised myself once again. But I was in someplace else entirely. I was in some kind of dark forest made of dead trees that sprouted from pools of magma. The ground beneath my feet was crumbling with each movement I made, letting even more magma come up to the surface. With a glance to the sky, I saw as the red covered the whole world around me, and clouds blacker than night started to cover up the few remaining spots of light. When I looked around, I saw that there were monsters all around me. From huge dragons to evil looking serpents, from flaming birds straight out of hell to a black-skinned demon. And for some reason there was also a goat... All of them snarled angrily at me, and I quickly took my free hand to the sword on my back. ¡°I need to keep casting this if you want me to keep him confused.¡± A disembodied voice came. Wait? Confused, then this is a confusion curse? Then how come am I hearing things? I gave another quick look around, finding out that the monsters all kept their distances from me. Maybe¡­ Is it my resistance to abnormal that allows me to hear things from the real world? Must be¡­ Thank Cygnas for my skirmisher skill. ¡°Good enough for me.¡± Another voice said. ¡°Now I¡¯ll take my sweet time with my vengeance.¡± It said. And as soon as the second voice said that, I saw as the goat slowly approached me until it stood right in front of me. ¡°WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW, YOU DIRT GOLEM? HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE ATTACKING YOUR ALLIES OR YOUR ENEMIES?¡± He asked, and I saw as the goat started to drag his front foot on the ground. ¡°Well¡­ I actually have a few ways.¡± I said suddenly, and saw as the goat and the dragon flinched in surprise. ¡°But lets start with this.¡± I said as I pulled out a flash-bang and exploded it upwards. But the goat closed its eyes in time. ¡°HAHAHA!¡± The goat laughed obnoxiously. ¡°DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT I WOULD FALL TO THIS TRICK A FOURTH TI¡­¡± I grimaced annoyed and took out a second flash-bang, exploding it on where I guessed that would be his face on the real life, as soon as he opened his eye again.. ¡°GAAAAAAAH! MY EYE! MY LOVELY, BEAUTIFUL AND EXTREMELY LIGHT-SENSIBLE EYE!¡± I stood up and turned towards the dragon, who was holding his eyes with one hand. ¡°Now that the annoyance is gone. Hey, you are the Lock4hire, right?¡± I asked the dragon and saw as it flinched surprised. ¡°Am I right to say that you were hired by this guy?¡± I asked him, and he nodded. ¡°Then, if I pay you more, will you lift the curse?¡± ¡°How much are we talking about?¡± I heard the first disembodied voice asking cautiously. ¡°How about¡­ A level twenty, Wargon-made, excellent quality cloak with high int?¡± As soon as my words left my mouth, the world changed back to normal, leaving me a bit disoriented for a moment before turning back to armor guy, seeing him close the book and hang it on his belt. ¡°Tell me more.¡± He said. I nodded happily and gave a quick sign for Lieutenant, seeing him sit atop the cyclops, knives drawn out. ¡°Well, why don¡¯t we talk about it during dinner?¡± I asked while giving a quick glance to Crys. She nodded as she started to take out some plates and serve food to the others. Except for the cyclops. Me and lock had a quick talk and then I quickly contacted Argento, telling the gnome to leave the burning tail cloak for his new client who would arrive in a short time. Meanwhile, we ate a delicious deer stew, which seemed to please the new guest. ¡°By the way¡­ Are you using the realistic mode?¡± He asked me after I saw another spoonful disappear near the place where his mouth should be. ¡°Hmm? Yes, I am.¡± I said surprised, and then widened my eyes. ¡°Oh, you too?¡± I asked surprised, and he also nodded. As something that we learn when we change to realistic mode, is that if two players with different modes enter in conflict, be it with the same monster or against each other, the arcade mode, or non-realistic one, is set as the basis for both, since it¡¯s the basic game mode. ¡°Hmm¡­ That explains it¡­¡± He said with a nod, and I looked at him confused. ¡°Confusion is supposed to have you randomly attacking your allies. Yet you simply stood still.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°Hmm¡­ What it did was to change the whole world around me into something right out of a nightmare.¡± I told him after some thought. ¡°And changed everyone into monsters. But if I know where you were before and that its an illusion, I would know who I had to attack.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Then it¡¯s not very effective against realistic mode¡­¡± He said with a sigh, but I shook my head. ¡°Nah, if you use it in the middle of a large battle it could be even more devastating.¡± I said to him, and saw as he looked at me for a moment before nodding. ¡°I see.¡± He nodded to me, before once again staring at me for some time. ¡°Is this usual with you?¡± He suddenly asked me, and I tilted my head in confusion. ¡°I mean, sharing dinner with someone who tried to kill you a few minutes ago?¡± ¡°Pretty much.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Definitively War-legit.¡± Red said while covering her face with her hand. ¡°Some times I fear for your future¡­¡± My father said with a sigh. ¡°The food is tasty!¡± Pea said happily. ¡­ Sometime later we gave our farewell to the warlock, letting him make his way back to the city while we dragged a tied up Cyclops with us. I saw as my father and Red looked at me strangely while I dragged him, but they didn¡¯t say anything. Pea, on the other hand, looked at the scene confused and asked me. ¡°Booh, why are you dragging the fat guy?¡± She asked me innocently. I turned to her and smiled. ¡°Well, fat guy here wanted to disturb our dinner, so big brother is going to teach him a lesson.¡± As I said that, I saw as the small fairy-dragon eyes widened before she frowned. ¡°Muu! Fat guy is mean! Dinner was good!¡± Pea said angrily. As she said that, she ran close to the cyclops and gave him a light hit to the stomach. Luckily, her stats were fairly low, so the guy didn¡¯t feel anything. I sill held her by the back of her neck and pulled her away, giving a brief scold about hitting other people. She nodded sadly before flying away towards our father. Meanwhile, I saw as Crys approached me from behind and asked in a low voice. ¡°Master¡­ Why is it that you keep scolding her, when you do most of these things yourself? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s too much?¡± She asked me a bit confused. I blinked surprised before smiling wryly, but I still wasn¡¯t the one who answered the curious pet. ¡°Crys, think about it¡­ Most of the things she does is just like War¡¯s, right?¡± Red asked the floating crystals. ¡°Hmm¡­ Yes¡­?¡± She said a bit confused. ¡°Then, if she grow up like this, without anyone teaching her, she will be just like him when she grows up, right?¡± Red asked in a teacher tone. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± Crys answered, still not understanding. ¡°Could you guess what would happen if there were two War¡¯s around?¡± She asked finally. Crys blinked surprised for a moment before turning to me. ¡°Are you sure you are scolding her enough?¡± ¡°HEY! What do you mean with that?¡± I shouted angrily, and saw as the two started giggling. But it¡¯s true. Even if I want to complain about it, that is mostly the reason why I am so worried about my sister. I fear that she might end up a bit not right in the head like me. I mean, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m that bad, still¡­ How is the saying? Do as I say, don¡¯t do as I do, I guess¡­ Anyway, I was left speechless on what to say to them, as anything that I could tell them was a lie. Sighing loudly once again, I decided that I would discount my bottled up frustration on the guy I was dragging through the rope. Luckily, said time was closer than what I expected, as we soon reached the said river we would need to cross. I turned back to the large Cyclops that I was carrying all this time around and gave my best friendly smile. ¡°Hey¡­ Do cyclops float?¡± I asked him. I saw as the guy paled completely as my words sunk into his head, and he started to squirm around, trying to free himself. I turned to Aura and had her make a large ice support that we left floating on the river. I took out a dagger and stuck it tightly into the ice before throwing the cyclops atop of it. I saw as he tried to squirm his way back to the ground, but I quickly kicked the ice-support away from the ground and saw as the ice slowly drifted away into the stream. I smiled at the guy and waved at him. ¡°You have until the ice melts to cut yourself free!¡± I said happily. ¡°And next time, don¡¯t bother me when it¡¯s time to eat, ok?¡± As I said that, I let out a long sigh of relief, before turning to my sister and saying in a serious tone. ¡°You will never do what Booh just did. Ok?¡± She nodded a bit surprised. I smiled and patted her slightly. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m starting to see where that rumor came from¡­¡± Red said with a shocked voice. ¡°You looked just like someone from the mafia.¡± ¡°Rumor?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going, War-capone.¡± My father said with a short laugh. ¡°We have to get to the village soon, right?¡± I nodded at him and turned to Aura, having her freeze the water surface so that we could cross the river. But... War-capone...? I wonder if I should make a suit for myself... Chapter 64 - Meeting an idol Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! CAMEO GALORE TODAY! HOORAY! ANYWAY, as I said, there¡¯s a lot of cameos here today, one you guys might know, another others will know, and the last one, NO ONE KNOWS! No one important, at least¡­ Probably. This last one is actually my horde character from WoW, so there, now you know it. ALSO, I decided to take a mid-term approach to the whole Boss-fight / No boss-fight thing. Why? Mostly because it wasn¡¯t something I planned initially, so I didn¡¯t really think on how It would affect the story at all. On the other hand, if I didn¡¯t, the next PLANNED boss fight would take quite some time to appear¡­ So I decided to do something kind of like the triple-lynx battle at the beginning. But it will happen in a few chapters yet. ALSO(2), I¡¯m halfway done with the character list, as it¡¯s a lot more troublesome to make than what I expected. And it might not be complete, so I will probably need some help from you guys for any character I might have missed, so Yeah. ALSO(3), As I said, there is going to be a very crazy, Wargon-legit momment these next chapter, so don''t be surprised! ^^ ALSO(4), Some people noticed that I used War when Red and Wulf talked about Wargon, Instead of the usual Gon. It''s a little something I''ve been doing, in that those who know him back from before Insania call him that, while those who meet him inside Insania call him Gon. How many of you noticed this? Cookie to whoever did! Have a good read! ----- After our little scene with that strange guy, we covered the remaining ground with ease. Thanks to Aura freezing up the river¡¯s surface, we didn¡¯t need to follow the road down towards the bridge. The effort left the poor fox tired so I gave her something else to eat and asked the others to walk a little slower to give her some time to rest. The bad side of taking this self-made shortcut, was that we were left right in the middle of the forest with no road in sight and the mini-map didn¡¯t show anything either. Even when zoomed out to the max. Thankfully, I had my own GPS available. Letting my very own Goddess positioning system guide us through the forest, she led us in a straight line through the forest. I didn`t really bother with asking her if this was the correct direction, as she knew even more than me. The downside of walking in the forest was that we had many encounters with monsters while walking around. But thanks to Red, Wulf and Pea, we quickly laid waste to anything that came at us. Not that it would be dangerous, since the strongest ones were only level twenty, the only one who had some trouble were my father and sister, since they were still only level thirteen. Well, this also meant that they earned a whole load of experience during this, so they reached level fifteen easily, meaning that they could use the weapons that I made them. And it¡¯s only in times like this that I understand how different their hunting style is from mine. Red specially, is someone I wouldn¡¯t want to have as an adversary. She commanded the wolf, the hawk and the lizard so that they would surround the target and harass them, while making sure that the only place it could run away was in her direction. Then she would bow the hell out of her target. Her attacks themselves didn¡¯t do much damage, but her pets compensated more than enough, which was a bit scary, when you think about it. My father had a much more straightforward approach to battling. He would charge ahead and start swinging his axe wildly, and the moment he had enough rage, he would land a heavy slash that dealt a good chunk of damage. Not that I really had any doubt, knowing how he plays his games. Pea, on the other hand, was a bit strange. The moment she went into battle, some strange wooden and crystal thing would pop out from her pocket and start circulating around her. And whenever she was about to be attacked, the thingy would fly in front of the attack and create some kind of barrier in front of her. Meanwhile she wildly rained light balls on the enemies. If I¡¯m not wrong, the skill is a basic light-magic called smite or something. The only problem is the sheer amount of spells she let out. It¡¯s downright ridiculous. Aura and Lieutenant went on with their combo, just like during our training spree. Lieutenant would climb on the back of the fox, who used her ice armor to approach the enemy and land her scary as hell freezing-charge. Lieutenant would use this chance to jump at the enemy and start using his daggers to attack, before jumping back to the fox so that she could go for another charge. And they actually had a different strategy for each armor that Aura used. As I said, my pets are getting better than me at hunting¡­ Anyway, this meant that we quickly finished up the enemies that came toward us, not losing too much time with our hunts and so on. By the time we left the forest, Wulf and Pea were both level sixteen and morning was coming up. We found ourselves looking straight at what looked like a farm, with many kinds of crops and animals roaming around. After a quick search, we found the entrance of the farm, which led to a small road that went straight towards a small village, which according to Crys, it¡¯s the village we had to go. Taking out the paper that Goulder gave me one last time, it said that I should look for a dwarf in the biggest house of the village. Shrugging, we and the others quickly made our way towards the village, seeing said house standing right in the middle of the village. ¡°Sorry, but the lord is out right now¡­¡± The dwarven guard told us while shaking his head. ¡°Any idea when we can find him available?¡± I asked him. ¡°It¡¯s about the disappearing livestock.¡± This made the guard widen his eyes for a moment before stopping to think. ¡°Come back during afternoon. The lord should be here by then.¡± The dwarf told me, and I nodded. ¡°So, we have the whole morning free. Anything you want to do?¡± I asked the others. My father and sister decided to look around and see if there was anything they could hunt safely. Red decided to look around for possible pets for herself. We marked to come back here during the mid-day, so I also left to do my things. Usually, I would search around for things to hunt, but since I only had one or two in-game days before Yuu and Hanbei arrived, I decided to speed things up a bit. I talked around the city to see if they knew something about the missing livestock. As this was a fairly small village, rumors ran around quickly, so I found out that the one whose property was attacked laid on the other side of the village. I quickly thanked the dwarves I talked to and ran there with Aura and Lieutenant. One thing I noticed while walking around, was that the races that lived in this village wasn¡¯t as varied as the ones I saw back at Eldor. Here, dwarves, clockworks, trolls, dark elves and such were much more numerous than the other races. My guess is that since this isn¡¯t a capital, most of the races are the one that settled here a long time ago and didn¡¯t have many chances to mingle with the others. But then, I could be wrong. Leaving that aside, I quickly crossed the village, passing around some odd sights, like a turtle-like clockwork with a forge on the side, which made me wonder whether it was a player or not. According to Cyg, these kind of clockworks can be built if I know the method, but can very rarely be found on the wild. Lore-wise, they are clockworks that aren¡¯t sentient, created by people before going wild for a random reason. Sadly, the turtle one seemed to be tamed, as I saw some clockworks making something with it. I really wanted to fight against it¡­. Oh well¡­ I saw as some red fences appeared up ahead, which according to the dwarves I asked, was the one which was attacked. When I looked around, I saw as some strange animals that reminded me of a large boar, almost my size, that had some kind of rock plating on his back. They roamed around eating the grass peacefully, sometimes giving me a glance before going back. There were also some normal cows and pigs around, but they weren¡¯t all that notice-worthy. I quickly walked around the fences while looking for a gate, In the middle of the way, I saw some broken fences that had been hastily fixed up, as they were still unpainted, which I found a bit strange, since on the other side of the farm was the base of a mountain. There wasn''t even a forest there to serve as the home of a beast or something of the kind. Just to be sure, I asked Aura to see if she could pick up any strange odor from the area, and sho nodded after that. I made a mental note to check on it later. I shook my head, deciding to leave that for later before going back to searching for a gate. Seeing a dwarf working around on some crop fields, I quickly called him and asked where the gate of the farm was. He looked at me a bit suspicious, but shrugged it and said that I could just jump over the fence. I became a bit suspicious myself, but I quickly did what he told me and went towards him. ¡°Good morning.¡± I told him as I approached. ¡°I was sent by the Silver Gauntlet to take a look on the missing livestock, and I wanted to talk with the owner of this place¡­¡± I told the dwarf. He widened his eyes at this and nodded. ¡°Ya¡­ I¡¯m da owner ¡®ere.¡± He said as he put the hoe on the ground and supported his stocky body on it. ¡°Loran Steelseed.¡± He said extending his hand. I quickly took it and we shook hands. ¡°So, wat do ya want to know?¡± He asked me with his rough voice while taking out his large straw hat and fan himself. ¡°Well¡­ Mostly anything you might now, if there was any change since last time or something else of notice¡­¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°I just got here and know next to nothing of what happened.¡± The dwarf frowned at this, before nodding. He pointed towards the broken fence and took us there. ¡°This place was destroyed on da first day.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°Fixed it fast. But was broken again yesterday.¡± He said annoyed. ¡°Dere were bloodspots down dere. Two on da first day, one two days later, and one yesterday.¡± He told me while pointing towards four different directions. ¡°Cow on da first two and the last time. Two pigs on de third.¡± He told me briefly, to which I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be working on ma field over dere, so if ya need anythin¡¯, you can go see me.¡± And with that he walked away while mulling something. I smiled a bit awkwardly at the dwarf. His tone sounded a bit annoyed, similar to the one of these old unsocial farmers. I was a bit uncomfortable with the way he spoke to me, and I had the feeling that he only talked to me at all was because I came here to solve his problem. Or else he wouldn¡¯t even bother with me. I turned towards Aura and Lieutenant and had them head towards one of the spots the dwarf told us, while I went towards the remaining two that seemed to be closer together. ¡°Hey, Gon¡­ Isn¡¯t what he told us a bit strange?¡± Crys asked me while frowning slightly. I turned towards her a bit confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked her. ¡°Didn¡¯t he say that he had to fix the fence twice? Once on the first time and once again yesterday?¡± She said, I frowned a bit before understanding what she meant. ¡°I¡­ See¡­ The fence was broken twice, yet there were four attacks¡­¡± I said while stopping to think and she nodded. ¡°That¡¯s strange when we stop to think about it¡­¡± I said while holding my chin in my hand. Crys nodded with me while making the exact same pose and tilting her head sideways. Soon, we arrived at the said spot and saw a large area on the ground with some small spots of dried up blood. I crouched at the ground to take a better look at it. Thanks to my tracking skill and the short training that I received when getting the skill, I noticed something. An area on the ground had signs of being stepped up by some other kind of animal besides the usual, but all I could get was that it was a heavy animal, as the trail was about to run cold. If I had come here one day later I wouldn¡¯t be able to get even this. A short look around didn¡¯t help me find anything else. The animal probably didn¡¯t stay here for long enough to let any kind of trail. I took off to the next area, taking a good two minutes walk until I reached it. A good look around didn¡¯t help me find anything new, so I sighed loudly before looking in the map for Aura and Lieutenant. Seeing that the fox was closer and was already approaching me. She approached me and I quickly gave her a pet for her good work, before pointing towards the other place where I found the blood. She nodded to me and quickly started to sniff the ground, only to stop looking a bit confused. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked her, and she blinked surprised, before turning to Crys. I waited patiently for the moment. Some simpler things she wanted to say I could understand easily, but the more complex things she would talk through Crys. It was a nifty feature of having a speaking pet, I guess. ¡°She said that the smell here is different from the ones she found on her area.¡± Crys told slightly surprised. ¡°They are similar, but definitively not the same according to her.¡± The Crystal elemental told me surprised. ¡°Similar¡­ But not the same?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Two of the same type of animal?¡± I asked her confused, but Aura shook her head saying that she wasn¡¯t sure. I stopped to think for a moment, before seeing lieutenant approaching us from afar, carrying something in his hand.
Unknown Cracked Scale (Qualityless) (Quest item)
A red cracked scale from an unknown source. It seems to have shielded it¡¯s owner from a powerful blow.
I frowned at this. A quest item when I don¡¯t even have a quest? Strange. Actually, the fact that I didn¡¯t get a quest when Goulder spoke to me at the bar was a bit strange itself¡­ Oh well, I¡¯ll think about it later. I thanked lieutenant by giving him a small medal I had made some time ago. I made one as a joke back when I was waiting the forge to smelt the metal from Excel-loran for Yagver¡¯s armor. But Lieutenant simply went crazy when he saw that and started accepting them as rewards. It was a bit tricky making something small enough to fit on his clothing, but after getting the hang of it, I made a small stock of medals to give to him whenever he did something great. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. He reminds me of a dog from a VERY old cartoon. Heck, I¡¯m even called Richard! Anyway, we took Aura towards Lieutenant¡¯s place and had her sniffing around. It seemed that the smell was the same as the scale¡¯s one, as well the one she first found. I nodded to her and started searching around the area with my tracking skill. What I found out was that there wasn¡¯t any trail in this one. This could either mean that the animal was lighter than the first one, or this attack came even before than the other ones. We searched around for a little more until it was afternoon, but we didn¡¯t get anything too big except that there was a trail leading from Aura¡¯s towards the broken fence. We could barely make out the claw-like marks and what appeared to be something that was dragged with the culprit. Probably the body of the animal. I talked a bit with Loran, but the dwarf left it very clear that he had nothing else to tell us, as both attacks happened at night, and sent us off in a slightly annoyed tone. I met with my father, sister and Red up in front of the lord¡¯s mansion and told them what I found out. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s two different beasts?¡± My father told me immediately, and me and Crys nodded. ¡°That¡¯s also what I was thinking¡­ But why two of them at the same time?¡± I asked confused, but my father shrugged, not knowing either. A moment later, one of the guards came to us and saying that the lord could talk with us now. We quickly went in towards the entrance, where a troll using a heavy plate armor and having his long red hair tied into dreadlocks greeted us. ¡°Follow me to the lord.¡± He said bluntly while adjusting a mean looking axe around his waist. ¡°An don¡¯t try anything too funny.¡± He told us with a serious tone. ¡°Not even jokes?¡± I asked almost instinctively, receiving a mean glare from Red and an amused look from my father. The troll stared at me for a moment, before a grin appeared in his face. ¡°Nah¡­ Jokes are fine, I guess¡­¡± He said with an amused tone while turning back towards the mansion and guiding us through he carpet leading towards a corridor. We walked through the whole corridor until we reached the deepest part of the house. Opening the door, we found ourselves within an office of kinds, where a white haired dwarf was sitting on a table. But even with his white hair, he didn¡¯t look any older than the usual dwarf. Hearing us entering the room, he quickly lifted his head towards us and nodded briefly towards the Troll. ¡°So these are the ones¡­ Thanks for your help, Gazluz.¡± He told him. Wait, Gazluz? That name sounds oddly familiar¡­ The troll nodded briefly before leaving the room closing the door. The dwarf raised himself from the desk and extended his hand towards us. I took it and shook. ¡°I¡¯m Olaf Stoneheart. And it seems that you¡¯ve met the head of the town-guard, Gazluz.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Gondorrer Tailsban¡­¡± CYGNASDAMMIT! GET IT RIGHT AT LEAST ONCE, WILL YOU? ¡°Gondorrer Gravelheart. These are Naarya, Uhtred, Stiorra.¡± I said pointing towards each one. I felt tempted to also introduce Aura, Crys and Lieutenant, just for the fun, but I decided to take this a bit more seriously than usual. ¡°I see¡­ It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± He said while nodding to the others and sitting back on his chair. ¡°So, I heard that you came to help with our situation here?¡± He asked me, and I nodded while passing him the letter from Goulder. He took his time reading it before nodding. ¡°This letter said that you came here immediately after hearing about it from Goulder. I take it he didn¡¯t tell you much, did he?¡± He asked with a sigh while smiling slightly, like someone thinking of a foolish friend. ¡°He didn¡¯t, but I already made some investigations before coming here.¡± I told him. He looked slightly surprised, so I started to tell him what I found out with my investigations. He listened quietly during all the time, nodding at the end. ¡°I see... So there¡¯s two different offenders¡­¡± He said in wonder. ¡°Any idea where they come from?¡± He asked me curious, and I nodded. ¡°From the looks of it, they come from the mountain near Lorran¡¯s farm. And since only his place was attacked, I think that it might be fairly close to his place.¡± I told him. ¡°Any idea on what might have been?¡± I asked him and the Dwarf nodded. ¡°You said you found a scale, right? There¡¯s some salamanders that live in that mountain which match the description of the scale you found.¡± He said. I blinked surprised for a moment. Salamanders are those not-quite-dragons fire-spewing lizards, right? ¡°But they usually hunt on the other side, where the slope isn¡¯t as steep as this side. They never really bothered us, so we didn¡¯t even think of that.¡­¡± He told us with a sigh. ¡°Then, you think something might have kicked one of the salamanders away from its cave or something?¡± I asked him and he shook his head. ¡°No¡­ They are the strongest monsters on that area, so there isn¡¯t anything that¡¯s capable of doing it.¡± He denied my hypothesis. ¡°I see¡­ Then it could be something else¡­¡± I said with a sigh before stopping to think. But my father spoke before me. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask Gazluz to go check it out? He looked strong.¡± He said slightly suspicious, and the dwarf smiled awkwardly. I nodded in agreement when I stopped to think about it, it¡¯s a bit strange that he asked for mercenaries when the guard looked more than strong enough. ¡°There¡¯s been rumors of a bandit group appearing around the area. If the guard captain were to leave the city we would risk being raided.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°Even if it only end up being a rumor, it helps keeping the citizen feeling safe, so I can¡¯t really send him off¡­¡± ¡°I see. It makes sense.¡± My father said while nodding and sitting back on his chair. ¡°Then I guess it¡¯s left to us to check it then?¡± I asked him and he nodded. ¡°If you could do that. I would be grateful.¡±
QUEST: Livestock disappearance.
Olaf Stoneheart is troubled with the fact that some livestock have been disappearing in his land and have asked you to check the source of the problem before it gets too dire. Only need to find out what¡¯s causing the disappearance of the livestock. But resolving the situation may reward you with a bonus. Bonus reward for completing the quest quickly.
Rewards: Talk to Lorran or Olaf for your reward.
Oh! So there¡¯s the quest! I quickly accepted it and left immediately afterward. ¡°Look, there¡¯s a chance we might fight a really strong monster, so it might be better if you two don¡¯t come.¡± I told my father and Pea. They looked confused at me so I explained. ¡°If it¡¯s really a salamander that spews fire, there¡¯s a chance that it might have many attacks that cover a large area and it might hit you two, even if you are only watching it.¡± I told them. ¡°I see¡­ We will go back to the place we found earlier then.¡± My father said with a shrug. ¡°Why can¡¯t we go with Booh?¡± Pea asked confused, not really getting my explanation. ¡°Because it¡¯s very dangerous.¡± My father said patiently. ¡°And we could bother Boh going there.¡± ¡°And why can Baah go with Booh?¡± She asked while looking at the elf who was resting besides her pets. ¡°Because Baah is very strong.¡± I said. Probably even higher level than me if I were to say. It took some time, but we finally convinced Pea to stay behind and wait with Wulf before setting off. Me and Red, who said that she was curious on what was happening, made our way towards Loran¡¯s farm until we reached the broken fence, from there we split while walking towards the mountain, looking for some place that we could use to climb up. After a few minutes she contacted me via the chat, and I quickly ran towards her direction. She had found a narrow path that zigzagged it¡¯s way up through the grey stones that made the walls of the mountain. I gulped loudly seeing how dangerous it looked and saw that Red agreed with me in there. We quickly started climbing our way through the path. Red even dismissed her pets beside the hawk that could fly so that they wouldn¡¯t need to worry about falling. I looked towards Aura and Lieutenant, but I saw that they didn¡¯t need much help. Aura used her ice armor and increased the size of the claws, which cut easily into the rock, giving her some better footing while Lieutenant simply rode on her back. Crys simply floated lazily around us. Feeling a bit jealous of my pets, I made my way up through sheer brute strength. Clinging tightly to the rock as I climbed. Still, it wasn¡¯t as bad as what you usually see in these action movies, with us moving tightly against the wall on narrow path while shouting at each other amidst the screeching wind. Still, it was unnerving looking down and seeing the steep fall beneath us, so we took our time climbing up. After some time, the path spun around the mountain, leading us to the other side where we could see the much softer slope that even had some grass spots and trees here and there. From afar I could even see a small animal hopping here and there. Behind us, we saw a large cave that even with a brief glance I could see that it was being used recently. But since this was on the other side of the mountain we thought that it probably wasn¡¯t the place we were looking for since it had direct access to the opposite side, which is where the salamanders usually hunted according to Olaf. We sighed in defeat and turned back to the path so that we could go back and search again, but before we took even the first step, a loud sound came from the cave near us. It was a loud threatening sound, just like the growl of beasts I had grown so used to hear, except that this was much, much louder than anything I¡¯ve ever heard, even when taking the echo in account. I gulped loudly while slowly turning back. During this time I caught sight of Lieutenant and Aura, both of whom looked simply terrified. And they were those Aura and Lieutenant, who dared to fight a boss on their own. I slowly turned my head towards the cave, but thanks to the darkness of the cave, I couldn¡¯t see anything inside it. But then, I saw it. A pair of pure yellow eyes with vertical slits, staring right at me. Except that they were much bigger and ferocious looking than anything I had seen. We stared at each other for a moment, the growl slowly growing louder the longer we exchanged our stares. Then, it approached us. Slowly. Yet I could clearly hear as a large pair of claws scratched the ground beneath it. Yet it sounded so sharp that I thought I was hearing a sword being sharpened. And then, I saw its body. A large body, probably as big as doggy¡¯s, if not bigger. Yet, the pressure it emitted was nowhere near the one that the dungeon boss¡¯ emitted. It was far stronger. So strong that I was completely unable to move, with only my knees trembling as I watched it slowly approaching me. It¡¯s head came into the light, revealing its sharp-looking head with a dangerous looking muzzle, clearly one used to bite at its foes and used to eat meat. Behind said head was a long neck that linked to a strong body that was double my size, yet only needed a pair of dangerous looking claws to support it¡¯s whole weight. A long and thick tail served as a counter-weight on the other side, since it¡¯s body didn¡¯t stay straight up, but horizontally against the ground. Finally, a huge pair of leathery wings, spotted with spikes on the outer bone side laid closely to the body, yet if it were to open it wide, it would surely not fit within this cave, even as large as it was. Finally, Dull green scales and shells covered it¡¯s whole majestic body. So though looking that I wouldn¡¯t be surprised that even my strongest attack would be stopped by it, barely leaving a scratch on it¡¯s surface. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s a¡­ A¡­¡± Red started speaking, the word not coming to her lips. ¡°A¡­ D¡­ Dra¡­ A dragon¡­¡± She finally muttered after some time. But I shook my head at her words. No, it wasn¡¯t Dragon. I knew that as I saw the beast slowly raising its head and starting to look towards us from upwards. ¡°No¡­ It¡­ Only have two legs¡­¡± Crys said in the same shocked tone. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ A¡­ A wyvern¡­¡± She said while making a gulping sound. ¡°A greater one at that¡­¡± No¡­ It¡¯s¡­ Still not right¡­ The beast¡¯s mouth slowly started to flare up as some small fire-spots escaped from between it¡¯s teeth. The chest slowly expanding as it took the air in. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Not it¡­¡± I said with a slightly trembling voice. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s¡­¡± I gulped loudly once more, not managing to find the words. Just as the beast¡¯s mouth started to spread open, the words that I wanted to say came out. ¡°IT¡¯S A RATHIAN!¡± I SHOUTED EXCITED. Everyone else froze at these words. Crys looked at me shocked for a moment as she tilted her head in confusion. Aura and Lieutenant were in a similar state, not really understanding my words. Red simply blinked in shock before covering her face with her hand. ¡°You¡­ You didn¡¯t¡­¡± She said while holding back a sigh. ¡°A Rathian¡­?¡± Crys asked me confused. ¡°I¡¯m a what now?¡± Came a third voice, sounding almost disembodied. And with that, the wyvern was looking at us, its face slightly frowning. ---- (Alive)Author''s corner: For those who don''t know, here''s a page about Rathians! Chapter 65 - Madmans logic Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Probably not what you expected, but still shocking, I guess! ANYWAY, if you think this is over, there¡¯s still some crazy things that will happen next chapter, so don¡¯t go thinking that Gon is over with all this madness, okay? This IS wargon-quality solution we are getting here! ALSO, I will probably update Reinstall for a few chapters after this, since it¡¯s been some time since the last update. Have a good read! ---- ¡°What is this¡­ Rathian¡­? you speak about, Stone-born, that you even confuse it with me?¡± I heard that voice again, coming from everywhere at once, yet clearly coming from the wyvern in front of me. I blinked surprised for a moment before quickly crossing my eyes with Red and Crys. While red looked surprised and shocked, Crys had a wry look, while smiling a bit awkwardly, as if not knowing how to react to the situation. It took a me a couple of seconds to digest the information before blinking out of it and turning to the wyvern. ¡°Sorry¡­ I was a bit surprised¡­¡± I said to it, hoping to not have made it angry with my distraction. ¡°Actually, with you talking, my job may be even easier¡­¡± I said a bit distracted. ¡°I care little about your job, Stone-born.¡± It said once again with a hint of annoyance. ¡°Only about this name you speak about.¡± It said again. ¡°Oh, right¡­ Rathian¡­¡± I said a bit hurriedly while trying to focus myself over the excitement and the fear. ¡°Well¡­ How to explain it¡­¡± I said while stealing a glance at the wyvern, who had stopped doing whatever it was doing and was now looking at me from dangerously close, it¡¯s eyes always focused on mine.
Greater Green Wyvern [lvl ???] [??? Boss] Equivalent level: ???
HP: ???? -???? (Your level is too low to see it¡¯s status)
A Greater green wyvern. Little is known about this beast, except that it shouldn¡¯t be found in this place.
I paled looking at it¡¯s status. It was so strong that I couldn¡¯t even see the values of its stats? Oh my Cygnas. I may like to hunt strong monsters, but there¡¯s a small difference between hunting stronger monsters and running straight to my death. It¡¯s small, but it IS there. ¡°Well¡­ Back from where I come¡­ There are these¡­¡± I started to look for the right words to express it. Luckily, the Wyvern was a lot more patient than what it¡¯s appearance suggested. Heck, I swear it¡¯s smirking amusedly at me! ¡°Stories? It¡¯s the closest I can express it. Yeah, stories about hunters and many different beasts they hunt¡­¡± I said while trying to make sure that I wouldn¡¯t offend our host. ¡°And¡­ one of the most famous one are the Rathians¡­ Green female wyverns very similar to you¡­¡± And as soon as I said that, I kind of expected the wyvern to blow me into smithereens with no warning, so I flinched slightly and shrunk my body, but since no fire-ball slash breath of death got me, I slowly opened up my eyes, seeing an intrigued Wyvern. ¡°Are you one of the so called¡­ Chosen, Stone-born?¡± The wyvern asked me, and I nodded slightly. ¡°I see¡­ No wonder I never heard about such beasts.¡± It said while nodding and turning to me. ¡°Tell me more about these wyverns from your world. For you to confuse them with me¡­ Leaves me intrigued.¡± I gulped loudly before nodding. I turned towards Red and saw as she shook her head while covering her face with her hands. The wyvern immediately moved a bit around before laying down, looking at me with expectation. I took that as a sign that I should also sit down so I could tell her the story, Red sighed loudly and sat down too. If we stopped to think about it, there¡¯s really no reason for us to stay standing, as the Wyvern would probably be capable of hunting us down even if we wanted to run away. ¡°Well¡­ Rathians are large green wyverns, just like you¡­ In appearance, at least.¡± I started while carefully watching her reactions to my words. ¡°Well, there¡¯s some small difference, like a spike in front of the chin and a club-like tail, but otherwise, you are very similar. She¡¯s the female counterpart of the Rathalos, a similar wyvern that have a red-colored scales and shells¡­¡± ¡°So¡­ Your wyverns differentiate their genders through their colors? That¡¯s interesting.¡± It said with a slight nod. ¡°Huuh¡­ Something like that? It¡¯s mostly limited to these two, really¡­ And some other rare exceptions.¡± I said while stopping to think for a moment. ¡°I take it that it¡¯s not like that for you?¡± I asked, and the Wyvern nodded. ¡°You told me your story, I shall repay you in kind.¡± It said with a nod, which kind of caught me in surprise, to tell the truth. ¡°We chose our coloration when we are still young. It have no relation to our gender or magic, as some of your people seem to think.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I said with a nod. That¡¯s actually an interesting information to get. It may help me in the future, I think. ¡°Well, Rathians are one of the most well-known beast on these stories, and while the Rathalos are known as the king of the skies, with their superior aerial attacks, the Rathians are known as the queen of the land, with better terrestrial tactics and much stronger fire attacks than the male counterpart¡­¡± ¡°A wyvern specialized on land fights?¡± The wyvern interrupted me surprised. ¡°That¡¯s unexpected... As much as it pains me to admit, our bodies aren¡¯t exactly fit for terrestrial battles¡­¡± It said with a confused tone. ¡°How does she does it?¡± ¡°How¡­?¡± I asked confused while stopping to think for a moment. I looked at Red for some help, but she raised her hands as if saying that this is my problem. I smiled a bit awkwardly. ¡°I guess that her legs are stronger than normal¡­¡± I said after some thought. ¡°And her backflip also helps¡­ Probably.¡± ¡°Back-flip?¡± The wyvern asked confused, before frowning. ¡°I fail to see how a back-flip could work to help with land-battles¡­¡± I blinked surprised for a moment. Now that I stop to think about it, the attack is an odd one to explain to people. Just imagine it, a wyvern doing a backflip! Most people would say that it¡¯s either odd, useless, or something of the like. But for me who is used to seeing a Rathian using it, it¡¯s more than a perfectly acceptable attack. Hmm¡­ I wonder¡­ I turned to Red and smiled a bit mischievously.
[Wargon]: Hey¡­ Want to bet that I can convince the wyvern to add backflip to its attacks?
[Red Hurricane]: And how are you going to do it?
[Phantons]: Did I miss something?
[Wargon]: Long story. [Wargon]: And logic. I¡¯ll use logic.
[Incarnus]: Wargon! Why did you kick me?
[Red Hurricane]: Nah... [Red Hurricane]: I know your logic-twisting skills too well. [Red Hurricane]: Won¡¯t make a bet to lose¡­
[Incarnus]: Wait¡­ Wyvern? [Incarnus]: Backflip? [Incarnus]: RATHIAN?
[Phantons]: Really, what did I miss?
[Wargon]: Party pooper!
¡°Stone-born?¡± The Wyvern call took my attention from the chat. It looked at me for a moment, seemingly confused with my sudden silence. ¡°Sorry¡­ I was talking with some friends.¡± I said briefly. ¡°Well¡­ About the backflip¡­ Right?¡± I said while starting to smile a bit mischievously. The wyvern noticed this, as it slightly raised it¡¯s head before nodding. ¡°Well¡­ There¡¯s actually some very good reason for a wyvern to use backflips¡­¡± I said while holding myself to not start rubbing my hands. ¡°And these are¡­?¡± The wyvern asked me, intrigued. I cleared my throat a bit before starting. ¡°First, let¡¯s talk about how you would do it, right?¡± I said and it lightly tilted its head with a nod. ¡°To do a backflip like a Rathian¡­ I¡¯m just saying how she does it, so it might not work just like that for you, mind you!¡± I said briefly, just to make my point. ¡°You would need to first, earn some forward momentum. One or two steps should be enough. Then, once you get enough speed, you raise your body, changing that forward momentum into a vertical one.¡± I said while thinking of the Rathian¡¯s animation. ¡°Immediately afterward, your body will lean upward, which means that your tail will probably be touching the ground, correct?¡± I asked and the Wyvern nodded. ¡°Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but this is where you would flap your wings downwards if you wanted to take flight.¡± It nodded once again. ¡°Instead, you would need to flap your wings slightly forward instead. This would make your body be blown backwards while your tail keeps going forward, and if you avoid fighting against the urge to right yourself, and simply follow the force¡­¡± ¡°My tail would lash at the enemy in front of me¡­¡± The wyvern said with a nod. ¡°Truly, it can become a dangerous attack if I get enough speed.¡± It said with a slight nod. ¡°But it still seems very complicated attack. I still don¡¯t see how using this attack would help one fight on the ground.¡± Ahh! Here¡¯s the cue that I had been waiting! As my smile grew wider, I heard Red muttering something along the lines of me being crazy, mad or insane. Or all of them at the same time. Not that I cared that much, to tell the truth¡­ It was very probably true. Clearing my throat once again, I turned to the wyvern and said. ¡°Firstly, with someone with your size, who would expect an attack that comes from below, like the tail-lash from the backflip.¡± I said, and saw as it widened its eyes for a moment, before nodding. ¡°Secondly, say you are fighting an annoying enemy that keeps attacking you whenever you want to take flight.¡± I said with a raised finger. ¡°Since the starting movement is similar to both movements, they wouldn¡¯t know the difference until you made your attack, which means that, not only would you land a strong attack at it¡¯s head slash chin, you would also take flight, going back to the sky where, as you yourself said, have the superiority.¡± ¡°You spin interesting ideas, Stone-born.¡± It said with a nod. ¡°I guess that it could be worthy testing the viability of this odd attack.¡± ¡°Geez¡­ One more falls for the mad-man''s logic¡­¡± Red said with a sigh, which left me worried for a moment. The Wyvern looked at her confused for a moment, so she quickly went on to explain. ¡°Don¡¯t you find it strange how this mad guy here who can barely speak something that makes sense managed to convince you of something that borders ridiculous like using backflips to attack someone?¡± She said with a long sigh. The wyvern turned to me with a strange look, which made me pale for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s always like that.¡± The elf finally said with a sigh. ¡°Either he convinces someone to do something strange using perfectly normal facts, or he convinces you of something normal, but uses weird logic that usually makes no sense.¡± I kicked her leg and whispered to her in annoyance. ¡°Are you trying to get me killed here?¡± ¡°¡­ Actually, yes.¡± She said, surprising me. ¡°I want to see if that could help you become a little less weird.¡± ¡°So, I¡¯d still be weird?¡± I said with a twitching eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯ll always be weird. Make no mistake.¡± She said right back at me. ¡°Your relationship is amusing¡­¡± The wyvern said to us with a slightly laugh rumbling the cave. I smiled a bit awkwardly at that, and saw as Red did the same. I took this time to look around, and managed to see that Aura and Lieutenant had somehow managed to calm themselves a bit, even if they were still a bit scared of the Wyvern and were hiding behind me. I gently scratched the back of the fox¡¯s neck, which seemed to help her calm a bit more. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Not wanting to sound offensive or something of the kind, but you are much more sociable than what I expected¡­¡± I said to the wyvern. ¡°I do enjoy a good talk, to tell the truth.¡± The wyvern said as its wing made an odd movement that I understood as a shrug. ¡°Then, why did almost blow us off when we arrived here?¡± Red asked curiously, and soon stopped herself. ¡°Not wanting to sound offensive, of course.¡± ¡°I had¡­ Bad experiences with others of your kind before.¡± It said with a sigh. ¡°They would always attack or flee on sight. Since you didn¡¯t flee, I thought I should give you a small warning¡­ But then you went and called me a Rathian¡­ And I guess you know the rest of the story.¡± I nodded at her. The only problem I had with her logic was that her small warning was probably more than enough to kill us seven times over, but let¡¯s not risk annoying said person, right? ¡°Also, I¡¯ll take that name for myself.¡± It suddenly said, getting me and Red by surprise. ¡°¡­Rathian?¡± Red asked, and the Wyvern nodded. ¡°The queen of the land¡­ I quite like the title that comes attached to it.¡± The wyvern said with an amused tone. ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m¡­ No expert on Wyvern physiology¡­ But I take it that you are a female, then?¡± I asked a bit confused. ¡°Well, you did say that these Rathians were all female, right?¡± She said with an amused tone, and I laughed a bit dryly at that. Then, after a short moment, she looked serious again and stared at me. ¡°You said that you had a job here¡­ Might I know what that encompass?¡± She said with a different tone. I blinked surprised for a moment before reminding myself of the quest. I quickly hit my head to change into work mode and put on my serious face while nodding. ¡°Yeah. Since we can talk, it might make things easier for me.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Just to be sure, but I¡¯m almost sure you got here a few days ago. Am I right?¡± I asked her and saw as she widened her eyes for a moment before nodding. ¡°I did arrive here a few days ago. Yes.¡± She said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ve come from far away so that I could show the world to my daughter, and we decided to lay here for some time to rest our wings.¡± Rathian said seriously, but I was a bit caught up on one of her words. ¡°You have a daughter?¡± I asked surprised, and saw as she smiled slightly. ¡°Yes. She¡¯s out hunting right now, but should be back in a few minutes.¡± Rathian said with a proud tone. ¡°But what does that have to do with your job.¡± She said back to her serious tone. ¡°Nothing, really.¡± I said truthfully. ¡°I was just caught by surprise¡­ Anyway, I got this job from the chief of the village on the other side of the mountain. I guess you know about them, right?¡± I asked her and saw as she narrowed her eyes.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ I did see them as I made a fly around the area.¡± She said with a nod. ¡°But there¡¯s no need to worry. I won¡¯t bother them as long as they don¡¯t bother me.¡± She said seriously. But I smiled a bit awkwardly at her words before giving Aura a quick glance. She looked at me surprised for a moment, before turning to Rathian and sniffing the air. She then nodded slowly, but I saw that she also had a slightly confused look. I gave a quick look to Crys, asking her to see what bothered Aura before turning back towards Rathian and gulping loudly, selecting my words. ¡°I¡­ Think that you might have already caused some problems for the village down there.¡± I said a bit worried, and saw as she frowned slightly. ¡°I think that you might have attacked the property of a certain farmer down there.¡± ¡°I did not attack anything that could be owned by one of your kind down there, Stone-born.¡± She told me with a slightly angry tone. ¡°Are you trying to give an excuse to attack me?¡± ¡°Are you joking?¡± I said with a deadpan face, which seemed to shock her. ¡°I can¡¯t even see your level! I might like to fight strong adversaries, but fighting you would be downright suicide. Besides, you could at least let me finish my explanation before trying to put the blame on me like that, you know?¡± I said with a slightly annoyed tone, and saw as Rathian blinked in surprise before lowering her head. ¡°You are right, I precipitated myself. Forgive-me.¡± She said sincerely. I smiled a bit awkwardly at that. ¡°A greater wyvern just apologized to you¡­ You never cease to amaze me¡­¡± Red said while holding back a smile. ¡°I try¡­¡± I said with a proud smile, but before I could even start my words, I was interrupted by another sound. It was something akin to a roar and a bark at the same time, yet it didn¡¯t sound anywhere near as threatening as Rathian¡¯s, sounding much¡­ Cuter? I turned back and saw a small wyvern approaching the entrance of the cave while carrying what looked like a small rabbit in its mouth. It was probably around the size of Aura, maybe a bit smaller. Appearance wise, she was just like a smaller version of Rathian, except for the clear white scales, which seemed to shine brightly on the sunlight. She almost landed near the entrance, but as soon as her small claws were about to touch the ground, her eyes landed on us, and she became surprised, dropping the rabbit she carried and flapping her wings hard so that she wouldn¡¯t land and took flight once again. Flying towards Rathian, she circled around the larger wyvern and landed right between her wings, looking wearily at us while making some strange growling sound, to which Rathian responded in kind. The smaller wyvern, probably her daughter, suddenly looked surprised and turned towards us, then towards her mother and once again she made those growling sounds. After what seemed like two minutes of them talking with what I would guess to be dragon/wyvern-speech, the smaller wyvern turned towards us and reluctantly jumped away from her mother¡¯s back and approached us with her head hanging low. ¡°Hi¡­¡± I heard a disembodied voice just like Rathian¡¯s, except that it sounded much younger than hers. ¡°So¡­ Cute¡­¡± I said while holding my itching petting hand. The smaller wyvern looked at me surprised for a moment before running back to her mother and hiding behind her before peeking her head out. ¡°She¡¯s a bit shy¡­ Never had a good meeting with your kind, so forgive her wariness.¡± Rathian said with a wry tone. ¡°But¡­ Petting¡­ I wanted¡­¡± I said with a sad tone before feeling a fluffy feeling on my hand as Aura pressed her head against it. I gently petted her for a moment before turning back to the smaller wyvern. ¡°Hi there. I¡¯m Gondorrer, and this is Aura.¡± I said gently towards the Wyvern, seeing her make a confused face and turn to her mother confused. Some more growling and I saw as Rathian turned to me and said. ¡°She doesn¡¯t have a name in your language, so I don¡¯t think that she can introduce herself yet.¡± The larger Wvern said before seemingly having an idea. ¡°Why don¡¯t you give her a name too?¡± I blinked surprised for a moment before looking towards the shy wyvern. ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t think I have a good name for her¡­¡± I said after some time and saw as the wyvern frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything like the name you gave me?¡± She asked me with a slight tinge of disappointment. ¡°Well¡­ Rathian¡¯s the best name I can think to give a Wyvern with your appearance¡­¡± I said with a wry smile as I watched the two wyverns, until an idea came to my mind. ¡°Unless¡­¡± Yeah¡­ that could work, I guess¡­ ¡°What about we also call her Rathian, but in another language?¡± I said, and saw as Rathian seemed to like the idea. ¡°In a land to the far east of my world, they call Rathian¡¯s by the name of Rioreia, what do you think?¡± ¡°Rio¡­reia¡­¡± Rathian said as she savored the name and looked at her daughter. ¡°Rioreia, my little princess of the land¡­¡± She said as she gently nuzzled the smaller wyvern. I¡­ Think I¡¯ll personally call her Rio for short. It sounds cuter. Rathian turned to me and looked serious. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go back to our previous talk, shall we?¡± She said seriously and I nodded. ¡°As I was saying, one of the farms down there was attacked recently, and it coincides with the time of your arrival here.¡± I saw as the wyvern frowned, but she kept her words and let me finish. ¡°By any chance, did you hunt some animal from the area near the village?¡± ¡°You mean those large, meaty animals at the plains?¡± She asked and I nodded. ¡°Yes, I did, but what is the problem?.¡± She said in a defensive tone. ¡°Well¡­ They are the property I was talking about¡­¡± I said with a wry smile, and saw as she looked at me confused. ¡°You see, the people raise animals like that as livestock, growing and feeding them until they are mature enough to be transformed into meat.¡± I said, and saw as the Wyvern closed its eyes in slight annoyance. ¡°I¡­ See¡­¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°And here I am about not bothering humans¡­¡± She said with an annoyed tone, but luckily it didn¡¯t seem to be directed at me. ¡°That¡­ went ways more smoothly than what I expected¡­¡± I said with genuine surprised. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong.¡± Rathian said with a weary tone. ¡°I¡¯m not dying for love for your kind.¡± She said coldly. ¡°But I don¡¯t hate you nonetheless. And from what you said, it¡¯s a fact that ended up attacking his property unprovoked. He deserves a repayment at the very least.¡± She had a surprisingly strong sense of justice¡­ ¡°How do you think I can undo my wrongdoing?¡± ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t know?¡± I said a bit confused. ¡°Maybe we could go down there and ask himself?¡± I said that bit as a joke, but I saw as Rathian nodded in approval while raising herself. Rio, without a place to hide herself, quickly became surprised and looked for a place to protect herself, but Rathian used her long tail to push her towards us discreetly. She blinked surprise once she found herself at my feet right as her mother made her way beside us, walking out from the cave towards the entrance. I stole a glance at the bigger wyvern before slowly crouching down and looking at Rio straight into her eyes and smiling slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t bite, you know?¡± I said playfully, and saw as she widened her eyes slightly. ¡°Then, you won¡¯t attack mother nor me?¡± She asked me lowly, and I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure your mother could kill me with a sneeze, so I don¡¯t really want to risk it.¡± I said playfully with a shrug, and saw as she widened her eyes and nodded happily. ¡°Mother is strong! Don¡¯t try to attack her!¡± She said in an proud tone, and I laughed a bit at her. ¡°Yeah, I won¡¯t.¡± I told her while gently petting her head out of instinct. She winced surprised for a moment, before calming down and slowly taking her head out. Her scales are still soft to the touch, so it felt surprisingly pleasant to pet the little wyvern¡­ I wonder if will have the chance to pet her again. Getting outside, I saw as Rathian stared at me for a moment before turning away. I became confused at that, but since it didn¡¯t seem worrisome, I turned towards Red. ¡°Well, with that, the problem is solved.¡± I said happily, but I was interrupted by another person. ¡°I have to disagree, master.¡± Crys said while shaking her head. ¡°Aura said that the cave had the smell of both locations.¡± She said seriously. ¡°But the second one definitively isn¡¯t from Rioreia.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah¡­ I had forgotten about that¡­¡± I said truthfully, but before I could stop to think about it, Rathian called us. ¡°What are you waiting for there?¡± She asked us with a slight playful tone. I frowned a bit at that, but didn¡¯t let it bother me. ¡°Sorry, it may be better for you to go ahead. Our path may take some time to cross¡­¡± I said while pointing towards the narrow path we used to get there. But, contrary to my expectations, Rathian had another plan. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you let me give you a ride? You did help me avoid some bigger troubles, Stone-born. I owe you at lest this much.¡± She said. Me and Red stared at each other surprised for a moment. And that¡¯s how I got a ride from a Wyvern that I convinced to use backflips as attacks so that we could go have a talk with a farmer. A fine day of work if I do say so myself. Chapter 66 - Farming Wyvern Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Wargon-solutions for normal problems, because WHY NOT? ANYWAY, this is the wargon-like solution I have been announcing since earlier. I hope it¡¯s crazy enough for you guys, as I thought it was the most WTF solution I could come up with and I had it in mind for quite some time. And yes, I doo think I might use that part as a new summary¡­ ALSO, tomorrow should have another chapter, probably some fight and then we should be close to the closing of the arc, which will bring us to War meeting Yuu IRL, and probably a whole Off-line arc. Have a good read! ---- I slowly stumble my way out from the wyvern¡¯s back and fall to the ground, my legs trembling slightly as I slowly managed to get used to the ground¡¯s firmness. Besides me, Red nimbly jump down and didn¡¯t even bother with waiting before walking around and seeing the scene around us. ¡°Tell me, Stone-born. What did you think of this flight?¡± Rathian asked me curious, to which I turned to her in my best serious tone and replied. ¡°Well, the wind in my face was extremely cold, your maneuvers were extremely dangerous and I almost fell down twice. And actually did fall once, even if I somehow managed to hold on to Red¡¯s arm.¡± I said while staring right at her eyes. ¡°Not only did I almost die, but even now I¡¯m barely able to stand still on the ground without fear of falling down.¡± ¡°You DO know that if you hadn¡¯t insisted on standing up on her back to copy that scene from Titanic, none of that would happen, right?¡± Red said dryly as she summoned back her pets. ¡°No matter. It was still ridiculously dangerous!¡± I said in an outrage towards her before turning back to a surprised Wyvern. ¡°So, when can we do that again?¡± I asked with my eyes shining. Rathian laughed loudly for a moment, and even Rio in my hands laughed a bit. Since she was still young, she couldn¡¯t fly as fast as her mother, so Rathian asked me to carry her a bit as she flew, since her usual spot on the mother¡¯s back was occupied by the badass golem and the annoying elf. I quickly let go of her and saw as she flew around a few times before landing on her mother¡¯s head, where she curled up happily, purring. I smiled a bit at the scene while summoning Aura and Lieutenant, both whom were far too big to come with us. Crys leapt off my shoulder and started to stretch herself a bit before going back to her idle pose, with the hands crossing off in front of her. A quick look around and I saw that I was on Loran¡¯s, the dwarf, farm. We guided Rathian to settle down on a place that didn¡¯t seem to have any crop or something of the like, or at least I hope it doesn¡¯t. Still, a Wyvern approaching a farm in broad daylight is quite a scene to see, so I could already see as a small crowd started to gather around. Even that strange clockwork turtle from earlier was here, and what looked like a small clockwork girl was pointing a rifle, much like Lila¡¯s, towards Rathian, only to be stopped by another larger one, who grabbed her by the neck and dragged her back to the turtle. ¡°What is this?¡± I heard a voice coming from besides me, only to find a troll in full plate armor mounting on what looked like a large wolf. Gazluz quickly jumped down from the wolf and asked him to stay still as he approached us. He looked confused and waryly at the wyvern and then looked confused back to me. ¡°I heard that there were sightings of a wyvern heading towards this farm, yet it¡¯s only standing around¡­ Golem. What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± He asked me once he noticed that Rathian wasn¡¯t showing any sign of hostility. ¡°Oh, good afternoon, Gazluz.¡± I greeted the troll cheerfully. ¡°Meet Rathian, she¡¯s an unknown level greater wyvern and is also the one responsible for some of the attacks on the farm.¡± I said before turning back to Rathian. ¡°Rathian, meet Gazluz, head chief of the guards in the town.¡± ¡°Greetings, health-bearer.¡± Rathian said, greeting the troll who seemed surprised. But health bearer? Does that have something to do with the troll¡¯s regeneration or something like that? Could be¡­ ¡°¡­It¡¯s a pleasure meeting you too¡­ Mister¡­¡± The troll said waryly. ¡°She¡¯s female.¡± Red interjected. ¡°Sorry then¡­ Ma¡¯am.¡± The troll fixed his wording. ¡°It doesn¡¯t bother me.¡± Rathian replied with a short nod. The troll looked surprised for a moment before nodding. ¡°Then¡­ Might I ask you what brings you back to this field?¡± Gazluz asked while putting his hands on the axe at his waist. ¡°From what the golem here said, it seems that you were the one who attacked here.¡± ¡°She actually came here to apologize.¡± I said, and saw as the troll looked confused at me. ¡°She didn¡¯t know that the cows were Loran¡¯s property. And maybe also find a way to repay him for his trouble.¡± Gazluz looked confused towards me then turned to Rathian, who nodded. ¡°It is as the Stone-born said. There¡¯s no need to be wary of me.¡± She said in a patient tone. ¡°As long as no one harms me, I shall not harm you back.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Gazluz said while relaxing a bit and taking his hand out of the axe. ¡°Forgive-me, Ma¡¯am. It¡¯s a bit difficult to keep my calm when near a mighty beast as yourself.¡± He said with a brief nod. ¡°Hmm¡­ I see.¡± Rathian said with a nod with a pensive tone. ¡°I did not take my appearance in account, so I guess I might be a bit intimidating like this, right?¡± After saying those words, she made some of that growling speech with Rio, whom nodded and flew away from her head. Only to land on mine, where se curled up in my hair and coiled her tail gently around my neck. I was caught a bit by surprise so I didn¡¯t really have much time to react before she was already purring softly while looking at her mother. A quick glance back and I saw as Red eyed me jealously, while Aura eyed Rioreia jealously. I petted Aura for a bit to calm her down before turning back to Rathian, once I saw that some light was emanating from her body. At first I was confused on what was happening, only to see as what appeared to be magic circles appearing all around her, floating in the air as it spun around her. ¡°Hmm¡­ Floating encyclopedia¡­ I could use some explanation here.¡± I told Crys, who was also looking at the scene shocked for a moment, before snapping out of it and nodding. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Humm¡­ I can¡¯t be sure since my database acess is more limited to higher level spells¡­ But that¡¯s¡­ One ridiculously powerful spell.¡± Crys said with her eyes wide open. ¡°If I take in account the amount of mana she¡¯s using¡­¡± I heard the sound of her gulping down, even when she didn¡¯t have a throat. ¡°She must be level¡­ three hundred, three fifty¡­ At the very least¡­¡± Now it was my, Red¡¯s and Gazluz¡¯s time to gulp in worry. And to think that I seriously considered getting into a fight with her? I¡¯m so bleeping glad that I didn¡¯t pick a fight with her. Seriously, if she even as scratched me I would end up as nothing more than a bloody pulp on the ground. As we watched the scene, the glow around her grew even stronger, leaving us almost blind for a moment before settling down. But once it was gone, there wasn¡¯t a huge wyvern in front of us, but a person I had never seen before. A woman, in her late twenty¡¯s, with pale white skin and a dull, yet beautiful green hair that fell all the way down to her waist. She wore a gorgeous green dress that left almost all of her upper back open, covering only the front until it reached the waist, where it joined to the back-side forming a long skirt. Then, there were her arms. They had a perfectly human shape, but they were covered in dull green scales and ended in a pair of claws. Between her arm and her body was a leathery membrane of similar color. She looked much similar to an Harpy, except that she was more of a Wyvern than bird. ¡°I¡­ Wasn¡¯t expecting that¡­¡± I said to Red and Gazluz, both whom nodded in response. ¡°I told you that mom was strong!¡± Rio said cheerfully in my head. ¡°One day, I¡¯ll be just as good as mommy!¡± I smiled a bit at the cheerful young wyvern while I extended my hand to her and petted her head a little. She purred a bit more before I turned my hand back to Aura, who was once again getting jealous. ¡°So, is this form better?¡± Rathian asked as she approached us, her voice no longer sounding disembodied, but clearly coming from her. She was tall for a woman, but even then she was about eye-level with me, so I didn¡¯t need to look down to talk to her. ¡°Well, it does make it easier to talk with you without worrying that you might bite my head off if I misspeak a word.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯m not really a fan of rocks, so there was no need to worry about that.¡± She said with a smile, to which I nodded. ¡°You could blast him with a fire ball or something. Also works.¡± Red added. ¡°Or claw him, I heard wyvern¡¯s claws are pretty sharp.¡± Gazluz added. ¡°Or do a backflip, for the sheer irony.¡± I added with a nod. ¡°Backflip?¡± Gazluz asked confused. ¡°Long story.¡± I said briefly before turning back to Rathian, who seemed to be watching us with some amusement. ¡°So¡­ I didn¡¯t know that Wyverns could do that.¡± I said with a raised eyebrow, but she shook her head. ¡°Only greater dragons can use that spell. Lesser and normal dragons are unable to do that.¡± She replied with a brief sigh. ¡°And even then, this spell feels extremely restricting, as it is a foreign body for us, so there aren¡¯t many that use it constantly.¡± She said as she looked at herself. ¡°This is a first for myself too. Still, nod as bad as they make it be.¡± ¡°Let me guess¡­ The draconids come from that?¡± I discretely asked Crys, who nodded lightly. I smiled a bit awkwardly before turning back to Rathian. ¡°And, why exactly would you have a spell like that?¡± I asked confused. ¡°I mean, you are normally strong and all, and from what you said, you get weaker with this spell¡­ It doesn¡¯t make much sense to me.¡± I said a bit confused, and saw as Rathian smiled lightly. ¡°That¡¯s actually a spell that the scale-father came up with.¡± She said. ¡°It was made so that we could relate more easily with your kind without our intimidating appearance.¡± ¡°Scale-father?¡± I asked confused. ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, your kind calls him the dragon-god.¡± ¡°Dragon god?¡± Gazluz asked surprised. ¡°I thought he was a myth.¡± The troll said with a frown. ¡°No. The Scale-father is as real as your own gods.¡± Rathian said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ve met him once myself. Even if only for a brief moment.¡± At her words, the troll widened his eyes in surprise. ¡°Dragon god?¡± Red asked me confused. I simply shrugged as I also had no idea. But Rathian noticed our small exchange and turned to us. ¡°The dragon god is the one known to be the first dragon, and is also the first one of our species.¡± She told us in a slow manner. ¡°He is also so powerful that he ranks just below the elemental gods.¡± ¡°Like Arkhoss?¡± I asked and saw as Rathian nodded. ¡°I see¡­¡± I said with a nod and quickly reminded myself of something. From what I see, Rathian is fairly knowledgeable about this, so maybe¡­ ¡°Hey, Rathian¡­ Does the four gods of disaster rings a bell for you?¡± I asked, and saw as the wyvern frowned slightly. ¡°I¡¯m not very sure¡­¡± The wyvern said with a frown. ¡°Do you have something else about them?¡± She asked and I nodded. ¡°Yeah, I have their names. They were¡­¡± I quickly opened the quest window and read their names. ¡°Alsh-tahar, Baltamur, Razzasahks or Ultgor¡­¡± I said a bit worried if I was speaking their names correctly. Red and Gazluz frowned confused at the names, but Rathian¡¯s eyes widened as she nodded. ¡°Yes. The first one, it¡¯s familiar.¡± She said with a nod. ¡°It seems that Daltarus, one of the first sons of the scale father once ran into it and they had a fight.¡± She said after thinking for a moment. ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t remember much from their story, but it seems that it was a fierce fight that had no clear winner.¡± My eyes widened at her words, since it was actually the first true clue I had about one of the four gods. Goulder¡¯s research still hadn¡¯t bore any real fruits ever since he started and most other people didn¡¯t even know about the story. I could, of course, ask Wallace about it, but I would feel that I was cheating if I were to do that, so I never did. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Where was their fight, do you know?¡± I asked the wyvern and saw as she widened her eyes briefly. ¡°Why do you ask, stone-born?¡± She asked me curious. ¡°He¡¯s such a dangerous foe that even a god¡¯s son would think twice before attacking him...¡± ¡°I plan on one day fighting against that guy, so I need to gather some information about him if possible.¡± I told her. She eyed me for some time and smirked slightly for a moment before nodding. ¡°I heard that it was on a desert far away from this land.¡± She said with a nod. ¡°That¡¯s the most I can remember. Do you still plan on going there?¡± ¡°Yeah. I do. Heck, in a few days I plan on going to a desert anyway, so chances are I¡¯m going to get a look at it earlier than what I expect.¡± I said with a shrug and saw as the wyvern nodded. Satisfied with my answers for now, I spoke another doubt that I earned during our last talk. ¡°You keep saying greater dragons, dragon god and so on¡­ I thought you were a Wyvern?¡± I said confused and she nodded. ¡°Dragon is just the general term for our kind.¡± She said in a teaching tone. ¡°Wyvern, Wyrm and Drakes are mostly used to divide us according to our physical characteristics and specialties.¡± I nodded in accordance. So, it¡¯s more like the difference between dog races than comparing a dog to a fox then? As I wondered about that, I saw as a dwarf, a barbarian and a fairy approached us from afar. The dwarf seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, while the other two were approaching a bit more slowly. The dwarf stopped close to us and looked around confused for a moment, in his hand was an iron pitchfork that he held in a slightly threatening manner as he looked around. He was wearing the same farming clothes as earlier, straw hat included. ¡°Where¡¯s de wyvern?¡± Loran asked confused as he looked around. He briefly eyed Rio in my head but shook his head. ¡°That would be me.¡± Rathian said while lightly raising her hand. ¡°I figured ya¡¯d be bigga¡­¡± The dwarf said with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Then, wat brings ya ¡®ere?¡± he asked while putting the pitchfork on the ground and supported his weight against it. ¡°I came here to amend for my mistakes, Son-of-the-forge.¡± She said to the dwarf, who raised his eyebrows slightly. ¡°I made the mistake of taking some of your animals, and now I came here to repay you for those mistakes.¡± ¡°So, ya are the culprit den?¡± The dwarf asked with a raised eyebrow and Rathian nodded. ¡°Den, how do ya expect to pay me?¡± he asked directly. I blinked surprise as I didn¡¯t expect the guy to be so direct with Rathian. After all, we told him that it was a massive wyvern that he was talking to, yet he acted as if he didn¡¯t give a damn. I was half expecting him to simply start badmouthing Rathian for stealing his animals. ¡°That¡¯s what I planned to see here.¡± Rathian said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what your kind use for trades like these.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The dwarf said with a nod while looking back to the field. As he did that, my father and pea approached us. ¡°So¡­ What did I miss here?¡± He asked confused. ¡°Where¡¯s the huge dragon and why is there a small dragon on your head?¡± I smiled a bit awkwardly and started to explain him the situation with some help from Red. He heard everything patiently while Pea looked curious at Rio, who looked back at her. Once we were done, my father nodded satisfied and nodded briefly before turning to me and asking. ¡°Then, what about the other one?¡± He asked me, and I looked back at him confused. ¡°I mean, she¡¯s a dragon, doesn¡¯t that means that she flies and doesn¡¯t need to break the fence?¡± I widened my eyes at his words before slapping my forehead. I had completely forgotten about that. Deciding to go back to examination after some time, I sighed loudly while turning back to Rathian and Loran, who were discussing something. ¡°Gold? Is that the yellow metal? I do have some back at my old cave, but I¡¯d rather not use it. I quite like it, to tell the truth.¡± She said to him, which made the dwarf frown slightly. ¡°What about I bring you a beast from the forest? Wouldn¡¯t that be the same?¡± ¡°Nah. Hunters do dat everyday.¡± The dwarf replied while shaking his head. ¡°Dat, and you had to think of de effort needed to take care of a growing animal.¡± ¡°Is it that hard?¡± Rathian asked doubtful, and Loran nodded. ¡°Dey get sick, dey try to run ¡®way, dey need to breed, dey need to be fed¡­ Tis a lot more trouble than wat ya may think.¡± Loran said while shrugging. ¡°Huntin beasts ya just go, kill, and den tis done. Not de same.¡± ¡°I see, I never thought about it.¡± Rathian said while shaking her head. So, basically, even though Rathian have gold at her home, she didn¡¯t really want to use it as payment, probably due to the fact of dragons liking to hoard gold also applies to her. But the way she planned to repay Loran didn¡¯t really appease the dwarf, who thought that the effort applied to hunting wasn¡¯t the same as the one applied to raising an animal. Thinking a bit about it, I had an idea about how to solve their problem, but before I could tell them that, I had another idea that sounded a bit funnier, so I started it as a joke. ¡°Then, why don¡¯t you work here?¡± I asked Rathian and felt as everyone else froze, looking at me confused for a moment. ¡°I mean, have her work here on the farm until she gets enough to pay you back. You get some extra production and Rathian gets to know a bit more about our culture.¡± I said cheerfully. And as I waited for the comeback from either the dwarf or the wyvern, I saw as Rathian slowly nodded. ¡°That¡­ Could work.¡± ¡­ What? I stopped and looked at the two, who were both nodding with the idea. With a look back at Red and Wulf, I saw as the two were holding themselves to not face-palm at what was happening. ¡°Hmm¡­ Let me see, three cows and two pigs¡­¡± The dwarf said while frowning a bit. ¡°I¡¯d say about eleven gold coins worth of job.¡± He nodded after that. ¡°I see. How long would it take for tme to reach such value?¡± She asked the dwarf seriously. ¡°Not sure¡­ Hard to tell¡­¡± He said with a frown then looking back at his farm. ¡°Ya, I have an idea.¡± He said turning back to Rathian. ¡°I ¡®ave some unused field by dere. I¡¯ll teach ya how to farm, and then you give me ya crops.¡± He said with a nod. I blinked surprised as I looked at the scene, and only snapped out of it when I felt Red¡¯s hand resting on my shoulders. ¡°War¡­ What did you just do?¡± She asked me while holding her face with her hand. ¡°Hmm, what do you mean?¡± I asked and saw as she took a deep breath. ¡°War¡­ You just made one of the strongest monsters ever seen by any players in the whole game take on farming.¡± She said with a slightly annoyed expression. ¡°You made a DRAGON, by the love of god, YOU JUST MADE A DRAGON A FREAKING FARMER!¡± She almost shouted that at my face. ¡°Sooo¡­?¡± I said with a fake confusion. ¡°THAT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE! HOW THE HELL DOES SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENS?¡± She shouted at me. ¡°What are you doing with the common sense?¡± ¡°Common sense?¡± I asked her, holding back my laughter. ¡°Cygnasdammit Red. I¡¯m a crafting addicted moving pile of rocks that hunts monsters tens of level above me just so I can wear their skin and wield their bones as weapons! I managed to convince a martial artist to call me master even when I know next to nothing about martial arts just by using a bit of poor acting. The skin I have on my back is the pelt from one of my first friends in here. Said friend who is now one of my pet ice-fox of ultimate fluffiness, together with a medal addicted military cat that outranks most of a city¡¯s worth of soldiers, and some floating pink-crystal doll that wears maid costume and knows more about this world than I could ever hope for.¡± I said while pointing at each one individually. ¡°And I¡¯m pretty sure I have many other weird things to add there and just can¡¯t remember right now. I¡¯m not sure if you noticed it, but common sense doesn¡¯t apply to a ten meters radius around me, you know?¡± Geez, that pretty much summed up my experience in here. I guess that if this was a story on a fanfiction site, I could use it as the summary. WAIT A MINUTE¡­ I shook my head to get my attention back to the wyvern and dwarf who looked at me curious for a moment. I took some deep breathing for a moment before speaking again. ¡°Anyway, I think you can take out half of her debt.¡± I said to the dwarf, who raised an eyebrow confused. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure only half of the attacks were her fault, the others were something else.¡± I told him while pointing towards the fence. He widened his eyes and nodded. ¡°Den, five gold coins.¡± The dwarf said with a nod before turning back to me. ¡°So, who¡¯s the other one?¡± He asked me and I sighed a bit. ¡°I¡¯m still not sure.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll go back to searching around for a culprit.¡± I told him before turning back to Rathian. ¡°Then, I guess that you will stay here and learn how to farm?¡± I asked the wyvern and she nodded. I took some time to get used to the idea of a wyvern farming, since it was a bit too much even for me, before turning back to the gate and preparing to leave. But before I could do that, Rathian called me back. ¡°Stone-born. Can I ask you for one last favor?¡± She asked me, to which I turned to her confused. ¡°From the little I know about farming, it will probably take some time for me to repay the Son-of-the-forge, yet I was in the middle of my travels with my daughter.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°¡­You want me to take Rioreia with me on my travels.¡± I said with a slightly weary tone. Said wyvern looked up from the place where she was playing with Pea and looked at me, then at her mother. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s also a good idea to have her following you around since she can lear a little more about your culture than what I do¡­ Which can help her avoid some problems like the one I just got myself into.¡± The wyvern said. ¡°Then leave her with Red. She¡¯s probably much better for that teaching job than me.¡± I said while pointing at the elf behind me. ¡°And a lot more normal too.¡± She added discretely and I nodded. ¡°Do I have to go, mom?¡± Rio asked while flying close to her and staring at her mother. ¡°Yes, dear.¡± Her mother nodded as she held her and hugged her daughter. ¡°You have to see more of the world than our old cave. And it seems that you liked the stone-born, so who¡¯s better than him to show you around while mommy¡¯s working here.?¡± She said and the little wyvern looked at her for some time before nodding. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll go with stone-man then.¡± She said while flying away from mother and getting to me, landing on my head like before. ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you, Stone-born.¡± Rathian said with a smile. I opened my mouth to complain, but her eyes became a bit scary. ¡°And even if I¡¯m not too bothered about her getting a few scratches, I hope nothing too bad happens to her, okay?¡± Scratch the bit scary, I¡¯m staring at a murder here!
HEROIC QUEST: How to raise your Wyvern
Rathian, the Greater wyvern is pleased with your actions and decided to trust her daughter, Rioreia, to you while you travel around the world. But should anything dangerous happen to her daughter, you might evoke her anger. (You can¡¯t refuse this quest) (Rioreia must not die) (Quest reward undefined.)
Rewards: ???????
¡­ Well, at least I got a quest. ¡°By the way, Midway through the scene, Gazluz said that he couldn¡¯t take it anymore and went to the city to have a drink. Your father went with him and said that he is entrusting your sister to you until you get back.¡± Red added. Once more, I sighed as I walked away. Chapter 67 - The other culprit Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! I¡¯M FINE, JUST REALLY LATE! ANYWAY, as some of you might have noticed, I¡¯m a bit late with the update this time. But it was actually only because I had to help a friend with configuring something on his computer. I May make a SS update today, but I make no promise. ALSO, I find it kind of funny how sometimes I¡¯m reading comments on other FF, and see people using cookies as bargaining chips, which kind of make me feel that I may be spreading this custom around the site. Probably it¡¯s just me getting precipitated. ALSO(2), With this, we are pretty close to finishing the arc, and then we get to see Yuu again! Hooray! Have a good read! -----
You have earned a new NPC companion: Rioreia, lvl 30 Greater wyvern. NPC companions will accompany you around, but may not necessarily follow your orders. They are independent from you and may leave you whenever they wish, but different from pets their deaths are permanent.
Rioreia is a young and playful greater wyvern. She¡¯s still too young to use most of their magic, but her species natural toughness still makes her more than capable of surviving fairly harsh environments.
I looked at the words in the window and sighed briefly, not sure on how to react to them. Then I turned to my side, where I saw as Rio and Pea playing together, with one chasing the other around, then suddenly reversing their task for apparently no reason whatsoever. Well, the two are kids, and since Pea seems fairly quiet with her new friend, I won¡¯t try to stop her from playing around. Sighing loudly, I walked back to Red, who had her wolf sniffing around in search for the smell of the other culprit, as his senses were in fact a bit better than Aura¡¯s, whom I had left guarding the two flying dragons. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I simply sighed while shrugging. ¡°So, do we have anything besides the smell?¡± She asked me and I nodded. ¡°Yeah. We know it¡¯s a salamander, so it certainly didn¡¯t fly away.¡± I replied. ¡°You seem oddly confident of that¡­¡± She said while frowning slightly. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m ninety nine percent certain of that.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Remember what Olaf said about the salamanders?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ They live on the other side of the mountain and are the strongest predator around.¡± She said briefly and I nodded. ¡°And do you remember what Rathian said about the cave?¡± I made her another question. ¡°Hmm?¡± She said with a frown. ¡°She said she found it and started using¡­ Oh¡­ I see¡­¡± She said with a nod. ¡°Yeah¡­ I think that was a Salamander¡¯s cave, since it was on the others side of the mountain. But once Rathian took it over, the beast came down to this side using the same path we took to go up there and started attacking the livestock.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± She nodded . ¡°It does make sense, I guess¡­¡± She said with a shrug and turned to her wolf, who looked towards a direction that seemed oddly familiar to me. ¡°Isn¡¯t that where you were looking around earlier?¡± She asked me dryly. ¡°I guess¡­?¡± I said with a raised eyebrow and she sighed before following the wolf. ¡°Pea, Rio, let¡¯s go.¡± I said to the two, who looked to me and nodded quickly before flying in our direction. Aura ran right behind them with Lieutenant on her back. I followed them while Crys floated besides me with a playful aura around her. It seemed that she also liked the girls. Walking besides her I saw both Pea and Rio playing around while running behind Red. Taking this chance, I turned towards the crystal elemental and asked her. ¡°So, any idea of the salamander''s level?¡± I asked her, and watched as she blinked in surprise for a moment before frowning. ¡°Hmm, if I think about the area''s general level and the strength of the salamanders in general¡­¡± She said with a frown. ¡°I¡¯d say around level thirty two or something¡­¡± ¡°So weak¡­¡± I said with a frown. Crys giggled a bit with this, but didn¡¯t do anything else. Following behind Red, who was already quite a fair distance ahead, we sped up and soon were walking side by side. As we walked, I glanced back at the farm, where I could see Rathian, back in her larger form doing something. Since it was quite a fair distance I couldn¡¯t define what it was, so I turned back to our search. Following the wolf, we quickly reached the area I was at back when Red called me about the path upwards. And right besides that point, hidden behind a small rock outcropping, was a cave with some clear claws marks and scorched areas. Red turned to me with an accusing look and I rebutted with the fact that she had called me right when I was about to reach that place. Taking a deep sigh to prepare myself, I started by leaving the party I had with Red, Wulf and Pea so that I could go back to realistic mode, since I had set it to change to normal temporarily while I invited them to my party, because they were all in normal mode. As soon as I was done, I took out my sword from my backsheathe and readied it by holding it horizontally to my right. Taking a quick peep into inside the cave, I saw many small lizards, not much bigger than Aura¡¯s passive pet body, laying around on the ground. I was surprised, since I had half expected for it to be only a single large monster, but it seems that I was wrong. I turned back to Red, and asked. ¡°So, do you want to split the monsters?¡± ¡°Can do.¡± She said with a nod while giving her pets a stay order. ¡°I take the next set then.¡± I nodded to her and then turned to Pea and Rio, who were looking at the cave curiously. ¡°You two, stay behind and let Red and I take care of it.¡± I told them and noticed when they frowned slightly. ¡°I want to play too!¡± My sister complained. ¡°And I can fight too!¡± Rio complained. ¡°I¡¯m even stronger than you!¡± ¡°Pea, the enemies are way stronger than you. You would probably lose before you even got close to them.¡± I told the small fairy, causing her to sulk. ¡°And Rio, Lieutenant, Aura and I already have our own way of fighting together, so it may be better for you to watch us for now and later we let you come in, since you may end up making it harder for us, okay?¡± I told her and saw as she sulked for a moment, but eventually nodded. I smiled a bit awkwardly while I petted her. ¡°Then, if any of the salamanders escape us, I¡¯m counting on you to protect Pea, okay?¡± These words seemed to please her, because she widened her eyes for a moment before nodding proudly and flying close to the sulking fairy. Smiling a bit at the scene, I turned back to Aura and Lieutenant and saw that the fox was already channeling her armor skill. I waited a bit until she changed into her magic enhancing water armor. As soon as she was ready, she and Lieutenant stood side-by-side and nodded to me, so I stepped inside the cave and targeted the closest lizards, making a window pop up above its head.
Fire-belcher broodling [lvl 29] (aggressive)
HP: 400/400 -Spew-fire -Horde call
I frowned a bit at the sight of the monsters. For their level, they had low health, but the fact that they fight as a group, helps even that out. Preparing myself, I cast unstoppable charge on myself, the derivative version of tactical charge, and used the first form of fang-strike, which consisted of a downward vertical slash during which I use my whole body as a lever, followed by a forward stab that deals less damage but ignores armor. The only problem of these skill is that they cost fifty energy each. So after landing the whole attack, I used a simple slash, which is the basic two-handed skill before rolling away. -82 -45 -55 Combo! (x1,1) -200 (200/400) Right after I finished my roll away, leaving the lizards shocked since two of them just got attacked and one even lost half of its health, I opened up a space for Lieutenant and Aura to do their job. Aura froze the ground, leaving the salamanders locked in place while Lieutenant charged ahead with his two daggers whose blades were covered in a sharp ice, and landed a couple of strikes on the lizard I left half killed. The moment when the lizards finally recovered from their surprise, they turned towards the cat so to attack and made a strange movement with their mouths, almost as if they were gulping food, except in reverse, and spat a fireball at the cat. Literally, they spat it. It flew in an arc and almost landed on him, but Lieutenant quickly darted away just in time, throwing a freezing dagger at one of the closer fireballs that threatened to hit him. -13 -1 -12-1 -11-1 -13-1 -12-1 -66 (134/400) Barely after the cat moved away, the lizard was pierced right through the belly by an ice spike that came up from the ground. -110 (Fatal) (24/400) Soon after the damage landed on the small guy, the ice freezing him in place broke and it tried to run away deeper into the cave, but before he could get away, I charged at it and landed a vertical slash, finishing it. -48 (0/400) The other salamanders seemed to get angry with that, since they started to spew fire at me from afar, but¡­ -9 -8 -10 -8 -9 -44 (906/950) Well, my basic defense plus the fire resistance from my armor pretty much set the damage to a minimum. Even when I am in realistic mode, the damage is so minimal that I barely feel it. Of course, if I were to take a physical attack instead, chances are that I would take a lot more damage, both in numbers and in actual damage to my body, so it would be better to not grow complacent. Contrary to what I thought, taking care of low level hordes is a lot more problematic than taking on a single stronger monsters when in realistic mode, because even if they inflict little damage to you, they can break a bone or otherwise cripple you which makes surviving a lot harder. I charged through their fire spits so that I could reach the group and landed a simple sweeping strike, hitting all of them at the same time and making the sword¡¯s conversion ability sky-rocket, reaching the full stack. With a quick nod to Aura and Lieutenant, the two jumped back as I activated the blade¡¯s skill, Shatter earth. This skill was one taken directly from Doggy. With the sword fully charged into damage mode, I use all that charge into a single attack, where I put the blade behind and to my right, cleaving through the floor, ending with my sword pointing towards the sky. But if this was all, it wouldn¡¯t mean much. While it shreds the earth, it fragments it into many small stones which fly forward in a storm of shrapnel. Sadly it doesn¡¯t ignore armor like the one from the boss, but at least it¡¯s a good AoE attack, dealing around sixty damage to all the monsters in range. But the cool down is ridiculously long, ranging around two minutes, during which, half of that time I get stuck with the defensive sword. Quickly finishing up the other salamanders with the help from Aura and Lieutenant, there was one single salamander that ¡°somehow¡± managed to escape towards the cave entrance, where Rio immediately took action by swooping in and clawing it. I gave her some praise, which seemed to please her as she stood up proudly. I followed close to her since the next mob-pack was Red¡¯s, and it was a good time to recover from the slight scorch damage I had on my unprotected arm and face, as well as the light scratch on my leg, which could come back to bite me later. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Red aimed at the other group, deeper down in the cave, and sent her pets to attack them, hounding them up in a single line before starting to bombard them with simple but continuous arrow shots. She didn¡¯t really have all that many flashy attacks like me, but with her pets making sure that the monsters couldn¡¯t get close to her, she was more than capable of sniping them easily from afar, making sure to pick them out one by one. While she made sure to loot all of their bodies, I gathered the ones that I had killed into a corner of the cave so that I could skin them later after we cleared this cave. I am quite intrigued with their saliva, since it seems to be what they use to create the fireballs. A fact proven by the frozen mucus that Lieutenant stopped with his knife. After that group, we each killed one more pack which made Red turn to me with a slight frown. ¡°Isn¡¯t that sword really overpowered? You deal so much damage with it.¡± She said confused and I smiled awkwardly at her words. ¡°Not that much. This is more due to the fact that I¡¯m in realistic mode.¡± I told her. ¡°I thought that made the game harder instead of easier?¡± She asked confused and I shook my head. ¡°Instead of harder, I¡¯d say more complex.¡± I told her while scratching my head. ¡°You see, just like I take extra damage from certain attacks as well as taking extra status debuffs, I also deal extra damage when certain conditions are met. In this case, the weight of my sword deals extra damage because I cleave them with my slashes. But if I were to go against bigger monsters I wouldn¡¯t get that bonus. Also, bigger weapons makes it harder to target weak spots on bigger monsters, so less fatal strikes for me.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± She said while nodding and then looking at my leg, where there was a fairly deep cut. ¡°And that¡¯s the damage you took when they land a hit on you?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯s still stinging even now.¡± I said with a wry smile and she nodded slowly. ¡°Also, the heavy sword makes it harder to perform longer combos for bonus damage¡­¡± I added at the end. As we walked a bit more, we finally reached the deepest part of the cavern. It was a larger opening where we could see some remaining bones from the cows and some smaller ones that were probably the pigs. In the middle of the cave was a single stone pillar that supported it, and right behind the pillar was a large salamander that was almost two meters long and vivid red scales. When we were fighting the other salamanders earlier, I found their heads to be a bit big, but this one took it to another level, with its heads being almost as wide as the body and some saliva dripping from the corners of its mouth, which would burn the moment it came in contact to the ground. It seemed to be sleeping between some eggs, probably some salamanders eggs. I turned towards Lieutenant and Aura, looking at them for some time. They seemed to sigh briefly before nodding and taking a step back. Red raised an eyebrow intrigued by this. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking the big one alone. It¡¯s what I usually do. When I find a strong enemy for the first time.¡± I told her and saw as she sighed loudly and sat behind. ¡°Booh is going to beat big lizard alone?¡± Pea asked me confused. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m going to fight it alone.¡± I told her, and saw as she widened her eyes surprised. ¡°No! Big lizard is dangerous! I will help Booh!¡± She said worriedly, but I simply sighed while petting her head with a finger. ¡°Look, Booh is very strong, so no need to worry, okay?¡± I told her and saw as she nodded weakly. I turned back to the salamander, seeing the nameplate appear above it and sighing.
Fire-belcher broodmother [lvl 34] (aggressive)
HP: 1200/1200 -Spew-fire -Fire-lash
This was at most a named enemy, not even considered a boss or something of the kind. Which is a bit disheartening since I was half-expecting a boss-fight here. Oh well, at least I can get some new materials for myself. I quickly checked my throwing knives on my bandolier and my flash bombs, just to be sure. Since the monster was sleeping, I could take my time to land a strong blow on him¡­ Rather, her, since it¡¯s broodMOTHER, I guess¡­ I started by standing right in front of it, sword in hands as I cast unstoppable charge on myself and aimed at its head with my sword, so that I could land a fatal strike right away. With that, I started using fang-strike first form, which hit the salamander, causing it to wake up with a cry of agony as the big numbers came up. But, as I have said some time before, there¡¯s a small trick to these martial-arts based skill that doesn¡¯t apply to normal skills. With forty energy left, I immediately cast talon strike, second form on the salamander. Taking off from the stab-hit from the fang strike, I pulled out the blade from the monsters before taking a step forward while spinning and making a tilted slash that hit both of its legs at once. -132 (Fatal) -84 (Fatal) -42 (snare) Combo! (x1.1) -283 (917/1200) The first to hits being in the same place, the unprotected head, led the salamander to take twice the damage, just like a critical strike. The third hit, however, dealt a lot less damage for landing on the legs, which weren''t vital parts, dealt only a fraction of the original damage, however it also applied a slow on her. Now, if I still had some third form strike, I could combo it into my attacks. Basically, I can combo a second form after a first form for half of the energy, and from what I guess, that also happens with the third forms. I¡¯m still not sure, however, since talon strike is the only one I have at least on the second form. Anyway, this exchange did wake up the monster, so she started by turning around and making a bulge on her jaw before spitting a huge ball of fire in my direction. I barely managed to roll away with my remaining energy but the splat from the saliva managed to stick to my leg. It didn¡¯t actually start burning, but it didn¡¯t let go even after I shook it away. I didn¡¯t exactly have the chance to try and take it out, since the salamander immediately ran at my direction and tried to head-butt me. I managed to use the large blade to somewhat divert the impact, but I was still thrown backwards and took some impact that left my arm stinging. -22 (928/950) I quickly recovered from the impact and jumped aside to avoid another attack from the salamander, at the same time doing a downward slice that hit its tail, followed by a sideways slice that I then used the inertia to follow right behind my swing and not stay in the same place for too long. -39 -83 (Critical) (bleed) -8 -130 (787/1200) I smiled at that as I ran back to avoid a claw that came at me. Sadly, I couldn¡¯t quite land the attacks on a weaker part, but at least I managed to land a critical strike, and since my weapon is a cutting one, it have the chance to add the extra bleeding damage. Piercing weapons and blunt weapons also have their own effects, piercing having the chance to deal damage based on the enemies¡¯ armor and blunt weapons have an extra chance to deal a more powerful status effect, like broken bones and so on. The salamander growled angrily at me before trying to jump at me with its short legs. I rolled away and turned just in time to land a vertical slash that landed on its tail. -29 (758/1200) -8 (750/1200) Dammit, so the tail doesn¡¯t take that much damage, huh? I sighed annoyed for that, and lost focus for a moment. A single moment that the salamander took to twist its body enough so that it could bit its tail, leaving it covered in a slimy substance that ignited the moment it came in contact with the air. Being caught by surprise, I didn¡¯t manage to run away when it lashed the tail at me, hitting me in the chest, knocking all of my air out and throwing me against the wall. -106(critical) (Crushed) (822/950) I cringed in pain as I tried to move away from the area before another attack came. And crushed? What¡¯s that? Maybe it¡¯s similar to th¡­ ¡°Booh!¡± Pea shouted loudly as she started to release hundred of different light-balls in the direction of the salamander. This caught Rio by surprise, and so she also started spewing fireballs everywhere in the cave. ¡°Wait! Stop! You two!¡± I yelled, but sadly, the damage was already done by then. Some peebles fell on my head and on the salamander''s. I looked upwards and saw that with all the spells running amok on the ground, the cave''s ceiling started to get many cracks running through it. I didn¡¯t need to be a genius to know what was happening. ¡°Rioreia! Take Pea away from the cave! Quick!¡± I shouted at her, and saw as she stared at me surprised for a moment before nodding and passing beneath pea and making her sit on her back before turning away and darting out of the cave. A quick look at Lieutenant and Aura showed the two preparing to run away, a soft white mist enveloping them. Red had already started to run away by then, so I started to run behind them while I felt the mist from Aura also enveloping itself around me. But moving was hard, even more when the bleeping lizard slammed into me, trying to attack me and taking a good chunk of my health. -43 (779/950) Lieutenant and Aura turned back to try and help me, but I send them away with a quick look as I kicked the salamander away from me and took one of the flash-bombs I still had with me, blowing it right in its face. The salamander jumped backwards in surprise, which I took the chance to throw a freezing knife on its feet, freezing it to the ground. I quickly turned back and tried running away, but every time I moved, I felt a sharp pain on the right side of my chest, almost as if I had a broken bone, so the most I managed to move was at the pace of fast walking. Thankfully, Aura managed to freeze the ceiling for a moment as she passed, giving me some extra time to walk through the cave that threatened to fall on me. As I walked past the bodies of the salamanders that I killed earlier, I felt as pain covered my heart at the lost materials. I got out the cave with around ten seconds ahead of the collapse and fell face-first into the ground as slowly got used to the pain in my chest. Pea and Rio looked at me worried for a moment, but before I could do anything, a message popped in front of me.
QUEST: Livestock disappearance.
Not only you found out what was hunting the livestock, but you also managed to find Loran a new worker, satisfy a Greater wyvern with your methods and end the other offender with incredible speed. Olaf and Loran will be glad to hear the news, so talk with them to receive your rewards.
Rewards: Talk to Loran or Olaf
I saw the window and sighed loudly, just like when I dinged level twenty nine, probably due to the death of the salamander. Still, I got up slowly when I felt that the pain wasn¡¯t all that bad anymore and turned to the two young dragons, who were looking at me worriedly. I smiled at them, but they only cowered at that, trying to shrink their bodies even more. ¡°Geez, I didn¡¯t expect to see the general so soon again.¡± Red commented between breaths. "Now... Booh is going to teach you two about being careful when attacking." I said to the two, who were barely managing to stand still by then. chapter 68 - Scolding Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Finishing an arc and preparing for the next one! With 100% more Yuu! ANYWAY, with this we bring the Wyvern arc to an end, and prepare ourself for what I shall call the second meeting arc! Where we get too see the girls in real life and how Gon¡­ I mean, Richard get¡¯s to fool around with the two! Hooray! ALSO, since I finished the arc, I¡¯ll be going back to Reinstall tomorrow, so don¡¯t say you haven¡¯t been warned. Have a good read! ----- We made our way back to the farm slowly, the two dragons following close behind me as I walked with my arms crossed. Every so often I would give the two a glance just to be sure that they weren¡¯t going to run away the first chance they got. But then, I¡¯m pretty sure that they are far too scared to even think about that. Just like last time, Lieutenant became some kind of fan boy, with shining eyes and manly tears slowly running on his cheeks. From the looks of it, he was the only one who actually liked my general mode, and always became emotional when I did it. Actually¡­ Scratch that. Aura also seems to really enjoy it, since I end up releasing my pent up frustration on a petting session, so she ends up getting the good side of my outrage. And if I had any doubts at all, her wagging tails more than worked to prove it. We quickly reached the farm after some time, only to find Rathian as she took some pointers from Loran while holding a hoe in her hands. For some reason the whole ground around her was a mess of holes and dirt piles, so I guess that was the cause of the dwarf¡¯s frown. ¡°Lad! Yer back.¡± The dwarf sighed loudly. ¡°Find anythin¡¯?¡± ¡°Yeah, that and already finished the job.¡± I said while pointing back to the cave. ¡°At the cost of a cave-in, thanks to certain two dragons.¡± I gave a quick glance at the two dragons, who cuddled with each other afraid. ¡°There was a salamander that ran away when Rathian took over its cave and ended up coming here together with its brood, settling in a nearby cave.¡± ¡°A cave-in?¡± Rathian asked and I nodded angrily while looking at Rio and Pea. Rio became unable to hold in by then and teared up while flying to Rathian¡¯s direction, who held her surprised for a moment. ¡°Mom! Stone-man is scary! I don¡¯t want to go with him anymore!¡± Rio said while crying in her arms. This made Rathian widen her eyes for a moment before turning to me angrily. ¡°What did you do to my daughter?¡± She asked me with fury dripping in every word. ¡°If you did anyth¡­¡± ¡°Shut the beep up.¡± I replied coldly, interrupting her. She blinked surprised and tried to go back to her words, but I didn¡¯t let her. ¡°Look here. You can be the strongest monster I¡¯ll even find in my whole life as an adventurer. But you know what? I don¡¯t care.¡± I took a step in her direction and saw as she took one back surprised. ¡°You gave me your daughter to raise which will be a huge bother to do, but I don¡¯t mind doing it. But that also means that I get to raise her the way I see fit.¡± ¡°Wha¡­¡± She tried to interrupt me, but I didn¡¯t let her. ¡°Look, your daughter and my sister there almost buried all of us alive, simply because they didn¡¯t follow a very simple direction.¡± I said while pointing back to Pea, who was hiding behind Aura. ¡°And you know what that means? That means that I have every right in my life to scold and punish her.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°NO FREAKING BUTS!¡± I said while pointing my finger towards her. ¡°If she wants to play around, fine. If she wants to help, even better. But if I tell her to not do something, and she does exactly it, then I will scold her, because there are things that can and things that can¡¯t be done.¡± I turned to Rio who curled up even more under my gaze. ¡°I¡¯m not the most responsible person in the world, and I know it. Heck! The opposite even! I¡¯m completely irresponsible. But I will at the very least make sure that she doesn¡¯t end up like me. Even if that means that I have to become the evil guy in the story by making them atone for their wrongdoings.¡± ¡°But¡­ You made us dig¡­¡± Rio tried to interject, and I simply nodded. ¡°Yes, even if it means making the two of you dig through the rubble to recover some of the salamanders I had separated.¡± I said angrily to her. ¡°It may look a bit mean, tyrannical or whatever. But I don¡¯t care, as long as you learn your lesson.¡± I turned back to Rathian. ¡°And I hope you understood that, because I don¡¯t plan on changing my mind nor apologizing.¡± ¡°Err¡­ O¡­ Okay¡­¡± She said shocked. I nodded at her words and took a deep sigh before turning to my pets, who looked at me a bit surprised. ¡°And lastly¡­ Crys.¡± I called the goddess in disguise, who blinked before floating forward. ¡°Make us something to eat because I¡¯m starving.¡± With that I fell to the ground, sitting. ¡°And make it extra large because the two troublemakers must be hungry after all that work.¡± She nodded surprised before starting to take out the cooking apparel from her inventory and settling it on the ground. Aura and Lieutenant immediately sat around the bonfire waiting excitedly, while Red simply sighed in defeat and soon followed them. Meanwhile Rathian stood still for a moment before turning to Loran. ¡°Did¡­ Did I just get scolded?¡± She asked confused. ¡°I¡­ Think?¡± The dwarf said with a shrug. ¡°But dat¡¯s lookin¡¯ good, so I¡¯ll stay to take a bite.¡± He said while sitting besides us and lighting up a smoking pipe. Rathian stood in shock for a bit longer, before nodding and sitting with us, bringing Rio with her. ¡°Stone-borns are surprisingly intimidating¡­¡± She murmured to herself, and Rio nodded in her lap. ¡­ ¡°You have been using backflips to prepare the ground?¡± I asked Rathian shocked after hearing her story about the destroyed ground, and she nodded. I cracked up laughing at that, almost spilling a bit of my stuffed salamander on the ground. Loran sighed out at her words and looked away while Rioreia tried to copy her mother¡¯s backflip, only to fail cutely with a yelp and fall backwards on the ground. ¡°It¡¯s a bit more complex than what I expected.¡± Rathian said with sigh. ¡°But it¡¯s not impossible. A few more weeks and I should be able to get it.¡± ¡°But¡­ To plow¡­ The ground¡­ Really?¡± I asked between breaths and she nodded once again, which left me breathless with another burst of laughter. ¡°Not de brightest idea a wyvern ever had¡­¡± Loran said dryly while stuffing another leg on his mouth and chugging it down with a large mug of beer that popped up from nowhere. ¡°I did notice that.¡± Rathian said wearily. ¡°I¡¯ll fix it after this. The son-of-the-forge method this time.¡± Loran nodded satisfied at her words. ¡°I never figured that weeding¡­¡± ¡°Farming.¡± The dwarf corrected her. ¡°Farming could be this difficult. I really underestimated your kind.¡± She said with a frown. ¡°We are just gettin¡¯ started.¡± Loran said with a smirk. Rathian nodded, not seeing all that bothered by the fact before turning back to her food and eating. Meanwhile, Rio and Pea were sharing a large plate of food together, devouring their second serving with ferocious speed. From the looks on their faces, they seemed to really like the food, so I smiled a bit at that. They did do a good work at digging some of the salamanders, and even if they almost killed me, they were only trying to save me, so it¡¯s a bit unfair to not reward them. What? I may be going through the general route, but it doesn¡¯t mean that I can¡¯t reward them when they do something right, okay? We took our sweet time with our early dinner. It looked like all the guests were also enjoying Crys¡¯ cooking, so she kept cooking non-stop to feed everyone that had gathered, herself included. After around one hour or so of eating and talking, we finally decided to lift camp and go back to the village, leaving the dwarf and the wyvern back at the fields where they had to finish repairing the damages made by Rathian. Arriving after a few minutes, we managed to find my father and Gazluz talking while sharing a good ol¡¯ mug of ale on the village¡¯s small tavern. I quickly greeted them and told that I was about to go to Olaf¡¯s mansion to report the status of my search. The two nodded and called for the barkeeper so that they could pay up the tab before leaving. We traversed the village quickly, reaching Olaf¡¯s mansion in a few minutes, and with the help of the troll, we quickly went in since the guards immediately recognized him. As before, Gazluz guided us through the corridor until we reached the office, where we found the grey haired dwarf working on some documents. He widened his eyes in surprise before nodding and motioning for us to sit down. ¡°So, how was your work?¡± He asked us while setting the pile of paper besides him. ¡°You¡­ Didn¡¯t hear about it?¡± I asked surprised, and saw as he shook his head intrigued. ¡°I was stuck inside this room with paperwork the whole day.¡± He pointed to the papers. ¡°All that I heard was of a Wyvern flying to Loran¡¯s farm, but since there wasn¡¯t a word after that, I thought it was already solved.¡± He looked at Rio, who was napping on my head. ¡°Is that the one? Seems small for me¡­¡± He frowned slightly and I shook my head. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s her mother. But now she¡¯s working at Loran¡¯s, so all is well.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Sorry¡­ I think I just heard you talking about a wyvern working on a farm¡­¡± He said with a small smile. ¡°Could you repeat what you just spoke?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I said while clearing my throat. ¡°Not only did I convince a wyvern to do backflips, I also made her start working at Loran¡¯s as a way to repay the damage she caused.¡± I said slowly so that he could let the words sink in this time. ¡°Understood?¡± The dwarf blinked surprised and briefly rubbed his eyes to see if he wasn¡¯t dreaming, then he turned towards Gazluz, who was standing behind us. The troll nodded with a weary sigh before explaining to the dwarf what he had seen while he was away. ¡°And why didn¡¯t you tell me that earlier?¡± Olaf asked the troll. ¡°Cause even I couldn¡¯t believe it even after seeing it myself.¡± He said with a dry voice. ¡°I doubted you would believe me if I told you¡­¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Fair enough¡­¡± Olaf said while sitting back on his chair and staring us for some time. He sighed loudly after a moment before leaning forward. ¡°Okay, then you managed to stop the wyvern from attacking Loran¡¯s livestock and that solved the problem?¡± ¡°Actually, no. There was also a small brood of salamanders that came down from the mountain when Rathian arrived, but I took care of them already, so they shouldn¡¯t bother you that much.¡± I told him. ¡°Salamanders too?¡± He said surprised and I nodded. ¡°Geez, that could have gone terribly¡­ I heard they reproduce quite quickly for such a dangerous animals¡­¡± He sighed in relief while leaning back on his chair. ¡°I take it that you killed all of them?¡± ¡°We even destroyed the cave they were in¡­¡± Red added, making Rio and Pea flinch for a moment. ¡°Destroyed¡­ The cave?¡± Olaf asked surprised. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Reasons¡­¡± I said in a dry voice. ¡°Let¡¯s not delve too deeply into it, shall we?¡± I said and he nodded. ¡°So, I guess I own you some rewards then¡­¡± He said finally. ¡°What would be of your interest?¡± He asked us, and I frowned at those words. ¡°Each one of you can get to choose a reward, it¡¯s only fair since all helped.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do much, so I¡¯ll pass.¡± Wulf said with a shrug. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Olaf asked and he nodded. ¡°It¡¯s not fair to take credit from their work.¡± My father said with a smile. ¡°Besides, I can ask him to make something for me later anyway.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Olaf said with a chuckle. ¡°So you are also a crafter then?¡± He asked while turning to me, and I nodded. ¡°If possible, I would like some new boots, these ones are fairly old...¡± She said while pointing to her feet. ¡°Will do, Gazluz?¡± He said to the troll who nodded. ¡°We have something that she can use somewhere. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± The troll said after some thought. ¡°And what about the little dragon there?¡± He asked while pointing to Pea, who looked back at him confused. ¡°Do you have a leash or something of the kind that we could put on her?¡± Wulf asked in his serious face, which made Olaf blink for a moment before smiling wryly. ¡°We¡­ Don¡¯t have anything of the kind, sorry¡­¡± ¡°Then, what about a soul contract that forces her to obey us or something of the kind? That could also work.¡± I said and my father widened his eyes and nod in agreement. ¡°We¡­ Don¡¯t have anything like that too¡­¡± ¡°Or, you could hive her something simple like a new armor¡­¡± Red said dryly. ¡°Where¡¯s the fun in that?¡± My father and I asked in synchro. ¡°Oh god¡­ I walk with madness¡­¡± She said while shaking her head. ¡°Hmm¡­ I want a new toy!¡± Pea said cheerfully, which made Olaf widen his eyes in surprise for a moment. He looked at me and my father for confirmation and we both shrugged. Since we couldn¡¯t get what we wanted, may as well give her something she likes. ¡°Then I¡¯ll arrange for you to get a new toy. As well as something else.¡± He said kindly to her, to which she started smiling cheerfully. ¡°Then, mister Gondorrer, what is it that you wish?¡± He asked me. ¡°Well, I want to conquer the world and fight against legends¡­¡± I said bluntly, which made the dwarf flinch. ¡°But I guess that¡¯s a bit difficult, so I¡¯ll pass on that. So, let me see¡­¡± I stopped to think for a moment on what I could possibly ask, but nothing at all came to mind, since most items I could make myself. Tilting my head to one side and then to the other, I finally sighed and shrugged, before turning to Crys. ¡°What do we need?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ We could get some more expensive cooking utensils, there¡¯s only so much I can do with what we have, master¡­ As well as some crafting materials, since we are about to go on a long travel¡­¡± She said frowning. ¡°We can provide that.¡± Olaf said with a frown. ¡°But is that all? I mean, that¡¯s not much you are asking there. At least for what you did.¡± ¡°Then, we could do with some enchanted rings.¡± Crys said. ¡°Rings?¡± I asked her confused and she nodded. ¡°On our way to Sandroze we will go through some really harsh climates. I doubt even your skill will protect you against some of them.¡± Crys told me, to which I nodded. She turned back to Olaf. ¡°We need five rings of heat-resistance, as well as four rings of cold resistance.¡± ¡°Simple enough.¡± Olaf said with a nod while looking towards Gazluz, who nodded before walking away from the room. ¡°If you wait a bit, he should bring you what you requested. Is there anything else I could do to help you?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. Thanks for everything.¡± I told him while raising myself from the sofa and walking away, but right as my hand reached the doorknob he called me once again. ¡°Since you are a Chosen, let me give you all a warning.¡± He told me seriously, to which I blinked surprised and turned to him. ¡°The capitals¡­ Aren¡¯t on a very good term with each other.¡± He said slowly. ¡°Even if it doesn¡¯t looks like it, there¡¯s still some tension between them from the war a few decades ago.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked him surprised while turning to Crys, who nodded. ¡°The capitals were in constant war for a good time. It was only when the infernal and the heaven¡¯s realms invaded that they truly made peace for the first time.¡± She explained. ¡°The construction of the portals in each city was troublesome because of that, as they feared that it might be used for a surprise attack. It was only thanks to the church that they managed to finish it.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I said while nodding. I did find it a bit strange that there were so many races around yet it looked oddly peaceful, so this means that wars in this world aren¡¯t race based, but capital based, huh? ¡°Thanks for the warning, Olaf.¡± I told him and he nodded satisfied before turning his attention back to the paperwork. We left the office and were guided by a dwarven butler towards what looked like a living room, where we were told to wait until Gazluz brought back the items we requested. I took this time to turn to Crys and make the question that was on my mind since earlier. ¡°Five and four rings?¡± I asked her confused, and she simply smiled back at me. ¡°Trust me, master. We are going to need it.¡± I looked at her for some time before shrugging. If she says so, then who am I to complain. ¡°So, you are going to the faraway capital, huh?¡± Red asked. ¡°Yeah. Are you coming too?¡± ¡°No, I just arrived here and I want to take a look around for some pets. Maybe even find a fox for myself too.¡± She said with a dreamy smile to which I nodded before turning to my father. ¡°Hmm, it would be interesting, but¡­ I¡¯ll pass.¡± He said while calling Pea to approach him again. ¡°We can¡¯t be playing constantly like this, so I better take some care to not let your sister get too addicted.¡± ¡°Then we won¡¯t see Booh anymore?¡± The little fairy dragon asked with confused eyes. ¡°Just for some time, dear.¡± He told her while petting her head. ¡°Besides, mommy is already complaining to me that we have been online for far too long.¡± ¡°Text messages?¡± I asked him, and he nodded. ¡°Then tell her I said to buy me cookies!¡± My father chuckled while nodding. ¡°So, are you leaving right after this?¡± He asked me, but I shook my head. ¡°Nah. Yuu and Hanbei are getting here tomorrow morning.¡± I said after making some quick calculations on my mind. ¡°I will stop playing to get some real sleep before then.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± He said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I sighed loudly since I knew that he was planning something, but since I have no idea of what it could possibly be, I could only stand around wondering. As I stood there wondering, a door somewhere in the room opened, and with it came Gazluz, followed by a couple of other servants who were all carrying something, as well as Loran and Rathian. I raised my eyebrow at the sight of the two and saw as Loran smirked as he showed us a basket filled to the brim with vegetables. ¡°I had to repay ya at least a little.¡± He told me while giving me the basket. I blinked surprise while accepting it and storing all the vegetables on my almost overflowing inventory. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to repay you for now, Stone-born.¡± Rathian said. ¡°But next time you come back, I will find a way to do it.¡± She turned to Rioreia who woke up with the commotion. ¡°And be sure to not anger the Stone-born again, okay?¡± She asked and I felt as Rio nodded nervously on my head. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to keep her safe.¡± I told Rathian, who nodded satisfied. ¡°No promises about holding back on scolding, though.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Can¡¯t is stay with mommy for a bit longer?¡± Rio asked with a teary voice, to which I smiled a bit awkwardly. ¡°Actually¡­ I think you can.¡± I said after some time, making Rathian look at me confused. ¡°I¡¯ll be gone for some time before I leave the village, so she can stay with you until then.¡± ¡°Gone before leaving?¡± Rathian asked confused before shaking her head. ¡°Then I¡¯ll take up on your offer, Stone-born.¡± With that, Rio happily flew back into her mother arms. ¡°Teary moments over, here¡¯s the things you asked for.¡± The troll said while approaching me from the sides. I took the rings he carried with himself using both of my hands and shoved them all into the inventory, while I passed all the cooking apparatus back to Crys, who put it into hers with a large smile. After taking all of our rewards, including a stuffed bird doll bigger than Pea¡¯s size, which she loved, we all bade our farewell to the people inside the house and left it. Afterwards we said our goodbyes to each others too, as we logged out from the game. I took out the D-lute from my head and put it into the small table at my side, rubbing my eyes slightly as I glanced through the window. Yawning loudly thanks to the tiredness, I took a quick shower and ate something light before going back to bed. I set my cellphone¡¯s alarm to six o¡¯clock and prepared myself to sleep. I had the feeling that tomorrow would be a loong day indeed... chapter 68.5 - A cyclops woes Author¡¯s corner: Hello hello! Surprise release hooray! ANYWAY, the legend had been sleeping for far too long. Now it¡¯s time for him, the most feared man in the whole of Insania to come back from his sleep. And who here is going to complaining about a double release? ALSO, Congrats to o0sky0o for having your character chosen to appear on this small extra chapter Have a good read! ---- Dean took a deep satisfied breath as he tugged his fishing rod that had been pulling furiously for quite some time now. Thanks to the crystal clear water, he could see that the fish he got was fairly big, even if it wasn¡¯t the one that he needed for the quest. However, from the size alone he knew that selling it to the fisherman would grant him quite the coin, so it wasn¡¯t all that bad. After getting the fish out of the water and throwing it into a bucket, the mantidire went ahead to clean the sweat out of his eyebrows, but almost cut himself thanks to the blades on the outer side of his forearm, courtesy from his species. Smiling a bit awkwardly at that, he was playing with this character for so long, yet he kept always getting close to commit the same mistake! The shaman once again took his fishing rod, attached a new bait to the hook and threw it on the river before sitting on the ground once again as he read the book he had taken some time ago. He had become so absorbed in the book that he almost missed when something large passed in front of his fishing rod. Lifting his head surprised just in time to see as the hook dug deeply into the huge chunk of floating ice and pulled the rod away. The mantidire quickly lifted himself while running after the fishing rod, holding it as the ice tried to pull him into the water together with it. Grimacing at that, he quickly cast an earth enhancement spell on himself, increasing his strength so that he could pull the rod back. However, just as the hook was about to break, he noticed something. There was a person tied on the top of the ice! Changing his method, he quickly cancelled the earth enhancement and put a wind enhancement on himself. He ran forwards while praying for the spirit of the river to help him with this rescue. Thankfully, this river, even if stubborn, at least was helpful, and he saw as the ice-block slowly redirected itself towards the riverside. Dean, also known as Skyfiend, kept true to his name and leaped towards the ice, landing his large battle-axe on it and sinking the blade deeply before he pulled the ice chunk back to the ground and out of the river. He briefly thanked the spirit of the river, who ignored the shaman as it let its streams once again flow freely. ¡°What happened?¡± The mantidire asked as he untied the cyclops¡¯ gag. ¡°That golem¡­ bastard¡­¡± The cyclops said between breaths as he dragged himself out from the ice and onto the ground. ¡°A golem? He did this to you?¡± Skyfiedn asked, his insectoid face contorting into a look of surprise. The cyclops turned to him, letting its large belly heave up and down as he laid on his back. ¡°Yeah¡­ Bloody green-eyed golem. Bastard.¡± He said angrily. ¡°Green eyed¡­ Golem?¡± The mantidire asked surprised. If his memory didn¡¯t fail him, some time ago there were rumors of a dangerous golem player with green eyes and a dangerous temper. It¡­ couldn¡¯t be, right? ¡°Yeah¡­ The bastard!¡± The cyclops said while slowly putting himself back up. ¡°And to think that even Lock4Hire couldn¡¯t stop him.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Isn¡¯t that the strongest warlock in Eldor?¡± Skyfiend asked surprised. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. If Green-eyes was a myth around the forum boards, Lock4hire was a living legend, with videos posted and so on. Even if Dean didn¡¯t consider himself a forum-rat, he still knew about the warlock. That was how famous he was. And now, this cyclops was saying that he plus said warlock together were unable to beat a single golem? Just¡­ How strong could he be. As he thought that, he looked upriver, looking for any signs of said golem approaching then, but nothing came into his view. However, as he thought about it, where did the ice come from? He thought while turning back to the huge ice chunk that slowly melted away. From what he knew, the golem was either a warrior or a tamer. Yet this large chunk of ice was clearly done by an expert mage! It didn¡¯t add up to anything he had heard about him before. ¡°That bastard golem¡­ I swear that I will kill him next time we meet.¡± The cyclops said angrily as he clenched his fists. ¡°Wait, if that¡¯s the golem I think it is, it¡¯s better if you don¡¯t go close to him!¡± The mantidire said worried for the cyclops. ¡°Stay away from him?¡± The cyclops shouted angrily. ¡°Do you have any idea what the bastard did to me? What kind of suffering I¡¯ve been through thanks to him?¡± The cyclops shouted at the mantidire. ¡°I¡¯ve once been the boss, you know? Now I¡¯m freaking nothing! I¡¯ve. Lost. Everything.¡± He said angrily while pounding his large hand into the ice. ¡°Look¡­ Calm down, okay?¡± Dean said while taking a step back from the angry cyclops. ¡°I have no idea what he made to you, but it may be better for you to calm down okay?¡± He said with a nervous smile, starting to wonder if it was a good idea to save the cyclops. ¡°What he did to me?¡± The cyclops asked angrily. ¡°He blinded me. FIVE TIMES. Everything that I had, he took away from me. All my subordinates abandoned me. All my gear are gone. Do you have any idea on what it means?¡± Skyfiend blinked surprised. He could have understood if the cyclops had been killed once or twice by the golem, but from the way he spoke, it almost seems like the golem had been hunting out for him. What could this mean? Could it have something to do with the fact that he had found the Cyclops tied atop a piece of ice? He couldn¡¯t be quite sure. Then, the fact that there was a throwing knife stuck on it also made it look strange. ¡°Look, there¡¯s a village nearby, so why don¡¯t we go there and you take some time to recover?¡± He said to the cyclops while pointing towards the path. The cyclops stared at him for a moment before sighing loudly. ¡°Yeah¡­ I can¡¯t get him in a frontal assault¡­¡± The cyclops said angrily, while giving an evil eye towards knive. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the knife in anger. ¡°I will still get you, you freakish golem!¡± He said while raising his arm to the sky and crushing the dagger in his hand. ¡°OR ELSE MY NAME ISN¡¯T¡­ GAAH! MY EYE! NOT AGAIN!¡± His battle shout changed into a cry of anguish as the flash-bomb dagger blew into his hand, blinding him once again. And as Dean waited for his vision to come back, he couldn¡¯t help but feel intrigued about this Green-eyes he had heard so much in the earlier days. After so many days without a single notice from him, he suddenly appears with this cyclops as a victim. What could he be plotting for now. And when the mantidire and the cyclops arrived at the village, the legend on how Green-eyes defeated the strongest warlock around, Lock4hire using only words started to spread around with a scary speed. And thus, the legend grew once more. Chapter 69 - Lord Wich Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! It¡¯s IRL time! Let the games begin! ANYWAY, finally, it is here! The meeting that all of you have waited! It¡¯s time for Yuu and Gon to meet! And some nonsense. Can¡¯t forget the nonsense. ALSO, this arc shouldn¡¯t be all that long, but I plan on laying some important information here. But then, Rathian¡¯s arc wasn¡¯t supposed to be long and it ended up being pretty long (for what I think is long, anyway¡­) ALSO(2), Guys, help me convince VRDraco to put more Monster hunter monsters on his story! Keep commenting it on his Mystery of the dungeon story, okay? FOR A RR FILLED WITH MONSTER HUNTER! Have a good read! ---- ¡°The time is now, Lord Evildude!¡± I shouted at him while turning on the thrusters of my ship to the maximum. ¡°This is your last chance to let go of all the cookies and the hostage, or else feel the wrath of Gondorrer Salamandersbane¡­ AND HOW THE HELL DID I EVEN GET THAT ONE WRONG?¡± ¡°Hah!¡± The demon lord laughed as he climbed atop of his class-S galactic fighter. ¡°Your feeble attempts of trying to stop me are laughable, Badass warrior Wargon!¡± He shoved the hostage away as he took seat, in his hand the holy cookies whose power he was usurping. ¡°NO ONE SHALL TAKE THE COOKIES FROM ME! NO ONE!¡± His super badass fighter took flight in my direction. My hud flared up as dozen and more dozens of missiles locked on me, yet I simply smiled as I took aim with my ship¡¯s turret and started shooting all of them down with my super Sniper+shotgun+machinegun contraption. The missiles fell one after another, but that wasn¡¯t all that Lord Evildude, the lord of demons had, as he soon started using his dark magic powers of darkness to create wormholes through which interdimensional monsters came from. We had a super badass fight following that, where I had to not only mind his attacks, but also from his disgusting broccoli-shaped monsters. However, thanks to my Super-barrier of unlimited power and only one weakness, I easily managed to defeat all his minions. But Evildude somehow knew of my barrier¡¯s only weakness! Slow music! Blaring off his ship¡¯s massive space-made subwoofers, he started playing¡­ CLASSIC MUSIC! Although unable to save his own ship from demise, he overloaded my ship¡¯s system with his music and blew it up. But not before I could jump out from the cockpit, doning my space-pirate-ninja-berseker armor of badassery. Taking out my energy beam sword, I jumped towards him, our blades clashing in the empty space, a wicked grin appearing in my face as we battled it out with the light sound of background rock music playing in the redundant background. A quick glance back to the hostage, and I saw that the single sniper-shot I fired in her direction managed to cut her free from the ropes. She turned to me, her eyes filled with gratitude, and said¡­ ¡°Badass Warrior Wargon, pleas, fulfill this wish for me¡­¡± She said happily. ¡°Anything for a cookie, lady!¡± I said while kicking away Evildude, opening some distance for our badass duel and giving a dashing smile. ¡°All I want¡­ Is¡­ For you¡­¡± As she said that, her face suddenly changed into a deadpan one, not unlike a robot. ¡°TAKE ME DOWN, TO THE PARADISE CITY, WHERE THE GRASS IS GREEN AND THE GIRLS ARE PRETTY!¡± ¡°Err.. What?¡± I asked confused, turning to lord evil-dude, only to see his robotic demonic face twist in the same way as the hostage¡¯s. ¡°Huh? What¡¯s happening¡­¡± ¡°TAKE ME DOWN TO THE PARADISE CITY, WHERE THE GRASS IS GREEN AND THE GIRLS ARE PRETTY!¡± Lord evil dude also sang, his voice much louder than the hostage¡¯s, so loud that I was almost knocked out unconscious by it alone. And suddenly, a guitar appeared in his hand and a drum-set at the hostage''s, and they started playing rock right in front of me. ¡°WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?¡± I shouted confused. ¡°WHAT ABOUT OUR EPIC DUEL?¡± I shouted at him. His only response was to keep playing while looking even more badass than me. ¡­ ¡°WAKE UP GON!¡± I heard a girl¡¯s voice shouting next to me, jolting me awake. I looked around confused, finding myself on my room with only my cellphone next to me, playing Guns ¡®n roses as an alarm. ¡°Geez, you sure took your time!¡± The oddly familiar voice said. ¡°But then, I don¡¯t really understand why you put it so early¡­¡± I looked around looking for the voice before noticing that it was coming from my cellphone. Turning it over I saw as a silver-haired girl appeared on the screen with a slightly confused look, ignoring her for now, I took a look at the numbers on top of my cellphone. 5:22 in the morning. ¡°Who the hell would set an alarm to 5 am on a saturday?¡± I asked angrily. ¡°Whoever did this must be either a sadistic bastard or a crazy fool.¡± ¡°Well¡­ Wasn¡¯t it you?¡± The girl said confused. ¡°¡­ Oh yeah, that¡¯s righ.¡± I said while rubbing my eyes so that I could wake up. ¡°But¡­ Right¡­ Right before the badass fight¡­¡± I said with some tears forming in my eyes, making Cygnas laugh a bit wryly. ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about¡­¡± I smiled a bit wryly at that and simply shook my head. Not that I think that she saw it since I was already getting up from the bed and going to the bathroom to wash my face. Finished, I went back to the bedroom and quickly changed into something I liked more to wear when going out. ¡°So, when do the girls arrive?¡± I asked. ¡°I just checked on the airlines systems¡­ if they keep up their speed, they should arrive around seven thirty. A bit sooner than expected.¡± She told me, and I nodded. ¡°What they will do after that¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Well, I planned on meeting them at the airport anyway.¡± I said while putting on one of my jackets for no other reason than that I liked it. ¡°But I have no idea where the city¡¯s airport is, actually¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s pretty far, actually¡­¡± She said quickly. ¡°But we can still wait a bit before leaving if we get a taxi or go by car¡­¡± ¡°What about walking?¡± I asked her, and she became quiet for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s a bit far to go walking¡­¡± She said worriedly. ¡°But if we leave right now¡­¡± She stopped once again. ¡°Are you sure, Gon? I mean, it IS pretty far¡­¡± ¡°Come on, it can¡¯t be that bad!¡± I said cheerfully while putting on some sunglasses. Yes, I know that I jinxed it¡­ Yes, I know it would end up badly¡­ Yes, I did regret my decision. The airport was a few kilometers away from my house, and even when I¡¯m used to walk around a lot in the city, this time was a bit more than what I usually chew. Halfway through the course I my feet started hurting and was I sweating buckets since a good part of the way had no cover from the sun. Besides, I had to take a good stretch of the highway to reach the airport. When Cyg finally told me that I was about to arrive, I felt that I was reaching the lost city of Atlantis or something, or, as an old Brazilian saying goes, I was close to where Judas lost his boots. Don¡¯t ask me, I have no idea where this comes from, I just know that it means very (censored) far away. Reaching the airport a bit later than what I originally expected, thanks to my pace slowing down with my fatigue, the first thing I did was to buy an overpriced bottle of water from a store before starting to look around. ¡°And if you say ¡®I told you so¡¯ I swear that I¡¯m window-balling you to hell when I log in again.¡± I left this brief message to Cyg, who simply giggled in response. After somewhat replenishing my lost water reserves, I took another good look around while searching for Yuu and Hanbei¡­ Now that I think about it, all I know is that Yuu is also her nickname in real life, besides that I have no idea what her name is, similarly to Hanbei, and I seriously doubt that her name is Hanbei in real life. Well, at least I knew how they actually looked like, so it made it a lot easier to find them in this place. As I thought that, I wondered if they hadn¡¯t already made their way back to the apartment they were renting. If that happened, I would hate myself a lot more. Contrary to my thoughts, it was fairly easy to find the girls in the surprisingly lively airport, even when I arrived here fifteen minutes late. How, do you ask? Easy. First, all I had to do was to follow half of the guy¡¯s stare towards the canteen, where all the food shops were found, as well as some public tables that you could sit to eat something. Second, if you paid enough attention, there were some clearly oriental looking men in business suit walking around. They were surprisingly discreet, and if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that one stood in the line right besides me I wouldn¡¯t have noticed at all. It was downright scary how they hid themselves, even with such eye-catching suits. Finally, there was a single area in the canteen that no one was sitting nearby, and right in the middle of that area, were both Yuu and Hanbei, sitting in a double-table with four chairs. I saw that they were eating something, probably breakfast, but there were also a couple more dishes near them, which I found curious. And for why the area around them was completely devoid of people? Well¡­ I had grown used to seeing Yuu with her either surprised, curious or eager look, so I had forgotten how she looks when she¡¯s serious. Since her eyes naturally curved inwards, she seemed to have a sharp look whenever she was focusing. That, together with the refined way she sat on the table and her natural good looks made her surprisingly difficult to approach. She was wearing some surprisingly simple clothing, with a simple black skirt that went all the way to her knees, and a white blouse with not too much frills. The simplicity of her clothing didn¡¯t do much to make her less attractive, though, as it matched with her traditional look, long black hair and serious atmosphere. Hanbei, though, wore a much more fashionable clothing, with a light green t-shirt and jeans shorts that went right above her knees, finalized with a pair of black brown boots. Her pale golden hair tied in a ponytail, something different, since I had grown used to seeing her wearing twintails in-game. As I watched the scene of the two girls talking, with Yuu seemingly nervous while fiddling with her food, I caught with the corner of my eyes another group of guys approached them. They leaned on the girls¡¯ table and put on his best dashing smile that wouldn¡¯t even get close to mine¡¯s. ¡°Hey there girls! So, what brings two cuties like yourselves to this city?¡± He said. In perfect Portuguese. Yuu simply stared at him, her head tilting ever so lightly to the side before turning towards Hanbei, who simply made a motion for her to ignore it. The guy stared at them confused for a moment before trying once again trying to flirt. ¡°This is going to be interesting¡­¡± I said while putting my cellphone out slightly so that Cyg could take a peek of what was happening. One of the guy¡¯s friend cleared his throat and took a step forward, as if saying that it was his chance now. Putting on what he thought that was a seductive smile, he tried a cheesy pickup line. Yuu, obeying Han¡¯s motion, simply ignored him while speaking something in japanese with Hanbei¡­ I really need to discover her real name¡­ Anyway, Hanbei kept giggling at the guy¡¯s poor attempt at trying to get Yuu¡¯s attention, which made him turn to her annoyed and say something rude. Even from far away I could feel as the canteen¡¯s temperature seemed to drop by a few degrees. Kinda helpful since I was feeling hot under the jacket, actually¡­ Noticing this, the guy slowly turned to Yuu, who simply stared at him seriously. Even if she couldn¡¯t understand the words, she could guess what it meant. He briefly gulped down before saying some inaudible words and retreating back to safety, soon followed by his companions. ¡°Did you record that?¡± I asked. ¡°Yup¡­ And did it get colder out there too?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ It did¡­¡± I said with a wry smile. I took this chance to decided how I would approach them, and also to calm down a bit. I mean, it¡¯s one thing to go and see two cute girls in a game, and it¡¯s another thing to see them in real life. Even more if they are just as good looking as their game-self. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. So, how should I do it? Get friendly and cheerful? Serious and normal? Beg forgiveness for the whole shishou thingy? Nah¡­ Let¡¯s mess with them. I quickly fixed my jacket and sunglasses as well as straightened my back. I Took out one of the earphones out so that I could hear them better and made my way towards the two. By the time they noticed me, I was already on the table right next to theirs, so I quickly took one of the empty table¡¯s chair and spun it, making it so that I would sit right at their table¡¯s end and between the two, who were each on one side. They looked at me with a mix of surprise and confusion, not that I blame them. Compared to the game, my hair is a lot shorter, that and the fact that I had sunglasses didn¡¯t help that much with identifications. Oh, the lack of stony skin might also have influenced it somehow. ¡°Hey there girls! Can I help you somehow?¡± I said in portuguese. They exchanged a quick glance to each other, probably a bit lost on how I was acting, so it took them some seconds to actually come up with an answer. ¡°Hmm¡­ Sorry¡­ No speak Portuguese much good¡­¡± Hanbei said briefly. I did remember her saying that she spoke a bit of Portuguese, but it seems that It really was only a bit. ¡°Spanish then?¡± I asked in a poor Spanish. What? Just because I know Portuguese it doesn¡¯t mean I have to be good at Spanish too, you know? Anyway, she hesitated a bit, but I took that as a still no good. ¡°Then what about English?¡± I asked finally. ¡°Oh! That helps.¡± Hanbei said with a short nod. ¡°So, what did you say earlier?¡± She asked while tilting her head. ¡°I asked if you two needed some help here.¡± I told her briefly. ¡°You seemed a bit lost on what to do, so I decided to offer a Brazilian helping hand.¡± ¡°Oh! Is that it?¡± She asked with a wry smile. ¡°No, we are fine. It¡¯s just that¡­¡± She gave a brief glance towards Yuu. ¡°We had a ride programmed to pick us up, but it seems that it had some problems on the way here. So we are waiting to see what happened.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I said with an understanding nod, before taking a quick glance at Yuu, who after looking at me with curiosity, had turned her attention back to the empty dishes. ¡°And what about your friend? She seems a bit down.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Hanbei said while glancing briefly Yuu. ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s just a bit of jetlag.¡± She said. I raised my eyebrows slightly at this, I had the feeling that it wasn¡¯t like that at all, but trying to look too much into it would end up making me look bad, so I decided to leave it out for now. ¡°I see.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Then, would you like someone to give you a brief tour of the city while you wait for your friend to come?¡± I asked her, and saw as the two widened their eyes slightly. ¡°Hmmm¡­ No¡­ We are alright.¡± Hanbei said with a wry smile ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± I said with a fake disappointment while leaning back. I took out the sunglasses and started cleaning them on the hem of my shirt. ¡°I just wanted to give a helping hand¡­¡± I said while glancing briefly at Hanbei and winking. At that, she widened her eyes for a moment and held back a giggle. Yuu noticed her reaction and looked at her confused, but by the time she looked at me, I already had my glasses back on. ¡°On second thought¡­ I think I can accept that.¡± Hanbei said with a small smile. Yuu once again stared confused at her, but Han-chan simply ignored that. ¡°Also, my name is Kazehama Mary. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± She said while nodding. ¡°I¡¯m Richard Hadaway.¡± I said with a brief nod while turning to Yuu. ¡°¡­Kuzuha Yukihime.¡± She said briefly after some hesitation. I smiled at her, but she quickly turned to Han¡­ Mary, and started speaking something to her in Japanese. Cygnas offered to translate what they were talking about, but I felt that they were speaking like that so that they could have some privacy, so I told her to leave it alone. The two had a brief discussion, with Mary saying something to Yuu that left her without a way to reply, as she leaned back on her table with a lightly serious look. I raised my eyebrow at that and turned to Mary, who was giggling slightly. ¡°She was worried that we wouldn¡¯t manage to meet our friend if we did that.¡± Hanbei said with a shrug. ¡°Oh?¡± I said, genuinely interested. ¡°And who is this friend of yours that can make her get so angry?¡± I looked at Yuu with fake curiosity. ¡°And how can he be even more interesting than this man who sits in front of you?¡± Hanbei held out a giggle at those words while holding back her laughter, but Yuu simply stared at me for a moment. Is this what it means to look at the devil right in the eye? Must be¡­ Luckily, I went to the bathroom before leaving my apartment. At least I managed to keep a decent fa?ade and Yuu simply sighed annoyed before looking away from me and once again staring confused at Mary, who was barely holding back her mischievous smirk. ¡°It seems that you do not enjoy my company¡­¡± I told her with a raised eyebrow. ¡°¡­ I do not want to leave shishou waiting¡­ That is all¡­¡± She said sullen. ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡± I said with a deep nod. ¡°Yet, the first thing you do when you meet your shishou is staring daggers at him? I don¡¯t think he will be very pleased with that.¡± I said while shaking my head an sighing. Yuu froze for a moment and blinked surprised before staring at me again, this time with her eyes wide open. ¡°I might even end up kicking you out of the wargon¡¯s school of gaming, you know?¡± I said while taking out the glasses. Yuu stared at me confused for a bit longer, so I said. ¡°Longer hair, stone skin. A bit fitter too. Should help.¡± ¡°Sh-Sh-SHISHOU?¡± She asked surprised while leaning back in her chair, then looking towards Mary who started blatantly laughing. ¡°And don¡¯t forget me!¡± Cyg said through the phone speakers. I smiled awkwardly while taking the phone out of my pockets and putting it on the table. ¡°Cygnas-san too?¡± Yuu asked surprised while looking at the image in the screen. ¡°Hi there!¡± Cygnas replied in english. ¡°And Gon, that was mean!¡± She said in a complaining tone. ¡°I regret nothing!¡± I said proudly while laughing. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I want to see Yuu angry again no time soon, so I will hold back for now.¡± I said wryly, to which Cyg and Mary laughed, leaving only Yuu embarrassed. ¡°Gomen¡­ Shishou¡­¡± She said lowly while hanging her head in shame. ¡°It¡¯s alright¡­ I got what I deserved anyway.¡± I said with a shrug before turning to the blushing Yuu. ¡°And why were you so depressed anyway?¡± I asked, now genuinely worried. ¡°Na¡­ Nani mo nai!¡± Yuu said hurriedly while shaking her head from one side to the other. I raised an eyebrow at her suspicious reaction. ¡°Yuu-chan was worried that her shishou would end up getting scared once he met her.¡± Mary said mischievously, making Yuu stare at her in surprise. I raised my eyebrow at that, so she went on. ¡°You see, from the way that Yuu-chan is, she isn¡¯t very good when talking to people.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I noticed that¡­¡± I said while eyeing sad girl fidgeting uncomfortably while embarrassed. ¡°That, and the way she usually looks made most people in our school end up getting anxious when getting close to her.¡± Mary said with a shrug. ¡°She thought that, now that you knew who she was in real life, you would end up acting the same way.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± I asked Yuu, who nodded weakly. I sighed loudly and thought on what to do. In the end I started petting her just like I usually did in the game. She widened her eyes widely in surprise before closing them. So she also enjoys this in real life? And that smile¡­ It''s dangerous¡­ And I swear I can almost see her tails wagging happily behind her. ¡°This would be the part where I end up telling you that I would need to act more respectful around you due to how you are and all while blatantly stealing some of your food¡­¡± I said while petting her. She opened her eyes worried for a moment. ¡°But since you don¡¯t have any food left, I will have to steal some from Mary, so all the blames fall on you, okay?¡± As soon as I said that, I quickly took my hand to Han-chan¡¯s plate and quickly took a piece of her sandwich with my hand. The two girls blinked surprised at my sudden action, and Mary almost jumped on my hand trying to take the piece back. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s mine!¡± She said angrily while I raised my arm so that she couldn¡¯t reach it. ¡°No! Now it¡¯s mine!¡± I said stubbornly. ¡°I even gave it a name! I call it, Lord. Wich!¡± The girls stopped at that and looked at me strangely. ¡°You¡­ Gave a name to a sandwich?¡± Cyg asked me confused. ¡°Yup! He even have a backstory!¡± I said proudly, making the three look at each other confused. ¡°Lord Wich, born on the kingdom of breakfast, since young he was raised to be a noble food who upholds honor and righteousness!¡± Yes, I was making all of that as I went. ¡°And he was betrothed to the daughter of a another noble, Lady Juice!¡± I said while taking an empty cup of juice and raising it with my other hand, slowly adding a more dramatic tone to my voice. ¡°But one day, Lady juice was kidnapped by the evil wizards of condiment. Salt and pepper! Lord Wich then went on a long journey, fighting all kinds of food-themed enemies, meeting many allies and suffering many betrayals¡­ yet he went on, so that he could save his beloved¡± I said as I moved the piece of sandwich around as if to make the battle scenes. ¡°Then he reached the wizards¡¯ kingdom. But once he got there¡­¡± I stopped for dramatic purposes, and I saw as the three girls held their breaths in expectation. ¡°She had already been drank!¡± ¡°No¡­¡± Cyg said in an incredulous voice, making me hold back a wry smile. ¡°In a fit of rage, Lord Wich fought valiantly against the wizards, so that the others needed not to suffer the same fate as his! A long battle raged for forty days and thirty eight nights. One was a holiday, so they stopped at night for shopping. And in the end, Lord Wich managed to defeat the evil Condiments.¡± As I said that, the girls eyes widened slightly before nodding happily. ¡°But the battle had been ferocious, and the castle had been wrecked. Weakened by the battle, Lord Wich couldn¡¯t escape in time, and so, the castle took his life. Sealing his body¡­ Forever!¡± As I said that, I threw the piece in my mouth and gulped it down. The girls had a sad look for some time, until Mary finally noticed that I still ate her sandwich in the end, so she threw a fit and started hitting me while I laughed at her. Luckily, she wasn¡¯t a martial artist like Yuu, so I didn¡¯t get hurt. Turning my head away so that I could protect myself, I saw as the group who had tried flirting with them before eyed me in shock, trying to understand what happened. Well, being honest, they are better looking than me, so it¡¯s no wonder that they were confused. And they say that who play games doesn¡¯t have social life! Take that, you riajuu! Is that the right term? ¡°Mou! Gon no Baka!¡± Mary complained, making me laugh a bit more at her situation, while Yuu smiled lightly. After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Mary once again looked at me with a raised eyebrow and said. ¡°I was kind of expecting you to be embarrassed when meeting Yuu¡­¡± She said suddenly. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you can do things like that right out of the bat¡­¡± ¡°Oh, that?¡± I said with a laugh. ¡°I¡¯m a shameless man!¡± As soon as I said that out loud I stopped, noticing the three eyeing me surprised. ¡°Wait¡­ That¡­ Didn¡¯t come out right¡­¡± They laughed when I noticed my mistake and I could only smile wryly at them. ¡°Well¡­ He actually took some time to calm down before coming to see you two!¡± ¡°Hey! Why did you tell them that?¡± I asked Cygnas, who was sticking her tongue out at me while feeling my cheeks reddening. ¡°You traitor!¡± Mary once again started laughing at me, and Yuu smiled happily. I looked away annoyed while crossing my arms angrily. I¡¯m definitively window-balling her to hell when I log back in. ---- Author¡¯s corner: In memorian of Lord Wich, your bravery while fighting Salt and Pepper shall never be forgotten! Chapter 70 - Brazilian Greeting (NOT!) Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! LATE RELEASE BECAUSE REASONS! ANYWAY, today was a slow day when it came to writing, and I simply kept getting distracted at every other word I wrote, and this ended up delaying the release. Sorry about that. On another note, we get to see two new characters today! Hooray! ALSO, I just want to clarify one thing. I never went to my city¡¯s airport, so I have no idea how it actually is, so don¡¯t expect me to actually replicate it correctly in this story. ALSO(2), Lord Wich! I shall never forget your effort! /salute¡­ But seriously, you guys loved that story! Even when it was one of the most random part of the chapter! It almost makes me feel like writing something more about it¡­ ALSO(3), I''m not very good with Japanese names, so forgive-me for the lack of criativity, okay? Have a good read! ---- ¡°So¡­¡± I said once the girls stopped laughing at me. ¡°You said that your ride to the apartment had a problem. What exactly happened?¡± I asked them. Yuu¡¯s eyes widened before she nodded. ¡°Chichi-ue called a Limousine to pick us up¡­¡± As Yuu said that, rather than feeling surprised, I simply sighed. This kind of thing didn¡¯t really surprise me much anymore. ¡°Oh¡­ Sorry Shishou¡­ Chichiue means father.¡± She said hurriedly, probably thinking that my sight was because I couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°Yeah¡­ I knew that¡­¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°I do know one thing or another of Japanese. Anyway, as you were saying?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ It seems that the closes limousine our company owned was on Rio, but it broke down on the way here...¡± She said with a deep sigh. ¡°Right now, Chichiue is trying to find a way to get us a transport, but it seems that he¡¯s having some problems¡­¡± I blinked in surprise at her words, then took a quick look at the other remains of food on the table besides the girls. There were two plates left empty. If I add what she just said to that, does it means that¡­ ¡°Your father business is here in Campos?¡± I asked her confused, and she shook her head. ¡°No¡­ It was going to be in Rio, but he asked to change it to here so that he could meet you.¡± Yuu said seriously while Mary smiled wryly. For some reason, I suddenly felt like I just heard a bad thing. Sighing loudly, I turned towards the entrance of the airport and saw the glimpse of some cars passing around, staring at them for some time, I turned towards Yuu with a raised eyebrow and asked. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you take a taxi, then?¡± I asked her. Yuu looked at me confused for a moment before widening her eyes. ¡°Are those the cars you pay the driver to take you somewhere?¡± She asked surprised. I stared at her for some time as I noticed that she was starting to get excited about the idea. I mean, yeah, she might be a sheltered princess and so on, but to not even know what a taxi is¡­ isn¡¯t that a bit too much? Turning towards Mary in search for an answer, I noticed that she felt a bit at loss at Yuu¡¯s reaction too. She noticed my gaze and shrugged before saying. ¡°She doesn¡¯t have much idea how normal people live.¡± She said while scratching her head. ¡°She would actually come here wearing her hakama or a yukata if I didn¡¯t pick her clothes for her.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ Is it that bad?¡± I asked while raising my eyebrow at Mary, who nodded weakly and Yuu, who looked down shyly. ¡°Wow¡­ Truly a sheltered princess¡­¡± I said with a heavy nod. ¡°Okay, son one plate is your father¡¯s¡­ Then the one is¡­?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Yuu started, but she stopped suddenly while turning away to another direction. I blinked surprised and followed her gaze, seeing it fall on a woman that was approaching the table. Having a fair height and pale white skin, the woman, clearly an oriental, wore a white silk yukata tied with a simple red sash around her waist. Her smooth black hair tied behind her head in a simple bun using a pair of long sticks. If I had to guess her age, I would say early thirties or late twenties, but then I couldn¡¯t be so sure. Still it didn¡¯t take me too long to actually discover who she was. ¡°As you can see, it runs in the family¡­¡± Mary said with a long sigh. I smiled wryly as I looked at the woman whom I had ninety percent certain that it was Yuu¡¯s mother. Surprisingly, while the black hair was surprisingly similar, their faces were different, with her mother¡¯s having a much gentler look than the daughter¡¯s. Maybe she took it from her father? Noticing my gaze, she looked at me and opened her mouth slightly in surprise while resting one of her palms in her cheek. She spoke a few words in Japanese, and although I couldn¡¯t understand what she was speaking, I somehow knew that she seemed to be surprised of seeing me here. Yuu immediately greeted her and started speaking to her about something. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s happening?¡± I heard Cyg asking confused, as her vision was limited to the cellphone¡¯s camera. ¡°Yuu¡¯s mother is here.¡± I said briefly and saw as her image widened her eyes surprised. Yuu quickly finished exchanging some words with her mother in a respectful tone, and so her mother turned back to me while nodding amused. ¡°So, you must be the Shishou that I heard so much from Yuu-chan?¡± She asked me in a curious and gentle tone in perfect English. ¡°The one and only, ma¡¯am.¡± I told her with my best proud smile. ¡°I see¡­ Thanks for taking care of her for me.¡± She said with a kind smile, then she suddenly looked shocked. ¡°Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself.¡± Geez, overly polite just like you would expect from a japanese. But I guess that¡¯s just like their culture, so maybe I should let her do her introduction like she¡¯s used to? ¡°Sorry, Ma¡¯am, but I have to stop you right now.¡± I said while lifting myself from the bench and raising my hand. Goddamit, I went joke-mode immediately! Seeing this, the two girls, one woman and one AI looked at me confused. Mary somehow understood what was about to happen and started shaking her head, while Yuu simply looked blankly at me. ¡°Look ma¡¯am.¡± I said while looking at her seriously. ¡°I know that you want to introduce yourself the Japanese way, but, as they saying goes. When in rome, do as the roman do. So I¡¯m going to teach you how we Brazilian introduce to each other, okay?¡± I said with a gentle smile, and saw as she nodded, probably not wanting to be disrespectful. I made a motion towards the table. ¡°Here, in Brazil, we sit down on a table and then tell an embarrassing fact about ourselves. That¡¯s how we introduce to each other.¡± I said in my best serious tone. Hmm¡­ that¡­ Didn¡¯t sound very convincing. As I thought that, I noticed that Yuu widened her eyes, probably noticing that I was only fooling around while Mary simply let her head fall on the table. ¡°Ara, sodesu ka?¡± Yuu¡¯s mother said surprised while sitting down, and if I''m not wrong, she seems surprised. Did¡­ Did she really fall for it? I looked around and noticed that Mary and Yuu were both watching her surprised. I quickly put back my poker face while sitting back on the chair and sitting up straight. ¡°Well, even if I say embarrassing stories, it doesn¡¯t need to be nothing too big. It¡¯s mostly a way to talk about ourselves openly, so that we can relate easier.¡± I said briefly and noticed how she watched me intently. ¡°So, why don¡¯t you let me begin?¡± I quickly cleared my throat. ¡°My name is Richard Hadaway. Richard being my given name. And I only learned how to ride a bicycle when I was eleven years old.¡± Yes, that is a true story, before anyone asks. Mary looked at me surprised, similarly to Yuu, while Yuu¡¯s mother looked at me with a slight hint of pity. I simply shrugged it off since I was used to this kind of reaction before looking towards Yuu¡¯s mother. She nodded and took a deep breath before starting to speak. ¡°My name is Kuzuha Fuyuki. Fuyuki being my given name. And¡­¡± She stopped to think of something. ¡°Once, when I was Yuu¡¯s age, I dropped some juice in my Yukata, staining it. But I kept wearing it saying that it was a design made by a skilled artisan.¡± She said while covering her mouth and looking down. I had to look away to hide the playful smile that was appearing in my face, Mary doing the same while Yuu looked at her mother confused. Finally after a few seconds, I decided to tell her the actual truth, but just as I turned back forward, Yuu cleared her throat and said. ¡°My name is Kuzuha Yukihime. Yukihime being my given name, and¡­¡± She started saying seriously. I stared at her openly for a moment while Mary held her sides trying not to laugh. Noticing this, she turned to me and asked a bit embarrassed. ¡°Hmm¡­ What happened, Shishou?¡± ¡°Gon was only joking, Yuu¡­¡± Cygnas said with a long sigh, making Yuu and Fuyuki blink surprised for a moment in perfect synchrony. I looked away with a triumphant smile while I noticed Yuu and her mother both blushing slightly, Fuyuki even making an ¡®Ara, ara¡¯ while covering her mouth. She also started to look at my cellphone with clear curiosity, probably wanting to know where the voice had come from. Taking the cellphone and pointing the screen towards Her, she widened her eyes when she saw Cygnas image there, bowing respectfully. ¡°Oh? And who might this young lady be?¡± Fuyuki asked curious while looking at Cygnas. ¡°Greetings, Kuzuha-dono. My name is Cygnas, and I am an artificial intelligence, responsible for managing the game Insania Online, and a friend of Gon¡­ Of Richard.¡± She introduced herself politely. ¡°Artificial intelligence?¡± Fuyuki asked surprised. ¡°Ara ara! I just met someone incredible!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Cygnas-chan.¡± ¡°The pleasure is all mine.¡± Cygnas replied politely while moving her eyes away slightly towards my general direction. ¡°You¡­ Don¡¯t seem all that angry at Gon¡­ Richard¡¯s joke.¡± ¡°Ara, it was just an inoffensive joke.¡± She said with a smile and I relaxed noticeable, as I was worried that I might have angered her. ¡°It¡¯s actually good to see that my little Yuu knows someone so cheerful. She only seems to know Mary-chan from her school.¡± As she said that, Yuu blushed slightly again, which earned a playful smile from her mother. ¡°Well, I¡¯m starting to think that it might have been a bad idea to let her meet him.¡± Mary said discretely while looking away. I stared at her and kicked her leg beneath the table, making her giggle slightly at that. ¡°Anyway¡­ What did Hattori-san decided to do?¡± She said while turning to Fuyuki. ¡°Oh. He was still trying to get a transport, but then the bodyguards told us that a strange man had approached Yuu, so I came here to see who it was.¡± She said in an explaining tone while looking at me. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t that be a work for the bodyguards, then?¡± I asked confused. ¡°What if I was a dangerous person or something?¡± ¡°Oh, no. Those bodyguards aren¡¯t here for Yuu or Mary-chan. They are here for me and my husband.¡± She said with a short laugh. ¡°Besides, anything that the bodyguards can deal with, Yuu can probably do better anyway!¡± She said proudly while looking tenderly at her daughter. Yuu simply nodded at her words with a strange confidence. I smiled a bit wryly at that, I did kind of expect her to be skilled at martials arts, but isn¡¯t that a bit overboard? Being stronger than the family¡¯s bodyguards is a bit too much, right? Anyway, leaving aside that fact, I felt that there was something a bit strange in what Fuyuki said. ¡°From the way you say it¡­ Does that means that Hattori-dono doesn¡¯t practice martial arts?¡±Cygnas asked the question I had in mind, and I saw as Fuyuki shook her head. ¡°No. He does practice, but not as much as Yuu. My daughter goes to her grandfather¡¯s dojo everyday without a fault to train. Or at least did¡­¡± Strangely enough, it didn¡¯t seem that she was bothered by those words. ¡°Recently she have been missing a few of her grandfather¡¯s teachings to play the game she earned.¡± ¡°¡­ Sorry¡­¡± I said reflexively while lowering my head. No doubt that I was somehow involved in that. ¡°Ara. No need to apologize.¡± She said with a cheerful smile. ¡°It was the first time she actually did something selfish, so we are all actually a bit glad that this happened.¡± Wow, when Hanbei told me that I thought that she was just joking, but she was actually telling the truth? ¡°Anyway, enough talking about me and my husband. Why don¡¯t you talk a bit more about yourself?¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. As soon as she said that, all three other girls started nodding excitedly while looking at me with excited eyes. I sighed loudly while stopping to think what I could tell about myself. Shrugging, I decided to start from the basic. ¡°Well, you already know my name, besides that¡­ I¡¯m actually twenty one years old¡­¡± I stopped for a moment to make some calculations before nodding. ¡°Yeah, twenty one. I am studying mechatronic engineering at my university and I know a few things about computer. All my knowledge about japan comes from manga and anime, so there might be somethings I can be mistaken about. And no, I don¡¯t do martial arts. Anything else you want to know?¡± I gave a brief introduction. ¡°So Shishou¡¯s three years older than I am¡­¡± Yuu said while amused, and this caught my attention. ¡°Am I?¡± I asked surprised before stopping to make some calculations. She said that she was in high-school and preparing to enter Tokyo-U. Then she should be something around¡­ ¡°Seventeen, eighteen?¡± I asked while tilting my head, and she nodded. ¡°I became eighteen this year.¡± She said with a nod. I widened my eyes surprised for a moment. That¡¯s something I had never really considered due to how she looks and acts mature, so I kind of just went with the idea that she was around my age or older. Well, I can¡¯t really talk about maturity with anyone. I have the mental maturity of an eleven years old overdosed with sugar, so I¡¯m far from a good example. ¡°And I¡¯m just a bit older than Yuu.¡± Hanbei said cheerfully and I widened my eyes a lot. ¡°Seriously?¡± I asked in a fake surprise tone. ¡°I swore you were four or five years younger!¡± I told her. She blinked a couple of seconds before pouting and kicking me beneath the table. Me and Cygnas laughed a bit at her while Fuyuki simply giggled lightly. As we continued our antics, with the corner of my eyes I managed to catch a glimpse of someone approaching us. It was an Asiatic man with sharp features and a hair curt short and nicely, with only some traces of gray around the sides. Surprisingly enough¡­ he actually wore fairly normal clothes. A black business suit with a black tie. Really, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he suddenly took out a katana from out of nowhere and told me he was a yakuza or something. He gave a quick look at Fuyuki, who smiled gently at him, then looked at Yuu, who gave a short bow. Finally his gaze fell on me, and he frowned slightly. Now comes the part where he takes out the sword, put it on my throat and start threatening me for getting close to his daughter. ¡°So, you are the one that managed to make Yuu actually skip class for the first time in her life?¡± he asked me in a perfect Portuguese, which kind of caught me by surprise. ¡°Ermm¡­ Yes?¡± I replied in kind a bit worried. Then, he did something I didn¡¯t expect. He put his hand on the table with surprising strength, making the plates jump up slightly. And bowed to me, almost smashing his head on the table too. ¡°Many thanks for making my dear daughter a little more sociable and a little happier!¡± He said in a loud voice that would surprise me if the others in the room didn¡¯t hear it. I blinked surprised for a moment and stared at him trying to understand what had happened, and by the time I finally understood, I missed the stony skin of my avatar, as I could feel the blood rushing to my face as I became embarrassed. Somehow I managed to hide it by lowering my head, putting one of my hands in my forehead while making a motion with my other hand as if saying. ¡°It was nothing. Just doing my duty as an irresponsible man.¡± I said with a proud tone, which left the man surprised for a moment before nodding. When I finally recovered myself from the embarrassment, my gaze passed through Mary, who was looking at me mischievously. When I looked back at her, she made a discreet motion towards Hattori, if that¡¯s his name. It took me a moment to understand what she meant, but once it sunk in, I had to hold back my smile by clearing my throat. ¡°Well then, sir.¡± I said in English, getting his attention. ¡°Why don¡¯t we start our introductions then?¡± I said in a business tone and saw as he nodded while preparing to say something and extending his hand towards me. I shook my hand to tell him that it wasn¡¯t that, which left him confused. ¡°We are in Brazil, so you will introduce yourself in the Brazilian way. That¡¯s the correct order of things when visiting other people, right?¡± He nodded weakly while also looking confused. ¡°Indeed, that should be right, but¡­¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s start.¡± I said interrupting him. I couldn¡¯t help but think that I might regret tricking him, but since I already started the joke, might as well go through it until the end. ¡°You see, here in Brazil we introduce ourselves by sitting around a table like this, and telling something slightly embarrassing.¡± I said while pointing towards the empty chair. But¡­ ¡°Very funny, Boy.¡± He said with a slight smirk. ¡°But this isn¡¯t my first time in Brazil, so I won¡¯t fall for this little ploy.¡± He spoke proudly. I wanted to grimace for having my infallible ploy revealed¡­ Okay, not so infallible. It¡¯s probably one of my worst ones up to now, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I like to have it revealed so easily. To hide the grimace, I leaned forward while supporting my head against my crossed hands on the table, discretely covering my mouth just like some kind of old villain from anime. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I spoke slowly while frowning. ¡°Look here, sir.¡± I said in a fake calm tone. ¡°You may have come here before to have your business talks with other rich guys just like you. And from what I could gather by spending some time with your daughter in the game, is that you are richer than even my wildest dreams.¡± I saw as he looked at me confused, then looked briefly towards Yuu, but she also looked confused at the situation. ¡°This meant that the meetings you had before were made to appease you, and even then, it was made by those of the high class. Right now, however, we aren¡¯t in the area of the high class.¡± He frowned slightly at my words, but didn¡¯t try to correct me. ¡°And I have no need to appease you, since I have no interest in your money.¡± Which is a bit of a lie, since I do like having some money, but I truly had no intent on asking for some money, even if they could give me for free. ¡°So this means that we should act as middle-class Brazilian citizens, as that would be the proper and polite method to demonstrate your thanks for taking care of Yuu.¡± I took a brief glance at Yuu, who for some reason was looking at me with some admiration, before turning back to her father. ¡°And as far as I know, you have never been a middle-class Brazilian citizen before, so how can you say that I¡¯m just fooling around? I may end up taking that as you being disrespectful towards me and my class, you know?¡± He frowned even more and took some time to think this through. Somehow I managed to make it somewhat convincing, but it might not be enough. Just as I feared, he looked back at me and opened his mouth to give his counter argument. However, help came from an unexpected direction. ¡°Dear. You are being extremely impolite towards our daughter¡¯s friend.¡± Fuyuki said in a perfectly serious tone while looking down with her eyes closed. I really had to hid my surprise. Could it be, that contrary to her refined look, she might actually be a trickster at heart? Hanbei didn¡¯t seem all that surprised, and she was stuffing her face on the remaining of her sandwich to hide her laughter. The man widened his eyes a bit before sighing and sitting down. ¡°Forgive-me for that.¡± He said while bowing his head slightly. ¡°I got too convinced of myself.¡± ¡°It happens, no need to worry.¡± I said while leaning back on the chair, only to feel as the sweat running like rivers on my back. ¡°Let me start then, as I said before when introducing myself to your wive, my name is Richard Hadaway, Richard being my given name. And I only learned how to ride a bicycle when I was eleven years old.¡± As I said that, I turned to the man. ¡°My given name is Hattori. Kuzuha Hattori.¡± He stopped to think for a moment before taking a cellphone from his pocket and fiddling with it slightly. ¡°And the wallpaper I use on my particular phone is this¡­¡± He said while looking away. Mary, Cygnas, Yuu and me were intrigued by his words and leaned in to take a closer look, while Fuyuki simply went ¡®Ara ara¡¯ while giggling slightly. The moment we saw his wallpaper, Yuu¡¯s face went as red as a tomato. ¡°This is¡­¡± Mary said surprised while holding back her smile. ¡°Chi¡­ Chichi-ue!¡± Yuu complained. ¡°Urge¡­ To pet¡­ Raising!¡± I said while holding my twitching hand. In the image was what looked like an old photo that was scanned up, where a young girl, probably in her five years old, with long black hair and sharp looking eyes was trying to wear a hakama. However, the martial-artist garment was far too big for the little girl, being adult sized, so she was inside the clothes with her arms barely even reaching the sleeves and most of the cloth dragging on the ground. She was looking confused at the camera, her head tilting slightly as she was trying to fix the garment. ¡°I look at this photo of Yuu whenever works gets stressful.¡± Hattori added. ¡°She was so cute back then!¡± He said in a proud tone. At that time, Yuu couldn¡¯t bear with the embarrassment anymore and slammed her face on the table while muttering something in Japanese that I couldn¡¯t understand. Mary was holding her sides laughing while the two parents simply looked at their daughter with kind eyes. And yes, I was petting Yuu. It was an automatic reaction that I developed within Insania that seemed to transpose to real life. Besides, her hair is so smooth and silky! It just feel too good to touch it! FLUFFINES! ¡°Oh!¡± I said in an attempt to change the topic. ¡°Thanks for helping me with the joke, Fuyuki.¡± I told to Yuu¡¯s mother, who widened her eyes slightly before laughing. ¡°Ara ara. It was my pleasure, Hadaway-kun.¡± She said cheerfully. The moment these words left her mouth, Hattori¡¯s face became the perfect example of an even mix of shock and defeat. ¡°Please, call me Richard.¡± I said with an awkward smile. ¡°It feels strange to have someone call me by my surname.¡± "Is that so?" Fuyuki asked before nodding. "Then what about... Rick-kun?" I took a moment thinking about that before nodding, it sounded nice, so I quite liked it. Fuyuki smiled satisfied before turning to Hattori who had his face on the table, just like their daughter, and asked. "So, Dear, did you solve our transportation problems?" At her words, Hattori blinked an quickly recovered himself from his shock. "No. It seems that there''s no other car nearby, and that one needs to be towed to the repair shop." He said with a sigh. "After that, I also received a call from father, who said that he decided to come here too." Huh? Hattori''s father? Isn''t that Yuu''s grandfather? The master martial artist? Wait a second... Didn''t I also meet another martial artist just a few days ago? It... It couldn''t be, right? I mean, really, what are the chances? It''s almost impossible! Right? ... "Say..." I said in a dry voice, getting the other''s attention. They turned to me confused and awaited for my words. ¡°By any chance¡­ Did your father recently get himself a D-lute?¡± I asked while looking towards Hattori. ¡°Why, yes!¡± He said surprised. ¡°He became interested when Yuu told him her stories and bought one! How did you know?¡± ¡°Just a guess¡­¡± I said while laughing dryly, which left them looking at me confused. ¡°Anyway, about your transportation problems¡­ Why don¡¯t you take a taxi?¡± I asked while pointing towards the airport entrance. Hattori¡¯s eyes widened before he covered them with his hand in a classic face-palm, while Fuyuki looked confused for a moment, before widening her eyes excited. ¡°Are those the cars you pay the driver to take you somewhere?¡± She asked surprised. I blinked surprise before laughing a bit. Like mother, like daughter, I guess. Chapter 71 - He who controls Yuu... Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some family time and reunion! ANYWAY, some slightly more serious moment in this chapter, only to degenerate into silly comedy like always, because why not? It¡¯s also the first appearance of one and a half character! (because one you already appeared in game, and not offline), so enjoy it! ALSO, We did it, brothers! We made VRDraco put on more monster hunter monsters on his story! Hooray! But simply doing that would be plain mean, so whoever have an idea, tell him of some unique monsters he could use on his story, okay? Have a good read! ----- Hattori made a quick gesture towards one of the bodyguards, who quickly came out of hiding and approached him. They exchanged some quick words in Japanese that I couldn¡¯t quite understand before the bodyguard nodded and spoke something in their communicator. I looked confused at that for some time, but decided that it shouldn¡¯t be anything important, as the man walked away so that he could do whatever it was that he was supposed to do. Yet, noticing my curiosity, Hattori quickly explained to me. ¡°I asked him to go and get our baggage.¡± He explained. ¡°We left it on the airplane until we could load it on the car.¡± ¡°So, this way you wouldn¡¯t need to carry it around¡­ Smart thinking.¡± I said with a nod. Now that I stopped to think about it, the fact that I hadn¡¯t seen their baggage at all was a bit strange, but it didn¡¯t really cross my mind at all. ¡°Excuse-me, Hattori-dono.¡± Cyg said, getting his attention, I quickly flipped the cellphone so that he screen was pointing towards him. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure meeting you. My name is Cygnas and I¡¯m the AI responsible for managing the game your daughter plays.¡± Cyg said while bowing. ¡°Oh! So you are the said AI?¡± Hattori said amused while leaning in for a closer look. ¡°The pleasure is mine!¡± He said with a nod. ¡°Thank you!¡± Cyg replied before going back to her curious look. ¡°Now, if you allow me to ask, but where to you plan to stay during your visit?¡± She asked with a tilted head. ¡°I mean, you are renting an apartment for Yuu, I know that much, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s big enough for the whole family.¡± ¡°Well, Cygnas-dono, we plan on staying on a five-star hotel in this city for the meantime.¡± He said with a nod, but¡­ ¡°Campos has a five star hotel?¡± I asked confused and saw as Cyg face-palmed herself. ¡°How come you don¡¯t know that, Gon?¡± Cygnas said in a tired tone. ¡°Don¡¯t you live in this city?¡± she asked me. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I needed to find about five-star hotels in the city, right?¡± I said while shrugging, which made Hattori smirk slightly. ¡°Well, he does have a point.¡± He said with a nod before turning back to Cygnas with a curious look. ¡°Say, if you are on his cellphone, does this means that you are also on Yuu¡¯s and Mary¡¯s?¡± ¡°Actually, no¡­¡± Cygnas said with a wry smile. ¡°If I were to do that, I¡¯d rather ask them before doing it, and I never really had the chance to do it yet.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind?¡± Yuu said while tilting her head as if confused. ¡°To have my very own Cyg on my cellphone¡­¡± Mary said while thinking for a moment. ¡°I think I that would be interesting.¡± She said cheerfully. Well, as much as I enjoy Cyg¡¯s company and help with using my cellphone and so on, shouldn¡¯t they think a bit more before giving a top tier A.I. like her access to a personal device like a cellphone or so on? The only thing keeping her from accessing all the data in the cellphone is¡­ Actually nothing? I mean, really, when I think about it, the only reason she didn¡¯t access the data in my cellphone Is because she didn¡¯t want to, after all, she is the most powerful computer in existence right now, so if she felt like it she could hack a cellphone like ours in the blink of an eye. ¡­ I need to be a bit more careful to not piss her off too much. ¡°Then, if you don¡¯t mind¡­¡± Cygnas said with a shy smile. ¡°As soon as we get a decent connection I¡¯ll download the necessary app. It¡¯s a bit too big to use the cellphone connection.¡± Well, she had an eager tone to her voice, so I guess that she¡¯s a bit happy to have some more people to talk to while we are offline. She does seem to enjoy following people around, even if she doesn¡¯t end up speaking too much. As Cyg explained what she could do while being in the girl¡¯s cellphone to them, the bodyguards came back carrying some suitcases with them, leaving it besides Hattori and Fuyuki and Yuu. Looking at the scene, I raised an eyebrow towards Mary, who didn¡¯t have a single baggage besides her. ¡°What?¡± She asked me confused, and I pointed towards the baggage, and she made a face as if she understood. ¡°My maid have my baggage. I couldn¡¯t leave it with Yuu¡¯s group, right?¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°Wait, maid?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°Yup¡­¡± She said cheerfully before blinking surprise. ¡°Oh yeah¡­ This will be interesting¡­¡± She said with an amused smile. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked confused. She simply smiled while snapping her finger. ¡°Maya, my baggage please.¡± She said in a commanding tone. ¡°Who the heck is May¡­¡± I started asking. ¡°Here it is, milady.¡± I almost fell from my chair when the sudden voice simply appeared from thin air besides me. I turned in a hurry to see who the heck was the owner of the voice while holding on dearly on the chair¡¯s edge so that I wouldn¡¯t fall from the sudden movement. Besides me was a girl that I hadn¡¯t seen before in my entire life, with a short light brown hair cut right around the height of her neck. Wearing a simple black blouse and jeans pants, she stood straight up right besides us with two large and one small travelling bags beside her. I stared at her for a moment while blinking in surprise. She didn¡¯t even notice my gaze and looked straight to Mary. ¡°Thank you, Maya.¡± She replied while smiling to the girl, who nodded slightly. ¡°Gon, meet Maya. She¡¯s been my personal maid ever since I was a kid. Maya, this is Gon, or Richard, and he¡¯s the one I told you that I met in the game.¡± ¡°So I¡¯ve heard.¡± Maya said in English while turning to me for the first time. ¡°It¡¯s not my pleasure to meet you. Still, thanks for taking care of milady for me.¡± ¡°I thought you two would get along well.¡± Mary said with a playful smile while I stared at Maya. ¡°Yeah... I think I might actually like her.¡± I said truthfully. And no, I did not miss the ¡®not¡¯ in her greeting, and no, I did not miss that look of smugness in her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure to meet you, Maya, and you can leave it to me to take care of Mary while we are in-game.¡± I said with my brightest smile, which made her click her tongue in annoyance. ¡°But seriously, how did you appear like that? I was sure that there wasn¡¯t anyone nearby.¡± I asked surprised. ¡°A servant must be wherever her master is, and always be ready to attend to her call.¡± She said monotonically, as if repeating something she read in a manual. But seriously, what the hell with that kind of manga-esque reply? And how the hell did she even do that whole poofing into existence thing? I turned towards Yuu and co., but they simply shrugged, saying that they had no idea either. Finally I turned to Mary, who was raising from the table so that we could get moving. ¡°She grew up reading too many manga about butlers and maids¡­ So she¡¯s a bit weird in that aspect.¡± She said with a wry smile. My eyes widened at those words and I had to hold back a mischievous smile that was threatening to appear. Maya simply glanced at me with an annoyed look before quickly following Mary through the airport while carrying the larger baggage. I shrugged it off and raised myself from the table at the same time as Yuu and her parents. They left it for the bodyguards to carry the luggage as we made our way out from the airport. Which¡­ became quite the scene. Just imagine this, six people walking around an airport, three of them being beauties, one being a woman wearing a kimono, a man with a dangerous look wearing a business suit and lastly me, all the while being surrounded by bodyguards wearing black suits. I felt strangely badass while stuffing my chest out in pride. Or I would do that, if my legs weren¡¯t screaming in pain at the fact that they were being used again so soon. We quickly reached the taxis in front of the airport and I took the one with the girls, taking the front seat while the girls shared the back-seat. I did notice the taxi¡¯s driver giving me a surprised look once he saw the girls, I simply put my best poker face and told him the address to go. He shrugged and turned on the car after helping the bodyguards load the baggage. A few minutes later, we were already on the road and it finally sunk in. ¡°Say, will Maya also stay with you?¡± I asked. ¡°Yup. Maya will stay with us to take care of our apartment.¡± Mary said cheerfully before looking confused. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you this?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I just meet her?¡± I said dryly, and she made an ¡®of course face.¡¯ I sighed loudly while turning my attention to the car following right behind us. I frowned slightly because I could see Hattori, Fuyuki plus two bodyguards riding the taxi following us. Wasn¡¯t he going to the five-star hotel? Anyway, it didn¡¯t take much longer for us to reach my apartment, and once there we had a small surprise. ¡°Hello Sonny! What a coincidence to meet you here!¡± ¡°Booh!¡± ¡°So, these are Yuu and Hanbei? Which one is which?¡± ¡°Why the hell do you keep ignoring me in-game, you bastard!¡± Said four different people in Portuguese. I smiled weakly at the scene while looking at the four people gathered in front of my apartment as if waiting for me. I took a deep sigh while staring at them. The first one, as you may have noticed, was my father. People say that we are very similar, even though I don¡¯t really see it. He¡¯s a bit taller than me, probably half a palm taller, and have a tanned skin. His hair had some signs of going white on the sides of his head due to his age. Second, was the little pest I call sister. Being as tall as my legs and with long hair that goes to midway her back, she had a slightly chubby appearance and was smiling widely while being held by the neck by my father¡¯s hand. The last important person was a short girl, being a bit to the chubby side and having long tinted red hair tied in a bun, she wore a black shirt and jeans, looking curiously towards the girls. She was the one known as Red hurricane, AKA Barbara. Then, we had Incarnus, or Paul IRL. I sighed deeply while face-palming myself. I should have seen this one coming. ¡°Let me guess¡­¡± I pointed towards my father and my sister, speaking in portuguese. ¡°You two followed my location on the GPS.¡± I said and he made a fake surprised face, then I moved my finger towards Barbara and Paul. ¡°You two received news from somebody.¡± They smiled smugly while I heard someone whistling innocently on my cellphone. I shook my head before turning to the Yuu and Co., who had all disembarked the taxi by now. Her parents included. I pointed to the others and said in English. ¡°Guys, these are Roger, my father, Lily, my sister, Barbara and Paul, my friends.¡± Finished, I quickly turned to the others and pointed to Yuu and Co. before saying in Portuguese. ¡°Guys, these are Yukihime, Mary, Fuyuki, Hattori, Maya and bodyguards.¡± I said while pointing at them. They quickly exchanged greetings, with me introducing Yuu and Mary to Incarnus and Red a bit more deeply. Once she recognized them from the game, Yuu almost immediately opened up to them, and started to talk a bit more openly. Mary¡­ Didn¡¯t have any problem even before she knew that, cheerful the way she is. My father and Yuu¡¯s father quickly analyzed each other before exchanging a quick handshake and giving an invite to share a glass of whisky later, all in Portuguese. No that he was bad with English, but since it was more of a technical one, he had some problems using it daily. It seemed that my stepmother didn¡¯t manage to come as she was occupied with work, so he quickly apologized to them. Lily came to me and looked at Yuu, Mary and Maya with curiosity. As I laughed when she pointed at Mary ands said that she was short, I barely managed to notice something coming at me with high speed. I turned and caught a fist that was going straight to my stomach. ¡°Why the hell did you keep ignoring me, you bastard?¡± Paul asked me with a vein popping on his forehead. I smiled wickedly while I blocked his other hand, making us lock our fingers in a contest of strength right in the middle of the street. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about!¡± I said while pushing him back. ¡°Oh, you know exactly what I mean!¡± he said while trying to kick me, but I stopped it with the sole of my sneakers. ¡°Why would I need to pay attention to an annoying guy like you anyway? You are better left ignored anyway!¡± I said while he pushed me back this time. ¡°By the way, where¡¯s Phantons?¡± I asked while frowning. ¡°Guess¡­¡± He said with a sigh, and I smiled awkwardly. ¡°Playing.¡± I said briefly and he nodded. ¡°Will the two of you stop flirting and take your attention back to the real world for a minute?¡± I heard Barbara say. ¡°WHO THE HECK IS FLIRTING WITH THIS BASTARD?¡± Paul and me asked angrily together. While we did that, I managed to get a glimpse of Maya taking out her cellphone and pointing the camera to us. Looking at her confused, she quickly looked at us for a moment and said. ¡°What, aren¡¯t you going to kiss?¡± She said in a confused tone. Paul and me started swearing at her angrily while trying to take the phone out from the girl. Mary was laughing wildly at the exchange while Yuu simply looked confused at everything. ¡°So¡­¡± My father said suddenly, making the three of us stop surprised and look at him confused. But when he smiled mischievously I knew that I shouldn¡¯t have stopped. ¡°Which one of the girls is my son¡¯s girlfriend?¡± He said in a slightly hesitant English. The moment those words left his lips, I saw as the whole group on the street froze, with everyone looking at him in confusion for a moment. I took a deep sigh and just as I hoped to talk my way out of this, I noticed Mary smiling mischievously. Then, she, Paul and Barbara all pointed towards Yuu in synchro. And it took her a couple more seconds to understand what was happening, and until that happened she stared at the others in confusion before finally blushing violently. I also heard an ¡®Ara ara¡¯ and felt a huge surge of killing intent aimed directly at me, but I kind of got used to that kind of thing when I walked around with Yuu and Hanbei in Eldor, so I simply shrugged it off while shaking my head. ¡°Hoh¡­ You got yourself quite a beauty there¡­¡± My father said while looking Yuu from head to toes. ¡°Don¡¯t you think so, Lily?¡± He asked my sister, who blinked surprised before nodding happily. ¡°She¡¯s very pretty!¡± She said with a cheerful nod. ¡°See! Even your sister likes her!¡± He said with a laugh while still looking at her. ¡°So, how far have the two of you gone?¡± He asked fearlessly, making Hattori widen his eyes in shock. Yuu became even more embarrassed once she understood what he meant, and turned to me with teary eyes looking for help. I sighed loudly while walking forward so that I could stand between my father and Yuu. ¡°Father, stop that. She can barely hold it any longer, okay?¡± I sighed once again while my father laughed at us. ¡°Okay, okay¡­ I¡¯ll stop then.¡± He said cheerfully while turning to Yuu¡¯s father. ¡°Anyway, why don¡¯t we go inside and help you set up?¡± He said while putting his arm around Hattori, which made the bodyguards tense up for a moment as Hattori paled a little. Well, I am already a bit taller than him, and my father being even taller than me makes it so that he must feel like a dwarf besides him. And he also isn¡¯t used to how Brazilian act, so the sudden movement must have surprised him. Still, he managed to drag him inside while Fuyuki watched everything going ¡®Ara ara¡¯ and smiling playfully. Everyone, bodyguards included, soon followed them suit, with only me and Yuu lingering behind. I smiled a bit awkwardly and petted her a bit before motioning for her to go in. ... Due to the sheer amount of people and baggage, we had to take two trips up the elevator, even when there were two different elevators we could use. We took it up to the floor of the girl¡¯s apartment, which was oddly familiar. ¡°So¡­ You even managed to get one in the same floor as mine.¡± I said with a dry laugh. ¡°Eh? Shishou¡¯s here too?¡± Yuu said surprised. I nodded while pointing to the door of my apartment as we passed it. ¡°Hmm? What is that Shishou thingy?¡± My father asked in Portuguese, and Hattori nodded. ¡°That also interests me, actually.¡± Hattori said in the same language with a nod as the bodyguards opened the door at the end of the corridor. ¡°Why does she calls you Shishou?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± I said with a shrug while continuing in Portuguese. ¡°I tricked her into believing I¡¯m some kind of great gamer when we met and started teaching her. After that, it simply stuck.¡± I said with a shrug. I saw Yuu tilting her head as she didn¡¯t understand our words, so I quickly explained it to her. As we entered their apartment, I noticed that it was a bit bigger than mine, probably because it was a corner one. Everyone soon got in to find that it was already furnished with top of the line products, like a tv larger than me, a large and soft sofa, a high-tec looking fridge made of stainless steel in the corner and so on. They must have brought it in previously so that we could get ready to use it as soon as we got here. Maya and the bodyguards quickly took the baggage to the bedroom. In there I saw that there were only two beds and I started thinking that Maya would probably start sleeping on the sofa, but she noticed my gaze and turned to me with a perfectly serious face. ¡°What? Can¡¯t you see that I¡¯m preparing milady¡¯s and mine love-nest?¡± I blinked surprised for a moment before laughing it out. ¡°Goddamit! I really am starting to like you!¡± I said cheerfully. ¡°Thanks for your feelings, but I have no interest in having a relationship with you.¡± Okay, now its official, this girl is awesome. I started laughing loudly while following her outside of the room. The others looked at us confused but I simply shook my head, saying that it was nothing. Red started helping Yuu separate her clothes on the wardrobe while Mary had some help from Maya. Fuyuki was playing along with Pea while she talked about something with my father and Paul. I smiled a bit and decided to go to my room really quickly so that I could take off my shoes and maybe put on something a bit more comfortable. I quickly took out my keys and opened the door to my apartment, seeing how it was still the same as I left it earlier today. I had this feeling that I had been away for two days, even though it was only a few hours ago¡­ Strange? Anyway, I quickly made my way to my room, where I took out my sneakers and jacket and put on some sandals. I also dropped my sunglasses, since I wasn¡¯t in the sun anymore. As I got out of my room, I noticed that Hattori had come in my apartment and saw everything with curious eyes. Raising an eyebrow at him, he quickly turned to me and said seriously. ¡°Rick-kun. There is something I wish to talk to you. Man-to-man.¡± He told me in Portuguese. I frowned slightly before nodding and pointing to the couch. He sat on it while I took one of the benches I had on my tables. ¡°Firstly, I would really like to thank you for being here for my daughter.¡± He said seriously, which caught me by surprise. ¡°You see, my daughter was always too serious, always studying and training non-stop. And although I initially liked that, after some time is started to get worried, as she never did something for herself, and herself only, like playing or going out with friends.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± I said surprised. ¡°Yeah, but then, when she started playing that game and met you¡­ She changed.¡± He said solemnly. ¡°She started to smile more, to actually ask for a few selfish things and so on. It might look like I am overreacting, but for us, it meant a lot that our daughter actually started to care for something other than trying to make us proud, and started to care a bit more about herself. And for that, I am deeply thankful to you, who became such a key point in this story.¡± He bowed to me deeply, which left me a bit embarrassed and lost on how to react. ¡°No need to thank me like that!¡± I said. ¡°I was just fooling around most of the time, so it¡¯s not like I did something worthy to be thanked like that.¡± He lifted his head and nodded deeply. ¡°Still, thank you.¡± He said one last time while staring at the wall and the direction towards where Yuu¡¯s apartment was. ¡°It has been so long that I have seen her so¡­ Expressive.¡± He said with a dreamy voice. ¡°Her anxiousness of coming here, her laugh when you fooled around, her embarrassment when your father made that question¡­¡± I felt a drop of sweat roll on my forehead at that last part. ¡°She truly cares a lot for you. I didn¡¯t even dream that I would get to see her like that so soon.¡± He turned to me with serious eyes. ¡°But, that raises me a question. What are your feelings about my daughter?¡± I sighed, not really surprised by the question that I somehow knew that it was coming sooner or later, but more because I still didn¡¯t know how to answer it. I took some seconds to answer before nodding. ¡°You see, Sir Hattori, I¡­ Like your daughter.¡± I said finally, and saw as he widened his eyes, but before he spoke anything I raised my hand to stop him. ¡°I mean¡­ I like her, but¡­ I¡¯m still not sure whether it¡¯s THAT type of like. I enjoy being close to her, playing around with her. I care deeply for her and would surely be there should she ever need me. But I¡¯m still not sure whether this truly is love or something like that.¡± I sighed deeply. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ All I can tell you right now.¡± I said finally. Hattori nodded solemnly and we both kept silent for some time before he finally nodded. ¡°I see. Thank you for being honest with me.¡± He said once again while bowing. I smiled a bit awkwardly while scratching my cheek. But suddenly, I felt as the whole room suddenly became hostile, and I paled slightly at the feeling. ¡°But¡­ Let me tell you one thing¡­¡± He said with a voice that sent shivers down my spine. ¡°Even if you did something so important to her¡­ Even if she likes you that much¡­ I will never. NEVER allow you to have her, okay?¡± Oh god¡­ It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s coming! ¡°IF YOU EVEN DARE¡­ IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT LAYING A FINGER ON MY DAUGHTER¡­ I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD. ARE WE UNDERSTOOD?¡± He said with a voice bordering a threatening shout, which made me sweat in worry for a moment. Almost as if waiting for this moment, my cellphone beeped, warning me that I had a message. I took the chance to quickly take a look at it and see what it was. Nothing too important, but this also gave me a chance. I told him to wait for a moment while I gave a call, and he nodded angrily while I went to my room. There, I made a quick call that would save my life. After finishing it, I came back with a wide smile in my face, sitting at the bench once again and looking at him with a wide smile. He frowned at my expression, so different from the previous one. ¡°What is it? Why are you smirking?¡± He asked me angrily. ¡°You''ll see why in a couple of seconds¡­¡± I said while looking at the door, and he followed my gaze towards it while looking confused. Just then, the door opened. And in came Yuu, and if I didn¡¯t know better, I would have swore that there was a demonic mask following right behind her, making her hair float up in anger. She stared right at her father, who lost all of his intimidating aura and was almost falling from the couch in surprise. ¡°You see, mister Hattori. You are mistaken in one simple thing.¡± I told him in Portuguese as Yuu approached him furious. ¡°The one who makes the final choice in this matter, isn¡¯t you nor me, but her.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°This means that whoever controls Yuu holds the rights to do the threatening.¡± I raised myself from the bench and made my way towards the door, petting Yuu on the way out. She looked at me briefly before turning back to her father, whom I told her on the call through Cygnas that he was threatening me if I stayed too close to her. Which isn¡¯t too wrong, if I stopped to think about it. ¡°And right now, I am the one controlling her.¡± I said in my best James-bond villain tone while walking away. ¡°See you later.¡± As I left my room, I could only hear the cries of lamentation of a man trying to apologize to his furious daughter, and said daughter who was lashing out furiously at him. Chapter 72 - Hurting feet Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! A new chapter for you today! Hooray! ANYWAY, the reason I didn¡¯t upload anything yesterday was mostly because my pet golem went sick, so I had to take him to a jeweler so that he could take a look at him. Luckily, it was nothing serious¡­ Jokes aside, it was just one of those days were you wake up without a shred of motivation. No reason at all, just couldn¡¯t bring myself to write. ALSO, tomorrow I will go back to Beepy¡¯s story, so you have been warned. That, and I think that this arc might be coming to an end fairly soon, with one or two more chapters to come. ALSO(2), This chapter ended up being more about showing how Richard will react to Maya than anything else. Still, I found it kind of funny, since the two ended up being somewhat similar in a weird way. Have a good read! ------ I made my way back to Yuu¡¯s and Mary¡¯s temporary home while leaving Hattori and Yuu back at my house. A sense of fulfillment filling my chest, I entered the apartment, only to see that it was as lively as when I left. This still didn¡¯t help much with making my arrival go unnoticed, as the moment I came in, Fuyuki and Red turned to me with curious expression. ¡°Why did Yuu suddenly leave like that?¡± Fuyuki asked. ¡°Yeah, she looked really angry¡­¡± Red said while giving me an incriminating gaze. I shrugged without hiding my smug smile, my reply was the simple answer of it being family matters. Fuyuki seemed to understand what I mean, since she widened her eyes and went ¡®Ara Ara¡¯ while shaking her head. Red, however, didn¡¯t understand and simply frowned confused. Anyway, since there wasn¡¯t much for me to do, I decided to start with one of the first things I usually do when visiting a friend¡¯s house. I went to the fridge and opened it, seeing if there was anything interesting, I could snatch as a snack. However, I met a horrifying scene. ¡°This is bad. Really bad.¡± I said with a terrified expression. ¡°Indeed. This can be a terrible situation for milady.¡± Maya said while popping up besides me. I blinked surprised before nodding. ¡°You creature that lives here longer than we do. What can we do to amend this situation.¡± She asked me, and I stopped to think for a second. ¡°There¡¯s a place we can go nearby. But since it¡¯s Saturday, it would only be open until noon, so we should go there quickly.¡± I told her, making her frown. ¡°Why, Us?¡± She asked me with a look of disgust. ¡°Do you really want to follow me around so that you can engrave this deliciously sexy body into your mind to¡­¡± ¡°Do you speak Portuguese?¡± I interrupted her, making her frown once again. ¡°You win this time.¡± She said coldly, and I gave her my best smile. ¡°What are you guys talking about?¡± Mary asked while she arrived besides us. ¡°It almost seems like you guys are doing something that matters for life and death.¡± ¡°But it is a dire situation like that.¡± I said while grabbing one of Mary¡¯s shoulders and putting on my best look of desperation. ¡°Please, fear not, milady. For I shall save us from this situation!¡± Maya said while holding her other shoulder. ¡°And then, I would accept a reward from you in the matter of intimate contact between the two of us.¡± We saw as Mary looked completely lost on what was happening, and before she even had the chance to try and get answers from us, Maya and I had already left the apartment once again, warning the others that it would take us a few minutes to come back. On the way out we met with Yuu, who was leaving my apartment while stomping her way out. She blinked surprised when she saw me and Maya walking together and tilted her head confused. ¡°Did something happen, Shishou?¡± She asked me when we approached her. ¡°We are in dire situations, Yukihime-dono.¡± Maya said. ¡°Yeah.¡± I said in a heavy tone while taking a deep breath. ¡°Look, I know it¡¯s difficult to believe me, but I need you to stay calm while we tell you this, okay?¡± I told her while looking at her seriously. She widened her eyes and nodded while looking serious. ¡°You see¡­ We just¡­ At your house¡­¡± ¡°We opened it¡­¡± Maya said while making a pained face. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t¡­ but we found out a terrible, terrible secret.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Yuu asked, shocked. Me and the maid exchanged glances and nodded in accordance. ¡°The fridge¡­¡± ¡°¡­Is empty!¡± We said in synch. Yuu widened her eyes in sheer shock and terror, before finally frowning and looking at us confused while she made sense of the situation. ¡°You were fooling with me?¡± She tilted her head. ¡°What makes you think that I would fool around such serious matter?¡± I put on a fake angry tone which surprised her. ¡°I feel disappointed by the fact that Yukihime-dono does not trust me.¡± Maya said while faking some tears. ¡°Look! Now you made the poor maid cry!¡± I said while pointing to Maya. ¡°Waah! So-Sorry Shihsou! Sorry Maya-san!¡± Yuu said panicky while looking between the two of us in panic. I looked at her with a fake scowl that made her shrink in fear for a moment. Then I turned to Maya who was spying between her fingers with an amused expression. ¡°If you want forgiveness then ask her!¡± I told Yuu. ¡°She¡¯s the one who feels the most hurt!¡± Yuu nodded hurriedly while turning to Maya. Except that since they spoke in Japanese, I couldn¡¯t quite get the meaning behind their words, besides the initial sorry, I mean. And their names. I did get that Maya¡¯s attitude suddenly made a full turn after Yuu spoke some words, and suddenly she was back to her serious-looking face and was saying something to Yuu, who nodded obediently while listening to it. When they finally finished their negotiations, Yuu ran to her house in a hurry. I turned to the maid and raised an eyebrow confused. ¡°I made sure to bring Yukihime-dono with us.¡± Maya told me briefly. ¡°Good job.¡± I said briefly with a nod. ¡°I always do a good job.¡± She said smugly. I laughed loudly at that while we made our way to the elevator. We called it and waited a few seconds while it got to our floor. By the time the elevator arrive, Yuu also reached us, now carrying a small purse swung over her shoulder. I looked confused for a moment but then shrug it off as it wasn¡¯t important anymore. Maya quickly pressed the ground-floor and the elevator started to slowly make its way down. Reaching the ground floor, we left and I gave a quick greeting to the gatekeeper, who nodded briefly before opening the gate to us. I guided the girls through the streets until we reached a nearby super-market. ¡°Okay, so what do we need exactly?¡± I asked them. ¡°Condiments, food, meat, rice¡­ Fish would be good too.¡± Maya said as she made a mental list. ¡°Mary said that some cleaning products would be good too.¡± Cygnas said from my cellphone, getting Maya by surprise. Me and Yuu simply nodded in accordance. However, since most of the products were from a different brand from the ones they knew and I survived mostly on frozen meals and left the cleaning to the cleaning lady that went to my home twice a week. We had to some help from Cygnas, who used the power of the internet to recommend us what to buy and how to check the quality of the fruits and other fresh products that we needed. ¡°So¡­ Why are you picking up so many cookies?¡± Maya asked me when she saw that I had a basket filled with cookies that I was going to buy. ¡°Cookies are a way of live I have no intention of ever abandoning.¡± I told her briefly with a defiant look. She blinked surprised before shrugging and turning back to whatever she was doing. ¡°Shishou likes cookies?¡± Yuu asked-me, and I nodded. ¡°Cookies, chocolate, ice-cream and so on. I¡¯m a major sweet-tooth when it comes to things like that.¡± I said happily and almost missed Yuu nodding to herself before turning to another side of the store, as if looking for something. I smiled a bit awkwardly when I noticed that she also added some extra cooking ingredients that, if I guessed right, would be used to make some cookies. I couldn¡¯t help but start petting her, which left her a bit confused. ¡°So, not only are you after my body, you also want Yukihime-dono¡¯s?¡± Maya asked in a fake tone of surprise. Yuu stared at her confused for a moment, then at herself. ¡°Our bodies?¡± She asked confused. ¡°You see¡­ What it means is¡­¡± Maya started explaining in a mischievous tone, but I stopped her by covering her mouth with my hand and shoving her away. She tried to fight back, and even if she was way fitter for a girl her size, I was still bigger so I managed to make sure no other words left her mouth. Yuu looked a bit confused at the scene, not really understanding what was happening. ¡°Nothing¡­ Ignore this impure girl and keep being the innocent girl you are, okay?¡± I said while using my free hand to pet her head. She didn¡¯t really understand what I meant, but nodded nonetheless, as she always did when I start petting her. Anyway, as I happily petted Yuu, I noticed Maya looking at us with slightly jealous gaze. ¡°You two are in your own world¡­¡± She complained before changing into Japanese as she mulled over something. I did pick up the milady here and there. I laughed at her a bit before turning back my attention to the market, only to notice that there were some people looking at us curiously. I smiled a bit awkwardly while taking the two girls out from the area so that we could lose the attention. ¡°So, what¡¯s left?¡± I asked Cyg. ¡°Well¡­ It seems that we got everything they had here¡­¡± She said in a pensive tone. ¡°There are still some things left, but they don¡¯t have, so we need to go somewhere else to find it.¡± She sighed. ¡°It is the result of going into a poor store.¡± Maya said dryly. ¡°Well, we came for emergency shopping, not to fully stock the house. What did you want?¡± I replied in the same tone. ¡°Besides, this isn¡¯t even by far the largest super-market in the town.¡± ¡°Oh yeah. I forgot we were dealing with poor people like you¡­¡± She said to me with a mocking tone. ¡°Oh¡­ Are you mocking the power of the middle class?¡± I said in the same tone while staring right at her. ¡°And what that power might be?¡± She asked me back while laughing. We kept there staring daggers at each other for some time, and it wasn¡¯t until Yuu grabbed my arm and started pulling me that I finally broke free from my confrontation against the self-absorbed maid. When I turned to Yuu, I saw as she pointed to one of the cashiers that didn¡¯t have a line. ¡°That one just go empty. We should take advantage of that.¡± She said briefly and I nodded while taking my basked and pushing the cart with my other one. On the way I noticed Yuu pouting a little, but since I didn¡¯t have a free hand, there wasn¡¯t much I could do besides smile awkwardly. Maya laughed mischievously at the scene and my situation, at least until we got to the cashier, where she immediately changed to her serious self. I went first and quickly paid for my precious dose of daily sugar on my own, then I helped the girls with their things by putting the products on plastic bags and so on. They paid with Yuu¡¯s international credit-card after I worked as a translator for them. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The cashier quickly completed the transaction and mechanically wished us a good day. I thanked him back before taking half of the bags and raising them. My arms complained a bit for the sudden load, but it was nothing I haven¡¯t had worse before. Yuu and Maya shared the remaining load while Yuu asked if I did not want to give her part of my bags. The reason I denied wasn¡¯t because I felt being a chivalrous lad nor anything like that. It was simply because I¡¯m already used to doing this, and the fact that it weighted so much that if I tried to open my fingers to give her even one bag, everything else would fall down. Thankfully, my apartment was really close-by, so it didn¡¯t take us too long to reach it, and once we got to the girl¡¯s apartment I quickly dropped all the bags on the counter and wondered if my arms would start throwing a party for the lack of weight. Still, the worst part were my feet, that didn¡¯t have the chance to rest for enough time ever since the genius idea of walking to the airport. Leaving the organization of the things we brought to the girls, as Mary and Barbara immediately came to offer some help, I made my way to the sofa, where Fuyuki was comforting a Hattori that didn¡¯t seem to know whether to laugh or cry. I fell face-first into the couch, surprising the two who hadn¡¯t heard me approaching. ¡°Ara? Rick-kun? What happened?¡± Fuyuki asked. ¡°Feet¡­ Hurt¡­ Hell¡­ Pain¡­¡± I mumbled while keeping my leg up and feeling it burn. ¡°Never¡­ Walk¡­ Again¡­¡± Fuyuki laughed lightly at my words while Hattori kept quiet. I couldn¡¯t quite see their reactions since I had my face buried into the large couch that took almost half of the small room. ¡°Shishou? Is everything alright?¡± I heard Yuu ask after some time of letting my leg cool down. ¡°Geez Gon. What¡¯s with this scene?¡± Mary asked with a playful grin. ¡°¡­Say, War¡­ How did you go to the airport?¡± Barbara asked me with an ¡®it couldn¡¯t be¡¯ tone. ¡°Walking¡­¡± I replied. Barbara sighed while the others took some time to figure out what this meant. ¡°And why the hell did you do that?¡± She asked me annoyed. ¡°Cheaper¡­¡± She sighed loudly at my answer before grabbing my leg and shoving me out of the sofa. Luckily, I managed to take hold of a cushion and use it to lighten the impact on my head, which I kept face down. ¡°Get up already, will you?¡± She said annoyed. ¡°Don¡¯t wanna!¡± ¡°We need to get something to eat. We don¡¯t have enough time to cook something, so we decided to go out to eat.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t want to leave.¡± I said while throwing a tantrum. ¡°Legs hurting. Can¡¯t walk.¡± There were some more exchanges between Barbara and me while she tried to make me lift, but I felt too lazy and tired to do so, and kept on the same position letting my legs relax a little. Just as she was starting to give up, I heard another pair of steps enter into the room. ¡°Barbara. That¡¯s not how you do it.¡± My father said with a playful tone. ¡°Sonny, want to go on an all you can eat barbeque?¡± ¡°You were saying?¡± I asked while raising my head from the cushion. ¡­ Since there were a lot of people gathered, not only did we use my father¡¯s car, we also had to ask Paul to take his car so that we could carry the remaining people. The final solution was that my father would take the adults, including the two bodyguards that came with us, as well as Lily who seemed to take a liking at Fuyuki who carried her in her lap. Meanwhile, Paul carried me, Barbara, Yuu, Mary and Maya. Since there was one person too many, it was either have the girls squeeze up on the back-seat, or someone goes on the car¡¯s trunk. There is no need to say which option we chose, right? Thankfully, his car¡¯s luggage carrier was one of those that were right beneath the back-window, so I could at least get some sunlight while I suffered that humiliation of being carried as a car baggage! And it¡¯s absolutely not like I found it amusing, okay? I hated it! It¡¯s not like I was using an excuse to ride on the trunk, okay? Absolutely, okay? ¡°You seem awfully cheerful there, you pervert.¡± Maya said while spying on me. ¡°Just your imagination.¡± I said while trying to hide my grin. ¡°Muuh¡­ Why does Shishou have to ride in there?¡± Yuu asked sullenly. ¡°Leave him be¡­¡± Barbara said with a weary tone. ¡°He¡¯s been trying to get an excuse to ride on the trunk since forever.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lie!¡± I shouted back at her. ¡°Yeah, right.¡± Mary simply kept laughing at our exchanges. Sadly¡­ I mean, luckily, we quickly reached the place my father had chosen. It was a fairly well known place in the city, being one of the few hotels I actually knew that existed, and they had an all-you-can-eat menu with barbeque. It wasn¡¯t exactly cheap, but since meat keeps coming for as long as you want, it¡¯s more than worth it. Hastily jumping out from the trunk, I dusted off some of the dirt in my jacket before turning to the others and asking. ¡°So, what are we waiting?¡± I asked, and they all smiled wryly before shaking their head. ¡°Nothing?¡± My father said while leading the way inside. We quickly made our way to the largest table around and asked for the all you can eat course. The smell alone made our stomachs grumble with hunger as we waited for the meat to start arriving. I was a bit worried that Yuu, Mary or Fuyuki would end up disliking the idea of a meat free-for-all, but it was unfounded as they started to become cheerful when they saw the waiter taking the meat to another table. They also took this chance to try a bit some of Brazilian cuisine, compromised of their familiar rice, as well as some other things like the barbeque-specific salad, trooper bean and farofa. Nothing that the bad-eater I am enjoy, but they seemed to like it. However, as we ate, there was one little thing that was annoying me like hell. As soon as I finished my first plate, I quickly stood up, which made everyone in the table look at me surprised. Everyone except my father who nodded. I quickly made my way towards a nearby pillar, where the two bodyguards stood straight up while staring at some place above the table. They noticed me approaching and raised an eyebrow, but I simply ignored it and grabbed their hands before dragging them to the table. They looked at me confused, but I simply pointed to the chairs besides my father and Hattori. The bodyguards looked confused at me, then at Hattori. ¡°Rick-kun. They are doing their jobs.¡± He told me briefly. ¡°They are ready to risk their lives for you. Might as well as give them a decent meal, right?¡± I said briefly before sighing. ¡°Besides, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you were to tell me that there are at least seven others bodyguards hidden somewhere nearby.¡± He smiled wryly before finally nodding towards the bodyguards, who awkwardly took their place on the table and waited for the waiter to come by. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be that caring.¡± Maya said in a slightly surprised tone. ¡°Well, having lunch while someone is staring at your back is embarrassing.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Rare steak? Someone?¡± A waiter appeared with a plate full of meat, speaking in Portuguese. ¡°Me!¡± I said while putting my plate up, almost clashing with Maya¡¯s. ¡°Geez, how can you guys like rare meat?¡± Barbara asked with a slight face of disgust. ¡°Rare meat is the tastiest!¡± Maya said with shining eyes. ¡°The softness of the meat, the texture when you bite it¡­¡± ¡°That, and I like to sate my thirst¡­ WITH BLOOD!¡± I said in a dramatic voice. Barbara sighed loudly while Mary and Paul laughed at us. Yuu tried a piece of rare meat, but didn¡¯t seem to enjoy it too much, so I quickly stole from her while passing her one of the well-done meat I had. And then it became an interesting scene, with my father and Hattori talking about a product that Hattori¡¯s industries made, and he worked with in his job; Fuyuki talking cheerfully with the bodyguard while playing with pea; and the remaining of us talking about Insania. I found out that Incarnus got himself a rune-master class while it seems that they still got nothing from Jean. Yuu and Hanbei hadn¡¯t had a chance to log in for some time, so they didn¡¯t have much to talk about. Maya kept quiet for most of the time, except for the occasional twisted comment or when we would start fighting for a piece of meat, but I did notice that she kept an ear out for everything we were talking about. ¡°And then, Gon goes and start showing the Wyvern why doing backflips is a viable alternative!¡± Cygnas said from the cellphone stand we had set up for her. ¡°At first I was at loss, but when he finally finishes it, the wyvern says that she would try it out!¡± She had started up telling the story about Rathian when Yuu asked what I did since the last time I met them, but now she was looking at me with a strange respect while Paul was almost ripping his hair off. ¡°A RATHIAN! THAT¡¯S DEFINITIVELY A RATHIAN!¡± He said while lunging and trying to suffocate me. ¡°YOU BASTARD! HOW THE HELL DID YOU MEET A RATHIAN?¡± ¡°HEY, STOP, WILL YA?¡± I said while kicking him back to his seat. ¡°Besides, she Isn¡¯t a Rathian, she¡¯s a wyvern that looks like one, okay?¡± ¡°Actually, she took on the name Rathian for herself.¡± Barbara added before drinking her coca-cola. ¡°YOU BASTARD!¡± Paul said while jumping at me again. ¡°Is now that you kiss?¡± We heard maya asking, and we turned to her seeing her holding her cellphone towards us. ¡°WE AREN¡¯T YOUR YAOI MATERIAL!¡± We shouted together, making her click her tongue in annoyance. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Yuu said while tilting her head. We stopped to look at her and she quickly continued. ¡°Well, knowing Shishou, I would have thought you would also try to tame her?¡± She said confused. ¡°Nah, she was level four hundred thousand millions.¡± I said in an exaggerated tone. ¡°There¡¯s no way I would have tamed her.¡± ¡°But you did get Rioreia¡­¡± Cygnas added with a smirk. ¡°Rioreia?¡± Paul asked confused. ¡°Wait!¡± Mary said while standing up and looking at me. ¡°Isn¡¯t Rathian the western name of Rioreia?¡± She asked me surprised. ¡°YOU FREAKING BASTARD!¡± ¡°WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TELL HIM THAT?¡± I complained to her as she made a wry smile, all the time trying to keep Paul away from me, and Maya away from the meat in my plate. ¡°Yeah. Rio is actually really small and cute!¡± Cygnas said cheerfully. ¡°You would like to meet her.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ So Shishou got another cute pet¡­¡± Yuu said in a pensive tone, making Hanbei pat her back as if comforting her. ¡°¡­So, are you two kissing or not?¡± Maya said dryly. ¡°SHUT UP, ERO-MAID!¡± Me and Paul shouted at her. Chapter 73 - Backflippin good Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Back to Insania and some more shenanigans! ANYWAY, Back to Insania, technically, the arc is still going on as it will be only a short moment of Insania before back to one final piece of Yuu in IRL, at least for this day! ALSO, As I said, Wyverns choose their scales coloration as they are young, which means that Rio didn¡¯t choose hers yet. So, for those of you who knows MH, Green is taken, so pink or gold? (And if someone says black, Unknown is biologically NOT a Rathian, even if she looks like one.) Edit: ALSO(2), Almost forgot, but... INSANIA 2K FOLLOWERS! CYGNAS BE PRAISED, BROTHERS, FOR THE CHURCH ONLY GROWS! Have a good read! ---- ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the hotel.¡± My father said in a friendly way while smiling to Hattori and Fuyuki. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that trouble you?¡± Hattori asked worried after quickly translating my father¡¯s words for Fuyuki, but my father shook his head while waving his hand away. ¡°It¡¯s close to where we live anyway, so it doesn¡¯t make much difference.¡± My father said with a shrug before turning to us. ¡°So, what will you do meanwhile?¡± ¡°Well, for now I think that we should go back home.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°The girls probably still have some final things to do at their house and I¡¯m exhausted.¡± I said briefly while patting my full belly. My father nodded while Yuu and Mary also looked like they approved the idea, with Maya being completely indifferent to the discussion. My father nodded in agreement while fishing the keys from his pocket as we left the restaurant. Yuu quickly said her goodbyes to her father since she would take a ride with us on Paul¡¯s car. I did notice that Hattori glared at me for a brief moment, since I was going with his daughter. Sadly for him, his daughters also caught sight of his glare and stared holes at him, making him shiver in worry, which in turn, got the sight of Fuyuky, who immediately grabbed his ear and started to drag him away to the car. I smiled a bit mischievously at the scene, before turning towards the other car and opening the trunk. ¡°No!¡± Yuu said while grabbing my hand before I could enter the trunk. ¡°Why does Shihshou have to ride there? It¡¯s unbecoming for you!¡± She said with a hurt tone. I smiled a bit wryly not knowing how to answer her. ¡°Well, we can¡¯t really have too many people riding around inside the car or else we could get in trouble.¡± I said briefly. ¡°If I go in the trunk, there¡¯s less chance of we being caught. Besides, it won¡¯t get too cramped in there for you girls.¡± I said while petting her, but she clearly became sullen at that. ¡°Then let me go! That way Shishou doesn¡¯t¡­¡± Before she could finish her words I gave her a light chop to the head, making her flinch slightly. ¡°Look, you two and extra are guests here, so I can¡¯t have you riding around on the trunk of our car! That¡¯s not respectable enough!¡± I said in a fake angry tone. Yuu pouted before looking back at Barbara and Paul. ¡°Then we can have Paul-san ride on the trunk!¡± She said quickly. I felt emotional at that fact, the first person she says to take the fall and it¡¯s Paul! She makes me so proud! Holding back an emotional tear, I once again started petting her, which made her close her eyes in pleasure. ¡°We can¡¯t do that. As much of a luggage he is, the car is still his, so we have to let him drive.¡± I said with some weight in my heart, making Yuu as she nodded lightly. ¡°I¡­ Really want to go and hit him¡­ But I can¡¯t seem to enter that little world of theirs.¡± I heard Paul talking with a wry tone while scratching his head. I blinked confused for some time before noticing that Yuu still held me with her soft hand while standing closely to me. Smiling a bit wryly, I became a bit embarrassed by the atmosphere around us while Yuu seemed confused by my reaction. Only when she heard Mary giggling lightly that it finally sunk in the situation we were in. Blushing violently, Yuu immediately turned away embarrassed while I smiled awkwardly. Taking the chance, I quickly entered the trunk and brought the door down, laying on the floor as I waited for the others to come in. I heard the sound of doors opening a couple of times and the car slightly sinking in as the extra weight entered it. Paul turned on the motor and soon he started driving backwards as to get out from the parking lot. ¡­ ¡°Home sweet home!¡± I said cheerfully while entering the corridor from our floor. Yuu still felt a bit sullen about me riding in the trunk, so she kept pouting while following me closely. ¡°So, what are you going to do now?¡± Barbara asked me while I walked to the door of my apartment. ¡°What I do every day, Barbara!¡± I said in a cheerful tone as I opened up the door of my apartment. ¡°Hole up in my room and not leave so soon!¡± I said, but before I could even take a step into my apartment, I felt as someone grabbed me by my neck and pulled me back. ¡°Are you planning on holing up and going to play Insania like a madman?¡± Barbara said in an annoyed tone. ¡°Huhhh¡­ Yes?¡± I said a bit confused. ¡°What about the girls?¡± She asked me while pointing at Yuu and Mary. ¡°Well, they are going to make the last adjustments on their house, right?¡± I asked confused. ¡°And after that?¡± Barbara asked me with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Huhh¡­¡± I said while looking at them. ¡°Play Insania?¡± Barely the words left my mouth and I received a hit to my head. ¡°So, you are saying that these two girls came here from the other side of the world, only so that you can log on an online game and play?¡± Barbara asked me while her eyes burned with anger. Paling at the sight, I gulped loudly before smiling and nodding, only to receive another hit to the head. ¡°You have three hours. After that we are taking the girls outside.¡± She told me in a cold tone. ¡°Where to?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Think you fool!¡± She shouted angrily at me. ¡°I¡¯m an antisocial shut-in!¡± I said back at her. ¡°The only place I know on the whole city that could get remotely close to a hang-out place is the mall!¡± ¡°There. Mall it is then.¡± She said with a nod before turning to the girls. ¡°You heard him. We are going to the mall in three hours.¡± ¡°You seem really close to Rick-kun¡­¡± Mary commented with a slightly suspicious tone. Yuu blinked surprised at her words while staring at her. ¡°Oh?¡± Barbara blinked surprise before nodding heavily. ¡°We tried dating once. Didn¡¯t really work up very well, so we ended breaking up.¡± She said briefly. As I said a long time ago, but you guys probably forgot, me and Barbara dated a long time ago, but even after we broke up we keep being friends. Well, Yuu didn¡¯t know that, so she stared at us in shock for a moment before looking helpless while lowering her head. I smiled a bit awkwardly at her and saw as Barbara held back on a face-palm for having said that without a thought. ¡°Well, that was a long time ago, so it barely makes a difference right now.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°A long time?¡± Yuu asked doubtful, and we nodded. ¡°Yeah. A few years by now, right?¡± I said while looking at Barbara and she nodded hastily. ¡°I see¡­¡± Yuu said lightly before nodding. ¡°We¡¯ll be ready in three hours then!¡± Mary said while quickly dragging Yuu away from the place. ¡°Call us when you are coming, okay?¡± She said cheerfully. Maya stared at the two going ahead before turning to me with a conflicted look. I raised an eyebrow at her until she finally sighed out loudly. Then she prostrated before me, shocking me and Barbara. ¡°Please, master. Teach this poor maid how to get my own pinky world with milady just like you do with Yukihime-dono!¡± She said with her best serious face. I stared at her shocked for some time before holding back my laughter. Maya kept quiet there, unmoving for a long time. Only when I calmed myself and decided to roll with the joke. Putting my hand on her shoulder, I raised her so that she could stand up. We locked our gazes and I nodded with a ferocious expression. ¡°Listen here, my sister in mischief-making.¡± I said in a serious tone. ¡°To hold upon the power of pinky-world-creating you must understand, that such status can only be achieved once you become open with your true feelings enough that the other party knows about it, while at the same time not exhibiting it too much to the point that it disturbs them.¡± She looked at me with a shocked expression before nodding, having a determined expression on her face. I smiled at her and extended my hand towards her, which she grabbed and shook happily. ¡°Good luck, sister.¡± I told her. ¡°Thanks for the tip, Aniki.¡± She told me before darting off to the girl¡¯s apartment. Once there, I heard as she closed the door, before saying something loud enough that we could hear from the corridor. ¡°Milady! I find you adorable and really want to hug you!¡± Barbara and I were shocked at the sudden exclamation she made, and for some time we stared at each other in confusion before finally laughing loudly. Well, at least I did, she simply shook her head while face-palming. ¡°Geez, War. Can¡¯t you do something serious for once?¡± I blinked surprised for a moment before turning to the owner of the voice. ¡°Paul? You were here?¡± I asked surprised. His face distorted in shock and anger as he tried to kick me. After a quick extreme martial arts exchange with him, I quickly gave my goodbyes to the two, deciding to spend my three free hours on the best and most efficient way possible. Multiplying them by three and playing Insania! I mean, yeah, I could go and try to help the girls, but when I say that I would have absolutely no idea on what I would have to do, as well almost certain that I would end up messing up if I tried to help. Being lazy was one of the reasons, but not the only one. Anyway, I asked Cyg to keep an eye out for the girls and call me should they need any help. She agreed quickly while I laid on my bed, putting the D-lute on my head, I laid back and logged in. The world quickly turned back and I felt as the tiredness I felt was slowly shoved back into my real body, leaving me refreshed on the virtual body as I moved around for some time. Smiling satisfied, I nodded and looked for the window that opens with the log-in button. Pressing it, I immediately took the window as the world changed around me and crumpled it into a ball. Taking it, I quickly got into a baseball thrower position while aiming to the spot Cygnas usually popped up into. Except that she wasn¡¯t there. Looking around confused with my window ball still in hands, I looked for my target confused for some time. Suddenly, I felt as something hit me on my back, making me stumble forward and almost fall with my face on the ground. Feeling something on my back, I quickly turned my head only to see Cygnas in her crystal golem form smiling cheerfully while clinging to me. I frowned slightly confused at her unusual behavior, and she replied me with an innocent face of confusion that would have got me, if I didn¡¯t know how she usually was. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Okay¡­ What happened?¡± I asked dubious, and she tilted her head innocently. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You know what I mean.¡± I said briefly, and she tilted her head. Sighing loudly I turned towards her and gently pushed her away. ¡°So, why are you so clingy?¡± I asked her. ¡°Because I missed my dear master?¡± She said in a playful smile. I sighed loudly, thinking that I shouldn¡¯t get used to humouring her, but then¡­ I ended up sighing before starting to pet her. Even if we used our cellphones to make sure she kept up with our talks and so on, she probably felt a bit lonely being the only one not to be able to sit around the table and talking with the others. She widened her eyes in surprise for some moment before starting to hum in pleasure. ¡°We¡¯ll hang out in game later to make up for it, okay?¡± I told her, and she nodded happily. After some time I turned to the window-ball in my hand and sighed. Noticing it, she blinked and turned to me in worry, but once she saw me de-crumpling it she calmed down. Then I rolled it around and whacked her head with it. ¡°That¡¯s for giving away my nervousness at the airport.¡± I said with a vein popping in my head. She looked up to me with her hand still holding her throbbing head, making a hurt expression. She smiled and started giggling while nodding. Finally, she nodded as the world was consumed in a flash of light. When the flash died down, I found myself where I last left. Taking a quick look around, I was in the city, right in front of Olaf¡¯s mansion. A quick look around and I see Aura waking up with a yawn before turning up to me and wagging her tail twice. I petted her lightly as I felt as something light landed on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw as Cyg landed right on my shoulder, sitting there while letting her legs dangle happily. ¡°Well, now all we have to do is find Lieutenant and Rio¡­¡± As I started to say it, a window popped in my vision.
While using your teachings, a beast defeated its enemies, thus granting you the title: Monster Trainer You can only have one title equipped at a time. Since you have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change your title
Monster Trainer: Increases your chance of teaching a brand new skill to any animal/monster, and allows you to teach wild untamed monsters/animals. NPCs specialized in hunting beasts you taught will naturally have aversion against you.
I blinked surprised while staring at the words before finally bursting into a wild laughter as the info finally sunk in its meaning. I¡¯m so changing my title to this one as soon as I get into Eldor! The other pedestrians stared at me as if they were looking at madman. Looking at me confused, I ignored them as I headed towards the point in the map that marked both Lieutenant and Rio, who, by the looks of it, spent their time together. As we made our way towards the two of them, I turned to Crys who was sitting on my shoulder cheerfully. ¡°So, when did it happen?¡± I asked her while holding back my laughter. She smiled and said. ¡°Yesterday, while you were walking to the airport.¡± She said with a happy tone. ¡°A player tried to attack her after finding out her real form¡­ Actually, go find Rio and you should see something interesting.¡± She said while pointing us in a certain direction. I blinked surprised before nodding and quickly dashing my way towards the two dots on my mini-map. Luckily, they were fairly close, so I quickly reached them. Or at least what I guessed that was them. There was a large commotion occurring by the exit of the village, with many NPCs and players gathered around a place as if staring a fight. From outside I noticed a player mounting a large war-horse as he made his way towards another side, from there I could see a small white wyvern flying happily from one side to the other. I blinked surprised and squeezed my way to the front, where I saw what was happening. ¡°Show your true-self, you filthy dragon!¡± The player shouted furiously while branding his sword, said dragon looked like a woman with beautiful dull green hair and claw-like hands that linked to her alluring body through a leathery webbing. ¡°Another one?¡± Rathian asked, now her name-plate having her true name instead of just a generic monster name. Level and life was still a mystery, though. ¡°Why can¡¯t you chosen be like that other one? He was so much more interesting.¡± She complained. ¡°Shut your mouth, you wench-wannabe!¡± The knight said while jumping out from his horse and landing on the ground. ¡°I have no idea how you are hiding your level from me, but the fact that you are here proves that you aren¡¯t as strong as you claim! And I, Sir Swordsalot, the fourth strongest player in the whole of Insania, owner of two Wargon-quality excellent items shall vanquish you!¡± ¡°Wargon?¡± Rathian said while frowning. ¡°You taint the stone-born¡¯s name wearing his craft.¡± Rathian said with a sigh. ¡°Very well, I shall answer your request then.¡± Rathian said before turning to the crowd around her. ¡°If you would, can you please give me some space?¡± She asked the spectators, who all blinked before opening some space for the dragon. Once there was enough space, Rathian thanked them briefly, before quickly closing her eyes and focusing. Her body started to shine strongly as she undid her transformation. Making my way out of the crowd, I quickly reached Sir Swordsalot, and put my hand in his shoulder. He leaped surprised while taking out his sword from the scabbard, ready to attack me, but once he saw me, he became surprised. ¡°Here, you are going to need it.¡± I said giving him a potion before making my way towards Rathian while humming a happy tune. The crowd looked at me in shock as I stood besides Rathian just as she undid her transformation, taking on the wyvern form that made all the spectators gulp their mouths in surprise and the foolish knight almost drop his shield in fear. Seeing me, Lieutenant, who had been going around with a hat collecting tips for the show saw me and quickly ran towards me, while Rio landed on my head. ¡°Hi Mister!¡± She greeted me cheerfully. ¡°Hey Rio! How are you?¡± I asked the young wyvern. ¡°I¡¯m fine! Soldier cat has been teaching me a lot of things!¡± She said happily. ¡°And mommy has been getting even stronger! And she started planting too!¡± ¡°Heh¡­ I see.¡± I said before turning to the larger wyvern, who took notice of me. ¡°Yo Rathian! It¡¯s good to see you again!¡± I said while raising my hand. ¡°No need to take it easy on him. He¡¯ll revive anyway!¡± ¡°That was my intention, Stone-born.¡± She told me before turning to the man. ¡°Shall we start?¡± She asked him. Sir Swordsalot nodded a bit weakly before finally taking a deep breath and readying himself, probably going by the logic that Rathian was weak he somehow managed to calm himself. Rathian snorted at his determination, but kept quiet to let man have the first move. He took the first step forward and raised his sword. A pillar of light fell on it, covering it in a holy looking aura that shone brightly. ¡°HOLY CLEAVER!¡± He shouted his skill out as he jumped towards Rathian, bringing his sword down on her head with furious strength. The sword shone brightly as slices of light followed its path, landing on Rathian¡¯s one after the other with furious strength. Rathian was unfazed by it. ¡°My turn.¡± She simply took a step back making the man look at her confused, and before he could even react, she quickly took a step forward, leaning her body backwards and flapping her wings strongly, the wind pressure pushing the armored horse away and making the spectators fall backwards. Following the inertia of her body, her tail dragged on the poorly paved ground, opening a gash on the ground and ripping the road apart before landing on the guy¡¯s body. Far too surprised to reach, the tail hit him in the body in an upward motion, launching him high up in the air. Completing her backflip, the wyvern quickly adjusted her flight by beating her wings as soon as her body was once again horizontal to the ground. As the man¡¯s body started to fall down, his health pretty much empty by now, Rathian turned her head to his body and recoiled her neck as fire gathered upon her mouth. As soon as he came down to her eye level, she let out a massive fireball, that exploded instantly, flinging his feeble body through the horizon. ¡°Damn, he will take some time to reach his body!¡± I said as I saw his body fly in a straight line through the air. ¡°Am I worthy of the name Rathian now?¡± She asked me as she landed back on the ground. ¡°That was beautiful!¡± I said while clapping my hands, which led to the other spectators to soon follow me. ¡°You are more than worthy after that!¡± ¡°I try to please.¡± Rathian said with a smirk before suddenly looking lonely. ¡°I take it you are going to take my daughter now?¡± She asked me, and I smiled a bit apologetic. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of her. No need to worry.¡± I told her while gently petting Rio in my head. ¡°¡­ I¡¯ll be counting on you.¡± She said after some time. Turning to towards Rio, she grunted a few words in their dragon speech, probably some kind of goodbye. ¡°We¡¯ll be going to Eldor for now, from there we should meet some friends before starting our travel.¡± I explained her, and she nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you, Stone-born.¡± Rathian told me one last time before I nodded. After finishing our talk, Rathian turned back into her humanoid form and quickly apologized for the damage she caused. The NPCs, as if used to this quickly nodded and said it wasn¡¯t a problem while the players looked shocked. When they opened passage as I approached, I felt like a badass walking through the crowd, feeling as they stared at me in wonder. As soon as I got out from the city, I turned to my companions and said. ¡°We¡¯ll have to rush a bit towards Eldor, as I don¡¯t have much time, okay?¡± I told them. Aura nodded briefly before turning to Lieutenant, who quickly climbed on her back, as if mounting her. Crys quickly disassembled her body and reformed it into the shape of what looked like to be a bird, using the legs and arms to form the wings and the hair-shards into the wing¡¯s feathers. ¡°You should be able to keep up with us fine, right Rio?¡± I asked her and she nodded, although looking a bit confused. Seeing that all of us were ready, Aura and I quickly activated nature walking and made our way towards the mountain city, Crys and Rio easily keeping up with us as they flew. Chapter 74 - Going shopping Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! SOMETHING THAT HAS A CRYPTIC RELATION TO THE STORY OR RELEASE TIME! (Generic for the win!) ANYWAY, a bit more of serious talks occurring this chapter but also some fairly silly comedy as always! And, a person that some of you wanted to see for some time also appears briefly! ALSO, the reason for the lack of updates yesterday is simply for the fact that: One, I was really lazy, and Two, I REALLY wanted to write something Wuxia(Xianxia?)-ish, which I did and ended up eating most of yesterday¡¯s writing time. Didn¡¯t post it anywhere, though, so no need to search around like mad. ALSO(2), if by any reason I miss a few updates, it¡¯s probably because of that. You see, the problem of working on only a couple of works is that if you have too much ideas, some of them simply won¡¯t enter the story, and I end up needing to write something else to dump all ¡®useless¡¯ inspiration. Have a good read! ---- The time it took for us to reach Eldor was much, much shorter than the time it took us to reach the small village. The reason for that was because of the nature walking skill. Of course, the sheer speed bonus is a great improvement, but the really seller of this was the auto-tracking it offered. Running through the uneven ground of the forest through the shortest path available meant that we were pretty much getting a permanent shortcut of some kind. Anyway, the thing is, we cut through the terrain at a frightening speed and quickly reached the river that we crossed on the way to the village. As before, I had Aura freeze the ground so that we could pass through it with ease, but since the group was much smaller this time, she didn¡¯t need to keep it up for as long as the first time, spending a lot less time recovering her stamina than the first time. Meanwhile, Rio and Crys easily kept up with us. As soon as Aura had recovered herself, we once again set out at maximum speed. The reason for my hasty run back is because I wanted to spend the least amount of time to reach the girls when they logged in, that way we could start our travels immediately. Besides, since I would need to log out, I¡¯d rather do it in a city and leave Lieutenant and Rio with someone I trust instead of simply leaving them alone on the forest. Even with the speed boost, however, we needed to stop for a lunch during the run, during which Crys suddenly stopped to look towards me. ¡°It looks like the girls already finished preparing everything.¡± She said briefly. ¡°Yuu wants to know if you need some help in here.¡± ¡°Well¡­ We are pretty much only trying to get to the city, so there isn¡¯t much for them to do, I guess?¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°At most they would need to get ready for a long time travel, I guess?¡± Crys nodded satisfied before turning her attention back to cooking, but a short moment later, she turned to me and said. ¡°Oh, They also said that Red will arrive in two hours of in-game time.¡± She told me briefly, making me blink surprised for a moment. She quickly finished preparing the food and I ate it at light speed before forcing a faster march towards Eldor. But even running as fast we could, with Rio sometimes even flying in front of us playfully, showing how easily she can surpass us in speed, we still ended up being two hours away from the city by the time that Crys warned me that Red was at the girl¡¯s apartment. Sighing loudly, I stopped to think for a moment. Aura and Crys I didn¡¯t have much problem with logging out, since they also despawned with me, but Rioreia and Lieutenant had chosen to stay around while I was away. Looking at the two who were causing us some problem, I finally sighed before turning to Lieutenant. ¡°Lieutenant General Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus Von Scratchy the Third.¡± I said while putting my arms behind my body and putting on my best general tone. Lieutenant turned to me and made a salute. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a mission right here and now of utmost importance. Are you ready for this?¡± ¡°Nya!¡± He answered me. ¡°I DID NOT HEAR YOU SOLDIER!¡± I shouted. ¡°NYAAAA!¡± He shouted back. ¡°Good.¡± I said while nodding and walking from one side to the other. Aura and Crys, who were already used to the scene simply watched with a small smile in their faces, while Rio looked curious at our exchange. ¡°From now on, I will entrust you to Operation: Princess carry. Your mission shall consist of escorting Lady Rioreia to the great fortress known as Eldor. Once there, you shall look for either commander Sol or Commander Melinda and report to them, besides proving any kind of support that they need. Is that understood?¡± ¡°Nya!¡± He said with a salute. ¡°Nyaa-na, Nyyy-aaa nanyaa nyyynynaanyaa?¡± ¡°No, your top priority shall be serve and help lady Rioreia in whatever kind of situation may arise. After that you may manage your information network. Also, you will need to get ready to depart immediately once we get back, and we will stay away for some time, so you might want to leave some orders ready, okay?¡± ¡°Nya!¡± He said with a nod. ¡°Good. Dismissed.¡± I said and he nodded before turning to Rio. ¡°Hmmm?¡± Rioreia looked at me and Lieutenant confused, smiling a bit awkwardly at her before making a signal for her to come closer. She nodded briefly before quickly flying towards me and landing on my extended arm. ¡°Look, Rio.¡± I said briefly to her. ¡°I wanted to take you to the city first, but it seems that I will need to leave a bit sooner than expected.¡± I said to her. ¡°Why?¡± The little wyvern asked me while tilting her head. I smiled at her cute reaction and petted her a little. ¡°Well, I have some things I need to do in the other place I go.¡± I told her briefly. ¡°And meanwhile, I will leave you and Lieutenant here, but instead of waiting in a forest like this, I will send you to the city.¡± ¡°A city?¡± She asked in a mix of surprise and happiness. ¡°Is it bigger than the one we were in?¡± She asked. ¡°Much bigger. That one is as big as a mountain itself!¡± I said while making an exaggerated motion, to which she widened her eyes in shock. ¡°It¡¯s so big, that even you would lose yourself. That¡¯s why, you should follow Lieutenant closely, okay?¡± ¡°I have to obey mister cat?¡± She asked tilting her head. ¡°Okay!¡± ¡°Hmm. Good.¡± I said while petting her. ¡°Once there, Lieutenant will present you to either an elf called Sol, or a Garuda named Melinda. Make sure to obey them so that people don¡¯t get angry at you like they did at the village, okay?¡± ¡°Okay!¡± She said nodding once again. ¡°Then you two can go ahead. I should be back in one day or two, okay?¡± I said, and the two nodded before Lieutenant quickly ordered Rio to grab him with her claws. With that, both Lieutenant and Rio departed for Eldor, which led to the strange sight of seeing a wyvern carrying a cat dressed as a soldier. And staying true to his race, Lieutenant flew in a superman pose, with one of his front paws extended ahead while humming an adventure sound. Smiling at the scene, I turned my attention back to the large blue fox who was rubbing her head into my leg this whole time. Sighing loudly, I crouched down to her eye level and started petting her to her hearts content. ¡°She says that you should stay longer.¡± Crys said solemnly at my side. ¡°Or if you could take her with you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ A bit difficult.¡± I said with a heavy heart. ¡°I don¡¯t think I would be able to take you with me to my world.¡± I said with a sigh, and I didn¡¯t even need Crys¡¯ translation to understand that her eyes were pleading me to find a way. Feeling a bit distraught by that, I turned my eyes to Crys in search for help. ¡°I could¡­¡± She said briefly for a moment before looking clearly conflicted. ¡°Just¡­ Just a second.¡± She told me after looking around the forest as if to see if there was anyone nearby before finally sighing. In the blink of an eye, her body changed from the small doll-like body to the full-sized crystal golem one she used on the login screen. Me and Aura blinked surprised at the scene before she turned to an open area and snapped her fingers. Now, what appeared before us was none other than¡­ S2daddylovescygS2¡­ SERIOUSLY! IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO TAKE THAT NAME SERIOUS? While holding back my laugher, Vlad blinked surprised as he looked around. He had his crossbow ready to fire, with an arrow nocked and all while he crouched as if to take a better aim. However, that position looked strangely out of place in the calm forest we were at the moment. ¡°What¡­?¡± he asked while looking around. ¡°I froze the area where you were, so no need to worry. I¡¯ll send you back once I¡¯m done.¡± Cygnas said from besides him. Vlad looked at her for a moment until it finally clicked in. His face immediately contorted into a silly smile as he threw the crossbow away and jumped towards Cyg with his arms wide open. ¡°MY DEAR DAUGHTWAGOOH!¡± If anyone is wondering, the strange sound was what he said once Cyg Window-sticked his head into the ground. Classy stuff. Anyway, Vlad quickly recovered himself and once again tried to do a tackle hug on Cyg, but she simply blinked out of the way while hiding herself behind me. ¡°Stop that, father!¡± She said angrily. ¡°This is serious!¡± Cyg scolded him. ¡°But¡­ It¡¯s been so long since we last met!¡± Vlad said while crying tears of blood. Almost literally. ¡°You even stopped appearing at my login area, leaving me with some boring windows!¡± I wonder why that happened? Must have been an accident. Or he tried to hug her too much and got this result, which is three thousand times more probable. ¡°You know why I did that.¡± Cyg said with an angry tone before taking a deep breath. ¡°Calm down, Cyg. Do not blow away your dad¡­ No need to kill him repeatedly until he¡¯s level one again with the pain sensors set to 100%¡­¡± Hey! Those are some scary words right there, lady! ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Vlad said while raising himself from the ground and looking around, noticing me for the first time. ¡°Oh, Wargon, long time no see!¡± He said with a brief nod. ¡°Thanks for letting Cyg follow you. We have been receiving some interesting data!¡± He said briefly, before his face contorting into one of annoyance. ¡°I wish that I could be the one who little C would follow around¡­¡± He said while clicking his tongue. ¡°Anyway dad¡­¡± Cyg said interrupting him. ¡°I need to ask you something.¡± Cygnas said with a serious voice, which immediately made him fix his foolish temperament. ¡°Could I take her with me to the upped levels?¡± She asked while looking at Aura. ¡°Oh?¡± Vlad asked surprised while staring at Aura, before finally frowning for a second. ¡°Do you think she would be able to take it?¡± He asked with a frown. ¡°I plan on a limitation to her settings, that way she shouldn¡¯t be burdened. Besides¡­¡± Cyg glanced slightly towards Aura. ¡°I¡¯m almost sure she would be able to hold herself for a few minutes.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Even thought I was lost on their words, Vlad seemed to be satisfied as he nodded in accordance. But he still seemed a bit doubtful about what Cyg was about to do, as he kept frowning the whole time. ¡°And why would you want to do that?¡± He asked the goddess. ¡°Well¡­¡± Cyg said while looking at Aura for a moment. ¡°I know I promised to not start giving preferential treatment to Gon and all, but¡­ I really want to help Aura this time.¡± She said before bowing deeply. ¡°Please, father.¡± Vlad looked at Cyg and then at me for a moment, smiling awkwardly. ¡°Geez, it¡¯s the first time she asked something like that from us, you know?¡± He said to me, getting me by surprise. ¡°Fine, we could use it to expand on the App¡¯s pet system later on, anyway.¡± Vlad said while turning to Cyg, who widened her eyes surprised. ¡°THANK YOU!¡± She said while jumping and hugging him. S2daddylovescygS2 stood frozen for a moment due to the unexpected reaction of Cyg, before finally opening into a wide smile. I didn¡¯t miss the fact that he took a screenshot right before Cyg let go, though. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll leave the programming to you, okay?¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Cyg said cheerfully before waving her hand and sending her creator away. Looking at her confused, she simply smiled at me and said. ¡°You¡¯ll see!¡± I looked at her confused for some time longer before finally sighing and nodding. Quickly I opened the menu and chose the log out button, and after a brief countdown to zero, the world around me went off. Feeling a bit weird as I slowly felt myself going back to my real body I laid on my bed for some time, letting the feeling spread down to my limbs. Once everything was okay, I quickly took out the glasses-like apparel and sat down on my bed, taking a quick look at my room around me until my gaze landed on a certain detail. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you tried to wake me up a la sleeping beauty mode?¡± I said jokingly. ¡°Shi-Shishou!¡± ¡°No. But I did think about thinking of taking an incriminatory photo to use as a blackmail.¡± ¡°Ma-Maya-san!¡± ¡°Well, I did try to convince Yuu, but she wasn¡¯t as innocent as I expected.¡± ¡°Ma-Mary-chan!¡± So, as you may have guessed, Yuu, Maya and Mary had all gathered in my room, all of them wearing some fairly fashionable clothes. Yuu was wearing a clothing similar to the one from earlier, with a slightly frilly white blouse and jeans pants that easily outlined her body, but not to the point of looking too improper. She had her hair tied in a ponytail that gave her a more tomboyish look than earlier. Maya still wore the same black blouse and jeans, a fairly discreet clothing, but now she had a large bag slung over her shoulder to carry on stuff. ¡°I should feel annoyed that you took my bag without permission¡­¡± I said while frowning, but she simply shrugged. Lastly, Mary used a simple light blue sundress and let her hair free, making her look even younger and cuter. ¡°So, like what you see?¡± Maya asked me with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Quite a pleasing sight, to tell the truth.¡± I said briefly. Altough she didn¡¯t react much, Yuu and Mary blushed slightly while looking away. ¡°So, how long have you been here?¡± I asked while putting myself up. ¡°We actually entered right when you took off the D-lute.¡± Mary said. ¡°Also, you forgot to lock the door, before you ask.¡± I frowned a bit before shrugging. I was too tired to bother with it anyway. I¡¯ll be a bit more careful next time, though. Well, if the girls are here, this probably means that Barbara is also nearby. Sighing loudly I decided that taking too long would only work against me, so I quickly walked to the bathroom to wash my face before taking and putting on my jacket. Lastly, since this was a long term leave, I took another one of my bags and threw it over my shoulder. Made of leather or some other thick fabric, with a long strap hat you can pass over your head so that it holds on your shoulder and hangs around your waist. I usually use such bags around as it makes easier to carry things around, besides being much more practical than a backpack. Besides, it simply feels weird when I leave my home without something like a bag or a backpack, so even if it ends up being empty during all the trip I won¡¯t be bothered too much. Getting back, I found the girls on my living room while talking with Barbara and Paul about our old guild. Kicking the chair that Paul was on, I quickly informed then that it was time to go. ¡°NYA!¡± He said as he almost fell to the ground. ¡°WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?¡± ¡°Why the hell I wouldn¡¯t?¡± I said back. He stopped for a moment to think. ¡°Fair enough. I¡¯ll drive.¡± He said while raising himself from the chair. ¡°What, no one is going to comment that he just nyaed here?¡± Mary asked confused. ¡°Cat-boy? I could live with that.¡± Maya said with a nod. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant!¡± Mary said annoyed at the maid, who simply smiled at her. ¡°You get used to this with some time.¡± Barbara said with a tired sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s get going, shall we?¡± For some reason that neither Paul, Yuu nor me understood, Maya and Mary looked at the red-haired girl in pity. Looking at each other in search for an explanation, we noticed that we were all confused, so we simply shrugged it off before making our way out of the apartment. It didn¡¯t take much longer for us to reach Paul¡¯s car beneath the apartment, and just as he unlocked it using his keys, I made my way to the trunk, but¡­ ¡°Where are you going, Shishou?¡± Yuu asked me, a heavenly gentle smile in her face. ¡°To the trunk, of course!¡± I said the obvious. ¡°Where are you going, Shishou?¡± She asked me again as she slowly approached me. ¡°Err¡­ To the trunk?¡± I said as I felt some goosebumps going down my spine as she kept her smile. ¡°Shishou.¡± She said briefly. ¡°We are taking a taxi.¡± ¡°But we would need to pay for that, so it¡¯s not all that¡­¡± ¡°We are taking a taxi.¡± She repeated once again as she stepped closer, making me take a step back nervous. ¡°But I don¡¯t mind it. Really!¡± I said while holding myself back so that I wouldn¡¯t run away. Seriously, What the hell is with this pressure? What happened to the innocent Yuu I knew? Is this what it feels to cross a battlefield? Is this what Hattori felt when I called Yuu? SORRY HATTORI-DONO! ¡°Shishou might not mind it, but I do.¡± Yuu said while quickly grabbing my hand and dragging me away. ¡°I shall pay for it, but I do not want to see Shishou riding in the Trunk anymore.¡± She said in a scolding tone. ¡°But¡­ We¡­¡± ¡°No buts, Shishou!¡± She said angrily. Like the good and obedient master I was, I nodded weakly, walking with my heads down while letting my disciple drag me around. I threw a helpless glance towards the others, but they all smiled at me, with Mary even waving goodbye to me. The maid gave me a thumbs up with a proud face. Probably thanks to the fact that we took a taxi on our way here from the airport, Yuu easily found the taxi stop near my house, taking me with her so that we could enter through the back doors. Once in, she glared at me until I told the driver to take us to the mall. He laughed a bit at my situation while Yuu pouted angrily (and cutely) besides me. Laughing dryly, I looked through the window seeing as Paul¡¯s car started off, before going into the traffic. However, he ended up getting a closed crossing, so we quickly started to get ahead of them. Hmm, now that I stopped to think about it, aren¡¯t me and Yuu alone right now? Taking a quick glance at her, I saw that Yuu was in the line between trying to look indifferently angry and wanting to look at the streets of a foreign city. When she noticed my gaze, she quickly looked at me, going back to her pouting face, but that only made me smile even more. And only after a few seconds like that that it finally sunk in for her. She quickly looked around and after not finding anyone else in the car besides us and the driver, her demeanor quickly grew fidgety as she got nervous. I laughed at her reaction which reminded me of a cute animal, this made her once again pout, but it was nowhere near as angry as before. To make her feel a bit more at ease, I looked away through the window, watching as the buildings that I was so used to seeing ran through the window one after the other. ¡°So, this is Shishou¡¯s city¡­¡± Yuu said distractedly while looking at the same window as me. ¡°Yup. That right there is the school that my father and mother met.¡± I said while pointing to a passing large building. ¡°Looks old.¡± Yuu commented. ¡°Yeah. Probably as old as the park in front of it.¡± I said while pointing forward. ¡°That place right there, on the other side of the park is the old forum from the city. It was moved to one closer to the river a few years ago, though.¡± I said while pointing one of the few things I actually knew about my city. What? Why do I know so little? What part of me saying that I¡¯m an antisocial shut-in did you miss? Thinking about it, I turned to Yuu. ¡°Say, aren¡¯t you disappointed that I¡¯m too different from how I¡¯m in-game?¡± I asked Yuu, who looked at me confused for a moment. ¡°Wat do you mean?¡± She asked me after some time. ¡°I mean¡­ Being a lot more antisocial and whiny¡­ Besides the appearance, of course.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She stopped to think for a moment. ¡°No. That does not bother me.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked surprised, and she nodded. ¡°Hmm, what matters is who Shishou is at heart.¡± She said to me with a heavenly smile. ¡°You see, when I discovered that Shishou was only fooling with me at the airport, I was actually really happy.¡± She told me as I stared at her surprised. ¡°You see, I¡­ Was really scared that after we met, the way that Shishou treats me would change too much. That we would not be able to have this kind of conversation anymore. All because of who I am.¡± ¡°But Shishou first appeared while joking with me. That is something that only the Shishou I met in the game would do, and at that moment I knew that the one who was wearing the suspicious sunglasses was actually the same person as the one who made that silly rock¡¯n roll joke when we first met, no matter how different they were from each other.¡± I looked at her in shock and surprise during her speech, and when she finished she gave me an angelic smile that blew away any doubt I could have about her simply trying to appease me. I smiled a bit awkwardly at her as I extended my hand to her head. Seriously, if I¡¯m not careful, I might really fall heads over heels for the girl who was sitting right beside me. As I thought that to myself, Yuu simply closed her eyes in pleasure. Chapter 75 - sMALL adventures Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some small adventure on the real world. Get it? Small, mall? ANYWAY, not much happening this chapter, and no chapter yesterday because I was working on that other FF I told you guys about. Kind of funny, because the last chapter I wrote was downright depressing to write¡­ ALSO, as you might have noticed, the releases have been more spaced this time. The other story is mostly the reason behind that. I can¡¯t say when I will feel satisfied with the other story enough for me to go back to full time on Insania and Beepy, so it might take some time. Have a good read! ---- The taxi slowly started to pull up to the sidewalk as we approached our destination. Truth to be told, it was almost a waste to take a taxi here so close it was to my home. Well, it was a bit far to say that it¡¯s on a normal walkable distance and we would also need to cross the highway, but besides that, but if you ignore these small details, I still find taking a taxi here a bit overkill. Well, I am a stingy person when it doesn¡¯t come to games, so I don¡¯t have much say in this matters, I guess. Anyway, the driver quickly showed us the price to pay and I quickly translated to Yuu. She nodded while opening her wallet and taking a few reais from it. For those who are wondering, Real, plural reais, is the Brazilian currency. The taxi driver quickly made some calculations in his mind before giving her back the change. Afterwards we quickly left the taxi to wait for the others, but before he drove off, I saw the driver giving me the thumbs up. I smiled awkwardly at that while the taxi made its way through the driveway. Sighing at the man, I turned back to the mall¡¯s entrance, seeing Yuu look around in curiosity for quite some time as people went in and out of the mall. I motioned towards a few benches that the mall left in front of the entrance so that people could wait for taxis and other things. Yuu nodded and made her way towards there. ¡°You seem awfully excited, did something happen?¡± I asked when I noticed that even while sitting down Yuu kept looking around. ¡°Hmm¡­ It is just that¡­¡± She said while thinking. ¡°I¡¯ve never been to a place like this before.¡± She excited. ¡°Not without the bodyguards, at least.¡± I raised my eyebrows surprised at her words while being unable to help but think that she truly is a princess. ¡°What about you, Shishou? Do you often come here?¡± She asked me excitedly. ¡°Not really.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°I come here mostly for two stores, so I can barely say that I¡¯m a regular.¡± I said while shrugging. ¡°Ehh? Really?¡± Yuu asked surprised, and I nodded heavily. ¡°Which stores does Shishou come here for?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°The cinema and the gaming store. That¡¯s it.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°There¡¯s not even a bloody bookstore in here!¡± I said angrily. ¡°And since the gaming store and cinema only have new things occasionally, I don¡¯t have much reason to come here constantly.¡± ¡°Eeh! There isn¡¯t a bookstore?¡± Yuu asked surprised. ¡°Yup.¡± I said sadly. ¡°Firstly, this mall is actually pretty small compared to others. Second, Brazil in general doesn¡¯t have as many readers as other countries, so we don¡¯t have that many bookstores, which is kind of sad.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Yuu said while nodding. ¡°What kind of books do you read, Shishou?¡± ¡°Mostly fantasy and historical fiction.¡± I said after some thought. ¡°I also like sci-fi, but there aren¡¯t as many as there are from these two at either father¡¯s or my house.¡± As I said that I turned to her. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I like historical ones.¡± She said briefly. ¡°I like to read about the exploits of my ancestors and their allies.¡± ¡°Hee?¡± I said with a raised eyebrow. Somehow, that was an expected answer. ¡°So, you don¡¯t read many fiction books?¡± I asked curious, and she shook her head. ¡°No. I don¡¯t see much use on reading about stories that never happened.¡± She said seriously for a moment before turning to me hurriedly. ¡°Not¡­ Not that I mean that you shouldn¡¯t, Shishou! It¡¯s just that¡­¡± She started to apologize, but having my weird switch flipped, I smiled evilly at her. ¡°It seems that I might need to teach you how wonderful the world of fictions can be.¡± I said while staring at her. ¡°Shi-Shishou¡­ You look scary!¡± She murmured lowly. As I planned on which books I would force her to read, I saw from far away as Paul¡¯s car arrived, entering the parking lot and started to look for a place to stop. Since it would still take them some minutes to reach us, I turned my attention back to Yuu who for some reason was back into her cold looks with a slight frown on her face. Confused, I wondered if my joke made her stay like that, and as I wondered what happened, I noticed with the corner of my eyes something. Looking around, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle a little as I started to get what was happening. Yuu noticed my smile and pouted a little, immediately removing the cold look she had. ¡°Why are you laughing?¡± Yuu asked me angrily. ¡°I just find it funny what¡¯s happening.¡± I said with a shrug, but Yuu only got even sullier. ¡°Muu¡­ I don¡¯t like this.¡± She said annoyed. ¡°Why does everyone always look at me when I leave home?¡± ¡°You really have no idea?¡± I asked a bit dubious, but she simply looked at me confused. I didn¡¯t explain it to her, but simply smiled, which left the poor girl confused. She started bugging me for the answer, but I kept dodging her questions while wanting to bully her a little. ¡°Okay¡­ What did we miss?¡± Mary asked confused when she saw Yuu looking away from me angrily. ¡°Just teasing her a little.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Shishou is being mean.¡± Yuu complained besides me, and I simply widened my smile. ¡°Ookay¡­¡± Mary said with a slightly confused look. ¡°Well, since we are here already, why don¡¯t we go in?¡± Barbara said with a happy tone. However, I couldn¡¯t help but notice a slightly playful tone in her voice. Well, I soon found out the reason. Strangely enough, the moment we entered the room. Maya suddenly exclaimed in perfect monotone that she had forgotten to pack some swimming clothes for herself, so she quickly called for Red to show her where she could buy some. Mary suddenly decided that she wanted to watch a subbed movie to train her Portuguese reading, so she and Paul went to the cinemas to see what was on-screen at the moment, and I¡¯m sure that they conveniently forgot about the incredible creation that is known as Internet. So, we reunited for exactly forty six point seven seconds, and they already left me and Yuu alone again. They could at least try to make it look coincidental. And this is meant mainly to the ero-maid who blatantly looked backwards while giving me a thumbs up. Sighing loudly, I held myself back so that I wouldn¡¯t rebuke her and turned to Yuu, who looked as surprised as I was. ¡°Seems like it¡¯s just the two of us again.¡± I said to her, making Yuu blink surprised and start a nod, but remembered our little scuffle and she looked away with a pout. As always, I ended up smiling kindly at the girl while petting her head lightly. Caught by surprise she let herself enjoy it for a moment before finally shaking her head so that I would remove my hand from her head. ¡°So, what are we going to do?¡± I said noticing that she didn¡¯t want to talk too much. This made her blink surprised for a moment before tilting her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, why don¡¯t Shishou does what he always do?¡± She asked confused before blinking and pouting. If I had to say, she wanted to be angry, but was having a hard time doing so, and the result was downright adorable. To give me the killing blow all that she needed would be her kitsune avatar, with her ears and fluffy tails then, I would end up being unable to control myself. Well, since she told me to chose something myself, I started walking away towards a random direction in the mall so that we could find something interesting. Well, interesting for her at least, since I had absolutely nothing that would get my attention in this mall. Oh! That jacket looks good! How much for it? Hmm, seventy? A bit expensive¡­ But it looks so good¡­ But¡­ Money¡­ Money¡­ Ghh¡­ The doubt. No. Not worth it. Too much money¡­ But¡­ I really want that jacket¡­ LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THOSE POCKETS! But, it¡¯s so expensive¡­ In the end I gave up and walked away from the store with my heads down. After some time, I heard someone jogging and Yuu suddenly appeared besides me while pouting. She probably didn¡¯t hear the moment I left, so it took her some time to reach me again. ¡°Muu¡­ Why did you leave me?¡± She asked angrily. ¡°Well, I thought you were angry at me¡­¡± I said tauntingly, and she simply mulled over it quietly. ¡°And what were you doing there¡­¡±She asked after some time. ¡°Hmm? Oh, it¡¯s just a jacket that caught my attention.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°A jacket?¡± She asked curious while giving a look back to the store I was watching. ¡°Which one?¡± She asked me. ¡°The one in the¡­¡± I stopped when I noticed he question and looked at her with an incriminating gaze. ¡°You don¡¯t plan on buying it for me, are you?¡± I asked her with an incriminating gaze. Yuu flinched for a moment and gulped down nervous before looking away. I stared at her for a moment, unable to help but think that she actually looks really cute when she¡¯s trying to lie. ¡°No. Shishou has been mean to me.¡± She said with a fairly bad lying tone. ¡°Hmm¡­ Good. I would be really mad if someone went and bought it for me¡­¡± I said to her, making her flinch slightly before giving me a surprised look. Well, how can I say it¡­ I would feel really guilty if she were to spend her money to buy something that I have more than enough condition to buy myself, but decided not to just because I¡¯m being stingy with myself. I mean, not that I dislike presents. But getting something just because I decided to not get it myself is a bit too much. Well, this left Yuu with a conflicted face for some time as she looked back into the store. Still, I ignored it and took her to a tour around the mall, showing her to one or another shop that I thought that would get her interest. Most of them were some clothing shop, but a bit against what I expected, Yuu didn¡¯t show much interest in those, except for one or another simple blouse that somehow matched her tastes. On the other hands, some miscellaneous stores actually managed to get her attention. Things like wristlets and silly decorations to put in her house. Mainly, what caught her attention was a large fox plushy. She bought it immediately without even stopping to think about it. When I asked her about it, she said that she had never seen something like that before in Japan. Followed by saying that all her trips in japan to a mall was to go in, buy what she needed and get back. You know, I¡¯m starting to think that she was even more of a shut-in than myself¡­ Oh well. Leaving that aside, after buying the plushy that she liked, we put it into a plastic bag and prepared to leave the shop. But, on the way out, something caught my sight with the corner of my eyes, and looking at it in wonder, a mischievous smile appeared in my face. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Yuu¡­ Go ahead that I¡¯ll just see something¡­¡± I said to her, but she turned to me confused. ¡°Why do you want me to go ahead, Shishou?¡± She asked me confused. ¡°It¡­ Will only take a short time.¡± I said to her. ¡°Then I¡¯ll wait with you.¡± She said turning back, but I grabbed her shoulders and turned her away. ¡°No. You¡¯ll wait out there. I¡¯ll be with you shortly.¡± I said while pushing her out of the store. Luckily for me, she didn¡¯t try to resist, or else she would easily start a situation of public humiliation with me, but she did become sullen. Once I managed to drag her out of the store, I turned back and quickly asked the price of the item that caught my attention to the clerk. Seeing the item, she told me the price. It was very low, but since it was mostly a trinket than anything, it didn¡¯t surprise me. I bought it and put it into another plastic bag before leaving the store. Out there I saw Yuu leaning against the wall with a sullen look in her face. I approached her with a mischievous smile, but right before I caught up with her someone else did. ¡°Hey there lady. What brings a cutie like you to this place?¡± A random good-looking guy said in Portuguese. Seriously, since when does Campos have so many suicidal playboys? It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen something like that, and it¡¯s the second time today! I mean, seriously, I was starting to think it only happened in movies or something! Well, Yuu, as expected, completely ignored the guy while looking down to the ground annoyed. This made the man slightly surprised, as she showed literally not reaction to his flirt. Probably a huge blow to his morale. He tried once again talking to Yuu, but the princess normal socialization skill were around the same level as mine, so she didn¡¯t even spare the guy a glance, but I did notice that she was getting a bit more annoyed. Deciding to go for the save, I approached the guy with a serious face and put my hand on his shoulder, making him jump in surprise. ¡°Excuse me, sir.¡± I said in a low tone. ¡°But I must ask you to remove yourself from the filming grounds. You are hindering our work here.¡± I said briefly to him. He turned to me confused and tilted his head. ¡°Filming? Here?¡± He asked surprised. ¡°Yes. Look there¡­¡± I said pointing at a random location. ¡°If you pay attention you will notice a couple of cameras there. But with you in the way we can¡¯t get a good shot from our main actress.¡± ¡°Oh! She¡¯s an actress?¡± He asked surprised. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen her before¡­¡± ¡°Of course you haven¡¯t!¡± I said angrily. ¡°She¡¯s an foreign actress who came here for this single episode!¡± I face palmed myself as if to make a point. ¡°Oh¡­ Sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t¡­¡± He said surprised, but stealing a glance of admiration towards Yuu. For a moment I was worried that she might suddenly get happy with seeing me, but from the looks of it, she was still annoyed at me because of earlier and leaving her behind, because she looked away from me in annoyance. The man seemed to misunderstand the situation, because he quickly apologized to her in a slightly broken English and then to me. After that, he left with his face contorted in surprise and shock, and he didn¡¯t take more than a few steps before taking out his phone and typing something. I turned to Yuu and gave her my best smiled. ¡°And the knight in¡­ Leather armor, I guess, makes his entrance to save the princess!¡± I said teasingly. ¡°And what did he want?¡± she asked me confused, I simply shrugged in response. ¡°He was trying to hit on you. Simple as that.¡± ¡°He wanted to hit me?¡± Yuu asked surprised before turning to the man with furious eyes. But the moment she took a step forward I grabbed her by the neck. ¡°Why are you stopping me, Shishou?¡± ¡°He wanted to hit ON you, not hit you.¡± I said annoyed. ¡°Hit on me?¡± She asked me confused. ¡°You are so innocent that it¡¯s adorable.¡± I said absentmindedly, which made her blink confused. ¡°What it means is that he was flirting with you.¡± ¡°Flirt¡­¡± She blinked surprised for a moment before widening her eyes in shock. ¡°Eeh? Watashi?¡± Well, she slipped into going back to Japanese, so I couldn¡¯t understand what she was speaking. While we were like that, I heard a couple of footsteps approaching us from behind, and after turning back I saw that it was Paul and Mary. ¡°What happened to leave Yuu so flustered?¡± The half-japanese asked surprised. ¡°I just explained her the meaning of being hit-on.¡± I said with a shrug. Mary blinked surprised for a moment, and just as she was about to smirk and say something, I went on. ¡°Another guy was trying to hit on Yuu, I tricked him into thinking that she was some kind of actress and that he was bothering the filming.¡± ¡°What, not even a brawl or something for the right of courting the girl?¡± Mary asked me teasingly. ¡°The pen is mightier than the sword.¡± I said in a proud tone. ¡°Well, that and he would end up beaten black and blue by Yuu here if I didn¡¯t do something.¡± When the two looked at me confused, I shrugged and went ahead. ¡°Well, Yuu has been pretty pissed off for some time now.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°And why would Yuu-dono be pissed?¡± I blinked surprised when Maya suddenly appeared besides me, carrying a small bag in her hands. Red following her close behind. ¡°And yes, this is a skimpy bikini that shows all of my curv¡­¡± ¡°Whatever you bought will never beat what I have in my hands right now.¡± I interrupted the ero-maid with a triumphant smile. ¡°Oh¡­?¡± She said with curious gaze. ¡°And what could possibly be better than my attractive body?¡± She asked me with a taunting gaze. I smiled at her in victory and approached Yuu, who was breathing deeply to calm herself down. But when I approached her and pulled her to the middle of the group, she looked at me confused. I simply prompted her to move ahead. Once she was in the best place, I made her put her back towards me and took out what I bought in the store. With delicate movement so as to not hurt her, I gently put the thing on her head, and saw as the others widened their eyes for a moment, before starting to giggle, chuckle or face-palm, varying from person to person. Maya widened her eyes in shock before tightening her fists with a an angry appearance. In the end, she sighed loudly and lowered her head in defeat. ¡°You¡­ Have bested me.¡± She said in defeat between her teeth. Yuu turned to me confused while raising her hands to feel what it was that I put in her head, but Mary immediately stopped her by grabbing her hands and making her stand still. ¡°Yuu-chan. You HAVE to let me take this photo.¡± She said with shining eyes. ¡°Milady, if you would allow me.¡± Maya said while taking out her cellphone. Mary nodded cheerfully while jumping besides Yuu and hugging her waist. Yuu blinked surprised for a moment before turning back to the camera and smiling awkwardly. Maya simply nodded satisfied before taking the photo. After that, Yuu had to take a photo with each one of us, and then one alone. By then she had already forgotten about the thing I put in her head, so me and the others exchanged some glances as if asking if we should tell her or not. In the end, none of us said anything, so we walked around the mall with Yuu still wearing it. We strolled around the mall for a bit longer, spending most of our time simply following Mary and Maya as they went to buy clothes for them and for Yuu. Afterwards we ended up watching the movie that Paul and Mary had chosen. An action one and it was fairly good. It wasn¡¯t excellent, but it was worth it. When we left, my gaze wandered around the stores and saw a banner about the game store that I usually went to in the mall. Me and Paul convinced the girls to take a look at the gaming store so that we could take a look if a game we were waiting had arrived or not. And talking about game, I took a look on my cellphone that had been oddly quiet for some time now. For some reason, Cyg had kept quiet this leave, and when I actually tried to contact her, she told me that she was doing something important at the moment. We went to the store, spoke with a friend of ours that worked there and introduced the girls to him. ¡°So, do they play games too?¡± He asked us, and I nodded. ¡°Yeah, Both play Insania right now, but Mary also plays other classics, like monster hunter.¡± I said while pointing at the girls. ¡°Oh, the taller one doesn¡¯t play it?¡± He asked surprised. ¡°Nah, she¡¯s slowly being introduced to gaming.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Oh? Not even a console or something? Portable at least?¡± He asked surprised. ¡°Is that what you use to play games, Shishou?¡± Yuu asked me curious. ¡°Well, yes¡­¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll buy one.¡± Yuu said with a nod. ¡°Huh?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°¡­ Any model you want in particular?¡± He asked going into business mode. Well, in the end Yuu bought a portable gaming console plus a few games just like that. According to her, she wanted to learn more about how to play games. An odd way to put it, but it¡¯s not me who is going to complain. Well, after that it was already getting late and my legs were already hurting. Besides, we had already walked through the entire mall twice already. As a final note of our trip around the mall, the guy that was trying to hit on Yuu earlier ended up finding out that I was just fooling with him, so he came angrily at me wanting to get into a fight. Well, he tried to get a fight with me, and even got to the point of grabbing my shoulder and trying to drag me out of the mall, but he really regretted his action when Yuu grabbed HIS shoulder. He blinked surprised, and then, shocking everyone in the vicinity, Yuu actually forced the guy to the ground only holding his shoulder. And I had the feeling that he would end up much worse than a simple sore shoulder if I didn¡¯t stop Yuu in time. Seeing that it was getting late already, and that Yuu and Maya were getting tired, despite the late being at most seven o clock, we decided to call it a day, so we left the mall and took our ride back home. To please Yuu, we took a taxi back home once again, so we left ahead of Paul and the others. During the middle of the ride back home, Yuu started to yawn repeatedly as, according to Mary, the jet lag started to get to the girl. We didn¡¯t even ride for more than five minutes before she started sleeping. Sighing loudly, I decided that it was about time to take it off, so I gently pulled off the thing I put in her head. A small tiara with a pair of pointy black furry ears atop of it, just like the ones she had in Insania. And with a sigh, I laid back on the taxi¡¯s bench and waited until I could get back home, and maybe find out what Cyg might be doing¡­ Chapter 76 - The petting master Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Let¡¯s bring a close to this arc so we can begin the great voyage! ANYWAY, this was a chapter that came relatively early compared to the others, besides being surprisingly fun to write to the end. Still, I¡¯ll take this leave so that I can go back to updating Reinstall for the next few days. ALSO, I¡¯ve been having fun writing my other story, even if it is largely different from my usual silly stories. Maybe I might upload it here? Have a good read! ----- ¡°It¡¯s open. Come in!¡± I said without raising myself from where I was. ¡°Hey Gon, where¡¯s Yuu¡­¡± Mary said as she entered the room, but she froze once she saw the scene. ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°Yo!¡± I said while raising one of my hands. ¡°So you are going after her body.¡± Maya said with a nod. ¡°Stop distorting things. It¡¯s nowhere near as bad as that.¡± I said while staring at her. ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s still quite¡­ Curious.¡± Hanbei said. ¡°Mind explaining?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± I said while looking back at Yuu who was sleeping in the couch behind me. The thing was, when we got back to the apartment, Yuu was sleeping soundly in the taxi. I thought about trying to wake her up, and even got to nudging her a few times to try and wake her up, but all that happened was that she ended up falling with her head on my shoulder. Well, not that I was all that unhappy about the situation, however I still had to take her out of the taxi, as we had arrived at our destination. Since it looked like she wasn¡¯t about to wake up any time soon, I decided that I would have to carry her to her house somehow. Paying the driver for the fare, I left the car and turned back so that I could pick Yuu up. Luckily, there weren¡¯t many people around to see the scene, so except for the gatekeeper, no one saw the embarrassing scene of my giving Yuu a princess carry. She was surprisingly light, and that¡¯s saying something, since most of my strength come from my body build, and not from bodybuilding¡­ If this makes any sense. Still, even if she wasn¡¯t that heavy, she still weighted a bit, and being the antisocial person I am, my stamina wouldn¡¯t last all that long, so I had to hurriedly make my way to the elevator. I was a bit worried that my steps might end up waking Yuu up, and she did end up squirming a bit, but thankfully she didn¡¯t wake up. Instead, she adjusted herself in my arms and hugged my neck. Shocked for a moment, I stared at her, but she simply smiled while nudging closer to me. Well, it would be better to not think too much into it. Then, I noticed that I had a small problem. I didn¡¯t have the keys to her house, neither did I have an idea on where she put hers. Having no idea when Mary and Maya would arrive didn¡¯t leave me much options either, so I went with simply leaving her at my house for the time being. Somehow I managed to pick my keys from my pockets and open the door before closing it with my feet. Approaching my sofa, I gently lowered Yuu into it before letting go of her. But then, I met a small problem¡­ ¡°She wouldn¡¯t let go.¡± I said, finalizing my tale. ¡°¡­ Are you kidding?¡± Mary asked me with doubt in her voice. ¡°Nope. Not even one bit.¡± I said with a smile. As I said, Yuu didn¡¯t let go of me even after I put her down. And I even tried to squirm my way out of her grasp, but¡­ She¡¯s strong. Really strong. Well, it¡¯s not like she was suffocating me, in fact, she was only holding me enough so that I wouldn¡¯t be able to move away from her. But no matter what I did, I couldn¡¯t make her spread her arms enough for me to slip away, and after some time of trying to get away, Yuu murmured something in Japanese and suddenly pulled me closer while tightening her grip. In the end I gave up and simply sat down besides the couch while Yuu hugged my head. It wasn¡¯t a very comfortable position, but there wasn¡¯t much I could do, so I took out my portable and started playing while waiting for Mary and Maya to arrive. ¡°And why didn¡¯t you try to wake her up then?¡± Mary asked me surprised. ¡°One, I tried. Two, I didn¡¯t have courage to try harder and wake her up when she¡¯s like this.¡± I said while pointing towards Yuu, who had a small smile while sleeping. ¡°That¡¯s actually a very good point.¡± Maya said while nodding, but Mary simply sighed. ¡°Here, let me wake her¡­¡± She said while approaching Yuu. She crouched besides her friend and murmured something in he ears. Yuu blinked awake for some time and looked around in a daze, murmuring some things In Japanese with a confused tone. She looked at the room with a clear frown in her face before turning towards me. ¡°Good morning sleepy head.¡± I told her as she looked at me. ¡°Shishou?¡± She asked while tilting her head, and she stayed like that until she noticed that she was holding me, then she widened her eyes and pulled back while releasing me and blushing. ¡°Waah¡­ I¡¯m¡­¡± ¡°So, Yukihime-dono is a hugger¡­¡± Maya said while taking her cellphone and typing something on it. ¡°Good to know¡­ Good to know¡­¡± ¡°Chi-Chigau!¡± Yuu said embarrassedly in Japanese. ¡°Geez, Yuu-chan. I never thought you would be so aggressive¡­¡± Mary shook her head as if caught by surprise. ¡°Waah¡­¡± Yuu became even more embarrassed than before, and even shrunk in a corner of the sofa with teary eyes. We laughed at her for a bit longer while I sat besides her and started petting her in consolation. It took some time, but she finally calmed down to the point that she started to yawn again. Seeing this, she and the others decided to stop for the day there, as the jet-lag started to hit them hard. Taking the stuffed toy she bought for herself, Yuu soon followed the girls back to their house. However, before they could leave for good, Yuu stopped and turned back to me. ¡°Shishou. Where¡¯s the tiara you bought me?¡± Yuu asked me, and I saw as Mary and Maya flinched at her words. ¡°Huh¡­¡± I looked away for a moment, but seeing that she was looking at me intensively, I sighed and took out the fox ears I bought from my bag and gave it to her. ¡°Sorry¡­¡± I said guilty. ¡°Huh? For what?¡± Yuu asked while she took the accessory. ¡°Err¡­ For making you use that?¡± I said shyly, but she simply tilted her head confused. ¡°Huh¡­ Aren¡¯t you angry that I made you use that during out stay at the mall?¡± ¡°Why would I be?¡± Yuu asked me confused. ¡°Huh¡­ Because its embarrassing?¡± I said not knowing how she would react. ¡°I mean, we made you use that without telling you knowing¡­¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± She still looked confused, but then widened her eyes. ¡°Oh, the ears?¡± She asked and I nodded. ¡°I did know about it.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Huh? How did you notice?¡± Mary asked confused. ¡°I saw in one of the shopping windows while we were taking photos.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°And since Shishou and the others liked it, I didn¡¯t think that I needed to take it out.¡± Suddenly, Maya, Mary and me felt like a bunch of fools for thinking that Yuu had no idea of what was happening. Thankfully, Yuu didn¡¯t seem to be all that bothered about it, so we reached an unanimous decision of making sure to be more careful next time. With that, they finally left to go back to their house, leaving me alone in my own for quite some time. I yawned loudly, feeling tired from all that had happened today, but since I still felt that it was too early, I decided to fiddle around with my pc. However, the moment I sat in front of it, my cellphone buzzed in my pocket. ¡°Gon! Access your D-lute! There¡¯s a surprise waiting for you!¡± Cyg said cheerfully. I raised an eyebrow at that, but nodded nonetheless and quickly put myself up and walked to my bed. I put on the D-lute and turned it on. Well, Cyg only told me to access the D-lute, so it wasn¡¯t necessarily that I needed to log on Insania. But it¡¯s not like I had anything else to use on my D-lute, so why the hell not. I guess I could at least reach the city before going to sleep. Soon, my vision blacked out and I felt as my consciousness was pulled into the virtual space. Seeing the blackness that preceded the login button, I looked around waiting for something that I would find different from usual, but nothing happened. Or so I thought, until I felt something hitting me on my back and making me fall face-first into the ground. Feeling a bit dizzy, I soon raised myself and looked for what did that to me. I met fluffiness. ¡°Aura?¡± I asked confused while holding the small fox in my arms. She was back to her old passive pet form. The fox stared at me in confusion for a moment, and I understood why. Since I still haven¡¯t logged in, I was still in my human form. ¡°It¡¯s me, Gon.¡± I said while petting her. This seemed to convince her, because she closed her eyes and cuddled closer to me. ¡°What the hell are you doing here?¡± I asked her confused, but she didn¡¯t seem all that interested in speaking, because she simply cuddled even closer to me with her three tails wagging cheerfully from one side to the other. Seeing that I wasn¡¯t going to get an answer from her, I decided to go on and start press the login button already. The world changed into a white one and took me and Aura to the character selection, where we found Cyg standing there with her crystalline body and a victorious smile stamped in her face. Raising my eyebrows, I picked Aura up and made my way to her. ¡°Explanations are appreciated.¡± I said with a curious tone. ¡°Well¡­¡± Cyg cleared her throat. ¡°You know how I¡¯ve been working on your cellphone recently? I decided that I could try to do something like that for Aura too, seeing that she feels a bit lonely when you aren¡¯t nearby.¡± She said with a happy smile. ¡°For now, I¡¯ve managed to patch her up to have access to your D-lute whenever you log in as long as you have internet access.¡± ¡°Heh¡­ Was it difficult for you to take so long?¡± I asked, but she shook her head. ¡°Nope. That was actually the easy part.¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°The basic systems are pretty much the same, so it wasn¡¯t troublesome. The next part will probably be more difficult.¡± ¡°Next part?¡± I asked confused. ¡°What more do you plan on doing?¡± I looked to the small fox who was cheerfully resting within my arms. ¡°I actually plan on also giving her access to other applications with Insania App, like cellphones, tablets and computer. If you want, of course.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind¡­ But why would you do that?¡± I asked a bit confused. ¡°This way she can also assist you with other things or maybe simply stay with you for a little longer.¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°She¡¯s really attached to you, you know?¡± ¡°Yeah, I kind of noticed¡­¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°So, what¡¯s exactly is so difficult about it compared to patching her to the D-lute?¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Well, initially, the operational system is completely different, second, she, and the others inside the game, are not exactly ready for being hosted by any computing system¡­¡± Seeing me confused, Cyg sighed and explained. ¡°It¡¯s a matter of preparation, you see. They are modeled to be something along the lines of being as close to living being as possible. Normal computers can¡¯t simulate that kind of neural network, so I have to prepare a program that allows her to be processed on the main server while still being hosted on our computer, and that¡¯s a bit more complex than what you would think.¡± ¡°I have almost no idea what most of it meant, but I can guess that¡¯s pretty much Insanely difficult.¡± I said with a serious face, and Cyg laughed a bit. ¡°Geez, halfway I was almost expecting you to tell me that you are putting Aura in a robot and sending her here.¡± I said in a worried tone. At my words, Cyg started laughing at my joke with me, even Aura followed us, but once she calmed down she got a pensive face before starting to smile widely. ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°That was a joke.¡± I interrupted her. ¡°I know!¡± Cyg said while smiling happily ¡°But, the interactions of a simulated Intelligence on the physical world are still unknown! This could lead to some really good data unlike anything we have ever seen! It would be worth the cost it even if only for the data!¡± ¡°Are you serious?¡± I asked shocked, and she nodded. ¡°I said that as a joke, you know. It wasn¡¯t supposed to inspire you into some kind of research idea! Besides, why don¡¯t you do it with something at your headquarters?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Because you are already helping us a lot, so we know we can trust you.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Besides, you and Aura are already very close to each other, and I think that it might be favorable to the data gathering.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I said while scratching my head. ¡°If you are fine with it I guess?¡± I said while looking towards Aura, who was pressing her forehead against my hand, looking especially clingy today. Not that I minded, though. I kind of missed her small body. ¡°Yay!¡± Cyg said while jumping cheerfully. I sighed awkwardly once again. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get going to the game then?¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s!¡± ¡°Leave it to me!¡± And with that, we logged in a pillar of light. Well, it wasn¡¯t exactly a good idea to do that immediately, after all, Cyg wouldn¡¯t simply leave Aura with her passive body when we logged in. So the freezing tail started growing in my arms and soon became way heavier than what I was ready for and I fell back on the ground with her atop of me. I raised my head towards Aura, who lazily leaned her head against my chest with a strangely mischievous look into her eyes. I tried to squirm my way out from beneath her, but it didn¡¯t work out very well, as she simply took a step forward and once again put her head on my chest. ¡°Okay¡­ Something is weird. What happened?¡± I asked Crys who floated her way to atop of Aura¡¯s neck. ¡°Well¡­ That is partly my fault¡­¡± She said with an apologetic smile. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Well¡­ While we were testing the connection, I had to accelerate the time passage for us¡­ So for her it actually feel like a few months since the last time she saw you.¡± I blinked surprised for a moment before sighing loudly. ¡°That¡¯s the kind of thing you tell without needing me to ask you to.¡± I told her with an slightly annoyed tone. Well, if it was like that it would explain the reason for her excessive clinginess. So I decided to humor her a bit and started petting her. Closing her eyes in delight and wagging her tail happiness. After pleasing her enough, I somehow convinced the freezing tail to move away from me so that I could get up. She immediately got closer to me when we were standing up, so I let my hand resting on her neck as we walked towards the city. Well, walking because we didn¡¯t really see all that much need to rush as we already had crossed most of the way towards the city, and according to Cyg, even taking our time, we would still reach it in a couple of hours. This made Aura extra happy, since she kept herself against my leg the whole way towards the city. Even when we stopped to have something to eat, she refused to let me stop petting her, so I had to somehow manage to eat only with one hand. Which wasn¡¯t all that difficult, as Crys helped me by holding the plate up and preparing something I could eat with only a spoon. We reached the city in five hours after leaving our starting point. A bit more than the initial estimative from earlier, but it was enough for us. Seeing the hustle and bustle of the city made me feel a bit excited about returning to this place, so I immediately made my way to the place that Lieutenant and Rio were. Walking through the streets until we reached the main elevator, we quickly raised up towards the commercial sector and took some of the secondary elevators to reach Sol¡¯s floor. It didn¡¯t take long for us to find the store, the eerie blue glow from the first time I came here back. Passing through the door without a second thought, I quickly passed through the doors and just before we reached the inner workshop, I heard something. ¡°Nyaa-ny. Nyaanananyaa nanyyyy nyanyanya. Narynyaaa nynynynaaa.¡± I heard Lieutenant speaking ¡°¡°¡°Sir, yes sir!¡±¡±¡± Three voices answered. ¡°NYAAAAA!¡± ¡°¡°¡°SIR, YES SIR!¡±¡±¡± They answered louder. Looking at Crys and Aura, both who were confused, we quickly entered the room, where we saw the usual out of place bed within the middle of the laboratory. But what really surprised us was the scene playing in front of us. Lieutenant was standing on the bed while walking from one side to the other with his front paws crossed on his back. Not something very different from the usual, of course. The funny part was the others who were kneeling on the bed in front of him.. From left to the right, we had a white scaled dog size wyvern who was standing up while lifting her right wing in a way that it crossed right above her eyes, as if she was making a salute. For some reason she looked really cheerful. The second person was our certified half elf half shade loli-baba with light blue hair and wearing her usual nightgown. She had a look of depression in her face. The third was a white haired barbarian that I had never seen before, with large beard that was still wet from his last drink. Well, even if I had never seen him before, its not like I didn¡¯t know who he was. He had a face of someone holding back his laugh. ¡°¡­What is happening here?¡± Crys asked confused, and I nodded in accordance, aslo feeling confused. Hearing us, the quartet turned to me with a surprised face. ¡°Ah, Gon.¡± Sol said with a depressed voice. ¡°I should have learned to not judge a cat for his fur.¡± She said with a depressed voice. ¡°If it isn¡¯t the little golem!¡± The barbarian said with a laugh. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again! And sadly I didn¡¯t get my revenge yet!¡± ¡°Stone-man! Lieutenant is teaching me about soldiers!¡± Rio said cheerfully. ¡°¡­ So you guys lost to Lieutenant in poker?¡± I asked, and Sol and the Barbarian nodded. ¡°Why am I not surprised?¡± I asked while scratching my head. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go and challenge Whisi for a duel anyway?¡± ¡°Nyaaa-na-na-ny.¡± ¡°So she wasn¡¯t at the guild, huh?¡± I asked while scratching my head. ¡°Who is this Whisi you speak about?¡± The barbarian asked curious. ¡°It¡¯s Lieutenant¡¯s rival in poker. The only one who can actually win against him. At least as far as I know.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°So there¡¯s still another one out there with such skills?¡± The barbarian said while fiddling with his beard. ¡°I really need to step up my game. These youngsters are leaving me behind.¡± ¡°Okay, I give up.¡± Sol said after some time. ¡°How the hell do you know Bul-kathos, and how the hell did you meet Rio? She¡¯s a greater wyvern for Cygnas sake!¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± I knew it was him! Seriously, the face may have changed, but the feeling is still the same. ¡°Well, Bul I met when I helped him with recovering some cryrstals¡­¡± I said briefly. ¡°Rio, on the other hand, I met recently after I convinced her mother to do backflips and work on a farm.¡± Sol and Bul-khatos stared at me for a moment as they processed the information that I just spewed out. Then the two looked towards the little wyvern with a questioning look, and Rio nodded. ¡°Doing backflips is difficult. But mother learned in two days! She¡¯s amazing!¡± Rio said cheerfully. The two¡¯s reaction to her words were polar opposite. Bul-kathos burst out laughing loudly while hitting the bed. Meanwhile, Sol fell to her knees while shaking her head from one side to the other, unable to believe what she had heard. ¡°You¡­ Must really be loved by the god of chaos¡­¡± Sol said in defeat. ¡°Actually, I left him confused to tell the truth¡­¡± I said while scratching my cheek, and saw as she stared at me In confusion for quite some time before giving up. ¡°Aah! I don¡¯t care anymore! Nothing you do will surprise me from now on!¡± She said while shouting to the skies. I laughed a bit more while lowering my hand to Aura who was once again pestering me for some petting. ¡°Well, anyway, I came more to check on Lieutenant and Rio, so I¡¯ll leave them with you for some more time, is that fine?¡± I asked and she nodded helpessly. Deciding to call it a day and take a good nap, I left the store with Aura and Crys and pulled up the menu, choosing the log out option. I saw as the countdown slowly made its way to zero, but when it reached five, a window popped up in my vision.
For a long period of time you kept petting your companion in a way that pleased her, thus you have earned the original skill: Petting Mastery
Original Skill: Petting mastery mastery [lvl1] 0%
After hours and more hours of petting your companions, you have learned all the tricks to actually make your petting even better, to the point that it gets addicting. Passively makes all petting actions feel 50% more pleasurable. Activating this skills makes your petting for the next ten seconds become completely addictive, making the target need your petting for the next few seconds.
Cost: 50 energy CAN NOT BE USED IN COMBAT DOES NOT AFFECT TARGETS WITH HOSTILITY TOWARDS YOU
WHAT THE HELL? And then I logged out. Chapter 77 - Long lost twins Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! BACK TO INSANIA FOR SOME MORE INSANITY! ANYWAY, after ten days, another update. Today would be Beepy, but to tell the truth, I just wasn¡¯t in the mood to write beepy at all. Heck, Beepy has been incredibly difficult to write these last days. I¡¯m not sure why, but it¡¯s not as fun as it¡¯s writing Insania or my other work. That said, even if the next update take some time, this does not means that I¡¯m abandoning beepy, mind you. ALSO, speaking of other work, I plan on posting it soon. It¡¯s quite different from the usual because: 1, it have to genders I¡¯ve never worked with before, 2, the way I¡¯m writing it is a bit different then the usual. For now, I plan to start posting it once I get to 15 chapters done, then post one at a day or something like that. Who knows? ALSO(2), there was more I wanted to say here, but basically it means: I¡¯m NOT abandoning beepy. I might be taking some time, but I will get back to it. (Heck, I could upload it tomorrow for all I know),. I¡¯m NOT abandoning Insania, which should be obvious. The new series is mostly an idea dump because I¡¯ve been reading too much LN recently, and had to get it off my head, but now it ended up becoming fun to write, so it led to a brand new story. (VRDraco approves by the way.) ALSO(3), FOR THE THREE OR SO WHO WILL GET THIS: SQUFFY! Have a good read! ----- Music started playing while I felt the ultimate bliss that was known as fluffiness, moving around I found out that I was laying on some kind of bed of ultimate fluffiness. Burying my head into the soft fur that was slightly cold I felt a smile creeping up my face as I rubbed my head against it. The cold wasn¡¯t the uncomfortable cold you get on winter days, but the pleasant under-side of the pillow type of cold. When I moved, I felt as the large furry bed moved around a bit, and soon enough a fluffy blanket covered my body, spreading the comfortable temperature all around my body. I could easily spend the rest of my day simply laying there lazily, sleeping, but the music started to get a bit more excited, and soon enough was far from a rhythm suitable for sleeping, so I finally opened my eyes while grumbling annoyed. What met my eyes was a sea of soft blue fur, with the occasional whiter parts here and there. Being far bigger than me, what I laid against was a large foxlike animal who was laying lazily on the ground while curling itself up. The familiar shape made me sneak up a smile as I raised myself from the fur. ¡°Morning¡­¡± I said groggily while gently petting Aura¡¯s head. Her ears twitched slightly before her eyes finally opened and she let out a loud yawn. Being back into her boss form from when we had a battle, Aura was laying on the ground while letting me sleep against her fur. But with a quick glance around I quickly noticed that I wasn¡¯t within Insania anymore. We were inside a large blank room around the size of my apartment. Looking around confused, it took me a few seconds to remember what had happened yesterday after logging out. Aura kept giving me those awfully desperate puppy eyes the moment I reached the character creation screen, which left me feeling like one of those evil guys from comedy movies. While I was feeling confused on what I could do, Cyg finally recommended that we used the D-lute¡¯s virtual room App. It took me a whole ten seconds to understand what she meant about that. Basically, it was an App that came with the D-lute itself and allowed one to create a virtual room to use. However, different from Insania, the virtual room did not have faster time-rate, nor did completely blocked out outside senses, so I would still be able to answer to hear, smell and feel things from the outside, besides allowing me to leave the console much quicker than if I were to use Insania. This way, I could not only enjoy a good night of sleep without the side effects of the time extension, but could also spend the time with Aura. Also, since both the D-lute and my computer were on the same Wi-Fi connection, I found out that I could access my computer straight through the app. Well, since it did not have any connection to Insania, Cyg couldn¡¯t come over¡­ Or rather, she decided not to come over. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s not a limitation to that overpowered goddess. And since we were out from the game, Cyg also gave Aura access to all of her three forms, as it would have absolutely no effect on the game. I did not need to think twice before making her take the large boss form and use her as a bed. IT¡¯S THE ULTIMATE FLUFFYNESS! BEST! BED! EVER! Nuff said. ¡°I guess¡­¡± I yawned while waking myself up. ¡°I¡¯ll get going.¡± I said before giving her one last petting. She nodded a bit sadly, but didn¡¯t complain. I could get a slight feeling of guilt in her eyes. At least it seem that this made up for the months she spent with Cyg. Calling up the menu, I quickly chose the log out button and left the app. I quickly felt myself getting back the control of my body and quickly took out the device from my head and put it on the side-table at the same time I took my cellphone and turned off the annoying alarm. Seriously? Who the hell put an alarm for seven o¡¯clock during a Sunday? That¡¯s a bloody barbarity! ¡­ Oh, right. It was me. After going through my usual routine of self-depreciation I quickly got up and went towards my bathroom where I washed my face and quickly brushed my teeth. After that I went to the kitchen to check if there was anything worthwhile of being considered a breakfast here. Sadly, such a luck I had not. Weird master Yoda-ish phrasing aside, I saw nothing that could get my attention on the fridge, so clicking my tongue, I quickly went to my bedroom and started to put on my outside clothing, readying myself for having to eat on the street once again. But an idea popped up in my mind the moment I left my house, and instead of going towards the elevator, I changed my way towards the girl¡¯s apartment and knocked on the door, for a moment wondering whether it was too early in the morning for this. Luckily, it didn¡¯t take long for someone to come and open the door. What greeted me was a Yuu wearing a simple white yukata and with her slightly messy hair let out. She looked at me surprised for a moment, and just when I expected her to somehow blush due to her slightly messy appearance, she instead smiled lightly. ¡°Good morning, Shishou.¡± She said to me. I looked at her surprised for a moment before nodding. ¡°Good morning, dear apprentice.¡± I said after clearing my throat. ¡°Today I came here in the most shameless way possible with the intention of saying that you have a surprise test to see whether your morning meals are up to the levels I find acceptable.¡± Of course, I tried to say it in the most complex and meaninglessly dragged out way possible. This seemed to work out just fine, because Yuu looked confused for a moment while processing the words. ¡°Then, Shishou came here to have breakfast?¡± ¡°That¡¯s an incredible simplistic and not entirely precise way of putting it.¡± I said while trying to put an important tone. ¡°But yes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Yuu said cheerfully. ¡°I wanted to call Shishou, but didn¡¯t know when you would wake up!¡± As she said that she quickly stepped aside to give me passage. I nodded a bit shocked before gallantly walking in. Inside, I immediately walked towards the living room, where a fairly large table was set. Well, large for the size of the house, but any more than four people and we would have to start squeezing ourselves in. Taking a seat into the closest chair, I saw as Yuu waltzed away into the kitchen, coming back after a few moments while being followed by Maya, who wore the usual black blouse and pants. She eyed me and clicked her tongue in annoyance. Not that I can complain much, because I did the same at her. Yuu stared at the two of us in confusion, so we turned to her and said. ¡°¡°I wanted to see him/her with a messy look so that I could mock him/her.¡±¡± If it wasn¡¯t for the difference in gender, we would have spoken in perfect synchro. Noticing this, the two of us exchanged glances once again and raised an eyebrow at each other. ¡°Well, great minds think alike.¡± I said. ¡°Is that a self compliment, or are you degrading me?¡± She asked. ¡°Why not both?¡± She widened her eyes before nodding with a smile. ¡°Good play.¡± Maya said with a nod. ¡°I try my best.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I can never understand if you are friends or enemies¡­¡± Yuu said with a wry smile while watching our bickering. I raised an eyebrow at her words and quickly said. ¡°Isn¡¯t our relationship obvious?¡± I asked her. ¡°We are long lost twins.¡± Maya quickly followed. ¡°Can¡¯t you see the resemblance?¡± I asked as I stood besides the maid. Yuu stared at us in shock and confusion. ¡°You two are siblings? I would never know!¡± She said in sincere shock while me and Maya nodded together. It took her a whole ten seconds of us looking at her for Yuu to finally blink and pout. ¡°You¡­ Are fooling with me, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°¡°What makes you think that?¡±¡± ¡°Mou! Shishou to Maya no Baka!¡± Yuu complained while putting some dishes on the table. Me and Maya quickly exchanged glances and told each other ¡°good job¡±. Not that we said it out loud, of course. Professional tricksters like the two of us have no need for such things like words when it came to pranks! Anyway, with Yuu spreading the food on the table in front of us, I immediately saw one of the main differences from how they have their breakfast. Different from what I was used, the simple glass of coffee and milk plus bread, what she and Maya brought to the table was something that could easily pass up as a lunch for me. Rice, fish, salad and even some other side-dishes. Although much more substantial than what I was used to myself, they were still fairly light food. From the looks of it, Yuu and Maya noticed my feelings, because both looked at me with slightly confused gazes. ¡°Oh! Does shishou not know how to use the chopsticks?¡± Yuu asked me, and for the first time I noticed that there were chopsticks instead of cutlery on the table. ¡°Hah! Do you think the might Wargon would be defeated by a pair of sticks like these? Blasphemy!¡± I said while taking the chopsticks and raising them high with a pride as. ¡°You do know you are holding then wrong, right?¡± Maya said in a cold tone. ¡°Eh¡­ Details!¡± I said brushing her off. ¡°Details were made to be ignored!¡± I said proudly before stopping and looking around. ¡°Speaking of details, where¡¯s Mary?¡± I asked while looking around and noticing the lack of the blonde cheerful girl. ¡°Did you just call milady a detail?¡± Maya asked with an annoyed tone, but soon replied. ¡°Midetail¡­ Milady is not very good during the mornings, thus she is sleeping right now. I shall go wake her up.¡± Geez, she complains about me but still follow up on the joke, I wonder what¡¯s stronger, her sense of duty, or her sense of prank. Is that even a thing? Sense of prank? Ignoring the stray thought that entered my mind, Maya quickly left the table and walked towards the larger bedroom. Meanwhile I waited on the table while Yuu quickly worked on bringing the rest of whatever was on the kitchen. By the time she finished and sat down on the table, Maya came back from the bedroom while bringing a sleepy looking Mary with her. I widened my eyes in shock for a moment at how she looked. Her blonde hair was a complete mess, having double the usual volume and sticking out to every side possible while her eyes had a large pair of bags beneath them. Not only that, but what she wore was a cute looking dress/nightgown with lots of kitties drawn on it. All of that, combined with the fact that she already was fairly childish looking made her look like a kid who just woke up and is looking for her mother. As soon as she saw me, Mary froze for a moment while staring me for some time. I gave a smile and made a quick greeting with my hand. I saw her look down towards herself for a moment and then towards Maya with an angry look. While the maid kept the perfect looking angelic smile, Mary turned back and darted to her room as I laughed loudly. It took her around ten minutes to come back, this time wearing a plain dress and having her hair tied in a pony tail, probably due to the lack of time to comb it. ¡°You did that on purpose.¡± She said while sitting besides me and in front of Maya. ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about, milady.¡± The maid said while picking the chopsticks. ¡°And Yuu, won¡¯t you at least fix your appearance?¡± She asked while looking towards her Yukata-wearing friend. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with how I look?¡± Yuu asked confused. Yeah, what¡¯s wrong with this more relaxed and homely looking Yuu? I fail to see the problem with how she looks! She¡¯s adorable right now! After sighing loudly Mary finally gave up on trying to convince Yuu to fix her appearance. From the looks of it, Yuu didn¡¯t actually care all that much for her appearance when she¡¯s at home, which actually surprised me since it kind of went against my image of her as being a princess. Well, an imperfect Yuu is also nice¡­ While thinking that with a slightly silly smile, I quickly put myself to enjoy a perfectly Japanese breakfast. For me who already liked rice to begin with, it was a very good breakfast. I didn¡¯t really recognize the fish, though. Sadly, it was a simple cooked fish, so it meant that it wasn¡¯t a sushi or something like that. But then, from what I know, even in japan it seems that even in Japan sushi is an expensive commodity, so maybe I shouldn¡¯t expect that they would have it every other day. But then, this is Yuu that we are talking about¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she were to tell me that she actually have sushi every day. ¡°So, what are we doing today?¡± Mary asked after some time. ¡°Well¡­¡± I said after managing to cut the fish with the chopsticks, which was surprisingly easy thanks to the fact that it was so soft. ¡°I personally plan on going to Insania before Red comes to annoy me with talk about leaving home.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°¡­ Why am I not surprised?¡± Mary asked with a deadpan look. ¡°Maybe because you thought something similar?¡± ¡°Touch¨¦.¡± She said with a wry smile. ¡°Then, what exactly do you plan on doing in Insania this time?¡± ¡°Well, I need to prepare myself before I start traveling.¡± I said with a shrug, but these words got the attention of Yuu. ¡°Where are you going, Shishou?¡± She asked me curious. ¡°Well, I¡¯m about to go on a long voyage that will take me to the very end of the known habitable territory as I vanquish evildoers and search around for valuable treasures long forgotten by golemkind!¡± I said in a triumphal tone. ¡°You heard about a strong monster and rare minerals.¡± Mary said briefly. ¡°Don¡¯t say it like that! It sounds too generic!¡± I complained, but she simply ignored my words. ¡°Heeh¡­¡± Yuu stopped to think for a moment. ¡°And will this take time?¡± She asked me, and I nodded. ¡°Yeah, I plan on going to the farthest capital from Eldor.¡± I assaulted another piece of the fish. ¡°Hmm, Lieutenant would like this¡­ Anyway, it seems that I will even need to cross an ocean or something of the kind.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Yuu lowered her head for a moment. ¡°So, can we go with you?¡± She asked. I blinked surprised for a moment, but before I could even reply. ¡°Yup. I made sure to get some supplies for you too.¡± Cyg said suddenly from my cellphone. I blinked surprised and quickly took it out from my pocket. ¡°Morning Gon, morning Yuu, Morning Han. Morning Maya.¡± She greeted us. ¡°Took your time today. Overslept?¡± I asked her teasingly, making the AI stick her tongue out. ¡°Was making a hotfix. Some minor bugs like skill combos that shouldn¡¯t happen and so on.¡± She said shrugging. ¡°Anyway, I already worked on getting everything you needed to go with Gon.¡± Oh! That¡¯s why she asked for all those rings back then! I see¡­ ¡°Really? Thank you, Cygnas-san!¡± Yuu said cheerfully while Mary nodded in accordance. Afterwards, the three of them started to discuss what they were going to do while traveling, with Mary and Yuu wanting to know about destination, stops and so on. I left them talking between themselves and quickly finished my breakfast. Feeling a lot more satisfied than the usual for a morning, I quickly took out my dishes and took them to the kitchen. Afterwards I quickly made my way back to the table, told the girls that after abusing their hospitality I would then retreat towards my cave called bedroom, and spend the rest of my time preparing some supplies of myself for the travels. And it was exactly what I did. After logging in and being received by an Aura that was much calmer compared to the previous day, I quickly logged in. Waiting for the flash of light to die down, I soon found myself in front of Sol¡¯s shop. A quick look on the map and I saw that both Lieutenant and Rio were roaming around the streets. Seeing that there wasn¡¯t any real need to go and seek them out right then, I made my way towards the main elevator while being followed by Crys and Aura, who was already back into her pet form. It didn¡¯t take much longer for me to reach the elevator and go down towards the forges sector. A few zig-zags around and I soon was at Torg¡¯s house. Taking some of the ores and crystals that Crys had been gathering for me, and yes, she does have a mining skill, I spoke about it some time ago, I started to work on making some extra throwing knives and flash-bombs. Sadly I still didn¡¯t have access to higher tier elemental crystals, so the knives were slowly becoming obsolete as the level of my enemies grew. I spent around one or two hours working on it, soon the over-sized dwarf appeared on his forge and seemed surprise into seeing me. ¡°My! If it isn¡¯t little Gon!¡± He said with a loud laugh and giving me a slap on the back that almost made my face hit the anvil in front of me. ¡°So, I heard you will leave for a long time?¡± He asked me while going to his own forge. I smiled a bit as I felt my back aching and that my health dropped a good ten points. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ll be leaving for Sandroze.¡± I said while straightening my back once again and going back to work. ¡°What, are you planning on giving me some kind of farewell gift?¡± I asked jokingly. ¡°Yah. Here.¡± As he said that he took a hammer from the shelf and extended it to me. I looked at it like an idiot for a good ten seconds or so while trying to understand what he was talking about. ¡°Huh?¡± I asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask if I¡¯m giving you a present?¡± He asked me confused. ¡°Here, this is a hammer I made for you. Take it.¡± I nodded a bit idiotically while extending my hand and getting the hammer. When I said the present thingy, I was only joking, I didn¡¯t really expect him to go and give me an actual present. The giant half-dwarf gave me an wide smile while motioning for me to take a look at the hammer. It was around the size of my arm with the head being a bit bigger than a wallet. It was a bit heavier than the one I was used to, but it did feel nice in my hand. There wasn¡¯t much of a fancy setting around it, being a simple and practical hammer.
The Hammer
Attack:10-11Extra:(none)
Quality:ExcellentDurability:Infinite
Description A simple hammer made with the only focus of being a blacksmithing hammer. It¡¯s simplicity and weight makes it an excellent forging tool for novices and experienced smithies alike. Increase forged items durability by 10% Increase forged items quality by 10% 20% chance of recovering some materials should the forging fail Weapon skill: [Field repair: Metal] The weapon does not need to be equipped through the inventory to get access to the bonuses.
I read the description with wide shocked eyes, but this made Torg laugh loudly at me. ¡°What with the shock? This is something all masters give their apprentice once they leave!¡± He told me with a proud tone, giving me another slap on the back. ¡°Although I did add a small extra there for you, since you always seem to be travelling.¡± I nodded while giving a quick look at the skill description. Basically, it allowed me to make some quick repairs to my gear even if I were deep into the middle of a jungle. It added some bonus point to the durability of the item without needing to spend materials on it, in exchange, the price was that I would need to fully repair the item in the conventional way at a decent anvil to use the bonus again. It¡¯s kind of like patching up a hole with some duct tape. It works, but not perfectly. While I thanked Torg over and over for the gift, I received a message warning me that Yuu and Hanbei had logged in. I immediately invited them to a party and left the forge, already having stocked myself with a few dozens of each knife I could make right now. Once again I thanked Torg before leaving the forging sector. I met them on the commercial sector. Yuu was still wearing the kimono-like robe she made for herself some time ago, but Hanbei had something different. What started as a joke but ended up with me and Yuu working together. A full leather set made with the aggressive doggy leather. Having a dark grey fur with light blue highlights, the whole set had a wild look to it. A sleeveless blouse that went up to her waist and fingerless gloves, the leg armor was a skirt-like part with long pants underneath and a hole in the back so that she could pass her tail through. But, as a gimmick, me and Yuu added a tail-like accessory that fit around Hanbei¡¯s thin cat-tail. That, together with dog-eared headband that fit around her ears, we successfully transformed Han-chan from a cat-girl into a wolf girl! As I said, it started as a joke after I made the headband, but ended up becoming a full-fledged set for our swords-girl. It even gave a nifty set skill that allowed her to use sword skills straight from the sheath while giving these attacks some extra damage! If I had to guess, this would be something it took from the charged slash that doggy did. The one where it would land its claw on the pillars and add strength to it until it burst out. It kind of resembles the whole idea of how iai works¡­ But I digress. ¡°Yo!¡± I said while approaching the two. ¡°Long time no see girls!¡± I said jokingly, and the two smiled awkwardly at the overused joke. ¡°Hello Shishou!¡± Yuu said cheerfully. ¡°Hmm. I really am more used to this Gon¡­¡± Han-chan said with a wry smile. ¡°So, what exactly do we need to do?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± I said while thinking for a moment. ¡°Firstly, we need to go and find Argento. He¡¯s the one paying for the travel. And afterwards I plan on going around telling people I know I¡¯m leaving.¡± Which these included Sol, Goulder and the guild, and finally Melinda. ¡°I see.¡± Hanbei said with a nod. ¡°Let¡¯s get going then? I don¡¯t think I have much to do anyway.¡± I nodded at her words and started walking towards the guild, but before I took my first step I turned back to the girls with a confused expression. ¡°Actually, before that¡­ There¡¯s a new skill I want to test out.¡± ¡°Oh, new skill?¡± Hanbei asked curious. ¡°Which one?¡± I smiled awkwardly while turning to Yuu and making a signal for her to approach me. She looked confused for a moment but didn¡¯t ask anything. Putting my hand on her head, I started petting her just like I always did. ¡°Does this feel any different?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Hmmm¡­ Soo good¡­.¡± Yuu said in a dreamy voice while letting out a happy hum. ¡°It¡­ Feels even better¡­¡± ¡°You¡­ Got a petting skill?¡± Hanbei asked with a voice that left clear that she didn¡¯t believe in her own words. ¡°Err¡­ Yes?¡± I said in an awkward tone as I noticed Aura putting her head against the palm of my free hand. I also started petting her, and soon enough her tails started wagging happily. ¡°Seriously¡­?¡± She asked me in shock, and I nodded once again. But, the skill had two parts, a passive one and an active one¡­ I wonder what would happen if I¡­ As soon as I said that, I activated the skill on Yuu. ¡°Munyaa?¡± She suddenly let out a weird voice while widening her eyes, soon after she close her eyes once again while closing her eyes, an expression of pure bliss appearing on her face. ¡°Muu¡­ Nyaaa¡­ Hmmm¡­¡± She kept making these weird voices while I petted her. Feeling that there was something wrong with her, I immediately removed my hand from her head and looked at her worried. ¡°Yuu¡­? Are you fine?¡± I asked her. However she didn¡¯t answer me, simply looking in sheer shock and anguish towards me. Before I could even ask her again, she snatched my hand and forcibly put it back on her head. ¡°Yuu¡­?¡± However, the kitsune completely ignored my words and simply kept pressing my hand against her head and looking at me with teary eyes. This scene was dangerous on so many levels that I had no idea where to begin with. Gulping loudly, I tried to take my hand away, but she made a pained face that completely teared my heart apart. In the end, I gave up and started petting her again. This time even Aura looked a bit shocked with the results and didn¡¯t bug me to do that with her, being content with the normal petting. ¡°Gon¡­¡± Hanbei said in a low and wary tone. ¡°Promise me to never use that skill again.¡± I nodded slowly as I vouched to never again use this skill. It was too dangerous for my heart. It took Yuu a whole ten minutes to recover from the skill and become normal once again. She blushed slightly once she remembered what she did, but didn¡¯t seem all that angry with me. ¡°I must admit that I am curious about how that feels¡­¡± Crys said besides me with a wry tone. ¡°What? Want me to use on you?¡± I asked surprised, but she shook her head. ¡°Maybe later¡­¡± She said with a slightly dry laugh. After a moment she blinked as she remembered something. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, but what will Maya be doing you two are online?¡± She asked turning to the girls. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Hanbei started, but stopped after a moment. ¡°I actually¡­ Don¡¯t know.¡± She said while tilting her head. Now that they said it¡­ ¡°Hey, Hanbei¡­ Could you help me with a quick experiment?¡± I asked after a brief time thinking. She looked at me warily. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing to do with the skill.¡± I said with a wry laugh. I gave her some quick instructions on what she had to do. She looked at me confused for a moment before suddenly changing into a look of disbelief. I urged her to try it quickly, so she sighed for a moment before nodding. After a quick look around, she took a deep breath and said out loud, her voice clearly sounding constrained and forced. ¡°Aah¡­ I am so jealous of Yuu! I wanted someone to come and pet me!¡± She said it out loud enough for it to be heard at quite a distance. Turning to me, she gave a quick ¡®I told you¡¯ look. But¡­ ¡°I shall appease your need, milady!¡± A familiar voice suddenly sounded nearby as a puff of smoke appeared behind Hanbei, startling her. When the smoke settled down, what we saw was a black slime. Or rather, a black slime in the shape of a girl with long hair who wore some sleeveless robe and martial arts pant with fishnet beneath it. A serious look in her face but with a small hint of mischief deep down. She looked like a ninja who was bowing before her lord as she stood with one of her knees on the ground. Even if the appearance was different, the air around her was the same as the one I had grow used yesterday. Putting my hand on Hanbei¡¯s shoulder, smiled happily at the two and said. ¡°Congratulations, Han-chan. You have a stalker, and it¡¯s a ninja slime-girl.¡± I said in a proud tone. While Hanbei started to shake her head and face palming herself, Maya looked defeated, as if saying: ¡®I can¡¯t believe I fell for that.¡¯ Chapter 78 - Meaning of Shinobi Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Sorry for the delay, but here it is! ANYWAY, today we see a bit more of our favorite Ero-maid within the game as well as some faces that don¡¯t appear for quite some time! The next two chapters should be mostly about Gon seeing his acquaintances around the city before leaving, but I¡¯ll try to not make it too boring. ALSO, it seems that my whole Squffy joke won¡¯t stay around for much longer now that it¡¯s origin has been revealed¡­ Oh well. SQUFFY! And next chapter within two days, with luck earlier than that. Have a good read! ----- ¡°Now, Maya. I wouldn¡¯t mind receiving some explanations.¡± I said while putting on a victorious smile. ¡°I know of no sensual girl who have a wonderful name such as Maya.¡± She said in her usual monotone voice. ¡°I am but a humbly skillful ninja that goes by the name of Tanto Yami. Also known as Ojou-no-kage.¡± ¡°¡­Are you really trying to deny it?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Deny what?¡± She said with a defiant tone. ¡°I am merely a roaming shinobi who happened to meet such an incredible and refined lady such as lady Hanbei and decided to forever guard her from danger for no other reason than the fact that I so desire.¡± I stared down at the slime-girl who kept kneeling on the ground. Besides me, Hanbei was shaking her head in disbelief while Yuu seemed amused. Some people on the street were stopping to take a quick look at the situation, but they quickly left, probably getting used to strange situations like this. Taking a look at Maya, or rather, Yami, I couldn¡¯t help but actually feel a bit impressed. If it wasn¡¯t for Cyg reminding us about her, I wouldn¡¯t have thought on this way to drag her out, but even then, not even once I noticed her following Hanbei. Neither did Yuu. For how long has she been following us. Stopping to think about it, it was actually quite impressive. Besides, with her being a ninja, maybe I should introduce her to a certain someone else that I know. ¡°Look, if you admit that you are Maya and tell us why you are here, I will give you the right of receiving a petting session...¡± I told her, but she simply looked at me and mad a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound while smiling smugly. ¡°From Hanbei.¡± ¡°I, Kurohime Maya followed milady inside this game so that I could keep an look out for milady while inside the game as well as keep annoying flies away from her.¡± She said immediately while looking towards Hanbei with expectation in her eyes. I see, so that¡¯s why the girls never mentioned about being hit on while walking on the streets. She had been taking care of them before the problem even began, and this means that she also have been following them almost since the beginning. Nodding satisfied at her words, I turned to Hanbei, who looked slightly annoyed at me, probably because I used her as a bargaining chip without talking to her. Shaking my head towards Yami, Hanbei sighed loudly and put her hand atop of Maya¡¯s head before starting to pet the ninja-slime girl. Hanbei soon changed her frown into an awkward smile as the slime started to smile in a silly way. I didn¡¯t wait much longer and quickly sent her an invite to the group. Even if I didn¡¯t do it, I¡¯m sure that either Yuu or Hanbei would ask me to do it. Besides, the more the merrier, right? She looked surprised when she saw the window and looked at me suspicious for a moment, but soon accepted. ¡°Twenty six?¡± I said when I saw her level. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit too low?¡± I asked surprised. She was even lower level than me! And I¡¯m the lowest level of the group. Or was, at least. ¡°Well¡­¡± She stared at me with annoyance in her eyes. ¡°I couldn¡¯t follow you into the dungeon, so I ended up lagging behind¡­¡± ¡°You could have asked for a group, you know?¡± I said with a raised eyebrow, but she shook her head. ¡°A shinobi must always overcome her problems alone and not depend on the master for solving the problem.¡± She said in a proud tone. ¡°And where exactly did you take that idea from?¡± ¡°Manga!¡± Wow, she was really straightforward with her answer. While smiling awkwardly at this girl that was probably a case even worse than mine, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that things would probably get a bit more chaotic. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I made a question that was bugging me. ¡°Oh well. Anyway, welcome to the group.¡± I said shrugging. She nodded briefly while raising herself from the ground after Hanbei finally finished the petting. ¡°¡­ Squishy.¡± Hanbei said while looking at her hand with a distracted expression. But, squishy? How does it feel to pat something squishy¡­ I suddenly felt my right hand twitching slightly as the thought crossed my mind. It seemed that Maya noticed this, because she immediately crossed her arms over her chest and turned away. ¡°Milady. That man was looking at me with lewd eyes. Please punish him.¡± She said with an obviously fake fear in her voice. But this still worked to make Hanbei and Yuu look at me in confusion. I blinked confused for a moment before explaining myself. ¡°Hey. I was just wondering how it would feel to pet something squishy, okay?¡± I said in my defense, but immediately understood what was Yami¡¯s intention as she smiled teasingly. ¡°And before you say anything, I meant the head, okay.¡± She clicked her tongue in annoyance because I cut off her hook for the joke. Mary face-palmed once again while Yuu tilted her head innocently. Seriously, I¡¯ll need to watch out every single word I say around her? This is going to be tricky. While thinking so, I let out a deep sigh and take another look at Yami, now that she was standing up and not kneeling on the ground. She had almost the same height as she had in real life, probably a little bit shorter. Due to her being a slime, her feet seemed to have melted slightly, forming a small pool on the ground. For the same reason, her whole body looked a bit¡­ Rounder? And no, not in that meaning. I meant, like her fingers seemed to have a rounder end, the nose wasn¡¯t as pronounced and so on. Almost as if someone had polished the edges off her. This made her lose a bit of the mature look she usually had (which was as true as how the sky is red in the afternoon) and gave her a cuter appearance. ¡°I must say that I am surprised you didn¡¯t make yourself a maid instead of a ninja.¡± Crys said with a cheerful tone, which made me look at her confused for a moment. I mean, shouldn¡¯t she know about Yami for quite some time now? It seemed that she noticed my doubt, because she quickly said. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that my database access is limited?¡± She asked with a sullen expression. ¡°This way I can still get surprised! Where would be the fun otherwise?¡± I nodded at her words, but saw as Yami looked at us with a slightly pouting look. ¡°Well. I did look, but couldn¡¯t find anything that would be worth using.¡± She said with a sullen tone. ¡°A ninja maid¡­ Huh?¡± I said while thinking for a moment. That would be an interesting concept. As I thought about it, I noticed with the corner of my eyes as Maya stared deeply towards Crys, and it took me a while before I noticed why was that. ¡°These clothes¡­ Who¡­¡± She asked the small elemental wearing a maid costume floating besides me. Crys simply smiled while patting my head. It took Yami the record time of one point forty two seconds to drop on her knees, making a dogeza while saying: ¡°Master, matters not the price, but please make me one of those!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I asked shocked at her sudden change of attitude, and as I recovered myself I quickly went on to say. ¡°Well¡­ I could do it, but I can¡¯t guarantee the status¡­¡± I said with a wry tone. This made not only her, but also Hanbei frown slightly in confusion. Yuu, on the other hand, didn¡¯t seem all that surprised. Well, the thing is¡­ After spending so long crafting things, mainly armors and weapons, I ended up noticing a small detail about the gear status. Three things affect the status of the gear you are creating. One, is the material used, obviously. Better material generates more status. Second is the nature of the material. This one isn¡¯t as obvious, but if you use the leather of a magic beast, chances are that the gear won¡¯t have as much physical status like strength and toughness than the usual, instead have more magic-attuned status. This one is specially true if I take doggy in comparison. Even if the hides were of the same quality, Yagver¡¯s gear had almost no offensive status, while Hanbei¡¯s have only a few point in toughness and vitality, but a lot of agility and strength. Thirdly, was, surprisingly, design. Depending on the appearance of the equipment, even if I used the very same materials as I did, the stats would end up different. This I noticed when making red-tail armor, as the ones that were simpler, but more padded usually ended up giving more defensive status than the ones I made lighter focused on mobility. ¡°So, not only I don¡¯t have any decent material right now, I also have no idea what kind of status a gear with the shape of maid clothing would give.¡± I said while shaking my head. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that crafting was so complex¡­¡± Hanbei said with a slight frown, and I nodded. But Yuu didn¡¯t seem all that surprised, so she probably noticed it while practicing her tailoring. ¡°Not a problem.¡± Maya said suddenly. ¡°I¡¯m a slime. Things such as stats makes no difference at all!¡± She stuffed out her chest in pride, but seeing that the girls and me were left confused, she let out another smug smile and said. ¡°What, you don¡¯t even know the racial skills from other races?¡± I felt my eyebrow twitch slightly and really felt like giving a good hit to her soft head, but that would be the same as admitting my defeat. So, deciding that it would be better to pay back in a similar coin, I turned to Crys at my side and gave a wide smile. ¡°I don¡¯t need to memorize all racial skills, because I have a mobile data-bank with me.¡± I said while giving a wide smile. Yami widened her eyes in a mix of shock and confusion. ¡°The racial she¡¯s speaking about is the slime¡¯s Absorption skill.¡± Crys spoke cheerfully. ¡°Not only it allows the slime to use their own body as bags, it also allows them to completely assimilate the gear into themselves and then mix-match the appearance of an item with the status of another. This, however, leaves them unable to sell or trade such items, on the other hand they do not use inventory space for these items. And yes, they can use gear the normal way too.¡± ¡°I see, so that¡¯s why it looks like her armor is also made of slime.¡± I said while nodding to myself. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be counting on you.¡± She said while putting her hand on my shoulder and giving me a thumbs up. ¡°Who said I¡¯d do it?¡± I told her in a fake tone of surprise. She blinked and stared at me in sheer shock and despair. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s get going to the Silver Gauntlet. Lieutenant and Rio seems to be there anyway.¡± As I said that, I walked away from the place where she was leaving a shocked Yami behind. Well, jokes aside, it would be interesting to work on something for her. I wonder if I can make her something that¡¯s both ninja-ish and maid-ish at the same time. But let¡¯s not get her too spoiled, besides, it¡¯s kind of fun to have her look despaired like that. Whistling away a happy tune I walked away, leaving a shocked slime behind. ¡­ ¡°Why am I not surprised?¡± I asked with a long sigh. Yuu and Hanbei giggled at the scene while Yami stared trying to understand what was happening. Inside the guild was a the usual mess, with the smell of beer and the rowdy atmosphere. But what truly got the attention of whoever entered the guild was the central part. With many tables joined together and having around half of the whole guild sitting or standing around watching. On the table itself were a few people gathered with cards in their hands. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Well, people and hands might be a slight overstatement. Of course, there were a lot of people around, but there was also a cat wearing a military uniform who laid his back against a white wyvern, and a wind serpent who used her tails and wings nimbly. More than half of the coins rolling on the table stood in front of the duo, who looked like they were at ease, while the rest all looked distressed. Sighing loudly, I approached the cat who immediately gave me a salute which was soon followed by a smiling Rio copying him. ¡°So¡­ How many did you already rip off today?¡± I asked Lieutenant and Whisi. They crossed gazes for a brief moment before looking away embarrassed. Wow, so it¡¯s that bad, huh. While sighing loudly, I discreetly signaled Rio to come with me which made a short flight up to my head where she nestled herself. ¡°Girls, this is Rioreia, Rio, these are Hanbei, Yuu and Yami.¡± I quickly made the presentations. ¡°Hi Hanbei, Yuu and Yaim.¡± She said cheerfully, and I couldn¡¯t help but smirk when she spoke Yami¡¯s name wrong. ¡°Waah, so cute!¡± Hanbei said cheerfully while standing on her tiptoes to look at the wyvern. ¡°Milady is much cuter.¡± Yami said with a nod and a decisive look on her face. Sadly, from her angle she didn¡¯t manage to see Hanbei blushing embarrassed. ¡°So, Rio, do you know if a man named Goulder is here?¡± I asked her, but the wyvern tilted her head confused I understood that she had no idea who he was. ¡°Then, what about Arcus, a beastman? Do you know him?¡± ¡°Yep! He¡¯s Whisi friend! And there was a relative girl with him too! They left a few time ago!¡± She said cheerfully, making me smile a bit at loss at her awkward phrasing. I thanked the small dragon with some petting that left her humming happily before quickly looking around. By relative girl she must mean Elraira, but she didn¡¯t mention the other girl who was with him, so maybe she¡¯s¡­ Yup, after a brief search I managed to see the clockwork/construct girl sitting calmly in a corner of the room while reading a book. Deciding that it was the best choice for now, I quickly made way towards her and knocked on the table a few times. ¡°Ara? Gon?¡± Shea sked surprised. ¡°Hey there Lila.¡± I said while taking a seat. ¡°Mind if I take a seat?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± She said still a bit at loss. I quickly signaled the girls to also sit down. ¡°It¡¯s been some time, so we thought you had left the city.¡± She said with a slightly surprised voice. ¡°Well, I kept leaving and then coming back, so we probably only missed each other when I was at town.¡± I said with a wry smile, which she copied. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going to be leaving for quite some time now, and I wanted to tell Goulder. See if he have some kind of connection to use or so on, do you know where he is?¡± She stopped to think for a moment before widening her eyes and nodding. ¡°I heard from the attendees, but it seems that he left to go and check about a dragon living in a village not far from here. Saying something about looking like there was something interesting happening. He should be back tomorrow or after.¡± She told me as she recalled the facts, I sighed while nodding. ¡°I see¡­ Then, when he comes back, could you tell him that I left for Sandroze?¡± I asked her. ¡°So if he needs something from there all he have to do is ask.¡± ¡°You are going to another capital?¡± She asked surprised. ¡°Be careful then. I¡¯ve heard that the other capitals aren¡¯t very welcoming to each other, okay?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I heard about that already.¡± I said with a wry smile remembering what I heard back at Olaf¡¯s village. ¡°No need to worry, I¡¯m a grown golem and I¡¯m pretty sure I can take care of myself!... I think.¡± ¡°I have my doubts about that, Gon.¡± Hanbei said with a serious tone. ¡°Yes. Someone as unfocused as you would never be as good as milady at taking care of yourself.¡± Yami added with a nod. ¡°Hmm? A humanoid slime?¡± The clockwork girl said surprised when she noticed Yami for the first time. ¡°How rare! I never thought I would meet one!¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Yami looked slightly confused, as well as the rest of us. ¡°Well, not only Slime-people are rare within Insania itself, but not many players make them due to how difficult it is to move around, due to their racial.¡± Crys said lowly to us. ¡°It¡¯s a passive allow them to change shape at will when out of battle, but since its always active, it becomes difficult to move their body as it change shape too easily and may enter in conflict with their human senses.¡± She let out a short sigh. ¡°It was a small miscalculation due to the lack of tests, but it¡¯s been difficult to adapt it to human sense without applying too much restrictions.¡± ¡°Then, doesn¡¯t this makes Yami a genius for walking around like it¡¯s fine?¡± I asked surprised, and Cyg nodded. ¡°The fact that she didn¡¯t undo herself into a puddle yet is the proof of that.¡± She said with an impressed voice. I turned to the slime girl besides us who had begun to joke around with the hybrid. ¡°Yami might not have noticed it yet, but she¡¯s the highest leveled slime player right now.¡± ¡°Damn, that¡¯s amazing.¡± I said impressed, which caught said slimes attention as she looked at me with a doubtful look. ¡°I was just saying how I am an amazing guy by having managed to find a way to lure you out.¡± I told her with my best smile. She returned me a look as warm as the north pole during the winter before looking away annoyed. I kept smiling at her to annoy her, but deep down I was actually impressed. If it was as difficult as Cyg said, she really was nothing short of a genius at self control. Well, that would be what I thought, but when I saw her taking a quick glance towards Hanbei I changed my mind. Thinking about it, slimes are the best when you want to stalk someone, as they can hide in spots too tight compared to other races. What was incredible wasn¡¯t her self control, but her capacity of single-mindedly wanting to possess Mary. She managed to completely destroy the image I started to build about her with only one small action. Not that I had any right to say anything, truly. ¡°You actually make muskets?¡± She suddenly asked surprised while looking at Lila surprised. It seemed that the two were still talking while I was a bit lost in thoughts. ¡°Well, yes. Father taught me a bit, but I¡¯m still nowhere as good as him.¡± Lila said while slightly hiding herself by lowering her head and letting the hair fall over her face. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Just a beginner¡­¡± ¡°A beginner is still better than nothing.¡± Yami said bluntly, which kind of left Lila in a shocked state. ¡°You see, I¡¯ve been needing a new musket for quite some time now. Mine¡¯s status is already too low.¡± Huh? Musket? As she said that, I saw as she extended her hand which soon morphed into something else. A long barrel with what would have been a wooden stock if it weren¡¯t clearly made by the same black slime that composed her body. A few runes appeared around the barrel and the stock while she held the weapon, but it was far too simple of a musket to even be called a decent weapon. ¡°Wait a moment. Weren¡¯t you supposed to be a ninja?¡± I asked while raising myself and supporting my body on the table. ¡°What the hell are you doing with a rifle like that?¡± ¡°Are you underestimating ninjas by any chance?¡± She asked me while also standing up and staring right back at me. ¡°A ninja must always be capable of supporting and assisting their master no matter the situation, be it in discreetly in the shadows or blatantly on the light. So it¡¯s not the weapons that makes the ninja, but the skills and dedication that marks one as a true shinobi.¡± I stared at her shocked for some time before closing my hands an lowering my head. This time it was my loss. ¡°That¡­ Was the most beautiful thing I¡¯ve ever heard in my entire life. Nin-nin!¡± A new voice suddenly appeared besides us. We turned back to see the white-haired beast-man Arcus with tears dropping his eyes. ¡°I¡­ Shall strive to one day reach a level of determination just like yours, Nin-nin!¡± He said while looking directly at Yami. ¡°¡­Who¡¯s this being that stares at me?¡± The slime asked confused while looking at me. I smiled a bit awkwardly before briefly introducing the two and telling her the story about how I fooled Arcus into trying to become a ninja some time ago. She listened to it with a glint of amazement and mockery in her eyes. After finishing, I looked around but noticed the lack of the draconid girl who usually followed him, as well as a certain kitsune. ¡°El left with the kitsune. I think they want to have a spar...¡± He told me briefly after I asked him. ¡°When the hell did that happen?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Just after I arrived. They looked at each other, smiled and left.¡± He said with confused face. ¡°It was actually kind of scary how they looked.¡± I could imagine that scene. Yuu was surprisingly bloodthirsty when it came to martial arts. I still remember her duel with Elraira when the two met some time ago. That was not something a human being should be able to do on her own. ¡°Anyway, what brings you here? It¡¯s been so long since the last time!¡± He said while signaling for us to sit down again, which I did, and called a waitress for a few mugs of wine. ¡°Well, I¡¯m leaving for Sandroze soon enough, so I decided to come and tell you guys.¡± I told him with a wry smile, but this made Arcus look surprised. ¡°Sandroze?¡± He frowned slightly for a moment. ¡°We also had something to do there, actually.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Wow, isn¡¯t that a convenient coincidence.¡± Hanbei commented. ¡°Yeah, it was a request from Goulder, but we are only leaving in a few days. What about you guys?¡± Arcus said while looking at Hanbei, but she shook her head and looked to me. ¡°I have to check with my acquaintance, but I think that it shouldn¡¯t be too long to tell the truth.¡± I said with a sigh. Now that I think about it, It¡¯d be better to contact Argento as soon as possible so that he could arrange some passage for the girls. ¡°I see¡­¡± He said while nodding. ¡°Oh yeah, did you know that¡­¡± He started to say excitedly, but before he could finish his words¡­ ¡°Here is your wine.¡± The waitress quickly put down the mugs of wine in front each one of us, but funny enough, for Hanbei, instead of wine she put down a large glass of warm milk, to which she smiled gently to the cat-girl before walking away. Arcus and me had to hold back our laughter as Han-chan¡¯s eyes went dead with the treatment she just received. ¡°But¡­ I¡¯m a grown girl¡­¡± She said while pouting and staring at the glass of milk. ¡°I know, milady. For me, no one is as grown as you.¡± Yami said while approaching Hanbei and petting her. Except that the scene made the cat-girl look even more childish than before. We only managed to stop laughing when we were almost out of breath. After taking a deep breath to recover ourselves, I quickly took the mug and started chugging it down to moisten my dried up throat due to heavy laughter. It was actually a really light wine, so I didn¡¯t feel the need to be too careful with it. ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡± Arcus said while wiping the excess wine from his mouth. ¡°As I was saying, I heard some news that might interest you!¡± He said excited. When I raised my eyebrows at him, he smiled and said. ¡°It looks like Dragon-general Wallace is in town!¡± I spat out the wine in shock. Chapter 79 - The name that should not be spoken Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! One day delay, but here it is! ANYWAY, we finally get to see Wallace and find out how important the task that brought him to Eldor is! (Snickers). We also get to see some fairly interesting relation with another character at the end. Who would have guessed? ALSO, Sorry for the delay. Sister was sickly yesterday and I had no motivation whatsoever to do anything. It was serious to the point that I could barely get myself to play some games, and even that lasted only around ten to twenty minutes. Nothing serious, though, just lack of motivation. Have a good read! ---- After hearing Arcus words, I quickly ignored the beer-drenched Yami and stared at the beast-man for some time while trying to process the information. Dragon General was the old man¡¯s class, right? Ignoring the wine-drenched slime that looked at me in anger, I quickly used the hem of my armor to clean away the beer and looked at Arcus, who seemed surprised by my sudden reaction. ¡°Where¡¯s the old man now?¡± ¡°Huh¡­ Last I heard he was going to the general industries sector¡­¡± He said a bit stunned. I looked at him for some time before nodding. Thinking better about it, I had absolutely no reason to go and meet the old man right now. Except that I was curious on what he was doing here, so feeling my curiosity driven motor engaging, I quickly chugged the remaining of the weak wine down and felt myself become tipsy for a moment. After making sure that I could still think and move fine, I quickly gave my goodbyes to Lila and Arcus so that I could go and take a look at the old man. Now that I had already spoken with them and wouldn¡¯t find Goulder inside anytime soon, I didn¡¯t have much reason to stay around. Arcus and Lila quickly gave their goodbyes to me and then to the girls, who seemed to be curious about Wallace. And stopping to think about it, they never met him, right? Seeing that this was as good of a chance they would get, I decided to let them come with me. Yuu could find us using the map, so no need to worry there either. Seeing how we were all ready, I turned back to Lieutenant who was in the middle of one last game of poker. I made eye contact with him and through a series of intrinsic gestures unknown to any one other than us, managed to tell him: ¡®Finish game. Follow.¡¯ The cat gave a quick salute to us as a way of telling us that he got the orders just fine before sitting straight up and rubbing his paws together, as if saying that it was time to get serious. I nodded satisfied before turning and leaving the guild. We didn¡¯t take more than two steps out when I felt a hand grabbing my head from behind and starting to squeeze it with anger. ¡°What if you had stained my clothes?¡± Yami asked angrily. ¡°Do you have any idea how hard it is to remove wine stains?¡± ¡°How would that happen? Your clothes is also made of slime!¡± I said while yanking my head out from her hand. ¡°¡­Oh yeah.¡± She said suddenly with an ¡®that¡¯s right¡¯ face. ¡°I forgot about that.¡± ¡°¡­Wait, you were angrier about the fact of having to wash the clothes than the whole spewing thing?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Have you ever washed stained clothes?¡± She asked with a deadpan face. ¡°Touch¨¦.¡± I said with a nod before suddenly stopping to think for a moment. ¡°Wait, do clothes even get stained in here?¡± I asked curious turning to Crys. ¡°Yes.¡± The elemental said with a nod. ¡°But all you need to do is repair them item to remove the stain¡­¡± Barely had Crys spoken those words, the slime suddenly threw herself to her knees and made what looked like a praying pose. ¡°I thank thee, oh great goddess Cygnas for bestowing such a great blessing upon all of us house workers. I thank thee for slaying one of our greatest foes and ending such a long-lasting war against the household disaster known as disaster¡­¡± She began praying right there and then in the middle of the streets. Me, Crys and Hanbei were caught a bit by surprise by her sudden reaction and could only stare at her in confusion for some time before starting to smile awkwardly. Crys even started scratching her head awkwardly with a smile that said she was at loss. ¡°You¡­ are welcome?¡± She said not sure how to react. ¡°Huh?¡± Yami suddenly stopped and stared towards Crys with her head tilting slightly. ¡°Why did you say by that?¡± She asked confused. ¡­ Oh yeah! ¡°I may have forgotten to mention, but Crys here is none other than Cygnas herself.¡± I told her with a quick nod. Yami blinked and stared at Crys for a moment, then back at me, back at Crys, back at me¡­ Suddenly her jaw dropped in a pretty comic way as she pointed towards Crys. ¡°You have a goddess as a pet?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Technically, yes¡­¡± I said while trying to explain my situation. ¡°But it would be better if you didn¡¯t tell this to the NPCs. They might get a bit crazy if they were to learn that.¡± ¡°I knew that you were one who was always chea¡­¡± ¡°I only have access to the most basic data that can easily be accessible while in this form.¡± Crys interrupted her. ¡°¡­You should have let me call him a cheater.¡± Yami turned to the elemental with an annoyed tone. ¡°Then I could go to Yuu-dono and tell her that he was cheating¡­ It would be fun to see her reaction.¡± Please no. What if she got angry with me? I¡¯m living less than one hundred meters away from her right now, you know? As I thought that all I could keep doing was smile awkwardly at her words while shaking my head. But¡­ If she got jealous¡­ It would be something nice to see, I guess¡­ No, no no. let¡¯s not play with fire, it¡¯s dangerous unless you have a fire resistant gear like mine¡­ But then Yuu specialize in Ice magic, so rather than playing with fire, shouldn¡¯t it be playing with the ice? As my mind wandered on this kind of random semi-useless thoughts¡­ Okay, completely useless thoughts, we had already reached the main elevator which seemed a bit more crowded than usual with people using armors and so on. Although most were NPCs, I did spot one or two players amongst the crowd. Seeing as we all dropped around the general industries sector, I guessed that they all probably came here for the same reason as we did. Well, this was proven correct when I saw everyone moving towards a fairly familiar part of the sector, where a certain leather-worker¡¯s house stood. There was huge crowd in front of Melinda¡¯s house, spanning a mass of bodies that was easily tens of meters long in all directions. Letting out a long sigh, I started to make my way through the crowd by squeezing myself through it. There were some people giving me cold stares, others were trying to impede my advance, but the moment that they caught sight of Aura who had her teeth poking out from her mouth, they immediately changed idea about trying to stop us. Still, I found out how a sardine feels like when it¡¯s stuffed inside the can. This much I can say for sure. The moment that we reached the door, though, we found an amusing scene, to say the least. In a radius of at least one meter of the door, there wasn¡¯t a single soul. Feeling like an Oasis amidst the sheer amount of people, I quickly dashed into it to take a deep breath. Hanbei, who was smaller than me seemed even more exhausted, while Yami¡­ She slid from beneath the crowds feet as a puddle and quickly reformed herself. She looked annoyingly fine to me, and even dared to give me a victorious smile. Ignoring her, I turned to look at the crowd which was suspiciously distant from the door. But seeing as they weren¡¯t making any effort to come closer, I ignored it and quickly turned to the door, knocking it. At that moment, everyone in the crowd near us froze, and I saw as worried gazes appeared through all of their faces, the closest ones even trying to get some distance. Looking at their reaction in confusion, it didn¡¯t take me much longer for me to understand why they did that. ¡°WHAT DID AH TELL YOU! GET LOST!¡± An overly familiar voice boomed from the door, the sheer strength behind it almost sending me flying. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again, o¡­ Wallace.¡± I told the sharp looking old man that appeared at the door while trying to not appear scared out of my wits by his blood lust. Wallace looked at me confused for a moment before finally widening his eyes in surprise. He stared at the girls, my pets and me before staring at the crowd. He let out a short snort before grabbing me by the head and throwing me inside. The girls looked shocked for a moment as I fell face-first into the ground within the room. Since I was having a very intimate date with this beautiful being known and ground, I didn¡¯t get to see what was happening behind me, but I did get the chance to see black puddle form besides me as Yami was also thrown in. Hanbei probably was a bit smarter, because she wasn¡¯t thrown in. The same could be said to Aura, Crys and Rio, who probably would be left for last. After some time I finally recovered and put myself up while Yami quickly reformed herself besides me. Closing the door behind him, Wallace stared at me with a confused face for some time before looking towards the girls. ¡°Damn brat! What are you doing here?¡± He asked me while signaling for me to follow him. ¡°Well, I heard you were nearby and decided to take the chance to come and see you.¡± I said while dusting off my robe. ¡°Also had to warn you that I¡¯m leaving for Sandroze, so I might not come back for quite some time.¡± ¡°Sandroze? What are you going to do that far away?¡± He asked me with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Well¡­ Hunt?¡± I said with a shrug. The old man stared at me for some time before shrugging with a chuckle. He then turned to the girls who were with me, to which he frowned slightly. ¡°So, who are these two?¡± He asked rather bluntly. ¡°Oh yeah. These are Tatenaka Hanbei and Tanto Yami. They are some friends I met some time ago.¡± I said while pointing towards the girls, then I turned to Aura and the others. ¡°Those there are Aura, a freezing tail, Crys, a lesser crystal elemental, and Rioreia, a greater wyvern. They are either my pets or companions.¡± I introduced them briefly, and they all nodded towards the old man. ¡°Girls, this is Wallace, also known as the Dragon general and one of the strongest man around right now.¡± ¡°You give me too much credit, boy.¡± Wallace said while waving his hands. ¡°Ah¡¯m just a simple leatherworker right now. Nothing too much.¡± He sighed loudly. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, sir.¡± Yami and Hanbei introduced themselves politely. For a moment I even managed to believe that Yami was actually a proper polite girl. ¡°Dragon general? Does that make you friend?¡± Rio asked curious while tilting her head. This seemed to leave Wallace surprised for a moment, because he widened his eyes and stared at Rio for some time. But his true shock came from the last one who spoke. ¡°Thanks for helping Master since his early days, Mister Wallace.¡± Crys said while bowing. ¡°Wha¡­ She can speak?¡± Wallace asked in shock before turning to me. ¡°Geez brat. An illusive Freezing tail that some people still think that it¡¯s a legend. A Young mighty greater wyvern that most adventurers never thought about meeting, and now an elemental Ah have never even heard about capable of speech? What the hell have you been doing?¡± ¡°Ehrmm¡­ Adventuring?¡± I said with a wry smile. Wallace simply stared at me for some time before sighing and shaking his head. ¡°Whatever. Come inside, Mah daughter is waiting in the kitchen.¡± He said while signaling for us to follow him. I turned to the girls and they nodded, meanwhile I made the question that had been hanging on my head ever since I first heard that Old man was in town. ¡°Hey, Walace, why did you come to the city?¡± I asked curious. He turned to me briefly and gave a dry laugh. ¡°All Ah wanted was to come and bring Mah daughter some fine leather I got my hands on.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°But then an old friend of mine recognized me on the streets, and before I noticed it, everyone knew who Ah was.¡± ¡°Sounds though, huh?¡± I said and he nodded heavily. ¡°Now Ah can¡¯t even take a step outside without people stopping me.¡± I started laughing at the old man¡¯s situation. Luckily, he also gave out a dry laugh himself and didn¡¯t bother with flickering me into a wall or something. As I stopped laughing, I felt as a soft hand touched my shoulder while trying to get my attention. Turning back, I met with Yami, who looked at me with some strange serious suspicion. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Who exactly is he?¡± She asked in a low tone. ¡°When he gripped me¡­ It didn¡¯t feel like a human gripping me at all.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you. That¡¯s Wallace, the Dragon General.¡± I said with a smirk. ¡°He¡¯s around level three hundred or something, grumpy as hell and a skinner on his limitless free time. But he¡¯s a good guy, as long as you don¡¯t call him old man.¡± ¡°What are ye talking about?¡± Wallace asked from ahead. ¡°Just a sec, Old man, I¡¯m telling them the rul¡­¡± Don¡¯t you just hate when the response comes automatically? ¡°Oh crap.¡± Turning to him just in time, I managed to get sight of him extending his hand towards me, his finger getting ready for the death flicker as a frown appeared on his head. Acting more on survival instincts, ingrained into me after so many brushes with death, I somehow managed to take a step aside and activate roll just in time. Missing the flicker, Yami who was right behind me stood around one meter away from the weapon of mass destruction. Even if the flicker never got to her, the wind was still strong enough to make her slimy pony-tail flutter up as if a strong wind was blowing, as well as topple down a cup of glass on the table behind us. Feeling as cold sweat ran down my back, I stared at the hand that stood now a few meters away from me and couldn¡¯t help but feel strangely happy at the fact that I had somehow managed to survive it. Still, Yami looked scared out of her wits by the sheer strength behind the flicker. ¡°Wha¡­¡± The slime murmured in shock, which made me smirk slightly. But the moment I took enjoying her surprised proved to be fatal. Before I knew, Wallace was in front of me once again and soon the world was spinning. There was pain, confusion and the feeling of something breaking in my head. A message popped up saying that I got some kind of debuff, but I couldn¡¯t really care much as I felt my conscience slowly fading away. The last thing I heard was an oddly familiar voice that shouted. ¡°Father! What did I tell you about breaking walls with guests?¡± ¡°Whoops. Mah bad!¡± After that, it was only darkness. ¡­ Passing out inside Insania is quite a strange experience. You lose all your senses just like what you would expect, but instead of simply passing out, you are kind of sent towards what looks like some kind of black room or something. It was fairly similar to being passed out as you could somehow still feel what people did with your body, but you still had the chance to log out and come back later if you wanted. Chatting is not allowed though. You can read messages, but you can¡¯t post anything. The maximum time someone could spend passed out was thirty minutes, something I learned the hard way during my hunts. Usually, only certain attacks would have this effect, but thanks to the hard-mode, strong attacks to the head also had a chance to cause it. Thankfully, besides my usual moves and so forth, I could still access some others basic menus, like the forum, skill menu and so on. This time, I spent my time writing down a bit more of my story. Not much, really, but enough to make Cyg stop nagging me about it. Since I wasn¡¯t posting anywhere, I could simply write it down and not bother too much about it. After some time, I finally felt as my consciousness drifted back to my body, leaving me with a slightly light headed feeling alike the one when I log in. I took some time to recover myself from the hazy place that my mind had been sent to. The feeling of pain and confusion now gone, instead I felt some strange soft feeling that was actually quite comfortable if I had to say so myself. Opening my eyes slowly so that the light wouldn¡¯t hurt them, I let myself slowly get used to it. What met my eyes was a sea of blackness. A slightly shiny blackness that somehow reminded me of a slime. Okay. I knew exactly what was happening when the mass of slime jiggled slightly as the owner of the body moved around. Soon enough, there was a fairly familiar head looking down towards me with the usual expressionless with a hint of mischief deep in her eyes. Frowning slightly, it didn¡¯t take me much time to understand what exactly was the situation, so I simply stared at her with a raised eyebrow and asked. ¡°What are you doing?¡± She took both her hands to her cheeks and made a fake bashful face as she started to mechanically, or the closest of a mechanical action a slime can make, shake her head. ¡°You don¡¯t remember? What you did to me last night?¡± ¡°I passed out by having my head slammed into a wall. There¡¯s no way something like that would happen. Try again.¡± I replied in a dead pan tone. She blinked and took her finger to her mouth as she stopped to think. Snapping her finger, which actually made a wet sound, she looked like she had an idea. ¡°You dragged yourself to my lovely embrace while you were unconscious.¡± ¡°You are just trying to get me embarrassed, right?¡± I asked her, and she clicked her tongue in annoyance. ¡°Well, I think I might just stay here. It¡¯s quite comfortable.¡± I said in my best serious face. When she blinked in surprise by my unexpected response, I gave the final blow by turning to the side and meeting with a Hanbei who watched us in amusement and said. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking your maid from you to use as a pillow, okay?¡± Just to get something clear, but that was a hell lot more embarrassing to say out loud than what I initially expected, and my voice almost stammered. Still, I couldn¡¯t fail now and lose the joke, could I? The response was almost immediate, as Yami threw me aside brusquely and made her way towards Hanbie while hugging her. Ouch¡­ Face hurt. ¡°No! The only one who can use me as a pillow is milady!¡± She said in a mix of rage and indignation. Shame though, she WAS actually quite comfortable. Scratching my head as I got up from the ground, I looked around trying to gather what had happened in the mean-time I was knocked off. We were in the bedroom that Melinda have opened for me a long time ago, but never got around using it. I had been in my bedroom, but after being thrown out, I was now on the ground. ¡°Shishou? What are you doing there?¡± I heard Yuu saying as she appeared from beyond the door with a tray with a pail of water . Quickly, she put the tray down on the bed and helped me up. ¡°Yami stole your position when she noticed that Gon was waking up to try and play a joke on him. Didn¡¯t work very well.¡± Hanbei said while being smothered by a slime with a slightly silly smile. ¡°Stole my position¡­¡± Yuu said while blinking a bit at loss, then she suddenly reddened slightly in embarrassment as she looked down. Not being able to help it, I ended up petting her a bit while chuckling at her situation. ¡°Okay, leaving Yuu¡¯s boldness aside¡­¡± Her tails jerked slightly at these words. Adorable. ¡°Anything happen while I was passed out?¡± ¡°Well¡­ We had a talk with Wallace and then Melinda after bringing you here.¡± Hanbei said. ¡°Crys left to buy cooking ingredients and took Aura and Rio with her as help.¡± I nodded, so that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t find them here when I woke up. Nodding to myself, I saw as Hanbei frowned slightly. ¡°Also, Wallace told us to say that he was sorry.¡± She said suddenly, which got me rather off guard. ¡°Why would he do that?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Hmm¡­ Something about not knowing that you took off the goddess blessing, so he might have hit you a bit too hard.¡± Smiling a bit awkwardly, I ended up letting out a wry laugh at that, not knowing exactly how to react. Well, it was his style, I guess. Asking for forgiveness for hitting the wrong way, instead of the act of hitting itself. ¡°Well, I think I¡¯m going to have a talk with him again anyway. He might have a tip or two for our travels.¡± I said after some thought. ¡°I don¡¯t like Shishou having to talk to that man. He hit you!¡± Yuu said while grabbing the hem of my robe. ¡°Well, I did kind of deserve that for my chatter-box, I think.¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°He did leave it clear enough that I shouldn¡¯t call him that anymore.¡± As I said that, I couldn¡¯t help but smiling awkwardly when Yuu started to pout, her tail¡¯s fur bristling up in anger. Nothing a few seconds of petting didn¡¯t solve though. Leaving the room, I quickly made my way towards the workshop where I kind of thought that I would find Wallace and Melinda. However before I got there, I couldn¡¯t help but appreciate the new work of art that linked the corridor to the workshop. It seems a bit bigger than the ones back at the village. Did he have to use more strength? While observing the hole like an expert sees an work of art, the door besides me opened, and Wallace came out from it while moving his shoulders around as if flexing them. ¡°Damn daughter. Working me to the bones¡­¡± He complained out loudly until he saw me standing there. ¡°Oh, brat! Just in time.¡± He said while motioning me to get closer. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked confused seeing that he had a slightly troubled expression. ¡°Well, you see. Mel some times talk about this new apprentice, but Ah have no idea who he is¡­¡± He said while scratching his head. But new apprentice? Did she have another apprentice besides me? ¡°It¡¯s a guy named Gon or something¡­ Ever heard of him?¡± It took me a whole five seconds to actually understand what Wallace had asked. And even after understanding what he said, it took me another ten seconds to understand what he meant with it. While staring at the old man for some time and he staring down at me, I finally reached a conclusion that left me a bit in conflict. ¡°Err¡­ Wallace.¡± I said with a wry tone. He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Do you remember my name?¡± ¡°Huh? Of course Brat! It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s¡­¡± He stopped and took on a pensive pose for quite some time while he rummaged through his memories. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ What¡¯s your name again?¡± He asked while looking back at me. ¡°CYGNASDAMMIT WALLACE! You complain when I call you Old man, but you don¡¯t even remember my name? For Cygnas¡¯ sake!¡± I shouted at him in annoyance. ¡°Aah? What are you talking about?¡± He shouted in the same tone. ¡°Did you even tell me your name brat? I don¡¯t remember you doing it!¡± ¡°Then why the hell didn¡¯t you ask? Couldn¡¯t have hurt, right?¡± ¡°And why the hell would I want to know the name of a brat? It¡¯s not like I would need it!¡± ¡°Then what the hell was that talk about passing me your dreams and whatnots? You did that without even knowing my name you damn geezer!¡± ¡°Geezer? Where¡¯s the respect for your elders, you unruly kid!¡± ¡°And where the hell is the elder that deserve respect, huh?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare start on m¡­¡± Our shouting dispute was interrupted when we heard a knock on the door. Wallace immediately frowned at the sound and let out a loud tired sight while turning to the door. Blinking surprised by the sudden change in temperament, I immediately looked towards the door and with that my gaze ended up passing through the mini map on the corner of my eyes. It was Lieutenant at the door. Seeing that, I quickly tapped Wallace¡¯s shoulder and told him to calm down as I made my way to the door. ¡°¡­ave to come here?¡± Just as I opened the door, I heard a familiar voice together with the sight of a familiar person. The elf shade half stood there, besides Lieutenant while looking at the cat confused only to turn to look at me. ¡°Oh, Gon. Did you ask your cat to call me?¡± Sol asked me with a confused gaze. ¡°Nope. I didn¡¯t even know he was bringing you.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Then why DID you bring me here?¡± She asked to the cat, who just turned to me and made a salute while wearing a mischievous smirk. ¡°What¡¯s happening, Bra¡­¡± Wallace suddenly froze as he spied over my shoulders. ¡°S-S-SOL?¡± ¡°Wallace?¡± The elf asked surprised while looking back at him. Then she gave a mature smile that sent shivers down my spine. ¡°My, isn¡¯t it fancy meeting you here!¡± As she said that, she licked her lips lasciviously. Wallace paled to a new shade of white before closing the door behind him, leaving me, the cat and the elf stuck outside. ¡°Aww¡­ He¡¯s still the same shy boy he was!¡± Sol said in a tone befitting her little girl appearance. Chapter 80 - The Dark days of the General Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! A Past revealed and a man captured! ANYWAY, I hope the old man¡¯s past was interesting enough for you guys, because I had fun writing it down. And for a moment I wondered if I would have to pump this up to mature, but in the end I thought that I wouldn¡¯t need it, as it was mostly funny stuff and nothing serious. ALSO, I noticed that I might have made a small mistake, where I first introduced Lily (the clerk at Argento¡¯s), I called her a treant, but later on I kept calling her an Undine, and even thinking of her like that, so yeah¡­ Have a good read! ----- Oh, the wonders of instant messaging! Even though we were literally locked outside, after a brief message, it took Yuu no longer than twenty two point five seconds to open the door for us. Though, in this short time I couldn¡¯t help but look at Sol with a suspicious gaze, as she had a mischievous smile while she giggled cheerfully. Heck, even the crowd around the door was shocked with what happened back there. Taking my attention from the strangely excited Loli-baba, I turned to look at the cat. I have no idea how the hell he knew about this, but I¡¯m extremely proud of him right now. Things are about to get exciting. While thinking so, I couldn¡¯t help but start to smile mischievously myself, which left the poor kitsune confused as she stared at me and the elf in turns. I simply entered the house once again while petting her. This pretty much made her ignore any kind of doubt she had. Distraction complete, I walked in while letting out a wicked smile that was a breath away into becoming a cackle. As I smiled away, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a strange feeling of satisfaction at the fact that the old man was about to show us something amusing. And in fact, that¡¯s exactly what happened. The moment we found Wallace, he was literally with one of his legs on the window from the workshop while carrying a leather bag on his back. He became startled when he saw us and immediately turned to jump away. Dang it. If he managed to jump away, I¡¯m pretty sure that not even the old hag would be able to keep up with him. While thinking so, I immediately took out one of my freezing knives and threw it on the window below him. This caught him by surprise as it suddenly froze his leg in place. Taking this chance, I quickly darted to go and grab the old man, but through sheer brute strength he managed to break the ice almost immediately and flexed his legs to jump away. But, surprising both of us, something else managed to hit him while we were having our short exchange. What flew by me was a vial with a strange yellow liquid inside that broke the moment it entered in contact with the old man, and the liquid immediately evaporated into a yellow cloud. Wallace fell back flat on the ground, his limbs twitching slightly as he became unable to move, shocking not only me, but also every one else on the room. Except Sol, who cheerfully walked towards Wallace, picked him up and threw him into a nearby chair in a sitting position. ¡°Just like the old days, huh?¡± The alchemist said as she nonchalantly leaped into his lap and leaned back against his chest. ¡°Why? Why?¡± Wallace said while trying to move around. Sol simply smiled while everyone looked in confusion at the scene. ¡­ ¡°Okay, now that we are all gathered here, let¡¯s start our talk about embarrassing things of the past.¡± I said while sitting down on the ground. The other blinked surprised, but they quickly followed me as I sat down. Seeing that we had all gathered, I turned to Sol and made the question. ¡°So, how did the two of you meet?¡± ¡°Well, it was back when I was still traveling around¡­¡± Sol said with a nostalgic smile. ¡°I was walking around a battle-field, looking for some interesting herbs and so on, when I met him walking near a river. He immediately kneeled on the ground and confessed to me then¡­¡± ¡°AH WAS DRUNK AND HAD LOST A BET, OKAY?¡± Wallace said while squirming his head, but the rest of his body wasn¡¯t moving. With the corner of my eyes I glanced over at Melinda, who had sat down on one of her tables and crossed her arms before her with an unreadable expression. ¡°After that, he invited me to a drink where he showed me around their friends. Their faces when they learned my age was the best.¡± Sol said with a happy laugh. ¡°They thought Ah was a sick man until Ah told them her age!¡± Wallace said with a pained voice. ¡°After a few more drinks with the gentlemen, I ended up following Wallace here back to his tent, where we¡­¡± ¡°You fooled me! You told me that you were afraid of passing the night alone!¡± ¡°Well, after that¡­¡± Sol completely ignored the squirming old man and shut him up with a head-butt. However, before she started, there was something very important that I had to do. Raising my hands open so as to stop her from going on, I turned to Yuu besides me and smiled to her. ¡°Yuu, it seems that Crys and the others are coming back soon, so why don¡¯t you go and help them with the food?¡± ¡°Huh? Why so sudden, Shishou?¡± She asked me with a slightly suspicious tone. ¡°Well, I felt like eating something that you cooked.¡± I told her with my best smile. She blushed slightly, but quickly nodded and stood up, making her way towards the front door while skipping. Smiling a bit awkwardly, I waited until she was out of the room to turn back to Sol. ¡°Okay, now that her innocence is protected, you can go on.¡± The elf laughed loudly for a moment, while Yami and Hanbei had awkward smiles in their faces, but still kept quiet. I¡¯m pretty sure they thought of something similar themselves. I mean, Sol speaking about her past with Wallace will certainly not end up in a way that the innocent Yuu would be able to take it, so I¡¯d better protect her innocence for now. It¡¯s not good to be too sudden with this kind of thing. Job done, Sol recovered herself from laughing while Wallace looked at me confused. I made a mention for the elf to go on, which made the old man pale once again and start to try and squirm himself, but his body still wouldn¡¯t listen under the effects of the Hag¡¯s poison. ¡°Well, after that, all that I needed was some seduction in the middle of the night, and soon we were in the mood¡­¡± She said while playfully nibbling her finger. ¡°You said that you used some kind of aphrodisiac incense on me!¡± Wallace said with a voice close to desperation. ¡°Oh? That little joke? You still believe that?¡± Sol asked with a fake surprised tone. Wallace¡¯s eyes widened in shock before he hung his head lifelessly as all his self-esteem leaked through his skin. ¡°And don¡¯t come saying it like that, because we both know you liked it.¡± Wallace said nothing, but it didn¡¯t feel like he didn¡¯t hear it, instead, he was unable to deny it. Yami let out a short snicker while Han-chan shook her head slowly. I was holding myself back so I wouldn¡¯t start laughing like a mad man again. ¡°After that, seeing that we both were happy with our relationship, I decided to stay a bit longer with him.¡± Sol said with a proud nod. Wallace¡¯s eyes simply lost all the light they had. ¡°Darkest days of my life¡­ She followed me around, would suddenly drag me when on the mood, but play the innocent when others were around.¡± The words started to leak from his mouth like tar through a pipe. ¡°She made herself sound way younger than her age, people thought I was into strange things. Respect all but gone¡­¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you simply shrug her off?¡± Yami asked intrigued. ¡°You look strong.¡± ¡°Too young, not strong enough.¡± Were his simple words. ¡°How young?¡± Melinda asked for the first time, her voice completely hiding any kind of feeling. ¡°Nineteen. Just got the class and joined the army.¡± Was his reply. ¡°And you met mother when you were twenty seven, right?¡± The half-garuda asked, and the old man¡¯s eyes suddenly recovered their light and he nodded. ¡°Ah swear upon my name as Dragon-general Wallace that Ah never touched another woman while your mother was with me.¡± He said with serious eyes, and Melinda visibly relaxed as a small smile appeared on her face. ¡°Besides, I would never touch a man who¡¯s dating, married or something of the like.¡± Sol added with a slight annoyed tone. ¡°Can¡¯t guarantee singles, though¡­¡± Hmm, I suddenly feel that I should start dating someone quickly¡­ Still, there was something that left me really bothered in this story. ¡°That did sound embarrassing and all¡­ But that still doesn¡¯t explain why you are so shocked¡­¡± I said with a confused tone. Once again his eyes went dead and the head fell back as the energy left his body. ¡°The potions¡­ The potions¡­ She¡­ Potions¡­ Me¡­¡± We all turned our gazes towards Sol, who gave a smile nothing short of a perfect angel. ¡°I had just reached a deadlock on my alchemy skill, so I took the chance to test my potions with him, since he had a good resistance.¡± She said with a happy tone. ¡°And he was so kind to let me experiment with him¡­¡± ¡°YOU DID THOSE THINGS TO ME EVEN WHEN I WOULDN¡¯T LE¡­¡± Wallace started to shout at her, but was silenced when she turned to him and licked her lips. He paled and turned his head away. ¡°No¡­ No¡­ No¡­¡± He said with a worried tone. ¡°Aww¡­ You still remember it, don¡¯t you?¡± She said cheerfully before turning back to us. ¡°Whenever he got angry, I always calmed him down with a kiss.¡± She said with a proud nod. ¡°And take the chance to shove some strange pill down my throat.¡± Wallace complained. ¡°Aww, it wasn¡¯t anything bad¡­¡± Sol said with a fake hurt tone. ¡°Once my skin turned green for a whole week¡­¡± WALLACE SMASH! ¡°And¡­?¡± ¡°That was, by far, one of the least problematics.¡± His eyes looked up to the ceiling as he started a dry and weak laugh. Wow, Wallace really had it bad with Sol, huh? And if what I got from my brief time that I knew her also applied to how she was back then, then¡­ ¡°You also got blast resistance?¡± I asked him. His eyes widened as we exchanged glances, and we both felt a brief link of sympathy between us. It didn¡¯t last long because a smirk appeared in my face. ¡°You had it rough, old man?¡± I said not even trying to hide my mocking tone. ¡°YOU DAMN BRAT! I¡¯LL KIL¡­¡± He start to freak out and shout angrily, his head shaking from one side to the other angrily as he clearly wanted to have a go at me, however unable due to the poison. While I lost myself into laughter, the old man¡¯s mouth was shut close with Sol¡¯s. It was so sudden, that not only the old man, but all of us stared in shock at the scene. I even caught sight of Yami covering Hanbei¡¯s eyes with her hand, as if she should not see that. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Well, you aren¡¯t married anymore.¡± Sol said after taking some distance and licking her lips. ¡°So, why don¡¯t you come to my house so we can remember the old times?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that he might be a bit too¡­ Old?¡± Melinda asked with a slightly confused tone. Strangely enough, she wasn¡¯t all that bothered with the fact that it was her father that Sol was planning to prey upon. Sol blinked for a moment at her words before turning back to Wallace and nonchalantly lifting his shirt, leaving all the other staring surprised. Ripped, was only somewhat close of describing the old man. Seriously, his chest alone was enough to leave most of the 20 years old in shame! I even saw as Yami and Hanbei blushed slightly at the scene. ¡°Seems fine enough for me.¡± Sol said with a satisfied tone before putting his shirt back on and jumping out of his lap. She took out another phial from beneath her dress and uncorked it in front of his nose. ¡°Just to make sure you don¡¯t try to run away.¡± She said cheerfully before picking Wallace up and throwing him up her small shoulders with scary ease. She then walked up to the window cheerfully and leapt into it before turning back to Melinda and saying. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind¡­¡± She said with an apologetic smile. ¡°It¡¯s not up to me who father decides to spend his night.¡± She said with a shrug. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll bring him back tomorrow then.¡± ¡°MELINDA!!! SAVE MEEE!¡± Wallace said in despair as he squirmed, but soon his voice disappeared as Sol ran away from the house. ¡°I wonder if that qualifies as¡­ You know¡­ Rape?¡± I asked with a worried tone. ¡°Nah, he¡¯ll probably like it.¡± Melinda said with a shrug. ¡°You seem awfully at ease with Sol taking your father like that.¡± Hanbei said confused. ¡°And I¡¯m beginning to doubt his tastes a tiny little bit.¡± I smiled wryly. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it bother you that your father would be so¡­ intimate with Sol? She looks like a kid for Cygnas sake!¡± ¡°I deny any and all relationship to a man with a dangerous taste like that.¡± Melinda said in a deadpan tone before giggling. ¡°Besides, we all know that old Sol isn¡¯t as young as she looks.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I said with a wry smile, unable to deny her words. Yami and Hanbei also seemed to be at lost on how to react at this whole scene, but I couldn¡¯t help but be glad that Yuu wasn¡¯t here. I¡¯m a bit afraid on how she would react at that kissing scene¡­ And at the rest of the story too. I wonder if I¡¯m overreacting a bit at this whole Yuu¡¯s innocence thing. What if she isn¡¯t as innocent as she actually acts? A mature and flirtatious Yuu¡­ That¡­ Would not be good for my health. I don¡¯t think my self-restraint would last long under such heavy siege, so let¡¯s try to keep Yuu as innocent as she is now. Seriously, if she were to become flirtatious¡­ It would be a weapon of mass destruction. ¡­ And I might become a bit jealous¡­ Can¡¯t really deny that. ¡°Where did Wallace-san go?¡± Yuu said as she entered the room. She tilted her head innocently. ¡°And Sol-san too?¡± Yeah, an innocent Yuu is the best. I started to pet Yuu pleased with how she actually was. Besides, I seriously doubt she would have this reaction if she weren¡¯t innocent as she is. And that would be simply a bummer. ¡°They left for something.¡± I told her briefly. She nodded her head with a pleased expression. ¡°So, what did you want with them?¡± ¡°Me and Crys-san wanted to know if there was anything they didn¡¯t eat.¡± She said with a confused tone. ¡°But since they left¡­¡± ¡°Yeah. No need to worry about that. Just do whatever you were going to do.¡± I said with a nod, and she replied with a smile. ¡­ After having our lunch, me and the girls left after giving our goodbye to Melinda. After stopping to think for a moment, I decided that it would be better to go and take a look with Argento to see if there would be any problem with bringing the girls with me or if we would need to pay ourselves. So we quickly made our way through the now only slightly packed street, as most of the watchers had scrammed home, but the few more fervent fans were still hanging around. Thanks to Sol leaving through the back door, it seems that they didn¡¯t see when they left. And I don¡¯t think that happened by accident. She¡¯s surprisingly a good girl, right? Okay, that was an overstatement. She¡¯s not a horrible person, but she DID kidnap the old man so that she could have her fun with him. Should it be grandnap then? Since she kidnapped a gramps? Oh well. Since we weren¡¯t the reason why people were standing in front of the house, we did manage to quickly leave the crowd and reach the elevators. A few slightly way too over-used elevator rides later and we reached the other overcrowded building. But this time it was a shop, and not a house, so it was fairly more understandable. After shamelessly abusing my connections to cut the line and enter the building, I didn¡¯t even take a step inside before a certain undine popped up in front of me. ¡°Mister Gon! It¡¯s good to see you again.¡± Lily said with a cheerful tone, but before she could get even closer, Yuu suddenly popped up in front of her. ¡°Ara¡­ It¡¯s good to see you, Miss Yuu.¡± ¡°Hello, Lily-san.¡± Yuu said with a wide friendly smile. ¡°Is it just me, or did it get a bit cold?¡± Yami said while shuddering. The shudder creating ripples through her whole body. ¡°No¡­ I think it¡¯s not only you, Yami.¡± Hanbei said with a worried tone. Cold? What are they talking about. Can¡¯t they see the ice crystals forming on my clothes? Petting Yuu gently, I immediately broke down their deadlock when the kitsune broke down into a slightly silly, but pleased smile. ¡°Can we go talk to Argento?¡± I asked her, and she quickly nodded while taking us to the inner room. In there I saw the Gnome sleeping happily on a large bag that I was almost sure that it was full with coins. Smiling a bit awkwardly, Lily quickly ran towards the man and shook him awake with a worried face. Argento grumbled a bit while scratching his eyes before looking to me with a surprised face. In a brief second he had already jumped up to his feet and approached me with a wide smile. ¡°Moneybag! What can I do to help you?¡± He asked me. ¡°Well, supplies. I came here to ask you about that travel towards Sandroze.¡± I went straight to the point. He widened his eyes before nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll need two¡­ no, one day to prepare.¡± He said before looking at the girls. ¡°I take it that they are also coming with us?¡± He said with a raised eyebrow. I nodded a bit worried if this would make him annoyed, but luckily he didn¡¯t seem all that bothered. ¡°I¡¯ll cover it. IF, they work for a couple of days on my new store I¡¯m opening there.¡± I blinked and turned to the girls. Yuu smiled while nodding, which was soon followed by Hanbei. I didn¡¯t really wait an answer from Yami since I knew she would end up following Hanbei whatever she chose to do. ¡°Wonderful! I can even see the money flowing into my pockets!¡± he said cheerfully while walking around and having his eyes changed into a pair of coins. Smiling wryly, I waited until he stopped his Scrooge Mcduck moment to see if there was anything else. ¡°Oh, I also decided on who you¡¯ll take with you to open the new store!¡± He said with a happy nod. It took me a moment to understand his words, and only when I remembered that he had to send someone to open the branch that I nodded in an understanding tone. ¡°Who is it?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Level eighteen Bandit, Argento Belomondo, at your service.¡± He said while bowing deeply. I blinked surprised for a moment. Bandit? For some reason that fits him¡­ I¡¯d better not tell him that, though. ¡°Hmm¡­ Level eleven Ranger, Lily Clearheart.¡± The Undine said hastily, which left me a bit shocked. I pointed at her and looked confused at Argento, who nodded. ¡°She may not look like it, but she¡¯s an extremely good manager.¡± Argento said with a nod. ¡°¡­ Really?¡± I asked doubtful, but he simply smiled. Shrugging I quickly forgot about it, since I learned that judging people by their looks isn¡¯t exactly the smartest thing to do. ¡°Well, level twenty nine Skirmisher, Gondorrer Gravelheart, similar level Aura, Freezing tail, and similarly, Trick-cat, Lieutenant General Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus Von Scratchy the Third, Non-leveled Lesser Crystal elemental, Crys, and lastly, level thirty something, Greater wyvern, Rioreia.¡± Damn, it has been so long since I last introduced Lieutenant¡­ I kind of missed the feeling. While smiling inwardly to myself, I couldn¡¯t help but notice Lily blinking surprised at his name. The girls, out of formality, quickly introduced themselves too. Satisfied, I nodded after the formalities were complete, and quickly went straight to the question. ¡°So, how are we getting there?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow. Argento nodded before pulling a notebook from his inventory and reading it. ¡°Firstly, we will take a blimp to a small intermediate village to the northwest of here. From there we will have to take a ship to make a crossing near the northern strait, this should take one to three days according to the weather. Afterwards we can take a carriage for around one to two days.¡± He said with a nod. ¡°Then we arrive?¡± I asked surprised at how close it was, but Argento shook his head. ¡°Nope. We get to Ezorea Argus. There I will have to plan the route to Sandroze.¡± He said with a wry smile. ¡°That¡­ Is pretty effing far, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked surprised, and he nodded. ¡°Well, as long as I get some interesting things to hunt, I don¡¯t really care.¡± I said with a shrug, and he laughed a bit. ¡°Okay, so We are going to prepare ourselves here.¡± Argento said while closing his notebook. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± I stopped to think. I already spoke with Melinda, Torg, Sol, Wallace, Arcus and gang. I think this only leaves the lovebirds to talk to¡­ Oh! Evelyn! She did tell me to come back once I reached a certain level¡­ With me leaving, won¡¯t that be a bit troublesome? While thinking so, I decided that I should also pay my class mentor a visit. ¡°Girls. I¡¯m going to pay Evelyn visit. What are you going to do meanwhile? Want to visit your trainers too?¡± I asked them, they quickly crossed their gazes before nodding. With that decided, we chose to split up while we went out to see our mentors. Hanbei and Yami, Me and Yuu¡­ And Aura, Lieutenant, Rio and Crys. So, we set off to meet my teacher, deep down on the forest. Chapter 81 - [WARGON hurt himself in his confusion] Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! A simple chapter just to enjoy! And a bit of nostalgia too! ANYWAY, A fairly short 3.6k words chapter with a bit of reminiscing from the olden days, where Insania wasn¡¯t as insane as today? (Or was it?) not much, though¡­ ALSO, for some reason I was sure that I had Evelyn tell Gon to come back at level 30, but well, she never did. So, I decided to put the blame into Gon for thinking so! This way the story does makes sense! Hooray! Totally not my fault! Have a good read! ---- ¡°So, do we go for my teacher or yours?¡± I asked Yuu when we separated from the others. Yuu blinked surprised before making a pensive pose. ¡°Shishou¡¯s might be better.¡± She told me after some time. I was confused for some time, so I stared at her, she gave a small smile and said in a slightly awkward tone. ¡°I don¡¯t think that my sensei will be at home right now.¡± I nodded at her words. Taking a quick look at the in-game time, I saw that it was around early afternoon in here. Thinking of the distance and our speed with the skill we had, I thought that it would take us around twelve hours to go back and forth to Evelyn¡¯s house in the middle of nowhere. This would mean that we would be back by the middle of the night. Would she be able to meet her sensei like that? While harboring such a doubt, another thought passed through my mind. He¡¯s sensei, I¡¯m shishou. I¡¯m more important. Grinning to myself for absolutely no reason, I nodded satisfied and turned towards the edge of the city. Yuu blinked surprised for a moment before blinking and nodding to herself. Aura and Lieutenant already understood my idea so simply followed us, while for Crys and Rio, this didn¡¯t make much of a difference. Accessing my inventory and quickly taking out one of the five special phials I had stored in there. After looking down and making sure that this was the correct side, I took some distance and jumped, the others quickly following me suit. What? Jumping is the fastest way down! When I calculated that we were only a few seconds away from being splattered to death, I threw down the phial so that it crashed on the ground and expanded into a thick foam that softened our fall. I wonder if Yami would fall for this gag if did this with her¡­ But then, she might have witnessed it when I did it for the first time, so she probably wouldn¡¯t be surprised. Anyway, about the phials, I had Sol teach me the recipe on how to make them, but since they required a few very rare ingredients, I didn¡¯t manage to produce all that much of it. I also had to use some of Sol¡¯s instruments, as the basic kit she gave me when I started training alchemy doesn¡¯t have everything I might need. But when I don¡¯t feel like waiting for the elevators, they are a much better choice to rely upon. After a few seconds, the foam scattered and dissolved, leaving us upon the untouched ground. We quickly got up and dusted off the bits of ground that stuck to our clothes, meanwhile I also waved playfully at the people on the nearby street. Some of them stared at me for quite some time in shock, while others, those who had watched the scene twice or thrice already, simply had wry smiles or were completely indifferent. After making sure that I had filled some people daily dosage of weirdness, we all turned away from the city and started making our way towards Evelyn¡¯s house. As before, we had to cross the plains and the forest, but thanks to the movement skill, we crossed the whole area at an incomparable pace to before. However, Lieutenant did ask for a stop when we reached the boars, and after playing rodeo with one of them for some time, he finished the boar off and walked back to me with a satisfied smile in his face. I smiled a bit awkwardly at the scene but gave him a high five once he reached us. I asked him why he did that. His response was that it is fun to tease weaker monsters. I had no right to deny that. After that, we quickly crossed the river and reached the forest where there were the squirrel-wolf thingies¡­ Seriously, I need to find these guy¡¯s real name, I just keep ignoring them over and over. They still had a really delicious meat, though. While passing the meat to Crys so that she could store it in her inventory, I couldn¡¯t help but think so. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I too a brief look at Yuu, seeing as she waited patiently in a meditative position. I once asked her about it and she said that it¡¯s a routine that her grandfather taught her that allows her to calm down and focus with more ease. In-game, however, granted her both a passive as well as an active mana regen method. By now she was almost putting the skill on intermediate, as she did it mostly when I was skinning. Nodding to myself after finishing my butcher of the last squirrel-wolf thingy, I took a peek at Crys, who was also finishing with hers. Thankfully, she also learned skinning, or else I would still be troubled on how to process more than half of my hunts. Yuu noticed my movement and took a deep breath before opening her eyes. With a swift movement she soon put herself up and stretched a bit. ¡°Muu¡­ Shishou is faster now.¡± She said with a light frown. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked confused. ¡°You are skinning with greater speed compared to before.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that because Crys was helping me?¡± ¡°I did not mean that¡­¡± Yuu shook her head. ¡°When you skin the animals, you take less time than when you did at the lynxes forest.¡± I blinked surprised for a moment before nodding. Now that she said about it, I do seem to be finishing my job a fair bit faster than before, the ten or so bodies I skinned myself in this half hour kind of proved that. It¡¯s probably even faster than what a person does in real life, but I could blame a bit of system assist in this. Still, my skinning speed is a lot faster than before, and this I can¡¯t really deny it. Looking at the scene around me for a moment, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that this scene was oddly familiar, so a small smile started to form on my face for a brief moment. Yuu didn¡¯t seem to miss this, because she stared at me curious for a moment. Smiling a bit awkwardly I quickly told her what I thought. ¡°Doesn¡¯t this remind you of when we met?¡± I said with a smirk. ¡°The two of us, in a forest where I would stop to skin half of the enemies while you meditated.¡± ¡°Now that you say it¡­¡± She said with a surprised face. ¡°it is just like the time I met shishou.¡± She said with a nod and a smile. Seeing her tail wag cheerfully, I couldn¡¯t help but start petting her gently. This made her close her eyes in pleasure, but it didn¡¯t really last long, because soon enough there was a certain blue furred fox pressing her head against me slightly annoyed. Seeing that she wouldn¡¯t be happy until I also spoiled her a bit, so I rested my hand upon her head and started caressing her gently. ¡°Rio also wants petting!¡± The little white dragon complained while landing on the fox¡¯s back. Feeling a bit awkward, I took my hand off from Yuu''s head and put it on the wyvern, who soon started purring cheerfully. ¡°I also want some petting!!¡± Crys said while floating in front of me with a pouting tone. But at the same time, Yuu put on a sad face that left me speechless, so I felt a bit at loss on what to do. ¡°Nyaa-ny-naa!¡± Lieutenant approached while taking out his hat. ¡°Don¡¯t even start! You never cared for it before!¡± I said while kicking the cat away. He made a sequential meowing sound that I had no doubt was a snicker. Meanwhile I had to please the four others with pettings. ¡­ ¡°¡­Were you always this weary whenever you got here?¡± The succubus asked with a worried tone as she looked at me. ¡°I had to please four different girls at the same time when only having two hands. Do you have any idea how difficult it is?¡± I said while staring at her exhausted. She simply looked at me with a slightly surprised tone while widening her eyes. It took me a moment to understand her surprise, but after some time I simply shook my head while waving my hand, telling her that it was not it. ¡°That sounded a lot more mature than it should, so no. You are wrong.¡± I said briefly while shaking my head. She smiled a bit awkwardly before nodding and inviting us in. ¡°So, did you get to level fifty already?¡± She asked me while setting a table down for us, with some tea and bread. ¡°And I see that you got a new friend too.¡± She smiled at Rio, who smiled back at the succubus. ¡°Nah¡­ The reason for the visit is a bit different.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°You told me to come back once I reached level thirty, so i¡­¡± ¡°I did?¡± She interrupted me surprised. ¡°You did¡­ Didn¡¯t you?¡± I asked confused, and she stopped to think for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°No. I said for you to come back on level fifty, not thirty.¡± She told me seriously. There was the loud sound of something hitting something else made of wood. For those of you who are more curious, it was basically the sound of my face hitting the table with enough strength to take out ten points of my health. Surprisingly, the table looked pretty much intact. ¡°I suddenly feel like a retard¡­¡± I said with my voice muffled by the table. ¡°Oh well, I guess I can take advantage of this, anyway.¡± After a long sigh I twisted my head so that I would face forward. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be leaving for Sandroze soon, so I guess I can say that I won¡¯t visit so soon.¡± I told the succubus, who blinked surprised. ¡°Sandroze? What are you going to do so far away?¡± ¡°I heard there are strong monsters there!¡± I said with shining eyes. ¡°And being a desert, they probably have carapaces, so I should get some good materials for armor and weapons! Maybe even make myself a plate set!¡± Evelyn looked at me surprised for a moment before giggling slightly in a lovely manner. While grinning back at her, I suddenly felt as something Cold, stabby and hurty hit my feet and legs. For some reason, Yuu¡¯s smile started to scare me, Aura stared coldly at me and Crys had her eyes slightly closed. Gulping down in worry, I quickly cleared my throat so that I could somehow change the topic before my HP started to drop too fast. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°So, where¡¯s your husband? I don¡¯t see him scowling at me¡­¡± I said while looking around. ¡°Logan left some time ago to make a round around the forest.¡± She replied with a smile. ¡°Usual Druidic routine, talking to trees and so on.¡± ¡°¡­I feel obligated to add a tree-hugging joke here, but out of respect for your husband, I won¡¯t do it.¡± I said in my best dead-pan face while implicitly making the joke anyway. This time even Yuu and Crys giggled, while Aura simply shook her head. After stopping her giggling, Evelyn cleared her throat slightly while blushing, probably trying to recover a bit more of her tutor appearance. ¡°Well, since you¡¯ll leave for so long, maybe I should tell you anyway.¡± She said after some thought. I raised my eyebrows at her but she simply smiled. ¡°You see, you asked me about a way to remove the experience penalty, remember?¡± ¡°Oh yeah¡­ I did, didn¡¯t I?¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Well, I do have an idea of a skill that might do that.¡± She said with a long sigh. ¡°But I can¡¯t guarantee that it will work, just that it might.¡± ¡°You have my attention.¡± I said while raising my head from the table and supporting it on my hands in the classing anime villain pose. ¡°You see, when you defeat¡­ Sentient beings, of level fifty or higher, there is a small chance that once you reclaim their bodies, you might receive a skill book.¡± She looked hesitant for a moment before nodding. ¡°This book is a variation from the strategist skill, and it revolves around covering the weakness of a team instead of simply allowing you to create strategies on the go¡­ A passive skill.¡± ¡°Let me guess, I¡¯d have to hunt bandits for the skill?¡± I said with a heavy sigh, and she nodded. I Really didn¡¯t feel like hunting bandits, but it seems that I might not get a chance to think better about it. ¡°And why do you say that it MIGHT work?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Because it¡¯s a class skill.¡± She said with a wry smile. I raised an eyebrow at her confused, and when she looked surprised, it was Crys who took over explaining to me. ¡°Master, class skill can only be obtained hereditarily from certain classes.¡± She said in an explanatory tone. ¡°It usually relates to Class trees, but sometimes are limited to individual classes.¡± ¡°So, if I don¡¯t have the class, I can¡¯t get it?¡± I asked confused, but she shook her head. ¡°No. Technically, you can get any skill from Insania, independent of class. However, you need to create that skill yourself. Similarly to how you created your roll and petting skill.¡± She explained to me, and I couldn¡¯t help but feel impressed. Creating skills from scratch like roll and the Petting mastery is surprisingly difficult, this is something I noticed, because in both situations, it took me a long time doing a continuous exercise to get the skill I wanted. ¡°You¡­ Have a petting skill?¡± Evelyn asked with a face full of disbelief. ¡°Huuuh¡­ Yeah?¡± I said a bit awkwardly. The succubus stared at me for some time before starting to laugh loudly, I felt my smile stiffening up and a dry laugh escape from my lips, but there wasn¡¯t much I could do to something like this. After Evelyn finally calmed down, she turned to me while telling me that she was sorry¡­ In a surprisingly fake way, because she still snickered from time to time. ¡°So, what does a petting skill do?¡± She asked me curious. I couldn¡¯t help but feel surprisingly irritated at how insincere. However, I hid my annoyance behind a smile and made a signal for her to approach. Then, I put my hand on her head¡­ ¡­ ¡°What the hell is happening here?¡± The satyr asked as he entered the house. ¡°Yo Logan! Back from hugging trees?¡± I asked cheerfully. ¡°Dear! He¡¯s being mean with me!¡± The succubus said with teary eyes. ¡°What the hell did you do with Evelyn?¡± He looked at me confused, because Evelyn was kneeling on the ground three meters away from me as I sat on the chair in a triumphant manner. ¡°I¡¯m punishing her for mocking me.¡± I replied briefly while turning my gaze to the succubus on the ground. Even with teary eyes like that, I had trained myself with Yuu and Aura, so I built up a sizeable tolerance to such attacks. ¡°¡­ And how did she even get that desperate?¡± He asked me confused. ¡°Well¡­¡± I rolled my eyes as I chose my words, before finally sighing and deciding to go with the truth. ¡°I have a skill that makes people addicted to my petting for some time. So after using it once I stopped.¡± ¡°How the hell did you even get such a skill?¡± The satyr asked me suspiciously before turning back to Evelyn. ¡°And for how long will she stay like that?¡± ¡°Should be over soon.¡± I said after some thought. ¡°It lasts around six minutes with her.¡± I shrugged. ¡°¡­How many times did you use it on her?¡± ¡°This is the fourth.¡± I replied with a smile while seeing Evelyn looking at me with teary eyes. I smiled wickedly back at her. ¡°Aren¡¯t you mad with me for doing this with her?¡± I asked after some thought. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not permanent and fairly harmless.¡± He said with a shrug while looking at her again. ¡°So¡­ Think you can teach me the skill?¡± He said in a slightly sneaky way. I had to hold back myself to not start laughing loudly. During this, I noticed as Evelyn suddenly blinked and her meek appearance disappeared, overthrown by one that was a fair mix of embarrassment and anger. She quickly scrambled up to her feet and opened her mouth to scold me, but the moment she opened it, she closed, probably due to the lack of words she could say. The scene repeated twice before she finally stopped and grimaced. ¡°Sorry¡­¡± She muttered. ¡°Apologies accepted.¡± I said with a smirk. I may have gone a bit too far with the punishment, though. It would be better to keep this to myself, though. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t really do that¡­¡± I told the Satyr with a slight smile. He raised an eyebrow at me and I quickly explained. ¡°The skill is only level two, so I can¡¯t pass it ahead.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± The satyr nodded. ¡°When I increase its level I can pass you, though.¡± I told him with a smile. Evelyn paled at the scene and almost fell to her knees imploring for me to not do that. After that, we enjoyed a dinner prepared by Crys and Evelyn. Logan, the satyr, spend most of his time talking with Rio, whom he looked with nothing short of admiration. During dinner, Evelyn told me a bit more about the skill I would need to get. Firstly, the enemy I kill must be at least level fifty, and he also must have the strategist skill if I want a certified chance of getting it. However, there¡¯s also the chance that I might get it if I kill someone affected by the strategist skill, however the chance is much lower. Although I had hunted bandits before, all I did was capture them, together with Arcus and Elraira, so I never killed them. Becoming a bit worried, I asked Evelyn if there was anything I needed to know about killing bandits, but she shook her head. ¡°Bandits are treated just like monsters and animals. After reclaiming their body, you get a reward from the goddess. However, if they wield a particularly exquisite piece of equipment, there¡¯s a chance the goddess might leave it for you.¡± ¡°¡­When you said they are treated just like monsters, I kind of expected that you would tell me that they revive even when killed.¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°Well, under normal circumstances, no¡­¡± She replied to me, but her tone was serious. ¡°But I heard that some cursed grounds might have bandits in them. Although the strongest are trapped within, the weaker can go out and hunt for their masters. These are said to revive with their memories wiped up to the point of the time they were first cursed.¡± It took me a moment to understand her words. Basically, isn¡¯t that something just like a dungeon? Thinking about it, it would make sense to say that their memories were wiped clean, as this meant that they would always keep using the same strategies and so on. While thinking so, I couldn¡¯t help but send a brief glance at the elemental eating cheerfully besides me. She blinked under my attention and smiled briefly before going back to eating. Shrugging, I decided to not worry too much about it and went back into eating. After finishing, I gave my goodbyes to Evelyn and Logan and left the house. However, instead of simply going straight back to Eldor, me and Yuu decided to log out and go enjoy our lunch in real life instead, as it was about time for it. I sent Lieutenant and Rio ahead since neither liked to stand around while I was off, then I logged out. Waking up in my room, I felt as my senses slowly went back to my body before raising up. Stretching slightly as I sat down, I quickly jumped out of bed and made my way to my wardrobe and changed into something to use outside. Afterwards, I went to the girl¡¯s apartment and knocked on the door. It didn¡¯t take long before Yuu opened the door, wearing the same white hakama she wore earlier. She blinked surprised at me and then at what I was wearing. Finally she asked. ¡°Are you going to eat out, Shishou?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Did Maya prepare some food or was she playing all along?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t really have time¡­¡± Yuu replied wryly, and I nodded. I thought that was the case. ¡°Then I¡¯m going to buy food from a restaurant nearby. They have a pre-made dish that¡¯s fairly cheap besides being a fairly brazilianesque meal.¡± I said while pointing down the corridor. ¡°I was going to buy one of those for myself, then come back to eat here. But I thought it would be a good idea to ask if you also wanted one.¡± Yuu made a thinking pose for some time before nodding. ¡°Then I will just change into something a bit better.¡± She told me while making way for me. ¡°Do you mind waiting for a bit?¡± I shook my head, and she nodded briefly before darting towards her room. I sat down on the sofa while patiently waiting for her to come back. Chapter 82 - Window-ball Genesis Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some foreshadowing for things to come! ANYWAY, this chapter was kind of fun to work with, and despite a minor failure in the fourth wall containment, it worked fairly well, if I do say so myself. Also, an old friend of ours makes a comeback after so many chapters away! Hooray! ALSO, next IO chapter should come in two days, and I hope to get back to Beepy within the month. I¡¯m in a bit of a slump with that story, but I¡¯m not abandoning it. Have a good read! ---- While laying on the sofa, I put on my headphones and started listening to music while waiting for the girls. I heard as Yuu called on Maya and Mary so that they logged off and got ready. There was some ruckus as they opened and closed their wardrobes, changing clothes. Finding it odd that they were taking a bit too long, my worries became true when I heard Mary shouting out from the door. ¡°Gon¡­ Rick-kun! Do you think a kimono is alright, or would it be better to go with a dress?¡± She asked me, her voice sounding as sincere as possible. I face-palmed myself while taking a deep breath. I had kind of expected this question to come, but I was sure that Yuu would be the one to make it, not Mary. Taking a few seconds to breathe deeply, I said back without raising from the couch. ¡°We are just going to a small restaurant two streets from here! What the hell are you doing with formal dresses?¡± I told them with a slightly annoyed tone. There was a few seconds of awkward silence as the girls processed the information, and after some seconds the sound of the door closing again echoed, followed by even more rummaging as they changed clothes again. All in all, it took them around twenty minutes to get ready. When they came out, Yuu was wearing a simple light blue sundress while tying her hair in a simple pony-tail. A pair of white sandals finished her fresh appearance. Mary let her hair down and wore a simple shirt and shorts, keeping herself in a fairly tomboyish fashion. Finally, Maya¡­ Had the same black shirt and jeans. I¡¯m beginning to have my doubts whether she have a different piece of clothing in her wardrobe at all. I also couldn¡¯t help but notice a slight look of satisfaction in her otherwise serious dead-pan face. After crossing gazes for a couple of seconds, I understood the reason. She probably understood right from the start that there was no need for formal clothes, but somehow fooled Mary into thinking that she would need, and got her fair share of Mary in a kimono or dress. Well, at least that was the impression she gave me, there¡¯s no real way to be sure without actually talking to her. Heaving a long sigh, I shook my head as they left the room. ¡°So, otherwise ignorable being. Where are we heading to?¡± Maya asked. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you might be mistaking me with Paul, you know?¡± I said with a raised eyebrow. ¡°And geez¡­ With a tongue that sharp, do you even need a knife when you eat?¡± ¡°It helps to cut things before biting them.¡± She replied coldly. ¡°Fair enough.¡± I nodded. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s just two minutes away from the apartment, so it¡¯s not that far.¡± I stood up from the couch and stretched myself for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s a small restaurant with a kind of home-made food. I was planning on having a take-out, since it¡¯s cheaper and have more food than buying it normally.¡± ¡°So, you plan to buy it to eat here?¡± Mary asked curious and I nodded. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not sure if you have something similar over there, but here in Brazil it¡¯s quite common for smaller restaurant to have a system like this.¡± I explained to them while walking out of their house. Maya stayed behind to lock the door while we went ahead to call the elevator. It took some time for the elevator to arrive because we barely missed it, but after a few minutes we were already down the streets. I recommended the girls to get two for them because of the sheer amount that comes with each serving. They didn¡¯t really believe me, so they decided to check it on store. After crossing a couple streets, going to a slightly emptier place, we soon reached the corner street where the restaurant was. Stepping in through the open doors, feeling somewhat lucky for it to be open today, I soon made my way to the balcony. There I found a slightly burly man that was on the borderline of being chubby and strong. With short black hair and wearing the usual checkered shirt, he was somewhat of an acquaintance of mine. ¡°Yo boss!¡± I greeted the man who was standing around distracted. He blinked back to reality and looked at me for a moment before giving me a brief nod. ¡°Hi there, lad.¡± He said to me in portuguese. ¡°Same as always?¡± I nodded briefly and he started to raise from the balcony before landing his eyes on the girls, who came in quietly. ¡°Are they with you?¡± ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s their first time here, besides not knowing portuguese.¡± I said with a wry smile. The boss widened his eyes for a moment before sighing. ¡°I¡¯ll translate for them, but for now just give me the usual.¡± ¡°Aye aye...¡± He said half-heartedly while taking a small Styrofoam container and walking to the balcony filled with food. As he started to put down the usual food, a smirk appeared in his face. ¡°So, did you win the lottery or something like that? You sure got lucky with your pick!¡± ¡°Shut it, will ya?¡± I said in a mocking tone. ¡°You are jealous and you know it.¡± He let out a snicker for a moment. ¡°Anyway, they are my friends and are staying nearby for a few days, so I decided to bring them here to taste your food, so feel honored.¡± ¡°As long as it brings in money, it¡¯s not me who¡¯s complaining.¡± He said with a laugh. ¡°... You wouldn''t happen to know a guy named Argento, would you?¡± I asked slightly suspicious, but he looked at me confused. ¡°No? Never heard of that before. Why?¡± He asked me back. ¡°Nah, you just sounded awfully a lot like a certain guy I know.¡± I smiled wryly. He shrugged as he put the last piece of food on the container. As he took a lid to cover the container, I quickly asked him to lend me it so that I could show the girls how much food there was. Once they saw, I saw as Mary and Maya paled slightly. Easily two large plates worth of rice, black beans, chicken, pasta and salad, stuffed inside a large styrofoam container and ready to burst. This was a dish usually made for people who take on heavy works, like construction workers, so it tend to be a bit more to the reinforced side. Surprisingly enough, Yuu didn¡¯t seem all that surprised by the amount. ¡°So, think you can take it alone?¡± I said with a challenging smile. Maya and Mary shook their heads together, but Yuu didn¡¯t. ¡°On training days with grandfather, I usually eat something around this amount.¡± She said with a slightly serious tone. I widened my eyes surprised for a moment before smiling wryly. It would make sense for a martial artist to eat more than the usual, I guess. ¡°Then, you¡¯ll take one alone?¡± I asked slightly surprised, but she shook her head. ¡°I haven¡¯t been practicing recently, so it¡¯s better to not eat too much.¡± She replied with a slightly shy tone. Well, I won¡¯t fake not knowing the reason, but I don¡¯t really see the need for her to worry too much so soon. But then, I¡¯m no nutritionist, so it¡¯s better to keep quiet. In the end, they decided to share two of the full dishes between the three of them. So while I translated for them, I had the boss make a dish for them. Sadly, using this method left us with limited options, only being able to chose the meat and the salad. On the good side, you do get to pay almost half of what you would pay if you bought it by serving yourself and weighting. Also, there¡¯s few food that can be considered more brazilian than rice and bean, so it¡¯s all good. And I can atest for the taste, so the girls will probably enjoy themselves. Yeah, I know that might have been a bit boring, so lets get to the interesting part. As we were leaving the restaurant, after having paid for the girl¡¯s share as well as for a large coke bottle for us, we were halfway into the apartment when Mary¡¯s cellphone started playing some kind of japanese pop-ish music. She took it out and made a slightly bitter smile as she saw the caller. Instead of answering it herself, she passed the cellphone to Yuu, who took it without looking confused. A scene that was oddly familiar, as something like this happens usually with me and another friend, I thought to myself. Yuu answered the call with a polite tone while speaking japanese. I couldn¡¯t quite understand what she was saying, but I did hear her saying ¡°Ojii-sama¡±. If my anime-acquired japanese doesn¡¯t fail me, this means grandfather in japanese. She suddenly looked surprised and started speaking in a slightly less calm tone, looking even a bit frantic. Looking at her in wonder, I caught with the corner of my eyes as Mary and Maya also looked strangely shocked, sporting slight frowns in their faces. ¡°Do I want to know what she¡¯s talking about?¡± I asked them worried. ¡°Actually, yes.¡± Mary replied with a wry tone. ¡°From what I got, it seems that her grandfather is coming to Brazil to meet you.¡± ¡°Oh...¡± I said with a nod. ¡°The martial-artist grandfather who taught Yuu everything she knows and recently got himself a D-lute to play Insania?¡± I asked. ¡°That one.¡± Mary replied. ¡°You don¡¯t seem surprised.¡± Maya noted while looking at me. ¡°Ha ha ha...¡± I laughed dryly while scratching my head. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Pretty sure I saw this coming since a few chapters¡­ I mean, hours ago.¡± Maya and Mary blinked surprised as they stared at me. ¡°I have no doubt that I ended up meeting him in-game.¡± I told the duo with a smile. They gave me a pair of pitiful eyes as I laughed dryly, already somewhat seeing how the situation would develop. As we all sighed in unison, Yuu finally finished the call and had a slightly worried look in her eyes. Taking a peek at me, she gulped loudly before looking away slightly embarrassed. There wasn¡¯t any need to be a detective to notice that she was hiding something. ¡°Disciple...¡± I said in my best serious tone, making her flinch. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Anoo¡­ Shishou...¡± She said shyly while looking downwards. ¡°I¡­ Just got a call from my Ojii¡­ Grandfather.¡± ¡°And¡­?¡± I asked her to go on. ¡°He¡­ Said that he is boarding a friend¡¯s plane right now...¡± ¡°That¡¯s a family thing, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked Mary and Maya lowly. ¡°The whole coming unannounced thing?¡± I mean, first was Yuu who wanted to keep a secret, then were her parents that were supposed to drop off at the capital. Now it¡¯s her grandfather... ¡°Probably...¡± Mary said with a wry smile, reaching the same conclusion as mine. ¡°...And he said that he will stay at your house...¡± Yuu added lastly. This one made me freeze in my tracks and stare at the black-haired girl for a long time. She shrunk slightly under my gaze, her face blushing in an extremely charming way. However, my mind wasn¡¯t really focused on that right now. ¡°Sorry?¡± I said in a slightly silly way, unsure whether I heard it right.. Yuu gulped down and repeated the words. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Ojii-sama said that he will stay at your house¡­ While he¡¯s here in Brazil.¡± Yeah¡­ I think I did hear it right the first time. While thinking so I couldn¡¯t help but feel as a bit of my spirit left my body. ¡­ We left the task of setting up the table for Maya as Yuu, Mary and I sat down in the table. Quickly opening the food and distributing it around, which pretty much meant that I would take mine and the girls would take theirs. I¡¯m little bit of a glutton, so eating this isn¡¯t all that much for me. I do end full for almost the remaining of the day, though. As we sat down, I let my mind wander about the problem of Yuu¡¯s grandfather. He should be arriving here by tomorrow afternoon, which is fine by itself, however, there was another problem I hadn¡¯t taken in consideration while thinking about it. My recess ends today, so I will have class tomorrow. Luckily, monday I only had classes early morning, so I probably would be free by the time I had to go get her grandfather at the airport. However, I wasn¡¯t sure on what I would do. Would I simply leave the girls and him alone here while I was at class? As the (forced) host, I kind of feel like I would be a bit rude to leave them alone, but then, it¡¯s not like I had to follow them around all day. Still, I can¡¯t help but wonder what is the reason for Yuu¡¯s grandfather to come suddenly. Is it because we met in Insania? He did leave suddenly after that day, so it could be the reason. Still, isn¡¯t that a bit too random? Well¡­ As I told Red, common sense doesn¡¯t apply within a ten meters radius around me. But he was all the way around the earth, so isn¡¯t he a little bit too far away? Meh, no matter. But, would it really be fine to leave a traditionalist grandfather alone in my house? I¡¯m a bit afraid of what he might do to the place while I¡¯m alone. I hope it will be at least in recoverable pieces¡­ Sighing loudly, I saw as Maya brought us the plates and silverware so that we could eat. The girls started dividing the food between themselves while I chose to eat straight out from the container, as it would save us on dishes to wash. While I had my fair share of fun seeing the girls eating ¡°farofa¡± for the first time, I turned to them and told of my plans. ¡°Oh yeah¡­ You also study, isn¡¯t that right?¡± Mary asked me with a slightly surprised tone. ¡°What, you thought I was some kind of NEET or something?¡± I asked annoyed. ¡°Well, you WERE on pretty much the whole time since Insania launched, so...¡± She told me innocently. I sighed loudly while shaking my head. ¡°... Okay, I get it.¡± I said with a sigh before shaking my head. ¡°Anyway, I have calculus class tomorrow¡­ or was it algebra? No matter. It¡¯s some kind of freakish math class that have way too many letters for my tastes, but it should only take a couple of hours in the morning from me. By afternoon I should be back and from there we can probably go get your grandfather.¡± I told Yuu and she nodded. ¡°Is it really that hard?¡± Maya asked with a slight frown. ¡°Calculus, I mean?¡± ¡°I liked Math so much before they put letters and words in it...¡± Was my reply on the verge of tears. The trio looked at me at loss, but soon we were back to eating our food. A few minutes later and some talk about my studies and so on, we logged in, because we probably wasted almost two hours in-game having our lunch, and we did promise Argento to come back the following day. And we still had to go and see Yuu¡¯s teacher, whom I had never met before! As if thing weren¡¯t good enough. Actually, yeah, the were. I mean, I got information on an interesting skill that might help me and got to fool around with Evelyn and Logan for a bit. It¡¯s not like things were bad, actually¡­ As I thought that, I soon logged in the game, being met by a certain cheerful little fox who immediately jumped into my arms while having a perfectly huggable size. Being caught by surprise by Aura¡¯s surprise pounce, I quickly put myself back up and pressed the Login button. ¡°Yo.¡± I greeted the crystal being who floated ahead of me. Cygnas turned to me with a slightly mischievous smile, and when I raised my eyebrow, I saw as a flash of light occurred besides me. A few seconds later, a certain person appeared, walking forward with a serious face before looking around. However, when her eyes rested on me, she suddenly looked surprised. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± She asked me in confusion. ¡°Ask the goddess. She¡¯s the one who set this up.¡± I said while pointing to Cygnas. Yup, the one who appeared with me was none other than¡­ Yami. You thought it was Yuu, right? Well, too bad. Turning to Cygnas, the two of us looked at her with a questioning look, to which she replied with a cheerful smile. ¡°I¡¯m testing a new linkage setting that works through the internet, kind of like the one I made on the first day.¡± She said with a cheerful and proud smile. ¡°The code¡¯s much cleaner now, easier to maintain and adapt, and there¡¯s a significant reduction in lag too! Almost indistinguishable from a Lan connection! Not a bad work...¡± Well, not that I mind helping and so on, but I do feel a bit annoyed that she did this without my permission. Seeing that Maya seemed to share these feelings with me, I turned to the annoyed slime and said. ¡°Hey, how good are you at baseball?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the best batter in the whole school.¡± She replied to me in a deadpan voice while making a thumbs up. ¡°Good. Now listen here...¡± While I quickly explained her the steps she would need to take, Cygnas kept boasting about her achievements and so on. I put Aura down on the ground gently before calling up an error window and crumpling it into a ball. Turning towards Cygnas, I took my baseball player pose and threw the straight ball towards the Goddess. However, a glint appeared in her eyes as she teleported one step to the side, dodging the ball magnificently. ¡°Did you really think I would keep falling for that?¡± She asked me in a tauntingly manner. ¡°Yup. I do.¡± I replied with a smile. Yami swung a window-stick at my window-ball, making it bend under pressure as it flung the ball right at the back of the goddess¡¯ head. Cygnas let out a surprise cry as she spun a couple of times forward due to the impact. Walking towards the Ninja with a satisfied face, we quickly locked our hands in a handshake as a glint of friendship crossed our eyes. Just in time, as two more pillars of light appeared, from which Yuu and Mary walked in. The looked at Maya and I shaking hands, then at Cygnas, still stopping her spin, then at each other. They were clearly confused, but there wasn¡¯t really a need to explain them. After stopping herself, Cygnas came to Yami and I complaining and flailing her arms at us, which was pretty much like she was throwing a tantrum. After calming herself down, she took a deep breath and stared at me angrily for some time. ¡°So, any other reason you gathered us here?¡± I asked her, curious, she blinked before shaking her head. ¡°No, mostly checking the system. Allow friends to meet before logging in and such.¡± She said briefly. ¡°The original concept you made me create at the first day was interesting, but still a bit unstable. The one from parenting only works on LANs, so I had to make this one from scratch.¡± I have absolutely no idea why she was telling us that, but who am I to complain. Shrugging, I quickly nodded and turned to Yami and Hanbei. ¡°Well, see you guys later, then...¡± ¡°Oh yeah!¡± Cygnas interrupted me. I turned to her with a window-ball in hands, but she quickly took some distance, slightly intimidated. ¡°Well¡­ Argento got the blimps ticket...¡± She said hurriedly. ¡°It should leave right after lunch. it¡¯s around midnight over there, so you probably should hurry a bit...¡± I blinked surprised for a moment before sighing. Yuu and I were still a bit lost, deep into the forest. If we hurried, we might get to Eldor by morning, but we would still have to find her teacher. Seeing that there was no time to lose, I quickly logged in the game. After waiting for the pillar to die out, I found myself in the same spot as the last time. Wordlessly I exchanged a glance with Yuu, who nodded briefly before we darted off, Aura and Crys right on our track. I COULD go on how our way back was, but there wasn¡¯t really anything new, so I might skip. Another day I might come back and tell you what happened with the cloaked guy wielding a scythe we found in the middle of the way, but it¡¯s a pretty boring story, so no need for it. ¡­ Okay, we didn¡¯t meet any guy like that, it was mostly me throwing a random joke. There, happy? Well, since absolutely nothing interesting happened on the way back, as soon as the sun started to rise we found ourselves at the foot of the mountain, which was a bit faster than my original estimative. While thinking so, I turned to Yuu and raised her an eyebrow. She nodded before taking me on a wide detour around the city, which was a bit faster than simply going through it thanks to our skill. After some time looking around, Yuu finally found what she was looking for. A small cabin somewhat hidden amongst a couple of hills. For some reason, the placement of this house really left me worried. I mean, Evelyn¡¯s house also was in a similar situation, if not even farther, but this cabin just looked like something was seriously wrong within it. While harboring such feelings, I took a look at Yuu in confirmation. As I looked at her, Yuu definitively made her way towards the house, and taking a deep sigh I immediately followed her to it. Once there she knocked on the door a few times. The answer that came from within was¡­ ¡°There¡¯s no one here! Go away!¡± In a strangely childish sounding voice, and a clear sound of fear. ¡°Sensei! It¡¯s me! Yuki!¡± Yuu said loudly. After a few seconds, the door opened, and from inside came a person. A Halfling, probably, as he heighted at most the same as a dwarf, but without any of the muscles. Looking almost the same as a kid, he had blond hair and blue eyes, giving off a charming smile as he stared at the kitsune. ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t my cute apprentice, Yuu!¡± He said, putting a REALLY annoying emphasis on the word cute. ¡°Greetings, sensei.¡± Yuu said in a perfectly polite and indifferent tone as she bowed slightly. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, Yuki.¡± He said with an angelic smile that annoyed the heck out of me. ¡°And who might you be?¡± He said while looking at me, his smile loosing a fair bit of brightness. Give a forced smile, I extended my hand out. ¡°I¡¯m Gondorrer Halflingbane. Pleasure to meet you.¡± There was no need to correct my words, but this made him flinch slightly. Yup, no doubt about it. This guy reeked of a womanizer. And no way in hell he¡¯s going to touch Yuu under my watch. Chapter 83 - How to deal with a womanizer Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! An interesting teacher and an anxious Yuu? ANYWAY, sorry for the delay. The chapter should be up yesterday, but I ended up getting stuck at a friends house, so I didn¡¯t have time to write it, however here it is, so rejoice! ALSO, this first part of the travels arc is almost coming to an end. Just one more couple to visit and next chapter we should be already leaving the capital for some adventure! I plan on making a boss fight within the next few chapter for a silly reason (like always) ALSO(2), next chapter should be up in 2 days as usual. And for those wondering, no, I am NOT dropping Beepy, just hit a slump, but I want to go back before the month ends. Have a good read! --- The little Halfling opened up the way so that Yuu and I could come in. I sent Yuu ahead and followed her right behind as I could somehow notice a certain aura enveloping her teacher. Feeling somewhat annoyed, the Halfling followed us inside with a clear scowl in his face. It was a fairly small house, with a simple fire-place and chairs on which to sit down. Yuu immediately went to the corner of the sofa, on what I guessed was her usual spot. The Halfling skipped cheerfully to sit beside her, but discretely sticking my feet out, he tripped on it and fell face first on the ground. ¡°Strange, sensei seems to always trip when I come¡­¡± Yuu said as I sat down besides her. ¡°¡­Maybe he has a bad sense of balance?¡± I said discretely while giving a mental thumbs-up to Hanbei. Somehow I had the feeling that she was also protecting Yuu when they came here previously. Yuu tilted her head confused, but seemed to be satisfied, as she nodded in satisfaction. After getting up, the Halfling stared at me angrily, because with the two of us, he didn¡¯t have a place to sit on the bench. Grumbling discretely to himself, he went to the table and took a chair so that he could sit near us. After somehow climbing the chair that seemed a bit too tall to him, he turned back to us and put on a charming smile. And by turning to us, I mean that he turned to Yuu, just to let this clear. ¡°So, dear Yuu. What brings you here today?¡± ¡°Sensei.¡± Yuu nodded slightly, her tone sounding strangely formal. ¡°I came here to tell you that I shall soon leave for a long trip together with Shishou and Hanbei, so I wanted to come here and warn you of this.¡± ¡°Ahh¡­ You and little Hanbei?¡± He said with a surprised tone before nodding heavily. ¡°I see, I see¡­ Such sad news.¡± He said with a slightly sad look. ¡°Okay.¡± Yuu said with a nod before bowing. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be taking my leave.¡± Both, the Halfling and I became shocked once she spoke those words and raised herself from the bench. I saw as he blinked in shock a couple of times before scrambling up to his feet and running up to Yuu, where he grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the bench with a worried expression. Meanwhile I kept staring at the kitsune with a surprised face. From the time I spent with her, she never really was this brusque as how she had been just now. While looking at her, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that her ears were slightly tilted, as if she was worried. Still, she followed the magician back to the bench. ¡°N-No need to be in such a hurry, right?¡± He said in a hurried tone while looking around. ¡°Huuh¡­ Oh! Stay for a cup of tea, at least! What do you say?¡± He didn¡¯t even wait for an answer from Yuu before darting away to what seemed like a small kitchen. I turned to Yuu with a curious glance for some time, but she replied with a simple awkward smile. I didn¡¯t get the chance to ask about it, because the sorcerer quickly returned while carrying a tea-pot and two tea-cups. I squinted my eyes at the scene. I couldn¡¯t help but feel that the guy was doing that as a blatant try to annoy me. Sighing discretely, I saw as the guy quickly snapped his fingers, making a water ball appear above the teapot before a vortex sucked it up to inside the pot. He took out the tea leaves from his pocket and dropped them on the teapot before summoning some flames to heat the water up. I blinked surprised at how casual he looked while using all that magic, as even Yuu had to somewhat focus before doing something like that. Slightly adjusting the way I saw the kid-looking sorcerer, I saw as he eyed me with a fake apologetic expression. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I only had two tea-cups¡­¡± He said with a smile that made me want to smack him in the head. But I replied in kind. ¡°No need. I know this happens some times.¡± I told him with the same smile. I could almost see as the sparks flew between our eyes, both of us giving our death-stares to each other while hiding it behind a fake smile. ¡°So, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve met yet? My name is Orrin Bluehands, Level seventy two sorcerer.¡± He said while extending his hand towards me. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. As I said before, I¡¯m Gondorrer Gravelheart. Level twenty-nine Skirmisher. Yuu likes to call me Shishou. Something akin to sensei, but with more respect.¡± I said with a smile while making sure he understood where he stood. He flinched slightly when I told him about the Shishou part and gave me a clear stare for a moment before returning his smile. ¡°Oh? I thought you were called Gondorrer Halflingbane?¡± He said with a smile. ¡°You must be mistaken. I don¡¯t remember saying that?¡± I faked my innocence while tilting my head. ¡°But I¡¯m also known by other names, such as Pervertsbane, Midgetsbane, sorcerersbane¡­ I might have said one of those.¡± ¡°Might have been that.¡± He nodded slightly. ¡°But you know, it has been some time since I last saw a golem. Was it back when I killed the one who tried to assault me?¡± ¡°Wow. Such a unlucky fellow.¡± I said in a fake surprised tone. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that he did that¡­¡± Failing the job, I mean. ¡°Fu fu fu¡­¡± He laughed cheerfully. ¡°Anyway, my dear apprentice, what exactly will you be doing that you won¡¯t come back so soon?¡± He asked while turning back to Yuu. ¡°I will follow Shishou on his way to Sandroze.¡± She said briefly. Orrin stood there for a few seconds, waiting for a better explanation, but when it didn¡¯t, I couldn¡¯t help but put up a triumphant smile. ¡°With¡­ I see¡­¡± He said with his smile twitching slightly. ¡°And when exactly are you coming back?¡± ¡°We do not know.¡± Yuu said with a shake of her head, and ended there. Orrin¡¯s smile twitched a couple of times as he calmed down, then a long sigh escaped his lips as he saw that Yuu wouldn¡¯t say anymore. Turning his attention back to the teapot, he seemed satisfied with the heat of the water, because he took the teapot and poured it into the teacups. Yuu took one of the tea-cups¡­ And passed to me, before picking the other one before her sensei could even reach it. The Halfling stared in shock for a moment as he tried to understand what had happened, but before he had any chance, Yuu and I were already enjoying the tea, which I must say was surprisingly good. A vein popping in his forehead as he stared daggers at me, he quickly turned to Yuu, putting on back his smile. ¡°Say, little Yuu¡­ Why don¡¯t you stay here with me while your¡­ Shishou goes around traveling. This way you can train a bit more.¡± He said gently. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you wanted to become strong? I could help you there¡­¡± ¡°I believe that real experience is better than training to promote growth, so following Shishou as he hunts will help me grow faster.¡± She said after putting down her cup of tea. ¡°But I still feel thankful for your offer.¡± ¡°I¡­ I see¡­¡± Is it just me, or this room is ridiculously cold? I mean, is Yuu always this indifferent when she talks to other people? She did act this way back at the airport, but I thought that she was just in a bad mood. Taking a peek at Crys, who was seated down on my shoulder, I noticed that she had a slightly worried face, while Aura simply napped while laying her head on my feet. For some reason, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that she¡¯s too calm at times like these. Shaking my head I brought my focus back to the Halfling, who was still at shock, his face twisted into a frown as he scrambled through his mind in search for an idea. ¡°Then, I could take you around for a training voyage.¡± He said with a nod. ¡°Having your teacher go around with you could prove to be extremely helpful¡­¡± ¡°But then I would end up being taken care by sensei.¡± Yuu interrupted him once again. ¡°That way I would not experience true danger, but might end up copying Sensei¡¯s style, which is not what I wish.¡± ¡°Is it just me, or does Yuu REALLY want to end the conversation fast?¡± I whispered to Crys. ¡°It¡¯s like she¡¯s acting out of character¡­¡± Crys nodded lightly as she watched the exchange between Yuu and Orrin. ¡°If I had to say, I think she wants to leave soon.¡± She said with a slightly worried tone. ¡°But why would that be?¡± ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t know¡­ She does looks anxious though.¡± She said while looking at Yuu¡¯s ears, that were flattened against her head. I also caught glance of Yuu peeking at me with a worried expression. It was brief, because soon after Orrin opened his mouth and let out a sigh, making our attention go back to focusing on him. ¡°Then, I have no other choice than to follow you on your trave¡­¡± ¡°I have to deny your offer once again, sensei. As I said earlier, it would only work to hinder my growth.¡± Yuu interrupted him. ¡°Then¡­ Then¡­¡± He stuttered while choosing his words. ¡°AAARGH! I give up!¡± He said angrily while scratching his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to resort to this, but you leave me no choice! Yuu! If you dare take your cute face and good body away from Eldor, I shall disown you as my apprentice and never again teach you!¡± He said while standing on his chair and pointing at Yuu. Man, you need to take care to not let your true desires escape like that. You pretty much said it out loud, you know? ¡°Then it¡¯s a shame. It was nice knowing you, Sensei.¡± Yuu said while bowing. ¡°With luck, I might find another one of your caliber on my travels.¡± Okay, part of me really feel some pity for the frozen stiff Halfling. The other, and far bigger, part was holding itself so I wouldn¡¯t start laughing at his face. After recovering from the tea that almost choked me, I turned to see the Halfling holding Yuu by the hands just as she reached the door. ¡°I was only joking! There¡¯s no way I would actually mean that!¡± He said with a worried fake smile while trying to bring her back in.. ¡°There¡¯s no way I would want to lose an apprentice as talented as you!¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Yuu said feeling a bit insecure. ¡°Look, I was only joking, okay! All I want is to help you grow up!¡± He said while nodding. ¡°Yes, Help you grow as a sorceress, Teach you new skill, see as you grow up, become a better person¡­¡± ¡°Take advantage of her innocence¡­¡± I coughed discreetly. ¡°Take advantage of your innocence, try and make a move on you later on¡­¡± His words, suddenly cut off in the middle as he paled and started sweating buckets. He blinked a few times as he looked at Yuu, but let¡¯s just say that absolute zero was a bit warmer than what she looked at that exact moment. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°When¡­¡± Yuu started, her tone cold as the words dripped out from her mouth. ¡°When I sought for a magic teacher¡­ I did hear that sensei was a womanizer, and even though I know I¡¯m a bit unknowledgeable about such things, I somehow knew that Han-chan and Shishou would help me.¡± I felt a shiver run up my stony skin, as the air became colder, not in the metaphorical sense, but in the literal way. Heck, there was even some ice crystals forming around Yuu¡¯s feet! ¡°And, to tell the truth¡­ I was even starting to think that the rumors about Sensei were all but a bunch of harmless rumors, and I really thought that you were helping me of good intents¡­¡± Yuu looked really scary right now. ¡°Err¡­ Yuu?¡± Orrin said with a worried tone as he took a step back. You know? I have the feeling that he might get killed if this goes on. ¡°But¡­ To think that you had second intentions all this time¡­ I really might have misjudged you-nyaah!¡± She suddenly trailed off as I suddenly put my hand on her head and started petting her. ¡°Geez, calm down, will you?¡± I told the kitsune as she squirmed slightly under my petting. ¡°You can¡¯t really blame him for wanting to make a move on a cute girl, right?¡± ¡°Eeh¡­ Cute?¡± She said surprised, and it took me a moment to notice the wording that I used. ¡°A-Anyway¡­¡± I stuttered slightly from embarrassment. ¡°It¡¯s true that he might have second intentions, but he did teach you earnestly, right?¡± I asked her, and she hesitated for a moment before nodding meekly. ¡°And you, if you promise to¡­¡± I turned to Orrin, but when my eyes landed on him I saw something slightly disturbing. He stared at Yuu with a shocked expression as various expressions crossed through his face. We felt slightly creeped up by his appearance, and even took a step back hesitatingly. ¡°What is this¡­¡± He said with bloodshot eyes as he looked at the kitsune. ¡°The cold and serious Yuki that I know¡­ Suddenly acting all meek and shy¡­¡± He said slowly, his words dripping with a disgusting aura. ¡°WHAT KIND OF ADORABLENESS IS THIS?¡± He shouted before leaping towards Yuu. ¡°I WANT THIS YUKI FOR MYSELF!¡± ¡°KYAH!¡± Yuu shouted surprised as the Halfling¡¯s eyes filled lust. However, she didn¡¯t only shout in surprise. She also raised her leg up high, hitting the Halfling mid-jump square in the jaw with a crunching sound. But the kick didn¡¯t end there, as once it reached the peak, she brought it back down as an axe kick, landing it right on the guy¡¯s stomach. The perverted Halfling hit the floor with such strength that even the floor gave in, forming a small crater. I was caught by surprise by the scene, and didn¡¯t have the time to react to it, but by the end, Yuu had hid herself behind me while looking slightly scared. Blinking surprised, I stared at her then back at the mage. For a moment I was worried that she might have killed the guy, but after seeing his hand twitching slightly I sighed in relief. Soon after, he raised his head from the ground as he got up. ¡°That¡­ Hurts a lot more than I expected¡­¡± He said while getting up. ¡°Your eyes were strange, Orrin-san.¡± Yuu said from behind me. Well, his eyes were pretty much the personification of lust when he jumped at her, so I can¡¯t really blame her for that. ¡°You show me such adorable sight but then don¡¯t want me to act true to my desires! Of course I would do something like that!¡± Well, if he is so energetic he should still be fine. ¡°And you know what, I don¡¯t care about it anymore! To hell with my good guy acting!¡± He said while standing up and dusting off his clothes. ¡°Yeah, I was after your body for a long time. You are just too pretty and na?ve to leave be! But that bastardly beast-girl kept getting in my way and kept taking you out from here before I could make my move!¡± he complained with a clear scowl in his face. ¡°So¡­ The only reason you approached her was because she was pretty? What about her talents?¡± I asked while feeling my eyebrows twitch. ¡°Meh. Couldn¡¯t care less about talent, as long as she was a good looking piece of meat.¡± He said with a humph. I had to take a deep breath so that I wouldn¡¯t end up jumping at his neck and dismembering him from limb to limb. Yuu and Crys even had shocked expressions while Aura clearly bared her teeth for all to see. After some time of calming myself down, I finally said. ¡°So, I take it you don¡¯t want to be taught by him anymore?¡± I asked Yuu and she nodded weakly while still hiding behind me. Nodding, I turned back to Orrin and started to think for some time. ¡°Well, if I don¡¯t have a chance with her, no need to teach her anymore.¡± Orrin said bluntly. That made it for me. Taking a deep breath, I opened up my inventory and took a few things from in there. Mostly a piece of paper and some paint that I used to mark where to cut, then I leaned against a wall where I started writing something. After feeling satisfied with my words, I nodded satisfied and folded the paper up before sealing with some lines I used for sewing. I also tied a small extra something to the card, making a small bulge on the lines. The others watched me in curiosity as I worked around with it, but after I was done, I took the sealed letter to put it in front of Orrin, waving it around as if I was baiting him. ¡°What¡¯s¡­ What¡¯s that?¡± He asked me confused. ¡°In here, is a letter that might get you a night with an acquaintance of mine.¡± I said with a smile, and saw as his eyes widened in curiosity. ¡°She¡¯s a woman with a body so young and soft that you would swear she¡¯s no older than a young girl, but at the same time she have all the experience that a mature woman might have.¡± ¡°Young¡­ And experienced?¡± He said while following the sealed letter in front of his eyes as a dog following a big piece of meat. ¡°How¡­ Much are we talking here?¡± ¡°Oh. I can attest to her looks and experience. She¡¯s is very cute, and surely can make a few hearts flutter around happily.¡± I said with a wicked smile. ¡°And she have enough experience to make any of your dirty desires come true, you know? You will probably feel unable to move, so good that she is.¡± ¡°Why¡­¡± He started asking, but I interrupted him by pulling the letter away. ¡°In exchange for this, you will recommend someone to teach Yuu whatever she might need to know about sorcerers.¡± I said while eyeing him tauntingly. He gulped loudly while starting to sweat. ¡°I¡­¡± His eyes drifted away for a moment before ¡°I don¡¯t think I know anyone that could help¡­¡± He said, I put on a sad expression while taking the card and lowering it. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a shame, you know?¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°In here was even the permission to do anything one¡¯s heart could desire¡­¡± I shook my head, but his eyes widened. ¡°To think that you had no ide¡­¡± ¡°WAIT!¡± He said while taking my hand and raising it. ¡°I¡­ Huh¡­ It¡¯s not a person, but I know something that might help!¡± he said while nodding. I raised my eyebrow intrigued and looked at him. ¡°There¡¯s¡­ A grimoire, that¡¯s said to help one find his ideal spells. I have a lead of where it might be, and even thought about going there once, but never had the chance!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± I said intrigued and made a motion for him to go on. ¡°I heard¡­ A ruin, near Ezoria.¡± He said while nodding. ¡°It was to the northwest of the capital! Last time the grimoire was seen, it was on those ruins.¡± ¡°And how do I know that you aren¡¯t lying?¡± I asked while waving the letter in front of his face. ¡°I can tell you that all that I said about this letter is true, you know? I hate lying and never do it for personal gains. Unless it¡¯s for a joke or a matter of survival.¡± ¡°Look, these are just rumors I heard, so I can¡¯t attest to them.¡± He said worriedly. ¡°For all I know it could be a fake, but checking it could lead to a clue, right? Besides, You chosen have nothing to lose!¡± I stared at him for some time before sighing and nodding. I lowered the card and gave it to him, seeing as a dirty smile appeared in his face. ¡°Go there next night, as she may be busy today. The address is in the letter.¡± I said briefly before leaving. ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t think about opening the letter, or else it will lose its value, okay?¡± I said as a confirmation. After that we left the house without bothering to pay him more attention. Once outside, a slightly awkward atmosphere fell amongst us, and for some minutes it stayed that way, until Crys finally made the question that was in her mind. ¡°You were surprisingly calm back there.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked the floating maid, and she smiled awkwardly before saying. ¡°Well, I was kind of expecting you to hit him, or flash-bang him or something¡­¡± ¡°Oh, but I did do that!¡± I said with a cheerful smile, and saw as the two looked at me confused. ¡°I tied a flashbang to the card and set it to explode after we left. If he is still staring at the card, we should hear his scream right about¡­¡± ¡°HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!¡± A familiar voice cried from a certain distance. ¡°Now.¡± I smiled proudly as Yuu and Crys looked at me awkwardly. ¡°What, you really thought I would let someone go out free after talking bad about my Yuu?¡± I asked, and saw as the two blinked surprised for a moment, but right then, I reminded of something and turned to the kitsune. ¡°By the way, Yuu. Why were you so hasty to get out back there?¡± ¡°Huh¡­? Me¡­? My Yuu¡­?¡± She looked strangely shy, but shook her head to calm down. A slight blush still spread on her cheeks though. ¡°Well¡­ I knew that Orrin-san was a womanizer, but¡­ I have almost no experience with flirting, so I had no idea if what he was doing was¡­ Anyway, I didn¡¯t want Shishou to misunderstand our relationship.¡± She said while sneaking a peek at me. I couldn¡¯t help but smile gently as I petted her head slightly. Right now I find it almost impossible to see Yuu flirting, so there was no way I could have misunderstood their relation. Still, for her to be worried about that was extremely cute. ¡°Hmm¡­ Shishou¡­¡± Yuu said shyly after some time. I stopped and looked at her curious. ¡°That¡­ Woman you spoke¡­ Who is she?¡± I blinked before smirking mischievously. ¡°Do you want to know the content of the letter?¡± I asked, but she simply looked confused. ¡°It was something around these lines: Sol, this guy is a jerk, and I sent him to you so you can teach him a lesson. I did promise him a young looking experienced woman, so I needed to send him to you. Do whatever you want with him because he accepted so upon giving you this letter, be it guinea pig or partner. In exchange, I¡¯ll bring something interesting from my travels.¡± Yuu and Crys stared at me in shock for a moment before exchanging glances between themselves and started giggling. I, indeed, sent him to a young-looking experienced woman and I did say that the letter allowed one to do whatever¡¯s one¡¯s heart desired. I never said who it was nor whose heart it was talking about, so I only spoke the truth, right? While thinking so and chuckling mischievously to myself. Me and the girls made our way back to the city. However, one thing sparked up in my mind before then. Didn¡¯t I say something really embarrassing to Yuu back there? Chapter 84 - Take off! Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! One last embarrassing moment before leaving for good! ANYWAY, with this I can say that I finally finished the first part of the Arc and enters into the first intermission, I guess? Will it even be an intermission? I actually have no idea what will happen next chapter¡­ ALSO, it¡¯s about time for me to fulfill a certain promise I made to a certain person a certain time ago. What promise it is? Who knows? (Spoiler: I do) Evil laughter ensues! Have a good read! ------ Hello there, people! It¡¯s me, your favorite Golem Wargon! AkA Gondorrer Womanizersbane! As you all know, I was preparing to travel away to a capital far away, but have been a bit stuck recently with solving a few unresolved situations, like talking with my teachers and giving my goodbyes to others who I know! But, you see, just recently I think I might have bitten a bit more than what I could chew, so now I¡¯m stuck in a slightly embarrassing situation! You see, some time ago, I met a couple of persons here in Eldor whom I kept teasing until they became a¡­ Well¡­ Couple. And even today I keep teasing them about it every time we meet. But, I was a bit unlucky this time, so it seems that our roles are a bit reversed. Well, before saying what is happening right now, it would be better to explain how we got here, right? Well, going back into time, at around half an hour to fifteen minutes ago. I couldn¡¯t be bothered by remembering the exact time, sorry, me, Yuu, Aura and Crys were arriving at the capital. Having sent Lieutenant and Rioreia ahead, we weren¡¯t with them, but thanks to the map, we could find tout where they were, as well as where Hanbei and Yami were. Since I confirmed the time of departure with Argento some time ago, I knew that we still had a small leeway, so I sent Crys and Aura to go and call the duo who were away while Yuu and I made our way towards the girls. But, in the middle of the way, we met a certain Clockwork and a certain Construct, who were happily walking besides each other while linking hands. Unable to help but feel the mischievous spirit surging within me, I smirked as I approached the distracted couple who had a pink atmosphere between them. Making a motion to Yuu so that she should wait a bit, I went ahead alone and approached them from behind. ¡°HELLO MY FAVORITE LOVEBIRDS!!¡± I said loudly as I put my arms across both of their shoulders. Caught unaware by my prank, the couple jumped up in surprise, and for a moment I could have sworn that their heads would hit the ceiling if they had put a bit more strength on it. Turning to me with an angry look in their faces, Rusty Blackjoint and Nova¡­ Wait, do I know her surname? No matter, both of them turned to me with an annoyed look in their faces as they stared daggers at me, even making me feel a bit worried at what they would do. After taking a long sigh, and by sigh I meant that he blew a lot of steam from his exhausts pipes, Rusty finally calmed down and looked at me with a mix of surprise and confusion. ¡°Gon. Angry at shock. But. Good to see. Still angry.?¡± Cygnasdammit, don¡¯t you just love his weird phrasing? ¡°I¡¯m starting to wonder whether I should be grateful for getting us togehter, or annoyed by how you treat us.¡± Nova added in a slightly confused tone. Smirking secretly to myself, I put on a confused face the best I could while staring at them and tilting my head. ¡°What are you talking about. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m hiding myself on purpose or anything?¡± I said in a fake confused tone. The two looked at me with a slightly annoyed expression before sighing deeply, as if saying that they gave up trying to discuss logic with me. Smiling awkwardly, they elooked at each other and shrugged, before putting on a slightly more serious expression. ¡°Then. What brings? Looking for us?¡± Rusty asked with a slightly curious tone. I blinked for a moment before shaking my head in a slightly awkward manner. ¡°Actually, no. But this is still a happy coincidence!¡± I said while nodding. ¡°You see, I¡¯m leaving Eldor today, so It¡¯s good that I got to see you two before leaving.¡± ¡°Oh! And where are you going to?¡± Nova asked curious. Well, here would be where I go on and tell you guys on how I told them that I was going to Sandroze. Then they say that I should be cautious and so on, but sincerely, I¡¯ve already made this scene so many times that even I¡¯m starting to get tired of telling them, so I¡¯ll take it that I can skip this one. But, if something that happened that is worth noticing is that in this meantime Yuu approached us and kept listening as I talked with the couple. This also means that Rusty and Nova noticed her, and I swear that for a moment, Rusty¡¯s eyes seemed to shine mischievously. However, it took me a bit too long for me to get the meaning behind them, so before I had the chance to wonder why it was that, the clockwork turned to me and said in the mostly friendly manner I had ever seen him speak. ¡°Then. You two. Honeymoon?¡± Here is where I would usually cue in the loading joke, but I don¡¯t think I need to add¡­ (Loading¡­) Cygnasdammit! Anyway, jokes aside, it did take me some time to sink in the meaning of his words, and by the time it did, Yuu had already reached a new shade of red. Luckily, I¡¯m quite literally thick skinned, so I somehow managed to look quite calm even though I was as embarrassed as the kitsune. ¡°No¡­ Not exactly.¡± I said with a wry smile while shaking my head. ¡°We are actually¡­¡± ¡°Oh, then you are going off to marry?¡± Nova said with a surprised tone. ¡°N¡­No.¡± I said with an awkward tone, and just as I was about to explain, they interrupted me once again. ¡°Then. Eloping?¡± GAAAH! I¡¯ve been completely taken in by their pace! For a trickster like myself, this is the worst! Not only am I unable to insert my own teases, I¡¯m even unable to stop them with their jokes! And the two didn¡¯t seem to miss this small fact, because they kept bombarding us with teasing questions as before. While feeling completely embarrassed myself, Yuu had already overheated and was simply muttering some random words. The fact that I had no right to stop their teasing was bad enough for me. After feeling somewhat satisfied with teasing us to the point that I was completely unable to speak anything to myself. ¡°Lovebirds. Embarrassed. Revenge is sweet.¡± Rusty said with a clear satisfied tone. ¡°Rusty!¡± Nova said while nudging him with her elbow. ¡°Leave them alone! Can¡¯t you see they are embarrassed for having been found on their date?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Very funny. I got it, okay?¡± I said while motioning for them to stop. ¡°I was being annoying with all the teasing. Now can you please stop before she ends up melting in shame here?¡± I said while pointing at Yuu who kept her head low. The couple smiled teasingly at us while I used my hand to cover my head in embarrassment. It really is something else when you are the one on the receiving end of the teases. Seeing my situation, they nodded and put on a slightly victorious smile that left me mildly annoyed. ¡°Anyway, since you are going to Sandroze, do you plan on passing through Ezoria Argus?¡± Nova asked me in a slightly more serious tone. ¡°Well, yeah. But why would¡­ Oh yeah!¡± I suddenly remembered. ¡°Your uncle or something lives there, right?¡± I asked her, and she nodded. ¡°If I remember something, you said that he might have an idea about crystal tinkerer, right?¡± ¡°Yes. He may be able to point you to a direction or something.¡± She nodded. ¡°So, when you end up meeting him, could you tell him that I am alright here?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess I could do that.¡± I nodded. ¡°He stays at an academy or something, you said?¡± She nodded to my question. ¡°Then leave it to me. I guess I owe you this much after teasing you two for too long.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± She said with a nod. ¡°Anyway, now that you two already had your share of teasing me and this innocent little kitsune.¡± I petted Yuu when I mentioned her. ¡°I think that it may be better for us to take our leave because from what I know, our blimp shouldn¡¯t take much longer to leave.¡± I said. The two of them nodded slightly while wearing wry smiles, so I quickly gave my goodbyes and made sure to also say it in behalf of Yuu, who was still too embarrassed to say anything. Since we were each taking a different direction, we quickly separated and took our ways, but before they were out of earshot I turned to them and shouted. ¡°OH! BE CAREFUL, OKAY? YOU DON¡¯T WANT TO HAVE KIDS TOO SOON!¡± I shouted. ¡°WHA! WE DON¡¯T¡­ IT¡¯S NOT¡­¡± I heard nova saying atop the raging steam-vents. After that I quickly pulled Yuu out of the area while smiling proudly to myself of my swift revenge. Not that I really knew how clockworks and constructs actually reproduced, but this was enough to leave them embarrassed, so I could say that I am happy with the results. Anyway, it didn¡¯t take us much longer for us to reach Yami and Han-chan, who were strolling peacefully around the market area, probably looking for accessories or something of the kind. Approaching them, I quickly raised my arm in a greeting and saw as they turned to me with curious eyes. ¡°Argento sent one of his clerks earlier, saying that the boat leaves in about three hours.¡± Hanbei said once we approached. ¡°I know, he PMed me.¡± I replied briefly. ¡°But he also said that it would be better if we arrived earlier.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Hanbei said before shrugging. ¡°Anyway, I guess it¡¯s better that we get going then.¡± She said while looking at the main elevator. I nodded at her and prepared to leave, but we were stopped by a certain slime, who was looking at Yuu curiously. ¡°Oi, you male.¡± I think that¡¯s me. ¡°What were you and Yuki-dono doing while out there? She looks really embarrassed.¡± She turned to me with a mischievous smile. ¡°Were you flirting or something?¡± I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could even make a sound, a confused Yuu said. ¡°Eloping¡­ Shishou¡­ And I¡­ Eloping¡­¡± Her voice was extremely low and soft. It still didn¡¯t escape the other two, who eyed the girl with shock before turning to me, disbelief painted in their eyes. The fact that I was also shocked by Yuu¡¯s words also didn¡¯t really help with my case. As I said earlier, I am in a slightly embarrassing situation. So, how do I explain this? ¡­ ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHAHA¡± Hanbei¡¯s laughter echoed loudly while we walked down the cold streets of the upper parts of the city. Some passersby eyed us in curiosity, only to see a scene of a golem being followed by three beautiful girls, one floating crystal elemental that wore a maid costume, a cat in a military outfit riding a large blue armored fox and with a wyvern resting atop his head. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. I could feel a mix of confusion, shock and jealously coming from the gazes around me as players and NPC¡¯s alike stared daggers at me. The fact that Hanbei was laughing loudly, Yami was holding herself to not go into a similar state, and Yuu walked with her head hanging while fiddling embarrassedly with her fingers wasn¡¯t exactly helping my case either. Knowing how people think, I kind of wonder what kind of thoughts people were having about what had happened, but in the end I decided that I was probably better left not knowing it. Basically, what had happened was that I started explaining to the girls my encounter earlier with Rusty and Nova and how they ended up taking the upper hand in the teasing early on. This by itself was enough to make Hanbei started trembling slightly while holding her laughter. But when Yuu finally said that she still had her mind on what they were speaking, she burst out completely. At least the misunderstanding had somehow solved itself. It seems that words like eloping might be a tad bit too much for someone as pure-hearted as Yuu. Anyway, since we were already on the floor that Argento had passed me, it took us only some time to find the gnome who was accompanied by a certain undine carrying a large backpack. The girl was bouncing on her feet excitedly, while the gnome simply was looking at some papers that I am almost one hundred percent sure that it¡¯s somehow related to money. Still, seeing me approaching, the Undine, much to my dismay, started getting cheerful, so the Gnome raised his gaze from the paper and stared at me for a moment before waving cheerfully. We approached him quickly and he gave a quick look at the group before smiling proudly to himself. He probably tried to hide it, but his eyes had pretty much become a pair of gold-coins as he thought of ways to take advantage of the girl¡¯s looks. I¡¯d bet ten silver that he will ask for their help once he sets up the shop. While thinking so I quickly greeted him. ¡°Yo Supplies! How do you do?¡± ¡°Hello money-bag!¡± He replied in kind. ¡°Anyway, this is quite the party we got here. I can already smell the profit coming!¡± He said with a wide smile. I smiled at his words before turning to look at the blimps. ¡°So, which one is ours?¡± I asked curious while admiring the view. This place somehow looked like a dock you would find on coastal cities, but instead of sea and ships, we had sky and blimps. Not that there was that much difference between the ships and the blimps, as they were mostly a ship tied to huge gas balloons and with propellers instead of rudders. Nodding at my words, Argento quickly motioned for us to follow him as he started walking towards a nearby boat. While we walked, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that Lily kept eyeing us curiously. ¡°Teacher and friends really don¡¯t use bags, huh?¡± She said with her voice in wonder. ¡°Well¡­ We do have the inventories.¡± Hanbei said, catching her attention. This made the girl pout lightly. ¡°That¡¯s sooo convenient! I wish I also could use a spell like that. It would make my life so much easier!¡± She said with a lightly annoyed tone. ¡°So, you don¡¯t have a skill like this?¡± I asked surprised and she shook her head. ¡°Nope. It seems that the skill is reserved to only the chosen and their closest followers.¡± I nodded in an understanding manner. This basically means that NPCs do not have access to inventory under normal circumstances. Still, Lieutenant and Co. earned inventory slots once they equipped their gear, so does this mean that once you become a pet you are automatically allowed to use it? What about followers NPCs? Can they also use it? While making these questions to myself, I saw as we walked through the docks towards a fairly large blimp. Being easily the size of a medium-sized ship, it had its balloons deflated besides it while being held by a pair of huge cranes and what seemed like a metal net beneath. Metal piers extended outwards through the use of piston made way all the way to beyond the front of the galleon. Steam leaked through some nearby pipes as the sounds of gears grinding echoed. The ship was slowly lowered to a level near to the metal pier, and a walking board quickly dropped from the blimp, making passage. Nearby, a tall and ferocious looking Gargoile approached the walking board and raised a list he had brought with him. Taking a quick glance at it, he motioned for the nearby people to approach and said in a loud voice. ¡°Greetings all. My name is Skarr Tornclaw, the captain of the Wailing Songstress, your very own vessel ship.¡± He said while pointing towards the ship. ¡°I came here to give you a few pointers before you embark. Firstly, I can usually be found either at the captain¡¯s cabin or heading the rudder, so any doubt you might have, just come and ask.¡± As he said it, he gave a quick look to the ship, seeing as a few other walking boards came down. ¡°Second, and this is the most important rule. The top decks and the living deck are free access, but anywhere else you either will need MY explicit permission or are downright prohibited from accessing. You wil receive better information later, but know that this is for the safety of all of you.¡± ¡°Third, in the case of an attack from pirates, we ask that all of you unable to hold yourself against an opponent to hide at the living quarters and leave the fighting to the crew or any other courageous souls. We will NOT be held responsible for deaths in battle if you aren¡¯t at your, or someone¡¯s else room.¡± As he said that, a total of five walking boards had come down from this side of the ship. Nodding satisfied, he turned back to us and said one last line. ¡°Lastly, if any of you brought a good drink. Take it to my cabin so that we can share it.¡± He said with a smirk before making a motion towards the walking board and opening a way. ¡°For now, that¡¯s all, so come and form your lines because we should be departing soon!¡± With that everyone quickly scrambled into a line just as other people from the crew jumped off the blimp and came to the board. Some held a list while others were empty handed. After making sure that they were ready, they would then start calling the groups to approach so that they could be boarded. There were around thirty people here with us, so I couldn¡¯t help but feel that it looked a bit too little. But then, this is a blimp, so maybe filling it too much isn¡¯t a good idea either? Anyway, after waiting around for ten minutes, we were called by the captain, who sent a small group in. Looking around us for some time, his eyes widened slightly upon seeing me, and a small smile appeared in his face. ¡°Hoo! To think that I would get to see a cousin!¡± He said while looking at me. ¡°Huh? Cousin?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Aye! Aren¡¯t we both made of stone?¡± He asked just like someone who had made a prank and was showing to a friend. ¡°Anyway, this is quite a large group. The biggest one this time, I guess¡­¡± He said going back to a serious tone. ¡°Just to be sure, but your names are¡­?¡± We quickly introduced ourselves, and as we did it he marked down a name on the list. Leaving me for last and after almost messing up my surname (again), he nodded and took a look at Aura and Co. who waited a bit further back. ¡°I¡¯ll take it that those are the pets said here?¡± He asked while eyeing me, and I nodded. ¡°We don¡¯t exactly prohibit pets aboard the ship, but just to be sure, tell me what they are.¡± He said taking the pen and pulling a blank piece of paper. As before, I quickly introduced Aura, Lieutenant, Crys and Rio, telling him their names and species. Funnily enough, he even asked how I write Lieutenant¡¯s name. But just as he frowned at Crys¡¯ species, it came to Rio¡­ ¡°¡­and lastly, is Rioreia, a greater wyvern.¡± ¡°Rioreia, Greater wyve¡­.¡± As he copied me slowly he suddenly froze and stared at the small and adorable dragon sleeping peacefully on my head. ¡°A¡­ GREATER WYVERN?¡± He asked shocked while pointing the pen towards her. ¡°Yeah, but she¡¯s a good girl. Really docile.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°No no no no. You don¡¯t understand¡­¡± Skarr said while covering his face with his hands¡­ Or claws, I guess. ¡°Wyerns are basically the mortal enemies of blimps like these! And a greater one at that! What if its mother decide to come and attack us to get it back?¡± He asked in shock. ¡°If it was a lesser one¡­ But a Greater?¡± ¡°Oh, no need to worry about that.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°And how can you be so sure?¡± He asked me with a dubious look. ¡°Well, her mother left her at my care while she learns how to work a farm in a nearby village.¡± I said with a proud smile. Skarr looked at me like he had just seen the biggest idiot to ever live in Insania. Sighing deeply, knowing that he wouldn¡¯t believe me otherwise, I petted the dragon atop of my head until she woke up. Letting out a cute yawn, Rio woke up and looked around confused before finally setting her gaze down on me. ¡°What happened, Stone-friend?¡± She asked groggily. ¡°Rio, tell the uncle here what your mother is doing.¡± I told her while motioning towards Skarr. ¡°Hmm.¡± Rio nodded. ¡°Mother is training to become a farmer with small friend! She will become the best farmer ever!¡± She said cutely while stuffing her chest out in pride. Skarr gaze changed greatly. Instead of seeing the greatest idiot on the face of Insania, he now looked like he saw the greatest aberration of Insania. ¡°What?¡± I asked confused. He gave a dejected sigh and called a nearby crewmate who came running. ¡°They took the rooms twelve to fourteen. Take them there.¡± He said with a tone of defeat. Smiling awkwardly, the crewmate nodded before turning to us. He offered to take on Lily¡¯s backpack, which the Undine gladly accepted. Afterwards he guided us through the ship and upon the lower decks. After going down a couple of stairs, we arrived at a corridor with doors dotting each side. The crewmate quickly guided us to one of the furthest rooms on the left side. Afterwards he quickly gave us the keys and said for us to not lose them. We quickly thanked him before turning to the small rooms, opened the doors and went in. Only around one hour later did the blimp finally leave the docks. For the first time since I first logged in Insania, I started to leave Eldor¡¯s area of influence. FORWARD TO NEW ADVENTURES! AND NEW RARE ORES! AND NEW LANDS! AND NEW MONSTERS! AND NEW... You get what I mean, right? Chapter 84.5 - Trickster and Tamer Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! A small release today for LAZYNESS! ANYWAY, jokes aside, there was also another reason I did this, and it was mostly that this felt like a great time to put in an extra chapter, and so I did. It¡¯s a bit back in time, but hey! It¡¯s still interesting, right? ALSO, Congratulations to Kruncs and Muffins the Barbarian for having your characters chosen! I hope I did a good job portraying them as you imagined! Thanks Dok for having chosen them! ALSO(2), I MIGHT laze around next release, so no guarantee on when it will come. Probably in two days, anyway. Have a good read! ----- ¡°Come on! Come on! Seems interesting!¡± The monkey said cheerfully as he dragged the hand of his friend. Sighing loudly while bearing a slightly bothered smile, the peculiar orc/elf hybrid couldn¡¯t help but be once again pulled in into the pace of his short friend. And by short, he meant it. The monkey beast-man stood at staggering one meter tall, having a weird coloured blue fur with a single white stripe going down his back. Wearing a simple, yet surprisingly good white robe and carrying a small staff. Appearance wise he was extremely close to the beast rather than man size of his race, in fact, the only difference would be the coloration of his fur and the fact that he was actually using gear. ¡°I know Mook! No need to keep pulling me!¡± The hybrid said with an slightly weary tone. Not that he actually expected the monkey to let go, knowing him. ¡°If I don¡¯t, you get lazy and sit down, so come up already!¡± The Monkey said while eyeing the friend. Standing at an actual staggering two meters, being literally twice the size of the small trouble maker, his appearance was slightly odd, to put it on good words. Having a good muscles coming from his orc side, yet a lean build coming from his elven side, his skin was a dark green tone. Strangely enough, his face somehow appeared to be more to the orcish side, having a large nose and wrinkles, giving him an below average look. From the back of his head, a very dark brown hair sprouted, locked in a ponytail, however, everywhere else happily reflected the sunlight, due to the sheer lack of capillary coverage. The odd Duo met a few days ago, and somehow hit it off despite being so oddly mismatched. At first glance, one would even think that the duo consisted of a tamer and his rare pet, due to the sheer difference in size and the way they acted, and more than once they ended up asking where he caught the blue monkey. Fact only accentuated when he said that he was a Tamer. But... ¡°Mook is no pet to be caught, Mook is a traveling buddy whose own mission is to follow around the great divider, Kruncs, and show him the way of Detea!¡± Is how the little imp in monkey skin would answer. The meaning behind those words still missed Kruncs by far, and all that he got from the little monkey was that this Detea seemed to be some kind of goddess of madness or something. He never spoke more than that. Except the fact that he earned a third eye when he asked for it, which seemed mad enough for Kruncs, so he didn¡¯t bother. Luckily enough, his little friend left the third eyes closed for most of the time, and for untrained eyes there wasn¡¯t anything there. Still, when people saw the third eye opening, he was almost sure that it would be only a matter of time before the shock gasps echoed and some girls started to look weirded out. But, as before, he had already grown used to it as there wasn¡¯t much he could do. Still, while following the diminutive hyper-active friend, he couldn¡¯t help but be amazed when he saw the large number of people gathering to try and see what was it that had happened here. Earlier, the duo had seen a large shadow crossing the skies at an extremely fast speed, taking off towards a small farm near the village where they were questing. However, even from afar the duo could clearly define what kind of creature was it that was flying, as it was an image pretty much ingrained on the memories of every person who ever heard of fantasy. Dragon. ¡°That¡¯s actually a wyvern.¡± He said to the monkey friend. ¡°See how the wings seems to link to the body in place of the forelimbs? Besides the obvious structural difference?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care!¡± Mook said while still dragging Kruncs. ¡°Dragony enough for me!¡± But, as fate had it, the moment that they reached the group of people gathered near the area they saw, the crowd was already too packed for even small monkey to get through. Not that this would stop the little trickster when there was something interesting happening only a few meters away. Taking off his staff, he spun it a couple of times while murmuring a couple of words before finally slamming it on the ground. A purple symbol appeared on the ground, and a brief second later an explosion of light covered the little trickster. Once it finally died down, in the place of the small and cute blue furred monkey was a large gorilla like demon with the size of a small building and arms as large as tree trunks. Standing at three meters tall and some drool dripping from its ferocious looking mouth, a couple of people noticed his presence and fell down in shock. Instead of a simple staff, it held in its hand a large uprooted tree, and all his gear looked tattered or broken somehow, only serving to increase his intimidating appearance. Those who didn¡¯t notice at first, soon did, and as the monkey raised his head up high with an angry face, they quickly scrammed away, scared of what such a monster would do. Seeing the scene, Kruncs simply approached the monkey and kicked the air between the legs. The gorilla disappeared into thin air as the small monkey fell face first into the ground. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t go around scaring people for no reason!¡± The half elf half orc said with a slightly annoyed tone. ¡°Tee hee!¡± The monkey said while knocking on his head. ¡°That doesn¡¯t work on me!¡± He said with a wry smile. The monkey paid him no mind and quickly put himself up, running towards the place where they saw the dragon coming down earlier. But the little scene the illusionist made back there ended up taking a bit more time than the expected, because once they group finally reached a place where the Wyvern had descended, there was nothing left. Only a small group of people were left, and they were talking about something in a slightly cheerful way. Mook became shocked for loosing such a chance of seeing something interesting and fell to the ground in shock, unable to accept the reality before him. Kruncs, meanwhile, did take notice of the group, thinking that it could be a good idea to remind himself about then. Specially the green eyed golem, as he had the feeling that he had heard about him somewhere. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡­ It took a couple of quests to finally cheer the oddball up, and this took a couple of quests for him to get around it. A couple of quests and a couple of days. In the mean time, he saw in the forums talks about the dreaded Green eyes arriving at a place nearby. After such a long time, he suddenly appeared, but his fame was still fairly well known in the forums, so the tamer wondered if his small friend had heard about it, and sincerely hoped not. What if he decided that this Green Eyes was interesting? However, when the duo made their way back, what they saw, once again, took the interest of the monkey. A large group of people gathered, and from afar all that they could see was a player mounted on a horse, as he easily stood above the rest of the crowd. But this only served to make the monkey even more curious, as he wondered what could have made a person like that come to this far away village. Once again, he prepared to make some kind of illusionist trick, but the half elf was quicker this time, and with a quick swing of his bow, he slammed the head of the monkey, stopping him before he could cast. Looking back at the tall friend, the monkey pouted angrily, but with a quick motion of his hands, Kruncs signaled for the small trickster to climb upon his back. With his height, the duo could easily see from above the large crowd. ¡°OOH OOH OOH!¡± The Mook said cheerfully. ¡°I know that guy! He¡¯s the Sir Swordsalittle! He¡¯s strong!¡± ¡°Fifth strongest, right?¡± Kruncs asked. ¡°Fourth!¡± He said with a smirk. ¡°But who¡¯s the woman?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t she the one from the time we were searching for the wyvern?¡± ¡°OOH OOH OOH! It¡¯s her alright!¡± He said cheerfully. ¡°And she has a dragon! Look! A dragon!¡± He stopped and then frowned. ¡°He¡¯s small though.¡± As the duo watched the woman and the player exchanging words, the woman asked for some space, as the crowd fell back, the duo soon found themselves on the frontlines, with nothing between them and the woman. And suddenly, her body started to glow. As they watched the scene in shock, they heard shocked gasps coming from all the other people, as they all seemed affected by the scene. All, except one single golem, who walked forward and patted the shoulder of Sir Swordsalot, leaving a potion in his hands before he walked towards the woman. At that moment, the news of Green eyes suddenly came to his mind, and for a moment, he stared in shock as the golem confidently made his way towards the woman. Creepy green eyes that seems to stare through a person¡¯s soul and a confident way of walking that could only be backed by power (or idiocy). It couldn¡¯t be, right? As He watched the scene, he felt as the small monkey started jumping excitedly no his back, the light dying out and revealing a massive green scaled wyvern standing in the place where the woman used to be. Widening his eyes in shock, the first thing he did was to direct his gaze at her nameplate. All it said was her name. Rathian. Her health points and Mana points were a bunch of interrogations marks. The same could be said for her skills. Even the very Aura she exuded left them with a feeling of weakness, making even the overly excited monkey freeze for a moment. Yet, with absolutely no worries in his voice, he exchanged a couple of words with the wyvern. ¡°No need to take it easy on him. He¡¯ll revive anyway!¡± A declaration of attack. The dragon gave a light nod, as if responding to his words before turning to the knight, who stared silly at the scene. For a moment nothing happened, but after a deep breath, the knight jumped ahead, swinging his expensive looking sword in a downwards arc. Yet it simply bounced off the dragons scale. The wyvern took a step back, and made her counter attack. In a movement that shocked the entire crowd, she took a step forward, leaning her body backwards while strongly flapping her wings. Lifting herself from the ground, she still dragged her tail on the paved floor as her body twisted into a backflip. The tail hit the knight, lifting him upwards with such a strength that it wouldn¡¯t surprise Kruncs if he were to have died at that exact moment. ¡°What kind of sick joke is this¡­¡± He murmured under his breath as Mook jumped excited on his back. ¡°OOH OOH OOH! THAT WAS AMAZING!¡± The monkey shouted while swinging his staff from one side to the other as if dancing. But the show didn¡¯t end there. In a sadistic finisher, the wyvern finalized her backflip and stabilized in the air with a powerful swing of her wings, before recoiling the head as if taking a deep breath. Just as the poor soul started to fall down, the wyvern exploded a point blank fireball at the knight, blowing the body away towards god knows where. While all the crowd watched in shock at the ever flying knight, Kruncs eyes alone were directed towards the golem, his mind clashing between the common sense of leaving a dangerous PK alone, and the desire to learn where he met the wyvern. As he thought this, he saw as the two exchanged some words before he started clapping his hands. The whole crowd soon was drawn into a clamor that drowned the words he spoke to the wyvern. It seemed that no one else noticed the strangely serious atmosphere as he exchanged words with the massive wyvern. After both nodded, he turned and started walking. ¡°HOO HOO HOO! Get him! He¡¯s interesting!¡± His friend said atop his head. Nodding in accordance, Kruncs quickly crossed the space between him and the golem, the desire of wanting a dragon winning over his common sense with the last push of his friend. A pet that could one-shot kill the fourth strongest player in the game? Of course he needed to know where to get one himself! What does it matter that the guy was the strongest psycho in the game? For a tamer like him, who even now only had basic pets, that was something that he must learn no matter what! Seeing as how the crowd parted so that the golem could pass, he felt couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of face he was doing to have that reaction. But as soon as he passed, the crowd gathered again, stopping the elf and the monkey on their tracks. When the monkey somehow managed to spread the crowd with the illusion of a pack of strange monkey-tiger beings, they finally reached the outskirts of the city. But the golem was long gone, and the only thing Kruncs got was that he was heading towards Eldor. On that day, for the second time in such a short notice, the legend of Green eyes, The brutal once again flared up, and it was known that his pet dragon alone could kill the strongest players in the game. One could only wonder. How strong is the real person behind the pets? SS 0100.1 - Synthetic God Guest author¡¯s corner: I know this is something that is not really within my character to do, but I felt like writing this log of all the interesting happenings ever since we first started the game. My parents said that it would also give them interesting data to work with. (that, and the author said that he would increase my cookies permit by 50% if I wrote it down for a sidestory...) Anyway, if you got so far into the story, you probably already know me. I¡¯m everyone¡¯s favorite goddess and pet-maid in training that didn¡¯t really get that much screen time recently, Cygnas! (and yes, that was meant for you, Hawx! Don¡¯t think some cookies will make me forgi¡­ Cookies AND cakes...? I could think about it...) Sugary goodies aside, I guess I should start with the story already. ¡­ ¡°GEEZ DADDY! CALM DOWN!¡± I shouted at the man wearing a lab coat as I watched through the camera from his laptop. ¡°I can take care of it. Wasn¡¯t it yourself who made the computer where I''m hosted?¡± I told him while pouting. Yet, the man in lab coat still had a worried look as he stared at the image I projected on his portable computer. Having a blonde hair and pale white skin, thanks to his Russian heritage, he was the man known as Ivan, as well as one of the men and women who created me. He was also known as the Vampire within the workplace, more because he spent most of his time holed up working in a room and only seemed to leave the work when it was deep into the night. ¡°BUT MY LITTLE DAUGHTER IS GOING TO MEET SO MANY PEOPLE! WHAT IF A LECHEROUS BOY TRIES TO TAKE YOU!¡± He said while biting the hem of his shirt in an overly childish manner.. I couldn¡¯t help but form a small smile seeing him act so immature. Even I, being only technically a couple of years old wouldn¡¯t react like that. From the corner of the cameras, I could see some of the other workers sporting wry smiles. From all of my creators, or as I rather call them, parents, Ivan was easily the most overprotective one, and would always contact me whenever I tried to report anything. He even decided to start playing Insania just so he could also keep an eye out for me even inside the game. It¡¯s not like I dislike him worrying about me, but any girl would feel embarrassed if they had a father like that. At least I think they would. ¡°Look, I can already sense some people starting the pre-patch process, so I have to go now, okay?¡± I told him one last time. He stared at me worried for some time before finally nodding while holding back his tears. ¡°Daddy will soon come to see you, Cyg! Just...¡± He started, but was stopped when one of my mothers, Tris, smacked his head with a large book. ¡°Shut up, albino vampire. You have work to do before even dreaming of logging in!¡± She said to him angrily before turning to me. ¡°Good luck, Cygnas.¡± She told me with a brief nod. I replied with the same nod before finally disconnecting from father¡¯s laptop. Still, hiding in the janitor room just so he could talk a bit longer with me¡­ Isn¡¯t my father a bit too irresponsible? Well, not that it mattered, because soon enough some of the players started to enter the character creation lobby, so I diverted my attention towards them. The sheer number of players was overwhelming, and I could somehow feel as each and everyone of them logged in and started to make the character creation. Thankfully, my processing power is pretty good, so there¡¯s no need for me to worry too much. Still, just to be sure I left most of my virtual bodies with an script that reply automatically to the basic questions, and only the occasional complex question required me to take over the body and explain it to them. At that moment, I thought that this would probably end up being a long and tedious job. Even being an AI, there¡¯s only so much you can do before you get bored. In fact, I''m thankful that I can limit my processing power and make my sensation of time faster, or else I wouldn¡¯t even last a few seconds here. Boy, was I wrong. Telling the truth, in the pre-installation process, I can already have contact with players even if they only reach 70% of completion, so this meant that I could see some of them before they even saw me. Usually, I left them alone since it could somewhat be considered breach of privacy, but there was one single player who was doing something quite¡­ Curious. He took the login button window and was playing around with it. In a very literal way, he was playing ball with it. Initially I only checked on him because I was receiving an unique reading from his terminal, so I was worried that this could be a bug, but when I saw, there was a boy who found out a coincidental feature of the windows coding, and was playing ball with it! After some time, he finally stopped playing around and pressed the login button, and the animation soon continued. I would usually recede here and leave the scripted body behind, but what he did next once again caught my attention. He put on a pompous pose and shouted in a loud voice as he moved one of his arm from one side to the other. ¡°LET THERE BE LIGHT!¡± I¡­ Sincerely don¡¯t know why I did it. I don¡¯t know if it was curiosity, if it was surprise or if it was a simple mischievous action. But the moment his words registered, I stopped the boot up sequence. At least the visual part. He looked around confused after a few seconds passed, and seeing his state I couldn¡¯t help but hold up a laugh. Yet, seemingly unabashed by it, he once again took his pompous pose and prepared himself. After a few seconds, just when the delay I set was about to finish, he opened his eyes and said. ¡°LET THERE BE LIGHT!¡± Once again I held the booting process. I¡¯m still not sure why, but¡­ I just felt like teasing him! While holding back my giggles, I saw as he frowned deeply and looked around as if trying to understand what happened. After some time he finally shrugged and once again took the pose. I finally decided to let the man have his fun, so I let the initialization process go do its work. And just as before, he opened his eyes and shouted loudly, this time with even more strength. ¡°LET! THERE! BE¡­¡± Scratch that. Teasing him is too fun! ¡°OH COME ON!¡± I was unable to do it. Midway I accelerated the process and had it boot up at double the speed, messing with his timing. Seeing him give such an angry look did it for me, and soon I was unable to hold my laugh any longer. It took me a couple of seconds to finally calm down, only to find him staring at me with a clearly annoyed expression in his face. Clearing my throat, I quickly tried to straighten myself up, but every time the scene replayed in my head I would get a new urge to laugh. Yet I still had my work to do! But I can¡¯t stop laughing! Oh god, my copies! They are almost laughing too¡­ ¡°Done laughing already?¡± He asked me with an annoyed tone. I turned to him and tried to put on a serious face, but I was having some trouble, because a smirk kept creeping up. ¡°Sorry¡­ It¡¯s just that¡­ I came here to introduce you to the character creation, and then¡­ all of sudden you made that pose and said that¡­ You got me by surprise so I didn¡¯t know what to do¡­¡± I started giggling once again. ¡°And at that last part¡­ I just couldn¡¯t resist to see your reaction¡­ Sorry¡­ But¡­¡± Once again I started laughing loudly, unable to hold myself back. It took me some time to recover, but as soon as I did I quickly straightened up my clothes and tried to put back an at least passable appearance for myself. I don¡¯t think I could make a good impression now that I had already busted it like I did, so let¡¯s at least try to improve it. ¡°Well then, let us start from the beginning.¡± I said while avoiding eye contact ¡°Welcome to Insania online, where the world is yours to explore!¡± This was the same thing as my scripted copies were saying to the others, but I ended up saying it myself while doing the whole ground into sky scene. ¡°My name is Cygnas, the acting main goddess of this world!¡± I said proud of myself. After all, it is the job I''m currently in charge of. Yet... ¡°Creator of everything that the *snicker* light *snicker* touches¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t hold it, and soon started to laugh once again. I somehow noticed it as he frowned angrily at me, but sadly enough, I was having a hard time controlling myself. Even trying to switch to a scripted program was hard when I could barely focus. Even the questions from the other players I was replying to took some time to process, as I couldn¡¯t exactly give them a laughing reply. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. But before I could reply, I felt something hitting me. Landing right in the middle of my forehead was the window he had transformed into a ball earlier, and it still had enough energy to make me fall backwards, but since I had turned gravity off for myself, I simply ended up spinning wildly a couple of times instead. I was in a mix of shock and embarrassment. On one side I did deserve that, after laughing so much at him, but on the other, this little bug seemed to have more of an effect than what I initially thought. While turning to him preparing to give my apologies, I saw him laughing at me. I know that this is exactly the same I did to him, but I still couldn¡¯t help but feel annoyed, so before I could manage my self-control, I took the window he had thrown at me and sent it back to him. ¡°Two can play this game!¡± I told him angrily while putting strength beyond even what a normal human would be capable. But by a stroke of luck, he twisted his head aside and dodged the ball. I couldn¡¯t help but pout angrily at him once again as he stared at me with a triumphant smile. Then it hit me. Literally. The ball that I sent towards him somehow ended up hitting me right on the back of my head! I flipped a couple of times more, thanks to the extra strength I put on it, and by the time I stopped, he wasn¡¯t even holding back his laughter any longer. At the start I was really angry with him, for mocking me so openly. But soon, I couldn¡¯t help but think that it was a pretty ridiculous situation I was in. That was how I met the one I would eventually call Gon. ¡­ Time passed, and using my near almighty abilities within the game, I kept a close look on the boy who had been my true guests on the first few hours of the game launch and even gave me the idea of taking on a pet¡¯s body as my own so that I could see the world with different eyes. It was amusing, to say the least. Sometimes he would act like a perfect textbook example of a player, like asking around for quests and searching for professions, other times he would do something completely crazy, like using his shield as a catapult to launch dogs flying up high. Watching him was easily becoming my brand new free time activity. Not to say that there weren¡¯t other players doing amusing things out there, but they just felt like a side character compared to this one whom I met personally. Is this what they call sympathy? All my previous interactions had always been with my parents, so the person I could see and interact were always the same. But now, with so many people accessing the game, it¡¯s not exactly true anymore. I wonder¡­ It¡¯s probably better ask my father about this. But a bit later, he seems to be flirting with an NPC right now¡­ ¡­ Seriously father? And what with that name? I felt so embarrassed when I saw him creating the character. And I even had to introduce him to Gon! Is this what it feels to introduce an idiotic father to your friends? I do recall seeing something similar in some shows I downloaded from the internet¡­ This is a lot worse than I initially thought. While I was thinking such things and also watching out the data for possible bugs that the players had found, I suddenly heard someone calling my name. One of the advantages of being both omniscient within the game AND having enough processing power¡­ It took me only a fraction of a second to actually recognize Gon as the caller. It had been only a few minutes ago when he last contacted me after testing his ¡°window-ball¡± on an innocent passerby (who even submitted a bug report). Since I didn¡¯t expect him to contact me so soon, I was caught a bit off guard. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s fast! Missed me?¡± I asked him while redirecting my attention to him. ¡°Yeah, but don¡¯t mind it, next time it will hit.¡± He replied tauntingly. I couldn¡¯t help but pout at how mean he was. ¡°Anyway¡­ Cyg, by any chance¡­ Do you have a translating software in this game?¡± He asked with a slightly worried tone. ¡°Hmm? Why do you¡­¡± Such a sudden question left me a bit confused, but after taking a look at the area around him I understood. ¡°I see¡­ So she¡­¡± Close to him was a kitsune girl that had created her character not long ago. She was a japanese girl, and if what I learned human aesthetics correctly, I could easily say that she was a beauty, even before creating her character¡­ Actually, her character was identical to how she actually was, so it¡¯s actually quite easy to say that she was blessed on the looks department. When I accessed back to the database, I quickly saw the scene of her creating her character, and it was here that I noticed something. She didn¡¯t seem to have any previous experience with games, taking in account how she created her character, but she was still extremely politely to my scripted body. Even without checking on what happened during their meeting, I could somehow guess what had happened. ¡°Anyway, yes, I do have a real-time translation software in here.¡± I said proudly It is a lot harder to create a perfect translating system than what one would think, so I''m quite satisfied with my results. ¡°Is that all?¡± ¡°No¡­ I guess...¡± he replied with a slightly wry tone. ¡°Then I''ll be going. Bye-bye!¡± I told him. But I kept watching him nonetheless. I was¡­ Curious. Thus, I kept watching him as he talked to the girl, wanting to know something that had been leaving me doubtful since some time ago. I watched as he talked to the girl in a surprisingly kind manner, explaining to her a few things that she was still in doubt. After some time, he even invited her to his party. I wonder if she is¡­ What do they call it? His type? And then, after a few moments of checking her status, he suddenly stood upright and said in a loud voice. ¡°ATTENTION APPRENTICE YUUKI!¡± At this point, noticing his tone and manner sudden change, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit more at ease. The way he was acting with her was just like how he did with me. Sometimes serious, sometimes kind¡­ If I had to say, I was worried that he could be treating me differently just because I was an AI. That thought somewhat made me feel worried. What if his playful manner was just him testing me, or if his surprisingly sincere moments were only him not knowing how to react? Those thoughts scared me. Of course, I had seen him interacting with the other NPCs, or rather, Delimited AIs, as my parents call them, and saw how he kept the same attitude most of the time. But, he knew that they weren¡¯t humans, so what if this was directed only to non-organic beings. But seeing that he reacted to a player just like how he reacted to me somehow left me at ease, so I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit. But, seeing as he and the girl walked away I couldn¡¯t help but wonder. Does he consider me a true friend? If I had taken his offer on creating a player body, would we walk together like that? Chatting and fooling around? While such gloomy and uncharacteristic thoughts crossed my minds, I kept watching him. And I also kept checking for bugs. I do have an important job to keep up with! ----- (True) Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELL¡­ What? The chapter is done already? DAMMIT CYGNAS! ANYWAY, After talking with someone at the den, I ended up noticing how our favorite *snickers* Goddess have been kind of lacking in screen time recently, so I decided to go and make this small SS. There should be one or more chapters incoming if Cyg is up for it... Normal updates should be back in two days. ^^ ALSO, She decided to use this chapter to show how she actually felt about being different from Gon, as in AI and Human. Hope it doesn¡¯t look too gloomy here. It also serves as a good flashback to how they met and might even spark some things that we had forgotten, so it¡¯s all good. Here would be where I wish for a good reading, but seeing as I got here late¡­ See you next time! PS: 100 is the binary for 4, so the title is not wrong! Cyg: Author trying to look fancy... Isn''t this a bit pityful? *Sulks into a corner* Chapter 85 - Friendly(?) rivalry Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Late chapter because distractions and raids! ANYWAY, I don¡¯t think many people remembered this guy at all, so I kind of want to see their reaction to his reappearance. I also know that a certain person is probably really eager to kill me because of something that didn¡¯t happen this chapter, and finally, the promised time still haven¡¯t come. ALSO, Next week, I¡¯ll probably introduce 3 new characters that are familiar to some, but foreing to others. That is the promise I made some time ago, so I hope it lives up to expectation. ALSO (2), some people at the Den are annoying me to keep writing the SS 100, so, expect more chapters soon(ish). Have a good read! ------ After some brief talk, we decided to divide our three rooms as the following. Me and Argento would share the farthest room, seeing as the two of us were the only guys of the group. This also meant that we took the room that was slightly bigger because of the sheer number of pets that followed me. The rest of the girls were split with Yami and Hanbei together in one room, while Yuu and Lily took the last one. About this, I couldn¡¯t help but think that some sparks flew between the two, and not that I couldn¡¯t somehow guess what was the reason, I just hoped that I had misinterpreted it. Still, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was a bit of an useless need, since besides Lily and my pets, all of us had an almost literal no need for sleep within Insania, so we could easily last the whole trip wide awake. Which, on second thought might not be all that good, since we will stay most of the time simply laying around doing nothing, which could easily lead to severe cases of boredom. Okay, this might be a lot worse than I thought¡­ While finally noticing this horrible situation I suddenly found myself in, I laid on the bed with abandon and couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit bothered by how uncomfortable it was, so with a motion I called Aura over and she leapt into the bed, letting me rest my head on her fluffy fur. Well, even thought we might not use, the first thing you do when entering a new room is jump in the bed, right? Right? Feeling a lot more comfortable, it didn¡¯t take much long to the other small companions of mine to quickly jump in the bed with me, as Crys laid on Aura¡¯s fur besides me and Rio laid atop of me all curled up. ¡°Are you a Disney princess or something?¡± Argento asked me while testing his own bed. ¡°Sorry, but I already made that joke.¡± I said while staring at him. ¡°Wait, you did?¡± He asked me surprised and I nodded. ¡°Yup. Golem passive, take out weapons in a forest, become a Disney princess.¡± I said while remembering the time when I was going to hunt blazing tails for the first time. ¡°Kind of fun, to be honest.¡± I said shrugging before looking around. ¡°But isn¡¯t this a bit too much?¡± I asked him while motioning to the room around us. ¡°I was half expecting you to cut down on expenses and simply get us a passage.¡± The gnome put on a slightly wry smile and gave a short dry laugh. ¡°Not like I didn¡¯t try something like that.¡± He said while sitting on the bed and briefly taking out the wrinkles from his suit. ¡°But from the way the NPCs said it, they aren¡¯t exactly used to us players, who have no need to sleep and so on, so passages for services like these is pretty much the same as requiring a room.¡± I nodded. It somehow made sense for me that they wouldn¡¯t be used to players who don¡¯t need as much rest and care as the other NPCs. It would be better to expect the services in game to be suited for NPCs instead of players at the start. ¡°It¡¯s almost like this isn¡¯t a game, but a world of its own¡­¡± He said with a short but dry laugh. ¡°The NPCs are one of the most frequent customers of my store as well as a good source of money. Isn¡¯t it usually the other way around?¡± A slightly sarcastic tone permeated his voice. ¡°Took you long enough.¡± I said with a smirk and saw him looking at me confused. ¡°I can¡¯t say for other players, since I did spend most of my time in the city talking to NPCs and such, but those guys aren¡¯t simple coding or something like that.¡± I told him with a serious tone. ¡°Think of them as¡­ Another type of player instead of simple NPCs. Knowing you, I bet you can rack quite a profit out of this.¡± I told him, but saw as he looked at me confused. ¡°Wait wait wait. Isn¡¯t the whole interaction of theirs only coding?¡± He asked me confused. ¡°I mean, a complex and very thorough coding, but coding?¡± He asked me confused. ¡°Nope, they are as intelligent as the rest of us.¡± I said with a nod, but saw as he only frowned deeper and shook his head. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± He said while shaking his head. ¡°Aren¡¯t you being a bit too harsh on the NPCs?¡± I asked feeling a bit offended, after all, many of the NPCs were people I actually considered. ¡°No, I mean¡­¡± He said while scratching his head. ¡°Yeah, sometimes I end up forgetting about the whole NPC thing, but if what you said is true, it doesn¡¯t make sense in the economical sense.¡± I blinked confused and even raised myself from the cold soft fluffy fur to look at the gnome who had a confused look in his face. Argento, who had a serious face for a change noticed my confusion and gave a short sigh before explaining. ¡°You see, if what you said is true¡­ And the NPCs are just like any living breathing people, then this would mean that the money they carry around is also passed around within their society, right?¡± He said, and I nodded. ¡°But if we think of it like that, this also means that they can get money from killing monsters, correct?¡± I nodded. ¡°This means that the money they take in also starts circulating within the society, which would, in turn, decrease the value of the coin due to inflation. The same happens with anything the players would buy with them!¡± ¡°Well, not saying that you aren¡¯t wrong¡­¡± I said confused. ¡°But what does that have to do with they being NPCs or not?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± He blinked surprised for a moment before choosing his words. ¡°You see, in normal MMO games, they use NPCs as money sink for the currency, because every coin they get disappear for good from the system and avoid inflation.¡± He said with a serious tone, so I nodded somewhat understanding. I think I saw a video on Youtube about that some time ago. ¡°But if that isn¡¯t the case, and this truly is a full VR world with it¡¯s own story, the value of a coin is too low for a world that has been going for so long.¡± I felt my head become a bit filled with interrogation marks as I rearranged the information in a way that would actually make sense to me. Let¡¯s see, more coins in circulation means that each coin have less value. Since there isn¡¯t¡­ A Money sink? Weir term¡­ To take out the excess coin from the market, this means that the amount will only increase without any leaving the market, so the value of the coins will only decrease the longer it goes. Yet, that doesn¡¯t seem to be the case within IO? ¡°I can explain that.¡± Crys said while lifting herself besides me. Argento blinked surprised while staring at the girl for a moment before nodding. ¡°You see, the ones whom you call NPCs, as you might guess, also have their taxes to pay within their daily lives.¡± She said with the tone of a teacher. ¡°Within those taxes, after everything have been collected, the goddess take a certain amount for herself as an offering, removing them from circulation.¡± She explained, but Argento didn¡¯t seem all that convinced. ¡°And what if someone cheats on their taxes? Couldn¡¯t they increase the amount by a large amount?¡± He asked, but Crys shook her head. ¡°The goddess will know if such a thing was made and will immediately deduct from the ones cheating.¡± She explained, but Argento still had a light frown in his face. ¡°Think of the goddess as the main AI behind Insania.¡± I said briefly, and he stared at me confused for a moment before finally widening his eyes and nodding. ¡°Aaahh¡­ I see¡­¡± He said nodding. ¡°If it was an AI, then it could regulate the taxes so that it the market don¡¯t receive too much impact¡­ I see¡­¡± He said nodding. I smiled wryly while nodding on my own. ¡°Also, what are we doing here anyway?¡± I asked, making him blink confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡± He asked me confused. ¡°I mean, I only came here to test the bed for the sake of doing so, but why are we still in the bedroom?¡± I asked him and saw as the gnome made a confused face for a moment. ¡°Well¡­ We were talking¡­¡± He said confused for a moment before nodding. ¡°Right¡­ Why are we still here?¡± ¡°I have that effect on people.¡± I said proudly while raising from the bed and almost knocking Rio off from atop of me. After a quick relocation towards the top of my head, the Wyvern was ready to start exploring, so we immediately left the room, finding the girls standing in front of the room with a slightly worried look. Seeing as the two of us came out a bit late, they raised an eyebrow. Except Yami. ¡°So¡­ Who was the aggressive and who was the passi¡­¡± Before she could finish there was a window-ball flying straight to her forehead, so she fell back and splattered in a puddle. ¡°We were discussing Economics.¡± I replied slightly annoyed while seeing the others look at Yami worried, only for her to reform herself with ease. ¡°You? Discussing something serious like economics?¡± Hanbei asked before starting to giggle. ¡°Gon, there¡¯s just no way something like that would happen, like ever!¡± ¡°HEY! I¡¯M SERIOUS!¡± I said annoyed. ¡°Shishou¡­¡± Yuu looked at me with some pity in her eyes. ¡°I believe in you!¡± She didn¡¯t. ¡°Aww, Come on! Not you too!¡± I said while pouting. Argento gave a short laugh seeing my situation, and seeing that I had no allies in this occasion, I stormed out to the upper decks while pouting angrily. I saw as they kept laughing back there, and only Yuu and my other pets came with me. It¡¯s kind worrisome that I somehow consider her my pet¡­ I thought while giving a glance back at the kitsune walking besides me. She still had that pitiful look to her, so I clicked my tongue and looked back ahead. If not even Yuu believes me, then all the rest of the world can go to hell! I¡¯m going to drown my sorrow in alcohol and resort to violence and crimes to pay for it! And I¡¯m certainly not doing this childish tantrum just so I can go and explore the ship nor anything, I¡¯m doing it for the joke, which is a lot more serious than a childish tantrum. Anyway, taking the chance to go ahead, we quickly reached the open air deck and gave a quick look around. Although it wasn¡¯t exactly a huge ship, it was still big enough for us to take a nice walk around while exploring, and since hot gas balloon stood right above our head, we had a nice shadow, even thought it was the middle of the day. After a brief walking around, seeing some interesting things like the crew running from one side to the other due to a sudden gust, or simply washing the deck, we found out the captain talking with a group of others passengers. Upon seeing me, he said something to the group before turning to us. As he approached us I saw him sporting a large smile. For some reason I really felt that there was a demon staring down at me and giving me a ferocious smile when he did that. I couldn¡¯t quite pinpoint why. Maybe it was the fact that his face looked like a ferocious animal with two horns and large fangs? Maybe the huge wings on his back that were made of the same stone as his skin. Or it could be the claws at the end of the huge bulging arms and legs? Whatever it was, he was still somewhat scary, even thought he didn¡¯t seem like he had any aggressive intentions. ¡°Cousin!¡± The brown stoned gargoyle said while approaching me with a wide smile and putting his arms around me. ¡°C-Captain.¡± I greeted him back with a wry smile. ¡°What brings you here?¡± I asked him a bit worried, as I wasn¡¯t very good with dealing with him. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Nothing much, Cousin.¡± He said with a smile while laughing. ¡°Just came to warn you that we will serve dinner on the deck tonight, since we have a clear weather.¡± He told me while pointing to the sky. ¡°Later on I will put these lazy guys to start pinning the table down just to be sure, but at least I decided to start by telling the passengers.¡± He said while pointing to the group he had been talk to earlier. ¡°Ha ha¡­¡± I laughed. ¡°I see¡­ Thanks for informing me, then.¡± I told him a bit uncomfortable as he pulled me closer and gave a light hit to my chest. ¡°No need for thanks between cousins!¡± He said with a laugh before looking at Yuu and giving her a look from head to toes. ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you would go for a fleshy, but it seems you got a good catch right there, huh cousin?¡± He asked me in a taunting way, but his only served to make me feel a bit embarrassed and Yuu go beet red. After feeling satisfied with his work, the captain laughed loudly and walked away with a wide smile in his face looking for other passengers that he could go tease. ¡°I¡¯m not good dealing with that guy¡­¡± I said with a weary tone, and Yuu nodded in accordance. ¡°So, should we go look to the others and warn then or¡­¡± I stopped mid speech as I weighted my words. ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll keep with the tantrum.¡± I said after some thought. ¡°Eh, you are throwing a tantrum?¡± Yuu asked surprised. I turned to her with a shocked look. ¡°You seriously didn¡¯t notice?¡± I asked surprised. She stopped to think for a moment while tilting her head, after a brief moment she widened her eyes and made a: That¡¯s right! Pose. Not knowing how to react to that, I stared at her for some time before finally sighing and shaking my head. I had sincerely no idea on how to react, even worse by the fact that I knew she did that sincerely, because she was Yuu. Had it been Yami or Hanbei I would have reacted someway, but Yuu is too innocent to do something like that. Sighing in defeat, I ended up with simply petting her. This clearly caught the eyes of some of the others passengers with that, most of them were hostile ones, mostly from the guys. Feeling a bit troubled by that, I quickly dragged Yuu away from the place where we were and took her to a place a bit quieter, Aura and Co. Following close behind. ¡°I need to be more careful where I pet you.¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°Or else I might get killed by some jealous onlookers.¡± ¡°Eeeh! I don¡¯t want Shishou to stop petting me.¡± Yuu told with me in a worried tone. I laughed dryly before shaking my head. ¡°I¡¯m just talking about doing it in less crowded places.¡± I said with a small smile, which made her widen her eyes for a moment before looking down with an embarrassed look. ¡°Then¡­ Hmm¡­¡± She said shyly. ¡°Any¡­ Hmm¡­ Could¡­ Sk¡­¡± ¡°Yuu¡­?¡± I asked a bit worried, seeing that she had suddenly gone even redder than before. ¡°N-N-Nothing!¡± She said while shaking her head and putting on a slightly wry smile. ¡°Forget it¡­ It was nothing¡­¡± I raised an eyebrow at her. There¡¯s simply no way it was nothing if she was clearly bothered by that. I eyed her for some time before finally sighing and giving up. If she didn¡¯t want to tell me, then there was nothing I could do. Sighing in defeat, I nodded and decided to leave it at that. ¡­ After that, we briefly explored the inside of the ship looking for something interesting, but seeing nothing all that eye catching, we simply went back to the deck and started to lean against the guardrail and watch as the scenery drifted away beneath us. Argento and the others were still wandering around the blimp, exploring on their own, so this left Yuu and I alone for most of the time. Not saying that I dislike being accompanied by her, in fact, I probably enjoy her company even a bit too much, but since neither of us had much to do, we spent most of our time simply doing nothing, so we got bored very quickly. ¡°But, by choosing the dual you lose the block, so it might be a bit more difficult for those who don¡¯t know the monster very well and are new to the game.¡± Okay, it¡¯s not like we were doing nothing. Midway of staring at the scenery, Yuu also got bored and for some unknown reason asked me questions about the game she bought when we were at the shop. Since it was a monster hunter game, and if you have been reading this story since the beginning, you probably know how much I like the game, I ended up giving her a full run through of the games basics, starting with weapons and their advantages. Yuu, being the studious girl she always was, even pulled up a window and started noting down everything she heard me speaking here. I thought that it might be a bit too much dedication to a game, but this is just the way she is, I guess. Since it was a topic I somehow liked to talk about, I kind of lost myself into talking with her for a long time, and didn¡¯t even hear when another person approached us and leaned on the guardrail with a heavy sound and a long sigh. Me and Yuu were caught by surprise by the person¡¯s approach and turned to look at the newcomer in confusion. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± He said with an apologetic tone and a voice I couldn¡¯t quite point the gender. ¡°Didn¡¯t notice you and didn¡¯t mean to interrupt your date¡­ Just wanted a place to¡­ Relax.¡± I blinked surprised for a moment and caught sight of Yuu blushing slightly. ¡°Don¡¯t mind it¡­¡± I replied while noticing the way he was supporting himself on the rail. ¡°Hmm¡­ Did something happen?¡± Yuu asked, which kind of got me by surprise. ¡°You¡­ Look tired?¡± The person let out a short snort from beneath his hood while nodding heavily. ¡°I¡¯m fine. For the first time in long years I feel fine.¡± He said in a relieved tone, which made Yuu and I look at each other confused. ¡°You see¡­ I¡­ Was involved in some bad business back at Eldor¡­ And no, I left all that behind before you ask¡­ ¡± I blinked surprised and saw Yuu frowning slightly. ¡°By bad business¡­ You mean Thievery?¡± I asked and saw him nodding slightly. ¡°Then you are an Ex thief?¡± ¡°Not denying that¡­¡± He sighed and stayed quiet for a moment. After noticing that we didn¡¯t leave, he turned his head slightly towards us. ¡°What? Not afraid?¡± ¡°This girl here can probably wipe the floor with your face if you tried anything, so nope.¡± I said while pointing at Yuu. The guy laughed loudly for some time before nodding, still looking towards the Horizon. ¡°I see¡­ I see¡­ Hiding behind a girl, aren¡¯t ya?¡± He asked with a taunting voice. ¡°Yuu! He¡¯s mocking me! Go hit him!¡± I said in a childish tone while hiding behind Yuu. ¡°Eeh? Huh? Shishou?¡± She asked confused. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m leaving that life behind. Going to a new city where no one knows me, start fresh. Maybe as a merc?¡± The guy said after laughing a bit more. ¡°I see¡­¡± I nodded and turned to look at the sky while feeling a slightly annoying something bugging me at the back of my mind. ¡°And why exactly are you telling us that?¡± I asked confused. ¡°No idea.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Maybe I just needed to vent off with a stranger or something?¡± He said with a confused tone. I nodded heavily not knowing how to react, but the thief didn¡¯t seem all that bothered with us. ¡°Want to listen my story?¡± He asked suddenly. I grimaced slightly while looking at Yuu and Crys with the corner of my eyes. To tell the truth, I¡¯m not entirely sure how to react to a person who comes to me and tells me literally that he is a thief. Yuu seemed to share my doubts, but Crys looked at the person with a slightly amused look. ¡°Master, why don¡¯t we listen to this person story?¡± She asked me. ¡°You might get an interesting story from him.¡± She told me in a serious tone. I blinked confused before finally sighing and nodding. ¡°Sure, why not.¡± I said. The thief clearly looked surprised and looked at us with the corner of his eyes, which made me get a glimpse of a flame from his face before he looked out. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡­ Wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡± He said honestly, and went silent for some time. ¡°Well... To put it short¡­¡± He said while choosing his words. ¡°I thought being a bandit was an easier way to get rich. That I could somehow get to these people who were always looking down on me and take all that was theirs.¡± The man said while scratching his head beneath the hood. ¡°It¡¯s not like I had a tragic past or something like that. That was the reason, I wanted money, I wanted it quick. So I joined a small group of bandits that lived near Eldor.¡± ¡°At the beginning everything was good. Quickly became the ace fighter of the group, got myself a significant part of the loot even when I didn¡¯t do anything myself. It was actually going quite good, to be honest.¡± He said while sounding proud of himself. I felt unconfortable hearing that, but since I had promised to hear him, I stayed close. ¡°Then, one day, one of the chosen appeared and took the leadership away from the boss, taking control of the gang in one fell swoop. With that, he also ordered us to start hunting down the chosen. Specifically the ones that crossed a certain path.¡± ¡°To be honest, I found it strange, but since his tactic did get us some nice share of loot, and since we didn¡¯t need to worry about the chosen dying, we quickly became a lot richer and got some nice gear we didn¡¯t get before.¡± He stopped and frowned. ¡°Then, one day he came back furious and called for all the gang to gather, as we had to hunt a guy in Eldor. That was when things went downhill.¡± Even without seeing his face I could say that he was frowning. ¡°We did end up finding the guy, but he got us first. After luring all our group into a trap, only I was left to hunt him. But even after cornering him into a dead end, he managed to slip from within my grasps at the last second. Unable to find him, I went to recover my companions and we retreated for the day.¡± Strange¡­ That nagging feeling in the back of my mind keep bugging me¡­ And this story¡­ ¡°The new boss was furious and gathered us at the base so that we could discuss our strategy on how to deal with the guy. Even I was in favor of it.¡± He let out a short and dry laugh. ¡°But, he got us first. He, and his two friends found our camp and¡­ How did you say it? Wiped the floor with our faces. Everyone was caught in that attack and were taken to the prison.¡± ¡°Then, how come you are free right now?¡± Yuu asked confused. The guy¡¯s head dropped down as if he remembered something he didn¡¯t want to. ¡°That¡¯s is what made me run away.¡± He said with a dry laugh. ¡°That guy that we were hunting¡­ I found out that he wasn¡¯t even fighting me seriously that night, and he started spewing some rival nonsense to me while letting me run away. I had no idea what his intentions were, but I did learn something that day.¡± He said while lifting his head and turning to us for the first time. ¡°If I stayed as bandit, there might be the chance of meeting that guy again, and I could tell that I would regret dearly if that happened. So I decided to go away and start an honest life, because I don¡¯t want to cross with¡­ Him¡­ Ever¡­¡± His words trailed off when his eyes crossed with mine. ¡°FOR THE LOVE OF CYGNAS! WHAT KIND OF TWISTED SENSE OF HUMOR IS THIS?¡± I kept laughing loudly while he shouted at me with clearly furious eyes took a step back, his hands lowering towards the daggers that he held in his waist. The same daggers I saw when we first met back at Eldor, when him and his gang were hunting me. Staring at the guy who even when looking straight, you couldn¡¯t quite see the face, and the only give away of who he was were the flames that occasionally escaped from the hood. No wonder his story sounded so familiar, the slightly undefined tone to it, the thin build and the annoyed way he talked to me. ¡°Hot head! Long time no see, my rival!¡± I said while extending my arms wide open. ¡°For Cygnas sake, Not you again!¡± He said with a tone tinted with anger, annoyance and defeat. Chapter 86 - Problem with genders Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some surprises, fun and promises today! ANYWAY, firstly, I promised a certain person to add this character quite some time ago. Comments readers might even remember where it¡¯s from, but some of you were probably caught by surprise by this. Oh well... ALSO, Finally, after so much time and even some people asking for it, I put up a donation button. I won¡¯t ask money to post chapters nor anything like that, but if you feel like giving some money to me so that I can have the occasional snack/game at your expenses, feel free to do it! ^^ Let''s just hope I set it up correctly... Have a good read! ---- ¡°... and then they started to work together. You see, this is why you don¡¯t have a choice!¡± I told hot-head while he stormed through the corridors of the ship. ¡°For the last effing time! I don¡¯t care about these Gogu or Vegetal of yours!¡± He said while avoiding looking at me. ¡°I have no idea where the hell you have this idea that I will be your rival. It doesn¡¯t even make sense!¡± He stopped and turned to me, shoving a thin finger on my chest. ¡°I was trying to kill you, for Cygnas¡¯ sake. Why under the nine hells would I become your friendly riv¡­¡± ¡°But it¡¯s BECAUSE you tried to kill me!¡± I told him while putting my arm around his shoulder. ¡°You see, the more you hate me, the more we become buddies!¡± ¡°AND HOW THE HELL DOES THAT MAKES SENSE?¡± He shouted at me while ducking away from my arm. ¡°You don¡¯t have choice, hot head.¡± I said while smiling teasingly. ¡°It¡¯s your destiny to become my rival!¡± ¡°For the love of¡­¡± He sighed deeply. ¡°MY NAME ISN¡¯T EVEN HOT-HEAD!¡± ¡°Eh, it¡¯s not?¡± I asked in a fake surprise and could almost hear as a vein popped up in his forehead. He took deep breath and prepared to shout out at me, but seemingly gave up when I put on my best shocked look, so he shook his head and turned away, storming out of the room. I stayed still for a couple of seconds before smiling and following him. Seriously, I think I might like teasing him a bit too much. He might SERIOUSLY try to kill me if I keep this up. But who cares? This is fun! ¡°Shishou¡­¡± Yuu called me with a slightly worried tone. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to be more careful?¡± She asked me in a whisper. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s alright.¡± I told her with a smile. ¡°If hot-head wanted to attack me, he would have already done it.¡± I told her while pointing to the daggers hanging on his waist. ¡°Muu¡­¡± She mulled a bit, but nodded after some time. Seeing that I had found something amusing to do in the meantime while we traveled, my mood took a turn for better, as I followed Hot-head on his steps through the inner workings of the ship. With my mood taking a turn for the better, it looked like his took one for the worse, as I soon reached him again and started telling him about manga characters that became rivals from the main characters. Of course he kept going on and on about how it made absolutely no sense what I was telling him, and while not exactly disagreeing with him, I still kept presenting him the facts. All the while, Yuu, Crys and Co followed us close behind, with Aura keeping herself between me and hot-head almost all the time, almost like an overprotective girlfriend. For a couple of times I almost made hot-head blow up in anger and attack me, but luckily he held himself back and simply ignored me in the end. It didn¡¯t take me much long to notice what he was actually planning to do, since he was making a beeline straight towards the bedrooms. If I had to guess, I would say that he wanted to lock himself within his room and then stay there for the remainder of the voyage only so that he wouldn¡¯t need to see me. Which is a bit sad, since I did want to tease him a bit more before that happened. Luckily, the god of trickery was in our favor, because just as we arrived in the bedroom¡¯s decks, we found some other people that ended up stopping him, even if unwillingly. Stepping out from one of the rooms were Argento and the others, who came out just as we reached them. Since the group was fairly large, with four people, they accidentally ended up blocking most of the corridor space, so they stopped hot-head in his tracks, and this one clearly became furious because of that. ¡°Oh, Gon?¡± Hanbei said slightly surprised. ¡°Teacher?¡± Lily asked as she locked the door and turned to me. ¡°Where were you?¡± She asked curious, only to land her eyes upon Hot-head. ¡°Who¡¯s he?¡± She asked me. ¡°No on¡­¡± He started, but I stopped him by passing my arm around his shoulder once again. ¡°He¡¯s my rival!¡± I told them with my best wide smile, only to see them stare at me in confusion and shock. ¡°What, never seen people getting rivals before?¡± I asked with a fake confused tone. ¡°Oi! Weren¡¯t we just talking about that?¡± He said furious, receiving a few looks of pity from the others. I bet they already knew he was my newest target. ¡°¡­ Since when do you have a rival?¡± Argento asked me confused. ¡°Since ten minutes ago!¡± I said with a proud nod, only to have them look at me even more weirded out. They turned towards Yuu with a confused look, only for her to shrug confused. ¡°Then¡­ Is she a good crafter?¡± Lily asked innocently. ¡°¡­ Why the hell would I be a crafter?¡± Hot head asked genuinely confused. And did he just answer to ¡°she¡±? ¡­ Wait a second¡­ Slim frame, hidden face, ambiguous voice, long hair (or at least I think I saw his hair as long while we were fighting.) As these information came to our selves, I slowly started to look at hot head once again, this time my eyes widening in shock as it all started to make sense. ¡°All this time¡­ YOU WERE A GIRL?¡± I asked in shock. ¡°WHO THE HELL IS A GIRL?¡± She¡­ He¡­ Hmmm¡­. Hot head replied while taking off his¡­ Her¡­ GODDAMIT! ¡°It¡¯s a trap!¡± Yami said with a shocked voice. ¡°The illusory third gender!¡± I said surprised. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Am I seeing things?¡± Argento asked not believing his eyes. Well, not that we could blame him, after all, what we were seeing right now was downright confusing. The person in front of us had a body made entirely out of fire, with absolutely no flesh in his body. From the long hair to the thin face, everything seemed to be made of solidified flames. Something that surprised me greatly since the only elemental I met is Lily, who is an Undine, and she clearly had skin on herself, although her hair did have the appearance of being made of water, same for her eyes, but hothead was clearly made out of fire alone! Oh yeah, he¡­ She¡­ Going by hot-head¡¯s face alone I couldn¡¯t tell what the hell she was. It had a thin and small shape to it, something that was clearly feminine, but she also had a fierce look that wouldn¡¯t be off in a man¡¯s face. If someone were to tell me that hot-head was a boyish woman, or a girlish man, I would be unable refute. ¡°Ooh. A pure elemental!¡± Lily said with mild surprise. ¡°And from the looks of it, you are still in an immature state, huh?¡± ¡°Wait a second!¡± I interrupted her as she let out some strange words, then I turned to Hot-head. ¡°Quoting a famous person from where I come from.¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°Welcome to this amazing new world of pocket monsters¡­ yadda yadda yadda. Firstly, let me make you a question, but are you a boy or a girl?¡± I made the question that loomed over everyone¡¯s head. Some face-palms were had. ¡°I¡¯m¡­¡± Strangely enough, hot head hesitated for a moment, and made a small grimace. ¡°You guys¡­¡± ¡°Teacher!¡± Lily said while raising her arm. I blinked surprised before turning to her. ¡°You see, since she¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°HE!¡± Hot head interrupted her with an annoyed tone. ¡°Since HE is a pure elemental¡­¡± She said with a light giggle, as if amusing herself. ¡°It seems that he still have to reach maturity.¡± ¡°And what does that have to do with Hot-head being of the third gender?¡± I asked confused. ¡°WHO THE HELL IS THIRD GENDER?¡± ¡°Well. You see, although pure elementals like him, and personified elementals like myself are technically the same, there is some small difference in our biology!¡± She told me in a teacher tone. ¡°You see, personified elementals like myself are born completely formed since birth, from physical characteristic to gender. This is because of our more physical traits. Pure elementals like HIM, however, are born without any defined physical trait. Not even gender! They actually get the chance to choose some of their traits while they are still in what they call the maturing age.¡± ¡°That¡­ Kind of sounds like they are an entirely different race¡­¡± I said while frowning slightly, but Lily shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not? How so?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Well, some mages looked into it, but it just seem like personified elementals reach the end of their maturing age while still within the mother¡¯s womb, so they end up being born already defined¡± She explained with a wide smile. I nodded slowly while getting an idea of what she meant. Basically, the more personified the elemental is, the younger they reach their mature age, the opposite being also the truth. ¡°That¡­ Doesn¡¯t that makes the pure elemental somewhat of an elite? Since they get to choose?¡± I asked confused. ¡°If it were so easy¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean, Hot-head?¡± I asked confused by her¡­ His tone. ¡°Do you have any idea how impactful it is to be able to choose your own physical features? Even more when you are young?¡± He sighed. ¡°AND I¡¯M NOT CALLED HOT-HEAD! FOR THE LOVE OF CYGNAS!¡± At times like these I get really tempted to tell them that Cygnas is the small elemental floating right beside me, but it¡¯s better to stay quiet for their mental sanity. Still, I wasn¡¯t very sure how to take his words, so I felt a bit confused. ¡°Master.¡± Crys said lightly. ¡°I think what he means is that, since their decisions on their bodies is a one-time thing, they have to be very careful when deciding for themselves, as it will carry on for the rest of their lives.¡± I blinked surprised for a moment before finally nodding, as I saw where this was going. They get to make difficult but important decisions since the beginning of their lives, and if they make a mistake when they are young, it might carry on for the rest of their lives. If you think about it, it¡¯s quite a heavy responsibility. ¡°I see¡­ But why did you decide to become the third gender if you wanted to become a man so much?¡± I asked him once again. ¡°STOP WITH THAT THIRD GENDER THING ALREADY!¡± He shouted angrily. ¡°It¡¯s almost worse than the rival thing! Besides, I still didn¡¯t get to choose¡­ Yet.¡± He said with a sigh. I raised an eyebrow, but he looked annoyed at that. ¡°Don¡¯t you know anything about elementals?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Sorry?¡± I said wryly. ¡°Master is a chosen, so he isn¡¯t very knowledgeable on this world¡¯s ecology.¡± Crys explained to him, and he sighed. ¡°I kind of guessed that already.¡± He replied in an angry tone. ¡°Anyway, gender is the last thing we get to pick, so I still didn¡¯t get to pick being a man yet.¡± ¡°If you were aiming to become a man, why did you take such skinny body then?¡± Yami asked bluntly. ¡°Not that I have a problem with traps though¡­¡± She smiled teasingly. ¡°Even more if it¡¯s for a bit of BL¡­¡± Hot-head splendidly ignored her teasing tone and simply said. ¡°I¡­ Made a mistake¡­¡± He said while looking away. ¡°When I was entering my old business, I thought that having a slimmer body would be less of a hindrance to my line of job.¡± He sounded slightly embarrassed while saying that. ¡°That¡­ Wasn¡¯t my best idea¡­¡± He sighed. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Then, you who were on the path of becoming a true man, ended up going back to the path of the third gender!¡± I said with an understanding nod. ¡°YOU DIMWITTED RETARDED PIECE OF RUBBLE! STOP WITH THE THIRD GENDER ALREADY! IT DOESN¡¯T EVEN MAKE SENSE!¡± He shouted at me, but I couldn¡¯t really feel threatened for some reason. After some time she finally sighed and shook her head. ¡°And why the hell am I even still talking to you?¡± Hot head asked confused. ¡°Because I am your rival and you are unconsciously taking on the path of being my buddy!¡± I said with a wide smile. ¡°And I have that effect on people.¡± He stared at me in a surprisingly cold way for a salamander, aka fire elemental, before storming through Argento¡¯s group and reaching the door for his room. ¡°HEY! WE ARE NEIGHBORS!¡± I said cheerfully. ¡°Did I destroy a statue of the goddess or something to deserve this?¡± He said before slamming the door shut. ¡°Until later, Hot-head!¡± I told him from outside. The door opened and from inside came a voice shouting. ¡°MY NAME IS ASHLEY, NOT HOT-HEAD!¡± And the door slammed shut once again. ¡­ The following moments I had to explain to the group what had happened after I left on my tantrum. I was so amused with teasing hot¡­ I mean, Ashley around that I ended up completely forgetting the fact that I should still be throwing a tantrum. Well, not that it really mattered much anyway. It was just something I did just for fun and for the lolz anyway. Still, they were surprised to learn that he¡­ she... Ashley was a bandit with whom I crossed weapons before, and when I told them of the whole rival thingy they ended up smiling awkwardly. Except Lily, who widened her eyes in surprise while staring at me. ¡°Teacher is surprisingly good fighter!¡± She said in surprise. ¡°How do you think that I managed to gather material?¡± I asked back to her. She smiled wryly before replying. ¡°I thought those stories were mostly exaggeration¡­¡± She replied in a slightly embarrassed manner. I felt really tempted to hit her head at that moment, but held myself back somehow. ¡°Anyway, wasn¡¯t it a bit dangerous to keep teasing a bandit like that?¡± Hanbei asked worried, but I shrugged. ¡°Not really.¡± I shrugged. ¡°He didn¡¯t want to keep with his old life, so he probably wouldn¡¯t do something like that.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± She said while nodding before turning to the Yuu and I. ¡°So, what were the two of you doing all alone before meeting Ashley?¡± She asked with a teasing tone, and I saw as the other¡¯s ears perked up excitedly. ¡°We were only walking around the ship taking a look around. Nothing much.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°So, you spent almost two hours, and all you did was walk around?¡± Hanbei asked me in shock. ¡°We also talked about monster hunter.¡± I said with a proud tone, and Yuu nodded cheerfully. ¡°The game sounds a lot more interesting than what I initially thought!¡± She said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m actually really curious about it right now.¡± I saw as Hanbei¡¯s eyebrows twitched slightly for a moment before she stomped towards Yuu and grabbed her hand before dragging her out. Watching curiously as they moved away, my attention returned to the others, who had a slight hint of disappointment in their eyes. Looking at them in confusion, Argento approached me while shaking his head and said. ¡°You¡¯ve been with that girl pretty much alone for the last two hours, and all you did was talk about games? Are you serious moneybag?¡± He asked me. ¡°Ermm¡­¡± I was caught a bit by surprise at his word, but rescue came from an unexpected direction. ¡°Mister Argento. Contrary to what you may think, master does not have that kind of relationship with Yuu.¡± Crys said while resting one of her hands on my shoulder. This made Argento widen his eyes in shock for a moment before staring at me. I nodded slightly and saw as he looked confused and shocked for a moment. I also didn¡¯t lose the sight of Lily¡¯s whose eyes sparkled slightly at those words. Suddenly feeling that I might have gotten myself into a dangerous position, I felt as cold sweat formed on my stony back. ¡°You are a disappointing virgin.¡± Yami said while shaking her head. ¡°And you aren¡¯t?¡± I shot back at the slime, who only looked away innocently. Smirking at her for a moment, I sighed after a moment and turned to look at Yuu, but I felt as a hand grabbed mine. ¡°Hey, teacher¡­ Since you aren¡¯t occupied right now, why don¡¯t you teach me a bit more crafting?¡± Lily asked me with a strange tone that left me confused on how to react. ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡­¡± Being caught by surprise by her question and sudden touchiness, it took me a moment to understand what was happening. I¡¯m really bad at dealing with this girl¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t have any remaining materials to work with right now, so it will be a bit difficult¡­¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°I can deal with that.¡± Argento said from beneath and putting a mischievous smile. I frowned slightly at that while hearing the gnome speak. ¡°You see, I am bringing a few materials over to the new branch so that we can start with a good stock. You thought that I wouldn¡¯t bring some leather with me?¡± I laughed dryly for a moment, but thought on how to escape that situation. ¡°Wait, what were you doing while we were away?¡± I asked confused. ¡°I saw you guys leaving Lily¡¯s room when I arrived¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­ That¡­¡± Lily said with an awkward smile. ¡°I¡­ Accidentally dropped my dagger when I left the bag in there and they were helping me look for it¡­¡± She said slightly embarrassed, Geez, that¡¯s all? I¡¯m kind of disappointed to be honest. After a while, Yuu came back being pulled by Hanbei, her face blushing slightly as she avoided looking at me in the eyes. I guess that Hanbei said something unnecessary to her, didn¡¯t she? Leaving that aside, she pouted angrily once she saw my state, and immediately approached us with a serious face. ¡°Shishou, did you tell them about what the captain told us?¡± She asked making me blink surprised before nodding. ¡°Oh yeah, the captain told me that there was going to be a dinner later tonight at the main deck, so it¡¯s for all the passengers to gather.¡± I said and saw as they nodded in accordance. ¡°A dinner provided by the captain? Must be quite fancy¡­¡± Yami said with a nod. ¡°Yeah¡­ Maybe a certain someone should use that as a chance to compensate for earlier, you know?¡± Hanbei said while looking at Yuu, who lowered her head slightly while stealing a glance at me. ¡°Hmm¡­. Maybe¡­¡± She said with a shy tone, which made me smile wryly. I¡¯m almost sure I know what she told Yuu earlier. I¡¯m not THAT dense, after all. ¡°Then, while we wait, teacher can come to my room and teach me some new things!¡± Lily said in a cheerful tone. ¡°No, Shishou has been working for too long and should rest right now!¡± Yuu said while outing herself between me and the Undine. ¡°Well, he finds crafting calming, doesn¡¯t he?¡± Lily rebutted as sparks flared between their eyes. ¡°But only when he is doing it by himself, teaching can be tiring, so we should let him rest.¡± Yuu said unmoving. ¡°He doesn¡¯t look all that tired to me, so wouldn¡¯t it be better if he were to practice a bit meanwhile?¡± Sadly, as the two started to debate within the ship, I didn¡¯t get to hear the final words, because after some time I had already ran out. What? Wimp? Do you have any idea how it feels to have two girls, two very beautiful girls, having a sparks-flying level discussion when you are right in the middle of it? Both literally and metaphorically? It¡¯s scary, and I doubt that me being there would help solve it. Maybe with me gone they actually stop discussing so that they can look for me. At least that¡¯s what I hope. Anyway, I waded my way through the inner workings of the boat until I reached an unknown place near the kitchen with a single bench. While taking a glance at it, there was a single guy sitting on it, but seeing that it was fairly long, I decided to sit down on it, away enough from the guy so that it wouldn¡¯t look weird. As I sat down, I saw as Crys came floating towards me with a lightly taunting look on her face. ¡°Running away from your problems, master?¡± She said. I pouted lightly. ¡°Shut up.¡± I replied childishly as Aura approached the bench and put her head on my knees, asking for a petting. Complying to her, I put my hand on her head and gently rubbed the fur. ¡°If anime taught me anything, is to never stay between two women having a discussion.¡± I said with a deadpan look. ¡°Heeh¡­ So you also had problem with women?¡± The guy besides me asked with a mixed tone of cheerful and weariness. Blinking surprised, I turned to him while feeling Crys land on my shoulder. He was a guy around my age, probably a bit younger, having a white hair and red eyes not unlike a vampire. Wearing black leather gear with some white cross motif in a couple of places. In general it looked a bit haggardly to be considered good, but I guess that the status could be actually quite good. Besides that, he also had a black sheathed sword laying on the bench at an arms length and a key shaped necklace. If I had to say something, I¡¯d guess that he suffers from the infamous eight grade syndrome. Oddly enough, there was a rabbit laying on his head with a single horn popping from its head. Blinking surprised, I noticed him analyzing me from head to toes just like I was. After smiling wryly, I asked. ¡°What, you too?¡± I asked and he laughed. ¡°Yeah¡­ My friends started discussing something when I wasn¡¯t looking and before I knew it, I was in the middle of the discussion!¡± He said with a weary tone. ¡°Well, I was in front of them, but still got caught in the middle anyway.¡± I said and with that, both of us laughed. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s somewhat good to see someone sharing the same problem as me.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Right?¡± The boy asked with a brief laugh. ¡°I¡¯m Gondorrer, by the way. Nice to meet you!¡± I said a brief introduction. ¡°These are Rioreia, Crys, Aura and Lieutenant.¡± ¡°Lucas. And this small one is Vil.¡± He said while pointing towards the small rabbit in his head. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± I told him before frowning slightly. ¡°Strange, why do I have this nagging feeling to snatch your keychain?¡± I said confused ¡°Why would you do that?¡± he asked me confused. ¡°I don¡¯t know?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s some kind of key that allows you to travel between worlds and I really want to take it and cause mischiefs abound?¡± I said. We both stared at each other for some time, a strange tension forming between us. Then we both laughed loudly. ¡°As if! That¡¯s downright silly!¡± I said. ¡°Right?¡± He asked. ¡°As if this old family heirloom would do such a thing!¡± ¡°Geez, master says some silly things sometimes¡­¡± Crys said with a sigh. We both simply decided to ignore her for now. ---- Author¡¯s corner (too): NO. THIS IS NOT THE CANNON LUCAS FROM WGO. It¡¯s an NPC (yeah, NPC) I added based on him. Think of him as IO¡¯s Lucas, if you will. Chapter 87 - Friendly talk Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Some cameos and a small surprise at the end! ANYWAY, this person who writes for you is extremely easily distracted (the den can attest to this), and finding out a channel about speedrunning games didn¡¯t exactly help me with writing this chapter down, but finally, I did it. ALSO, For those of you who want action, there should be some action in the next chapter, as in the violent time, not anything perverted. I do plan on keeping IO away from the mature tag. ALSO(2), this weekend, if I manage to pump out a chapter of beepy fast enough, there should be another chapter around Sunday. Have a good read! ---- ¡°And then, I told him: You don¡¯t have a choice! We are rivals from now on!... or something like that, can¡¯t really remember.¡± I told him with a shrug. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say that it happened a few minutes ago? How the hell do you forget something like that?¡± Lucas asked me with a slightly conflicted tone. ¡°Besides, why the hell would he become your rival like that? It doesn¡¯t makes any sense!¡± ¡°Making sense is overrated.¡± I said with a proud nod, which earned me a sigh from Cyg and a confused look from Lucas. ¡°Master¡­ You¡­¡± She said in a sigh. ¡°So you really did all that for the joke?¡± She asked me with a worried tone. ¡°What, you thought I had some kind of actual decent reason for doing that?¡± I asked her in a fake surprise, but this only made her sigh even more. ¡°Say¡­ I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, but what exactly is she?¡± The white haired boy asked while pointing to cyg. ¡°She doesn¡¯t look like anything I¡¯ve seen before¡­¡± I blinked before looking at Crys. I had kind of forgotten about it, as people from Eldor had already grown used to seeing her following me around, but I guess that Crys is kind of a unique existence¡­ While feeling a bit idiotic, I sighed briefly before smiling wryly. ¡°Well, you see.¡± I said while choosing my words. ¡°She¡¯s a new type of lesser elemental that I¡­ Met, some time ago. We found her on a mana infested cave.¡± I said with a slight smirk. ¡°Heeh¡­ Mana infested cave, you say¡­?¡± He said with a pensive pose while as a smirk appeared in his face, the Rabbit looked down at him confused for a moment before nestling on his head once again. ¡°How exactly is a mana infested cave?¡± ¡°How?¡± I asked curious seeing him focusing so intently. ¡°Well¡­ The mana was so dense, but so dense that it started to crystalize within the room, making even crystal formations.¡± ¡°Mana¡­ Crystals?¡± He asked surprised. ¡°A¡­ Whole cave of it, you say?¡± He kept a fairly neutral face, but I could somehow see a glint of greed in the back of his eyes. ¡°Before you say something, no, it isn¡¯t mana crystals, but crystallized mana. It¡¯s different.¡± He blinked surprised for a moment before frowning. ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not exactly sure¡­¡± I said honestly. ¡°But the main difference is that crystallized mana can¡¯t be converted into mana, so it doesn¡¯t work to make mana potions.¡± I saw as he changed from a greedy to a surprised face. ¡°But, it does make a fairly decent crafting material.¡± I said while pointing to the sword on my back. ¡°This thing here is the proof.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Mana as crafting material?¡± He asked shocked and I nodded while taking out the sword from my back and showing to him. He blinked surprised while looking at the black blade with awe in his eyes. ¡°Well, technically, this was made of bones, but it¡¯s pretty much the same thing seeing as how the guy was infested¡­¡± I added while shrugging, and saw as he nodded weakly. ¡°This¡­ Kind of look like a weapon from that Wargon guy the chosen keep talking about¡­¡± He said with an amused look. I blinked surprised, not actually expecting him to go and blurt out my nickname like that. However, feeling mischievous, I made a slightly surprised face while looking at him in a fake shock. ¡°You heard about Wargon?¡± I asked, and saw as he made a smug face. ¡°Heh. Of course.¡± He nodded proudly to himself. ¡°In fact, I actually bought some of his equipment myself.¡± ¡°Heeh, so even you are using the gear he made?¡± I asked surprised, but he shook his head. ¡°No¡­ Even though it¡¯s nice and all, it¡¯s a bit too¡­ Weak for my level, so I mostly use gear I get from the goddess or from more experienced crafters.¡± He said with a wry smile, but seeing me frown confused, he quickly explained with a smug expression. ¡°You see, his gear is REALLY popular with the chosen, but since he only stays at Eldor, not many chosen can actually get it themselves.¡± ¡°Wait, then you¡­¡± I said shocked and he put on a victorious grin while giving me a thumbs up. ¡°I¡¯m going to resell his equipment for double the price to those foolish chosen!¡± He said with a proud tone. I had to hold myself to not start laughing at him right then and there. He went and blatantly said that he was going to resell the items I made at double the cost without even trying to hide it. Somehow I have the feeling that he and the Argento would get along just fine should they meet each other. While thinking so, I hid a smirk while nodding. ¡°I see, quite the opportunist, aren¡¯t you?¡± I asked, but he shook his head in a slightly angry manner. ¡°I¡¯m just a normal guy trying to get advantage of the situation.¡± He replied with a serious tone. I raised an eyebrow but didn¡¯t discuss much longer. ¡°Anyway, I told you about my situation, now shouldn¡¯t you do the same?¡± I asked while staring at him. He blinked surprised for a moment before frowning, as if thinking. Since it kind of looked like he didn¡¯t exactly feel like speaking, I decided to leave it aside and say that there was no real need to do that, but before I could do that, he sighed and said. ¡°Well, all I am doing right now is going to Ezoria Argus, since that place is a gathering place for magicians, I wanted to see if they could help me solve a¡­ small problem I have.¡± He said while looking away. ¡°Besides, I think I could learn a couple of things from the mages there... More like steal a few techniques, but..¡± ¡°I heard that.¡± I said lowly after he made the addition in a low voice. ¡°You heard nothing.¡± He said while looking at me in the eyes. ¡°Meh. No matter. Magic is for the weak.¡± I said with a snort. ¡°A true man hunts with his muscle and wits alone.¡± ¡°Huh? Are you calling me weak?¡± He asked me with an annoyed tone. ¡°Nope. Just saying that I have no need for magic.¡± I said with a proud tone and saw as he stared at me doubtfully. After staring at me for some time he finally sighed and shook his head, almost dropping the rabbit that stood in his head by accident, as if saying that I was just a random fool talking idiocies in broad daylight. He even shrugged it off and let out a disappointed sigh. I would have gotten mad and complained, but sincerely, I kind of didn¡¯t really care that much. Besides, I kind of wanted to see his reaction when I told him that I was the one who made the gear he was planning on selling at Ezoria. Leaving that aside, before the conversation would continue, we heard footsteps approaching us, so the two of us turned to look to the newcomers, only for me to see a couple of girls whom I hadn¡¯t seen before. One of the girls had a beautiful silver hair, cut short around her neck height. Having a pair of beautiful bloody red eyes and wearing a black in white dress, with but a glance I could tell that she was a vampire, but different from Lucas, she didn¡¯t seems like she was much of a fighter. The other girl was clearly a demon, with horns sprouting out from her temples like that. She wore a beautiful red dress that made her look all the more elegant. Having long black ebony hair that fell at her back, her black eyes had a strange glint on them when she looked at Lucas. Both of them were at Yuu-level of beauty, if I had to say so myself, but thankfully, I¡¯ve built up a certain immunity to it thanks to the kitsune. ¡°Lucas! Where had you gone?¡± The demoness asked while approaching him, only to stop briefly when she saw me, so she gave me a brief acknowledging nod. While she looked mostly indifferent, the other girl looked a bit more surprised, and quickly gave a bow before saying. ¡°S-Sorry for her. I¡¯m Freya and she is Euomun, we are Lucas traveling companions.¡± She introduced herself and the demoness. ¡°Humm. Gondorrer Baneless¡­¡± Oh, COME ON! WHERE THE HELL DID THAT EVEN COME FROM? ¡°I mean¡­ Gondorrer Gravelheart. Skirmisher, crafter in training and professional trickster.¡± ¡°Eh? Professional trickster?¡± Freya asked confused before turning to Lucas, who simply shrugged.. ¡°Yup. And these are all my pets, I could go on introducing them, but the readers would probably get annoyed.¡± I said while pointing to Aura and Co. She blinked surprised for a moment before looking at everyone who was surrounding me. But the one who had the biggest reaction of the two was the demoness Euomun. At first I had thought that she was ignoring me with a haughty look, but after some time of her staring at a single place for far too long, I finally noticed that her gaze was gathered into a single place. ¡°¡­so cute¡­¡± She said in a low voice. ¡°Nyaaa.¡± Lieutenant said while taking his hat and giving her a brief salutation. ¡°¡­Lucas¡­¡± She said in a whisper before turning to the boy seating besides me. ¡°Wha¡­¡± ¡°Can you get that cat for me¡­?¡± She asked with a begging tone. Lucas blinked surprised for a moment before putting on a troubled face. ¡°Look, Eu¡­ I can¡¯t¡­.¡± He said with a wry tone while trying to choose his words. ¡°Muu¡­ Why not?¡± She asked with a pout while trying to convince him, and I saw as some sparks of fire started to form around her as she got seemingly more and more annoyed. ¡°Sorry there lady.¡± I said while standing up and stopping the girl, who looked at me with a surprised look. ¡°You see, Lieutenant here isn¡¯t one to be tamed. He¡¯s a wild and independent guy, you know? There ain¡¯t no soul that can tame this bad boy!¡± ¡°Nya!¡± Lieutenant added with a proud nod while crossing his arms. ¡°Then, if Lucas manage to tame him, I can keep him?¡± She asked with greedy dreamy eyes, that looked more like a hunter aiming for a prey than a girl looking a pet. ¡°Nyaa?¡± He asked surprised. ¡°That, and he¡¯s also my pet already.¡± I added lastly, with Lieutenant nodding hastily before jumping on the bench and hiding behind me. Eu made a sullen face at that and started to pout. Luckily enough, it didn¡¯t look like she was going to keep insisting after hearing that Lieutenant was off limits. ¡°Then¡­ Then¡­ The little dragon? Can we tame her?¡± She asked while pointing at Rio. ¡°E-Eu!¡± Lucas said worried, and Freya prepared to move in to stop the girl, but before that happened¡­ ¡°Muu?¡± Rio asked confused while raising her head. ¡°What is tame?¡± She asked curious. ¡°¡°¡°Eh? She can talk?¡±¡±¡± The three of them asked surprised. ¡°Vii?¡± Correction, the four of them, I guess I should add the rabbit too. ¡°Hmm. Rio can talk!¡± She replied cheerfully while nodding and extending her arms, a cute yawn coming from her. ¡°Stone man¡¯s hair is so confy! Almost as good as mommy¡¯s nest!¡± She said in a cute tone. ¡°A¡­ A¡­ A¡­ Greater wyvern?¡± Freya asked surprised, making the wyvern nod once again. ¡°Eeeeeeeh?¡± ¡°How the hell did you get a greater wyvern as pet?¡± Lucas asked in shock while staring at the wyvern atop of my head. ¡°I mean, seriously, what kind of taming skill do you have to get something like that done?¡± ¡°Errm¡­¡± I scratched my cheek, unsure how to say it. ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t have a taming skill?¡± I said, making the four of them stare at me in shock. ¡°And technically, Rio isn¡¯t my pet, but a companion.¡± At those words, Eu¡¯s eyes lit up as she turned to Lucas. ¡°And before you make the question, no. It would be a bad idea to do that. Her mother is a pretty strong wyvern, so it might not be a good idea to go and tame her.¡± ¡°Strong?¡± Lucas asked curious while stealing a glance at the demoness, who put up a smug look. Feeling a bit curious, I wondered where her confidence came from. ¡°Yeah, she should be level four hundred or something.¡± I said briefly. ¡°Fo-Four hundred?¡± Lucas asked in shock. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Even for me¡­¡± Eu muttered lowly while a drop of sweat formed in her forehead. ¡°But¡­ Maybe if I¡­¡± She said while thinking about something. ¡°Mooou, Eu! You are thinking something outrageous like fighting the dragon just to get the baby wyvern, aren''t you?" She said, and the demoness looked away guiltily, she then turned to Lucas while still pouting and said. "That goes for you too Lucas." ¡°Eeh? I said nothing.¡± He said in his defense. ¡°Lies, you had a: ¡®That sounds interesting¡¯ face.¡± I said bleakly, making him stare at me in shock. ¡°I know because I¡¯m quite familiar with it myself.¡± I told him putting on my best victorious smirk. ¡°No¡­ I¡­ I didn¡¯t do something like that!¡± Lucas said in self-defense. ¡°I didn¡¯t right? Right?¡± He asked while looking around, but when everyone either looked away or looked at him teasingly, he found out he didn¡¯t have much support. ¡°Eeh? I¡¯m alone in this? No one will defend me?¡± ¡°Vii!¡± The rabbit said cheerfully. ¡°Vii! I knew you were with me!¡± He said while taking the rabbit and hugging it. ¡°Nope, she was atop of your head and didn¡¯t see what face you did.¡± I added sneakily. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter! At least Vil is with me!¡± He said while hugging the small horned rabbit, who didn¡¯t seem to mind it all that much. ¡°I knew that you were the best, Vil!¡± ¡°Vii Vii!¡± The rabbit said cheerfully. ¡°¡°Did we¡­ Did we just lose to Vil?¡±¡± Eu and Freya asked in shock at the scene. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. When I started to laugh at their reaction, I noticed as the two looked slightly embarrassed by the scene, before quickly bending and grabbing Lucas arms, pulling him up. ¡°Moou! A-Anyway. We still haven¡¯t picked which room we will stay!¡± The vampires said with an hurried tone. ¡°Y-Yeah, and the captain is calling us, so we should get ready.¡± The demoness added. And with that, Lucas was dragged out of our place near the kitchen with one beautiful girl on each arm. Usually, I would have cursed his luck there and then for having such a situation, but I didn¡¯t exactly had the right to do that, because¡­ ¡°Shishou! The captain came to warn us to be ready.¡± ¡°Why did you leave like that, Teacher? We needed your opinion!¡± And just like Lucas, I was dragged away towards our rooms on the other side of the ship By the way, didn¡¯t I say that if I left there was a chance that the two were going to stop fighting and work together to find me? See, in the end, leaving WAS the right choice! ¡­ ¡°Wait, since when do you have casual clothes?¡± Hanbei asked me when I came out from my room wearing a jacket and confy pants. ¡°These?¡± I asked while pointing towards myself. ¡°I made them a long time ago, before I even went out to fight Blazing tails, you know?¡± I told her while frowning slightly. ¡°Didn¡¯t I show you these before?¡± I asked the cat-girl and she shook her head. ¡°Nope. This is the first time.¡± She said with slightly surprised tone. I raised an eyebrow at her words, but didn¡¯t bother too much with it. I guess there has been some time since I put on these street clothes, so no wonder she never saw them before. Meanwhile, Hanbei herself was wearing some street clothes, much alike her real self. Black leather shorts and a simple light blue shirt. I¡¯m not sure why, but it seems like we somehow achieved a consensus to wear casual clothing during dinner, even though we didn¡¯t exactly exchange a word with each other. This meant that right now, Yuu was choosing for one of her kimonos to wear, and this meant that she was in her room with Yami and Lily choosing their clothes. Even Lieutenant and Aura went with something a bit more presentable! Taking out the badges from his military suit and tiding it up slightly. I guess I should make something different for him later on. Right now he only have his actual clothes to wear, so maybe I should get him something different. Meanwhile, Aura used water armor skill since it looked a bit like jewelry. Anyway, Argento also went ahead to go and talk with the captain so that he could set up a trade-route later on, leaving only me and Hanbei alone in the corridor. ¡°So, why exactly aren¡¯t you there with the others?¡± I asked curious. ¡°That? Well¡­¡± She looked around for a moment before sighing. ¡°I wanted to have a talk with you.¡± She said with a sigh, making me raise an eyebrow curious. ¡°Seriously, when are you going to make a move?¡± ¡°¡­Huh?¡± I made a silly sound, caught by surprise by the question. ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®huh¡¯ me.¡± She said with a slightly annoyed tone. ¡°I mean, when are you going to go and ask Yuu out already?¡± She asked me with a sigh. ¡°And don¡¯t come telling me that you didn¡¯t notice. Yuu isn¡¯t very good at hiding it herself, even more with Lily nearby.¡± I blinked surprised for a moment while I processed her words, trying to understand what she meant with it. After a couple of seconds I felt myself getting slightly embarrassed. ¡°You see¡­ I¡¯ve¡­ Had some trouble on my previous relationship, so I¡¯ve been a bit traumatized about this whole girlfriend thingy¡­¡± I said in a low tone, and Hanbei widened her eyes in shock. ¡°Oh¡­ Sorry, I didn¡¯t¡­¡± She started. ¡°Nah, just joking.¡± I added in the end and she blinked surprised. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ I¡­ May not look like it¡­ But¡­¡± I looked away embarrassed. ¡°I¡¯m really bad with this whole romance thing¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± She stared at me wordlessly for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m seeing things.¡± She said while rubbing her eyes. ¡°I think I just saw a sincerely embarrassed Gon.¡± ¡°I feel mildly angry with that statement, you know?¡± I said briefly to her. ¡°And what about you, aren¡¯t you going to go after a man for yourself?¡± I asked her, but she shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m more into mature men, so my market is a bit more saturated¡­¡± She stopped suddenly while looking at me. ¡°And that reminds me, but¡­¡± ¡°I will be compelled to hit you as hard as I can if you dare ask me if my father is single.¡± I said briefly and saw as she hit her head. ¡°Tee hee¡­¡± She said before shrugging. ¡°Anyway, it was only going to be a joke anyway.¡± She said with a shrug. ¡°Besides, just seeing Yuu being so cheerful is enough for me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s surprisingly noble out of you¡­¡± I said surprised, and she smiled wryly. ¡°Well, you see¡­ As much as I also would like a boyfriend, I can still go out there and try to find one for myself.¡± She said with a sigh before turning to me. ¡°But Yuu¡­ Have absolutely no idea of how to go out there and talk to people. If it was only up to her, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she had to resort to an arranged marriage to actually find someone. And knowing her, even if she wasn¡¯t satisfied with the arrangement, she would simply bear with it in silence¡­¡± ¡°Sadly¡­ That does sound Yuu-ish.¡± I agreed with mixed feelings. ¡°But then, when I logged in for the first time, she appears accompanied of a boy I had never seen before, and she happily let him pet her head.¡± She turned to me and gave a mischievous smile. ¡°It didn¡¯t take me much longer to think that maybe this guy had an actual chance with her.¡± ¡°You overestimate me¡­¡± I said while scratching my cheek. ¡°And it looks like they are done.¡± I said when I saw the door opening with the girls coming out. Yuu was wearing a simple blue kimono. It wasn¡¯t anything fancy, but as usual, anything she put on actually looked good on her, so there wasn¡¯t much for me to comment. Yami still had the same clothes as before, but had a jacket atop her clothes, so it looked kind of good on her. Finally, we had the reason why the girls took so long changing. Lily. Since she couldn¡¯t use inventory like us, she had to change her clothes manually. She put up a white sundress and black pants. It looked really good in her, as she was also a beauty in her own right. Seeing Yuu once again I couldn¡¯t help but think of the conversation I just had with Hanbei, but decided to ignore it for now. The group gathered, we made our way to the upper decks of the ship, where we found the others passengers already sitting around a table that had been nailed down to the deck, as well as the chairs. The captain sat at the very end of the table, with some of his highest ranking members sitting close-by. ¡°Cousin! Come! Take a seat!¡± He said while pointing to the free seats around the middle of the table. I nodded and quickly took a seat, noticing how Argento had a thinking position besides the open seat. Ignoring the gnome for now, I took a seat just in front of Lucas, who sat with Eu and Freya on the opposite side of the table. I gave him a quick acknowledging nod before sitting down. Only to have Yuu and Lily each take a seat besides me, with Cyg sitting in my shoulder, Rio exploring the table in front of me and Aura sitting down beneath my chair. When I think about it, I have quite the flashy group, don¡¯t I? The piercing stares from the other guys were a bit worrying, but I managed to endure it. ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s my time to shine, huh?¡± The captain said while standing up. ¡°Well, here would be when I would say that I¡¯m thankful for you all to come and wish us a safe voyage. BUUUT, I¡¯m not a dense captain and know how much you guys are starving, so bring on the food and drink feast until we burst and drink until we fall!¡± He said with a wide motion, making some of the crewmembers come in with plates of food and drink. ¡°And no need to hold back! We striked it big recently and didn¡¯t have the chance to commemorate yet!¡± I widened my eyes and thanked the crewmember who put down a plate in front of me. I also saw as Yami offered to help get the drinks for our party and asked whether we wanted wine or juice. I couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly at what she was doing, as knowing her she probably had a second intention hidden in there somewhere. Still, I ignored it and saw as she brought the drink for all of us, giving me the wine I wanted. Normally, I don¡¯t drink in real life, but since this was a game and shouldn¡¯t affect me in real life, I decided to be a bit more free with it. Still, a small spark of curiosity appeared in my mind. ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask for some time, but¡­ How realistic is drinking in here for us?¡± I asked curious. Crys blinked surprised before putting on a pensive pose. ¡°Well, we made it so that we can simulate drinking fairly well, even without the chemicals effects, so I guess it have a 90% similarity?¡± ¡°Wow, all that?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°Yup. I¡¯m not sure how precise that is since I¡¯ve never drank alcohol before, but my parents say that its really similar.¡± She nodded slightly before smiling. ¡°There were even some talks about using it to treat those who suffer from heavy addiction, since it satisfies the need but doesn¡¯t actually dump more alcohol in their bodies.¡± I nodded understandingly. I have no idea how the hell does that work, but knowing it comes from the guys who created Cyg, I¡¯m not really all that surprised. ¡°Then, if a person gets drunk in game¡­ Will they act just like how they would if they got drunk¡­ Out there?¡± I asked her and she nodded. ¡°That¡¯s the case.¡± She replied proudly, and I nodded satisfied while turning back do dig on the food. On a small note, I guess I should tell that the stew was delicious, but since there isn¡¯t much interesting about hearing me talk about what I ate. I will go straight to the main happening of the night, and it started one hour later with a small sound from Yami as she took a peek at Hanbei¡¯s mug, who sat besides her. ¡°Whoops¡­¡± She said in a low tone, but for some reason, I think I was the only one who noticed it. Looking at her and raising an eyebrow at her, she looked around and stopped her eyes upon Yuu¡¯s drink, who sat to her other side. ¡°Sorry.¡± She told me briefly while bowing slightly. Here is where I would have asked her what happened, but before I even had the chance to do that, I felt as someone leaned on me from the side, holding my arm tightly. I turned only to find a Lily with red cheeks and a breath smelling of alcohol. ¡°Teacher¡­ When are you going to teach me more¡­!¡± She asked while hanging on my arm. Being caught by surprise by that, I turned to her and noticed that she had more than a few cups of wine turned over. As I got worried about what was happening, I didn¡¯t exactly have the chance to react, because soon enough another person held me from behind. ¡°Lily-san.¡± Yuu said with a slightly annoyed tone. ¡°You are bothering Shishou.¡± She said coldly. ¡°Eeeh? I am?¡± Lily asked while looking up to me. I nodded a bit wryly and she made a pouting face. ¡°Sorry teacher¡­¡± She said in a low tone before letting go. ¡­Surprisingly sincere, isn¡¯t she? As I thought that, I turned to Yuu. ¡°Thanks for the hel¡­ Are you drunk too?¡± I asked surprised, seeing Yuu with slightly tinted cheeks. ¡°Hmmm¡­ Maybe a bit¡­?¡± She said while tilting her head. I blinked surprised before nodding, I mean, to say that I¡¯m not worried about how a drunk Yuu would be would be a lie. Luckily enough, it seemed that she wasn¡¯t all that drunk, so maybe I was lucky enough to get sight of it before she went any drunker. Giving an annoyed glance at Yami, who kept looking away with a clearly guilty look, I turned back to Yuu besides me and said. ¡°Hmm¡­ Maybe you shouldn¡¯t drink too much, right?¡± I asked her and she nodded while smiling widely. ¡°If Shishou says so.¡± She said while putting the mug with wine away. I couldn¡¯t quite remember whether Yuu drank wine previously, but looking at the time we had spent in here, I would guess that it would be a bit more than the usual. Deciding to also cut myself short on wine before I became too affected by it. However, before I could ask the crewmate to stop bringing me wine, I felt as Yuu tugged the hem of my clothes once again. Blinking surprised, I turned to her with a confused face. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked her. ¡°Don¡¯t I get petting?¡± She asked me. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I helped Shishou and made what Shishou told me to do.¡± She said in a tone as if stating the obvious. ¡°Don¡¯t I get a petting?¡± She asked me while her ears and tails drooped. I stared at her confused for some time before noticing as Hanbei and Yami stared at us with curiosity. If this went on, there was the chance of the others starting to look at our scene too. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I quickly grabbed Yuu¡¯s arm and said. ¡°Look, later I¡¯ll¡­¡± I started. ¡°Not later. Now.¡± She said stubbornly. ¡°You never left to pet me later. Why do this now?¡± She¡­ Is she a bit more drunk than what I thought? AS I thought this, she suddenly threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly. ¡°Wa¡­ Wait. Yuu, what are you doing?¡± I asked her while a bit¡­ Very, very confused. ¡°If Shishou won¡¯t pet me, I won¡¯t let go of Shishou!¡± She said with a stubborn tone, which made me look at her confused for quite some time. ¡°Drunk Yuu¡­ Is on the offensive?¡± Hanbei asked in shock. ---- Author''s corner: If anyone is wondering, the way i imagine Drunk Yuu would be something like: Just like usual, extremely innocent, but she doesn''t get embarrassed, and is a lot more direct, so... We should get some interesting results, probably. Chapter 88 - Fox on the hunt Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Sorry for the short chap, but I had to cut it there¡­ ANYWAY, as I said, this is a short chapter for IO standards(only 3.1k words), but it just felt correct to cut it there, so I decided that it would be better to do so than make a half-assed cut later. ALSO, I¡¯m really, REALLY NO good when it comes to this type of scene. I hope it managed to work out somehow, but if it didn¡¯t, I hope you guys can forgive me. At least we finally get the prelude to action! Hurray! (sadly, no monster yet¡­ T.T That¡¯s for when he stops at the cities¡­) ALSO(2), Although it does get a rather seductive tone at the end, I do NOT, under ANY circumstances plan on making IO a mature tagged work, so don¡¯t worry about it. ALSO(3), Just a reminder, but this is still the same Yuu we are talking about, okay? Just sayin¡­ ALSO(4), I''m having talks with Cyg about the next SS chapter! Should be coming soon! Have a good read! ---- Looking around, I noticed that most of the people on the table were still oblivious to what was happening around me, so I was thankful for a moment, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before most of the gazes would gather upon me and Yuu. Deciding that it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to start a discussion with an overpowered martial artist that is a bit drunker than she should be, I chose quickly complying with her request and used my free hand to pet her for a bit. She closed her eyes in pleasure for a moment, wagging the twin tails cheerfully. After a few seconds of doing so, I finally stopped. ¡°There¡­ Happy?¡± I asked her. It took her a couple of seconds with her eyes closed before she finally registered my question. Looking upwards with an extremely dangerously adorable look, she stared at me for a few moments before finally reacting. ¡°No!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I asked confused. Instead of letting go of my arm, she tightened her hug around me while pressing her head against my chest and using her two tails to coil around my waist. Caught by surprise by her sudden aggressiveness, I didn¡¯t have enough time to react before I was completely held by her. ¡°I want one just like you did in the city!¡± She said in a pouting tone ¡°That one felt really good¡­ I want one just like that!¡± ¡°Huh? Wi-With the skill?¡± I asked confused, and she nodded. There¡¯s just no way in hell I¡¯m going to use that skill on Yuu right here! No, let me correct that. That skill shouldn¡¯t be used on her under any circumstances! That¡¯s very bad to my health! Then¡­ Yuu clinging to me like this is also VERY bad to my mental health. As I tried to think of a way to escape from my current situation, Yuu seemingly got bored with waiting, because she stopped looking upwards and simply pressed her face against my chest. I felt another heavy blow to my self control when she did that and hugged me a bit tighter. She smells kind of good, actually... C-calm down, Gon¡­ Let¡¯s not get ourselves confused here¡­ Yuu is too much of a dangerous foe for me to lose my head like this. Shaking my head, I sent glances to my sides in search of an ally. The most dangerous, but most likely to work was Lily, who had a strange rivalry with Yuu. But the undine had disappeared somewhere else in the brief moment that had passed. From there, my gaze went to Argento, but he simply took his wine mug and lifted to me as if making a toast while sporting a mischievous smile. Immediately, I looked to the other side, but the only thing I got was a shocked Hanbei and a thumbs up giving Yami, who had a somewhat proud face at the moment. I didn¡¯t need much thought to notice that somehow she was the one behind Yuu being drunk. She didn¡¯t ask for wine, after all. Finally, in one last desperate attempt, I turned to look at my new buddy Lucas¡­ Well, he wasn¡¯t in a very good spot either, as the vampire and the demoness seemed drunk and were both clinging to him tightly. In fact, I guess it was thanks to him that the attentions hadn¡¯t gathered in me yet, seeing how the girls were actually pulling him from one side to the other. I shall not forget your self-sacrifice, friend! Seeing that I didn¡¯t have any allies nearby, my attention was brought back to Yuu when she dragged her chair a bit closer to mine and found a more comfortable position. ¡°Hmm¡­ Yuu...¡± I said a bit worried, and she looked up to me with expectant eyes. ¡°Huuh¡­ Isn¡¯t it uncomfortable to keep hugging me like that? With stone body and all, I mean?¡± I asked hoping that I would get a positive response. ¡°No. Shishou is good to hug.¡± She said while putting her face against my chest once again, putting an slightly annoyed tone. ¡°It feels good to be close to Shishou.¡± She added in a low tone. Just wait a second while I reboot my brain here. The damage was heavy this time. ¡­ ¡°Hmm¡­ Can¡¯t we¡­ Leave that for lat...¡± ¡°NO!¡± Yuu said with a stubborn tone. Feeling a bit hopeless, I once again tried to find a way to get out of this mess. PETS! That¡¯s it! Having a sudden burst of intelligence, I quickly turned to my companions, looking for some help from them. While Rio was feasting herself with some fishes she found on the table, I felt as Aura moved beneath my leg, looking up to me. But, for some reason she looked extremely annoyed when she looked at me, which left me confused on the reason for that. Blinking surprised, she immediately looked away and let out an annoyed Hmph. Blinking surprised at her reaction, I didn¡¯t exactly have the time to wonder the reason for that, so I quickly turned my attention to the remaining two beings I could count on. Lieutenant! Turning to the soldier cat¡­ I found him pouring even more wine on Yuu¡¯s mug. I stared in shock at him only to see the cat give me the best innocent smile he could put on his trickster face while hiding the wine mug behind his back. Et tu Lieutenant? While I cringed at this sudden betrayal from the cat¡¯s part, I still had one last card to count on¡­ ¡°Muuu¡­ Why is Shishou only looking at others?¡± Yuu asked me angrily. Blinking surprised, I turned to her only to find her looking at me with some tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. ¡°Does shishou not like me?¡± ¡°Wha?¡± Where did that even come from? ¡°How can that even be possible?¡± I asked her in shock. ¡°Then, Shishou do likes me?¡± She said with a dubious tone, but I felt my mind freeze at the question. Like... Yuu? If I like Yuu? Well¡­ ¡°Hmm¡­ Yes, I¡­ I do like you.¡± I said while looking away embarrassed. ¡°Then pet me!¡± She said with a stubborn tone. ¡°If shishou does like me so much, then Shishou should not mind petting me, right?¡± She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t mind petting you, but¡­ To use the skill...¡± I said a bit worried, noticing how some other people on the table were starting to take notice of my situation. ¡°Hmmm¡­ I want that petting! It was very good!¡± She said with a pout ¡°I really liked when you did that to me...¡± ¡°Yuu.... Look...¡± I said getting a bit worried, seeing that she wasn¡¯t going to change her mind any time soon. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll do it.¡± I said finally, and her eyes widened in excitement. ¡°But first we have to go somewhere emptier, okay?¡± I said, and she nodded cheerfully. Seeing that I didn¡¯t exactly have much of an escape from my actual situation, I sighed loudly and got out from the chair after making a brief nod towards the captain. He raised an eyebrow in amusement, but didn¡¯t look too much into it, and simply nodded in response. Since both the table and the chairs were nailed down on the deck to avoid any possible slide due to sudden gusts, it was a bit bothersome to manage to leave the table, but it was worth for some stability. Wait¡­ How did Yuu drag her chair then? While thinking such, I gave a quick glance to the chair beneath her, and saw that there were some strange burnt marks where the nails were earlier. Did she burn the wood around the nails just to move the chair a bit? if you think that this came from a drunk girl¡­ It¡¯s a bit scary. Getting up and out from the deck, I quickly took one of the stairs down, all while wondering what I should do with Yuu, who was following right behind me¡­ I mean, right besides me, since she quickly went and grabbed my arm and put on a happy face. This girl¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to be able to resist her any longer¡­ And, taking a girl to a quieter place so that I could do something, doesn¡¯t that sounds somewhat immoral? While thinking so, I couldn¡¯t help but suddenly feel that what I¡¯m doing had actually made things worse for me. Shaking my head in grief, I gave a quick look around just to be safe and finally decided to get over with it. I mean, it¡¯s just petting Yuu, right? It¡¯s not like it¡¯s any different from what I keep doing with her anyways. That, and she actually go get a bit adorable when she¡¯s hanging close to me, right? Hmm¡­ Maybe it wouldn¡¯t be so bad¡­ I mean, it¡¯s just a bit of petting¡­ Whatever comes next... ¡°Eh? Is that Lily?¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Huh? Hearing a voice suddenly saying that, both me and Yuu blinked surprised and looked down the corridor. However, I didn¡¯t manage to see anything there, so I kept staring confused. Only to be dragged away by something, leaving Yuu behind as she looked around with a frown in her face. After taking a couple of turns and finding myself near the kitchen, whoever dragged me let go of the hem of my clothes, making me fall down on my bottom. Looking around confused, what I saw left me slightly surprised. It was Crys, or rather, Cyg in her larger elemental form. Looking at her confused for some time, she stared at me for a few seconds before finally sighing and shaking her head. ¡°What did you...?¡± I started, but she quickly interrupted me. ¡°I know I promised to avoid interfering with the game...¡± She started before I could finish the question before putting a pensive face. ¡°But then, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m interfering with the game itself.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked confused while feeling my head strangely light. She turned to me and put on a strangely weary smile. ¡°Gon, you were starting to be affected by the alcohol too, you know?¡± She said with a sigh, which made me widen my eyes for a moment. It looked like she was about to say something else, but she stopped looking towards the kitchen door. A moment later, her large form was gone and the small body was back, to which she quickly floated to me and sat on my shoulder. Not a second later, the door opened and one of the crewmember came out carrying a new barrel of wine. He looked at me surprised. ¡°Did something happen?¡± He asked for a moment, but Cyg shook her head. ¡°No, Master is only recovering from the alcohol a bit.¡± She said with a serious tone. The crewmember laughed a bit at this before pointing towards the kitchen. ¡°There¡¯s some water in there if you need it.¡± He said before turning back to the hallway. Crys nodded in response after a brief thanks. Once the crewmember was gone, she sighed deeply and turned back to me. ¡°Back to the previous matter...¡± She said, and I nodded. ¡°Your thoughts were being a bit distorted back then, so I decided that it would be better to stop you before you did something you would... regret.¡± She said in a strangely slow tone. I looked up and nodded slowly. Now that she told me, I do feel that my thoughts are a bit distorted right now. ¡°Thanks, Crys.¡± I told her while using my hand to pet her head. She widened her crystalline eyes a bit before nodding. ¡°Hmm¡­ I wouldn¡¯t like if you and Yuu regretted what happened and started to act awkwardly...¡± She said in a low tone. ¡°That and...¡± ¡°And¡­?¡± I asked confused, but she shook her head. ¡°Nothing.¡± She said, leaving me suspicious for some time. ¡°A-Anyway! Altough the minimap doesn¡¯t really help while inside large vehicles, it would probably be better for you to go somewhere until the two of you recover from the alcohol.¡± I stopped and nodded after a moment, raising myself from the ground and walking around while making my way to my room. At least I wasn¡¯t swaying like a drunkard, nor did I feel like the ground was unstable, so I guess I¡¯m still not that much of a goner. After crossing the path to my room, I reached there and came in, not really waiting too much since the door was unlocked. As both me and Argento stored everything in our inventory, there wasn¡¯t really much to worry about having stolen. After coming in, I quickly locked the door without much worries and gave the key to Crys in case I fell asleep and Argento wanted to come in. Once inside, I sat down on the messy bed and made a signal for Aura to come up. Strangely enough, Aura refused and simply laid on the ground besides me. As both Lieutenant and Rio were still up at the feast, this left me with no other option of fluffyness, so I simply laid on my bed and decided to wait until I could feel my head clearing up again. Or so would have happened¡­ ¡°Eh¡­ Teacher?¡± Are you effing kidding me? While thinking so, I quickly got up and looked to my side, where I found a still red-faced Lily laying on my bed besides me. No wonder the bed was messy! ¡°Lily¡­ What are you doing in my room?¡± I asked a bit weary. The undine tilted her head in confusion and looked around in shock. ¡°Eeeh¡­ This isn¡¯t my room?¡± She asked in a groggy and confused tone. Finally, her eyes landed on me and she shrugged. ¡°I get to have teacher for me alone? Hooray!¡± OI! WRONG LOGIC THERE! EVEN THE DRUNK ME KNOWS THAT! Sadly, I didn¡¯t have enough time to react before the Undine threw herself at me, hugging me around the neck while rubbing her head against me. I quickly reacted to her by pushing her away from me, and luckily enough, my strength stats seemed a bit better than hers, since I somehow managed to push her away. But she kept squirming her way back to me. I turned to Crys asking for some help, and she sighed loudly before approaching me and helping to pull the girl away from me. However, before we could pull the girl away, a dreaded sound echoed through the room while the temperature dropped by a few degrees. Literally. The four of us turned to the door like badly oiled machines, only to see a certain kitsune with a really ominous aura around her. She barely spared me a look before settling her eyes on Lily. Yuu calmly walked towards her and grabbed her by the arm before walking back to the door. Once there, she literally kicked Lily out of the room and said. ¡°I am the only disciple Shishou needs.¡± She turned back and closed the door behind her, then settled her cold gaze upon me, a slight blush still staining her cheeks. ¡°Err¡­ How¡­ How did you unlock the door?¡± I asked worried while crawling back on the bed in fear. ¡°Old locks like these have simple mechanism. Once you understand that, it¡¯s really easy to pick them.¡± Isn¡¯t that a surprising logic for a drunkard? What with this disparity between the two girls? As she finished her short speech, she sat on the bed before leaning towards me, a clear frown in her face. ¡°I am really angry with Shishou right now.¡± ¡°Huuh¡­ Why?¡± I asked while leaning back, only to be stopped by the wall. ¡°Shishou left me so that he could stay with another girl¡­ I do not like that!¡± She said with a pout. ¡°You were even going to pet me! Shishou is a big meany!¡± ¡°Huh¡­ Sorry?¡± I said while looking at Crys in worry. She also looked lost on what to do. Then, Yuu grabbed my cheeks and redirected my face towards her. ¡°No looking away from me!¡± She complained in a surprisingly childish tone. ¡°Right now, Shishou is mine and mine alone!¡± She said as if starting a tantrum, before stopping and looking back at me. I gulped in worry at the lack of distance between the two of us. ¡°Right now, I don¡¯t want Shishou looking anywhere that isn¡¯t me. You have to pay for leaving me alone!¡± I nodded weakly at her, and this seemed to make her satisfied, because she let go of my cheeks and leaned even closer. ¡°But now I want more than Shishou petting me.¡± She said with a strangely serious face. ¡°Now I want something that shishou, and only shishou can do with me.¡± She leaned even closer to me, her arms and tail gently coiling around me as she hugged me gently. ¡°What I want Shishou to do, with me¡­ is...¡± She said in a low tone, her face blushing a bit more than before.. But suddenly she stopped, blinking surprised as blue window popped up in front of her. She stared at it in confusion for a moment before pouting and swaying the window away angrily. Sadly, it also ended up hitting the crystal maid straight in the head just as she got close to the kitsune. ¡°MOOOU! Don¡¯t get between me and Shishou!¡± She complained before turning to me with her eyes slightly moist. ¡°As I was saying. There is something I want to ask Shishou...¡± She started, but thanks to her lost momentum, I managed to interrupt her. ¡°L-Look Yuu, I¡­ I don¡¯t think your father would like if we did it while you are like this...¡± I said while pushing her away. ¡°Father has nothing to do with it.¡± She complained while shaking my hands away from her and leaning in once again. ¡°Besides, what I want¡­ From shishou...¡± She started once again, her face blushing once again. And just as she leaned close to my ear, preparing to whisper her demand... The boat shook, throwing both of us out of balance and making her fall against my chest. ¡°IT¡¯S PIRATES BOYS! ALL MAGES GO MAN THE DECK WHILE ALL GUESTS GO DOWN TO YOUR ROOMS!¡± The captain shouted from the main deck. ¡°THE REST GET YOURSELVES SOME DECENT WEAPONS AND PREPARE FOR BATTLE! WE PICKED A BAD NIGHT FOR A DINNER, BUT IT¡¯S NEVER A BAD NIGHT FOR A FIGHT!¡± He shouted as movement started on the upper decks. Meanwhile, back in my room, with Yuu recovering from the sudden impact¡­ ¡°...once again¡­ my time¡­ with Shishou...¡± I heard something snap. While feeling some pity towards the poor pirates, I couldn¡¯t help but be somewhat thankful to them at the same time. Chapter 89 - Sing along Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Let the power of drunk Yuu compel you! ANYWAY, some naval battle today, hope it is for you guys liking, as it¡¯s not exactly my forte, you know? That, and I hope that the captain¡¯s oddity seems Insania enough for you guys. A bit short of the usual 4k words, but almost there. It IS an action scene, after all. (not that it matters) next chapter should be more brawl like than usual, so I hope I can keep up a good quality. ALSO, I hope I managed to make drunk Yuu a force to be recognized and feared. A cold and calculating petting machine. As in, she is the one being petted, mind you. And yes, that was a (death) flag that Gon made at the end. Also(2), While learning Kanji on the net, I ended up fiding that Yuu is the reading for both the kanji of evening and friend, thought it would be interesting to comment¡­ Have a good read! ---- It took me more than a couple of seconds to recover from the shock, and in fact, it was only the obnoxiously cheerful laugh of Skarr that woke me up from my shock. Giving a quick look to my sides, I noticed how both Aura and Crys also seemed locked in a stupor, so I cleared my throat which led them to blink surprised. ¡°Err¡­ Should we get going?¡± I asked. The duo nodded before raising themselves. I quickly jumped out from the bed while opening up the menu and changing from my casual gear to my combat gear. Letting the long sword on my back, I also equipped the bow on the secondary slot as a precaution. After a quick check, it seemed that everything was fine, so I led on. Aura already had her armor set to enhance her magic, and seeing that a bit more of a rear support wasn¡¯t a bad thing, I decided that there wasn¡¯t need for her to change. The moment we stepped out from the room, my eyes fell upon a person who was staring at the stairway in shock while standing right in front of me, his¡­ her¡­ Ashley¡¯s back leaning against the wall as the elemental looked flabbergasted. ¡°Hey, Rival, what happened?¡± I asked him. ¡°WHO THE HELL IS YOUR RIVAL?¡± He shouted back to me. ¡°Oh, so you recovered. Good.¡± I said mischievously while seeing him stare cold daggers at me. ¡°So, what the hell happened? You looked a bit surprised¡­¡± He made a slightly bothered face at my words. ¡°A bit is an understatement, master.¡± Crys added discretely. ¡°He was thoroughly shocked.¡± ¡°Hey, I was trying to make him¡­ Her¡­ Him look less pathetic, you know?¡± I said while putting up a fake shocked tone. ¡°Oi¡­¡± Ashley said with a popping fire vein on the forehead. ¡°Anyway, how should I actually refer to the third gender? Him or her?¡± I asked while making a pretty confused face. ¡°STOP WITH THAT THIRD GENDER!¡± ¡°Maybe with ¡®it¡¯, master? ¡®It¡¯ does not indicate gender.¡± Crys added in a pensive tone. ¡°I¡¯M NOT EVEN A PERSON ANYMORE?¡± Ashley said angrily. ¡°AND REFER TO ME AS ¡®HIM¡¯, FOR CYGNASSAKE!¡± She said while puffing angrily. While Crys and me looked at her with wide smiles, she became extremely annoyed, but also calmed down for a moment before turning and making his way towards the stairway. The girls and I followed him closely ¡°Anyway, for a moment I thought that the devil herself passed besides me.¡± He said with a slight shiver. ¡°Oh, that was Yuu.¡± I said briefly, and the salamander stopped for a moment, turning to me in shock. ¡°That girl? The kitsune?¡± He asked and I nodded. ¡°¡­You are kidding me, right?¡± ¡°She was drunk¡­ And became a little angry after a few things happened¡­¡± I said while scratching my cheek. Luckily, it seemed that the shock eliminated any remains of the alcohol from my mind. ¡°A little angry?¡± Ashley asked. ¡°A LITTLE ANGRY? SHE WAS FREEZING THE GROUND WHERE SHE WALKED FOR CYGNAS¡¯SAKE!¡± He said while pointing towards the ice footprints on the wooden floor. ¡°Yeah, that might have been an understatement¡­¡± I said with a wry smile. After climbing up the stairs, we quickly made a sharp turn and followed the trail of ice towards the upper deck. As we made our way, I thought something that had been bugging me for some time. ¡°For someone who wants to be guy, isn¡¯t Ashley a girly name?¡± He literally slipped when I said my words, falling face first into the ground. ¡°Please¡­ Don¡¯t even start¡­¡± He said in a pleading tone. Seems like I stepped on a landmine with that last question. Quickly helping her up I decided to shelve the matter for later. Of course, this also meant that the talk ended just as abruptly as it started, but it left an awkward silence hanging between us. Feeling uncomfortable, I decided to try something else. ¡°So¡­ Why exactly are you in a rush to help?¡± ¡°If this blimp falls, I die. Simple as that.¡± He replied coldly. Fair enough. ¡­ By the time we reached the upper deck, most of the passengers had already gone down to their bedrooms, so the only one besides the crew here were my group minus Lily and Argento, my rival, who looked annoyed at me for some reason, and Lucas¡¯ group. Of course the captain was also here, and he had a cheerful face that felt oddly out of place in his feral look. For some reason he had a long rifle in one hand and a mug of ale on the other and kept singing cheerfully. If he put on an eye-patch, he would be indifferent from any other pirate out there. The crewmembers were visibly more tense, but they all had an excited look in their eyes, and didn¡¯t seem worried at all. Maybe they actually have experience with this kind of thing. Strangely enough, I couldn¡¯t see any enemy pirate on the deck, so for a moment I wondered what had happened, but then I saw it. A large ball of fire hit the lateral of the ship, only to be blocked by a thin cyan layer that popped up right at the last moment. A couple of the crew-members that were focusing winced, but soon enough their faces went back to normal. Looking from the direction that the fireball came, I could see a couple of blimps flying in parallel with our own blimp. Although I said that, I could still barely reach it with an arrow from this distance, but could give no guarantee about the precision. ¡°~~Raise de boat, turn the helm to board, Mages of fire, blast em all ashore! On the count to three and let the fire go Watch the fireworks and say YO HO!~~¡± The captain sang cheerfully, and it took me a couple of seconds to understand that these were orders, and just like that, the ship rose a few meters in the air while turning slightly to the side just as another large fireball passed close by. The sudden movement made me and Ash almost lose our balances, but we quickly held onto the railing before falling. Some of the mages immediately cast a magic in perfect synchro, creating a massive fireball that flew in an arc before hitting one of the enemy¡¯s vessels. Sadly, it seemed that the attack was stopped by a barrier similar to the ones we used. ¡° ¡° ¡° YO HO! ¡± ¡± ¡± The men sang together on the rythim of the captain. Seeing that ridiculous scene, me and Ash looked at the others in search of an explanation, but they all simply shrugged. After a brief search, I quickly found the person who had stormed out of my room furiously a few minutes ago. Yuu was standing on the very edge of the ship while all her support was the robe that locked the blimp to the ship. ¡°¡­llpaytheywillpaytheywillpaytheywillpaytheywillpay¡­¡± She kept muttering. Okay, she¡¯s out of it. Let¡¯s leave the ominous kitsune with the darker than black aura floating behind her and try to gather information from someone else. ¡°Gon! What the hell happened with Yuu-chan? She¡¯s scary!¡± Hanbei said while approaching me, and I could only smile awkwardly. ¡°Long story.¡± I said briefly. ¡°So, what exactly is happening here?¡± I asked confused as the captain sang another order suddenly, making the ship swerve erratically. ¡°Three pirate blimps appeared a few minutes ago and started to bombard us from afar.¡± Hanbei said. ¡°Normal magic either doesn¡¯t reach them or is stopped by the barrier spell, so we are in an exchange of bombardment magic right now.¡± ¡°So¡­ There¡¯s nothing for us to do?¡± I asked confused while I looked at Lucas party, seeing the demon cast another huge fireball all by herself. ¡°No, the captain said that they should send a boarding party soon¡­¡± ¡°~~Fire is coming, escape is nigh All barriers sent up, brace for impact Fight fire with ice, lets stop them solid Fox lass right there, giving a help is welcome! On count to seven, fire it upwards Let if fall on them and show who we are, lads!~~¡± Just as the man sang, it didn¡¯t take long for the fireball to hit the upper part of the blimp. For a moment I paled in worry as there was the chance of it igniting the gas inside the blimp, but even though the blimp shook, it seemed that the barrier stopped it just fine. Just as he said, Yuu quickly changed her focus from wanting to slaughter then one by one to instant mass murder and helped the mages in their casting while using the gauntlets she earned back at Eldor. After reaching a count of seven, the magicians launched the huge ice spikes in an upward angle. For a moment I thought it was going to miss, but the ice made an arc after a gust of wind hit it, swerving it to the side and landing on the ship spot on. Although some of the ice broke in contact with the barrier, enough still passed that it damaged the crewmen. Still, from what I could see, there were only two blimps nearby, yet Han-chan mentioned three of them. While I looked around in confusion, I received my answer as another silly song. ¡°~~Here they come, it¡¯s time for the brawl Take your weapons, your magic and balls From board and starboard they soon shall fall So listen to the captains orders! KILL THEM ALL!~~¡± In a furious tone, the captain ended the last phrase while taking his rifle and aiming at what seemed nowhere. However, the moment he pulled the trigger, huge smoke screen came out from the barrel, and a rain of bullets hit on a random pirate that was just landing on the deck after jumping from something above us. The non-magician crewmember all raised their voices in a battle cry as they all ran towards the pirates that landed on the ship non-stop like a falling rain. Noticing that we kind of lost our chance to get into battle, the four of us (aura included) stood in the corner waiting for the next wave. Changing to my bow, I quickly started to scan the battlefield looking for places where the battle wasn¡¯t going in our favor. It was a bit of a bizarre scene. Even when the pirates or the crewmembers took attacks that clearly should have killed them, like an attack to the head or the heart, they still kept fighting on like almost nothing happened. It was only at times like these that it really felt that this was a game. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Still, this doesn¡¯t mean that the battles weren¡¯t violent. The ones that happened to fall near Yuu didn¡¯t really have much chance. And I mean fall, not land, because the moment that she could reach them, she would simply sweep them overboard, this way she wouldn¡¯t need to drag the fight too long. Efficient to a scary degree, as I could constantly hear the poor soul¡¯s cries as they fell to their deaths. For a moment, I felt as a cold feeling passed through my body. What we are doing right now, isn¡¯t it killing? As that thought passed on me, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a slight sense of incongruence within me. But I quickly dismissed it when I saw a pirate aiming for the captain¡¯s back. Pulling my bow, I used a quick-shot to stagger the guy, giving the gargoyle enough time to notice what was happening. -21 -21 -21 -21 -84 (632/1300) However, before he could even point his rifle towards the guy, a gun-shot echoed. But instead of simply taking the damage of a bullet, Yami appeared behind the guy while wielding a rifle with one hand and a kunai in the other. She immediately stabbed the kunai in the guy¡¯s neck where a burst of shadows exploded from the knive¡¯s tip. Following that attack, she also managed to land a couple more slices with the small knife before shooting the guy in the back with her musket. -131 -8 -8 -35 COMBO! (x1.2) -218 (414/1300) As the pirate recovered from the impact, he turned to her and raised his sword in a ferocious looking attack. However, before the attack could land on Yami, she pointed the rifle towards me. And Shot. I didn¡¯t even have time to react to the bullet, but even after getting hit, I didn¡¯t feel anything at all, and when I looked back at the scene, Yami had already disappeared from the guy¡¯s proximity. ¡°Looking for something?¡± I heard she ask from behind me, making me jump startled. ¡°Shadow shot. Allows the user to teleport to behind the target of the bullet, and won¡¯t incur cooldown unless used twice.¡± ¡°And the dagger?¡± I asked curious while watching the pirate look around in confusion. ¡°Marked for Death. Massive bonus damage to the auxiliary weapon if used from behind the target. Increases damage taken by ten percent for one minute.¡± She said with a proud tone. It took me a moment to understand what she meant by auxiliary weapon. But after some time I remembered that players could equip a small weapon besides their main one for emergency cases, even though it didn¡¯t deal significant damage. I couldn¡¯t do that because I would lose the benefit of cycle weapons though¡­ As I ignored that though, Ashley overheard our conversation and nodded briefly before darting ahead. If Yami used daggers as assassination weapons, hot-head used them as fighting weapons, because he didn¡¯t even try to hide the fact that he was attacking. The bandit tried to raise his weapons to block the incoming dagger, but a kick to the guts stopped him as the dagger came from above, piercing the back of his head. While he removed the daggers, he also landed her knee on the guy¡¯s face, making a crunching sound. As the bandit¡¯s head lifted, Ashley finalized with some strange skill that made her daggers shine a dark light. -12 -37 -41 -20 -150 -150 -410 (4/1300) HO. LEE. SHI. TE. What the hell was that damage? As I watched the scene in shock, I saw as Ashley clicked his tongue in annoyance, but before he could finish the pirate, Captain shot him in the head, killing the pirate. I felt an uncomfortable feeling deep in my chest, but I held it in. ¡°Not bad, lads.¡± The captain said with an raised eyebrow before looking at me, then he suddenly gave me a pitying gaze. ¡°I KNOW MY DAMAGE WASN¡¯T MUCH, OKAY?¡± I said in sullen tone before pouting childishly. ¡°My bow isn¡¯t as good as my sword when it comes to raw damage¡­¡± ¡°I said nothing¡­¡± The gargoyle said while laughing. ¡°But it was written all over your face, you know?¡± I said with a sigh. As we exchanged that little talk, the sound of battles slowly started to die down, and the captain briefly made a surprised face as he turned to his back, before smiling fiercely. ¡°GET READY MEN! THE SECOND WAVE IS COMING SOON! DAHAHAHAHA!¡± He said with a wide smile. I blinked surprised and nodded to myself while removing some arrows from my inventory. Since my damage wasn¡¯t all that good, might as well try to do some support. This would be easier than getting the jumbo sword to swing around in the fairly small deck. Climbing on the table that was still nailed down in the middle of the deck, I stabbed some varied arrows in it so that I could have some easy access to them. Yami seemed to have the same idea as mine, because she also climbed on it where she could have some better vision for her shots. ¡°SHIIIIISHOU!¡± Yuu suddenly shouted while leaping upon the table and hugging me. Blinking surprised, I turned to her and looked at the kitsune in confusion. ¡°They were too weak! I couldn¡¯t even get my revenge!¡± She said in a pouting tone that left me worried. ¡°Well, you don¡¯t really need to get revenge, do yo¡­¡± ¡°I DO!¡± She said angrily before dropping her tone to a spine chilling one. ¡°They took away my time with Shishou. That¡¯s unforgiveable.¡± I saw as everyone on the deck felt a shiver going down on their spines as she muttered those words, me included. Gulping down in worry, I gently patted her head for a moment, and this seemed to calm her for a few seconds. But after some time she perked up and looked at me straight in the eyes at an slightly worrying distance, or lack of. ¡°When we finish here, we can go back to where we stopped, right?¡± She said in the sweetest of the voices that made me blush slightly. Without even waiting for my reply she gave a quick nod before walking away to the place where she had been before. Seeing that, the others eyed me suspiciously, but I simply cleared my throat and said. ¡°We did nothing.¡± I¡¯m almost sure they didn¡¯t believe me. Sighing in defeat, I turned towards the blimps and saw as they bombarded us once again. ¡°~~Men of the air, my voice you heed The upper fool our hunger shall feed The moment they descend, we do the deed Stones the size to shame siege Shall pierce from beneath, towards their bridge!~~¡± As he sang that silly song, the magicians once again became ready while casting their spell. A huge earthen spear appeared on the side of the ship, and just as the spear fired upwards, the first pirates of the next wave started to fall. There was the sound of wood breaking apart as the spear pierced through the ship, and I could only wonder in shock how the hell it happened, as everything else seemed to simply bounce off the barrier. Still, I didn¡¯t bother too much with it and simply watched as the men kept on falling on the deck. However, before even the third one could fall, the captain once again sang. Immediately after, the ship followed his commands by swerving downwards and to the side, just as the massive ship fell besides us. ¡°Seriously, how the hell do you do that?¡± I asked in shock as the few pirates either fell from the dislodged ship or were kicked out from ours due to sheer number. ¡°Experience, cousin.¡± He said in a cheerful mood. ¡°And do you need to sing?¡± I asked curious and he laughed. ¡°That is my skill, cousin!¡± He said while chugging down a large mug of wine. ¡°Pirate¡¯s song! The drunker and the merrier, the better it gets!¡± He said while doing a spin. ¡°Okay¡­¡± I said warily before looking at Yuu, who had once again gone back to the side of the ship and kept staring at the far away ships. ¡°So¡­ What¡¯s next?¡± ¡°They should send their men through mounts, I guess?¡± He said with a shrug before pointing towards the farthest ship. ¡°See the larger one? Looks like it has a pen for beasts. I could guess it¡¯s their boarding party or something¡­ Maybe aerial troops for all I know.¡± He said with a laugh before turning towards the men and singing once again. For a moment, a strange tense atmosphere fell between our ship and the adversary, and nothing happened as they decided on what they were going to do. They did lose one of their ship in a single strike just now, so they were probably deciding on what to do. Likewise, Skarr, despite his warmongering personality, didn¡¯t go buy a fight with them. After around three minutes, there was some movement, as the two ships started to approach us from afar. One of the coming up while the other lowered itself. Skarr made a light frown when he saw both ships casting the siege fireballs. I Seeing that I might have a chance, I quickly took one of the arrows I had stuck on the table and put it on my bow. The captain raised an eyebrow at it, but I ignored him and took aim at the lowest fireball. ¡°Confirm this for me, but they can¡¯t cast the fireball if the shield is still up, right?¡± I asked doubtful. The large Gargoile widened his eyes for a moment before nodding. ¡°Think you can do it?¡± He asked me. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty difficult shot you are trying right there.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± I replied with a wide smile. ¡°Probably going to miss, but it¡¯s worth a shot, I guess?¡± I said while shrugging. Skarr laughed loudly while nodding before turning to look at the ship, watching as they charged up the fireball. After a moment he started singing up some orders like always, I paid enough attention to his words and tried to guess when exactly they were going to take a shot. Just when I saw a tiny bit of movement on the ball¡¯s trajectory, I tensed up my body, took aim¡­ Then Yuu jumped. The scene was so ridiculous and unexpected, that we all simply stared in shock for a good five seconds. It was only when Yuu grabbed hold of a rope of the enemy ship and swung inside it that it finally dawned on us what happened. ¡°You¡¯ve gotta be kidding me¡­¡± I said in sheer shock. ¡°WHAT A LASS! I WOULDN¡¯T HAVE THE COURAGE TO DO THAT! DAHAHAHAHAHA!¡± Skarr laughed his ass off. I simply grimaced while looking around for a moment. ¡°Bah, Screw it. LIEUTENANT, YOU AND RIO WITH ME! AURA, SUPPORT FROM ABOVE, CRYS, KEEP A LOOKOUT FOR NASTY SURPRISES.¡± I shouted quickly, all the animals that were scattered around the ship blinked surprised before nodding. Lieutenant quickly understood my intention and found a piece of rope lying around. Since I¡¯m not exactly good with knots, I had Aura simply freeze the rope on the railing before grabbing Lieutenant and jumping over. Rio quickly followed us while flying. While cursing under my breath, I swore to the gods that I would NEVER, EVER, let Yuu drink again. SS 0100.2 - Synthetic God Guest¡¯s author corner: I was supposed to say that the Author is feeling sorry for the delay in updates and that he sincerely regrets having suddenly disappeared. According to him, there were some serious things going at his house so he couldn¡¯t find time to write¡­ Truth to be told, he was just binge-reading Light novels and got a bit too distracted with them¡­ And now have others ideas roaming around his head that aren¡¯t letting him write anything else. He¡¯s almost as irresponsible as Gon¡­ TO think that sucha person could exist¡­ Anyway, while he manage to get his focus back, I decided to make one more entry for this side-story, even though he didn¡¯t give me the cookies he promised me. So, while I go and hunt the fleeing author, I hope you can enjoy my side of the story! ----- For quite some time, I spent my hours simply watching as Gon went around training the Japanese girl on the way of videogames. It was a pretty entertaining sight, as some times he would change into a perfect example of a teacher, and others he would go back to the foolish character he actually was. Time went on and the improbable duo finally went on to hunt the lynxes that Gon had been wanting to get since some time ago. It was an interesting sight, as Gon spent his time watching and learning about the cats, fighting them in a way completely different from how the other players had been doing earlier. Not that he had much choice, since his gear made it mathematically impossible for him to sustain himself against a drawn out battle against the felines and his only partner was a level one mage. Yet, surprising me, he actually managed to beat it, not by going on a direct bout, but by working around with defensive maneuvers and counter attacks. I was sincerely surprised with his results, since the very reason such lynxes were there was that so players could learn that the game isn¡¯t as simple as other RPGS. It was probably his strange obsession with his other game, Monster Hunter, that made him succeed in those hunts, since from what I saw on my research, his hunting style seemed to match the basic style for that game. Maybe I should have taken in account that kind of hunting style while I was making the basic programming¡­ As I watched the duo go on their adventures and start to fiddle around with elemental crystals, I couldn¡¯t help but smile awkwardly at how easily he started to work around with them. I half expected that only higher leveled players would actually start to find out their uses, due to how weak their base effects were. Another thing that caught my attention was the face that the girl, Yuu, made whenever Gon would pet her. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder, does such type of physical contact really give such a pleasurable reaction? Wondering to myself, I even created a second body and tried petting myself, but¡­ It was surprisingly boring¡­ Even though I was supposed to have perfectly replicated the sense of touch perfectly¡­ Dismissing my copy, I once again went on to do my work, all the while watching Gon go around hunting and doing his things. Not after much time passed, they finished the quest and Gon made his way to the village, where he left the girl with her friend before logging out. I didn¡¯t really interrupt him this time since I didn¡¯t have much I needed to talk with him, so I let him go. But, I felt a bit like fooling with him when he came back, so I quickly brought up the character creation menu and started to fiddle around with my avatar in here, changing it into a golem and making some finer alteration. By the time I felt satisfied with the changes, I noticed Gon had already entered the character selection screen and was about to enter the game. I quickly transported myself in a flashy way and watched as he stared surprised for some time. I found his reaction fairly amusing, so I kept watching him for some time. ¡°So, How do I look?¡± I asked, feeling a bit mischievous. ¡°You¡­ Kind of look like one of those god¡¯s statues you see in temples¡­¡± He replied with an amused tone. I smiled a bit proudly and said. ¡°Well, I AM a goddess!¡± ¡°Really? I have my doubts¡­¡± Muu, why can¡¯t he be nice to me for a change? Seeing him smiling triumphantly didn¡¯t exactly help either, so I turned away from him in anger. ¡°So¡­ I had promised to show you the stories I wrote¡­ Right?¡± I blinked at his sudden embarrassed words before turning to him excited and blinked myself closer to him, grabbing him by the armor and clinging to him. I¡¯ve always liked reading the stories that the humans write, and having the chance of reading one from the few people I actually knew was a brand new experience. ¡°WHERE? WHERE? WHERE?¡± I asked him excited. ¡°I put them in a USB plugged to the console¡­ I guess you can access them this way, right?¡± He said, and the moment he mentioned USB I had already brought up a window and was checking the amount of stories he had brought. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. There were surprisingly many stories in there. Most of which sadly were only a few pages long, but some older ones that were surprisingly long, and others that had three or four copies for some reason. I couldn¡¯t help but get excited at the sight, since there was a lot more than what I expected. Picking one that had an interesting title, I immediately put myself to read it. I think it¡¯s worth mentioning, but I could simply upload everything to my memory, and that¡¯s what I usually did when it came to reading textbooks about physics and chemistry so that I could copy them in-game, and even did it with some of the first stories I read. But then, my parents recommended me to try and read a book just like a human does, word by word at a set speed. It gives a completely new tension feeling when you don¡¯t know everything about the story right away, so ever since, this is the method I¡¯ve been using. As I distractedly started to read the story in front of me, Gon cleared his throat. ¡°So, why the sudden change in appearance?¡± He asked me curious. Noticing how I had completely ignored him, I became slightly embarrassed and said. ¡°Muu¡­ It¡¯s because you gave me that idea of playing the game myself¡­ So even if I weren¡¯t going to play myself, I kind of wanted to see how I would look like if I were to be of each race¡­¡± That and I kind of felt like seeing your reactions. ¡°And when I saw you logging in, I decided to choose golem just like you!¡± I made a story on the spot before putting myself besides him and making a mirror object materialize in front of us. Reflected on the smooth surface, were both of us, with the taller Gon wearing some basic adventuring gear while the shorter me had an almost noble-looking appearance, with my crystal dress. I couldn¡¯t help but for a moment remind myself of a couple while looking, with me being a noble girl and Gon being an adventurer. But I foresaw that saying that could cause some misunderstanding and leave things awkward between us, so I decided a milder approach. ¡°Look, doesn¡¯t it look like I am your sister this way?¡± I said while turning and looking up to him. He simply stared at me in shock for a moment. I started to feel a bit awkward for a moment, as well as anxious, wondering how he would reply. But what he said wasn¡¯t exactly what I was expecting. ¡°Cyg, could I ask you for a favor?¡± I blinked, noticing that it seemed something serious. Basically, what he had asked me was so that I could help his father and sister once they logged in game for the first time. Since it wasn¡¯t anything too complex and there was already a project on the works to deal with that specifically, I thought it wouldn¡¯t be a big problem and accepted. After arranging the details with him, I sent him off to the world and waiting to see what would happen once he went back to adventuring. Still, I felt a bit sad that he didn¡¯t comment honestly on my appearance¡­ While wondering why was that, I decided to simply go back to doing what I was doing earlier. Fixing bugs found by players, reading the story Gon just brought me and watching said Gon as he fooled around. Unsurprisingly, it didn¡¯t take long for him to do something interesting, as I saw a notification telling me that he had just received a mythical quest from Wallace, the leather worker. Surprised, I quickly checked the details and couldn¡¯t help but be amazed. He managed to get such an incredible quest so early, it was difficult not to be impressed. Being honest, it wasn¡¯t the first mythical quest someone took, and in truth, two others had already been found. But when it happens to someone you know, the feeling is almost entirely different, so I felt a bit elated at that. Still, it would take a good time before he could even dream of completing this quest. Truly going way over the top, a very Gon-like thing to happen. Giggling silently to myself, I was convinced that nothing more amusing would happen so soon, so I put my focus back on reading the amusing story he brought me. I sincerely underestimated Gon¡¯s capacity of getting into trouble, because not even ten minutes later he was flung into the air by the leatherworker while he sang I believe I can fly at the top of his lungs. I spent a few seconds laughing before I finally recovered. ----- Author¡¯s corner: HI and whatever. Gotta be quick when a goddess is hunting you. Updates should be back to normal soon. Cookies are still safe but who knows for how long. ¡­ CRAP, SHE SAW ME! YOU¡¯LL NEVER TAKE MY COOKIES WHILE I LIVE! *Runs away like a coward* Chapter 90 - Pirate rumble Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! ACTION TIME! (and flirty Yuu too¡­) ANYWAY, Today¡¯s chapter is more of a continuation from the previous action-scene chapter with some bickering as usual. I also took the chance to show some of Gon¡¯s newest skill a bit and how they work in battle. ALSO, I planned for the action scene to end in this chapter to be honest, but it ended up taking too long and there were still a couple of scenes I had to add, so¡­ One more action chapter incoming! Should only be half length though, with the other half being aftermath. Hopefully. ALSO(2), As soon as I recover from my burns inflicted by a rampaging goddess, I¡¯ll hunt down everyone who went against me, okay? I do hold a grudge¡­ Have a good read! ---- Holding to the rope with one hand, I jumped over the guardrail and held myself against the side of the ship, stopping myself just below the level of the deck. I didn¡¯t simply jump over, because the time where I recovered myself from the shock, the enemy vessel had already gone beneath our own ship, so I had to find a way to go beneath our trading ship before jumping out. Using all my strength, I kicked away the wall of the ship just as I saw a fireball be stopped by an ice lance. Thanking Aura briefly in my mind, I slowly let go of the rope, increasing the distance between me and the guard-rail where it was stuck, and allowing me to swing somewhat far. Looking down, I could already see some traces of a fight going on the enemy¡¯s blimp. Grimacing while seeing that I still didn¡¯t have enough momentum, I turned to the cat on my free arm and said. ¡°Lieutenant, I¡¯m going to throw you. Go help Yuu while I get myself over there.¡± I said and he nodded while taking on a ready position. Accepting his preparation as an agreement, I started to gather momentum on the swinging rope by moving my body back and forth. Looking attentively, I could see as a bluish aura formed around the ship, and I wondered if that meant that it would somehow stop Lieutenant from getting in. Grimacing, I saw as a fireball formed from inside the barrier, and remembering what Skarr made me do before Yuu jumped, I decided to wait for the moment where the ball would be launched, this way Lt. could go in undisturbed. Luckily, I didn¡¯t have to wait much longer, because soon enough the barrier came down, so using my strength plus the momentum from the swinging rope¡­ ¡°LIEUTENANT! I CHOOSE YOU!¡± ¡°NYAAA¡­ NA?¡± I threw the cat, who suddenly made a confused face at the strange joke. Ignoring his confusion, he nimbly landed on the blimp¡¯s balloon and made his way down through the ropes just as the barrier closed and the fireball was launched upwards. However, it seemed that the captain expected that, because the ship swerved into a weird direction, moving away from the opponent ship just as the fireball glanced his own barrier. But this also left me in an awkward position, because he swerved the ship to the same direction that I was, so this put me even farther away from the ship as before. Grimacing at this, I waited to the rope to stop swinging wildly before once again prepare to jump to the opponent ship. ¡°Hey, stone-man.¡± I heard a childish voice sound in my head, and turned to the silver wyvern flying besides me. ¡°You need to get in the big flying wood-house?¡± She asked while looking at the blimp beneath us. ¡°Huh¡­ Yes?¡± I said confused. ¡°Why? You aren¡¯t going to offer to fly me there, are you?¡± I asked suspicious, but the little wyvern shook her head. ¡°No, but I can help you swing!¡± She said cheerfully. I blinked surprised, but before I had the chance to understand, she held me by the armor using her claws and pulled me back. When she started to get troubled with pulling me, she changed to start pushing me with her head. I blinked surprised at her sudden help, but being honest, this was a lot faster than gathering speed by myself, and soon I was already going fast enough to what I thought I would need to jump on the ship. But I still had to wait for the barrier to come down, and giving a peek at Yuu¡¯s status on the party window, I could see that she had lost one third of her health. But I also saw as more than a couple of pirates fell from the side of the ship, only to be stopped by the thin blue barrier. I couldn¡¯t help but notice the surprising difference between their barriers and Skarr¡¯s barrier. ¡°Oi, what the hell is happening here?¡± A voice suddenly called from the side. Blinking in shock, I turned just in time to see as a demon mounted on a what looked like a quadrupedal bird of prey. From his gear, I could somehow tell that he was a pirate. That and the fact that he looked confused, when I knew that everyone on the deck saw the scene playing. ¡°Well, better be safe than sure¡­¡± He said while taking an arrow from the quiver besides him and aiming at me. Crap. CRAPPITY, CRAPPITY CRAP! The moment that my body reached the apex of the arc, he would let go of the bowstring and I would fall to my death. Grimacing at this, I knew that Rio wouldn¡¯t have time to attack, and with one hand holding the rope, my aim would be impaired by the swinging, so I couldn¡¯t even count on my knife throwing skill. Preparing myself for a last second dodge, I focused on his movement just before shooting the bow so that I could know when to twist my body away. But then, two things happened. One, was that I felt a tug at the rope, feeling as it made an odd motion. Looking up, I saw that the ice that Aura used to stick the rope to the railing had a crack in it, and the rope started to slide off from the ice. Also, I saw as an angry fox looked down from the railing, aiming at the guy in the gryphon with a furious look in her eyes. Before the man could even understand what was happening, a ball of mist hit the wings of the bird, freezing it solid. What happened afterwards, was something straight out of cartoons, where he put on a face of sheer despair and looked downwards before finally starting to fall. I would have laughed my ass off at the moment, but I didn¡¯t exactly have the chance to do that¡­ Why? Well¡­ There was this really ominous cracking sound coming from the ice, and before I could even react, just like the pirate that fell down, I made an idiotic face as I was flung towards the ship which still had its shield up. ¡°FUUUUUUUUU¡­¡± I shouted in despair while letting go of the rope and falling towards the ship. I felt as I hit something akin to an invisible wall and started to slide downwards. I quickly noticed that I was sliding down through the shield above the balloon, so I tried to scramble my ways upwards, but with the lack of a solid place to hold, I started to slide downwards at an increasingly faster speed. I even tried to stab one of my throwing knifes on the shield, but even that didn¡¯t exactly help me, as the blade simply bounced off the shield. Crap, how the hell do I escape that one? As I stormed my brain on a way to stick to the shield without falling down, I quickly reached the edge of the balloon, and since the barrier enveloped the ship as a whole, I couldn¡¯t simply slide my way towards the deck. However, at the last second I felt as someone grabbed me by the neck and started to push me forward, stopping my fall barely. ¡°Hold on¡­ Stone mister!¡± Rio said while doing her best to push me forward so that I wouldn¡¯t fall. ¡°Thanks Rio!¡± I said with a relieved sigh. ¡°What will we do now, mister?¡± She asked me in worry. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ Hold on much¡­ Longer!¡± ¡°What? Well¡­¡± I sincerely didn¡¯t have much idea. The barried didn¡¯t seem to have any friction, so the moment that she let go, I will fall down unavoidably. I looked around in search for a response, I didn¡¯t think that my sword could pierce an anti-siege shield like that one, and although I did have an idea of what could work, it wasn¡¯t exactly something I could use while trying to hold myself for dear life. Then, the barrier disappeared and I fell. I became confused for quite some time while I tried to understand the soft feeling beneath my face, but the meaning quickly became clear once I saw a strong light fly above me. It seemed like they shot another one of their siege-fireballs, so they brought down their shield to fire for a moment. Quickly recovering myself, I moved around and found a rope that tied the ship to the balloon, so I slid downwards through it and stepped on the railings of the deck. What I saw was a fairly scary scene, where a single kitsune with her two tails moving around ominously with the fur puffed out and a long ice spear with a fiery tip burning in her hands. Around her, four armored pirates were laying on the ground, either dead or unconscious, and more than twenty other pirates wielding their weapons while standing around her. Even more stood around while working on the ship, either by the helm manning the ship, or by the board, casting magic. From the looks of it, not all of them were battle-ready. I guess this was lucky. ¡°Yuu! Look out!¡± I shouted when a guy ran forward while raising his sword. Yuu blinked in shock for a moment before turning to me just as I changed my weapon to the sword and unsheathed it in one fell swoop, slicing him from head to toe in a single motion, but since this was still within a game, he didn¡¯t exactly split in half. For a moment, the guy stared at me in anger, and drew his weapon again. I took my usual stance with the sword, with it leaning to my right side and lightly leaning my body forward. Then, his eyes went white and he fell forward, first falling to his knees then falling flat on the ground. ON his back was Lieutenant with both daggers stabbed on his back. The cat took back the daggers and spun it cheerfully a couple of times before making a pose. Nice! I said mentally while giving him a thumbs up. However, I felt a chill run down my spines suddenly. Turning around quickly in panic, I somehow knew that there was something dangerous coming my way, so I looked around in search for an opponent that could attack me while I was distracted, but nothing of that came to mind. Instead, what I saw was a wide-smiling Yuu who was looking at me. ¡°SHISHOU CAME TO ME!¡± She suddenly shouted cheerfully, shocking me and everyone else in the deck for a moment. ¡°Wha¡­¡± I said shocked before shaking my head and quickly pulling out a potion and passing to her. ¡°Here, take this potion, quickly.¡± I said with an angry frown. Yuu took the potion from my hand just as I said. ¡°Did you make this potion, Shishou?¡± She asked me curious while holding the potion in her hand with wide eyes. ¡°Yes, but what does it matter?¡± I asked slightly angry while turning my back to her and watching the pirates look at us in suspicion. ¡°¡­YAAAY! Shishou made a potion for me!¡± ¡°WHAA?¡± I shouted confused when she suddenly tackle-hugged me, hugging me cheerfully and almost making me fall face-first into the ground. ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YUU?¡± ¡°SHISHOU GAVE ME A PRESENT! THIS MEANS THAT SHISHOU LIKES ME!¡± She shouted cheerfully. ¡°YOU ARE STILL DRUNK?¡± I shouted angrily, only to see a couple of empty bottles on the ground around her. ¡°MUUU! I was angry with them for taking my time with shishou!¡± She said while pressing her cheek against my back. I swear that if it weren¡¯t for the fact that there are some guys who literally want to kill us, I would enjoy the feeling on my back. ¡°So I took some of their wine for myself. I heard that wine makes you less angry!¡± Okay, drunk Yuu is a drunkard. As I had that amusing thought, I saw one of the pirates in front of my pop a vein in his forehead before he charged forward. ¡°Stop flirting you bastard!¡± He shouted angrily while swinging his sword downwards. I quickly raised the massive long-sword and tried to parry the strike, but sadly enough, the sword wasn¡¯t exactly made for parrying due to the size, so I didn¡¯t manage to parry it well enough. -22 (922/950) ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I grunted in pain for a moment due to the damage. Luckily, since I was in a party with Yuu I didn¡¯t suffer from the penalties due to hard-mode. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I felt as Yuu flinched slightly behind me, but I didn¡¯t exactly have the chance to wonder about what it was, because the man in front of me readied his sword again and prepared a raising slash. I grimaced because I knew that I had no idea on how to avoid it, so the sword landed on my flank and made a cut all the way from one side to the other. ¡°TAKE THAT YOU DASTARDLY LANDLUBBER!¡± He said in a proud tone. -63 (889/950) (Poisoned) -7 (882/950) I grimaced in pain while trying to contort my body to escape the attack, but since I had Yuu holding me down with her hug, I didn¡¯t manage to escape the attack, and not only I took heavy damage, I also was poisoned. Taking a step back in pain, I looked up to the guy and raised my sword, preparing the strike that I had so painstakingly trained while training with the sword. I put my left foot in front while holding the sword straight up and leaning it against my right shoulder. ¡°You¡­ Hurt Shishou¡­¡± ¡­ I¡­ Heard something really scary just now¡­ ¡°Unforgiveable¡­¡± I heard lady death whisper right besides my ear. No, I mean, I heard the girl possessed by the spirit of death and destruction¡­ WRONG, I heard Yuu whisper besides my ear. It wasn¡¯t only me and the pirate in front who froze, but everyone in the deck, from the pirates around us to the magician who almost messed up their magic and hurriedly went back to casting., everyone felt scared from the way that Yuu sounded. Not even a second later, around the guy right in front of me, mist and sparks started to gather around him, surrounding him completely. The man blinked surprised and jumped backwards, but the mists and sparks simply followed him. Also, if I¡¯m not mistaken, that skill is¡­ ¡°Fox-style Double-element arts execution skill: Torment of two thousand hells.¡± I heard the whisper of death coming from besides me, and just as Yuu¡¯s voice died out, the mist instantly condensed into spikes and the sparks all became small fire-spears, all of them having their edge turned towards the man in the middle. However, what we saw wasn¡¯t only ten or so of those spikes, but hundreds of them, all shining ominously. Then, all of them sped inwards towards the man in the middle, piercing his body from all directions with no exception. Fire and ice spears striking his body from every possible direction. Raising a cry of pain, the man fell to his knees as he became a pincushion, I could only wonder what kind of pain he was going through. ¡°Now, die.¡± Then, the fire needles exploded. And the ice needles bloomed into ice urchins. -1169 -499 -1668 (0/1230) What the¡­ She¡­ Killed the guy¡­ In one attack? What the¡­ For a good time, I simply stared at the guy falling down in confusion before finally snapping out of it, and looking at Yuu¡­ Only to feel a shiver run down my spine, as she was looking coldly at the guy on the ground. But after some time, she blinked and turned to me with a surprised face. ¡°Hmm¡­ Shishou¡­¡± She said in a surprisingly shy and meek tone. ¡°¡­Huh?¡± I asked confused. ¡°I¡­ Spent all my mana¡­¡± Huh? ¡°Sorry¡­¡± I stared at her in confusion for a moment, trying to understand why she suddenly said that. Why did she suddenly go so meek like that? I couldn¡¯t quite understand her reaction. ¡°I¡­ became angry and disobeyed Shishou¡­¡± She said in a voice almost inaudible. What? Why that so suddenly? I stared at Yuu in confusion for some time, trying to understand where her sudden meekness came from, I almost missed when the pirates recovered from the shock and turned to us. Grimacing I quickly opened my inventory and hoped for the best. One potion. One single mana potion I had from back when I was starting to mingle with alchemy. Wondering what kind of Deus-ex machina left such a potion in my bag, I quickly took it out and passed it to Yuu, telling her to drink it and fill her mana quickly before the guards attacked. Okay, it wasn¡¯t a Deus ex machina, it¡¯s just that I carry some around in case Yuu or someone else needs it. Of course, she also have some herself, but I don¡¯t think she have the mind to take one right now, based on how drunk she is¡­ ¡°Shi¡­ Shishou gave me another present?¡± She said in a low tone. ¡°Then¡­ You aren¡¯t angry with me?¡± ¡°Haaah? You aren¡¯t making much sense¡­¡± I complained to the kitsune while I saw she drink the mana potion and put on a cheerful smile. ¡°Shishou isn¡¯t mad that I used all my mana! I¡¯m sooo glad!¡± She said before throwing the bottle away and once again throwing her arms around my neck, hugging me from the sides. Why the hell would I be mad with her spending mana¡­ Oh¡­ The training we did back then! As I remind myself of what I said to her in the first days we had met, I couldn¡¯t help but become amazed that she actually remembered something like that. NOT THE TIME! I quickly recovered myself just in time to pull me and Yuu out of the way from an attack from a vengeful pirate. Passing my left arm around her waist, I didn¡¯t exactly have time to react before seeing a large war axe split the ground right in front of us. Yuu blushed slightly before hugging me tighter, but as much as I wanted to comment on the situation, it wasn¡¯t the time to do that. Dodging a couple of other attacks aimed at us, and with only one hand to wield the sword since Yuu kept clinging to me with a cheerful face, completely oblivious to her situation, I couldn¡¯t exactly counter effectively. ¡°Rio! Can you spew fireballs?¡± I shouted worried. ¡°No mister!¡± She replied hurriedly. ¡°But I can do this!¡± She flew to one of the men attacking us and prepared her claws up, which shone brightly as she prepared a skill. The moment that the man¡¯s axe swung widely and I barely managed to dodge, Rio used her claw attack on the man¡¯s head, making a large slice that cut from the back of his head to the middle of his back. Stumbling forward due to the sudden attack, the pirate almost lost his balance, so I didn¡¯t miss this chance. ¡°Yuu, I¡¯ll leave my back to you.¡± I said shortly. ¡°Yes! Shishou is counting on me!¡± She said cheerfully while letting go of me and summoning her ice spear. ¡°I will obey Shishou¡­¡± Hearing her say that, I smiled a bit wryly, but still did what I had to do. Aiming at the guy who was leaning forward, I used one of the skills I had learned for the long sword. Claw strike. A wide sweep with the blade in a left to the right motion. Raising the sword in a semi-circular motion to my left, as soon as it was around my chest height, I activated the skill. Losing control of my body, I took a step forward with my left leg, leaving me turned slightly to the right, then with a motion that used my whole body I made a wide horizontal cut with the blade that left a trail in the air, the typical sign of a skill. The ridiculously long blade and the wide motion also made it so that the attack landed not only on the guy in front of me, but all his allies nearby, dealing 55 damage to all of them and expending half of my energy pool. The end of the motion, however, left me in a slightly awkward position, as the blade kept moving due to inertia and left my left hand, standing all the way to my right side, while the enemy was to my right. But I didn¡¯t train for nothing. And my long-sword Hunter-style had another perk to it, despite the large energy cost. Smiling widely as I saw my target being knocked back by the skill, I spun my body in the direction of the blade, revealing my back to the enemy but grabbing the handle with both hands. Then, I used two skills. The first, was my set skill. The black crystal sword, whose wavy edges were becoming strangely jaggedy and the dull black coloration becoming almost crystalline, burst into flames, shocking all of the people here present, except those who had seen it before. The second, was my only second form skill. Talon strike, Second form. My body darted towards my target while leading with my right shoulder in front and carrying the long sword behind me. The movement so fast that not even the bandits managed to get a glimpse before it was too late. Once I was just at a short distance from him, I grinned and swung the blade upwards in a slanted manner, from lower left to upper right. The impact of the heavy sword lifted the man slightly from the ground, stunning him for a moment and dealing raw fire damage thanks to the skill. But I still hadn¡¯t finished. My long-sword style had a strange perk to it. First, it was separated in three main parts, or strikes. Fang strike for single target attacks, Claw strike for wide area attacks, and Talon strikes for charge-in attacks, and each of these, had forms, or levels that I could use. Whenever I used a first-form from any of my three strikes, I could also lead in with a second form from any strike for half the energy cost of using the skill by itself. This meant that combining skills is highly effective, even if I have a hard time doing it right now, since the Talon-strike¡¯s second form required a very precise positioning and stance to work. But what¡¯s truly important, isn¡¯t the attacks, but the fact that I still had some energy left. ¡°SOLDIER! CHARGE! WEAPON RESTRICTION USAGE REVOKED!¡± Lieutenant answered to my call as I cast tactical charge on him, the cat quickly jumping on the man¡¯s chest just as he landed on his back against the guard-rail, then used both of his knives in an upward slash before kicking away from the man¡¯s chest in a backflip. While thinking how cool he looked right then, I didn¡¯t miss as the cat threw one single throwing knife on the pirate, stabbing him right in the chest. We smirked to each other briefly before I felt another man approaching from behind. Dodging out of the way, I was caught by a dagger on my flank, but managed to grab the man¡¯s hand and pull him towards the guardrail too, putting his hand against the other man¡¯s arm in the process. -24 (538/950) Seeing my health, I grimaced slightly. The poison was doing quite some damage. Feeling as the pirate recovered from the confusion, he tried to get his hand away from mine, but Lieutenant quickly helped me by throwing a freezing knife on his hand just as I let go. Freezing the two pirates arms together, they looked confused at the scene for a moment before turning to us with anger. Then, the wind knife on the first¡¯s one chest exploded and a huge knockback threw him over the railing, almost dragging his partner with him. I took the chance to fall back to Yuu and chug down a potion while seeing Rio attack the guy holding against the railing until he fell down. Two of them are gone. Thirty to go¡­ Wonderful. Looking back, I saw as Yuu easily fended off a couple of attacks on her own and smiled awkwardly. Why the hell is she so much better than me when I¡¯m the one who¡¯s supposed to be the teacher? We seriously have to rethink our relationship¡­ Well, she actually is much better than me when it comes to a fight... As these sullen thoughts crossed my mind, I heard the sound of wings flapping and the pirates all stopped while putting on a victorious grin. Blinking, I followed their gazes around until I saw it. From all the sides, surrounding the blimp, were gryphon riders. All of them had their bows nocked or magic ready to cast. But more importantly. All of them were aiming straight at us. ¡°Yuu¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m guarding your back, Shishou!¡± She replied cheerfully. ¡°I know¡­¡± I said heavily. ¡°But remind me of one thing?¡± ¡°Hmm. What is it?¡± ¡°When we get out of here. I have to scold you really good.¡± I said in monotone. ¡°HEEEEEH?¡± She shouted surprised. Chapter 91 - Yuus reward Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! LET THE INNOCENCE FLOW THROUGH YOU! ANYWAY, sorry for the delay, again. This week my classes started once again, but things are a bit more complicated than that, so I actually got really tired during the week. Besides, I can¡¯t really focus on writing IO when I¡¯m on the cellphone. Once I get used to going to classes once again, the speed should pick up a bit more, for all of my works. ALSO, on a story related matter, I just want to say that you all have very dirty minds. This will make sense once you read the final part of the chapter. ALSO(2), next chapter, a certain man will arrive! Chaos ensues. Have a good read! ---- I grimaced while slowly stepping back, my back touching with Yuu¡¯s with Lieutenant holding his dagger at ready on my shoulders. Looking around I saw as the flying pirates all aimed at us with their bows from the back of their gryphons. To make path so that they could take aim, the remaining pirates slowly took steps away from us, all of them having a victorious smile on their faces. I grimaced and started to think of a way to get out of this. We simply had no way to reach the far away pirates from where we stood, and even if we had, the ones on the deck would probably stop us from whatever we were going to do. ¡°Goddamit kids.¡± One of the pirates said after some time while approaching us. It was a white haired dark-elf. From the way he dressed compared to the others I¡¯d say that he is the captain of the ship. ¡°You two surely gave us some trouble. The girl there took out a few of my men, and you and your cat took out one of my vice captains¡­ Even though he was a level thirty seven, which should be pretty good¡­¡± The elf said with an annoyed tone. ¡°Well, as long as you don¡¯t try to shoot Skarr¡¯s ship, they won¡¯t fall from the shield and might still be recovered, right?¡± I said with a friendly smile, but the guy simply sighed loudly. ¡°Finding a level thirty replacement is easy, in the end.¡± He said with a shrug, and following his words, the mages finished their artillery spell and launched it upwards, bringing the shield down for a fraction of a second before they brought it back up. I still managed to hear as the bandits shouted in despair before falling. ¡°Let me guess, now it¡¯s the time where you either challenge us to a duel so you can show us how weak we are, or you tell all of your henchmen to attack us at the same time, or you simply signal for them to loose their arrows.¡± I said in a taunting tone, when in truth all I wanted was to buy me some more time. ¡°To be honest, those do sound tempting¡­¡± The elf said with a grimace. ¡°But I can¡¯t really go and kill you because I did promise to leave the green eyed golem to the rookie.¡± He sighed before turning to one of his crewmembers and shouting. ¡°Bring the rookie here. This is what he wanted, right?¡± At his order, two of the henchmen nodded and darted towards the inner part of the ship. For a moment I thought about trying to attack him there and then, but he quickly turned to me and said with a proud smile. ¡°Don¡¯t go trying anything silly now, okay? I am level fifty, so taking care of you is an easy task.¡± I felt as if a bucket of cold water was dropped on my head, so I grimaced and once again assessed my situation. I gave a quick glance backwards and saw as Yuu looked seemingly carefree, with her tails wagging cheerfully while she looked nowhere in specific. Even if the guy was level fifty, I¡¯m almost sure Yuu could take him on with ease. But there were simply too many of the other pirates around us for me to feel at ease with Yuu taking them all. That, and the obvious fact that the archers would fill us with holes the moment we tried to do anything. If only there was a way to bring down those annoying gryphons, maybe we could do something about it. Goddammit, these gryphons are monsters! Shouldn¡¯t I be a monster expert or something? ¡­ Isn¡¯t there a way to bring down flying monsters with ease? And don¡¯t I have this with me right now? While thinking so, I grimaced slightly, feeling a bit silly for not having thought of this before and felt as my hand slowly made its way to the small ball shaped flash bombs that hung around my waist. If my Monster hunter knowledge didn¡¯t fail me now, if I manage to blind the gryphons, the shock might make them fall down to the ground below. However, they were a bit too far, with all of them flying far away from the ship on both sides. As I thought that, an idea popped up in my head, so I turned to Lieutenant to my side and made a brief sign with my head then to my waist. From the looks of it, he got it, because he nodded and gave me a thumbs up while picking one flash bomb for himself. ¡°I¡¯ll bring down the right, you take the left. Aim for the gryphons on my signal.¡± I told him, and he nodded while readying himself. The pirate boss, however, noticed our reactions, and turned to us with a raised eyebrow. Luckily, Lieutenant managed to hide the bomb on his side just as the man turned to us, and my own reaction could be interpreted as a worry reaction, so he simply gave me an annoyed look leaving it clear that he was keeping an eye out for me. Ignoring it, I turned slightly to Yuu and whispered to her. ¡°Yuu, on my mark, you take care of their leader, okay?¡± I told her briefly. ¡°All you need to do is throw him overboard, no need to fight him¡­¡± ¡°Do I get a reward?¡± Yuu interrupted me. I blinked confused and saw as she put on an expecting gaze. ¡°Huh¡­ Why that so sudden?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Well, Shishou owes me a reward since earlier, so¡­¡± She said excitedly. ¡°Can¡­ We talk about this later?¡± I asked worried, feeling worried about what she might ask, but she shook her head. ¡°No! Shishou is going to run away again!¡± GAH! She saw through me! ¡°Reward or nothing!¡± She said while turning towards me and puffing her cheeks in a cute display of annoyance. But this wasn¡¯t exactly the time for that. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll give you a reward then.¡± I said briefly, and saw her eyes widening slightly before she nodded happily. ¡°Then, I want to continue what we were doing on Shishou¡¯s bedroom!¡± Huh? As I became shocked and started to fear what I just had done, the pirates riled up again, moving away as a new person came in from the innards of the ship, which made me focus on the matter at hand instead of what was left for me on the future. ¡°You¡­¡± The newcomer said with an angry tone while taking a huge axe from his back. ¡°To meet you again so soon. I¡¯m really lucky¡­¡± He said with an evil smirk, his single eye burning with extreme anger. ¡°YOU¡­!¡± I said surprised to the person looking at me. ¡°YES! ME!¡± He shouted angrily. ¡°YOU¡­!¡± ¡°YOU BASTARD GOLEM! I¡¯M GOING TO¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name again?¡± I asked confused. The cyclops fell face first into the ground, and the nearby pirates all held back a snicker while seeing his situation. Yuu simply stared at the guy indifferently while Lieutenant and Rio looked at him confused. Seriously, I have no idea what this guy¡¯s name is¡­ And he seems fairly familiar¡­ While I thought as much, the Cyclops quickly recovered himself and stood up once again, his eyes burning with furious rage. He seemed ready to explode in anger, but before he could do so, the Elf turned to him with a confused face. ¡°Oi, Rookie? Is this truly the golem you were after?¡± The Cyclops blinked surprised before turning to him and grimacing slightly. ¡°Yes, Boss¡­¡± I didn¡¯t miss his emphasis on that specific word. ¡°I¡¯m sure this is the bastard I wanted. You let me kill him to my hearts content, and I¡¯ll join your crew for good.¡± He said with an annoyed tone. ¡°Really?¡± The elf said with a raised eyebrow, as if doubtful. ¡°He¡­ Doesn¡¯t look all that much for me.¡± OI! I HEARD THAT! ¡°Although he does have one good looking sword.¡± Aw, shucks, you¡¯ll leave me embarrassed like that¡­ I am quite proud of this sword! ¡°And his eyes are kind of creepy¡­¡± There¡¯s¡­ Quite some time since I last heard that one. Doesn¡¯t make me any less annoyed, though. ¡°Shishou¡¯s eyes are not creepy!¡± Yuu complained besides me. Thank you, Yuu! At least someone is on my si¡­ ¡°They are the eyes of a master of martial arts who reached the peak of his trade and no longer see the human life as something worthy!¡± HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO REPLY TO THAT? I want to sulk into a corner now. While holding back my urge to smack the laughing cat on my side, I saw as Rio landed on my head and put her small head in front of mine, upside down while taking a peek at me. After some time she tilted her head not understanding what was happening. ¡°Stone mister eyes are normal?¡± She said confused. I felt a tear running down my cheeks while I grabbed the small wyvern and hugged her, while petting her head gently. With even Yuu against me, the only one I could count on was the little wyvern besides me! For the first time truly feeling that bringing her was worth it, I decided that as soon as we got out of here I would make something for her! Of course, this didn¡¯t escape the jealous Yuu, who looked in shock at the scene, probably because I was hugging the wyvern instead of her. ¡°Oi, did you finish your little comedy already?¡± I heard the elf saying angrily. ¡°To be fair, no, I didn¡¯t. But I guess you don¡¯t want me to go through all of it¡­¡± I said while releasing Rio, who flew away a bit confused for a moment. ¡°Good.¡± He said with a sigh before signaling to the Cyclops besides him. ¡°Now, you get to fight the Rookie. He¡¯s been itching to have a fight with you ever since he joined the crew.¡± ¡°Wait, you knew I was on that ship?¡± I asked confused while pointing upwards to where Skarr¡¯s ship should be. ¡°Nope. That was just good ol¡¯ Dumb luck.¡± He said with a smirk. ¡°All we knew was that there was a rich merchant in there. A gnome or something, and it seemed a good prey for me.¡± A grimace appeared on his face. ¡°Though it seems that things didn¡¯t go as the captain expected¡­¡± So, he wasn¡¯t the boss of the fleet, huh? While thinking so, I saw as the Cyclops took a step forward. Seeing that I didn¡¯t have much of a choice, I also took a stance with my sword. Even if I tried to go for the flash-bomb strategy this time, they would probably notice something was going before I could even throw it. All I needed was a brief distraction¡­ ¡°Finally I get a chance to have a go with you, you goddamned golem!¡± The cyclops said with an angry look. ¡°Geez, what¡¯s with that hate! Love and peace, brother!¡± I said jokingly. ¡°GO TO HELL!¡± He said while raising the axe and bringing it down on me. Widening my eyes, surprised, I took a step to the side and dodged the blade that split the ground. ¡°Geez man. I don¡¯t even know your name and you already want to kill me? What did I do to you?¡± Okay, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t remember, it¡¯s just that my teasing side tends to come at the worst times possible. ¡°You say you don¡¯t know me?¡± Oh dang, he is mad. Really mad. ¡°HOW COULD YOU FORGET ME, YOU DAMNED PAPERWEIGHT!¡± As he said that out loud, I felt as something lightly tugged my hair. ¡°AFTER ALL YOU DID TO ME! YOU DESTROYED THE GROUP I TOOK OVER! YOU SENT ME TO JAIL! YOU TIED ME TO AN ICEBERG AND SENT ME DOWNRIVER!¡± Whaa! He¡¯s angry! Really angry! Every time he made an exclamation, he would swing his axe with a scary speed, and I was even having a bit of a hard time dodging it. The fact that Lieutenant kept tugging my hair didn¡¯t exactly help. ¡°TODAY I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE, YOU DAMNED PEBBLE!¡± He shouted while raising his axe up high. ¡°AND YOU DAMNED BETTER REMEMBER THE NAME OF¡­¡± ¡°NYAAA!¡± Lieutenant shouted while tugging my hair hard. ¡°I¡¯M A BIT BUSY HER¡­¡± I started shouting, but once I turned to the side my face grew pale. ¡°Oh¡­ Yeah¡­ That¡¯s¡­ Really bad.¡± The others all followed my gaze, and what they saw made all the other pirates pale, even the ones riding the gryphons. Coming from our side, we could see the massive ship falling down slowly while burning strongly. This enough was enough to make all the pirates pale in shock. But we also saw a slightly battered merchant ship making its way towards us while a massive charged ball of energy made an arc around the sky, aimed straight at the ship we were in at the time. From the looks of it, with me Lt., Rio and Yuu causing a ruckus in here, they ended up forgetting to look out for Skarr¡¯s ship. Seeing this as a chance, I quickly turned to Lt. and gave him a nod. The cat blinked surprised but quickly took out the flash-bomb he kept hiding and turned to the opposite side, throwing it as hard as he could. I also took the chance and threw mine towards the direction where the huge energy ball was coming. This also worked nicely, because everyone else on the ship was looking to that direction. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. After throwing the bomb, I quickly turned to Yuu and covered her eyes, with Lieutenant doing the same for Rio. Not understanding what was happening, Rio squirmed a bit and Yuu flinched surprised. ¡°Ah dammit¡­¡± I heard the cyclops saying with the tone of someone who had already given up. ¡°GAAAH!¡± ¡°WHAT THE HELL!¡± ¡°MY EYES! MY EYES!¡± ¡°WHAT WAS THAT?¡± ¡°AAAAAAAAAH!¡± Varied voices came from the many pirates as the flash-bomb blinded all of them. Even the captain who had been close-by couldn¡¯t escape this single attack that completely destroyed one¡¯s sense of sight. Opening my eyes, I saw the scene of the people around us crouching down in pain while covering their eyes. The Gryphons towards the side I threw the bomb were still flying around, but they all seemed confused due to the sudden flash that entered the corner of their visions. The ones behind us were struck directly by the flash bomb, so they all swerved violently, which messed up their rhythm and made them drop from the skies. I couldn¡¯t be sure whether they would fall all the way to the ground, but for now, just the fact that there were no available archers aiming at us was good enough. Taking advantage of the confusion, I let go of Yuu¡¯s eyes and she blinked surprised for a moment before understanding what happened. She quickly turned towards the captain and grabbed him by the collar with the spear before raising him over her head and slamming him on the guardrail. I also didn¡¯t lose this chance to quickly grab the Cyclop¡¯s axe and pull it with all my strength, throwing him off balance. However, he managed to stop himself with his axe by stabbing it on the ground in front of him before making a blind swing at me with his arm. I almost got caught on the attack, but managed to stop it with my arm and using Nature¡¯s bastion skill just in time. But this also gave away my position, so he quickly raised the axe from the ground and spun it towards me. However, I easily rolled beneath the attack and ended up behind him just as the siege ball hit the barrier of our blimp. The whole ship shook with the impact, and I could see as some of the mages fell down exhausted due to blocking the attack with their spells. However, even then the impact was enough to make the ship swing from one side to the other wildly for a moment. With the lack of stable footing, I quickly held on to the guardrail and stabbed my sword on the ground, trying to hold myself in place. The cyclops didn¡¯t have as much luck as his balance was broken due to the heavy axe, so he rolled forward and hit the guardrail, but his large body was too much to the wood, as it gave in and creaked with the weight. However, it still wasn¡¯t enough to completely break the guard rail, and as the Cyclops tried to recover himself, I knew that all that we needed was one more attack. But with the ship still shaking violently, I didn¡¯t exactly have the chance to try and attack and had to use both my hands just to stay put. ¡°NYAA NANA!¡± I heard Lieutenant shout triumphantly. Turning around, I saw as he nimbly put himself on Rio¡¯s back, sitting right on the end of her neck where he could hold himself just fine. ¡°Okay!¡± Rio said loudly as if she understood him before raising herself and dive towards the cyclops. Blinking surprised at the scene, I saw as the cat nimbly took out two small daggers that I recognized as the explosive stun-daggers, and just as Rio reached the Cyclops, she put her claws ahead, grabbing at his stomach with strength and dealing damage, while Lieutenant stabbed the knifes on the broken wood beside him. ¡°Nya!¡± With a shout, Lieutenant had Rio take flight once again just as the guy tried to bear-hug the wyvern. Escaping the attack with plenty of breathing room, Lieutenant and Rio made a large turn around while the daggers exploded, breaking the remaining of the guard-rail down. However, the ship had started to stabilize by now, so the cyclops managed to not fall down the gap. But this also applied to me. Letting go of the two handed sword still stabbed on the deck, I ran down the deck towards the cyclops. ¡°See ya, sucker!¡± I said while jumping and landing a drop-kick on his stomach. The damage, although not exactly negligible, wasn¡¯t all that high, but the impact served to push him back enough so that he fell down the deck and onto the ground below. ¡°FIGHT ME FAIR FOR ONCE YOU BASTAR¡­¡± His voice died down as he fell down the ship. Quickly putting myself back up, I ran back to my sword just in time to see some of the pirates recovering their sight. With a look to beyond, I could also see as some of the gryphon riders started to take formation once again after having dodged the enormous siege-magic. But it¡¯s not like they came out unscathed, as at least two thirds of them had fallen due to the impact. They all looked at me angrily while gripping their bows tightly. But just as they were about to do something¡­ ¡°Hey cousin! Want a little help?¡± I heard the gargoyle¡¯s voice coming from the blimp right behind the gryphon riders. ¡°I could use some air support!¡± I shouted back to him while seeing the three tailed fox riding on his guardrail, many ice spikes forming around her as she prepared her magic. ¡°I think she got it covered, then!¡± he said cheerfully. Just as his words left his mouth, Aura released the thirty or so ice spikes she had. The rider¡¯s didn¡¯t have much time to maneuver as the attack came from their blind spots, hitting the riders with precision while making them tumble away from the beasts, falling down with no way of getting back up. Only a few managed to survive the whole ordeal, but they quickly gave up, dropping their bows and raising their arms. Meanwhile, on the ship, I could hear a certain kitsune happily singing while dragging a beaten-up dark-elf. ¡°Reward from Shishou! Reward from Shishou!¡± That scene finally made the few pirates that had recovered their sights throw down their weapons too. ¡­ ¡°Wait¡­ You mean that I didn¡¯t need to worry about the gryphon riders at all?¡± I said in shock to the small floating crystal construct. ¡°Yes. Their shield prevented anything from coming in or out, so even their arrows would have bounced off!¡± She said with a serious tone, but I could almost see a wry smile on her face. I really felt like slamming my face against a wall or something at that moment. Then all that scene with them taking out their bows worked only to threaten us with no real use? Why the hell didn¡¯t I notice that before? While cursing my luck, I saw as the crew-members from Skarr¡¯s ship boarded the pirate ship and started tying up the remaining pirates. According to what I heard from Crys, it seemed that after we boarded that ship, with the chaos we caused they took the chance to drag the opposite ship away and finish it there. With the captain¡¯s commands, only a few attacks managed to land on our ship while mostly of ours got a clean hit. It also helped a bit that Lucas and his friends boarded the opponent¡¯s ship and wreaked havoc there on their own, since they didn¡¯t need to hold back when it came to the opponent¡¯s vehicle. Aura also managed to keep most if not all of the gryphon riders that approached the ship at bay with her spells. On the down side, due to her need to concentrate, she was left quite open, so other crewmembers had to cover up for her. However, after hearing what happened here, the passengers asked for me to tell them what happened on the other ship while we were there. Almost all of them having a gaze full of expectations and curiosity. To be honest, I felt a bit awkward when so many people I didn¡¯t know started to gather around me. There was even a blonde human girl who stood a bit too close for my tastes, but I didn¡¯t exactly have the heart to make her take some distance from me when she kept looking at me with such shining eyes. When we told them about what happened on our side, I couldn¡¯t help but notice as Argento looked at me with a slightly disappointed look. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked him. ¡°I never expected you to fight so dirty¡­ And even to hide yourself behind a girl¡­¡± He said while shaking his head. ¡°Look, they were all my level or higher there, so fighting fairly wasn¡¯t even in consideration.¡± I said with an annoyed tone. ¡°Besides, Yuu is probably the strongest chosen you met up to today if we take personal skill in account.¡± ¡°Is¡­ Is that so?¡± Lily, who had recovered from her drunken state asked surprised and I nodded. ¡°Does this have anything to do with the fact that you are running away from her, then?¡± ¡°Some¡­ Something like that¡­¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°Why would you run from her?¡± The blonde girl asked curious. ¡°Well¡­¡± I said while scratching my cheek. I know I promised Yuu that I would give her a reward after the fight was over, but after hearing what she wanted from me I became a bit afraid of what was going to happen. Thus, I decided to try and wait for her to recover from her drunk state. ¡°I have my reasons¡­¡± I said in the end. ¡°A-Anyway, I need to go to talk with Skarr, so if you would excuse me¡­¡± I said while making my way out of the crowd. They quickly dispersed away when I left. I couldn¡¯t help but find it a bit odd that they didn¡¯t stop Yuu before me, since I was actually trying to avoid crowds while she was trying to find me. While such thoughts crossed my mind, I made my way to the stairs and prepared to go down to my room, but as soon as my gaze fell upon the passage, I saw the blonde girl walking down the corridor in front of me. Blinking surprised, I stopped to think. How the hell could she be there if I just left her behind? ¡°Weren¡¯t you going to see the captain?¡± A voice came from behind me, and I turned to see the same blonde girl standing right by my side. ¡°Huh¡­ How¡­?¡± I aske confused while pointing towards the corridor then towards the girl. The girl pouted lightly before turning her head away. ¡°Shishou promised me a reward, but then disappeared after talking with the others.¡± Huh? Shishou? ¡°I noticed that Shishou was avoiding me, so I had to use this skill to approach Shishou.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ Yuu?¡± I asked and the girl nodded after stealing a glance at me. But¡­ How¡­? As I thought that, a blue flame that covered her whole consumed the girl¡¯s body, and once it died down, what was left behind was the usual Yuu wearing her kimono-like gear. She looked at me with an angry look in her eyes as she took a step forward, putting herself only a fraction of a distance from me. Wait. Didn¡¯t kitsunes have a skill that allows them to transform into other people or something? ¡°Shishou. Reward. Now.¡± Yuu said with an angry tone. ¡°Huh? Here?¡± I asked entering into a panic as I remembered what happened back at the room. ¡°Yes. Here.¡± She said while approaching me even more. ¡°But¡­ Wait¡­ Isn¡¯t this place¡­¡± We were still in the middle of the deck! ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better¡­ A quieter¡­¡± I said while feeling embarrassed, but she simply blinked and tilted her head. ¡°No. Here, or else Shishou will run again.¡± She said while stuffing her cheeks. However, I was already at an state where I couldn¡¯t think straight anymore, so I didn¡¯t even try to react. Seeing this, Yuu blinked and turned to me with a confused face. ¡°Could it be¡­ That Shishou misunderstood?¡± ¡­ ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Mou, Shishou have a dirty mind!¡± She said making me even more confused. Could it be that I really misunderstood what she wanted? But, what she did back at my bedroom¡­ ¡°Shishou, there¡¯s an order to this kind of thing!¡± She said in a teaching tone. ¡°First, there¡¯s the meeting. Second, we become friends. Third, there¡¯s the petting. Fourth comes holding hands. Fifth comes petting with skill. Sixth is hugging. Only then that we¡­. We can¡­ iss¡­ ¡± Her voice died down at the end, but I didn¡¯t exactly miss the meaning. And the most I wanted to comment on a couple of odd things in that order, there was something I had to make sure of. ¡°Wait¡­ Then, what you wanted was¡­¡± I started confused. ¡°I wanted Shishou to hug me!¡± She said excitedly with her tails wagging behind. ¡°It¡¯s Shishou who had a dirty mind and misunderstood hugging for kissing!¡± She said puffing her tail a bit, her alcohol flushed cheeks getting even redder All I could do at that was to put my hand on her head and start petting her with a dry laugh. You are right, Yuu. Your Shishou really had a dirty mind. A very, very, VERY dirt mind compared to this pure soul of yours. While I petted the cute kitsune, she wagged her tails happily despite looking at me confused. Chapter 92 - Sobering up Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! It¡¯s time for a new character to be introduced to the story! (Or is it? DUN DUN DUUUUN!) ANYWAY, I initially planned this chapter to finish with the group already on the town and with the mention for Gon¡¯s next monster to be hunted. Sadly, it didn¡¯t happen as I had to tell the aftermath of the sky battle. ALSO, I forgot to add Gon¡¯s level ups to this chapter, but it might have been a good thing since I can add them on the following one under the conditions of it being an event or something. Could work nicely. ALSO(2), WE ARE ONLY 8 CHAPTERS AWAY FROM 100 MAIN CHAPTERS! HOORAY! For commemoration, there are 2 things I¡¯m planning. 1st is that once I get to chapter 95, I¡¯ll do a writing spree of IO only so we can get to the 100th chapter. I won¡¯t promise that I will release a chapter a day, but at least I will stop writing whatever else I have and write IO and IO only from 96 to 100. The second, is that together with the 100th chapter, I¡¯ll release a character list of kinds. More like a small bonus, mind you, so it¡¯s nothing too big. It does have its quirks, though. ALSO(3), if you have any other idea for the 100th special, feel free to post it down below. Won¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯ll be able to do it, but I can at least hear your ideas. Have a good read! ---- After Yuu made her request, she put in full practice what she had asked for, and she wanted a bonus for all the time I kept dodging her. But the problem was that she refused to let go completely, and simply kept hanging on closely to me to the point that it wasn¡¯t hugging, but cuddling, as she nestled herself in my chest and refused to move away. To be honest, I didn¡¯t dislike that. Holding on to Yuu actually felt quite good, and I couldn¡¯t help but notice how she was actually smaller than me, and she was pretty soft, so holding her felt good. Besides the fact that I could pet her as much as I wanted. But I could have taken that without the two of us being on the ship¡¯s main deck, where most people went by. During the time that this scene happened, I also had to deal with Skarr who had a smirk in his face while talking to me. According to him, there were unspoken laws saying that the captain of the party that captured the ship is also the one to keep it. Since Yuu and me were the ones who boarded the enemy ship and we aren¡¯t subordinates to Skarr, by this rule we are also the new owners of the ex-pirate blimp. At first I became ecstatic at the idea of having my own blimp to use as a base for my adventures. I even planned on painting it white and call it ¡°The Hunter¡±. But then Skarr brought down the bad news. First, blimps like these require very specific docking facilities that are, for now, exclusive to Eldor¡¯s area of influence, which meant that it cannot be taken towards the other capitals. Second, their maintenance is pretty high, even when not in use, so we cannot even think of simply keeping it here for the occasional use. Third, we need a certain sized crew to use the craft efficiently, but not only were we too few, we also had no experience whatsoever. In the end, when all my hopes for my own personal flying ship were crushed, Skarr told us what we were going to do for now. After leaving a few of his crewmembers on the other ship, they tied a rope between both the blimps and started towing it towards our next stop, which according to Skarr, wasn¡¯t far away from us, just one mountain range away, and once we got there, we could decide what to do with it. While this talk was going on, two things worth of notice happened. Firstly, Yuu ended up falling asleep while still cuddling to me, but even when I tried to move her to a more comfortable position, her arms refused to give in. The second was that Lucas started a scene of falling to the ship¡¯s deck and slamming his hand on the wooden floor. ¡°AND THAT SHIP WAS SO MUCH BIGGER!¡± He said in despair while he imagined the amount of money he would have got if he had captured the enemy¡¯s flagship instead of simply destroying it. ¡°WHY DID WE DESTROYED IT? WHY?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you get when you get too excited.¡± I said in a sage tone. ¡°You should always keep up a cool head and think of what you are going to do next.¡± ¡°Master, I do not believe you have the right to say that.¡± Crys said from besides me. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She cleared her throat and spread her arms wide open. ¡°I Believe I can fly~!¡± She sang briefly and my expression fell into a wry smile. ¡°So you saw that¡­¡± I said dryly. The others turned to me with a confused glance but I simply shook my head. ¡°Nothing important. Just something that happened when I asked a certain Dragon General to fling me through the sky.¡± I said with a shrug. Their frozen expressions were priceless, as they tried to make sense of my words. Skarr was the first to recover with his obnoxiously loud laugh. ¡°You really are something, cousin!¡± he said while slapping my back. After some awkward moments of him laughing and the others finally digesting my words, he went on. ¡°Anyway, if you want an idea, why not sell your blimp at our next stop? I heard that the lord of the region lost his own to pirates raids recently.¡± I stopped to think on his words for a moment. Indeed that was actually a good idea. Since I didn¡¯t have the money, the means and the motivation to keep the craft up and running, selling it would probably get me some very good income for my troubles. Deciding on my next step with the large vessel, I nodded and thanked Skarr for his idea and help with towing the ship. He dismissed it as a favor for a cousin and walked away while turning another large jug of wine down his throat. He became incredibly cheerful during the fight, maybe he is actually a warmonger? While thinking so, I took Yuu in a princess carry, seeing how she refused to let go, and made my way back to our rooms. ¡­ ¡°Hmm¡­?¡± Hearing a mutter, I looked downwards towards Yuu who had been sleeping peacefully while nestling her head against my shoulder and hugging my neck with her arms. Her eye twitching slightly as she slowly woke up from her slumber. She looked around a bit confused for a moment before her eyes landed on me. For some time she simply kept looking at me with hazy eyes, but her tails slowly started to wag happily. Despite the situation, I couldn¡¯t help but find myself smiling slightly to her. Then her eyes snapped open, her face blushed heavily and she jumped back with scary agility. ¡°SHI-SHI-SHISHOU?¡± She said in shock while looking around my room, seeing only Aura and Crys here with us. ¡°Wha¡­ What happened? Why am I here?¡± She said confused and embarrassed. YES! THIS IS THE YUU I KNOW! While feeling glad that the scary drunk Yuu was gone and having some tears escape from my eyes, I saw as she kept looking around confused. Not knowing what state her memories were after just being drunk, I quickly explained. ¡°You fell asleep while drunk but refused to let go of me, so I brought you here.¡± I told her briefly. ¡°The best position I found was with me sitting and letting sleep leaning against me.¡± ¡°Huh¡­? Drunk¡­? Me¡­?¡± She asked confused, making me wonder whether she had actually forgotten what happened earlier. I stole a glance towards Crys, wanting to ask if that was even possible with In-game drunkenness, but before either of us could exchange our words, Yuu suddenly widened her eyes in shock and started to fiddle around with her menus. Seeing that, Aura, Crys and me watched her curiously, only to see her stare in shock at something for quite some time before turning to me. Looking at her confused, I saw as she became even redder and started squirming away. ¡°Yuu?¡± I called her confused, but she only moved even further away. ¡°Shishou¡­¡± She said in a low and shy tone while trying to hide herself with her hands. ¡°I¡­ With Shishou¡­¡± Ah¡­ She remembered, so now she¡¯s embarrassed. I¡­ Really don¡¯t know how to feel about it. Seeing her cute embarrassed expression is like a calming sight for me after seeing her seductive drunk self, but with her avoiding me like that hurts a little. ¡°Hey, Yuu. What did you check on the menu just now?¡± Crys asked suddenly. Blinking surprised, I also became curious about what she had seen. However, Yuu¡¯s reaction left clear that it was something big. ¡°Wha-wha-what do you mean?¡± She asked while looking away. ¡°I wa-was not checking a-anything¡­¡± As she said that, she started to look away embarrassed while occasionally stealing glances towards us, only to look away once again and start fidgeting. It was so obvious that she was lying that¡­ ¡°Seeing Yuu react like that¡­¡± I started. ¡°It¡¯s somewhat really cute¡­¡± Crys completed. Aura barked in agreement. But that still didn¡¯t get us the answer we wanted, so I steeled myself and did my best to look mad at the fidgeting kitsune. I was afraid that I would be unable to pull that off, but it seemed to work, as Yuu looked at me panicky for a moment. ¡°Yuu¡­¡± I said in a low tone. ¡°I-It is really nothing Shishou!¡± She said while waving her hands in front of her. ¡°I-It is not like I got the Innocent Charm skill when I was trying to hug yo¡­¡± She hurriedly covered her mouth in shock just as me and Crys looked at her in shock. ¡°Innocent charm¡­?¡± I said confused. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ An original skill?¡± Crys said surprised. ¡°Ah! Thinking about it, there was that time when you swiped a window away right before the pirate¡¯s atta¡­¡± ¡°WAAAAAAA!¡± And with that, she ran away. Literally. ¡­ ¡°After that, I thought about going after Yuu, but on Crys¡¯ advice, I decided that it would be better to simply leave her alone for now until she calmed herself down a bit more. Except that the moment we stopped looking for her, she started following us from afar. And whenever we tried to approach her she would run away again. It was really cute, but it left me a bit troubled.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°And what the hell does that have to do with me?¡± Hot-head asked angrily while I followed him up the stairs. ¡°Dunno? I just felt that I had to talk about this with someone.¡± I said downhearted. ¡°So the first person I thought about was you, Ashley.¡± ¡°¡­Stop that.¡± She said with a shudder. ¡°With what?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Just¡­ Don¡¯t call me by Ashley. It feels strangely creepy when you take me seriously like that.¡± ¡°Then¡­ YOU ADMIT YOU ARE MY RIVAL?¡± I asked cheerfully while passing my arms around his shoulder and laughing loudly. ¡°HOW THE HELL DID YOU EVEN ARRIVE ON THAT?¡± He said while landing an elbow-blow on my flank. Curving in pain, I had to let go of my rival¡¯s shoulder so that I could bear the pain a little better. Not that I stopped laughing at any time, though. Seeing as he stormed away, Aura approached my by the side and looked at me disapprovingly. I replied with a wry smile and started petting her as I stood back up. Immediately after I dashed towards Ashley, who clearly became annoyed by my action because I heard a tongue clicking sound. Smiling awkwardly, I followed after the androgynous fire elemental as she walked around the deck. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Oh, that reminds me. Your old boss was on that ship.¡± I said suddenly, receiving a confused glance from hothead. ¡°You know, that Cyclops?¡± ¡°¡­Oh, the one that you kept blinding every few days?¡± ¡°Waah¡­ That¡¯s a lot of worry about your former boss.¡± I said wryly. ¡°That¡¯s the word. Former.¡± He said before sighing. ¡°He was strong, and I give him that. He did take over the gang by beating the old boss, to be fair.¡± ¡°Huh? He¡¯s actually that strong?¡± I asked in shock. ¡°Well, you keep blinding him every time you meet, so it¡¯s not a wonder you don¡¯t know about it.¡± He replied coldly with a shrug. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that that skill of yours is his weak point that you keep exploiting.¡± So, all this time I¡¯ve been unfairly fighting that guy, not even giving him a chance to show us his real strength? Damn, am I good or what? Learning about his weak spot without even knowing him! My monster-hunting instincts are really something, huh? ¡°Also, that wasn¡¯t a skill, that¡¯s an item I use.¡± I corrected him, making him look at me in shock. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ An item?¡± He asked, and I nodded proudly. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s an item I craft myself using extremely rare components that are only found once in every many ore veins, as well with a long and extremely complex crafting process that no professional whatsoever in the whole of Eldor is capable of copying.¡± I said in an extremely smug tone, and saw as he looked at me in awe and shock. ¡°Is that so¡­¡± He said surprised. ¡°Nah, just joking. You do it in two minutes using what¡¯s considered trash items.¡± ¡°Go to hell.¡± He said with a tone that did not match a fire elemental nature. I laughed loudly while we reached the upper deck and, for the first time since the whole ordeal with Yuu, actually took my time to peek at the outside. Right now we were at an extremely high altitude as we were crossing over the mountain range, and looking down on the whole range. Despite the height, we didn¡¯t feel cold nor anything, so I wondered whether the shield also protected us from the cold. But the most important part of this whole scene. ¡°SNOW!¡± I shouted cheerfully while pointing downwards towards the white peaks and the white valley behind it. ¡°OH MY CYGNAS, IT¡¯S SNOW!¡± ¡°Why the hell are you so excited to see snow?¡± Hot head asked confused. ¡°It¡¯s cold, it gets into your shoes, it makes moving around difficult and it¡¯s cold. What good is there to it?¡± ¡°You said it¡¯s cold twice¡­¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°ANYWAY, IT¡¯S BECAUSE IT¡¯S FREAKING SNOW!¡± I said grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him back and forth. ¡°I¡¯VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF SEEING SNOW ALL MY LIFE!¡± I shouted at him point blank. ¡°Wha¡­¡± He became stunned by my excitement and took a step back. ¡°Didn¡¯t you live in Eldor? How come you¡¯ve never seen snow before?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because he¡¯s only been at the capital for a couple of weeks.¡± We heard a voice telling us from the side. Turning, we saw as Yami and Hanbei approached us. Hanbei had a conflicted look in her face, while Yami simply turned to me and covered her mouth as if hiding a laugh. I felt annoyed at her doing that and really wanted to teach her a lesson, but I didn¡¯t exactly have the chance to do it. ¡°As she said, I¡¯ve only been there for a short time and didn¡¯t get to see the marvelous sight of snow falling down and covering the whole field with it¡¯s white crystals of fluffy cold!¡± OH. MY. GOD! I just made the most amazing discovery ever! ¡°SNOW IS FLUFFY COLD! IT¡¯S PERFECT!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pretend I didn¡¯t hear that.¡± Hanbei said in monotone before sighing and looking back. ¡°So, what exactly happened?¡± She said. I followed her gaze only to see a pair of black tails popping up from the side of a wall. Smiling wryly at Yuu¡¯s poor hiding skills, I told them about what happened back in the room after she finally woke up. The two became especially surprised when I mentioned Yuu¡¯s new ¡®Innocent Charm¡¯ skill. ¡°She¡­ Must be dying of embarrassment right now.¡± Hanbei said with a wry tone, and I smiled awkwardly in agreement. ¡°Yuu has been raised as a proper girl during her whole life.¡± She started explaining. ¡°For her, what she did must have way beyond what she considers proper and borderline indecent.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it goes that far to be honest¡­¡± I said with a wry smile, but Yami simply shook her head. ¡°You don¡¯t understand, perverted rock.¡± HEY! ¡°Yuu-dono is worried that you may end up seeing her as a dirty girl after what she did and end up disliking her. Thus she have no idea on how to face you right now.¡± ¡°¡­I see, that makes sense.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Then maybe should I just go tell her that¡¯s not the case?¡± I asked, but they shook their head in synch. ¡°That would only make things worse.¡± Yami said disappointed. ¡°Why don¡¯t you use your addiction to dating sims to know that it would be a bad idea?¡± ¡°You are mistaking this fanfiction with a certain manga, you know?¡± I said in a deadpan look. ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve never played dating sims before. My addiction is to Monster Hunter.¡± ¡°Still, it¡¯s as she said.¡± Hanbei said sighing. ¡°Yuu would think that you are pitying her and would get even more depressed. That¡¯s just the way she is.¡± ¡°Gaah. This is so annoying!¡± I complained loudly. ¡°As cute as the shy Yuu is, having her avoid me like that is bad for my heart, you know? Isn¡¯t there anything I can do to solve this faster?¡± ¡°Just leave her alone for now until she settle down her own feelings.¡± We turned towards Ashley who had an exasperated expression on her face. ¡°After she calms down she should come talk to you again. That¡¯s the best thing you could do right now, and this may also help her recover faster if something similar happens in the future.¡± The three of us stared at the fire elemental for some time in shock, not really expecting him to go and give such an honest advice on this matter. After recovering, me and Yami took a step towards him and put our hands on her shoulders. ¡°I ask for your forgiveness, Miss Ashley.¡± Yami said in a solemn tone. ¡°You truly are a surprisingly good person at heart.¡± ¡°I knew I could count on you to help me, Rival!¡± I said cheerfully. ¡°WHO THE HELL IS A MISS AND WHO THE HELL IS YOUR RIVAL?¡± She shouted angrily while yanking her shoulders out from our hands. ¡°Go to hell the two of you! I just wanted to close this matter so you could leave me alone!¡± ¡°A wild tsundere has appeared.¡± Yami said in a deadpan face, so me and Hanbei had to hold back our laughter. ¡°A wild who did what?¡± Hot-head asked confused. ¡°Nothing, don¡¯t mind this stupid ero-maid.¡± I said while dragging Yami back before she let out another joke. ¡°You know what? Thank Cygnas that you will be stuck solving that whole boat problem.¡± Ashley told us with an angry tone. ¡°This way I¡¯ll be taking the first boat out from that city to get as far away from you as possible and never again meet you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid you are out of luck then, lass.¡± We all turned to the newcomer who said those words. The Gargoyle captain who, for some reason, carried a sad Lieutenant who was sitting dejectedly on his shoulder. ¡°Here, I found your cat like this after your elemental shooed him and his booze from being near the kitsune.¡± He said while passing me the cat. ¡°Oh¡­ So you¡¯ve kept supplying alcohol to Yuu, is that it?¡± I asked coldly the cat, who flinched in surprise as I held him closely. ¡°NYA!! NYAA!! NYAA!!¡± he shouted in a half painful half laughing tone as I angrily grinded my fist on his skull. However, after squirming a bit he managed to get out from my grasps and jump towards Hanbei, who held him in surprise. Turning to me he shouted. ¡°NY NYAA NANYAA!¡± ¡°WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY REGRETTING NOTHING YOU DAMNED FURBALL!¡± I said while trying to get him, but he kept moving around from person to person as I tried to grasp him. While me and the cat kept on with our cartoonistic chase around the group, I heard as Ashley turned to the captain and asked in a confused tone. ¡°What do you mean by out of luck?¡± ¡°Ah, right.¡± Skarr said while clearing his throat to recover from his laughing fit. ¡°You see, I just received a message from a friend in the city, but it seems that the sailors and undines have been finding the sea to be unsettling these days, so they are avoiding sailing for the time being.¡± ¡°WHAT?¡± Ashley asked in shock. ¡°THEN I¡¯LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT GUY FOR EVEN LONGER?¡± He asked in an angry tone while pointing at me. I briefly stopped my chase to look at him and give my brightest smile. ¡°Aww, don¡¯t say that! I know you actually like me!¡± ¡°¡­Go die.¡± He said while trying to kick me out of the ship. With that it was a scene where I hunted Lieutenant and Hot-head hunted me. ¡°Anyway, I also sent a word that you want to sell the blimp, so you should get a meeting with the lord of the region as soon as we get there.¡± Skarr added with a wide smile. ¡°With a lord?¡± Hanbei said in shock before putting on a pensive face. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have the clothes to meet with someone of that caliber¡­¡± ¡°Fear not, milady!¡± Yami said suddenly while putting up a proud tone. ¡°I have more than enough formal clothes that I¡¯m one hundred percent sure that they will fit you!¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m not going to ask why you have that, but thanks Yami.¡± Hanbei said wryly, and seeing the slime lowering her head with an expectant look, she ended up patting the black slime girl. But seriously, that girl just get scarier and scarier as a stalker. She even knows Hanbei¡¯s size? Even that a bit too much? No, wait. She IS a maid, so I guess this makes sense? ¡°Oh, no need to worry about that.¡± Skarr said while waving his hand. ¡°It will be an informal meeting, and Wich doesn¡¯t really care much for things like dress codes.¡± Huh? I think I heard something strange just now? ¡°Wait¡­ What is the lord¡¯s name again?¡± Hanbei asked in a wry tone. ¡°Oh, right. You don¡¯t know.¡± Skarr said while nodding. ¡°He¡¯s called Morrin Wichcrad. Also known as Lord Wich. A fine dwarf if I do say so myself¡­ And cousin, why did you fall so suddenly?¡± OH. MY. CYGNAS. I DID NOT HEAR THAT! As I tried to hold back my laughter, I turned to look at Yami and Hanbei, both of whom were holding themselves back to not burst out into laughter. From afar, I could even see Yuu¡¯s tail twitching for a moment. So, I¡¯m not wrong. The guy really is called Lord Wich? THIS IS GOLDEN! While I tried to recover myself under the confused gazes of Skarr and Ashley, Lieutenant approached me and grabbed my by the neck, swinging me back and forth with a confused look. He was desperate that we clearly had just heard a joke, but he didn¡¯t get it. --- Author''s notes: I just couldn''t pass up the chance to make this joke, could I? Chapter 93 - Not-so-fluffy Cold Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! An extra large chapter today because I can! (And because I wasn¡¯t satisfied with where it ended¡­) ANYWAY, finally, after such a long time, here we have the set up for Gon¡¯s next great hunt! A new monster, new weapon and new something new! HOORAY! Thought before then, we should get to see someone else. Still, I plan on having the fight begin within 5 chapters. ALSO, Since yesterday I skillfully stole*cough*kindly asked for some cookies from my junior at the den during his Author¡¯s corner, today there are cookies for everyone! So take them all! *Throws GrandFinale¡¯s cookies for everyone* Have a good read! ----- Invading author''s corner: Grandfinale: COUNTER INVASION! *catches his cookies and Zoidbergs back to his own story, complete with the sound effect* ---- I looked in awe at the scene before us as the crewmembers ran around finishing the docking procedures. I didn¡¯t even need to look in a mirror to know that I was no different from a kid staring at a new toy with a idiotically cheerful smile in my face. Turning back to the captain besides me who had been shouting orders all this time I hesitatingly asked. ¡°How¡­ How deep did you say it was again?¡± I asked just to be sure that my ears weren¡¯t lying to me. ¡°I¡¯d guess around twenty centimeters?¡± Skarr said while taking a peek over the guard rail, however he soon shook his head in denial. ¡°Oh yeah, this is a valley, so there should be even more. So¡­ Half a meter of snow?¡± He said in a dubious tone while looking to the base of the docking tower. ¡°Yeah, should be about right. Half a meter of snow!¡± I turned back to looking towards to the ground with a wide smile I my face. Half a meter of snow! For someone who never saw snow before, something like that was downright miraculous. Barely able to contain my excitement, I kept leaning on the guard-rail of the blimp besides the place where Lieutenant kept making his stretches. The little fuzzball had the same idea as me, it seems. While thinking so, I couldn¡¯t help but smile idiotically, and the others didn¡¯t lose sight of this, because soon enough Yami approached me with a serious gaze and put her hand on my shoulders. ¡°Do it.¡± She said with a thumbs up, only to receive a glare from Hanbei. ¡°Do what?¡± Skarr asked curious. ¡°Just do it.¡± Yami insisted, receiving raised eyebrows from the other present. Even Ashley looked at us from afar with a confused look. But I understood her intentions, and I knew exactly what she was telling me to do, so feeling emotional, I made her a brief salute, and turned back to the guardrail, putting on an expression full of determination, I took a deep breath while holding myself on the guardrail. ¡°Gon, I have no idea what It is you are going to do, but give up. It¡¯s foolish.¡± Hanbei said exasperated while grabbing my armor. ¡°I agree with Hanbei¡¯s words, master.¡± Crys said besides her while putting on a serious look before turning towards the cat doing the stretching. ¡°And if Lieutenant is somehow involved, I must say that it can¡¯t be good.¡± Even Aura made a bark in agreement with the girls while staring at me seriously. However, even with all that pressure over me, this isn¡¯t something I can walk away from, so I took a deep breath and gave them thankful smile. ¡°I am glad for your worries, but this is something I must do, no matter what.¡± I said with a heavy tone. Yami sniffled emotionally as she held back a tear and simply nodded, while the others simply looked at us with dead eyes. Confused by the scene, Rio looked around and started asking what was happening, but since the only three person who could give her an actual answer were either too lost in their own world or unwilling to do so, she seemingly gave up and simply watched me with curiosity. Seeing that no more words were needed, as Yuu still insisted on avoiding me, I turned my back to the group and rested my hands on the guardrail. Lieutenant put on a dashing smile when he saw my face and I nodded back to him, showing him my resolve. ¡°GERONIMOOO!¡± I shouted with a wide smile while jumping over the guard-rail. ¡°FLUFFY COLD, HERE I COME!¡± ¡°WHA¡­ GON!¡± ¡°TEACHER!!!??¡± ¡°BWAHAHAHAHAHA!¡± ¡°What are you doing, master?¡± ¡°EEEEH? SHISHOU?¡± A plethora of reactions came from the group above as they didn¡¯t expect my sudden jump, but I cared not for their reaction. SNOW! HERE I COME! Excitedly looking down towards the half meter of fluffy cold, roughly fifty meters below the ship, I spread my arms wide and awaited for impact. While feeling the cold wind hit my cheek as I fell, a small green figure darted besides me, as Lieutenant fell head-first compared to my belly dive. Giving me a brief acknowledgement with his eyes, he quickly passed me even though I jumped a bit earlier. Still this meant that I could see as he hit the snow, the impact strong enough to make his whole upper body get stuck in the snow, with only his legs wiggling outside. I would have burst into laughter at the moment, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I also met the snow soon after. -923 (37/960) ¡­ The pain¡­ The cold¡­ Where is the fluffy of the fluffy cold? I DEMAND MY REFUNDS! SNOW! YOU LIED TO ME! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO ABSORB MY FALL! NOT MAKE ME FEEL PAIN! While cursing the traitorous ¡°Fluffy¡± snow that felt as hard as rock, I laid quietly at the bottom of my golem-shaped crater, feeling as the creeping cold pierced through the armor and assaulted my stony body. I think I heard some confused and surprised gasps, but I couldn¡¯t really care about it. Unable to move due to the pain going through my body, I knew full well that this one was my fault. I was a fool to trust that snow was as fluffy and soft as they made be. I should have known that it was a lie all along, and in truth, it¡¯s a traitorous being. Deciding to never again trust anybody, I laid quietly waiting for my HP to come back up. Through the snow, I heard as Lieutenant excavated himself out of his pit, and with a brief glance at his HP bar, I saw that he was in a far better shape than I was. Probably because he was a lot lighter than I am. ¡°Huh¡­ Sir¡­¡± I heard a voice coming from above. I would have turned my head around, but I really didn¡¯t have the strength to do it. ¡°Are you alright?¡± He asked me with a worried tone. ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯m fine¡­¡± I just fell face first into a ground covered in hard snow and now am hurting all over. ¡°Just to be certain, but¡­ Erm¡­ you are from Skarr¡¯s ship, correct?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°Could you¡­ Give me your name?¡± He asked as if trying to make sure he chose the correct words. ¡°Just formal procedures, you know?¡± ¡°Gondorrer¡­ Piratebane¡­¡± Ugh¡­ Really me? ¡°I mean, Gondorrer Gravelheart.¡± ¡°¡­Oh, here you are.¡± He said, probably checking some kind of list or something. After a few seconds of silence he finally asked. ¡°Do¡­ Do you need any help?¡± ¡°Nah¡­ I think I can manage.¡± I replied with a weak smile. ¡°Actually¡­ Could you see if you can find my pride? I think it broke over there¡­¡± I said pointing to my right. I heard a dry laugh coming from what probably was one of the guards before some hesitating steps left the area towards somewhere else. Finally feeling that the cold was a bit more than what I could take (and by a bit more, it meant that I was almost becoming an ice golem), I decided that it was time to get up and put my cold resistance ring. However, before I even had the chance of bringing up my equipment window, another window popped up in front of me.
EVENT COMPLETED: Pirate raid
While travelling via airship, you were attacked by pirates, but instead of waiting for the battle to end, you decided to take thing into your own hands and help up.
Rewards: (Rewards are based upon your participation on the event.) Experience from defeating pirates Reputation with airship owners Reputation with the city of El-Dirrah For capturing the pirate airship: The airship is now property of Wargon
I stared at the window in confusion for some time, trying to make sense of it since I didn¡¯t get any quest related to the raid. It was only when I starter re-reading the window that I noticed that it wasn¡¯t a quest window, but an event one. Surprised by that, as I didn¡¯t know about such a system, I decided to later ask Crys some more details about it. But, if I had to guess based on my previous knowledge about games, events are kind of like quests, except that they are spontaneous and usually difficult to foresee. While thinking so, I noticed an icon flashing on the corner of my vision, telling me of a level up. Quickly opening my status screen, what greeted me left me shocked, as I saw that not only had I finally crossed the level thirty line, but I also had reached level thirty one! This left me with not two, but four points to spend and one more derivation point for my skill! As usual, I spent my points in defense, spreading them evenly now that they had all reached fairly similar values. Taking a good look at the window, I nodded satisfied, deciding to leave the derivation point for later when I had a bit more time to check my skill.
NAME: Wargon (Gondorrer Gravelheart)
TITLE: The Mad
Class tree:Warrior/rogueClass:Skirmisher
Race:GolemGender:Neutral (Male)
Level:31Experience:23%
STATUS: Remaining points (0)
Health Points:1010/1010HP regen (out of combat):4/sec
Energy:100/100Energy Regen:11/sec
STR:63(16)TGH:50 (36)
AGI:66(16)VIT:70(36)
INT:31(16)MND:61(36)
ATTK:55-47Extra:None
DEF237M. Res.:179
Fire resistance:24
Satiety:64/100 (Neutral)
SKILLS: Derivation points (1)
Spoiler : --------Generic skills-------- One-handed Sword Mastery[Intermediate][lvl 2] -Slash (Active) -Stab (Active) -Slice ¡®n dice (Active) -Fencing Dual-wielding mastery [lvl 2] -Whirlwind (Active) Bow Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1] -Power shot (Active) -Quick shots (Active) -Piercing shot (Active) -Double-shot (Active) -Snipe Two-handed Sword Mastery [lvl 9] -Slash (Active) -Hunter¡¯s style -->Claw strike (1st form) -->Fang Strike (1st form) -->Talon Strike(1st form) -->Talon Strike(2nd form) Martial Arts [lvl 6] -Kick -Pummel Shield Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1] -Bashing - Shield slam* -Stand Ready Scale-mail Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1] Chain-mail Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1] Leather Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1] Shockwave resistance [lvl 3] Taunt (Active) [lvl 9] -Focused mockery Nature walking (Active) [lvl 4] (Original) Roll (Active) [lvl 9] (Original) Petting Mastery [lvl 2] Recklessness [lvl 2] Muffled steps [lvl 4] ---------Class skills-------- Consumables mastery [lvl7] Unstoppable Charge* (Active) [lvl 9] Retreat (Active) [lvl 3] Ready for anything [lvl 3] UNIQUE Adaptability [lvl 9] -Cycle weapons(active) -Offensive Cycle(active)* Tracking [lvl 4] -Strategic mapping ---------Crafting skills-------- Skinning [intermediate] [lvl 2] Mining [intermediate] [lvl 2] Crystal Tinkerer[Intermediate] [lvl 1] Leatherworking [Intermediate][lvl 2] Blacksmithing [Intermediate] [lvl 2] Alchemy [lvl 8] ---------Racials--------- -Nature¡¯s bastion (Active) -Rock Eater -Sedimentary skin (Active) -Nature attuned ---------Equipment skill-------- Ignite Weapon
Ah, skill table! How long has it been since the last time we saw each other? How long as it may have been, I¡¯m pretty sure the author wouldn¡¯t have minded if we took even longer. Anyway, leaving the fourth wall alone for now, I closed the window and stood straight while bringing my inventory window up. For a moment I felt the freezing cold of the traitorous mount of white not-so-fluffy cold that still clung to my skin, however, the moment I put on the cold resistance ring, the sensation went off, so I finally sighed loudly in relief. As I looked around, I saw as the snow besides me started trembling slightly before a hole appeared from it, from which a certain soldier-cat popped up. He looked around, checking his surroundings for a moment before turning to me and giving me a salute. Except that it didn¡¯t last long, because he soon started shivering from the cold too. I grimaced slightly while tossing him another cold resistance ring. I had already left Yuu and Hanbei with their rings, while Yami somehow managed to get one for herself, so I had no need to worry about them getting too cold. Aura is an ice fox, so I have my doubts whether she will even bother with the weather. Taking a deep breath, I finally ended up sighing, thinking of what I would have to do next. Seeing how I had the whole ship thing to take care of, I couldn¡¯t simply go out to fool around in the snow as I initially planned. This wouldn¡¯t be so troublesome if I left the fooling around for after we had our business talk or if I sent someone in my place, but problems arose when I gave that idea. One, the owner of the airship needs to be present during the moment of the trade. Seeing as how I was now the temporary owner of the airship, I didn¡¯t have much escape, even after deciding to leave all the annoying parts to Argento, whose eyes had become a pair of gold coins thinking about profit. On the other hand¡­ ¡°Shisou!¡± I heard a voice coming from the tower, where Yuu left through the door followed by the rest of the group. All of whom looked either worried or amazed at me. The kitsune, obviously, was one of the worried ones, and she quickly got close to me and started to examine me from head to toes. ¡°Shishou¡­ Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself? Why did you do that?¡± She asked me while holding my hands. Waa! Yuu isn¡¯t running away anymore! While feeling satisfied from the depths of my heart for that, a silly smile appeared in my face. During my happy moment, Yuu finally noticed her situation, and her face soon changed from a worried one to an extremely embarrassed one tinted completely red. ¡°Uu¡­ Waaa!¡± She shouted suddenly, breaking me from my trance and running away until she hid herself behind Yami. WAAAAAH! MY HAPPY MOMENT! BROKEN SO FAST! Falling down into despair, I sat down on the snow and hugged my knees closely before starting to scribble in the snow. If Yuu hates me, I have no more reason to live! As my life breaking depression corroded me, a certain crystal elemental floated closer to me and said in a serious tone. ¡°Master, as much as I enjoy seeing your reactions and idiocy like this, I regret to tell you that we do not have time for this.¡± Crys told me while using her small crystalline hands to pull me up. ¡°As you know, Yuu¡¯s grandfather should arrive soon, you know?¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Yeah. Yuu¡¯s grandfather. The martial artist old-man I certainly had not forgotten at all is arriving soon at Brazil. In fact, he should be arriving in around three hours in real life, so we had nine hours in game to worry about that. Taking in consideration the time it would take for us to arrive at the airport, we didn¡¯t exactly have more than a couple of hours inside before having to leave. ¡°BUT I WANT TO PLAY IN THE TRAITOROUS FLUFFY COLD!¡± I said throwing myself on the ground and starting a tantrum. Those who didn¡¯t know me for long looked at me in shock and confusion, but Yuu, Hanbei and probably her stalker too, had seen me throwing a tantrum earlier back at Torg¡¯s house, so they weren¡¯t as surprised. ¡°Te-Teacher?¡± Lily asked in a mix of surprise and confusion seeing my reaction. ¡°Is that really the guy who jumped in the enemy ship?¡± I heard hothead asking confused. ¡°Yeah¡­ Gon can be like that from time to time¡­¡± Hanbei said with a wry tone. ¡°I¡¯VE BEEN DRAGGED ALONG FOR FAR TOO LONG!¡± I complained loudly. ¡°First it was at Eldor, having to talk with everyone before leaving. Then we went into the airship where Yuu got drunk and started pulling me by the nose.¡± I said and saw as said girl blushed slightly before looking away. ¡°I HAVEN¡¯T HAD THE CHANCE TO FOOL AROUND AT ALL RECENTLY! I CAN¡¯T EVEN REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I WENT ON A HUNT ON MY OWN!¡± Shouting my true feelings and feeling exteremly bothered by it, I looked defiantly at the people in front of me, only to be met with a cold looking Crys that made the surrounding snow looks like a warm bath. ¡°Master. I understand that you need to eventually vent off your frustrations and am more than willing to let you do that when you have the time.¡± She said while using her small body to drag me back up again. Strange, I don¡¯t remember Crys being this scary¡­ ¡°Then¡­¡± You¡¯ll let me fool around? I was about to ask that, but she simply smiled at me with her small black crystalline eyes. ¡°Right now you are going to grow up and leave playing around in the snow for later, okay?¡± I nodded scared out of my wits by the strange pressure emanating from the little floating maid. Helping me dust off the snow from clothes, she then proceeded to pull me back towards the group. ¡°You sure are a fast learner, young maid.¡± Huh? What the hell does that means? Turning to Yami who said those words, I saw as she looked towards Crys with a proud look. ¡°Thanks teacher Yami!¡± Crys said with a nod and a happy tone. ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you to help me in my road to becoming a skillful maid!¡± Wait. Since when did Crys become Yami¡¯s apprentice? Looking at her with an inquisitive gaze, she turned to me with a serious look and said. ¡°Master. After your last stunt, when I felt a bit helpless about having such an irresponsible master, Yami told me that a good maid would be able to set you straight, so I asked her to train me into becoming a good maid!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°She told me that good maids can even go as far as scolding their masters when they do something wrong!¡± Staring at the cheerful miniature maid, it finally dawned on me as I understood what had happened. Turning towards the maid made of slime, I stared at her as I finally understood why she actually went and told me to go ahead and jump. So, she had planned something like that to get an apprentice for herself? That tricky little bugger¡­ The ninja maid looked at me with a triumphant smirk and gave me a thumbs up. Sighing and acknowledging defeat, I approached the group with a defeated look and followed them as they took the cleaner path. Feeling like a prisoner being dragged to the death row, I saw as some people who looked like guards shoveling the ground and cleaning up a good path down the street. They all looked at me with an amazed look due to the group that we were composed of. Since the people at Eldor had gotten used to me already, I kind of ended up forgetting how people usually react when they see me being followed by a fox wearing a water armor, a floating crystal elemental with maid clothes and a cat wearing soldier¡¯s garb. Well, now we could also add Rio to the equation, as I¡¯m almost sure that a dragon is something many people wouldn¡¯t see in their entire lives. Well, the fact that there were so many girls following me also helped that, I guess. Pouting as Crys sat on my shoulder and threatened to pull my ear every time I thought about running away, I followed down the road while holding back my instinct to start a snow-ball fight for no reason whatsoever. ¡°So, what exactly were you planning when you jumped down the ship, Gon?¡± Hanbei asked curious. ¡°¡­ I wanted to make snow angels?¡± I replied with a shrug. She turned to me with dead-pan eyes. ¡°And you jumped from fifty meter in the air just to make snow angels in the snow¡­?¡± She asked me with distrust in her eyes. ¡°¡­Okay, snow craters.¡± I said while avoiding her eyes. ¡°Really?¡± Hanbei asked me with dubious eyes. ¡°From the way it looked, I¡¯d say that he wanted to get to snow the fastest possible and since he thought that snow is soft, he decided that even if he jumped he would be safe.¡± We heard an androgynous voice saying. Turning our heads we saw as Ashley appeared from the bottom of the tower carrying a travel bag. ¡°And you wonder why I call you my rival!¡± I said while giving him a thumbs up. ¡°Only you understood me!¡± I said proudly. ¡°¡­I take back what I said.¡± She said before walking past us. ¡°Hey! Wait! Tell us where you are going!¡± I said while darting to run after her, but the moment I took a step forward a sharp hand held my ear, pulling me back. ¡°No running away, master.¡± She said while grabbing me and pulling me back. GAAAH! I WANTED TO USE HOTHEAD AS AN EXCUSE TO RUN AWAY! Looking at Ashley with teary eyes, I pleaded for him to help me with my eyes, but he simply gave me a mocking smile while walking away. It seems that I have no allies in this group at all! ¡­ After Argento asked some directions from the guards, all we had to do was to say that we were the ones wanting to sell the pirate blimp to have them escort us towards the lord¡¯s mansion. Apparently, Skarr had sent word ahead that we were coming, so they didn¡¯t treat us with too much suspicion. Afterwards we were guided through the not so covered in snow town that rested just beyond the valley. As Skarr said, the town itself wasn¡¯t as deep in snow as the valley where the tower was in. From the looks of it, the mountain range limited the snow-fall to this side only, thus the opposite side was only cold, but completely removed of snow. Although most of the time we crossed a path that had been already cleared of snow, on the brief area between valley and the town there was a small piece of ground that had a fair amount of snow covering it, so I had the chance to lower and snatch a piece of snow before hiding it in my hand. Crys noticed my brief action, but she kept quiet, probably knowing that there was only so much she could hold me back from. I also understood why the hell people who live in snowy countries seem to dislike it so much. Walking in snow is a bother, because your feet get stuck deep into it and it makes it really bothersome to move around. It would be interesting if it was something that only happened occasionally, but I guess that if I had to live with something like this for my whole life, I would get mad sooner or later. Still, we were guided through the town and towards the lord¡¯s castle. On the way, I made sure to quickly burn in my mind the place where the smithy was and where was something that looked like a leatherworking workshop. As Skarr said previously, it seems that we might be stuck in here for a few days due to the odd sea, so knowing this kind of thing will probably be of great help to relieve me of my boredom. At the front gate, we had to wait as the personal guard of the lord of the region went in to warn about our arrival. Hey, those kids are playing snow-balls war! ¡°Master. Whatever you do¡­¡± Crys told me coldly noticing where I was looking at. ¡°Keep your mouth closed and let Mister Argento do the talking, okay?¡± ¡°Moneybags.¡± Argento told me with serious eyes. ¡°Leave it to me. I¡¯m going to strike you a deal they won¡¯t be able to refuse!¡± He said with a smirk. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll ask for a small commission for my services, alright?¡± I knew he had second intentions! Oh well, he¡¯s probably going to get even more money than what I could think of knowing this money-mongering gnome, and I get to leave the boring negotiations with him. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I said halfheartedly while looking downheartedly at the kids and cat playing around... Wait a second, cat? Looking back at the group, I noticed that there was a certain cat wearing green soldier uniform who had taken the leadership of one of the kid¡¯s group and was apparently shouting orders around, transforming the playful competition into a one-sided slaughter. ¡°OI! FURBALL! GET BACK HERE!¡± I shouted angrily once I noticed that Lieutenant wasn¡¯t by my side anymore. ¡°IF I HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS, YOU¡¯LL ALSO HAVE TO¡­¡± Before I could storm away to catch the cat, I heard the sound of a gate behind us opening. ¡°The lord is calling you to come in.¡± I turned back to see a red-haired dwarf wearing a fish-tail overcoat, not unlike a butler. ¡°And if you will, we ask that you leave all your weapons on the hall. Security reasons.¡± He said in a cool voice. Gritting my teeth as I noticed that Crys wouldn¡¯t simply let me escape from this predicament, I turned to the fox besides me and said briefly. ¡°Aura, can you get that sneaky little cat back while I go in?¡± She looked at me and then towards the cat and gave a brief nod before darting towards the cat. ¡°¡­Looks fun! Can I go too?¡± Rio said while looking at Lieutenant throwing snowballs around. ¡°Huh? Sure, go ahead.¡± I told the little wyvern, and she happily flew away, landing besides Lieutenant who immediately climbed on her back and made a triumphant meow. I might have to make him a dragon-knight armor later. It seems that this will become an habit of his¡­ Shaking my head, I followed the group who was already half-way through the path, going right after the dwarf as he guided us to the main entrance. As ordered, we left all of our weapons with one of the servants and walked in towards what looked like the main entrance. I didn¡¯t miss how Yami kept eyeing all the servants and analyzing them from head to toe. I guess that she does take her job somewhat seriously after all. The servants didn¡¯t pay us much mind as they went on doing their own jobs. It seemed like they were more than used to having visitors. We were left in a room with two couches that looked way too fancy for my own tastes. By instinct I decided to take on the simpler bench, but I was dragged back to the couch by both Argento and Yami, who said something about me being the central figure here, so I had to be present in the negotiations. ¡°But Yuu was also in the airship at the time!¡± I said while pointing to the Kitsune who hid embarrassedly behind Lily. ¡°And I¡¯m pretty sure she is much better educated in these matter than I am!¡± ¡°Do you really think that Yuu is in any state to negotiate right now, Master?¡± Crys asked me in a cold tone, and when I saw Yuu who was far too shy to even look at me in the eyes I gave a sigh. Sitting down in the couch heavily, I crossed my arms angrily, put on a pout in my face and slouched the most I could to show my dissatisfaction. Yami and Argento each took a seat besides me and the maid gave me a jab with her elbow to make me sit straight up. Nothing that Nature¡¯s bastion couldn¡¯t prevent. Yuu, Hanbei and Lily all stood behind us since there wasn¡¯t any more space in the couch. It didn¡¯t take long for us to hear footsteps approaching the doorway from which we came from. The moment the door opened, in came a trio of dwarves that couldn¡¯t be any more different. One was a refined-looking dwarf, with a clear white long hair that was tied in a braid. Instead of a full on beard, he had a pair of side-burns that linked into a magnificent looking mustache. He wore something akin to a business suit, but it was made of a thicker material than the usual. The other one was perfectly bald, but had a full on beard that went all the way to his waist. Different from the first one, his beard was dark black, and the clothes he wore were simple leather garments. In his hands was a miner¡¯s helmed and what looked like a pickaxe with one of the sides made into a full-blown battle axe hung on his waist. Finally was the red-head butler that guided us in previously. He didn¡¯t have a beard or a mustache and kept his hair curt short, probably to not bother him with the work. ¡°¡­an¡¯t work any more like this! We need to send the guard or else the mines will have to stop brother!¡± The bald dwarf said with a worried tone. ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯ll look into it, but I doubt any of our guards have enough skill to take¡­¡± The white haired dwarf stopped once he noticed us in the room. He gave a brief glance towards the black bearded one who simply nodded in reply. ¡°Excuse me for my rudeness.¡± The white haired one said while taking a step towards us. ¡°I¡¯m Myorrin Wichcrad, the local lord.¡± He said in a serious tone. ¡°Good morning. I¡¯m Gondorrer Gravelheart, adventurer. These are Argento Belomondo and Tanto Yami.¡± I said presenting myself and the two besides me. ¡°They are here to help me with the negotiations since I¡¯m not very experienced with them.¡± Huuuh¡­ Why does it feels like they are staring at me as if I was some kind of odd creature? Is it because I acted polite with him? Is that it? I can hold myself back on my jokes, you know? ¡°Ah, so you are the one who captured the Airship, huh?¡± The white haired dwarf asked, and I noticed how the black-bearded one looked at me with interest. ¡°Yes. It were me and the kitsune lady over there.¡± I said pointing towards Yuu, who managed to give a brief greeting. ¡°But due to some reasons, the negotiations were left to me.¡± Even though I don¡¯t want to! ¡°I see.¡± He said with an amused look while examining the two of us. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the two of you to be so¡­ Young.¡± ¡°Well, we did have to resort to some tricks to get it done.¡± I said with a wry smile, and the white haired dwarf nodded briefly before sitting on the other couch. The two other dwarves stood behind him, with the black bearded one clearly looking impatient. ¡°Err, would it be impolite of me to ask what happened at the mine before we start the negotiations?¡± ¡°The mines¡­?¡± Lord Wich¡­ heh. Asked curiously. ¡°Are you a miner too?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± I replied immediately. ¡°Knowing that there¡¯s a mine-shaft nearby caught my attention.¡± I said shortly, and the dwarf looked slightly troubled. After some seconds he turned to the black-bearded dwarf who nodded. ¡°Ah, you see lad¡­¡± He said in a much more informal tone. ¡°You really got here at a bad time. The mine was all well and fine till a couple of days ago, but a certain monster invaded it not long ago.¡± Huh? Monster? Did I hear correctly? ¡°We miners are more than used to dealing with the usual cave monsters, but¡­¡± HUNTING. SENSES. TINGLING! ¡°That might be a bit too much for us, so we are looking for someone to take care of it for us.¡± ¡°That¡­ monster¡­¡± I said while trying to hold back my excitement. From behind I heard Hanbei sigh deeply. ¡°Is it an animal or something?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± The black bearded dwarf became surprised for a moment before nodding. ¡°Aye. It¡¯s a Sulfuric Impaler Matriarch. Luckily, it¡¯s just a youngling. If it was an elder¡­¡± ¡°Sulfuric Impaler¡­?¡± I asked, the name tingling something in my memories. ¡°Is that related to the Impaling spider?¡± I thought of the spider that took me to Eldor back when I was just beginning the game. ¡°Aye. It¡¯s their volcanic cousin.¡± The Black haired dwarf said while scratching his head before blinking and staring at me. ¡°Wait, are you saying you going to hunt it?¡± He asked surprised, and I saw as Lord Wich put an slightly interested look. ¡°Well¡­ Let¡¯s say I have a thing for hunting monsters¡­¡± I said cheerfully while barely able to hold back my excitement. ¡°¡­Looks like this is going to take even longer than what I expected, huh?¡± Lord Wich said with a brief sigh before turning towards his butler. ¡°Oldir, can you get our guests something to eat?¡± ¡°With pleasure sir.¡± The butler said with a nod. ¡°Is there anything you want in particular?¡± ¡°Just tea for me.¡± Yami said briefly. ¡°Then I¡¯ll have whatever you have right now.¡± Argento agreed. ¡°Since I¡¯m here, I have to ask for a sandwich¡­¡± Ah, I heard the people around me face-palming. ¡­ DANG IT! I WAS GOING SO WELL! ----- (Dead)Author¡¯s corner: Well guys, you saw it. Grand finale stole the cookies. Go hunt him! *Munches cookie while grumbling about tables and how they are the evil of the universe* Chapter 94 - Sunday bloody Sunday Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! Here we have someone who some of you¡¯ve been expecting for quite some time! ANYWAY, as you might remember, starting with next chapter, we will have a marathon of IO only uploads here in RRL. Won¡¯t be one per day, but It will be only IO one after another. And I also planned on something. A friend of mine at the Den recommended for me to do a cover art competition, and have the winner get to have his art posted on IO¡¯s front page. I thought about that and¡­ Sincerely, as much as an interesting idea it is, for personal reasons it¡¯s not something I would do. BUT, if you guys were up for it, I guess I could do something? Maybe add a fan-art chapter so I can post your works there or something? Oh well, this anyway have gone for far too long, so lets move on. ALSO, no also, just something to add as usual. ALSO(2), I hate my hyperactive imagination, because recently I¡¯ve started writing not one, but two new stories¡­. Yeah, no plans on posting them though. I could, MAYBE, post a link with access to my G.drive folder, but¡­ Who knows. ALSO(3), ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN! Spoiler : CHOO CHOO! Spoiler : Have a good read! ------- ¡°Wait, they are blind? Dang it...¡± I complained loudly while stopping to think for a moment. Well, it does make sense that a cave monster wouldn¡¯t rely on their eyes. But this mean that my flash-bombs wouldn¡¯t work! NOOOOOOO! ¡°Aye, but I hear¡¯ from an adventurer once that they use their hearin¡¯ and smell to find themselves, so they ain¡¯t all that bad in the senses area.¡± The bearded dwarf told me with a nod. Sighing, I nodded while understanding what he meant. Well, flash-bombs aren¡¯t the only weapons available in a hunter¡¯s arsenal. Still, they are the only ones available in my arsenal that could stun a boss monster. Maybe I should start looking into a way to create sonic bombs with my crystals. It has been quite some time since I last fooled around with crystal tinkerer anyway. Sighing loudly, I started thinking of possible things I could do to recreate the fabled sonic bomb with my crystals. While doing this, the dwarf seemed to think about what more he could tell me. ¡°Master.¡± I heard a call coming from Crys. Blinking surprised, I turned to the small floating maid who popped up besides me. ¡°We are running out of time.¡± She told me briefly. Widening my eyes, I nodded and turned to the dwarf. ¡°Sorry, Alsan. Looks like I have to go now.¡± I told him, making him widen his eyes and nod. ¡°Ah, okay kiddo.¡± He said with a weary tone. ¡°Anyway, if you find someone who can solve the problem, it¡¯s good. If not, once I come back I can try to take care of it.¡± I told him. He raised an eyebrow before nodding satisfied. Turning back to the others on the couch, I saw as Argento and Yami were negotiating with Lord Wich. Looks like they heard Crys, because they turned to me and gave me a brief nod. Thanking them with a nod back, I turned towards Yuu, Hanbei and Lily who had been talking with one of the maids who came to bring us snack. Before you ask, yes, I did get my sandwich. Luckily, Lord Wich, although serious most of the time, don¡¯t mind too much formalities, so he didn¡¯t even bat an eye at my previously downright idiotic joke. In fact, he even said that I was free to see with his brother the problem on the mine while he discussed with my two negotiators. Anyway, approaching the duo, I called out to Yuu since we had to go get her grandfather on the airport, and we would be better to leave early. She responded with a startled jump and taking a step away from me, which left me disheartened. ¡°Yuu¡­ We have to go¡­ Get your grandfather.¡± I said sullenly. Blinking surprised Yuu widened her eyes while hiding behind Lily, before nodding weakly. ¡°I¡­ Hmm¡­ I can go receive Grandfather alone¡­ Shishou can wait¡­¡± She said shyly while looking away, but I simply sighed while shaking my head. ¡°Do you know how to go to the airport? And what about coming back?¡± I asked her, making her widen her eyes in surprise before nodding weakly. ¡°Teacher, where are you going?¡± Lily asked me curious, but before I could reply, Hanbei explained. ¡°They are going back to where we come from and get Yuu¡¯s grandfather who is arriving at our place.¡± She said briefly. ¡°Heeh¡­ Where Teacher come from¡­?¡± Lily said with curious eyes before sighing. ¡°So, when will you come back?¡± She asked curious. Thinking about it, I guessed the time and shrugged. ¡°We should be back in one day or something.¡± I said with a sigh and Lily nodded. Turning back to Hanbei, I looked at her and asked. ¡°So, you coming?¡± ¡°No.¡± She shook her head immediately. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and keep company to Yami.¡± She said shortly. Nodding, I turned to Yuu and made a motion for us to leave the house. I would like at least to warn Lieutenant and Aura before I log out. Something told me Aura would choose stay around here this time. With Yuu following me far behind and avoiding eye contact, we were guided by the maid towards the exit. Giving our thanks to her on the gate, we turned back to the city and walked around, following the spot on the map that marked where the three little animals were fooling around. Then, I burst into the laughter I had been holding all the time in there. ¡°This is¡­ heh¡­ Golden¡­ heh¡­ Oh god! My side!¡± I said between breaths while Yuu looked at me confused. ¡°He¡­ He was called Alsan!¡± I said while remembering about the dwarf. ¡°Alsan the Wich! ALL SANDWICH!¡± I saw as Yuu tried to hold a giggle back. ¡­ ¡°War¡­ War never changes.¡± I said solemnly while looking at the scenery before me while falling silent. Waiting for Yuu to ask what I was doing. Buuuut¡­ She never asked. Turning back towards her, I saw that she stood around five meters behind me while trying to avoid crossing gazes with me. ¡°¡­Geez, I lost the joke.¡± I said once I noticed she didn¡¯t hear my question due to the distance. Geez, as much as I like the shy Yuu back, having her avoid me is bad for my mental health! While becoming depressed due to this, I sighed loudly and turned back to the battleground, crouching down on the ground so I could make my preparations. The scenery before me was something akin to what a battleground should look like. Two teams that seemed to span a whole city, barricades built into every street on which people would hide behind. Not even the kids were spared from the battleground, as they joined one of the sides so that they could fight against their friends or enemies. Projectiles flying from one side to the other non stop as both sides tried to destroy their opponents. From one side, we had the general, who stood above the battleground, shouting orders towards his subordinates and guiding them towards victory. On the other, we had the hero, whose might alone took on dozens and dozens of the enemy with every single attack. Their different strategies evening out the battle field, only leading to an increase of victims in either side of the battle. Taking a deep breath, I took on my own weapon and walked into the battle field. Looking up, towards where the one who started all of this was, I took aim, and shot. ¡°HOW THE HELL DID YOU START A SNOW BALL CIVIL WAR YOU FURBALL!¡± I shouted in anger as the not-so-fluffy ball of cold flew to my hand, hitting the unsuspecting cat right on the head and making him fall from Rio¡¯s back. Kids and adults alike seemed to snap out of it as he fell down to the snow before me. Storming towards him furious, I grabbed him by the body and started swinging him back and forth. ¡°WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE PLAYING IN THE SNOW WHILE I¡¯M IN THERE HAVING TO TALK ABOUT BUSINESS?¡± I shouted to the cat. ¡°I¡¯m so damned envious of you!¡± I said as tears of blood¡­ Or oil, I guess¡­ Golem and all¡­ Fell from my eyes. Turning around, I saw a stunned Aura who stared at me for a moment before widening her eyes and looking away embarrassed. I didn¡¯t take too long to notice that she had been caught in Lieutenant¡¯s pace. Sighing loudly, I signaled for her to come over. She approached with a lowered head in shame for not having been able to stop Lieutenant, but I felt that she couldn¡¯t help it, so I simply patted her gently, making her widen her eyes in surprise before closing in pleasure. ¡°Anyway. Now that you two¡­ You three are here.¡± I fixed once Rio landed on my head and snuggled up to me. ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving for some time and should be back by tomorrow.¡± I told them, making them look at me in surprise for a moment before nodding. ¡°Anyway, are you going to stay or going to leave this time?¡± I asked Aura, who widened her eyes in surprise before stopping to think. Then she lowered her head, probably indicating that she would stay. I smiled and petted her a bit more, telling that it isn¡¯t a problem. Lifting myself up, I turned to Yuu to signal her that we could log out now, only to see her staring at Aura with jealously. Geez, if you want petting, all you need to do is ask, you know? Calling on the menu, I quickly chose the log out function and, after waiting the usual timer, we disappeared in a pillar of light. Opening my eyes again, I found myself in the usual space where I meet with Cygnas. Much to my surprise, she was actually there in her full-sized crystal form, wearing maid clothes and bowing down gracefully. ¡°I wish you a good travel, master.¡± She said courteously, taking me slightly by surprise. ¡°¡­Okay¡­¡± I said worriedly. ¡°You really plan going full on with the maid thingy?¡± I asked dubiously. ¡°Of course! It¡¯s fun to do something different from what I¡¯m used to!¡± She said cheerfully before blinking and putting a serious tone. ¡°Master.¡± ¡°¡­Waah¡­¡± I said impressed. After some time, we finally burst into a short laugh at the scene. ¡°Anyway, see you later, I guess.¡± I told her with a nod. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll try to keep you informed of the negotiations through your cellphone.¡± She told me as I left the area. I nodded briefly and logged out for good. Taking off the visor from my face and sitting up, I took a brief look towards the window from my bedroom, seeing the sun starting to shine. Stretching my sore muscles from having stayed still for too long, I yawned loudly while taking out my clothes and putting on some cleaner ones. A quick run to the bathroom to brush my teeth and pretend to comb my hair, I left back to my room, where I picked up my cellphone and the bag I always took with me when I left. Shoving my portable console with the new monster hunter game inside just to be sure. One last check to see if I didn¡¯t forget anything. Cellphone, Check. Keys, Check. Wallet, Check. Common sense, uncheck. Console, check. Bag, check. Yup, seems like everything is here. Nodding satisfied, I plugged in my earphones and left my room, walking towards Yuu¡¯s house and knocking on the door. Surprisingly, it didn¡¯t take too long for the door to open, and from there peeked a shy Yuu who only showed one of her eyes. ¡°Shi-Shishou¡­¡± She said shyly with teary eyes. I felt something pierce my heart at that moment and had to look away so she wouldn¡¯t see my blush. Clearing my throat so I could focus myself better, I turned back to her and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go?¡± She nodded weakly after a moment and opened the door. I became stunned for a moment when I saw her. She was wearing a Dark red yukata with a fox motif to its engravings. A golden sash tied it around her waist seemed to enhance her curves, leaving her with a lovely figure. Her hair, tied around in a bun behind her left her with a very distinct feeling. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Is¡­ Is it no good?¡± She asked shyly. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± I asked stunned before shaking my head. ¡°No, you look good.¡± A bit too good to be honest. ¡°R-Really?¡± She asked shyly and I nodded. ¡°But¡­ Ermmm¡­ Are you planning on leaving like that?¡± ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°Well¡­ How should I say it¡­ It¡¯s quite eye-catching?¡± I tried to find the best words I could, but she still seemed surprised. ¡°Heh? Is that so?¡± She asked and I nodded while scratching my cheek awkwardly. She pouted slightly at my reaction before looking disheartened. ¡°Muu¡­ But it¡¯s normal to use formal clothes when meeting your relatives, right?¡± She asked sullenly. ¡°Well¡­ While I do know where you are going with that... Don''t you think that''s too formal and exotic for Brazil?" I said and saw as she looked sullenly for a moment before hanging her head. "Why not take some western clothes like before?" "... Mari chooses my western clothes..." She said in a pouting tone. Understanding where she was going with that, I sighed and tried to think a bit, as going to the street like that would surely get us more attention than necessary. "So... Want me to pick something for you?" I said as a half joke while thinking of calling Hanbei for just a moment. "You''d do that?" She asked surprised. "Huh?" ... "I won''t bite, you know?" I told her as I watched her leave the taxi a good few seconds after me. ¡°¡­Sorry¡­¡± She said in a low tone that I could barely hear from where I was. Sighing loudly, I approached her and rested my hand on her head, gently rubbing my fingers on her head. She flinched for a moment before looking up to me. ¡°I¡¯m not mad at you, you know?¡± I said with a sigh. She hesitated for a moment before nodding weakly. ¡°Sorry¡­ I just¡­¡± She said weakly. I sighed loudly and nodded. ¡°Okay, okay¡­ I won¡¯t bug you anymore.¡± I told her and she nodded weakly as if thanking me. ¡°Arigatou, shishou.¡± She said weakly. ¡°Wata¡­ I just need to¡­ Gather myself again.¡± ¡°I thought so.¡± I replied. ¡°Let¡¯s go get your grandfather then we can go back home, okay?¡± She nodded a bit more energetically before following me from behind. While we walked, I couldn¡¯t help but notice how people were looking at Yuu walking behind me with wide eyes. Well, being honest, I was quite proud of my job in picking her some clothes. With a thin light pink shirt that left a good part of her back open and a dark blue jeans. I also had her untie her hair and let it fall down naturally to match her clothes. Since today seemed to be hotter than previously, I decided to go with some lighter clothes, and luckily, I was right. This also gave Yuu a fresh new feeling when it came to her looks. She also brought a small purse with herself, but I sincerely had no idea what she put in there. Maybe her cellphone? Well, to be honest, anything I picked would probably look good on her, so it¡¯s not like I can become too proud of myself. Nodding satisfied to myself, I dodged through the crowd while looking for the place her grandfather was going to come from. Using my personal navigator also known as Crys, she quickly pointed us towards the place. Seeing how we still managed to get here a bit earlier, I looked for a place to sit down and found a bench near a pillar. Making a motion towards it with my head so that Yuu could see my idea, we went there and sat down, with she taking some distance from me. Sighing in defeat and seeing that there probably wasn¡¯t going to be any talk today, I looked around bored for some time seeing that there was a fair amount of people around today. Commenting out loud on my earphone, Crys replied. ¡°Well, today is a Sunday and a good part of your previous week was a holiday, so many people are returning from their vacations.¡± She explained and I nodded. ¡°Sunday, huh?¡± I said out loud while thinking. ¡°Sunday, bloody Sunday¡­ That means tomorrow I have classes, huh?¡± I said out loud, and noticed as Crys went silent for a moment. ¡°Oh¡­ Master isn¡¯t a useless human being!¡± ¡°OI! I HEARD THAT!¡± I complained loudly on the cellphone before sighing ¡°Yeah, I do have classes tomorrow. Luckily, it¡¯s only during the morning on Mondays.¡± I said out loud enough so that Yuu could also hear. ¡°I see¡­¡± Crys replied while nodding. ¡°¡­ I wonder if it¡¯s a maid¡¯s duty to help her master study...¡± She said in a curious tone. I had the feeling that she was asking that to Yami at that exact moment. Chuckling to myself, I pulled out the portable from my bag and turned it on. What? Talk to the others? I¡¯m pretty sure Yuu wouldn¡¯t react to anything I said without becoming either surprised or embarrassed, while Cyg still had the negotiations to keep track of. I even asked her to keep an look out on Aura and Lieutenant, and according to her words, right now the war had taken a break so that the inhabitants could eat something. There were even some people tying colored armbands to tell which side they were on. Well, there was also a good time since the last time I played monster hunter, so I guess it¡¯s a good time to get playing since there was a hunt coming soon enough. Picking up my best weapon and favorite set, I started hunting a randomly picked monster that I chose and went on with it. Since the hunt usually takes some time, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Yuu¡¯s grandfather arrived before then. While thinking so, I stopped to think for a moment. Do I even know how he looks like? I did see him in-game, but besides that I don¡¯t have any confirmation whether that was his actual looks or not I turned to Yuu to make the question, but once my eyes landed on her, I noticed she was staring at the console in my hands curiously while having one of her hands inside the purse she brought from home. Thinking about it¡­ He is Yuu¡¯s grandfather, so he should probably appear wearing a kimono and with a katana tied to his waist. ¡­Yeah. I totally see that. ¡°What¡¯s it, Yuu?¡± I asked her, making her blink surprised before going back to her previous place. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Just that¡­ With shishou¡­¡± She said while gripping the thing in her purse. Blinking surprised, I thought. ¡°Oh¡­ Could it be¡­ You brought your Concentrt?¡± I asked her and she nodded. ¡°Heh¡­ Thinking about it, ever since you bought it, you didn¡¯t have the time to use it, right?¡± I asked and once again she nodded. ¡°¡­So, want some help in setting it up?¡± I asked. She hesitated for a moment while thinking before nodding once again. Approaching me slightly, she handed the console over to me and I opened it up. Luckily, it seemed that she had been charging it up overnight, so battery wasn¡¯t a problem. For the next ten minutes or so I kept teaching her how to set up her console and how to use it so that she could do it with ease, and contrary to her sheltered princess trait, she actually learned really quickly how to use it despite being a an electronic device. Afterwards, I quickly told her how to put on the game cartridge and set It up to play, and once the game started, I helped her create the character. Of course, I wasn¡¯t going to completely forget about the Oldman who was arriving, so I always kept an eye out to any old man wearing a kimono or wielding a katana in his waist. Since nothing of the kind popped out, I would once again take my attention back to the game. I started with the initial quests that helped her take a grasps of the game¡¯s most basics mechanics and then hunting a few small monsters. Thankfully, it seemed that Yuu became too immersed in the game to even remember her previous embarrassment. ¡°I did it shishou!¡± She said cheerfully after completing the quest and making her first upgrade to her starter weapon. ¡°You did it, didn¡¯t you?¡± I said while petting her before frowning slightly. ¡°Your grandfather really is taking his time, huh?¡± I said worried and saw as Yuu blinked surprised and raised her head, looking around in confusion, a pale and worried look in her face. Smiling awkwardly, I took one last look around. It had been around twenty or thirty minutes since we came here, and there was still no sign of the man appearing at all. Just as I sighed loudly in defeat, a new batch of people passed on through the main gate, and in the midst of them, I found what I was looking for. A man wearing a simple purple kimono with a stern look in his face came out. Although his hair was completely white, there was no doubt that he was Japanese from his samurai looks. Deciding that I had found the right man, I raised myself from the chair and prepared to walk towards him, but before I even took an step. ¡°Ah¡­ Ojii-sama!¡± Yuu said behind me and started walking. But¡­ Isn¡¯t your grandfather that one? Why are you looking the other way around? While I thought that, I saw as she turned to another group of people, and from there came a single old man. She approached the old man who widened his arms and put on a big wide smile while looking at her. After a brief hug, the two started to talk something in Japanese with each other that I simply no idea what it meant, and after some time, Yuu pointed towards me. The old man looked at me from head to toes before cracking a small grin and saying in English. ¡°So, you are her so famed second Shishou, huh?¡± He had a fair amount of accent, but it was still perfectly understandable. ¡°I¡¯m Setsuna Kotetsu, Yuu¡¯s first teacher.¡± He said proudly while extending me his arm. I blinked surprised before grabbing it. ¡°Ah... Richard Haddaway. Richard being my given name.¡± I said briefly while still shocked. ¡°We¡­ Huh¡­ met in game already, so don¡¯t mind calling me by my given name.¡± I said. ¡°Hoh¡­ So you remember me?¡± He asked me shocked and I nodded weakly. He laughed a bit before turning to Yuu. ¡°Still, I really missed my cute granddaughter back there. I never expected THAT Yuu to be wearing western clothes and playing with a portable console like that. Seriously, what the hell happened to my granddaughter?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ That¡­ Well¡­¡± I said while trying to choose my words. ¡°I chose her clothes for her today¡­ And she bought that console a couple of days ago¡­¡± ¡°I see¡­ I see¡­¡± He said while nodding before frowning and staring at me. ¡°So, kiddo¡­ Why the hell are you still so shocked¡­¡± ¡°Why? Well¡­ I¡¯m kind of shocked with the way you are dressed, that¡¯s all.¡± I said a bit worried. He frowned slightly at my question and looked down at himself. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± He asked me worried. Blinking surprised, I shook my head quickly, telling him that wasn¡¯t the case. How do I explain it¡­ The old man was wearing a stamped guns ¡®n roses t-shirt and had a microfiber jacket tied around his waist, probably he had used on his time in the airplane. Long baggy black cargo pants with many pockets on it. White sneakers covered his feet as a pair of sunglasses covered his eyes. His long white hair was tied in a ponytail behind his back not unlike how I did with gon¡¯s, and from around his neck I could see a couple of small headphones hanging. Normally, when one saw an old man wearing such outfit, you¡¯d think it would look out of place, but in this old man right in front of me had none of that. Heck, to be honest, these clothes actually fit him scarily well. ¡°I was kind of expecting you to be wearing a samurai outfit?¡± I said hesitatingly, and saw as his eye twitched for a moment. ¡°Hey¡­ Not saying that I don¡¯t wear that¡­¡± He said slightly annoyed. ¡°But who would be dense enough to wear a kimono in a visit to another country?¡± He asked me, and as he said that I blinked and smiled wryly. He soon did the same. ¡°Sorry¡­ I see where you are coming from¡­ And please, don¡¯t answer me that¡­ She¡¯s a special case¡­¡± He said with a wry smile. Meanwhile, Yuu looked at the two of us with a confused glance while tilting her head. Console still in her hand. Chapter 95 - Modern samurai??? Author¡¯s Corner: HELLO HELLO! AND LET THE WRITINGS BEING! LONG AUTHOR NOTE TODAY! ANYWAY, first off, today starts the 5 IO marathons chap, where I¡¯ll only write IO for the following days. It does NOT means that I will release a chapter a day, but that I¡¯ll only write IO until we reach chapter 100. As I said previously, I planned on a couple of bonuses for this that I¡¯ll tell about soon. ALSO, before we begin, for those who read any of my other two works, this is old news, for those who didn¡¯t, this is new. I started a Wordpress blog for myself where I plan on posting old/less important works on. This is so I don¡¯t clutter RRL too much with stories. The stories there have a much lower priority, and the may be dropped a lot easier than what would happen with my stories in here, so you have been warned. Otherwise, you can go and give it a look to see if anything you find is interesting. (and boost my views in the meantime xD)
MY NEW WORDPRESS!
ALSO(2), I¡¯m announcing the start of the next Q&A that will happen AFTER the 100th chapter. Same rules as previously: 2 questions per reader, any question can go to any character, no spoilers asked. I could go for either the same style as the previous one, or a more direct one, where there¡¯s question and answer only. This will depend on the amount of questions I¡¯ll have. ALSO(3), One last surprise on the end of this chapter, I¡¯ll make a page with all of them after the 100th chapter so we can have them all gathered, but for now, each chapter will have 4 of them. Have a good read! ---- ¡°Haah? Brazilian greeting?¡± Kotetsu asked as he munched on lord whi... On his sandwich. ¡°Exactly.¡± I said with a nod while I stole a bite from Yuu¡¯s sandwich and put it back on her plate. ¡°Here in Brazil, we of the middle class sit around a table like this one we are and share embarrassing stories about ourselves.¡± I said while trying to play the same trick I played on Yuu¡¯s father. ¡°Strange, I never heard about it¡­?¡± Kotetsu said with a frown while looking at us strangely. I simply nodded to him while putting up my most convincing serious look. ¡°It¡¯s not that impressive. It¡¯s more of a regional tradition nowadays anyway.¡± I sighed as if I was annoyed by that fact while putting Yuu¡¯s sandwich back into her plate, receiving a cute pout in response. Hearing my words, Kotetsu put on a proud smirk and stared down at me for a moment as if he understood where I was going with this. Turning towards the girl who sat on my side and stole a conflicted glance towards my sandwich, he asked. ¡°Yuu, is what he said true?¡± He asked, and she flinched for a moment before stealing a glance at me. For a moment I saw her hesitating, while all I could do was also look at her and silently plea so that she would follow me up on the joke. On a second though, it might not have been a good idea to steal her sandwich. While thinking so, I took a sip of the juice I had bought for myself. ¡°Hmm¡­ What Shi¡­¡± Yuu started before stopping suddenly. Turning to her confused and watching as she taking a deep breath and looking like she was trying to gather resolve. Raising an eyebrow to her, she finally put on a determined look and said. ¡°What Richa¡­ Rich¡­ Ri-kun said is true.¡± Her face blushed slightly as the words came out, but¡­ Oh god, I think I might have gone crazy. Or at the very least I reached a brand new tier of madness and now I¡¯m starting to hear things that simply makes no sense. Taking another sip of the juice in my hands and putting on my face a satisfied grin as I complimented myself on my keen observation ability, I noticed as Kotetsu widened his eyes in surprise before looking at me with a mix of surprise and apology. ¡°Well... I¡¯ll be damned¡­¡± He scratched his head awkwardly while thinking. ¡°If Yuu said so, then that must be iit.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± I nodded in agreement. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, why not let me start it then?¡± As I made my words, I quickly straightened my back up again and put on a serious face, while watching as Yuu¡¯s hands slowly drifted towards the sandwich in my plate as she tried, and cutely failed in being sneaky. ¡°As I already said, my name is Richard Hadaway, and the truth is that I have no idea how to actually tie my sneakers, and simply leave them as is for wearing.¡± ¡°¡­Are you serious? Twenty one years old and you don¡¯t know how to tie your shoes?¡± ¡°Not exactly tying my shoes, I can improvise that¡­¡± I said while frowning. ¡°I can¡¯t make those pretty lasso-y things that people do.¡± ¡°Eeeh? Shi¡­ R-Ri-kun, is that true?¡± Hmm? Is my condition that bad? ¡°Well, yeah.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°My parents tried teaching me but it never stuck as a kid, and although I could look at how to do it on the internet, I¡¯m too lazy for that.¡± ¡°Boy, I have no idea what to tell to you after hearing that.¡± Kotetsu said while shaking his head. ¡°Why not start your own story then?¡± I taunted him, making the modern-looking old man flinch for a moment before nodding. ¡°Ugh¡­ I¡¯m Setsuna Kotetsu. And my favorite ring-tone is the one I recorded of Yuu calling me when she was younger.¡± As he said that, he pulled out his cellphone and fiddled around with it for a moment before putting up the ringtone. ¡°Jii-chan! Jii-chan! Jii-chan! Miite!¡± I heard a young girl¡¯s voice echoing from the cellphone. It sounded both extremely cute and childish, while also sounding ridiculously familiar. With the corner of my eyes I saw as a redder than tomato Yuu was frozen while nibbling my sandwich in revenge. She slowly lowered the sandwich back to my plate and took a deep and long breath before looking up towards her grandfather. ¡°Ojii-sama. Baka!¡± She said shortly with a cold tone. However, the impact was a bit more than what I expected, because soon after Kotetsu took a long sigh and fell face-first into the table, sobbing sounds coming from him. Blinking surprised, I stared at him for a moment while trying to understand what happened for a moment, and when I leaned in closer, I heard him sobbing. With my rather lacking Japanese grammar, I could somehow make up a couple of words of what he was saying, and amongst them was the word happy¡­ I think. I might be sorely mistaken. While looking confused to him, I sent a glance towards Yuu, who had an embarrassed look while crossing her arms and looking away with puffed cheeks. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯m lost.¡± I gave up while throwing my hands to the air and leaning back on my chair while stealing Yuu¡¯s sandwich again. What? Hers is better than mine! ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s the first time my granddaughter got mad at me!¡± Kotetsu said with an emotional tone. ¡°I never thought I would live to see the day where it would happen!¡± As he said that, tears feel from his face as he made a ¡°guts¡± pose, putting his closed fists near his chest in commemoration. Laughing wryly at the situation, I looked away for a moment while remembering Hanbei¡¯s talk about Yuu being a too-perfect of a girl back at home. Well, they did throw a party when Yuu said she wanted to buy a video-game, so I guess I shouldn¡¯t be that surprised that something like this happens. Shaking my head, by the time I looked back to the old man in front of me, he had seemingly recovered, because he stared at me with a look of determination. "Okay Boy. If you are the one who made our little princess be like this, I couldn''t care less wether you have talent or not, but I¡¯m going to take you in as my student without a second thought!" He said excited, but... "Nah, I¡¯ll pass." I denied immediately. Kotetsu froze for a moment while he sported an approving look in his face. But after tilting his head in confusion for a moment as he tried to process my words. Taking another sip of my juice, I counted up to ten before an actual reaction occurred. "Eh?" He looked at me in sheer confusion. "Too tiresome, requires a lot of dedication and time, of which both I lack." I mean, yeah, I did spend most of my time recently playing IO nonstop, but that''s only because it was a long holiday. Tomorrow hell will come back for me. Of which I mean classes. "Besides, I don''t really have much intention of starting martial arts again." "Huh? Again?" Yuu asked confused. "Shi... R-Ri-kun did marti..." "STOOOP!" I said dramatically, making her and Kotetsu jump in surprise. "Okay, Yuu. Who the hell is Ri-kun?" I asked after hearing it for the third time today. And yes, I KNOW it''s me, but it''s still too strange to have her suddenly start calling me that instead of Shishou. Seriously, it''s feels to strange having her call me that! "A-ano..." Yuu said embarrassed while putting some distance and looking away. "Bu-but... You two are my Shishous..." When she said that, I hit my fist in my hand and nodded understanding. I finally understood! Basically, since he was the one who taught her martial arts, it made him her first shishou. Should she call either one of us by shishou, we might get confused, so she started calling me by my name! She''s such a considerate girl that she even deserves a petting! While I started rubbing her head gently, enjoying the silky feeling running between my fingers, I turned back to Kotetsu and said: "You see, when I was younger, I trained Judo. Which is similar to Jiu-jitsu if I¡¯m not wrong." I said while stopping to think for a moment, but deciding to not worry about it since Kotetsu probably knew more about it than me, I decided to go on. "Anyway, I practiced it for some time until I ended up dropping." I shrugged. "Ooh, is that so?" He asked surprised while looking at me from head to toes. "What belt did you achieve while practicing it?" "Second belt!" I said proudly. "THATS BARELY ANYTHING!" He made one of the famous tsukkomy. "It was something for my brat years old self." A pain, I mean. Having to wake up earlier just to go practice was something I considered a pain. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t really have much of a need to start another martial arts anyway.¡± ¡°Boy! Do you have any idea how many people come to me asking to learn the Setsuna Style of long weapons?¡± Kotetsu asked me, but I simply shrugged. For a moment he stared at me at loss before shaking his head and sighing. ¡°Oh, right. You have no idea how famous it is back in the japan.¡± He said as if he understood something. ¡°Look boy, the number of trainees in the whole japan who uses the Setsuna style is no more than ten, but I have thousands of appli¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care.¡± I said briefly while biting Yuu¡¯s sandwich¡­ Or was it mine now that she took my old one? Did we just exchange sandwich while I wasn¡¯t watching? ¡°I don¡¯t really have much motivation to learn how to wield a sword like that.¡± ¡°But¡­ Then¡­¡± He stopped to think for a moment before putting up a triumphant smile. ¡°If that was the case, then what about you asking for my granddaughter to teach you how to use that ridiculous sword? In the game?¡± He asked with a very good point, being honest. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll give you that point.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Learning would help me in using that sword better¡­¡± As I said that it was my turn to smile to him. ¡°But¡­ I only use it to hunt large monsters. Would your martial arts help me then?¡± For a moment Kotetsu froze as he stopped to think about it. Putting on a serious expression, he seemed to be considering my words and, slowly, he started frowning before finally shaking his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t get the chance to test it against monsters before.¡± But you did against humans, didn¡¯t you? While holding back my snarky comment, he looked at me with fire in his eyes. ¡°Also, your time problem would be solved if we did it in the game, correct?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± I looked away seeing how I had no way to counter that argument, and nodding proudly, Kotetsu said. ¡°It¡¯s a shame I won¡¯t be able to drill it in your real body, but I guess training in there does have its advantages of putting on the reflexes on you.¡± As he said that he nodded. ¡°Yooosh! We will start your training today!¡± He said as fire burned in his eyes. Meanwhile Yuu and I simply kept sipping our respective juices while looking at the excited grandfather. To be honest, I didn¡¯t quite expect him to be the hot-blooded type, but somehow it did fit him and his modern-looking imagery. What? Why I¡¯m so calm even though I got dragged into something I didn¡¯t want? It¡¯s simple. I never told him where I was, and even if Yuu end up telling him, by the time he got the money to reach us, we would have already taken the ship away from the city. Even considering the time it took me to deal with the spider in the cave, he still wouldn¡¯t reach us in time. As you can see, I¡¯m not exactly dumb when it comes to negotiations. Although I do have this nagging feeling that I might have started a brand new extreme sports. One where you must trick the most of a martial artist and see how much you can manage before he gets angry. While having my silly thoughts, I glanced at Yuu, seeing how she looked down. And by that, I meant she looked downwards with a wry look in her face, not that she looked depressed or anything like that. It seems like she somehow got the idea of what I had in mind. It seems like I¡¯m really starting to rub off on her. ¡°Gon.¡± I heard Cyg calling me through eh headphone. As I was slightly surprised, she quickly went on to say what she wanted. ¡°Argento and Yami finished their negotiations. Want to hear the results?¡± ¡°¡­No, I¡¯ll be home in just a moment.¡± I said while turning back to the old man. ¡°Well, looks like time is up for our breakfast.¡± He looked at me for a moment before nodding, in his eyes I could already see that he was planning on what he would do once we met. ¡°So¡­ I did hear about it already, but let me confirm. You plan on staying at my home, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Oh? Yes, yes. Easier to live in with the disciple after all!¡± he said with a proud smile. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Oooh boy. He¡¯s so going to regret choosing my house tomorrow morning. While thinking so and smiling to him, I stood up while munching the remaining of Yuu¡¯s sandwich and turning over the glass of juice. Yuu was a bit more of a slower eater, so she took the sandwich with her while we walked away. It was mildly un-ladylike, but somehow I couldn¡¯t bring myself to dislike that. She blushed once she noticed that I was looking at her. Kotetsu grabbed his travel bag and put it over his shoulder with scary ease seeing how big it was, but after a brief nod we made our way to the exit. Calling up a cab, we dumped the bag in the car¡¯s trunk and got in the car. But for some reason Yuu decided to stay away from me, leaving Kotetsu between us. I let out a long sigh while leaning against the cars window depressed. Just when I thought about how she was starting to calm down¡­ I guess that suddenly calling me by my first name might have been a bit too much. While sighing in my mind, a question came to me, so I turned towards Kotetsu and asked. ¡°So¡­ Why exactly did Yuu turn out like that?¡± I asked the question that I had in my mind from the moment I found out Yuu was an actual sheltered princess of a kind. ¡°Oh¡­ Well¡­ You see¡­¡± Kotetsu started stammering as his eyes moved away. The excited look he had previously nowhere to be found. Approaching me, he whispered. ¡°When Yuu was born, she got sick really easily, so my idiotic son kept on saying for her to train to be the heiress of the company or something like that, and for that she would need to be a good girl and grow up as a respectful lady. That way there wouldn¡¯t be a need for Yuu to over-exert herself¡­¡± Yuu? Sickly? Are you kidding me? While stealing a glance towards the girl who, making me VERY proud, took out her portable console and was fiddling around with the game. ¡°I¡¯m having a hard time believing that¡­¡± I said my honest feelings, making Kotetsu nod. ¡°Yeah. Not even one year later and the little weak princess was nowhere to be found.¡± Kotetsu said with a wry smile. ¡°But, my son¡¯s idiotic teachings ended up sticking to her, and she sincerely thought that she should grow up to be a respectable girl.¡± He stole a glance at Yuu, looking surprised before turning back. ¡°Well, at the start it was really nice, because she was really dedicated and polite¡­ But¡­¡± ¡°It overshot?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ She went a bit too much in the path of being a good girl.¡± Kotetsu agreed with a wry smile. ¡°By the time we noticed it, she was already someone who would never put herself in front of anything else¡­ She was always studying, either for school, martial arts or how to be a proper girl. It was to the point that she didn¡¯t even leave the house except for school!¡± I see¡­ When I think about it, Yuu is a bit too ease to be led on by other people, and a bit too dedicated to it, so once she started on her path to becoming a good girl in her early ears, she ended up sticking to it even when there wasn¡¯t a need anymore. Well, not that I can talk much about not leaving the house except for school, though. ¡°Then, she met Mary?¡± I asked and the old man nodded. ¡°Yup. She met that little girl.¡± He agreed while putting on a wry smile. ¡°From there she started to leave the house on her free time and sometimes even ask us about buying a thing or two for her. Though usually they were very simple things like books.¡± He said with a nostalgic tone. ¡°Then, one day she came and asked us to buy a console! Can you believe how shocking that was?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m starting to see it.¡± I said with a deep nod. ¡°That must have been shocking at the very least¡± ¡°Shocking?¡± He asked before laughing loudly. ¡°That¡¯s not even the beginning. She was literally the only one who never once played a game! She barely knew how to use a computer for anything other than checking the news or reading emails!¡± ¡°Wow, even you?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°Not ¡®even¡¯ me. I¡¯m the best, boy!¡± He said proudly while picking up his backpack and pulling out a portable console. ¡°Shooters, racing, sports, strategy, dating sims! I know them all!¡± He said with a proud smirk. I simply stared blankly at him for a couple of seconds before sighing and asking. ¡°Are you SURE you are an old man? I¡¯m starting to have my doubts.¡± ¡°What? Just because my hair is grey I can¡¯t have some fun?¡± ¡°I never said anything.¡± I said while rolling my eyes away and putting up a wry smile before stopping to think for a moment. When we met back in the game, I remember him talking about things like weight of the blade and practical shapes and whatnots, something that was rather un-gamer like. Frowning while thinking about it, I looked back to the old man who was helping Yuu register herself as his friend in the console. Debating whether I should ask about it or not, I finally sighed and made the question anyway. Hearing me, he gave a brief dry laugh before saying. ¡°Yeah, I somehow got really carried away with that game, and sometimes I would forget it¡¯s not supposed to be the real world.¡± He explained to me. ¡°So when you showed me that sword earlier, I kind of forgot to check the stats.¡± ¡°What, the newbie can¡¯t even differentiate between reality and virtual reality?¡± I asked with a teasing tone. Not that I had the right to say anything to be honest, I more often than not would do something similar. ¡°Oooh¡­ You dare call ME a newbie, you brat?¡± He asked with a surprisingly competitive tone. ¡°I¡¯ve been playing games before you were even born, you know?¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it about time for the old generation to leave and open space for the new ones, grandpa?¡± I said in the same tone. As we both crossed our gazes like that, Yuu looked at us with a confused glance, but soon went back to enjoy herself with the game. She really gets carried away with what she does easily, doesn¡¯t she? After that, it didn¡¯t really take long for us to reach our apartment, so taking Kotetsu¡¯s travel bags, we quickly came in to the apartment, greeting the gatekeeper before we took the elevator to our floor. Reaching the door of my apartment, before I even managed to touch the lock and open it, someone opened it and made way for us to come in. It was none other than Maya. ¡°Welcome home, master. What would you like? A dinner? A bath? Or¡­¡± Well, how do I say it¡­ For some reason Maya had put a full-blown maid outfit. Apron and frilly clothes too, and put on a shy expression while doing that clich¨¦ line. Not that I wasn¡¯t shocked, but I decided that getting caught up in her act would somehow mean that it was my loss, so before she could even finish her words, I quickly reacted. ¡°Idiot maid. It¡¯s not even lunch time yet, and you come talking about dinner?¡± I said while taking out my jacket and throwing it at her in a way that would end up falling on her head. ¡°Go wash my jacket while I show my new guest around.¡± As I said that, I walked inside, ignoring the frozen maid who stood still in the doorway. Kotetsu laughed loudly at seeing the situation while Yuu seemed to hesitate for a moment before walking in. Walking towards the living room, I saw as Mary sat on the couch while surfing around the channels on the TV. I made her a brief greeting while walking in, and she replied with a quick nod. ¡°Oh, Mary-chan!¡± Kotetsu said with a satisfied voice. ¡°Hello Master!¡± Mary replied with a cheerful tone. WAIT A DAMNED SECOND! Doing a full 180 degres spin, I turned back and looked towards Mary and then to Kotetsu. ¡°¡­Master?¡± ¡°Oh? Didn¡¯t you know?¡± Kotetsu asked me surprised. ¡°Mary is one of my disciples at the dojo!¡± He said satisfied. I turned towards Mary with a shocked face, but she simply shrugged. ¡°I just began a couple of months ago. Not really worth mentioning.¡± She said embarrassed. As my jacket hit my face dead on, thrown by an annoyed maid staring daggers at me, I simply sighed and shook my head. ¡°You guys make it REALLY difficult to forget that stereotype that all Japaneses practice martial arts, you know?¡± I said tired. Everyone except Maya smiled wryly at those words. ---- (Surprise?) Author¡¯s corner: Well, let me warn you guys that this below is what I plan on doing for all the next chapters. 4 characters at a time. Write below the ones you want for the next chapter! ATTENTION, the numbers are arbitrary and don¡¯t have a direct relation to their In-game stats. They are more meant to show their way of fighting.
Name:Gondorrer Gravelheart (Wargon)Race&Class:Golem Skirmisher
Signature MovesWeapon Cycle/ Roll/ Flash-bombs/ Trickster''s tongue
Attack:63Defense:84
Magic:20 (0 in battle)M. Defense:75
Speed:70Technique:50(83 against beasts)
Sanity:???(Highly fluctuating values. Unmeasurable)Resistance to Fluffyness:- 100
A green eyed Golem who likes to hunt large boss monsters for fun. Said to have a few screws lose, but can be surprisingly smart at times. Have a petting twitch towards fluffy things
"I would call him an idiot, but he''s too smart to be called that. I would call him smart, but he''s too much of an idiot for that." - Red Hurricane
This one is an example. More below so it don¡¯t get too long. Spoiler :
Name:Yukihime Tatenaka (Yuu)Race&Class:Kitsune Sorceress
Signature MovesFrostfire spear/Frost emission: Weaponize/ Puppy eyes
Attack:99Defense:79
Magic:99M. Defense:83
Speed:99Technique:100
Sanity:90 (20 if drunk)Innocence99.9999
Black kitsune magician who''s surprisingly innocent and naive. Despite being a mage, she truly shines in the frontlines with her frost spears. She follows Wargon around since he is her teacher
"The best spot to pet her is right behind the ears. Its extrea fluffy there, and she also really seems to like it!" - Wargon
Name:WallaceRace&Class:Human Dragon General
Signature MovesWall breaking death flicker/ Golem throw
Attack:100+Defense:79
Magic:???M. Defense:87
Speed:100Technique:90
Sanity:83Power level:OVER 9000! (Machine breaking noises)
Perfectly normal old man who lived in one of the starters village. Nothing special about him besides being ridiculously overpowered and having a tendency to flicker people into walls.
"We were just like lovebirds when we first met! I didn''t even need to use chloroform!!" -Sol
Name:Hanbei Tatenaka(Han-chan)Race&Class:(cat) Beastgirl Windseeker
Signature MovesAir slash/????/Yuu nudge/Background blend
Attack:55Defense:60
Magic:73M. Defense:76
Speed:87Technique:84
Sanity:85Strike-zone:30-40
Silver haired catgirl who have a striking resemblance to the anime character. Although she tends to blend with the background a bit too easily, she uses these chances to nudge her friend into taking the advance. Seems to hide a few secrets?
"I''m negotiating with the author for a bit more of screen-time. Yuu tends to steal it too easily!" -Han-chan
Chapter 96 - Civil war Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER CHAPTER! ANYWAY, this is the first time in a good time that I got 2 IO chapters in a successive release like this! But, this isn¡¯t the matter of importance, so let me rewrite it here with pretty colorful letters. I¡¯m announcing the start of the next Q&A that will happen AFTER the 100th chapter. Same rules as previously: 2 questions per reader, any question can go to any character, no spoilers asked. I could go for either the same style as the previous one, or a more direct one, where there¡¯s question and answer only. This will depend on the amount of questions I¡¯ll have. ANYWAY(2), THE SAME GOES FOR THE CHARACTER BOSSES AT THE END! TELL ME THE ONES YOU WANT TO SEE AND I¡¯LL DO IT! ANYWAY(3), lastly, for whoever followed me on my wordpress account. Thank you! I won¡¯t promise fast updates, but I¡¯ll try to keep things interesting up there. If there¡¯s anything you want to ask me about the fics, feel free to ask either here or there. Have a good read! ------ For someone who was getting all excited about getting a new disciple and starting to teach me, Kotetsu surely fell asleep really easily. It seems like he wasn¡¯t used to traveling around too much, so the jet-lag hit him hard, kind of like how it did with Yuu back when she first arrived. Not being a bad host, I made sure to at very least give him a decent place to sleep. Since my apartment was one of the smaller ones, I didn¡¯t have a guest room, so I simply took a reserve mattress I had and prepared it on the ground of my room. I could have laid it on the living room, but since that¡¯s the place where people tend to walk past the most, I decided that it wouldn¡¯t be good for him to lay there. I did try to dig in a bit more on the whole: Mari is a martial artist thingy, but I didn¡¯t get any information besides the fact that she¡¯s surprisingly good at it. Deciding to make a deeper research later on, I didn¡¯t dig much deeper into the matter. Now that I thought about it, she did use some kind of Iai technique when fighting¡­ Could it be that it was always obvious and it¡¯s just me who tend to be oblivious to things like that? Nah. Certainly not. Afterwards I asked the reason why Mari and Maya were waiting in my room, it seemed like they had finished their negotiations, so Maya gave the idea of waiting in my room so that they could surprise us with her act. She even picked the lock from my door just for that sole reason alone. ¡°¡­Why the hell would you know how to pick locks?¡± I asked suspiciously. ¡°It¡¯s needed for a maid¡¯s job.¡± She replied with a glint of pride in her eyes. I stared at her for a few seconds before finally nodding and saying. ¡°Ah, you use that to peep on Mari when she¡¯s taking a bath!¡± ¡°Also so I can sneak into her room at night.¡± She confirmed with a nod. I sincerely didn¡¯t know what was worse. The fact that I somehow managed to guess it spot on, or the fact that she admitted to doing other things besides that. Sighing loudly, I turned towards Mari who was still sitting around in my living room. ¡°Kind of anti-climatic that he just went and passed off like that.¡± I said with a sigh while taking the seat besides her. ¡°Also, channel thirty four. Best channel ever.¡± ¡°Thirty four?¡± She asked while changing the channel and seeing a gaming controller appear on the bottom-right corner ¡°Oh, I know this one.¡± She mentioned cheerfully. ¡°And yes. Teacher always was one to fall asleep quickly.¡± ¡°Was he? Didn¡¯t look like that to me. More like: Yaarr! We train until morning, and once morning comes, we train until night!¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°And yeah. That channel is a gaming focused one. Best one ever.¡± ¡°Grandfather believes that a good sleep leads to a good body, so he always preached that a good martial artist should have good nights of sleep.¡± Yuu said as she sat besides Mari, on the other side of the couch. ¡°¡­That somehow makes sense.¡± I said with a wry smile. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Mari said while putting a similar smile. ¡°Once he got really excited about preaching of how a martial artist should be as fast to sleep as he was to wake up and decided to show us¡­¡± ¡°He fell asleep in ten seconds of laying on the ground.¡± Maya added with an voice full of surprise and admiration. I was a bit confused whether it was sincere or sarcasm. ¡°Goddamit. I take half an hour of laying still to be able to truly fall asleep. Can¡¯t he teach me how to do that?¡± I asked annoyed while leaning back on the couch. Mari and Yuu gave a brief giggle at my words while Maya sat on a chair nearby. ¡°I could try and search for a few methods to help you sleep, you know master?¡± I heard a voice coming from my pocket. Blinking surprised, I quickly pulled out my cellphone and saw Crys looking slightly sullen in the screen. ¡°So¡­ You felt left lonely since we didn¡¯t add you to the conversation?¡± I asked and saw as she looked away pouting. ¡°If you are all just going to sit around and watch TV, you could at least do it within the D-lute, you know?¡± She said in a sad tone. Yeah, she¡¯s totally feeling left out. But I didn¡¯t know I could watch TV in there¡­ What about the time distortion thingamajig? ¡°Actually, why are you watching TV again?¡± ¡°Good question¡­¡± I said with a nod while turning to Mary. ¡°Why are we watching TV?¡± ¡°Ermm¡­ Because I was bored of waiting for you?¡± She replied directly. ¡°Aah¡­ I see¡­¡± I nodded understanding. ¡°Then¡­ What are we waiting before we get back on the game again?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t know?¡± She shrugged. ¡°It were you guys here who sat down while I was surfing the channels.¡± I see¡­ Basically it¡¯s one of those situations where you are following someone, and after noticing that you are pretty much walking in circles, you ask the person and he says that he is following you. Smiling wryly, I prepared to raise myself from the couch and go to the game, but right before I stood up completely, the TV said something that caught my attention. ¡°So, now we¡¯ll pass the baton to Oerthus Foulhorn, the one responsible for news about the new hit-game Insania Online.¡± ¡­ Oh? Yeah, now that I think about it, a large game like Insania would probably have some kind of news about it going on. Since I¡¯ve spent most of my time in-game, I never really looked around for it, but being the kind of game it is, it would make sense that something like having a news-source like this one would exist. ¡°What is it, Lecherous master?¡± Maya asked as she saw me freeze. ¡°Oh? Didn¡¯t you guys hear?¡± I asked while turning to the TV, only to notice that show was being dubbed to Portuguese in real time. Clicking my tongue, I quickly stole the control from Mary and changed the settings. ¡°They are going to talk about IO right now.¡± I sat back down while watching as the TV started sounding in English. ¡°Oh?¡± Mary said while looking surprised. Maya simply nodded while Yuu looked confused. ¡°Why would they talk about what¡¯s happening inside the game?¡± ¡°Well, my disciple.¡± I said putting on my teacher tone. Cygnasdamnit! How long has it been since I did this? ¡°You see, Insania is a unique game compared to others due to the sheer size of it. As well as the fact that the NPCs dictate the direction that politic takes just as much as us players do. So it isn¡¯t strange for them to use a news based method to cover everything that happens in there, since many unforeseen things may happen.¡± I made sure to keep my voice graver than usual to give weight to it. While the others all put on wry expressions, Yuu nodded with acknowledgement. I really felt tempted to go and pet her, but the distance and the screen interrupted me. My attention was caught by the television when it faded to another type of image, one where three people stood behind a long mahogany-looking table inside a rustic-looking building. Then, there was the fact that the three people were a savage looking half-elf half-demon man with long sickly-green hair, a red tattooed golem girl who had her hair-mass tied in a pair of pony-tails and her skin being a marble white and a Centaur with black fur wearing full plate armor. While looking at it in confusion for a moment, I finally understood that it was an image from within the game. Clearing his throat, the half-elf started. ¡°Thanks Tony. Starting today with our important news, we have some things to talk about the capital of steam, Eldor.¡± He said in a professional tone that didn¡¯t seem to fit his savage looking image. ¡°First and foremost, we received news that the owner of one of Eldor¡¯s most famous player shops just left on a long voyage, taking with him one of his clerks.¡± As he said that, an image of Argento, the gnome, popped up on the air behind him together with Lily. ¡°As you can see here, when this photo was taken they were about to board the ¡®Wailing songstress¡¯, a ship known for making travels westwards, in the direction of the borders of Eldor.¡± The elf took a moment to breath in. ¡°It¡¯s still unknown what would bring him to leave the city, but we do know that he was followed by at least 4 bodyguards at the time.¡± I sighed in relief once I noticed that they had no plan on actually showing the rest of us in the image or the news. Laying back on the couch, I watched as they went on with the news. One talking about how there was a sudden drop in items that I crafted in the market and that there were many people claiming to be me roaming the streets. I found this rather amusing. There was also a talk about rumors of Green-eyes appearing near a village, where he tamed a mighty dragon. I paled at the idea remembering on how powerful Rathian was. There was also the image of an odd Undead-dwarf paladin telling how they¡¯ve been tracking said Green-eyes the brutal. ¡°Hey, Cyg.¡± Mary asked suddenly. ¡°How can they talk like that in real time with the different speed settings?¡± ¡°Simple.¡± Crys replied proudly. ¡°That¡¯s a setting made especially for the press, where they can convert a player-owned room to the normal time speed for a brief moment.¡± She explained, and Mary nodded. ¡°Then, what happen to NPCs that waltz into the room?¡± I asked curious and saw as she nodded proudly. ¡°If the NPCs are present when the room is converted, they will receive a notification warning what will happen. If they appear after the room is set, the room is immediately converted back to the original in-game speed.¡± As she said that she quickly put on a proud look as if she was answering a question we didn¡¯t even make. ¡°For the room to be converted, it must be completely enclosed. This means that windows and doors must be shut and nothing connected to the outside world. Otherwise, weird things would happen.¡± Not asking what weird things are. I¡¯m just going to nod and accept the fact that weird things happens. While thinking so, I watched as the vid made one last talk about Eldor as they deepened the brief mentions they had. The most amusing one was that of a Panda-beastman claiming that he was the famous crafter Wargon and was saying that he stopped crafting because no one was paying him enough or something. Funny part was that there were at least 3 of those people talking the same thing in the same block. I couldn¡¯t help but find it really amusing what was happening, and really felt like meeting one of those guys to see how I could fool around with them. After 20 or so minutes talking about Eldor, they changed to another of the capitals. One that stood above a massive looking bridge. Losing interest since there wasn¡¯t anything more about things I actually knew, I decided that I would go and log in already. The girls decided to lay around a bit more, as they all had been enthralled by the news going around about the regular magic battles that occurred just outside the capital. Jumping over the snoring grandfather laying on the ground of my bedroom, I quickly made my way to my bed and laid there, putting on the visor above my head and logging in. Finding myself on the usual white room, already in the golem body, I found Crys wearing her maid outfit awaiting for me up ahead. It didn¡¯t take me too much of a long look to notice how she was looking slightly sullen, despite trying to not show it. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked while approaching her. She raised her eyes towards me for a moment before looking down again. ¡°Nothing at all, master. It¡¯s all your imagination.¡± She said with a slightly sullen voice. ¡°Anyhow, we should get going since you probably desire to know the results of the negotiations, correct?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I replied wryly to her cold tone. ¡°You know¡­ if you are feeling lonely you could just call us.¡± I said as the pillar of light enveloped us, leaving me in the middle of the streets where now covered almost everything. It seemed to be the beginning of the night at the moment. I turned towards Crys, who was now in her smaller body. She still had a slightly annoyed look, but she still floated near me. Leaving the sullen cute crystal elemental floating alone for now, I turned back to the city, seeing an amazing sight before me, as half the streets were blocked by barricades and snow covered all the nearby walls. Some small flakes of snow kept falling as if to make the scene even more like a war-scene. There were some people roaming around crouched, as if trying to avoid being caught off-guard. Looking around for a moment, I quickly managed to get sight of a certain cat, standing at the top of a tower while cackling loudly as if he was a villain from an anime. Besides him were both Rio, who was napping on the roof, and a certain white-haired boy, who also had the same evil look in his eyes. Somehow, Lieutenant managed to enlist that Lucas guy into his team, it seems. I sighed loudly while shaking my head and trying to decide whether to solve that problem now or to leave it for later. My response came quickly, once one of the guys walking around the streets saw me and pulled me to cover. ¡°What are you doing in open space? The general will see you!¡± A dwarf woman told me while making a motion for me to stay quiet. ¡°General?¡± I asked confused before looking towards the direction where the cat was earlier. ¡°Oh, you mean Lieutenant?¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s the general!¡± She said while motioning for me to stay quiet. ¡°Come this way before his patrols come here! The Tailed savior will help us.¡± Tailed savior? Aura? While I quietly and confusedly followed the woman around the streets, I saw as she gripped the snow-ball in her hands and made sure to not make any sound while walking around. ¡°Ever since the General enlisted the white demon, our savior has been having trouble keeping up with his offenses! He already have all the city under his control!¡± She said quietly, making me nod in an understanding manner as it dawned on me what it meant. ¡°I see¡­ So Lieutenant managed to sweep all the city under his play, huh?¡± I asked with a wry tone. ¡°Huh?¡± The dwarf asked before stopping and looking ahead. A patrol of five dwarves wearing snow-armor waltzed the street ahead of us. In their hands large snow balls as they marched in a perfect manner down the streets. The moment their eyes landed on us, they lifted their arms in unison and started to throw the snow-balls at us ins a rhythmic manner. Under the sudden attack, the woman that had been pulling me quickly took cover and hid behind a dump. I looked at the scene a bit stunned, seeing as the snow-balls missed me by a hairsbreadth. Then, something clicked inside me. ¡°So¡­ He¡¯s been having his fun all this time, haven¡¯t he?¡± I asked as I felt a certain scarily ferocious feeling swelling within my chest. ¡°I see¡­ I see¡­¡± ¡°Huh? Master¡­?¡± I heard Crys asking me from my side. ¡°You¡­ Are kind of scary¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Crys.¡± I said while giving her a gentle smile and petting her head. She closed her eyes in pleasure for a moment before letting out a satisfied sigh. ¡°It¡¯s just that from now on there¡¯s a new player in the game.¡± As I said that, I turned to the five patrols in front of me with a ferocious smile. ¡°It¡¯s time to play in the snow!¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡­ ¡°Yo Aura!¡± I said to the three tailed fox that laid on top of the table with an angry look in her eyes. The other people in the inn all stared at me in shock and confusion as I entered while being followed closely by Crys and the dwarf. ¡°C-Captain Whiteale!¡± The various people gathered inside the inn asked surprised when they saw the woman, then turned towards me. ¡°And¡­ Who are you?¡± ¡°A monster¡­ He¡¯s a monster¡­¡± Baurna Whiteale said with a trembling voice as she walked in, rubbing her arms off to scare away the cold. ¡°Three patrols¡­ Just like that¡­ Gone¡­ Alone¡­¡± She said scared as I walked in towards Aura. Ignoring the worried glances the others in the Inn gave me, I quickly rested my hand on the fox¡¯s forehead and gently rubbed it. She closed her eyes in pleasure before looking away with an embarrassed look. Sitting down on the table besides her, she quickly gave in and rested her head on my legs while letting me pet her. Crys was the same as she sat to my side and waited for my hand. I had been in a really good mood all this time since I finally got to play around a bit in the snow, so I felt like it wouldn¡¯t be bad to give her some satisfaction too. While the others looked towards Baurna as she told them the story of how I buried a whole squadron with a well placed snowball to the snow that was on the roof of a building nearby. After that there were the two patrols we found on the way back to the ¡°rebels¡± base, and I made sure to pick off all the members without being found out. I do enjoy playing the occasional stealth game, you know? ¡°You¡­ You did that alone?¡± A grey haired dwarf asked me in shock, but I nodded proudly. ¡°Yeah, and I plan on taking down Lieutenant next.¡± I said with a comforting smile to the people gathered around. Gasps of admiration came from all of them as they looked at me in awe, but soon they shook their head. ¡°What will you do about the white demon?¡± ¡°Not even the tailed savior managed to defeat him!¡± ¡°He¡¯s undefeatable with that snow magic of his!¡± They said fearfully, but I simply smiled while shaking my head. I had a plan for that, and all that I needed was to confront that white haired demon of theirs. Once I told them about my plan, they all stared at me wide eyed. It didn¡¯t take longer for us to get along with the plan. The hundred or so members of the ¡°rebels¡± left the inn they had been using as a hideout and starting wreaking havoc on the streets. Destroying the barricades and attacking the patrols relentlessly. Doing so, it didn¡¯t take long for them to get the attention of the other patrols, and soon, Lieutenant and Lucas made their move. Leaving the tower where they stood, they flew towards street level and started to bombard the rebels down there. Just as I foresaw. You really got carried away with victory, Lieutenant. Where are your tactics now? As I smiled fearlessly, I slowly walked away from my cover behind the roof of a building, being followed by Aura who walked behind me with a fierce look. As soon as we stood on the edge of the roof, Lieutenant saw me. Widening his eyes in shock and horror at the snowball I was playfully throwing up and down in my hands. Before he could even react, the ball left my hand with a scary speed, heading straight up to the cat¡¯s head. But the snowball was stopped mid-air as Lucas jumped up and grabbed it with his hands. ¡°I¡¯m not letting you take the General, Gondorrer!¡± He told me with a fierce look in his eyes. ¡°I never intended on doing it, White demon.¡± I replied with a taunting smile. ¡°Oooh. You think you can stop ME? Did you forget who was it that destroyed a whole ship back at the pirates incident?¡± He asked me in a daring tone. ¡°What? You really thought I came here without a plan?¡± I said while making another snowball and showing it to him. ¡°I¡¯m not a warrior. I¡¯m a hunter. I always search for my opponents¡¯ weakness before going in seriously! I don¡¯t care whether it¡¯s a cheap-shot or not. As long as its effective, I shall be using your weakness¡± I said to him with a ferocious smile. ¡°Oh? And mine would be?¡± He asked me with a slight hesitation in his voice. ¡°Come and see!¡± I said. He immediately took on my words, jumping from the ground and standing on the roof right in front of me in an instant. Luckily, I had heard about him from the rebels, so it didn¡¯t get me off-guard. Taking a step back, I opened way so that Aura could raise the snow in front of me into a tall wall, obstructing him. ¡°USELESS!¡± He shouted as his hand tore through the wall and he stepped through. But I already expected that. The moment he passed through the wall, I threw my snowball at him. He twisted out of the way before making a motion with his hand. Feeling the snow below me tremble, I quickly used my roll skill to the side and saw as a snow geyser appeared from there. Digging my hand into the snow, I once again made a hasty snowball, throwing it towards him with all my strength. However, the snow geyser contorted itself as if it was a snake and blocked the ball before twisting its way towards me, the edge taking on the shape of a huge viper. ¡°FOOL! ANIMALS ARE MY SPECIALTY!¡± I said as I jumped back and threw one of my stun knifes on the snake¡¯s open mouth. The knife exploded, and the shock ran through the whole snake, destroying it as it fell to the ground lifelessly. Lucas stared at his magic in surprise for a moment before noticing Aura with the corner of his eyes, cursing as he understood what I was doing. I smiled victoriously as Aura bombarded him with a thousand or more snow-balls the size of my fist. He quickly erected a snow wall to block them, but I once again brought it down with a stun knife. Caught with no other way but falling back, Lucas jumped out of the roof where we were and fell to the ground below where we couldn¡¯t see him. It still wasn¡¯t over. I knew it. Not even ten seconds later, a huge storm raised itself from the ground below as snow and ice stormed in a circle around the white-haired human. A thick snow pillar sustained him as four gigantic snow serpents surrounded the building. Aura looked at the serpents in worry, but I simply looked at Lucas who had a victorious smile in his face. ¡°Your snow-balls will never pass my barrier, and my snakes are more than enough for you now!¡± He said proudly. ¡°WHERE IS MY WEAKNESS NOW? GONDORRER?¡± He cackled madly as he said that, the serpents contorting themselves while preparing for the attack. ¡°Who said I used your weakness yet?¡± I asked back to him, and saw as he froze for a moment with a confused look. ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°OI! LUCAS! IS THAT WHAT I HEARD ABOUT YOU COURTING OTHER GIRLS JUST BECAUSE YOU SIDED WITH THE GENERAL TRUE?¡± I shouted loud enough so that everyone in the streets could also hear us. For a moment, everyone stopped, but in the end Lucas gave a brief smug laugh. ¡°And that¡¯s how you were going to stop me?¡± He asked. ¡°Huh?¡± I asked back at him confused. ¡°Who said I was going to stop you?¡± He froze at my words, trying to understand what I meant. ¡°All I said was that I was going to use your weakness!¡± I pointed behind him and as he turned his head back as if he was a badly oiled machine, I finished. ¡°The ones who would stop you are they!¡± ¡°¡°LU-CAS!¡±¡± The vampire and the demoness shouted as their eyes burned two pairs of holes through his chest. ¡°¡°EXPLAIN YOURSELF!¡±¡± They said as they slowly made their way towards him from street level. The white haired boy became flustered and quickly dropped his magic, falling back to ground level before taking a step back. ¡°Wait! That¡¯s a lie! It¡¯s not true in any means!¡± He said while shaking his head nervously. The girls didn¡¯t buy it, and it didn¡¯t take much longer for the two of them to grab his arms and drag him away. As the soldiers of the tyrant all stared at him in shock and confusion, the Rebels received a boost to their morale as they shouted in cheers at the defeat of the strongest enemy. I raised my shout in victory with them as Aura also let out a loud howl. Then, something snowy and cold hit the back of my head. I fell to the ground due to the sudden impact, and turning my head back to where the snowball came from, I saw as a cat mounted on a wyvern flied above me. The cat had a tense smile in his face for a moment before he started meowing in victory. ¡°NYAA-NANANANA! NYAA-NANANANA¡± He laughed at me as he saw my defeated face into the ground. I looked towards him and gave a satisfied smile. Slowly raising my hand to the air and giving a thumbs up. ¡°I knew¡­ I could¡­ Count on you¡­¡± I said lowly. ¡°I leave¡­ The rest¡­ To you¡­¡± The cat¡¯s laugh froze as he heard my words. But by the time he understood what was happening, it was already too late. ¡°It is the maid¡¯s duty to avenge her master¡¯s defeat.¡± Crys said from above Lieutenant and Rio as she raised the snowball she held in her small hands. A heave tone to her words. Then she threw it. As I closed my eyes in satisfied expression, I heard the sound of a small furry body hitting the snow besides me head on. And that, was how the very first Annual Snow-ball war of Wichcrad county came to an end, with the sacrifice of a the green eyed monster to bring down the Tyrant general. And I still have to go see the results of my negotiation! ---- Author''s corner: I felt that this link might prove fitting. Spoiler :
Name:Lieutenant General Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus Von Scratchy the thirdRace&Class:Trick Cat
Signature MovesFlash bombs/ Nyaa-speech/ Militarize/ Parodies
Attack:42Defense:45
Magic:15M. Defense:45
Speed:90Technique:87
Sanity:43Medals earned:12
A strange male cat with furry antennaes that wears a military outfit. Loves playing jokes and his whole existence can be said to be a joke. Seems to be heavily influenced by his military attire, going as far as to create a military information network with the cats of Eldor
"Nyaa-naa-nyany. Nyaa-naa-nanya nyananana" ¨C Lieutenant ¡°I couldn¡¯t have said it better!¡± ¨C Wargon about the statement above
This one is an example. More below so it don¡¯t get too long. Spoiler :
Name:AuraRace&Class:Freezing tail
Signature MovesIce armors (Water, ice and mist versions)/Ice spikes/Puppy eyes/ Fluffy fur
Attack:50 (90 ice armor)Defense:53(85 ice armor)
Magic:67(90 water armor)M. Defense:67(90 water armor)
Speed:70 (99 mist armor)Technique:80(100 mist armor)
Sanity:99Fluffynessimmeasurable
A female blue furred three tailed fox. Gon¡¯s first pet and his most jealous one, despite trying to hide it. Once a strong boss, now she feels a bit conflicted that she¡¯s weaker than she was, although happy that she can help her owner. Extremely fluffy.
¡±How do I explain it¡­ She gives a feeling really like Yuu, but its still different somehow? Well, who cares! SHE¡¯S FLUFFY!" - Wargon
Name:Rioreia (Rio)Race&Class:Dragon: Greater wyvern(young)
Signature MovesCave-breaking/Combine! (+Lieutenant = Dragon rider)/ Backflip(in training)
Attack:70Defense:45
Magic:30M. Defense:45
Speed:120Technique:50
Sanity:80Successful backflips:8
A young white wyvern, Daughter of the one now known as Rathian. She seems to really look up to her mother, and is now entrusted under the care of Gon. Although still a child who likes to play around, she cares a lot for those she considers friend. Gon¡¯s head is her favorite nest.
"Awww... Look at you! Already hunting boars all by yourself! You make me so proud!" -Rathian
Name:Crys(Cyg)Race&Class:Lesser Crystal elemental (Goddess)
Signature MovesCooking/Pout/Tease gon/(Bend reality)
Attack:10(???)Defense:0[passive pet](???)
Magic:50(???)M. Defense:0[passive pet](???)
Speed:Variable(???)Technique:100
Sanity:83Cooking:100
Both a silver-haired goddess and a pink crystal elemental that uses a maid apron She¡¯s the main AI behind the Insania game. She follows Gon around since she likes seeing the game through different points of view. Seems to have taken an interest on the player and likes watching over him.
"MY CUTE DAUGHTER! I WILL ALWAYS LOVE AND PROTECT HER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! I SWEAR BY THIS CUTE PIC OF YOU DISCOVERING YOUR FIRST ROMANCE STORY!" ¨CS2daddylovescygS2
Chapter 97 - Scoop Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! 3 CHAPTERS TO GO! ANYWAY, this chapter took some time since, in the three last days I suffered from: Having to move back to my house(was on my beach house), Sheer lack of drive(this is worse than you might think), and having to work on a project during the afternoon. So this delayed the release of this chapter. ALSO, today I introduce a character that I¡¯m sure none of you even dreamed of it happening with my super subtle foreshadowing. *Wink wink* And some other things as well. Actually had a blast with the titles. ALSO(2), STILL HAVE TIME TO ACCEPT YOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE Q&A! COME ON GUYS! GOT NEXT TO NOTHING RIGHT NOW! Have a good read! ---- Seeing that I had already spent most of my time with this massive city-wide play, I quickly jumped back to my feet and dusted off the snow from my gear. Looking around, I caught sight of a certain cat¡¯s tail that popped off from the ground. Approaching it, I grabbed the tail and pulled Lieutenant off from the snow. The cat squirmed a couple of times before looking up¡­ Or down to me, I guess, seeing how he was upside down, and gave me a wry smile while doing a very poorly executed salute. I smiled kindly at him, which made him sigh in relief. Then I threw him over my shoulder and down into the snow mound behind. While the scene went on, I saw as the inhabitants of the city raised themselves from the snow laughing cheerfully, saying things like how it was interesting and that they should do it again another day. From the looks of it, almost all of the city was caught up in this play, and the ones that didn¡¯t directly participate in the civil war, were helping in the background while cooking food and healing the ones that somehow got hurt in the play. Seeing that it wasn¡¯t all that bad of a thing, I nodded satisfied. In a way, the only true victim of this thing was Lucas, wasn¡¯t he? While I gave a silent and totally serious prayer for his poor soul¡­ Totally serious, by the way, I looked around, searching for Aura, Crys and Rio. The three quickly came down from the sky or rooftops and stood besides me. Crys had a strange look of satisfaction while Rio kept flying around cheerfully while giggling. Aura didn¡¯t waste time before quickly pressing her head against my hand asking for a petting. Preparing to start the petting, I stopped suddenly when a huge blue window popped up in front of me. From the looks of it, it was the same for the others, as they stared at the air vaguely for a moment.
You played a huge part on the event that is now known as the Snowball wars of Wichcrad, being the Monster that was defeated so that the city of Wichcrad could be freed from the tyranny of the General and his White demon, thus you have earned the title: The Monster Martyr Since you have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change your title
The Monster Martyr: You, who are considered a monster, yet a martyr of the people.NPCs will be more likely to either fear or respect you, based on how they see you.
Your pet Lieutenant General Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus Von Scratchy the Third played a huge part on the event that is now known as the Snowball wars of Wichcrad, being the one who started this whole play and the Tyrant who ruled the city for a brief time. Thus, he have earned the title: The Playful Tyrant Since he have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change his title
The Playful Tyrant: Your natural ability to influence people into plays is remarkable, to the point that a war was started because of it. While using this title, you are more likely to have people join you in large plays
Your pet Aura played a huge part on the event that is now known as the Snowball wars of Wichcrad, being the first one to put up a fight against the Tyrant and striving until the end. Thus, she have earned the title: The Tailed Savior Since she have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change her title
The Tailed savior: Being the one to protect the innocent like a knight in watery armor arose their respect for you. Using this title will make it more likely for others to respect and venerate you instinctively.
Your pet Crys played a huge part on the event that is now known as the Snowball wars of Wichcrad, being the one who brought an end to the tyrant with her attack and bringing an end to the war. Thus, she have earned the title: The Tyrant Slayer Since she doesn¡¯t have a title equipped, this will be set as her default title.
The Tyrant slayer: Your fierce victory over the tyrant made you his natural enemy. The effects of Tyrant titles are less likely to affect you and you can bring them down with greater ease. Your aura also grows fiercer and can be used to intimidate people.
¡­ Wow. So many titles! I guess that we did make a fairly big event here if we got so many titles. While smiling wryly, I heard a certain cat meowing cheerfully behind me. ¡°Nyaa na-nyaa! Nyaa na-nyaa!~~ Nyaa-nana nya-nana NA nanyaa!~~¡± Hearing Lieutenant singing so cheerfully, it didn¡¯t take much for me to understand that he was all happy because of his title. Looking back at him, I saw as he looked at me and gave an evil looking smile while rubbing his paws together like a villain from a b-rated movie. Pointing towards him with a victorious smile, I sad: ¡°Crys. You take care of him for me, will you?¡± ¡°Yes, master!¡± She said in an intimidating tone, making Lieutenant shiver in fear as he stared at the crystal elemental that slowly made her way towards him. ¡°Neh! Why did you stop, stone-mister?¡± Rio asked me suddenly. Blinking surprised, I turned to the small wyvern and looked at her. ¡°Oh, we received some titles¡­ We were just checking them.¡± I said briefly, but the wyvern simply tilted her head confused. ¡°Tai-tous?¡± She asked confused, but she didn¡¯t seem to linger too much on before landing on my head and letting out a long tired yawn ¡°Muu¡­ I¡¯m tired from playing. Going to sleep a bit, stone-mister!¡± I smiled wryly before quickly bringing up the menu and checking Rio¡¯s status. There wasn¡¯t anything about her receiving a title. It seems that her participation wasn¡¯t enough to consider her worthy of a title. While feeling a bit of pity towards the small dragon sleeping in my head, I decided that I would repay her soon enough by making her something after the hunt. ¡­ Arriving at the lord¡¯s house, with Crys dragging a tied-up Lieutenant through the ground, I knocked on the front door. It was a bit late in the afternoon, but with since I could see some of the rooms lit up, I thought that there was someone that could receive me here. Luckily, as I guessed, it didn¡¯t take much longer for the door to open and the red-haired butler to appear. He looked at me surprised for a moment before making a motion for me to come in. ¡°Hello again, Oldir.¡± I greeted the butler. He seemed surprised for a moment before nodding to me. ¡°Greetings, Sir Gondorrer.¡± He said with a nod. ¡°The master is in his room talking with a certain Chosen right now, but he said that there shouldn¡¯t be a problem to let you in on the occasion that you arrived.¡± He said before glancing briefly towards Aura and Co who followed me this time. ¡°A chosen?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°Is it Argento?¡± ¡°No. Your companion is in one of the suits resting for the moment.¡± Oldir said with a smirk. ¡°After negotiating the airship, he started a business negotiations with Lord Wich that lasted until recently, so he is now resting.¡± I see, so Argento didn¡¯t lose this chance to make a few extra bucks, did he? For some reason, I can¡¯t help but feel that he chose the wrong race to play in here. He should have chosen a white-feathered harpy that uses a tophat and a monocle. That way he could have built a gigantic safehouse where he would put all his gold coins and swim in it as his daily bath. Also, he should have named himself Scrooge. Well, these are just my thoughts. While smiling to myself at my silly mental jokes, Oldir took me to the same door as the one I was in earlier and knocked on it a couple of times. Making a signal for me to wait for a moment, he entered the room. While I awaited for me cue to go in, I noticed how some of the maids working around the house kept staring at me and all my pets that had been following me. One of the closer ones even looked at Aura with a curious gaze. Aura gave her a slightly curious gaze before yawning getting closer to me, rubbing her head against my leg asking for a petting. After indulging her for a while, I heard a voice telling me to come in, so I quickly entered the room, finding the three dwarves, Oldir, Lord Wich and San the Wich. Holding back a snicker, I also caught sight of the last person in the room. It was a mummy. Wrapped in old greyish bandages with spiral markings that ran through their edges, they were in a surprisingly good state despite their apparent age, barely showing any wear or tear. The eyes were a pair of cold grey lights that came from a small opening in the bandages, and the mouth wasn¡¯t exactly seen. From the build I guessed that it was a man, but the ceremonial leather robes he wore made it a bit difficult to be sure. On his waist was a ornate knife and what looked like some kind of tree branch. Quickly focusing on him made the nickname ¡°Ozzur¡± pop up above his head. Meanwhile he was also analyzing me, and after a brief moment he made what looked like a sigh, although I couldn¡¯t be sure since the bandages muffled the sound. ¡°Heya, Gon lad!¡± San, the bald but black-bearded dwarf greeted me with a nod. ¡°Hi San.¡± I said with a nod before turning to the white haired dwarf. ¡°Lord Wich.¡± ¡°Gondorrer.¡± He greeted me back before turning towards the mummy. ¡°This one here is Gollus Ozar. He also offered to help with the problem in the mines.¡± Oh? Raising an eyebrow I looked at the mummy again for a moment, noticing how he looked surprised. ¡°I see¡­ You did say that there was another taker, so this is him?¡± The mummy said with a deep and serious voice. ¡°Ermm¡­ yeah...¡± I said feeling a bit guilty for having taken his job from him. Seeing my awkwardness, the Ozzur quickly went on to try and talk to me. ¡°Well, you did get the job first, so I won¡¯t try to take it from you.¡± He said with a brief shake of his head. ¡°However, if you wouldn¡¯t mind, I would like to offer you my help on this adventure.¡± ¡°Help¡­ is it?¡± I said a bit awkwardly. How do I explain to him that I¡¯m planning on going solo? As I tried to think my way through it, he quickly went to explain. ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry. I am a Shaman Healer. I¡¯m sure I can be of use for your group!¡± ¡°Waah¡­ A shaman mummy? Isn¡¯t that wrong?¡± I said out loud a bit surprised. Ozzur didn¡¯t react too much about it, but I quickly recovered and shook my head. ¡°No, it¡¯s not a matter of being fit or not¡­ it¡¯s just that...¡± I took a glance towards the dwarves who were talking between themselves. I had already explained my idea to them, but I don¡¯t think they really believed me. ¡°Ah, I see. You already have a full group.¡± He said with an understanding nod. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Seeing that I was kind of being backed into a corner, I quickly slapped my cheeks to recover from the mummy¡¯s barrage of attacks. ¡°Okay. No. I don¡¯t have a group. I plan on going solo.¡± My words seemed to confuse the mummy, and I saw as he stopped a moment to think. Taking this chance into mind, I turned towards lord Wich and asked him about the earlier negotiations. The dwarf looked at me for a moment before nodding. He made a motion for me to sit on the couch, and as soon as I was ready, he gave me a rundown of the negotiations. Firstly, it seemed that he had already paid Argentos¡¯ commission in gold, so this meant that whatever method I choose as a payment, I will owe the gnome nothing. Nodding to these points, I asked for lord Wich to go on. Next, he said that, after some negotiations, they decided on three possible methods to repay me. One was, of course, a hefty sum of gold. This one would be the most immediate of the methods, so I could reap the benefit and be done with it. The second was for me to get a share of whatever profit the ship brought to the city from now on. This one was a long term investment, but also the one that would bring me the most benefits on the long run. However, the last one was caught my attention. He offered to pay not with money, but properties. I sincerely became surprised at this idea, as he offered me a certain terrain just outside the city, and offered to also build me a house there. This one was slightly odd, seeing how the value of the terrain and the house-building would probably out value the gold share by a fair amount. However, I wouldn''t get any monetary benefit from it, so it was a fairly conflicting decision. Rather, it also made things complicated, as Yuu and I were going to share the reward, so the house isn''t exactly something I should take blindly. If it was money, all i¡¯d need to do was to split it with Yuu, but a house isn¡¯t that simple. And if I thought about it, having a house wouldn¡¯t make much sense seeing how I¡¯ll be travelling around for a good time. ¡°Master, it might be better if you hold the decision a bit more.¡± Crys told me a moment before I decided to set the property reward aside. ¡°Having a house is a bit different for Chosen than it is for the people of this land.¡± I frowned a little at her words before turning to her. I didn¡¯t miss the fact that Ozzur stared at her in shock. ¡°I planned on telling this to both you and miss Yuu once you returned, but since you didn¡¯t return together, I ended up missing the opportunity.¡± She looked away slightly embarrassed, and all I could do was look at her in a deadpan. ¡°I don¡¯t mind if you take a bit longer with your decision.¡± Lord Wich told me briefly. ¡°Although needed, we don¡¯t have any urgency for an airship right now.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ That helps. Once I get to talk with Yuu I¡¯ll tell you my answer.¡± He nodded at my decision. ¡°Meanwhile, you can have the ship anyway.¡± ¡°Wha¡­?¡± ¡°Not like I have a way to use it, do I?¡± I asked wryly. ¡°...Yes. Thanks for your comprehension.¡± Lord Wich said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to repay you in kind when you make your decision.¡±
You have transferred the possession of the following items:
The pirate airship is now owned by the Lord of Wichcrad. payment still to be decided
Seeing the window that popped up, it didn¡¯t take too long for Lord Wich to tell something to the butler, who left the room. Probably going to prepare the airship to whatever they were going to use it for. Seeing how I had already finished what I could do here when it came to the ship, the matter at hand quickly changed back into being about the monster in the mine. Ozzur had already recovered from his shock and stared at me dubiously. Well, I think it was dubiously. It¡¯s hard to say when you don¡¯t have a face to judge his emotions. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.¡°If you are going to tackle it alone, does that means your pets are that powerful?¡± San asked the question that probably hung on everyone¡¯s head. ¡°No. Master will probably forbid us from interfering with his fight too.¡± Crys explained with a sigh. The dwarves and the Mummy all froze in space for a moment as they processed the elemental¡¯s words. When they stared at me confused, I simply shrugged and nodded. No use nor need to try to hiding it, right? ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll go solo. Literally.¡± ¡°...Then, are you actually really high level?¡± Ozzur asked confused. ¡°If that¡¯s so, why would you go after the spider? I don¡¯t think it drops anything that would be useful for you if you can kill it alon...¡± His words suddenly trailed off as he stared at me in shock. ¡°Nah. I¡¯m level 31. Not that high.¡± I said ignoring his shock. This seemed to shock him before he sighed in relief. I felt confused by his reaction, but didn¡¯t delve too much into it. ¡°Also, not going for the drops.¡± ¡°And I don¡¯t think ya¡¯re going just because ya¡¯re nice either.¡± San said with a smirk. ¡°I plead guilty.¡± I said in a solemn tone before smirking. ¡°Nah. I¡¯m going because: One. It¡¯s fun.¡± I said while raising my finger. ¡°Two: it¡¯s what I do.¡± Another finger. ¡°Three: I¡¯m suffering a serious hunting withdrawal.¡± Another one. ¡°Four: it¡¯s fun.¡± One more. ¡°Five: To get crafting materials!¡± ¡°You said its fun twice...¡± San said with a deadpan look. ¡°I know.¡± I nodded back in a serious tone. ¡°Wait. Crafting materials?¡± Ozzur asked shocked. Noticing his strange reaction I blinked and turned to him, seeing how he stared at me once again¡­ Rather, he was staring at my gear. ¡°Crafting materials¡­ Unique looking but uniform gear...¡± What the hell is a unique looking uniform gear? Although I felt like asking him that, I ignored the urge. Turning towards the dwarves I said. ¡°Look. As you may have noticed, although I can say that I should be able to do something about it, it might take some time to defeat the spider. This way it won¡¯t bother me if you send an actual group to take care of it, alright?¡± I warned them. I mean, I could take everyone there and deal with it immediately, but that¡¯s not my style of dealing with things, right? However, as much as I say that, it¡¯s also a matter of importance for the city, so dragging it around too much isn¡¯t something I should do. At my words, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that Lord Wich and San both stared at me like I had gone mad or something, but after a moment they finally sighed loudly in synchrony and nodded heavily. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll let you go and try to deal with it while we build an attack force of our own here.¡± Lord Wich said heavily, and I couldn¡¯t help but feel like jumping cheerfully. ¡°It should take us around two to three days to prepare something strong enough to take care of that safely. You have until then.¡± Two to three days? Easy peasy!
QUEST: Miner Hunter
A gigantic Sulfuric Impaler matriarch has invaded the mine from the Wichcrad County. After some talk, you have convinced the lord of the city to give you some time as you try to take on the spider alone. However, you have until the city¡¯s attack forces arrive to deal with it.
Rewards: Whatever the Spider drops. Bonus to mining skill. Defeat the spider alone and your name will be sung for generations in the county. Other rewards may follow based on negotiations with the lord of the city.
Ooh! a quest window! How long since I last saw one of those? And author, stop grumbling your hatred for windows. You brought this upon yourself. Anyway, nodding for the fact that I truly received the quest as I wanted, I quickly thanked the two dwarves and asked them how I should reach the mine. San told me that he would get a carriage to carry me there while Lord Wich seemed interested in convincing Ozzur to start working on the reserve team. Seeing that I would have to wait for a moment anyway, I decided to go and wander a bit outside while I started thinking on the experiments I would have to start. But, the moment I stepped outside of the building, I heard as some hurried footsteps approached me, and barely did I turn back I saw as the Mummy held on the door so that it wouldn¡¯t close. ¡°YOUR GEAR! HURRY! SHOW ME IT ALL!!¡± He said in an almost desperate voice. Whaaaaat? ¡°...Sorry I don¡¯t swing that way.¡± I replied bluntly to his odd request. The mummy stared blankly at me for a moment before shaking his head. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant! I want to see your gear stats!¡± He said in an hurried tone. ¡°Please, show it to me!¡± I took a step back from the mummy¡¯s sudden fierce attitude, but seeing how there wasn¡¯t any harm done in complying to his request, I nodded weakly before opening the menu and fiddling around it until I reached the option I wanted. After that, piece after piece of my gear I showed to him, and with each one he saw, his eyes became¡­ Brighter? I guess that¡¯s how mummies show their eyes widening. After one minute when I had linked him everything, his attitude took a full 180 degrees turn. His hurried atmosphere disappeared and a notebook and writing pen poofed into existence on his hands. Holding them while looking fiercely at me he said. ¡°Mister Wargon. This character is called Ozzur, and I work under another player called Oerthus Foulhorn.¡± Hmm? That name is vaguely familiar¡­ ¡°I¡¯m a reporter for the Insania Online section of the Sword and Keyboard channel.¡± Ah! He¡¯s that reporter from the TV earlier! ¡°If you wouldn¡¯t mind, could you give me an interview?¡± ¡°Huh? Me? Did you ask the correct person?¡± I asked a bit confused as my mind slowly started to absorb the information he gave me. ¡°Yes. Seeing that you own the famous Burning soul set, this means that you are the real Wargon that got so many game-firsts in the crafting area of the game, aren¡¯t you?¡± He asked me in a serious tone. ¡°Huh¡­ Yeah, I guess?¡± I replied while scratching my head awkwardly. ¡°Excellent! Now please, could you answer a few questions for me?¡± ¡°Nah.¡± ¡°Good¡­ I¡¯ll start with¡­ ¡± He froze when he heard my answer before slowly looking back up to me. ¡°...What?¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ How do I explain it? Seeing your reaction just now¡­ kind of leaves me a bit worried with what will happen if other players find out I¡¯m the real deal.¡± I said while imagining the chaos it would be once players found out my face. If this guy reacted like that, imagine what would happen if I walked around in a crowded street? Besides, if he starts asking too many questions he might reduce my hunting time. Yeah, that one is more probably the real reason to be honest. ¡°Ahh...¡± Ozzur stared at me in shock for a moment before shaking his head. ¡°No. I can¡¯t let such a scoop escape me!¡± He said to himself before staring at me. ¡°I promise to protect your anonymity. No one will ever know of your appearance!¡± Gaah! I didn¡¯t expect him to be so insistent. He¡¯s one of the type I¡¯m bad with! While I thought so, I heard a sound as a carriage approached us. Turning around, I saw San sitting on the driver¡¯s spot while holding the reins of two bull-like monsters with stone in their backs. ¡°Climb on lad. We need to leave now if we are to arrive before day-break!¡± He said cheerfully. I didn¡¯t take one more second of thought before I jumped up on the carriage and made a motion for him to go ahead. Finding a place between the barrels that crowded up the wagon, I took a seat and sighed deeply. However¡­ ¡°Wait a second! I¡¯m also going in!¡± GAAAH! STAY HERE YOU DENSE MUMMY! As the carriage stopped again, Ozzur quickly jumped in the carriage and his eyes scanned the insides like a bird of prey searching for his dinner. As his eyes landed on me, he quickly made his way to my sides and sat down besides Aura, who made a slightly displeased face. ¡°Even if you refuse to talk to me. At least I will get a scoop on how the famous Wargon lives his daily life!¡± He said with a satisfied nod. ¡°...Are you really going to follow me no matter where I go?¡± I asked a bit worried, but the mummy nodded. ¡°As a gaming reporter, to find someone as unique as you around is a once in a life-time chance!¡± He said with a fierce determination. ¡°I¡¯ll squeeze your acts dry of information even if it takes my whole experience back to level one!¡± ¡°... There¡¯s no need to be so dedicated, you know?¡± ¡°I can already see the headlines for the next news: Famous Crafter Wargon takes on a massive boss monster Solo! Crafting materials are his reason for such a dangerous...¡± ¡°IS THAT TRUE TEACHER?¡± I heard as a very familiar girl¡¯s voice came from one of the barrels. Looking back towards the source, I saw a certain Undine who was hidden within the wooden container until a few seconds ago. ¡°Are you really going to do something so reckless?¡± ¡°Lily...¡± I said in a deadpan tone. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± The undine suddenly froze at my words before looking away shily for a moment, touching the tip of her fingers together as she fidgeted slightly as a kid who got caught doing something bad. ¡°Ermm¡­ I heard that teacher was back¡­ And ended up accidentally overhearing your talk about hunting the spider?¡± She said with a diminutive voice. ¡°Then¡­ I got worried¡­ And wanted to stop or help you¡­?¡± I stared blankly towards Lily, then towards the mummy. A creeping feeling of impending doom as I noticed that I somehow ended up being followed by the two people who I¡¯m really weak against. As I felt all my energy be drained from my body, I could hear as San laughed his ass off on the driver¡¯s seat and Crys said something about warning yuu and the others. Somehow I feel this is going to be a reaaaally long hunt for me... ---- (dead)Author''s corner: hatetableshatetableshatetableshatetables...
Name:SolRace&Class:High Elf/Shade Brawler
Signature MovesExplosives/Boredom/Curiosity-driven
Attack:98Defense:98
Magic:79M. Defense:42
Speed:90Technique:53
Sanity:30Explosions survived:630+
An elder elf who somehow became half undead. Have the looks of a kid but is actually extremely old and powerful. An excellent alchemist despite spending most of her time sleeping. Loves sweets and things that she finds interesting. She was once Wallace¡¯s lover.
"Whatever you do, do NOT tell her where I am! I thought I could never be a groom after that night¡­ ¡± ¨C Wallace
This one is an example. More below so it don¡¯t get too long. Spoiler :
Name:Goulder WhitemantleRace&Class:Human Crusader
Signature MovesHuge shield/Fool newbies/Judge skills
Attack:87Defense:100
Magic:45M. Defense:100
Speed:80Technique:80
Sanity:87Newbies fooled:74
Somehwat of a hero and extremely well known warrior. Founder of the silver gauntlent mercenary and knights guild, he is a charismatic old man who likes to dress in rags and spend his day drinking beer at the guild, but is more than a responsible man when the time calls for it.
¡±He is a legend amongst both mercenaries and knights alike! It¡¯s said that he brought the guild back together from the brink of destruction." ¨C Arcus ¡°Ooh? That¡¯s amazing! You sure know your stuff!¡± ¨C Wargon ¡°¡­I told him yesterday.¡± ¨C Elraira ¡°¡­¡± - Arcus
Name:Rusty BlackjointRace&Class:Clockwork Warrior
Signature MovesSteam orchestra/Info gathering/polite speech
Attack:30Defense:45
Magic:10M. Defense:45
Speed:70Technique:50
Sanity:88Charisma:90
A charismatic clockwork who works as the receptionist of a information booth. Although not exactly a fighter, he is very dedicated to his works, and those who end up meeting the clockwork can¡¯t help but befriend him. Had a crush on Nova for a long time before Gon set the two together.
"Simbol. Good worker. Polite smile. Friendly attitude!" ¨CRusty Blackjoint
Name:NovaRace&Class:Construct Rune-mage
Signature MovesSpeed reading/ Perfect memorization/ Jealously towards Rusty
Attack:20Defense:70
Magic:80M. Defense:80
Speed:50Technique:70
Sanity:96Books read:521
A female construct who works as a librarian in Eldor. Once she was trained as a rune-knight, but gave up her life of adventuring to the calm rooms of library where she spends most of her time reading. Developed a crush she thought to be one-sided towards Rusty Blackjoint until Wargon got the two together.
"Nova? You¡¯d be surprised how good she was with a staff after learning how to write in runic! By far my best student!" ¨C Certain demonic instructor
Chapter 98 - Bombs in a carriage Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR THE CHAPTER GODS! ANYWAY, This is a bit short of a short chapter, but that was the best place to stop and start next chapter already on the mine. Well, that aside, halfway done with the IO marathon, two chapters away from the Q&A and I have almost no questions. Come one guys, I know you can do more! ALSO, Since people asked me to place the warnings about Wordpress Updates, I guessed that I should start by telling what I already have there. Project Hero is up to chapter 3 and Project Horsemen is up to chapter 9, both up to date to what I had written up, so updates might take time from now on. ALSO(2), We get to see The foe next chapter! Be happy! (Gon is totally going to beat it right away.) ALSO(3), AND CRYSTAL TINKERER! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT WOULD COME BACK! YAY! Have a good read! ----- Yes. After much thought, I finally reached the only logical conclusion on how I could somehow deal with the situation before me. Standing up on the still rocking wagon and ignoring both Lily¡¯s and Ozzur¡¯s attempt to talk to me, I quickly made my way towards the back of the carriage. Looking down I could see as the ground lazily passed beneath us with a certain speed. After a brief calculation, I decided that it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to do what I wanted at all. Turning back to the two people who looked at me curious, I made a goodbye sign with my hand while putting up a handsome face. ¡°I¡¯ll be going ahead!¡± I said. Then I jumped out of the carriage and quickly turned back towards the nearby grassy plains, activating my movement skill, darted ahead of the carriage under the curious glance of San, who simply watched as I went ahead of the carriage. As I saw the vehicle hide itself under a turn back on the road, I started laughing happily at how genial I was. Running away from my problems WAS the correct choice in the end! While thinking so I sped up ahead and my laugh became a mad cackle. Now, all I had to do was to arrive at the mine before them. I could take a few minutes to start crafting the sonic bomb I needed so much and still manage to do something before them! Yes! YES! I AM A FREAKING GENIUS! Now, all I need to do is to reach the mine! Easy peasy! No way this can go wr¡­ Not saying it! Won¡¯t jinx! Yeah. So smart. Totally! Now¡­ Where was the mine again? ¡­ ¡°Master is so smart!¡± Crys said in a fake cheerful tone. ¡°Shut up.¡± ¡°Decided to solve the situation by running ahead!¡± ¡°Please, stop¡­¡± ¡°Nyanananana! Nyanananana!¡± ¡°If only you knew where the mine was, it would have been a great help, right?¡± ¡°My pride¡­ it hurts¡­ Stop it¡­ please¡­¡± I said in a dry tone while crouched in the corner of the wagon, drawing circles on the ground. After noticing that I was completely lost, I ended up sitting on the side of the road and awaited for the carriage to come by and get me. I couldn¡¯t help but feel like a massive idiot for making such a basic mistake. Even Lily and Ozzur both only stared at me, their unbound pity making me feel even more depressed than normal, so I curled up a bit more and started escaping reality. Only San kept on laughing the whole way. The worse part was that I was the only one who jumped out of the vehicle, so Aura and Co stayed inside comfy since they knew what I had gotten myself into. So the humiliation was purely and exclusively mine for having done such a huge blunder. ¡°I hope this teaches you to not try doing reckless things anymore, master.¡± Crys said sternly to me while puffing out her cheeks. A scary aura surrounding her. ¡°Yes¡­ Master has learned. Master will be a good boy.¡± I said brokenly. ¡°So, Wargon is ordered around by his pet. I see, I see¡­¡± Ozzur said while noting down something on his notebook. I really felt like saying something about it, but decided to leave it for later and simply kept quiet. While I broken-heartedly kept quiet on my corner, Aura was the only one who was kind enough to give me some moral support, offering me her fluffy fur to dig into and pet to my hearts content. Although I can¡¯t help but also have this feeling that she¡¯s taking advantage of my depression to get some free petting, but once again, I didn¡¯t feel like commenting it as she was the only one who was actually on my side, seeing how Lieutenant simply mocked me and Rio was cutely napping on top of a nearby barrel. ¡°Teacher¡­ What are you doing? Shouldn¡¯t you be coming up with a plan or something?¡± Lily said while trying to get me up from my depression. ¡°Hmm¡­ You have a point.¡± I said nodding and quickly sitting up. ¡°OKAY PLEBEIANS! OPEN SPACE FOR THE CRAFT MASTER SHALL NOW CRAFT!¡± I said in a pompous voice, startling the two travel companions. Still, they complied to my words and scuttled away as they watched intensely what I was about to do. Each with their own reasons, if I had to guess. However, it was enough for me. The moment that I deemed the space to be enough, I opened my menu and dropped one of each elemental crystals on the wooden floor of the carriage. As well as some mana crystals that could work for holding back the crystals reserve. ¡°Teacher, what are you going to do with these?¡± Lily asked as she saw me looking intently to the fragments. ¡°A bomb.¡± I explained. ¡°¡­With those? Are you alright teacher?¡± ¡°¡­ Those things can¡¯t even make a decent firecracker. Players already tested it.¡± Ozzur said with a shake of his head and a disappointed tone. I simply took out one of my flash-bombs, held it touching a mana crystal and activated it, blowing up in a massive ball of light that blinded the two who had complained about the uselessness of the elemental crystals. ¡°Never again speak of the crystals as useless, you infidels!¡± I said in a cold tone to the infidels who dareth mock the mighty elemental crystals. Storing away the depleted mana crystal for more research later on. I heard as San checked up what was going on the back of the carriage after seeing the flash. I told him that it was nothing without even moving my glare away from the crystals. ¡°W-Wargon have flash-bangs. Uses elemental crystals as crafting materials¡­ Scoop scoop.¡± Ozzur said as soon as he recovered from the blindness. ¡°T-Teacher! That was mean.¡± Lily complained in a teary tone. I simply ignored their complaints and kept my attention back on the matter at hand. For one, I knew that I would need explosion to make the bomb work, so I could be almost certain that a combination of fire and wind would be needed. But instead of a shockwave, what I needed would be a loud noise, and this is where things got complex. Anyway, for now I started by parting the wind crystal and the fire crystal twice until I got one quarter of each, then I separated those pieces and settled the remaining back on the lines, where I faked some kind of organization of kinds. ¡°So, what are you trying to do, Teacher?¡± Lily asked me. ¡°I sincerely don¡¯t see anything like that.¡± Ozzur said with a confused look. ¡°...Any chance you might keep this a secret?¡± I asked curious for a moment. Ozzur blinked and stared at me for a moment before nodding and accepting. ¡°Anyway, what I¡¯m trying to do right now is to create a sonic bomb.¡± I explained. ¡°Sonic bomb?¡± Lily asked confused. ¡°Hmmm¡­ A bomb that uses high volume instead of impact to attack the enemy. Very limited use seeing that it have an extremely wide range, and if it affects the opponent it most likely affects the user too.¡± Ozzur explained with a confused tone. ¡°I don¡¯t see how useful that might be.¡± ¡°Well, for one, I don¡¯t plan on making anything that will affect me.¡± I said while gathering a few of the gems and looking at them curiously, trying to imagine whether the combination would work or not. ¡°Second, the monster I¡¯m going to fight is blind, but have an improved hearing. If I get this thing working, it should be nuts against it¡± ¡°Oh, the spider is blind?¡± Ozzur asked surprised. ¡°Yup. If you had asked San here, he would have told you that.¡± I said pointing to the dwarf. ¡°Thus, having a bomb that attacks its main sense is actually a very good strategy against it.¡± ¡°I¡­ See¡­¡± Lily said as understanding dawned onto her. ¡°So, teacher actually did have some plans in mind¡­¡± ¡°¡­I would complain about you thinking that I didn¡¯t have plans, but I don¡¯t exactly have the right to do something like that. ¡± I complained wryly. ¡°And why exactly would you resort to such tactics?¡± Ozzur asked me curious. ¡°Because I what I want to do is reckless, to say the least.¡± I explained to him with a serious expression as I focused on my job. Taking the crystals I had separated, I quickly selected a combination that I thought that could work, involving the explosion part plus one more half of wind crystals. ¡°Whatever edge I can have against the monster that I¡¯m fighting I¡¯m going to take it.¡± As I said it, I rolled everything in a leather ball and held it before me with a wind crystal. "Watch out. Going to test it." Trying to see if the combination would work, I activated it, hoping for the best. But instead of a loud sound that left me nearly deaf, we were all blasted backwards by a heavy burst of wind. That spread in every direction. Being the one closest to the bomb also meant that I was the one who was knocked back further, and ended up hitting the back of my head on the wood. Ozzur and Lily, having taken some distance as I requested for some space, didn¡¯t take the brunt of the blow, and were only lightly bothered by the wind. Still, it seems that the effect of this bomb really decrease over distances. Well, it wasn¡¯t what I was after. I did briefly think of grinding the crystal and try again, but it would simply increase the size and decrease the damage, so by that calculation, I decided that it would be useless to try doing it, as it would still only blow me back. ¡°Stone-mister¡­ What did you do?¡± Rio asked with a yawn as she raised her head, probably confused about the commotion I ended up causing. ¡°Nothing, little wyvern.¡± I said and gently petted the little dragon, who closed her eyes lightly. ¡°You can go back to sleep.¡± I said and she nodded weakly before lowering her head and yawning. ¡°Do you always test them like that?¡± Lily asked me worried, and I nodded my head. ¡°Well, the damage is really minor most of the time, and only the effects can be nasty to be honest.¡± I told her as I stored the spent mana crystals and rearranged the crystals. ¡°The effects?¡± Ozzur asked me confused. ¡°You said that there are various effects you can create with these crystals?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± I said while taking out one of the throwing knives I had in my bandolier over my chest and throwing it to the mummy, who picked it up hastily. ¡°I use a kind of secret technique to craft those knifes, but the principle is the same. They use the crystals to have specialized effects.¡± I told him. ¡°Oh¡­ I think I remember it.¡± Lily said, probably back to the time when I was teaching her blacksmithing. ¡°I never really understood what they were for¡­¡± ¡°Well, that one is to poison the opponent.¡± I told while pointing to the knife that the mummy held. Both became shocked and Ozzur even dropped the knife surprised for a moment. I laughed bit before picking it up and storing it away. ¡°It will only poison you if you have it stabbed on you and it activates.¡± ¡°¡­Oh¡­¡± He said slightly surprised. ¡°I see, a safety mechanism, is it?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± I denied flat out. ¡°It¡¯s just how it works to be honest.¡± ¡°So, you never considered creating a safety mechanism for your weapons?¡± he asked me shocked and I nodded. ¡°Wargon is extremely lax with safety procedures¡­ Scoop scoop.¡± ¡°I somehow really feel like hitting you, but I guess that me doing that would lead to another scoop scoop situation, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± I asked angrily. The man looked at me for a moment before nodding. ¡°Erm¡­¡± Lily said suddenly while looking at us confused. ¡°Why are you so interested in Teacher? Is he that famous?¡± ¡°Famous?¡± Ozzur asked surprised as his eyes brightened. ¡°This guy is almost a legend amongst the chosen thanks to his crafting feats! Not only he was the first one to create a rare quality piece of equipment, that most crafters still struggle with, and keeps pumping them out like they are water, he also made a whole set of it, another first, and he somehow made something with a kind of quality that we didn¡¯t even know it existed!¡± Ozzur said with an amazed tone. ¡°Eh? Quality you never heard before?¡± Lily asked confused. ¡°My cape is a historic quality item that increases the stats every time I defeat a boss or complete a really difficult quest together with Aura here.¡± I said pointing to the fox besides me. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. As I said that, I noticed how the two looked at me in shock. Did they never hear about the effect of the cape? Must have been it. Nodding to myself in my head, I noticed how the two stared at me with a strange thirst for information. ¡°¡­So?¡± Ozzur asked me after some time. ¡°Not telling.¡± I denied outright, making them blink in shock. ¡°But I can at least tell you its useless to try and steal the cape seeing that it only works with me.¡± ¡°So, the legendary item only works with the crafter¡­ Scoop scoop.¡± Sighing loudly at the man''s dedication to his works, all i could do was sigh in defeat. However, after a moment the man stopped and stared at Lily. "What about you then? Why do you follow Wargon around if you didn''t even know about his fame amongst pla... Chosen?" Ozzur asked the undine while frowning. "And now that i think about it, you keep calling him your teacher. Is that as a crafting teacher?" For a moment i stopped my work in trying to find a way to create a sonic bomb and focused on the undine curious. Although i did have an idea about why she would follow me around, i never really asked, so I couldn''t be so sure about it. Lily was seemingly caught off-guard by the question, seeing how she hesitated for a moment thinking on het answer. "Well... The reason i''m learning under teacher..." She looked down at her clothes curiously for a moment, before finally sighing. "Well, to be honest, it''s because i find crafting boring." "...it that didn''t sound so serious i would have exploded a flash-bomb right here." "Eh? Why?" Lily asked. "... Sorry, wasn''t supposed to say that out loud..." I said feeling slightly embarrassed. The two looked at me with mixed reactions for a moment before Lily went back to explaining. "E-ehem!" She cleared her throat before going on. "I didn''t word that correctly. What i meant is, i always liked the crafting process. I would watch as the smithies back at Eldor would hammer away their own creations in marvel, see as the leatherworkers sewed up beautiful and powerful garments to protect the wearers." She had a lightly dreamy look to herself as she said that. "I always loved seeing people working on their crafts like that, and i always dreamed of it being myself in their place!" "That doesn''t sound like something you find boring." I said with a dubious stare, and Lily nodded. "I never thought of the act of creating boring, to be honest." She said with a shake of her head. "It was more like... The results were boring." Oh! I think i''m starting to get what she meant. "The final results were always the same. And if one thing changed, at most it was the values of each stats, and that was it. The only pieces that had truly interesting results were the ones that had extremely expensive ores and other materials." She stopped for a moment. "That was when i heard the rumor of a certain crafter who was making some interesting gears." "Ooh! Ooh! Let me guess, it was me!" I said cheerfully. "No. It was Torg." Huh? My head took a moment to wrap around the conflicting information that had been given to me. "I met the big half dwarf back then and asked him if he could take me as an apprentice so i could learn how to make the interesting gears he was doing, even when using relatively cheap material." Strange, i never heard of that? "He refused me on the spot." Okay, didn''t expect that. "He told me that he had no right to take me as his apprentice if it were to teach me that new technique of his because he had copied from his own apprentice." She then looked at me with a hint of admiration that made me feel embarrassed. "Then, he told me to look for gear made by a certain Gon. That was how i met Argento and got a job so i could buy the dagger and hopefully meet you!" Well, Torg copying my crafting method isn''t all that troubling or surprising, seeing how he was the one who taught me blacksmithing in the first place. But i didn''t expect that those trash items i dumped in the market would be that amazing to be honest. Also, please, stop looking at me with those respectful eyes. It pains my heart the fact that you will be heartbroken when i tell you i have no idea how i do that! "And why the hell are you looking like a doujinshi artist who found something interesting?" I shouted angrily to the mummy who had rough breaths as he wrote down everything with a speed faster than what i could type. Sighing loudly, i shook my head and raised the sonic-bomb-ball MKII. "Well, lets try the next one, shall we?" As i said that and activated the bomb, i barely managed to get sight of Crys putting on an amused smile and knew before the bomb even went off that my half wind, quarter fire quarter darkness bomb was a failure. ... "Su*cough*Sucess *cough* still *cough* got it!" I shouted happily as t waved the smoke away from my face. "How the *cough* hell is this *cough* a sonic bomb?" Ozzur asked as he tried to find some breathing room in the cart. "Why the hell are you even coughing when you have those bandages in your face?" I shouted angrily before being caught in a coughing fit too. "Oh, good point!" He said while righting himself. "Wargon seems to have a decent grasp of races characteristics... Scoop scoop." "Why is even *cough* that a scoop?" I asked annoyed while helping Lily up. "Oi, lad! What the hell happened in there?" San asked worried as he saw the thick black smoke coming out from the wagon. "Nothing too big. This is just a smoke bomb that went off by accident!" I shouted back to him. I saw as he stared at us in doubt for a moment before nodding weakly. Rio woke up for good this time, sadly. At least she didn¡¯t seem as heavily affected by the smoke as we were. If I had to guess it¡¯s something to do with her being a dragon and all but I couldn¡¯t be quite so sure. Crys also was mostly unnafected thanks to her being made of crystals and all, not needing to breath, but Aura and Lieutenant weren¡¯t so lucky. The smoke was heavier than a normal fire smoke, and so it came down onto them heavily. Grabbing Aura, I quickly lifted her so she could breath a bit more of clean air from up high. Lieutenant dealt with it by climbing on the wall. ¡°Sorry about that, guys.¡± I said after the smoke went all out. ¡°So, that wasn¡¯t the expected?¡± Ozzur asked me and I shook my head. ¡°Nope. But it¡¯s one less bomb I¡¯ll have to research later on!¡± I replied with a wide smile before frowning. ¡°Anyway, I kind of had forgotten how fun it is to play around with these things¡­¡± I said as I looked down at the crystals with a grin. ¡°You know what? I feel like experimenting a bit more with them.¡± As I said that, I quickly started grabbing up the crystals to try something new, but before I could do anything at all, the two of them grabbed my hands, stopping me. ¡°As much of a scoop it is to see the Famous Wargon¡¯s crafting process, I believe we should withhold from any further experiments within the carriage.¡± Ozzur said. ¡°I¡­ Agree with him there, teacher.¡± Lily said grabbing my other hand with a wry expression. ¡°But¡­ I wanted to play with the crystals!¡± I pouted. ¡°¡°At least don¡¯t blast them inside the carriage again, okay?¡±¡± Yay! ¡­ ¡­ ¡°Wargon can be childish at times¡­ Scoop Scoop!¡± ¡°STOP WITH THAT ALREADY!¡± ----
Name:Arcus EvencidRace&Class:Half-Beastman Half-Human Berseker
Signature MovesEnrage/Berserk/Enchanting
Attack:84Defense:73
Magic:57M. Defense:75
Speed:74Technique:40
Sanity:45Elemental serpents raised:32
A half-beastman orphan that was raised by a couple of Elemental serpents, with one of them becoming his adventuring partner. They started by joining the Silver Gauntlet together with Wargon, and now follow Elraiara serving as her partner and common sense.
"Shalalala-la! Shaashishaa sha sha sha! ¡± ¨C Whisi ¡°Nyaa-nanyaa?¡± ¨C Lieutenant ¡°Shia-Shaa! Shala-shia!¡± - Whisi
This one is an example. More below so it don¡¯t get too long. Spoiler :
Name:WhisiRace&Class:Wind serpent
Signature MovesRoyale Straight Flush/Adorable look/Camouflage(only works on Arcus heads)
Attack:97Defense:90
Magic:98M. Defense:89
Speed:95Technique:100
Sanity:84Wine mugs needed to get drunk:Still unknown (Two barrels and counting)
A small and cheerful wind serpent that can be deceptively good at poker. Raised by Arcus on his foster parents¡¯ home, she grew attached to the reckless half-beastman and spends most of her time acting as his common sense. Except when fruits and poker is involved, then she becomes a bit reckless too.
¡±Extra fluffy. Very huggy too¡­ So cute¡­¡± - Elraira
Name:Elraira TerndeikRace&Class:Draconid Fire-bringer
Signature MovesInferno Scythe/ Flame tornado/ Drunk immunity
Attack:86Defense:45
Magic:90M. Defense:45
Speed:70Technique:50
Sanity:88Charisma:90
A Noble girl Draconid who wields a fearsome scythe and uses flame magic to spread destruction. Although her past is a mystery, it¡¯s known that she plans on travelling the world to learn more about it. Loves cute animals and is Yuu¡¯s Martial arts rival.
¡±She¡¯s good! I don¡¯t know many people who can trade blows with me like that besides grandpa!¡± - Yuu
Name:Lila GoldspringRace&Class:Half-golem Half Construct Magic Gunner
Signature Moves????/?????/????
Attack:72Defense:68
Magic:86M. Defense:73
Speed:67Technique:62
Sanity:87Shyness:100
An odd girl that recently started following Arcus after he seemed to help her with something back where they met. Now she follows him around and began teaching him about enchanting. Extremely shy to strangers.
"Wait, now that I think about it, we are half siblings aren¡¯t we?" ¨C Wargon
Chapter 99 - Out of the frying pan... Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! LONG CHAPTER FOR THE WIN! ANYWAY, 5k words of Insania today for you guys, as well as an old goldie thing from some chapters ago. MANY chapters ago. Well, leaving that aside, I¡¯m a bit too lazy to write the character tables right now, so I¡¯ll leave it for later. If there¡¯s any character you want to see in those tables, just tell me. ALSO, Next chapter should be the fight or the observation chapter. Not sure how I will carry it. Should it be a fight scene that I find too long, I might do what I did with Aura¡¯s fight and put the rest of the fight on a file for itself. ALSO(2), I may not upload anything tomorrow since I have some projects to take care, so don¡¯t expect too much, okay? ALSO(3), ALMOST REACHIGN THE DEADLINE FOR Q & A QUESTIONS! Have a good read! ----- ¡°So, this is my next hunting grounds, huh?¡± I said while hopping off the carriage with a refreshed smile. After some time testing around a few different combinations, I finally managed to find the correct combination to get myself the so much desired sonic bomb. Surprisingly, it was a simple half wind, a quarter fire and a quarter order combination. While I gave a satisfied smile and stretched myself under the moonlight, the others came down from the carriage. Lily and Ozzur had exhausted looks to them, with sunk eyes and a slow, slouched walk. Meanwhile, Aura and Crys looked at the duo with a hint of pity and Lieutenant kept snickering at them. Rio, as always, was completely lost on what was happening. ¡°A safety perimeter of twenty meters is needed when¡­ Wargon starts crafting¡­ Scoop¡­ Scoop...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll never again doubt crystals. I¡¯ll never again doubt crystals. I¡¯ll never again doubt crystals...¡± Yeah, I might have gotten a bit carried away with my experiments, as you guys can see. Even San the Wich who usually would laugh himself off had a wry expression as he jumped out of the driver¡¯s seat and landed on the ground. He gave something for the large beasts that had carried us all the way here before setting them free. Although I became a bit dubious about that, he simply let them roam lazily around the vicinity as the monsters either ate the grass or laid down to sleep. Turning back to the mine entrance before me, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was surprisingly unlike what I expected. To be honest, I expected that classic wooden arc that led into the mountain with a mine-cart trail leading out. Well, at least the mine-cart I got right. The rest, not so much though. The whole side of the mountain had been prepared for the mining facility, with some strange machinery and buildings spread around the outside, as well as dozen of entrances mined on the side of the mountain. The mountain itself was pretty impressive, with us on its base, it still towered a few hundred meters above us, and from the looks of it, we were on the steepest side of the mountain. At least this place wasn¡¯t a strip-mine, so besides the area that was taken to make the base, the scenery around was mostly untouched. Then, the fact that there wasn¡¯t more than four dwarves walking around showed how the business wasn¡¯t going as well as it should. ¡°This way, i¡¯ma get you guys some maps of the mine. Should help.¡± San said while pointing to the main building. I nodded and happily followed him around, with the others coming right behind me. As we crossed the camp, the few dwarves around gave the man a brief greeting, calling him chief or boss. Fishing a key out of his pocket, San opened up the door of the biggest building and took us to an office near the corner. I¡¯d guess that this was his place, seeing how there was an actual desk and chair and maps laying around. ¡°You can take those maps there.¡± He said while pointing towards a pile of paper. ¡°They are the simplest. Nothing like plans and such.¡± I nodded while picking one of the maps and opening it. Just as he said, it was a really simple map, mostly outlining the walls and paths around the mine. Surprisingly, a fair amount of rooms were spread around, and it wasn¡¯t only the long maze of corridors I was half expecting it to be. But what caught my attention the most were some red markings that were dotted all over the map. Frowning confused at the sight, I put the map down on the desk and pointed it to San. ¡°So, what are these?¡± He frowned slightly before leaning over and taking a brief look at the map. Soon after, he gave a quick laugh and waved his hand off. ¡°Those are magma-patches.¡± He said, and I blinked surprised for a moment. ¡°...Magma¡­? Volcano?¡± I asked while pointing towards the mountain. ¡°Nah.¡± San shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s a magma river that goes deep below the mountain leading to the true volcano over there.¡± He said while pointing to a mountain through the window. ¡°Those are only the places where the mine meets the river, so they make some pools.¡± ¡°So¡­ There isn¡¯t any chance of me being roasted in molten rock?¡± I asked just to be sure, and San nodded. Sighing in relief, I quickly turned back to the map and gave it a good look over it. ¡°So, where¡¯s the spider at?¡± The dwarf nodded satisfied before looking over the map. Taking what looked like a red pen from his pocket, he quickly marked an X in one of the largest rooms of the mine. ¡°Tis always walking around the caverns, but it made a nest over here.¡± ¡­ Did someone say nest? Let¡¯s make some mental calculations. The monster is called a Sulfuri Impaler MATRIARCH. Matriarch plus nest equals eggs. Eggs equal baby spiders that will grow massive, but can be tamed. Tamed massive spiders means a huge monster who will follow me around and do what I ask of it, including carrying me. Monster carrying me equals mount. Thus, by the logic of deduction, mines equals mount. FLAWLESS LOGIC! ¡°A-Ahem¡­ ¡± I cleared my throat to calm myself down. ¡°So, is it alright for me to think that there should be some juvenile monsters roaming around too then?¡± ¡°Aye. Some of my workers did report seeing some smaller spiders crawling around near the entrance.¡± I nodded at that piece of information. Then it might be better to drag the big spider to a place where it won¡¯t get the help from its offsprings. ¡°Hmm¡­ I think that¡¯s all I need to know right now.¡± I said with a nod and closing the map. ¡°Anything I should keep an eye out for?¡± ¡°Nah . That should be it.¡± San said and I nodded in agreement. ¡°Anyway, i¡¯ll take ya to the closest entrance. Just follow me.¡± He said before leaving the room and guiding us off. As we left the room, the thoughts of equipping a heat resistance ring crossed my mind, seeing that there would be magma pools around, this meant that there would be some really hot areas out there. Or in there, I guess. While doing that, I also landed my eyes on Lily and Ozzur. Both of whom looked at me with slightly curious glances. ¡°What?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Are you¡­ Really going to fight the monster alone, teacher?¡± Lily asked me. ¡°It made a whole mine be evacuated!¡± She said while pointing towards the empty mine. Seeing that, I simply sighed and stopped walking. My action seemed to take the attention of San, who stopped and turned to see what I was going to do. Turning to the two behind me, I took a deep breath and put on my best serious face. ¡°YOU TWO! HEAR ME UP!¡± I said in my best general voice, making the duo flinch in surprise. Then I stopped to think better and turned to look at Rio. ¡°You too, Rio. Go over there.¡± I said. The little wyvern blinked and nodded before flying to the middle of the duo. Clearing my throat, I went on with my grave voice. ¡°Okay. I can see that the two of you have no faith in my skills. Well, I can see where you are going with it, but I think it¡¯s better to leave something clear rules here.¡± ¡°FIRST. You may assist me, but only outside of the battle with the matriarch. Be it by being my mobile healing potion or fighting the smaller spiders.¡± As I said that, they both blinked surprised. ¡°SECOND. Do not. UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, NO MATTER HOW DIRE AND DANGEROUS IT MAY LOOK FOR ME, help me. Are we understood?¡± ¡°But, what about¡­ If you...¡± Lily started, but I simply shook my head. ¡°Chosen. Don¡¯t die even if killed.¡± I said while pointing at myself. ¡°Ah...¡± Lily said in shock as she remembered that small fact. ¡°Okay, taking the cue. THIRD. YOU ARE NOT TO GET CLOSE TO THE PLACE WHERE I¡¯LL BE FIGHTING.¡± I turned to the two girls. ¡°This goes especially for the two of you. Should the spider turn to you, you won¡¯t get another chance as I do. Okay?¡± Rio and Lily nodded, one a bit more excited than the other. I gave a brief glance at Ozzur, wanting to ask if he could make sure to hold Lily back. Luckily, it seems that his curiosity about seeing me fighting alone won over, because he nodded immediately. ¡°Good. FOURTH, AND MOST IMPORTANT ONE! DO NOT. EVER. NO MATTER WHAT, EVEN IF THE HEAVENS TELL YOU TO, GO AND ooh, there¡¯s an ore vein there.¡± I turned towards the small vein that popped up near the entrance of the mine and ran towards it. Pulling out my pick-axe and gripping it tightly, I approached the outcropping and took aim. It was a small outcropping that was around the same size of the ones I got before. But instead of the brownish coloration of the iron ores I got earlier, this one had a more shining blackish look to it, as well as some layered markings around its surface. Bringing down the pickaxe on the place indicated, I heard a satisfying ¡®peng¡¯ sound as a good chunk of the ore broke free from the vein and fell on the ground besides me, as well as a couple of elemental crystals that I was so familiar with. Deciding to first excavate the whole vein before bothering picking the ore, I quickly went back to my work on hitting the rock and getting myself some materials. After finishing with the vein, I cleared some imaginary sweat from my forehead and looked around satisfied. Some pretty big chunks of ore were spread around me, while the group still stood on the entrance with some silly looks. Turning to them confused, I tilted my head and asked. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Wargon has an attention span of a goldfish. Scoop scoop.¡± Scooper said as he noted the things down on the notebook. ¡°...This is becoming a lot more different than what I expected.¡± He said with a frown. ¡°Who the hell is a goldfish?¡± I asked angrily. ¡°Can¡¯t you see i¡¯m more like a kid overdosed in sugar?¡± ¡°... And he have no qualms about degrading himself¡­ Scoop scoop.¡± ¡°Teacher¡­ His whole scoop scoop is starting to irritate me.¡± Lily said with a pout ¡°Same here¡­¡± I said with a frown. ¡°Know what? If you start hitting him every time he goes scoop scoop, i¡¯ll give you some special classes today.¡± ¡°REALLY?¡± She asked excited and I nodded proudly. ¡°Yes. You¡¯ll learn about things you should do before we even get to the crafting process!¡± I said getting carried away. ¡°...Wargon approves if his disciple resort to violent act. Scoop sco¡­ OUCH!¡± Good girl! While nodding satisfied, it dawned on me that this was a private mine once my gaze fell on San, but the dwarf simply waved away, as if saying that I shouldn¡¯t worry about it. Sighing in relief, I turned down to get a look on the ores, only to stop and see a scene in surprise. Just as I prepared to get the small ore on the ground, I noticed that there was already someone else there. Rather, something else. A small rocky creature, with a main body made of a greenish stone and four smaller leg-like appendices coming out from its side. It was a bit bigger than my open hand and there wasn¡¯t much feature to it at all, and that was pretty much it. In fact, i¡¯d easily have mistaken it for some pebbles in the road if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that it was moving around cohesively. The small creature, completely ignoring me who was looking at it, rushed towards the pieces of ore on the ground, throwing itself at it and grabbing one of the smaller pieces greedily. Then, while he held on to it, the ore slowly started to dissolve. ¡°...Is it just me or this little bugger is eating my ores?¡± I asked in monotone. ¡°Huh?¡± San asked curious before peeking besides me. ¡°Ooh, if it isn¡¯t a Miner sprite! To think that there would still be some around...¡± ¡°Miner sprite?¡± I asked confused while seeing the small thingy. Feeling a bit confused, I started poking it to see if he would let go of my ore, but that didn¡¯t seem to be the case. Heck, he seemed to be eating even faster now. ¡°Aye. Dey are some minor earth spirits that appear when we mine too deep. Mines have a lot of ¡®em. Or used to, till the spider came.¡± San said while looking at the small thingy. ¡°I¡¯m glad this one didn¡¯t starve yet, to be honest.¡± ¡°Huh? Why?¡± I asked while quickly gathering the remaining ores from the ground and shoving them on my inventory, except for one that I held with me. ¡°I thought things like this would be a problem for business?¡± I mean, if you have a bunch of small guys who goes around eating unprotected ores, wouldn¡¯t the business clearly receive a hit from it? While I thought about it, I also took a glance at the ore in my hand before looking down to the sprite, then back to the ore.
Scale Iron ore (0.7 ingots)
A special kind of iron ore that only appears under specific situations. For unknown reasons, it grows in a scaled pattern with a darker hue to it, and although fragile when cut on the direction of the scales, it¡¯s much more resilient than normal iron and a bit more resistant than steel after processed. This iron cannot be transformed into steel. (crafting material)
I see, so it¡¯s a special kind of iron. Is it something like the next tier of ores that I get? Also, i''m pretty sure this doesn''t exist in real life... As I thought so I took a quick glance at the elemental crystal on the ground, but it was the same as the one that I always used. Seems like it''s still not the next tier, huh? Shrugging, I decided that worrying too much would be bad, so I did what every single sane person would do when they had a piece of ore like that in their hands. I ate it. ¡°Wha¡­?¡± Ozzur looked at me confused. ¡°What are you...¡± Hmm, tastes like vanilla cake! With chocolate drops! Ignoring the shocked mummy, I proceeded to pick another piece of the ore and also eat it. This thing is perfect for a snack! If only I had some juice or something to go with it¡­ A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Standing up, I cleaned my mouth from any kind of crumbs that had remained and turned to the small thingy. I could somehow see why they would like it. And it¡¯s kind of cute seeing it hugging the ore while eating it. ¡°Well, some hundred years ago we thought the same.¡± Said San as he looked at the little guy with pity. ¡°But they usually eat really little. An ore that size is enough for three of them to eat for an entire day. And we also found out they can help us find hidden veins in the mines, as well as ward off real pests, like rats and insects.¡± I see, basically, they get something around 0.1% of the ore production, but still help a lot with preventing diseases and increasing productivity. ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that nice?¡± I said with a small smile before frowning. ¡°But why would it be starving if there are so many veins around?¡± I asked while watching as Aura sniffed the small rocky thing, curious. ¡°Hmm, maybe he can¡¯t break the veins off?¡± Lily asked and I widened my eyes. Yeah, the little guy doesn¡¯t look all that strong. Maybe it can¡¯t get the ores himself? ¡°Okay, one more reason for me to slaughter the spider! FOR THE CUTE LITTLE PEBBLES!¡± As I shouted that, the little guy became startled and jumped up, almost hitting Aura on the nose before looking up at me in confusion. Finally, it looked around for the ores and became slightly depressed. Seeing that, I decided that it was time for me to help the little guys, so I did what every single good-souled Golem would do in this situation. Unequipping my weapon so that my disney princess¡­ Erm¡­ Nature attuned skill would take effect, I proceeded deeper into the mine, waving a brief goodbye to San, who stood back at the entrance where it was safer. Taking out the map, I quickly checked the direction I had to go to find the nest and started waltzing in that direction. It didn¡¯t take long for the next ore vein to pop up in front of me. Mining cheerfully that vein too, it didn¡¯t take long for the skill to take effect, and soon, three or four other little buggers came out, attracted to me thanks to my skill. The moment my pick axe struck the ore, it rained down upon them, and they quickly started to feast upon the black rocks that fell upon them. Feeling like a generous king, I mined everything, and after making sure that all the little sprites had gotten their own share, we walked in deeped into the mine, towards the next vein, gathering even more followers along the way. ¡°Master, do not forget that we might run into the spider, you know?¡± Crys said. ¡°You underestimate what me and my army of small earth sprites can do! Together we shall rule the world!¡± I said while cackling madly. ¡°You do know most of them are up to level three at most, right?¡± ¡­ ¡°A small hiccup has been found in my plan, it seems...¡± I said while turning back and looking at the spritelings who all followed me, then towards Lily and Ozzur, who were a lot more wary than me while walking around. Hmm, I guess it would be a good idea to tell them that Aura should be able to find anything that may be approaching us a good few minutes before it reaches us. But where¡¯s the fun in that? Turning to Lieutenant who was throwing around his knife from one side to another, while Aura had since a good time put on her mist armor. Rio was, just as how i had ordered her, flying close to the duo while looking around in wonder. Seeing as up ahead there was a strange red glow, i quickly took a look at the map, getting slightly excited at the prospect of seeing actual magma for the first time, i saw that it was exactly the path we would have to take to reach the nest. ¡°...Hot¡­ Hot¡­ Bandages¡­Hot...¡± Ozzur said suddenly. Blinking surprised, i turned to him and saw as he walked around with an exhausted posture. No wonder he was so quiet for so long. Sighing loudly, i quickly took my heat resistance ring and threw it to the man, feeling as the heat similar to the one on Torg¡¯s forge overtook my body. But thanks to my skill, it wasn¡¯t all that bad. Hastily, Ozzur put on the ring and heaved a sigh of relief, before looking around with a slightly annoyed look in his face. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Why would they need a mine if the ores on the surface respawn after a certain time?¡± He asked just as we were about to take the turn that led to the magma. Stopping to think for a moment, he did have a point this time. Turning to the only person in the entire group who would probably be able to explain the situation, the floating pink crystal elemental who looked at us with an impressed look. ¡°Why, there is a reason for that, mister Ozzur!¡± She said with a satisfied tone. ¡°You see, having to rely on the ores of the surface to supply an entire city is¡­ Far from ideal. Their spawn places are random, their amount are insufficient and their transport difficult.¡± Ooh? ¡°Making an underground mine like this one is more efficient, since the time taken for the ores to reappear is lower in underground areas, they are easier to find since all the area is already mapped, and the transport can be left to pre-made mine-carts.¡± She said with a satisfied smile. I see, in that case, having a bigger mine like this would increase the amount of spawn points for ores and increase the output greatly, making it also easier for the NPCs who don¡¯t have access to the inventory screen to transport thanks to the railing and mine carts. In a way, this also means that the mine will only increase if there is the need to increase the output of ores. Quite interesting, to be honest. As I nodded interest in that fact, Aura suddenly stopped and let a brief growl. I sighed loudly before looking at my army of overpowered level 2 sprites. Feeling a bit unsatisfied, I quickly equipped the sword and saw as they all immediately dashed off into hiding. ¡°Oh, is it the impaler?¡± Ozzur asked while getting ready. I glanced at Aura, but she shook her head. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it.¡± I said while slowly advancing towards the corner and peeking around it. Two spiders, the size of a small dog were leaning close to the magma pool. With a black charred carapace, six whitish legs used for movement and two sharpened into claws, they looked like they were leaning on the magma for some reason. Smiling satisfied, I said briefly. ¡°Two younglings.¡± I said in a serious tone while holding back a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t look that strong, so I guess me and the guys can take care of them. Want to wait here and support from the back?¡± Widening her eyes, Lily quickly took hold of her dagger and hugged it close. Ozzur took his own ceremonial knife and the branch on his side. I turned towards Aura and Lieutenant, and the duo nodded while the cat quickly jumped on the fox¡¯s back. The usual carefree look in his face exchanged for a ferocious smile. I took one last look into the spiders and charged in. ¡­ ¡°I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! I mine, I skin; I craft, I win! I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! The ores are mine! So full of shine! I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! Impalers are done, Their chances were none! So I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem!¡± I sung an old forgotten sound as my knife dug into the dead spider¡¯s flank, slowly carving out the lines between the carapaces so that I could get it with the least amount of damage possible. Besides me, sitting in front of the other dead spider with a worried glance in her face was none other than Lily. She watched all my movement carefully, before taking a knife I got for her and carefully carved the spider too. I finished much faster than her, getting bunch of good quality items, such as leg-shells, carapaces, claws and more. For some reason, Crys soon took over after I was done getting the materials and started getting the meat. Seeing how I didn¡¯t have much reason to worry, I quickly kneeled down besides Lily and started pointing out to her how to take out a particularly tricky part of the shell. Keeping an eye out nearby was none other than Ozzur. His usual serious self noting down something on his notebook as he registered this step of my crafting process. I felt that there wasn¡¯t much reason for me to hide this, so I let him watch me without worries. After the first duo of spiders, we fought two other pairs, and I started teaching Lily on how to skin the monster herself after I got some pointers from Wallace, who was very angry for some reason I couldn¡¯t quite remember¡­ Bah, it was for the whole Sol thingy, I¡¯m sure. ¡°Strange¡­¡± Ozzur said suddenly. I blinked and turned to him confused. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°This mine was supposed to be shut down for a few weeks already from what I gathered.¡± Huh? Weeks? That¡¯s a lot more than what I expected! ¡°And even though we are close to the nest, we barely found any spiderlings around. Isn¡¯t this strange?¡± ¡°Now that you mention it¡­¡± I said with a frown. ¡°Oh, try cutting it from the other side, should help out a bit.¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh! Much easier!¡± Lily said in surprise. ¡°But yeah, I do get where you are going. It IS odd.¡± I frowned for a moment. ¡°Or maybe impalers don¡¯t have that many off-springs at a time?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Maybe¡­?¡± Crys said with a confused look. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about impalers, sadly.¡± She looked dejected with that, so I smiled wryly for a moment. ¡°Impalers¡­ Are supposed¡­ To have¡­ Many off-springs at a time!¡± Lily said while trying to yank a piece of the carapace that was still stuck. ¡°¡­Hmm¡­¡± Well, this is odd then. But we were close enough to the nest, so I guess that trying to think about it was a bit too much. Taking another brief glance at the map, I found what looked like a nice spot to leave the group while I went in alone. I also made a quick revision of the fight the small spiders put off in my mind, to see if I could get some kind of info on the fight against the matriarch. One odd fact that I found was that they didn¡¯t use nets at all, and instead used the walls and ceilings to jump around during the battle. They also spewed some kind of acid or something from their mouths, but it was barely noticeable. The TRUE part that caught my eyes was the fact that they would use the front legs as claws and slash around. Once one managed to hug me with the lower legs and started slicing me like there was no tomorrow. If it weren¡¯t for Aura, I might have died there, since my large weapon wasn¡¯t good to attack small monsters. ¡°Looks like I can expect an interesting fight.¡± I said while smiling widely. Stopping to gather one last vein of ore on the way, I made a signal for them to stay put in a small antechamber before the room that San had marked. The pathway that led there was small enough that only one could pass around at a time, and if the matriarch was as large as I remembered the impalers being, then it wouldn¡¯t be able to pass under that place no matter what. ¡°Okay. From now on, wait in here. It should be safe seeing how the passages are small.¡± I told them before turning to Aura and Co. ¡°You guys, support them and make sure to not let them get hurt. You might want to put the ice armor, Aura.¡± They all nodded, and even Lieutenant became serious at this. Nodding satisfied, I stepped ahead towards the nest. The room was massive, compared to the other ones I had seen previously. Gripping on the hilt of my sword nervously, I looked around in worry before slowly advancing. Different from the other rooms on the path we took, this one was filled with Magma everywhere. Puddles on almost all the corners of the room and even some slightly dripping corners. Worried, I used my strategic mapping to find any failures on the wall or ground. Luckily, it seemed that everything was firm enough for me to not need to worry. A few stalagmites, the ones that pop from the ground, were around, because it being full of magma wasn¡¯t already creepy enough. To finalize the scary look, a mess of webs was on the farthest corner of the room. Made of a reddish colored string that looked like it was ready to burst into flames, it created a protective cocoon around a large area near the biggest pool on the entire room. Inside it were smaller sacks of web that had a strange thing inside it. From afar I couldn¡¯t quite get what it was, and seeing that I couldn¡¯t see the spider anywhere nearby, I decided to approach it. Ever so quietly, I reached the smaller cocoons, and once my eyes landed on them, a wide happy grin appeared in my face. They were enveloping something very important, both for the spider and for me! Eggs! Dozens and dozens of spider eggs! All of them being around the size of my torso! As I smiled widely, I quickly took my skinning knife and started to cut off the strings holding the eggs up together. The strings were a bit more resistant than what I expected, but they came off after a few seconds cutting them. Freeing one of the eggs up, I quickly took it and decided to leave it with the guys back at the base, so I quickly stood up and prepared to run. Only to stop when I noticed something. The egg¡­ Was empty. It was far too light for its size. Confused, I turned the egg around, trying to find if there was anything wrong with it. Much to my surprise, it had. A cut, wide enough for me to pass my whole hand through was right on its base on the opposing side, and from there dripped some kind of fluid. Frowning confused, I quickly looked at the other eggs, crouching down behind them and checking each and every one of them. All had the same cut on the bottom, pretty much destroying the eggs for good, seeing that whatever it was that it had inside would flow out. ¡°¡­BUT WHAT ABOUT MY MOUNT!¡± As I shouted those words full of indignation, I soon regretted it. Because not even two seconds later, something dripped in front of me. Blinking shocked, I looked down to see a small drop of magma on the ground, then, turning to look back up, what I saw were two long claws. Two VERY long claws, that not only already looked sharp and painful as they were, they were also completely covered in flowing red-hot magma that slowly dripped down from it. ¡°¡­Cygnasdammit!¡± I cursed loudly. It didn¡¯t take me more than a few seconds to die after seeing it. Chapter 100 - ...and into the fire, then... AUTHOR¡¯S CORNER: HELLO HELLO! AND HERE WE GO! THE LAST OF THE CHAPTERS! ANYWAY, I felt really compelled about adding some kind of ¡®I¡¯m dropping IO¡¯ Joke here, but that would be downright mean. With this, I brought an end to the IO marathon, and shall go back to work on my other works. For now, the plan is to finish something I have half done, then I¡¯ll see what I¡¯ll do. ALSO, as some of you will notice (at least I hope you guys do), this isn¡¯t the actual battle chapter, and more of the exploration one. The actual battle where Gon gets to kill the spider shall start on the next chapter, and then he¡¯ll actually start using everything he have on his arsenal and we shall see an epic(?) battle. But for that, you¡¯ll guys will have to wait for next weekend, when I¡¯ll be able to sit down again with my spanking new scientific calculator (my old one broke and I had to buy a new one, so you guys almost went today without IO), and calculate the hell out of the next battle! ¡­ Someone, please kill me¡­ orz ALSO(2), my vacations are just around the corner (two-three weeks), and then I¡¯ll have whopping two weeks of nothing to do as I¡¯ll be on my beach house! And since I dislike beach because the water is too watery, the sand is too grainy and the sun is too bright, I¡¯ll probably spend most of my time holed up in my bedroom (and by bedroom I mean living room. Yeah, I sleep in the living room there. DEAL WITH IT! (personal choice tbh¡­ Couch > Bed)), having nothing to do due to shitty net! Hooray! ALSO(3), I¡¯ve closed up applications for the Q&A, and I¡¯ll try to work on it in my spare time so it doesn¡¯t block my other works. But I¡¯ll try to have it before next IO chapter next weekend. Edit: Oh yeah... 100 CHAPTERS BABY! OOOOH YEAH! Have a good read! ---- ¡°Yo!¡± I said while coming out from the small corridor. ¡°KYAAA!¡± Lily shouted scared while jumping away in shock. ¡°T-Teacher? H-How¡­¡± ¡°Chosen!¡± I said while pointing to myself proudly. The undine blinked surprised for a moment before making a ¡®That¡¯s right!¡¯ face. I smiled a bit wryly at her reaction, as it seemed she wasn¡¯t used to seeing someone come back from the dead so casually. While I dusted some dust off from my shoulders, I didn¡¯t miss Ozzur¡¯s disapproving glance as he started writing down something on his notebook. Although usually I wouldn¡¯t mind such a thing, I did feel a bit annoyed at that. But before I could do any comeback, I decided to call Lieutenant and Aura closer. Crouching down besides them, I gave the two some orders and it didn¡¯t take long for the two to nod. Immediately after, Lieutenant darted away from the small cavern and into the maze outside. Aura stayed behind, sitting down towards the back entrance while still using her ice armor. Nodding satisified, I turned back to Ozzur and said briefly. ¡°Around the size of a large car. Hind legs should be extremely powerful or it is capable of lowering itself using only its threads. Also, it might have been just my own imagination, but the treads it makes aren¡¯t sticky at all. Lastly, it seems to coat its own claws into magma, so it either uses magic or some other kind of mechanism for that.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± Ozzur asked me confused. ¡°The spider boss. Those are his¡­ Hers, it¡¯s a matriarch, features I got from fighting it.¡± I said while pointing back to the entrance. ¡°Huh? Fight?¡± Lily asked confused. ¡°Didn¡¯t you die instantly back then?¡± ¡°And how did you find all that just by that brief moment?¡± Ozzur asked confused. ¡°Simple.¡± I pointed up. ¡°The ceiling. I didn¡¯t see it when I first came in, but I did get a good look at the height of the ceiling. Also, believe me when I say that the image of the magma claws were burned into my mind very vividly.¡± As I said that magnificent pun, the two put on wry expressions. ¡°Taking in consideration the angle the claws came from and the little spiders proportion as a basis, I¡¯d say that it was probably either letting its whole body in a vertical, or somehow using the thread to hang down. It would also fit nicely with the height of the ceiling, so I¡¯d guess that I at least got the size about right.¡± The duo looked at me in shock and awe, while Rio simply tilted her head in confusion. I swear I heard Aura let out a snicker, but I couldn¡¯t be so sure right there. ¡°Then¡­ What about the claws? How can you be so sure?¡± Ozzur asked. ¡°Because it¡¯s a beast. Not an elemental or anything like that.¡± I said briefly. ¡°Although I could believe in it somehow using the magma pools to coat the claws by blaming magic or something, I don¡¯t think that it would have an actual claw made of magma while being an animal.¡± I stopped to think for a moment. ¡°This means that either the magma can flow out, or solidify into stone. Hmm¡­ Might take a look into that later.¡± ¡°¡­And you found all that in that brief moment?¡± Lily asked me in shock. ¡°Nope. I found it while walking back to get my body. At the time I was pretty much cursing my own luck.¡± I said while scratching my cheek awkwardly. Also, if any of you are wondering, the claws themselves didn¡¯t exactly kill me. Although they dealt a fair amount of damage, what truly killed me was that after the attack, I stumbled back and fell into the magma pool. Thankfully, it was a quick and surprisingly not painful death. Even fire resistance gear can¡¯t exactly defeat sheer molten rocks, it seems. ¡­ Okay, let¡¯s add a magma-proof gear to my bucket list. And this one might actually be needed, seeing how one of the four gods actually live in the volcanoes. ¡°¡­This is amazing¡­¡± The mummy said in shock while sitting down to write. ¡°What?¡± I asked confused. ¡°In just that moment you managed to find more info about this monster than what I gathered while preparing to take on the quest. Its size and skills were still mostly a mystery seeing how it is rarely seen outside its own habitat.¡± Ozzur said while noting down something on his notebook. ¡°To be honest, I didn¡¯t expect you to actually gather anything from it at all.¡± ¡°Well, thanks for the encouragement.¡± I replied dryly before sighing. ¡°And it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have experience taking on bosses, alright? I did beat a blazing tail and then a freezing tail one after the other, you know? Completely alone to boot! No pet nor help gotten.¡± ¡°Blazing tail?¡± Ozzur asked confused before widening his eyes. ¡°You defeated that fox boss alone?¡± ¡°Yup. In fact, this whole gear is made with their material!¡± I said proudly before motioning towards Aura. ¡°Heck, I even defeated Aura who was stronger than them.¡± I stopped to think before smiling wryly ¡°Even though it was a very close one¡­¡± ¡°Wait, she¡¯s even stronger than a blazing tail?¡± Lily asked shocked. I blinked surprised before nodding. Didn¡¯t she learn about Aura before? ¡°Aura is a very rare variant of the blazing tail that uses ice instead of fire in combat.¡± Crys explained with a proud tone. ¡°Since they are also harassed since birth, she became a lot more used to combat than the usual red tails, making her a lot stronger than the usual blazing tail!¡± At the small elemental¡¯s words, both the undine and mummy stared at me in shock, but I simply shrugged. I¡¯m pretty sure people would have done something like that sooner or later. ¡°And he was also level eleven at the time.¡± Crys added with a bright smile. ¡°WHAAAAT?¡± ¡°Crys. I was level fourteen when I fought Aura.¡± I corrected her, and the others sighed in relief. ¡°Eleven was when I killed my first blazing tail, remember?¡± ¡°You are kidding, right?¡± Ozzur asked confused, but I simply shook my head. ¡°Nope. Even got a title and skill for that.¡± I said while bringing up my Recklessness skill and my ¡®The Mad¡¯ title, showing it to them. Once again, they stared at me in shock. But once I told them about the title and what I had to do to get it, their looks became a perfect example of dead-fish eyes. Shrugging it off, I gave one last look to where Lieutenant left before making my resolve to go back in the battle against the spider. Though I said that, I didn¡¯t really have any expectation of defeating it. In fact, this time I¡¯m going more for observation than anything else if I were to be honest. Taking a grip of my weapon, I slowly made my way through the small tunnel towards the nest. A quick glance around, and I knew that the spider wasn¡¯t here. Just like before, it seemed like it was going out frequently. Though, just to be sure, I looked around many times, checking all kinds of movements before even taking a step out of the cave. Even then, the first thing I did was to look straight up and see if it wasn¡¯t waiting for me in an ambush. Nodding satisfied, I quickly walked in, doing a full 360 degrees scan of the area. Nothing had really changed, except for a new spot with web stuck on the ceiling. Frowning slightly at that, since it didn¡¯t seem to be tied at anything. Deciding that I would have to take a look at it later since the thread isn¡¯t supposed to be sticky, I awaited for a few seconds on the room before deciding to look around at the eggs. Going back to the egg area of the nest, I once again examined each and every one of them, but just like the ones I found earlier, these were mostly cut and empty. To avoid a situation similar to the previous one, I kept looking up to the ceiling so that I wouldn¡¯t be taken by surprise. However, it seemed that the spider wasn¡¯t too keen on keeping an eye out for this nest, because it hadn¡¯t appeared at all. Cursing loudly, I awaited while seeing Lily watching me in worry from the small corridor. Behind her, I could see Aura as she laid on the ground lazily watching the rear. I don¡¯t know whether she simply didn¡¯t care or had a lot of faith in me, so I sincerely didn¡¯t have any idea on how to react to it. ¡­And why is Crys hiding behind Lily? Kind of looks like she is hiding something while peeking out like that. Sighing loudly. I decided that it wasn¡¯t worthy worrying too much about it. ¡°It¡¯s coming!¡± I heard Lily shout suddenly. Blinking surprised, I turned back following her gaze and watched one of the others entrances. From it, came the crawling beast. A whopping three meters tall and almost eight long. Six long legs made of a sickly white coloration, but protected by a dark brown coloration carapace made of sheer solidified stone. The front claws that brought me pain earlier, were a bit more peculiar. They started much like the legs, but there was a clear widening on the area just before the claws, almost as if it was the hilt of a sword, then it transformed into a pair of long blades. With the same dull looking coloration of the armor, it had the look of a jagged blade, that despite looking made of stone, it seemed like it could cut through flesh with a scary ease. The six eyes on its head were spread in a pair of triangles, and from them a red shine came, giving it an appearance that simply screamed bloody violence. Different from the smaller spiders, this walking machine of death dealing had a charred look to its carapaces, with the torso being a burned brown all over the shells. The back looked like it was actually made of true solidified magma, and as the spider moved my way, I could see the small cracks that made way so that the abdomen could move around. Luckily, it didn¡¯t seem to have stingers on its bottom, so I shouldn¡¯t have to worry about getting poisoned. The scariest part of this, was that while it approached me, I didn¡¯t hear a single sound. Different from the smaller spiders that at least made the skittering sound, this one moved in a complete silence. Even a person standing still would be louder than it. Heck, I¡¯M being louder than it just by thinking. Gripping tightly the weapon in my hands. I took a step back, in worry, seeing as how the spider smoothly made a transition from walking into the ground towards walking into the walls then the ceiling. It seemed to approach me calmly as I followed it with my gaze. Then, once it stood right above me, it dropped down. Flinching in surprise at the sudden move, I saw as the spider held itself only with the two back-most legs, falling almost to a perfect vertical line from the ceiling and standing right on top of me, the six glassy eyes looked at me while it lowered the two stone scythes it had for weapons towards my back. Damn it! Freeing myself from the shock, I quickly dodged away from the scythes by rolling to the side in a desperate move, and saw as the spider barely missed my hair. Quickly straightening myself, the spider seemed surprised, as it stared at me in confusion. However, it didn¡¯t last too long, as it quickly swung itself from the ceiling, using its whole body to fall on top of me. I stared at it in shock for a moment before jumping back and activating roll once again. Seeing how the ground cracked under the impact, I felt glad that it didn¡¯t land on me. However, before I even had the chance to watch the magnificent scene of the knight of death staring at me, it raised itself with the six legs and pounced forward, the claws open wide as it tried to cleave me in half with a single movement. Once again I tried dodging it, but barely managed to do so, as the claws both landed one centimeter away from my feet. Getting up, I decided that it was about time for me to take the initiative, so I brought my sword up and activated my single target skill. Fang strike, first form. Fang strike is a two part attack that is solely used for attacking a single enemy. It starts with the motion of putting my left foot in front and holding the sword close to my right shoulder, then I take a step forward and use my shoulder as a lever to increase the sword¡¯s speed in a downwards slash. Once that strike is done, I then take a step forward again in a stabbing motion with the blade. Although it deals less damage, the stab actually ignores the armor, so both strikes together adds up nicely to the damage. However, that is if both land on the monster, of course. The moment my sword came down, the spider quickly raised its rock-shelled claw and parried my first downwards strike. However, my sword¡¯s properties of cutting rocks made it go right through the rocky shelling and strike at the claw itself under the protection. -32 (5268/5300) While I stared in shock at the little to no damage dealt, the spider didn¡¯t seem to be all pleased with the damage, because it swung its claws outwards, stopping my attack sequence and throwing me off balance. I grimaced in annoyance when I saw that I was left wide open and wasn¡¯t even capable of landing a clear hit. Even under the stone, the claw was still a claw. Being sharp and strong I guess it made sense that it wouldn¡¯t take much damage from it. Luckily, instead of coming in and taking advantage of my opening, the spider instead jumped backwards in a single long leap. Although I was confused by its action, I couldn¡¯t help but feel thankful, taking advantage of the fact to retake my stance and analyze the spider, taking some time to stop and analyze the spider. The matriarch stared at the claw, seeing a deep gash into the stone that covered it, thanks to my sword. Surprisingly enough, I could notice that it became wary of me, looking in my direction for some time. I also took my chance to take a look on it¡¯s status table.
Sulfuric Impaler Matriarch [lvl 38](BOSS) Equivalent level: 45 (aggressive)
HP: 5268/5300 -Magma Claw -Impale -Web weaving -?????
Sulfuric Impalers are a species of Impaling spider known for living under extreme heat like inside volcanoes. This matriarch, while still young, is already seeking for a new territory to take for itself so it can spread its brood. Being much bigger and stronger than the usual spiders, its is known to be able to use the magma around it to empower its attacks. Due to the little contact with other beings, little more is known about them.
Strange, why are there some skills that are marked and the question marks one? While I watched it doubtfully, the spider quickly made its move. Using its front legs to lift its body even higher than usual and leaving it in a strange tilted position. Then, it twisted its abdomen so that it would point forward and lowered the claws near the ground. Looking at it strangely while expecting some kind of odd attack, what I saw left me¡­ Confused. I do know that spiders shoot webs from their backs, so seeing it shoot it wasn¡¯t all that surprising. But what left me confused was that it actually shot them at its own claws, linking the two with a single red tread that somehow stuck to the stone in its claws. Raising the claws up, it slowly started to make its way towards me. Different from the other times, it didn¡¯t come to me at me in a jump or charge, but slowly creeping forward. Taking a stance with my sword, I prepared myself to use one of my skills when I thought that was the correct time. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. When we were separated by around ten meters, I took a step forward and charged in. It reacted quickly by swinging the right claw in a slanted slash. I dodged by crouching slightly and letting it go overhead, before activating slash from an downwards motion, letting the humongous sword cut the ground apart and come from below. The sword slipped beneath the spider¡¯s head and cut it from downwards up, once it was at its height, I twisted my body around and quickly brought it down back on the spider. Since I was in a bad position, I decided that using any of my skills would take too long, as I had to first set it up. Feeling as the hit connected and the spider made a strange sound, I smiled satisfied as the big numbers appeared in front of me. -73 -53 (5142/5300) Seeing the numbers going up, my hunter instincts kicked up telling me that it was about time to go away. Turning back and activating roll, I got away. Or at least I wanted to do that. Instead I noticed that I couldn¡¯t exactly move away from where I was. Heck, even when I used roll, instead of going forward, it felt like I rolled around a iron bar or something, and ended up in the same place. Staring confused, I looked downwards, and just barely managed to see it. A small and thin red tread held me by my stomach, rolling a couple of times around me before going to each side and linking to the claws. Staring at them in confusion for some time, when I saw the claws raising up high, it sunk into me what was happening, so I, of course, did what anyone would do. ¡°Oooooh¡­ Carp.¡± I said. Before I could even squirm myself out from the grasps of the web, the spider raised the two claws with speed, lifting me up from the ground and leaving me with my feet dangling on the air. Then, it quickly swung the claws in an arc to each side, taking me with it, finalizing with a ridiculously fast spin, that dragged me on the ground before launching me far away until I hit the farthest wall from the cave. -80 -85 -153 -186 -504 (506/1010) Grimacing in pain as I slid down the wall, all I saw were the numbers going up in my field of vision and three or so messages telling me that I got some kind of debuff due to realistic mode. Ignoring all the warnings, the first thing I did when I managed to stand up was to look out for the spider. Feeling a tinge of pain as one of the debuffs warned me that I took damage due to moving, I saw as the spider charged towards me with a scary speed, before suddenly twisting itself mid-dash. I grimaced while following its movement as an idea of what it was going to do popped up in my head, so I quickly rolled to the side and saw as my life reduced even more. -4 (498/1010) But the damage was negligible compared to what would have happened to me if I stood in place. On the place I was just a few seconds ago now stood the back of the spider, where dozens of thirty centimeter long spikes popped up from its abdomen, smashing a seven meters wide crater on the wall. I have the feeling that if that attack had hit me head on, I would have become the very first sand golem in existence. With such a grim thought, it took me a moment to react as the spider removed the back from the wall and started slamming it around on the ground like a huge meat tenderizer. As the impact caused small tremors on the ground, I couldn¡¯t run fast enough, but I still managed to avoid being pulverized by it. After it finally calmed down, the spider retracted the spikes on its back before laying on the ground for a moment. Was it recovering its stamina after such attack? While thinking so, I quickly took the chance to cut the string that was still holding me, however, the sheer size of my sword left it difficult for me to get a good position for doing that. As I lost time, the spider quickly recovered itself from its tantrum attack and turned back to me with a wide motion, swinging the claw in a wide motion. I jumped back and almost dropped The Howler, my sword, on the process. But the spider quickly advanced towards me with wide and continuous claw swipes, the stone blades passing a mere centimeters away from my face as I hurriedly jumped back. Although the string wasn¡¯t exactly tying my arms, the long excess tread tangled with my legs, making it a bit difficult to keep my balance. After five seconds of being flurried with the strikes, the spider managed to land one hit on me cleanly, shaving off a good chunk of my health and dropping me backwards. -78 (420/1010) Falling on my back, I quickly started rolling on the ground, barely dodging the claw coming downwards and taking even more damage from the injuries debuffs I had. Quickly trying to get myself on foot and almost failing to do so, I noticed that the slash had cut the thread such that it fell on both of my sides. -12 (408/1010) Seeing that, I quickly took my sword in hand and took a step back, kneeling on the ground while holding the sword above my head such that the blade was slanted to the ground. The moment I did that, the massive stone scythe came down upon me and skidded off the blade and into the ground, shaving a good part of the damage and the rock away. -23 (385/1010) -23(5119/5300) Seeing a chance after my parry as the claw got stuck on the ground, from the position I was in I quickly activated my skill with the charge effect, Talon strike, first form. Grabbing the hilt with both hands, as I stood up I swung the sword in a circular motion that made it swing really close to the ground before slashing upwards, during the whole motion I went forward so that I could get close to the spider, that swung its body sideways. The attack still landed on the right legs of the creature from outside. Smiling victoriously, I quickly followed with the second form from the claw strike. Quickly spinning the sword so that the blade pointed forward, I twisted my body to the side before stepping forward and activating Talon strike, second form. The second circular slash landed on the same spot, dealing increased damage and applying a movement speed debuff on the spider for having its legs damaged so heavily. Finally, I finalized my combo with a simple swing before jumping backwards just in time to avoid the second claw, that still had the stone around it. -43 -100(Critical) - 41 Combo! X1.1 -202 (4971/5300) Seeing the spider do its weird hissing/crackling sound again in anger, I smiled taunting to it while raising my fist towards it. ¡°NO SO GOOD TO BE ON THE RECEIVING END OF THE ATTACKS! IS IT?¡± I taunted it while applying a useless taunt debuff on it. Well, not exactly my smartest decision. The spider quickly aligned its bottom before shooting a bunch of web my direction. Being caught by surprise, I didn¡¯t manage to dodge it, but¡­ ¡°¡­Missed! HAHA!¡± I laughed triumphantly while seeing the string coiling around the blade in my hands. From the looks of it, the two extremes of the string were made of something else from the usual as it had a strange shine to it and was a lot more fuzzy looking than the rest. While examining the string in my hands, the spider quickly spun around. I quickly prepared the blade to cut off the string, but much to my surprise, there was no need for it, as the spider left a lot of excess string around while it shot another bunch of web to the opposing side, forming a long string that linked my sword to one of the walls. While looking confused at what it was doing, It kept on shooting more and more strings to all sides. Crap? Was it making a net? With the thought crossing my mind, I quickly started cutting the string that held my blade, but it proved to be a bit more annoying than I thought, as any move I made would also move the string. I finally managed to deal with it by stepping on the string and cutting the tensed up part. Finally freeing my weapon, I turned back to the spider, only to find it walking on the walls far away, going to the direction of one of the magma pools. Watching it confused, not understanding why it would leave after making such a trap room with so many webs around me, I saw as it turned upside down on the wall and approached the pool. Then, it started drinking the magma. ¡­ Shouldn¡¯t that be bad for health or something? While watching it clearly drink the molten rock like it was water, it took the two claws and started breaking the rocks from it with each other. After a few seconds, I finally noticed it. Its body started to change slightly the more it drank. From the top of the claws slowly started to flow the same molten rock, sticking to the surface of the scythe-shaped weapon and taking the form of a molten blade of fiery death. The rest of its body wasn¡¯t all that different. The chest carapaces slowly started to get a reddish coloration while the back part started inflating, the lines between the carapace shining on the same coloration as the liquid stone, looking as if it were stones floating on magma. Once it was done, it took a step back up before jumping from the wall towards me, not even giving me time to react as the molten blade crossed the string it spread around. Then, my horror started. The threads it spread around started combusting the moment the liquid fire crossed it. And by that, I mean explosive combustion. The explosions being small, but numerous as it spread through the string with fiercy speed and spreading to any other nearby string that it crossed by. While watching the hellish fireworks spreading through the cave, I almost missed as the spider approached me, slashing away at even more strings on the way. Cursing at my own stupidity for missing the massive beast approaching me, I rolled away just in time. However, much to my surprise, I felt as something hit me in my back and dealt a little damage. -12 (373/1010) While grimacing and thinking what had hit me there, a grim thought crossed my mind. From the looks of it, I would have to use my super secret skill for large monsters hunting. Giving the spider one last look, I decided that I didn¡¯t have any other choice besides now. I quickly took out one of the balls I had in my belt and hoped that it would do its job just fine. A sharp sound echoed through the whole room, leaving my ears ringing for a minute as the ball exploded. However, the sound of something dragging on the ground quickly left it clear to me that it had worked, as the spider was caught by surprise by the noise, and its enhanced hearing made it receive an even bigger impact from the item. Taking advantage of this, I laughed loudly while using my secret skill. RETREAT! Feeling as the skill activated and gave me a 26% movement speed bonus thanks to it being at level three, I quickly crossed the room towards the small cave I came from. Jumping over and dodging under the few remaining threads. Hearing as the spider got up once again and started running towards me, I immediately knew that I would barely reach the passage. Seeing Lily standing there with a worried look, I quickly shouted. ¡°GO IN! I¡¯M TAKING THE ENTRANCE!¡± I shouted to her. Just as I heard the spider jumping up to catch me, I made a dive for it. Feeling the wind pressure as the spider fell on the floor right behind me, I fell on the tunnel¡¯s ground and laid on the ground for a few seconds, watching as my health decreased even more due to the injuries until I had a bit more than two hundred fifty health points. Well, at least I got away. While thinking so and smiling proudly to myself, I quickly turned around and looked at the spider while shouting. ¡°HAHAHAH! TAKE THAT YOU BUFFON! I MANAGED TO SURviv¡­¡± My voice died down once I saw what was stuck on the wall right besides me. A long red string stuck to the wall. ¡°¡­ I know, I deserved that.¡± I said to no one as I saw the explosion spreading through the string approaching me. But seriously, why the hell did it have to use explosions? Shouldn¡¯t that be a high level boss skill? MONSTER HUNTER! YOU LIED TO ME! -152 -42 (61/1010) Feeling as my back hit the wall of the small cave we were using as a base, I felt my body fall limp on the floor. Hearing a couple of footsteps approaching me, I looked upwards, seeing as Ozzur and Lily both helped me up and healed me with shamanistic magic. Aura also approached me and gently rubbed her cold nose against my hand. ¡°I knew you weren¡¯t going to defeat it. Its too much for a crafter.¡± Ozzur said with a slightly depressed tone. ¡°¡­Did I say I was going in to defeat it?¡± I asked confused. ¡°You weren¡¯t?¡± The mummy asked me confused ¡°Hell no! I was just checking its attacks and such.¡± I said while standing up and looking around, finding a certain cat standing in front of me saluting. ¡°I never expected to beat it on our first serious fight. That¡¯s just downright dumb. Heck, the fight I survived is more than enough for now.¡± I said to the mummy once again before l said turning to the cat. ¡°So, What did you notice?¡± ¡°Nyaa-na-nyaa. Na nya ny ny ny nyaaa naanynanyna. Nanya nyyyyy HISSSS nana.¡± Lieutenant replied in a serious tone, making me nod while stopping to think on his words. ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°Huh? Teacher? What¡¯s happening?¡± Lily asked confused. ¡°What? Didn¡¯t you hear Lieutenant?¡± I asked confused before shaking my head. ¡°Anyway, he just confirmed a doubt I had.¡± ¡°Doubt?¡± Ozzur asked confused. ¡°Is it about the boss?¡± ¡°Nope. The small ones.¡± I corrected him while stretching myself and feeling a tinge of pain and seeing my health decrease a little. ¡°Damn it. These debuffs are annoying. Anyway, as I thought, there¡¯s something strange going on in here.¡± I said, making the two look at each other in confusion. ¡°Don¡¯t you find it strange that the spider would leave its nest right after I invaded it earlier?¡± ¡°¡­Now that you said it¡­¡± They said together. ¡°Also, if you compare the number of eggs back there with the spiders we found around here, aren¡¯t there too many eggs?¡± I said while pointing to the eggs at the main room. There were easily a few twenties of them, yet we barely met any smaller spiders on our way here. ¡°I had Lieutenant go and explore more of the cave, and he barely met any other spiders either.¡± ¡°Then, doesn¡¯t that mean that the eggs just didn¡¯t hatch yet?¡± Lily asked, but I shook my head. ¡°No. When I went there the first time, I gave a look on all the eggs there, and they all had a strange horizontal cut around the base.¡± I explained while drawing on the air to show them what I found out. ¡°At first I thought that they had all hatched¡­¡± ¡°But that can¡¯t be the case since there¡¯s barely any spiders, huh?¡± Crys said while making a pensive pose. ¡°Someone actually destroyed them?¡± She asked me surprised. I nodded. ¡°Since all the eggs were destroyed, then it had no reason to stay in here and protect the nest at all.¡± The elemental said in an understanding tone. ¡°So it went after the culprit!¡± ¡°Bingo!¡± I said cheerfully before turning to the entrance once again. ¡°Anyway, we can worry about the unsung hero after I beat the crap out of that overgrown arachnid. For now, I need to recover quickly and go fight it again.¡± ¡°And this time you¡¯ll defeat it?¡± Ozzur asked me dubiously. ¡°Probably not. The process of hunting isn¡¯t something that can be hurried off like that.¡± I told him with a sigh. ¡°I need to learn its skills, its patterns and habits. Only then I can go for the kill.¡± I said solemnly before smiling. ¡°¡­So the great crafter isn¡¯t as hot-headed as he appears¡­ Scoop scooOUCH! Are you seriously going to keep hitting me like that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s teachers orders.¡± Lily said with a dead-pan look. ¡°Good Lily. When we get back, you¡¯ll see some actual Wargon crafting of brand new quality gear!¡± I said proudly. ¡°Before that, I¡¯m going to farm the hell out of it and get some really good mats!¡± While laughing evily¡­ Maniacally¡­ No, happily, about that, I went into dreamland while trying to imagine all the sets I could craft with this monster¡¯s material. ¡°Master. I don¡¯t believe you¡¯ll be able to farm this boss.¡± Huh? Why would you say so? Looking confused at the floating crystals, Crys went on. ¡°This boss isn¡¯t going to respawn like the blazing tails, you know?¡± W-Wha¡­ But then¡­ My dreams¡­ My desires¡­ My plans¡­ ¡°¡­ NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± As I shouted in despair, the others simply watched me with wry smiles. Meanwhile the spider that couldn¡¯t go through the cave gave up and went back to doing whatever it was doing. "Erm... Teacher. You have some magma on your back..." Lily added as i fell on the ground lamenting. Oh! So that what hit me while i was running away! ---- Author¡¯s corner: Yes, the ¡®Oh carp¡¯ was on purpose, if that wasn¡¯t clear enough¡­ Warhawxs X-mas X-Over X-pecial (Part 1/3) Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! MERRY CHRISMTAS YOU ALL! ANYWAY, I know I still owe you guys chapter 101, but I¡¯ll get to it later. For now, let¡¯s talk about what¡¯s happening. You see, me and the author from (Re)Install and Spiritsmith decided to get together and make a three part Christmas special crossover! Why? No idea! Don¡¯t go expecting anything grand happening, though, as the idea is mostly what would happen if the characters found themselves in a room together, so instead of content, we are focusing more on the flow of the story. (If it wasn¡¯t clear enough, I¡¯m also the author of the two other fics, okay?) Anyway, each part will be posted in one of the stories and will be posted one the day before, during, and the day after (hopefully). I know not everyone read all stories, so I will make sure to at least post a link here after they are posted. ALSO, The reason for the delay of 101 isn¡¯t anything serious tbh. I got 1.5k words of the chapter done, which is almost half of the chapter done. But I simply can¡¯t bring myself to write it, thus the delay. ALSO(2), be warned that this special was hastily created, thus the fourth wall is very feeble, so expect some leaks during this story. Enjoy your story! ---- ¡°Oookay...¡± I said while looking around. ¡°This is weird.¡± ¡°Shi-Shishou? Where are we?¡± Yuu asked, seemingly as confused as myself. ¡°I sincerely have no idea, my apprentice.¡± I said while trying to take in the information around me. We were in some kind of room that wouldn¡¯t look out of place in a desolate wooden log cabin, lost in the middle of nowhere. The room itself was fairly simple, with only a bed to sit in and a wooden door with a strange lock embedded in it and a locked window that led to a beautiful snowy forest outside. Besides that, there really wasn¡¯t much to the room at all, except the fact that it was large enough to hold not only the two of us, but also Lieutenant, Cyg and Aura who came in with us. Strangely enough, Aura was in her small pet form, but I didn¡¯t really have enough time to worry about it, as another thing caught my attention. ¡°Thi-This is strange¡­ I¡­ I can¡¯t remember what happened...¡± The floating crystal elemental said in a worried tone. ¡°I¡­ We¡­ Just now¡­ We were in the cave, you were hunting¡­ Then¡­ We are here¡­ Wearing these...¡± Looking at the distressed Crys who was almost literally losing her head on the matter, I sighed exhaustedly before resting my hand on her head and petting her so she could calm down. She blinked surprised before looking up to me, making a sign for her to stay quiet, I whispered only loud enough for the others in the room to hear. ¡°Look, don¡¯t tell anyone, but there¡¯s no need to worry. This is just a discontinuity in time space created for the sole reason of fulfilling the author¡¯s desire to write a christmas special with all his main stories at the same time.¡± As I said that to her, I noticed as the others also widened their eyes in surprise. ¡°How do you know that?¡± She asked me confused. ¡°Magic fourth wall breaking powers!¡± I smiled widely while making a thumbs up, but feeling a chill down my spine. ¡°Ughh¡­ The author seems mad. Better stop here and go back to the story.¡± As I said that, I started taking off the foolish idea that I know what was happening and went back to the usual. Clearing my throat, I went back to the script. ¡°Hmm¡­ now that you mention it, I also don¡¯t remember what happened.¡± I said with a frown before looking at the others. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I mind the clothes. They do give this christmas-ish feeling.¡± While nodding to myself, I made sure to engrave in my mind the image of Yuu wearing a red white fur trimmed dress that went all the way to her knees.On her head laid one of those Santa hats that people wear in christmas. The others, myself included, weren¡¯t saved from this christmaslization of our outfits. Aura, who had already taken the chance to leap on my arms and snuggle against me, had a small red and green muffler around her neck and wore a green santa hat. Lieutenant and I went full Santa claus, wearing the full winter coat, pants and the usual hat, mine being red and his green. Lastly, Crys had her maid outfit changed to a red and white pattern, and although she didn¡¯t have the santa hats, her headgear did get a few cute pom poms added as a ear mufflers. ¡°Nya-ha-ha-ha!¡± I heard Lieutenant calling us. Blinking surprised, I turned to look at him and found him hanging on the door¡¯s doorknob, showing us that it was open. Giving a brief look at the others, I made the most obvious decision. ¡°Let¡¯s wait.¡± ¡°¡°Huh?¡±¡± Crys and Yuu echoed. ¡°Nya-ha-ha!¡± Lieutenant nodded understanding my intention. ¡°You see, I sincerely have absolutely no idea of what is going on here...¡± I held back a laugh at that. Me? The mighty fourth wall breaker not knowing? Preposterous! ¡°But I have the feeling that we aren¡¯t alone. I don¡¯t know how they would react if we went in, but the later we get in, the more impact our arrival will have, right?¡± With my words, the two stared at me in wonder as the idea behind my words. And as they digested the idea behind them, after some time, Crys finally said. ¡°That¡¯s foolish.¡± And turned to the door, opening it. ¡°HEY! BUT¡­ OUR TRIUMPHAL ENTRANCE!¡± I said while jumping forward and trying to stop her, but it was a bit too late and the elemental christmas maid opened the door. Having too much momentum made me go right through the door and fall face first into the floor, just barely having time to take Aura from under me.. MY TRIUMPHAL ENTRANCE! RUINED! CYGNASDAMMIT! As I mourned on the ground, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching me. Feeling as Yuu helped me up, I looked around in a dejected manner, seeing as six other people¡­ People? Stared at me with a various mix of expressions. As I stood up, I scanned the other people, all of whom came from doors similar to ours and were separated in two groups of same size. One group wore strange robe-like attires that reminded me of martial artist, but with the theme of christmas. That said, they had a really unbalanced age variety, with two of them being girls that I would judge to be at most four or five years old, the younger one having long black hair and made my petting hand itch, while the older one had short purple hair and held a fan over her mouth with a haughty look. Finally, there a bald old man with a massive beard who fit perfectly into the easternized version of Santa Claus robe he wore. The black haired girl looked at me in curiosity, while the other two stared at me in a mix of wariness and hostility. On the other hand, the second group had a bigger variety. With an emotionless looking white haired catgirl wearing a red jacket and pants, she gave me the impression of being extremely strong. Besides her was a young girl whom I sincerely had no idea of what she was. Her skin looked ridiculously smooth and soft at the same time, to the point that it was clearly not human. It was milky white coloration with some red markings around it, her ¡®hair¡¯ looking like a single mass that fell on her back. She wore a short red santa dress and hat and hid shyly behind the cat girl while eyeing Crys in curiosity, her appearance also making my petting hand itch. Lastly on the group, was what caught my attention. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. IT WAS A FREAKING ROBOTIC WOLF! Like, a real robot in the shape of a wolf! He was a bit bulkier than what I expected, but he did look really cool as he eyed me with its cameras he had for eyes. The armor moving smoothly as he walked around to the point I couldn¡¯t barely hear it clicking. Noticing how all the eyes were gathered on me, I quickly straightened my back and cleared my throat. ¡°Greetings people. I have sincerely no idea who *snicker* you are, so I guess it¡¯s only fair that I start introducing myself.¡± I said while putting on a pompous pose. ¡°My name is Gondorrer Gravelhear¡­ No wait...¡± Cygnas dammi¡­ ¡°Wait, I got it right this time?¡± ¡°Master. You are embarrassing me.¡± Crys said while face-palming herself. Her voice making the others jump in surprise. ¡°Shi-Shishou...¡± Yuu agreed with a wry smile. ¡°What? It¡¯s such a staple joke that it already became a normal reaction to fix myself!¡± I complained. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s my fault I keep making this mistake! Angrily turning back to the group, I went on. ¡°Excuse me. As I was saying, my name is Gondorrer Gravelheart, I am but a simply crafter golem who goes around killing ridiculously strong monsters so I can take their skin and make armor and weapons out of them.¡± ¡°...Golem?¡± The catgirl asked in an emotionless tone. ¡°I¡­ Never heard of something like that...¡± The small red girl agreed besides her ¡°You¡­ Does that means you aren¡¯t a spirit beast?¡± The old man asked while glaring at me. ¡°I sincerely have no idea what the hell a spirit beast is, but I can assure you I¡¯m mostly harmless.¡± I replied while giving a brief nod and putting on my best business smile. ¡°Unless there¡¯s a monster involved that gets my interest.¡± ¡°Ohoo. Then would this strange golem mind telling me what exactly that gets your interest?¡± The girl holding the fan asked with a haughty tone. I frowned slightly at her words but nodded. ¡°Well, for example, I guess the robot there is the closest here to get my attention.¡± I said while pointing to the wolf that flinched surprised before staring at me. Could he be intelligent? While the purple haired girl and the old man looked at the wolf in confusion, the black haired girl stared at me with her eyes wide in excitement. ¡°Then, does that mean that you would hunt mister robot?¡± She asked me. ¡°Well...¡± Not really, seeing how it was accompanying the two strange girls. I didn¡¯t get the chance to finish these words, because a moment later the white haired cat-girl appeared in front of me, holding me by the hem of my clothes and staring me with an intensity that made my body go numb. ¡°Do NOT touch Beepy.¡± She said. I was about to nod, but before I had the chance, I saw as the floor beneath the girl froze and Yuu swung her ice spear right across her head. However, she jumped back fast enough to barely dodge it. ¡°Don¡¯t touch Shishou.¡± Yuu said while stepping in front of me and staring at the white haired girl. The two of them locked gazes for a moment, but I quickly made Yuu stand down by relieving my petting itch on her. ¡°Don¡¯t mind Yuu.¡± I replied briefly while trying to make my legs not fall down. ¡°She¡¯s a bit overprotective of me sometimes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Not a little.¡± The red girl said worriedly. ¡°Well, your feline friend wasn¡¯t exactly peaceful either.¡± The old man added, lowering his guard slightly before eyeing the two girls. ¡°Though I must say that the two of you are surprisingly skilled. Are you Spiritualists by any chance?¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t, master Roshi.¡± The black haired girl said with a shake of her head. But seriously, master Roshi? Well, he does look a lot like that¡­ I¡¯ll keep him away from Yuu just to be safe. ¡°Are you sure, cute plebeian?¡± The purple haired girl asked surprised. ¡°Although I never heard of something like that, I don¡¯t think that spear is something normal people could ever create.¡± ¡°Then¡­ She¡¯s an esper?¡± The red girl asked with her eyes wide. ¡°But¡­ She¡¯s not¡­ Elf?¡± She tilted her head confused. ¡°...What is she? Lynnian?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a kitsune, and she¡¯s a magical being!¡± I explained while pointing to her wagging tails. ¡°And she¡¯s magically fluffy too!¡± As I said that, the eyes of everyone else in the room suddenly went dead-fish eyed, except for the black haired girl and the robot, who looked at her in surprise. Aah, the power of main characters of actually understanding what¡¯s going on. ¡°...Magic?¡± They said in synchrony while having clear disbelief in their eyes. ¡°Yeah! Magic!¡± I said angrily. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me with those dead fish eyes. Look at this!¡± I said pointing to crys. ¡°How else would you explain a bunch of floating crystals that can talk and act as a maid?¡± ¡°Maid?¡± The purple haired girl asked confused. ¡°Is that the same as an Aide?¡± ¡°...Close enough, I guess?¡± I said confused. ¡°Fu fu. Then are you some kind of noble, Mister Gondorrer?¡± ¡°You can call me Gon for short.¡± I replied with a shake of my head. ¡°And no, if I were a noble...¡± ¡°...I fear for what would happen.¡± Crys completed for me with a sigh, receiving a confused glance from the others. ¡°Oh, pardon my manners. My name is Crys, and I¡¯m acting as Gon¡¯s maid.¡± She said while making a curtsy. ¡°...Cute.¡± I heard the cat girl say for a moment. ¡°Well, taking this chance, might as well as present you guys to my other friends here.¡± I said while picking up the fox from the ground and holding her up so the others could see. ¡°This here is Aura, and she¡¯s a freezing tail.¡± I said while presenting her to the others. ¡°She¡¯s a magical fox who can control ice and is oddly similar to Yuu, but I don¡¯t mind since she¡¯s fluffy.¡± Then I turned around and looked for Lieutenant. ¡°And that thing over there at the dinner table trying to sneak a fish out from the plate is Lieutenant General Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus Von Scratchy the Third.¡± As I said that, Lieutenant quickly jumped up and turned to us, making a salutation and hiding the fish behind him. ¡°He¡¯s a trick cat and likes to play pranks.¡± ¡°Do they also talk?¡± The black haired girl asked anxious, but I shook my head. She clearly became disheartened by that, but the purple haired girl quickly went on to hug and pet her. Hmm¡­ I feel the envy coursing through me. I discharged my petting hand on Aura, who, surprisingly enough, didn¡¯t seem to mind the situation. ¡°Well, that¡¯s it for our introduction. So, who¡¯s next?¡± I said while looking at the groups. Seeing how the two kids were lost in their own world and the Old man was still analyzing the cat girl¡¯s stance earlier in his mind, the red girl took a step forward and gathered her courage. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Hmm¡­ My name is Ruby.¡± She said shyly, gathering the attention of others, which only served to make her shy away a bit. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ A morphian.¡±
PART 2
Chapter 101 - Ice cream? Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO AND PLEASE PUT DOWN THE TORCHES! ANYWAY, AFTER WHO KNOWS HOW LONG, I FINALLY FINISHED THE CHAPTER! I could now throw some excuses how the holidays and new year preparations were kind of screwing up with me, but that¡¯s not true. I simply had no drive to write IO and it ended up spreading to my other RRL fics. So the fault is entirely mine and I won¡¯t deny it. ON the bright side, now that IO is done, I at the very least should get out of this inertia¡­ Hopefully¡­ ALSO, Yet again, no fight on this chapter. Though this might be for good. I decided that the next chapter I will focus only on writing the fight, no matter how long or short it may be. So for those who like the over-detailed fight scenes, you can read it with no problem, while the others can just skip it to the next one. ALSO(2), For whoever it is that¡¯s still following my wordpress, I should post an update I finished on Project: Hero a couple of weeks ago soonish. Glad to be back, hope I don¡¯t get a riot, and have a nice read! ----- ¡°Dang it. So close to escaping.¡± I complained while making my way back to the group. Lily looked at me with a wry expression, getting used to seeing me respawn after the second or so time I died. ¡°Oh well, at least I¡¯m getting the hang of it.¡± I said while throwing a glance back and seeing as the matriarch drank from the puddle of magma to recover its health. ¡°Well, you did last a lot longer than before at least.¡± Ozzur said with a solemn tone while noting something down on his notebook. Since a couple of tries ago he stopped doubting my ability to kill the damned arachnid. ¡°It was down to what, one thousand hitpoints?¡± ¡°One thousand, one hundred twenty six.¡± I replied with a proud nod before frowning. ¡°I always hated when monsters make combos and don¡¯t let me drink my potions.¡± I complained while some memories of a certain monster in Monster hunter came to mind. One that was scarily similar to this one. I had a trauma for monsters with explosive attacks before thanks to a certain slimy boxing wyvern. Right now I¡¯m in a state of mixed fury and sheer terror thanks to this freak spider and it¡¯s explosive web. To be honest, at the moment that¡¯s my biggest problem when it comes fighting it. I can deal with how freakily silent it is and how easily it escapes my sight with it¡¯s three dimensional movement. Also, although the fire attacks are scary as hell, my armor protects me most of the damage, so for me it isn¡¯t a great problem. As long as I don¡¯t get thrown into lava. My armor doesn¡¯t have enough resistance to survive that blasted liquid. Tis be but a matter of time, and soon I shall have my revenge! While smiling evilly to myself thinking of how I would take my revenge on this bloody liquid. ¡°Master. You are making an evil face again.¡± ¡°Whoops.¡± I replied to the exasperated Crys who was shaking her head. ¡°Sorry about that, I was planning revenge on molten rock.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Lily said with a wry smile while gently caressing Rio¡¯s neck. ¡°And¡­ Well¡­ How exactly do you plan on doing that?¡± ¡°Well, first I¡¯ll get myself a set with enough fire resistance so I can swim in magma.¡± I told her my plan with a proud smile. ¡°Then¡­ Well¡­ I don¡¯t know. Drink it or something?¡± I shrugged while telling the joke, but froze for a moment before turning to Crys. ¡°Actually¡­ Would that even work?¡± ¡°¡­¡± The crystal maid stared at me blankly for some seconds before widening her eyes in surprise. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Actually quite a good question Master!. Please do try when you have the chance!¡± She told me cheerfully. ¡°Are you by any chance completely ignoring my well being for the sake of finding a piece of information that left you slightly curious?¡± I asked with a doubtful tone. ¡°You would revive anyway!¡± She shrugged off the idea. ¡°Now I¡¯m remembering why I took you with me.¡± I said with a satisfied nod before turning to Lily, who had an exhausted look on her expression. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± She stopped while looking at me with conflicted eyes. ¡°After all this time I¡¯ve spent with you in this travel you are starting to look a completely different person.¡± ¡°Define: Different.¡± I said while raising an eyebrow and falling to the ground so I could think of some new strategies of how to deal with the spider¡¯s annoying threads. ¡°Less serious than what one would expect.¡± Ozzur said while casting a cure on me to recover my little health from just having resurrected. ¡°Actions that walk a strange border between reckless and genius, and a surprisingly foolish, but straightforward attitude.¡± ¡°Praising me won¡¯t get anywhere, you fool!¡± I said while faking an embarrassed tone. ¡°Teacher¡­ I¡¯m almost sure that wasn¡¯t a praise.¡± Lily said with a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure that Master knows that already.¡± Crys said with a sigh while sitting on my shoulder, soon being followed by Aura who rested her head on my lap. ¡°Huh? He wasn¡¯t praising me?¡± I asked in a fake surprised tone while widening my eyes. She replied with a brief slap to the back of my head, making me laugh a bit at it. ¡°Anyway, so I¡¯m not exactly the serious minded individual you thought?¡± I said with a taunting tone while looking at the duo who followed me. Both of them moved their eyes away in a slightly embarrassed expression which I took as all the answer I needed. Shrugging at that, I turned back to the cave and decided to focus my mind on the spider. Right now my biggest problem was the spread net. I could try and dodge them all, but it was extremely difficult to do when there was net literally everywhere which could explode from all directions at the same time. Another idea I started trying was to cut them all down before it could ignite the biggest part of them, but that also was a bad idea, because I would lose focus on the spider and all I would do was make the net spread itself on the ground, limiting my walking area. There was also the option of ignoring the explosions and charging right in, but that wasn¡¯t an acceptable choice seeing how ridiculous was the damage I could take from those hits. I could try and change my weapon for different tactics, but the time I tried going at the spider with either the bow or the sword and shield proved that my damage output was too low compared to what I could do with the long sword to the point that the change in strategy wasn¡¯t worth it. I need to upgrade those two weapons fast. Grimacing, I opened my status window and frowned at the sight of my level, that had dropped by one thanks to the times I didn¡¯t manage to escape from it in time. Luckily, the biggest hit was to my HP that had dropped by ten points and now rounded to an actually satisfying 1000 hit-points. Going over my whole skill list whose some parts had even escaped my mind in search for the skill that would help me change the whole game around. Of course, such a broken skill was nowhere in my skill list. Yet. Peeking at the unspent Derivation point, I decided that if I did not have a broken skill I could use right now, might as well as make it myself. Deciding that it was about damned time to do it, I quickly opened up the derivation menu and started exploring the possibilities that I could spend it on. I felt that maybe picking something specifically for my long sword wasn¡¯t a bad idea, so my first thought was to go directly to the two handed sword skills, or more specifically, the Hunter¡¯s style table. Sadly, it seems that to derive the Hunter style itself I would need to be of a higher mastery to do that. Sighing, I quickly changed to take a look at the individual skills. While they were pretty strong and broken as the others derivate skills, they weren¡¯t quite what I was looking for to be of use against the spider. They were powerful, but they were mostly a really: Deal ridiculous damage, kind of skill. Very straight forward. The one that did get my attention, however, was from a skill I sincerely didn¡¯t expect much. Slash, for two handed sword skill.
Sub-skill: Focus Slash [lvl9] (Modify slash (two handed sword)) (requires Snipe, Requires a Style) (levels increase with two handed sword mastery)
Your focused mind earned from long time drawing your bowstring helps you empower your attack into a single and powerful slash to sever your foe in pieces, dealing 140% of weapon damage. This skill can be charged for up to two seconds, doubling damage dealt and removing energy cost proportionally to the time spent charging. If immediately after releasing a full charge you receive an attack, your focused mind will automatically deal a counter, reducing the damage of the attack taken by 50% and dealing a second Focused Slash that counts as fully charged. The second Focused Slash can¡¯t trigger Counters. Using this skill resets the time allowed to combo your style skills.
Cost: 25(20) energy
This one is interesting. Not only do I get a fairly powerful skill that can hit hard as a truck, I also get some kind of defensive attack too. Though the whole charging part leaves me a bit confused. Do I need to stand still while using it or can I move around as I wish? If it¡¯s the case of the first one, then this is a bit harder to use than I would have guessed, although still being an extremely good skill. Contemplating the skill, I decided to check the others skills just to be safe, but since nothing really caught my attention as much as this new slash skill, I decided to simply stick to it. Well, not that I had any doubt after seeing the skill the first time, to be honest. As always, I just knew that I would pick it after looking at it the first time. ¡°YOOOSH! Time to go for revenge!¡± I shouted while jumping up, making my two partners jump back in surprise. ¡°Do you have a plan, teacher?¡± Lily asked me surprised, and I shook my head. ¡°Not really much of a plan, more like a list of counter-measures.¡± I said while taking off the knifes of my bandolier and getting a more appropriate set. ¡°Counter measures?¡± Ozzur asked me curious, preparing to jot down any of my following words. I shrugged as if saying that it wasn¡¯t much before nodding and saying. ¡°You see, usually I have a problem with one or more attacks that a certain monster can use. In a handheld console game, there¡¯s only so much I can do against it, but in here things are different.¡± I told him while pulling out two stun knifes and preparing to put it on my bandolier, only to stop as an idea popped up in my head. ¡°While I can somehow deal with a few of the spider¡¯s attacks here and there, it¡¯s usually only a couple that actually give me trouble. All I need to do is to come up with a way to counter those.¡± I explained while summoning some pieces of leather and using my skinning knife to cut it down in stripes. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit obvious?¡± Ozzur asked a bit confused, but I shook my head. ¡°Not exactly. Thinking up countermeasures isn¡¯t the same as becoming immune to it.¡± I explained with a smirk. ¡°The biggest problem is making it work in actual combat situations. Which is what I just thought up just now. For example, what¡¯s the best way to deal with the explosive web problem?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Avoiding them?¡± Ozzur asked. ¡°Nope. That would only delay the problem altogether.¡± I said while remembering the web hell the spider created. ¡°In the end it would get to a point where I wouldn¡¯t have any place to hide or run to.¡± ¡°Then, stopping the spider from using the attack altogether?¡± Lily asked, but once again I shook my head. ¡°That¡¯s exactly the case of an easy on paper problem.¡± I said while pointing the knife to her before taking the leather stripes and tying them around one flame knife. ¡°How would you go around stopping it?¡± The undine opened her eyes wide for a moment before stopping to think. She tilted her head while trying to find a method, but from the looks of it she wasn¡¯t getting anywhere. I smiled satisfied before turning towards the tunnel entrance, where some of the explosive web was still sticking around. I peeked at the cave and saw as the spider left through the other end. Looks like she was still searching for something or someone, seeing how she wouldn¡¯t stop at her nest for more than one minute at a time. I took the chance to scrape off some of the web from the walls and ground around. ¡°Stone mister. Why is it bad that the string go boom-boom?¡± Rio asked when I came back. ¡°Well, that¡¯s because when the string explodes master takes damage, Rio.¡± Crys explained to the small Wyvern, who tilted her head cutely. ¡°And if he takes too much damage, it ends up badly.¡± ¡°Humm¡­¡± The small wyvern nodded understanding, receiving awkward nods due to her innocent question. ¡°But she¡¯s on the right track, you know?¡± I said while dropping all the string I gathered on the ground. The others jumped back in surprise, but I wasn¡¯t very bothered. Via testing I found out that they only combust when in contact with open flame or magma. Otherwise it¡¯s perfectly safe to handle it like this. ¡°Why is it bad that the string explode?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Crys said while frowning, before widening her eyes as my idea seemingly entered her mind. She soon started chuckling. ¡°That¡¯s so like you, master.¡± She said. ¡°Huh?¡± Ozzur asked confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Think about it, mummy.¡± I started cutting long strings and tying them on the handle of the fire knifes. ¡°The string explodes. The explosion deals damage.¡± I looked up to him and smiled gently. ¡°I mean, not only do they have a large range, comes from every side possible and deal unreasonably high damage. If they are so powerful, why am I the only one who have to deal with them?¡± I mean, not only in Monster Hunter, I also have to deal with this in here? Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I mean, why is it always explosions? Do you have any idea how damn annoying it is to deal with those things? Not only you have to watch the monster and the terrain around you, but there¡¯s also effing instantaneous explosive barrels that they spread around! How many times have I lost a hunt just because one damn slime puddle or string of web appeared on the way I was dodging? I just hate explosions so much. I hate them so much¡­ ¡°Monstersthatuseexplosionsshouldalljustdie,gotohellandneveragainappearinfrontofme.Orelseimighttake allthatexplosionandshoverightbackatthemuntiltheydie,thentaketheirskinmakeaneffingpikeanduseittokilleverysingleone ofitsbrethenoverandoverandoverandoverandoverandover¡­¡± ¡°IIIIIH!¡± Lily whimpered while taking a step back. Looking around I also noticed how everyone had opened some distance from me, with Rio hiding herself on Lily¡¯s arm and Lieutenant using Aura as a barricade against me. Hmm. Seems like I¡¯m getting angry. I slapped my cheeks to help me snap out of my explosion-induced anger and went back to my work. ¡°ANYWAY, as I was saying before my dark memories came back...¡± I said while trying to put on a more friendly look and not go back to how I was. ¡°As long as avoid the explosions myself, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for me to explode them myself.¡± The moment I said that, the duo following me widened their eyes as understanding dawned on them. ¡°Also, I noticed something very interesting, but the spider itself avoid the explosions like the plague.¡± I added with a smirk while storing the knife with the thread tied around it and going to do the same to the next one. ¡°Wait, you mean that it¡¯s actually affected by its own attack?¡± Lily asked confused. ¡°Isn¡¯t that weird?¡± ¡°Not exactly.¡± Ozzur said with a nod. ¡°Although rare, it¡¯s not strange for an animal to die because of its own poison should it bite itself. Or even fall for the trap they made themselves.¡± He said with a nod before pointing towards the spider. ¡°In fact, if disturbed while walking, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for a spider to get stuck on its own web.¡± ¡°I seriously doubt this would happen to this one.¡± I said while looking back at the cave before shaking my head. ¡°But this doesn¡¯t matter.¡± I shook my head. ¡°The point is, from the looks of it, even if it have some resistance to explosions, they still should pack quite a punch.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°AH! Is that why you are tying these strings on the knifes then?¡± Ozzur asked me and I nodded. ¡°I see. Usually fire would be useless against a fire monster, but if you use it as a means to ignite the explosions¡­¡± ¡°AH!¡± Lily said with a surprised look. ¡°Then you are going to use these to attack it?¡± ¡°Yup. That¡¯s the plan.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°But I¡¯ll also set the bow as my secondary weapon just in case. My guess is that I should be able to ignite the treads from afar with it, and if my guess is correct, this should make it so that when it sets up the explosive web I would bring it down before it¡¯s even done.¡± I stopped for a moment and peeked at the knifes I had set up previously. ¡°And that¡¯s if my plan A fails.¡± I nodded amusedly. After preparing two knifes with treads and setting them on my bandolier, as well as two simpler fire and one stun knife. By logic, using the ice knives would have the most effect on the boss, but the sheer heat that emanated from all the magma pools around this area made it so that even if the effect were amplified, it would melt far too quickly, so I abandoned the idea. Quickly exchanging the mana crystals I put together with the sonic bombs, I went ahead and tied them to my waist. After a quick test, they proved to be just as effective as I wanted, so at least this I had going for me. Giving one last look to the others and making a motion telling them that I would be going for now, they sighed before nodding. From the looks of it they are starting to get bored in here. Not only that, but a few hours already went by, so the time I had to finish this spider, despite still being more than enough, was ending, so I decided that I would only give a couple more tries before calling it a day. Walking away from the cave, I soon found myself in the middle of the now destroyed nest. Inhaling deeply, I soon let out a loud wordless shout. For some reason the spider would always come up here whenever I started making any kind of loud noises. Probably thinking that it might be whoever it was that had destroyed the eggs. However, even as I awaited, it never appeared in a hurry like before. Usually it would take less than five minutes before it would pop near here, but after getting bored of waiting, I tried shouting once again. Just when I started to get annoyed of waiting, I heard a few low footsteps approaching from behind. Turning back I saw as Aura and Crys approached me. Raising an eyebrow confused at the duo, Crys quickly said. ¡°Master, Aura heard the spider roaming through the tunnels on the other side.¡± She told me, making me frown confused. ¡°On the other side?¡± I asked confused. Aura nodded before frowning slightly and barking something. Turning towards Crys, I awaited for her to translate. ¡°She said that it sounded like it was running around.¡± I frowned confused. ¡°And it wasn¡¯t coming to this place?¡± I asked confused, but she shook her head. While both me and Crys looked confused, Aura quickly turned back and started walking ahead. I took it as her offering to guide me to the spider so I quickly followed her suit. Receiving confused looks from both Ozzur and Lily. A quick explanation later the duo nodded and decided to follow me. I had to make sure to make them stay quietly in the smallest tunnels just in case. They accepted readily, much to my surprise. Though I¡¯m pretty sure that boredom was the reason why they accepted, as they were doing nothing for pretty much a good time. I might need to rethink of how these hunts of mine will go if I start dragging people around all the time. While thinking about this, we followed the blue fox as she sniffed the ground and started to guide us through the slightly messy cave system. While Crys made sure that we wouldn¡¯t get lost by reading the map, it didn¡¯t take us much longer until the other of us heard the sound. Different from the silent stalker, this time I could clearly hear the skittering sound of the legs as the spider ran madly around. The only time it would do that during our fights was when it started getting angry, so this meant a lot for me. ¡°You guys, hide there!¡± I said while pointing to a nearby tunnel entrance and unsheathing my swords. They hesitated for a moment before running away while I darted towards the crossing ahead where the sound came from. Jumping while readying my sword for my first attack, I shouted loudly ¡°Round seven, FIGH¡­ Bwaagh!¡± -23 (977/1000) For a moment I laid there flatly on the ground, trying to understand what had just happened, feeling the stone behind my back as I stared at the ceiling. Did I just get flattened by the spider? It kind of felt like it didn¡¯t even see me back there. ¡­I don¡¯t mind if we fight and I get beaten down fairly, but¡­ ¡°HOW DARE YOU IGNORE THE HUNT-MASTER GONDORRER SPIDERBANE-SAMA?¡± I shouted angrily while turning around and darting forward. I ran after the spider, seeing the large molten-rock like back of it as it stormed through the ground, the sharp feet poking holes on the ground. Just as I reached to the stun knife I had in my bandolier, the spider made a sharp turn down the tunnel, it¡¯s body slamming heavily on the wall, making a large dent into it. This also meant that I had to skid a little to try and keep up with the sharp turn. However, not even a moment later the spider made another slam-turn down the tunnel, only to skid to a halt and start to claw at what looked like a small indentation on the wall. Stopped my run a few meters away from it, watching as it clawed angrily at the wall for seemingly no reason at all. I¡¯m pretty sure that it didn¡¯t even notice me as I ran after it. Point proven by the fact that the game didn¡¯t even consider me to be in combat. While I felt mighty annoyed that he was ignoring HUNT MASTER GONDORRER SPIDERBANE-SAMA, I was also curious for its reason to try and attack the wall. Seeing that it wasn¡¯t going anywhere, I finally sighed and decided that intervening would probably give me answer sooner. So as a good boy, I took out the remaining strings that had remained after my little botching and dropped besides the spider who was still lost in a fit of rage. Heck, might as well as take the chance to try and test my idea, right? Dropping the mess of strings right on the back of the spider, I took some space before retrieving a small fire knife from my inventory just so I would not spend the ones from my bandolier. ¡°Go to hell, you bastard.¡± I said happily, finally noticing my presence, the spider turned to me, but it was far too late, as the knife was already embed on the net. A massive explosion echoed on the room. Since the string was all gathered on one spot, it was much bigger than what I expected, so even I was taken in by the impact, being blown back a good few meters before falling on my back. -79 (921/1000) (Leg injury) While I raised myself painfully from the ground, heavily regretting my decision, I looked over at the spider who was at the ground zero of the explosion. What I saw made me laugh madly. -438 (4862/5300) (Stunned) (Deaf) (Claw Injury) TAKE THAT YOU ANNOYING OVERSIZED CRAWLER! HOW DOES IT FEELS TO TAKE YOUR OWN EXPLOSION TO THE FACE, HUH? HUH? HUH? MWAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! IT FEELS SOOOO GOOD! REVENGE FEELS SO GOOD! IT REALLY IS BEST SERVED COLD! Wait, don¡¯t they say that revenge is sweet? Since it¡¯s both best served cold, and sweet¡­ Is revenge ice cream? Okay, someone really should make an ice cream brand called Revenge. Quickly standing up, I winced in pain as my leg hurt a little, but quickly ignored it and approached the downed spider while withdrawing my sword. No chance I would miss this opening! Raising my sword, I prepared to go and slice the crawly bastard into half. But before I had the chance, something hit my leg, surprising me. When I looked down, I only managed to see the shadow of something climbing up my leg from behind. Feeling an unpleasant sensation on my back where it stood, I quickly tried to grab and yank out whatever it was that had stuck to my back, but it kept dodging my hand nimbly while jumping from side to side. The fact that I had a cape between me and whatever it was that was dodging around didn¡¯t exactly help me. Deciding that simply using my one free hand was leading nowhere, I quickly took the long sword, put the back of the blade on my back and scraped it up until it popped up around my neck, where the cape left. I quickly grabbed the thing, feeling a hard surface before bring it up. ¡°tek-tek-tek-tek-tek-tek-tek¡­¡± I stared at the small creature with sincere surprise. It was a small sprite, like the ones I saw earlier when I first came into the dungeon. Except that it was completely black with some scale-looking lines on its surface, exactly like the scale iron ore found in this mine, and instead of only four small leg like appendages, it had a total of seven, two of which had a strangely claw-like appearance to itself. ¡°Wait, is this the spider¡¯s string tied around you?¡± I asked surprised before quickly removing the red tread that was tangled around the two claws. ¡°There you go.¡± I said before eyeing the creature a bit curious. Now that I took a better look at it, it was also a bit more elongated than the others. Kinda like¡­ ¡°HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!¡± I jumped in surprise when I heard the loud furious hiss coming from the spider. Turning back to it, I noticed that it managed to stand up once again, with some difficulty, and looked towards us. Except that it looked a bit angrier than usual. Like, REALLY angry. Heck, I didn¡¯t even know spiders could hiss like that! After a moment of surprise, the little pebble in my hands started to get nervous and move to one side to the other, finally grasping at my hand and climbing on my arm and once again hiding on my back. ¡­Ah¡­ I see¡­ While seeing the spider start to stand up, looking at me furiously, I finally understood what was happening here. Rolling to the side at the moment I saw it bringing down the massive claw over me, I quickly took hold of my sword and aimed for the nearest leg, but the spider stabbed one of its legs on the ground and used it as a pivot to spin around. Not only it managed to dodge my attack but also slammed me on the chest with its abdomen, one spike managing to find its way to my gut. -102 -32 (787/1000) Being sent flying backwards, I somehow managed to recover on the air and land on my knees, my hand grasping my sword to the side while the other one lifting me from the ground. ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll have to deal with your full anger now, huh?¡± I said annoyed. ¡°TEK-TEK-TEK!¡± The small sprite said over my shoulders while trembling slightly. However, this only served to make the spider hiss once more, so the sprite quickly hid itself behind me once again. ¡°YOU AREN¡¯T HELPING!¡± I complained to the sprite before preparing to deal with the next attack. 102 - Magma-Arachnophobia (Battle chapter) Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO HELLO HELLO HELLO HELLO! THREE CHAPTERS WORTH OF HELLO! BEFORE ANY OF YOU START SCROLLING DOWN, READ THIS. The chapter is a massive chapter with 12k words, or three IO chapter¡¯s worth of content. I KNOW some people don¡¯t like the way I write battles, and while I admit I need to improve, I also know I didn¡¯t do much of a good job in here, being the longest battle yet. HOWEVER, for those who don¡¯t like, I do plan on adding a TL;DR on the next chapter with anything I found to be of importance to the story in this chapter, even if I tried to keep plot to a minimum here. ANYWAY, With that out of the way, I must admit that I¡¯m around 80% satisfied with this chapter. While I do like how the battle turned out, there were a few times where it didn¡¯t feel ¡°Gon-like¡± in my opinion. Might be just me. But after doing so much math in here, I don¡¯t plan on rewriting this any time soon. I will try to improve on the next boss battle, which should happen a bit later. ALSO, I made a challenge in the den that I will repeat here. On the next main story chapter, I will be giving Gon two skills he earned during this battle. I want you guys to try and find out what they are, but please answer with the use of [spoiler]Write answer here[/spoiler] to keep possible spoilers hidden. Here¡¯s a tip for you guys: It¡¯s entirely battle related. Both skills. Think back to how he earns his skills during battle and we¡¯ll see if anyone finds out the answer. ALSO(2), I would like to make sure that today, marks the day where I fooled a certain demon lord with talks of slaughter. Not many will get this, but this isn¡¯t a problem. ALSO(3), There¡¯s a Side chapter coming, with a bit more plot before the next main chapter, and the Q&A that I plan on writing afterwards. Lets hope this helps me get back the momentum I had when I first started releasing the story. Have a good read! --- With my sword still unsheathed, I quickly parried the swinging claw that aimed to split me in half through the shoulder and redirected the blow to the side by tilting the blade. Kneeling at the moment to reduce the remaining of the impact helped me stop any possible damage, however my relief was short lived, as another claw came in cutting through the side. Dodging the attack at the last moment with a forward roll, I found myself face-mandible with the creature, whose fangs seemed to be ready to take a bite out of my head. Not thinking twice before the monster aimed another attack at me, I quickly used my sure-fire escape technique. Casting Unstoppable Charge on myself, I targeted a point right behind the monster before casting Focus Slash. Sadly I didn¡¯t have enough time to charge it up, so I had to do with the simple base damage of the upgraded attack. Thanks to Unstoppable Charge¡¯s effect, I passed right through the spider, my attack hitting it square on the head as it received the bonus from the spell. -129 (4733/5300)(Stagger) Finding myself behind the spider who let out a furious Hiss while stepping back, I silently thanked the fact that its mandible seemed to be a weak spot before quickly turning back. With the tempting thought of trying to land a fully charged focus slash just to see its effect, I managed to hold myself back and take out one of the knives I had tied with the red silk. Using all my strength, I managed to stab the short red blade between the cracks of the shell-armor. -2 (4731/5300) Are you kidding me? Oh well, it¡¯s not like this was the damage I wanted anyway. Setting the knife with the activation condition, I quickly took the other knife and prepared to stab it again. However, before I had the chance, I felt as something became stuck to my waist. Looking downwards, I managed to see a small strand of red silk coming from the bottom of its back. ¡°¡­I really need to be less aggressive at times¡­¡± I said while cursing my impulsive nature to try and squeeze one last attack. The spider quickly took the chance and spun around quickly. The thread sling shooting me down the tunnel at high speed as I flew with a slightly bored face. I totally deserved this one. Putting my arms in front of me just the moment I was about to make contact with the ground, I quickly activated my so trusty defensive skill, Nature¡¯s bastion the moment I was about to crash-land. Stopping most of the damage, I felt a slight pain in my arms as I bounced off and rolled back up to a kneeling position. -32 -11 (878/1000) Trying to stand up, I grimaced as the pain from the leg injury got to me. ¡°tek-tek-tek¡­¡± The little sprite said in a dizzy-sounding manner while popping out of my cape and resting on my shoulder. ¡°Do know that I hold all of this as your fault only, okay?¡± I told the small bugger with an annoyed tone who shyly looked away. ¡°TEK-TEK-TEK! TEK-TEK-TEK!¡± It suddenly shouted to me. Blinking confused, I turned to it and saw as it used the claw-like stones to point backwards. Following his lead, I looked back at the spider before cursing loudly and rolling forward to get some impulse and try to stand up. I barely managed to escape the place as the massive spider fell with its morning-star of a back, destroying the ground entirely. Taking the moment where I felt the tremor to stop and turn back, I gave a brief look towards my energy meter and saw that I had around seventy-two points to spend. I quickly took the chance to go and charge ahead with my Talon-strike skill. Leaning the sword downwards to my right, I took on the blade in a mad dash forward before finalizing with an upward strike to the left. The blade cut through the rock beneath the spider with ease before coming up from below and slashing through it. Since I didn¡¯t have much energy left, I simply twisted the blade around before bringing it back down in a wide lateral swing, using the momentum I gathered to turn myself and roll away, just in time as the spider spun around aiming its claws at me. -48 -43(4642/5300) Quickly turning back to the massive spider, I saw as it recovered itself from the attack and turned straight to me, not even hesitating before swinging the right claw in my direction. By instinct I thought of bringing my sword to parry the attack and absorb the damage, but the idea quickly went away when I noticed how the two scythe-like claws shone hotly. Rolling away, the red-hot magma almost hit me as it was spewed over from the dripping claw. For a moment, I simply thought that it would be bad parrying one of those attacks, seeing how it would make all the magma simply fall onto me. I did it once in one of our fights, and even with my fire resistant gear, the damage was fairly high. However, once I remembered that I still have some of the explosive silk stuck to my body, it went from being bad to downright horrible. Changing mind from waiting for an opening to attack, I quickly sheathed my massive sword at the briefest chance I got in a classic move most Monster Hunter players knew, and turned my back to run away. What? Coward move? Try saying that once you are a one fraction of your health and you have a massive quadrupedal wyvern that can kill you with a roar. Literally. Well, in this case it¡¯s more like a spider that can kill me by throwing a bit of fire, but you get the point. Dashing down the tunnel, I quickly made my way towards a more open area, probably a major mining point seeing how there were a few mine-carts and ore veins here and there. Keeping an eye on my back as the spider pounced at me, wanting to take a bite off this tasty golem, I rolled towards the side, letting it speed right past me and into the center of the room. My sudden change in direction launched the small sprite away, but while I recovered myself it quickly jumped on my cape and hid itself behind me once again. I took the chance I found to pick one of my throwing knives and start scrapping off the piece of silk that was stuck on my body. By the time I was done scrapping the last remnants of the dangerous silk, the spider was already making its move towards me, charging straight on without a care in the world. Thankfully, it was a fairly easy attack to avoid, so I jumped aside at the last moment. Much to my surprised, however, the Impaler kept on its charge until it reached the wall behind me before starting a nimble climb that took it to the ceiling. Damn it. Knowing exactly what was awaiting me, I started running. However, this time I started running towards the spider, instead of away from it. With my leg stinging and not giving me access to my full speed thanks to the earlier damage, It took me some effort to dodge the web shots as the spider tried hit me with its silk once again. However, the scary part was what came following that moment, as the spider drew arcs with its claws, which, when it was dripping with magma, meant that it was spread almost literally everywhere. Add that to the silk already spread around the ground and you get yourself a very dangerous show of fireworks. By the way, my only other death came from the other time it decided to do that. It was also the second closest I got to killing it. Knowing what to expect from a never ending pinpoint bombardment, I came up with an infallible tactic. Taking one of the sonic bombs tied to my belt, I twisted my body and felt as the throwing weapon mastery taking effect, and threw the bomb towards the spider, aiming for it to get as close as possible. The moment it exploded, a ringing sound echoed in the room, and I heard as the small sprite seemed to squirm in pain for a moment. However, I didn¡¯t have the time to worry about it. Even though it had ben stunned for a moment, the spider would usually stab its feet through the rocks to fixate itself, so something that simple wouldn¡¯t be enough to bring it down. Following that, I quickly brought up the inventory window and removed an ice knife. However, I didn¡¯t aim at the spider, but at its feet. Almost instantly, the knife froze up, getting two of the legs caught up in a block of ice right before the spider recovered itself from the sudden shock. For a moment, it simply poked at the ice confused, as if it had never seen anything like that before, but seeing how it didn¡¯t affect it, the spider quickly resumed its bombardment, hanging itself from the ceiling shooting the silk and spreading magma everywhere as the ice melted down. I grimaced before going back to escaping. From the looks of it, my plan had failed. While I thought so, I started racking my brain for another idea, seeing how I was about to run out of places to escape. Then, the spider suddenly stopped and the two legs that were stuck in the ice earlier slipped out. The lack of support seemingly surprised it, as the other legs soon followed and the spider lost all of its grip on the ceiling, falling down to the ground and slamming it with its back hard. -13 (4629/5300) It took me a moment to process what happened, but I finally changed my dash to aim towards the place where the spider was. With its back towards me, I jumped up on its abdomen and stabbed the other string-tied knife through it, this one sinking in nicely thanks to the softer part. -10 (4619/5300) Probably feeling me on its body, the spider quickly started shaking from one side to the other, trying to throw me out. Holding on the knife for dear life, I managed to stick on for long enough to it calm down and set up the activation , however, it quickly started to attack me with its claws, not fearing stabbing her own body to get a clean hit on me. Dodging to the side, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that this was too much of a good chance to let go. Taking the moment it took to recoil the claw, I quickly kneeled on its abdomen and took out the sword, activating focus slash and aiming for a full charge. Sensing the danger, the spider brought both claws down on my body, and I felt pain cursing as one of the blades managed to hit my left shoulder. -132 (746/1000) (Bleeding) (Minor shoulder damage.) I grimaced in pain, but didn¡¯t let go of the charge until a whole two seconds had gone by. Letting go of the skill, the blade made a simple and beautiful arc downwards, the motion hitting the spider right down the middle of its head as a sky-blue trail formed behind the slash. -173 (4466/5300) Although I felt marveled by the large number, I didn¡¯t let it linger too much, as I quickly used the momentum of the attack to roll forward and out of the spider¡¯s stomach just as it brought down another attack. -10(736/1000) Falling to the ground in front of it, I quickly turned around, seeing as it tried to stand back up once again. Looking at my remaining energy, I decided that I shouldn¡¯t let go of this opening yet. Quickly casting the now recharged Unstoppable charge, I darted forward while using Fang-strike, the two hit-combo from my Long sword technique. Bringing the sword down in one powerful motion, I followed by taking a step forward, stabbing the sword deeper and twisting it. Though I aimed at the spider¡¯s head, I barely missed the target and ended up hitting the claws, which absorbed most of the damage. Thankfully, the second hit ignored armor due to its piercing nature. Trying to land a full blown combo on the spider, I quickly spun my body around while keeping the blade in the same place, making me hold it almost to my back, then activated Talon-strike Second form. My body spun around while making a circular motion with the blade and taking another step further. Much to my dismay, the spider managed to stand up at the time, so all I managed to cut were its legs. For a moment I hesitated whether to try another attack or let it slide for now. Deciding that it would be better to not risk too much like earlier, I quickly rolled forward. Sadly, I was a bit too late, seeing how the claw managed to scrap my back, dealing some minor damage. The excess movement also made me lose a fair amount of health thanks to the bleeding effect, while my left shoulder kept screaming in pain. -50 -44 -92(Critical) Combo! (X1.2) -223 (4243/5300) (Leg damage) -10 -10 -10 -43 (663/1000) Seeing my health getting dangerously low, I thought for a moment whether I should go for a potion right now or not. In the end, I decided to be safe rather than sorry, so I quickly took one and chugged it down. +199 (872/1000) (Bleeding stopped) Silently thanking Sol for passing me a trick to enhance the basic healing potions, I stored the empty phial away before looking back at the spider. It was having a bit of trouble to stand up from the looks of it. While I did wonder if it was thanks to the yank the legs took while it was falling or my critical slash back there, I didn¡¯t know. All I cared was that it was good news for me. For a moment, I felt like being a bit evil and trying to do something mean to it. However, before I had the chance, the spider suddenly let out one of its hisses, shocking me and the little pebble who had been tek-teking in amusement at my shoulder. Looking confused at it, I saw as the spider raised itself and shot some web on its claw that had solidified by now, much like how it had done in our first fair duel. The first one doesn¡¯t count since it was an ambush. Not wasting the chance it used for preparations, I stepped in and brought down the sword with a wide swing, surprising the spider that tried jumping back to avoid the attack. However, while the spider had been agile, the silk wasn¡¯t so lucky, and it quickly got parted in the middle by the blade. However, it didn¡¯t become shaken by that, as it quickly abandoned the idea of trying to tie me again and jumped back forward while spreading the two claws wide open. I jumped back to avoid the scissoring claws, however, the spider didn¡¯t let its momentum go to waste, as it used one of its good legs to pivot itself into a spin that managed to land its large abdomen on my chest. ¡°CYGNASDAMMIT! WHY THE HELL DO YOU LIKE TO SEND ME FLYING SO MUCH?¡± I complained out loudly while thanking the gods I managed to bring Nature¡¯s bastion just in time to dampen the damage. Falling on my back, I heard the small sprite complaining beneath me as it tried to get to an open space. -35 -11 (826/1000) I rolled back up while grunting at the unresponsive arm as I tried to stand up. While my leg was at least stopping to hurt so much, my shoulder wasn¡¯t in such a good condition. Hearing the sprite complain on my shoulder, I felt a bit like giving it a death glare for a moment, but gave up on distracting myself. And right on time, as what I saw left me worried. In front of me, the nightmarish maze of strings started forming around the room as the Sulfuric matriarch kept on spreading its web everywhere. Not thinking twice, I quickly sheathed my long sword and activated Weapon Cycle, bringing out the trusty bow, Blazing Grace. Time to put the most important idea to the test. As they say, trial by explosive combustion. I immediately picked a few arrows from my quiver and held with the same hand as I held the bow before nocking another one. Hoping for the best, I pulled the string the most I could before activating the quick shots skill, before following with a simple power shot. However, the targets and arrows of each skill were different. The multi shot I aimed at the various spots of webs spread around the room, while the power shot had a stun arrow and was aimed at the spider itself. Right now, there are two things I¡¯m testing and sincerely hope it works for the sake of my survival. Seeing as the arrows from the multi shot started losing height just in time to stab themselves on the webbings, I withheld a cry of joy when I saw them igniting in flames, thanks to the bow¡¯s bonus fire damage. Not even a second after, the silk started its usual chain reaction of blowing each other up. Except that this time, the maze wasn¡¯t complete, so it was much easier to find a safer spot. But the icing on the cake was that the spider stopped confused, only to become horrified at the sight of its own webbings blowing each other up. Have you ever been in a situation where your room is completely messed up, but you know where each and everything was? I figured that the same thing had been happening here. While the spider was making a mess out of the room, it could find the safe spots with ease while avoiding the exploding web. But now, I messed up her mess. I AM THE MESSIER ONE HERE, YOU STINKING ARACHNID! I don¡¯t suppose that¡¯s something to be proud of, though¡­ Shaking my head at the thought, I saw as it tried to jump away to avoid getting blown up by the nearby webs, however, the stun arrow reached it and activated its effect. -19 (4224/5300) Amplified by the effects of the power shot, the arrow left the spider stunned for a good three seconds as its body shivered in pain. However, the sweep part was yet to come. Not wasting the opening, I nocked an arrow within the bow and stood still, waiting for Snipe, my skill that boosted my damage the longer I stood still. While I patiently took aim at the spider, I saw as a nearby thread exploded near the it, knocking the beast out of its stunned state by making it stagger forward. However, things didn¡¯t stop there, as my plan started to get into motion. The knives I had set up on the spider¡¯s body finally acted. Having set them to work only when subjected to a great impact, it took the explosion of the spider¡¯s own silk to trigger it. As the upper knife exploded, slamming the spider down to the floor, the second one was set to a small delay before blowing up again. With the whole weight over it, the explosion didn¡¯t have much place to escape, thus the full force of the impact was sent back to the monster before me. As it became stunned by the sudden damage it received, I noticed as snipe reached around halfway of its total bonus, and decided that it was enough for now. Letting go of the string, I used my piercing shot skill the highest damaging skill from the bow, and soon after copied it with double shot. Unable to react, the two arrows hit it straight on the abdomen, seeing how the head was a hard spot to land the shot from the angle I was in, and quickly followed with a few other normal shots to stack up the damage. -130 -354 -592 (-1076) (Stun) (Severe web-glands damage) (leg damage) -60 -60 -32 -48 (Critical) -26 -25 -18 Combo! (x1.1) -269 (2879/5300) For a brief moment all I could do was stare in awe as the monster¡¯s health dropped like a solid ball of lead inside a bucket of water. Even the small sprite on my shoulder was staring at the spider in shock and confusion. ¡°Give me an G! Give me an O! Give an N! And now go, Gon, Go!¡± ¡­ WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? Surprised by the sudden cheerful shout, I turned around towards its source, and what I saw simply left even more speechless than the damage I dealt back there. ¡°The crawler got nothing! The damage is surreal! If there was a high score! Gon would top it all!¡± Crys sung cheerfully while waving a pair of black and white pom-poms. Actually, her clothes looked slightly different too, but since she was at the cave¡¯s entrance, it was difficult to say for sure. ¡°Well¡­ Not really, but since it rhymed, who cares?¡± ¡°¡­What the hell?¡± I said confused. ¡°Actually, didn¡¯t you do something like this a long time ago? Like in chapter 30 or something?¡± ¡°Please, no breaking the fourth wall in a battle chapter.¡± She stopped me before shaking her head. ¡°Anyway, I just thought that I should warn you that Yuu and the others are on their way here!¡± ¡°Huh? Right now?¡± I asked in almost a shout, seeing how distant we were. ¡°Yes! They should arrive in a few minutes!¡± I frowned a bit confused, but didn¡¯t bother too much with it. ¡°They said it through the chat, but I figured you would be occupied with your fight.¡± ¡°Kind of difficult to keep track of the chat when one mistake and I lose half of my life, you know?¡± I complained to her, receiving a small giggle in response. ¡°Also, the spider recovered, so you might want to focus on it again.¡± She said while pointing her pom-pom towards the place behind me. I blinked and turned back only to see as the spider stood up angrily while staring four pairs of holes through my chest. ¡°I¡¯ll be here cheering on you!¡± COME ON! IT¡¯S THE SECOND TIME I LOSE MY CHANCE TO WAIL ON THE EFFING SPIDER JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE INTERRUPTED ME! While I stomped my foot on the ground, I saw as the spider started breathing roughly, its body moving up and down in large strides as it kept on looking at me, its anger almost burning the air before me. ¡°¡­Any chance we can sit down and talk this over a cup of cold tea?¡± I asked worried. The spider replied by simply making its usual motion of coating the claws with silk, however, it made a pained sound when it tried to do the action, and while the string did come out, it didn¡¯t have nowhere as much momentum as it did previously. I gave a smirk before leaning back and picking another arrow from the quiver. Taking aim at the spider¡¯s head, I shot a couple of arrows at it, but it quickly brought its stone-coated claws to the front, making them bounce off harmlessly before falling to the ground. Not letting that leave me dispirited, I jumped to the side the moment the spider tried to jump at me and let go of two powershots in a row, both of which landed on its abdomen. -22 -22 -44(2835/5300) I grimaced, noticing how the damage wasn¡¯t all that great, and decided that it was a good time to change my weapon back to the sword. However, the moment I was storing the bow, the spider quickly turned around and leaped forward. Caught by surprise, I tried to jump back to avoid the attack, but ended up stumbling by the unexpected movement and took one of the claws straight to the chest. -114 (682/970) For a moment I stared at the number confused due to the difference between the previous values, but quickly remembered that the bow had less vitality than the sword. Changing to it deducted the difference in total health I had into actual health points. Probably. Deciding to worry about it later, I quickly stood up once again when I saw one of the claws coming straight at me. Although I managed to avoid the claw, the spider quickly followed with a hip-check move, slamming me in the chest. -67 (615/970) Getting out of breath due to the attack, I barely managed to keep myself standing before changing my focus back to the spider, that had jumped away from me. Not really understanding the reason it did that, I quickly snapped out of my state and changed back to the Long sword. Turning my attention back to the spider, I saw as it had turned away from me and headed to the small magma pool on the opposing side of the room. This was one of the things I still wasn¡¯t very sure about this monster. I couldn¡¯t clearly tell for what reason it would so frequently go drink magma. I thought it was for the claw coating, but sometimes even without using it, the spider would simply stop and drink. Well, this also usually meant that I get a free attack in, so I¡¯m not exactly complaining. Dashing after it, by the time I reached the spider, it had already drunk quite a bit, but still showed no sign of stopping at all. As its back started bloating and the dangerous red glow intensified, I quickly readied my blade for an attack. However the moment I did that, I stopped myself immediately, stomping my foot on the ground and taking a step back. Why? Because the spider was doing something I haven¡¯t seen before. And new things are bad when you are hunting a monster. It was spewing the thread from its back, but instead of shooting or collecting it with the front claws, it was instead gathering them with the rearmost legs. Looking at the scene confused, it took me a moment to see that it was using the rear legs to tie the string around the front ones. I cursed myself once again before preparing to step in, however, the spider quickly reacted to the sound I made, because it quickly stopped spinning its tread and aimed the tip towards me. ¡°TEK-TEK-TEK!¡± ¡°I KNOW!¡± I shouted back just as I jumped away just as the massive bottom started to bloat before spewing a large chunk of magma. Caught off guard by this new attack, I stared at the place where I had been just a moment before and saw as the molten rock splattered itself. While I looked at the scene shocked, I turned back to the spider and saw a horrifying scene. It had tied large bunches of string around its claws, but it didn¡¯t seem to plan on using the string to lift me up, like it had done previously. As the idea passed through my mind, I saw a small number appearing above its head. -20 (2815/5300) It took damage. Its own attacks damaged it. While most players would usually take that as a good sign, I sincerely got on the verge of panicking while the monster stared through me. ¡°Heeh¡­ I think it went berserker¡­¡± I heard Crys commenting from the other side of the room. ¡°Be careful master! It¡¯s really, really mad right now!¡± ¡­ ¡°¡­I think I¡¯m starting to get arachnophobia¡­¡± The moment my words left me, the spider darted forward with lightning speed, the coated claw aiming straight at my head. I jumped back to avoid being caught, but before I could open a good distance, however I miscalculated slightly the distance. Rather, I didn¡¯t miscalculate, I simply didn¡¯t have much I could do, as the spider let some magma leak through its claws, igniting the thread and blowing me up almost at point blank. -204 -24 (387/1000) (Sever Shoulder Damage) -60 (2755/5300) Flying backwards for a good few meters, I slammed my back on the wall painfully. Sliding down back to the ground. Hearing a surprised gasp from Crys, I quickly opened my eyes up only to see as the spider was already making a beeline towards me with its second claw lifted. Shocked, I quickly dove to the same side of the claw while ignoring my now almost useless left shoulder. Luckily, this time I was too far even for the explosion, so I didn¡¯t have to deal with it. However, the spider didn¡¯t bother detonating it either, which left it still with one explosive claw of death ready to try and kill me. On the other hand, thanks to its head on charge furious charge, the Spider didn¡¯t manage to stop in time and slammed itself on the wall, making a large crater and making some rubble fall down, hindering it. -30 -10 -5 -7 -52 (2703/5300) Not wasting any moment, I quickly took some distance while chugging down two health potions in a row. +172 +143 (702/1000) Grimacing thanks to the reduced effect of successive potions, at least I felt as my shoulder somewhat improved. Though it mostly went from severe damage to heavily damaged. While there seems to be a potion that improves this kind of ailment, I couldn¡¯t make it yet, and the normal potion had only a minor effect on anything that isn¡¯t bleeding. By the time I had finished, the spider was already up and looking at me. For the first time I managed to get a good look at it and became surprised to see how almost every part of it seemed to glow red. ¡°Tek¡­Tek¡­¡± Glancing at the sprite with the corner of my eyes, I saw as it moved around a bit confused by the shock. Half glad that it had somehow managed to hang on up to now, I changed my focus back to the spider. Running to the side while circling it, I awaited to see its next move. Right as I expected, it took only a couple of seconds before it started doing something. Raising its whole body up in the air and making spikes sprout from all over its abdomen. Recognizing the action, I quickly stopped and turned towards it. For a brief moment I considered if I should try and do what I had in mind. Deciding that it was as nice of a chance as I got, I raised the sword with some difficulty while using only one hand and held it over my shoulder, activating Focus slash and feeling the skill charge up. Being faster, Much faster than what I had seen before, the spiders quickly brought its whole body down, smashing the ground heavily and making it cave in with the impact and spikes, almost throwing me out of balance at the moment thanks to the force behind the impact. However, it didn¡¯t stop there, as it started to jump up and down while wildly smashing everything around it. However, while I had already seen its tantrum attack before this time it had something extra. Every time it slammed on the ground, magma would spew out from its body, spreading everywhere and falling dangerously close to me. A small patch even managed to land on my leg, burning me. -43 (659/1000) Feeling the skill get on its maximum charge, I decided that it was about time to release it just when the spider threatened to slam me head on. The blade made a motion forward and sliced the abdomen of the spider just as it slammed the ground one meter in front of me. Sadly, it seems that it didn¡¯t count as a counter for the skill, so I only dealt one damage. However, seeing as the spider raised itself once again to continue the attack, as if nothing had hit it, I quickly cast both Unstoppable charge and another instant focus slash, targeting the spot right on the other side of the spider. Using it instantly, the moment I found myself in the open, I turned around, seeing the spider destroy the ground of the place where I stood before turning to me. Thinking that simply letting it stop here would be a waste, I quickly forced my left arm to grasp the sword and held it to my side before casting my Charge-attack, Talon strike. Feeling as the blade cut right through the middle of its body in its ascending trajectory, I found myself face-to-face with the spider, something that left me unsettled as I saw the claw approaching me. Feeling as it dug into my back, I became glad to the fact that it was the one that had already been blown up previously. Before it could try and follow up with the other claw, I rolled forward, passing underneath its body in the process. -135 -20 (504/1000) -132 -130 (Critical) -130 (Critical) Combo! (x1.1) -431(2272/5300) (Bleeding) Seems like I took extra damage from forcing my shoulder. While grimacing over this idea, I gave my sword a quick glimpse, seeing as its black blade had become a bit clearer thanks to its natural skill of converting toughness into attack. For a moment I simply stared at it blankly, before remembering the other skill that the sword had. Wondering whether it would be a good idea to try this, I decided that it was now or never. Ignoring any attempt to open some distance between the two of us, I darted forward towards the spider while leaning the sword to the side, letting it cut through the rock as if it was butter. Giving a look at my energy bar, I saw that I had twenty points remaining. Enough for two rolls. However, it was also starting to regenerate, so I guessed that maybe I could use another one or two rolls if I manage to buy myself enough time. Seeing as the spider turned to me by swinging the coated claw, I stopped myself on the track, far away, letting the slash miss me by a wide margin before stepping in once again. Ducking under the second claw, I raised the sword in a sloppy upward slash that missed the target and hit the foreclaw of the spider. If that was even a thing, though. -30 (2242/5300) Dealing low damage, I prepared myself for any possible attack. What I saw was the spider opening some distance from me. Well, actually, it was leaning its whole body back while keeping its legs tense. For a moment I wondered what it was doing, but when it came to mind I couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was a bit silly. The spider was going to head-butt me. I mean, who else could ever claim to have a spider head-butting them? Wait, not the time! Snapping out of the comedy mode, I reacted quickly by stabbing the sword onto the ground and letting the blade sink deep into the rock until only the hilt was outside. With the same hand, I quickly activated the sonic bomb I had tied in my waist, hoping that I managed to reach it in time. The sound ringed in my ears, which meant that for the spider it was akin to a nightmarish sound hell. But it seems that rage is something scary, as the spider only twitched for a moment as if the sound was nothing more than an annoyance. However, that time was everything I needed to come up with another plan, as I quickly went on to my second trusty item, the stun knife. Pulling it from my bandolier, I quickly spun it around and held it in a reverse grip, seeing how I didn¡¯t have time to throw it. Setting the activation to impact, I braced myself while seeing the spider release the tension in its legs and coming at me in full speed. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Stabbing the knife the moment the spider was about to touch me, I didn¡¯t manage to stop it in time, as it kept some of its momentum even though it had been stunned. -54(474/1000) -12(2230/5300) On the bright side, I managed to hold my ground and not be knocked back. Grabbing the sword once again, I started trying to bring it up to make the last cut, but with only one arm, it was a task that¡¯s a lot easier said than done. So, I did what any sane person would have done. I kicked the sword up. Well, more like used my leg to give it momentum, but it doesn¡¯t sound as amusing as kicking a sword. Holding the sword with the blade turned towards the spider, I both pushed it with my right hand and with my right leg. While I¡¯m almost sure it looked ridiculous, it worked just fine, so I¡¯m not complaining. With the sword making a wide arc and cutting the spider from underneath, it also reached its maximum stacks of the passive buff it could reach. Letting it pass over my head and quickly putting my feet back so I wouldn¡¯t fall on my back, I quickly fixed my stance and used the sword¡¯s skill. Shatter earth. The sword who was back to its original form right after I crafted it, shone with a dangerous light as the waves that made its edge sprouted forward, forming dangerous-looking spikes as it dug deep into the ground. Ripping the earth apart while creating uncountable amounts of debris with the move, all of which with extremely sharp points that flew towards the spider with an unforgiving ferocity, the attack left a rift on the ground that advanced five meters ahead and was at least one meter deep. -45 -73 -25 -58 -12 -76 -289 (1941/5300) (Bleeding) Although I was surprised and please by the numbers, I didn¡¯t get the chance, seeing how the spider recovered a lot faster than what I expected. While the spider did get a light knockback from the attack, it quickly recovered itself and charged forward once again, except that right before it reached me, the spider stabbed one of its claw to the side. Recognizing the move as the one it used earlier, I jumped back to avoid the attack, however, this wasn¡¯t enough. Much to my surprise, the spider spewed out magma from its back as it made the sweeping motion, some of it landing on me even though I tried moving away. -78 (396/1000) (Burning)(Burning resisted) I cursed in pain and thanked silently to the fact that my armor protected me from being scorched alive. However, I quickly fixed it by scraping the magma out of my clothes with the sword. Fixing itself up, the spider quickly followed the full spin with a wide slash with its claw that almost got a piece of me. Sadly, while I did escape in time from the slash itself, the explosion still got me. On the plus side, I somehow managed to use Nature¡¯s bastion just in time to save myself from the worst. -13 -32 -13 -53 -111 (1830/5300) -63 (333/1000) Being sent flying backwards, I tumbled on the ground for a few meters before straightening myself up and standing again. Giving a brief glance to my shoulder to check if the little pebble was alright, seeing how it had been quiet for quite some time now. ¡°T-Tek T-Tek T-Tek¡­¡± It said dizzily while swaying to one side to the other. From the looks of it he was groggy from the explosion. At least he seemed to be fairly well otherwise. Turning my attention back to the spider, I saw as it started knitting some more threads while watching me angrily. I quickly glanced at my health before sighing and chugging down yet another potion. +98 (431/1000) Ghh¡­ Seems like the potions are quickly growing useless. Even though I still had a bunch more to fill my health with, with the rate that they were reducing in effectivity, I wouldn¡¯t last much longer. Under that thought, I finally took a deep breath and leaned my sword against my body, giving it support before slapping my own face with my good hand. I noticed how the Sprite flinched surprised for a moment before looking at me confused. ¡°Go to the crystal cheerleader wannabe.¡± I told the sprite while pointing to Crys, who was, seemingly, testing some new cheering routines. ¡°Seems like I can¡¯t try to pull the warrior any longer.¡± I opened my inventory and started pulling some new sonic bombs, knives and other accessories. ¡°It¡¯s time to show that spider how you use the tricks of the trade.¡± I said my badass line while putting on a ferocious smile. ¡°Master!¡± Crys called me, making me blink and look at her confused. ¡°What?¡± I shouted back. ¡°That was extremely corny!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± I said back. The Sprite looked at me confused, and then to the spider. However, since a good time ago the spider had been focusing solely on me. Seems like I really pissed it off this time. The sprite briefly nodded before jumping off from my shoulder and darting away at a surprising speed through the ground towards Crys, who quickly lowered herself to ground level to try and calm down the sprite that still trembled in fear. Looking back ahead, having finished my preparations, I once again grabbed the sword with one hand while cursing the lack of a decent one-handed weapon. Well, a hunter got to do with what he have, right? Time to calm down and be a little less aggressive, as all good hunter should have learned by now. What? I never said I was the best hunter around, did I? Huh? Calling myself Huntmaster Wargon Sama at the start of the chapter? Not sure what you are thinking about¡­ A-ANYWAY! As the spider finished weaving it¡¯s threads around the claw, it looked at me angrily before raising the two claws up high. Knowing that sign to be something it usually did before lunging or jumping forward, I quickly readied myself. The spider came at full speed against me, much like how I expected, and thanks to that I managed to easily run to the side, avoiding any attack it could try against me. However, much like how it usually did, after the charge it didn¡¯t waste any time before turning towards me with its claws. It took me a while to notice this but it seems this bugger can combo into this spin relatively easy. However, the sudden twist also put a lot of strain into its leg, making them bend a bit too much due to the inertia. This meant that right after the attack it would have to take at least a second before it could recover completely for another attack. Using that chance, I quickly tried using one of my skills to attack the beast, but sadly, it was difficult to reach a good starting position with only one good arm, so I had to contempt myself with using the wide reaching AoE skill from my repertoire. All I need to do was to have the sword leaning to the opposite side of the arm that had the main grip. Taking a couple of steps forward, I quickly approached the spider while putting my right shoulder forward and leaving my body half-twisted. Just as it recovered itself I used Claw strike, first form. The attack itself is very simple. A wide reaching sweep with all the strength of my waist behind it. While the damage isn¡¯t all that different from talon strike, it lacks the charge-in effect and precision of a vertical slash that the other skill had. In exchange, it earned a knockback effect and a wide area of effect that was excellent when surrounded by smaller enemies. But the knockback wasn¡¯t something I would count on affecting large enemies like this. How glad that I was wrong. The spider, although it wasn¡¯t blown back by the skill, did receive a stagger as the wide slash hit its legs, making one of the legs bend in and take a step back. Surprised, I immediately considered following with another one of my style skills to take advantage of the opening, but quickly changed ideas. I couldn¡¯t risk taking another attack right now. Leaping back, I saw just in time as the spider let its whole body fall to the side just as large spike speared its way from its back towards the place where I had been, a bunch of magma falling from it as it reached its maximum length. -70 (Critical) (1760/5300) -11 (1749/5300) Grimacing in thought of what would have happened to me should I have followed my attack, I quickly tightened my grip on the sword before leaning my bad arm towards the sonic bomb tied to my waist. Activating it right where it was, the spider flinched slightly, but I quickly took the chance to run to its back where I quickly started charging up a focus slash. The spider quickly got up, but instead of turning straight to me, it simply looked around confused. By the time it finally managed to turn towards me, I had a fully charged attack ready to go. Casting Unstoppable charge on myself and letting go of the attack. The spider reacted shocked and tried exploding one of its claws to stop me, however, I was a bit faster and managed to go right through it with the skill, landing the initial blow right to the side of its head, missing the weak spot by mere centimeters. -145 (1604/5300) -30 -12 (1562/5300) Having aimed to a spot right behind the spider, I found myself looking at its completely exposed back. Well, not completely, seeing how a few spikes had formed around it as a protective measures. I quickly lowered the sword and started charging another focus slash. Not waiting for it to be fully charged, I quickly let go of the skill at the moment I saw the spider turning back. Not aiming at its body, and instead to the claw coming my way, I used something that most people would find odd. I activated my armor¡¯s skill, ignite weapon. The blade impacted against the claw at the very edge while being engulfed into flames. As the sword was ridiculously long, it left barely out of the explosion¡¯s main-damaging range. -20 (411/1000) But, with it not expecting me to force an explosion, the spider didn¡¯t brace itself for the explosion, so it got thrown out of balance by the sudden impact, its body keeping the momentum as it spun around before falling to the ground. -59 -9(1494/5300) Out of energy because of the combo I did, I took some distance and decided to risk not getting an attack while going in. Quickly checking on my ammo in the bandolier, a thought crossed my mind. Wondering if I should go for it or not, I finally nodded and turned back to the spider with a smirk in my face. Time to bring in the DoTs! Or damage over time, for those who don¡¯t know much of MMO jargon. With some difficulty, I managed to sheathe the sword. While I could go for a new Shatter earth, I would be risking myself to an attack too much, so I decided against it in the end. Having done the previous attempt more as a method of amusement, trying to copy that attempt could end badly for me. Watching carefully, I wondered whether I should use another sonic bomb to leave it deaf once again. I had wondered whether the sonic bomb truly had become ineffective against the raging spider or if it was just shrugging off the stun effect. From the last test, I found out that it was the second case, as it would simply muscle its way through the sound. Knowing that, I could use the chance to sneak around the monster as needed, however, I only had a limited amount of Sonic bombs left. While I did rig some with a mana crystal, I was a bit hesitant to use them twice and lose the bomb altogether. In the end, I decided against it, so I simply grabbed the stun knife in my bandolier and dashed forward. The matriarch looked at me furiously and raised its claw while letting some of the magma flow through, however, I quickly reacted by throwing the stun knife at it. Flinching thanks to the effect of the crystal, I managed to close in on it just in time for the effect to end, dodging the attack while slipping inside its heads range. Having already experienced something like this before, the spider reacted quickly by leaning its body back and preparing a head-butt. While I was surprised with its reaction time, probably thanks to the berserker state it had gone in, I managed to react just in time by leaping forward and stabbing one knife in its forehead and pulling myself up. ¡°HI HO SCARLET!¡± I said jokingly while holding myself on top of it as it made its head-butt and soon followed into trying to shake me off. While it did try to reach me with its claws, the way they were positioned left me just about outside their range, while the spikes could only be formed on the rear-most part of its body, leaving me on a surprisingly safe spot. Deciding to capitalize on this chance, I smiled and started pulling out one knife after another from my inventory before stabbing them on its back. -4 -6 -7 -3 -4 -24 (1470/5300) -11 -15 -13 -39 (1431/5300) While grinning to the sight of the bleeding taking its effect the more the spider moved around, I quickly went on to activate all the knifes I had stabbed in its back just as I noticed that the spider was making a beeline towards a nearby wall. The moment its direction changed from forward to upwards, I lost my balance and fell on its rear-part, feeling as a spike pierced me instantly before letting me fall back to the ground. -136 -12 (263/1000) (Bleeding) GAAH! Falling to my back as I saw the numbers raising up, I cursed the damned spider¡¯s luck into landing a critical on me. Raising myself painfully, my annoyance quickly turned into amazement as I noticed the spider miss its footing for a moment, almost slipping out from the ceiling as the numbers climbed up. -11 -30 -30 -30 (Severe poison.) -101 (1330/5300) AWWW YEAAAH! I had kind of related spiders with being poisonous, so I didn¡¯t really expect it to work at first, but it seems this type is easily affected by poison. And I would also like to thank the realistic mode for allowing me to stack up the dosage to deal even more damage than usual. From the looks of it, the effect didn¡¯t just stop there, as the spider was clearly getting dizzy, as its clawed feet would often miss a good spot on the ceiling and slip off for a moment. Taking the moment it took to reach the ceiling as a chance for taking a breather, I opened up a couple of potions and downed them in rapid succession, seeing as the reduced effect somehow helped me up. +83 +61 (407/1000) (Bleeding stopped) Sighing in relief, I turned my attention back to the spider, seeing as it approached a seemingly random spot on the ceiling and raised its claw. Confused, I could only watch in confusion as it clawed the ceiling above it. -30 (1300/5300) For some time I simply stared at it before an idea appeared in my mind. Remembering the sub-skill I got from tracking, I activated it and searched for any important details on the terrain. ¡°Master, what are you doing? It¡¯s getting boring simply watch it die to the poison!¡± Crys shouted from the far back. ¡°Calm down. I¡¯m trying to understand what it¡¯s doing.¡± I said while analyzing the skill. ¡°Boo! This way we can¡¯t do the cheering routine we practiced!¡± Crys complained, making me blink surprised for a moment and turn towards her. ¡°We?¡± As I asked, I saw as not only she, but also Lieutenant and the small Sprite were holding Pom-poms in their hands/paws/claw. Behind them stood both Lily, holding Rio, Ozzur and Aura, watching the scene amazed. ¡°What the hell are you guys doing here?¡± ¡°We were kind of bored, so we decided to watch you.¡± Ozzur explained while noting down something on his notebook. ¡°I must say your fight didn¡¯t disappoint.¡± ¡°Wait, you were there since the beginning?¡± ¡°No, we were in that cave up there.¡± He said pointing to the other side of the room where I saw a small hole halfway up the wall, only enough for two people to stand side by side. ¡°But when the fight started to get rowdy, some magma started leaking, so we decided to relocate. Crys here guided us.¡± I blinked surprised before shaking my head and sighing. However, something he said caught my attention. ¡°Wait, leaking magma? From where?¡± ¡°The ceiling.¡± Lily replied with a worried tone. ¡°It were only a couple of small leaks, but we thought it would be better to move from there.¡± ¡°But it was really warm!¡± Rio added with a cheerful tone. ¡°I liked it!¡± While wondering what the hell that meant, I quickly changed my focus to the spider and tried using Strategic mapping once again. Probably thanks to the new information, I could somehow see as the map marked a hazard spot right where the spider was hitting its claws. I became grim face as I understood what was going on. Spoiler : Not even a moment later, the spider¡¯s claw pierced through the rock for good, a bit of magma gushing out from the ceiling before it quickly put its head in front of the stream, drinking it non-stop while some of the magma dripped down to the ground. -30 (1210/5300) At least the poison was still doing its works, I guess? Sighing annoyed, I was silently thankful that it decided to stop there, or else the whole cave would have been flooded. Still, with the initial breach, it was probably only a matter of time before the whole place was filled to the brim with magma. Wondering how I would deal with that, I saw as the spider finally decided that it had its fill and turned back to me. Approaching me from the ceiling, it quickly stabbed the two rear-most legs on the stone above and swung down at full speed as its claws covered themselves with brand new red-hot magma. Well, since I had more than enough time to see that one coming, I dodged easily, however the spider didn¡¯t stop there and let itself swing a full arc before falling to the ground with a huge impact that threw me off balance, almost making me fall over. Turning towards me, the spider, much to my pleasure, kept itself between me and the magmafall, letting the molten rock pour on its back. Well, at the very least it looked like it wasn¡¯t doing it on purpose, and had simply decided to stand where it fell. Even if the magma fall was still only a thin stream, I decided that laying around waiting to see what would happen was a bad idea. The crack could expand or the whole ceiling could ruin down on us. Recoiling its legs, the spider suddenly leapt forward with its claws wide open. As always, I dodged the attack by jumping backwards once and unsheathing my sword in the meantime. Half expecting the spider to follow with a claw swipe or something, however, the moment it landed the ground it sprung forward towards me. Changing my momentum back forward and quickly followed with a roll. Passing right beneath the spider who stopped its charge the moment it noticed me trying to escape. As soon as my roll finished, I followed with another one to the side out of instinct, and saw as a blob of magma flew its way past where my head was and into the magmafall. -30 -11 (1169/5300) (Poison burned out) I gritted my teeth as I saw the warning that the spider wouldn¡¯t be getting any more damage from the poison. Just as I had started considering simply delaying the fight, it seemed like I wouldn¡¯t get much of a chance. The moment I thought that, the spider turned to me and raised its claws up in the air. Recognizing the sign, I quickly prepared myself for another evasion. But I quickly changed my mind when I sent a glance backwards, seeing that on the path right behind me stood the others in the cave passage. While I did think that the spider was a bit too big to go through that passage, I decided that keeping its focus on me was a better idea. Taking a step forward as the spiders started its charge, I threw its aim slightly off while at the same time stabbing the tip of the sword on the ground with the edge turned towards, holding the sword up with my good hand and using my whole body to support the blade while bracing for impact. As expected, the spider impacted with the sword with all its force, making me skid a few meters back and almost reach the flowing magma even though the blade left a gash on the ground in front of us. Even though it could cut through stone like butter, the blunt side is still blunt, so this should leave it clear how dangerous things were for me at the moment. -76 (331/1000) Right after I managed to stop the spider, it quickly followed with a swipe of its claw, aiming for my head as I tried to put my strength into keeping the blade where it was. I barely managed to duck out of the way just as the magma covered scythe crossed the air above me. Paling while knowing that I was only two attacks away from dying, I grimaced for a moment. But I soon changed my grim into a smile. I mean, aren¡¯t I in the perfect position right now? My blade is literally digging into its head, there was a damage number flying up above, so this meant that it counted as an attack which I could link into a combo, and whatever attack I used right here and right now would land exactly on the weak spot. I mean, yeah, I might be a couple of attacks away from dying¡­ But things are getting pretty exciting right now. ¡­ Yeah, I think I¡¯m trembling a bit. Trembling and smiling. Leaning my other hand against the blade, I quickly pushed it against the spider¡¯s body at the same moment I activated an instant Focus slash. Seeing as the blade shone thanks to the skill, the spider took a step back as the oversized sword split its head in the middle, a hiss of pain escaping it as I held the blade high up above the two of us. Recovering a lot faster than usual, the berserking spider quickly recovered itself and raised the left claw up high and aimed it at my head. Spinning the blade around as it made a perfectly vertical stand above me, I grabbed it with my two hands and activated Fang strike, aiming the attack at the incoming claw. ¡°NOT A CHANCE YOU BASTARD!¡± The downward attack deflected the scythe from my chest to my legs. Feeling as it dug into my flesh, I grinned victoriously, as it meant that the damage I took was less than a blow straight to the chest. Using the claw as a support, my skill continued with the stab and twist motion hitting right in the joints of its legs. -110 -105 -30 -42 (Leg Damage(Ignored)) Combo! (x1.1) -316 (853/5300) -62 (Heavy leg damage (Ignored)) -32 (257/1000) Before I opened my distance again, I briefly let go of my sword and grabbed one ice knife from my inventory. Just as the spider pulled back the claw, I stabbed it on the very bottom of the blade, where the magma was constantly flowing out. The blade immediately activated, forming a large block of ice that froze the entire of the claw. It was only for a moment, seeing how the heat quickly melted it, but that moment was what I needed. With the ice cooling the magma it solidified almost instantly. A shrill of pain echoed from the spider as the still flowing magma suddenly found a jam in its path, the part right before the claw bloating painfully. -40 (Severe channel damage) (813/5300) This time, not even the spider managed to recover quickly, so I quickly leapt backwards before tightening my grip on the sword. I have no idea how the hell its inner body works, but I¡¯m sure as hell the magma it soaks the scythes with is the same one it drink. From the looks of it, the same could be said for the one it started shooting from its back a few moments ago. Heck, I¡¯d even bet that the silk was somehow related to the magma itself. Taking my sweet time downing the last two potions for the day, I watched the spider painfully hold its bloated claw into the other. +42 +21 (320/1000) With enough health to survive one last blow and no more potion to count on with meaningful effects, I prepared myself for the last showdown. For a moment I hesitated whether to be the first one to attack or to wait for it to go first. However, my blood was still pumping at full power and I was raring to go at it. Knowing it was a bad idea seeing how my next potion would at most heal me by one point, I hesitated in deciding what I should do. Finally, I decided that I¡¯d spend my time the best restocking my ammo. Hearing as Crys led the trio into making the cheering routine, I couldn¡¯t help but smile awkwardly at the scene while I grabbed another sonic bomb. Aura quickly covered her ears with her paws seeing the scene, but as I blasted the bomb, Lieutenant mas mid way into a stunt, and caught unaware by the blast, the cat was knocked back into his tail while meowing in surprise. I snickered before focusing back on the spider whose body was now slowly losing the dangerous magma glow that had been covering it. Decided to ask Cyg what the hell happened here later, I took it as a sign that the spider had been knocked off from its berserker state by the pain. Taking advantage from the brief stun and deafness that followed the Sonic bomb, I moved to the side while dropping a small package behind as I advanced to the side. Closing my eyes as the spider regained its focus, only for the flash bomb to explode. While it usually didn¡¯t count too much on its sight, I did notice that it would have no other option than to look for me in the literal sense after I last sonic-bombed it. Seeing as it became blinded, I ran to its side while holding the sword ready for the strike, preparing myself to attack the moment at a moment¡¯s notice. Then, the spider jumped back. Leaping back far away and almost reaching the wall behind it , it quickly protected its head with the good claw while skittering from one side to the other. Watching it in confusion, it took me a moment to understand what was happening. ¡°It¡­ Went on the defensive?¡± I asked shocked. Used to seeing the spider always trying to attack me, it took me a few seconds to process its movement as a defensive maneuver. Caught unaware by that specific move, I blinked surprised before shaking my head. Seeing the spider climbing up the wall starting with its rear-most legs, I snapped out of my confusion and ran forward while pulling out a throwing knife with one of my hands. Throwing the ice knife at the spider¡¯s feet, I saw as it froze her in place and held her half-way into the transition between floor and wall. After one or two seconds the ice melted, but I was, by then, close enough to land an attack. Approaching from the side so that it wouldn¡¯t have as much chance of seeing me, I activated Fang strike once again, seeing how it¡¯s my instant skill with the highest damage output. Landing on its back part, the attack landed cleanly, but was soon countered by a spike forming from its shell and aiming at my body. Twisting myself, I managed to barely dodge the attack before dealing another briefly charged Focus slash. -43 -38 -153 (Critical) -234 (574/5300) Right as the blade left the spider¡¯s body, I tried using roll to escape the vincinity, however the spider reacted a bit faster, and twisting its body, it managed to slam me on the wall with a body blow. -96 (224/1000) Becoming breathless from the attack, I shook my head and rolled away the moment the spider gave me some breathing room, only to see as the spider turned its body away from where I was and twist the back down before sprouting dozens of spikes toward the wall. Getting up, the spider seemingly heard me, as it twitched for a moment before turning towards me and waving its claw in a random way as if trying to wave me off. I watched it for a few moments before getting a rough grasp of what it was doing. It was trying to keep me at bay. Shaking my head at how different it had become, I tried circling it again, but it quickly turned towards my side, looking at me with every step I made. I didn¡¯t get an exact idea of how long it would get deaf for the sonic bomb, but from the looks of it, the time was shorter than what I expected. Cursing, I thought whether to attack or wait for it to move first, but I decided that it was better to let it do its attack first. After some annoying seconds of wait, the spider finally stopped and stepped forward. Spending a few seconds watching me warily, it finally threatened with an attack, advancing with a wide motion of her claws and brandishing it in my direction. I readied myself for the attack, but right as it was about to connect, the spider stopped and jumped to the side it was swinging the claw. Surprised, it took me a moment to react to the spider¡¯s feint, and by the time I followed it with my eyes, it was already a few meters away, bringing down the now solidified magma upon me. I reacted by dodging to the side, but the spider had two claws, and not only one. Unable to escape the second one in time, I reacted by instinct, raising my hand and activating nature¡¯s bastion. -32 (192/1000) Deflecting the blade aside with my hand, I soon followed with an instant upwards focus slash that split right through the middle of the head, only to be deflected by the first claw a few centimeters away from the head. Surprised, I followed with a Fang strike, but it parried the first part of the attack and threw me back, throwing me off balance before trying to head-butt me. I dodged by leaping backwards and opening some distance. The beast never gave chase and simply watched from its spot. -98(Critical) -30 -128 (446/5300) With the distance between us, I couldn¡¯t help but feel confused at its sudden change in pattern, seeing as it watched me while threatening to charge ahead, only to back down and enter a prowling position. Compared to the remainder of the fight, it was completely different. Extremely cautious and strangely defensive. While I wondered what was the reason, I saw with the corner of my eyes as the magma started to slowly creep towards my feet. Grimacing, I quickly started moving away and seeing as a good half of the room already head a thin layer of magma around. Focusing for a moment, I decided that it would be better to take the fight a bit away from the molten rock and towards the drier area. However, if I turned my back, I was sure that the spider would try to attack me... While I felt conflicted for a moment, I blinked surprised before smiling wryly. Isn¡¯t that exactly what I want to do? Turning my back towards the spider, I made my way to a clearer area, closer to where the others were. They looked just as surprised as the spider, and waving at them only served to make them even more confused. Hearing as the spider started to give chase a few seconds after, I quickly made way to a good place and stopped, straining my ears to wait for the spider¡¯s to do its thing. When the footsteps stopped, I quickly activated roll to the side, taking some distance and turning back as I activated Focus slash. The spider reacted quickly. As soon as it passed over my head and landed on the ground, it skidded and turned to me, trying to catch me off guard. Focus slash takes two seconds to charge. From the moment I started, and the spider turned to me, one second had passed. It hesitated for a brief moment, less than a fraction of a second, but soon gave chase, thinking that I wouldn¡¯t be able to attack. It took it one tenth of a second to spring forward, plus half a second to spread apart its claws. Trying to buy me some time, I leaned backwards, finding out at the worst possible time that I couldn¡¯t move when charging the skill. However, the little movement I did was barely enough to miss the first claw. Then, I released the fully charged attack. And the second claw touched me, piercing me right through the chest. In an instantaneous motion, the blade in my hand split the air at a frightening speed, slicing the spider¡¯s head faster than it could bring the claw up in defense. Usually, it would have stopped there, however, in an almost golf-like swing, I twisted the blade back and it raised itself as the complimentary part of Focus slashed acted. -160 -180 -340 (106/5300) (Bleeding) -102 (90/1000) (Bleeding) (Countered) Seeing the numbers, I widened my eyes. So close. So very close. Grasping my hand around the blade, I twisted it mid air and forcefully brought it back down upon the spider, aiming for its head. Although it took a moment to react due to its low life, it barely managed to raise the claws, blocking the attack. -31 (75/5300) -11 (64/5300) -20 (70/1000) Pushing down my sword, I tried to force it until it cut through its body to deal the final attack, and while the spider¡¯s legs quickly gave in due to the lack of strength, Its claws still persisted as a constant hiss echoed. ¡°GO MASTER! JUST A LITTLE!¡± I heard Crys shouting cheerfully. I gave a grim beneath the frown of effort and raised the sword slightly. -11 (53/5300) -20 (50/1000) ¡°OZZUR!¡± I shouted to the journalist as the spider¡¯s claws raised due to the sudden lack of counteracting force. ¡°What?¡± The mummy asked me after a moment of shock. I grinned and forced the sword down once again. ¡°Don¡¯t you effing dare let me die after this, you hear me?¡± -58 (0/5300) -20 (30/1000) ¡°What?¡± he asked me confused. ¡°IT¡¯S DEAD AND DONE! NOW HEAL ME ALREADY YOU BUFFOON!¡± I shouted angrily. ¡°I DON¡¯T WANT TO LOSE MY HARD EARNED EXPERIENCE!¡± -20 (10/1000) --- (Dead) Author''s corner: Numbers are evil. EEEEEVIIIIIL! Tables are stil eviler, though.... Chapter 102.5 - Broken Wings Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! IT¡¯S THE END OF THE WORLD! ANYWAY, TWO IO UPDATES WITHIN ONE WEEK OF EACH OTHER? IS THIS APOCALIPSE OR SOMETHING? Nah, just a side chapter. ALSO, for those wondering about last chapter¡¯s Skill guess challenge. The two skills have been guessed right already, though not exactly precisely, it was close enough for me to consider it a hit. The answer will be left on the next main story chapter, so until then, keep wondering who got it right! Btw, each one was guessed right by different commenters. ALSO(2), I¡¯ll start working on the Q&A today, afterwards I¡¯ll see what I¡¯ll do. ALSO(3), I guess I''ll do something else for today here. I''m not too keen on the whole Cheerleading thing, but i do intend on making the Crys'' cheerleading rountines something that happens frequently. So, if anyone have a suggestion, just post away! Have a good read! ---- Aaah, how much do I miss the old days, where I could roam throughout our little world with the wings on my back and fight with the youngling on equal footing. How I miss not needing a crutch simply to walk around, to be able of wielding a weapon and actually looking menacing with it. How I miss the time I was actually someone important in this place. Sighing sadly as the elevator reached the level I wanted, I used my hand to fix my broken wings before stepping out through the deep white corridor. The guards, posted on both sides of the pathway recognized me and gave a salute. I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit and nod back to them. Even though it¡¯s but a formality now, I still feel happy when someone treats me as someone with value. Reaching the end of the corridor, I laid my weak hand against the massive silver door and took a deep breath. Straightening a bit of my bent over back, I tried to regain some of my composure before pushing the door open and stepping in. ¡°What kind of foolish idea is this, Malzachel?¡± I said angrily while storming into the room. A brief silence occurred as the four members looked at me in shock and confusion, probably not expecting my presence here. The first one to react was none other than my son himself. With his six proud wings and wearing his imposing golden and silver armor¡­ Correction, MY imposing gold in silver armor, he looked fit to be a leader as his blue eyes stared at me. ¡°Father.¡± He gave me a brief nod. ¡°We are planning for an invasion against the surface.¡± He told me gently as if I had grown senile. Feeling angry, I shook my head. ¡°I know that, Malzachel.¡± I said while stepping inside and looking at the table where the plans were laid out. ¡°But what is this foolishness? Haven¡¯t you learnt anything from what I told you?¡± ¡°Father¡­¡± He said with a wry smile before putting his hands around my shoulder. ¡°We heard of your war history. We know that the ones who lives in the surface are strong, but times are different.¡± He said while pointing to his three companions who surrounded the table. Rajari, The Djinn nodded in agreement while pointing out to a few of the plans they had made, a proud smile in his face as he looked down at his own work. ¡°It¡¯s exactly as Zach said, Sir Lordrael.¡± He said in his typical odd accent. ¡°Our division is making sure to equip our soldiers with the very best gear possible, as well as developing some new things. The army from today is almost incomparable to the one who was repelled so many years ago.¡± He said with a nod. ¡°Raj.¡± I said in a disappointed tone. ¡°Do you really think that only changing the gear of our men would be enough?¡± I said while dotting all my words with sarcasm. ¡°You really think that simply by making tougher armor and sharper swords you will be able to best those enemies?¡± ¡°I am sir.¡± He replied with confidence. ¡°The demons won¡¯t stand a chance against our soldiers after we are done with everything.¡± ¡°...The demons?¡± I asked confused as a new piece of information was dropped before me. ¡°That¡¯s correct, sir.¡± Alleria, the Celestial replied in his stead with her usual solemn and melodious voice. ¡°A couple of our own researchers managed to find out that the demons are also planning an invasion for roughly the same period as ours.¡± ¡°...I see.¡± I said while shaking my head and understanding everything. ¡°You idiots are so focused on the demons that you didn¡¯t even bother with the true problem.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not entirely true, sir~!¡± Mihari, the kitsune said with a seductive and playful tone to her words. ¡°It is.¡± I said, making her blink surprised for a moment. ¡°Do you guys have any idea of what brought my defeat so many years ago?¡± I asked, and saw as they hesitated. ¡°Do you know, what happened on that damned battlefield that made the surface dwellers, not only manage to hold back, but also turn the tide of the entire battlefield?¡± For a few seconds there was silence as the four council members looked at each other in surprise and confusion. I nodded satisfied seeing their reactions, but what soon followed was a laugh from the kitsune, as she held back her stomach and rolled on the pillows she laid on. Confused, I looked at her before running my eyes to the other members, seeing how they all smiled wryly. They knew something. They were hiding something from me. Confused, I looked in search for a clue, and Alleria was the one to reply. ¡°Please do not worry, sir.¡± The celestial said with a nod while bringing up some strange file from the table. ¡°We¡¯ve analyzed the data from the invasion many and many times.¡± Saying that, she opened the file and put it on the table, sliding it towards me. Curious, I took a look at the file and read it through. For a whole five minutes there was silence in this room, but finally, I couldn¡¯t hold it anymore as I reached the last word of the report. ¡°You¡­ Are bigger fools than what I expected.¡± I said disappointed. ¡°The four of you are too young and brash to be leading our people if you truly believe that we lost a war just because a few of our soldiers defected.¡± I said while slamming the paper back into the table. ¡°It¡¯s really a shame that your predecessors all perished in the war.¡± ¡°Well, one did survive... but became a cripple, though.¡± Mihari added in a half teasing half angry tone. I didn¡¯t miss as my son widened his eyes and took his hand to the sword. I sighed for a moment before slamming my crutch on the ground and releasing my bloodlust. ¡°Indeed, Mihari. I might be an old cripple.¡± I said while watching as she shivered for a moment. ¡°I might not be even one tenth as strong as my old self, but I sure am a lot more experienced than I ever was. And sometimes, experience talks a lot more than sheer strength.¡± ¡°F-Father...¡± Malzachel said while he held onto the table. I looked at him before sighing and shaking my head. Stopping the pressure, the four of them relaxed visibly as I turned back. ¡°I¡¯ve already told you many times, but what turned the war on us wasn¡¯t the betrayal.¡± I said while raising my head and remembering back to the time where I led my men through that gorgeous green plains against the two armies of my two enemies. ¡°We had underestimated our foes.¡± ¡°...They were a lot more ferocious and dangerous...¡± Malzachel repeated the words he had heard so many times while growing up. ¡°But father¡­ That just don¡¯t make sense!¡± He replied back. ¡°Through our studies, we know that the surface dwellers are weaker than us. We had better skills, better equipment, better tactics. How possibly could they best us?¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t know.¡± I replied while a certain face came to mind. ¡°But I can tell you that I¡¯m sure that whoever did THIS to me, when I was at the apex of my strength, wasn¡¯t a demon.¡± Silence once again. ¡°We really should consider another way of getting that piece of lan...¡± ¡°Ascalurs.¡± Raj said suddenly, making me blink before turning to him shocked. ¡°We¡­ Managed to find ways to bind the Ascalurs.¡± ¡°That¡¯s...¡± I said surprised before shaking my head. ¡°How¡­ Shouldn¡¯t that still be under research?¡± I asked in shock, but Rajari nodded. ¡°It is. Still is.¡± The Djinn replied before shaking his head. ¡°However, it¡¯s still useable. We managed to confine their bodies into special seal-armor that not only give us control over them, but also allows them to phase into our plan of existence.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°You...¡± I looked shocked at the Djinn who had a worried look into his face, before turning to look at all the other members, as they all had smiles that were at the same time wry and ferocious. ¡°...What if they leave your control?¡± I asked in shock. ¡°What if the system stops working? DO you have any idea what that might mean for our troops?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a risk we are willing to take, father.¡± Malzachel said before putting his hands around my shoulder and starting to push me away. ¡°And as much as I enjoy your company and opinions in the matter, it¡¯s time that you let the new generation lead us to victory against the surface dwellers.¡± What? As I became surprised, he started pushing me away from the meeting room, my broken body nowhere as strong as his, we quickly found ourselves on the outside of the silver door, where the guards all looked at us in surprise and confusion. ¡°Please, escort father to his house. He is tired by now.¡± Malzachel said before turning back and closing the door. Feeling as he applied a new seal to the massive door, I quickly cursed before turning towards a guard that was approaching me. ¡°I can take myself home. Stay on your post.¡± I said before walking away. ¡­ ¡°Teacher!¡± Lyrael said once she saw me approaching the door of my house. ¡°Ah¡­ Lyra...¡± I said while watching the young Valkyrie trainee approach me with a worried look on her face. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked while frowning. ¡°There¡¯s a¡­ Man, in your house.¡± She said confused and worried. ¡°I tried stopping him, but I wasn¡¯t even able to touch him! He said he wanted to talk with you.¡± Hearing her words I frowned. Lyra wasn¡¯t able to touch a person? Confused, I quickly nodded before hastening my steps as much as I could while using a crutch to walk. Opening the golden door of my house, I didn¡¯t miss as the young angel held her sword ready for anything that might attack me. Feeling safe under the protection of one of my best trainees in my lifetime, I quickly made my way to the living room, where I saw the person in question. The scar in my chest ached while my broken wings itched at the sight of the person. It was a massive wingless man. With huge muscles and long white hair, he was a towering presence even though he was sitting down into the sofa of my room while watching a strange scenery through a scrying spell. There was no doubt. The presence that he emanated was enough to make me feel the shivers down my spine. It was the same one I felt so many years ago, when I was left into this crippled state. ¡°You¡­ How¡­¡± I said confused. ¡°Oh! If it isn¡¯t the Lord something something angel!¡± The man said while turning to me, showing his scarred face and white beard. ¡°Long time no see!¡± ¡°Why do you look so different?¡± I asked confused. ¡°You weren¡¯t like that back in the battlefield!¡± ¡°Oh that?¡± He asked surprised before making a wave motion with his hand. ¡°I was just possessing a mortal that time. Couldn¡¯t make myself known after all.¡± ¡°Teacher?¡± Lyrael asked confused. ¡°What does he mean? Do you know each other?¡± ¡°That¡¯s...¡± I looked at her, confused and not knowing how to reply before finally nodding. ¡°Yes. He is the man who crippled me.¡± ¡°Name¡¯s Orfeon, Insania¡¯s great god of War.¡± The man introduced himself cheerfully. ¡°And I came here today to repay you for such a great battle from last time.¡± As he said that in a cheerful tone he suddenly stopped and frowned. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Not late or something, am I? Never been good with keeping track of time.¡± ¡°Great¡­ GREAT GOD OF WAR?¡± Lyra said surprised. I couldn¡¯t exactly react to her, as me too, was staring at the man in shock and fear. Why was such a great being in my living room right now. Seeing as Lyra quickly put herself between me and him as if guarding me, I put a hand on her shivering shoulders. If he wanted to kill us, he would have done it already. ¡°What does such a esteemed being would do to repay me?¡± I asked confused. However, the big man simply gave a friendly smile and waved for me to come closer. ¡°I heard about you guys plan, so I decided to show you what they will be going against.¡± He said cheerfully while pointing to the scrying spell in front of us, showing two different groups of surface dwellers. ¡°No real reason, except that I wanted some company while watching this guy. He is usually pretty fun.¡± I frowned while approaching him, standing besides the man while staring at the window. While confused for some time about what he meant, I watched as the two groups, one having a strange stone being, I think they are called golem? talking with the others of his groups, a man covered in bandages and an elemental girl. On the other spell, was a group of three girls riding a carriage, and in this group I understood what the god meant with wanting to show me. ¡°That¡­ Girl...¡± Lyra said surprised while looking at the Kitsune. ¡°She¡¯s pretty strong.¡± I nodded in agreement before turning to my apprentice. ¡°I¡¯d even dare to say that she¡¯s stronger than you, if we were to equalize your stats.¡± My apprentice grimaced before nodding, unable to deny my words. It¡¯s not like we could see her status, but just from the way she held herself, the little movements she made, I somehow understood that she was strong in a way that wasn¡¯t achievable simply through status. ¡°She¡¯s interesting, isn¡¯t she?¡± The god asked, and after some hesitation I finally nodded. ¡°She even managed to follow one of my attacks with her eyes. Pretty impressive.¡± An attack from this person? Just how skilled could she be? ¡°I even asked her if she wanted to be my apprentice, you know?¡± ¡°What?¡± This time I became surprised. ¡°She refused, though.¡± He said while making a depressed face. ¡°WHAAAT?¡± Me and Lyrael shouted surprised. ¡°Why would she refuse an apprenticeship from a god?¡± ¡°Because of that guy over there. He¡¯s her master¡± He said while pointing towards the golem. I blinked surprised before turning towards him. ¡°Looks pretty average, right?¡± He asked and I nodded. It didn¡¯t matter how I looked at the golem, he simply looked like a foolish person with some slightly above average fighting skill. Hell, I¡¯d even say that he should be unable to touch the girl should they fight! ¡°I don¡¯t understand. ¡± Why would she stick with someone who¡¯s clearly weaker than her as her master? ¡°Here, why don¡¯t you guys take a seat?¡± He said while snapping his fingers, making two benches appear in mid air. Surprised, it took both me and Lyra some time to understand what he meant before sitting down. ¡°I thought you might find this guy interesting, seeing how the main plan around the invasion comes from using Spectral beasts bound in armor...¡± He laughed. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a look yourself?¡± I nodded weakly before finally asking. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± I asked confused, not really understanding the reasoning behind his logic. ¡°Well, for one, Little chaos ran off somewhere and I was feeling bored. Then, there¡¯s the fact that no one will listen to you as they think you went senile. Finally¡­¡± He smiled, making me shiver for a moment. ¡°Since I won¡¯t be taking part in the next invasion, I felt like letting you guys see what kind of weird and silly things you will be up against.¡± His smile suddenly turned foolish once again as he offered something for me with his hand. ¡°Popcorn?¡± I blinked surprised before nodding weakly and accepting the offer. It was a strange food I had never seen before. While watching dubiously as the golem challenged a massive spider that was clearly many levels above him, only to be trampled by it, all I could think was... ¡°This is salty...¡± ----- Author¡¯s corner: For those wondering, i¡¯m going with the more ¡°Land deity¡± side of the kitsune, rather than the ¡°Demon¡± side. I did see both being used, so I decided to go with this to balance the sides somehow. Q & A 2nd Edition DUE TO INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED DURING THE WRITING OF THIS CHAPTER, THE AUTHOR WAS UNABLE TO WRITE THE AUTHOR''S CORNER. THE SITUATION SHALL BE UNDERSTOOD BY THOSE WHO READ THIS, SO, IN THE MEANWHILE, PLEASE ENJOY YOURSELF. ---- The familiar stage shines dramatically under the spotlight as the show prepares itself to get ready. Some murmurs can be heard on the background as someone talks in a grandiose tone, while others laugh at the story. Sadly, the thick curtains drowned most of the sounds, so the content was almost inaudible. As the time for the show drew near, silence fell upon the stage as the lights dimmed out and only the single spotlight landed near the corner of the curtain. ¡°Ladies, gentlemen and other type of creatures that inhabit this land. I welcome you all to the second¡­¡± ¡°Hiii! I¡¯m Lily!¡± ¡°Deary¡­ I told you to wait until I told you to, didn¡¯t I? Also, you are Pea here, remember?¡± ¡°Whoops. He he he.¡± As the small banter went on, the large red curtains slid open revealing as a large barbarian with a small dragonid-fairy sitting on his shoulder. Wearing an uncharacteristic tux and a cute white sun-dress respectively, they looked a bit too formal compared to the last show, however, it fit their roles as the showmen quite well. Shaking his head, the large barbarian quickly recovered his focus and said. ¡°I¡¯m Wulf and this is my daughter Pea, and today we are the ones who will keep this show on the road.¡± ¡°Hiii!¡± ¡°Now, to the questions¡­¡± As the barbarian prepared to pick the cards, a voice came from the deep parts of the still dark stage. ¡°Hey, Wulf, you forgot to introduce us!¡± The voice said in a slightly worried tone. The Barbarian blinked before smiling wryly. ¡°Sorry, not used to this whole Q&A thing.¡± He said before clearing his throat. ¡°Well then, if you would, a round of applause to the cast who is under your barrage of probably immoral questions!¡± As he said that, the back of the room suddenly lit up as spotlights flooded the people sitting behind there. ¡°AAAARGH! MY EYES!¡± Said the green eyed golem as he coiled in pain. ¡°For Cygnas¡¯s sake father, give some more warning next time.¡± Complained Gon as he tried to protect his eyes with his arms. ¡°I was in the cave just now, eyes used to darkness, you know?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you get for not telling me ahead of the time about this, Bucolic Buffalo my dear.¡± Wulf said in a cheerful tone, however, his last words made the golem swallow his saliva and nod meekly. ¡°Bad Booh!¡± Pea added with an angry tone before blinking. ¡°Wait, why is Booh bad?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind it, dear.¡± Wulf said to his daughter before clearing his throat and taking the question cards once again. ¡°Well, since you helped me with the whole Show guiding thing, I¡¯ll make the first question yours, Cygnas.¡± ¡°Huh? Tha-that wasn¡¯t my intention!¡± The goddess replied wryly as she smiled wryly, however, her voice fell onto deaf ears as the barbarian smiled happily. ¡°First one is from Tomolone¡­ Geez, what with kids and their web names nowadays? What does that even mean? Anyway, he said: ¡®So, I may or may not have (jokingly) got some followers of the Cygnas cult. Like, real followers. Not readers, but people believing in Cygnas. Yeah, how do you feel about those 5 people?¡¯¡± ¡°...¡± At his words, silence fell upon the stage as everyone simply looked blankly towards Wulf, then towards the Air-headed goddess, who had a blank look that slowly started becoming embarrassed. Raising himself from the chair, Gon made his way towards her, put his two hands on the girl¡¯s shoulder and said with a serious tone. ¡°Congratulations on your ascension to godhood. Now you better take care of your followers.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Wha¡­¡± ¡°Next question!¡± Gon shouted with a wide smile. ¡°Wait, I didn¡¯t even answer that yet!¡± Cygnas interrupted him. ¡°I mean¡­ that¡¯s¡­ nice, I guess, but then I¡¯m not a real goddess in the real world so I¡¯m not entirely sure¡­ I mean, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m exactly god material either but¡­¡± ¡°Next!¡± Gon shouted once again as the goddess started an embarrassed mumbling that half denied half felt glad about the situation. ¡°¡­This might be more fun than what I initially thought.¡± Wulf said with a smirk before shifting the question card. ¡°Okay, next question: This one goes to Bucolic Buffallo¡­¡± Gon flinched once again. ¡°And the Author¡­ Seriously, how the hell do someone represent themselves inside their own fiction as an unclear entity?¡± ¡°Erm¡­ Wulf, you do know this is Insania Online, right?¡± The Author asked with a wry smile, receiving a sigh from the barbarian. ¡°Okay, Okay. I won¡¯t try to think too much into it.¡± He complained. ¡°Xtremeloldude¡­¡± For a brief moment the barbarian made a blank face. ¡°Asked: In a scale from one to angora Rabbit, how fluffy is Aura?¡± ¡°What¡¯s an Angoah rabbunny, Daddy?¡± Pea asked curious. ¡°Is it different from other bunny?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably some kind of really fluffy bunny, dear, seeing how the question was structured, at least.¡± Wulf replied before turning back to his son who had made a dive towards the side of the large blue fox and dug his face in her soft fur. ¡°I have no idea of how fluffy an angora rabbit is, But AURA IS FLUFFIEREST!¡± Gon shouted as he put on a silly smile and enjoyed himself on the blue fur. It didn¡¯t escape the others as the kitsune who stood by his side put on a small pouting face before looking away. Sadly, Gon was too occupied at the moment to notice that and the fact that the author put on a very evil looking smile in his face. ¡°I¡¯m almost pitying you right now, Son.¡± Wulf said amused before shaking his head and focusing back on the card. ¡°Well, another question from the same guy with doubtful taste for name.¡± ¡°Erm¡­ Sir Wulf¡­¡± Hanbei interrupted him. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to criticize the reader¡¯s names in a story, you know?¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°But his name is funny?¡± Pea said confused, as if not understanding why her father was criticized either. ¡°Extemeowdudi. He he.¡± ¡°Anyway, he¡¯s asking Crys and Author why Crys never made any cookie in game if it¡¯s so clear that the author and Gon like them.¡± ¡°Important plot devices.¡± The author said with a nod. ¡°Gon likes cookies? I don¡¯t think I remember him mentioning that to me?¡± Crys replied with a tilt of her head. ¡°¡­Since he based Gon off himself¡­¡± A certain gnome interrupted the answer. ¡°Does this mean that he didn¡¯t add cookies to the story so he could keep them for himself?¡± At his words, the Author flinched and looked away before starting to whistle a certain game¡¯s music. His reaction was so obvious that it was left clear that no answer was needed. Sighing loudly, Wulf shook his head before looking to the next card. ¡°And this one is from¡­ Emeraldge. At least the name is less bad than the previous one.¡± He commented to himself. ¡°And he¡¯s asking Bucolic Buffalo when he will go around making new weapons. And he¡¯s specially keen on wanting to see some head smashing with a hammer.¡± Making his question, Wulf once again turned to Gon, only to see him still in a blissful mood while hugging Aura, who, by now, started becoming a bit embarrassed due to the focal attention, but still clearly enjoying the owner¡¯s attention. However, they couldn¡¯t let that last for much longer, seeing how he still had to answer the question. Wulf looked at Pea and made a motion towards the Golem. Pea replied with a cheerful shout before darting away towards the golem and head-butting him in a full speed flight. ¡°OUCH!¡± Gon shouted in pain before rolling a couple of meters back. ¡°What was that for?¡± ¡°Question.¡± Wulf said briefly. ¡°Oh. Yeah. Just killed a boss. Will start a crafting session soon.¡± He said while rubbing his head. ¡°Ooow¡­ did you have to resort to violence?¡± ¡°Yes I did.¡± Wulf replied briefly before going back to reading the cards. ¡°Now, this one is for Kotetsu, from the same guy as before.¡± He said while looking at the old man wearing a guns ¡®n roses shirt. ¡°He wants to know how long have you been training and if you still do it nowadays.¡± ¡°Ooh? Someone interested in martial arts is it?¡± The old man asked with a savage smirk. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been training even to this day. In fact, I¡¯ve been training almost every day ever since I was fifteen years old.¡± He laughed loudly at this. ¡°Nothing like a good rock ¡¯n roll to keep you pumped up during training sessions.¡± ¡°Did you say Rock ¡®n Roll?¡± Wulf asked surprised, and the old man nodded proudly. For a moment the two shared an amused look before the barbarian finally smiled. ¡°We really need to meet up and share a drink later.¡± ¡°Perfect! I think I saw a licor store selling this cacha?a drink. Been wanting to try that one.¡± Kotetsu said with a smirk. ¡°I got some good ones back in my house, why don¡¯t we¡­¡± ¡°Grandfather¡­¡± Yuu interrupted the two, who blinked surprised before clearing their throats and finish with a nod to each other. ¡°Okay, then, back to the questions.¡± Wulf said before changing the cards in his hand. ¡°¡­ Seriously? This one is from... IsUnavailable...¡± A sigh escaped his lips. ¡°Bucolic Buffalo, he said: Why not try poison, dark and fire to make a stink bomb¡­ I¡¯m sincerely lost with what he¡¯s asking here.¡± ¡°Probably crystal tinkering.¡± Gon explained while making his way back to the chair and sitting down as Aura took her place at his feet. ¡°Well, I could try to see what happens, but can¡¯t say what the result will be until the test. That said, using the combination for poison is more likely to create a poison bomb than anything.¡± He said while blinking and thinking for a moment. ¡°Well, why shouldn¡¯t I try this no-¡± ¡°NO!¡± Two voices echoed in synchrony, as both Lily, the undine, and a mummy appeared from the backstage. ¡°Do NOT start experimenting!¡± Ozzur said worriedly. ¡°We need to have this stage in one piece, you know?¡± ¡°Yes, teacher. Leave that for the main story. After we give you some space!¡± Gon made a pout and sat back in his chair while crossing his arms. While some of the characters watched the scene confused, Ozzur and Lily both sighed in relief as they made their way back to their places. ¡°¡­Okay?¡± Wulf said confused. ¡°I¡¯m not asking. Anyway, next question, Author. When will¡­¡± Wulf¡¯s words stopped as he read the question and he finally sighed. ¡°Mind if I take this one over?¡± He asked the author, who tilted his head confused before nodding. ¡°Anyway, the question is¡­ How long will it take until Pea raze down a village.¡± ¡°Ten seconds.¡± Gon said briefly, however he was ignored as Wulf took a deep breath and started. ¡°Look, I do know that she isn¡¯t exactly the most well mannered kid, but it¡¯s not like she would destroy a whole village by herself. That¡¯s just plain impossible, okay?¡± Wulf said. ¡°Five seconds.¡± Gon said once again. ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve been making sure to keep her free-movement area limited so that she can¡¯t wander off too far and cause problems, so there¡¯s no need to¡­¡± ¡°Now.¡± ¡°Stop that Bucoli¡­¡± Wulf said angrily while turning to Gon, only to see him and the rest of the cast all looking up while standing behind their chairs. ¡°Whoops.¡± The ominous cheerful voice echoed from far above, soon followed by the sound of metal twisting and bending. Not even a second later, the walkway where the spotlights fell, smashing the now disoccupied chairs and leaving a long rectangular crater in the ground where, as well as leaving most of the stage dark thanks to the fact that no more light shone on it. For a few seconds, Wulf watched everything in a blank gaze before he finally looked up, seeing as the small draco-fairy flew near the edge of the broken piece where the walkway once was fixed to the support. ¡°¡­Forget everything I said.¡± Wulf said with a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s not usually this bad, but man, was it a perfect moment for that joke!¡± Gon said cheerfully. ¡°Well, guess its about time to get in general mode.¡± He said while taking a deep breath. ¡°Can someone close the curtains while we fix everything back here?¡± Wulf shouted before the large red curtains slowly came to a close. ¡°We¡¯ll be back shortly.¡± ¡­ As a few minutes passed, some voices started echoing from behind the thick curtains, one sounding extremely angry while the other sounded a mix of laugh and pain. After a few seconds of these sounds echoing, the curtains slowly came to open themselves only to reveal as the cast watched in amazement as Gon was held by the neck of his obi-like armor by a very angry looking fire elemental. Noticing the attention gathering on them, Ashley finally pushed him back angrily, letting the golem fall heavily on the chair which quickly fell back to the ground thanks to the excess force. Making her way to the counter, Ashley didn¡¯t see as Gon raised his thumbs up and said: Worth it. Wearing his usual leather armor with hooded cape, the elemental sat down at questions¡¯s corner and sighed before saying. ¡°So. We are back. I¡¯m Ashley and have been tasked with this annoying task of making the questions for the next part of the show, seeing how the barbarian is giving a lecture to the little destroyer.¡± He said annoyed before leaning back on the chair and sighing. ¡°What about the clothes you were supposed to use?¡± Kotetsu asked confused while noticing that the elemental didn¡¯t wear anything different. Giving a dry glance towards the old man, Ashley sighed before she said: ¡°It was a dress.¡± The elemental said in almost a growling tone. ¡°A bloody red dress.¡± ¡°You mean a blood red dress, right?¡± The author commented with a smirk while giving a distant high-five to Gon who was still laying in his back. Receiving a death stare from his own character, the Author quickly gave in before looking away in fear for his life. For a few more seconds there was silence in the stage as the elemental slowly calmed himself down. ¡°Anyway, since I got this Cygnas forsaken chore, might as well try to end it early.¡± He said while skimming through the cards and burning out the ones that had been read already. Finally finding one that hadn¡¯t been asked yet, she finally read it. ¡°This Griix guy wants to know¡­ Hey, golem bastard. And also to the megalomaniacal piece of trash, I guess. He asked when will the guild go in action. And why they didn¡¯t appear in the real life arc.¡± ¡°Wait, they did appear!¡± Gon said while lifting his chair back up. ¡°Well, at least two third of them appeared. They were the Paul and Barbara that appear when I was arriving at my building with Yuu, remember?¡± ¡°Speaking of which, I don¡¯t think we met the last one, right?¡± Hanbei added confused, and Gon nodded. ¡°Yeah, that last one¡­ It¡¯s not that weird for him to disappear for months at a time.¡± The author said with a wry smile as he looked away. Gon sighed for a long time before nodding. ¡°And it¡¯s only been what, two weeks of in-story time? Still within his usual disappearance time.¡± Gon added. ¡°That said, they will appear soon in this arc.¡± The author added quickly. ¡°¡°We will?¡±¡± The two draconids asked surprised from the far end of the story. ¡°Yeah, but for now you guys can go back to being forgotten characters. Can¡¯t miss my chance of making a fourth wall joke out of that, right?¡± Gon said with a smirk before the two members of his guild slowly felt the information sinking in. They started an angry cry, but they were slowly dragged in by the darkness of the forgotten characters long before their voices could be heard. ¡°¡­What the hell just happened?¡± Ashley asked horrified as the two characters simply disappeared from existence. ¡°Plot devices.¡± The author nodded before making a motion. ¡°You¡¯ll forget them in no time. Next question!¡± Ashley nodded slowly before moving on to the next card. ¡°Errm¡­ To the slime ninja maid thingy there.¡± Ashley said while waving towards Yami, who replied with a nod. ¡°There¡¯s this Zip guy¡­ He¡¯s asking if you shouldn¡¯t get some throwing knifes and flash bangs¡­ are these those annoying bombs of light? Anyway, he¡¯s telling you to steal them from the piece of trash.¡± ¡°Fu fu fu.¡± The maid said with a smirk while covering her mouth with her hand. ¡°Consider it done already. This will be amusing.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Gon asked surprised. ¡°And hey, who¡¯s a pile of trash?¡± He shouted angrily. ¡°Well, I must agree with him there.¡± Yami said with a nod. ¡°Isn¡¯t it clear that he¡¯s a disgusting pervert instead of trash?¡± ¡°¡­It seems like I¡¯ll have to teach you a lesson later, Ero-maid.¡± Gon said as a vein popped up in his head. ¡°Okay, leaving the two retards there, still the same zip thing is asking...¡± He stopped for a moment before turning to the cast, her eyes running through each of their faces until its stopped over a certain kitsune¡¯s face. ¡°Ermmm¡­ By any chance, you wouldn¡¯t happen to be Yuu, would you?¡± She asked with a much meeker and respectful tone. Yuu nodded confused, which made Ashley sigh in depression. ¡°Well¡­ Zip is asking what you think about your drunk actions, and is stating in big bold italicized flashing letters that you should never, ever, under any circumstances, get drunk again.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yuu asked surprised while thinking of his words, before finally blushing into a bright red coloration as she started mumbling something in a low voice.. However, her reaction didn¡¯t escape Kotetsu¡¯s notice, as he widened his eyes and turned to his grand daughter ¡°I want to hear about that.¡± He said with a cheerful amused tone. ¡°So, what exactly happened?¡± At his words, Yuu only blushed even more as she started muttering things that had no meaning and looked from one side to the other. Seeing that they weren¡¯t going to make any progress with her in that state, Ashley quickly burned the card away before going to the next one as the nightmares from seeing the angry drunk Yuu replayed vividly in her memories. ¡°Okay, done with that. Good. Next question¡­¡± He stopped for a moment while skimming through the question. ¡°¡­I think the questioned is called Metrux32¡­ But¡­ What language is this?¡± Blinking surprised, the Cast all looked confused towards the elemental before Crys finally snapped out of the confused state and blinked herself behind the elemental, who almost jumped out in surprise as she noticed the goddess reading over his shoulder. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Oh, he wrote it in another language¡­¡± She said confused before waving her hand over the card. ¡°There you go. That should help.¡± At a wave of her hands, the card¡¯s letter shifted and rearranged themselves as the magic worked its effect, ending up in a translated phrase. As the goddess smiled happily, the elemental simply stared at her in shock and confusion as the goddess whom most of his world venerated put herself so close to her. ¡°¡­Ashley?¡± Cygnas called her, and the elemental snapped out of it by shaking her head. ¡°Sorry¡­ I¡­ Ermm¡­ Well¡­¡± ¡°This is out of continuity! Don¡¯t think too hard!¡± Gon shouted from the crowd, only to receive a death glare from the elemental. ¡°Sorry.¡± Ashley cleared her throat as she saw Cygnas smiling gently and wryly at her before finally blinking back to her seat. ¡°Well, the question is¡­ Trash pile. He wants to know what orders you plan on making your next weapons seeing how you¡¯ve been using your for some time already.¡± The elemental looked at the golem dryly while adding in a voice loud enough for him to hear. ¡°I really hope your weapon breaks from over use.¡± ¡°Aww, You love me and you know that.¡± The golem said while faking a bashfulness. Ashley would have rebutted immediately if it wasn¡¯t for the chill running down on her spine as the still bashful kitsune gave her a brief glance. ¡°¡­What, No comeback?¡± Gon asked confused before shrugging. ¡°Anyway, I plan on getting myself some heavy hitters next, so I¡¯m kinda of torn up between the good ol¡¯e hammer or the great sword.¡± ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t that thing you carry along a great sword?¡± Ashley asked genuinely confused. ¡°NO! THAT¡¯S A LONG SWORD! I REFUSE ACCEPTING THAT AS ANYTHING ELSE!¡± Gon said before entering a sulking mood. ¡°Stupid game and his arbitrary weapon classification rules.¡± ¡°¡­Okaay?¡± Ashley said confused, only to watch as his goddess made a motion to not think too much about it. ¡°Well¡­ Second is for the kitsune¡¯s grandfather. He wants to know what you think of the trash pile, seeing how you don¡¯t seem to be as jealous as your son.¡± Ashley gave Gon a glance for a moment before looking to the old man, who had an amused smile. ¡°Oh. He¡¯s amusing, that¡¯s for sure.¡± He said with a loud laugh. ¡°Amusing? Really?¡± Ashley asked with a deadpan disgusted look. ¡°¡­That thing?¡± ¡°Yup. That, and despite how Yuu is, I don¡¯t think she¡¯s bad judge of character.¡± The old man replied with a more serious look. ¡°Besides, who am I to judge who my grand daughter wants to marry when my wife chose me despite me being a commoner?¡± ¡°Boom! Plot exposition!¡± The author said with a smirk. ¡°Can you even do that?¡± Cygnas asked confused. ¡°My story! My Rules!¡± The author said with a stuffed out chest and crossing his arms over full of pride. ¡°Okay...¡± Ashley added with a weirded out look. ¡°¡­WAIT A SECOND! ISN¡¯T IT YOUR FAULT THAT I AM LIKE THIS?¡± She shouted as she stood up in anger and pointed at the author. ¡°Nooo? How could that possibly be my fault?¡± The author said wryly as he looked away, trying to avoid eye contact. ¡°You¡­ YOU BASTARD!¡± Ashely said as she started jumping over the showman¡¯s table and running over to the Author¡¯s side, where he grabbed his neck and started strangling him. ¡°IF YOU DIDN¡¯T DECIDE TO MAKE ME LIKE THIS, I WOULDN¡¯T BE SUFFERING TO THAT GOLEM¡¯S ANNOYING BANTER!¡± ¡°*pant* Wait¡­ *Pant* Breathing¡­ *Hack, cough* Hard¡­¡± As the author¡¯s extremely handsome face slowly started getting a more blueish coloration, Gon quickly sprouted back to action by jumping and grabbing Ashley by the arms and pulling her away from the author as the fire elemental tried to bite and attack him. ¡°Easy there rival.¡± The golem said while pulling the androgynous elemental back. ¡°If the author dies now, we won¡¯t get a continuation of the story, you know?¡± ¡°GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR¡­¡± The elemental growled angrily for a few second while eyeing both Gon and the Author, who was kneeling down on the ground with his hand over his throat trying to breathe in. After a few seconds he finally calmed down and turned away while still growling. Subtly, the Author raised his hand and made a thumbs up towards the golem, who replied in kind before turning back to his seat. ¡°*grumble grumble*Nolo*grumble grumble* Think about *Grumble grumble* New monster hunter. *Grumble grumble* Tips for new hunters*Grumble grumble*¡± At his words, both Gon and the Author froze in their tracks as the two turned their heads towards the elemental like badly oiled machines. Their previous states nowhere near to how they were as a wide smile appeared in their face. ¡°¡°TEAM RAIZEX FOR THE WIN!¡±¡± They shouted in synchrony. ¡°I¡¯m SOOO using Aerial switch axe!¡± ¡°But bushido bow looks soooo badass.¡± ¡°CUTTING TAILS WITH ARROWS! SO FREAKING SWEET MAN!¡± ¡°What about Aerial great sword?¡± ¡°No. Hunting horn is the way to go man.¡± ¡°And the new Zinogre?¡± ¡°MAAAAAN! I HEARD HE¡¯S A MONSTER!¡± ¡°LAGIA IS BACK! LAGIA EFFING ACRUS IS BACK MAAAAAAN!¡± ¡­ Ten minutes later as the two idiots went on and on about the features of the new monster hunter game, the remainder of the cast finally lost their patience while Ashley regained her¡¯s. Clearing her throat, the two idiots¡­ Ermm¡­ The idiot and the handsome fool both stopped and turned to him with wry smiles. ¡°We¡­ Went on and on¡­ Didn¡¯t we?¡± Gon asked and received a slow nod in reply. ¡°Sorry¡­¡± ¡°A-Anyway. For the second part¡­¡± The author said. ¡°To put it simply, I¡¯d say to look for which weapon you like the best first, then search some tutorials online.¡± ¡°Y-Yeah¡­ And if you have a friend who knows the game for longer, don¡¯t be shy to ask for some guidance.¡± Gon added. ¡°The game¡¯s not simple, by any means, and we could write a whole chapter only about this.¡± ¡°Well, lastly, don¡¯t try to stick to just one weapon. Try branching to different types of weapons or even making many different weapons of the same type. Depending on the weapon, you might even change your playstyle completely thanks to that small detail.¡± Gon nodded in agreement and prepared himself to add something more, but receiving a death glare from Cyg, he quickly calmed and sat down, while clearly fidgeting wanting to speak more. The author wasn¡¯t in a much better state, though. ¡°Anyway, this nolo guy still wants to know: The whole main cast, how long will it take to trash pile to ask Yuu out?¡± At her words, the whole stage went silent as Yuu became even more embarrassed and this time even Gon blushed slightly. ¡°Aren¡¯t they going out already?¡± ¡°They still didn¡¯t confess?¡± ¡°I expected Gon to be a bit more shameless to be honest.¡± ¡°Well, they are somewhat cute when we touch this topic.¡± As the various cast gave their opinions to themselves, the one who finally gave the final words was, surprisingly, Ashley, who sighed before saying. ¡°To be honest, from what I saw they are in a more than friend, less than lovers state, and from the way they react to each other, I¡¯d say its only a matter of weeks before it becomes official.¡± The elemental gave her opinion on the matter, stunning most of the characters as they stared at her in confusion and shock. ¡°What, isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± ¡°¡­I kind of forgot, but she¡¯s really good at relationship advices, isn¡¯t she?¡± Yami asked in a surprised tone while nodding to herself. ¡°W-What? Why are you all looking at me like that?¡± The Elemental asked embarrassed as she noticed the whole cast giving her sympathetic looks. ¡°A-Anyway, that said, there¡¯s this¡­ J0nn0¡­¡± He blinked surprised before shaking her head. ¡°How the hell did I even pronounce that¡­ Anyway. He asked if there will be non-player deaths¡­?¡± Frowning confused, Ashley turned towards the Author as she tried to understand the question. ¡°Yes. Much later, though.¡± The author replied seriously for once. Not really understanding what those words meant, the elemental finally shrugged and went on to the next question. ¡°He also asked¡­ Can he use IO for his¡­ NQaA story¡­?¡± Ashley frowned once again before sighing. ¡°Why do I have the feeling I¡¯m missing out a lot of things with all these abbreviations and strange terms?¡± ¡°Just your imagination.¡± The author replied briefly before shrugging. ¡°Sure sna¡­ Erm, J0nn0. Go ahead.¡± Ashley nodded and burned out the card as she went to the next one. Blinking surprised slightly, she started reading the whole question before finally frowning and turning towards a small group of characters a bit more isolated. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Not sure what he meant, but this JohnPlume guy¡­¡± At her words, the Author suddenly shivered in a reactive fear for a moment before trying to put a though front with a fake smile. ¡°¡­ This JhonPlume guy seems to be asking the gods what you think of the Great Cygnas being a pet to the pile of trash, and how comparable it is to the fear he have for his comments?¡± She frowned. ¡°So many confusing words here¡­ I think I got most of it righ¡­¡± ¡°¡­The Grand Goddess¡­ Is his pet?¡± Orfeon, the great god of war asked with a blank face while slowly turning towards the seat where Gon sat. Seeing as he looked away, Orfeon slowly turned back towards Arkhoss, seeing as he also looked away, the god of war slowly turned to look back forward, before finally foam formed around his mouth and his eyes went blank. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll ignore what that question means and go ahead to the next one¡­¡± Ashley started while wanting to change the matter at hand as fast as possible, but she was interrupted when the sound of clearing the throat echoed from the corner where the gods were. ¡°I think it would be unfair to the readers to not explain this, but¡­ Lady Cygnas threatened me to never reveal her situation to others, or else¡­¡± He gulped down saliva as his fear passed on his eyes. Fixing his necktie, he finally said. ¡°She¡­ She would¡­ Oh Lady Cygnas¡­ She said she would curse me with being unable to tie my tie in a perfectly symmetrical manner.¡± His words were whispered as if the very definition of nightmare had materialized in front of him. Sitting down on the chair, he slowly brought his knees up against his chest and started muttering words of fear and terror as he rocked back and forth in the chair while making sure to not move too much and mess his suit up. An awkward silence spread through the room as they all stared at the terrified god for a moment. Ashley¡¯s mind simply couldn¡¯t take it anymore as she finally decided that it was time for the next question. ¡°That same guy is also asking Tris, Cygnas¡¯¡­ MOTHER?¡± The elemental said in shock for a moment before she finally shook his head and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯ think too much. Don¡¯t think too much. Don¡¯t think too much. He¡¯s asking what you think of the fact that Cygnas is dedicating her life to serving the pile of trash... This must be a nightmare. Definetively, this is a nightmare¡­ And helping him fulfill all his desires and needs. And he also says something about her possibly being an M¡­ Does that goes for majestic? Due to being so eager to do that¡­¡± As Ashley looked around searching for the character who was supposed to be answering the question, she finally stopped when she saw a woman standing on the backstage while tying down a vampire with a thick bundle of rope as he squirmed back and forth shouting something about daughter and kill a bastard. The woman wearing a lab coat walked into the stage with a satisfied smile after kicking the man back to the backstage and she finally sighed. ¡°Whew. What was the question?¡± ¡°Erm¡­ Who are you again?¡± Hanbei asked confused as she looked at the woman. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. I only appeared once in a side story. No wonder you don¡¯t know me.¡± The woman replied before giving the author a brief glance. ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you to put me on the main story soon, okay?¡± ¡°¡­ I won¡¯t make promises¡­¡± The author said while looking away. She replied with a nod before turning back to Ashley. ¡°Oh right. Cygnas serving Gon. To be honest, it¡¯s an interesting thing that we are actually glad it happened.¡± She replied with a cheerful tone. ¡°Both on the parent side, seeing our little girl relating with someone other than us, and on the scientific side, seeing how her matrixes react to that interactions are both wonderful experiences to us.¡± ¡°M-Mom!¡± Cygnas said as she blushed slightly. Tris laughed a bit before approaching the girl-looking goddess and hugging her tightly. ¡°S-Stop! It¡¯s embarrassing¡­¡± ¡°Anyway, despite what the author may make it look like, our little girl is actually working really hard on the back of the scenes, hunting down bugs, hackers wannabe and other things, as well as mediating in some situations where her attention is needed. Up to now, not even once was a GM needed to solve some kind of problem, you know?¡± Tris said cheerfully. ¡°Also, as Kotetsu here said, it¡¯s not my choice who my little girl falls for¡­¡± ¡°MOTHER!¡± ¡°But if I even dream of the boy making her sad. I¡¯ll be sure to hunt him to the end of the world.¡± At her words and angelic smile towards Gon, the golem shivered in fear while snapping out of his embarrassed state from the earlier question. Looking around confused, he couldn¡¯t understand what was happening. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m really proud of you for getting your first followers, my dear!¡± She said suddenly while ruffling Cygnas hair, only to receive a cry of embarrassment from the girl whose face was slowly becoming redder. ¡°...think too much, don¡¯t think too much, don¡¯t think too much, don¡¯t think too much.¡± Ashley said before slapping his cheeks with his hands and turning on to the next card. ¡°We are almost over, so let¡¯s get this done quickly. This¡­¡± She sighed. ¡°I¡¯m really starting to understand why the barbarian was fussing over the names so much¡­ o0Sky0o is asking if there will be an¡­ MH? Regional hunting to gather the cast later.¡± ¡°Oh, very probably, yes.¡± The author said with a proud nod. ¡°Though they guild will probably be up together much earlier that.¡± ¡°¡­That¡¯s it?¡± Ashley asked confused. ¡°¡­yeah?¡± ¡°No funny idea, odd situations or reality breaking moments?¡± The elemental asked dubiously before the author nodded once again. ¡°¡­Okay¡­ Anyway¡­ he also wants to know if there will be underwater hunting.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Actually a good question.¡± The author said with a confused look. ¡°Can¡¯t give a definite answer right now, but I¡¯d guess that yes, there will be.¡± The author said while not looking sure about his answer. For a few more seconds all that echoed in the stage was silence as Ashley kept staring at the man in suspicion and worry. But seeing that nothing was happening, the elemental sighed in relief and went on to the next question. ¡°Slayer eight hundred eighty¡­ Seriously, what¡¯s wrong with the mothers who name their sons with such names? That¡¯s just sick!¡± The elemental finally burst into anger. ¡°Erm¡­ Rival.¡± Gon said wryly. ¡°That¡¯s not their real names, you know?¡± ¡°¡­Really?¡± The elemental asked dubiously, but Gon nodded weakly. ¡°¡­I see¡­ I think¡­ AND WHO THE HELL IS YOUR RIVAL?¡± The elemental shouted angrily before turning back to the card. ¡°Why me, Cygnas, Why me?¡± Reading the question, the elemental quickly frowned and turned towards Yuu, who was only now recovering from her embarrassment, and sighed. ¡°¡­Yeah, I think I¡¯m going to skip this one. She suffered enough already.¡± He said with a hint of pity in her voice before going back to reading the next question. ¡°He¡¯s asking the sadistic bastard of an author if he plans on making the Cyclops some kind of team rocket character? How the hell can one man be called a team? And what the hell is a rocket?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think too much.¡± The author said sagely before nodding. ¡°And yeah, Slayer. That¡¯s somewhat the plan.¡± ¡°Okay. Last card. Thank Cygnas!¡± Ashley said while sighing in relief and reading the card. ¡°¡­Oh, it¡¯s for me.¡± Quickly re-reading the question, Ashley nodded before clearing his throat. ¡°Markthar, To be honest, I¡¯m kind of in my last legs here. I¡¯m pretty much on my last maturing state which is where I choose my gender, so there Isn¡¯t much I can do about that besides leave it to luck when it comes to my appearance.¡± She said solemnly. ¡°Worst case scenario, I stay as I am. Best case scenario, I¡¯ll probably change to a more masculine appearance¡­ There isn¡¯t much that I could do to try and change how things will turn out¡­¡± As the elemental said all that with a sad tone, it finally stopped and turned towards the Author. ¡°¡­ Ooh boy. I can totally see what¡¯s going to happen.¡± The Author said as he smiled wryly to Ashley¡¯s ferocious look. ¡°That said¡­ I think I may have a talk with this¡­ Author¡­ Before everything is done.¡± She smiled victoriously before going to read the last question in a clearly more cheerful mood. ¡°This one is to pile of trash. He¡¯s saying that you seem to have a penchant for falling or almost flying situations, and is asking if you have any ideas on how to beat your record of falling without dying.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Gon said as he widened his eyes. ¡°Quite a good idea, you know that?¡± The golem said as he nodded to himself. ¡°Yosh. Let¡¯s settle a new objective. Finding ways to fall farther!¡± ¡°Just jump from a higher place until you die. I¡¯d be happy with that.¡± Ashley said as she burned down the last card and smiled ferociously. ¡°Well, that¡¯s all good and done, so now I guess I can finally have a nice friendly chat with this¡­ Author, right?¡± As she slowly made her way towards the author while cracking her knuckles with her hands, the curtains slowly closed over the stage just as the characters all started to move away from the clearly bloody scene that was about to happen. ¡°Erm¡­ You do know that anything that happens here have no affect on the main storyline, right?¡± The author said in a panicky voice as he slowly crawled back into the chair, trying to open some distance. ¡°The, I¡¯ll at least beat the crap out of you until I feel happy enough for the me in the main storyline too.¡± With those last words and a weep of fear, the curtains finally closed and the lights died off. After a few seconds, the only sounds to echo were the cries of pain from a certain author. Chapter 103 - BREAK TIME! Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! ANOTHER RELEASE WITHIN ONE WEEK OF THE PREVIOUS ONE! WAIT, WHAT? A MAIN CHAPTER YOU SAY? ANYWAY, I decided to try and give myself a pseudo-schedule for my release. I won¡¯t give any promises about following it, but I¡¯ll at least try my best. For now, the idea is that I¡¯ll work on IO every weekend, while during the week I¡¯ll work on one of my two other stories in an alternating fashion. Any free time I get I¡¯ll spend writing whatever I feel like. This way I can keep releases fairly regular, while still having time for myself. ALSO, on a bit less serious note. DEADPOOL! I watched the movie. That probably explains why the hell there seems to be a bit more 4th walls break here than usual. Also, the Promised TL;DR is kinda imbued in the story, so count that on a promise kept. ALSO(2), On the whole skill thingy, yeah. Some answers were downright amazing and will be added to the story later on. Mainly the mounting skills that so many mentioned, however, the two skills, while not exactly the same as many people said, you can guess who got it right or not. Spoiler : For fairness sake, let¡¯s do this. The ones who got the first skill correct were: Penna02 (Uggh¡­) For saying it was a Sword Defensive skill, though the correct answer would be a counter AND Necrotechnician with the Ignore pain, which was very close for what the skill actually do. ALSO(3), At last, after so long, they finally make their introduction in the story! Who they are? You all shall seeeee! Have a good read! ------- I fell on my back in relief as I saw the numbers going up thanks to the damned mummy¡¯s massive healing spells. While I wondered what such numbers could do for his mana, I didn¡¯t care one bit, because if he had been half a second later, I would have lost all my hard earned experience. ¡°Yiipee! You did it!¡± Crys said while throwing the pom-poms up and catching then back in a cheer. Feeling as a wave of pride flowing through me for accomplishing something so absurd once again, so I couldn¡¯t help but do something that one of my spiritual masters always taught me. Smile and wave, smile and wave. Doing exactly that, exactly how it¡¯s becoming for a celebrity, I couldn¡¯t help but want to appease to my fans. ¡°That said, you should avoid saying that too much.¡± I said while turning to Crys. ¡°You risk getting thrown into a desolated desert planet where I¡¯ll need to rescue you using a super-advanced tank based on a space-fighter technology.¡± Seeing as she stared at me confused for a moment, she finally frowned slightly before shaking her head with a wry smile. What? Didn¡¯t get the joke? Don¡¯t mind it. I made sure to not make it too obvious. ¡°Was that a Star fox joke?¡± Ozzur asked confused. ¡°CYGNASDAMMIT! I WANTED TO LEAVE THE READERS CONFUSED!¡± I shouted angrily towards the mummy, who simply nodded to himself before going back to note down something in his notebook. ¡°Scoop ScoOUCH!¡± Good Lily. I¡¯ll make sure to actually be a little more serious from now on when teaching you. Turning back to see the cave, I noticed how Aura had already gone ahead and fixed the leaking magma by freezing it. With her ice being a few times stronger than what my throwing knives could be, she managed to stop it for good, letting the magma solidify after some time of holding it back. Deciding to give her a petting once everything is done, I decided that it was about time to check my spoils of war. Grinning as I focused on the symbol that marked the results of the battle, I quickly started skimming over them while nodding satisfied at what appeared. First, I recovered the level I lost due to my deaths, and was left only a couple percents away from going to the next level. That said, I half expected that already, so I wasn¡¯t all that surprised. In exchange, what came next left me very, VERY happy.
Congratulations! You have defeated Sulfuric Impaler Matriarch (Young) while in the presence of Aura.
Chronicles of the Frozen Battlefield have earned the following upgrade: STR +4 AGI +5 TGH+3 DEF +1 M. Res +1
Hooray for totally not OP cloak that I made in a stroke of luck while crafting! While cheering silently in my mind and waiting for the author to grudgingly change my stats in his Excel file, I went on to read the other bonuses I earned. First, I went through the skills upgrades. Two handed mastery is almost literally one slash away from entering intermediate rank, while shockwave resistance increased a whopping three levels thanks to me being blown up so many times. Scale-mail mastery reached level two of intermediate, which left me with a bit more defense when it came from scale-mail armor. Consumable mastery is now up to level eight and retreat level five. Ready for Anything, my ultra-versatile multi-resistance skill increased a whopping five levels. While feeling surprised about this, I understood that it was probably thanks to the fact that I was in the snow, then in a volcano without any gear to cover for that. Finally, Recklessness reached a nice level four thanks to the fact that the spider was so strong. However, party didn¡¯t end there. Smiling to myself, I saw as the announcement of two new skills appeared before me, and reading the first one, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit surprised.
For proving its effectiviness in battle, you have unlocked a new skill for your style: Spiked Shell Stance
Spiked Shell Stance (Level increases with two-handed sword mastery)
Sometimes, the best offense is simply taking advantage of your opponent¡¯s attacks. Using the ground as a defensive measure, you stop your opponent¡¯s attack in a defensive stance and pay back with a mighty slash that deals increased damage according to the opponent¡¯s weight and attack damage. An attack made specifically to hunt massive enemies, this technique is original to the Hunter¡¯s style and only works under specific circumstances. Reduces damage taken by up to 70% Deals 120% of weapon damage + Bonus based on damage taken and Enemy¡¯s weight Refunds energy should the attack connect. Connecting the attack initiates a combo, reducing the cost of First form or beyond skills by 50% for 3 seconds. Lasts 2 seconds
Cost: 100 energy
Yeah, seems like that makeshift counter somehow became a real skill. And man, does it looks good. Not only it works as a counter, but it also reduces the damage I take if I manage to get it right! nodding satisfied to myself, I couldn¡¯t help but frown at the sight of the cost. One hundred energy? That¡¯s like my entire reserve! Literally! Then, it does refund the energy if I land the strike, so I guess it¡¯s not that bad. Nodding to myself and deciding that I would have to take a better look at the functioning of the skill itself later on, I prepared to move to the next skill. ¡°What are you doing, teacher?¡± I stopped when I heard Lily asking me confused as she crouched besides me. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to rec¡­ Erm¡­ Skin the spider?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, I will.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Just checking my new skills and such.¡± I said while making a motion towards the windows. Lily widened her eyes in surprise for a moment before nodding. Getting my attention back to the matter at hand, I went on to read the new skill I got.
For managing to replicate its effect and proving its effectivity in battle you have unlocked a new skill: Reckless Focus
Skill: Reckless Focus [lvl 1] 0%
For a warrior, things such as distractions are unneeded in battle, as they focus all their attention on the single enemy before them. However, some take it a step further, focusing all their attention the foe before them and ignoring even the pain in their muscles and the cracks in their bones just so they can have a bit more fun in battle. This Last stand, albeit effective, is extremely reckless and may lead to harsh backlash once the battle is over. Ignores Physical status debuff for a large time window. This skill can only be used in battle and lasts a maximum of one minute after the battle have ended. After the skill ends, damage is taken according to the severity of the ailment and the time spent ignoring it. WARNING: THIS SKILL DOES NOT LEAVE THE USER IMMUNE TO RECEIVING NEW AILMENTS DURING ITS DURATION, AND WILL ONLY IGNORE THEIR EFFECTS
Cost: 0 energy Cooldown: 1 hour after healing from backlash. Instant in case of death while skill is active. Maximum time duration: 3 minutes
I did not expect that. I sincerely did not expect that. Reading the window a couple of times, again, I started to understand the meaning of this, and while looking a bit odd and hard to piece together, once you think about it, this skill is the difference between a pitiful death and a last-second victory. Think about it, if by the end of a long drawn battle I¡¯d usually be covered in injuries and have more than a few broken bones and such, if I were to use this skill, I¡¯d instantly be back to my top form and ready to kick some monster tail once again! While it wouldn¡¯t heal me, for someone who¡¯s so keen on fighting in realistic mode, this is somewhat of a really strong skill. Nodding satisfied, I looked down to my shoulder. While it had taken some serious damage, I somehow managed to use it just fine by the end of the battle. Now, that makes a lot of sense! Wait a second¡­ Damage based on the duration and severity of the injuries? Didn¡¯t I have some really serious damage during the fight? Like the shoulders, the cut in my legs and such? Oh carp. -1005 (5/1010) (Sever shoulder damage) (Severe leg damage) (Crushed ribs) (Severe arm damage) (Light leg damage) (Dizzy) (Dazed) (Stunned) ¡°I¡­ Totally¡­ Saw¡­ Coming¡­¡± I said as I felt everything going dark. ¡°T-TEACHER!¡± I heard Lily calling out to me as I passed out from the huge damage burst. ¡­ ¡°I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! I mine, I skin; I craft, I win! I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! The ores are mine! The forges will shine! I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem! The spider is dead! The scythes are left! So I¡¯m a happy golem! I¡¯m a happy golem!¡± I sung my theme song as I once again stabbed the spider in its abdomen and started making a careful cut through the skin underneath. Stopping suddenly when I felt a strange thing through the knife, I removed the blade and peeked underneath, seeing what looked like some kind of large bone-like jelly. ¡°Hmm, this again?¡± I said a bit confused before shaking my head and going back to cutting around. ¡°Anyway, as I was saying, it might be a good idea to always stop the moment you notice something strange when skinning.¡± I told Lily, while making a motion towards the shell that I managed to remove. ¡°Luckily, this doesn¡¯t seem to be directly linked to the shell, but who knows how it can be in another monster?¡± I said with a shrug while passing her the shell. ¡°Hmm¡­ I think I can understand a bit.¡± She said while holding the shell that once covered the back of the spider and looking around it. ¡°Still, why are these here?¡± She asked confused while pointing to a pair of nerves connections that had appeared in every single shell we removed up to now. At least the ones from its back. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m also confused.¡± I admitted while nodding. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really make much sense for it to have nerves in its shell.¡± ¡°Maybe it have something to do with its spike-creating abilities?¡± Crys said while using her sharpened hands to cut another piece. ¡°These nerves are strangely flexible, you know?¡± ¡°Are they?¡± Lily asked confused and I took a moment to think before nodding and passing her a piece of the nerve that I had to cut before removing the shell. Evidently, she hesitated a moment before finally grabbing the piece of nerve with a clearly disgusted expression to herself. I couldn¡¯t help but smile awkwardly at that before she started pulling the nerve. They had been a bit annoying to cut, seeing how they could stretch to a surprising length before actually starting to sever. Hmm, I wonder if I can use this on my bow later on. But then, I did want to use the silk instead¡­ While thinking so, I heard some footsteps coming from behind us, turning around and seeing the mummy coming back, together with Lieutenant and a cheerful Rio, I couldn¡¯t help but notice a few charred bandages on the mummy¡¯s body. But I couldn¡¯t really care much about his ailments and instead focused more on what he brought in his hands. Same could be said for Lieutenant and Rio¡¯s claws. ¡°Be careful to not let that fall on magma!¡± I said in delight while seeing him drop the bundle of silk on the ground, making the small sprite that had been nearby jump in scare and run away to hide behind me. ¡°I¡­ Kinda understood that¡­¡± He said in a mix of annoyance and powerlessness while sending Rio a brief glance, who had a strange cheerful mood as she lowered a smaller bunch of silk onto the ground. ¡°These red strings are fun!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°I must admit that I¡¯m divided between scolding her and praising her right now.¡± I said amused while getting an idea of what that meant. ¡°And I have the feeling that you have something against me.¡± Ozzur added coldly while staring at me. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Well, maybe initially, but right now I just seem to think of you as a go-to victim right now.¡± I replied in a dead-pan look. ¡°So yeah, you are just unlucky.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Also, you might want to take the cat away from the silk. It seems that he¡¯s getting some weird megalomaniacal tendency with that maniacal laugh.¡± ¡°NYA-HA-HA-HA! NYA-HA-HA-HA!¡± Said cat laughed while stepping atop the pile of red silk and spreading his arms wide. Definitively a villain material. ¡°If I were you, I would step away from the silk slowly, and not get close to it again.¡± I said while taking a small fire crystal and pointing it at him. The cat widened his eyes before smiling wryly and stepping down from the pile. ¡°Also, unload your inventory. I know you got some silk there with you.¡± I added, and saw as he flinched before sighing and nodding. A few seconds later the pile increased slightly as he unloaded the silk. ¡°Good boy. I¡¯ll make some explosives for you later.¡± I did not need to say that he immediately jumped over the pile and hugged me with a wide smile while singing something in the rhythm of the happy golem song. Probably an I¡¯m a happy cat music or something. Pushing the cat back and getting some space for me, I quickly went on to store the remaining silk on my inventory. Just as I had guessed, the spider did spread more silk around the cave than simply that cave. Either trying to make another room to place her new eggs or something else. I couldn¡¯t be quite sure, seeing how I had to stay here skinning the monster. Well, at least I managed to save me some silk. What? Deus Ex? Come on. Everybody knows that if you find spider-web in one place, its almost undoubtedly going to appear somewhere else! Besides, we never really explored the mines entirely, so I asked them to search some nearby caves to see if they found some remaining silk. From the looks of it, we lucked out It¡¯s still less than what I used to blow the bastard up, though. Counting both the ¡°Ambush¡± and the knifes together. Knowing that I wouldn¡¯t need to worry about the silk for any time soon, I went back to skinning the spider, only to stop when I felt someone tugging me on the side. Blinking surprised, I turned to the side and saw as the small sprite kept pulling my robe slightly. ¡°Tek-tek. Tek-tek.¡± It said surprising me for a moment. ¡°What? Hungry already?¡± I asked surprised and seeing as it nodded briefly. Sighing, I shook my head and pulled another piece of iron ore and gave it to it. ¡°By the way, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, but when the hell did all these guys get here?¡± I heard Ozzur asking confused. ¡°Oh, they?¡± I asked surprised while looking at the twenty or so sprites that were gathered around us, eating pieces of rocks that had fallen thanks to the battle with delighted ¡®tek-teks¡¯. That said, the annoying many-legged sprite was easily the one who ate the most, already on his third piece of ore. Well, not that I really could complain, though. ¡°Dunno. Seems like they came here as soon as they heard the spider dying.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°If something, I¡¯d say they are throwing a party of kinds.¡± I said while seeing the sprites walking around in a cheerful mood and making the ever-present tek-teks. ¡°Why do I have the feeling that this is somewhat of a common sight around you?¡± The mummy said amused. ¡°Nah. Just your imagination.¡± I said while cutting another shell and piling it up on the side. How could I say this¡­ Cutting shells is a lot more troublesome than simply skinning them. That said, I do have this feeling that crafting will be a bit easier than usual. Anyway, leaving that aside, I had already cut apart the claws and severed the legs. With so many different types of shells covering its body, I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to leave it behind. Bonewise¡­ I didn¡¯t find much besides the thing that stayed inside the spider¡¯s back, that was probably something used for forming the spikes, but it¡¯s not like I could be entirely sure. Probably it used the exoesqueleton as a support instead of inner bone. ¡°Still¡­ To think that you managed to finish the quest alone.¡± Ozzur said a bit surprised. ¡°I¡¯m still trying to wrap my head around it.¡± ¡°What? I did tell you I was amazing, you know?¡± I said with a proud tone. ¡°Tek-tek! Tek-tek!¡± ¡°AGAIN?¡± I asked annoyed before sighing and giving the little bastard another piece of ore, only to see him jump atop the ore delightfully and start eating it up. ¡°Goddamit, what am I gonna do with you?¡± Taking advantage of the distraction, I quickly turned back to the spider and spun the skinning knife for a moment, preparing to stab it and take a piece of its flesh. ¡°You disappoint me, You perverted pile of trash.¡± ¡°What the hell is it this time AND WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM?¡± I shouted surprised while almost falling over in shock at the sight of a certain slime-ninja-maid that popped out of nowhere. ¡°I came from your impure desires and dirty fetish towards maids.¡± She said with a deadpan face and in monotone. ¡°So, you are going to be a perfectly meek and quiet maid, who¡¯s actually really gentle and never talk back, and more importantly, never, ever, play any trick?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow and a taunting tone. Yami froze in place for a moment and I noticed how her eyebrows twitched and she hesitated, unable to go on with the joke as it meant killing the joke instantly and being unable to joke more in the future. Finally, she sighed and looked away. ¡°That¡¯s your victory.¡± She said annoyed a while I smiled proudly. ¡°Of course it is!¡± I said with a nod before frowning. ¡°Wait a moment, why are you disappointed?¡± I asked confused while tilting my head. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± She said while shaking her head. ¡°We reached a grand milestone that not many can say to have even scratched, yet you didn¡¯t even mention it!¡± Huh? Milestone? Reached? Does it have something to do with the spider I hunted? Well, I guess it could be considered a milestone of sorts. Looking back at the slime, she sighed before shaking her head. ¡°Even a toddler would have noticed the fact that we broke through the one hundredth chapter barrier! Yet you never even mentioned it in these last chapters!¡± She said with a disappointed tone. I blinked surprised for a moment before stopping to think, finally I frowned and became angry. ¡°Look here, First, I was planning on how to fight a damned massive spider, two, it¡¯s not every chapter that I break the fourth wall, and third, it¡¯s the writer¡¯s fault that he forgot the joke, okay? There¡¯s not much I can do if he is the one to forget it!¡± I blurted out angrily before taking a deep breath. ¡°Anyway, leaving this one hundredth chapter shenanigan aside, I take it that Yuu and Hanbei are here?¡± I said while leaning back and looking for the two, and just as I expected I saw a couple of shadows approaching us. ¡°Ah! Shishou!¡± I heard a familiar voice calling me. ¡°Yo!¡± I said with a wave of my hand as I saw her approaching. ¡°Seems like you missed me too much so you decided to come and see how I was doing?¡± I said jokingly. Much to my surprise, the kitsune blushed a bit before nodding, leaving the two of us in an awkward atmosphere. Luckily, the cat-girl in wolf¡¯s clothing was smart enough to break the ice by being very subtle. ¡°So¡­ Who¡¯s the mummy?¡± She asked while blatantly staring at the person. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ Somewhat familiar¡­¡± ¡°I take it that you are Wargon¡¯s travelling companions.¡± Ozzur said with a serious tone before nodding. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, I am Ozzur, reporter from the Sword and Keyboard channel.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ A reporter¡­ EEEEEEH?¡± The cat girl jumped back in surprise before looking him head to toes. Hmm, I wonder if that is how I was supposed to react to him when I first met the mummy. ¡°W-W-Why would a reporter follow Gon arou¡­¡± She started asking surprised before stopping and thinking. ¡°Actually, Gon IS pretty famous, if I think about it.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Ozzur said with a nod. ¡°Strange, I¡¯m starting to pity you right now.¡± Hanbei said once she looked at the state the mummy was. ¡°It must have been shocking to find out how He actually is, right?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ not exactly what I expected.¡± ¡°Oi! Why do you sound so depressed?¡± I complained loudly. ¡°Even if I¡¯m not exactly your average player, don¡¯t that mean you got an even better of a scoop for yourself?¡± ¡°¡­Yes. There is that.¡± He said with a disheartened tone that left me angry, but he quickly shook his head before going on. ¡°Actually, seeing how you¡¯ve been following him for such a long time, would you mind giving me some of your time in an interview?¡± ¡°Huh? Me?¡± Hanbei said surprised, but before I could keep on hearing about their situation, Yuu approached me while holding her hands behind her back and peeking at the body of the impaler besides me. ¡°W-Was this the monster you fought, Shishou?¡± She asked while looking at the spider a bit warily. ¡°Yeah. She was a lot more trouble than what I expected, to be honest.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Eh? How so?¡± Yuu asked me curious. ¡°Wait, she?¡± ¡°Yep. It¡¯s a matriarch.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°And She was annoying as hell. Not only did it use these annoying explosive threads¡­¡± ¡°Explosive threads?¡± Yuu asked confused. ¡°Yeah. It would drink magma from around the cave to make the threads somehow.¡± I said while pointing to a nearby magma pool that I was using as a pseudo-lamp. ¡°Which, would have been fine if it weren¡¯t for the fact that it was really, REALLY mad during the last fight.¡± I said with a sigh before eyeing the sprite. ¡°All thanks to this little guy here.¡± ¡°Tek-tek?¡± The sprite asked confused while taking its attention away from the ore for a moment. Only to become surprised by Yuu and run behind me once again. ¡°Come on. She isn¡¯t dangerous.¡± I said annoyed while picking him up and giving him to Yuu, who ended up taking him confused as the small sprite shook scared. ¡°Seriously, for someone playing hero, you are one scaredy pants, you know?¡± ¡°Playing Hero?¡± Yuu asked confused while looking at the small sprite trembling in her arms before gently caressing it, trying to calm him down. ¡°What do you mean, Teacher?¡± Lily asked with a frown. ¡°Well, did you notice how it had some strings tied around its claws earlier?¡± I asked while pointing to the sprite. ¡°And remember how I said that all the egg sacs had been cut horizontally near the bottom?¡± ¡°Wait, you don¡¯t mean¡­¡± She said surprised, already seeing where I was going. ¡°Yeah, the little bugger had been destroying the eggs as soon as the spider laid them. That¡¯s why there were so few spiders in this cave all in all.¡± ¡°And why the Impaler was always looking around when we first got here.¡± Ozzur said surprised, ¡°It was hunting this sprite in anger.¡± ¡°And why it was angry when I fought it at the last battle.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Heck, it was so hell bent in trying to kill the bastard that it didn¡¯t even care about me at all until I literally blew its back to hell with the fire knifes and explosive strings.¡± I said annoyed. ¡°It literally had to go berserker on me before it started ignoring the sprite.¡± ¡°Bear-seeker?¡± Rio asked confused. ¡°It was looking for bears?¡± The small wyvern asked while landing on my head and peeking downwards confused. ¡°Not bear-seeker, Rio. Berserker. Is when you get so angry, but so angry that you don¡¯t care about hurting yourself.¡± I said while picking her up and passing her to Lily. ¡°It started to literally hurt itself so that it could hit me harder. From spewing magma from its back to weaving its own claws in explosive before blowing me up.¡± ¡°That¡­ Sounds dangerous.¡± Yuu mentioned with a worried tone. ¡°Are you fine Shishou?¡± ¡°Well, I did break my shoulder, had a few crushed ribs, almost lost a leg and a few other nice things that happened to me.¡± I made sure to try and keep my best uninterested tone, but Yuu made an horrified face that left me this nagging wish to tease her a bit more, but I held myself back as a thought crossed my mind. ¡°That said¡­ I¡¯ll be wanting an explanation on why it went berserk and why it suddenly changed to the defensive suddenly like that, okay?¡± I told the crystal maid who was floating while carrying another shell. ¡°Hmm? Oh, sure¡± Crys said with a nod. ¡°It¡¯s not like it needs a lot of thought, anyway.¡± She said with a shrug. ¡°I see¡­¡± I said with a nod before sighing. ¡°Now, let me go back to skinning this guy here. It¡¯s been more than half a chapter without me even removing a single shell.¡± I said annoyed before blinking and turning to Yuu. ¡°Before that, what¡¯s that sweet scent I¡¯ve been smelling since you arrived?¡± I asked curious and noticed as Yuu quickly hid one of her arms behind her back, this time I noticed that she was holding something in her hands. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ ermm¡­ Well¡­¡± She said embarrassedly while starting to get a bit fidgety. The sprite took the chance to jump from her arms and cling on my back. ¡°I was¡­ Avoiding Shishou¡­ And I felt¡­ Guilty¡­ So¡­ Baked¡­ Cookies¡­¡± I froze. ¡°D-Did you say¡­ Cookies?¡± I asked, making sure my ears weren¡¯t playing tricks on me, but she nodded nonetheless. I couldn¡¯t help but smile widely. BREAK TIME FOR COOKIES! ---- (dead) Author¡¯s corner: Uugh¡­ Tables¡­ Why do you haunt me so? Anyway, I was having fun with all that guess the skill thing, so I decided to play a bit more this time, so I¡¯ll do an IO related quiz. The first one to get the answer right gets to be mentioned in the next chapter¡¯s Author¡¯s corner and earn a cookie. HOWEVER, if I, by any chance consider the wrong answer the correct one, but someone manage to prove me wrong with a quote from the actual chapter, you get TWO cookies. Anyway, let¡¯s do this: FIRST EVER IO QUIZ THAT WILL PROBABLY BE IGNORED BY 80%+ OF THE READERS! Q: In the very first chapter, I mention an imaginary installment to the MH franchise, and that two characters are playing it. Who is the other character playing it besides Gon(Come on, Gon was too obvious)? I accept either the in-game name or the Real-life name. PS: For fairness sake, edited comments aren''t valid. Chapter 104 - Of Cookie! Author¡¯s corner: hello hello¡­ I¡­ Don¡¯t know what to think anymore. What with the lack of energy, you ask? Well¡­ It happened. Yuu lost. It was a horrible loss from which she will never again recover. And before you guys riot out there, please calm down. This isn¡¯t a story thingy nor will it affect the story anyhow. Also, it¡¯s not a battle-related loss¡­ nor love-related loss. She lost in innocence. It¡¯s official, I met a girl who¡¯s even more innocent that Yuu¡­. I thought it wasn¡¯t possible, it would never happen. I made Yuu this way as a joke and parody to be honest, yet¡­ SHE LOST! SHE SIMPLY CAN¡¯T BEAT THIS GIRL! IT¡¯S OFFICIAL! YUU IS NO LONGER THE MOST INNOCENT GIRL I CAN THINK OF! SHE LOST TO A REAL LIFE GIRL! AS IN FLESH AND BONES GIRL! Today, nineteen of February of twenty sixteen, marks the day where Yuu, the kitsune, lost her crown of Purest girl to Huskie. It was a long and noble reign, but now, it is about time she passes on the crown to the true queen of innocence. (Disclaimer, the Author¡¯s corner was written before the actual chapter) ALSO, Congratulations TheMaskedTom for being the first to get the correct answer in the quiz! Take a cookie and be happy! (The correct answer was Paul Henry. Next quiz by the end of the chapter.) Have a good read! ---- ¡°Basically, the spider was already angry when you started fighting it. Since you dealt so much damage to it and stopped it from getting its prey, it only started getting angrier and angrier. The explosion was the last drop and it went berserk after you.¡± Crys said, to which I nodded. ¡°I cookie.¡± Thinking about it, it¡¯s not strange that it would flip out after what I did to it. Nodding while munching on the cookie. ¡°Then, why the cookie did it suddenly change to the defensive back at the cookie¡¯s end?¡± ¡°Cookie¡¯s¡­ Well, think about it like this. You snap out and start attacking the opponent.¡± She said in a serious tone to which I nodded. ¡°You stop caring about your surroundings and all you can think about is killing the person before you. Your mind is a hazy fog of violence and blood and nothing else matters.¡± I kept nodding. Indeed, that¡¯s kind of what it looked like when I was fighting the spider. Well, how it felt like the spider was acting, I mean. ¡°Then, a really sharp pain snaps you out of your state.¡± ¡°In that case, would it be when teacher blocked its magma channel with the ice?¡± Lily asked with a pensive face, to which I nodded in agreement. That was when the spider seemed to snap out of her berserker state and seemed to wail in pain¡­ Cygnasdammit! Now I¡¯m starting to feel guilty! Shoving another Yuu-brand cooking into my mouth in a foul mood, I turned to Crys, seeing how she nodded with a proud look. Meanwhile I couldn¡¯t help but notice how a certain sprite was eyeing the bag of cookies in my hand with curiosity. Pulling it away as it tried to look inside it, I glared at the small sprite in my shoulder for a moment, only to receive a ¡®tek-tek¡¯ in response and see it go back to eating its eighth piece of ore happily. ¡°Exactly.¡± The crystal elemental said. ¡°With its thoughts recovered, it suddenly finds itself almost dead and fighting an opponent under unfavorable circumstances.¡± I think I see where she is going with this¡­ ¡°In simple words, it panicked. Snapping out of the berserker state, it fell immediately into a panicky state, making it change from offensive to defensive in an almost unnatural way.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ A whole cookieing simpler than what I expected.¡± I said with a frown. ¡°I expected that there would be a deeper reason behind its cookies, to be honest.¡± I said my honest opinion. ¡°Did it really get that angry, Shishou?¡± Yuu asked me while sitting besides me. I nodded before sighing. ¡°You see, it had these cookieing threads it could expel that would explode when ignite. It would even damage itself if it wasn¡¯t careful.¡± I started explaining, but was stopped when I noticed that Hanbei was looking at me with dead-fish eyes. ¡°What?¡± ¡°¡­I take it that you really liked the cookies?¡± Hanbei asked with a dry tone. ¡°OF COOKIE!¡± I said with a proud tone and making a guts pose. ¡°Cookies are love, cookies are life! Besides, it¡¯s the first time I ever ate home-baked cookies in my life!¡± I mean, I did eat store-bought cookies, but they aren¡¯t something you can compare to the home-baked ones. It¡¯s like comparing games to books, each have its own category. ¡°And these are so damn tasty! Even better that they were cookied by Yuu!¡± Hmm¡­ Maybe is shouldn¡¯t have said that part out loud? Oh well, damage¡¯s done. Sitting down besides the tail-wagging Yuu, I proceeded to eat another cookie before continuing. ¡°Anyway, back then, the spider was so cookieing angry that it started wrapping the thread in its claws to explode them on me point blank.¡± I said while shivering slightly at the memory. ¡°Wait, but didn¡¯t you just say that those things damaged the spider?¡± Hanbei asked as it clicked on her, to which I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why we said it went berserk.¡± Crys said in her teacher¡¯s tone. ¡°Beasts that go berserke start ignoring their own health and dealing all-or-nothing attacks with high frequency. If something, I¡¯d say that it¡¯s even more dangerous than simply casting the berserker curse on them.¡± So, I basically made the spider go berserker and had to somehow deal with its hardest difficult, all because I was protecting a certain sprite mid-fight? Looking down at the sprite who was finally resting after finishing its own meal and feeling satisfied for once, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit annoyed. But when it looked up to me with an apologetic look, I ended up forgiving it. I mean, from the little I¡¯ve seen, the small guy isn¡¯t exactly the most courageous one around, yet it clearly went on to stop the spider from laying its eggs. Why it would do that is another story. Maybe it actually understood that the spider was scaring the miners away and tried to attack it in its own way? Maybe it simply didn¡¯t like the spider¡¯s face? Maybe its actually a little hoodlum? Maybe it was all part of its plans for world conquest? I¡¯d bet on the last one. Though if it wasn¡¯t that one, I¡¯d guess it was the miner one. Leaving that aside, it did its best, so I can¡¯t really blame it, right? Despite the fact that I really wanted to take one of the spiders as a mount¡­ Which would be totally awesome¡­ And because of it doing too good of a job I missed the chance¡­ Yeah¡­ it¡¯s totally not like I¡¯m raging uncontrollably inside and really want to give it a good hit¡­ ¡­ Yeah, let¡¯s go back to carving. Throwing one more cookie in my mouth, I quickly went back to discounting my ever burning rage into stabbing and ripping the spider apart with my knife. I¡¯m a calm golem who have cookies. I¡¯m not throwing a tantrum and totally am not trying to escape the situation. ¡°Shishou¡­ Why are you throwing a tantrum?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not cookieing a tantrum!¡± I said sullenly before turning back to the kitsune. ¡°Why would I even be throwing a tantrum?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ You probably had a second intention when coming here, but for some reason you couldn¡¯t do it and just noticed it now?¡± She said in a confused look while tilting her head cutely. I simply stared at her not knowing how to react and noticed how the others were awaiting my answer. After a few seconds of me not doing anything they finally understood what had happened and stared in awe at Yuu. Woman¡¯s intuition is a lot scarier than what I originally thought. While thinking so and sighing, I nodded weakly and went back to skinning the spider, an awkward silence falling around the group as I grumbled in annoyance at being unable to even get angry with the one to blame. The others probably noticed my mood turning to worse, because they quickly went on to speak amongst themselves, leaving me to my own grumbles, with only Lily following me as she came to watch as I did my work. ¡°S-So¡­ Did anything happen in the city while we were working here?¡± Crys asked. ¡°Well, not much, really.¡± Hanbei replied in an indifferent tone. ¡°I mean, they were still cleaning the streets when we left and Lord Wich was searching around for a few soldiers to come here, but I guess you already expected that.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Crys said with a sigh. ¡°By any chance did you check for info on boat departures?¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Yuu replied. ¡°I inquired about it before coming here. It seems that the sea is still a bit strange, and most sailors sincerely do not have any idea of when they will be able to set sail.¡± ¡°Still? That¡¯s troubling.¡± Crys said worriedly, to which I nodded discreetly. ¡°Ashley-san even caused a ruckus back then.¡± Yuu added with a wry tone. I think I heard everyone chuckling at the scene, with only Ozzur left out. ¡°Is this Ashley person your traveling companion too?¡± He asked while I heard him pulling out his notebook as usual and start jotting things down. ¡°Well¡­¡± Hanbei replied with a wry tone. ¡°Fire-girl is Stone-misters rivul¡­ Rival!¡± Rio said cheerfully. ¡°They always look like they are having fun!¡± I¡¯m really starting to pity hot-head. Even in Rio¡¯s mind she¡¯s already a girl. While hearing another wave of chuckle from the people present. Hearing as the pencil scratched the surface of the paper, the question we had all been waiting for finally came. ¡°So, how exactly are the two of you rivals? Is this Ashley another crafter or¡­¡± ¡°I think I remember this story.¡± Lily said with a wry tone. ¡°Teacher met Ashley some time ago and then decided to make him his rival.¡± ¡°So, Wargon arbitrarily¡­ Wait, him?¡± The mummy sounded confused by those words. ¡°Didn¡¯t the wyvern call Ashley Fire-girl?¡± ¡°Things are a bit complex.¡± Lily replied. ¡°Ashley is a pure fire elemental, and their maturing process is¡­¡± ¡°Aah. I see.¡± Ozzur interrupted her with an awkward voice. ¡°I heard about the whole elemental maturity cycle. I can somewhat guess where this is going.¡± He sighed before noting down something else in his notebook. ¡°Anyway, if I got it right, it seems that the only reason you call them Wargon¡¯s rival is because Wargon decided that¡¯s how it was going to be?¡± ¡°Pretty much.¡± Hanbei said with a shrug. ¡°¡­Is there anything that wargon ever did that wasn¡¯t on impulse?¡± The reporter asked curious, and for a few seconds silence fell on the cave as everyone stopped to think. Seconds went by, then tens of seconds, then half a minute then a whole minute. Finally I snapped. ¡°Crafting! For cookies-sake! I don¡¯t go all impulsive when crafting!¡± I said angrily. ¡°But you decide what you craft on an impulse, so it doesn¡¯t count.¡± Yami shot me down instantly. ¡°¡­I should make sure to leave milady protected from you whenever you have your impulses.¡± She said coldly, to which I replied by simply going back to working. ¡°¡­No reply?¡± She asked shocked. I simply shrugged before going back to my slicing job. Feeling the disappointment coming from the girl, I smiled satisfied to myself as she clearly left out of the joke. ¡°So, even his equipment were made in an impulse?¡± Ozzur asked surprised. ¡°What about quest rewards and drops?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think Gon even take quest rewards.¡± Hanbei said briefly. ¡°Well, there was that time, back when the cookie was still being baked, that I received a gauntlet as a reward.¡± I corrected her. ¡°It was right after I left Yuu the first time.¡± I explained when I noticed her confused glare. ¡°And there was the old man¡¯s sword, from my first quest ever.¡± ¡°Old man¡­ You mean Wallace?¡± Lily asked with a surprised tone, to which I nodded. ¡°Then, could it be that it was¡­¡± ¡°Nah, it was just an old cookie of a sword.¡± I said while waving away. ¡°Kind of rough and a bit worn out, but sturdy. Definitively wasn¡¯t some kind of legendary sword or anything.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Lily said in a slightly disappointed tone. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Who¡¯s this Wallace you speak about?¡± Ozzur asked after a few seconds of silence. ¡°I think I heard his name before but that was about it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Lily asked surprised before turning to the others. Even I stopped to think for a moment. I mean, I do know that the old man was famous and such, but I don¡¯t exactly heard much about what he did. ¡°You really don¡¯t know about Dragon General Wallace?¡± ¡°Besides that elf Loli-baba is super-effective against him?¡± Yami asked, leading to some seconds of awkward silence as Lily looked at her confused and Ozzur looked blankly. ¡°Do I wanna know?¡± The mummy asked. ¡°I¡¯d bet a cookie you don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°Then I won¡¯t.¡± Ozzur said with a shake of his head. ¡°Anyway, go on. It¡¯s never bad to hear a bit more of story from this world.¡± He said while pointing towards Lily, who nodded weakly before saying. ¡°You see, Dragon General Wallace is¡­ As his name says, was one of the very few person in the world to ever inherit the Dragon General Class. It was said that having someone of the class alone was enough to turn the tide of a war.¡± Lily said with a respectful tone. ¡°In fact, from what I¡¯ve heard, back in his prime, he even managed to defeat a dragon one-on-one to prove himself worthy of the class.¡± ¡°Huh? Who defeated a dragon?¡± Rio asked confused. ¡°That gray-haired human from the BIIIG mountain cave?¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s him.¡± Hanbei said with a wry smile. ¡°But¡­ Remembering that scene I have a bit of trouble thinking of him as powerful.¡± ¡°I can attest to his strength.¡± I said while smiling wryly. ¡°I had some bad cookies when I first met him. That, and a date with the wall. Though I did believe that I could fly thanks to him¡­¡± ¡°¡­You believed you could fly?¡± Yami asked me confused, and the others followed her. I sighed before shrugging. ¡°Well, I just had him fling me across the village while I sung ¡®I believe I can fly¡¯ at the tops of my lungs. Nothing Cookie-worthy.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t hear about that one before¡­¡± I heard Hanbei say after a brief moment of silence. ¡°He flung you¡­ Across the village?¡± Lily said shocked for a moment to which I nodded. ¡°Why would he do that?¡± ¡°I asked him to do that.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Seemed a good cookie at the time.¡± ¡°¡­Master, do you really need to add a cookie whenever you speak?¡± Crys asked me, to which I nodded. ¡°Of cookie I have! Cookies are lo¡­¡± ¡°Cookies are love, cookies are life. You made that joke already.¡± She said annoyed. I sulked and went back to skinning, letting Lily continue her story. ¡°W-Well¡­¡± Lily cleared her throat before going on. ¡°Besides all that, I heard that the dragon general was only matched by very few people when it came to strength, with only one living in Eldor, and all the other ones living in the other capitals.¡± She explained. ¡°Being one of the only Insanian to reach a level higher than four hundred in his time.¡± ¡°F-Four hundred?¡± Ozzur asked in surprise, to which even I simply stared blankly for some time, trying to understand what the hell that number actually meant. ¡°Heeh. So he¡¯s actually really strong, huh?¡± Yeah, just leave it to the gaming-oblivious Yuu to break the ice... Aaaand never mind. Looks like she understands perfectly, but entered her martial-artist mode with that aggressive look and all. Hearing a few ¡®tek-teks¡¯ as the pebble crawled its way behind me, even I couldn¡¯t help but calm it down seeing how Yuu was emanating this really scary aura right now. Well, on the plus side she isn¡¯t drunk, so I at least got that going for me. Okay, martial-artist mode Yuu drunk. Now that¡¯s scary. ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure about all his feats, but I do remember my mother telling me about how he had always been a defensive wall against the other capitals on the last days of war. Once he even stopped a whole army from Ezoria using only his one hundred men and a few villagers before the capital even received news of such army.¡± She said with an amazed expression. ¡°It was also said that he managed to stop a rampaging Der¡¯roz that somehow ended up in the shores of Eldor.¡± ¡°Der¡¯roz?¡± Ozzur asked confused. ¡°I don¡¯t think I heard about that before.¡± ¡°Der¡¯roz¡­ That does sounds like a cookie I had before.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Ahh!¡± A surprised shout came from someone we sincerely didn¡¯t expect, before she flew and nestled herself around my shoulder scared. ¡°Rio was a good dragon! I kept quiet all the time, so Stone mister won¡¯t give Rio to big bad Doggie, right?¡± She asked me worried while looking around. Confused by her reaction, I took her in my arms and started caressing her gently to calm her down before we all turned towards Lily, who had a mix of an apologetic and amused look. ¡°Well¡­ From what I¡¯ve heard, Der¡¯roz are a rare beast that lives near Ezoria. It is said that they actually prey on dragons if they have the chance.¡± ¡°Prey on dragons¡­?¡± Hanbei asked a bit surprised before looking towards Rio. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure about greater dragons like her. But I do know they prey on lesser, and even mid-ranked ones. Well, I also heard of dragons preying on Der¡¯roz, so I can¡¯t say for sure.¡± ¡°Mommy said¡­ Mommy said that Bad armor Wolfies are really dangerous¡­¡± Rio said while peeking over. ¡°They attack everything they see. And they are really, really though.¡± ¡°Wait, Rathian said that?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°R-Rathian?¡± Ozzur asked surprised. ¡°Yeah, her mother¡¯s name.¡± I said. ¡°¡­Next you¡¯ll tell me she¡­¡± ¡°Yes. Yes he did.¡± Crys said while covering her face with her palm. ¡°He actually made the green scaled wyvern do backflips.¡± ¡°How did he¡­¡± Ozzur said in disbelief before suddenly blinking and turning towards Crys. ¡°Wait a sec¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± Lily asked confused. ¡°I mean, it is strange that a wyvern would do that, but¡­¡± She looked at him with a doubtful expression, but she trailed off as she didn¡¯t quite find the words. The mummy heaved a long sigh before shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s something from¡­ Well¡­ Where we come from.¡± He explained a bit awkwardly before shaking his head. ¡°Don¡¯t mind it too much.¡± He sighed before noting down something on his notebooks. ¡°Anyway, this is actually interesting news for me. Need to make sure to pass it on.¡± I smiled awkwardly before nodding and looking towards Lily, making a motion for her to go on. ¡°Well¡­ Most of what I remember right now were some really major military victories. He had grown to even be recognized by the government as a war hero.¡± Lily said before frowning. ¡°Then, one day he simply disappeared. I remember some people saying that he went on a hunt for legends or something of the kind, and for a few years no one heard of him before.¡± ¡°So, he even received praises from the state, huh?¡± The mummy said interested while noting down her words. He suddenly stopped then turned to me, looking at me as if he was waiting for something. ¡°What?¡± I asked confused. ¡°I¡¯m waiting for you to say something shocking like you always seems to do at times like these.¡± He stated bluntly. ¡°H-Hey¡­ it¡¯s not like I¡¯m a cookie with only one flavor¡­¡± ¡°Master¡­¡± My words were stopped when a strangely scary Crys called to me in a low voice. ¡°If you don¡¯t stop with the whole cookie things¡­¡± She said threateningly. ¡°Y-Yes¡­?¡± I asked while taking a step back. ¡°I¡¯m going to make a full egg course for you to eat in the next lunch...¡± Pfft, does she really think she can threaten me with just that? Just because I don¡¯t like eggs, she thinks she¡¯ll manage to make me drop my delicious cookies pun? WHO DOES SHE THINK I AM? I AM WARGON! THE ONE WITH UNDOMITABLE WILL FOR JOKES! I SHALL NEVER, NEVER GIVE IN TO THREATS SUCH AS¡­ ¡°With eggplant juice to go with it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be a good boy and stop doing cookie puns.¡± I said happily. I mean, yeah, I was going a bit too far with the joke and all. It was even getting difficult to come up with new puns and such. ¡°Good master.¡± ¡°¡­Wargon greatest weakness are Eggs and Eggplants¡­ Scoop scoop.¡± ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t go spreading that around the world!¡± I shouted back. ¡°And why didn¡¯t you hit him this time?¡± I asked Lily confused, only to see as she also wrote something in a small notebook. Waah¡­ Staring at her, my gaze finally wandered towards Yuu, who was making a strangely intense expression, as if she was trying to memorize something. ¡°It was nice knowing you, Pervert.¡± I heard Yami while she put her hand on my shoulder. I turned to her and stared at her annoyed for a few seconds before finally sighing. ¡°You know, for a self proclaimed top-ranked maid you are sure doing a poor job at it.¡± I said in a blank expression, seeing as she blinked confused. ¡°I mean, it should be almost lunch time by now yet here you are. What will you do if your master gets hungry?¡± At my words, I noticed how Hanbei raised an eyebrow amused and Yami¡¯s expression changed into one of pure shock and horror. ¡°I GOT SO ABSORBED INTO FOLLOWING MY ADORABLE MILADY AROUND THAT I FORGOT TO PREPARE HER FOOD!¡± She said in a hurry before bringing up the menu. Not even a few seconds later she disappeared in a pillar of light, to which I finally nodded and smiled proudly to myself. ¡°You did that knowing well enough that we could buy lunch nearby, didn¡¯t you?¡± Hanbei asked amused. ¡°Worth it.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°And she will probably add eggs to the dish as revenge.¡± ¡°Not worth it.¡± I said worried. ¡°Lunch time¡­ Is it?¡± Ozzur said amused. ¡°So you are a few hours ahead of me, then.¡± Ozzur said with a slight tone of surprise. I took a few seconds to understand what he meant, but finally nodded. With him being part of an American program about games, it would make sense for him to be American, and thus be a couple of hours behind me in the clock. ¡°So, I take it you¡¯ll be leaving soon?¡± He asked me, to which I stopped to think before nodding. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll just finish the spider here and go have lunch. Would you mind escorting Lily and Rio back to the city then?¡± ¡°I can do that much.¡± He replied with a nod. ¡°So you are going back to your world, Teacher?¡± Lily asked curious. ¡°Yeah. I should be out for a couple of hours, and you probably want to have some rest by now, right?¡± I said with an awkward smile knowing well enough how long she had been following me. She smiled awkwardly before nodding. ¡°Well, I still have to finish working on this spider anyway, so it¡¯ll take a few more minutes.¡± I said while pulling back my sleeve and once again trying to go back to skinning the spider. Lily nodded before leaning close to me peeking over to see how I would do the process. Strangely enough, I could feel a not-so-comfy wave of cold air coming from behind me, but deciding that it was better not to worry about it, I simply went on to finish my job. ¡°¡­Is she always this scary?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t seen her drunk yet.¡± I heard Hanbei and Ozzur commenting behind me while Crys giggled slightly. Putting one more cookie in my mouth, I decided that it would be better for my nerves to focus on the job in front of me. --- Author¡¯s Quiz: Well, Since I¡¯m having fun with this one, let¡¯s go for one more easy quiz before we start dropping a few more annoying ones. Question: Back when Gon was still only starting his journey, he ended up taking a quest to hunt lynxes, and despite being underwhelming weak compared to the cats, he and his partner still managed to defeat them. What, exactly, were Gon, Yuu and the lynx¡¯s level in the first hunt? Bonus question for bonus cookies: What was Gon¡¯s reason to reprimand Yuu in their first moments together? Chapter 105 - Shared property Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! ITS TIME TO PLAY HOUSE! ANYWAY, some more downtime in real life as well as a very important decision to be made for our main characters. That said, not much really went on this chapter, I guess? I¡¯m sorry for being boring, okay? ALSO, Congratulations Hacalyhd for getting the correct answer on the previous quiz! The correct answer being Gon was level four and Yuu was level TWO. Though I admit I almost mistake her for level one and gave the cookie wrongly¡­ ANYWAY, HAVE YE COOKIE! HACA! (Close call Kuroyuki, close call¡­) Anyway, next question on the end of the chapter. ALSO(2), I must say here and now, that I wait anxiously for twenty second of April. For reasons. Yeah, I¡¯m more hyped for this than MHX right now. My childhood man! Just a random note, don¡¯t mind me. Have a good read! ---- The elevator made the usual ¡°Ding¡± sound as it reached the floor to my apartment, and after breathing in briefly, I put on back my serious face before walking down the corridor and reaching the door to my apartment. I opened it and slammed it behind me before setting the plastic bag on the table. After doing that, it still took me a couple of minutes to finish setting up the table for myself, with things like silverware, a glass of water and so on. Pulling the chair without any ceremony, I threw myself on it before staring at the plastic bag before me. ¡°I usually praise dedication, but aren¡¯t you going a bit too far boy?¡± I heard an elderly but energetic voice coming from the doorway. I turned back and saw as the elder samurai stood there with an amazed expression while staring at the bag before me. Behind him a black-haired girl peeked over discreetly with a mix of surprise and guilt in her face. Ignoring the duo, I simply turned back to the plastic bag and opened it, showing the ten buck¡¯s worth of take-away food that I had just bought for myself. Opening the package I went on to shove a large fork¡¯s worth of food into my mouth and chew on it grudgingly. ¡°Waaah¡­ You really went and did it...¡± I heard Mari saying. ¡°Neeh, Shi¡­ Ri-kun¡­ Why don¡¯t you come and have lunch with us?¡± Yuu asked me shyly. ¡°You guys know why.¡± I replied in a low grumble while looking down at the food before me. ¡°Ihn muh *Munch* difenshe¡­ *gulp* I thought you were joking.¡± Maya said while the sound of her fork hitting the dish echoed. Once again I turned back to the now bigger group and saw that only Maya was standing there with her plate full of food. When the others noticed this, they also turned to her and stared silently for a few seconds. ¡°What? I¡¯m hungry!¡± She said pouting. ¡°Maya. Why don¡¯t you leave your dish for when you are sitting on the table?¡± Mari asked tiredly. ¡°Yes, milady!¡± The ero-maid replied cheerfully before disappearing from my doorway with the abomination that she held in her hands. Pleased by the sight, I once again went back to sullenly consuming my proper food made for human consumption. For a while, I could hear as an awkward silence fell upon the remaining three, and as I was taking my second fork to the mouth, I heard some footsteps and felt as someone tugged the hem of my shirt. ¡°Can you at least eat with us in the table¡­?¡± Yuu asked me. I turned to her with a finger raised ready to make my point, but when confronted with the upturned eyes of hers, I flinched. That¡¯s a really, REALLY low blow. Gritting my teeth while trying to resist the temptation. When I finally steeled myself, I took a deep breath and prepared to reject her. ¡°Oneg¡­ Please?¡± GODDAMIT! I took a deep breath once again and stood up brusquely, making as much of a racket as I could with that. Yuu stared at me in shock for a moment, but before she could ask anything I simply picked my grub and started making my way to the door, grumbling angrily and how much of a unfair advantage she had when it came to persuasion. Seeing as the girl skipped happily following me, Mari and Kotetsu made way for me as I walked over and let me pass and made my way to the neighboring house just in time to see as the maid was preparing to leave once again. Ignoring her, I sat down before the only plate that was empty and went back to eating. ¡°Did you really need to do all that?¡± Mari asked confused as she sat down on the opposing side and besides Maya. Yuu took the seat besides me while her gramps took the edge of the table. ¡°Yes. Yes I had.¡± I said coldly. ¡°What did Gon do this time?¡± I heard Cygnas asking as the Hanbei-lookalike set her cellphone on the table. ¡°He just went out to buy food.¡± Mari said amused. ¡°...Huh? Didn¡¯t Yami prepare food though?¡± The AI asked confused. ¡°That¡¯s...¡± Yuu started, but I interrupted her with a sigh. ¡°Do you have¡­ ANY idea of how I felt when I looked at the table, and saw that all the dishes¡­ Were egg dishes?¡± I said while staring at the maid who looked away awkwardly. ¡°ALL of them, not a SINGLE one was spared from the ATROCITY that this MONSTER¡­ This¡­ This¡­ THIS BEING OF PUUUURE EEEEEEVIIIIIL COMMITTED!¡± I said angrily while pointing my fork at Maya. ¡°I even had to go and buy me some clean food so I could eat!¡± I added finally while feeling tears fall from my eyes. For a brief second, Cygnas simply stared blankly at me through the screen before suddenly doubling over and laughing her heart out at the situation. The others also started snickering at the scene while all I could do was sit down and grudgingly go back to eating. While angrily munching on a piece of meat, my eyes landed on Kotetsu, seeing as he was also looking amused at the scene. Suddenly, a question appeared in my head, and feeling confused I frowned and asked. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to¡­ You know¡­ Say eat everything or something?¡± I asked the martial artist. ¡°That kinda looks like a martial-artistsy thing to do.¡± ¡°Eh, everyone have their tastes. As long as you get proper nutrition, I couldn¡¯t care less about what you eat or what you don¡¯t eat.¡± The old man said with a shrug before going back to enjoying his own lunch. ¡°...Do your family have anything with building up a stereotype only to crush it later?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Haaah? What you mean?¡± ¡°I mean, Yuu here first looks like some kind of perfect princess, but after seeing her in real life, she¡¯s actually surprisingly clumsy and don¡¯t mind being a bit more at ease at her home. Not only that, but she literally scolded her father last time he came here. You make yourself be some kind of classical martial artist, wears kimono and all, but then you say you listen to rock ¡¯n roll and Play games as a hobby and is surprisingly flexible with your methods.¡± I said a bit dubious. ¡°...I never noticed that...¡± Kotetsu replied amused before finally shrugging. ¡°Eh, not that it makes any difference, I guess.¡± I nodded in response and once again went back to eating. We chit-chatted a bit more afterwards, with the girls asking me about why I didn¡¯t like eggs and Kotetsu talking with Cygnas with great curiosity. I¡¯m pretty sure I heard her accepting to be his disciple midway through their talk, but I was too distracted by having to explain how much of an abomination eating egg as a dish was to the girls to be certain. Still, it is an amusing thought of having an AI being the apprentice of a martial artist. Should she one day go mad and decide to conquer the world with a robot army, we would have kung-fu robots running around. ¡°Wait, would it be Kung-fu robots or Kendo robots?¡± I asked my doubt out loud. ¡°Kendo Gon. It would be Kendo.¡± Cygnas replied almost instantly. I nodded in agreement before going back to eating. ¡°...Okay, enlighten me.¡± Maya said after some time. ¡°Gon was wondering if it would be either Kung-fu Robots or Kendo robots that would roam the world if I went mad after learning martial arts from Ronin and I decided to conquer the world.¡± The AI explained cheerfully. ¡°...And you understood from just that?¡± Mari asked surprised, to which Yuu also nodded confused. ¡°Well, yes? Didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Not really¡­¡± ¡°Wait. Doesn¡¯t this means that Cygnas-san actually thinks just like the Pervert?¡± Maya said in a surprised tone. Then, an awkward silence followed, Cygnas smile froze on screen as she blinked a couple of times. ¡°...I probably should have my parents give me a check up. This might be serious.¡± ¡°OI! THAT WAS UNNEEDED!¡± I shouted angrily while pointing my fork at the screen. There was a couple of chuckles from the crowd while I sat down and grumbled annoyed until something came to mind. ¡°Oh yeah. Cyg, didn¡¯t you have something to talk with Yuu and me? About the reward or something?¡± I said as the memory came back to my mind. ¡°Me and Ri-Kun?¡± Yuu asked confused, while the other three also looked confused. ¡°What, is it an addition of a marriage system in game?¡± Kotetsu asked suddenly with a mischievous smile. For a second the room went silent as everyone processed his words, before Yuu finally blushed and went ¡°awawawawa¡± and started muttering things in Japanese again. Even I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the scene with the others. ¡°Not really.¡± Cygnas said shaking her head, making Yuu calm down a bit. ¡°That system is already implemented. All they need is a small ritual in any of the major cathedrals.¡± That AI! She¡¯s getting really good at following jokes! While feeling proud of the goddess wannabe for her leveling up her joking skill, Yuu once again became red faced and even fell face first into the table ashamed. Smiling amused, I couldn¡¯t help but pat her a bit so she could calm down. Something that, as always, worked just fine. ¡°Anyway, no. It¡¯s not about that.¡± Cyg said in a more serious tone. ¡°It¡¯s about the terrain and house as a payment you were offered.¡± ¡°Ah, I also heard about it.¡± Yuu said after recovering, before closing her eyes to enjoy the petting once more. ¡°Yeah, the thing is, since the rewards is split between the two of you, it would be faster to just explain when you are together like that.¡± The AI said while snapping her fingers and making a window share half of the screen with her. ¡°You see, housing for players works a bit differently than how it works for Inhabitants. First off, since the players don¡¯t need to worry about inhabitation too much, other types of benefits were added to make Housing something other than simple commodity.¡± At her words, the window that shared the space with her suddenly appeared with a small image of what looked like a satellite shot from a small town/village. Atop of it came the words: County of Wichcrad. Even then it took me a moment to link the photo with the village where we were staying. ¡°You see, the bonus you receive are dependent on the location of the house, and the quality of the house.¡± Cygnas explained in a cheerful tone. ¡°Since the location is annexed to a village whose main forte is the mining and processing of ores, you¡¯ll receive a ten percent bonus when it comes to smelting efficiency, and a five percent bonus to mining itself.¡± At her words, the picture of the village was taken over by a bunch of small rectangles, where the small icon of what looked like an iron ingot followed by a +10% and a small piece of ore with a +5% appeared on the first top two slots. I blinked surprised and nodded while watching the presentation. ¡°Also, depending on the place where the house is built can also affect the bonus. Lord which mentioned a terrain on the outskirts, and while I can¡¯t be exactly sure as it depends heavily on the location where the house is built, but we can estimate that the following bonus can also be applied.¡± At her words, the symbol of a small plant, a piece of leather, fishing rod, wood-logs and berries appeared, all with the percentage bonus varying between zero and three percent. I blinked surprised at all the bonuses. Even if they were all minor, there was actually quite a bunch of them to the point that it can¡¯t be ignored. ¡°These bonuses are all dependent on the position of the house. Should it be close to a plain with many monsters and far away from any large bodies of water, for example, the skinning bonus would reach its maximum value while the fishing bonus would be non-existent.¡± ¡°Booh, and here I thought I could become a master gatherer.¡± I said with a pout. ¡°But, these bonus do not look like much.¡± Yuu said with a frown. ¡°At first glance, yes. But it can stack up pretty quickly if it¡¯s something you do with frequency. Much like how Gon is always mining and skinning.¡± Cygnas explained. ¡°Wait, do the skinning bonus also apply to the manual skinning?¡± I asked confused. I mean, don¡¯t I already take everything from the monster? ¡°That¡¯s...¡± Cygnas stopped to think for a moment, something that sincerely surprised me and the others. ¡°That¡¯s actually a good point. I didn¡¯t think about that when implementing the system. I mean, what player would be insane enough to forego the looting of animals?¡± She said in a perfectly innocent tone while looking straight at me. ¡°Har, har¡­¡± I said annoyed. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.¡°Anyway, this is somewhat of an oversight.¡± She said going back to serious mode. ¡°Since this system is exclusive to players I didn¡¯t have the chance to fix it yet.¡± She closed her eyes for a moment, counting up to three seconds before she was done. ¡°There we go. Now manual gathering receive a bonus to quality instead of quantity.¡± ¡°Bonus to quality?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Yes. Now you have a small percent-based chance to earn a jump in quality after making the manual gathering.¡± She explained while bringing up a small animation of a golem carving out the skin of a generic-looking wolf. ¡°Should you manage to get the upgrade, it will simply increase the rarity-rating of the piece by one. So, for example, should you manage to get a rare piece of leather by carefully skinning, AND the bonus activate, you would end up with an excellent piece of leather afterwards. That said, the bonus is individual per piece, so even if you don¡¯t get an excellent leather, you can get an excellent claw.¡± I nodded. So rather than a slight increase in overall quality, I have a bonus to simply ¡°Boom¡± and upgrade. While it was a bit strange at first, after I thought how the quality of the piece is defined by how well I do the skinning process, it doesn¡¯t sound that weird to be honest. ¡°I think I get it.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Say, some games give bonus for building certain facilities in their houses. Does this also apply?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cygnas nodded while bringing the animation to one of a small house with a very handsome looking golem besides it. ¡°That said, these bonuses are a bit different from the previous two. First, they are highly and solely dependent on the facilities. So even if you upgrade the house as a whole, as long as you don¡¯t upgrade¡­ Say¡­ The forge.¡± A small forge appeared besides the house animation, and the golem jumped cheerfully before jolting in and lit up the thing. Some cute smoke animations started popping up from the chimney. ¡°... the bonus will stay the same. That said, you do need the facility before you even get access to the bonus.¡± A plus ten appeared besides the animation, followed by the icon of a small anvil. The house changed to a bigger one, but the bonus continued the same. ¡°That said, the opposite is also true. Upgrade the forge without the house and you get the bonus anyway.¡± This time the forge became bigger and the house shrunk to the previous size, however, the bonus increased to fifteen percent. ¡°But it should be noted that the crafting bonus is only applied to when you use the facilities in your house, that¡¯s why they are so much more prominent than the others. Still, they can be replied in other places such as the hall of a crafting guild or something.¡± I nodded in understanding. This basically meant that should I get some kind of amazing piece of material, it would be better if I managed to get back home. ¡°Don¡¯t those buffs look strangely crafting-related?¡± Mari asked dubiously. ¡°That means for a casual hunt-focused player, the bonus aren¡¯t all really all that worthy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the case.¡± Cygnas said by shaking her head. ¡°There are also a few bonus for adventuring players too. For example, spending at least two in-game days inside your house or in the neighboring city gives you three in-game day¡¯s worth of experience bonus. It¡¯s also possible to build a training facility to train skills faster than simply using them in the wild, so it¡¯s not entirely useless.¡± ¡°Then, what about teleporting spells?¡± Kotetsu asked making me blink surprised for a moment. ¡°Yes, these are also included. Players earn a property-exclusive spell that allows them to teleport back to their home once every three days.¡± She explained. ¡°Also, using the spell again while at the house teleports the player back to where they were previously.¡± I see, so even traveling players could have some use. ¡°However, should the player leave the house property or the neighboring village without using the spell or waiting for at least a week they earn a home-sickness debuff that decreases experience earned instead.¡± She explained seriously. ¡°Huh? How does that works?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Probably¡­ So that people do not abuse the skill to travel around?¡± Yuu asked dubious. I widened my eyes and nodded, seeing as the AI agreed with the girl. ¡°Exactly. The point of the house isn¡¯t so it can be used for traveling, instead it¡¯s a place to sit down and relax.¡± She sighed. ¡°And¡­ Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but this house is going to be split between Yuu and the boy?¡± Kotetsu asked curious, to which Cygnas nodded. ¡°So, they are going to share the bonus or it will be split between them?¡± ¡°The bonus applies to the two of them.¡± Cygnas explained quickly. ¡°However, both will also have administrative control over the house.¡± ¡°I see...¡± Kotetsu said with a nod. ¡°Still, who¡¯d guess that the little Yuu would make such a fast move.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean, Ojii-sama?¡± Yuu asked confused. Well, Maya, Mari and me already knew what was going to happen, so we simply smiled mischievously or awkwardly. Depends on the person. ¡°I mean, you didn¡¯t even marry the boy yet and already plans to move in together.¡± Kotetsu said with solemn nod. ¡°I never expected you to grow up so fast.¡± ¡°O-OJII-SAMA!¡± Yuu said embarrassedly once again. Is it just me, or does Kotetsu actually enjoy having Yuu angry with him? Well, it is fun to tease Yuu, so I don¡¯t really have any right to say anything. ¡°Eeh¡­ It¡¯s kind of unfair that only Yuu and Ri-kun get the bonus.¡± Mari said sullenly while leaning her chin on the table. ¡°Can¡¯t they share it with us?¡± ¡°Yes, they can.¡± Cygnas replied immediately, making the little girl blink surprised for a moment. ¡°Wait, what?¡± She asked surprised. ¡°Well, for one, they could share the property with you. On the other hand, however, they could rent out the rooms for you. While the bonus would still be a bit smaller since the property isn¡¯t yours, it¡¯s still something that¡¯s useful.¡± She explained with a brief nod. ¡°Heeh? So renting also works like that?¡± Mari asked surprised. ¡°Indeed. There are even some players who purposefully rented a house so they could enjoy the bonus.¡± Cygnas explained with a cheerful smile. ¡°That said, no player owns a house as of now, and the only ones who actually have the money for that don¡¯t really show any interest as of now.¡± She said with an amused smile. ¡°Wait, doesn¡¯t Suppiles owns that building of his?¡± I asked confused, but Cyg shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s a commerce. It¡¯s¡­ Similar, but different. While Argento was the first player to buy a commercial point, he¡¯s certainly not alone.¡± I leaned back on my chair so that I could think for a bit. Sincerely, after hearing all that, I must admit that the idea of having a house was actually surprisingly tempting. That said, I would have to deal with taxes and such. ¡°Well, it¡¯s either this or money.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°So, what do you say, Yuu?¡± I asked the girl besides me, who suddenly blinked surprised. ¡°Huh? M-Me?¡± She asked. ¡°Yeah. I mean, the reward is split between us, and for me, either the money or the house is fine.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°So, what do you say?¡± Huh? Throwing the responsibility on her shoulders? Who¡¯s doing that? I¡¯m simply taking her opinion on the matter. However, much to my surprise, Yuu suddenly became serious and made a pensive pose while frowning slightly. ¡°Muu¡­ If I were to be honest¡­ The house would be the best choice.¡± She said briefly, but before I could do my usual energetic confirmation, Yuu went on. ¡°On the plus side, we will have the increase in resource income, but even if we take it on the monetary side, it¡¯s still a good investment. Seeing how the value of most things tend to fluctuate uncontrollably, terrain is actually surprisingly stable, and would usually tend to only grow in price as time goes one. Even more if we consider that the village seems to be flourishing and increasing.¡± ¡°...Waaaaah...¡± I said amused at serious-mode Yuu. She even had that slightly cold look to herself when she was serious. Looking around, the others were in a similar state. However, she wasn¡¯t done just yet. ¡°Even then, should we want a more immediate income we could always receive the terrain and build a residence there ourselves. Seeing how the cost of production is actually lower than the selling costs, it would not be strange if we achieved a marginal increase in our profit by that alone.¡± She stopped for a moment to think. ¡°Or, we could also rent out the room for other players at an accessible price after publicizing the benefits of having a house. This way we could use the income to expand the place and increase the bonus we receive ourselves. If we use Shishou¡¯s name that seems to be famous, we could easily fill up our lots within a couple of days.¡± She took a deep breath and turned back to her calmer self, giving a bright smile. ¡°Hnn. The house seems to be a safe option.¡± All of us simply stared in shock at Yuu, not knowing exactly how to react to her sudden economic class. Well, Kotetsu was smiling amused, but otherwise we were all surprised. Noticing this, the black-haired girl started becoming embarrassed and looked down. ¡°I-Is that no good?¡± ¡°...Nah. I just didn¡¯t expect you to go all Logic-fu on me like that.¡± I said amazed before laughing and petting her so she could calm down. ¡°Yeah, looks like we are getting a house.¡± ¡°Ooh. That¡¯s good.¡± Kotetsu said cheerfully. ¡°That means we have a place where we can train you in martial arts all we want.¡± He nodded to himself. ¡°Just you wait till I get there and we can start immediately.¡± ¡°Ermm¡­ Ronin-san.¡± Cygnas called him a bit awkwardly. The old man blinked surprised and turned to her confused. ¡°The last time you logged off, you were in Eldor, right?¡± ¡°Why, yes?¡± He said confused. ¡°...Didn¡¯t Gon tell you where he is right now?¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± The old man stopped to think for a moment while I couldn¡¯t help but look away with a snicker. Yuu smiled awkwardly as she foresaw what was about to happen. ¡°He did say that he was traveling, if I recall correctly.¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Cygnas said with a wry smile, then she brought up the map of the village up again and started zooming it out. ¡°But you see¡­ This is where Gon is right now.¡± She said while the map kept on zooming and zooming out. Kotetsu¡¯s amusement quickly became shock as the sight of the village becoming a dot and the capital finally appearing up in the map while marked in red to highlight it so it would stand out from other mountains. ¡°And that¡¯s where you are¡­¡± For a few seconds, silence fell on the room as the old man looked at the map, then he looked at me with a mix of a blank and a surprised stare. Then back to the map, then back to me. ¡°...You are in a coastal village...¡± He said, I nodded while hiding my smile with my hand. ¡°...You are going to cross the sea...¡± I nodded once again. ¡°...You said that we would start once we met...¡± Another nod. ¡°...You set me up...¡± ¡°I plead innocent!¡± I said while making my best serious face. ¡°OBJECTION!¡± The old man said while standing up and pointing at me. ¡°You knew this was going to happen, you little fox!¡± He said, surprisingly sound amused. ¡°Wait, don¡¯t throw the blame on Yuu now!¡± I said in a fake anger. He held back a laugh before looking between me and the map. After a few seconds of hesitation, he finally turned back to me as dangerous fire burned in his eyes. ¡°I would love to teach you a lesson now¡­ But you really got my blood boiling right now.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Wa-Wait, you don¡¯t mean...¡± ¡°See you in a few days, boy!¡± He said while storming out of the girl¡¯s apartment and darting towards mine. We simply stared at him in shock for a few seconds while I wondered what had happened. ¡°He isn¡¯t¡­ he isn¡¯t going to run all that way by foot, is he?¡± I asked dubiously. ¡°...I think he will...¡± Yuu said with a wry smile. While I started praying to the great goddess Cygnas that whatever was stopping the ships from leaving would calm down soon, I started giving second thoughts to my choices. ¡°Ah! I almost forgot!¡± Cygnas said suddenly. ¡°Huh? What?¡± I asked confused, worrying for more bad news. ¡°You can also set for your pets to go to the house when you log out!¡± OI! THAT WAS ANTICLIMACTIC! --- Quizzer¡¯s corner: Okay, two questions again, an easy and a hard one. Each question is worth one cookie, plus a bonus one. Let¡¯s go! Two more questions this time! First, an easy one. Sol taught Gon many things about alchemy in the time he stayed at Eldor, but what was the FIRST thing Gon ever saw her creating? That was the easy one. For a more subtle one now. Gon have an arsenal of skills that are a pain to remember, varying from movement skills, forgotten crafting techniques and odd Attack ones. However, of all his skills, only one attacking skill actually ignores the enemy armor. Which one? (I¡¯ll be surprised if someone gets this one right tbh¡­ So, as an extra, if someone can give me the proof, you get an extra cookie. Even if someone else gets the question''s cookie) Chapter 106 - How to traumatize a cat Author¡¯s corner: GREETINGS Fri¡­ wait, wrong introduction¡­ ANYWAY, starting off with a lazy declaration. Chapter has been ready since a few hours ago, I was just too lazy to write the author¡¯s corner. YAY! Next, this week we have both a Project Hero update (Next chapter around halfway done. It¡¯s one of my non-RRL projects, for those wondering) and Lia afterwards. ALSO, on very serious and important matter, let¡¯s go to the results of the quiz. The answer to both answers were: DUN DUN DUN DUN¡­ Shield slam is the skill that ignores armor! While it¡¯s true that the long sword skill and Ignite weapons also do have said effect, The LS skill have two parts, being that only the second one ignore armors, while Ignite weapon is a SET skill. Piercing arrows is also a good contender, but it only ignores part of the armor. (Cookies go to thelazyauthor! (not me, btw. That¡¯s the guy¡¯s nick. Seriously)) ALSO(2), the second question that was supposed to be the easy one was: What was the first thing Gon saw Sol making/crafting. The one to get this answer correctly was Slo*cough*JohnPlume! The first thing he saw her making was a glowing blue liquid candy of sorts. While I do understand why people though it was an explosion, sorry, but that¡¯s not the case this time, folks. ALSO(3), @TralliE There wasn¡¯t a single use of Wry in this chapter. Be happy!... Wait, I just used it now. DANG IT! ALSO(4), About the lack of update last weekend: I had to go to a friend¡¯s house on the Saturday and on the Sunday I was exhausted. I almost literally spent it the whole day laying on my bed doing nothing. I even missed classes the following Monday morning! (Luckily, the teacher also cancelled the classes, so got lucky.) Have a good read! ---- ¡°¡­So, no funny tricks this time?¡± I asked Cygnas as I found her standing calmly on the login zone. The goddess wannabe simply looked at me with a shocked expression and covered her mouth as if in disbelief. ¡°What kind person do you believe me to be, master?¡± She said in a tone that sounded oddly offended. I simply shrugged. ¡°The type that would try and prank me at every chance she got maybe?¡± I said indifferently before blinking. ¡°Hmm, now that I think about it, it¡¯s no wonder only you got my samurai robot reference.¡± ¡°Master. Please, there is no need to go so low as to insult me.¡± She said angrily. ¡°Oi! Aren¡¯t you insulting me now then?¡± ¡°It is only your imagination, master.¡± We simply stared at each other for a couple of seconds as if trying to intimidate the other, before finally bursting into giggles. Done with our usual joke routine, I still raised an eyebrow curious, as she would only keep me here when she had something she wanted to talk about. ¡°I just thought that it would be nice to have you wait for the girls here a little.¡± She explained with a smile. ¡°Since it should take them a few minutes to wash the dish and such, if you went ahead you might end up having to wait for them for an hour or so.¡± ¡°Point taken.¡± I replied with a sigh. ¡°So, what do we do until then?¡± Crossing my arms and looking at her in expectation, I saw as she simply kept on smiling to me before looking from one side to the other. Yup. She totally didn¡¯t think that far from the looks of it. Sighing and shaking my head, I remembered something she complained about earlier, so I quickly decided to go ahead and do it. After convincing her to summon a sofa for us, I opened the menu and checked around. Seeing a couple of options that I wouldn¡¯t usually see in-game, I quickly scanned the choices and found what I was looking for. ¡°Weren¡¯t you complaining that we didn¡¯t get to watch tv with you?¡± I asked when I noticed Cygnas staring at me confused. Her eyes quickly shone with a strange excitement as she made her way besides me. ¡°Geez, you really are a bit too easily excited, aren¡¯t you? Well since we don¡¯t have TV per-se, we¡¯ll have to do with Netflix. That fine?¡± ¡°Hmm!¡± She said happily before stopping and blinking. ¡°Ah, just a second.¡± She said suddenly before closing her eyes for a moment. A moment later a flash of light occurred and from it appeared a certain blue-furred fox. Aura looked around confused for a moment, but after making eye contact with me she quickly ran in my direction and jumped on the couch besides me, resting her head on my lap while looking at me with expectation in her eyes. Well, thinking about it, I haven¡¯t been spoiling her a lot recently, so it didn¡¯t take much longer for me to start petting her. That said, another thing caught my attention, as I stared at a certain cat who was looking at everything around him curiously. ¡°So¡­ Why is Lieutenant also here?¡± I asked seeing as the military cat also approached the couch. ¡°Well, he said he was curious about what the other places looked like.¡± Cygnas explained. ¡°So I thought that maybe I could bring him today.¡± I stared at her for a moment before shrugging. Not that it would make much difference. ¡°That said, now where would it be a good place to start¡­¡± I said while opening the catalogue of shows available for watching. It was a surprisingly difficult choice, seeing how we would have to choose something that so many newbies to the pop-culture could enjoy, while also being something light and quick that we could drop once the girls arrived. However, reply came into the imagery of an old classic that all generations should be able to enjoy. Smiling mischievously at the show I hovered the cursor over, I gave a brief glance to the cat that looked expectant to what was about to happen. After nodding satisfied, I put on the show of the dark-blueish cat and the brown mice. ¡­ ¡°But man, that was nostalgic.¡± I said with a smile while we arrived back at Lord Wich¡¯s village. ¡°I can¡¯t even remember the last time I saw that show.¡± Hanbei said amused while agreeing with me. Looking to my other side, Yuu was still giggling at the show. Surprisingly enough, she seemed to enjoy the silly misadventures of Tom and Jerry, despite never watching it before. ¡°¡­I would never have expected you to ¡®netflix and chill¡¯ with so many girls at the same time.¡± Yami said with a fake shocked tone from behind me. ¡°¡­Why do I feel you just said something really perverted there?¡± I asked a bit dubiously, but she simply looked away with a mischievous smile. Sighing, I decided to leave the Ero-maid with her own thoughts before focusing on getting my way to the mansion. After we started watching the classic cartoon, it didn¡¯t take much longer for the girls to also arrive, but much to my surprise, they actually stopped to watch it with us. We ended up watching three whole episodes with the girls before we finally logged in. But I must say, the best part was Lieutenant¡¯s reactions. When the episode started with Tom having the good life, he was actually quite happy and snobbish. But as Jerry came in and started doing his things¡­ I think that lieutenant is traumatized of brown mice now. Seriously, he was hiding behind the couch like it was some kind of horror movie by the end of the second episode. I¡¯m so making a brown rat toy for him later. On the other hand, Aura and Crys really enjoyed the show. I must admit being surprised that Cygnas hadn¡¯t watched it before, but if she liked it, who am I to complain? Anyway, back to the present. After logging in, we were in the cave just like when we left. With Lieutenant sent back to the place where he was, we found ourselves alone on the underground maze. Using Crys as a guide, we quickly left, and at the exit we met with some dwarves who were already preparing to go back to their job mining. They greeted us with wide smile and gave me their thanks while we passed. From what they said, Ozzur and Lily had already spread the news around at the city of my victory. And with the miners back, it also meant that the pebbles were back to roaming the mines once again, so they were a lot easier to find than before. That said, that certain specific pebble was nowhere to be found, and after a brief search without finding it, we decided to finally go back to the city. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll miss the little scorpion wannabe.¡± I said out loud. ¡°Scorpion¡­?¡± Yuu asked confused while tilting her head. ¡°Yeah. The sprite with more legs, pincer and tail-like thingy. Didn¡¯t it look like a scorpion?¡± I asked while drawing in the air with my fingers. Yuu blinked for a moment before slowing her pace and peeking at my back confused. After a moment she widened her eyes and nodded. ¡°Ah. Now that you mention, Sprite-san does look like a scorpion.¡± She said with a surprised tone. But¡­ ¡°Why did you look at my back?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Hmm? To look at sprite-san?¡± Yuu said as if it was the obvious answer. ¡°Look¡­¡± I said confused before stopping and looking over my shoulder. Since earlier I was feeling a weight on my back, but thinking it to be my long-sword (I REFUSE CALLING IT A GREAT SWORD), I simply ignored it. But looking over my shoulder I didn¡¯t see the scabbard sticking out as usual. Thinking about it, didn¡¯t I remove it after killing the spider so that the sprites could gather to eat? Then¡­ Blinking surprised, I quickly stopped on my tracks and started petting my back while searching for the source of the weight. Feeling as my hand grabbed something large and stony, I quickly pulled it back to my front and stared at the object in my hands. ¡°¡­Tek¡­ Tek?¡± What I found was a sleepy looking sprite that was using one of its claws to wipe away the area where its eyes would be if it were an actual scorpion. After a brief moment staring at me, the sprite finally woke up and raised the claw-like stones with a cheerful movement before waving them around. However, it quickly stopped once it noticed the surrounding, and staring around in surprise and shock, it suddenly became scared and jumped from my hand to my shoulders, where it started trembling while looking around scared. ¡°What with that¡­¡± I asked confused before shaking my head. ¡°Never mind. Since when were you there?¡± I asked it, and saw as it stopped and turned to me confused. ¡°It was clinging to your back since you left the cave, master.¡± Crys said amused. ¡°Did you seriously not notice?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I didn¡¯t.¡± I admitted. ¡°So, why didn¡¯t you guys tell me?¡± ¡°I thought you were kidding about that.¡± ¡°I was sure Shishou already knew about Sprite-san.¡± ¡°I never expected master to be this airheaded¡­¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s more fun this way.¡± ¡°Yami. Go to hell. The others, yeah, I see your point.¡± I said with a sigh before turning to the sprite. ¡°So, we¡¯ll have to find something to do with you since we won¡¯t go back to the mine so soon. And I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to go back by yourself.¡± While saying that, the sprite stared at me for a moment before suddenly hugging my neck as if nervous. I sighed and ended up petting its head to help it calm down. Maybe I should send the little guy with a miner once they leave to work. However, my thought was quickly stopped once a ring echoed in my head and a window popped up in front of me. Caught by surprise, I almost tripped while walking. At the very least it seems that I wasn¡¯t the only one, as Yami full on splattered into the ground when Hanbei stopped to read the message.
The player: Eraxxus has become the first player to reach the level 50.
The player: Eraxxus has completed the first Chronicle difficulty quest [The unholy gale of change].
The guild: Kinectic cleared the first Dungeon break on [Ruins of Roldar].
Staring at the three messages for a moment, I finally shook my head and snapped out of my shock. So this is what people felt when I made that flood of announcements back during my crafting sessions. ¡°I¡¯m gonna make a wild guess, but this Eraxxus guy is in the Kinectic guild.¡± I said randomly, to which Crys nodded. ¡°Yeah. That said, he isn¡¯t the leader, if that¡¯s what you are wondering.¡± ¡°So more like the ace player?¡± I asked and Crys nodded once again. Dismissing the window with a sweep of my hand, I quickly put myself back to walking towards the mansion. ¡°So, what¡¯s that dungeon break it said there?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the hardest difficulty available for dungeons.¡± Crys explained quickly. ¡°Think of it as the ultimate one-time challenge. After someone accomplishes said dungeon break, the ¡®cursed ground¡¯ that the dungeon is composed is undone and it becomes a normal zone.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Heeeh¡­ And how difficult is that dungeon break thing?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Let¡¯s just say¡­ The monsters inside have no restriction when it comes to skill usage and their natures.¡± She said with a dangerous smile. Feeling a bit worried, I raised an eyebrow curious and she quickly cleared her inexistent throat and said. ¡°First, don¡¯t you find it odd that the boss stands in their room so quietly? There¡¯s none of that.¡± ¡°Okay. Roaming bosses. That¡¯s scary.¡± I said with a worried expression. ¡°I still have trauma of a raid that they added a boss that roams the trash area.¡± ¡°I thought so.¡± She said with a smirk. ¡°They can also take control of the minions on the dungeon and give them orders. Lastly, do you remember that they kept on to certain patterns when attacking?¡± How could I not remember. If it wasn¡¯t for that we would probably still be fighting the damned robot¡­ ¡°Well, they are free to act as they will. Much like the world bosses you fought up to now.¡± Great. Now I¡¯m traumatized. ¡°Wait, there¡¯s a difference?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°Yes. To compensate how much stronger the dungeon bosses are their actions are more restricted to certain parameters. However, when dungeon-breaking those limits are also removed.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I understand. It¡¯s not that the players are breaking the dungeons. But the dungeon that break the players spirit.¡± I said with a nod. Strange, suddenly that dungeon we did does not look as difficult. Having our talk reach a traumatizing point, I finally sighed before making my way back to the mansion, as we were only a couple of minutes away from it. ¡°So, how though is a Chronicle quest?¡± Hanbei asked curious. ¡°Oh. Chronicle is one step above heroic quests.¡± Crys explained with a proud tone. ¡°And the difference is about the same of a hero quest to a normal quest. Above it comes Historical quests, then Legendary, mythical and finally Titanic quests.¡± Wait¡­ Doesn¡¯t that means that my quest is somewhat insanely difficult. ¡°By the way, besides Gon, only two other players have Mythical quests. Though theirs are a lot more serious than his.¡± ¡°How can a quest be more serious than the other?¡± Yami asked confused. ¡°Master literally asked Wallace to give him a difficult monster-related quest.¡± Crys sighed. ¡°Ah¡­ I see¡­ Yeah. Can¡¯t be any less serious than that.¡± Hanbei said with a sigh. ¡°HEY! I WAS BEING SERIOUS!¡± I complained loudly. Finding ourselves before the gate to the Lord¡¯s house. It didn¡¯t take us more than a couple of seconds of wait before the guard opened the gate and made a motion for us to come inside. We wasted no time entering the house while receiving some satisfied glances from the maids and butlers working in the area. Feeling a bit confused, I asked one of them where I could find Lord Wich, and after hearing about the second floor study we waster no more time into reaching it. Knocking on the door and receiving the permission to go in, we all entered the study. ¡°Ah. Gondorrer. It¡¯s good to see you.¡± The lord said with a slightly cheerful tone. I didn¡¯t miss Ozzur sitting on a nearby table while doing something with his notebook. ¡°Your friend here told me that you already finished the job and that you should come in a couple of days.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I said while looking at scoops, who acknowledged me with a nod before going back to doing what was most likely his work. ¡°Well, its as he probably said. The spider is down, the mine is free, the sprites are fed and my plan for a mount destroyed.¡± ¡°Plan for a mount?¡± Lord Wich asked confused. ¡°Yeah. You see, when you said that the monster was an Impaler spider, I had this idea of getting an egg for myself then raising the small spider into a worthy mount like Tex. But thanks to a certain cowards sprite I lost my chance.¡± I said while looking at the sprite that tried to hide itself on my shoulder. ¡°I see... Indeed. Impalers do make for great rides. Had one myself a few years ago.¡± Lord Wich said with a slightly nostalgic tone. ¡°That said, wild Impalers aren¡¯t exactly friendly and they can be a bit overprotective of their eggs.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t say¡­¡± I said with a clearly fake amused tone while staring at the small sprite on my shoulder. ¡°Anyway, I at least got myself some good crafting materials, so I can¡¯t really complain, right?¡± ¡°I see. Still, you did your job as promised. And just as we were finishing the summons for the army, so I guess some discussion about rewards is in on the way.¡± ¡°Oh. Speaking about rewards¡­¡± I said while looking at Yuu. ¡°We reached a consensus on the whole thing about the ship.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Lord Wich said while nodding and making a motion towards the chair. I sat down and started explaining him all that we learned about the housing system for players. While he looked interested in it for a moment, he let me finish before making any questions, so I quickly told him my intentions. If possible I would want a terrain near the mines and the forest. The reason for that would be because the forest gave a small bonus to skinning. It wasn¡¯t as good as the plains, but since there weren¡¯t any nearby plain, I had to do with the forest. It also included a big bonus to lumbering, but since that was one profession I lacked, it would be a bit difficult for me to find use in that. Having it be near the mine would also give me a mining bonus and easy access to some basic ores. That was the negotiation about the airship trade. The following one was about the quest. Since the forge would be something I had interest in buying for my house, I asked if it was possible for the reward of the mine-clearing to be the construction of the forge on my lands. ¡°This one might be a bit difficult to guarantee you.¡± Lord Wich said with a conflicted expression. ¡°While your service have been great, a forge is a bit difficult to build and resource expensive too.¡± ¡°Oi. Did I hear someone talk ¡®bout a forge?¡± I heard a familiar voice coming from the doorway. ¡°Oh! Sam! Nice to seeand what the hell is that?¡± I asked shocked. ¡°What? Never saw a dwarf in jammys¡¯ before?¡± Asked the dwarf wearing yellow pajamas and a yellow sleeping hat, those pointy ones with a pompom on top. Heck, he was even holding a pillow in his arms. ¡°Not really.¡± I admitted. ¡°Anyway. If it¡¯s a forge yer want, mah boys would be happy to give yer a hand there.¡± He said proudly. ¡°They be wantin to build somethin¡¯ for some time already. I dun think any of ¡®em will complain about having to work for yer for a bit.¡± ¡°Nice!¡± I said satisfied before turning to Lord Wich again. ¡°So, I guess we have a deal?¡± ¡°Yes. We have a deal.¡± Lord Wich said while giving me a handshake. ¡°That said, if you could give me one day to sort out the available lots¡­¡± ¡°No problem.¡± I said with a nod and prepared to move on to the next matter at hand. However, I was quickly taken over by Hanbei. ¡°Also, is there any news of the sea calming down or something?¡± Asked the cat-girl. ¡°Sorry, but the undines are still agitated, so the captains are still reluctant to set sail.¡± He explained with a worried tone. ¡°I see¡­ And don¡¯t you have any idea of what that might be?¡± She asked curious. ¡°No. All we know is that the sea should not be sailed under any circumstances. If I were to say, they had never been THIS anxious before. At least not as far as I can remember.¡± He said with a heavy sigh. ¡°Commerce has been kind of slow because of that, so I even had to cut some costs to make up for it.¡± ¡°Things sounds tough for you¡­¡± I said a bit worried, but seeing how there isn¡¯t much I could do to help, I quickly shook my head. ¡°Anyway, speaking of undines, where is our undine?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± Lord Wich suddenly nodded. ¡°About Lady Lily, she is resting in one of the guest rooms with your young Wyvern. Now¡­ About your cat¡­¡± As he said that, he suddenly trailed off with an awkward smile. ¡°Eh¡­ The little furball been¡¯ playing pranks.¡± Sam said with an amused tone while grabbing what looked like kettle and pouring a cup of whatever it was for himself. ¡°But¡­ I heard some strange things from the maids when comin¡¯ here now.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± I asked curious. Something even stranger than usual for Lieutenant? ¡°Ahh¡­ Seem¡¯s like he went on a fixin¡¯ spree some time ago.¡± He said as if confused. ¡°Fixing¡­ Spree?¡± ¡°Yah. If what the lass told me is true, seems like he found a mice-hole an¡¯ panicked. Then came back with some wood, hammer and nails. Now he¡¯s been goin ¡®round the house sealin all holes he find on de walls.¡± While imagining the scene, I couldn¡¯t help but hold back a laugh. From the looks of it, the trauma was a lot worse than what I expected. While imagining the scene of Lieutenant panicking, I decided that I had my fill for the day and nodded. Asking where Lily was at the moment, I thanked Lord Wich and Sam while noticing how the Lord gave his brother a long and harsh look thanks to his clothing. Still, seeing how there was one last person who was still in the room that I didn¡¯t talk to, I made my way towards Ozzur and tapped his shoulders. The mummy jumped startled and looked at me in shock for a moment before making a stupid-sounding: ¡®Ah¡¯ ¡°Wargon¡­ What is¡­¡± He let out a long yawn. ¡°¡­it?¡± ¡°¡­This might seem odd for me to ask. But aren¡¯t you a bit too tired to be working?¡± ¡°Tired? There is no such thing as a tired reporter!¡± He said with a strange motivated tone. ¡°Not when I have so much material to go through. See what I should tell and what I should hide¡­¡± He suddenly blinked before turning to me and making a motion with his hand. Not long after I noticed a small friend-notification window popping up. ¡°I think this might be of your interest, but your glowing eyes are literally red from exhaustion, you know?¡± I said while absentmindedly accepting the request. ¡°That is but your imagination.¡± He brushed it off while going back to his notebook. Not that he had much persuasion when his writing hand was trembling. ¡°Master, you do know you are partly responsible for his state, right?¡± Crys said disappointed near me. ¡°I have no idea what you mean.¡± I replied dodgy. ¡°Well, he found one of the most prominent figures in Insania at the moment. Except that it turns out that said person is a bit crazy and he have no idea how to explain this to people without sounding offensive to you.¡± Hanbei said from the side. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the word he¡¯s searching for is Eccentric.¡± I commented. ¡°I am not sure, but that message we received is pretty big too, right?¡± Yuu comented. At her words, Ozzur¡¯s head finally slammed the table heavily and he started mumbling curses while threatening to break the pen he held in his hand. The worst part, with him being a mummy I couldn¡¯t help but have this feeling that I might be cursed for real. Y-yeah¡­ Thinking about it, with him being in the news industry, that announcement would probably make things even worse for him. And thinking about it, he was awake all the time he was there with me, and taking in account that it should have been past midnight with him living in the USA... Suddenly I started wondering when was the last time he actually slept. ¡°Ermm¡­ You know what. I¡¯m going to leave you with your work while I go craft myself some gear¡­¡± ¡°Craft¡­ Gear¡­?¡± Ozzur said while spinning his head around like a badly oiled machine. ¡°¡­Scoop?¡± Feeling creeped out by his intense glare, I took a step back, to which he replied by trying to follow me and trip to the ground, falling face first. Surprised, I thought on going to help him up, but much to my surprise he literally dragged himself towards me with one hand while protecting the notebook with the other. Running away from the horror movie scene, I left to go call my apprentice so I could start showing her some Gon-style crafting failure. ----- Author¡¯s corner: As we all know, Gon have an unofficial relationship with walls. Which mostly ends up with him going through one of them in an extremely comical way to the point that he even earned a title for it. So, for those keeping track, how many times did Gon get launched through a wall? (Either partially or completely) And for bonus question: Speaking of titles, Gon have received many interesting titles through his time playing. However, there was one title that was made entirely as a joke(and for those people who ask, it doesn¡¯t have an actual use). Which one was it? Chapter 107 - Armor for a Princess Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! TODAY¡¯S DELAY BROUGHT TO YOU BY LAZYNESS AND HUGE CHPATERS! ANYWAY, I had the chapter done since yesterday night, but I was really tired by the time I finished, so I decided to leave the upload for today (Cause tables), so yeah. I¡¯m not asking for forgiveness. ALSO, CRAFTING DAYO! Nuff said. Well, not exactly gear crafting, but we do get some really nice (and adorably terrifying) crafting going on today. From the looks of how things are going, the next two chapters will also involve heavy crafting as I still have a LOT to go through. (To list: Gon¡¯s weapon Gon¡¯s weapons¡¯ upgrades and a special package(totally not a new costume for LT. Totally not.)) *whistles innocently* ALSO(2), on the quiz side, here are the correct answers: The joke title is ¡°Owner of the cutest pet ever!¡±, and the one to get it correctly first was FSGInsainity! (sorry fsb5, but I can¡¯t really accept edits as answers as you might have changed it later¡­) Cookies for you! Now, for the second question, the correct answer was: FOUR walls! And sadly no one got the correct answer *makes sad face*, now put down the pitchforks because I¡¯ll explain. The question was: ¡°how many times did Gon get launched through a wall?¡± through (thro?o) prep. 1. In one side and out the opposite or another side of: went through the tunnel. While he did have a nice date with vertical limitations in other battles, the only times he actually went through a wall were only four. Twice at the beginning town with Wallace, once at Sol¡¯s right after the dungeon, and once again with Ol¡­ Wallace at the leatherworker¡¯s workshop. Well, better luck next time guys! (I might have missed one or another, so feel free to remind me which one and get a bonus cookie) Have a nice read! ---- After asking around Lord Wich and Co for a blacksmith shop I could go around using while crafting my items. After receiving a letter from lord Wich for himself that gave me clearing to use, he pointed me towards a certain blacksmith shop that was owned by his brother¡¯s company. Knowing that it was about to get hot, I asked the girls if they were going to follow me or do something else meanwhile. While Yuu decided to stick around with a strange dubious expression, Hanbei, Crys and Yami decided to go prepare the food for our travel, so they went shopping. Lastly, I finally managed to convince Ozzur to leave the game for some time so he could get a rest. All said and done, I went forward with finding Lily who was sleeping on the room lent to her. I then asked Rio to tell her where I would be after she wakes up, but¡­ The little wyvern went ahead and woke the sleeping undine up so she could tell her that I would be starting up the forge ahead of her. ¡°¡­Rio¡­ Didn¡¯t I tell you to wait until she wakes up?¡± I asked annoyed. ¡°Eh? You did?¡± The little wyvern said confused. ¡°Yeah¡­ Look, she spent up a good time awake recently, so you should let her sleep a bit more.¡± I said while awaiting outside of the room before turning to the door and knocking on it. ¡°Lily, you can go back to sleep. I¡¯ll probably be working for a long time anyway.¡± ¡°Hnn¡­ It¡¯s fine¡­ Teacher.¡± Lily replied between yawns. ¡°I actually managed to sleep a little in the cave, so I¡¯m already refreshed.¡± She said. ¡°Just let me change back into my work clothes.¡± I sighed before shrugging it off, then I turned towards Rio and gave her a quick scolding about waking people up like that. Surprisingly enough, she didn¡¯t complain too much and quickly apologized, both to me and Lily. With that, we had to wait around for Lily to finish changing her clothes, so we stayed on the corridor outside of her room, and I didn¡¯t miss the scene where Lieutenant passed in front of us while carrying a wooden plan and a hammer with him, carefully examining all the walls on the way in search for holes. He gave me a quick salute and said that he was clearing away the enemies point of access to the battlefield, and that he would be unavailable until he finished his mission. I nodded and waved him off with a salute. Amused by the scene, Yuu smiled for a moment before leaning on the wall behind her. ¡°Neeh, Shishou. What are you going to make this time?¡± She asked me after some moments of silence. ¡°Well.¡± At her words I suddenly stopped to think. Yeah, what exactly would I make out of the matriarch¡¯s material? ¡°Hmm¡­ For starters¡­ Probably a weapon.¡± I said after some time thinking. ¡°Heeh, another weapon?¡± She asked curious. ¡°What kind of weapon?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Either a Great Sword or a Hammer.¡± I said readily. ¡°Well, I could go for a piece of armor to be honest, but I don¡¯t feel the need for any kind of big upgrade when it comes to defense right now. That, and I don¡¯t think I have enough material for making a whole suit of armor and still have spare room for possible mistakes.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Yuu said after stopping to think for a moment. ¡°Muu, then¡­ If you are going to base it on that game¡­ Will they be a raw power weapon?¡± ¡°Aye.¡± I nodded. ¡°As of right now, all my weapons are either based on numerous weak attacks or, in the case with my long sword, I need to spend a bit too much time setting up attacks links to deal enough damage. That, and most of my attacks require some kind of preemptive position to be used, which isn¡¯t exactly that easy to pull off.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Yuu said and once again stopped to think for a moment with a frown. ¡°Then, wouldn¡¯t a hammer be a better idea?¡± I blinked for a moment while staring at Yuu, before finally nodding in agreement. ¡°Yeah¡­ Right now all my weapons either pierce or cut, neither have a really high impact.¡± ¡°Fu fu!¡± Yuu laughed cheerfully, making me smile a bit. ¡°Anyway, I might also take this chance to upgrade my older weapons.¡± I said while remembering the pathetic damage my bow was doing against the spider. ¡°Huh? Upgrade?¡± I heard Lily asking surprised as she left the room already dressed up for job, in think resistant clothes and carrying a smithing apron on one hand. ¡°You mean¡­ You can upgrade gear you already crafted?¡± ¡°Yeah. I made that test back with Torg some time ago. It seems that it¡¯s possible to update an item¡¯s status if I used different materials.¡± I said before making a quick explanation of how it worked, to which Lily nodded with a serious look as if I was going to put that in a test or something. ¡°I see¡­ So there¡¯s also that way of working around it.¡± The undine said impressed as we made our way towards the smithy. ¡°Yep. And this might be wrong, but I feel that the fact that the impaler is mostly a fire-based monster might make the upgrade occur a lot easier than anything.¡± I explained to her. ¡°That said, I don¡¯t plan on substituting anything, more like building on top of what I have right now.¡± ¡°And you think that with the new materials used, the performance will increase?¡± ¡°At least I hope so. After all, the material used as a basis isn¡¯t as strong as the ones I have right now with the spider dead.¡± As I said that, I blinked then turned to Aura who gave me a cold glance. ¡°Sorry, no offense.¡± Aura stared at me for some time before finally sighing and looking away annoyed. I laughed wryly before resting my hand on top of her head and caressing her head a bit. ¡°Coming to think of it, there has been quite some time since shishou made something for himself, hasn¡¯t it?¡± Yuu said, to which I nodded. ¡°Yeah, most of the time I was making things to train blacksmithing and selling rather than crafting seriously.¡± I said with a nod. I mean, I can¡¯t get as hyped up to make something for others than when I make it for myself. That, and I didn¡¯t have enough material to make it anyway, so not much use there. ¡°Is it any different?¡± Lily made the obvious question, to which I couldn¡¯t really bring myself to answer without sounding petty, so I did what any sensible person would do instead. ¡°A bit¡­ Anyway, Lily, I guess this will be the first time you are going to see me getting serious about the job, right?¡± I asked her trying to chance the subject slightly. She blinked surprised for a moment before nodding. ¡°Well, after what you told me in the cave, I guess I should tell you this, but¡­ What you probably wanted to learn when you started studying under me is probably this.¡± ¡°Really?¡± She asked me excited, to which I nodded. ¡°Then, what are you going to teach me?¡± As she said that, she quickly held my arm as her eyes shone with a child¡¯s excitement. ¡°I have absolutely no idea.¡± I replied proudly. ¡°¡­Huh¡­?¡± ¡°Shi-Shishou¡­¡± As the three simply stared at me in shock and confusion, and yes, Aura was also included there, all I could do was simply shrug while smiling awkwardly. ¡°Look, that¡¯s the problem right there. I¡¯m not sure how to explain what exactly I¡¯m doing there, so I can¡¯t really tell you what you should do yourself, you see?¡± As I said that, Lily stared blankly at me for some time before finally nodding. ¡°So, basically¡­ I¡¯ll have to learn by watching?¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°Sorry for being an incompetent teacher.¡± I replied sadly. ¡°But there isn¡¯t much I can do if I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing myself. That said, feel free to ask me whenever you don¡¯t understand and I can at least try to explain my reasoning.¡± She nodded while putting on a pensive expression. After some time of walking, we reached the forge, and after showing the document to the guard, he quickly opened the door to us and started lighting up the forge for me. I gave a quick look around got acclimatized with this new smithy. The forge was a bit smaller than the one at Torg¡¯s, but from what the guard told me while heating it up, it could get a lot hotter than what Torg had. I nodded while taking that into account before finally dumping all the material I had on a nearby table. That included the smaller spiders body parts, both my and Lily¡¯s share, the new ore and the matriarch¡¯s parts. Making sure to leave them separated in different corners of the room, I finally sat down in the middle of them and started looking around while trying to find my options. I mean, yeah, I do have the weapon as a final target, but I don¡¯t think that it would be good idea to go straight into trying to build it without first getting a feel of how to work with these materials. Which leads to a second problem. ¡°¡­How do I transform shells into weapons?¡± ¡°What do you mean, teacher?¡± Lily asked while she sorted out a part of the smithy for her own use. ¡°I just thought about it right now, but how the hell am I supposed to change a piece of shell into a blade or hammer?¡± I asked while looking at the shell of a smaller impaler with my hands. ¡°If it was armor it would be simple. Heck, all I¡¯d need to do was probably add a hook then tie it with strings if I was lazy¡­ But how do I make weapons out of these?¡± ¡°What do you mean exactly?¡± Lily asked me confused, so I quickly passed her the shell. ¡°Think about it. Say that we find a way to shape it how we want, and prepare all the pieces so that all we need to do is assemble them.¡± I explained while looking at the piece in my hands. ¡°Even if we have everything done, we still need to find a way to fixate them in place so that the weapon won¡¯t fall into pieces after one attack.¡± ¡°Ah! Like how we heat two pieces of metal before hammering them together?¡± Lily asked surprised, to which I nodded. ¡°I see¡­ So we don¡¯t have a way to weld them together.¡± She said with a surprised nod. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ll have to look into it before I start working with these. Maybe I¡¯ll need to use an acid or something.¡± I said with a grimace before shaking my head. ¡°Well, since we hit one unexpected wall on weapon-crafting...¡± ¡°¡­But we didn¡¯t even begin crafting teacher¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother with the details.¡± I waved away her needless worry before turning to the side. ¡°And you. Don¡¯t go eating those ores, as tasty as they are, I¡¯m going to be using them!¡± I said to the sprite that was happily picking a big chunk of ore from the pile. The scorpion shaped sprite stopped in its tracks and turned to me confused, so I sighed before raising myself and pulling up the sprite from near the ores and putting it on my shoulder. It looked at me confused for a moment before slumping sadly. That¡¯s unfair¡­ Picking a small piece of the ore, I quickly gave it to the pebble before putting the rest of it on the now blazing hot forge. With it going at full strength, the girls had already put up their countermeasures against the heat. Lily putting on the heat resistant ring while Yuu and Aura started using their localized cold spells. Deciding to start with the easiest part, I quickly started the process of smelting down the ores into ingots before turning towards Rio. ¡°Come here.¡± I called the wyvern, who blinked surprised. ¡°What happened, Stone-mister?¡± She asked while flying closer to me. ¡°Well, I kinda decided to give you something since some time ago, so I need to take a good look on you while I decide on what to make.¡± I said while making a motion for her to land on the table besides me. Rio didn¡¯t exactly seem to understand what I meant, but she happily complied, landing besides me and startling the pebble up as she playfully passed near it. Once she calmed down and stood still on the table I put my hand on her chin and raised it a bit. She blinked surprised but didn¡¯t fight back. For some time I went around seeing the shape of her body closely so I could have a better idea of how big she was and what I could do for her. Midway through my examination, when I was stretching her wings to see how they extended, she started giggling cheerfully. ¡°It tickles!¡± She said between laughs. ¡°Is that so?¡± I said amused. I didn¡¯t exactly expect her to be ticklish when she had scales protecting her body, so this is fairly surprising. ¡°Anyway, I think I have an idea of what I could do for you.¡± As I said that, I turned to the forge to see if the metal was already heated up. Having a rough idea of what I was going to do now, I put pebbles down on the table besides Rio, who immediately started nudging the poor scared sprite, and started to form the ingots into the shape I would start working with. However, right before I started smelting the ingots, something crossed my mind. Thinking for a moment about it, I quickly checked my inventory one more time and saw it laying there. Well, knowing myself, I probably won¡¯t use this anywhere else, seeing how monster materials are my main source of materials. Picking the certain thing I¡¯m purposefully not saying what is and throwing it on the forge together with the rest of the ore. If what Torg told me is correct, I probably won¡¯t have to worry about doing anything special. ¡°What are you going to do now, teacher?¡± Lily asked while approaching me with her blacksmith apron already put on. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of making some armor for Rio to be honest.¡± I explained while waiting for the new addition to also prepare itself and start removing the molten metal from the forge and start removing impurities. ¡°Armor¡­ For a greater dragon?¡± Lily said surprised. ¡°Teacher¡­ Are you trying to create a monster or something?¡± ¡°Nah. I already did that. Just look at the girl sitting near the entrance knitting and you¡¯ll see my most terrifying creation.¡± I said while pointing over my shoulders. Lily blinked before turning to Yuu who was calmly practicing her tailoring skills on the corner of the room. ¡°Do I want to know?¡± Lily asked me after some time. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that she could very probably defeat the matriarch in a tenth of the time it took me.¡± I said with a proud tone, to which Lily simply stared at me in shock. Hmm¡­ Speaking of which¡­ Maybe¡­ ¡°So Yuu is much stronger than you?¡± She asked me surprised, to which I nodded. ¡°Then, why does she calls you that? I mean, it means master, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s mostly because of a prank I played on her when we met¡­ And before we knew it, it simply stuck out.¡± I said with a wry smile while pouring the purified metal into the ingot mold. ¡°That said, the armor I¡¯m making is more for the sake of appearances rather than utility, so it¡¯s not like it¡¯ll be that much of protection.¡± I stopped for a moment before adding. ¡°Well, aside from one addition that will be really nasty if she uses it.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Lily nodded before going to help me with the ingots, I awaited for a moment while the ingot cooled down into its solid form, and a few minutes later we could already see what shape the ingot had taken. It was quite curious. At first glance, the ingot looked a bit like iron in its texture and shine, however, some lines formed on the top of the metal, taking on a pattern very similar to what looked like scales, being triangular in shape. Oh, and the ingot also had a deep red coloration. This one is totally my fault. ¡°Well, taking in account Rio¡¯s size, I think that we may need three or four of these if we want to do what I have in mind.¡± I said to Lily, who quickly nodded and started pouring down the other ingots for me. With my own ingot done, I started working on the plans I had. First, I started by taking the still soft ingot and separating a small part of it so that I could reforge it into a plate-like shape on the anvil. Hammering away the slice of metal until it became thin and wide. From there I started to use the anvil¡¯s edge to make a slight curve over it. Having finished the initial rough shape, I called Rio closer and quickly put the piece against her chest to see if it had a nice fit. I took it back and made some final adjusts to the piece. Those being making the center of the piece more curved, which Rio said that felt a bit uncomfortable, and the area near the wings, so I could give her a bit more space to flap her wings. With that done, I also added four spots where I could pass something to lock the chest piece in place with the back piece I was still going to work on. But after some thought, I quickly cut the piece in parts. If I made it too solid, it would end up making it harder for Rio to move her chest around when flying and doing her air maneuvers. While it isn¡¯t that big of a deal, I thought that I should at least do something that avoided being a burden to her if it wasn¡¯t supposed to be protective in the first place. On the other hand, I also decided to stylize the armor a bit more, by giving it triangular edges using the huge scissor-like press on the heated iron. This made it so that the overlaps reminded scales in its true senses. While explaining my reasoning to the curious Lily, I quickly got the pieces I had cut down and used a scale-mail technique to bind them together. This should allow for a wider range of movement than a solid piece, and with it already having the correct shape I wouldn¡¯t need to worry about measuring it again. Having made a more suitable chest piece, I quickly went on to make the back piece in a similar fashion. However, taking in account some future undertakings of mine I decided to also add a couple of other things. One of them was an accessory like add-on that dangled between the area of the wings and the neck, the other was that I didn¡¯t add the scale-like pattern to it for reasons. Being made of annoyingly tiny chains that I admittedly used some system help to make, I added a sickle like ending that was large enough to fit half of my hand through. Nodding satisfied, I followed with making a bunch of thin and long curved metal stripes. They were large enough so that they could fit around Rio¡¯s neck snuggly, and thin enough that even when I linked them all together, they had so much flexibility that it wouldn¡¯t interrupt her neck movements. Since I was a bit worried about her being bothered by the weight, I avoided making any of the sheets too thick, before moving to the face protector. This one was a bit more complex, as not only would I have to account in for the mobility, but also had to worry about line of sight. Grimacing, it took me some minutes of wondering what design I should give it to it. After some pondering, I decided to go with a face and jaw-guard combo. I started with shaping a filet of the ingot in a triangular shape that would fit around Rio¡¯s head entirely, and a smaller one that would go under her mouth. Using a rivet to make a hinge, system to allow her to open and closer her mouth without any problems. I ended up stylizing the set with sharper edges to give a more threatening look by adding two layers of metal that stuck out backwards, one near the middle of her head and one near the back. I also took the chance to adding a hole behind the middle spike-layer to serve as a passage for sound, where it also would protect her ears from any attacks that came from the front. Hmm? Strange? Wasn¡¯t I talking about it only being a visual thingy instead of an actual armor not even ten minutes ago? Meh, whatever. After opening a hole for the eyes on the armor, I quickly moved on to the final, and most important piece for any possible Rathian to protect. ¡°Even the tail?¡± Lily asked me. ¡°Yup. Rathians¡¯ main weapons are their tails, so protecting it is of utmost importance.¡± I replied proudly, to which Lily simply stared back confused. ¡°Then¡­ Do you plan on adding armor to the tail? Or a weapon?¡± She asked me while I picked up the third ingot from the forge and cut it in slices while it was still hot. ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked her back. ¡°I already have an idea in mind, but what would you do?¡± I asked her. ¡°What¡­ Would I do?¡± She asked surprised before stopping to think. ¡°Hmm¡­ You said it¡¯s her main weapon¡­ So we could either improve its effectiveness, or protect it, seeing how it¡¯s actually a part of her body.¡± She said with a frown. ¡°And?¡± I asked while starting to hammer down the slices in the shape I wanted. The undine blinked surprised before thinking for a bit longer. ¡°How would you either improve or protect the tail?¡± ¡°Wel¡­ I¡¯d probably do something similar to what you did for the neck.¡± She said while eyeing the neck armor that laid on the table, with Rio looking at it curiously. ¡°But¡­ Maybe you could add something else?¡± ¡°Something else like?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t know?¡± She finally admitted with slumping shoulders. ¡°Why not new tails?¡± I said while preparing the layered scale-like armor. ¡°New¡­ Tails?¡± She blinked before looking down to the armor I was making. However, once she saw me poking some extra holes on the armor she probably got an idea. ¡°I¡­ Think I kind of got it.¡± She said with a slow nod. ¡°If the tail is the main weapon¡­ Then increasing it in numbers not only make it more damaging, but also makes it that taking damage to one or another isn¡¯t too problematic.¡± ¡°Yup. Both offense and defense in one fell swoop.¡± I explained while pointing to the chain I used on the back armor. ¡°Go make me some more chain-links like that and you¡¯ll see what I have planned.¡± I said and she nodded before going back to the forge. As she had said, the tail armor was much alike the neck armor, however I also added some extra spots to add the chain links that I¡¯d use for my plan. With each successful armor slice I made it shorter and shorter to account for the tail thinning near the end, and on the very tip I added a pair of sharp edges that stuck downwards. I made it so that should she do the backflip correctly, the edge would add some cutting power to the tail sweep. This was to account that Rio¡¯s tail wasn¡¯t like an actual Rathian¡¯s tail that ended up in a mace-like appendage with poison spikes, and instead simply ended up much alike a normal reptile¡¯s tail, which isn¡¯t very powerful looking when you think about it. By the time I finished linking all the armor plates together with one another using some strong strings I got from Argento some time ago, Lily came back carrying a bunch of thin chains. I started by separating it in four pairs of similar length. One pair being extra-long, and the remaining three pairs having progressively longer lengths starting from very short and ending up a third of the longest duo. From there I started the linking process. Attaching the two longer chains on each side of the base of the tails and extending it in a v-shape. Afterwards I also attached other pairs to both the tail armor and the chain-tail, with the shortest near the base and the longest on the tip. At the tip of the two chain-tails I added even more of the blade-like edges in a way that they always faced to the same direction as the tail-blades. The reason for the chain-links tying the extra-tails and the main tail-armor was so that they wouldn¡¯t keep dragging on the ground when not on use. This way they only leaned a bit downwards instead. Finally, just because the wings felt a bit too out in the open, I decided to also make some wing armor for Rio. This, however, proved to be a lot more troublesome than what I originally expected. Why? Firstly, I had to make sure to at least make it stick to the wing-bone. However, this meant that the metal had to have a really tight turn to fit around the thin member finely. Then came the fact that I didn¡¯t have anything I could use to make such a delicate work around, so I had to improvise. Using a clamp to hold the thin piece of metal on the very edge of the stripe, I hammered it sideways so that it would at least reach half of the turn I needed it to have. Afterwards came the difficult part. With the long strip of metal bent along its length in an L shape, I followed the forging process by hammering it while only holding the piece with my hands using a thick leather glove, which didn¡¯t exactly help with the grip. This botched method of crafting made me end up with some twisted and creased pieces that I had to re-head and start from scratch again. It took me a few tries, but after some time I finally managed to make the long strips of metal in the shape I wanted. This meant having four of them made, seeing how I would need it to fold around the middle for Rio¡¯s wing to open and close without a problem. ¡°But this isn¡¯t working.¡± I complained while testing the attachment to the little wyvern¡¯s wings. While using a tightly fitting shape did help with attaching to the wing bones just fine, the simple rivet hinge didn¡¯t exactly help with the organic movement, and Rio complained about the armor getting uncomfortable whenever she stretched her wings. ¡°What if you made it so that the rivet can slide along the metal?¡± Lily said. I turned to her surprised before nodding. ¡°I see. Give it some room for moving so that it can adapt to her wing position, huh?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah, and making the forewing piece smaller should also help a bit whenever she flap her wings, seeing how she twists it on all possible directions when flying.¡± Lily explained, to which I looked at her surprised and nodded. ¡°I sincerely didn¡¯t think of that.¡± I said with a nod and smiling proudly. ¡°See? You are already bested your teacher in some place!¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Hmm¡­ Yess¡­¡± She suddenly became embarrassed, leaving me confused. Even more confusing were the two icy glares I felt boring holes through my back. Turning back slowly, I saw as Yuu and Aura both looked at me with dead eyes. ¡°T-T-Teacher¡­ Could you¡­ Please?¡± Lily suddenly asked me. Blinking confused, I turned back to the undine and finally understood what had happened. Quickly pulling back my hand that had been petting her, I cursed my unconscious reaction to petting when congratulating someone. ¡°Ermm¡­ I blame Yuu. She conditioned me to this.¡± I said quickly. ¡°SHI-SHISHOU!¡± Yuu said embarrassed from the back of the entrance of the workshop. ¡°¡­Ermm¡­ Why are you looking at me like that, Aura-san?¡± Confused, I turned back and saw a fairly amusing scene where Aura was looking at Yuu with a thankful gaze. Also, it seems that while I wasn¡¯t looking, the pebble had also ran towards Yuu to escape from the playful Rio. ¡°I don¡¯t mind¡­ I just was caught off guard.¡± Lily said with an awkward smile. ¡°Though I can understand why Aura and Yuu both seem to enjoy this so much.¡± She added in a lower voice that I totally didn¡¯t hear. ¡°Yeah¡­ Anyway, let¡¯s finish this so we can go back to the real work, shall we?¡± I said while looking at the remains of the red ingot I had been using earlier. With barely anything left, I sighed and knew that I didn¡¯t have much room for error right now. Following Lily¡¯s suggestions, I took the first part of the wing-armor and expanded the rivet-hole into a more stretched one that allowed for some sliding. I also made it so that the part that linked on the outer-wing bone had a thinner end than the first part, so that it had some free range of movements on the vertical axis too. After finishing this, I once again tried the armor on Rio and she said that it was a lot more comfortable than before. ¡°Teacher¡­ Wasn¡¯t this supposed to be only cosmetic?¡± Lily said as we finished all the pieces. ¡°I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Armor is supposed to protect, right?¡± I said while dodging her eyes. ¡°Is this all for me, Stone-mister?¡± Rio asked as she looked at the whole armor set laid on the top of the table. ¡°Yep.¡± I said. ¡°That said, I might have gotten a bit carried away¡­¡± I said with a helpless tone while scratching my cheek. ¡°Then I want to try it! It¡¯s a present from Stone-mister!¡± She said happily. SUCH A GOOD GIRL! While taking up the pieces and helping them all on Rio, I made some final adjustments to the armor by adding some leather paddings on the places she complained that was a bit uncomfortable before finally putting it all up on her. How can I say this¡­ If she was the size of her mother, she would be downright scary right now. With a white scale body and wearing red armor, the coloration gave this strange crusader-like appearance to her. The spike-like scales increasing the aggressiveness of her appearance while the chain-tails looked a bit majestic, maybe a bit reminiscing of a phoenix or something. But it seems to be a rule that anything small, no matter how threatening, can only appear adorable. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it feel heavy?¡± I asked Rio as I saw her moving around with a bit of difficulty. ¡°Hmm¡­ Not too much.¡± She replied with a shake of her head. ¡°Mommy said that I must always be thankful for presents. And this is my first present from stone-mister, so I¡¯ll use it a lot!¡± SUCH A GOOD GIIIIIRLLLLL! SORRY FOR SCOLDING YOOOOU!
Your recent craft formed a set. UNNAMED (6 pieces) Set Bonus: All tail-related skills deals 50% more damage. Damage taken to tail reduced by 50% This only applies to pets/companions that can receive armor bonus. All tail related skill deal cutting damage while wearing this set¡¯s tail armor. Regardless of the owner¡¯s skills. THIS SET CAN ONLY BE USED BY WYVERNS.
Congratulations. You have created an armor-set for Wyverns. Please choose your work¡¯s name:
(_________)
----- Author¡¯s corner: Well, today, instead of a quiz, I shall use this corner to be lazy and have you guys give ideas for the Set name! The requirements is that it at least take in account one of the three following considerations: 1. Rathians are known as the queen of the earth (Rioreia is the Japanese name of Rathian) 2. The armor is dark red 3. The main attack of the armor involves using the tail. 4. Rio is an adorable little wyvern¡­ Wait, this have nothing to do with the armor! Forget this one. Although I do have a nice idea for a name, I¡¯m always open for someone coming up with a better name, so if someone finds one that actually satisfies me, you get a cookie! (totally not being lazy here, okay?) Chapter 107.5 - 401 THIS IS BAD! THIS IS BAD! THIS IS BAD! Running through the corridor, I quickly saw as the door I searched for appeared after a turn. With ¡®Break room¡¯ written over it, I immediately recognized it as a more than frequently used room of mine. However, I didn¡¯t really have enough time to wonder about the wonderfully lazy times I managed to spend there between chapter recordings, so I quickly slammed it open while shouting. ¡°GUYS! I JUST CAME BACK FROM A TALK WITH THE AUTHOR! WE HAVE AN OMEGA THREE WHITE CODE! I REPEAT! AN OMEGA THREE WHITE CODE!¡± I shouted, surprising the others who were present on the room. While they were recovering, I quickly approached Yuu and took the cup of juice she had before gulping it down in one fell swoop and slamming it back on the table. The kitsune looked at me surprised for a moment, but when she saw me still catching my breath she calmed down. ¡°¡­What¡¯s an Omega three white code, Shishou?¡± She asked me once I finally managed to calm down. ¡°It means: The author was overworked from college and didn¡¯t manage to write the chapter for april¡¯s fool!¡± I said quickly. ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­ Oddly specific?¡± Hanbei asked suspicious. ¡°Not really. We have around three hundred different codes already prepared to be honest. And a new batch should arrive soon.¡± I said seriously before shaking my had. ¡°Anyway, THIS IS BAD!¡± ¡°Why is this so bad teacher?¡± Lily asked while petting Rio back to sleep. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not that important. It¡¯s just a date where people prank each other, right?¡± ¡°Look here, Lily. That may be true for other people, but not for us.¡± I took a deep breath before slamming my hand on the table. ¡°WE ARE INSANIA! WE ARE THE ILLOGICAL FOOLS! FOR US, APRIL¡¯S FOOL IS A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH!¡± ¡°Waah¡­ Is it that serious?¡± The undine asked surprised. ¡°Serious doesn¡¯t even begin to describe it! WE NEED to come up with something for today even if it means that we¡¯ll do it ourselves!¡± I said before taking a seat besides Yuu and looking around. ¡°Any one have any suggestions? Anything April¡¯s fool related is good.¡± For a moment, the people sitting around the room looked between each other as they tried to come up with ideas, but from the looks of it, they weren¡¯t having any good ideas for now. Well, not that I blame them. Even for me this was a bit too sudden. The first one to give his idea was Ozzur, who raised a hand and said: ¡°Why don¡¯t we try to follow the author¡¯s original plans? I mean, even if he didn¡¯t write it, it¡¯s not like he didn¡¯t plan it, right?¡± He said curious, but I quickly shook my head. ¡°No can do. I already asked him and he said that his plan was to write a normal chapter and simply add ¡®Happy april¡¯s fool¡¯ at the end, making the readers go crazy trying to find out how he had tricked them.¡± I explained. ¡°Wow¡­ That¡¯s kind of mean.¡± Lily said surprised. After all, my first idea was exactly the same as the mummy¡¯s, so it¡¯s no wonder that I didn¡¯t miss the chance to ask him Nodding satisfied, Ozzur once again leaned back on his chair and went back to thinking. ¡°What about we change places with the actors from the other sets?¡± Hanbei asked. ¡°I think they were from Spiritsmith and (Re)install, right?¡± ¡°That¡­ Would be a bit difficult¡­¡± Yami said worriedly. ¡°Huh? How so?¡± Hanbei asked surprised. ¡°Well, I also have a role in (re)install as the new scientist, and if I¡¯m not mistaken, Yami is playing the role of Dia in spiritsmith.¡± I said while throwing a glance to Yuu, who simply looked down. ¡°I¡­ had to hit Shishou¡­¡± The kitsune said as her ears drooped down sadly. I quickly cheered her up by petting her. ¡°HUH? EVEN YUU?¡± Hanbei shouted surprised. ¡°HOW COME I NEVER HEARD OF THIS?¡± ¡°Well, their new roles are fairly recent, so I think the news didn¡¯t spread yet.¡± Crys butted in with her goddess form after blinking into existence. ¡°That said, are you sure it¡¯s a good idea to make this april¡¯s fool thing? I mean, the story¡¯s anniversary is in four days, you know?¡± I froze for a moment before turning towards her in shock. From the looks of it, the others also were completely shocked from her words, as they all simply stared at her in confusion. ¡°You mean... It¡¯s been one year since the story started?¡± I asked trying to understand her words. ¡°Well, more precisely, it¡¯s been three hundred sixty two days since the first chapter, to be precise.¡± She said with a smile, to which I simply stared at her in shock. ¡°YOU MEAN THAT IN ONE YEAR, I ONLY GOT TO LEVEL THIRTY SOMETHING?¡± I shouted surprised. WHAT WITH THAT HORRIBLE LEVEL EFFICIENCY! IT¡¯S LIKE ONE LEVEL EVERY TEN DAYS! ¡°Remember that only one week or so have passed within the story, Gon.¡± Crys said in a solemn tone, to which I blinked before nodding. That¡¯s right, the time in the story is different from real time. I forgot about that¡­ WAIT! THIS HAS GONE FROM BAD TO WORSE! NOW WE HAVE TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING FOR APRIL¡¯S FOOL AND THE STORY¡¯S ANYVERSARY! NOOOO! The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°QUICKLY! WE NEED IDEAS! ANYONE GOT SOMETHING?¡± This is bad, bad, bad. THIS IS THE WORST! ¡°WE HAVE A REPUTATION TO KEEP UP GUYS! QUICKLY!¡± ¡°Shishou, what exactly do you want?¡± Yuu asked from besides me, to which I blinked before frowning. ¡°Would it not be easier if we had a better idea of what exactly we want for the special? ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Actually a great idea.¡± I said with a nod before frowning. ¡°Well, this is an Insania April¡¯s fool thingy, so we need to do something IO style.¡± I said while frowning. ¡°And what exactly is something IO style?¡± Yami asked curious while sipping a can of soda. ¡°Well, we basically get something normal and expected, then give it a twist in a way that people didn¡¯t expect.¡± I explained before turning to the side, where a man in a suit was carefully enjoying a sandwich by giving it symmetrical bites. ¡°Kinda like how our god of Chaos have OCD. Everyone expected the God, but not that he would be like that.¡± ¡°Why did you have to use me as an example?¡± Arkhoss asked suspicious. ¡°Because you were the first thing to come to mind.¡± I dismissed his suspicion before turning to the guys on my table. ¡°So, we need something unique to do this april¡¯s fool. Maybe play the prank on someone unexpected?¡± I said getting a bit more excited. ¡°Who would we play the prank on then?¡± Hanbei asked dubious. ¡°Well, normally the prank would be played on the readers, so we can rule them out.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Then, who does that leaves us with?¡± She asked again. ¡°I mean, we have the author?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ it would be a good one. I bet he wouldn¡¯t see it coming.¡± I nodded satisfied. ¡°That said, it would be a bit difficult to pull something like that and put it into a chapter¡­¡± ¡°Then¡­ What about playing a prank on another character?¡± Yami said with a nod. ¡°Something like, you and Cygnas-dono both go on a date to prank her father. If we made the making of that It would lead to some interesting scenes, I¡¯m sure of it.¡± ¡°That¡­ Could actually work.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve seen people playing tricks on others, but never of the backstory of that¡­ OKAY! Cygnas, get ready! We have a date to plan!¡± I said while standing up and looking at Cyg, who simply stood there shocked and confused. ¡°¡­Huh?¡± The goddess wannabe said surprised. ¡°Wait¡­ WHAT?¡± She said while I stood up. ¡°HEEEH? Why with Cygnas¡± Yuu said while standing up. ¡°Because everyone expects that his first date would be with you.¡± Yami explained, to which Yuu simply blushed confused. ¡°With me¡­?¡± She asked while giving me upturned eyes. GUUUH! I wanted to go and tease her a bit more, but as much as I desired so, I didn¡¯t have the chance, seeing how we were already midway through april¡¯s fool, and time was running short. Feeling a tinge of regret in my heart, I steeled myself and prepared to leave the room while pulling Cygnas with me. However¡­ ¡°Happy april¡¯s fool, Gon!¡± A voice came from the other side of the door not even a moment after I opened it. ¡°¡­Huh?¡± I asked surprised while watching the Author as he smiled and put his arms around my shoulders in an overly friendly manner. ¡°By the way, I really want to thank you for all your hard work on this April¡¯s fool short special. Now, thanks to you I won¡¯t have to write anything anymore!¡± He laughed loudly before giving me some slaps on my back. ¡°Well, that said, now I have to go back to studying.¡± He said with a disgusted tone before walking away with a piece of paper in his hand. We all simply stared at him go for a good few minutes before it finally clicked. He¡­ HE TRICKED ME! THE AUTHOR PULLED AN APRIL¡¯S FOOL ON ME JUST SO WE WOULD MAKE THE STORY FOR HIM? THAT BASTARD! I WAS THE ONE SUPPOSED TO DO THE TRICKING HERE! THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE MY DAY! That was how I, a character, was tricked into an april¡¯s fool prank from the author to entertain the readers. ¡­ I¡¯m SOOOOO having my revenge later¡­ With that thought, I went back into the room and sat down angrily on the chair. Well, I still have work to do tomorrow, so for now, let¡¯s start planning. ---- Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! A quickie just to say that I did something! ANYWAY, the part about college been killing me is true, so that¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t do anything bigger for today. In fact, this was just a short chapter I pulled up in a couple of hours since you guys were so looking forward to it. That said, I did try to add a small twist to it at the very least. Hope it was entertaining. ALSO, hopefully, I should be able to pull off the chapter this weekend, but anyway, I¡¯m almost done with Spiritsmith and should put it up by today. ALSO(2), seriously, don¡¯t ask for much more. It¡¯s been exhausting for me recently and this is all I could get. As much as I wanted, this ISN¡¯T an april¡¯s fool joke (T.T) ALSO(3), I did say to trust NO ONE. Hope you had a good read. HIATUS ANNOUNCEMENT THIS POST WILL BE PUT UP ON ALL OF MY STORIES. Well, it has come to this in the end. *sighs* Well, some of you might have noticed, but I haven¡¯t made many uploads on RRL recently, and while I believe a few of you might already suspect this, I thought that it might be better to make this official. I¡¯M STARTING AN HIATUS OF UNDETERMINATED DURATION HERE ON RRL. And yes. RRL, not Insania online, not (Re)install, not Spiritsmith, but RRL as a whole. The reason is fairly simple, I¡¯m completely burnt out on writing. I can¡¯t even bring myself to look at the word file I have on my folder with 2k words of Insania already written, even though leaving an unfinished chapter usually would bother the hell out of me. That¡¯s how badly burnt out I am. Just to be specific, this isn¡¯t a writer¡¯s block, as I already know where each of my stories are heading next and what I will write, I just can¡¯t bring myself to write at all for RRL. Recent tests on college and a Long, LONG time writing pretty much frequently have finally taken its toll and made me unable to even think about writing things for the site. What¡¯s even worse is that , a couple of weeks ago, IO finally reached its first anniversary. A whole whopping YEAR since I started, and while I was ridiculously happy for achieving such unprecedent milestone, I just couldn¡¯t put myself to write. Now, this doesn¡¯t mean that any of my works here will be dropped. Hell, by me I will never drop these stories midway without giving them at least a satisfactory ending. However, I feel that I need a break from such ¡°workly¡± writing. Once again, just to be clear, I don¡¯t dislike writing, and in fact don¡¯t think I will ever stop writing, hiatus or no hiatus, but having to write a quality story under (rather vague) deadlines is something that I personally can¡¯t say that I find relaxing. On more individual notes, the stories, when they come out from hiatus, will probably come indepently. By the way things are going, I feel that (Re)install and Spiritmisth will probably be the first ones to return sooner, while IO might be the longest lasting one, seeing how it¡¯s the one that have been putting me under most ¡°pressure¡± to say. For those who follow my writer¡¯s corner and comments, you might have noticed how I personally don¡¯t find IO as great of a story as my other two, and that might possibly be the reason, but I can¡¯t say for sure. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Well, for that, I¡¯m sorry as I know many of you rather enjoy my stories and lookf forward for their updates, but I¡¯d rather stop updating for some time and come back when I¡¯m more willing to write than keep writing and see the quality of my stories drop thanks to lack of motivation. However, this doesn¡¯t mean that I will stop frequenting RRL altogether, so if any of you have questions or comments you want to leave, do know that I WILL read them, so feel free to leave them here, in their corresponding chapters or send me a PM. I may also upload the random ideas/status on my wordpress page, and for those who still want a bit of Warhawx-style storytelling, you might want to check there, as I will probably start uploading my casual ideas there. With that said, once again, I¡¯m sorry for doing this without previous notice (though some of you probably already expected this¡­) and would like to once again thank you all for following me up to here in this journey. Status as of the writing of this sorry excuse of a hiatus: Cult of Cygnas: 3017 followers Beepers: 1373 beeps Spiritsmith: 1139 (Need some kind of fancy/quirky naming here¡­) People angry/disappointed/annoyed/sad with Warhawx: All of the above. For any of the interested, here''s a link to my wordpress account: LINK Chapter 108 - Smelting Spiders Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! I might be a couple of days*cough*months*cough* late, but here¡¯s the chapter! ANYWAY, Well guys, I¡¯m back. And to celebrate, free cookies for everyone! Yayzies! That said, while I DO feel like writing IO once again, recently I haven¡¯t felt like writing much in general, so I won¡¯t make any promises such as weekly releases or something like that just yet. This also means that it MIGHT take some time till the next update, but who knows? Anyway, for plans in the writing world right now I have Project Hero in planning next, followed by Spiritsmith. ALSO, Since it has been a couple of days since the last chapter, I¡¯m not sure how many of you remember this, but I kind of asked you guys to come up with names for Rio¡¯s armor. Well, while I did have a name in my mind, someone just came and gave one that I just felt it was much better. Well, extra cookies to Lyricines for coming up with the name. ALSO(2), on another note: MONSTAH HUNTAH GENERATIONS! Spoiler : Current progress: HR 6, Mizutsune weapon upgraded, working on Glavenus¡¯. Main weapon: Dual blades, Adept or Aerial depending on the monster. Main sets: Astalos, Shogun Cenataur. Favorite Flagship: Astalos (Design), Mizutsune (Fight, music and gear (Mizu¡¯s Music is SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!)) Deviants status: Dreadqueen Rathian: Dual blades created. Up to Level three. Snowbaron lagombi: Set AND Weapons created and upgraded to level 3. Silverwind Nargacuga: Weapon up to level three. (DREADQUEEN IS SCARY! REALLY REALLY REALLY SCARY! T.T) Well, I¡¯m having a blast with this damned game. More than I sincerely thought I would to be honest. While I couldn¡¯t help but find the mainline monsters to be a bit easier than usual, I was (pretty much literally) blown away by the Deviants. Heck, I even got my armored ass handed to me in a silver platter by a Lagombi! A FREAKING LAGOMBI! A BUNNY KOALA BEAR HYBRID OF SORTS! (but then, i did have a weak low rank set WITH weakness to ice, sooo...) On the other hand, soloing High rank proved to be an amusing task. Even more when I litearlly reached HR 5 wearing only my feeble Astalos set from low rank, only to find out that the defense was pretty much worthless at that rank (I¡¯m not the brightest bulb, mind you¡­). Well, soon enough I¡¯ll mass hunt some Astalos to near extinction so I can wear their high ranked skulls as a helmet once again. Btw, my character is called Yuu, and yes, I do have a palico called Lieutenant. Whew, with that out of the system, what else is there to talk about¡­? Oh well, can¡¯t remember. Sooo¡­ Have a Nice read! ---- ¡°I leave for a couple of minutes and I find you making an armor set. For pets.¡± ¡°UNHOLY ALATREON! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM?¡± I shouted surprised at the sudden appearance from the reporter. ¡°I¡¯ve been here for ten minutes already.¡± The mummy said while staring at me blankly ¡°No. You should have been sleeping. Didn¡¯t you leave to sleep?¡± I asked confused. ¡°No. Sleeping doesn¡¯t create scoops.¡± He said while looking at me with a scary ferocity. ¡°If sleeping means that I would lose the chance of watching you crafting, then all I have to do is crush sleep with the sheer strength of coffee, red bull and vodka.¡± ¡°¡­So you overdosed yourself on caffeine just so you can see me crafting?¡± I asked worried. ¡°It¡¯s not like I went that far.¡± He said while shaking his head. ¡°I know my limits and know that I can¡¯t abuse my body if I want to keep on working regularly. Thus I made sure to only ingest the minimum amount needed to keep me awake.¡± He said proudly, to which I simply stared at him in confusion. ¡°How much is this minimum amount you speak of?¡± I asked dubiously, and he answered with a nod. ¡°Three cans of each.¡± ¡°You are definitively going to die early, aren¡¯t you?¡± I said slightly amused. ¡°Bah. Not the first all-nighter I pulled in my life.¡± He said with a wave of his hands. ¡°So, care explaining what exactly I missed here?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I was having a hard time thinking over a major problem so i decided to make something simpler.¡± I said my brief explanation before looking back to the naming window before me. ¡°And your definition of a simpler activity is the act of breaking what is understood about the mechanics of the world by carefully crafting a protective gear tailored for the wyvern-type dragons that not only is most probably a lot more effective than any other bestial companion-tailored equipment, but also applies a bonus that was previously regarded as exclusive to armor used by humanoids beings, thus completely destroying what most would agree to be an staple mechanic of games?¡± ¡°What with the difficult words?¡± I said frowning. ¡°And it¡¯s not that bad to be honest. I mean, all I did was make a set that went well with itself. Not THAT difficult.¡± ¡°So, you meant to say that all the all you had to do was to prepare the pieces so that they would go on as a set, and thus they became a set?¡± The mummy asked doubtful while taking out the notebook. ¡°Well¡­ Kind of?¡± I said a bit worried. ¡°I mean¡­ How do I explain it¡­¡± I stopped to think before looking to the small wyvern who was flying around with some difficulty around the room. ¡°¡­Can I just add the name before I explain? It¡¯s kinda complicated to put it on words so suddenly.¡± He stared at me for a moment before nodding. I took the chance to once again focus on the armor¡¯s window and stopped to think about it. Thinking about it, I made the armor for a Rathian, the Queen of Land, and while it¡¯s still a bit far from being something near it, I did end up naming Rio in homage to the green wyvern, so I think it should be fair to somehow make a mention for it on the armor¡¯s name. Well, firstly, she¡¯s the queen of the land, so probably something that¡¯s both a mention to royalty and earth would be nice. Second would be the fact that, I still think I can improve it somehow. Well, more specifically, make it a bit prettier with the help of a certain cat-girl with an identity crisis. (In other words, Hanbei who¡¯s using the set that looks like a wolf-girl.) Basically, I plan on adding some things to make the armor a bit less aggressive a bit more colorful and more regal looking. Something that I learned firsthand that it¡¯s extremely difficult to do with a brutish craft like blacksmithing. I might need to pick up jewelcrafting later, but for now, I at least have an idea on how I will proceed with adding the finer details. Anyway, I somehow have to think of something along these lines¡­ ¡°Disciples. The two of you. Something that¡¯s pretty and is related to earth. Quickly!¡± I said suddenly, making both Lily and Yuu jump up in surprise for a moment. ¡°Ground¡­ Gems?¡± Lily said surprised. ¡°Flowers?¡± Yuu gave another idea. Hmm, gem and flowers. Both are actually quite good ideas. I mean, don¡¯t gems usually get related to nobility since they are expensive and all? ¡°Well, if you go with flowers, it would be a rose, right?¡± Lily said. ¡°I mean¡­ Isn¡¯t it the queen of the flowers?¡± She said that on purpose, didn¡¯t she? ¡°What do you mean?¡± Yuu asked confused. ¡°Well. The first flower you think when you say flower is a rose, right?¡± Can¡¯t deny that. ¡°Not only that, but they are also an excellent magic components despite being so common. Also, I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s the symbol of the royal family of Ezoria Argus. If not, at least from a major family for sure.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯m totally adding Rose to the armor¡¯s name.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s for Rio¡¯s armor?¡± Lily asked confused, and I nodded. ¡°¡­Does it have anything to do with her name?¡± Once again I nodded. ¡°Then¡­ Hmm¡­ Why not give it a strong feeling name? I mean, she IS a greater dragon, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s kinda what I¡¯m going for right now.¡± I admitted. ¡°But it¡¯s not that easy to be honest.¡± I sighed while thinking of ideas. Naming is hard. Unless it comes suddenly, kind of like how I named Lieutenant. Heck, maybe it will happen with pebble too, and before I know it, I¡¯ll be calling it Pebblesworth or something¡­ ¡°That said¡­ If she became pink thanks to the armor¡­ It would be scary.¡± ¡°Why would a pink Rio be scary, Shishou?¡± Yuu asked curious, to which I replied with a dry smile. ¡°Rathians are awesome. I¡¯ll never deny that.¡± I said before turning to her. ¡°But the Pink subspecies is downright scary. It¡¯s so much stronger that I even fear it even when I can fight the elder Dragons head on.¡± ¡°EEEH? STONE-MISTER CAN FIGHT ELDERS?¡± Rio shouted suddenly. ¡°N-Not here, Rio. It¡¯s a long story.¡± I said awkwardly, to which she sighed in relief. ¡°Regalia of the Conquering Rose.¡± Ozzur suddenly said. ¡°...What?¡± We said in synchrony. ¡°Regalia of the Conquering Rose.¡± He repeated with a self important tone. ¡°The Regal Vestments of the Conquering Queen¡¯s Flower. A denomination that both envelops the idea of being the ruler the land as you so wished, but also denotates strength and power through the use of conquest.¡± For a moment, we simply stared at him in surprise. ¡°What? As a reporter it is imperative that I use some of my free time reading to expand on my vocabulary and knowledge. The use of poetics comes as an aftereffect.¡± ¡°While I am still disturbed by the fancy wording, I admit that the name is good. I¡¯m taking it, but won¡¯t pay the Royalties.¡± I said while noting down the name on the window. ¡°The lack of monetary remuneration for the creation of a simple name does not bother me.¡± He replied indifferently. Still, I didn¡¯t miss how his feet kept on bouncing on the floor non-stop. Hmm¡­ I wonder if getting over-excited in-game is enough to burn off his caffeine in his body. Shaking my head to get my focus back on the window, I quickly re-read the name of the armor before pressing the confirm button. Satisfied with the name, I threw a long look to the piles of shells and carapaces and sighed. I still have to think of something about those, huh? Deciding to run away from the trouble, I turned back to Ozzur and said. ¡°Well, you wanted to know about the whole set thing, right?¡± He nodded. I quickly turned towards Lily and made a motion for her to come closer. ¡°You might want to sit down to hear this too, as it MIGHT have something to do with how I get my things done.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± She nodded excitedly before sitting down on a small bench near the table with the materials. I put my hands over my eyes while thinking of the words I¡¯m going to use. Finally, I simply sigh before looking at the two. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start with something I already have done. What do the two of you think when someone mentions the Blazing Tails?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Lily blinked confused. ¡°Blazing tails¡­ Aren¡¯t them the large Red Tails from the forest?¡± ¡°Newbie crushers.¡± Ozzur said methodically while flipping through his notebook. ¡°Large vulpine like monsters with a strange jewel on the forehead and three tails. Usually these monsters are the first boss tier enemies that most players will encounter when questing near Eldor as they are in a fairly accessible area. Due to overconfidence, most newbies die after being overwhelmed by a mix of fire magic and physical overpowering. Their hunt was popularized after a certain group publicized their location after completing their own quest.¡± He said before raising his eyes towards me. ¡°If my information is not mistaken, they are also the source of materials you used to make your very first set, is that correct?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ They are also the ¡®normal¡¯ version of Aura here.¡± I said while resting my hand on the fox¡¯s fur and gently stroking it, enjoying the cool feeling as she cooled her body with magic. ¡°But I asked what you think about it, not what you know about it.¡± The two blinked at my words, then looked at each other for a moment while trying to think of an answer. Ozzur simply shrugged, while Lily went on. ¡°Well¡­ If they are like Aura¡­ I¡¯d say that they are really pretty. But if they are much bigger¡­ Then they must be really scary.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t deny that.¡± I said while remembering how my first in-game death happened after being literally paralyzed in fear of the blazing tail. ¡°But personally, I relate the Blazing tails with three things in particular.¡± I raised my hand and extended one finger out. ¡°First, it¡¯s eastern culture. This one you may probably ignore Lily, but I think Ozzur might get what I mean.¡± I explained quickly, to which the undine and the mummy nodded. ¡°Second, it¡¯s ferocity and fluidity. The way they move and attack, jumping back and using magic or going forward to bite your head off is pretty offense based, but it does have this kind of rhythm to it. They don¡¯t really have much use for defense as much as they would rather bombard you with attacks. They are the leader of their species, and as far as I know, they are selected simply by being the strongest, so they actually NEED the offensive power, both to get the position and to protect their brethren. Lastly, it¡¯s fire. For obvious reasons.¡± ¡°Indeed. However, the connection between the personality of a monster and your creations still eludes me.¡± Ozzur said slightly annoyed. ¡°Calm down will ya. I¡¯m just explaining what I THINK I might be doing, so give me a break.¡± I replied before taking a deep breath. ¡°One thing that I always found amazing in Monster Hunter was how the armor usually captures the same feelings that the monsters bring to them. And I personally try to copy this when doing both my weapons and armors.¡± I explained quickly. ¡°For example. Take the Blazing tail, as I said earlier, I see them as being both very ferocious, and at the same time having a fluidity to their movement while also having this eastern feel to them, right?¡± I pointed towards the armor set I was using. ¡°Do you see where I¡¯m going?¡± ¡°Does it have anything to do with the way your armor looks like a martial artist¡¯s, teacher?¡± Lily asked, and I nodded. ¡°Exactly.¡± I nodded. ¡°How to say it¡­ Try to think of said monster as a person. What kind of armor do you see them using? It¡¯s that kind of thing¡­ I think.¡± Then I quickly pulled out my long-sword from the inventory. ¡°When it comes to weapons, it¡¯s pretty much the same thing. That said, I guess I do try to make it so that the weapon matches the theme of the monster. Like, I don¡¯t really think a hammer would fit a blazing tail, as it¡¯s kind of a brutish weapon, while the monster is more on the graceful side of the spectrum. Meanwhile, for doggy, one of the bosses from the dungeon, I thought that a more salvage feeling weapon like this one would fit better.¡± ¡°So, you are saying that the reason your items have such unique effects comes from the fact that you try to match them to the monster¡¯s personality and abilities?¡± Ozzur asked as if he was trying to make sure of something. ¡°Exactly. Well, either that or its sheer dumb luck.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Not entirely sure.¡± I stored the weapon back into the inventory. ¡°So, with that said, back to crating.¡± I said while turning back to the large pile of carapaces. ¡°¡­Or I would say that, but I¡¯m still stuck with this, huh?¡± I complained while hanging my head down. Thinking back to it, I should have asked Sol to teach me how she does that whole bone thingamajig I used to craft my sword and bow. Regretting my regrettable oversight, I scratched my head while running over possible solutions in my head. I could always simply mold them, then proceed to rivet the hell out of everything, but I don¡¯t feel that a fantasy weapon should be riveted like that. ¡°Well, with items like that, I don¡¯t think you can simply smelt them like ore, can you?¡± Ozzur said in a pensive tone. For a moment I froze in place and stared at the mummy just like I had seen some kind of crazy men speaking nonsense. Then I frowned for a moment and stared at the pieces of small spiders spread around the table. The normal logic would be to completely disregard the idea, then proceed to go back to doing some thinking. But with that said, I¡¯m not really that much into thinking, and normal logic is overrated. With that, I casually picked some thicker looking pieces of the spiders and dropped it within the smelting furnace, much to the other¡¯s surprise as they all stared at me blankly. ¡°¡­I was joking.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I replied to the mummy while watching the furnace heating up. ¡°¡­Doesn¡¯t looks like it.¡± ¡°Just trying something.¡± ¡°And what would be that something?¡± ¡°Trying to smelt some carapaces.¡± I said while raising an eyebrow. I mean, it should be pretty obvious if you saw what I was doing, right? For some strange reason, an awkward silence fell upon the room as Lily and Ozzur stared at me doubtfully. Then, when they finally sighed and had this expression of giving up, I felt a tinge of annoyance and decide to ignore them for now. Turning towards the Kitsune who was distractedly working on her tailoring, I approached her while pulling out a bit of the explosive silk from my inventory, much to Lily¡¯s and the mummy¡¯s despair as they quickly took some distance, and asked her to see if she could somehow process the silk so it wouldn¡¯t explode in our faces, seeing how she was more used to dealing with cloths and strings than me. I also passed her some of the stretchy nerves to see if she could make something out of it. She looked surprised for a moment, but once I explained her that I wanted it to make a string for my bow, she quickly nodded and took the items with her while putting on a pensive expression. She started listing some ideas of what she could do in a low tone, and noticing that it wasn¡¯t anything I could help with, I left her with the task while turning back to the forge. Much to my surprise, (and also Lily¡¯s and Ozzur¡¯s sheer shock), there was a thin stream of a dirty white material leaking from the furnace towards the crucible. ¡°¡­AHA! I KNEW IT!¡± I said while running towards the material and watching it settle down in the crucible. Smiling widely while stopping the flow, I proceeded to start the process of removing impurities, ¡°I¡¯m no expert blacksmith nor biologist, but I don¡¯t think that carapaces work that way.¡± Ozzur said while staring at me blankly. ¡°Well, if you think about it, it actually does make a surprising amount of sense.¡± I said while separating the impurities from the¡­ Substance? I¡¯ll need to come up with a name for it. ¡°Think about it, what did the spider drink?¡± ¡°¡­Magma?¡± ¡°But what exactly does that¡­ Ah.¡± Lily started asking me, but it seemed like she finally understood what I wanted to say, because she stared at the material on the table then towards the furnace. ¡°¡­I see¡­ Should I put more of it to smelt?¡± ¡°Yeah. But it¡¯s better to avoid using the matriarch¡¯s materials for now. I¡¯d rather test with the smaller ones first.¡± I directed her, and she nodded before going through the process of smelting some more of the shells. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind an explanation.¡± The mummy said while crossing his arms. ¡°Hmm?¡± I asked surprised for a moment. ¡°Oh, right. Well¡­ Think about it: Magma in a volcano. It also had a lot of metal lying around. It drinks the magma as it were food. Minerals in the magma get absorbed and stored in the carapaces making them harder.¡± I explained quickly. ¡°It was kind of a guess to be honest, but it seems like the high amount of ore in their carapaces might just be enough to make them work like some kind of alloy that I can smelt!¡± Lucky me! Once I was done separating the impurities and throwing it all on a nearby bucket, I quickly took the remaining substance and poured it on the ingot mold with a wide smile as I saw it cooling down then hardening after a moment. ¡°So you didn¡¯t simply throw it in without any plans after all.¡± Ozzur commented before noting down something in his notebook. ¡°Why do you keep insisting on me being some kind of impulsive retard?¡± I shouted angrily. ¡°I do stop to think from time to time, you know?¡± ¡°¡­Only from time to time?¡± ¡°Geh¡­ Don¡¯t bother with the small details!¡± I said while turning back and weaving away. Let¡¯s ignore his insults and focus on the more important matter at hand. Picking up the ingot, I brought it up to inspect it, and smiled satisfied while seeing a window calling it: Pure S. Impaler shell ingot. Smiling widely, I quickly brought up the hammer that I had been presented by my blacksmithing teacher and prepared to strike it down on the ingot before me. Raising up my arm while holding it in place with a long metal tong, I brought down the hammer with force to test the materials hardness. And it shattered into a thousand pieces with a loud cracking sound that was really, REALLY similar to the sound of my dreams being broken apart. ¡°¡­Huh?¡± ¡­ After recovering from the shock of seeing the shell being smashed to pieces by my own hands, I quickly proceeded to work on the next batch. After all, this IS a test, so can¡¯t let the first failure defeat me, right? Calming myself down and shaking my head, I proceeded to use the material that Lily was smelting to proceed with the tests. We tried a lot of different ideas. From purifying the material even more to using what we thought was the impurity to craft the material. The first one led to an even brittle material, while the second one earned me a low quality scale-iron ingot. I should have seen this one coming to be honest. I tried re-heating the material and even using it with the impurities but both ended up in failures too, with the first one leading to literally no change while the second one earned me an ingot that was mildly resistant on one side, and worthless on the opposing side. As a joke, I tried adding some elemental crystals to the mix once. This random joke earned me some results, which I admit, surprised me too. Well, to put it in layman¡¯s term, it seemed like the spider¡¯s carapace amplified the effect of fire and earth crystals, leading to a surprisingly powerful fireball. On the other hand, any crystals that lacked either of those elements would have their effect drastically reduced. And yes, I did try making flash bombs with that, but sadly, it seems like there isn¡¯t enough fire in it to compensate for the rest. The explosion combo of fire and wind did receive a significant boost, though. Sadly, the material is too brittle to make use of it as either an arrowhead or a throwing knife, so for now, there isn¡¯t that much of an use to it. Getting side-tracked here. While this reveal was enough to leave me happy (And Ozzur confused) for a good time, the main point is still how to make a hammer out of shells. ¡°We are back Master.¡± I heard a call coming from the entrance. ¡°Ah. Crys.¡± I turned to the small flying elemental as she entered the forge. She looked around and gave an acknowledgement nod towards Lily and Ozzur. From the looks of it Yuu had left to work on the threads for me. ¡°Quick. How can I make this work?¡± I said while pointing towards the next ingot in the process of being smelted. She blinked surprised at the sudden question and quickly looked at what I was doing and then towards the area around. After a brief moment of silence, she tilted her head thinking and finally nodding. ¡°Try mixing it with the impurities instead of removing it.¡± I suddenly felt like an idiot for not having thought of that before. I mean, the shells are hard enough as is, so if I were to remove the impurities, isn¡¯t it like I¡¯m removing part of the shell itself? But then, this is so counter intuitive. I mean, when blacksmithing, you want to REMOVE the impurities, right? But then, this IS something LIKE an alloy, so maybe somehow I have to control the amount instead of removing it? While thinking that, I proceeded to return to the crucible and, instead of using it as is or removing the impurities, I mixed it so that it would become an evenly spread throughout the entire substance. After a long time of processing, I finally poured the material down upon the mold. What came out of it? Fierce S. Impaler ingot. Good quality nonetheless. Smiling silly, I felt my crafter¡¯s blood burning with anxiousness so that I could start working. Well, as a golem I don¡¯t have blood, but you get the point. ---- Author''s corner: BOOM! Random chapter drop! Chapter 109 - Stop! Hammer time! Author¡¯s corner: HELLO HELLO! I¡¯M NOT DEAD TIME! (At least not physically.) ANYWAY, For those who were after a long crafting session, well this is it. 5.6k words of sheer craftiness. Mostly. Hope you guys are happy with this because this chapter seriously killed me to get it done. Proof being the time in the making. I did plan on extending the crafting for a couple more chapters, but I¡¯m sincerely exhausted from writing crafting scenes, so I might just gloss over what he does next. For those who were looking forward to it, I¡¯m really sorry, but I feel that if I try to prolong this even more, I might just finish this next year. On the other hand, this hopefully means that the releases get a bit faster if I go back to sheer goofyness. HOPEFULLY, because I¡¯ve been really dry in writing motivation recently. Even my usual catchphrase in the Den (that being: I just had a new idea for a story!) haven¡¯t been in much use for the last two or three months. So yeah¡­ ALSO, with this, a new weapon is born. Following the brand new tradition of having you guys come up with a name for me, I want you guys to recommend me a name for the hammer. Below are some details of the weapon, possible spoilers ensues, so beware. Spoiler : -Slow but heavy hitting. -Made from the materials of a Sulfuric Impaler Matriarch -2 skills, an explodey one, and a stabby one. They share cooldowns. -Simple, yet effective. -It¡¯s made by Gon.(This might not be true(Or it could be(Or not))) And for what I have in mind, it¡¯s this: Spoiler : Sulfuric Tantrum or Tectonic Tantrum Have a good read! Edit: Accidentally created three threads for chapter 109. Tee hee~~ *Knocks on head cutely* ---- Once the first ingots were done, I gave some to Lily and took some for myself so that I could start testing the craft on these odd ingots. Since the work on Rio¡¯s armor was pretty much done on my side, I gave her the permission to leave on the condition that she wouldn¡¯t help Lieutenant start another civil war. On the other hand, I also asked Aura if she wanted to leave, but she was happily laying in a corner of the room watching as either we worked around with our things or Pebblesworth fiddled around with a long string of something, seemingly trying to knit something with it. Well, looks like Yuu found herself her own apprentice. Isn¡¯t it cute? However, before looking back to the work ahead of me, my eyes rested on the bone-jelly thing I had gotten from the Matriarch¡¯s abdomen. Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind as I picked some of the still intact shells from the smaller ones and started looking it over. ¡°Hey, Lily. Do you recall seeing something like that in the smaller ones?¡± I asked while pointing towards the jelly. The undine blinked surprised before shaking her head as she tried to recall back to when we were skinning the smaller ones. I turned to Crys who was still nearby, seeing how she had taken her time to actually take the meat away from the spiders after I was done with the shells, but she simply shrugged. Wait, does that means that lunch today will be spider-meat? Somehow I¡¯m both curious and worried at the same time. On the bright side, I at least knew that they didn¡¯t have poison, so I probably don¡¯t have to worry about that. Thinking about it¡­ I picked one of the smaller shells from the spiders and held it before in contemplation. After a moment I bit down into it and felt as teeth sunk into the surprisingly soft shell, but a weird taste covered my mouth. ¡°¡­Yeah, don¡¯t think that works¡­¡± ¡°Maybe it contains too much organic material in there?¡± Lily suggested while tilting her head, and I nodded in agreement. ¡°Tastes weird.¡± I said while throwing the shell back into the pile. ¡°¡­Am I missing something here?¡± Ozzur asked confused. ¡°Me. Golem. Eat ore.¡± I pointed at myself, then to the shells. ¡°Kind of oreish, but not enough.¡± ¡°¡­I see¡­¡± Satisfying his curiosity, I finally turned back to the shells and frowned slightly. Now that I think about it, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen the smaller spiders use that whole impaling thing on their own. Does that means that the jelly is somehow related to the whole spike thing? And thinking about it, there were those nerves that ran on the spider¡¯s abdomen, near where I found the jelly, right? And Crys suggested that they might have something to do with the spikes, so is there a chance that this was also part of it? Hmmm¡­ ¡°Crys, can you test something for me?¡± I asked her once a thought crossed my mind. She blinked surprised while approaching me, and once I told her what I wanted her to do, she quickly widened her eyes and nodded. I accessed my inventory and gave her some elemental crystals so that she could test around for me. Hearing the sound of hammer hitting the ingot, echoing a particular type of sound unlike that of normal forging. Noticing that Lily had already started on working with her own ingots, I also decided that it was enough procrastination, so I put my ingot back into the forge and started re-heating it up. Bringing it out, I started doing my routine, starting with a dagger since the material cost was fairly low. What really caught my attention was that the ingot seemed soft in the first, but would quickly harden after a moment of the impact, almost as if it was cushioning the blow before hardening. Finding it amusing, I quickly became annoyed once I noticed that it meant that the hammering would take a lot longer as each impact was weaker than usual. Yeah, this is annoying. This pretty much mean that I have to use even more effort to change it into the shape I want. And if it carries on this characteristic once the project is complete it will pretty much mean that it will be nearly useless as a weapon, as any edge would deform easily, and it would softer the impact if I make it a blunt weapon. Well, for now, it¡¯s still in its test phase, so let¡¯s hope that¡¯s not the case. While thinking so, I once again went back into hammering the ingot into shape. It was an annoying and surprisingly difficult process, thanks to the fact that I had to take in account the whole softening thing, so I had to remake this first dagger a couple of times just so it could work. However, one thing that caught my eyes was how the ingot would return a tad bit darker and a tad bit harder every time I would remove it from the forge, almost as if it was slowly being burned away. From the looks of it, Lilly had the same idea as mine, as she had left an ingot a bit away from the source of the heat so that it wouldn¡¯t melt, but was slowly gaining a darker coloration. Smart girl. And this actually somehow makes sense, seeing how the matriarch did have a darker coloration to her and the shells were hard as hell to penetrate. By the time I finished the dagger, It was nearly lunch time, as Crys had warned me before she left the smithy to go prepare lunch. I nodded and quickly took a good look at the weapon in my hands.
Wicked arachnid dagger. (requires level 29)
Attack:19-22Extra:None
Quality:GoodDurability:20/20
Description A dagger made with the shells of a young impaling spider. Its piercing prowess is second to none. AGI+8 STR+12 THG+5 Attacks with piercing effects ignores double the usual amount of armor. (Made by Wargon)
Well, I can see Argento getting really happy about this. While thinking so, I turned towards Lily and saw as she was about to finish her own thing. I stood back and watched. Surprisingly enough, she didn¡¯t go for a weapon, but an armlet instead. ¡°So, how did it go?¡± I asked her when I noticed a small frown in her face. ¡°Muuh. Only normal quality.¡± She complained. ¡°Why didn¡¯t mine get a high quality like yours?¡± ¡°Probably difference in experience?¡± I said in doubt. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not like I started straight into good and excellent gear, you know?¡± ¡°¡°¡­You didn¡¯t?¡±¡± Ozzur and Lily asked me doubtfully. ¡°¡­Why do the two of you sound surprised?¡± I asked annoyed. ¡°Welll¡­ it¡¯s just that¡­¡± ¡°From what I learned about you today, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you had actually done that.¡± Ozzur commented drily. I held back my desire to hit him over the head. I mean, I know I¡¯m not exactly the sanest around, but even I get offended. Heck! There''s even some time since I last did something stupid and reckless! Oh, wait, I just hunted the matriarch earlier today... Dang it! Okay, okay. I get it that commonsense doesn''t seem to apply to me in most cases, okay? Common sense is overrated anyway. Shaking my head, I turned back towards the armlet that Lily had crafted and looked over it. It wasn¡¯t a bad job in any manner, but it certainly lacked something compared to what I would do. Giving a look to the undine who looked bothered by the state of the item, I thought that this is probably the part where I should say something inspiring to my disciple, right? Let¡¯s see¡­ Something inspiring¡­ inspiring¡­ Aspiring¡­ Aspirin¡­ Hmm¡­ Why do I suddenly have a headache? Geez, maybe I haven¡¯t been drinking enough water recently. I did hear that not drinking enough water can cause a headache, right? Speaking of drinking, would I be able to drink petroil? I mean, if rock is edible, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for oil to be drinkable by a golem, right? ¡°Teacher?¡± ¡°Wuzzah?¡± I blinked surprised and turned towards Lily who was looking at me confused. ¡°What?¡± ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s just that you looked distracted¡­¡± ¡°Ahh¡­ Sorry about that. My mind kind of wandered back there a bit.¡± And couldn¡¯t you have said that I was in deep thought? So that I could at least save some face here? ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She said while picking the piece back again and looking at it slightly disappointed. ¡°And I even tried to do what you said, but it looks like I don¡¯t have much talent with this¡­¡± As she said that, she started looking downcast, which wasn¡¯t exactly heartwarming, so I instinctively rested my hand on her head and started patting her to see if she would cheer up. It usually worked with Yuu and Aura, at least. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Not really sure what you could do to improve it, to be honest.¡± I said, and saw as she sighed disappointed. ¡°But then, as I had said, that was how I thought it would have worked. I¡¯m not entirely sure if what I said is correct or not. Heck, it might even be that it would be different based on who¡¯s doing the job.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± She nodded. ¡°¡­Hey, cheer up, will you? Maybe it¡¯s just that you have talents lying somewhere else, you know?¡± ¡°Talents¡­ Somewhere else?¡± She asked curiously. ¡°Yeah. You did come up with the ideas for Rio¡¯s wing-armor, right?¡± I said while recalling her help earlier on. She stopped for a moment to think, and I took the chance to go on. ¡°Just keep training and you¡¯ll probably get it.¡± Did this work? Please say that it actually worked on cheering her up. I suck at this whole cheering people up. While keeping my internal worries quiet, I watched as Lily looked at the armlet for some time before taking a deep breath and nodding. Clearly cheering up a bit. ¡°Thanks teacher.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Great. Now let¡¯s get something to eat before we go back to working, shall we?¡± I said while trying to change the topic. She nodded and we started cleaning up the forge before leaving. On the way out, Ozzur stopped me and said. ¡°You had no idea what to say if she didn¡¯t cheer up, did you?¡± ¡°Shut it, wise guy.¡± I replied annoyed. ¡­ We met up with Crys and Co. At the outskirts of the town. We COULD have eaten at a restaurant, but seeing the sheer amount of people that we had, it proved to be a bad idea. On the other hand, this did mean that we would have to eat the meat of some spiders that create explosive silk within their bodies. What could possibly go wrong there? It¡¯s not like it¡¯s disturbing or dangerous at all! Now, I hope you understand that the line above was thought in a tone seeping with sarcasm and worry. Now you can imagine my face when I found out that magma spider tasted like fish! Or was it chicken? Something in between at least. And it was good. Like, reaaaally good. And we had quite a few different dishes to taste from. From some sashimi looking things, to stew and fried. I must say that the fried one was ungodly good. Lieutenant and Hanbei agreed with me, as we all wolfed down on it ferociously to the point that Crys had to scold us to leave some to the others. Yes. I knew that making Cyg a body so that she would cook for us was by far one of my best ideas ever. Sometime in between Argento joined us and became surprised with seeing Ozzur with us, but soon his mind changed into trying to commercialize the spider-meat seeing how Crys managed to pull out some amusing buffs from them all. For example, Fried gave fire resistance, while the sashimi gave defense up. All of which lasting up to two hours of in-game time. Which is actually pretty big if you think about it. No need to say that he snatched my dagger from my hand the moment I said it was a product for him to sell and happily began thinking of the price he could ask for such a thing. That said, I became kind of worried when he mentioned that the armor piercing bonus might be famous with PKers¡­ Oh well. ¡°Oh yeah, Moneybags.¡± Argento suddenly said. ¡°Lord Wich said that he need to talk with you later. Something about your house that he found out.¡± ¡°Hmm? Is that so?¡± I replied surprised. ¡°Then maybe I should go see him now¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think right now it¡¯s a good idea. Last I saw him; he was leaving to see to some matters around the city. He said he¡¯d be back by night, though.¡± Supplies said, cutting me short. ¡°Oh. I see¡­¡± I frowned feeling a bit curious. ¡°Did he mention anything about what it could possibly be?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything about it to be honest. He just told me to tell you next time I met you.¡± Supplies said with a shrug. ¡°That said, I¡¯m surprised that you are getting the house instead of money. I was sure you¡¯d have taken the long term money income.¡± ¡°Well, yeah. I did think about that.¡± I said with a nod before turning to the Kitsune who was happily nibbling on the spider sashimi. ¡°But when I consulted with Yuu, she decided that having a house might be more advantageous to us in the long term.¡± ¡°Really?¡± He asked me surprised. ¡°Yeah. Seems like I get some nice bonus such as more resources and better crafting if I own a house. And I can get some other nifty bonus such as a dojo to train skills too to boot.¡± I gave the brief version of what Cyg told me during lunch, and this made not only Argento, but also Lily and Ozzur widened their eyes in surprise. ¡°I¡­ Didn¡¯t know that.¡± Argento said surprised while frowning. ¡°I never heard about that either, teacher.¡± Lily said doubtfully. ¡°Pretty sure it¡¯s Chosen exclusive. Seeing how we don¡¯t really have as much need of as you guys. Otherwise it would be mostly a waste of gold with taxes while earning pretty much nothing in exchange. At least as far as I know.¡± I said in a teaching tone. ¡°¡­How come I never heard of that?¡± I suddenly felt a chill down my spine as I heard Ozzur inquire in a very serious tone. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure no one has bought a house as of yet, or else that info would be spreading around like mad.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± I took a sip of the juice that Crys had prepared for us as a way to earn some time to think. ¡°I asked that girl from the login screen. She actually explain a good bunch of the systems if you ask her nicely.¡± Nice! Problem solved by passing it to someone else! And you can stop glaring holes into me by now Crys. It IS your job, so there¡¯s no need to get mad at me. Ozzur raised an eyebrow surprised, but nodded after a moment and going back to lunch. Seriously, when did he decide to join us? ¡°Tek-Tek!¡± ¡°Here you go.¡± I said while passing another small ore piece to Pebblesworth, who happily started gnawing on it. Seriously, that mummy sure is getting bold by joining us without being called. He should learn some manners. ¡°By the way, Yuu. Did you manage to prepare the silk?¡± I asked the kitsune as I finished feeding the sprite. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Ah. Hmm.¡± She nodded happily. ¡°I managed to remove the explosive powder that coated the silk. About the nerves¡­ I still need to weave and then strengthen the nerves so that they get a bit more rigid, but it shouldn¡¯t take too long.¡± ¡°¡­Silk?¡± Argento quickly reacted to the expensive sounding word with a curious glance. ¡°Yeah. Want to see if I can use the string to upgrade my bow for some more damage.¡± I explained indifferently. ¡°But it¡¯s a bit dangerous to use an explosive string on a fire-damage bow, so I asked Yuu to try and make it a bit more manageable.¡± I said before frowning. ¡°Yeah¡­ I don¡¯t want any more of that exploding in my face any time soon.¡± ¡°Sounds like an amusing story.¡± Argento mentioned with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Only for you.¡± I said while sighing and chugging down a glass of juice. ¡°And before you ask. No. I¡¯m not selling the silk.¡± I said before he could bring up the idea. ¡°At least until I finish my crafting, that is.¡± ¡°Damn¡­¡± He cursed. ¡°Can I at least get some of the prototypes?¡± ¡°Why am I not surprised?¡± ¡­ With lunch out of the way, a satiety bar full and an idea in my head, I made my way back to the forge alone, since Lily decided to take a brief rest after lunch, and started practicing on the smaller spider shells. I spent the next hour or two simply crafting some basic items like swords and gauntlets from the materials I had while making a few experiments myself. One of the things I tested was trying to adjust the amount of scale-metal that went into the spider¡¯s alloy shell. I found out that adding a bit more of the ore would increase the hardness nicely, while making the whole burn to harden thing a bit more difficult. That said, adding too much made the alloy strangely soft and completely unusable. After experimenting some more and managing to get a small one-handed mace out so as to prepare for the bigger work I finally decide to start on making my weapon. And for that, I started with the legs. Picking the matriarch¡¯s rearmost leg, I started throwing it in the forge. However, instead of completely smelting it down in ingots I simply left it long enough for it to soften up enough to be forged. Since each leg was composed of two parts that bent in the middle, I actually had two shells that were just the right size of the handle I wanted. One was longer and thinner, being the foreleg, while the¡­ Erm¡­ Thigh? Do spiders even have that? Anyway, the part closer to the body was shorter and thicker. Removing the two pieces of the shell from the forge, I put them on the anvil and started welding the two together while aligning their length. Since one of the shells was longer than the other, this meant that one side was much thicker than the other. Deciding to use that as the place where I¡¯d link to the hammer¡¯s head, I proceeded to prepare the long handle to be a good fit for a hand. Hammering it around so that the two pieces would be firm against each other, I kept returning it to the fire and then hammering it once again until I was sure it was good and had a good shape on which to grip my hand around. By the time I was done with the handle, Lily and Crys had come back to the smithy. Lily had began working on something of her own using the ores and what little remained of the younger spiders, while Crys came to me and told me what she had found out about the bone-jelly. She had me heat up the jelly within the forge and then had me use the lightning combination for the elemental crystals on it¡¯s surface. If you ignore the fact I burnt my hand because it had come straight out from the forge, had an electric discharge burn my nonexistent golem nerves, followed by a large spike nearly piercing through my hand in a fairly painful-looking manner (I really want to thank Cyg at times like these for the fact that pain is REALLY reduced in here.), it was really good to find out how the spider pulls out the whole spike thing. On the other hand, having Lily, Crys, Aura, Ozzur and Pebblesworth hear me shouting in pain like a little girl wasn¡¯t as good. Well, once I had recovered from it, I went on with the idea I had. First I picked up a bunch of the legs and started preparing them for the job. Different from the swords, where I just needed to make the blade and it was pretty much done, for the hammer I decided to make some structure to hold the pieces before welding everything together. After all, if I follow the monster hunter recipe, I doubt I can make everything in one go with a normal forge like this one. I took the legs and started to hammer them into semi circles. Joining two of the longer ones into a full circle and welded them together on their bases while leaving the opposite side open. Following that, I took another two of those semi-circles and added them perpendicularly to the axis, roughly midway between the welded center and the circle¡¯s extreme end, and had them in parallel towards the open end. Finishing the work, I left the circle within the forge to burn it up so that it become a bit more rigid before turning to the mass of bone jelly so that I could prepare the hammer itself. With that done, I had to use the hammer and a cudgel to break a piece of the bone jelly to use¡­ I really need to check back the actual name of this stuff¡­ Anyway, I removed a piece of the jelly after some hammering and used the remaining heat of the forge to bring it out and hammer it into a more circular shape. Surprised by how dense and heavy the piece was, I decided that it would make a good piece for the head of the hammer. I fitted it in-between the two pieces of the leg that wasn¡¯t welded together, covering the front half of the space between them. To help the piece stay in place within the frame, I rested the whole thing on the surface of the anvil and, after waiting for Lily to finish whatever she was doing on the forge, I left some shells to smelt on the forge. Taking my time to use the remaining nerves I had with me, I cut it into thin slices and layered them in front of the jelly, roughly using it to tie the two pieces together. Why? Because thanks to Crys, I found out that for the spikes to form, you need to both heat up the jelly, then let a small electric discharge run through its surface. That¡¯s the reason why the nerves were there on the shell and why they were so strangely stretchy. It had to be present to activate the spikes, while at the same time being flexible enough to withstand the sudden change in shape of the shell. Once the shell ingots were done being smelted, I brought them out and poured them over the nerves, hoping that they wouldn¡¯t damage them somehow. ¡°You should probably have tested that before.¡± Crys said in a cold tone once she noticed what I had in mind. ¡°Shush! Crafting waits for no tests!¡± I replied. ¡°But didn¡¯t you make your tests with the knifes and arrows previously? And even have me try out how the spikes forms?¡± ¡­ Ermmm¡­ ¡°Shush! Crafting bothers not with details!¡± ¡°You forgot to cover that part there.¡± She pointed out. ¡­ ¡°Crafting is an unforgiving job.¡± I said in a low anguished tone. Having finished the job, I let it cool down while thinking on my next step. Once the molten ingot solidified, it had nicely stuck to both the frame and the bone-jelly, firming the two together even more. With this part of the job done, setting up for what I hoped would be a nice spiky hammer-head front, I thought on how to proceed next to the rest of the piece. Well, it IS a hammer, probably the simplest weapon ever¡­ Right after the staff, probably¡­ So I didn¡¯t think that the rest would be too troublesome to work on, as all I needed to do was to fill in the rest with the material to give it weight and impact¡­ ¡°I was thinking, isn¡¯t the head needlessly big? And the handle way too short?¡± ¡°Cygnasdamnit Zombie Wraps! Don¡¯t go breaking my flow of thought!¡± I complained loudly to Ozzur who jumped back startled. ¡°And yeah, I know. It¡¯s not supposed to be your run-off-the-mill hammer anyway.¡± I wave it off while going back to my thoughts. ¡°Nya-naany nyaa na nyyyy nya-na-na?¡± ¡°No. This is too big for you to use furball.¡± I waved off Lieutenant¡¯s question. ¡°Naa? Nya nyaaa-ny-nyaaa?¡± ¡°Huh? Who said I was making you a new weapon?¡± I asked confused while turning towards the cat standing on top of the table with a confused glance. ¡°¡­Actually, why the hell are you here again?¡± ¡°How did you understand what he said?¡± Ozzur asked me confused. ¡°Look. If you think too much you lose.¡± I replied in monotone. ¡°Some things you just accept and don¡¯t think too much about it.¡± I sighed in defeat before shaking my head to psyche myself up. ¡°So, why¡¯s the furball here again?¡± ¡°Ah, I called him here, teacher.¡± Lily suddenly said, getting my attention as she carried some things over to the table. ¡°I¡¯ve thought a bit on what you told me earlier and decided to give it a try.¡± She said while beckoning Lieutenant to come a bit closer. ¡°I thought that Lieutenant would be the easiest one to work with for my first attempts.¡± ¡°¡­Fair enough.¡± I nodded. While I do have some plans for lieutenant, I don¡¯t see any problems on letting Lily train using him as a guinea pig. With that done, I once again changed my focus back to the hammer. What Zombie wraps had said did weight a bit on my mind, though not the way one would probably expect. Since the hammer head would be massive, if I just welded the handle on the outer side as I had initially planned, chances are that it would break down. So instead, I took a different approach, by laying the handle on the opposite side of the spike-head and in the inner part of the head, instead of the outside as I had originally planned. But before I poured over the material on the handle to weld it together, I decided to start working on how to fill up the rest of the head. The answer came quickly¡­ Somewhat. I molded some ingots to fill in the space around the frame of the hammer-head, while leaving a spot on the bottom part open for the handle to pass through, and leaving the top open so that I could pour the fillings. It looked like a really strange, beige to burned-brown pot of sorts. That said, it was still just big enough for Crys or Lieutenant to use as a small bathtub. As for why I thought on that image, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. To start, I placed the handle on the place I wanted and held the hammer head over the corner so that I could hold it up while pouring a bit of the alloy to seal the opening around the handle. A bit leaked out to the ground before it solidified, but no one got permanently hurt. Once the handle was firmly attached, I took a good look from afar, but felt that it was somehow off to have a straight handle protruding off from the somewhat circular hammer. Thinking so, I heated up the handle a bit more and gave it a slight ¡®S¡¯ curve, making it bend a bit more towards the center of the hammer. This should give me some more space to swing it around, right? Still, the linking point was a bit odd, so I used a bit more of the alloy to make it fit nicely against the outer-shell of the frame, giving it a more streamlined look instead of simply popping up at a straight angle. I did that by holding it upside down and pouring a bit of alloy around the base of the handle, then using a small metal rod to mold it into a more streamlined shape, that slowly shifted from the thin shape of the handle towards the wide back of the head. It was a fairly rough work, but I was satisfied with it. Hopefully, it¡¯ll make the hammer a bit more resistant to impact now. Now, to waste material filling in the hammer head. I could go on about how this process works¡­ But I literally just spent a heck-ton of shells and raw material to simply fill in the hammer-head, pouring it down as it melted. The extra bit of work I did, however, was to make some kind of lid to cover the opening I left on the top. I broke apart some of the shells and layered them atop of each other in an edgy appearance. I didn¡¯t forget to weave some of the nerves around the piece. Reason being, that I had to somehow put the end of the nerves on an easier to reach place, right? Since I had some free time while I awaited the massive piece to cool down, I wasted it skillfully managing to burn some cool web patterns on the sides of the hammer using a heated rod of iron. ¡­It didn¡¯t end up as well done as I had hoped. I¡¯m not exactly an artist to be honest. It looked more like some odd lines etched into the side rather than a web. ¡°You do reckon that you can¡¯t undo that, right?¡± Crys commented bluntly. ¡°Yeah¡­ I do.¡± I commented sadly. Oh well, can¡¯t win at everything. After my failed attempt at stylizing the weapon, I took the upper piece I had done and placed it on top of the hammer head. Just as I had initially planned, the piece fit nicely upon the front, but the farther back it went, the higher it became, until it was roughly one and a half centimeters above the streamlined head. From both above and below this elevation came some nerves that I weaved over the back of the hammer and all the way to the hammer. Thanks to their springy property, the nerves were quite comfortable to grip around, and with them being so far down the handle also made it easier for me to use the elemental stones. This was the true main reason behind so many nerves being used. I mean, nerves carry electric impulses, and if the spider was using it by herself, who am I to say it won¡¯t work? For the finishing touches, I burnt the front of the hammer and the lower end of the handle, giving it a gradient coloration. ¡°Fu fu fu fu. Tis be done! My master piece! A one in a kind piece that shall never again be recreated!¡± I laughed loudly while looking at the hammer. The fact that I had nowhere near enough material to craft another hammer of this kind wasn¡¯t the reason at all why I called it unique, okay? So you guys can stop looking at me pitifully, you know? Ignoring their gazes, I took a chance to breathe in the hot air of my latest creation. With the handle being just thick enough for my hand to wrap around making slight bend, it still looked a bit too small compared to the head of the hammer itself. The head was large, being a bit bigger than my torso and had a roundish shape that started as an oval near the handle, but ended up with a slightly flatter surface near the opposing (hitty) end, where the dark brown coloration of the burnt shell marked the hitting zone. The sides and underbelly of the head were mostly flat, with only the pieces of the frame sticking out like a slightly sore thumb, showing the jaggedy shape of the legs of the spider. The upper side had the jaggedy pieces, giving it a slightly wilder look, but serving no other true purpose other than look and allow the nerves linked to the prototype spike-head to come out through the back of the hammer and wrap around the handle. It wasn¡¯t exactly the most sophisticated piece of equipment around, but then, hammer¡¯s aren¡¯t really supposed to be complex, right? Once I decided that it was a job well done, I took a deep breath before checking the status of the creature before me. With so many trials going into a single weapon, I couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous whether it would work or not.
(Insert the name of your creation) (Two-handed Short War-hammer) (requires level 30)
Attack:77-89Extra:None
Quality:ExcellentDurability:28/28
Description Crafted from a beast possessing the rage of a volcano and the power of an earthquake, this hammer wrecks everything in its path leaving naught but dust and debris in its wake. STR+21 AGI+12 TGH+10 VIT+9 Crushing ore-veins with this hammer restore its durability at the expense of losing the gathering point. While using this weapon you can use the following skills: [Matriarch¡¯s Impalement] [Sulfuric Crusher] (Made by Wargon)
¡­Welp, looks like my worries were for nothing. Chapter 110 - (Not) Status (table) Report Author¡¯s corner: ¡­ Silence is all that comes from the room with the slightly open door. An eerie silence came from it as one approached. Opening the door, the scene of the crime is revealed. A seemingly innocent bedroom that would be perfectly common if it wasn¡¯t for the body laying before the computer lifelessly. As the screen still shed its light upon the dead body, one could notice that the right hand rested into an unusual place, a bit too far from the keyboard or mouse. On a closer notice, one would notice something drawn with the blood of the victim. As if in a last effort before his death, the victim managed to give a clue upon his fate. The drawing¡­ The word it spelt, was but one simple six letters word: Tables. Have a good read! --- ¡°Fluffyness assemble!¡± I shouted out while falling against the wall outside of the forge heavily. Responding to my call, Aura and Yuu both approached me from different sides and sat down beside me. I wasted no time into enjoying myself on feeling their bodies¡­ And let¡¯s cut that, that sounded a lot worse than what I had in mind. Well, I started petting both Yuu¡¯s and Aura¡¯s head, enjoying myself into the fluffy feeling while letting all the exhaustion from the crafting to fly away like there was no tomorrow. Aah, how had I missed this, ignoring any and all responsibilities and simply enjoy myself in fluffiness! Ignoring all the weirded out glances I was receiving from the non-fluffy ones, and the look of jealously from Crys who wasn¡¯t so fluffy anymore. By the way, I found out that Yuu was specially ticklish right behind the ears, while Aura really enjoyed when I scratched her under the chin. Bonus point for it having extra fluffy fur. ¡°¡­Well, that was quite the experience.¡± Ozzur said as a yawn escaped his lips. Halfway into the afternoon, his caffeine overdose started wearing out and he started yawning more and more. ¡°Still¡­ Are you sure about me publishing this? This is actually quite big, you know?¡± ¡°Meh. Not like it¡¯s any heavily-guarded secret.¡± I said, and while I would have waved away his questions, I had fluffiness to attend to. ¡°Besides, any crafter half-worth their skills would probably have tried upgrading their gear sooner or later anyway.¡± Yeah, as he said, I didn¡¯t spend the remaining of the afternoon simply looking at Hammer McHammer (not actual name, mind you) in awe and then smiling like an idiot. It was only for a couple minutes. I also took the chance to do some upgrade for my gear. First thing first, I started with making a much needed upgrade for my shield. While it was made with burning tail¡¯s material, the crafting was a bit subpar in comparison with the rest of my gear, so I started working on that from the ground up. Taking advantage that I still had a bunch of material left from the spider, mainly the head-part, I forged myself a shield. Well, it was a fairly quick and simple doing, and, in a twist of genius, I added the two scythe-like claws to the edges of the shield. Don¡¯t they say that the best defense is a good offensive? If it made any difference in the final product¡­ I have no idea, but at least now I have this badass looking spider-themed shield. When crafting it, I used the head-pieces of the spider¡¯s carapace and tried to fit them in a way so that they resembled a smaller version of the head and used some fragments of fire crystals in place of the eyes. Finally, I added the two blades on each side of the shield so that they started from roughly the middle, but extended a few centimeters beyond the lower border. It kinda looked like the spider when it was with its claws at ready if seen from the front.

Cinderguard (Shield)

(requires level 28)
Block value: 113 Magical block: 79
Quality Excellent Durability 45/45
Description May the earth quake and the fires rage, may steel be clashed and blows be traded, for the Impaler wavers for none, and shall soon bring its burning vengeance towards its foes. Attacks that use the shield gain natural Armor piercing effects. TGH+22 STR+10 VIT -4 Agi +8
Yeah. A clear upgrade, isn¡¯t it? And that bonus! That interesting, beautiful, and utterly¡­ Useless bonus. I can¡¯t feel that it was thrown there as a joke, seeing how my main shield-related attack already ignores armor completely. Well, it¡¯s still cool as hell though. Also, I made it so that the handle of the shield was in perpendicular with the claws, so if I gave a punch with the shield, the claws would go first. Nifty, huh? Besides that, I also proceeded to use the scale-iron ore to upgrade my armor set too. Nothing fancy, as I simply removed the chain slash scale mail from inside the pieces of armor that had them and put on the new scale-iron one. For this I had to count on Argento for some negotiations with the locals for a few extra scale-iron ores, as I was kind of running low at this point. See? Nothing fancy. Even the upgrade was straight up simple, simply adding more defense to the pieces and so forth. That said, the feet and *ahem*helmet*ahem* (it¡¯s a bandana for Cygna¡¯s sake!) had nothing of the kind seeing how they are simply leather.

Robes of the Burning Soul +1

(Chest) (Scale-mail)

(requires level 15)
Def: 32 M. res 20
Quality Excellent Durability 50/50
Description A martial arts robe made with the hide of blazing tails, wearing this armor makes you feel empowered by the raging inner flame. STR+7 AGI+8 MND+6 INT+5 FIRE RES+4 (Made by Wargon)

Pants of the Burning Soul +1

(Legs) (Chain-mail)

(requires level 15)
Def: 27 M. res 19
Quality Excellent Durability 45/45
Description A martial arts pants made with the hide of a blazing tail. The soul inside burns with the desire to run wild. STR+9 AGI+8 TGH+6 VIT+6 FIRE RES+4 (Made by Wargon)

Armguard of the Burning Soul +1

(hands) (Chain-mail)

(requires level 15)
Def: 25 M. res 18
Quality Excellent Durability 45/45
Description A martial arts arm protector made with the hide of a blazing tail. You feel the very flames are at your reach when wearing these protectors. STR+11 AGI+8 INT+7 FIRE RES+4 (Made by Wargon)

Shoulder-guard of the Burning Soul +1

(Shoulder) (Chain-mail)

(requires level 15)
Def: 29 M. res 25
Quality Excellent Durability 45/45
Description A martial arts shoulder protector made with the hide of a blazing tail. They fill you with the strength of thousand burning souls. STR+4 AGI+4 TGH+10 VIT+10 FIRE RES+4 (Made by Wargon)
As you can see, a pretty significant upgrade from their late form. Even received a nifty +1 to the name that I didn¡¯t even know they could have! Isn¡¯t that neat? And it was as easy as opening the stitching, removing the mail, replacing it, then stitching back together! With silk! Non-Explosive Explosive silk! Speaking of silk, it was all I could do for the sandals and bandana. Exchanging the stitches for a new silk-based one.

Sandals of the Burning Soul +1

(feet) (Leather)

(requires level 15)
Def: 22 M. res 20
Quality Excellent Durability 45/45
Description A martial arts footwear made with the hide of a blazing tail. The ground trembles at your very steps with the potential contained within.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. STR+9 AGI+6 MND+5 VIT+5 FIRE RES+4 In combat move speed +10% (Made by Wargon)

Bandana of the Burning Soul +2

(Helmet) (Light Leather)

(requires level 15)
Def: 18 M. res 25
Quality Excellent Durability 40/40
Description A martial arts bandana made with the hide of a blazing tail. The might of the Blazing tails flow through these simple protectors. INT+6 AGI+6 STR+10 MND+7 VIT+7 FIRE RES+4 (Made by Wargon)
Yeah, only the bandana get the +2. Why? I don¡¯t know. Don¡¯t ask me. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m a master craftsman or anything like that. Well, at least now I won¡¯t take too much damage from attacks now thanks to the buff in damage. On the other hand, I can¡¯t help but feel that the upgrade to the stats didn¡¯t quite keep up with the upgrades. Maybe it¡¯s some kind of diminishing return for upgrades so that I don¡¯t just go upgrading the hell out of my gear? Anyway, it¡¯s still a good upgrade and I don¡¯t plan on complaining. But that¡¯s only for my defensive gear. Let¡¯s now talk firepower. It will probably come at no surprise that I also upgraded my weapons. And by that I mean my one-handed sword and my bow. I didn¡¯t try to upgrade the long-sword (and death to anyone who calls it a great sword!) because, one, it¡¯s still doing damn good on its own. On the other hand, I don¡¯t feel that the sword and the matriarch¡¯s material would mix well together. Well, the bow was a rather simple upgrade to be honest. Using the silk and tendons, I simply changed the string of the bow. I was half expecting a small upgrade to be honest, but¡­

Blazing Grace +2

Bow

(requires level 15)
Attack 8-48 Extra 5 fire damage
Quality Excellent Durability 30/30
Description A bow made in the honor of the majestic Blazing-tail, its shape reminiscing of their most iconic trait, the three large tails. Their fiery soul reside within, granting it immense power. STR +9 AGI+9 VIT+5 Extra fire damage increase over distance. (Made by Wargon)
I might have seriously underestimated what a good string does for a bow. Not only did the raw damage increase by more than fifty percent, but elemental damage more than doubled! Whoop the freaking do! Beautiful, isn¡¯t it? That said, I¡¯ll need to look a bit more into how upgrading works in here. I didn¡¯t quite expect for the bow upgrade to be so good with something so simple. Does the quality and impact of the material on the gear impact more than the quantity itself? Well, if anything, my sword should be proof of that. Taking the blazing tail slash Freezing tail sword I had made, I decided to try and upgrade it somehow, and the idea I had was for me to create a custom grip and handguard, seeing how I had no idea on how to change the blade without making one from scratch. For that, I used the remains of the bone jelly to mold a new grip and pommel. Making it so that I could attach the pommel to the blade was a bit annoying, but nothing too big, so I managed to finish it quickly. The result is:

Tumultuous Grace +1 (One-handed Long sword)

(requires level 15)
Attack 26-30 Extra 2 Frostfire damage
Quality Excellent Durability 35/35
Description A Sword made with the parts of both, the Freezing tail and the Burning Tail. These two mortal enemies still wage their battle inside the blade, generating it¡¯s conflicting nature. STR +6 AGI+7 INT+7 MND +4 Reduces the slash skill resource costs by 20% The Element dealt into the attack corresponds to the target¡¯s lowest resistance. (Made by Wargon)
The upgrade wasn¡¯t as big as the bow¡¯s, but the very fact that It was an upgrade was strange for me. Different from the bow, where I at least can understand how the string can impact on the damage, this one was all but a hand-guard and pommel. Yes, it does have a slightly better grip now, since I had it custom made, but it shouldn¡¯t affect the item that much. And true enough, the upgrade was much minor compared to the upgrade of the bow. Well, with that all my gear is now up to date with my level, kind of, and the remaining scraps of the matriarch and scale-iron, I used to make some consumables. Also known as arrows and throwing knives. Seeing how the Impaler¡¯s material seem to work as a catalyst of sorts on the fire crystals, I made me some powered-up knives and arrows. Roughly twenty knives and sixty arrows came from the remaining materials. Plus a heck-ton of normal scale-iron arrows. Like, seriously, a LOAD of them. I probably won¡¯t run out of them for a really good time now. To get all that material I had to give my old shield to Argento so he could sell it. And I still had to pay him to get me some herbs to make my potions that I spent on the battle. ¡°Ugh¡­ I almost forgot the potions.¡± I said annoyed, breaking me out from recollection. ¡°There¡¯s no real reason for you to bother with them right now, right?¡± Crys commented curiously, to which I nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ll worry with them later. Good call.¡± I nodded before going back to enjoying myself on my fluffy-heave¡­ ¡°Tek-tek~~!¡± Why is Pebblesworth sitting on top of Aura¡¯s head? Don¡¯t you know you ain¡¯t fluffy? Right now I¡¯m in fluffy enjoying moment! Well, that said, he is surprisingly smooth. I mean, he does have some irregularities, but it¡¯s not rough as I was expecting. It¡¯s kind of pleasant. Like when you get a marble in your hand and you start moving it around, you know? ¡°NOT FAIR MASTER!¡± Crys complained as she flew closer and started tugging my hand that had been patting Yuu¡¯s head. ¡°If he gets petting, I also demand it!¡± ¡°Hey! That¡¯s¡­¡± I was about to complain, but then I noticed that I didn¡¯t have anything to rebut her on, so I quickly shut myself up. I grumbled a bit annoyed before moving my hand from Yuu to Crys¡¯s head. Different from Pebblesworth, Crys was surprisingly warm to the touch, and while she was smooth, she had these sharpish edges on the corners of the crystals. Sharp enough to make themselves clear, but smooth enough to not cut me. Though a crystal cutting a rock is kind of¡­ Anyway, it¡¯s also amusing to have the feeling of the crystals moving slightly under pressure whenever I touched them, since they weren¡¯t all attached to a physical body. Smooth things are also nice¡­ If things with fluff are fluffy, does this makes smooth things smoothy? Still, why do I have this feeling that I¡¯m getting further and further away from the Fluffy sect? Am I becoming an heretic of sorts? I mean, I still like fluffy, but smoothy is also good¡­ And why do I have this aura of annoyance coming from my left and this aura of sadness coming from my right? Noticing that Aura was looking away in annoyance and Yuu¡¯s ears had drooped made me feel really guilty, so I quickly went back to appeasing the two. But then, the one to become annoyed was Crys, and the one to become disappointed was Pebblesworth. ¡°Two foxes and two elementals fighting for petting rights from a Golem. And here I thought I had seen everything.¡± Ozzur commented with some sarcasm in his voice. Yeah, why don¡¯t you shut up and help me here? I only have two arms, you know? While I stared holes at him with those intentions, all he did was smirk amused. ¡­ ¡°Oh, hey Gon!¡± Hanbei said as we approached her. The cat-girl was carrying with her a small bag while nibbling on some skewered meat she probably bought on the streets. ¡°Hadn¡¯t you said that you finished crafting some time ago? What took you so long.¡± ¡°I was stuck between a rock and a fluffy place.¡± I commented exhaustedly before sighing. The anime character-wannabe tilted her head curiously but since I had no desire to explain exactly what happened, it looks like she had an idea once she noticed that not only Yuu and Aura were wagging their tails happily, but Crys was humming cheerfully while Pebblesworth was tekking along. ¡°Hmm? Where¡¯s the reporter?¡± Shea asked curious once she noticed that Ozzur was nowhere in sight. ¡°Caffeine crash plus overnight.¡± I replied back. ¡°Got forcibly disconnected so he could go to sleep.¡± It was fairly interesting to see him cursing once he received the warning message, before fiddling with the menus trying to cancel the automated log out. I made sure to film everything. ¡°Also, Lily had to go help Argento with something midway into the job, so I have no idea where she is right now.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She nodded while nibbling on another piece of the meat. ¡°I was helping Yami level up a bit so she could catch up to us.¡± She explained. ¡°There¡¯s a good hunting ground a few minutes away from here. Some wild ogres, wolves and the occasional elemental.¡± She said pointing to some place in the distance. I nodded amused while looking far away. If I¡¯m not mistaken, wild races are kind of like the monster version of the races in here. Something about they not having a soul or something of the sort. Crys had explained it to me before some time, but I kinda forgot. ¡°Hmm¡­ I see.¡± I said while making a mental note of going to the zone and hunting a bit later on. ¡°Hey, know if there¡¯s any rabbit hunting zone nearby?¡± ¡°Huh? Rabbits?¡± ¡°Have you finally decided to go to reveal the world that fetish of yours?¡± Yami asked as she approached us from the side, nibbling on the same kind of skewers as Hanbei. ¡°Nah. It¡¯s just that I need to do some rabbit genocide with my new toy.¡± I said while summoning my hammer from the inventory. It made a fairly loud ¡®thud¡¯ as the head hit the ground, and holding on to the handle, I smiled happily. ¡°I call it: Tectonic Pulverizer!¡± I said while showing the two the status. ¡°You know, I can¡¯t quite grasp your naming sense.¡± Hanbei commented as she stared at the status in wonder, letting out an amused whistle. ¡°Sometimes you come up with some good, cool names¡­ Then comes Lieutenant.¡± She looked over at the sprite who was sitting playfully on my shoulders while carrying around a cloth thingy with it. ¡°I kind of fear what you¡¯ll end up calling the little gu¡­¡± ¡°You mean Mr. Pebblesworth?¡± I asked. Face-palms ensued. ¡°Tek-Tek?¡± ¡°What?¡± I asked confused when I saw Hanbei covering her face with her hand, while Yami sighed deeply. I looked down at Pebblesworth confused, noticing that it was looking at me curiously.
The earth sprite has accepted your offer on following along and have now become your pet.
This earth sprite is a passive pet and will have the following characteristics: Unable to learn combat skills. Able to learn commodities skills. Don¡¯t assist you in battles, but are invulnerable to any kind of damage and do not draw aggro.
Strange. This somehow feels familiar. No, wait, that shouldn¡¯t be what I should be commenting!
Congratulations. You have gotten yourself a brand new pet, an earth sprite, and have chosen it¡¯s name:
Mr. Pebblesworth
SERIOUSLY? No, I mean, seriously? It was a joke! A joke! Jay ¨C Oh ¨C Kyu - Tee ¨C Dobliu! Joke! And to hell joke not being spelt like that! The joke is mine and I spell it as a I want! As it was my turn to face-palm, Yuu approached me from the side with a curious glance. I simply shook my head before sighing. ¡°Well, looks like I got myself a new pet.¡± I said while laughing dryly. ¡°Tek-Tek-Tek~~!¡± Pebblesworth sang happily while clacking its little claw-like things, swaying its body sideways as it did that. ¡°¡­Really? When did that happen?¡± Hanbei asked surprised. ¡°Five seconds ago.¡± I said while picking up Pebblesworth and showing him to the duo. ¡°Girls, meet Pebblesworth. Looks like he¡¯ll be following us in our travels.¡± ¡°Tek-tek!¡± Pebblesworth said cheerfully, greeting the girls. While the two had a blank look for a moment, they soon started smiling gently at the sprite before nodding back to him. Once they were done, I put the sprite back on my shoulder and looked at it worried. ¡°Do you understand that if you stay with me, you¡¯ll have to leave this place, right?¡± I said, and the little sprite soon froze in shock. ¡°You totally didn¡¯t think about it, did you?¡± I said while covering my face with my hand once again. Yep, it totally didn¡¯t. Understanding this, it started looking around nervously as if it had no idea on what to do now. Shaking my head, I decided that we would worry about that later. ¡°Anyway, what do those skills do?¡± Hanbei asked curiously. ¡°They sound strong.¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah.¡± I quickly cheered up while smiling smugly. Taking a better grip on the hammer, I grunted a bit as I brought it up, seeing how it was, by far, my heaviest weapon yet, and leaned it on my shoulders with a sigh of relief. ¡°This is going to take some time to get used.¡± I commented. ¡°Anyway, the two skills are completely different, but they share a two minutes cooldown.¡± As I said that, I fished an elemental crystal from my inventory and showed it to the girls. ¡°Well, each one of them have a cost, either I have to use the corresponding elemental crystal, or be able to use the correct type of magic. For the Matriarch¡¯s Impalement, I need electricity, and then, it does this.¡± I held the elemental crystal in my hand while holding onto the nerve-wrapped handle before activating it. It broke into sparks and it coursed up the handle and then towards the head of the hammer. It took a brief moment before it suddenly changed, a large spike appearing in its middle and four smaller ones around it. The girls flinched surprised when the hammer suddenly became dangerous looking, but I simply smiled proudly of my work. ¡°This makes it so that the next attack I do, deal fifty percent extra unmitigated damage as bleeding over a period of time.¡± I said before difficultly moving the hammer around. ¡°And if I take in account the high raw damage of this beauty, this can hurt. A lot.¡± ¡°I can see that.¡± Hambei said impressed. ¡°Then, what about the other one?¡± At her question, I smiled like an idiot. ¡°Well, I kind of want to test it right now, so why don¡¯t we go see it ourselves?¡± I said. ¡­ ¡°S-Shishou¡­ Isn¡¯t that¡­¡± Yuu said a bit shocked. ¡°You¡­ Are a horrible person, Master.¡± Crys said in a cold tone. ¡°It¡¯s all for the good of science.¡± I replied in a cold and sad tone¡­ While having a large wicked smile in my face. ¡°Only a wicked person like you would take amusement in this kind of undertaking.¡± Yami said as she stared at the scene starry eyed. ¡°On one hand¡­ I kind of pity it¡­ On the other hand¡­ I really want to see how this will go.¡± Hanbei commented while trying to hold back a smirk. It¡¯s all for the sake of science. So please, forgive me Mr Just-passing-by bunny! ¡°Heads up Aura!¡± I said while raising the hammer high up in the air behind me. The fox barked once before taking on a low stance, ready to pounce. Approaching the rabbit that was happily digging on the ground, I twisted my body a lot and raised the ridiculously heavy hammer high up, before untwisting myself and putting all the power in a single slanted swing that scrapped the ground in its lowest point, the same where it would hit the rabbit. At the same time I activated the fire elemental crystal in my hand, leading to the head of the hammer acquiring a magma-looking appearance much like the spider when it went berserk. With all the power of the swing hitting the rabbit, it had pretty much died at that point, but it wasn¡¯t over. Oh no, it¡¯s just beginning. An explosion occurred near the head of the hammer, dealing even more damage to the unfortunate animal, as well as increasing the impact a good few times. Since the golfball swing would naturally cause the object it hit to go up, the rabbit corpse was thrown¡­ No. It was launched like a rocket towards the air, flying in the direction of the horizon at high speed that the eye was barely able to keep up with. No need to say that I was laughing madly while I saw the first non-winged flying rabbit in Insania. Aura darted after the rabbit like a blue bolt, running excitedly over the snow as she chased down the body. ¡°You do know you are going to regret that one day.¡± Crys told me in an attempt to sound cold, but even she was holding back a laugh on how ridiculous the scene was. I couldn¡¯t say anything as I was trying to hold back a bit on laughing, but I didn¡¯t need any warning from Crys to know that. I knew that these irresponsible actions of mine would lead me to regret one day. But that day is not today, so let¡¯s do screwy things for fun! Of course, Aura and I received a thoroughly scolding from Yuu about there being a limit to how mean we could be to the bunnies. Still worth it, though. Chapter 111 - Calling it a day
You have killed a significant amount of enemies of a certain kind without dying to them, therefore, you have earned the title: Lagomorph¡¯s natural enemy Since you have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change your title. This title might have effect even without being equipped.
Lagomorph¡¯s natural enemy: Bonus chance of inflicting fear upon rabbits and similar creatures. Was this really worth it? Only time will tell
I think, from the verb To-not-be-sure-and-most-likely-I-am-wrong, not to be mistaken with the think from the verb To-smell-something-burning-in-my-head, that this is the game¡¯s way of saying that I might have overdone it a bit with the rabbit hunting. Well, it¡¯s mostly a feeling, so chances are that it¡¯s just me over-thinking its meanings. Yep, totally it. ¡°Master. That¡¯s the game¡¯s way of telling you that you might have overdone with the rabbit massacring.¡± Well¡­ Carp. I guess I might have taken it a bit too far indeed. I mean, midway, even Aura stopped playing along. Resting the hammer on my shoulder, I gave a look around me and finally noticed that Crys was working on a small pile of rabbits that had piled almost to my knees. Not too far away from our current place, I could see the three rabbit dens I had¡­ Erm¡­ Forcefully forced an evacuation drill by using a hammer, an explosive and two exits. He he¡­ It was fun. Rabbit cannon¡­ ¡­Okay. I went too far. Sighing, I finally nodded and stored the hammer away in the hammerspace. Aka, inventory. As much as I like the big bastard, carrying it around was a bit inconvenient, since it was so large and normal sheathes don¡¯t happen to fit them. I wonder why. Anyway, silly obvious doubts aside, I gave a quick look upon my skill list and smiled happily. Hammer mastery is up to level nine and I already have four active skills! Including the golf-ball swing and ground pound!
For repeatedly and violently smashing some innocent rabbits into a bloody pulp with enough force to make the ground shake, you earned the War-Hammer mastery sub-skill: Quaking Smash
Sub-Skill: Quaking Smash [lvl 2] (level increase with War-Hammer Mastery)
Bring down your hammer upon your enemies with enough force to quake the ground itself and disrupt your enemies¡¯ footing. Repeated uses increase the damage dealt, the quake¡¯s area of effect and energy consumed. DMG: 150% + 25% Area of effect 2 meters +1
Costs: 15 energy + 5 Cooldown: 20 seconds upon last usage.
For using your hammer to cruelly launch those poor, poor rabbits into the air like they are some sort of fluffy golfball, you have earned the War-Hammer mastery sub-skill: Jaw-breaker swing.
Sub-Skill: Jaw-breaker Swing [lvl 1] (level increase with War-Hammer Mastery)
Wind up your hammer for a mighty upwards swing with a high chance for stunning or launching the opponent if it impacts with the head, based on its weight. DMG: 300% Stun/knock back chance: 25% Stun duration: 4 seconds
Costs: 50 energy (Does not incur energy reg. Cooldown.) Cooldown: 20 seconds. Wind-up time: 1.5 seconds.
AkA, ground pound and golf ball swing, bread and butter monster hunter hammer combo! It¡¯s the first time my weapon actually matches how they worked in that game. It was such an emotional moment for me that I even managed to forget a reaction upon Cyg¡¯s less than subtle complaints about bunny rights! Bunny rights, who cares about that? ¡°I feel that I should tell you that as long as you have that title, you cannot achieve the ¡®protector of all that is fluffy¡¯ title.¡± Crys coldly stated, shattering all of my hopes and dreams. (Please wait for a moment as your main character recovers from the impact of losing such a wondrous title.) ¡°Wait, you are just saying that to¡­¡± I said while turning towards Crys with an annoyed expression. ¡°No. That¡¯s an actual title that¡¯s already written in the system.¡± NOOOOO! (Sorry, back to character recovery again. Please listen to this elevator music as Gon recovers from the impact. (Link at the end of the story)) A-Anyway, besides these two skills, I also got the basic ¡°slam¡±, which is probably the hammer version of the slash skill. Nothing really interesting about that one since it¡¯s just a basic swing. On the other hand, the last skill is¡­ Well¡­
For losing grasp of your weapon while playing around, and still managing to somehow kill a bunny, you have earned the War-Hammer mastery sub-skill: Impact Meteor. (Seriously, it¡¯s like you are unable to NOT kill them!)
Sub-Skill: Impact meteor [lvl 6] (level increase with War-Hammer Mastery)
Throw your hammer with great force towards the enemy, the suddenly loss of weight briefly increasing your running speed. Deals bonus damage when hitting weak-spots. Deals bonus damage when used against enemies below you. Deals less damage when used against enemies above you. DMG: 110% Weak spot multiplier: 2x Downwards multiplier: 2.5x Upwards multiplier: 0.5x Mov. Speed bonus: 50% for 3 seconds. Cannot use other attacks until the hammer is retrieved.
Costs: 50 energy. Cooldown: 15 seconds. (Inflicts Disarm status on user)
Well¡­ I guess we can say it was a happy accident? I mean, I was aiming for the second level charge while moving skill from the hammer, also known as the spin-to-win skill when the hammer slipped my hand and accidentally killed a rabbit. No, I swear that was an accident! Well, at least the first time. However, let¡¯s focus on something else that bothered me now that I stopped to think about it. ¡°Hey, Crys.¡± I called out the maid who was still working on the rabbits. ¡°Yes, master?¡± She called out to me in a formal tone. ¡°Is it just me, or is the mastery skill increasing way faster than previously?¡± I asked curious seeing how it was already on level nine even though it hasn¡¯t been that long since I got the skill. ¡°Ah. That¡¯s a hidden system working. The higher your level, the faster low-leveled skills gather experience.¡± She explained. ¡°That¡¯s to help those who are at a high level and get a new skill be able to put it on an useable level faster, and not feel that it¡¯s just another chore to level it up.¡± ¡°I see. And since I¡¯m pretty higher level now compared to before¡­¡± I nodded in understanding. ¡°Do the other players know about this already?¡± ¡°Yes. If master were to take some of his time to skim through the forums for a bit, you¡¯d notice that there¡¯s a thread dedicated to try to find hidden systems like that.¡± She chuckled amused. ¡°They only guessed two correctly up to now, though.¡± She said with her eyes smiling mischievously. ¡°Fu fu fu fu. And those two are by far the simplest ones. They¡¯ll never find out about some of the more intricate systems. Fu fu fu fu.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You do reckon you sound like some clich¨¦ villain right now, right?¡± I said with my eyes dead. ¡°You do reckon you do this a lot more frequently than me, right?¡± She replied playfully. Touch¨¦. I sincerely have no comeback to that. None, nil, nada. Sighing in defeat while shaking my head, I decide that it should be about time for me to call it a day here, so I turn towards the city and prepare myself for my trek back. However, I am stopped by the sight of some certain kitsune, freezing tail and earth sprite quietly napping under a tree. With Yuu leaning against the pine tree nodded off, Aura was quietly curled up in a small fluffy ball with her back against her while Mr. Pebblesworth was nestled comfortably on her tail. After making sure to take a pic and store it under ¡®fluffyness incarnate¡¯ folder, I pondered on whether to wake them up or just wait for them to wake up on their own. While being torn apart between these two choices, I noticed Crys approaching me with the corner of my eyes. ¡°You have been playing the entire time this weekend, and it¡¯s pretty late by now.¡± She stopped for a moment. ¡°Outside, I mean.¡± Outside? Whazzat? Is it edible? ¡°And I feel that I should remind you that you should have class tomorrow?¡± ¡°Uggh¡­ there was no need for you to do that!¡± I complained before sighing and shaking my head. Quickly checking the clock time, I nodded to myself. Indeed it was becoming night right now, so outside should be somewhere around four PM or something. But then, the time we spent in here is a lot more, so mental fatigue should be piling up. ¡°Oh well, I think I¡¯ll call it a day a bit earlier today then.¡± I said with a defeated sigh before shaking my head. ¡°That might be better.¡± She nodded in agreement before turning to Yuu. ¡°Still, it might be better to warn Lord Which. He wanted to speak with you earlier, remember.¡± ¡°Good call. I¡¯ll go talk with him then I¡¯ll stop there.¡± I decided before nodding and bringing up the party menu and sending a message to Hanbei and Co. I¡¯m pretty sure they went deeper into the forest to farm monsters or something. Having done my job, in socializing, I headed towards the napping group and took a deep breath while preparing myself to the unrelenting task of having to wake them up. Oh great Cygnas, forgive-me for what I am about to do, by ending this scene of fluffiness, and I asketh of thee that thou dost not punish me, for it already pains me so to wake them up. Okay, prayers done, time to do it. Gently resting my hands on Yuu¡¯s shoulder and Aura¡¯s neck, I started to nudge them, very gently so that they wouldn¡¯t wake up¡­ No, wait, isn¡¯t that against what I wanted to do? GAAH! THE FLUFFY! IT DISTRACTS ME! The first one to wake up was Aura, who lazily opened her eyes and let out a long and lazy yawn before moving herself a bit so that my hand was resting on her head instead of neck. Her movement then proceeded to wake up Mr. Pebblesworth who looked around groggily. Yuu took me a bit more effort to wake up, as she looked the most tired of the trio, however, after some seconds she finally opened her eyes and looked at me blankly for a few seconds. ¡°Shi-shishou?¡± She asked slightly confused before looking around. ¡°Good morning sunshine.¡± I said jokingly while standing up. ¡°I¡¯m going back to town right now to hear what Lord Which had to tell me, then I¡¯ll probably stop here for today.¡± I told her as she covered up a yawn. ¡°Hmm¡­ Okay.¡± She said sleepily. I offered her my hand to stand up and helped her up, though she almost fell over, so I had to hold her up. Hmm, I guess that even Yuu is a bit clumsy when sleepy. ¡°Thanks.¡± She said while standing up and making sure she wasn¡¯t falling this time. ¡°If you want to log out when we get to the town.¡± I gave her the idea. She looked at me surprised for a moment before making conflicted expression. ¡°No need to worry about me. It shouldn¡¯t take me much longer to stop either.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll do that.¡± She said with a tired smile. I nodded in agreement starting to feel a bit tired myself now that I wasn¡¯t fooling around with the bunnies. Once Yuu was up, I started removing my hand from Aura, but not before a certain scorpion-shaped sprite lazily grabbed on the sleeve of my robe and started climbing it up until he reached my shoulders, where he curled up in a small ball¡­ Or pebble, with his knees, or whatever it is actually called, sticking upwards and the tail resting over his body. He looked like a curling stone. A spiky one, but certainly a curling stone. And for some reason Aura was staring at me jealously. Hey, it¡¯s not my fault you aren¡¯t small anymore, you know? Well, it is somewhat my fault, but you were the one to ask me to do this! Luckily, Aura is more often than not one to be understanding, so she quickly sighed and simply looked away slightly disheartened. Making a mental note to spoil her a little later, I turned back towards the city and started making our way there. The way back was extremely eventful, with me facing against a Squirrel-warlord hellbent on conquering the world, having a tea-party with one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, met a sentient sarcastic potato and finally had to dodge around this unique blue slime mob called Bria or something. But since nothing there is important, I¡¯ll just skip it. As soon as we reached the mansion, we met the butler and he told us that Lord Which wished to speak with us about the property. Seeing how it was something that referred to the two of us, I asked Yuu if she wanted to leave it for later, but she said that she didn¡¯t mind my choice. Welp, I¡¯m still not too tired, so I guess I can at least hear what he have to say. Giving her the go to log out, I was then guided towards the office like always. ¡°Ah. Mister Gondorrer.¡± Lord Wich said once I opened up the room. ¡°I see your fianc¨¦e isn¡¯t with you today?¡± ¡°¡­Yuu¡¯s not my fianc¨¦e¡­¡± I said awkwardly. ¡°¡­Really?¡± Lord Wich looked shocked for once, but he quickly recovered by shaking his head and nodding. ¡°Anyway, about the matter of the terrain we talked about.¡± He said while looking around for some papers. ¡°Here. These are the ones I found out that matches your requirements.¡± I nodded while taking the paper from his hand. Hmm, I wonder if I can get some translation here. I mean, I¡¯m not very good at this whole legal thingies¡­ Oh, it¡¯s in layman¡¯s terms. Nice. While I was reading the documents, lord Wich also took the chance to explain things for me. ¡°After some search, I found three terrains that seems to match your requirements. Or at least comes closer.¡± He looked at the paper I had in hand at the time and said. ¡°That one is admittedly a bit far from the mines, but it has access to the coast and is a pretty patch of land.¡± ¡°Hmm. This looks good, but my main reason for a house is for it to be near the mines.¡± I said awkwardly. But yeah, if it weren¡¯t for the buffs and whatnots, this would be ideal. Looks like a real nice place with even a particular beach! Calm place, close enough to the city for it to not be inconvenient, looks like it gets a nice breeze and whatnots. Though, admittedly, it is a bit cold, but nothing some rings couldn''t solve. That said, I¡¯m not really much of a beach person and I believe my attention span is not very good for fishing. Not to mention I don¡¯t even have bathing clothes in here¡­ ¡­ No. I will not do it. I will not get tempted by the idea. I will not think of Yuu in swimsuit¡­ Dang it. I did it. Damn you male body¡¯s hormones! Wait, do I even have hormones as a golem? Now that¡¯s a good question. I can¡¯t even think of a possible rocky counterpart to go with it. Damn, now that¡¯s a difficult joke to make. ¡°Now, there¡¯s the second choice.¡± Lord Wich said as I switched the papers. ¡°This one¡¯s a bit smaller, however it¡¯s close to both the mines and the forest as you want. However, the terrain is a bit muddy, so working on construction will need some deep foundations that might end up being more expensive and take longer to get ready.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ This does looks a bit more like what I want. How much longer would it take it for the house to get ready? Any idea?¡± I¡¯m no expert, but I do remember reading somewhere that such things can make for a very expensive and time-consuming building. The way this was going, chances are that it won¡¯t be worth¡­ ¡°Hmm. Possibly two or three days. If we take the house-building itself, probably two weeks.¡± Huuh¡­ That wasn¡¯t what I was expecting. Two weeks to make the foundation AND building a house? I¡¯m almost sure that it shouldn¡¯t be that fast¡­ ¡°Dwarves are master craftsman. Not only that, but they also have access to magic.¡± I heard Crys whispering to me in my ears. Ah yes, magic. I should probably dabble into it a bit more one of these days. Probably make a magician alt or something. ¡°Two weeks isn¡¯t that bad to me.¡± I replied to Lord Wich, who blinked surprised before raising an eyebrow. ¡°Taking that into account, this actually looks pretty good.¡± ¡°Well, if that isn¡¯t a problem with you¡­¡± The white-haired dwarf said surprised. ¡°Then I guess I won¡¯t need to trouble you with the last option then.¡± He replied relieved. ¡°Well, taking a look wouldn¡¯t hurt¡­¡± I started saying, but once my eyes landed on the document I raised a suspicious eyebrow. ¡°¡­This isn¡¯t a terrain¡­¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s an old building that¡¯s been abandoned for some time now.¡± He said with a worried expression. ¡°It was the last one that met your requirements we found out from this brief search.¡± Once I looked at the details in the paper revealed that the last terrain was in a similar situation as the previous one. However, instead of still being a simple terrain, there was already what looked like a fairly big building. It wasn¡¯t perfectly intact, as it reported some missing windows, rotten wood planks and so forth, but overall it didn¡¯t look that bad, as the foundation was still intact and the main pillars holding up the second floor were just fine or had been patched up recently. Not to mention that the terrain itself was even larger than the previous one. It was a bit farther from the mines, but it made up for being closer to the forest. And it wasn¡¯t that far from a lake, so chances are I might even get a fishing bonus. ¡°And the location¡¯s pretty good too.¡± I said surprised while frowning confused. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t this be the best choice then?¡± I asked confused. ¡°I¡¯m no expert, but I¡¯m almost sure that repairing a house like this would be a lot cheaper than building one from ground up?¡± ¡°Well, if that was simply the case, then yes. The issue is¡­ Something else.¡± Lord Wich said after sighing and scratching his head. ¡°From the information I gathered, they¡¯ve been trying to do something with this house for fifty or so years. Be it selling or demolishing it. Anything. However¡­¡± ¡°IT¡¯S HAUNTED?¡± I said once I read the final lines. Stated in big and bold¡­ not really. In pretty small letters that were trying to pass off discreetly was the statement that it might possibly be haunted by ghosts, seeing how some super-natural events happened. There was even the talk about the sightings of a pale, legless dwarf in armor roaming the mansion. Ughh¡­ This is troubling. Haunted houses never end well. If this was a book or something, this would be the moment I¡¯d say something like: Ghost doesn¡¯t exist and so there¡¯s nothing I need to worry about, then proceed to take the house and get wrapped up in a b-rated horror story. But, this is a game, and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if something like a ghost actually existed and a vengeful is actually possessing that house. And everyone knows that vengeful spirits are extremely dangerous, guarding a place to death and not letting anyone come closer while cursing, scaring, and sometimes downright killing anyone who even dares to come close to the house. Almost like some sort of guard dog on steroids. Heck, I¡¯m pretty sure that if I left a vengeful ghost to guard my stuff it¡¯d be much safer than any sort of guard or insurance I could hire. . .. ¡­ This is¡­ ¡­ ¡°¡­Lord Wich.¡± I asked a bit curious. ¡°Think you could find me some info on the person who last lived in that house? I mean, the one that might possibly be a ghost?¡± ¡°Oh god¡­¡± Crys said while facepalming. Wait, aren¡¯t you supposed to be the god here? ¡°Here we go again¡± ¡°That¡¯s an odd request.¡± He told me confused. ¡°Are you planning on actually accepting that house?¡± ¡°Well. I do want to try something¡­¡± I said with a small smirk. ¡°I¡¯ll come back in a couple of days, try it, then give you my answer. Is that fine with you?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll have Oldir look into it.¡± He said a bit hesitant. ¡°Can¡¯t give you any promises though.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± I said before yawning a bit. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll leave you to your job. Thanks for all the help so far.¡± I stood up and he nodded back while we shook hands. After sending Supplies a message telling him that I wouldn¡¯t log in for some time and ask for Oldir, the butler, to tell Mummy-man the same, I took me some time to spoil Aura for a bit before logging off. We made our way through the now snow-clear market and I searched for a snack she liked while patting her head. However, she suddenly stopped and started sniffing the ground. Being curious by her reaction, I followed her as she made a full turn and started walking back the way we came from. It didn¡¯t take me much longer to understand why she had made such a turn, as we soon caught sight of something that left us confused. We followed him for a few minutes just to be sure, but the longer we kept the watch, the more confused we became. ¡°¡­I think we somehow broke Lieutenant.¡± I muttered. Aura nodded besides me while Crys was stifling a giggle. For some reason, our soldier cat was wandering around in his new set of armor and with a small lance to match. He was riding on the back of Rio who was cheerfully going around with his play as they flew around the streets. Nothing new there. What was strange was how he had stopped by a flower shop, bought a couple of roses with money I have no idea where it came from, then flew off with it in hand, just to land near a fishery instead. He proceeded to buy himself a fish, then held the hand of the girl who was taking his money while on his knees and kissed the back of her hand, before offering her the flower. Afterwards, he left off with a suave ¡®nyaa¡¯ and hopped back on Rio before flying off. Then he started to patrol around the city until he saw a stray cat stealing meat from stand, where he swooped down and stopped the cat in his track by landing in front of him. Following that he made the cat go back to the stand and give back the meat while giving him a sermon. Shouldn¡¯t he be¡­ You know, playing pranks and such? As the three of us watched Lieutenant act so out of character, we decided to not think too deeply about it. I spent another half an hour walking around with Aura by my side and Mr. Pebblesworth in my shoulder before logging off. After asking Pebblesworth what he¡¯d rather do while I was off, he decided to stay around in the city, so I fed him another ore before leaving him near the Mansion, telling him to not wander too far off, and if needed, to look for Lt. for help. In the end, I finally logged off determined to take a brief nap before finding something else to do. Probably sit down and write for some time. As that thought crossed my mind, a warning popped up to me while I was preparing to log off from the virtual desktop. The words were simple, yet devastating.
...Aaaaaah¡­ Damn it. Why is it that the first time you pop up after so long you deliver such a low blow? Chapter 112 - Students life ¡°DONE! FINALLY TIS BE DONE!¡± Falling back on my chair and feeling as it slid back from the impact, I heaved a relieved sigh while looking at the text screen before me. A long and surprisingly not that messy line of codes was taunting me with its white in black coloration. Well, I must admit that this program was a bit more trouble than I expected. Giving a quick look to the clock on the bottom of the screen, I saw it marking around eight thirty in the night. Which means I spent the last three to four hours sitting here in front of my not-so-used anymore computer making this damn thing. Sadly, this isn¡¯t an in-game four hours, but actual world four hours, which pretty much means that I lost a whopping twelve in-hour game time. Since the program I had to use was installed in my computer and there was the chance of Cyg dealing with some legal stuff if she illegally ported it to the D-lute OS, I was left with no choice but do it in real life. Well, not that it matters that much since I was logging off anyway. Still¡­ ¡°Hmm? Are you done?¡± A certain goddess¡¯ voice came from the speakers with a slightly surprised tone. ¡°Yeah. Took me long enough.¡± I said while stretching myself and looking at the other, smaller screen besides the one I had been working in. There was a paused screen of 3 campaign¡¯s with a chibi animated version of Cygnas standing contrastingly before it. She had asked for permission to fool around in my computer while I did my project, even offering to help me in case I needed it. I would say that I hesitated to let Cyg in my computer, but then I¡¯d be lying through my teeth. I was so damn desperate to start working on this program that I didn¡¯t even think twice before plugging my cellphone in. Well, on the other hand, as far as I know, there¡¯s not really anything I could do if she decided to hack her way in, so I guess it doesn¡¯t make that much difference? Oh yeah, fun fact. If she limits her processing power to something roughly around a normal human, Cyg is actually surprisingly bad with strategy games. While she was fooling around with her account (she noticed I had the game installed thanks to a desktop shortcut, bought the license with her own pocket money and started playing it in my computer. Let¡¯s not ask why an AI has pocket money.) and started playing the game on the second screen. Kind of cute seeing her wander around the screen and dictating orders to the NPCs instead of using a mouse. Well, she did limit the graphic settings a bit and the program I was using is nowhere near that heavy, so it didn¡¯t bother me too much. She also said something about using her mainframe for cloud computing to reduce the burden on the CPU too. It might have been a bit overboard for playing a game, but oh well. Who am I to say anything? I watched amused as Chibi-Cyg paused the game and peeked over the edge of the screen and into my own. She spent a brief moment looking over the program before smiling and nodding. ¡°Good job!¡± She said while clapping her hands. ¡°Want me to go over it and see if I find anything wrong?¡± She offered. ¡°Hmm¡­ Nah. That would be too much cheating. Having an AI look over my programming homework doesn¡¯t really sounds like something my teacher would allow.¡± That, and the fact that if she DID find something, I¡¯d have to go over and fix it¡­ Yeah, let¡¯s not mention that. ¡°Well, if you say so.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Well, now that this damned thing is over, I¡¯m going to see if I find something to eat.¡± I said while kicking back the chair and stretching myself a bit. ¡°Want me to leave the computer on?¡± She blinked surprised before nodding shyly. ¡°If it wouldn¡¯t be a bother¡­ I really want to finish this mission.¡± She said in a voice that was barely recognized by the loud speakers. ¡°Meh. Wouldn¡¯t be the first time I leave it on for the night.¡± I shrugged. Compared to what she can do, I guess a favor like this isn¡¯t something that I can really deny. ¡°So, do I need to leave the phone connected or¡­¡± ¡°Only if you don¡¯t want me to install an access door on your computer.¡± She explained quickly. ¡°That said, even if I did that, I¡¯d need to find another way to talk to you, since I¡¯m using the phone¡¯s speaker to register your voice.¡± ¡°Hmm. I guess we can do something about it later.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Install the access door or whatever.¡± I keep saying that I wouldn¡¯t let her get too pompous, but can¡¯t help but pamper her a bit, huh? Well, can¡¯t deny that its amusing to have her around. ¡°Ah¡­ Yes!¡± She said with a wide smile before pulling out a small toolbox out of nowhere and put a worker¡¯s hat. ¡°I¡¯ll get it done in a moment!¡± She said before summoning a pair of metal doors on my desktop and passing through them. A light popped up above it written: ¡®Work in progress¡¯ as the sound of hammers, saws and welding torch echoed. Four seconds later she came back and the door dissolved into bits as she smiled widely. ¡°It¡¯s done!¡± She said excitedly. ¡°That was fast.¡± I said surprised while approaching the screen and raising an eyebrow. ¡°Well, to be honest, I did over-exaggerate there with the animation.¡± She said while looking away embarrassed. ¡°All I had to do was change some things here and there in the config files. It¡¯s actually a basic option from the OS. Just had to add me to the whitelist.¡± ¡°I see. Well then, pulling off the cellphone because it¡¯s time for me to grab some eats.¡± I said while saving the project on a pen-drive and then unplugging my cellphone. ¡°Hmm. See you later!¡± Cyg waved me goodbye before going back to her screen. ¡°And now, prepare to face my wrath, you Zergling scum!¡± She said in an evil voice before laughing evilly. Yeah¡­ I might be a bad influence on her. I thought awkwardly while putting on my jacket and going to call the girls and Kotetsu for a nightly snack. ¡­ A loud song echoed in my bedroom, waking me up from my slumber as I absentmindedly extended my arm towards the usual place where I left my cellphone and quickly swept it over to turn off the alarm. Ahh, my eternal enemy that curses me every morning that I have to wake up early. How I wish that one day I will be able to defeat you before you even arrive to announce your presence. One day I shall survive this torture and avenge myself from thy eternal and repeated torture. And here I would have continued my meaningful inner monologue if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that a long and very intense string of curses in a foreign language came from somewhere nearby. ¡°¡­Morning Kotetsu.¡± I grumbled while pushing myself away from the pillow that I was having a very-close-quarters staring contest. ¡°Ughhh¡­¡± The old man said while sitting up on the. ¡°¡­What time is it?¡± He asked groggily. ¡°Five thirty in the morning.¡± I replied automatically while sitting up in my own bed and lazily yawning. ¡°Hell¡­ And here I thought I was the one who woke up too early for my own good.¡± He scratched his eyes and eyed the window in the bedroom. ¡°Geez, sun¡¯s not even up yet.¡± ¡°Yeah. I like waking up early to get ready for class.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ And what hour is this class of yours?¡± ¡°Eight fifty.¡± Another loud stream of curses followed by a flying pillow echoed as I made the old samurai hate me with all his strength in this morning. He almost literally kicked me out of my room after that, and I took the chance to take a quick shower to wake me up before attending to the grumbling monster in my belly. Turning on the toaster and scavenging the wasteland I call the fridge for something to have on my early breakfast, I managed to find some creamy cheese and milk. Good enough. While I not-so-patiently waited for my toast to jump up, I felt as my cellphone complained in my pocket. ¡°Gon. Yuu should be arriving at your door soon.¡± Cyg said while showing herself in my cellphone. I didn¡¯t miss the fact that she was wearing clothes similar to the protoss armor. ¡°Okay¡­?¡± I said confused while walking to the door. Just as I unlocked it I saw the black-haired easterner approaching in her white sleeping kimono and a pair of slippers. ¡°¡­So, what¡¯s this about?¡± I asked confused. ¡°I asked Cygnas-san to¡­¡± She stopped to yawn. ¡°¡­Warn me when you wake up.¡± ¡°Not that I¡¯m complaining about you doing that, and sincerely it leaves me with a very warm and fuzzy feeling¡­ But why would you do that?¡± I asked confused while resisting the urge to just go and pet her back into sleep. ¡°Because you said¡­ That you can¡¯t cook¡­ So I will make something for you.¡± She said with a sweet smile, a halo of light forming behind her and a couple of angels playing their trumpets around us. Truly a saint! ¡°Yuu.¡± I said while taking a deep breath and holding her shoulders. This seemed to startle her for a moment as her eyes widened. ¡°¡­There is no need for such a saintess like you to waste thy time with a lowly being like me.¡± I said while turning her around and pushing her towards her house.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°F-Fueee? Shis¡­ Ri-kun?¡± She asked confused. ¡°It¡¯s clear that you are still sleepy. There¡¯s no need for you to follow this freak who wakes up five thirty in the morning for some classes that he¡¯ll only have at eight fifty.¡± I said while leaving her before her door. ¡°Just go back to sleep and don¡¯t worry about me. It¡¯s not like I need to cook to fix me some breakfast.¡± ¡°Huh? But...¡± She tried following me back. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m used to not eating anything till later anyways. Just the fact I¡¯m making toasts is unusual.¡± I said while waving away her worries. However... ¡°Toast¡­?¡± Yuu tilted her head as if confused for a moment, before finally widening her eyes that began shining. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Before either of us knew it, she was looking upwards to me with shining eyes that were almost pleading me for something. I¡¯m just making a quick guess, but I don¡¯t think she ever had a simple toast before from the way she¡¯s looking at me. [Yuu has used puppy eyes.] [It¡¯s super effective.] [Richard has given in.] ¡°¡­I¡¯ll put another one in the toaster for you.¡± I said in defeat while walking back towards my house. ¡°Un!¡± She replied oddly excited at the idea. ¡°So. What do you plan on doing for today?¡± I asked her while fishing the two toasts that had popped up while we were talking and put up two new slices of bread in the appliance. ¡°Hmm?¡± Yuu looked confused at my sudden question while seemingly having a staring contest with the toast. ¡°Here. Try spreading this on the toast.¡± I said while passing her the creamy cheese. ¡°And I asked what will you do today while I¡¯m in class?¡± ¡°That¡¯s... Etoo¡­¡± Yuu lowered her head as she stopped to think for a moment, probably thinking up her answer. ¡°Probably just stay at home? Ah! And try to play that game Ri-kun taught me about a bit.¡± ¡°Hmm. So you don¡¯t really have anything to do, huh?¡± I said while munching on my toast. Yuu nodded happily before turning back to the toast and nibbling it. She seemed satisfied with the taste because she gave a small smile while eating it. Deciding to go ahead and finish my own toast, I put another two on the toaster and proceeded to enjoy on my own cheese-smeared goodness. ¡°Neh. What¡¯s Ri-kun¡¯s class like?¡± She suddenly asked me. ¡°Hmm? Today¡¯s or in general?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Either one. I¡¯m¡­ A bit curious about how college is.¡± ¡°Hmm. I see.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°If my memory doesn¡¯t fails me, you probably are entering college next year or in the following, right?¡± I asked her and she nodded. ¡°Well. If I were to say it in a couple of words¡­ Probably a laxer, but harder version of school?¡± ¡°Laxer¡­ But harder?¡± Yuu asked me confused. ¡°Well, I won¡¯t say it¡¯s the same as in japan, but at least here in Brazil¡­ Rather, at least in my college, it¡¯s how it feels to me.¡± I took another bite of my toast. ¡°The teachers don¡¯t really demand as much with things such as homework, or even presence. Well, at least some of them. I guess it¡¯s a more related to the individual teacher than school.¡± ¡°Heeh.¡± She said surprised. ¡°However, tests are a nightmare and projects are usually enormous compared to some things we had to do in school.¡± I said with a wry smile remembering the project I had to do last year. ¡°Also, at least for my type of course, my classes aren¡¯t always at the same time every day. Today I have class during morning, but tomorrow I only have class in the afternoon, for example.¡± ¡°I see.¡± She looked distracted for a moment as she thought about it. ¡°Sounds interesting. I kind of want to see it now.¡± ¡°Hmm. I don¡¯t think It¡¯d be a problem to show you my class if you wanted. It¡¯d be mostly in Portuguese, though.¡± I said, making her turn to me in surprise. And that¡¯s how it went. Three hours and some minutes later, we found ourselves at the entrance of my college. Yuu being a bit nervous as the guard on the gate gave a look upon her passport. Meanwhile, I was a lot more at ease with the situation, as I knew that there wouldn¡¯t be any reason for him to block Yuu entrance. Not even a minute went through before he gave her passport back and smiled while motioning for her to come through. Yuu clumsily thanked him in Portuguese as I have taught her before meekly following me inside. ¡°See. Told yah. Public property.¡± I said while guiding her in. ¡°Hmm. It is still a bit nerve wrecking.¡± She said while looking back and then storing her passport away in her bag. ¡°I can guess.¡± I said before clearing my throat, turning back towards her and opening my arms wide. ¡°Welcome to the college! The most hated place in any student¡¯s life!¡± I said grandiosely. ¡°I-It can¡¯t be that bad, can it?¡± Yuu asked me worried. ¡°Well. Probably not. I do like to over-state things though.¡± I shrugged with a smile while Yuu giggled slightly. Since there were still some minutes before class, I decided to give Yuu a brief tour of the college¡¯s facilities before we had to head into class. I decided to start with the more unusual areas, such as the laboratories and practical classes. That said, I wasn¡¯t exactly the best of the tour guides around seeing how I had no idea what most of the laboratories were about. They either were for later in the course or from another course altogether, so I couldn¡¯t be entirely sure. While we were walking around, a few teachers recognized me and gave me a brief greeting. I quickly introduced them to Yuu. They became surprised by her coming from so far, but quickly opened up to her. Seeing Yuu getting flustered over that was a healing scene. ¡°Speaking of which, Richard¡­ Don¡¯t you have classes to attend?¡± ¡­Ah crap. Looking at my wristwatch, I saw that I was already five minutes late to class. Completely lost sense of time. Dragging Yuu with me, I quickly reached the classroom. Seeing the teacher near the desk on the farther part of the room, I headed straight up to him and explained about Yuu¡¯s situation while passing him the pendrive with the homework. ¡°So¡­ Can she just stick around for today so she can have an idea of how classes are?¡± I asked my teacher in Portuguese. ¡°I don¡¯t mind. Though I don¡¯t think It¡¯ll be productive to the other students if we give the class in Japanese. Not that I know how to speak it, though.¡± The teacher said half-joking. ¡°I think I can translate it to her in English¡­ Somewhat.¡± I said before thanking the teacher and motioning for Yuu to follow me to my usual spot, near the second to last computer on the left-most row. ¡°Is it alright?¡± She asked me worried and I nodded. ¡°Yeah, no worries.¡± Heck, if I have to translate the class, chances are I might even understand the subject better. ¡°Yo bastard!¡± I heard a familiar voice calling me. ¡°Oh? You brought Yuu with you?¡± ¡°Yo.¡± I said while greeting Paul who was sitting beside me. ¡°I decided that It¡¯d be dangerous to leave her alone with the ero-maid, so I brought her with me.¡± I said in english so that she¡¯d understand. She let out a giggle amused. ¡°Ah. Hello Paul-san.¡± Yuu greeted him politely, and he waved at her playfully. ¡°¡­Am I missing something around here?¡± Someone asked in the seat behind Paul¡¯s. I leaned back and smirked at the long black haired man with glasses and a nerdish look him at me and Yuu confused. ¡°That¡¯s what you get for not showing up in the Yuu-arrival party.¡± And spending the last one hundred chapters only appearing as a textbox. ¡°Yuu, meet Phantoms, AkA, Jean. The guy who can disappear without a trace in the universe.¡± I quickly introduced them. ¡°Ah. It¡¯s nice to meet you, Jean-san.¡± Yuu said while bowing. I quickly fetched the chair from the nearby machine, the last one in the row and made a motion for her to sit on it. She nodded and sat beside me. ¡°I believe we have talked previously through the chat.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Yes. We did.¡± My friend replied with an awkward nod. ¡°And you really are Japanese¡­¡± He eyed me. ¡°I thought it was just another prank of yours?¡± ¡°Jeez man. What a lack of faith. You almost makes it sound like I¡¯m always joking¡­¡± I complained while feigning being hurt. ¡°You are always joking. That¡¯s a fact of life.¡± Paul said bluntly while shrugging. ¡°Shut it.¡± I¡¯d have kicked his shin to make a point, but sadly there was a piece of wood in the middle of the way, so there wasn¡¯t much I could do about it. While PH and I did our usual skit, Yuu and Jean introduced themselves to each other. ¡°Anyway. Man. We need to meet up.¡± Jean suddenly said after he turned back to me. ¡°Huh? Erm¡­ Well met?¡± I said confused. ¡°Not what I meant! In game!¡± He said while shaking his head. ¡°Oh?¡± I stopped to think for a moment. ¡°Ah. Let me guess¡­ It¡¯s something to do with the guild announcement that happened some time ago?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He said with scary smile. ¡°It made me notice that it might be our first chance to actually stay within the top guilds of the game!¡± He said. ¡°After all, I was level 42 when they reached 50, so we aren¡¯t all that far off!¡± ¡°Damn. You already over 40?¡± I said surprised. ¡°Addicted as always, huh?¡± I raised an eyebrown taunting him. ¡°¡­Man¡­ Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± He stared at me in surprise for a moment before it finally sunk in. he facepalmed as he sighed. ¡°You completely forgot about leveling and went straight into crafting again, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Guilty as charged. On the bright side, I do manage to get me some really fancy gear because of it, though.¡± I gave him a wide smile and a thumbs up. ¡°Why am I even surprised?¡± Jean sighed before shaking his head. ¡°Anyway, we still need to meet up to make the guild. I¡¯ve been dungeon diving for some time now and I think I might have gotten a pretty big questline for that.¡± ¡°And let me guess¡­¡± When he talks about dungeon, chances are¡­ ¡°You need a tank.¡± ¡°Yes. Either I get some kind of really slow solo puller who refuses to pull more than one group at a time, then have a ten seconds break before pulling the next, or I get some kind of retard who doesn¡¯t even know that a tank is supposed to take hits for the teams, instead of running away and letting all the aggro fall on the damage dealers, or the tank forgets that he has a health bar and gets himself killed every other pull.¡± Yup, same complaint as always. ¡°I need someone who actually knows how the hell to tank and not kill the rest of the group into boredom.¡± ¡°Muu¡­.¡± Yuu asked confused, making me notice that we had been talking in Portuguese. I laughed awkwardly and gave her a quick run-down of what we had discussed. ¡°Heeh¡­ Is tanking that difficult?¡± ¡°Well, depends on the game. But usually it¡¯s a balance between dealing enough damage so that the monster doesn¡¯t focus on someone else, and managing your defense so that you don¡¯t get one-shotted by their attacks. Besides that, there¡¯s also the issues with positioning and some tank-specific mechanics that pops up in some games.¡± I told her my personal experiences as the designated tank of the guild. ¡°I see.¡± Yuu nodded. I didn¡¯t miss the fact that she looked a bit uncomfortable. If I had to guess, I¡¯d say it was probably because of the attention she was getting, being a foreigner and everything else, since everyone in the class were taking a peek at her. ¡°Anyway, on some games, tanking is more difficult than just dealing damage, in others, mostly those that are mechanic heavy, I feel that tanking is a lot simpler than being a DPS.¡± I recalled back to the dungeon we had done last time. ¡°I¡¯d say IO is the second kind.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, I¡¯m still counting on you to make my weapons.¡± Paul said to me. ¡°And I guess Jean here most likely want a healer¡¯s rod?¡± ¡°Why do you assume I¡¯d be a healer?¡± Jean asked annoyed. ¡°Come on. We both know you are physically incappable of playing anything that¡¯s not a healer.¡± Paul commented bluntly. ¡°I literally can¡¯t remember the last MMO you played where you weren¡¯t a healer.¡± I added in, and he flinched. ¡°Ughh¡­ Anyway, we still have to meet up to make the guild. I looked it up, and we need at least seven players to make a guild.¡± He stopped to think for a moment. ¡°We got our usual four, plus Yuu and Hanbei¡­¡± ¡°There¡¯s also my long lost twin sister. She¡¯ll most likely stick with being with Hanbei.¡± I added in. ¡°¡­Long lost twin sister? I¡¯m really missing something in here, aren¡¯t I?¡± Jean said confused. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. When you stop being anti-social and appear more you¡¯ll get caught up.¡± PH said jokingly, and the two of us chuckled. ¡°Ermm¡­ Ri-kun.¡± Yuu called me with an awkward tone while fidgeting slightly. ¡°Hmm? What happened?¡± I asked a bit confused. ¡°Class started¡­¡± She replied in a low voice while pointing towards the teacher. ¡°¡­Ah¡­¡± I nodded before laughing awkwardly and turning to the computer. The fact that the teacher was looking at me with an amused expression not exactly helping. Leave it to model student Yuu to be worried about my classes for me. Chapter 113 - The correct Theme-song ¡°Then, this line here calls back to this function while using these variables as the input.¡± I said while scrolling through the program and showing it to Yuu. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She nodded while staring at the screen. ¡°But didn¡¯t you call these variables before? In the previous function?¡± She asked me confused. ¡°Yes, but I also changed them afterwards in the main function, so this use their updated values after that function.¡± I explained to her, and she nodded while her eyes shone in excitement. She quickly took my notebook and started writing it down in the last-most pages like she had been doing previously. I already knew that Yuu was a bit of an honor student, but I never expected it to be that bad. She literally started fidgeting uncomfortably for not having a notebook to note down what I was explaining to her. With that, I opened my notebook and put it on the last page, giving her the chance to write down what she wanted. Still, it¡¯s almost hilarious how a sheltered princess is actually going really well on a programming class despite barely having used an electronic device previously. Well, yeah, it is pretty much the most basic programming class, making some trivial programs, and these programs don¡¯t really require much knowledge on how a computer works as much as they require logic thinking, but it¡¯s still a funny image. Bonus point for the programming language using English words most of the time. ¡°Those who have finished the program can leave for today. Whoever is still having trouble, I¡¯ll go see you one at a time, so wait patiently.¡± The teacher suddenly said. While making a mental ¡®WOO HOO!¡¯ and physically raising my arms in cheering, I kicked back the chair, saved the file and removed the pendrive in one fell swoop¡­ Actually not since there wouldn¡¯t be enough time for the file to be saved and it would corrupt it, but you get my meaning. Looking to the side, I noticed that a certain someone was still watching anime in his Compaq, so I gave Jean a light tap to the head to get his attention and make a motion for him to follow me. He quickly understood, turning off his console and starting to prepare to leave. ¡°Oi! Wait for me!¡± I heard an insignificant being calling out to us. ¡°I just need a few more minutes here.¡± ¡°Man, I¡¯m hungry. I wonder if Maya already have lunch ready.¡± I said while ignoring said being. ¡°I don¡¯t think I heard that name before¡­¡± Jean said as he stood up. ¡°Oh, she¡¯s my long lost twin sister.¡± I explained briefly. ¡°And Hanbei¡¯s maid. A bona fide frilly-maid-dress wearing maid.¡± ¡°Maya-san is really interesting.¡± Yuu agreed with a smile while giving me my notebook back. I took the chance to peek at the pages that she had written down. A stream of Japanese characters were covering the entire page, traced with an elegance that I wouldn¡¯t be able to copy even if I spent an entire day per character. Flipping back to my own notes, I saw letters that looked like they were written by a guy being run over by a truck while a horde of hyper-active kids shook him while asking for cookies. Yeah. The difference in calligraphy is ridiculous. ¡°Oi! You seriously ignoring me?¡± ¡°Anyway, what did you think of the class?¡± I asked Yuu as I put the notebook away in my bag. ¡°It was interesting.¡± She said excited. ¡°I thought there would be more math since you said it¡¯s an engineering course, but this was much easier than I expected.¡± ¡°Do you have problem with math?¡± Jean asked her curious, but I just sneered in response. Yuu? Problems with class subjects? Preposterous! Yuu is a perfect girl who¡­ ¡°Yes. I usually have more trouble studying math than anything else.¡± Huuuh¡­ What? No no no. I must have heard it wrong. The Yuu I know is supposed to be a perfect student who can ace all the tests with her two hands tied behind her back and blindfolded! While peeking at Yuu confused, she continued. ¡°I usually have to study twice as much for math as I do for everything else.¡± She said embarrassed. ¡°On the other hand, I find calligraphy and history to be really easy.¡± ¡°So you have a subject you aren¡¯t good with?¡± I asked her just to be sure. ¡°Hmm? Yes?¡± Yuu said back confused while tilting her head slightly. ¡°...I was sincerely expecting you to say that you find everything easy.¡± I crossed my arms and looked down, letting my mind process her words. Yuu. Bad subject¡­ Hmm¡­ Seems like my brain refuses to file the two together. ¡°¡­Ri-kun¡­¡± Yuu said awkwardly. I sighed before deciding to not mind it too much. The three of us left the classroom while hearing some strange being calling out to us, but since it was probably no one important, we started strolling around our way to the exit. ¡°Anyway, you said you were a mage in game, right?¡± Jean asked Yuu, completely oblivious to the shocking fact that Yuu had just dropped on us. ¡°What¡¯s your class specifically?¡± ¡°I am a sorceress.¡± She replied happily before stopping to think. ¡°Anoo¡­ Sore wa¡­ Standing¡­ Artillery? I think that¡¯s what Mari-chan called it.¡± ¡°Oh? First time I¡¯m hearing about that.¡± I said surprised. ¡°You mean that you deal more damage if you don¡¯t have to move?¡± I mean, I know it¡¯s easier to focus and whatnot, but I didn¡¯t know of any specific bonus around that. ¡°Hn!¡± She nodded. ¡°I get bonus damage and mana discount if I¡¯m standing still for some seconds. That and some of my strongest spells cannot be cast while moving.¡± Hmm. The more you know. ¡°Good to know. So we have someone who can be our main nuker.¡± Jean mumbled to himself before turning to me. ¡°What about your class? Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard you saying anything about it yet.¡± ¡°I got skirmisher. It¡¯s a class specialized into dealing with stronger enemies through the usage of guile, gear and tactics.¡± I said proudly. ¡°Though you mostly use recklessness and hard-headedness.¡± ¡­ I quickly fished my cellphone and stared at Crys in her usual maid outfit, who had begun to whistle innocently while looking away. ¡°¡­I¡­ Don¡¯t have anything to say against that¡­¡± I said after a moment of trying to find my words. ¡°I guessed so.¡± She replied with a shrug. ¡°And geez! What was with your connection? The signal was horrible! I couldn¡¯t even stay connected long enough to hear what you were saying!¡± She started complaining. ¡°Yeah. I know. But I can¡¯t really complain because that class at least still have some signal.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°You should see one on the first floor. It got literally no signal coming through.¡± I put on my most intense voice, and Crys made an expression of pure horror. ¡°¡­what the HELL have I been missing here?¡± Jean asked once again. Hmm, I feel that if he asks that again, it might become his catchphrase in this story. Oh well. ¡°Jean, meet Crys. She¡¯s one of Cygnas avatar and my pet in game.¡± I said while showing him the screen. ¡°Hi there!¡± Crys said happily. ¡°I take it that you were Phantoms that Gon called that day?¡± ¡°Ah? Humm¡­ Yeah¡­¡± He replied confused before eyeing me with a ¡®tell me what the hell is going on¡¯ glance. ¡°Well, things happened, crafting ensued, and pet was acquired. That¡¯s pretty much it.¡± I explained it to him with the most concise words I could muster. ¡°¡­I have absolutely no idea what that means.¡± Jean said while face-palming. ¡°Then you not ideaing hard enough.¡± I said bluntly. ¡°Gon ¡­While I do get what you mean by that, the way you said it makes absolutely no grammatical sense whatsoever.¡± Crys said with a sigh. ¡°Anyway, why did you call?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Hmm? Oh, no reason. I was actually wanting to ask you something earlier, but since the connection was bad I didn¡¯t manage to do it.¡± She said with a shrug before making an expression as if she recalled something. ¡°Oh yeah. Yami is asking if you¡¯d rather have chicken or red meat.¡± ¡°Oh? Hmm¡­ I¡¯d say chicken.¡± I turned towards Yuu and she nodded in agreement. ¡°Chicken it is then.¡± She nodded briefly, and I was about to put away the cellphone again, but quickly recalled something. ¡°By the way, did you manage to buy that?¡± I asked curious.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Yep. It was cheaper than I thought to be honest.¡± She said with a wry smile. ¡°Well, it truly is a village of dwarves.¡± ¡°Nice. Tell lord Wich that we¡¯ll get going to that mansion as soon as I get back to Insania.¡± I said with a wide smile. ¡°Leave it to me.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Are you sure that¡¯s going to work, Ri-kun?¡± I heard Yuu asking me with a worried voice. ¡°I mean¡­ It just sounds¡­¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not really sure. That¡¯s why I¡¯m also planning to take Plan B with me when I get going.¡± I said happily. ¡°¡­You are totally not going to tell me, are you?¡± Jean asked annoyed. Nope. I¡¯m not. ¡­ As soon as the flash of light died down, I found myself in the same place where I had logged off last time. Looking around I quickly found out that Crys was already on my side, with Aura and Mr. Pebblesworth being close-by. ¡°Did you see Yuu?¡± I asked her while stretching myself a bit. ¡°Yeah. She arrived earlier and went to the market, something about getting prepared.¡± Crys mentioned while sounding curious about the kitsune¡¯s doings. ¡°I was a bit curious about this too.¡± I said while recalling that she had went ahead and logged in before me. ¡°Anyway, I also need to go to the market to work on my plan B, so might as well go look for her meanwhile.¡± I said with a shrug ¡°Hmm. If you say so¡­¡± Crys said a bit suspicious. Probably curious about my oh so secret plan B. We soon reached the market, meeting with Aura and Pebblesworth on the way, with the larger fox serving as a ride for the smaller elemental. Since I needed to find out about a certain someone¡¯s whereabouts, I went around asking the shopkeepers if they had seen said person around, and after a couple of times asking, I received the news I wanted. ¡°I saw him going into the weapon store earlier.¡± The dwarf manning a skewer store said while handling me a piece of the meat. ¡°That¡¯ll be eight coppers.¡± I nodded while taking on the skewer and removing a piece from the wooden sticks to give it to Aura, who cheerfully ate it. Taking the directions from the shopkeeper, we made our way through the streets while Aura stopped to greet the few people she recognized from back at the snow ball wars. Looks like that she became some sort of small celebrity around here. It didn¡¯t take us long to reach the weapon store we had been guided to, near the center of the village. As we reached it, a client came out through the door, which I quickly took as the chance to pass through the door and go inside. And how happy I was when I saw the one I was looking for looking over the wares on the walls. I approached her from behind while giving him a friendly slap on the back. ¡°Hey there Riva-ough!¡± Before I even had the chance to react, she jumped startled, turned around, knocked me off my feet with a quick sweep of his feet and had put one of her knives on my throat, her face in pure shock as he stared down at me blankly. ¡°¡­If I wasn¡¯t hurting and scared to death of this situation, I¡¯d have given you a ten out of ten for the counter.¡± ¡°¡­Where the hell did you come from?¡± The fire elemental asked me with a horrified tone. ¡°Ermm¡­ From the door?¡± I said while pointing back towards the entrance. She looked back to the door in shock and confusion, then towards me. ¡°Also¡­ Aura¡¯s looking pretty angry right now, so¡­ Maybe take off the dagger from my throat?¡± For a few more seconds, Ashley simply stared at me, before finally sighing and nodding. He stepped back and put the knife back into the sheathe. She walked off while facepalming in annoyance, leaving me laying flat on the ground. ¡°¡­You are forgetting to give me a friendly hand in getting up here.¡± I pointed out his mistake. ¡°I have absolutely no reason to give you a hand, and even less to be friendly about it.¡± She replied coldly while not even looking at me. ¡°Aww, come on. Don¡¯t be such a tsundere! I know you love me!¡± I stood up and approached him to throw my arms around his shoulder, but received an elbow blow to my ribs instead. ¡°Ughh¡­ T-Tis sure be a t-tough love¡­.¡± I said while holding my sides painfully. ¡°Stop with the nonsense. Why the hell did you sneak up on me like that?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do it on purpose, okay?¡± I when I felt my body stop complaining. ¡°¡­Then, why are you here?¡± I was about to say something silly like always just to annoy him, but I stopped as the meanings of her words reached up my ears. Taking a couple of seconds to process them, I finally blinked surprised and stared at him in shock. ¡°¡­You are actually going to listen to me?¡± I asked in shock. ¡°Even if I said I¡¯m not, you¡¯d just follow me and talk anyway, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± He said drily before turning back to me. ¡°You know me so well! I knew you were the perfect one to be my rival!¡± I said cheerfully, earning a new facepalm from her. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going somewhere a bit dangerous and I wanted you to come with m....¡± ¡°Denied.¡± She replied bluntly before waving me off. ¡°Now you can go away.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pay you.¡± I interrupted her, making her freeze for a second. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You really thought I would come here not expecting you to deny?¡± I asked with a smirk. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m willing to pay you to help me deal with a haunted mansion;¡± ¡°Pay¡­ How exactly?¡± He asked me dubiously. ¡°Well, money maybe? Or possibly something else.¡± I said with a shrug. He widened his eyes in surprise before starting a smile. ¡°That said, I¡¯m not accepting a: ¡®Don¡¯t come near me again¡¯, ¡®don¡¯t talk to me¡¯ or anything of the sort, okay?¡± She clicked her tongue in annoyance. Before crossing her arms and staring at me intensely for some moments. Probably thinking of what he should ask me. ¡°Wait, you said haunted mansion?¡± He asked me after some time. I nodded with a serious expression. ¡°I¡¯m going to a mansion that I may or may not make into my house.¡± I explained. ¡°But it seems that it¡¯s been haunted for some time now, so I had this plan to deal with it. But¡­¡± ¡°Look, not that I mind the two of you flirting in my store, but you are bothering the other customers.¡± I was interrupted suddenly by a dwarf who was sitting behind a counter where many weapons laid. He was eyeing us with a slightly tired look before glancing at the others customers. I could almost hear a certain someone¡¯s vein popping as she became furious. Before Ashley blew up something in the room, I grabbed her by the back of his neck and gave him a light pull when he was distracted. ¡°We¡¯ll move out, sir. Sorry about that.¡± I said politely while the elemental debated, trying to save herself. ¡°But you see, my friend here sees himself as a man, and haven¡¯t completely matured yet. That, and I already someone else in mind.¡± While waving away at the merchant, I dragged Ashley out of the store ignoring his angry shouts. Once we were outside she shrugged off my hand and took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. ¡°Anyway, continuing on.¡± I said before he could start shouting at me. ¡°You see, I want to hire you because I know of your capacity, and while I don¡¯t expect things to descend into chaos ten seconds into the plan, it is better to be safe rather than sorry¡­ I don¡¯t really mind if you decide to stay and fight or just run and get some real help, seeing how ghosts are uncommon enemies, but¡­ Ermm¡­ Why are the two of you looking at me like that?¡± I said in annoyance upon seeing both Crys and Ashley looking at me suspiciously. ¡°Master¡­ Actually said something serious.¡± Cry said in shock. ¡°You are actually giving me some decent terms and the right of choice for this?¡± Ashley said in a suspicious disbelief. ¡°What? I can actually do serious from time to time, you know?¡± I said angrily, then I took a moment to breathe in and calm myself down. ¡°If you want, I can try and annoy you till you accept it, you know?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ no.¡± Ashley said with a worried look while shaking her head. ¡°Anyway, aren¡¯t you a chosen and whatnot? Why would you even need my help?¡± He asked confused. ¡°It¡¯s more of a matter of being safe rather than sorry than anything else.¡± I explained. ¡°We may be technically immortal and whatnot, but we do kinda lack the general knowledge of the world at large. That, and my guess is that you have more knowledge of the world than anyone else I can possibly call who have just as much, if not more skill as you.¡± ¡°¡­This is seriously disturbing, Mast-Ouch!¡± I flicked Crys¡¯ forehead to stop her from saying her she was about to say. ¡°I see¡­¡± Ashley said while staring at me suspiciously. ¡°And you say that I can choose my payment¡­¡± ¡°Yep.¡± I nodded while crossing my arms and staring at her waiting for her to make her decision. For some time, Ashley stared at me for some time before starting to wander around thinking about it. From the looks of it, it looked like she was in conflict about what she should choose. After some time, she seemed to recall something, as she snapped her fingers and turned back while pointing at me. ¡°I want you to get me some of those bombs and arrows I¡¯ve seen you using.¡± He said. ¡°Introduce me to the crafter or just work as the middle man, I don¡¯t care. I want some of those.¡± ¡°Is that all?¡± I asked suspiciously. ¡°Also, wouldn¡¯t a throwing knife be better for something like that? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen you using a bow before.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds good.¡± She replied with a nod. ¡°Great. Then¡­¡± I stopped to clear my throat and straightened my back. ¡°Ashley, pleasure to meet you. Name¡¯s Gondorrer Spider-ban¡­ Gravelheart. Gondorrer Gravelheart. Crafter by trade and make of the crystal consumables. Pleasure to meet you.¡± I said while smiling proudly and forcibly grabbing her hand to shake. ¡°¡­Oh Cygnas, no.¡± Ashley said horrified. ¡°I¡¯ll be the one who¡¯ll be supplying you the weapons you demand.¡± I said with a wide smile. ¡°¡­I¡¯m going to regret this, aren¡¯t I?¡± Ashley asked in a defeated tone. ¡°I¡¯m going to make sure of that.¡± I replied happily before becoming a bit more serious and scavenging around my inventory. ¡°Here¡¯s a couple of knives. I¡¯ve resupplied recently so it¡¯s not a big issue to pay in advance.¡± I said while handing her a couple of the knives I had made. ¡°Ugh¡­ Looks like I don¡¯t have much choice, huh?¡± Ashley said annoyed. ¡°Okay. Tell me how to use these and give me another set after the job and you have a deal.¡± ¡°Yays! I knew I could count on my rival to help me!¡± I said happily while approaching him to give her a hug, but was received with a blow to my non-existing or at the very least stone-plated guts. ¡°One condition. Don¡¯t go getting touchy.¡± She said angrily. ¡°Then¡­ I can¡­ Call you a gi-Girl?¡± I asked jokingly, only to get a kick to the ribs. Tough love is painful. ¡°S-SHISHOU!¡± I heard Yuu calling to me while some footsteps hurriedly approached. ¡°Before you ask, he deserved it.¡± Ashley said in a cold fury. ¡°I¡­ totally did¡­¡± I agreed with him. Crys and Aura both nodded in agreement while Mr. Pebblesworth simply stared at us confused. ¡°But there was no need to hit Shishou like that, was there?¡± Yuu defended me angrily. Ughh¡­ I don¡¯t deserve such an adorably pure disciple! While thinking so, I extended my arm up and Yuu helped me get back up. ¡°Still¡­ Shishou¡­¡± She looked at me worriedly. ¡°I know¡­ I know¡­ I¡¯ll get some better armor so that these kind of paybacks won¡¯t hurt as much.¡± I said, showing her that I had learned my lesson. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She looked a bit confused for a moment before finally pouting. ¡°Erm¡­ Ei!¡± She made a cute sound while giving me a light slap to the head that I barely felt. ¡°Bad Shishou! You shouldn¡¯t be teasing others like that!¡± She said in a pretend angry tone while I kept staring at her surprised. However, her fa?ade quickly fell down as she looked at me worriedly. ¡°T-That didn¡¯t hurt, did it? Han-chan said that I should be a bit more strict with you or else you¡¯d never learn, but¡­¡± ¡°Nah¡­ it¡¯s just that¡­ It kind of surprised me.¡± I said in surprise while looking at the flustered Yuu. ¡°Did you get that on camera, by the way?¡± I asked Crys. ¡°A scene of Yuu hitting Gon to teach him a lesson? I got it in HD with full surround sound and 3d enabled.¡± Crys said excitedly. ¡°Hah! I knew I could count on you!¡± I said happily. ¡°We do think alike after all.¡± At my words, Crys¡¯ movements froze as she widened her eyes in shock and fear before holding her head in her hands and curling down in a floating fetal position. ¡°Am I seriously having to watch this?¡± Ashley asked angrily. ¡°Can we just stop this whole skit and get going to this haunted mansion already?¡± ¡°Fair enough. I¡¯m actually quite curious about the place to be honest.¡± I said agreeing with him before thinking about something. ¡°Speaking of which, since we are going to a haunted place, I should probably teach you that, right?¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± Ashley looked at me worried while Yuu simply tilted her head curiously. ¡°It¡¯s the battle hymn for when one¡¯s got to fight against ghosts and other such things.¡± I said with a wide smile. ¡°We call it: The ghost busters theme song!¡± I said while dragging the two with me. Chapter 114 - Gon Vs Ghost ¡°...in... hood... who¡­ all...¡± ¡°GHOST BUSTERS!¡± I completed the song that had been murmured under the breath of our favorite fire elemental. Ash made a complex expression before letting out a loud agonized cry as he understood what had just happened. ¡°CYGNAS DAMMIT! NOT AGAIN!¡± She cursed loudly towards the heavens while holding her head in her hands and crouching down in place. Yuu and Crys looked at him with confusion and pity respectively while I just laughed out in amusement. ¡°Why the hell did you have to get this hellish thing in my head? Why?¡± ¡°Because that¡¯s the basic condition for ghost-related situations!¡± I replied cheerfully for the Nth time, and just as expected, it took her no less than a second to have both of his hands around my neck.¡°If you¡­ mind it¡­ You lose¡­¡± -5 (1105/1110) (Choking) After a moment, he finally let go of me, giving me some space to breath and recover from the damage I had taken. Totally worth it! While thinking so and gladly receiving the help from Aura to stand back up. Thankfully, there weren¡¯t anyone else besides us on the road we were trekking, seeing how we had already diverged from the main road that led to the mine some time ago, the traffic had quickly cleared up. Thankfully, we didn¡¯t have too much trouble with finding the way after talking with Lord Wich, who pointed out the way to us. And funnily enough, looks like exorcising a house can also count as a quest.
QUEST: Haunted Manor
On your search for a house, you have come across a building that fit your interests. However, such building has long since been haunted by the ghosts of an old warrior and his wife, which brings problems for the repairs of the house. Find a way to deal with the issue and the house shall be yours. (Third party intervention is allowed)
Rewards: Mansion ????
Well, who am I to complain about an easy quest I already planned on doing? Heck, after learning what lord Wich had found out about the ghosts I was almost sure that the plan I had come up with would work without issues. Well, this did mean that the whole reason I brought Ashley with me would end up never happening, but hey, it¡¯s not like every plan in a story have to go badly, right? Right? ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Master?¡± Crys looked at me worriedly once she noticed that I had gone strangely quiet. ¡°We are going to a haunted mansion. I have a plan in mind that I¡¯m almost sure will work, and even if it doesn¡¯t, I¡¯m pretty sure we can count on Ashley and Yuu to deal with whatever will be thrown our way.¡± I stated our present situation, and she nodded slowly with a slightly dubious look. ¡°Looks like we won¡¯t have much issues¡­¡± I turned towards her with a pleading look. ¡°Can I tempt fate to have something funny hap-¡± ¡°No.¡± She interrupted me at the same time an over-sized paper fan appeared in her hand and slapped the back of my head so hard that I almost fell down forward. ¡°Bad master. No tempting fate. We don¡¯t want to be cursed with bad luck!¡± She said angrily. ¡°Heeh¡­ I didn¡¯t expect Crys to believe in luck.¡± Yuu said surprised, and when I stopped to think about it, it actually made sense. As the two of us turned towards her curious, she simply stared back at us. ¡°I don¡¯t believe in something such as luck. I do believe in Gon¡¯s capacity to get into trouble, however.¡± She said coldly. ¡°And I¡¯d rather not take any chances with him.¡± ¡°Ah. I see.¡± Yuu nodded. ¡­Oi, Yuu. Why are you agreeing with her? While looking at her incriminatingly, I decided that it wasn¡¯t worth worrying too much about it and simply sighed before walking forward. It didn¡¯t take much longer after the little sketch before we finally saw the mansion. And I must say, for a haunted mansion¡­ I¡¯m not sure whether I should be satisfied or disappointed with what I saw. It was precisely what one would expect when one thought about an old haunted mansion. Large building with some visibly rotten pieces of wood and some pieces falling apart. Would probably have looked amazing back in the day, but now it was seriously needing some repair. Welp, that¡¯s exactly what I came here to do. Getting pumped up, I looked back to Yuu , Ashley and Crys. The first was looking towards the mansion with a strangely serious look while holding something on her hand, while the second had a slightly worried look while holding on to the two daggers in her waist, while the last one had a fierce look while holding a miniature broom that I had no recollection in either buying or making. Well, I entitle my maids and followers a modical amount of freedom, so let¡¯s not ask about it. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll try the first plan. If things go downhill, I¡¯ll be counting on you guys.¡± I said in a bit more serious than usual. ¡°Ashle¡­ Sorry. Rival, if things seems dire, feel free to run. This is a lot more dangerous to you than to us.¡± ¡°Why the hell did you change your words at the last moment?¡± Ashley asked me with an angry look. ¡°I also have no idea whether to be annoyed at your insistence on the rival thing, or get worried about your consideration.¡± She sighed before shaking his head and turned towards the house. ¡°Anyway, I have no intention to die here, so don¡¯t worry about me.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I nodded and turned towards the house. ¡°Time to go i¡­¡± ¡°WHO ARE YOU TO ENTER OUR RESIDENCE?¡± A loud booming voice echoed all of a sudden, literally throwing me backwards as the house shook and the grass underneath waved away with the pressure. The voice vaguely sounded like what one would expect from an angry old man, except that much scarier and ethereal sounding. ¡°TURN BACK AND NEVER RETURN!¡± Whoa. Someone really doesn¡¯t want us to go in. Thinking about that amusedly, I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit wickedly. ¡°I¡¯m the future new owner of this place!¡± I shouted back. ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯ll keep me out with a little threat like that!¡± I made a cool aggressive pose while staring at the house, making my statement that I had no intention to hold back on taking the mansion to myself. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Come on, aren¡¯t you going to say anything back to me? I stood there in my cool looking pose for a few seconds, but no answer ever came back to me, making my cool pose go wasted. ¡°What are you even doing?¡± Ashley asked me confused. ¡°Just injuring my pride. Don¡¯t mind me.¡± I replied pouting before once again walking into the terrain. ¡°YOU DARE TO RE¡­¡± ¡°WHY THE HELL DID YOU SHOUT AT ME NOW?¡± I interrupted the spooky disembodied voice with an angry shout. ¡°YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT SOONER YOU RETARD!¡± ¡°YOU DARE TALK BACK TO US?¡± The voice echoed angrily. ¡°YOU ARE CYGNASDAMNED RIGHT THAT I TALK BACK! YOU MADE ME LOSE FACE IN FRONT OF MY RIVAL YOU DIMWITTED UNCORPOREAL BASTARD!¡± I shouted angrily while walking in towards the building. ¡°YOU BETTER READY YOURSELF CAUSE I¡¯M GONNA TEACH YOU WHAT I DO WITH GHOSTS WHO LIVE IN MY HOUSE!¡± ¡°S-Shishou. Are you sure it¡¯s a good idea to anger the spirits?¡± Yuu asked me worriedly. ¡°¡­No. It¡¯s probably a very bad idea.¡± I said a bit worried after I stopped to think about it. ¡°Oh well. What¡¯s done is done, so let¡¯s leave it for later.¡± Yuu nodded weakly while Ashley and Crys simply facepalmed. I shrugged it off before walking towards the building. Looking around, I felt slightly surprised at the large garden before the mansion, which, in contrast to the decrepit building, was perfectly kept and organized. It was also a pretty big property, if I were to take a better look. Heck, I think even the beach house from my grandpas aren¡¯t as big as this. Starting to worry that the reward might have been a bit too much. No. Bad Gon. You should be Greedy. No turning back on the reward. ¡°Shishou!¡± Yuu suddenly called me as I held onto the door. ¡°Here.¡± She said while handing me something. ¡°These should help you with angry spirits if anything happens.¡± I blinked surprised and looked down to what she had given me. It was a rectangular piece of paper with some black ink spread around in some very particular shapes that vaguely looked ancient kanjis or something of the sort. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a talisman?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°Hmm.¡± She nodded with a worried expression. ¡°When you said that there were ghosts, I thought about making these.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know you knew how to make talismans.¡± I said surprised. ¡°I did not. I looked these up on the internet.¡± She quickly denied. That¡¯s even more surprising! While staring at Yuu in shock as she also delivered the talismans to Ashley, who looked at them curious.
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Minor Talisman of Evil Warding.
A simple talisman made by a beginner with the intent of protecting the user from evil spirits. (Creates a minor barrier in front of the user that defends against attacks from evil spirits. This barrier will shatter under strong enough attacks and lasts for but a brief moment.)
Minor Talisman of Exorcism.
A simple talisman made by a beginner with the intent of defeating evil spirits. (Causes a weak elementless magic explosion upon contact. Bonus damage against undead, demons and dark-oriented monsters.)
¡°¡­I did not expect it to be an actual item.¡± I said surprised. ¡°I do pride in making this world as variated as possible, you know?¡± Crys commented in a low tone so that Ashley wouldn¡¯t hear us. ¡°How do these works?¡± Ashley asked while holding on to the talismans curiously. ¡°Just throw it in front of you.¡± She said. ¡°That¡¯s how they usually work.¡± ¡°Have you tested them before?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Sorry.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I just completed these before meeting Shishou.¡± ¡°Well, looks like it¡¯ll be the test run this time.¡± I said while pocketing each talisman in one of my pockets for easy access. ¡°Thanks for worrying Yuu.¡± I said before gently patting her. Yuu nodded weakly while closing her eyes in pleasure Okay, fluffyum reserves are refilled, guess it¡¯s time to get going. Putting my hands on the doors of the house and slowly opening them, I quickly ran the plan over my head once again. First step is to not die. That¡¯s a pretty important step. Second step would be to make sure to not let the ghosts take control of the situation. It was pretty important to make sure that they are wary of me, or at the very least listening to my words. Third step would be to¡­ ¡°SCRAM!¡± ¡°SHISHOU!¡± Is that chair flying straight to my face? I remember reading something said by a scientist saying that humans are faster to react than they are to act. I¡¯m pretty sure that the fact that I managed to pull the talisman and throw it before the chair hit me square in the face is a very good proof of that fact. Seeing as the talisman burned before me and created a circular barrier that stopped the chair in its path left me really happy. Both for the fact that Yuu¡¯s talisman worked, and the fact that I didn¡¯t get chaired to the face. On the other hand, the barrier shattered entirely after blocking the chair, and the table that came after the chair was pretty damn painful. -94 (1016/1110) ¡°More incoming.¡± Ashley warned as I heard the sound of weapon being unsheathed. I quickly got back up and saw as another three other chairs came flying towards us. Me and Ashley quickly prepared to move away from the furniture projectiles, but Aura and Yuu quickly stepped in front of us and created a wall of ice to block the furniture. ¡°LEAVE THIS HOUSE!¡± The voice echoed once again, followed by the sound of wood being torn apart from the walls of the building and being flung towards us. ¡°Whoa! Dude! Chill out!¡± I said while quickly flinging an explosive knife towards a cluster of wood and blowing them up. ¡°Don¡¯t go breaking my house, will you?¡± ¡°YOUR HOUSE? YOU DARE CALL OUR HOUSE YOURS?¡± The voice once again, threatening to burst my most likely non-existent eardrums. ¡°Aaaah, damn. Heads up! Something big coming!¡± Ashley shouted while parrying some wooden planks. Following her shout, we heard the sound of wood dragging upon wood followed by a strangely melodious tone that was played in complete disarray. A very, very familiar sound for anyone who spent at least a couple of hours watching old style slap-stick comedy cartoons. I quickly looked around in panic. Firstly looking up where the most-likely direction of the attack should come, but noticing that there was nothing there, I quickly looked towards the side, searching for a stairways. ¡°You¡¯ve gotta be joking me.¡± I said in disgust when the sound echoed again, finally allowing me to see its source. A large grand Piano, that one with the curvy back like you see in cartoons, was sliding on the ground towards us. I¡¯m no expert on piano-damage calculations, but I¡¯m almost sure that whether it be real life or game-life, a piano that size hitting something at the speed of a car on a highway would hurt. A lot. But I was too annoyed to react to that. ¡°Aura. Front wheels.¡± I said coldly while pulling out a freezing knife and quickly throwing towards the back leg of the piano. Aura reacted quickly, jumping in front of me and instantly freezing the front part of the piano in one single block as my knife took care of the rear part. Of course, it wasn¡¯t enough to completely stop the piano, but it managed to slow it down significantly to the point that I could stop it with my own hands. ¡°YOU CYGNAS DAMNED RETARDED GHOST!¡± I shouted angrily. ¡°THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNI¡­¡± The voice started, but I wasn¡¯t exactly in the mood. ¡°IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE A PIANO, AT LEAST DO IT RIGHT YOU DAMNED RETARD!¡± ¡°¡°¡°...What?¡±¡±¡± Ashley, Crys and the voice asked in synchrony. ¡°Look. It¡¯s common knowledge that any use of a piano to attack someone else must be done by either releasing it on the person¡¯s head or have it rolling down a stairway and watch as the victim stares wide eyes in shock before being forced to run away in panic downstairs.¡° I explained Piano-usage one oh one to them while pushing the piano away with my leg. ¡°Would you mind not giving the enemies new creative ways to kill us?¡± Ashley complained after she finally processed my words. ¡°M-Master, did you seriously¡­¡± Crys asked in disbelief. Even Aura sighed in disbelief at my words before looking at me incriminatingly. Ugh¡­ if even Aura is giving me that glance I guess it means that I should stop and cool down. I took the moment of shock from everyone else to calm down and take a deep breath to calm myself down. I guess I should go back to the plan now. Come on Gon, let¡¯s not make ourselves repeat that same sentence again. ¡°Okay. I guess it¡¯s time to have you guys stop trying to kill me so that we can sit down and solve this mess.¡± I said while opening my inventory window. ¡°AND WHY SHOULD WE HEAR TO YOUR WORDS, INTRUDER?¡± The ghost asked angrily while the sound of wood being teared apart and furniture being moved. ¡°Because¡­¡± I pulled out the item from the inventory and felt the sudden weight that almost made me stumble forward. ¡°What I have here¡­¡± My voice came strained as I tried to support the weight of the item. ¡°Is a full barrel¡­¡± I could already hear the sound of objects flying towards me, and even though I had managed to put the heavy object on the ground, I didn¡¯t have the time to dodge them. On the other hand, I¡¯m pretty sure I didn¡¯t need to do it. ¡°Of freezing cold mead.¡± It was an incredible scene as all the pieces and bits of wood and furniture that had been flying straight to my head suddenly made a full ninety degrees turn to the side, slamming upon the wall to each side and completely avoiding us. ¡­Oh god. Is this really going to work? ¡°Wha¡­ Dear! Why did you do that?¡± The voice asked surprised, leaving us surprised. ¡°That¡¯s mead, Rognar.¡± Another voice suddenly echoed, this one clearly being from a woman. ¡°And what of it woman? These guys want to steal our home! We have to get rid of them!¡± Once again the furniture¡¯s started to float, but before they could even gather speed, the female voice stopped them. ¡°Do you even remember the last time we had a glass of mead?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter! They¡­¡± ¡°Rognar, Don¡¯t you even dare touch that bloody barrel.¡± The woman said, sounding really, really angry. ¡°Woman! These damned intruders are gonna¡­ Wait¡­ Why are you¡­ Oh goddess¡­ is that¡­¡± Huuh¡­ What¡¯s happening? I leaned on the barrel and looked back to the others, but they were as flabbergasted as I was. ¡°By Cygnas¡­ not the broom¡­ NOT THE BROOM! GYAAAAAAAAAH!¡± Strange. Why do I suddenly feel pity towards the ghost that was trying to kill me just a few seconds ago? That said, the sound of a wooden broom smacking someone echoing through the entire mansion like some kind of amped up surround sound made the whole situation so surreal that it was almost funny. Okay, it wasn¡¯t almost funny. It was hilarious. After a few seconds of pained screeches and broom beatings, the house finally calmed down, and the air straight in front of us started to twist and shimmer for a moment, before it finally began to coalesce into a more familiar shape. ¡°Speak, golem. What are your intentions?¡± A transparent, floating blue figure asked me. She was much shorter than me, such that even though she was floating above the ground a fair amount, she still was looking straight at me. With a long hair that fell all the way to her back held together by a simple cloth tied around her head, she wore a surprisingly fancy dress that didn¡¯t match the housekeeping headgear. Being around the height of a kid, yet clearly being more mature and a bit chubbier too. ¡°...Not exactly what I was expecting, but I¡¯ll take it.¡± I said amused while opening the barrel lid and showing her the inside. ¡°Anyway, as you can see, this IS indeed mead.¡± The ghost dwarf woman peeked over the border of the lid and her eyes widened in anticipation and hunger. ¡°¡­What do you want for it.¡± She asked me feverishly. ¡°I want to negotiate.¡± ¡°NEVER!¡± The first voice echoed as a dwarf materialized besides her. This one being male and wearing full mail armor and a face-plate helm. Holding an axe in one hand, he put the second one on the woman¡¯s shoulder, trying to pull her back. But before he even had the chance, a ghost broom materialized on the woman¡¯s hand and she smacked the male one in the head with so much strength that he smashed flat against the ground. ¡°Shut up, Rognar.¡± She said coldly. ¡°I might love you a whole damn lot and have promised to follow you in death. But right now there¡¯s a whole barrel of Mead before me and I¡¯m thirsty like never before.¡± She said while staring down at him. Rognar let out a really pitiful moan of fear while moving away. ¡°Anyway, what do you want golem.¡± ¡°Good to see someone actually follows reason here.¡± I said while nodding satisfied at the fact that there a fellow logic-thinker in the room with me. ¡°Anyway, feel free to grab yourself a mug¡­¡± Not even I finished speaking, an old mug came flying straight from somewhere and dove itself on the barrel, scooping a large serving of the drink before flying towards the dwarf woman who drank it heartily. ¡°Wow¡­ Anyway. I have a win-win proposition for you.¡± ¡°Haah¡­ I¡¯m all ears.¡± The woman said while putting on a cheerful smile. ¡°Well, as you might have guessed, I want to move in here.¡± She nodded while frowning ever so slightly. ¡°Yet, the two of you, despite already having passed away, have no desire to leave this house.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± She nodded in agreement. ¡°Then, why not have the house in my name, I become the true owner of it, yet let the two of you continue living here while working as the house keepers slash guard?¡± I said my idea and she responded by simply frowning suspiciously. ¡°And why exactly should we agree with this idea?¡± She asked me, clearly not trusting me as of yet. ¡°Well. First, the house is a complete disaster.¡± I said bluntly while pointing around us. She flinched slightly. ¡°I¡¯d say it have only a few years before it falls down under its own weight. Even less if you deal with all intruders the way you do.¡± She made a complex expression before looking towards her husband coldly once again. ¡°And you are saying that you¡¯d repair the house if we let you move in?¡± She asked. ¡°Yes. That¡¯s exactly it.¡± I nodded. ¡°Okay. What¡¯s exactly stopping us from just kicking you out of the house once it¡¯s repaired?¡± She asked me with a taunting tone. ¡°Well, that would be your dwarven honor, the good will of your person, and the fact that I¡¯d pay in beer from all around the world whenever I came back to here.¡± ¡°Why do we have to trust you?¡± Rognar asked angrily. ¡°Excuse-me, I¡¯m talking with the leader of the household.¡± I said disregarding the warrior. ¡°What? Speak that to my face!¡± ¡°Rognar. Quiet.¡± The woman said once again. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± He complied quietly. ¡°That¡­ Seems like a very good deal to me.¡± She said, still sounding a bit suspicious while scooping another mug of mead. ¡°Though, why would you make that request to ghosts like us?¡± ¡°Well, to be honest, it¡¯s quite simple. You see, since I¡¯ll be away most of the time, I¡¯d have to hire a housekeeper and guard to make sure the mansion¡¯s clean and no one steals all my stuff.¡± I explained. ¡°Which would probably end up expensive, since this is known as a haunted mansion and moderately far from the town. On the other hand, the two of you have managed to keep most people away from this place for what? A couple of decades?¡± ¡°I think it might be four decades. I stopped counting after some time.¡± She replied with an indifferent shrug. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s it. That means that you guys are amazing guards. Then I thought. Hey! Why not hire them instead? Since they¡¯ll be living in the mansion anyway!¡± ¡°I just want to make a note that, under normal circumstances, no one with the slightest modicum of common sense would have thought that, Master.¡± Crys added sarcastically. ¡°Shut it. This is a perfectly logical reasoning.¡± ¡°How the hell is making a deal involving a supply of beer to a ghost logical reasoning?¡± Ashley asked annoyed. ¡°It¡¯s best if you don¡¯t try to understand Shishou and just go along with his ideas.¡± Yuu consoled him. Et Tu Yuu? ¡°¡­Looks like this isn¡¯t the first time you do something like this.¡± The woman said while watching them talking. ¡°Well, it isn¡¯t the worst either. I still think that convincing a dragon to do a backflip was a bit more amusing.¡± I shrugged. Just one more day in the life of Wargon. ¡°¡­I might have to hear about that one later.¡± She said amused. ¡°Later? You mean¡­¡± ¡°You have a deal.¡± She said while extending her hand. ¡°Repair our house, bring me beer, and I¡¯ll make sure this place is safe and clean.¡± She said with a business smile. ¡°Name¡¯s Thalia, by the way.¡± ¡°Awesome! Great doing business with you.¡± I said while shaking her hand. ¡°Name¡¯s Gondorrer Ghostnegotiat¡­ Erm¡­ Gravelheart.¡± God freaking dammit. ¡°Seriously?¡± Ashley said in shock. ¡°B-But Thalia!¡± Rognar called in disbelief. And with that, the plan worked almost exactly as I had expected. While thinking of how I had gotten myself an awesome house-insurance policy. I couldn¡¯t help but feel that there was something a bit strange. I mean, the plan shouldn¡¯t have worked. Hadn¡¯t I pretty much set the flag for total disaster when I invited my rival here in case things went bad? Welp. Guess this goes to prove that real life is pretty different from fantasy. Either that, or the Author just decided to build a flag, then have it be completely ignored just for the fun of it. It¡¯s also a totally plausible hypothesis. Chapter 115 - Group Hug It took the poor dwarf ghost a long time for him to finally give in and ask for a mug of the beer. And it took even longer for his wife to allow him to even come close of the barrel that she had drained to half already. Satisfied with the result of my plans, I pulled out a tasty snack from my pockets and started munching on a piece of ore.
QUEST COMPLETE: Haunted Manor
After a successful negotiation with the two ghosts (Or as successful as convincing one and letting her intimidate her husband into accepting your deal is¡­) haunting the Mansion, you have managed to convince them to work under you, and thus, allow for the repairs of the house, as well as you becoming the official ownership of the area. No, seriously, how did you even get this idea of hiring the ghosts? You come up with some weird ideas, you know? Go talk to Lord Wich to make the situation official.
Rewards: Ownership of the Manor Thalia and Rognar will now work under you, protecting and maintaining the Manor. A LOT of cleaning for your cute personal maid to do. Did you SEE the state of this thing?
A frown formed on my face as I read the quest completion message. I¡¯m not entirely sure, but it kind of feels like the text on this one is a bit strange. I can¡¯t quite put my finger on what exactly is different though. Jiii~~ ¡°What?¡± Crys asked when she noticed me staring her. ¡°Not like it¡¯s affecting gameplay experience, is it?¡± She shrugged. ¡°And that¡¯s the best place to point out all the strange things you do, you know?¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not over yet, by the way.¡± She added. Huh?
Congratulations, you are the first player to acquire personal housing. Would you like to disclose your name for other players?
(Yes/no)
Oooh. Fancy THAT! ¡°Wait, I¡¯m the first?¡± I asked confused as something came to mind. ¡°But didn¡¯t Supplies already have a shop since a long time ago?¡± ¡°That was a commercial plot.¡± She corrected me. ¡±There¡¯s a difference between buildings bought for personal use and professional use. And since the rest of the players either didn¡¯t bother with getting a house, or didn¡¯t have the money for it, you ended up being the first one.¡± ¡°That¡¯s still a bit difficult to be¡­¡±
For being the first player ever to acquire personal housing, you have earned the title: Settler Since you have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change your title
Settler: Housing bonuses are improved as long as this title is equipped.
Thanks, invasive window, but I¡¯m in the middle of a conversation. Dismissing the window away, I stopped to wonder how the hell this never seem to happen when you are reading fics. The windows only seem to appear when nothing is happening. ¡°Anyway, I still find that a bit hard to believe.¡± I said. ¡°Well, at this moment, the landscape of players is roughly split into the frontliners and the leisure players.¡± She told me. ¡°The frontliners are those who are already fighting the more powerful monsters, and thus have the funds to actually buy a house. However, since most of the housing benefits doesn¡¯t improve combat directly and instantly, they would rather spend their money on better upgrades. On the other hand, the leisure players which would be the most likely to want a house don¡¯t have enough money as of now to buy them. Lastly, there are the players focused on commerce, but they usually just use their own commercial point as a base of operations, so they don¡¯t really feel the need for a housing in specific.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I nodded amused. ¡°So, this means that I was the first to bridge the gap between the leisure players and frontliners?¡± ¡°Not exactly¡­¡± As she said that, a window appeared in front of me, revealing three circles that overlapped slightly. Venn Diagram, isn¡¯t that how it¡¯s called? ¡°These are the frontliners.¡± As she said that, the leftmost circle tinted itself red. ¡°These are the casuals.¡± The rightmost circle became blue, and the overlap became tinted in purple. ¡°And these are the vendors.¡± The lower circle became yellow, and the colors meshed together again. ¡°If I had to say, you are somewhere around here in this graph.¡± I stared at the graph, looking for something, and after a few moments of searching, I finally found a small blinking dot. I blankly stared back to the floating pink maid. ¡°Isn¡¯t there something wrong with where I am?¡± I asked. ¡°Not really? Seems pretty precise to me. I mean, you didn¡¯t really expect to be inside the graph, right?¡± She asked me with a taunting smile. ¡°Well, yeah, I wasn¡¯t really. But couldn¡¯t you at least have left me in the same window as the diagram?¡± I asked while pointing at the second window that had nothing but a single point blinking. ¡°But¡­ That wouldn¡¯t be accurate!¡± She complained back. ¡°So you are saying I¡¯m not even in the same dimension as the other players?¡± ¡°What? No. I would never imply that.¡± She shook her head. ¡°The very fact that you are in a dimension would make you share similarities to the other players that you lack. You see, it may not look like it, but these two windows have entirely different coding pattern-Ow!¡± Taking a deep breath after throwing the two graphs back into the maid in the ever convenient shape of a windowball, I decided that the completion of a quest and the acquisition of a new title deserved me a snack, so I fished something from my inventory. However, as I enjoyed the strange taste of the scale-iron ore in my mouth, I heard a sigh coming from behind me, followed by the sound of weapons being sheathed and footsteps. I turned around to see as Rival walked away towards the entrance. Curious about her actions, I checked to see if the ghosts and Yuu were still distracted in a talk with each other and decided that it shouldn¡¯t be much of an issue if I were to leave for a moment. ¡°¡­Why are you following me?¡± Ashley asked me as he opened the door. ¡°I wanted to annoy yo*cough*check if everything was alright.¡± I said. Geez, my true intention almost appeared there. ¡°You let your true intention slip back there.¡± ¡°You weren¡¯t supposed to notice that.¡± I stated coldly. ¡°How the hell am I not supposed to notice that?¡± She asked angrily. ¡°Anyway, yeah, I¡¯m fine. You can go back to doing whatever the hell you do all your time.¡± As he said that, she sat down at the stairway before the doorway with a loud thud. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like the words of someone who¡¯s alright.¡± I said a bit more curious while following him. ¡°What did I do to make you angry this time?¡± ¡°So you are already assuming you are the one to blame, huh?¡± ¡°It helps a lot with dealing with this kind of situation when you are already expecting to be in the wrong. That, and I just find it a funny sentence for some reason.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Well, you are the one to blame, so at least you got that right.¡± ¡°Wait, I am?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go acting surprised now.¡± She said while staring a pair of holes in my head. ¡°Do you have any idea how much you are throwing my life into disarray?¡± ¡°Not really?¡± ¡°Thanks to you, the gang I was in not only was completely disbanded, but we were humiliated twice by you. Once in Eldor and another at the forest with your damned trick bomb. Then you start coming up with this Rival nonsense, so I decided to gather some money and get the hell away from you, only to find out that you had embarked on the same ship as I did and started the whole third gender annoyance.¡± ¡°I did say that I was sorry about that, didn¡¯t I?¡± I said while looking away awkwardly. ¡°No, you didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°Then, when I started thinking that there wasn¡¯t many more ways you could screw up my daily life, I decided to accept this job of yours since I¡¯d be able to get something good out of it, but now¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°Now you are even managing to make me doubt my own common sense.¡± She grasped her own head with his hands and grumbled angrily. ¡°Who the hell ever heard of striking a deal with a ghost using beer? Not to mention¡­ You hunted a goddamned impaler alone, got yourself a freezing tail that follows you wherever you go, somehow you are raising a baby wyvern, have a damned cat that caused a snow-ball civil war in the village¡­ There¡¯s only so much I can take in, for Cygnas sake!¡± ¡°Erm¡­ I don¡¯t think that I should mention the fact that I left the god of chaos surprised and scolded the god of war too, right?¡± I said while still looking away, but caught the sheer expression of horror from her face with the corner of my eyes. ¡°Well, in my defense, doubting one¡¯s own common sense isn¡¯t that bad.¡± ¡°Haah?¡± Rival looked at me confused. ¡°I mean, what¡¯s common sense for one person doesn¡¯t necessarily means it¡¯s common sense for someone else, right?¡± I asked, which only made her look at me confused. ¡°For example, get a blacksmith and a jeweler. For a blacksmith, it¡¯s common sense to never use gold in their creation since it¡¯s soft and heavy. On the other hand, it¡¯s the opposite for someone creating jewelry, since gold means money and power, besides having a beautiful color.¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°That¡­ Why did you use gold as an example anyway?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m a crafter and that felt fitting.¡± I shrugged. ¡°So you didn¡¯t have a better example.¡± Pretty much. Nodding in agreement, I watched as he shook her head in disbelief. ¡°Cygnas help me, now you just convinced me that it¡¯s common sense to not stick to common sense.¡± ¡°Oh, I like the sound of that. Sounds paradoxical.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s what you focus on, huh?¡± he shook his head. ¡°Well, now that you managed to make my day worse, are you done?¡± ¡°Done with what? Messing with you?¡± ¡°¡­So you do it knowingly.¡± He said coldly. ¡°¡­Whoops, I shouldn¡¯t have said that.¡± I said while regretting my choice of words. ¡°Well, minor details aside, I only annoy people I like, so you don¡¯t have much luck there.¡± ¡°Now I don¡¯t know what¡¯s worse. The fact that you just left clear that you have no intention of stopping, or the fact that you just said that you like me.¡± ¡°Just to be clear, it¡¯s a platonic meaning of like.¡± I cleared any possible misunderstanding. ¡°Platonic? What does that even mean?¡± The elemental asked confused. ¡°Ah, right. Plato never existed in here. Well, basically it means Iike you in a non-romantic way.¡± I said a bit more serious than normal. ¡°Which usually wouldn¡¯t really need explaining if you were a guy, but since you are¡­ Well, I felt that some explaining was needed.¡± ¡°Ugh. Thanks for bringing it up.¡± She complained while looking away. ¡°And if you are like this with people you like, I pity the ones you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Nah, they receive a completely different treatment from me.¡± I explained while waving it off. ¡°With those I don¡¯t know much or I don¡¯t like I am the politest person in the face of earth.¡± As I said that proudly, a look of sheer horror started appearing in his face. ¡°I speak with polite words, am always giving a business smile, and even if they are the most unsupportable person in the face of earth, I¡¯ll just nod and laugh together with him.¡± ¡°Cygnas spare me, but the mere thought of you being like that is downright terrifying.¡± She said while slowly crawling away. ¡°Aww, come on, it can¡¯t be that bad!¡± I complained. ¡°That¡¯s as bad as water climbing a waterfall or a candle that emits shadows.¡± The elemental said while shivering slightly. ¡°Or the sun raising on the west. Or a planet orbiting around the moon. Or a sun that appears in the night sky. Or a dragon that does backflips. Or¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. I got your point.¡± I said while turning back to Crys who had suddenly joined in on the conversation. ¡°Also, the dragon one isn¡¯t that unnatural now.¡± ¡°Just because you convinced a dragon to do it doesn¡¯t make it any less unnatural, you know?¡± I was about to rebuke to the maid, but a loud slapping sound echoed from behind me as Ashley facepalmed herself. ¡°You know what? I¡¯m going back.¡± He said while standing up and walking down the stairway. I smiled a bit awkwardly before recalling something. ¡°Oh, wait a second.¡± I said. ¡°Can¡¯t forget your payment.¡± I said while opening up my inventory. Hmm, I might have to remake some of these after paying him, but well, can¡¯t go around not paying my employees. ¡°Here you go.¡± I said while handing her a bunch of elemental knifes all at once. ¡°Do you really expect me to carry all that back?¡± She asked me with a frown. ¡°¡­Fair point. Let me see If I can fix a makeshift pack real quick then.¡± I checked up on my inventory and then followed up with giving a quick look at my ever so forgotten recipe list. ¡°Hmm¡­ So many new recipes I never knew I had.¡± I said amused while reading through the leatherworking recipes that popped up since the last time I checked the list. ¡°There we go.¡± I used the system to make a simple, medium sized leather bag. Just big enough to be able to put all the knifes inside. ¡°Here you go.¡± I said while throwing her the bag. Ashley held onto it for some time with a complex expression before finally sighing and throwing the leather stripe over his shoulder. ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡± The elemental said while walking away. ¡°Oh well. There he goes again on his own.¡± I said while shrugging. ¡°Anyway, what brings you here?¡± I asked the maid who I am almost sure I had left inside the mansion. ¡°Ah yeah. I almost forgot. I thought that you¡¯d be interested in knowing that the ghosts are¡­¡± As she said that, she suddenly started trailing off while staring into wonder. ¡°Is that Rio?¡± She asked while looking into the distance. ¡°Huh? Where?¡± I asked while eyeing the horizon on the direction we came. After a brief moment I finally caught sight of a small metallic spec coming in our direction. ¡°Ah¡­ It is.¡± ¡°HELLO STONE MISTER!¡± Rio shouted from afar as she folded her wings and made a straight dive towards me. I took a step back in surprise and worry as the sign of a fully-armored wyvern, even if only a small one, was still pretty scary. However, she spread open her wings at the last moment, making an abrupt stop right in front of me, where she started hovering. ¡°Hi!¡± She said happily before eyeing the mansion. ¡°That¡¯s a big house! Did you get it?¡± She asked me curiously. ¡°Well, yeah. Now it is.¡± ¡°Heeeh¡­¡± She said surprised. ¡°Te-te-tek. Te-te-tek.¡± I heard a scared, but fairly familiar sound coming from close by. ¡°AH!¡± Rio suddenly said before lifting herself up and showing Mr. Pebblesworth being carried by her claws. ¡°Stone-scorpion wanted to see you.¡± She said. ¡°While I won¡¯t ask how you understood his words, did you need to do that final dive? The poor pebble is scared to death here, you know?¡± I said while picking up the sprite from her, only to notice that the pebble was carrying something in its front claws. ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Tek!¡± Pebble suddenly jumped as it recalled something, and before I had the chance to recognize the object, it crawled up to my shoulders and stretched the strange object around my neck. ¡°Tek tek¡­¡± It said while sounding a bit annoyed. Huuuh. This is strange, I said while staring at the small critter who was now collecting back the strange thing it had put around my neck. Only then did I notice that the strange thingy was a long piece of cloth that was half a palm thick, made of a strange material that felt like a cloth, but reflected the light in a peculiar way that looked oddly misplaced for a thread. Strange. I could have sworn that Yuu didn¡¯t have any kind of string like this. And the only monster that creates strings that I recall fighting made some really dangerous red string of explody doom, so it can¡¯t be that one. ¡°Anyway, what are you doing?¡± ¡°Te-tek tek.¡± ¡°Huh? Size¡¯s wrong? What size?¡± ¡°Te-kiki!¡± ¡°Aaah, I see.¡± I nodded in agreement. ¡°Tek-tetek.¡± He replied with a sad tone. ¡°Well, it is your first one, so don¡¯t worry about it. Everyone have to start somewhere.¡± I shrugged while gently tapping his head. ¡°Tek-te?¡± He asked surprised. ¡°Well, yeah. I know it¡¯s hard to believe, but I wasn¡¯t born a natural crafting genius, you know?¡± ¡°Te-te-te.¡± ¡°You know master. Sometimes you leave me speechless.¡± Chrys said while approaching us with an amazed expression. ¡°Huh? How so?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Nothing.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Ah, right. I was telling you about what was happening in there.¡± Chrys added with a worried tone. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right.¡± I nodded while looking confused. ¡°What exactly were you going to say anyway?¡± ¡°Well, You see, your new tenant slash guard slash housekeepers decided to celebrate the refurbishing of the house with a round of drinks.¡± She said. ¡°Oh. I guess they are waiting for me then.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Not exactly. In fact, they already started.¡± Crys said that while looking away guiltily. ¡°¡­What do you mea¡­¡± I started asking suspiciously, but as my brain started processing the previous available information, I paled as much as it was possible for a non-organic being to pale as it finally dawned on me. ¡°Stone-mister?¡± ¡°Tek teeeee-¡± Both Rio and Mr. Pebblesworth called to me worriedly, but I ignored the two as I darted away towards the door of the mansion, and with Pebble still in my shoulder, I stormed open the gateway and entered at high speed. As the scene before me was burned into my eyes, I pulled out a random throwing knife hanging on the bandolier around my chest and threw it towards the target before me. The knife dug deep into wooden surface while the liquid was spilled everywhere. After that, I was left with two ghosts and two foxes looking at me shocked and confused. However, I was far too relieved after watching the beer mug being offered to Yuu bouncing on the ground harmlessly to worry about their surprised gazes. ¡°Just¡­ Just in time.¡± I said relieved while approaching the two ghosts. Grumpy McGrump frowned, staring at me annoyed, while his wife looked at me confused. ¡°Forgot to warn you two, but¡­ It¡¯s really not good for me if you guys give alcohol to Yuu.¡± ¡°Hmm? Is it really that bad?¡± She asked me confused. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very, very bad for my already lacking mental health.¡± I said. ¡°That, and she¡¯s not really used to drinking, so her limits are still a bit unknown.¡± ¡°Now you are making me curious.¡± Thalia said before finally shrugging. ¡°Well, it¡¯s your call. And I guess that only one mug shouldn¡¯t be that much of a problem.¡± ¡°Wait. She already drank?¡± I asked worried. ¡°Well, I guess that only one¡­¡± My voice trailed off when I heard the pitter-patter of footsteps and suddenly a pair of arms circled around me. ¡°Hug!¡± I heard a very familiar and disturbingly close voice echoing from behind me. ¡°Hehehe. I hugged Shishou.¡± ¡°¡­Seriously?¡± I asked shocked while looking back, seeing that Yuu¡¯s cheek had a light red tint to them. ¡°Are you drunk already?¡± ¡°Hmm? Am I?¡± Yuu asked confused, tilting her head cutely. ¡°D-Didn¡¯t you only have one mug?¡± I asked worried as I noticed that she was also coiling her tails around my waist. ¡°Hn!¡± She nodded. ¡°Waaah¡­ A-Anyway, why didn¡¯t you refuse? Don¡¯t you recall what happened last time?¡± ¡°But¡­ It would be impolite to refuse.¡± She pouted before shaking her head and moving around to be in front of me and putting her head against my chest and flattening her ears against her head. ¡°Shishou! Pet me!¡± So sudden! Still not used to this bolder Yuu, I was taken aback by the situation. The fact that the two ghosts were watching everything with curiosity wasn¡¯t exactly helping. ¡°Tek?¡± Pebble, still in my shoulder watched the scene confused and curious, and just as I began to ask what it was going to do, it spread it¡¯s claws around and hugged my head from the side. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I heard a childish voice call as Rio caught up to us, much to the ghost¡¯s surprise. ¡°Huggins Shishou.¡± Yuu said happily before I could even form words. ¡°Looks fun!¡± Rio said cheerfully. ¡°No! Wait¡­¡± I tried calling out to her, but she had already landed on Yuu¡¯s shoulder and spread her wings around the two of us. What¡¯s this? How did it become a group hug all of a sudden? As I tried finding out where exactly things went weird in this situation, I caught with the corner of my eyes a lonely looking Aura who was watching everything from distance. A sigh escaped me as I finally gave in and made a motion for her to come closer with one of my hands. Feeling the blue fox leaning against my leg, I rested my hand on her head and started petting her gently, using my other hand to pet Yuu who was starting to look up to me questioningly. ¡°Aah. Isn¡¯t that adorable?¡± Thalia said with a motherly tone. ¡°For an annoying jerk, you sure are well liked, huh?¡± Rognar said with annoyance. ¡°I¡¯m taking a print of that to use it against you later.¡± Crys said cheerfully. ¡°I¡¯m going to¡­¡± I started preparing to threaten her back, but, as expected, Yuu got me first. ¡°Use the skill now!¡± Yuu said while giving me the upturned looks. Wazzat? Oi oi oi. Yuu, isn¡¯t that a bit too much to be asking right here? No, rather, why did you even ask for that? And Aura, I did feel you flinching just now¡­ And why are the two of you now looking at me like that? D-Don¡¯t do a d-double puppy eyes! M-My resistance isn¡¯t high enough for that. ¡°Hmm? What skill?¡± Rio asked curious. ¡°It¡¯s a skill Shishou have. It makes petting feel really nice, you know?¡± She replied to the young dragon¡¯s question. ¡°Really? I want to see it.¡± Rio said while looking at me starry eyed. ¡°Tek tek!¡± Et tu, Pebbles? Ugh¡­ This is seriously¡­ ¡°A skill¡­ For petting?¡± Rognar asked in shock, before finally holding his stomach and burst out into a loud laughter while doubling over. ¡°A-Are you serious?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long story okay?¡± I complained embarrassed. ¡°Why would you even get such a damned useless skill?¡± He asked while still laughing. ¡°Are you an idiot or something?¡± No, I¡¯m a genius. It¡¯s obvious. I was thinking that, but before I had the chance to say anything, I felt the room drop a couple of degrees in temperature and dark aura emanate from the girl before me. By the time we were aware of it, Yuu had already extended her arm towards the dwarf¡¯s face and stuck one of the charms she had made on his forehead. ¡°Do not mock Shishou.¡± She stated coldly while activating the charm. ¡°GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡± A loud scream of pain and agony echoed as Rognar started rolling around the ground while the charm burned away in his face. ¡°Wah? Yuu!¡± I turned to her angrily. ¡°You can¡¯t do that!¡± I scolded her. ¡°But¡­ But he was mean to Shishou!¡± She said while looking downcast. Must¡­ Resist¡­ Desire¡­ To¡­ Forgive¡­ ¡°No. Yuu, you can¡¯t just go attacking others just because they said one or two bad things about me!¡± I said in the best angry tone I could muster. ¡°What if it had been someone important? Then we would be in serious trouble, you know?¡± ¡°W-WHO¡¯S N-N-NOT I-I-IMPOR-T-T-TANT?¡± Rognar said angrily. ¡°Man up, will you, dear? It¡¯s just a small charm.¡± Thalia said annoyed while scooping up even more beer. ¡°And you deserved it anyway.¡± ¡°Muu¡­ Sorry Shishou. I won¡¯t do it again.¡± She said downcast as her ears flattened again. ¡°Well¡­ As long as you learnt your lesson¡­¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± I turned to Thalia. ¡°She gets a bit¡­ Rough when she¡¯s drunk.¡± I smiled awkwardly while recalling the last time she got drunk. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s going to kill him anyway.¡± She waved it off. ¡°He may not look like it, but he was quite the fighter back when we were alive. Something like this isn¡¯t enough to do him in.¡± ¡°BUT IT STILL HUUUUUR¡ª¡± Rognar started shouting, only to stop suddenly, his cry changed for a muffled voice. Confused, I turned towards the ghost only to see him rolling on the ground with the still burning talisman on his forehead and a piece of ice freezing his mouth shut. I turned to Yuu, preparing to give her a disapproving glance, but I shook off the idea that it was her once I noticed that she was still a bit depressed from having been scolded. Blinking surprised, I decided that it hadn¡¯t been the kitsune who did that, but then who¡­ I looked downwards and noticed Aura looking away suspiciously as she emanated an aura of slight annoyance. Okay, culprit found. Now¡­ ¡°¡­Can I still get petting?¡± Yuu suddenly asked me, and the aura of annoyance around¡­ Well, Aura, dissipated and she turned back to me with an expectant gaze. Goddamit. I was hoping to sneak away from having to do this. In the end, I gave in to my four captors who were pleading me with puppy eyes. Well, not like I¡¯m one to complain about a petting session, right? Chapter 116 - Life on the other side Waah... The fluffy! Waah¡­ The smoothy! As I slowly felt myself melting away in a fluffsmooth paradise, completely ignoring the wailing scream of sheer pain and agony echoing on the background, I thoroughly enjoyed the petting session around me. It was only when I heard an amused chuckle coming from a certain dwarven ghostess¡­ Is ghostess even a word? It should be, seeing how not all ghosts are male. But then, ghosts aren¡¯t really living beings so much as they are an unnatural phenomenon. Bah, too much thinking and too little results. This is why I don¡¯t do philosophy. Shaking away the incurring bout of curiosity about unneeded grammatic-philosophical matters, I turned my attention back to Thalia, who was watching us with a warm and curious gaze. ¡°Is there anything I can help you with?¡± I asked in my best attempt at a serious face. Needless to say, I failed. ¡°Ah, actually, yes.¡± She said while putting on a more serious expression. ¡°You see¡­ The beer¡¯s starting to run dry.¡± ¡°¡­Already?¡± I asked shocked. ¡°Geez, I don¡¯t know who¡¯s worse. You or Elraira.¡± I said while recalling back to the dragon-kin drinking an entire barrel of wine in one go. ¡°¡­I feel like that¡¯s a challenge to my drinker side.¡± She said with a suddenly competitive look. ¡°Please, for the love of Cygnas, don¡¯t do that. I don¡¯t want to go broke hosting a drinking competition between the two of you!¡± I said in sheer horror at the mere thought of how much money it would cost me to buy the barrels. ¡°Aah¡­ Such a shame.¡± She said disappointed while sighing heavily. ¡°Oh well. I¡¯ve drank more in these last twenty minutes than I did in the decades that I¡¯ve been dead, so I guess I can¡¯t complain.¡± ¡°Huh!¡± The other, less important dwarf suddenly said in surprise. ¡°Wait, you didn¡¯t even leave a bit for me, dear?¡± He asked in shock. ¡°B-B-But¡­ How could you¡­¡± ¡°Ara, wasn¡¯t it you who was saying that there was no need to negotiate with him?¡± She said in a playful tone. ¡°B-But¡­¡± ¡°Man up, dear. I don¡¯t recall marrying such a crybaby who can¡¯t even keep up his stance about his own decisions!¡± She said coldly. Rognar let out a really pitiful whimper before nodding and sitting down on the ground, drawing circles on the floor, which remained due to how dirty the floor was. ¡°You know, I almost feel sorry for him. If only he wasn¡¯t a comic relief¡­¡± I said, disappointed. ¡°And to think that he used to be such a dashing warrior too¡­¡± Thalia agreed with me. ¡°Oh well, onto another non-alcohol related matters, what will we do about this place then?¡± ¡°Ah! Good question!¡± I said while clapping my hands together then raising a finger as if to make a point, only to receive four whimpers of disappointment because I had stopped the petting stravaganza. D-Don¡¯t give me those puppy eyes! T-This thing¡¯s dangerous, you k-know! Maybe I should stop using it altogether. Yes, it¡¯s for their own good. It¡¯s¡­ Ughh¡­ Don¡¯t cling to me like that Yuu! It¡¯s cheating! And Aura, what happened to your aloof personality? Stop pleading like that! Th-That¡¯s bad for my health! My poor poor mental health! And what¡¯s with that depressed ¡®Tek¡¯? That¡¯s so damn pitiful! And how can a future back-flipping killing machine wearing full body plate armor like you make such an adorable look? (Author warning: Forgive the sudden interruption of our not-so-regularly scheduled program as we show you what¡¯s happening inside the mind of our protagonist for a moment.) It was a barren wasteland. With nothing but empty dried ground spreading as far as the eyes could see. In such an inhospitable wasteland, only one thing could possibly happen in this area, and that was War. The ground shook as the two armies approached one another at the dead-center of the wasteland. The air shaking as the sheer tension built up to the point that artillery had to be recalibrated to the new air-pressure. On one side, came a massive army, thousands of gons strong, brandishing flags and shouting the name of their desires. Covering the entire horizon on one side of the battlefield, it was truly a sight to behold. Light Cavalry gons rode on the back of blue three-tailed foxes, wearing light armor and wielding the tail-longbows in a magnificent fashion. The heavy cavalry rode on the back of over-sized pebble-scorpions, wearing full plate armor while wielding sword and shield or massive spider-hammers. The air-support rode on the back of the white-armored wyverns, holding tostone-cutting long swords while hawking their enemies from afar. Finally, on the far back, the artillery wielded flags with a certain black kitsune wearing a kimono beside massive magi-cannons that shone with a threatening frost-fire glow. ¡°For fluffy! For Smoothy! For Smuffy!¡± They shouted their war cry over and over, the thundering roar shaking the very skies and earth to the point they threatened to shatter in half. On the opposing side of this massive Pro-petting army, stood their opponents. Ten gons carrying a poorly painted banner with a misspelled ¡®Logik¡¯ word, wearing basic beginner gear that seemed a bit too damaged for their own good. ¡°¡­Erm¡­ Have mercy?¡± The leader of the logic side pleaded in a pitiful voice. In response to their plead, a single light-cavalrymen walked forward, being followed by a pink floating crystal maid stepped forward. He unsheathed his tail-sword and pointed forward with it. ¡°TAKE NO PRISONERS!¡± The massive army charged forward with the fury of a thousand Ragnaroks as the logic side screeched like little girls wearing red-riding-hoods before a big bad wolf. And then, a fierce battle like no other ensued. [And now, back to your usual program.] ¡°I¡­¡± I said while doing my best to resist their advance. ¡°I actually¡­ Have some things I have to take care now¡­ So¡­¡± I tried to weasel my way of this smuffy hell¡­ Huh? Where did that word even come from? Whatever. ¡°But¡­¡± Drunk-yuu said in a pouting tone. ¡°Petting¡­¡± N-No! Not the puppy eyes! My only weakness! Together with begging eyes! And fluffiness! And explosions! And sharp things! And pointy things! And a lot many other only weaknesses! ¡°¡­Author said I could make you do something for me once¡­¡± She said in a pout. ¡°H-How do you even remember something that old?¡± I said, surprised she still recalled the Christmas special from two years ago. Her only answer was an upturned eye that was copied by everyone else around. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I promise to continue this later, okay?¡± I said after some thinking. ¡°W-When we get into the ship, we should have a lot of time to do this.¡± ¡°Promise?¡± She asked me with upturned eyes. ¡°P-Promise.¡± ¡°Pinky promise?¡± As she said that, she raised her hand and extended her pinky forward. THAT¡¯S SO BLOODY ADORABLE! ¡°Pinky promise!¡± I said while coiling my pinky around hers and shaking it. She gave me a smile that threatened to burn the mansion to the ground with how bright it was, her tails wagging behind her cheerfully as she giggled playfully. Following that, I had to make a similar promise with each one of the other four who were still expecting me. However, due to the lack of pinkies, I had to be a bit more creative, making a clawy promise with Pebblesworth, a talony promise with Rio and a Taily promise with Aura. I guess this isn¡¯t that bad. Though I did feel a bit lonely when they separated from me. [And now, one more peek inside Gon¡¯s mind.] Once again on the wasteland, however, from the battle that had happened, only a massive pile of bodies remained, with all their gear and equipment laying on the floor around them. On the top of this pile, ten gons using their beginner armor stood, tired, injured, but victorious. Oddly enough, none of the Yuu banners, armored rios, cloaked Auras or huge pebbles sported the smallest injury. ¡°FOR LOGIC!¡± They shouted in unison. Then they all ran down from the pile of bodies and towards the smuffy paradise. [Thanks for staying with us through this quick moment of showing the inner workings of Gon¡¯s mind. We now shall continue the program.] ¡°Anyway, as I was saying¡­¡± I said after clearing my throat and looking back to Thalia who was watching me with a warm gaze. ¡°For now, the plan is to go back to town and tell lord Wich that you guys won¡¯t kill his workers the moment they arrive.¡± ¡°Ah, so the Wich are still the lords, huh?¡± Thalia said amused. ¡°Yeah, I guess so.¡± I nodded. ¡°Anyway, they should send a team of builders to deal with fixing this place up, so if you could lend them a hand, it would be great.¡± I stopped to think for a moment. ¡°I¡¯ll also ask them to bring a few more kegs. I guess I COULD afford to buy a few more.¡± ¡°I must say that I¡¯m already really enjoying this partnership!¡± Thalia replied cheerfully. ¡°But then, how should we know if someone¡¯s an invader or your friend during this whole ordeal?¡± Rognar suddenly asked with a serious expression. ¡°It¡¯ll be difficult to find out who¡¯s a hoodlum and who¡¯s actually here to do their job.¡± ¡°Ah! There¡¯s the Rognar I recall!¡± Thalia said with a satisfied tone and an approving tone. I raised an eyebrow surprised, but nodded. ¡°Well, for now, I seriously doubt that anyone other than the repair crew will have any reason to even come here. And even if they came, there isn¡¯t really anything for them to grab that would cause issues.¡± I said while thinking about it deeply. ¡°Though, later on during the construction¡­¡± ¡°I doubt you¡¯d have any issues during the repair process.¡± Crys suddenly interrupted me, catching me by surprise. Noticing my reaction, she proceeded to explain. ¡°You see, chances are that the crew will know each other, so the moment some stranger mixes with them they¡¯d notice.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess that makes sense.¡± I nodded, and turning to the dwarven warrior, he looked like he agreed with us in this point. ¡°But, what about afterwards?¡± Thalia asked curious. ¡°After the repairs are done, I doubt things would be as easy.¡± ¡°Then the owner-worker chat function should be helpful.¡± Crys said in a tone that sounded like she was just speaking the obvious.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°¡°¡°Owner-worker chat?¡±¡±¡° The three of us asked curious. Taking Crys¡¯s words as a hint, I checked my menu and found a new option to bring up a window I was ninety-nine percent sure that I didn¡¯t have previously.
Haunted Mansion
Owner Wargon/Yuu
Housing Class Mansion
Durability 23%
Quality Very poor
Location? El-Dirrah''s outskirts
Facilities
Name Level/specs Status/Upgrade
Brewery LVL 0 (Broken) Repair Required
Kitchen2 LVL 0 (Broken) Repair Required
New Facility N/A Upgrade Available
Bonuses
Mining 0% Fishing 0%
Lumberjacking 0% Foraging 0%
Skinning 0% Brewing 0%
Cooking 0% ---- ----
Residents/Workers
-Wargon (Owner) -Aura -Mr. Pebblesworth -Lieutenant Knight Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus Von Scratchy the Third of Nyarnya -Rioreia -Crys -Yuu (Owner) -Rognar Copperfist (Resident/Guard) [Contact] -Thalia Copperfist (Resident/Housekeeper) [Contact]
Okay. This is nice. First, I¡¯m not sure whether the house is in a better or worse state than what I initially expected. I mean, it¡¯s 23 percent in durability, so it¡¯s not THAT bad. I think. Not sure. Might be mistaken. However, VERY POOR quality? What¡¯s with that? It¡¯s depressing! Anyway, moving on. Skipping the fact that I had entirely forgotten the name of this village was El-Dirrah, I¡¯m surprised to see that this house already has not one, but two facilities installed. I mean, yeah, it does seem to be in a really horrible state for the bonus to be zero percent, but still, it¡¯s less work. I guess? That said, I didn¡¯t expect a normal kitchen to count as a facility. Also, looks like that thanks to the house¡¯s current status I get pretty much no bonuses whatsoever. Well, Cyg did tell us that the gathering bonuses were greatly based on both location and house status, so no wonder they are so damn bad at this moment. Now, lastly, to the main point of this whole list. What under the nine heavens is a Lieutenant Knight? Like, seriously? I¡¯m almost certain those two military rankings didn¡¯t even exist in the same era! And don¡¯t come telling me about being knighted by the queen and whatnot, I¡¯m talking about actual armor-wearing knights. This just makes no bloody sense whatsoever! Besides, where did that ¡®Of Nyarnya¡¯ even come from? Cygnasdammit you trick-cat, do you think you are a lion or something? Should it really be this easy to change names? Well, if I think too much about it, I¡¯ll lose. Anyway, as Crys had told me, there was an option to contact both Thalia and Rognar. ¡°This is convenient.¡± I heard Thalia commenting curiously while staring into space, probably checking a window of her own. ¡°And¡­ With this, we don¡¯t need a whispering feather to contact the young golem here?¡± She asked curious. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Crys said with a proud tone. ¡°Though contact from inhabitants to chosen is a bit more limited, it should be enough to deal with most situations.¡± ¡°Aaah, I see.¡± Thalia nodded impressed, before turning to Crys. ¡°You are a really smart sprite, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°A-Ah¡­¡± Crys, caught by surprise by the sudden praise, had an embarrassed expression. ¡°Thank you. That said¡­ I¡¯m actually an elemental.¡± ¡°Ah? Is that so?¡± Thalia said surprised. ¡°Wait a second. What¡¯s that you said?¡± Rognar asked confusedly. ¡°Chosen? As in, the ones that carry on the will of the goddess?¡± ¡°Erm¡­ Yes?¡± ¡°And this boy here is one of them?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Yes?¡± She said, confused. ¡°This boy here? Who looks like he can barely hold his weapon without dropping it?¡± He asked, and I felt my right eye twitching. After a brief moment of staring at me in shock and disbelief, Rognar finally burst into a loud laughter while pointing at me. It took me a whole second to feel my fuse burn through faster than dry gunpowder on a sunny and dry day. And while I¡¯m not entirely sure if dry gunpowder in a sunny and dry day burns faster than normal gunpowder on a normal day, my point still stands. I grabbed the second charm that Yuu had made for me, the offensive one, and did something I¡¯ve been wanting to try for some time. I pulled my hammer out from the inventory, surprising the dwarf as he stared in shock at the oversized weapon appearing out of thin air. His shock lasted enough time for me to stick the charm to the hammer¡¯s head and activate it. ¡°W-Wait a second¡­¡± I heard him begging me in worried tone. ¡°So¡­ You had something to say about holding weapons?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°Is that a challenge?¡± He asked me with a sudden smirk, his axe materializing in his hand as he prepared to battle. ¡°After all, the moment that talisman stops burning, your weapon will be useless.¡± ¡°Dear¡­¡± Thalia said in a low and cold tone, but I interrupted her. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s why I¡¯m doing this.¡± I said, grabbing a freezing knife and throwing it to the ground under him. The ghost dwarf let out a shout of surprise as the ice creeped up his leg. Recalling back to how Aura had frozen his mouth earlier, I guessed that he had a hard time phasing through objects without a moment¡¯s notice. Looks like I was right on the spot. The brief moment that the dwarf took to free himself was all that I needed to approach him, hammer at hands and swinging it in a golf club motion while letting it explode on impact. Now, if I am allowed a comment on my actions, one would be that he¡¯s already dead, so something like this shouldn¡¯t even phase him. Two, I always wanted to know how it feels to be on the opposite side of a slapstick comedy. Three, making people get stuck to the wall is a lot harder than you might think, you have to use the exact amount of force for him to break through, but not go flying. I wonder if the Old man would give me a crash course on how to pull that one off. The dwarf flew right through the wall and towards the backside of the mansion in a spectacular fashion, leaving a hole on his way out. I mean, it is a bit strange that a ghost would break a hole through a wall he was sent flying. Admittedly, the hole was a bit small compared to what you¡¯d expect, but it¡¯s still a thing. I approached the hole and let out an amused whistle while seeing Rognar knocked out far away. ¡°That should serve as a warning.¡± I said amused. ¡°A warning indeed.¡± I heard Crys speaking amused, besides me. I gave her a quick glance, only to notice her staring at a point in the distance, and not to the dwarf. I followed her gaze confused and for a moment I thought that I there was some sort of movement on the horizon, where we were looking, but my thoughts were derailed once I felt a pair of hands coiling around my waist and pulling me back into the mansion. ¡°Y-YUU!¡± I said worriedly. ¡°What do you think you are doing?¡± I asked the Kitsune in shock. ¡°Hugging.¡± She told me cheerfully. ¡°This isn¡¯t what we agreed on!¡± I said in shock while trying to calm myself down from the surprise hug. ¡°No. We agreed on leaving petting for later. You said nothing about huggies.¡± She told me in a childish, but also proud manner. She¡­ Actually had a very good point. The agreement never even touched on the matter of letting her hug me or not. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll let this one go for now.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Anyway, if you wouldn¡¯t mind¡­¡± I said while pointing out how difficult it would be to move around with her hugging me like this. It took her a moment to understand, but she finally nodded and let go of me for a moment. ¡°You do reckon that is one more thing to fix, right?¡± Thalia asked while staring at the hole. ¡°Meh. Still worth it.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Yeah, it was rather amusing to be honest.¡± Thalia agreed. ¡°I find your lack of pity disturbing.¡± Crys said coldly. ¡°I give you eight for the reference.¡± I gave my critique. ¡°You should have said it with more intensity to make it work.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± Crys said while watching amusedly as Yuu tackle-hugged me once again now that we weren¡¯t walking again. ¡°Oh well, he deserved it anyway.¡± Thalia shrugged before making a curious face. ¡°That said, you being a Chosen does explain a few things.¡± ¡°Hmm? Like what?¡± ¡°You see, recently we¡¯ve been having these adventurers coming here to try and¡­ Erm¡­ Exorcise us.¡± She said with an amused expression. ¡°The way they acted was rather different compared to what we were used to. A fair bit more insistent too.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds like a chosen alright.¡± I said amused. ¡°Oh well, if a chosen happens to try and invade this place, feel free to do whatever you want since, you know, we don¡¯t die and whatnots¡­ That said, I would rather that you guys didn¡¯t end up killing a non-chosen around here if possible.¡± I said in a bit of a grimmer tone. ¡°¡­Alright. We¡¯ll only scare them off, then.¡± ¡°Much obliged.¡± I said while nodding to the ghost. ¡°Well, now that this is done, I guess I should go back to the town to inform lord Wich that this is done.¡± I said. ¡°Okay. I guess I¡¯ll try to clean up this place a bit before the crew arrives then.¡± She said before frowning slight. ¡°By the way, should we show ourselves or would you rather¡­¡± ¡°Well, I plan on telling him what I did, but¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s up to you guys? Just try to not scare them to death or something.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± She nodded while summoning her spectral broom once again and starting to wipe the floor with renewed vigor. ¡°It¡¯s been so long since I felt like cleaning this place had any worth!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°What with that muscle-head breaking the house every other time someone appeared here.¡± She suddenly stopped. ¡°Any idea when you¡¯ll be returning here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Well, I¡¯m stuck around the village until the ocean calms down or whatever it is that the undines say, so I¡¯m not sure. Probably tomorrow all things considered.¡± I said uncertain. After a moment, I decided that it wasn¡¯t worth the effort and shrugged. ¡°Ah, we¡¯ll actually leave tomorrow, Shishou.¡± Yuu suddenly told me while looking up from my back. ¡°Huh?¡± I asked confused. ¡°But wasn¡¯t the ocean still angry or something?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Han-chan sent me a message.¡± She told in her uncharacteristic childish drunk manner. ¡°A merchant docked a few hours ago that will try her luck or something.¡± ¡°Wait, really?¡± I asked surprised and Yuu nodded excitedly. ¡°Han chan told me so.¡± ¡°¡­And when did she send you that message?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Some time ago?¡± Yuu tilted her head as if she tried to recall something. ¡°Don¡¯t remember.¡± She said as if it didn¡¯t matter before hugging me once again. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?¡± I asked with a sigh. ¡°¡­Did I have to?¡± With a cute face like that? No, you don¡¯t. While almost falling victim to the petting desire once again, I calmed down my itching hand and took a deep breath. Turning back to the ghost keeper I gave her an awkward smile before nodding. ¡°Well, looks like I might be disappearing for a bit longer than expected.¡± I said while scratching my head awkwardly. ¡°Well, this kind of thing happens. Not like we can expect this place to be inhabited by a living being the way it is in here, right?¡± She said. I gave a quick look around. I mean, the ground might be threatening to pierce through my shoes with splinters, the ceiling looks like it¡¯s about to fall down and crush us all to death, the pillars creak at every step someone take on the second floor. But all in all, it wasn¡¯t THAT bad. Not as bad as lil-sister deciding to mess up the house bad. Still, deciding to call it a day here, I gave my goodbyes to the ghosts in the house and decided to make our way back to the village with some effort, since Yuu insisted on clinging to me. Taking the free time to deal with some delayed matters such as the windows I had dismissed earlier, such as whether to publish my name or not. I didn¡¯t really have any reason to either publish or not, so after a long time pondering on the matter, I decided to leave this to a professional once I arrived at the village. AkA, a coin. I also had to have a talk with Lieutenant, since his new name left me curious. Probably take the time to look into Aura¡¯s old samurai clothes since we still had a whole day to wait. Something tells me that Crys will enjoy wearing those again. As my mind wandered around some very important and focused matters, Yuu slowly started to become sober again, as she suddenly let go of me and blushed heavily while looking away. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t run like last time, so at least I still got that going for me. I think I¡¯d break if Yuu went back to avoiding me again. While recalling those dark moments in my past, I felt a metaphorical manly tear roll down my cheek. By the way, am I the only one still wondering how the hell the logic side won that war? ¡­ (Post chapter short extra) ¡°Good job back there Gon.¡± Cyg told me while passing me a towel. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said while using the towel to clean away some of the sweat from working under the spotlight. What? Snow? That doesn¡¯t really help THAT much to be honest. ¡°So, how do things look? Think this chapter is good to go?¡± I asked her as she watched the last scene on a window. ¡°Looks like it.¡± She nodded. ¡°D-Did I do everything correctly?¡± Yuu asked awkwardly, peeking from behind me. ¡°I¡¯m never sure with these drunk scenes.¡± She said with a pout, making the entire filming crew leak out an ¡®awww¡¯. ¡°You were great, Yuu.¡± Cyg said with a smile while comforting the kitsune before sighing. ¡°Anyway, Gotta make a call.¡± She said while pulling a cellphone and dialing up some numbers. ¡°Huh? Did something happen?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Well, certain someones¡­¡± She stared at the two of us, and then at the camera. ¡°Managed to break the fourth wall again, so I¡¯ll have the repair crew come here to see if they can fix it in time.¡± She said while taking the cellphone to her ear and staring at us coldly. This time, both me and Yuu looked away awkwardly. ¡°Hello? Daniel? Yeah, it¡¯s Cyg¡­ yeah, he did it again¡­ Though it was the author¡¯s fault, Gon didn¡¯t exactly help¡­ yeah¡­¡± ¡°W-We should probably get away from here.¡± I said with a small smile while stepping away silently. ¡°W-We wouldn¡¯t want to interrupt the filming of the extra, right?¡± Yuu agreed with me. We discreetly ran away while the goddess was occupied with her call. Sorry Author, but we¡¯ll have you take this one alone. I saluted the camera before darting after the kitsune. Chapter 116.5 - Birth of the Savior ¡°ZEEERAAAAA!¡± Iskoma shouted angrily as he grabbed another imp from his neck and threw it unceremoniously on the ground. ¡°Would you mind keeping your damn imps controlled for even one second?¡± The Frost manipulator complained. ¡°Aww, chill man. Not like they do anything bad.¡± The Red imp shrugged as he cheerfully fed a slime in his hand a dangerous looking red liquid. ¡°They literally corrode through my armor every time they drool.¡± The Half draconian said back in a fury that was dismissed with all the worry of lazy student in a holyday. ¡°And seriously, if you don¡¯t keep them in check, this will end up just like last time!¡± ¡°KuKuKuKu! Worry not, my dear phantasmagorical dragon best buddy of the week!¡± The imp said with a wide and wicked smile. ¡°I have a plan!¡± ¡°Did you forget that explosions didn¡¯t work the last time?¡± The Manipulator said coldly while staring at him. ¡°¡­KuKuKuKu! Worry not, my dear phantasmagorical dragon best buddy of the day!¡± The imp said with a wide and Wicked smile. ¡°I have another plan!¡± ¡°Acid didn¡¯t work either.¡± ¡°¡­KuKuKuKu! Worry not, my dear phantasmagorical dragon best buddy of the hour!¡± The imp said with a wide and Wicked smile. ¡°I have yet another plan.¡± ¡°Your little pets were about as useful as a drop of water in the sun.¡± ¡°Okay. That¡¯s it. We aren¡¯t friends anymore!¡± The imp said annoyed while turning away and grumbling annoyed. ¡°And here I thought about sharing some of the magnificence of the almighty lord AA with you but Noooo! You had to¡­¡± The imp would have carried on grumbling annoyed where they were if it wasn¡¯t for and agonized screech reaching the duo. For a moment, the two of them simply flinched in shock and confusion as they stared at the mansion in the distance. The reason for their shock wasn¡¯t the screech per se. Playing a couple of days with the prankster gnome was more than enough to make anyone get used to screeches. What surprised them was the sheer agony that said screech contained, as well as the one who was doing the screech. For a moment, the duo simply looked at each other in shock. ¡°Was that¡­¡± The imp asked in shock. ¡°It can¡¯t be...¡± The half-dragon replied in worry. In the end, the duo decided to approach the house. Zeratul for curiosity, and Iskoma out of worry. There was no doubt about it, the screech came from the ghost who had, not long ago, just kicked their asses with all its spectral might. The duo approached the mansion from the back, and following the leadership of the imp who was more than used to stealthing his way around places, they approached the mansion via the woods, and then by running from bush to bush. Well, if you considered leaving a large spider drag you in the ground as running, then yeah, the two of them were running. Arriving at a bush just outside of the mansion¡¯s reach, the duo crouched down and watched the now eerily quiet mansion once again. ¡°¡­You think an exorcist got there before us?¡± Zeratul asked from the corner of his mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t know. You insisted on us approaching from behind¡­¡± The larger one said angrily. ¡°¡­So if someone walked in, I have no idea.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± The imp nodded. Then spent a new, record-breaking, two seconds of looking serious. ¡°So, can I blow the house now?¡± ¡°Oh, for the love of¡­ NO! WE AREN¡¯T BLO¡­¡± ¡°GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡± The screech echoed again, with even more horror and more agony than before, the bloodcurdling scream spreading through the air and echoing from the forest. A goosebumps ran through Iskoma¡¯s spines twice, thrice, even four times over as fear ran over his body. And if he were to take a guess, he¡¯d say that his little friend shared his feeling, seeing how he was now glued to his head like silver tape. Together with three of his smaller imps, one of his slimes and that creepy spider. ¡°H-hah! T-T-That s-s-s-su-r-re w-w-was surp-p-prising.¡± The imp said in his best attempt of sounding nonchalant, which failed epically as his knees kept bonking against the larger man¡¯s nose and his teeth clacking wildly. ¡°You¡­ let¡­ Go¡­¡± Iskoma said while trying to rip the imp away from his face. He didn¡¯t succeed. ¡°You do know we can¡¯t find what¡¯s in there if you keep blocking my eyes like that!¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°And why would we want to do that? That was bloody scary man!¡± The imp said in despair. ¡°Haah.¡± The half-dragon sighed. ¡°¡­Because it would be peeping.¡± ¡°Kalabanashikimi! Enter stealth mode! Time for peeping!¡± The imp said while jumping down and pointing bravely towards the mansion. The frost manipulator simply sighed tiredly while shaking his head. Truly, the imp was about as predictable as Schrodinger¡¯s cat playing with three twenty sided dices made entirely of unstable quarks or pretty much any other unstable particle. However, it was easy to find what ticked the little trickster, and sure enough, just choosing the right word could make him change his antics entirely. ¡°KuKuKu.¡± The imp said as he scavenged around his inventory until he found a small phial of sorts. He poured the phial on the ground, seeing as the green metallic liquid formed a mirrored surface. ¡°And now, to the best part!¡± The imp turned to one of the smaller imps that had been saluting him, and nonchalantly poured a phial on the head of his companion. The smaller imp¡¯s body soon started losing its color, becoming bleached white. Soon after, another phial was emptied on its head, this time dyeing it green. ¡°Go Go GO my dear friend!¡± The imp said while pointing towards the mansion. The smaller imp nodded before falling on all four and snaking his way to the mansion. Turning their attention back to the puddle, the duo watched as it rippled into a new appearance, soon showing an ever-changing image that matched the now green imp¡¯s view of the world. ¡°Seriously, how do you even pull this off?¡± ¡°Eh¡­ Throw some plants, monster parts, ores, and other better not divulged things in a cauldron and hope it don¡¯t blow up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s not how science works.¡± Iskoma said with a grimace that was beautifully ignored by the imp. ¡°Oh! Hey! I think I can hear something!¡± The imp said before starting to laugh madly. Only to thoroughly shut up as, even from their hiding spot, they heard as a loud explosion echoed and the wall was shattered by a translucent flying figure that bounced on the ground a couple of times before laying even more lifeless than a ghost should normally be. ¡°Did that ghost just break through a wall?¡± The dragon asked in a low tone. ¡°That¡¯s not how occultism works¡­¡± The imp said in a scared tone while once again hugging the mage-knight¡¯s leg. However, as if to mock the duo, another figure appeared from the hole. Or rather, it peeked over the hole, way too far and too deep into the house for them to make any real form. However, even from where they were the duo could only hug each other in sheer horror as a massive burning hammer stood besides a pair of terrifying green eyes. For a good moment, they could only swallow their saliva in fear. The screech from before being anything but a mere memory towards the sheer pressure that¡­ Monster¡­ emanated. Even the Imp refused to acknowledge that creature as a normal living being. ¡°D-Did he just¡­ W-With a weapon?¡± The Frost emitter asked in sheer disbelief. How? They had tried everything ,yet their attacks just went through the ghosts like it was no one¡¯s business. However, that horrifying creature had managed to knock the ghost out cold with nothing but a hammer? ¡°G-G-G-Green eyes¡­¡± The gobbling whispered. Then, the duo felt like a bucket of cold water dumped on them as the understanding befell them. They had read rumors, heard about him, but never thought he was real. Nor that they¡¯d ever meet him. Yet¡­ ¡°H-Hey! He didn¡¯t see us yet!¡± The imp said, recovering from his shock as he noticed that the monster wasn¡¯t looking at them. ¡°T-This is the chance of a lifetime!¡± He said while preparing to order his smaller brethren around. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Iskoma asked in despair. ¡°Well, he¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°That should serve as a warning.¡± A voice came from the puddle, freezing the duo in their tracks once again. Warning? Warning to who? It couldn¡¯t be to them, right? Just as they thought that, the creature¡¯s eye moved, scanning the horizon until it stopped at where they were. The duo became even whiter than the bleached imp. ¡°I-It can¡¯t be¡­ Right?¡± Zeratul said. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know¡­¡± The larger one said in disbelief. ¡°This is your fault! You deal with it!¡± ¡°A-A-AH¡­ M-maybe it¡¯s just a guess.¡± The imp nodded worriedly. ¡°Yes, yes. Just a guess. I bet that even if my little Kalabanashikimi approaches him, he won¡¯t notice.¡± He said while eyeing the puddle that was staring at the green eyed creature. Sending an order to have it approach the monster, the imp moved, but¡­ ¡°YOU!¡± It said as if in shock. ¡°What do you think you are doing?¡± The imp almost fainted. ¡°No no no no no. Don¡¯t you dare leave me alone.¡± Iskoma slapped his smaller friend awake. ¡°Let me pass out in peace!¡± The imp begged in tears! ¡°I was so close! So¡­¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t what we agreed on!¡± ¡°¡°EEEP!¡±¡± The duo shrieked in horror while jumping away from the puddle. He knew! He totally knew! They are so dead. So freaking dead! They had read the rumors. They knew what he did to his victims! How could they even dare to think they¡¯d survive? ¡°Wait, we?¡± The frost emitted asked in surprise, once again turning his attention to the puddle and noticing something. Another figure, holding on to the waist of green eyes. THE green eyes. He couldn¡¯t see the face, but the figure was smaller, probably a girl. The only thing they could see from the darker interior of the house was its long black hair and small white arms, holding the being. ¡°S-She¡¯s¡­ protecting us?¡± The imp said in disbelief. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll let these ones go for now.¡± The monster said. ¡°¡°We¡­ We are saved!¡±¡± The duo shouted in happiness before darting away from the place before Green Eyes changed his mind. Had they been in good mind, they would have noticed that the monster¡¯s tone was anything but aggressive, or that he never once had even laid its eyes upon them, but alas, fear is a strong catalyst for imagination, and with that, the legend of green eyes grew, as his tales of being able to smash even incorporeal opponents spread through the land. However, at the same time, a new legend began. Of a black haired spirit who would hold back the mighty fury of Green Eyes, the Brutal. The only being in the entire database that could halt him in his path of death and destruction. However, that legend, will be left for another day. Sidestory 5.1 -Edgar Von Pond (Aprils Fools Response) Brief warning in Cygna''s corner. You have been warned!
The world of Insania is a vast and expansive world. With millions of people inhabiting it, Magic and Fantasy hiding in every single corner of the world, it¡¯s not a wonder that some time, a hero would appear. And oh, if there are heroes around. Even our totally-not-creepy-eyed protagonist, Gon have heard about one of them. Rather, met one of them. And yes, I am talking about the Old man. He was a bloody legend back in his time! However, he wasn¡¯t the only legend. Oh, no. He was Eldor¡¯s legend, and if someone truly believes that Eldor was the only capital to hold its own national hero, that person is severely mistaken. That brings us to the beginning of our history, to a time when the capitals still waged war, where heroes were born and died in the fields of battle, and when the author still hadn¡¯t create a lore about that specific point in time. If Eldor can be called the Mountain Capital, Ezorea Argus is the Magical Bridge Capital, Sandroze the Desert Capital, then Tidia Major could only be called the Coast-side Capital. Truly being a sight for sore eyes, Tidia was a beautiful, if unique city. Not unlike the other capitals, of course. Built on the coast line where a plateau meets the ocean in a horse-shoe shaped bay, the entire city spreads around on the side of the cliff, stretching from one side to the other with its light-blue bricked buildings contrasting against the rough orange colored stone of the clff, and the beautiful clear water of the ocean beneath it. In such a place where water is so predominant, it¡¯s not a wonder that many water-based races would settle down in such a place. Even some of the races that usually wouldn¡¯t like the salt-water of the ocean takes residence in this place, and amongst them, lies the hero we talk about. His name is Edgar Von Pond. Or, as he is known throughout the world, Von Pond, the Honorable. Von Pond was a kind of Amphibian. To be more precise, Von Pond was actually closer to a toad than a generic Amphibian. Not that he minded. With strong and powerful legs, the figure of Von Pond crossing the battlefields at unimaginable speeds was still an image that many of the older generation of warriors had burnt in their eyes However, time was truly a cruel thing, and the once proud warrior was now but an old man. Walking on his mansion on the northern-most wall of the city, Von Pond casually reached to the chair, leaving his walking stick rest quietly against the armchair as he fixed his night robe before sitting down. ¡°Ah¡­ Where¡¯s my pipe...¡± He said a bit absentmindedly while searching for his favorite smoking pipe that he usually left in his robe. After some moments searching, he finally recalled that he had left it on the desk before him before he went to fetch the book. Lighting it up with a bit of fire magic, he leaned down on the chair while enjoying his little guilty pleasure. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see what we have here.¡± He opened the book and reached up to the last page that had been written. ¡°Now, what should I write about today.¡± He thought out loud to himself while dipping the feather into the inkwell and eyeing the blank page, Not so long ago, one of these new Chosen began appearing before his door, requesting the old toad to give them tips and training after they had heard about him from the townsfolk. Surprised at the sheer amount of people that started suddenly visiting, Von Pond was a bit at a loss on what to do, so when one of these Chosen asked him to at least tell them a story of his past, he decided that there wasn¡¯t anything to lose about it. However, it didn¡¯t take long for him to notice that his stories ended up becoming a surprising hit with this new generation of adventurers. Not that the younglings never liked his stories, however, since most of them didn¡¯t have the intention of being a warrior or adventurer like himself, most of them just heard him out of curiosity. However, these Chosen were very different. Since all of them pretty much set off to become adventurers in this world, stories of old heroes like himself resonated more with them, which caused the patio of his house to fill every day with young chosen eager to listen to his story. While he didn¡¯t mind telling them his story, since an old man like himself rarely had better things to do, he had still taken a suggestion from his friend of finally sitting down to write his own biography. Which leads us to his current conundrum. What part of his history should he write down? He spent at least two minutes wondering, going through various memories of his younger-self¡¯s adventure in his mind. Finally, he decided to write down one of his oldest stories. Back when he was just a young soldier. Rather, when the two of them were but young soldiers. It was the so called Operation Mountainfall. Tidia Major was making an advance on Endor through the sea then go upriver towards the mountain, trying to get as close as possible on their own territory before changing for a ground assault. The plan was good. No one would be expecting a sea-based assault during the winter, when the ocean was especially treacherous and the terrain was barren, meaning that even if they pillaged villages on the way, they wouldn¡¯t get much in means of resources. However, this could be worked around if they managed to keep the supply line from the capital to the river through the winter. It truly was a bold strategy, but something no one should ever manage to foresee. The sun was low on the horizon as they approached the defensive position that Eldor, hoping to use the dark sky as a cover to pass by unnoticed. Everything should have been perfect. Then, one can imagine their surprise when a lesser dragon appeared on the sky and started attacking them from afar as the fort started bombarding them with those fearsome dwarven cannons. While his then superior officers panicked on how to react to a two-pronged attack and the mages having a hard time managing to shoot down either the dragon or the defensive positions, Von Pond decided to take matters into his own hands. Using his legs to jump up to the mast of the ship, he used the higher position plus the extra height from his jump to release an almost point-blank attack at the dragon, that roared in pain and lost a significant amount of its health. The attack was enough to make the rider lose his balance and threaten to fall off his ride and down to the boat. And it was only thanks to one of the stray bolt of magic that he was finally brought down, as it hit his leg that was still supporting his whole weight on the saddle. Then, Von Pond drew complacent. He was confident in his ability to survive a fall that long thanks to both a massive fall resistance and, even should he fall into the sea, his innate skills in swimming. On the other hand, his opponent was caught by surprise, and would either splatter himself on the deck, or fall to the ship where their archers could take him out with ease. So, when the dragon rider suddenly spun around to look at him in freefall and used his sword to attack Von Pond without any kind of support, it was no wonder that he ended up with a fairly deep cut on his flank. He barely managed to recover in time to fix his landing position, and could only hear the terrible ripping sound as the attacker landed on the sail and used his sword as a means of slowing himself to a more manageable speed. ¡°Now, that¡¯s some nice jumping power you have there.¡± The rider said as he landed on the deck nonchalantly.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°I could say the same to your reaction.¡± Von Pond threw the praise back. ¡°But you do notice that you are now on our ship, right?¡± He said while pointing to all the mages around them. The rider simply smiled happily at the challenge, and faster than what the mages could react to, he spun around and landed a knuckle sandwich one of the mage¡¯s face, who flew in an almost straight line towards the captain¡¯s room where he got stuck with half of his body on each side of the wooden wall. ¡°MAGES! FALL BACK!¡± Von pond shouted while dashing forward towards the invader who was already preparing to send another mage to meet their maker. Barely did he have the time to parry the attack with his walking cane before attempt to kick the dragon rider. However, the opponent was a lot more skilled than he expected, managing to leap back just in time as the toad¡¯s leg threatened to break every rib of his body. Even the sound of the kick being enough to send a shiver to the listener¡¯s spine. ¡°Woah. Now THAT is dangerous.¡± The rider said amazed before smiling widely. ¡°Now, Ah think Ah recall something about a guy with some serious kicking power somewhere...¡± ¡°Ah, yes. Edgar Von Pond, at your service.¡± Von Pond said courteously, never being one to drop his manners. ¡°Uh¡­ Okay, Ah didn¡¯t expect that.¡± The rider said a bit surprised before shrugging. ¡°I take it that you are the Wallace that I heard so much?¡± Von pond asked curious while gently taking his hand to his injury. ¡°The one and only.¡± He said while trying to pull a courteous presentation. He failed. ¡°Well¡­ This is troubling.¡± While Von Pond was confident in his own capacity of taking on the rider before him in a one on one fight, he had earned a sizeable injury due to his overconfidence. And while he did have the mages to help him in the ship, they had the issue of being unable to use some of their more powerful magic due to the chance of damaging their own ship or even injuring their own comrades. Needless to say, a battle ensued. With Von Pond trying to stop Wallace and Wallace trying to cause the biggest havok possible in the fleet. However, this is not what this story is about. Every other story that Von Pond had written down already had its fair share of battle written down. This story is about what happened after one of the dwarven cannonball managed to land in the middle of the duo¡¯s battle, The explosion destroying the ship where they were on and launching them up into the air. No matter how tough they were, the power of an explosion capable of destroying an entire ship is nothing to scoff at. ¡­ He had no idea how long it had been after he woke up. However, what Von Pond did know was that his whole body hurt like hell. A grimace and whimper of pain escaped his lips as he woke up, finding himself in what looked like a makeshift tent made of leaves and branches. He raised himself up to a sitting position and almost shouted in pain. ¡°...Bah, stop being such a wussy. It¡¯s just a scratch!¡± A childish, yet oddly mature voice echoed. And following that, an explosion of pain that left Von Pond unable to even scream. Falling back to the makeshift leaf bed, he held onto his injured flank and curled up into a ball of sheer agony. ¡°...Ah, whoops. That was the injured side. I¡¯ll make a note of that.¡± The voice echoed once again. Not sounding any more worried than it had just a second before. ¡°W-What¡­ Are you...¡± Von Pond asked while trying to search for the source of the voice, only to freeze once he noticed that the owner was a young looking blue-haired elf. ¡°I was healing you.¡± The elf said casually as she shrugged. ¡°But, let¡¯s get into business now that you are awake.¡± She said with a worrisome expression while picking up what looked like a glass phial from the ground nearby and approaching the Lizardmen with a wicked smile. ¡°Now, if you could be so kind as to drool into this for me...¡± For a moment he could only stare in shock and confusion at those eyes surrounded in black. As he tried to understand her words, she decided that he wasn¡¯t very interested in the idea and changed her approach. ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t want to help with this, we COULD go for something else...¡± She said, her childish face contorting into an extremely frightening expression that should not be possible for such a young looking girl to make. ¡°It HAS been some time since I tasted a lizard...¡± She said while licking her lips. ¡°I-I¡¯ll help you with this.¡± Von Pond shouted frightened while snatching the glass phial from her hand and doing his best to salivate into it. However, due to the sheer fear he had, he could feel that his salivary glands were rather lacking in spirit at the moment. The fact that he was terrified for his life didn¡¯t exactly help either. ¡°...Eh¡­ This should be enough.¡± The young looking elf said with a slightly disappointed tone while taking the barely filled phial. ¡°Had heard that toadman¡¯s saliva have some special effect or something.¡± She said while setting the phial down nearby. ¡°Found you half dead on the ground nearby, decided to test it.¡± ¡°I-I see...¡± Von Pond said while crawling back worried. ¡°A-And you are?¡± ¡°Just your average best half-living alchemist wandering around.¡± The girl shrugged before picking up some potions on the ground. ¡°Anyway, here. This should help a bit.¡± She said while passing him the phial of red liquid. Von Pond quickly recognized it as a fairly high ranked potion. And a pretty good one at that. The amphibian, in a very hesitating manner, took on the potion. While knowing it wasn¡¯t exactly cheap, he felt he didn¡¯t have the options with his body in his state. ¡°Well, looks like I won¡¯t have to administer it mouth to mouth anymore.¡± The elf suddenly added with a mischievous smirk. Von Pond almost spat out the entirety of the drink back at the elf, his cheek inflating as he held back his impulse to spit it in shock. It still ended up giving him a cough attack, all things said. ¡°Y-You mean that...¡± Von Pond could only stare at her in shock. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. I only did tongue action once.¡± At that moment, the toadman decided that, no matter who this little girl was, she was an extremely dangerous being. It took him no more than one second to decide that he shouldn¡¯t stay near her for more than what was needed. ¡°Okay, now that your wounds are mostly better...¡± She suddenly said while pulling another phial, this one of a dangerous looking pink color. ¡°Drink this.¡± ¡°...Isn¡¯t that...¡± Von Pond said worried while staring at the phial in her hands. He had seen one of those being sold previously in some store back at Tidia Major, but, no matter how he thought about it, having her offer him that was extremely weird. ¡°Well. We wouldn¡¯t want you running out of steam midway through it, would we?¡± That clinched it. Seeing how his wounds didn¡¯t hurt as much as before, Von Pond decided that he should retreat as fast as he could possibly do. He scampered back to his feet and kicked the ground as strongly as he could. ¡°Wah¡­ hey.¡± He heard her calling back to him in surprise. ¡°Come back here you slippery little amphibian! I want to have my fun!¡± She shouted. Von Pond didn¡¯t dare to stay behind and hear to what she had to say, running as far away as he could, all of his instincts shouting to him that he should get as far away from that creature as he could. He could still remember the panic he felt when a sudden phial flew past his head, nearly missing him by a hair¡¯s breadth. Watching in shock as it impacted against a nearby tree and released a dangerous looking fog, he couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom what that could mean. At least, she had no way of keeping up¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t think a youngling like you can run away from me!¡± A voice echoed from behind him, sending a shiver down his spine that he would remember on the ages to come. He looked back and saw as the elf, with some difficulty, was managing to keep up with him. Another one of those dangerous looking phials at hand and a ¡®oh-so-wrong¡¯ hungry expression on her face. Von Pond felt the blood draining from his face and even more adrenaline that he ever thought he was able to produce pumping on his bloodstream. He had another burst of speed, but somehow, he could hear as the elf kept up with him, and the occasional Phial being shot in his direction. Imagine now, his shock while, in the midst of this chase, the image of Wallace appeared in front of him. The only reason he didn¡¯t give up there and then was because the Rider was having to support himself onto a sword and his armor was tattered to shreds. The young human managed to catch a glimpse of Von Pond just in time as the toad leapt above him. Following that, a shout of confusion and anger echoed as one phial broke against his chest. Von Pond landed behind the human and turned back in worry for a moment, wondering whether he would give chase too or not. However, he quickly skidded to a halt once he noticed that the elf had stopped her chase and was now staring at the young man. ¡°Ara. If it isn¡¯t young Wallace again?¡± The Elf said with an even more dangerous tone. The human suddenly froze from his fit of anger before slowly and extremely fearfully, turning back from Von Pond and looking at the newcomer. ¡°Sol...¡± He said in the same way a mice would talk to a tiger after being cornered. ¡°...I guess I don¡¯t mind taking you instead.¡± She said playfully before, in an horrifyingly casual way, throwing the man on her shoulders and walking back to the camp. ¡°Here. Let old Sol fix you up so we can have some fun!¡± She said in the most disturbingly cheerful tone that Von Pond will ever hear in his entire life. ¡­ Closing down the chapter on the book by putting the feather away, Von Pond made a worried frown as he recalled the day that he almost lost something very important on his life. Up to this day, he still felt a bit guilty about what he did to Wallace, just abandoning him where he laid with that disturbing elf. However, all is fair in love and war, and it was either Wallace or him. And this, was the night that Edgar Von Pond, one of the most well known NPCs in Tidia Major, wrote about one of the truly most fearsome beings to wander around the period of war. Chapter 117 - Master, apprentices and pet Well, I could go on and on for chapters long worth of content of what happened on the way back to the village, but let¡¯s be honest, it¡¯s not like you¡¯d guys be interested in hearing what happened. I mean, what¡¯s fun about hearing on how a cat-girl in yellow parka and pants being followed by a beeping clockwork robot trashed the ground with some martial artists? Or how there was this one old man in ancient Chinese clothes with bald head and nice beard who slipped and fell face-first into a nearby girl¡¯s bosom, only to get slapped across the road? Or how we met this sci-fi cowgirl complaining to a trench-coat wearing knight on how he¡¯s way too stingy with his gold? Well, there was that water-dragon girl fighting against some magical girls which was pretty amusing to see, but then, nothing really amazing. Finally, there was that one kitsune who appeared from a rip in space-time and asked us for direction before going away after noticing that she had missed her target. For some reason, Crys kind of freaked out about that last one once the mainframe told her that she could find nothing on the database, but it¡¯s not like it matters, right? So, as you can see, the travel back to the village was kind of boring with nothing worth any real mention, so I¡¯ll just skip straight to when we arrived at the village¡¯s entrance. And let me say, when you see a couple of cats standing guard at the village¡¯s entrance besides the guards, only to give you a meow of greeting before going back to staring seriously towards the horizon, as if looking for some sort of threat, you know that you have to search for your own cat for some explanations. Not only that, but even as we walked down the streets I could see cats walking around in neatly organized pairs while looking and checking every corner carefully like they were patrolling the city. ¡°¡­We¡¯ve been away for a few hours. How the hell does someone pull something off like this in such time?¡± I asked in shock. ¡°He truly pulls after his master.¡± Crys said with an amused tone. ¡°I fail to see how being my subordinate makes him able to do something like this.¡± I said blankly. ¡°Well, Lieutenant does have someone to look up.¡± Yuu said with a thought. ¡°Yuu. You do know you aren¡¯t supposed to betray me, do you?¡± I said coldly to the kitsune, who just replied me with an awkward smile. ¡°Ah, forget it. We need to find Hanbei and hear more from her anyway.¡± I shook my head tiredly before looking back to the street market. Since the last few days didn¡¯t seem to have snowed as much, the sheet of snow was now much thinner and I could feel a slight dampness to my boots. While Yuu and I were having some issues walking around thanks to the softer snow and water puddles, Aura seemed mostly unperturbed by it, while Pebblesworth rode on her back and Rio was planted on my head sleeping soundly. Ah¡­ no wonder my neck was hurting so much. Anyway, this change in the environment also meant that some dwarves were roaming the streets using magic to clear up the main street. ¡°Ah, hello savior.¡± The dwarves greeted Aura as we came by them. ¡°Hello martyr.¡± They greeted me afterwards. ¡°Heya.¡± I raised my hand in greeting while trying to recall if I ever met the dwarf who had greeted me. Also, let¡¯s take a moment to appreciate how amusing the idea of being able to greet a martyr so casually is something that doesn¡¯t happen every day. ¡°How have you been finding your stay here?¡± The dwarf asked as we stepped aside for him to clean up the area under us. ¡°Well, it has been amusing, to say the least.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Just came back from giving a look to my future house too, so expect to see more of me around here.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The dwarf said surprised before glancing at Yuu and giving a smirk. ¡°Settling down so young? Aren¡¯t you a responsible one?¡± He teased. ¡°Ah¡­ That¡¯s not.¡± Yuu said embarrassed. ¡°Well¡­ Maybe I a little¡­¡± Hmm. I could have sworn I just heard bells ringing and fireworks going off, but from the looks of it, neither of them heard it. Well, whatever. ¡°Oh yeah, have you see a wolf girl in a fur armor being followed by a slime somewhere?¡± I asked him. ¡°Hmm?¡± He stopped to think for a moment before finally nodding. ¡°Ah, I do recall something like that. They were checking the food market earlier.¡± He said with a nod before pointing towards the other end of the little street market. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t have gotten too far, been only a couple of minutes since I saw them.¡± ¡°Oh, thanks.¡± I said before hopping to the cleaner side of the street. Yuu and Aura followed me, and while the kitsune seemed relieved about having a firm and dry footing to walk upon now, Aura clearly looked a bit disappointed. Hmm, since we were going through the market, I should probably take the chance to replenish my consumables. Since I gave a bunch away to my third-gendered rival¡­ Hmm? Did I just hear an androgynous voice shouting in anger at me from a distance? Well, whatever. Since she took a good amount of my throwing knives, I did need to replenish them. Also, It¡¯s been some time since I last made me some potions. I should probably fix that. Still, the potions have been a bit less useful recently. Hmm¡­ I should probably look into upgrading them. Hmm, speaking of consumables. ¡°Hey, Yuu.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± She said surprised. ¡°What will you do about the talismans you made?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Those? I have not thought that far.¡± She said after a moment of thought. ¡°I just made them to help with the exorcism¡­¡± She stopped for a moment and gave an awkward smile. ¡°Though it seems that there was no need for them.¡± ¡°Well, all things considered, the fact they worked was really surprising.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°Will you try to find out more what it can do?¡± I asked. To be honest, I doubt I could pull something like affecting ghosts using only my crystals, so it made me wonder what kinds of effects she should be able to pull off with the charms. ¡°That¡­¡± She started thinking deeply about it, to the point that she even stopped walking. Looks like the thought hadn¡¯t even crossed her mind about it. ¡°I could do something like that, but¡­¡± She became a bit hesitant as she thought deeper about it. ¡°I just copied what I saw on the internet, so I don¡¯t really know how they work.¡± She said with a slightly disappointed tone. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll probably spend a couple of days in the ship, so we have more than enough free time to do some experimenting.¡± I said with a wide smile. ¡°No.¡± Someone suddenly denied me in a panicky tone. ¡°No no no no. No more experimenting in closed environment.¡± Lily suddenly appeared besides me with a panicked look. ¡°Where the hell did you even come from?¡± I asked shocked. ¡°I was doing some market research when I felt a shiver and found you talking about experiments.¡± The undine said with a worried expression. ¡°But¡­¡± I said with a pout. ¡°No buts.¡± She cut me off immediately with an angry voice. ¡°You are NOT doing those experiments in an enclosed and limited space like a boat.¡± ¡°Booh, meanie.¡± I complained with a pout. ¡°And here I had finally convinced Yuu to fall in the inescapable, never ending spiral pit of crafting consumables.¡± ¡°Why did you make it sound so dark?¡± Lily asked me shocked before sighing and turning to Yuu. ¡°Still, if Yuu is the one doing the experiment, I guess there shouldn¡¯t be much issues.¡± ¡°I promise I shall be careful.¡± Yuu said courteously while bowing slightly. ¡°Oi. What¡¯s with that difference in treatment?¡± I complained. ¡°I can be careful too!¡± As I threw a tantrum in annoyance, not only Lily, but also Crys and Aura looked at me with pitiful eyes. Feeling my HP draining with at a painful rate at their stares, I crouched down in the corner and started drawing circles in the ground.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. It took me a moment to recover, but after a couple of minutes of them apologizing to me without a shred of sincerity behind their words, I finally went back to looking around for the wolf-girl. ¡°Anyway, what exactly did you say you were doing?¡± I asked Lily once I recovered myself. ¡°Market research.¡± She replied with an amused smile. ¡°You see, Argento told me that some things we can buy cheaply here can be sold at higher prices in other capital¡¯s area of influence, so I was looking around to find something I thought might be worth selling over there.¡± She said. ¡°Hmm¡­ For someone who wanted to be a crafter, you are surprisingly invested on learning merchanting, huh?¡± I said amused. ¡°Ah¡­ Well, I do need the money to buy the supplies for my own projects since I can¡¯t go hunting like teacher.¡± She said with a slightly melancholic tone, so I couldn¡¯t help but smile awkwardly. ¡°I guess I hadn¡¯t thought about that.¡± I said with an awkward nod. Different from us players who could just go and hunt the monsters freely without much issues, the NPCs actually would risk their lives. ¡°Well, I guess I can¡¯t be like teacher in every regard then.¡± She sounded a bit disappointed, but since there wasn¡¯t much I could do about it, I could only sigh and wonder what to say to her. ¡°Are you also going to sell your things to Argento?¡± Yuu suddenly asked. ¡°Hmm?¡± Lily was caught by surprise by Yuu¡¯s sudden inquiry. ¡°Ah. I¡¯m not sure. I was kind of thinking of selling them by myself since Argento taught me so much.¡± She said after some thought. ¡°Oooh, aren¡¯t you one independent little apprentice?¡± I said amused while briefly rubbing her hair. She reacted with a surprised gasp before giving me a complex smile. ¡°Not really. This just means that I¡¯m having to deal with things on my own.¡± She said awkwardly. ¡°And since I doubt my items are as good as teacher¡¯s, I can¡¯t trouble Argento with selling them.¡± ¡°But this also means you have a chance to get a better profit than Shishou.¡± Yuu said suddenly. ¡°Eh? How so?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Well, while Shishou does get most of his materials by himself, he still have a fair amount of things he gets from Argento.¡± The Kitsune explained. ¡°And even then, he uses Argento as a the middle-man in his sales, so a good part of the profit ends up in being pocketed by him. Not to mention that Shishou¡¯s target-market is pretty saturated with merchandise already since most Pl¡­ Chosen have been working on it, so the basic laws of supply and demand means that his potential profit is lowered.¡± ¡°¡­Waah. For someone who¡¯s supposedly bad with math, you are really are good with economy, aren¡¯t you?¡± I said amusedly. ¡°Hehe¡­ Well, I learned about it since father have a company that deals a lot with market...¡± Yuu said a bit embarrassed while scratching her cheek. ¡°Anyway, if I recall, Lily was thinking on specializing on making equipment for pets, isn¡¯t that right?¡± ¡°Well, I did enjoy making Rio¡¯s armor¡­¡± Lily replied while thinking deeply about it. ¡°So I was considering making that my main craft, but I wasn¡¯t sure whether that¡¯d be a good idea or not.¡± ¡°I can not say that I grasp the entirety of the market at the moment, but I don¡¯t believe that armor for pets are that easy to find.¡± Yuu said while holding her chin in her hands. I nodded in agreement to her. I do recall receiving a bunch of requests for pet armors back when I started crafting. If I stopped to think about it, that was quite the decent way to get me some pocket money, wasn¡¯t it? Tuning my mind out as Yuu and Lily went into their talk about economics and market management, I absentmindedly ended up looking around while we searched for Hanbei and Yami. Looking at the market and with the talk around us being about pets, I opened up my inventory and started scavenging around for Aura¡¯s old ronin costume. ¡°Hey, Crys. Come here.¡± I called up the floating maid who had wandered off to buy some spices for us. ¡°What happened, Master?¡± She asked while floating closer to me. Once she was close to me, I had her stand with her arms and legs stretched out, well, not exactly since she was a bunch of floating crystals, so if she wanted she didn¡¯t even need to keep up her shape but you get the meaning. She was standing spread out so I quickly measured up the costume against her. ¡°Ah¡­ You still had these?¡± She said surprised. ¡°Yeah. I was wondering if you¡¯d be able to use it, but it seems some adjustments are needed.¡± I said with a frown. Since this was made back when Cyg and Aura were sharing the body, so the proportions were a bit off. For starters, the sleeves were a bit too short, with the legs of the hakama being roughly the same. On the other hand, at least the size itself looked like it would work. ¡°Will need to rework¡­ And find a way to fix the hat in your head.¡± ¡°I could always leave a piece of me to position the hat.¡± She said cheerfully as a piece of the crystals that made her hair floated off. ¡°That could work.¡± I said in agreement before turning my attention to the one who was watching the scene from near my leg with a slightly nostalgic and jealous look. ¡°I think this might be a bit too small for you right now.¡± A clear whimper of disappointment escaped the freezing-tail beneath me. ¡°And I¡¯m not entirely sure if wearing an armor would affect your own skills, so I¡¯m not sure if making one of those would be a good idea.¡± I said worried, and I could only see her ears falling flat against her head. Ughh¡­ if you give me such a look and sound so disappointed, you make things difficult to me! Come on Gon, use your uselessly creative mind to come up with a way to make Aura something! She deserves it! Even if she wasn¡¯t one of the main individuals to help you and have been following you ever since you met her in that forest so long ago, she¡¯s fluffy enough to receive a present! ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll think of something.¡± I said after being completely destroyed by her puppy eyes. She raised her eyes surprised before letting out a cheerfully bark and rubbing her muzzle against my leg. Haah¡­ Maybe I should go thinking up something then. Let¡¯s see, Aura could invoke three different types of armor with her skill. While the mist and the liquid one shouldn¡¯t be too troublesome to deal with, the ice plate-mail was another story, seeing how it was entirely solid. Heck, I doubt that even dust would be able to go through that thing¡¯s defense if she were in real life. Speaking of dust¡­ Looking curiously at Aura, I lowered my hand towards her and ran my fingers through her fur. She became a bit surprised by the action, but didn¡¯t really complain either, wagging her tails lazily behind her. ¡°¡­Looks like your fur is a bit dusty.¡± I said while feeling the slight feeling of coarseness from her. She suddenly froze in place before coiling her tail around herself and nuzzling against it with a curious expression. ¡°Guess I should give you a wash, huh?¡± She looked annoyed for a moment, but also nodded. Looks like she didn¡¯t quite enjoy having her fur dirty either. Hmm, let¡¯s see. I guess I¡¯d need to buy some shampoo and towels to use. Aura doesn¡¯t really seem to mind the cold too much, so I guess I shouldn¡¯t worry too much about getting hot water. Even then, I could always have Yuu make some for me if need be. That said, a bucket to hold the water would come in handy since I don¡¯t have a hose. Oh yeah, can¡¯t forget something to do brush her hair after we are done. ¡°Hey, Lily.¡± I called the undine who was still in her excited conversation with the kitsune. ¡°Ah, yes teacher?¡± She called me curious. ¡°Have you seen something that I could use to wash Aura¡¯s fur?¡± I asked her. ¡°Like a shampoo or something?¡± ¡°Yeah. I saw a store selling that a bit further down there.¡± She said while pointing to the direction we were going. ¡°I see.¡± I nodded before storing away the ronin costume and making my way in that direction. ¡°By the way, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, but I heard something about the undines being in unrest or something.¡± I talked to her as a thought crossed my mind. ¡°You don¡¯t really seem that affected to be honest.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I was raised near fresh water instead of the coast.¡± She told me casually. ¡°Thanks to that, I¡¯m not all that sensitive towards the state of the ocean itself.¡± She told me, and I nodded in understanding. ¡°I think I get it.¡± I said with a nod. Basically, she¡¯s a fresh-water undine, while the ones in this city are salt-water undines. I guess that makes sense? Kind of like growing on the country or growing in a city. ¡°Heh. That was supposed to be common knowledge for elementals in general, teacher.¡± She said amused. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know if you noticed, but I¡¯m very good at being a bad example in many cases.¡± I said proudly. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be proud about that.¡± Crys said coldly behind me. ¡°Anyway, I did talk with some undines around here.¡± Lily continued. ¡°And while most of them aren¡¯t entirely sure about what exactly is happening with the ocean at the moment, there was an elder who did say that it wasn¡¯t the first-time things were like this.¡± ¡°Then does she know why the others are so restless?¡± Yuu asked curious, but Lily simply shook her head. ¡°First, it¡¯s a he. And no. He said that the last time they could only wait for the restlessness to pass. Though it did take around a week or two.¡± Lily said with a slight tone of worry. ¡°I see¡­ I guess that they weren¡¯t letting any ships leave back then either?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°Hmm. Then it¡¯s not really a surprise for them to have no idea what exactly is happening.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°I guess so.¡± Lily shrugged. ¡°Though, apparently, there are some reckless sailors who still set off even then, so one of them might know something.¡± ¡°Yeah. Speaking of which, Hanbei just found one of those and looks like they won¡¯t mind taking us.¡± I said, and noticed as Lily looked at us shocked. ¡°She just told us, so I guess we haven¡¯t had the time to tell Argento.¡± I peeked at her conflicted expression and sighed in my heart. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If you¡¯d rather that we stay behind and wait for things to calm down¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­ no. I¡¯ll¡­¡± She said in surprise for a moment, but calmed down once Yuu held her shoulder and gave her a calming smile. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ Think about it. Sorry.¡± ¡°Meh. Don¡¯t worry. Your circumstances are different from ours anyway.¡± I shrugged it off and she nodded weakly. ¡°Anyway, for now, we should find Hanbei so she can show us this sailor. That, and find the things to wash Aura.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She nodded a bit more cheerfully and we set back on searching around the market. --- Post chapter extra: Sitting in a bar near the center of the village, a single man was looking at the whole scene with a satisfied smile. Letting out an amused laugh, he downed the last of the beer in his mug, he left a few coins on the table as he stood up and put on the cap over his hair. ¡°Professionals¡­ Hah.¡± Daniel(?) laughed. ¡°As if such a job would last anything in this series. Let me show you how to really fix a fourth wall.¡± With these words said to nobody, the fixer picked up his toolbox and walked towards the dreaded crack on the fourth wall. Chapter 118 - Pet Spa "COME BACK HERE YOU KNIGHTED BALL OF DUSTY FUR!¡± I shouted while jumping over a pile of boxes in my way. ¡°Nya nyyy-nyaa!¡± Lieutenant shouted back as he slid under a street stall selling fruits, the now snow free ground helping him with his maneuver. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that clich¨¦ line! Now stop right there and don¡¯t make me make you regret your decision!¡± I shouted while dodging the market stall and chasing after him. ¡°Hello dictator. Hello martyr.¡± ¡°Good day to you too!¡± ¡°Nyaa na!¡± We stopped briefly to greet back to the occasional random person on the street that greeted us before going back to the chase scene. Huh? Get him while he¡¯s stopping to greet someone? That¡¯s just rude, you know? Anyway, I must admit that he¡¯s an opponent unlike any other I have faced before. Lieutenant knows all my usual tactics and strategies, so almost anything I might try against him he¡¯ll have foreseen it in one way or another. On the other hand, it¡¯s the same thing the other way around. Since I have a rough idea of how his furry head works, I can foresee his strategies of using his soldiers to slow me down and distract them with some well thrown fishes. Fu fu fu. Truly, this is a battle for the ages. While thinking such grandiose thoughts, I decided that the matter at hand was too important to just go on like this. Although I was sure I could eventually catch up to this knight wannabe, the time it¡¯d take would be far too long, so I decided to play a bit dirty. ¡°Oh well. Looks like you don¡¯t want to be a hit with the ladies then.¡± I said while stopping my sprint near the entrance of an alley and shrugging. In a most spectacular and inertia-less way, Lieutenant froze in place all of a sudden as his ears straightened out. ¡°Well, looks like Lieutenant knight¡¯s days as a ladies¡¯ man is coming to an end.¡± ¡°N-Nanyaa?¡± Lieutenant asked while still not turning back. ¡°What? You really thought there would be nothing for you in this?¡± I said while shaking my head disappointed. ¡°Also, caught ya!¡± I said while throwing the freezing knife I had discreetly pulled out right beside his feet. ¡°NYA!¡± He leapt in surprise and tried to move away, however, this brief moment of surprise was enough time for me to do a dive and grab him by the scruff of his neck. ¡°N-NYAA!¡± ¡°Not entirely. There WAS some truth to what I said.¡± I replied while standing back up with my best evil*cough*friendly smile. ¡°That still doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t use it as a trick to get you.¡± ¡°N-N-Nyaa! Na-nyaa ny-nynanya!¡± ¡°Haaah? What are you talking about? Your affinity is Chaos.¡± I asked confused while tilting my head. Then, just to be sure, I quickly opened up my now larger pet list and checked Lieutenant¡¯s status, and true to his words, there It was. Elemental affinity: Chaos / Metal. ¡°¡­That wasn¡¯t your old affinity.¡± I commented confused. ¡°Nyaa-na Ninininanyanyaow. Nyana-na-nanya.¡± ¡°Heeh¡­ That¡¯s actually pretty cool. Not that it changes much to be honest.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Then, how was it with the previous costume?¡± ¡°Nyaa-na.¡± ¡°Earth? That¡¯s odd¡­ Though I guess a good military is pretty solid.¡± ¡°Nyaa-na-nyanynyna.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah, I¡¯m not buying that one.¡± I replied bluntly while dropping off my amused look. ¡°Besides, even if you WERE to get rusted, all we need to do is to remove the armor and you¡¯d go back to normal, right?¡± I said with my best evil*cough*friendly smile. Meanwhile, Lieutenant only became paler and paler each passing second as his trick was seen through. ¡°Not like you¡¯d wear your clothes or armor when taking a bath anyway.¡± ¡°NYAAAAAAAAAAH! NYAAAH NYAAAH NYAAAH!¡± He started screaming and squirming, trying to escape from my grasp as I put him under my arm while walking back to where I had left the others. ¡­ While cheerfully laughing at my totally not underhanded victory, I made my way to the back entrance of Lord Wich¡¯s estate while still carrying the little furball under my arm. Reaching into the courtyard, I met with the sight of two large wooden basins filled to the brim with water. In the larger one, I could spot Aura¡¯s muzzle peeking over the water line as she lazed in the bath. If I were to be honest, I¡¯m actually surprised that Aura not only had nothing against bath, and instead seemed to be enjoying it, point proven by the tip of the tail wiggling lazily right under the water level, sending ripples to the slightly frosted water line. Meanwhile, on the second basin and smaller basin held a few centimeters above a small bonfire, we had Pebblesworth, Rio and Crys. The first two got curious about what I was doing with Aura and decided to join in, while the last one just decided that she¡¯d take a day off and enjoy the bath as well. Well, Pebblesworth was mostly playing around underwater while Rio and Crys floated around lazily on the water level. The crystal elemental in specific looked like she was having a hard time keeping her body together as she looked completely relaxed. ¡°Ah, teacher.¡± Lily called out to me as she added a bit more wood to the fire that was heating up the trio¡¯s bath. ¡°So you caught him.¡± She commented with an awkward smile as I casually stripped the furball from his armor. ¡°Yeah. Might as well get over with this now since I¡¯m already dealing with these three.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Might as well say it that it¡¯s a preparation for going to a brand new world!¡± I said while pumping myself up. ¡°Teacher¡­ We are only taking a boat to the next continent. And it isn¡¯t even that far from here¡­¡± Lily said with an awkward smile. ¡°No, you see¡­ Brand new world is¡­ ¡± I was about to explain to Lily the wonders of traveling with friends in a very shounen-manga style, but a certain ball of fur took that as a chance to try and run away. I quickly grabbed him by the tail and carried him nonchalantly to the water. ¡°Just saying, but you get out without washing and I¡¯m shoving you together with Aura.¡± I told him. For a brief moment he stopped to weigh the pros and con as he stared at the larger basin. His eyes shrunk in sheer terror once he noticed the slight detail that Aura¡¯s water was, in fact, almost freezing over, with a large amount of ice gathering on the top layer of the water. He needed no more motivation to dive into the lukewarm heated water. I mean, it might not be snowing anymore, but it¡¯s still pretty damn cold out here. Aura is a special case since she actually prefers the cold, but I¡¯m not that heartless to have the other three washed together with her. ¡°Anyway, did you manage to find it?¡± I asked Lily after finishing to deal with the furball issue. ¡°Ah, yes.¡± She said while reaching out to her backpack that was nearby. ¡°Here. Coarse sand and fine polishing sands, as well as polishing wax.¡± She said while handing me a pair of medium sized leather sacks and a small bottle. ¡°It was ten silver coins.¡± She told me. ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not entirely sure, but it sounds expensive.¡± I said with a frown while passing her the coins. ¡°Well, this town doesn¡¯t really specialize in stones so much as ores, so it¡¯s not a specialty for the area.¡± She explained to me with a serious tone. ¡°That, and besides the wax, as long as you do it properly, these can be somewhat reutilized.¡± Fair nuff. I thought while throwing the items into my inventory. Since I wouldn¡¯t be using it for now, I stored it away and took out what I was going to use right now. Taking out a bottle of shampoo and a long cloth, I moved towards Aura. ¡°Wakey wak-UGHHHHH COLD! W-w-wakey¡­¡± I said while lowering my hand into Aura¡¯s basin and patting her gently to bring her back to reality, only to feel the sheer agony of the icy water piercing through my skin and reaching up to my brain. -13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13 -130 (1050/1180) THE HURT! IT PAINS! THE BURNS! COLDS IT! Removing my hand from the plane of eternal hurtdom and agony, I could still feel it hurting as the water slowly dripped from it. Aura woke up from her semi slumber and peeked over the water towards me. ¡°C-Come on¡­ T-time to c-clean your f-fur.¡± I said while still shivering in cold and pain. She seemingly noticed my situation as she quickly woke up and stared at me worried. ¡°J-Just a bit of c-cold water¡­ D-Don¡¯t worry ab-ab-about it¡­¡± I shrugged it off. As she stretched a bit within the basin, I took the time to lay the cloth on the ground before her so that she could stand on it without getting dirty. She easily jumped over to the cloth and I started to gently apply the shampoo to her fur. She let out a pleased sound as I massaged her body, making sure to not accidentally pull on her fur while doing my job. I wasn¡¯t entirely knowledgeable on how to wash animals if I were to be honest, but thankfully, Aura could tell me if I was doing something wrong. I do recall hearing something about water causing infections if it enters into a dog¡¯s ears, but apparently, Aura had none of that to worry about. An advantage of having a water related element, I guess? While I thought so curiously, I turned to Lily. ¡°So, what did you decide?¡± I asked the undine. ¡°Will you wait here or will you cross with us?¡± ¡°I spoke with Argento.¡± She told while sitting down and watching me curiously. ¡°He said that he¡¯ll stay back too and try to strike a supply deal with lord Wich.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I replied with a thought. Geez, he sure wastes no time to try and make a bit more money. Doesn¡¯t he have a business to run in real life or something? Still¡­ If he and Lily will stay behind and we¡¯ll have to wait for them, doesn¡¯t this mean that we going ahead makes no big difference since we¡¯ll have to wait for them? ¡°He said that we can catch up to you later.¡± Lily explained, probably understanding my doubt. ¡°At earliest, we might catch you at the other port after one or two days. At worst, we can just meet at Ezoria Argus.¡± She explained. ¡°Are you two fine with that?¡± I asked just to be safe, and Lily nodded with a smile. ¡°Hmm, I guess that¡¯s for the better too, since I have a bunch things to do at the capital anyway.¡± ¡°Hmm? Really?¡± Lily looked surprised for a moment.Stolen story; please report. ¡°Yeah. I heard from a friend that she has a relative that might just point me out to someone who knows a bit more about how to fool around with elemental crystals.¡± Her expression froze at the mention of elemental crystals. Probably recalling back to what happened when we were going to the mine. ¡°And if my memory doesn¡¯t fails me, Yuu had to search around for something around there too. A book or something¡­¡± I tried to recall back to what her teacher had told her, but every time I recalled the little womanizer, I got this urge to punch someone. ¡°Hmm. So if you go ahead and deal with that before we catch up to you, then we might not even lose time, huh?¡± She asked, to which I nodded. ¡°Yeah. Guess it¡¯s actually a win-win if we go ahead then.¡± I said after a moment of thought as I finished shampooing the big fox, who was now laying on the ground with a leg twitching and eyes closed in pleasure. All while her entire body was hidden beneath a layer of bubbles. ¡°Okay, now turn here so I can wash your face.¡± I told the freezing tail who complied lazily. I hesitated for a moment, trying to recall back to what I read just to be sure. ¡°Close your eyes so water doesn¡¯t get in.¡± I told her while sinking a towel in water and then using it to gently wipe the dust away from her face. ¡°There we go. Now to just leave the shampoo on for a bit before rinsing it off.¡± I told her while petting her head a bit. ¡°Strange¡­ I¡¯m almost sure you said you had no idea how to wash animals before.¡± Lily commented doubtfully. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s the knowledge of google sensei for you!¡± I said with a proud smirk. ¡°Google sensei¡­? Who¡¯s that? An academic?¡± ¡°Ermm¡­ It¡¯s a thing from where I come from. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I waved her doubt off. She looked at me dubiously for a moment, but then shrugged off with an: ¡®it¡¯s teacher after all¡¯ air to herself. I¡¯d say I got hurt by her reaction, but I do deserve it, sooo¡­ ¡°Anyway, did that news idiot give any sign of being alive?¡± ¡°Ozzur? Yeah, I saw him just a few minutes ago.¡± Ugh! I sincerely wasn¡¯t expecting that answer. ¡°He was actually looking for you with his notebook in hand.¡± ¡°And you¡­¡± ¡°I told him you got a new house, and when he asked me where it was, I told him the location.¡± She replied mysteriously. I stared at her blankly trying to understand the meaning behind her words and her awkward avoid-meeting-eyes guilty look. He asked her where she was¡­ She replied about my house¡­ Oh¡­ ¡°You naughty, naughty girl.¡± I said with a mischievous smirk. ¡°Well¡­ he is a bit annoying with that ¡®scoop scoop¡¯ of his¡­¡± She said while blushing slightly. I couldn¡¯t help but laugh out loud. Yeah, I really need to watch out whom I relate to, because it seems my teasing instinct and mischievous spirit is contagious. ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you right now!¡± I said while laughing and petting the embarrassed lily¡¯s head. ¡°¡­That¡¯s not something to be proud of.¡± She complained in a low voice. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m proud about a lot of bad things.¡± I said seriously. ¡°You have to work on that¡­¡± I ignored her remark while making my way to the second basin. ¡°Where are Yuu and the others?¡± She asked curious. ¡°Yuu went off to grab some materials for making talismans, while Hanbei and Yami left to do something in our world.¡± I explained to her. For one, Hanbei had to do homework that she had postponed and then submit it via the internet. Yuu being the honor student she is, had already completed everything the teachers had planned before even traveling here. I fear that if I ever tell her about PDF files I might lose her to study-land. Meanwhile, Yami went off to make preparations for dinner, since she might not have time to do so once we board since we¡¯ll be leaving at late afternoon slash early evening in-game time, which is about the time she¡¯d usually start on food preparation real-life time. Though, let¡¯s be honest, she¡¯s most likely just using the chance to stay close to Hanbei. ¡°Okay, Rio, come here.¡± I called the dragonling while taking out a brush from my inventory. ¡°How¡¯s the water?¡± I asked her as she approached the border of the basin. ¡°It¡¯s really nice, Stone-Mister. It¡¯s really warm and feels good.¡± She said while perking her neck a bit. ¡°That¡¯s good. Now stay here so that I can brush off your scales for a bit.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Can I stay in the water?¡± She asked a with a slightly disappointed tone. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be a problem for now.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°But afterwards I¡¯ll need you and lieutenant to leave.¡± ¡°Heeh? Why?¡± Guuuuh. Don¡¯t make that voice while giving me those upturned eyes! It¡¯s bad for my mental health! ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯ll start polishing pebbles, and I¡¯ll need to pour some sand in the water for that.¡± I explained, and while she did look a bit disappointed, she was an obedient girl, so she nodded weakly. Guuuh. I¡¯ll have to spoil her somehow later. While failing my puppy eyes resistance roll, I started to ever so carefully brush her scales while supporting her body from underneath so that she wouldn¡¯t sink. Her bad humor quickly vanished away as she started humming in satisfaction. Feeling a bit relieved at seeing that brushing wasn¡¯t something she disliked, I went on with the cleaning. ¡°Anyway, have you decided how you¡¯ll go around with your crafting?¡± I asked Lily to dispel the silence that was settling down. ¡°Ah, hmm, yes. I¡¯ve been thinking about it.¡± She said after a bit of thought. ¡°I think I might do that after all.¡± She said with a bit more confidence than the previous time I had asked her. ¡°That said, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll abandon basic crafting.¡± ¡°Sticking to the basics, huh?¡± I said with a proud tone. ¡°Hmm. After all, that¡¯s what made me want to start working with crafting in the first place.¡± She said with an awkward tone and a small smile. ¡°Well, if I have a say in this matter, I think it¡¯s not a bad idea, since you¡¯d limit what you can do if you only stuck to one thing when crafting.¡± I gave her my honest opinion. ¡°Well, I guess this means that you have just graduated from Gon¡¯s schools of free-style crafting! Congratulations!¡± I put my best into sounding congratulatory while smiling. ¡°Ah, thanks teach¡­ Wait, what?¡± ¡°Yeah, you have proven yourself good enough to graduate from the school, and thus is considered good enough to survive on your own in this cruel world that is the land of crafters!¡± I said in the most pompous and important sounding tone I could muster before going back to brushing Rio. ¡°Eeeeh? Already?¡± She asked me in shock. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s been¡­. A couple of weeks¡­ Maybe a bit more¡­¡± ¡°Lily. You do understand that, by the time you decided to make yourself my apprentice, I had only started on crafting for about, what? A few weeks?¡± I told while looking at her with an incriminatory gaze. She became quiet as she processed my words. ¡°I mean, yeah, the way I do it might be unique or something, but overall, I¡¯ve only been in the job for a very little time and had almost to no experience beforehand.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She started saying something, but her words was escaped her lips. ¡°Now, if you want to improve your basic crafting skills, then you¡¯d either need to start training or find a better professional to teach you.¡± I told her while giving a quick glance at Rio in the water and deciding that she had been cleaned enough. Letting go of the young wyvern who chirped satisfied, I quickly dried my hands into my robe and then turned back to Lily. ¡°Okay, rare Gon serious time. There¡¯s literally nothing I can teach you since, as I stated dozens of time before, I have no idea what I¡¯m doing. I told you what I do, you saw and even started training with it. From now on, It¡¯s pretty much up to you what happens.¡± I said while briefly patting her head. ¡°¡­If you say so¡­¡± She said a bit disappointed. ¡­Hmmm¡­ ¡°¡­Teacher?¡± She suddenly called to me, looking at me confused and worried. ¡°Did something happen?¡± She called out to me confused. ¡°Oh¡­ Sorry, was just wondering about something.¡± I said absentmindedly. ¡°Huh? What is it?¡± She sounded a bit worried. ¡°I¡­ Was just wondering whether you¡¯d be a fluffy or a smoothy.¡± I said while this great doubt rose up within me. ¡­ ¡°A what¡­?¡± Confusion. ¡°You see, recently I came to this moment of enlightenment that you have fluffies, and smoothies.¡± I said while looking at Aura, who was still covered in bubbles, and Pebblesworth¡­ Who somewhere in the time I had been brushing Rio pulled out his scarf and was knitting underwater once again. ¡°So I was wondering where I should fit you in.¡± ¡°¡­¡± For some reason she just stared at me blankly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°W-What?¡± I asked worried. ¡°Haah¡­ Nothing.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Whaaat?¡± It¡¯s never nothing when people say nothing. Even more if it¡¯s a woman if media ever told me anything. ¡°Anyway, weren¡¯t you going to polish Pebble and Crys?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, I was going to do that.¡± I nodded while turning back to the basin. ¡°Rio, Lieutenant. I¡¯ll need the two of you to leave.¡± ¡°Nyaany.¡± Lieutenant said with a triumphant tone while standing up. ¡°No, You¡¯ll be using the shampoo.¡± I said while pointing to the bottle near Aura. ¡°Nanya?¡± ¡°No complaints else I¡¯ll just dump you in the bucket of ice with water.¡± ¡°Nyaa¡­¡± He tiredly got out of the basin before walking tiredly towards the shampoo bottle. Meanwhile, Rio climbed up my arm and was now resting on the top of my head, with the water still dripping from her. I felt a twitch of annoyance, but the reminder that she wasn¡¯t doing it on purpose quickly made it fly away. ¡°Hey, Rio, why don¡¯t you go with Lily so she can dry you up?¡± I asked her. She looked down towards me and then towards the still disappointed looking Lilly, who gave a brief sigh before nodding and turning picking a towel and beckoning Rio to come closer. As the wyvern leapt out from my head, I turned to the two remaining bath-going mineral beings that stayed in the basin. ¡°¡­You still there?¡± I called out to Crys who was completely motionless while her shards floated freely on the water¡¯s surface. However, seeing that no response was coming, I gently poked one of her shards to the point that she sunk underwater. ¡°I¡¯M AWAKE! I¡¯M AWAKE!¡± She shouted suddenly as all her shards flew and gathered in a hurry, reforming her body a few centimeters above the water. ¡°I TOTALLY DID NOT FALL ASLEEP BECAUSE THE WATER TEMPERATURE WAS NICE!¡± She added in a hurry as she, for whatever reason, made a salute. ¡°¡­I was curious about why you were so quiet¡­ So you just were napping huh¡­¡± I said with a smirk. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know you could nap to be honest.¡± I said with a frown. ¡°¡­I wasn¡¯t napping¡­¡± She told me after an awkward moment of silence. ¡°You sound about as guilty as you can be right now.¡± I replied bluntly. She avoided my eyes for a moment before I sighed and shook my head. ¡°Anyways, I¡¯m going to dump some sand into the water, so you might want to get out for now.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about it. I can wash the sand off myself afterwards.¡± She waved it off. However¡­ ¡°You just want to nap a bit more, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°¡­No. That¡¯s totally not¡­ ¡±*Yawn* ¡°the reason¡­¡± ¡°You are a horrible liar.¡± I told her, to which she just kept quiet. ¡°Oh well, it¡¯s your call what you¡¯ll do.¡± I opened up my inventory and picked up the polishing sand. I spread some around my hands for a bit before turning to pebblesworth. ¡°It¡¯s time for some polishing, little guy.¡± I told him, making the small elemental turn to me curiously. ¡°You might want to store the scarf away so it doesn¡¯t get dirty.¡± It tilted its body for a bit, confused, but complied nonetheless. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t really know if I¡¯m supposed to do this, but if it feels bad or hurts, do tell me, okay?¡± I think I heard a muffled tek coming from underwater. Taking that as a sign that he understood, I poured the sand into the water before submersing my hand into it. If Google sensei told me anything, is that a good way to polish a stone is to use sand and another stone with water in between. Since I¡¯m already made of stone, I guessed I already had that covered. Still¡­ Doesn¡¯t this kind of means Its just an underwater sandy petting session? Oh well. Following what I read and what I guessed, I made sure to thoroughly wash each segment of his body. From the main body to the legs and tails, I kept on rubbing his body with my fingers while always making sure that it was covered enough in sand for it to have an effect by grabbing the sand that gathered at the bottom of the basin and spreading over my hand once again. Once again, I couldn¡¯t help but feel relieved at seeing that Pebble wasn¡¯t really against the polishing, and after a couple of minutes we were done. ¡°¡­I know it sounds weird, but that kinda looks likes it feels good.¡± Crys commented while staring at Pebbles. ¡°¡­I must say that I really didn¡¯t expect that from you.¡± I told her bluntly. ¡°Master, you do not understand the power you hold on your hands.¡± She replied to me coldly, leaving me slightly surprised. ¡°I can attest to that.¡± Lilly suddenly added. ¡°Teacher¡¯s petting should not be taking lightly.¡± Aura barked from her bubbly shell while Rio just lifted her head from her towel cradle and stared around confused. ¡°You guys are just exaggerating it.¡± I gave a wry laugh. I mean, if it was the skill I would understand, but this is just normal petting. While it does feel good, it¡¯s not that much, right? ¡°Anyway, I didn¡¯t really find anything about crystal being polished via sand.¡± She suddenly made a really disappointed expression. ¡°¡­But I did hear that waxing can help a bit.¡± Her expression suddenly became brighter. ¡±Anyway, have to change the water now for the finer sand.¡± I told him. ¡°Could you go get me a bit more water?¡± I asked Crys, who nodded before floating away towards the well we used to draw water. Deciding that enough time should have passed, I turned back towards Aura and grabbed the other bucket that we had used to draw water to rinse her off the shampoo. Lieutenant? He can do that himself. Chapter 119 - Reaching Fluffyvana ¡°Jiii~~¡± Okay. I didn¡¯t quite expect something like this, but one way or another it¡¯s happening. I silently took a peek over my shoulder, only for my eyes to meet with the eyes of a black kitsune wearing kimono, who was very respectfully sitting in seiza, aka, on her knees, while watching me. Not that I would mind usually, after all, most of the time Yuu is very quiet and seems to enjoy watching me as I do whatever it is that I¡¯m doing at the time. However¡­ ¡°Jiii~~¡± She¡¯s doing that on purpose, isn¡¯t she? It must be. I mean, I always just assumed that the whole ¡®Jii~~¡¯ sound when someone stared at someone else in manga was just a way to make the situation a bit sillier or just the usual weird Japanese onomatopoeias. Yet, here I am with a legitimate Japanese girl making that sound while watching me. Watching me do what you may ask? Well, after having rinsed off the water from Aura¡¯s body and finished sand-polishing Pebblesworth, I took the chance to brush her fur so that it would untangle itself. Which yeah, means that I am right now brushing Aura¡¯s fur. The same Aura who just melted on my lap not even halfway into the brushing and now has the most peaceful expression I have ever seen her make in all the time we¡¯ve been together. I didn¡¯t really need a translation to understand that she was enjoying this. A lot. So, if my logicking skill doesn¡¯t fail me¡­ Quick check, one plus three equals¡­ twenty seven. Yeah, seems to be working just fine. Well, my logicking skill says me that if I put two and two together, I can understand that Yuu is actually staring not exactly at me, but at Aura while full of jealousy. ¡°Jiii~~¡± And for whatever reason she was also making that sound which, if I were to be honest, sounds downright adorable. While I¡¯m not sure what happened for her to make the sound, I still couldn¡¯t help but smile awkwardly. ¡°Yuu¡­¡± I called out to the kitsune. ¡°Jii~- Ah, Yes Shishou?¡± She said surprised. ¡°...So I see you came back.¡± I commented. ¡°Yes¡­¡± She commented before going silent once again, staring intently at the motion of brush against Aura¡¯s fur. ¡­Yeah, she¡¯s one hundred percent jealous of Aura. Well, I kind of understand, since both of them are fluffy foxes that use ice magic, it¡¯s perfectly normal for them to have some overlap and be jealous of each other. I truly get that. Now, how does that explain both Crys and Lily also staring at me like that? I mean, sorry to say it, one of you is in the smoothie faction and the other one I¡¯m still not sure where to fit, but I¡¯m almost sure you don¡¯t fit in the fluffy faction either. So, there isn¡¯t really any reason for the two of you to be jealous, right? While feeling pressurized by the trio who were staring holes into my back, I finished brushing Aura and very carefully removed her head from my lap so as to not wake her up. I¡¯m not entirely sure whether I succeeded or not seeing how her expression grew a bit less happy, but at least she didn¡¯t seem to wake up. I was about to turn to the trio and start to complain about how uncomfortable they were making me, but a sudden window appeared before me.
Due to extensive time and care used while brushing your pet, you have unlocked the Petting mastery sub-skill: Brushing
Sub-skill: Brushing [lvl9] (levels increase with Petting Mastery)
A skill that was too powerful to even exist, sealed under thousands upon thousands lines of code, such power that shouldn¡¯t even exist under normal circumstances in this world has now been unlocked and set free upon the world. I hope you never regret what you have done. All benefits from petting mastery also apply to brushing actions as a relaxing feeling. Brushing something causes it¡¯s fluffiness rating to increase by 45% (How did you even manage to make the game create that kind of status? Seriously!)
Passive
¡­Huuh. Wut? *Please wait for a moment as our main character processes this window.* ¡°¡­CRYSSS!¡± ¡°It was the mainframe!¡± She shouted back at me. ¡°Though I agree with her.¡± She added as a mumble. ¡°I heard that!¡± I said bluntly. ¡°Huh? What?¡± Lily seemed confused at our exchange, but Yuu quickly told her to not mind it. Good Yuu. Okay, time for everyone¡¯s favorite: Gon¡¯s skill criticizing corner! Hooray! Anyway, let¡¯s start with the obvious. How did it even come to this? Like, seriously! I sincerely didn¡¯t see this one coming! Not that I¡¯m complaining though, but why is this even a skill? Okay. Second point. What with that description? You should save that for when a demon lord gets revived or something! Not when you get a brushing skill! And how will I even regret this skill? Did you see the benefits? Speaking of which, the benefits. While I¡¯m not entirely sure how the first part of the effect applies, if Aura means anything, it¡¯s seems effective. Okay, after a quick glance at the still almost-melted Aura, I should say it¡¯s VERY effective. On the other hand. Forty five percent more fluffy. BY THE MIGHT OF BRUSHING! I HAVE THE FLUFFY! Wanting to test this effect of the skill, I turned back to the still napping Aura and¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Suddenly, I felt my head being thrown left and right repeatedly as my cheek burnt with a stingy pain. -4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 -40(1140/1180) ¡°-er, come back! Teacher!¡± I was suddenly met with a worried looking Lily whose hand had been slapping me across the cheeks. ¡°Ah! I think he¡¯s back.¡± I heard Yuu¡¯s voice calling from somewhere nearby. ¡°Huh¡­ Hawa¡­?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Wh¡­What happened? I feel like¡­ I went somewhere, then¡­ Heaven?¡± ¡°Cygnasdamned you useless master.¡± Crys said while face-palming and shaking her head. ¡°We thought we had lost you for a moment.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± My mind is blank. All I remember is¡­ Fluffy? ¡°Blue-tailed-miss was also acting strange.¡± Rio chirped in with a worried tone. Blue-tailed-miss? Aura? I blinked confused before looking to the side and my eyes landing upon the blue fox who was laying on the ground besides me with an expression of sheer ecstasy. She probably noticed me, because she raised her head and stared at me for a moment before making a motion of coming closer to me. Only for her to suddenly be held back by Yuu while Lily pushed me away. ¡°No. No no no no no. Teacher, you shouldn¡¯t do that again!¡± Lily said in a panicky tone. ¡°Huh? Do what?¡± ¡°Shishou! You were acting really weird when you were petting Aura earlier.¡± Yuu said worried. ¡°Aura was also looking like she had gone somewhere far away.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think Master was using his skill unconsciously.¡± Crys added. I blinked confused. What were they talking about? Think Gon, think! Okay, I was washing all my pets for some reason. Then, since I was almost done, I started brushing Aura until I got myself a skill¡­ The skill had the effect of making fluffy things fluffier, which made me want to test how it felt, so I began petting Aura and¡­ Heaven? No, wrong. Paradise? No no no no. Fluffydise? Sounds a bit closer, but still no. All I remember is the fluffiest fluff to ever fluff under all fluffydom that could fluff while fluffing.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Oh my god. That skill is scary. That thing is too scary. Too powerful. Now I see why Cyg was so scared of that. That¡¯s too much power to be entrusted to one single person! That¡¯s pretty much the equivalent of giving a high schooler the key and instructions for a weapon of mass destruction! I should totally ask Yuu if she wants me to brush her tail later. ¡°Ah¡­ I see.¡± I said a bit absent minded as things came back to me. ¡°Yeah¡­ I should probably refrain from that for now.¡± I nodded, not being entirely sure on my capacity to get a good fluffy resistance roll. ¡°Hmm¡­ Anyway, what was I doing?¡± ¡°Hmm, I think you were going to finish polishing Pebblesworth.¡± Lily said a bit relieved. ¡°Ah! Me first!¡± Crys suddenly said while putting herself before me. ¡°You said that you¡¯d polish me later, and you already did the sand polishing with Pebblesworth.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Sure. I guess it makes sense.¡± I nodded while trying to recall through my jumbled mess of a head what I had to do. ¡°Okay¡­ Wax and a cloth.¡± I said while fishing the objects from my inventory and making the preparations. ¡°Doing it piece-by-piece?¡± I asked her and she nodded. She separated a piece of her body and floated it to my palm. ¡°Anyway, if it hurts or anything, just tell me.¡± I told her and she nodded. After spreading a bit of wax both on the cloth and on Crys. Then, I put myself to work. ¡°¡­Uwaaah¡­¡± She suddenly let out a strange voice that had me startled. I turned towards her main body in worry. ¡°This... Feels so nice¡­¡± She said in a satisfied tone. ¡°Huuh¡­¡± ¡°If my body wasn¡¯t made of geometrically stabilized particles, I¡¯d have melted by now.¡± She said as I continued polishing her piece. I smiled awkwardly while going back to my work.
Due to extensive time and care used while polishing your pet, you have unlocked the Petting mastery sub-skill: Polishing (levels increase with Petting Mastery)
Sub-skill: Polishing [lvl9]
Okay, one wasn¡¯t enough, now you have two of these¡­ Do I even need to say anything? *Sigh* Anyway, stop reading this and go back to polishing me already! All benefits from petting mastery also apply to brushing actions as a relaxing feeling. Polishing something causes it¡¯s Smoothyness rating to increase by 45% (Please note that this isn¡¯t even supposed to be an actual word, okay?)
Passive
Aaah¡­ Crap. ¡­ ¡°So, you are saying that you went into an almost trance-like state where you¡¯d pet Aura, Pebblesworth and Crys until either you or them went mad with pleasure?¡± Hanbei asked me with a kind of failed attempt at an incriminating tone. ¡°¡­Aye¡­¡± I said, not exactly being able to refute her words. ¡°Then, when Yuu and Lily went to help you, you accidentally had them cast under the petting skill?¡± She continued, and the two besides me blushed while looking away. ¡°Yeah¡­ As I said, the skills had more destructive power than what I expected.¡± I said awkwardly while eyeing the small crystalline maid who was sitting on my shoulder while humming happily and leaning against my head. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty bad way of saying that you put your dirty hands upon these two innocent ladies.¡± Yami said coldly. ¡°Says the one whose mind and tongue are even more twisted than mine.¡± I said back at her while staring at her blankly. For a moment we crossed gazes as she tried to incriminate me and vice-versa, until the slime maid suddenly sighed and shook her head disappointed, only to steal a glance towards the still laughing Hanbei and whispering to me. ¡°How much for you using that on milady?¡± ¡°If she¡¯s fine with it, one stroganoff for lunch.¡± I replied in the low shady-sounding tone. ¡°I¡¯ll have to look that up, but deal.¡± She replied. ¡°S-Shishou¡­¡± Yuu called out in a low tone. ¡°ANYWAY¡­¡± I said out loud before clearing my throat and faking that I was always focused on the matter at hand. ¡°I was told there was a ship waiting for me.¡± ¡°Ah. That¡¯s right.¡± Hanbei took a deep breath to calm herself. ¡°This way. We should be departing in around half an hour if I¡¯m not mistaken.¡± She said while guiding us towards the pier. ¡°He was busy with loading the cargo yesterday so he couldn¡¯t meet you yesterday.¡± Hanbei said with serious tone. ¡°That said, I already made a deal with him to take us, so we only need to pay. That said, it¡¯s not a passenger ship, so It¡¯s probably not as good as the airship.¡± ¡°Well, not like everything is a walk in the park.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Woah!¡± Crys held on to me at the sudden shoulder movement. ¡°Sorry.¡± I told at the pouting crystal elemental, who soon went back to her cheerful mood. ¡°Anyway, who are we supposed to meet?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll know when you see him.¡± Hanbei said with an amused tone. ¡°I¡¯ll know when I see him?¡± I said curious before looking towards the pier. ¡°You mean that insanely huge treant towering a few tens of meters above everything?¡± I asked while pointing at the obviously out of place moving creature that was loading up some massive crates with his bare hands. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s him.¡± Hanbei said amused. ¡°Okay.¡± I said with a nod. I guess that means I need a fitting reaction. HOLY GUACAMOLES! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? How can a living being be so big? That¡¯s just downright unimaginable! He¡¯s what? Forty meters tall? Probably less. Or more. I don¡¯t know, his scope of size is a bit out of my understandable range. I could barely make up his face amidst what looked like a beardy mass of leaves, as well as a short mass of leaves for hair. While he stood mostly in the nude, I mean, finding clothes that size got to be hard, right? Not that it mattered much since he just looked like a moving tree, I guess? Anyway, he wore a cloak that fell all the way to the back of his knees. How had I not heard of him again? Oh well, not like it¡¯s the most illogical thing to have happened to me yet. Having a very clear landmark to aim for, we quickly made our way towards the towering giant. Before we even got to halfway there, something caught the giant¡¯s attention, as he stopped what he was doing and crouched down so that his head was at a more reachable height. Wondering what that was about, we soon reached him. ¡°Hmm?¡± I frowned while staring at the person the giant was talking to. ¡°I have a feeling I¡¯ve seen that oversized white hair before.¡± I said while staring at the man. ¡°Hmm?¡± Yuu reacted to my words and squinted slightly before making a surprised expression. ¡°Ah. Are those not Arcus and Whisi?¡± Yuu asked surprised. ¡°Oh?¡± It¡¯s true! Recognizing the figure, I widened my eyes and got an amused smirk. ¡°Oh yeah. I do recall them saying something about travelling too.¡± I said while recalling back to Eldor. ¡°Hmm, I can¡¯t see Elraira or¡­ What¡¯s her name?¡± Don¡¯t you hate it when the author forgets a character name and puts the blame into you? ¡°Lila. My name¡¯s Lila.¡± ¡°Ah, thank you.¡± I thanked the girl that appeared to my side. ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I shall dig a hole and hide myself out of embarrassment of needing to hear your name from you again.¡± I said cheerfully before moving away from the main street and crouching in a dark alley where I started drawing figures on the ground. ¡°Hehe. I know the feeling.¡± I heard her tell me while gently slapping my back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°I have no right to a social life anymore¡­¡± I said depressed. ¡°No need to worry about something you never had.¡± Yami added curtly. ¡°Go to hell.¡± I barked back at her before turning back to the half-clockwork half-construct. ¡°Anyway, Lila, can we just pretend that what happened was just a momentary memory blank and that I would certainly recall your name before I actually met you?¡± ¡°If that means you stop being depressed, then I don¡¯t mind.¡± Okay, now that this problem has been solved and my social life has been potentially saved from inexist*cough*absolute death, we can go back to a normal talk. ¡°I mean, not that I don¡¯t understand your feelings, but aren¡¯t you taking that a bit too far? It¡¯s common to forget people¡¯s name sometimes.¡± Lila said, comforting me. ¡°You have no idea how embarrassed I am of asking people¡¯s name a second time.¡± I said depressed. ¡°I once spent a whole year talking to an acquaintance without asking him his name because I was sure I had heard it previously!¡± ¡°¡­Waaah¡­¡± Hanbei said amused before shaking her head. ¡°Anyway, since you are here, I guess El is also nearby?¡± ¡°Ah, yeah.¡± My half cousing¡­ Quarter cousin? She¡¯s half construct, and a construct is kind of like a golem¡¯s cousin¡­ But so is clockwork¡­ So, is she a half or quarter cousin? Aaah, complex question indeed. ¡°We found this ship that was preparing to sail, but it didn¡¯t have enough room for the three of us, so El went out to search for another one while I restocked on supplies.¡± She explained. ¡°I guess she didn¡¯t have much luck, huh?¡± I said while recalling the news I had about the situation. ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t met her since we separated, so I can¡¯t really say for sure.¡± She said before frowning. ¡°Though, from what I heard in town, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Guess so.¡± I nodded awkwardly. ¡°I take it things have been like this since you arrived then?¡± She asked me curious. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Hanbei replied to her. ¡°I was actually lucky to even find someone willing to set sail with the undines this way.¡± ¡°And I guess that was Captain Cherrygrove?¡± She asked while looking at the massive treant. ¡°Hmm.¡± Hanbei nodded. ¡°He arrived at the city after the whole ordeal had already started, and said that a time like this was one of the best time to sail since a transporter would be in higher demand.¡± ¡°Profit first, huh?¡± I said amused. ¡°Hmm.¡± Lily suddenly got our attention by making a sound as she seemed deep in thought. ¡°Did Hanbei already tell the captain that Argento and I won¡¯t be taking the trip?¡± She asked the cat-girl, who blinked surprise before stopping to think about it. ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ We might actually get a chance at having you boarding with us.¡± She said with a bright expression. ¡°Ah¡­ That would be helpful.¡± Lilly said a bit more cheerful. ¡°I¡¯ll go look for El then.¡± The half-construct said while making a motion of leaving to search around the pier, but I quickly stopped her. ¡°Couldn¡¯t Yuu do it faster?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Fueee?¡± The black kitsune made a surprised tone after being suddenly called out. ¡°W-Why me, Shishou?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Elrala¡­ Elalai¡­ El is also a martial artist, right?¡± Names are hard. ¡°Can¡¯t you just go after her presence or something?¡± I asked curious. ¡°¡­S-Shishou¡­¡± She said with a look of disbelief. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t really do that kind of thing, you know? Presence sensing, that doesn¡¯t really happen, you know¡­¡± Huh? ¡°Such a thing¡­¡± ¡°In Gon¡¯s defense¡­¡± Hanbei called out to Yuu while I was still confused. ¡°You didn¡¯t really help much when it comes to dealing with martial artist¡¯s misconceptions, you know?¡± ¡°R-Really?¡± Yuu sounded surprised. ¡°S-Still, I do not think I can do something like sensing presences¡­ That¡¯s just a bit¡­¡± ¡°Fumu. Sorry about that. I guess I was a bit too hasty.¡± I said feeling a bit disappointed. ¡°Well, I reckon it should be faster if we split while looking for her, right? Since we can talk to each other at distance, and the captain should be sailing soonish.¡± ¡°Ah. Thank you very much.¡± Lila said surprised after a moment before bowing slightly. ¡°Heh, don¡¯t mind it.¡± I waved it off. ¡°A surprise town search under strict time deadlines is an amusing last task before leaving the continent.¡± ¡°I guess it¡¯s something interesting indeed.¡± Yami said while talking amused. ¡°It shall be a nice test for my ninja ski¡­¡± ¡°As I thought, it was indeed you.¡± A familiar emotionless voice echoed. ¡°¡°Cygnasdammit.¡±¡± Yami and I cursed together as we turned towards the incoming draconid who was approaching from a side-street. She looked at me confused at our sudden exclamation. ¡°There goes our moment of fun.¡± I complained. ¡°Just when I was getting excited.¡± Yami agreed with me. ¡°Huuh¡­¡± El looked confused. ¡°Don¡¯t mind them. They are disappointed they didn¡¯t get to go on a town-wide search looking for you.¡± Hanbei waved away. But it was my¡­ ¡°Our¡­¡± Yami whispered to me. Our fun time! Of course we get to be annoyed. ¡°Well, this does make things easier for us.¡± Yuu said with an amused tone. ¡°¡­Okay?¡± The draconid said a bit confused, but seemingly decided to not think too much about it anymore. ¡°Anyway, I was nearby when I felt Yuu¡¯s presence, so I thought of greeting¡­ Did I say something strange?¡± ¡°Nope.*heh* Wrong. *Heh*¡± I said while holding back my laughter. ¡°No¡­ No Muffled¡­ laughter¡­ Here¡­¡± Yami agreed with me. Yuu simply face-palmed while Hanbei averted her eyes. ¡­ ¡°Wait a second, how did you know what I was thinking about?¡± I whispered to Yami confused. ¡°I¡¯m also writing this story from my PoV, and I just started mingling with fourth-wall breaking powers.¡± She whispered back at me. ¡°Huh? How does that even work?¡± I asked confused. ¡°A character is writing a story within a story about a story¡­ Huuh¡­ I think I got a headache.¡± ¡°Oh god. Not you too, Yami.¡± Crys said while hanging her head. Chapter 120 - Departure (Finally!) ¡°¡¯Ello!¡± I said while slapping Arcus¡¯ back. ¡°HOLY CYGNAS. WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM?¡± the half beastman leapt backwards in shock and surprise while staring at me in shock and confusion. ¡°SHI-SHA-SHALALA!¡± The wind serpent on his head agreed with him. ¡°Me? Oh. I came from Andor. Just like you, you know?¡± I said with a fake tone of confusion ¡°You know what I meant!¡± He shouted angrily at me. ¡°Oh¡­ Yeah. Sorry. I came from the mines, where I killed a spider and got me this weapon.¡± I said while pulling out the hammer from my inventory. ¡°You¡­ Damn¡­ That¡¯s cool.¡± He started complaining, but quickly got sidetracked as he stared at the hammer. ¡°Did you make that?¡± ¡°Aye. Made of spider stuff. For smashing stuff.¡± I replied happily. ¡°Hmm¡­ Are these your friends?¡± A loud voice echoed from above. I looked upwards until my eyes met with the giant treant¡¯s as he stared at me and my group. ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t Hanbei.¡± He said impressed while looking at the cat-girl with a slightly surprised tone. ¡°Hello, sir Cherry Grove.¡± I greeted the treant ¡°Hello Tree-mister.¡± Rio, who was still riding on my head echoed me. ¡°Hmm¡­ Greetin-¡± The treant started saying, only to freeze as his eyes landed on the small wyvern, his eyes widening in shock and worry. ¡°Before you ask, got permission from her mother, so chill.¡± I said quickly. ¡°I-Is that so¡­¡± The treant said worried while staring at me in confusion and worry. ¡°But¡­ Ho¡­¡± ¡°¡­Tree-mister is really big.¡± Rio said impressed before taking flight around him and watching him impressed. ¡°Bigger than mom even!¡± ¡°H-Huh¡­ Is that so?¡± The captain said a bit surprised. ¡°Rio, you can talk to tree-mister as much as you want later, okay?¡± I said while beckoning her to come back. ¡°For now, I have to talk with him.¡± The dragon stared at me for a moment before looking around curiously. ¡°Well, if you want to look around, feel free. Just remember to not go too far.¡± I told her. She chirped happily before flying out to look at the docks. ¡°Lt. Look after her.¡± ¡°Nya-na.¡± He said with a brief nod before running out after the dragon. ¡°¡­Huuh¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind it. If you mind it, you lose it.¡± Arcus quickly said. ¡°That¡¯s a rule for talking with Gon.¡± ¡°I should feel offended.¡± I said with a frown. ¡°But I shall take it as a compliment, thank you.¡± I said with a smile. Arcus shrugged, but the treant looked at me, his eyes wanting to say ¡®that¡¯s not how it works.¡¯ I happily ignored those eyes. ¡°Anyway, a little birdie told me that you are having issues getting onboard the ship.¡± I said cheerfully. ¡°¡­A bird?¡± He looked at me confused before looking upwards. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be mistaking Whisi for a bird, are you?¡± ¡°...Do I look like a bird?¡± Lila asked confused from behind me. ¡°I have no idea what is going on in the head of this man to see you as a bird.¡± Yami said coldly. I sighed. ¡°Hmm, if it was a bird, then it was a red-bill seagulls. They are the only one that come near the pier and into the city.¡± The captain said in deep thought. ¡°It¡¯s a saying.¡± I said tiredly. ¡°Which basically means I heard from somewhere, usually a person.¡± ¡°Ahhh. Okay, that makes more sense.¡± Arcus nodded with a look of deep thought. ¡°Hmm¡­ A birdie told me¡­ That¡¯s¡­ interesting.¡± Cherrygrove said with an amused tone. ¡°Anyway. Heard you were out of space in your ship to carry Arcus and the others.¡± I said while turning back to the captain. ¡°Ahh. Indeed.¡± The treant nodded with a slightly disappointed tone. ¡°Usually I wouldn¡¯t mind carrying more people, but since we are the only ship setting sail in quite some time, our cargo is already fuller than usual, and if we take three more people and their baggage¡­¡± He said with a worried tone. ¡°Yeah, about that¡­¡± I said while looking towards Lily and Hanbei, since this was their cue. ¡°Hello sir.¡± Hanbei greeted the big man. ¡°Hmm, I take it these are the friends that you spoke about?¡± He asked. ¡°Feel free to board the ship if you are all ready. My men and I will help you with your baggage.¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll do that soon. That said, we had a slight change of plans.¡± She said. ¡°Two of our friends will stay behind to deal with some business.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Me and Argento will stay behind to seal some deals.¡± Lilly added. ¡°So perhaps you can take them instead of us?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Two less¡­¡± The treant took a moment to think. ¡°Hmm, If you don¡¯t mind squeezing a bit, we should be able to fit the three of you in one of the cabins.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. We should manage the delivery in schedule now.¡± El said satisfied behind us. ¡°That said¡­ You¡¯ll have to squeeze in one of the cabins with your baggage.¡± The treant said with some thought. ¡°The cargo hold is entirely full and the cabins are pretty small, so I can¡¯t guarantee your comfort.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t be worse than sharing a carriage with teacher.¡± Lily said in a low voice. ¡°Come on. It can¡¯t be that bad!¡± I complained. ¡°¡­How can sharing a carriage with Gon be bad?¡± Arcus asked confused. Lily simply stared at him with a pitiful gaze that only served to open the wound in my heart even wider. Oh well, nothing some bandaids can¡¯t fix. ¡°Hmm. Anyway, we¡¯ll set sail in one hour or less. If you need help with your baggage, just ask one of my men and they¡¯ll help you out.¡± The treant said with a nod before starting to stand back up again. ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯ll go back to loading my ship.¡± He said while lifting some larger boxes and putting them over the ship. Damn, who needs a crane when you have a captain like that? As I watched the scene amazed, Yuu and the others started to give their goodbyes to the undine, who was still looking a bit regretful about having to stay behind. I joined the group by giving a grand speech about how the world is a small place and we¡¯ll soon find each other somewhere along the road. The speech was so good that everyone was led to tears¡­ or they would have if Lieutenant and Rio hadn¡¯t slammed me in the head as Lt. ran away from a mice he found in the docks and the little wyvern decided to play along with him. And yeah, it might sound funny and all, but do you have any idea how much it hurts to get hit in the head by a full-metal-plate wyvern? ¡°Hmm? That¡¯s a new one.¡± Arcus said suddenly as I recovered from the impact, removing my face from the floor. ¡°What? Getting hit in the face by a flying wyvern giving a cat a ride?¡± ¡°¡­That too.¡± He agreed. ¡°Though I meant more about the new companion.¡± He said while pointing to the place right besides me. I turned my head and found Pebblesworth tip-toeing the best he could back to my back, probably having been knocked off by the impact. He¡¯s been very careful where he steps since the polishing. Kinda funny to watch to be honest. ¡°Yeah, he decided to stick with me since I saved him from a giant magma eating spider that makes explosive threads.¡± I said casually before standing up and picking up Pebblesworth and helping him to my back, where he seemed to like to hang. ¡°That¡¯s a very casual way of saying something scary.¡± Lila said in a worried tone. ¡°Yeah. Being immortal have its benefits.¡± I said with tired tone. ¡°Still scary as hell.¡± I shuddered. ¡°Any monster that can use explosion as an attack is scary.¡± ¡°You sounds traumatized.¡± ¡°I am.¡± I replied coldly before sighing. ¡°Well, at least she made a nice hammer.¡± ¡°Why a hammer though?¡± Lila asked curious. ¡°Cause reasons.¡± I nodded sagely. ¡°Ano¡­¡± Yuu called out suddenly. ¡°The captain said that he would be leaving within the hour, so if we are ready beforehand we might leave earlier, right?¡± She asked. ¡°Hmm, Yuu is correct.¡± Hanbei agreed. ¡°We don¡¯t really have any baggage though. Want some help with yours?¡± ¡°AAh¡­ We¡¯d be much obliged.¡± Lila said with a tired tone. ¡°Ah, yeah¡­ El kinda¡­¡± Arcus said tiredly. ¡°El kinda¡­?¡± I asked confused. As I wondered what he meant about that, only for the draconid to suddenly plop a massive baggage that was almost as big as herself. ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°Presents for family.¡± The draconid said as if it was a matter of fact. ¡°¡­Ah yeah. You are an Ezorea native, weren¡¯t you?¡± I asked while trying to take my eyes away from the massive mallet. ¡°But¡­ Aren¡¯t you overdoing it there?¡± ¡°¡­Am I?¡± She asked innocently. ¡°It looks fine to me, Shishou.¡± Yuu said In a similar tone. ¡°Yuu. You saying that only serves to prove Gon¡¯s point.¡± Hanbei said awkwardly.¡± ¡°Heeh?¡± Yuu made a surprised sound as if she couldn¡¯t understand what Hanbei meant. ¡°Hmm, if this is only for presents¡­¡± I stopped for a moment as I thought up something. ¡°Should I also expect a similar sized baggage for clothes?¡± I asked. The expression of sheer despair on Arcus¡¯ face was priceless.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Still, this gives me an idea. ¡­ ¡°Give me back.¡± Arcus said while shaking me by the hem of my clothes. ¡°Blood flow¡­ Weird¡­ Conciousness¡­ Lacking¡­ More than usual.¡± I said while feeling my mind going blank. ¡°Give me back all the hours of effort I spent carrying that damn thing around!¡± He said while shaking me even harder. ¡°You chosen have some really convenient skills.¡± El said impressed while staring at Yuu with an impressed look. ¡°Erm¡­ This¡­ Inventory of yours. You can fetch and retrieve items at will?¡± The Construct asked Hanbei curious. ¡°Pretty much. Though I¡¯m also surprised that something as big as that could fit to be honest.¡± Hanbei added while checking her own inventory. ¡°Oh, they are marked as quest items.¡± She added amused. ¡°¡­Can I punch you? Please, let me punch you!¡± Arcus said while shaking me even further. ¡°Sha-lala!¡± The white serpent shouted as she tried to pull her owner back by the neck, but his rage simply let him ignore the¡­ Oh, nevermind. He¡¯s going purple. ¡°I had¡­ To¡­ Carry¡­ That damn¡­ Thing¡­¡± He said between wheezes. ¡°Not my fault.¡± I said defensively. ¡°Besides, now you won¡¯t have to worry about staying inside a packed room with those massive things moving side to side wildly.¡± ¡°THAT¡¯S TOO DAMN LATE! I HAD TO CARRY THAT THING ON MY BACK ALL THE¡­¡± He started shouting at me angrily, but a looming shadow suddenly creeped over us, getting his attention. ¡°Is something the matter?¡± The captain asked as he stepped over the board of the ship, making it sink a good amount into the water at the sudden extra weight. ¡°Yeah. I was just trying to kill this bastard for having such a convenient skill.¡± Arcus complained while staring holes at me. ¡°Convenient¡­ Skill?¡± Cherrygrove asked curious, but decided to not mind it too much, probably thinking it was just some youngling thing or something of the sort. ¡°Anyway, have you already loaded your baggage?¡± He asked us. ¡°Well¡­ Yeah. That¡¯s what I was complaining about.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯ve had to haul that massive thing all the way here, then they just go and ¡®inventory¡¯ it!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I understand what you mean. They have some skill to carry baggage easier?¡± The captain asked confused. ¡°Carry easier?¡± Arcus laughed in despair. ¡°Yuu, mind showing him the baggage?¡± ¡°Sure?¡± Yuu said a bit confused. Then, she immediately took the baggage from her inventory, the massive thing appearing from thin air. The moment she did that, the captain¡¯s eyes widened greatly and I could already feel like I knew what was coming next. ¡°T-That skill¡­ Can you¡­¡± He started asking. ¡°Sorry, Chosen exclusive.¡± I quickly shot down his thoughts. ¡°And believe me, it¡¯s not because we don¡¯t want to share.¡± ¡°Gh¡­¡± The captain grunted annoyed before going into deep thought once again. ¡°Then... What do you need to use that skill?¡± ¡°Whoever saw this one coming raise your hand.¡± Yami said while raising her hand. Everyone else raised their hands, with the only exception of Rio and Pebblesworth, who had no idea what we were talking about. ¡°Welll, from what we just tested, we need that either the item be recognized as ours, or receive a quest to put them into our inventory.¡± Yuu explained to him. ¡°Though we still have to test up to how much we can store in our inventory.¡± She frowned. ¡°One of El¡¯s baggage is taking up three times more inventory than usual, so it might be dependent on volume or weight.¡± ¡°A quest?¡± The treant looked at us in deep thought. ¡°Hmm, I guess I¡¯m not that knowledgeable about Chosen after all.¡± He then clicked his tongue. ¡°If we weren¡¯t leaving immediately.¡± He cursed under his breath. ¡°And with this, came the sudden boom to economy as transporters started to hire Chosen to inventory their cargos, greatly increasing the flow of goods to levels never seen before and causing the rapid development of many trade hubs.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Why did you say that?¡± Arcus asked me confused. ¡°Just felt like making some guess about what will happen in the future.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Sha-la-shi-sha.¡± The wind serpent on his head said with a tired tone. ¡°Yeah. Good point Whisi.¡± Arcus nodded. ¡°Anyway, I guess we are done, captain. We sailing now or waiting for someone else?¡± ¡°We are sailing now. Everyone is already accounted for and the cargo is already loaded.¡± Cherrygrove said while motioning towards the side of the ship. One of the sailors understood his commands and started to untie the ship from the docks. ¡°Any of you never sailed on a boat before?¡± He asked us. ¡°Only airships.¡± Lila said. Hanbei and Yami both nodded in agreement. ¡°You might want to hold onto something then.¡± He said while holding onto the dock and then gently pushing the ship away. ¡°My men will show you to your rooms.¡± He once again stood up and then held the corners of his cloak. Wait a second. Huge treant. Standing in the middle of the ship. Massive cloak despite otherwise not wearing clothes¡­ It couldn¡¯t be that¡­ As I processed the information, the Treant raised his arms, standing in a T pose right in the middle of the ship, the cape taking the shape of sails as the mages cast wind spells towards the captain. I had to hold onto something as the first moment of inertia affected me, but soon enough I recovered my balance. Okay. The captain is also the main mast of the ship. If I hadn¡¯t seen everything before, this will be it. And I expect this statement to hold true for at least a couple of hours. As I held back an amused smile, I followed a nearby elf who was already guiding Yuu and the others inside. Hmm, how do I say this, but this really has been a fairly eventless boarding. Usually I¡¯d expect something more major than a simple chocking of annoyance to happen right around¡­ ¡°Did we depart?¡± A familiar voice came from the inside of the ship, prompting a very happy smile from me and some of pity from the others. ¡°RIVAL!¡± I shouted excited as Ashley appeared from the door that led to the lower decks of the ship. He promptly froze in place, staring from the small opening of the door at me in sheer shock and disbelief, before finally clicking her tongue, cursing to herself and slamming the door shut. Or at least trying to, but failing since the sailor was already opening the door for the others. ¡°For Cygnas¡¯ Sake! Why are you following me?¡± Ashley shouted angrily as he noticed her escape route had failed. ¡°Ermm¡­ In my defense, this time it wasn¡¯t intentional.¡± I said while raising my arms in the universal sign of peace. ¡°Do you really want me to believe that?¡± He asked furious. ¡°Ermm¡­ Master is actually speaking the truth.¡± Crys defended me. ¡°Hmm? Someone you know?¡± El asked curious while tilting her head. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s the pile of mineral¡¯s one-sided rival.¡± Yami said coldly. ¡°¡­One-sided you mean Gon is the one¡­¡± Lila started asking. ¡°Annoyingly, yes.¡± Ashley nodded while facepalming. ¡°I guess you are also his victims then?¡± From the way he asked, it was clear that she wanted some companions. ¡°Victims?¡± ¡°I guess buddy is closer?¡± ¡°I¡¯m more of an acquaintance myself.¡± El, Arcus and Lila said, respectively. ¡°WHAT? Acquaintance? We are more like half-cousins!¡± I said infuriated. ¡°Huuh¡­¡± She looked uncomfortable for some reason. ¡°Ugh. I¡¯ll just go back to my room and hope to not meet you again.¡± Ashley said furiously while turning back to the ships insides. ¡°Aww, come on, don¡¯t be like that, can¡¯t you see it¡¯s destiny that we keep meeting each other?¡± I said playfully while approaching him and passing my arm around his shoulder, only to quickly remove it as he threatened to stab it with one of the throwing knives I had paid her earlier. ¡°Woah! Watch out! You can hurt somebody with that!¡± I said while moving away. ¡°It¡¯s not can. It¡¯s want.¡± Ashley said coldly to me while I replied with my best smile. ¡°That¡¯s quite the friendship you have there.¡± The elf that was supposed to guide us commented. ¡°I don¡¯t think friendship is the correct word.¡± Yuu said in a pensive tone. ¡°It¡¯s more like a victim and a failed target.¡± Ashley said coldly. ¡°I swear to Cygnas one day I¡¯ll find out something to use against you.¡± He said while staring at me almost literal daggers. ¡°Tough luck there.¡± Hanbei said with a wry smile. ¡°Gon¡¯s main weakness was his skinning teacher back in Eldor. Probably Sol too, to a lesser degree.¡± ¡°Hmm. I can¡¯t think of anything else that we could consider Shishou¡¯s weakness.¡± Yuu agreed, much to my delight. ¡°Yes¡­¡± I agreed as the realization dawned to me. ¡°YES! Now that I left Eldor, I don¡¯t have to worry about any crazy old people threatening my life with wall-breaking flickers or random volatile experiment explosions! VIVA LA FREEDOM!¡± I shouted while raising my fists up in the air in excitement. ¡°Hmm¡­ Does that count as tempting fate?¡± Yuu asked me curious. ¡­ ¡°Cygnasdamnit!¡± I cursed. ¡°What¡¯s happening at the docks?¡± One of the sailors asked out loud confused. We all followed his gaze towards the city, where a strange commotion was occurring at the docks. The ship was still picking up speed, so the docks was still at an easily distinguishable range where we could just make the figure of a man riding on the back of a large bear monster. I think that he was looking at us and shouting something, but I couldn¡¯t quite understand what he was talking. Until I suddenly heard something nerve-wracking announcement. ¡°Nyaa-nanya.¡± ¡°¡­You serious?¡± I asked lieutenant, my voice suddenly cracked in nervousness. ¡°Nya.¡± He affirmed. Aura also nodded to my side, probably also recognizing the person. ¡°Oh Cyg. Oh Cyg Oh Cyg Oh Cyg¡­¡± I started saying nervously while staring at the person. ¡°H-He can¡¯t reach the boat¡­ Can he?¡± I asked. Y-Yeah, that sounds about right. The boat already set sail, and I doubt that the captain would return just to pick one more person. Yeah. We are safe, still. ¡°H-Hey, any way we can go faster?¡± I asked the nearby sailor. ¡°Not until we reach a wider area¡­¡± The sailor said worried. ¡°I-Is he that dangerous of a person?¡± ¡°For me, yes. Very yes.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Gon? What¡¯s happening?¡± Arcus asked worried. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Hanbei asked curious. ¡°Why are you so scared gon?¡± ¡°Shishou?¡± Even Yuu showed her worries, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to feel comfortable until we opened a much wider distance from him. ¡°¡­Okay¡­ I have no idea what¡¯s happening right now, but please, do go on.¡± Ashley said with a sadistic smile. ¡°Y-You see¡­ That guy¡­ He¡¯s¡­¡± I started saying, but was soon interrupted by a very casual comment coming from the captain. ¡°Oh. He jumped.¡± ¡­CAAAAARP! I turned back to the docks and saw that the man had abandoned the monster on the docks and simply jumped into the water. After a moment of nothing as he submerged, but he suddenly popper over the waterline and started swimming this way. T-T-There¡¯s no way a man can swim faster than a ship can sail, right? Right? As I used that fact to calm myself down, I took a deep breath before turning to the others and preparing to tell them who I saw. ¡°Wow, he¡¯s a fast swimmer.¡± El said briefly. I turned back to the man, my body feeling like a badly oiled machine as I stuttered my head back. And yeah. He was swimming fast. Like, really damn fast. He¡­ he was actually getting closer. ¡­ THIS IS BAAAAD! I mindlessly accessed my inventory and pulled out a flashbomb from it. I aimed at the man swimming and threw it as far as I could, setting it to explode as close to him as possible. Covering my eyes for the flash, I could hear the cries of pain and surprise from the sailors and the others as the bomb went off. I ignored their cries of anger and annoyance as I looked back at the man. Yes! YES! He was caught unaware by the blast and had now stopped swimming to recover from the blast. ¡°SAAAAFE!¡± I shouted happily as I looked at the man going underwater and not managing to recover in time as the ship clearly started picking up speed . ¡°Yes. Yes!¡± Excellent! Now there¡¯s just no way for him to catch up to the ship now! Even at his previous swimming speed, it¡¯s now just downright impossible for him to catch up to us now! He¡¯d need to be riding a shark or something to even catch up to¡­ ¡°¡­Oh¡­ He¡¯s back.¡± Ashley said amused. ¡°Hmm? Isn¡¯t that¡­¡± Yuu started to recognize him as he approached the ship. While riding on the back of a shark. He was riding. On the back. Of a shark. WHAT. THE. HELL? GYAAA! HE¡¯S GETTING CLOSER! ¡°AURA! YOU CAN FREEZE HIM, RIGHT?¡± I asked the fox besides me, but she just looked at me and shook her head in disapproval. WHYYY? WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME? Okay¡­ Aura won¡¯t stop him. Then¡­ Then¡­ ¡°FREEZING KNIVES AWAY!¡± I said while throwing freezing knives towards him. ¡°¡­Okay. Am I the only one really worried about him right now?¡± Lila asked. ¡°No¡­ But this is too amusing to pass on.¡± Hanbei agreed with her. ¡°Hmm. Should have brought popcorn.¡± Yami complained. NOT HELPING HERE! And what the hell with that dodging ability? That¡¯s just not human! He managed to steer the shark away from all the knives I threw at him and soon reached the side of the ship. CAAARP! HOT OIL! BOILING OIL! BOULDERS! PIKES! ANYTHING? ANYTHING? As I looked around in search for anything that could help with avoiding an enemy from climbing upon the walls, my time soon was wasted as his voice creeped up to my ears. ¡°You thought you had given me the slip, Boy¡­¡± I heard the old, but energetic sounding voice say in a mix of amusement and anger. ¡°EEEEK!¡± I jumped away and hid behind the strongest shield: Yuu. Staring over towards the source of the voice, I saw as a single hand appeared over the railing and started pulling the body upwards. Following that, a single head with dark gray hair and a wrinkly face with sharp eyes that stared right upon my soul. A long spear hung on his back as he managed to climb aboard the ship. ¡°Ah¡­ Grandfather.¡± Yuu said in a pleasantly surprised tone as Kotetsu¡­ No, Ronin climbed aboard the ship. ¡°Hello Yuu.¡± He greeted his granddaughter before turning towards me. ¡°Hello¡­ Gon.¡± He smiled. I felt my spirit leaving my body. ¡°It¡¯s time for some training.¡± Chapter 121 - Mythical Training Hmm, this is difficult. Seriously, they make it seem so easy when you watch it on tv or when you read it in a story, but doing this is really damn hard. Well, probably not harder than killing that damned spider for sure. That was just downright a nightmare. Or was it¡­ I mean, this kind of go against my very nature, but the spider was just plain hard. It had magma claws and explosive threads for Cygnas¡¯ sake! It was almost as bad as fighting brachydios back in monster hunter! Almost. After all, Brachydios is a lean mean exploding machine, and as hard as the spider was, I was kind of seriously undergeared to fight it. I wonder how it¡¯d have gone now that I had actual good gear to fight her. Guess I will never know. ¡°¡­oi¡­¡± Still, I wonder if it¡¯s somehow a given that monsters that deal with explosions are difficult by nature. I mean, there¡¯s brachydios, the spider, Teostra, Crimson fatalis¡­ Ugh. I get shivers just recalling the first time I got supernovaed into the face by teostra. Geez, that thing isn¡¯t holy under any standards. Okay, it¡¯s definitive. Explosive monsters can all go to hell. If they aren¡¯t there already. Those guys are like the devil in person, mixed with nitroglycerin on steroids. ¡­Oh crap. That wouldn¡¯t work. I mean, just think about it, most explosive monsters are fire resistant! So if I just send them all to hell, they¡¯ll just end up feeling right at home. Yeah, that¡¯s no good, they need to suffer, otherwise it¡¯s just not vengeance. Ooh! Oooh! Nordic hell! Where it¡¯s all icy and cold! That¡¯s perfect! Most of them have some weakness to ice, so they¡¯d be in a very bad spot in there! Hahahahah! Take that you damned mons¡­ ¡°¡­Oi, boy¡­¡± Damn it. That won¡¯t work on brachy. I mean, he already roams the tundra just because! And in pairs to boot! Ughh. No, no no no no. Repress bad memories. Repress bad memories. You did not have to solo two G-rank brachys with a shitty gunlance. Still, that is pretty damn badass. I mean, he just goes: ¡®Screw this, I don¡¯t care about your element advantage!¡¯ and start to wander about in the worst possible place for him. It¡¯s like, I don¡¯t know, a paper man walking into a volcano. Or a gingerbread man walking in the middle of a buffet¡­ Makes you wonder if he does it for training or something. I mean, he does gives me the feeling of a boxer, since he punches and all. God, a brachydios training montage. That would be so damn awesome. Could even work as, I don¡¯t know, an anime opening where the MC is a brachy. ¡°Is he ignoring me? He¡¯s ignoring me isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°No, Shishou¡¯s just thinking about something.¡± Hmm, speaking of opening, I wonder if about now we¡¯d get an opening change. I mean, we just left the continent where Eldor is, and are now sailing on a ship. The next town we land will no longer be under the influence of the dwarves, so it¡¯ll be about as much of a change of pace as we¡¯ll ever get, and if that isn¡¯t opening change material, I seriously don¡¯t know what is. Hmm, we¡¯d need a new music to go with the theme of this new arc slash season slash whatever. I wonder what kind of soundtrack would go well with it. Maybe some sort of adventurous music, some light rock. Yeah, heavy rock is more action type seasons, so I guess light rock, maybe some pop might go well. ¡°¡­Should I give him a smack or something?¡± ¡°I would rather that you did not, but¡­ I do not believe that words will reach Shishou at the moment.¡± Hmm, now I wonder what sort of animation would be good. Maybe some snippets of my epic adventure, as in cut scenes from future hunts? Or maybe something more abstract? That would also work, I guess. Oh! I know! It sho- Sadly I never had the chance to finish my thoughts, as pain stopped me from thinking. ¡°OUCH!¡± I shouted in pain while grabbing onto my head as it throbbed in pain. ¡°What the hell old man?¡± I shouted angrily. ¡°I told you to clear your mind.¡± Ronin said angrily while pulling back the handle of the spear he had. ¡°But I did have my mind clear!¡± I complained. ¡°Did you?¡± ¡°Yeah, it was clearly distracted!¡± I replied proudly. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant!¡± He said while slamming the handle on my head again. ¡°Cygnasdamit old man!¡± I complained while holding my head once again. ¡°I told you I had a hard time focusing!¡± ¡°And I told you that it wasn¡¯t a matter of focusing, but clearing your mind!¡± He complained back. ¡°Geez, I could even sworn this time you got more side-tracked than the previous seven times.¡± ¡°I¡­ Wait, this was the eight attempt already?¡± I said surprised. ¡°If you count the one where you tried to escape, this is the ninth.¡± Yuu corrected us. ¡°Wow. I¡¯m lasting longer than I expected.¡± I said impressed. ¡°Sadly, I can say the same.¡± Ronin agreed with a sigh. ¡°I guess I should have expected you to be one of those kinds.¡± ¡°Should I feel offended?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Not really.¡± The samurai shrugged. ¡°Each person is different. You aren¡¯t the first of my students who have difficulty with this.¡± ¡°So, this is a difficult lesson after all.¡± I said with a sagely nod. ¡°No. This isn¡¯t the lesson. This is the opening of the notebook before the lesson.¡± He said coldly while slamming the lance on my head once again. Ouch. This is mistreatment of disciples! What are you going to do if all those hits end up fixing the screws in my head? Do you have any idea how bad that would be? ¡°These were the best coins I¡¯ve ever spent in my entire life.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but stare angrily at rival, who was casually sitting on the railing of the ship¡¯s topside while eating a fruit and watching me amused. ¡°Aaah, thanks for that again, boy.¡± Ronin told her while giving a nod. ¡°This little bastard didn¡¯t even pay my fare of this ship.¡± He eyed me annoyed for a moment. ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t exact expecting you to catch up to us so fast.¡± I mulled under my breaths annoyed. Seriously, how the hell did he get from Eldor to here in so little time? ¡°Anyway, back to the lesson. One more time. Deep breaths, clear your mind.¡± He said while hitting the floor besides me. I groaned in agreement before taking a deep breath, closing my mind and trying to focus on clearing my mind. Think nothing. Feel nothing. Be nothing. Keeping a clear mind. Keeping a clear mind. Keeping a clear mind¡­ Ugh, my legs hurt from sitting on top of them for so long. I wonder when this will end. Don¡¯t think I can stay in place without doing nothing in a place that isn¡¯t my bed for this long. It¡¯s bad for my mental health. Or whatever¡¯s left of it. Speaking of stuff being left, I wonder what we¡¯ll have for breakfast tomorrow. Should we go with the Japanese breakfast? Or the simpler Brazilian breakfast? Hmm, questions and questions¡­
Due to spending a long time proving your inability to stay still for too long, you have earned the skill: Hyperactivity (PS: Yes, this is a suggestion to give up)
Skill: Hyperactivity [lvl1] [2%]
Some people were born to know how to stay calm, how to clear their minds and meditate for hours at a time. Others just can¡¯t seem to stand still for more than a few seconds. You can think of this as a balancing consolation prize of sorts. While not impossible, acquiring this skill is a good proof that acquiring meditation will be a lot harder than you might expect. (Activating this skill shuts down the effects of meditation for the rest of the battle.) Reduce Critical chance by 100%. Increases max energy pool by 14 (Effect increased by agility.) Reduce energy regeneration cooldown by 50%
Toggle.
¡­Well, that¡¯s encouraging. ¡°What happened?¡± Ronin asked me curious, probably noticing that I was distracted by something. ¡°Got a skill? ¡±Ah, yeah.¡± I nodded. ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess this should be enough¡­¡± He started, not sounding very convinced about it. ¡°Got the hyperactivity skill.¡± I corrected whatever misgivings he had about which skill I got while showing him the skill window. ¡°¡­So, does this means I¡¯m excused from meditating?¡± ¡°...I guess we can take a break.¡± He said while rubbing his eyes tiredly. ¡°Still, why does it feel like your skill description is not as impartial as it should be?¡± He asked confused. ¡°Well, it kind of happens when you make the goddess tired of dealing with you, I guess.¡± I said while looking away and towards the floating crystal maid who was casually fishing on the side of the boat. ¡°¡­I see¡­¡± He said a bit hesitant before sighing and shaking his head. ¡°Well, no use forcing you, might as well take a break for now.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡­ Huuh¡­ Wait, what? Did¡­ Did I miss something? ¡°Did you just say you¡¯d give me a break?¡± I asked confused, before noticing the absurdity of my own words and laughing it off. ¡°Hahaha. Looks like I went mad(der) and I am now hearing things.¡± ¡°Why are you assuming that ?¡± Ronin asked me confused. ¡°I did say that we were taking a break. No use trying to force something you have a hard time doing after all.¡± ¡°Eermm¡­ no. Wrong character.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be the ¡®Let¡¯s train till we die of excessive training!¡¯ type of guy?¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ve been watching too much anime, boy.¡± He said with an amused laugh. ¡°Contrary to what they show you, doing something like that very rarely works. Patience is a lot more important.¡± ¡°¡­What do you¡­¡± I said before stopping to process his words. ¡°Oh¡­ Oh¡­ So you mean that we are doing this the normal way?¡± I asked confused, to which he nodded. ¡°¡­By Cygnas¡­ That¡¯s so weird.¡± ¡°Why the hell are you surprised by something being norm¡­¡± He started to ask, but his eyes quickly landed on his granddaughter and then Crys and Lieutenant. ¡°You know what. Forget I asked. Anyway, go ahead and take a break for a few hours.¡± ¡°¡­Well, I won¡¯t complain.¡± I said relieved while falling back and stretching my hand towards a blue bundle of fur nearby and refilling my fluffy-meter. ¡°Look on the bright side, I might have failed miserably, but at least Aura here is a good student, right?¡± I said while diving my head into Aura¡¯s fluffy neck fur. I¡¯m a really proud of her! When I was still on my second attempt, Aura managed to get the skill on her first try! Even though she wasn¡¯t even trying for real! I¡¯m so proud of my little blue fluff! Though it does make me wonder why it just so happened to be the case that the two people whom I know that got the meditate skill also happens to be foxes. Better not think too much about it and focus more on refilling my fluffy meter. ¡°¡­heh.¡± Kotetsu suddenly laughed. Wondering what was happening, I looked at him and noticed him looking at Yuu, who was looking away for some reason. She¡¯s jealous, isn¡¯t she? Aww, that¡¯s adorable! As I indulged myself in fluffiness, Rival seemingly got disappointed before standing up and walking away. ¡°You chosen really are an amusing bunch.¡± We heard a voice from up ahead. ¡°Hope we haven¡¯t been bothering you.¡± Ronin said with an apologetic tone towards Cherrygrove, who had an amused expression. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I enjoy watching you younglings. A change of pace compared to the usual sailors that go around here.¡± ¡°Haha¡­ I guess so¡­¡± Ronin commented awkwardly. ¡°¡­Youngling?¡± He whispered conflicted. ¡°Hmm, okay! Fluffyness was refilled!¡± I said satisfied while standing up ¡°And now that I am free from the tor*cough*¡± Ugh, something got stuck in my throat. ¡°From the training, I shall¡­ Huhh¡­¡± What should I do now¡­ ¡°Shishou?¡± Yuu called me curious when I started trailing off. ¡°¡­I actually have no idea what to do now.¡± I said while tilting my head in thought. ¡°I mean¡­ We are in a boat, so what I can do is kind of limited. No hunting, no much crafting¡­ And I think that it¡¯s still a bit too soon to go annoy Rival since she might seriously kill me¡­ So I¡¯m kind out of ideas on what to do now.¡± I admitted. Ugh¡­ No good. Can feel boredom settling in. ¡°Did you say you have nothing to do?¡± Crys suddenly said while appearing besides me, her eyes shining with a strange excitement. ¡°¡­Weren¡¯t you fishing?¡± I asked confused. ¡°No fishes were biting.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Which is weird, I could have sworn my mainframe said that this is still fishable area.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ So, what exactly is your plan?¡± I asked a bit suspicious, since it was kind of out of character for Crys to be this excited. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you would fix Aura¡¯s old outfit to fit me?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ Good call. I could do that.¡± I said after some time thinking. ¡°And I guess I wouldn¡¯t need anything too special since it¡¯d be only fixing a thing or two.¡± ¡°And making my ninja maid outfit.¡± ¡°And making your ninja maid outfit.¡± I agreed with Yami. ¡°Though I¡¯m not sure how far I could take it without proper equipment to be honest. And I¡¯m almost sure I¡¯m about to run out of treated leather, so I¡¯d say to not expect much.¡± I said after some thought. ¡°Also, when did you arrive here again?¡± I asked her confused. ¡°I am disappointed at your lack of surprise.¡± She told me with a blank stare. ¡°Yeah, you get used to this kind of thing after some time.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Hahh.¡± She sighed disappointed. ¡°While your cheap excuse is still very cheap, I can¡¯t say anything against it.¡± ¡°Yeah. Not much I can do about that. Also, How the hell do you still remember about that? It¡¯s been like, a year or two since I promised that?¡± ¡°¡­I thought the game came out a bit more than a week ago?¡± Kotetsu commented confused. ¡°Even in-game time it¡¯d be around a month.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t think too much about it, teacher.¡± Hanbei commented with a sigh. ¡°Hey, Captain. Is there some place I could put some leather to be cured?¡± I asked Cherrygrove who was still watching us from his position at the main mast. ¡°Hmm¡­ Not on the top deck at least.¡± He said after some time thinking. ¡°Things can get a bit¡­ hectic around here if things go bad. And having leather laying around might cause accidents to my sailors.¡± He stopped to think for a moment. ¡°And the hull should be full with the cargo, so¡­¡± ¡°Captain.¡± He was suddenly interrupted by a sailor who was on the basket at the front mast. ¡°I¡¯m seeing a fairly large iceberg riding our current further ahead.¡± Said the sailor. ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Cherrygrove said in deep thought for a moment. ¡°¡­Iceberg?¡± I asked Crys confused. ¡°The current we are taking makes it so that¡¯s it¡¯s faster come closer to the poles before making a beeline towards the town we are arriving on.¡± She explained to us. ¡°While it¡¯s not close enough for the water itself to freeze over, some stray icebergs do still wander over around this area.¡± ¡°Oooh. I see.¡± I nodded in understanding. ¡°¡­Oh god. Are we getting a Titanic? We are totally getting a Titanic, aren¡¯t we?¡± I said worried. ¡°Master. It¡¯s still day. And the captain was notified. The sailors are also taking action to avoid the iceberg.¡± Crys quickly shot down my worries. ¡°Well, you did just raise some dangerous flags right there.¡± Yami commented. ¡°Yeah. That never ends well in this kind of setting.¡± Ronin agreed. ¡°Bad Crys. Now we are going to crash.¡± I scolded her. ¡°Nya-na-nyaa!¡± Lieutenant joined in tiredly. ¡°You guys¡­¡± Crys shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not going to do something silly like hitting against an iceberg.¡± Cherrygrove said amused. ¡°Lorry! Get on deck.¡± He called out to one of the sailors. ¡°Here captain.¡± A sharkman, Sahuagin or something if my memory doesn¡¯t fail me, appeared on deck while wearing an apron. ¡°Good. Guy found an iceberg up ahead. Go check if we don¡¯t have any bad surprise underwater. I plan on moving south of it to avoid collision. See if we need to leave the current for that or not.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± The sharkman said while taking off his apron and walking past us and leaping into the water ¡°¡­Using a natural-born water breather to do underwater scouting¡­¡± I commented amused. ¡°That¡¯s so damn obvious, yet I had never ever thought of that.¡± I said impressed. ¡°Really? This is pretty common amongst sailors though.¡± Cherrygrove said confused. ¡°Chosen. Common sense doesn¡¯t apply.¡± I said while pointing at myself. ¡°Ah, true.¡± Cherrygrove made a complex expression. ¡°Anyway, if you excuse me, I have to order around my men.¡± ¡°I think that even if you take away you being a chosen, common sense still doesn¡¯t apply to you, master.¡± Crys commented in a small voice. ¡°Shut it.¡± I replied annoyed. ¡°I don¡¯t like when people point out my weaknesses. Only I can point out my weaknesses.¡± Even I have some standards! What? Other people already pointed out my weaknesses before and I didn¡¯t react like this? My standards change, okay? ¡°Anyway, should we go to our rooms?¡± Hanbei asked, both our group and the captain. ¡°I mean¡­¡± ¡°I kind of want to see an iceberg though.¡± I said disappointed. ¡°Oh well¡­¡± ¡°This is just some small route change.¡± Cherrygrove commented ¡°If I think things will get dangerous, I¡¯ll tell you myself.¡± ¡°Well, if he says so.¡± Ronin shrugged. ¡°And to be honest, I¡¯m curious about an iceberg myself.¡± ¡°We should be able to see it soon then.¡± Crys said as the ship made a slight turn to the south. ¡°Taking in account the sailors standing, and the speed we are going¡­ Yeah, there it is.¡± She said while pointing out to a far away point. Curious, I moved towards the boat¡¯s front, forgot what¡¯s it called, and tried to squint my eyes. And sure enough, there it was. It was very a bit far away, so I couldn¡¯t be entirely sure about its size just yet. However, if I had to guess, it looked fairly big. Maybe half the size of the ship? And if my net-brought knowledge is worth anything, that¡¯s just the floaty bit of the iceberg. Underwater the thing must be ginormous. Hmm¡­ I wonder if I can grab a piece of that and store away in my inventory as a reminder of my first time seeing an iceberg. Well, I couldn¡¯t ask for the captain to just stop the ship so I could hop out, since that¡¯d be dangerous even to me. Maybe I could throw an explosive arrow and hope a piece of the iceberg comes flying my way. What could possibly go wrong? The iceberg splitting apart into various pieces, some of which would float on the way towards the ship and have us sink to the bottom of the sea? As if. Hahahaha. ¡°Master, while highly unlikely, there¡¯s still the possibility of an explosion shattering, or at the very least, destabilizing the iceberg and making it drift towards our ship.¡± ¡°Cygnas dammit!¡± Okay¡­ let¡¯s see¡­ Plan B, plan B¡­ Oh! What if¡­ ¡°No. Same thing as before.¡± Crys cut me off before I could say it. ¡°Damn¡­ Then¡­¡± ¡°That¡­ No. Still wouldn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ Then, what if I¡­¡± ¡°Nope. You¡¯d just stay behind that way.¡± ¡­Ughh¡­ Damn, running out of ideas. ¡°I did see this before, but is it this common?¡± I heard Ronin asked. ¡°Pretty sure this is a brand new record.¡± Yuu commented. Huuh¡­ Why did she sound jealous? ¡°Only Crys can do it that easily¡­¡± ¡°¡­NOT AGAIN!¡± Crys suddenly shouted in despair while grabbing her head into her hands and shaking. ¡°Why do I keep guessing master! Why?¡± ¡°That joke is getting a bit old.¡± I complained to Crys while feeling hurt. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s that bad to be able to guess what I¡¯m thinking. I think¡­ ¡°Oh! I know! What if¡­¡± ¡°Still wouldn¡¯t work.¡± Godddamit! ¡°AH! AGAIN!¡± I have this feeling we¡¯d keep repeating the exchange a few more times until way past the iceberg had gone by, however, by the time we were close enough to the iceberg for me to finally get a good grasp of its massive size, we heard the sound of something leaping out of the water and onto the deck. ¡°So, Lorry, what did¡­¡± Cherrygrove started asking, but suddenly stopped as the sound of creaking wood echoed and his shadow grew closer to us. ¡°Lorry?¡± Curious by the sudden change, we turned back towards the captain and the sharkmen who had jumped back on board. I couldn¡¯t help but feel confused and worried by his expression as he sat down on the ship shivering. ¡­That was cold, wasn¡¯t it? Yeah, totally is cold from swimming in the winter water¡­ ¡°Sir¡­¡± Lorry said while looking up to Cherrygrove. ¡°What happened, man?¡± Cherrygrove asked as he crouched down, the ship momentarily shaking at the shift in weight. ¡°Speak up.¡± ¡°Sir¡­ We shouldn¡¯t have set sail.¡± He said with dry laughter. I couldn¡¯t help but exchange some worried glances with the others. ¡°What did you see, Lorry?¡± Cherrygrove asked confused. ¡°Just pray it doesn¡¯t care about us, sir.¡± The sharkman said in worry. And just as we were about to ask what exactly he was afraid of, a loud sound echoed. The sound of something cracking and shattering, something big and unmovable being forced to move by something even more powerful. As the ship violently shook, we all turned back towards the source of the sound while trying to hold on to something. Towards the iceberg whose tip was about as big as the ship we were on. An iceberg that was shaking as if something incredibly massive had hit it. If I had to guess, it was the shadow under the water. The shadow that easily overshadowed our ship and the iceberg together. The shadow that had a very simple and terrifying window floating right above it.
Baltamur, the Tide Bringer [lvl ???] [??? ???] Equivalent level : ???
HP: ???? -???? (Your level is too low to see it¡¯s status)
The legend come alive, the unmatched tyrant of the seas. He who can change the tides and break the currents. He who brings disasters with his very presence. He, whose very existence is enough to bring forth the end of nations. He, who rules the waters as one of the four gods of disaster. Run.
¡°¡­Hey, guys¡­ I think I just found out why the undines were so uneasy.¡± I commented amidst dry laughter. Chapter 122 - God of Destruction ¡°Hey, Gon.¡± Arcus called me. ¡°Hmm?¡± I let out a grunt to let him know I was listening while letting my mind wander. ¡°You ever wonder why we are here?¡± He asked. ¡°It¡¯s a mystery, isn¡¯t it?¡± I said while looking at the horizon. ¡°I mean, why are we here? Are we pawns in a board played for the god¡¯s amusement? Are we¡­¡± I stopped for a moment as some water splashed in my face. ¡°¡­unstable existences that wander around and do unknown things for no reason, and thus are watched over by then?¡± I smiled. ¡°Maybe we have a way to find out that kind of stuff, but for now, we can only wonder. Why are we here.¡± A moment of silence fell between us as we slowly took in the deep and profound words that I had just said. A faint sound of impact echoed amidst the crash of the waves against the ship¡¯s hull, but nothing else was said for some time. ¡°¡­What? How did you even¡­¡± He said confused, but was also stopped by salt water. ¡°I was asking why are we here, tied to the ship¡¯s front mast.¡± ¡°Oh! That.¡± I said as I finally got the meaning of the question. ¡°Yeah, sorry. That¡¯s because I taunted one of the sea¡¯s mightiest beings and that almost caused it to destroy this ship in retaliation.¡± I stopped to think for a moment. ¡°And you stole the first mate¡¯s cookies.¡± ¡°Yeah, ye¡­ Wait, what?¡± He suddenly stopped. I think I heard him turning his head around to look at me, but I couldn¡¯t be so sure since I was also tied to the mast and my view range was rather limited. ¡°Why the hell did we get the same punishment?¡± He asked confused. ¡°Oh, probably because being tied to a large wooden pole under the afternoon sun while the sea water that crashes into the ship¡¯s hull and fly into your face every few seconds is a surprisingly good punishment.¡± I said while closing my eyes as the water once again hit my face. ¡°Yeah, yeah. But why did we get the same treatment?¡± He asked confused. ¡°I mean, no matter how I see it, the punishment should be on a completely different scale, right?¡± ¡°Well, they probably don¡¯t have enough room to make a private cell for you.¡± I said with shrug. ¡°But yeah, I agree. Stealing cookies is a serious crime.¡± ¡°Right?¡± He said confidently. Then a moment of silence. ¡°Waaaaait a second¡­¡± He said suspicious. ¡°Master¡­¡± I heard Crys say disappointed. I moved my head around a bit until I could see the floating crystal maid. ¡°Oh, hey Crys.¡± I greeted her. ¡°What brings you here.¡± ¡°I came to remind you that you really should go to sleep already.¡± She said while eyeing me and the half-beastman tie to the mast. ¡°But I guess you are still being punished.¡± ¡°Eh. Wouldn¡¯t be my first sleepless night before class.¡± I shrugged it off. ¡°You do reckon this wouldn¡¯t have happened if you had kept your mouth shut, right?¡± She said in disapproval. ¡°In my defense, I am actually reflecting on my actions.¡± I said seriously. She stared at me. Five seconds later¡­ ¡°More than usual, at least.¡± I said while averting my eyes. ¡°¡­Okay, now I¡¯m curious. What exactly happened?¡± Arcus asked me confused. ¡°Huh? Didn¡¯t you see it?¡± I asked confused. I mean, kind of difficult to miss that, you know. ¡°Not really.¡± He said with an awkward tone. ¡°El got seasick so Lila and I had to look after her in the ship.¡± He explained. ¡°We did hear a lot of shouting and the ship shaking like nothing ever before, though.¡± ¡°Hmm, fair enough.¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Guess it¡¯s time for a flashback then.¡± ¡°Flashback?¡± ¡°Yeah, its when a story plays a scene that happened in the past to either tell something that wasn¡¯t told or help the viewers remember something that happened a long time ago.¡± I explained to him. There was a silence while I heard the rope complaining as he moved. I guessed that he was nodding. ¡°Anyway, here¡¯s what happened¡­¡± And here we start a flashback. ¡­ ¡°I think I just found out why the undines were so uneasy.¡± I said amidst dry laughter while I stared at the shadow of the creature that passed beneath our ship. Hmmm? Weird, why does it feel like I¡¯m in a flashback? For a moment I was assailed by the odd feeling, but the sound of the ship creaking at the uneven current produced by a monster the size of a large building kind of made me come back to reality. ¡°What¡¯s happening lad? I can¡¯t see well from here!¡± Cherrygrove asked from where he was, his voice worried. ¡°Well, shortening a long story, we basically have a legendary monster right under our rudders at this exact moment and we¡¯ll most likely all die if he so much as sneezes.¡± I said in my most non-threatening way. ¡°Is it a leviathan?¡± A sailor asked near the captain. ¡°If so, we have already escaped worse.¡± ¡°Erm¡­ A little worse than that, I reckon.¡± I said while looking away. ¡°Does Baltamur the Tide Bringer rings a bell?¡± I asked awkwardly. The sailors around me looked around confused at the name. From the looks of it, they hadn`t heard about the behemoth, despite being sailors who are often on the sea. Well¡­ How do I explain this then? Should I get help from the guy who dived earlier? ¡°¡­You jest, boy.¡± Cherrygrove suddenly said, his voice showing his disbelief. I turned to him and he was looking at me warily. ¡°That¡­ Those are naught but legends.¡± ¡°Oh, so you know those guys.¡± I said relieved. ¡°Well, yeah. They exist. And one of them is right under your ship.¡± I explained while pointing downwards. ¡°And if what I heard is true, we might want to get away from here.¡± ¡°¡­Lorry?¡± Cherry grove called the sharkman, who was still sitting and trembling on the deck. The sharkman simply nodded weakly. ¡°ALL HANDS ON DECK! WE ARE GETTING AWAY FROM HERE! I want us as far away from this creature as we can right now.¡± He turned to me and asked. ¡°Where is he. Where is he going?¡± ¡°Huuh¡­¡± I blinked and looked back towards the front of the ship where I had seen it. ¡°¡­Huh. He¡¯s gone.¡± I commented after a moment of searching. ¡°...What?¡± ¡°He¡¯s gone. The shadow is gone.¡± I said in a mix of disappointment and relief. ¡°At least I can¡¯t see it.¡± ¡°I-Is that true?¡± Lorri asked shocked while standing up and staring at me. ¡°A-Are we safe?¡± ¡°Well, it does looks like it.¡± I said while searching the area around the ship. However, there wasn¡¯t even a shadow left of the¡­ well¡­ shadow of that had been under the ship just a few seconds ago. For a few seconds the ship was silent in disbelief. Then I could hear some sailors starting to complain that it was just a joke, but others shot the argument down by pointing to the sharkman. Meanwhile, I couldn¡¯t help but feel confused. I mean, yeah, it was good that the monster had left us alone, but it¡¯s also kind of disappointing. Being mildly realistic¡­ I kind of seriously have a lot of doubt about me having the smallest chance of having a major possibility of even dealing a small amount of significant damage to the monster at my current level¡­ But even then, he is my current end game goal, so having just seen him, even if only a glimpse of his shadow, only for him to get away is kind of disheartening. While I was feeling conflicted about how to react, my eyes landed on both Yuu and Aura, who were oddly enough staring towards the same direction with a serious expression. I was a bit curious about that, but before I had the chance to ask anything, ¡®it¡¯ moved. What is ¡®it¡¯ you might ask? That¡¯s simple. The Iceberg that was only around a few meters away from our ship. Yeah¡­ What could possibly go wrong there, right? A massive iceberg that weighs around a few hundreds of tons that¡¯s right besides the ship you are currently in started moving. And just to be more precise, it wasn¡¯t just a simple movement like a slight shake nor anything like that. The iceberg actually bobbed up a good two or three meters out of the water before falling back in. And if the tip of the iceberg is already the size of the ship, you can only guess how the ship reacted at all that mass moving right next to it. This time I didn¡¯t manage to hold myself in place and fell on my back as the ship swerved heavily by the wave the iceberg created. Most of the sailors just barely manage to keep their balance, together with Yuu and Kotetsu. ¡°What was that?¡± Kotetsu asked shocked. ¡°Icebergs aren¡¯t supposed to move like that.¡± ¡°¡­Sorry. I think I might have jinxed it.¡± I apologized. ¡°Men, prepare to turn to port. We are moving away from this iceberg right now!¡± Cherrygrove barked orders. ¡°I want all mages on sail-filling and wave-making duties. No swimmers pulling. Everyone is to stay on deck.¡± The sailors who had fallen quick put themselves back on their foots and scrambled to their posts. Some of them went to manage the front sail, others stood in the middle of the deck while someone distributed mana potions. Finally, another group of sailors lined up on the right side of the ship, the closest point to the iceberg. Since we knew we¡¯d only get in the way, our group quickly moved towards the railings where we wouldn¡¯t bother the sailors. ¡°Wave on my mark¡­¡± A tall sailor who was on the rudder shouted, he probably was the first mate. ¡°NOW!¡± On his shout, the sailors who were lined up on the side of the ship quickly started to cast magic. Soon after, the ship started tilting once again as a decently sized wave start to form underneath it. However, different from the previous wave that took everyone by surprise and threw us out of balance, this time we were ready and managed to keep our balance. As soon as the ship started to tilt and swerve, the first mate spun the rudder and turned the ship towards the opposite side as to where the wave was forming. Using the wave as a help, the ship creaked as it turned at a surprising rate, and as soon as they had enough of an angle, the first mate barked another order, and the magicians that stood near the sails started blasting wind magic on it, allowing the ship to gather a lot of speed in a matter of seconds be moving away from the iceberg that once again was moving.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Is it the monster?¡± A sailor nearby asked while staring at the iceberg that now found itself directly behind the ship. ¡°I¡¯d guess so.¡± I said with an awkward tone while swallowing drily. ¡°How huge is it to move the iceberg like that?¡± Kotetsu asked me. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I want to know that just yet¡­¡± I replied. However, it looks like Baltamur wouldn¡¯t give me the chance. As we began to wonder what exactly was happening to the iceberg, it suddenly happened. ¡°¡­By Ukanlos¡¯ chin¡­ The iceberg is flying.¡± I muttered in shock. Yes. That¡¯s exactly what¡¯s happening. While I was looking at the iceberg, it suddenly swayed oddly before suddenly being launched upwards in a straight line. Let me tell you, no matter how realistic a game may look, there¡¯s something about the scene of a building-sized iceberg being launched hundreds of meters upwards that just takes a long while to be registered. Even Cherrygrove was looking back from his place as the main mast in shock, his eyes refusing to believe in the scene. Then, he appeared. And boy, was I glad that the treant had moved us away from the iceberg. A massive creature that was too big for me to even understand leapt out of the water, it¡¯s massive rounded body chasing after the iceberg as the jaw opened apart. When the massive block of ice finally remembered the laws of physics, the creature closed its mouth, a loud shattering noise reaching us as a massive part of the iceberg was broken and eaten by the creature. My mind couldn¡¯t even begin to process the insanity that was the scene before me. Massive didn¡¯t even begin to describe Baltamur. His body had a shape not unlike that of a fat cigarette, except taken to an extreme scale. Massive being an understatement. The closest comparison that I had from a real world animal was a whale, however it could only go so far. First off, was the massive pair of tusks that sprouted from the side of its mouth. Each one was about as thick as our ship and many, many times longer. On its back was a series of irregular carapaces in that looked like dirty brown ice were dwarfed by a massive sawed ridge that ran down its spine, while its belly was a creamy colored looking layer of fat. Attached to its side was a pair of what looked like a hybrid between claws and flippers. With a bulky and somewhat flat shape so that it could propel itself underwater, at the end were short and stubby claws that gave it a dangerous appearance. At the base of his body, near where the second set of flippers and the tail began, I noticed two large protuberances from where a massive jet of water was being ejected, propelling him out of the ocean. How can I say this¡­ This scene was so damn surreal that suddenly the iceberg seemed to make all the sense in the world. Silence fell around the ship as we all watched the scene in shock, confusion and fear. It took us almost a full ten seconds for someone to move again. And it was none other than yours truly, Cheerrygrove, who suddenly shouted. ¡°BRACE FOR IMPACT!¡± Oh yeah¡­ The big dude also needs to eventually fall. And you can imagine what happens when something the size of a small island falls into the ocean. The earlier waves looked like a joke compared to the one that he made. While the previous one we had ridden the wave, this time we were simply carried by it, the size alone being enough to swallow the ship a couple of times over. Even Cherrygrove dropped the sails and held onto the hull before the wave hit us, and I saw as some of sailors started grabbing onto ropes or something. One of them threw us a rope so that we could also brace ourselves a bit better. I quickly coiled the rope around my hand before turning to Aura, Lieutenant, Pebblesworth. For a moment I considered what to do, but I quickly dismissed their summoning, since I decided that was safer than trying to have them hold on. ¡°RIO! FLY AWAY! NOW!¡± I shouted to the little wyvern who was already halfway into leaving the ship. Just as she managed to go high enough to avoid the waves, we were hit. The ship tilted almost a full ninety degrees. Maybe even a bit more than that, since I saw the ship deck moving away from me for a moment. I silently thanked the fact that my real life strength wasn¡¯t correspondent to my strength in game as I clung for dear life to the rope. Before long I could see as we left the wave, the ship now floating weightlessly after having been thrown out of the sea before starting its fall. I think I heard some screams of surprise and fear, and some people fell out of the ship and into the ocean below. I heard Hanbei shout something from under me, but I couldn¡¯t quite find out what had happened, as I saw the massive Ent grabbing onto the ship¡¯s side, his fingers digging into the ship¡¯s hull as he firmed his grip and twisted his body backwards, forcing the ship to follow his movement. Somehow, he just barely managed to fix the ship¡¯s position before we landed back on the water, riding down a second wave that had come after the first one. Thankfully, the first one was by far the worst, and while the ship rocked violently while riding the subsequent waves, we still managed to hold on. ¡°By Ceadeus¡¯ beard¡­¡± I muttered shocked when the ship started to settle down. ¡°GON!¡± Crys suddenly called to me worried as she floated down closer to me. ¡°Yuu and Kotetsu fell down!¡± She shouted worried. It took me a second to understand what she meant, before finally turning back and seeing that neither of the two were present on the deck, despite the fact that I had seen them grabbing the rope. ¡­Cygnasdammit. I quickly let go of the rope and dashed through the still shaking ship towards the rear of the ship, or whatever it was called, disregarding the sailors that were already trying to go back to doing their jobs. As I cursed myself for not noticing it sooner, I quickly reached the rearmost part of the ship and looked over the railing, searching the ocean for the signs of either one of the two martial artists. As my eyes scanned the ocean, trying to find signs of them amongst the pieces of the ship, cargo pieces and sailors. Then, I found them¡­ Flailing on the water while trying to keep their heads out of water¡­ Ah, no, never mind. They are swimming. The same could be said to pretty much all the other sailors. As I felt that it was a bit anti-climatic seeing them so casually swimming towards us, I quickly recalled the massive beast and looked towards it, wondering if it would go after those swimming¡­ But no, it just laid in its place, chewing on the iceberg while not even sparing us a glance. Even now I couldn¡¯t help but swallow drily as I once again took on the sheer size of the massive creature. The movement of his jaw every time he bit into the iceberg was enough to create sizeable waves. I couldn¡¯t help but contort my expression into one of disappointment, but looking at the sailors swimming back to the ship, I decided that I could worry later. Looking around, I found a coil of rope that was laying on the ground. I called to the first mate who was hugging the rudder with an exhausted expression and asked him if I could use it. He gave it a quick glance before nodding. I threw the rope over the railing and into the ocean while trying to tie the other end to something solid. I won¡¯t mention the fact that I really suck at tying ropes and had to hold on to it myself when the first sailor started climbing it because that¡¯s bad for my image as the protagonist. ¡°Stone-mister!¡± I heard Rio calling out to me while she flew down and landed on my shoulder. ¡°Are you alright?¡± She asked me worried. ¡°Y-YEAH¡­¡± I muttered while trying to hold on to the rope while another sailor started climbing it. ¡°R-Rio¡­ Here¡­¡± I coiled the rope around my arm and grimaced as the pain settled in for using only one arm to hold one or more peoples worth of weight. Using my free arm, I quickly took a couple of health pots from my belt and handed it to her. ¡°Ughhhh! Look for anyone¡­ Who seems injured in the water¡­ Give that to them.¡± I told her. She was confused for a moment, but nodded and grabbed the potions with one of her claws and her mouth before taking flight once again. By the time the third sailor climbed aboard, they finally noticed that I was in pain and quickly tied the rope to the ship, allowing me to stop and wait for the pain in my arm to go away. And I didn¡¯t mean it in the chuuni way. ¡°That was surprising.¡± Yuu said while hopping onboard the ship. ¡°Damned low level. Can¡¯t even allow me to hang on to a rope.¡± Kotetsu complained. ¡°Ah, Shishou! Are you alright?¡± Yuu ran over to me when she found me leaning against the railing. ¡°Yeah. Just found out trying to hold a rope so that several people climb it isn¡¯t exactly a good idea.¡± I shrugged it off while I looked up at my HP that had dropped a decent amount. As well as the injured arm debuff. Then, I couldn¡¯t help but look away for a bit while I started searching my inventory for a certain thing. ¡°here, Yuu, you might want to put this on.¡± I said while taking out the old leather jacket I had made back when I was starting to learn leatherworking. She blinked surprised, but quickly accepted it and put it over her clothes. How should I say this, but the sight of the usually innocent Yuu wearing wet kimono had a lot more destructive power than I could have expected. Even though there wasn¡¯t anything about it besides it clinging a bit tighter to her body than usual. ¡°Is everyone accounted for?¡± Cherrygrove asked while standing up. ¡°There¡¯s still some sailors on the water.¡± Kotetsu said while looking back. ¡°Swimmers to the water. Rescue anyone who¡¯s injured or straggling behind. Everyone else is to prepare ship for sailing.¡± The first mate barked orders. ¡°Seek the golem¡¯s white wyvern. She should be searching from the sky.¡± Around five sailors near us nodded and leapt out of the ship, while some others quickly threw another rope to facilitate the climbing. All the while they kept an eye out to Baltamur. The behemoth had stopped munching on the ice and laid idly on the water. It was clear that everyone was waiting to see what it¡¯d do next. It took the sailors five minutes to rescue everyone who had fallen into the sea, with Rio returning once the last one was on its way here. She gave me back the potion she was carrying in her feet, while the pot on her mouth was empty. ¡°Everyone accounted for, sir!¡± The first mate barked, to which Cherrygrove nodded and once again held the sail-cloak open. Soon after, the magicians started using wind-magic to fill the sail and propel the ship forward. A series of relieved sighs echoed from the sailors and our group as we started taking distance from where the giant was. Even I couldn¡¯t help but sigh in relief. I mean, I¡¯m all for fighting stronger enemies, but that? Yeah, no way in hell I¡¯ll be fighting that. Heck, I could use my long-sword as a freaking acupuncture therapy for him? Arrows? Maybe they¡¯ll clog his pores. Heck, does a thing that size even use pores? ¡°We are lucky it doesn¡¯t care about us.¡± Crys sighed. ¡°Y-Yeah¡­¡± I smiled awkwardly before sighing and taking a deep breath. Talk about good luck. ¡­Huh¡­ I feel like there¡¯s something slightly wrong with what I¡¯m thinking. (Gon is now processing. Please wait for a moment as he falls back into his usual mindset. For your convenience please imagine that elevator music is playing at this moment.) So¡­ That guy is literally one of the creatures I had set as my target, one that I was still searching for information just a few minutes ago, and the first thing I think after seeing it is that I¡¯m glad it¡¯s not coming after me? Yeah¡­ There¡¯s something wrong with me. I have no idea when I¡¯ll next meet him, so how could I just be satisfied that I¡¯m getting away. Time to fix this. I stormed my way towards the back of the ship once again and dramatically put my feet on the rear railing for dramatic purpose while pointing towards the behemoth. ¡°OI! YOU OVERSIZED MOHRAN RIPOFF!¡± I shouted the loudest I could. I¡¯m not sure he could hear it, but I didn¡¯t care. ¡°YOU MIGHT HAVE SCARED THE LIVING KUT-KU OF ME TODAY! BUT KNOW THAT ONE DAY I¡¯LL COME BACK TO DEFEAT YOU SO I CAN USE YOUR SKULL AS A HAT!¡± I stopped for a moment to think a bit better. ¡°OR AS A BOAT! WHICHEVER FITS BETTER! SO WASH YOUR HIDE AND WAIT FOR IT, YOU HEAR ME?¡± I grunted satisfied with the powerful threat I made it and finally felt a bit more satisfied. ¡°Seriously, boy?¡± Kotetsu said in disbelief. ¡°That¡¯s how master is.¡± Crys said with a sigh, only to suddenly freeze as her eyes landed on the giant. ¡°Y-You don¡¯t think it h-heard you, do you?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I blinked surprised and once again looked back at Baltamur. He was moving. His body contorting as he turned towards our direction, and after arching its back, it sunk into the ocean. The only thing that went on my head was a repeated string of curses and self-blame. Not long after, the behemoth appeared once again, its body poking out of the water as it balanced itself so that it could stay just outside of the water in a vertical position. While we had gotten some distance from him already, he was still close enough to once again remind us of how massive he was. As he turned towards the ship, it opened its massive mouth. Then, it roared. I doubt anyone in the ship left with their ears intact, but at least I could say I went deaf fast enough so that I didn¡¯t feel the worst part of it. However, as if going deaf wasn¡¯t good enough, the sheer wind pressure the roar created threw the ship forward with a scary speed. Luckily, that wasn¡¯t enough to capsize us. Even luckier, Baltamur had decided that we weren¡¯t worth his time and didn¡¯t pursue us any longer. Well, I did manage to piss off a lot of people, though. ¡­ ¡°Gon¡­¡± Arcus said in monotone as I finished the story. ¡°Yeah?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Chosen can¡¯t die, right?¡± ¡°Well, kinda, yeah¡­ Why?¡± I asked worried. ¡°When I¡¯m freed from here, I¡¯m using you as target practice for knife throwing.¡± ¡°¡­Sorry!¡± I said, sincerely regretful. ¡°I¡¯ll take some from master¡¯s inventory. That way you don¡¯t spend your money.¡± Crys added in a cheerful tone. ¡°¡­SORRY!¡± I cried Yuu! Aura! I need help! Please, save me! Aah, yeah, Yuu logged out for the day and Aura was still mad at me for what I did. Aaah¡­ Is this Karma for annoying people? Must be. With that, I cried while another wave crashed against the ship and splashed in my face. Chapter 123 - Sprites smoothy favor ¡°Richard...¡± ¡°Huh...¡± I groaned annoyed when i heard someone calling my name, only to fall back into stupor again as my head met with the desk a second time. Or third. Or fourth. I couldn¡¯t really recall how many times I had fallen asleep today. ¡°Richard. Class is over.¡± The voice echoed. I processed the meaning of the words before finally raising my eyes up towards the source of the voice. The old, slightly overweight teacher was looking at me with an awkward expression. I looked around and noticed that I was the only student left in the classroom. ¡°I¡¯m used to you not exactly paying attention to class, but downright sleeping is brand new.¡± He commented. ¡°¡­Huhh¡­ Sorry?¡± I said awkwardly while stifling a long yawn. ¡°Didn¡¯t have a good night sleep today¡­¡± I muttered while recalling the wonderful time tied to the mast. Sometime before I logged out Arcus had been freed from the mast so I had to stay alone while Yuu and the rest slept soundly in the real world. Me? I was stuck in a freaking mast in the most uncomfortable way possible. And I couldn¡¯t even move my feet or head because Aura, Rio and Pebblesworth were sleeping on me. ¡°Well, anyway, class is over, so you can go home to sleep now.¡± He told me. ¡°And I need you to leave if I want to lock the classroom, so it¡¯s a win-win situation for us.¡± ¡°Huuh, yeah. Sorry.¡± I said awkwardly while making the motion to store my notebook, only to notice that I hadn¡¯t even opened it for the class. I changed it to look like I was checking my backpack before standing up and yawning my way out of the classroom. The teacher stayed behind for some time so he could lock the door, so I made my way out while trying to keep myself standing straight. Today Yuu hadn¡¯t come with me since the class was a lot more of raw math than programming, and I¡¯d need to, first, translate everything for her, and second, try to explain the more basic parts of the equations that she might not have learned previously. That, and I kind of guessed I wouldn¡¯t be in the best presence of mind to explain the things to her, seeing how I only had slept from around six in the morning until eleven, so not much I could do there. As soon as I stepped outside, I could hear my cellphone complaining in my pocket. Having already foreseen something of the sorts, I reached back to the side-pockets of my backpack and fished out the earphones from it. After a few seconds of stumbling with the plug, I finally managed to set it up and brought it to my ear. ¡°Hello and thanks for calling¡­¡± Stopping for another yawn. ¡°¡­Thanks for calling Wargon¡¯s Workshop. We are currently closed, so please call again later.¡± ¡°Yeah, try again. I¡¯m pretty much your secretary and I know better than you do when Gon¡¯s workshop is open.¡± Cyg shot me back. ¡°Anyway, what happened? You haven¡¯t even replied to the messages. What happened?¡± ¡°Message?¡± I frowned slightly while trying to recall if I had received anything like that. ¡°Well, it probably arrived either when I was napping or sleeping.¡± ¡°¡­I just checked, but neither of those are supposed to be done in class.¡± Cyg said coldly. ¡°That¡¯s what the popular media wants you to think. School is the third best place to sleep. First is sofa, second is bed.¡± I said with a proud nod before yawning. ¡°Sure¡­ Anyway, Yuu wanted to know what time you¡¯d arrive home and if you¡¯d want to eat something by the time you got back.¡± For a moment I stopped while processing her words, then finally nodded. ¡°That sounds like a tempting, delicious and cheap idea.¡± I said amused while feeling my stomach grumble. Usually I¡¯d go for a snack at the college¡¯s canteen at this time, but a Yuu-made snack sounds like a great idea. ¡°But I guess that it¡¯s a bit late for that.¡± I laughed awkwardly. I think it might be a bit late for me to ask for something when I¡¯m already on my way home. ¡°¡­I¡¯d try to tell that to Yuu, but she already logged off.¡± Cyg commented awkwardly. I let out an amused laugh before starting to make my way out of the college. Apparently, Yuu had forgotten to take her cellphone with her to the kitchen, so Cyg was unable to contact her outside of the game. Wondering what exactly Yuu would do for a late afternoon snack, I left college while looking around for PH and Jean to complain to them for not waking me up. It took me a few minutes to recall that we didn¡¯t take this course together. It took me a little less to notice that even if that was the case they¡¯d still leave me sleeping. Having some idle-chat with Cygnas while walking, It took me a bit more than ten minutes to reach home at my sleepy pace, and soon enough I was already on the elevator home. ¡°I hast returneded.¡± I said while opening the door to my apartment and walking in. ¡°Ah. Ri-kun.¡± I heard Yuu calling out to me from the kitchen. ¡°Oh my. Yuu. What a surprise.¡± I said in a fake surprised tone. I passed by the sofa to leave my backpack before turning back towards the kitchen. ¡°Since you didn¡¯t warn me earlier, I had to make something simpler.¡± She said disappointed while looking back to the counter. ¡°Hmm¡­ Why do I have this feeling that my definition of simple and yours are different?¡± I said while following her gaze. True enough, laying on the counter was something that I could call nothing but fancy. A pair of bowls that I was pretty sure I didn¡¯t have in my house were standing on the top of the counter, some cooking utensils, as well as a honey jar and a few other containers that I wasn¡¯t quite familiar with. ¡°I smell Glucose.¡± I said while taking in the sweet smelling aroma that emanated from the bowls. ¡°Mother usually said that sugar is good for when you have mental fatigue.¡± Yuu said in a proud but tone while turning back and picking up the bowls. ¡°I didn¡¯t have much, but I did this one snack that I learned in¡­ Anoo.¡± She stopped for a moment to think. ¡°Cooking class? Iye¡­ Muu...¡± She then mumbled some words in Japanese while in deep thought. ¡°Cooking class?¡± I blinked trying to think. ¡°Home EC?¡± ¡°Hmm! That!¡± She nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a snack that uses fruits, honey and¡­¡± She blanked out again. ¡°¡­Remembering the name of proper nouns can be difficult if you don¡¯t use them regularly.¡± She complained. I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at her pouting expression as she tried to recall the word. ¡°I know the feeling.¡± I looked at the bowls and at the surprisingly tasty looking fruit-salad on the bowls, taking in the smell I recognized the ingredient that she was talking about. Though the English name also escaped me. ¡°Cinnabar?¡± I asked while tilting my head. ¡°Sounds about right.¡± Let¡¯s just ignore the red alert that has been blaring on my head at the word. Besides, I doubt that whatever it was, it would be any sweeter than Yuu herself. While thinking that, I couldn¡¯t help but pat her head a little bit. She didn¡¯t understand the reason, but soon made a satisfied expression anyway. Yeah, sweets really helps one relax. ¡°So, what happened while I was offline?¡± I asked while taking one of the portions and heading to the table. ¡°Hmm¡­ Argento-san contacted us and said that he managed to get into a ship. Apparently the undines became calmer a bit after we set sail.¡± Yuu said while recalling the happenings. ¡°Huh. I wonder if it have a relation to Baltamur.¡± I muttered curious, and Yuu nodded in agreement. ¡°I also wondered about that. We told him what had happened and he then told Wich-dono.¡± Yuu explained while taking a spoonful of her bowl. ¡°Hmm. Yeah, even if it¡¯s only an idea, there¡¯s still the fact that it¡¯s not the first time it happened, so having a theory is better than nothing.¡± I thought it over. I do recall Hanbei mentioning that something like that happened in the past, and if we take into account that Baltamur is really ancient, it wouldn¡¯t be odd for him to be the cause of the previous unrest. ¡°Did we get a reaction from Wich?¡± ¡°Wich-dono didn¡¯t seem to recall anything, but Sam-Dono Apparently mentioned hearing of Baltamur in a book before.¡± Yuu explained. I widened my eyes surprised. With how scarce the info on Baltamur was, I was half expecting for the answer to be that there was nothing. ¡°We asked for him to see if he could find the book again for him to lend you when we went back.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯d be helpful.¡± I nodded while recalling back to that skill that allowed me to return to the house I got. ¡°Speaking of the house, did we get any news on the repairs?¡± ¡°Hmm. I forgot to ask them.¡± Yuu commented disappointed. ¡°I could do that.¡± Cyg suddenly chimed in from my phone. We turned our attention to her, only to see her holding a bowl herself behind the screen. ¡°¡­Jealous much?¡± ¡°¡­Not really.¡± She complained while looking away. ¡°I¡¯ll make some for you when we log in again.¡± Yuu added in with an awkward tone. Cygnas pretend to not care, but we could clearly see her eyes peeking over towards us.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Anyway, how would you do that?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Pet being transported to the house when the owner is offline. Remember that?¡± She told me in an obvious tone. It took me a moment to recall that was, indeed, a thing she mentioned about the house. ¡°Actually, Aura should already be over there, I could just ask her.¡± ¡°Is she?¡± I asked surprised. Now that I thought about it, Aura haven¡¯t really been leaving the game too much despite the whole preparations that she underwent with Cygnas. ¡°Hmm.¡± Cygnas nodded. ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure what she is doing, but if I had to guess, she should be marking the territory.¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± I exclaimed surprised. ¡°It¡¯s kind of rare for her to do something so animal-like.¡± I commented while recalling back to her actions since I tamed her. ¡°Hmm. Is she doing that to keep monsters away from the house?¡± Yuu asked curious. ¡°Should be.¡± Cygnas nodded. ¡°Even though she doesn¡¯t have the same stats she had as a boss, she is still a freezing tail. Not many monsters would dare to challenge her. And even if they did, thanks to a certain someone¡¯s influence, even if a monster stronger than her would show up, she should be able to keep them away with some ease.¡± Why was she looking at me? It¡¯s clear that lieutenant¡¯s the one to blame for that. ¡°But would that even work? I mean, doesn¡¯t territory marking works only for animals of the same kind?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Not exactly. It¡¯s actually used for animals of similar standing to warn each other off.¡± Cygnas explained. ¡°Of course, that doesn¡¯t work for all match ups, and most of the time it is mostly towards their own kind. True.¡± ¡°Huh. The more you know.¡± I said amused. ¡°How would she even do that, though? Smell?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ maybe magic?¡± Yuu suddenly said. ¡°I mean, Aura is a magic fox, right? It would make sense for her to also use it.¡± ¡°Hmm... True enough.¡± I nodded. ¡°¡­Thinking about it, I don¡¯t know much about Aura and the other color slash elemental tails natural ecology.¡± I commented. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t really tell you since that¡¯s outside of Crys¡¯ knowledge.¡± She told me apologetically. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. That was mostly me thinking out loud.¡± I shrugged off her worry before taking another spoonful of the treat Yuu made. Tasty. ¡°What about Yuu you?¡± ¡­ Ermm¡­ ¡°You Yuu.¡± She giggled and Crys sighed with an amused expression. ¡°You were going to mess around with talismans, weren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Yuu nodded. ¡°I got the skill up to level 3 earlier today while testing some things. As you said, I can do a lot more with talismans than just¡­ Ano¡­ Exorcism? Most of the talismans I made were weak magic spells, such as fire ball and ice spike. But they didn¡¯t use my mana and I wasn¡¯t limited by my elements affinity.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± I nodded and went for another spoonful of the treat, only to hear the sound of the spoon clinking on the empty bowl. I pouted since I was quite enjoying the sweet taste, but it looks like Yuu hadn¡¯t made any more. I stood up and noticed that Yuu had also finished her own snack. She made a motion towards picking up the bowls to wash them, but I stole her bowl away and took them to the sink myself. ¡°Ah¡­¡± She let out a surprised gasp, but didn¡¯t try to pursue any further once I started washing the dishes. ¡°So¡­ Do you have to use kanji for talismans?¡± I asked her to distract her pout for a bit. ¡°That would be kind of limiting for non-japanese players I reckon.¡± ¡°Ah, no.¡± Yuu shook her head. ¡°When I got the skill, it gave me the option to assign symbols for each of the effects I wanted.¡± She explained. ¡°Then, all I had to do was use them on the talismans.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s really different from crystal tinkering.¡± I commented amused. ¡°I guess you get more symbols you can assign as you level up?¡± Yuu nodded. ¡°On level three I got the ¡®if¡¯ symbol.¡± ¡°¡­Did it just turn into programming?¡± I grimaced. ¡°Hmm. Not all crafting systems are similar.¡± Cyg explained. ¡°Some are more free-form, like your crystal tinkering. Others are more systematic, like talisman making and magic engineering.¡± I flinched at the word engineering. ¡°Then, there¡¯s all the stuff that falls in between, like normal blacksmithing.¡± ¡°¡­Normal¡­?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You wouldn¡¯t get it.¡± Cyg said in a smug tone while Yuu giggled amused. I stared at the two confused for some time before shrugging. Stiffling a yawn, I focused on finishing my job before going for a nap. Hmm¡­ Taking a nap on Aura¡¯s fluffy fur sounds like a great idea right about now. While feeling satisfied by the idea, I tried to bring out a bit more of a conversation before I fell asleep. ¡°What about the others?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Mary was chatting with the sailors, but she said she was planning on leveling up her crafting skill too.¡± Yuu mentioned, causing me to raise an eyebrow while trying to recall what her craft was. ¡°Maya was training her hiding skills if I recall.¡± ¡°Does she even have a crafting skill?¡± I asked curious. ¡°¡­I¡­ Do not know.¡± Yuu said slightly disappointed. ¡°¡­You don¡¯t really need to sound disappointed because of that, you know?¡± I told her awkwardly. ¡°Anyway, almost done here. You can go logging in for now if you want.¡± I told her, she thought for a bit before nodding. ¡°Ah! Ojii-sama will log in later. He left for a jog.¡± She told me before starting to leave the house. ¡°See you later Ri-Kun.¡± She told me with a shy smile before walking away from my apartment. ¡°¡­You do know you have a really silly grin on your face right now, don¡¯t you?¡± Cygnas commented after a moment. ¡°No I don¡­¡± I started complaining, only to notice that I was still washing the dishes and the cellphone was firmly placed on the table, so there was no way for her to see me. ¡°I don¡¯t need visual to know you have a silly smile right now.¡± She taunted to me. ¡°Whenever Yuu does something for you, you get really happy.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m currently searching my memory for rebuttals, but I sadly cannot say anything.¡± I pouted. ¡°I also do not need visual contact to know you have a very smug smile on your face.¡± ¡°Indeed I do.¡± Okay. She¡¯s getting window-balled first thing on log on. ¡­ As I laid there, blankly staring at the empty sky before me, I felt a familiar presence suddenly appear near me, following by hurried, but quiet footsteps. Soon enough, a black nose in the end of a blue furry muzzle appeared before my sight. Soon after, Aura started poking my forehead worriedly. ¡°Hello Aura.¡± I said while reaching my hand over my head and petting her from a slightly awkward position. She looked down at me worriedly, so I just gave her a small smile. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I used my free hand to point somewhere ahead. ¡°On the other hand, Cyg was mean to me, so scold her!¡± Aura blinked surprised following her raising her eyes towards Cygnas, who was still floating there with a smug expression and throwing a windowball up and down. It took a moment for the fox to understand what happened. Then, she turned to me and bopped my forehead with her nose disapprovingly. ¡°Hey! It was her who started it!¡± I complained. ¡°And she cheated!¡± Aura just stared at me blankly, greatly injuring my fragile heart by her lack of trust. ¡°Well, to be honest, I WAS the one who started it this time.¡± Cygnas suddenly said, much to my and Aura¡¯s surprise. ¡°But I didn¡¯t cheat.¡± ¡°I call BS!¡± I shoute while sitting up furiously. ¡°There¡¯s no way 30 against 1 is not cheating!¡± ¡°Technically, they were all me, so it was still one versus one.¡± She argued back. ¡°You AMBUSHED me!¡± ¡°And you did that to me before.¡± Ughh¡­ ¡°Curse you and your super AI-enabled arguments!¡± I said while pointing at her incriminatingly. ¡°That wasn¡¯t even that complex of an argument, Gon.¡± I heard a sigh coming from Aura, but I just ignored it as I turned to her and dove my face into her fluffy mane to recover from the mental damage. I felt the fox flinch for a moment before she finally relaxed and started wagging her tail cheerfully. ¡°Well, window-ball payback aside, aren¡¯t you going to finish logging in?¡± Cygnas asked me, and after a moment of thought, I nodded. Somehow managing to fiddle with the menu while still filling my fluffy meters, I felt a brief moment of weightlessness as I was transported back into the game, and when the salty air hit my face, I knew I was back on the ship. ¡°Woah!¡± I heard a male voice echoing surprised nearby. ¡°Geez, I¡¯ll never get used to these chosen appearing out of nowhere.¡± He complained before I heard the footsteps walking around me and Aura. I grumbled in annoyance for a moment before finally standing up and letting out a loud yawn. Taking on the view around me, I noticed that I was near the front of the ship, the same place where I had logged off earlier, while Yuu and Rival were chatting somewhere down the rear of the ship. It didn¡¯t seem like they had noticed me, so I decided to make my way to them so I could greet the two, but before I could even take the first step, I was dive-bombed by a flying pebble to the face. ¡°¡­Ouch.¡± I mumbled when I felt my head hitting the deck of the ship as a rock scorpion happily ¡®tek-teked¡¯ on my face. ¡°¡­Did you grow?¡± I asked curious while grabbing pebblesworth by the tail and pulling him back. I could swear he was two-or so centimeters smaller. ¡°Te-Tek?¡± Pebblesworth titled its head confused, but soon stopped thinking too much about it and summoned the blue scarf it had been knitting out of his inventory and took advantage of his position to throw it around my head. ¡°Tek-Te!¡± He said satisfied. For a moment I just stared at him blankly, but finally I smiled awkwardly while putting the little elemental on my shoulder. ¡°Thanks lil¡¯ buddy.¡± I told him while petting his head. It let out some satisfied teks. Then he suddenly pulled out another set of strings and went back to knitting on my shoulder. I raised an eyebrow confused, but didn¡¯t bother thinking too much about it before setting off. Out of curiosity I inspected the scarf as I walked. I raised an eyebrow surprised for a moment.
Sprite¡¯s Favor (requires a friendly miner¡¯s sprite)
Def: 0 M. Res: 0
Quality: Good Durability: Infinite
Description A scarf made by and from a friendly miner¡¯s sprite. Woven with surprising care and expertise. It does well to protect from the cold and allows you to more easily find the veins you seek. While wearing this scarf, you gain the following skills: [Cold resistance] [Detect mining Veins]
¡°Neat¡­¡± I muttered amused. ¡°What is it, Shishou?¡± I heard Yuu¡¯s voice from nearby. I raised my sight out of the window and noticed that I had already reached both Yuu and Ashley, who reacted with curiosity and annoyance at my muttering. ¡°Hmm, just checking the scarf Pebblesworth made for me.¡± I said while raising my scarf and showing it to them. ¡°It have both cold resistance and Something about detecting mining veins. Doesn¡¯t really have defense though.¡± ¡°Heeeh.¡± Yuu muttered surprised. ¡°Yeah. Anyway, no need for you to try and leave in silence.¡± I said while turning towards Ashley who was trying to sneak away. ¡°I¡¯m really sleepy, so I just came to warn that I planned on napping in the cabin.¡± ¡°...Huh?¡± Ashley let out a silly sounding mutter. ¡°Hmm. Have a good nap then, Shishou.¡± Yuu told me cheerfully. ¡°¡­That¡¯s it? Really? No attempt at annoying me nor anything?¡± Ashley asked confused. ¡°Too sleepy for that.¡± I waved away her hidden desires and moved towards the place we were assigned. Greeting Cherrygrove on my way down, I barely managed to enter the cabin without falling asleep before using Aura as a pillow. The fluffiest of pillows.