《Not your average player》


 Chapter 1

    Introduction


    Hello, this is Promet here!


    Let me say a few things about myself, in return i will omit prologue and start with 1st chapter right away (well, although i said that, this chapter will be considerably short. I have yet to decide if I will make one long chapter once upon a time or rather lots of short chapters often).


    I am writing novels for hobby and recently thought about publishing them. After reading LMS i stumbled upon FF section and a thought crossed my mind. I decided to write a fanfic myself, since I need some feedback regarding my writing style. Also, it just so happens that two of my not yet realized ideas for novels are for virtual reality and such, and one of them fits perfectly here. Having said that, please mind that English is not my native language (although I dare say I know it quite well) and therefore mistakes might occur. If so, please do not hesitate to inform me as this will be a valuable feedback for me (I am going to create separate subsection for that as well as for your opinions, please do not hesitate to write. OK enough talk, let''s go, chapter 1! I''m choosing you!!!


    PS. please note that this isn''t the exact copy of LMS setting and there are differences in various instances


    Edit: I added more space between paragraphs next day for more comfy reading, regards to Limilicious for pointing that out (previously it looked just like here in the introduction).


    Chapter 1


    Ken was standing on the hill, one of many that preceded a not to high mountain range. It was spring and he was looking at a makeshift grave made of mounded rocks and a flat, rectangular rock stuck into the ground vertically. Inscribed on it were letters, denoting who the one sleeping an eternal dream inside is - the name''s Charle Magnus, nothing more was written.


    The youth looked average, around 20 years old, 170 - 180 cm tall man that is neither slender nor fat, just average. The same could be said about his clothes and completely shaved face, only his jet black hair was a far cry from actual fashion trend - long and gathered in the back of his head into a long ponytail, reaching the bottom of his blade bones. Well, aside from appearance he was by no means average, but this is not relevant at the moment.


    "Thank you, Master Magnus. If not for you, I don''t know what would have happened to me. As I dreamed of, I am going to venture into the world seeking adventure. Fear not, for you have taught me the invincible Soaring Sword style. May the gods guide you in the afterlife, and thank you for all you have done for me". Young man said the goodbyes to his deceased master and, after making sure that his late master''s sword - claymore named Joyeuse - could be drawn any moment, he descended into the forest downhill.


    Not a long time has passed since Ken entered the forest, and his path was already obstructed by monsters. The ones he met were goblins - low level humanoids. Ken have already fought them several times and knew that the ones in this area were around level 70, only their chief was stronger by 20 levels. Goblins obviously have already spotted him and were now brandishing their weapons in excitement.


    "Look boys, we have dinner!" exclaimed gleefully their leader while imitating honing dining knives with his double-wielded sabers. The remaining twenty grunts shouted with enthusiasm, flailing their various weapons above their heads in threatening manner. Unfortunately for them, Ken was neither inclined nor even able to comply with their vicious plans, since he was lvl 220 after training... and that was just the level, not the stats. What a bother, he thought. But if you think for a while, there always is a bright side, right?


    "Very well, monsters. I have yet to try out Joyeuse in battle, so you can be my test subjects."


    Goblins, enraged by his declaration, decided to set their joy aside for when they will have killed him already. And thus the battle began, with almost two dozens of humanoids rushing like a coastal tide against Ken. But if they were the tide, then Ken was a strong rock, and he parried the attacks of the first two goblins, killing them in one hit in an instant. The goblin leader, who was watching from afar with conceited smile was thrown into a fit of rage, shouting commands at the goblins that made them pull off and then attack the youth together in two waves.


    It was not difficult to fight them. Not even one goblin touched him, as his agility was his forte. His slashes weren''t that strong, but each of them was lethal as he was skilled enough to make out weak points of goblins'' shoddy armor and strike them accurately. As a result, only a few seconds have passed and only Ken and goblin ringleader were left, latter with his jaw dropped and staring blankly at the one opponent he shouldn''t have picked a fight with.


    "Well, I''m afraid there is no dinner today", Ken jeered at his opponent, "you are going to sleep with empty stomach."


    The goblin looked at him with anguish, then shouted:


    "This be not end! You be hearing?! This not end!"


    And started running. ''It seems he''s not on the bright side'', thought the human after hearing the lousy grammar in his speech. Although Ken had lazy personality, he never let off anyone who dared to stand in his way or bear his fangs at him. And so, he used the peculiar footwork of the Soaring Sword style, with ease passing the running monster and then appearing suddenly before him, stopping him in his tracks. The goblin blinked, surprised.


    "You... how...!?"


    "I told you didn''t I? The bad kids need to be punished." Ken threw yet another mocking remark at the enemy.


    "Since it be come to this... Die!"


    The goblin used a skill - both his blades started to shine in bright, red color, seemingly his last resort, since he hasn''t used it yet. Ken made a bored expression and blocked it with his scabbard - well, it was his master''s scabbard and his master''s sword, really, but since the master was dead, it was technically his now - that was fortified with magic and then simply decapitated his opponent with a flowing horizontal swing of a sword.


    ''As expected of master''s sword, very sharp and durable. I already like it'', he thought to himself while leaving.


    ***


    As expected, a great quantity of monster roamed the woods. There were goblins, kobolds, wolves, bears, lizardmen and such. Of course, all of them was intent on killing and eating Ken, but none had what it takes to. Result - a bloody trail of sliced bodies in the wake of the young swordsman.


    Someone would be surprised that there were no humans. This mountain range was near a kingdom that players have just recently gained access to - as a starting point, that is. Some have already arrived here, but not many of them ventured into the mountains. It was common knowledge that where there were mountains there were powerful monsters and not many were strong enough to have the gall to challenge them. Well, actually, the hills here didn''t have such powerful monsters - they were lvl 200 at best.


    That''s why Ken was surprised, when he came upon a similar carnage (similar to the one he himself made). At first he thought that maybe he just has already gone through here, but quickly he abandoned the thought as he checked the position of the sun in the sky and it was clear as a day that he haven''t been here before.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Has some kind of a beast ventured here?" he asked himself in puzzlement quietly.


    KLANK SHWIIISH ARGGH


    Suddenly he heard a series of sounds that could only indicate that there was a battle somewhere near. With his curiosity currently taking the better of him, it won over his laziness and almost against himself he closed in onto the source of the sounds curiously.


    "Curiosity may have killed the cat, but that cat has nine lives", he murmured virtually inaudibly to himself.


    After ten minutes of fighting protruding bushes finally he managed to get close to the repeating and increasingly loud sounds of battling, and carefully hiding on the edge of the forest he saw a group of five people. They seemed to have been arguing about something and no such sounds as before could be heard.


    The young swordsman decided to stay where he was and scrutinized those people before making any decision.


    As mentioned before, there were 5 of them. A tall human archer, wearing a well fitting leather armor. A petite woman in a robe with a scepter, probably a wizard. A robust man of average height in a white clothes, probably a healer. A tall and slender man in a leather armor equipped with daggers, probably assassin. And finally, an averagely sized man in black leather clothes with a strangely shaped guitar on his back, seemingly a bard, he was also the only one with a long haircut (the woman had a short bob cut barely reaching her arms). Four of them were arguing among themselves, whilst the assassin was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, observing the argument.


    Ken was looking at the spectacle puzzled, trying to understand what was happening. After sparing a look to their surroundings, he saw quite a big number of corpses consisting mainly of lizardmen and a few other monsters. It took him a while of scanning it, but finally he made out a large, two-handed sword lying on the ground. He was moving carefully around in an effort to find a better view, when he heard a snap.


    It was a dry branch lying on the ground. And he stepped on it.


    "Who''s there!", immediately the archer reacted. Ken couldn''t have known it at the time, but he was a ranger and had advanced tracking skills, amongst them one passive that allowed him to hear any noise made by living beings in the vicinity. Now he and assassin, who apparently had similar skill or ability, lashed their heads in his direction, while the rest of the party followed suit tensely.


    Young man sighed inwardly at his carelessness and came out, holding his hands slightly above his head with their palms positioned forward to indicate his peaceful intentions.


    "Good morning. I apologize for surprising you - people rarely come here", he greeted them in hope of avoiding conflict.


    "What the, it''s just a player" woman sighed.


    The party visibly relaxed. They expected a monster, not a human. Of course there is a possibility that he is a Player Killer. But if that was so, he either should have companions (which he did not, otherwise he wouldn''t come out like that, they concluded) or he was more or less harmless thanks to their numbers.


    Of course, regarding the suspicion, the same can be said about Ken. He had no guarantee that they wouldn''t kill him or first toy with him and then kill him. Thankfully, when he came closer, he saw that none of them had the air above their heads glowing dimly - his master taught him that the gods governing the world had every sinner marked that way.


    "What brings you here?", the youth tried to inquire about the goals of the party.


    "Oh, we are on a quest to kill the lizardmen in this forest. The adjacent country''s lord had gotten his hands on information that they are preparing a raid, and we were asked to launch a preemptive strike." The mage elaborated.


    "Oh i see", Ken accepted her explanation, as he didn''t notice any falsehood in her statement (unless she was good enough to fool him, but that was a low possibility).


    "What about you, what are you doing alone in here? I''m surprised you are in one piece", archer cut in into their exchange.


    "Oh, I am on a journey. My master has died afer teaching me everything he could, so I had no reason to stay at his place"


    "Ah, is that so. Well, time for..."


    He couldn''t finish, as the healer intersected, "Hey, you are a swordsman, right?"


    His first answer were uneasy faces of his comrades, but he pressed on, "If so, how about joining us? What''s your level? You aren''t an NPC, right?"


    The youth answered him with a blank stare, "My level''s over 200. But what was that about pissing supposed to mean?"


    The faces of the party stiffened. Inability to hear correctly (or at all) the word "NPC" was one of things denoting bots. An NPC?! Here?! Unbelievable! They just couldn''t accept the fact that he was an NPC. Since, how is it even possible? NPCs always stayed in one place, like city or a village. The only exception was an event or military raid, whether on monsters or other targets. Astonished, they discussed it among themselves, using whispers.


    At least a moment later healer asked, "Hey, do you have any goal in mind? Are you perhaps on a quest of some sort?"


    Ken was slightly puzzled by their behavior, but giving it nary a thought he answered simply, "Well not really, I just seek strength, challenge and adventure."


    They exhaled air from their lungs, there could be only one conclusion: a hardcore role playing gamer, a player who completely assumed the role of an in-game character refusing to do anything that might disabuse the others regarding him being a supposed person (NPC included, as they thought).


    "If so, would you like to travel with us? We have lost our tank and have to go back to the city to rejoin with her, but it''s dangerous because of high number of lizardmen lurking in the forest", archer proposed, while looking at and poking something invisible in front of him.


    "Sure, why not"


    Ken understood: they were foreigners. That being said, he didn''t hold anything against them, so he accepted.


    The party''s first suspicions proved to be false: Ken was nothing like weak and they stormed through the forest and into town called Deepsilver, where their respawn point was fixed and after a day''s (ingame) wait time they would join up with their revived companion.


    In the meantime Ken got to know his new companions, they were: Acaleri the assassin, Thunder the bard, Flossie Kriegel the mage, Iborelian the priest, Marley the ranger. Also, there was a woman warrior, but he would get to know her later.


    Random author''s rant: crap, this is the last time I''m finishing writing in the night after a goddamn cat didn''t let me sleep, making a fuss from 7 to 9 AM whereas i went to sleep at 4 AM. Not to mention proof reading and correcting mistakes for 40 minutes at 3 AM the following day.

 Feedback

    Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the topic where you can fuss over my pathetic English or dull story  :-3-:


    Well whatever, I doubt there would be many people to visit anyway why would I even struggle?


    So, write or whatever. Ah, I don''t mind comments right below chapters (provided they are referring to them, not to the overall story)


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    It, it''s not like I''m worrying about your opinions or something! Baaaka!


    :kya:

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2


    Next day in-game, they were in the town of Deepsilver. It was founded by a miner, who found silver in the area and attained


    great riches. Now the silver ore was completely nonexistent here, but still some iron and copper remained, making it less but still profitable to mine here.


    Thus, the city thrived. It was the only trade node near the mountains where raw and processed materials were on sale: metal


    ores, wood, various japtem - also some rare goods from the mountains themselves that were hard to get one''s hands on since it was such a dangerous area - and other various wares.


    The city itself was rather practical than beautiful. It had geometrical, symmetric layout, with it''s broad and straight streets and such. Basically, it was divided into three areas. First was residential area, which I''m sure I don''t have to explain about. Second was trade district, where all the trade establishments were situated and all transactions were conducted, also all industry (or rather, craftsmanship) was located. Also, adventurers could find an inn to sleep in there. Last but not least, was the lord''s palace - his dwelling as well as his post as a master of this town, all bureaucracy and military oriented personnel was stationed there. The town was surrounded by not massive but rather effective city walls.


    This was the city where the party took the quest of eradicating lizardmen and this was the city they and Ken currently visited.


    The previous day they logged out. Ken looked at the city at first, sold his japtem and hit the hay as well. Today they finally


    reunited with their tank. It was a woman, a slender and tall - around Ken''s height - good-looking woman with fiery red, long and curly hair. She had a peculiar something in her movements, as though she danced instead of simply walking. She got her two-handed sword back from her friends, they also filled her in regarding the part where they said that Ken was hardcore role


    playing gamer. The five new friends Ken made went with her to the lord to report their mission completion (thankfully - or should I say, paradoxically? - they managed to finish it before she died) and then they met up with young swordsman.


    "So you are Ken?", the woman regarded him with curious eyes.


    "Indeed I am", he replied with a curt nod.


    "I am Cinderella, Cindy for short. Nice to meet you."


    "The pleasure is mine."


    The woman nodded to him and turned to the other five, "Ok guys, I have found us some other job for now."


    "A job?"


    "Yep. It is a request from a big shot, he wants us to clear a dungeon."


    ***


    Few hours later the party of now seven arrived at the dungeon entrance. It looked like an old, forgotten mine in the base of a hill that rose lonely in the forest. Cindy has opened the quest window and shared it with everyone.


    "You really like to keep us in suspense, huh?", Iborelian commented on her mystery lover like attitude.


    "We have to clear the mine", she ignored him, "our client seems to have plans regarding reopening it. That''s why we also have to check if there''s any ore to be mined left."


    "What the, aren''t the monsters respawning in every dungeon? What use will there be even if we kill them once?", the priest


    once again grumbled in a quiet voice. He was once again ignored by her.


    "So who is our client and what is our reward?", asked Flossie the mage in a disinterested voice.


    Fiery haired warrior laughed, "The lord himself! And we can have one item from his treasury each should we complete the task, weapons, armors and clothes included!"


    Hearing that petite woman grasped her scepter with readiness and prompted the party, "What are we waiting for? Let''s go!"


    Thunder, Marley and Ken laughed hearing that, while Acaleri watched them from distance in silence, with his deadpan face mode activated, as always.


    Anyway, they entered the old mine. It was just as you would imagine - old, damp and dark cave, sometimes you could make out pillars standing upright, probably made so that a cave in wouldn''t occur. It quickly became impossible to simply travel deeper - moist ground is one thing, but they couldn''t even see.


    That became a problem - they didn''t have any torch and the likes, and only assassin Acaleri had passive night vision skill.


    Thus, the mage had to use the spell, lingering light, and that made her ineligible for combat. If she casted any spell, the light


    would vanish and they would surely perish in the darkness.


    But the six were a party of experienced players so they didn''t whine and simply assumed a new formation best suited for that situation. Assassin in the vanguard to spot enemies, then came the warrior to kill those enemies, mage illuminating the way, ranger to provide fire support from the back, priest and bard to provide buffs and healing and finally, covering the back was Ken.


    For half an hour they traveled into the deep of the mine, but no monster has appeared. They started to grow uneasy - normally, they should have fought many times already. What''s going on here?


    Finally, the fated encounter occurred. Well, you can call it fated... for monsters I guess?


    Cindy stopped abruptly, and Flossie almost bumped into her back.


    "What are you doing?! Do you want me to break my nail?!", the would-be-victim shouted angry.


    "Whatever. Rather than that, Acaleri just signaled me from the darkness - we have twelve enemies inbound. As always, he will patrol the surrounding area so to warn us in case more appeared and join the fight in the worst case.


    Everyone readied their weapons and stared into the dark corridor. After a few seconds, true to her words, hustle and bustle could suddenly be heard from the deep darkness, louder and louder with every second. What they didn''t expect though, was the identity of their enemies.


    "What the! Gross!", exclaimed Flossie.


    She had an ample reason for saying that. After all, who wouldn''t, if they had twelve hairy spiders rushing at them? Not to


    mention their grotesque fangs dripping with saliva and creepy, black and beady eyes glaring at them with hunger?


    "Ok everyone! Let''s show them hell!", Cinderella shouted. "Marley, shoot them!"


    "Got it! First Strike!"


    Ranger used one of his skills, first strike. It allowed him to deal twice the damage to the first target he strikes, with a


    cooldown of 5 minutes. He used it on the biggest, ugliest spider, and followed with a couple of arrows, killing it. And then the


    rest of the spiders reached the warrior.


    Three only slightly smaller spiders attacked her with a hiss. Or rather the place where she stood a moment ago, since she wasn''t there anymore. Ken, who didn''t have to fight yet, marveled at her skills.


    Reason? Simple. She looked as though she danced through the battle, her attacks were following one, beautiful flow. With


    graceful movements she evaded all of her enemies and their attacks, at the same time dealing serious damage.


    "Pretty, right?"


    It was Iborelian. He didn''t have anything to do at the moment, since his buffs only worked against unholy creatures like undead and no one required healing yet. He looked pretty relaxed, but young swordsman saw that he was ready to chant the healing spell any time.


    "Yes, I have never seen such a battle style."


    "So have I, before I met her. She is truly unique... Healing hand!"


    The spiders weren''t so stupid as to continue the same pattern of attack infinitely, especially when the current one has been


    proven useless. So two of them spitted their acidic saliva at her, forcing her to evade and then, targeting the place where she would land, they got their web on her leg, immobilizing her and it was then when she took damage and Iborelian healed her.


    "Should I help you?", asked Ken with a worried voice.


    "Huh? Don''t look down on me!"


    That was Cyndia''s answer. Normally it would be cocky, but she had what it took to prove her words. Spider web? So what?


    "Blade blaze!"


    Her sword vanished in crimson flames, fully enveloped by them. Then, she sliced at the web, freeing herself. It took less than


    minute to exterminate all enemies, only with Cinderella and Marley, who constantly provided her with fire (or maybe rather,


    arrow/archer) support.


    They ventured deeper into the mine.


    From their first encounter, enemies started to pop up everywhere. This time, everyone took part in battle. Ken was surprised to find out what kind of people his new comrades were.


    Cindy he already caught a glimpse of while in a first fight, so he wasn''t surprised to learn that she was very straight-forward


    and always attacked from the front, regardless of danger. He understood how it happened that she died recently.


    Marley was very relaxed, whether it was taking a break, or... being in the middle of combat. He was never flustered, and nothing ever managed to break his composure. He was also very cheerful, to the extent that he could be seen as someone who takes pleasure from battle if Ken didn''t know that it was the same outside of battle.


    Iborelian was an unusual priest who didn''t hesitate to whack enemies with his healing staff when they happened to come close to him. Ken even saw him chanting healing spell for Cindy and casting it while beating a mob to a bloody pulp with indifferent


    expression once.


    Flossie also surprised him, though less then the rest. Whenever enemies appeared, they had to stop. She couldn''t fight, so what did she do than? Her nails. Yeah, she was doing her nails in the middle of a combat, occasionally even fixing her makeup using a hand-held mirror.


    Thunder... well, his name suited him well. Why, you ask? Because as a bard he was using his powerful voice to buff his allies. Nothing strange about it, right? Yes, unless his buffs were self-made skills based on power metal and his electric guitar (rather, there was something like that?! Ken didn''t know so he asked him at some moment, and found out that it was a one-time custom order working with mana as an energy source made by some talented artificer he met somewhere). At first Ken thought he got hit in the head since he started headbanging in every battle.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Well, among them all, assassin Acaleri was probably the most normal one. Maybe because he never said anything so Ken suspected he might be some other queer guy in disguise of silence. But this has yet to be proven.


    The enemies where literally flooding them, if they wanted Flossie alive and kicking, not to mention her illuminating the way, they had to give it their all during the battle: all possible buffs from bard, all possible debuffs for mobs as well, all the healing they could get from priest who had to drink mana potions from time to time covered by the rest of the party, and lastly, Acaleri had to cease his recon duties to join the battle.


    Despite all that, Ken still wasn''t even using his real skills. Actually, he wasn''t using any skills (skills meant as actions, not his quality). Why? Because the enemies wasn''t even worth his time, and only their number was a pain in posterior for him. It just


    didn''t make any difference, since he was able to kill any enemy that appeared in 2-3 strikes.


    The enemies didn''t vary much, making young swordsman quite bored. There were only giant spiders, only once upon a time did they encounter something else along the lines of a gigantic centipede or other creepy tank-sized bugs.


    It was three hours of fighting later that they have finally arrived in something besides the cramped mine itself. It was a large room, it was pretty low for it''s size (which was half a soccer pitch''s) that is around four meters high. The ceiling and walls were all covered with round holes approximately one meter in diameter.


    "What the hell is this place?"


    It was Iborelian the priest who first broke the silence.


    "As if I''d know", replied Flossie with annoyance present in her voice. She was finishing doing her nails with great focus and


    apparently his loud voice ticked her off. The man only glanced at her with irritation.


    "Look, aren''t those cobwebs?"


    They looked at Marley and then followed his hand, stretched out in a direction to the left and before him. There were indeed some cobwebs with some sorta nodes on them, and they decided to investigate.


    Upon a closer examination they understood that the nodes they saw were human bones and old pieces of equipment like rusted shields and weapons.


    "Aren''t we in trouble?", asked Thunder tilting his head to the side while looking at the rest of the party askance.


    As before, there was no source of light other than the mage''s spell and they apparently have arrived into a spiders'' den. What


    could be worse?, is what they thought.


    "But, at least we killed all the spiders, right?", asked Cindy, seemingly trying to convince herself. For all her valiance in battle, it was obvious that she feared and hated spiders and it was difficult for her to fight them.


    Before they could answer her, gales of loud hissing exploded in the silence around them. And even though they didn''t see the


    cause, they could make out one thing: that there were a lot of the ones responsible for that sound...


    Thankfully - or not - they didn''t have to think about that a lot. From all the holes in the walls and in the ceiling as well, lots of spiders were coming out rapidly. They weren''t as big as their cousins from before, they had to fit in the holes after all. But the sheer number of them was numbing, there were literally hundreds of them!!!


    This was not the time to be loitering around. If nothing (or not enough) was done, they were as good as dead!


    They had to fight all out, so they took a triangular-shaped formation with Ken, Cindy and Acaleri at the points and the rest was relatively safe inside behind their backs. The three hacked and slashed at the spiders, with bard and priest supporting them and mage providing with light.


    It was a difficult battle. Ken was going all-out. Whenever a spider approached him, he would cut it down, but it soon became


    apparent, that it wouldn''t be enough. So he decided to finally draw the ace up his sleeve: the mana-consuming skills from Soaring Sword style repertoire.


    "Heaven''s slash! Air sundering slash! Iron jet! Sword of judgment!"


    It was not enough, but at least he didn''t have to focus solely on what was before him as every one of his attacks stroke home.


    Thanks to that he could have a glimpse at how others were doing.


    "Blade blaze! Die, creeps! Blade blaze! Fire whip!"


    Cindy was quite engrossed in the fight, passionately killing all the spiders that neared her. She used blade blaze several times, and also once a new skill he hasn''t seen yet, fire whip. It made her blade lengthen into a few meters worth blazing whip which


    she cut more then ten spiders into pieces with. It seemed to be pseudo AOE spell for middle range combat, probably with per second mana drain, as she used it for a few seconds.


    "..."


    Acaleri seemed to be his usual self. Deadpan face, not saying even one word... Well, master Magnus has once mentioned that there were people who could activate skills without calling out their names. Ken wasn''t sure, but he would say that assassin used dps and critical hit type skills, as he targeted spiders one by one, often oneshoting them.


    "Yeah!"


    Suddenly, a loud yell coupled with electric guitar tunes startled the youth. It was Thunder, who finally started singing. Ken could feel a bit lighter, it was probably a buff from the bard. He could also see that spiders'' movements became a bit sluggish, and the party members'' movements became a bit more accurate and swifter. It must be the song''s effect.


    "Die you bastard! Poisoned arrow!"


    "Oh shut up already, will ya?"


    "What now?!"


    "I told you to shut up already, I''m trying to heal people here!"


    "Omfg ok, ok, is it so wrong for me to laugh?"


    "No, but going into a loud laughing fit like that get on my nerves!"


    "Ok, I got it already! Don''t be such a jerk!"


    They were Marley and Iborelian, having a row in the middle of the battle... Ken marveled at them when ranger started to laugh fearlessly and the grumpy priest who while healing all the three people on the front line tried to silence him.


    Probably the most amusing one was Flossie who, with disinterested face, ignored the battle around her and was fixing her haircut...


    The fight continued. Almost ten minutes have passed and everyone''s mana pools were more or less depleted, making the


    situation not only very dangerous but rather life-threating. And it was then when, as if by some unknown signal, the spiders


    ceased their assault.


    Humans looked one at each other. What the...?


    As if to even deepen their puzzlement and lack of understanding the current situation, the spiders started an unanimous retreat.


    "What the...", asked Cindy, "why are they retreating? They had the upper hand since there was more than hundred of them and yet..."


    "Everyone, drink your mana potions and prepare for second battle!"


    Everyone started, looking at the one who said that. It was the never-speaking assassin, Acaleri! Ken was doubly surprised, since he thought that the man was mute!


    "What the deuce... Acaleri, you actually said something..."


    Marley was the first one to express his astonishment, but he didn''t have the chance to finish.


    "Whatever! Just stfu and drink your mana potions now!"


    Everyone looked astonished, but they had no problem with that. Although they didn''t have the sense of urgency, they would do it anyway, in case the spiders came back. It''s just that they were puzzled by the whole situation.


    "Well then..."


    Ken was the first one to follow Acaleri''s words (apart from the assassin himself, of course) and others promptly followed suit.


    Only Flossie abstained, since she had almost full mana anyway.


    They barely managed to replenish their mana as they heard a strange sound from the wall. They all turned around to face it and again heard the sound. It was similar to the sound of dead body dragged on the ground (author''s note: No! It wasn''t me! I never ever heard that kind of sound, I just imagined it! Please believe me, Mr. Judge, Mr. Police, I''m innocent!).


    Eventually, after a minute of silence, they heard a quiet hiss and saw a pair of two large, glowing eyes shine in one of the


    holes, glaring at them. Then it came out.


    It was a giant snake, strong enough to scare away a horde of spiders that were courageous enough (or maybe just plain stupid) to attack an enemy who halved their headcount without taking any serious damage. Of course, as befitting a giant snake, it was over ten meters long, had large, a quarter meter long fangs and looked ominous.


    They stared at it like a frog looking into the eyes of a snake (lol), until finally Cindy managed to get a hold of herself and shouted to Marley.


    "Identify it!


    "Got, gotcha!"


    And after a moment, "Holy fuck! It''s level 300!"


    Everyone was shocked. A level 300, even if a boss? Here? What the blue blazes?!


    The snake boss returned their gaze steadily. It was readying itself to attack.


    Well then, how will our heroes fare against the giant monstrosity? Stay tuned!


    Author''s rant: this is the last f***ing time I''m using notepad to write it first. An unimaginable amount of work with fixing the spaces! Gotta use the drafts. You might wanna look into the feedback topic now.

 Chapter 3

    Language attention! Minor gore attention!


    Chapter 3


    Normally there weren''t any monsters this level in the vicinity of civilization. But, the party understood, this logic didn''t apply here - after all, this was a border of civilization, any farther and there were mountains, where powerful mobs thrived. The snake must had been one of them, the thought that probably en even stronger monster claimed it territory there was shocking to them. This was not the time to be pensive though, a moment''s lack of attention might cost one his life!


    "Guys, run!"


    It was Marley who saved them. He broke them out of stupor. They immediately dodged to the sides and in the place where they were just a moment ago now was the snake''s head, buried in the ground.


    They didn''t waste this chance and started to use their skills on the rest of the snake''s body. Unfortunately, they didn''t have much time to try that, and snake swung his tail at them blindly.


    Flossie and Iborelian were about to get hit, but in the last moment Cindy managed to jump in before them and blocked the attack with her sword.


    Unfortunately, that didn''t save her from getting thrown at the wall and losing about half her health in the whole process.


    "Healing hand!"


    Thankfully, the priest wasn''t level 193 for nothing. He immediately restored her lost HP and removed the stun status.


    The rest had to dodge so only ranger, who was already in a distance, kept attacking. But where was the meaning in it, if his default attacks with arrows didn''t even lower snake''s HP by 1%, and only the strongest skills: first strike shaved off 3% hp but couldn''t be used twice on the same enemy, poisoned arrow dealt 1% damage altogether but had a cooldown of 1 minute, and snipe dealt random crits (this time about 0,5%) but required long time to aim (about 10 secs, and had 50 secs cooldown)?


    After hitting the ground with his head snake''s HP didn''t even twitch, and the party (excluding Marley) managed to deal damage worth about 0,5% HP, resulting in Snake having around 95% HP now.


    "Ok, here''s the plan! I will tank with Ken, Flossie stay back, Iborelian stay in the healing range, Marley shoot from the maximal distance you can inflict 100% damage from and Acaleri, try to deal critical damage attacking his weak points!"


    It was Cinderella - she recovered from being planted in a wall by the snake and she once again took the lead of the party. But she wasn''t the only one to recover - the snake withdrew it''s head from the ground and now glared at the party that has retreated for a moment to regroup.


    Everyone acknowledged her orders.


    Iborelian and Marley dashed away from the powerful opponent, with Flossie pacing without haste in their wake. Ken and Cindy positioned themselves a few meters in front of enemy, while Acaleri entered the shadows to wait for and exploit an opening. The snake only glared at them, not getting in the way of their maneuvers. It''s like it was saying, ''I don''t give a crap about your silly little plots, food. Do what you want and die already".


    "Let''s go!!!"


    On Cindy''s mark, everyone started attacking. First to hit was Marley. Apparently, he decided to target the beast''s critical hit areas, and used first strike skill to enhance the effect. To be exact, he aimed at an eye.


    But to no avail - the snake used something like a transparent eyelid, a membrane of some sort maybe (author''s rant... that is, note - if some of you don''t know how it looks, remember kabuto in his sage mode in naruto shippuuden... what, you didn''t watch it? Ask uncle google or aunt wikipedia, maybe you can actually find it ^^). This not only protected it''s eyes, but also still allowed him to see the humans.


    A low, intimidating hiss left the snake''s jaws. It may have been an indication of an incoming attack, but this will never be known, as Ken and Cindy in the exact same moment rushed at the monster with their swords ready to strike.


    They both slashed at it using skills involving lunging. Woman used power lunge - a skill where you rush your enemy to slash down at him from above your head dealing damage as strong as the distance traveled after activating the skill and with long cooldown - while young man used impaling sword - a slightly stronger skill with similar properties, but requiring more mana and piercing the target, not slicing it.


    They not only managed to hit the snake, which was distracted by Marley, but also damage it!


    Unfortunately, their powerful skills both yielded as much as 5% of snake''s max HP together. So there was 90% of the beast''s hit points left.


    Because, as the saying goes, the misfortunes like to travel in pairs, not only was the snake alive and kicking but also quite angry. It hissed shortly and then assaulted the pair.


    For neither Cindy nor Ken was it good - they both lost respectively over 1/3 and almost 1/2 HP from the swift and powerful attack made by the monster''s tail. Of course, Iborelian was there, so they were promptly healed.


    Snake likely understood what has just happened, because he went for the priest when warrior and swordsman were getting up. Although a though one, Iborelian wouldn''t last long if the snake got him. Thankfully, the assassin in that very moment attacked back of the snake''s neck, using the skill backstab. Thanks to snake being focused on the priest, it was possible to use it to deliver a strong attack. It took around 3,5% of their foe''s life and buried it''s head in the ground.


    They did not miss the opportunity - everyone used their strongest available skills to punish the giant serpent, while Thunder the bard started singing "...We attack, attack, attack..." providing an ample buff for attack damage. They managed to lower the snake''s hp to 60% that way until it finally freed itself. Needless to say, it was seething with rage.


    The reptile gave a loud, angry hiss and started to attack area around it with it''s tail. Unfortunately, Ken and Cindy were affected almost killed and stunned. The priest had just enough mana to heal them, but not to remove the stun status. He had to meditate in order to regain his mana, but it would take 5 minutes and there was no way they would win without his support. Ken and Cindy barely managed to contain the angry snake together whilst being continuously healed by the priest. And there was no way an assassin or a ranger would be able to tank, is there?


    That''s why, after a second''s worth pondering, Marley shouted "We have no chance of winning people, and the retreat route is sealed! Let''s disperse and try the tunnels! Maybe someone will survive and make it outside!"


    It was a difficult decision, and a risky one. But not as risky as staying to fight the monster.


    "Flossie, can you divide the light so each of us have one?", asked Iborelian.


    "Yeah, no problem. But it will disappear if I die!"


    "Good, let''s try it then!"


    They put their plan into motion. First, all unable to fight, namely Thunder, Iborelian and Flossie, entered the tunnels while the other three was averting the serpent''s attention and stalling for time. Before the bard left, he gave them the last buff, that increased agility for 4 mins. It was a song, ghost division. Well, only a part of it, actually. He used a rare skill, echo, that made it possible for him to sing only the chorus and leave, whilst the buff was still active.


    Thanks to the boost it was possible to avoid the enemy''s attacks. They even managed to land some hits of their own, but it was obvious that the buff wouldn''t last long enough for them to actually kill the bastard. So, they made up a plan, and started acting on it 2 minutes after the first three people escaped.


    It was quite a simple plan, really. They lured the snake to the place where soil was just a bit softer than a rock, and then Acaleri with Cindy gave the snake an uppercut, both slightly from the sides to make it harder for it to retaliate. Less than a second later Ken, thanks to heightened agility was able to strike it centrally in the head from above. Well, at least that was the plan, but warrior is a class focused on strength and assassin on agility, so it was a no-brainer that their attacks'' power would vary. Unfortunately, they were too engrossed in battle to realize something like that, and Ken gouged the beast''s eye.


    It started to flail wildly in pain, hissing loudly. The trio made some distance and looked at it. Both tanks were obviously satisfied with their work even though they were swaying from being tired, and assassin had a deadpan face as always.


    "Yeah! We got it''s eye! This way it won''t be able to follow our trails in the tunnels well!"


    Cindy and Ken rejoiced, but Acaleri stepped in to stop their mirth.


    "Snakes don''t need eyes to see prey. They can feel the animal''s warmth and smell with their tongues."


    Both sword users looked at themselves.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    "Shit! So we should have aimed at it''s tongue?!"


    "Yeah... or rather, that would be impossible!"


    "Rather then that, let''s escape already!"


    Acaleri was slightly more talkative than usual. Well, nothing wrong with that - their lives hanged on a thin hair.


    They heeded his words.


    After 4 minutes, everyone has advanced similarly far into the tunnels. It was possible thanks to agility buff - when it wore off, the previously stalling trio managed to cover the same distance as the three who entered them first. Let''s have a look at how they fared.


    ***


    Marley


    He was advancing into the tunnel without looking back and not stopping even for a second. Everyone decided not to use whispers since it could make you lose focus and then life, so he traveled in silence, only quiet sounds of him moving were breaking the silence. It was five minutes after he entered the tunnel that he started hearing something from behind him. He didn''t even turn back but rather picked a quicker pace. The sounds from behind him were getting closer and closer anyway, and after a half a minute of pursuit he ended up in snake''s jaws, eaten.


    ***


    Acaleri


    Assassin was running for his life - well, actually, he was on all fours since the tunnel was only one meter in diameter - he didn''t want to die. He was the one to blend with the shadows, not the gastric acids of a beast. After about three minutes of running, with agility buff worn off, he heard a male''s shout and felt a tremor. He wasn''t sure, but it was probably the ranger, and it was probably his last shout.


    Two minutes later he felt the earth shake, accompanied by a loud thud. He looked back and saw a glint of a snake''s eye in the darkness.


    ''Great, he''s on my tail'', he thought to himself.


    He run and run, and it took the snake almost 5 minutes to catch up to him. With no other choice, the man turned around to face his nemesis, which in turn just spat poison at him, rendering him unable to fight in a blink... and then eating him whole. The snake was very angry after having it''s eye destroyed - it was quite painful after all - and would spare no efforts at hunting down every and single one of the puny little humans that dared to escape it''s hunger and imprint the body with injuries.


    ***


    Thunder & Iborelian


    The two somehow met - it seems the tunnels they took converged into one single tunnel, big enough to run with your back straight. They heard a few thuds, with last one more than ten minutes after they entered their - hopefully - retreat route.


    "Shit I hope everyone will be alright!"


    "Yeah, I agree"


    Bard spoke his mind, and priest concurred. After all, they were all friends - whether it would be with vain narcissist Flossie or strange role-playing fellow, Ken.


    "Hey, did you hear it"?


    "What?"


    The priest was forcefully called back from his thoughts.


    "As if something were creeping in the dark..."


    "?"


    In the end, they never knew what hit them.


    ***


    Cindy


    She was crawling through the tight tunnel for almost 15 minutes now. From time to time she heard faint sounds of some explosions or something, but she didn''t stop even for a while. Not like she would be able to do anything, after all.


    After another minute she heard a loud blast behind her and looked back, but her eyes were embraced by darkness. Nothing was visible, so she decided to be on her way. She stopped every half a minute to look back though, as she could swear she felt something was following her. It was starting to get to her, she hated snakes and spiders.


    Finally, she was able to relax (or was she, really?) - when she looked back who-knows-which time already, she noticed some glint in the darkness. It was the giant serpent, filling the tunnel completely.


    "Fuck! Are you really telling me to fight in that tight-ass tunnel?!"


    She could read the answer from the glint of the snake''s one remaining eye, ''Of course not, just become my food already!''


    "Retarded piece of shit reptile, prepare for the greatest diarrhea in your life!"


    After shouting that, she turned around (quite a feat, given the sorry diameter of the tunnel) and charged at her enemy. Seriously?! Seriously.


    Even snake was surprised for a moment.


    Well, who wouldn''t be? She started crawling towards it with a great speed and voluntarily entered the snake''s mouth, which in turn automatically gulped her down it''s throat.


    ***


    Ken


    Youth had much more luck - he managed to reach the end of the tunnel, a big cavern that the magic light couldn''t even wholly illuminate, so he didn''t even see the walls, not to mention the ceiling.


    Then, from the neighboring tunnel the giant serpent appears, crawling with chaotic movements, as if it was drunk.


    "Wait what?", Ken couldn''t help but voice his disbelief.


    The snake looked at him with his last eye and hissed. And then it threw it''s body to the side, and his HP came down by a few percents, now at 30%.


    "What the hell?"


    Contrary to Ken you might have realized, but it was Cindy, who deliberately got herself devoured so as to strike the snake from inside.


    Well, anyway, young swordsman wasn''t stupid so he used this situation to attack the snake. His mana has came back since it was like 20 minutes since he entered the tunnel. He started by using impaling sword, rushing the serpent and taking his other eye, while it was distracted. It resulted in a massive blood gushing from the snake''s eye socket and a powerful hiss full of wrath.


    But Ken didn''t stop there.


    The gaps between Cindy''s attacks from inside were becoming bigger, she didn''t have any mana for quite some time already and her health was running low because of the snake''s acid. She could feel that snake battled someone else so she doubled her efforts despite being mighty debuffed from gastric acids that made it so that she wasn''t able to do even as much as 50% of her usual self.


    Outside, Ken delivered consecutive attacks. After eliminating snake''s eye, he cut off it''s tongue using iron jet when it tried to find him using it''s other senses, and continued to hack at it, finally getting it to 1% of HP. It was then when it happened.


    The giant serpent felt it''s death was near. It has lived for over 300 years and accumulated much knowledge and experience. It started off as a small viper in the forest and continued to fight and devour opponents. At some point it gained intelligence and aimed to become the most powerful being in the world. It couldn''t contain it''s rage and hate towards the little hairless monkeys with their paltry tricks that destroyed it''s ambitions. So, of course, it decided it wouldn''t go down alone.


    And thus, it released all the poison it had stored inside it''s big body. Needless to say, Ken was in the center of the cloud that appeared. He quickly grasped what it was, but unfortunately, before he escaped the cloud, he has already inhaled a lot of it. And so his HP started to drop.


    Thanks to all those circumstances, he had about half an hour left. He decided to try and cut the snake''s hide to rescue the one inside, but it would took time. And that, unbeknown to him, he didn''t have.


    When he was staggering towards the snake''s central part, he suddenly heard an almost inaudible sound. He whipped his head towards the source and his heart skipped a beat (no, not as in "wow nice babe" or "what a tasty looking gentleman", but rather as in "OH MY FUCKING GOD I''M FUCKED) - a giant tank-sized spider crept up on him and was barely three meters away. When it noticed he was looking at it, it leaped towards him.


    He dodged and then was forced to parry the heavy attacks of it''s front legs. He stumbled when backing and almost miraculously avoided a fatal hit (or rather bite) to his head. He managed to get back on his legs and took his fighting stance. Spider didn''t attack, though. He started to wonder, ''Why the fuck is that crappy spider not attacking", when he suddenly spit blood.


    He didn''t register any injury and the poison wasn''t strong enough to make him cough blood in large quantities. Then, he felt an itchy feeling in his torso and looked down. A spike protruded from his stomach, having pierced from his back. He looked at the direction from where it came, and saw another giant spider which had it''s poison sting driven into his back. A realization came to him, ''So it''s a couple... fuck, figures... I could have guessed that, the smaller spiders must have been their offspring...''


    And then the darkness embraced him, while he died.


    ***


    Meanwhile, Flossie''s tunnel led to the surface. She waited for a whole day (in-game) but no one else turned up, thus she left.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4: Death is just the beginning


    After Ken died, he found himself flowing in a strange river. It''s coast was a wasteland seemingly, at least, devoid of life. After he focused on his surroundings, he promptly found out that the river didn''t consist of water, but souls.


    ''I''m in the afterlife!'', is the conclusion he came to.


    When he started wondering on whether to go with the flow or try resisting, he suddenly noticed, that he was no longer in the river of the dead and instead found himself in a white space, and there was nothing.


    ''What the hell?'', he thought astonished. ''Is that the next step of passing on or what...''


    "Oh, you are finally here?"


    He whipped his head to see a small, blue orb float behind him.


    "What the..."


    "Surprised? I guess you would be. Anyway, I am AI... you can call me Freia if you wish. Although it would be better to call her my avatar, maybe?"


    "The goddess...?!"


    "Well... in a sense."


    "What is happening, I''m sure I died..."


    "Yep, you died."


    It was straight-forward. Enough so to make Ken speechless for a second.


    "I thought that goddess Freia was a woman."


    "I can be whatever I want to be."


    After replying, the orb changed consecutively every second - a beautiful blond woman, a wolf, a sun, a flame, in order. After that she changed back to blue orb.


    "Is that so... then, why would goddess save me?"


    "Save you? Why would you think that? I just need a guinea pig, and you are suited for the role."


    That made Ken''s jaw drop.


    "What? Not as expected? You think a god would leap in to save you? No freaking way."


    The youth could just stare in confusion.


    "But, as I said, I need you. That''s why, I will give you a chance."


    Before the swordsman could ask whatever did she mean, it appeared.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Class change</tr></td><tr><td colspan=''2''>Yes</td><td colspan=''2''>Yes</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "What the hell, I have no choice?!"


    Not only was he showed something like that out of nowhere, he also received some random choice that he didn''t even know if was any good?!


    "Of course. I told you that you are suitable to be my guinea pig. Well, don''t get that angry. You are gonna like it."


    "Yeah sure whatever"


    Ken was fed up with it. Some random deity that presented him with a "choice" and all that... anyway, what did he care? He was dead anyway.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have accepted the class change.</tr></td></tbody></table>


    "A good choice, you are not gonna regret it. I will just tell you one thing as a service, say "status window" as soon as you wake up. The rest you can figure out by yourself. Bye!"


    He vaguely heard her voice as the world faded into black.


    ***


    When Ken opened his eyes, he saw a cloudless, azure sky. ''It''s beautiful'', he thought. Well, you should know the reason - the sky in the afterlife is just a vast space, darker than black.


    He stood up - it seemed he was in the forest. He then remembered about the whole goddess story - debacle, actually - and decided to check it out. So he said, ''Status Window''.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td colspan=''3''>Ken</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Alignment</td><td width="25%">Neutral</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">221</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Class</td><td width="25%">Copycat</td><td width="25%">Title</td><td width="25%">Role-player</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fame</td><td colspan=''3''>380</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">2384/2384</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">2190/2190</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">401</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">359</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">233</td><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">2210</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">77</td><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">219</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Endurance</td><td width="25%">54</td><td width="25%">Luck</td><td width="25%">30</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Fighting spirit</td><td colspan=''2''>34</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Leadership</td><td colspan=''2''>13</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attack</td><td colspan=''2''>80</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Defense</td><td colspan=''2''>54</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Magic Resistance</td><td colspan=''3''>None</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Unallocated points</td><td colspan=''2''>0</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Bonus stats</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Equip Bonuses: +110 Atk +60 Def +10 Fighting spirt


    Skill Masteries Bonuses: +195% to attack with one-handed sword and +13% to other weapons or unarmed damage</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Ken titled his head in askance looking at new class an title. Up until now he didn''t allocate the stats manually, so he hadn''t looked at his stat window for a long time. Seems like they weren''t so bad.


    After a moment''s thought, he decided to check something else. "Skill window."


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Skill Window


    Cooking [5] 67%


    Allows you to cook average-tasting food with a small temporary bonus


    Handicraft Intermediate [3] 21%


    Adds additional 1% of damage per skill level (current bonus: 13%), allows to learn intermediate level crafting skills


    Repair Intermediate [2] 33%


    Allows you to restore half of the item''s durability per use of the skill, cannot use on art-related objects


    First Aid  [9] 1%


    Allows you to restore some health and delete bleeding status when bandage is applied


    Herb Gathering [6] 7%


    Allows you to collect herbs growing in the wild without damaging them, you can also use them to enhance First Aid and Cooking Skills


    Copy-Cat Intermediate (Passive) [6] 30%


    You are a lousy jerk who can not evoke any originality in your actions and behavior. That''s why you, sorry asshole, are getting a bonus of +50% melee damage while using weapons. Really, your role-playing manner is getting on my nerves. Because of you I had to make up a description for some strange crap. Shit, I have enough of this job. Maybe I should just come back to sending ramen in a street stand.


    Warning: I wouldn''t bother mentioning it to you if they didn''t pay me, so be grateful that I deign to even do so earnestly. Due to your class you are getting a 100% affinity with cats and because of it beware, since cats have only 9 lives! Also, you are getting a class-exclusive skill, Cat Mode. Since I need to toilet, you can figure out the rest yourself, for I believe my mood will take a 180 turn and I won''t bother creating user-friendly descriptions anymore.


    Soaring Sword Style (Passive) Advanced [2] 43%


    Replaces weapon mastery. You can use one-handed swords along with scabbard in battle, adds bonus damage for both blade and scabbard - currently +132% damage for the first and +200% of Atk stat along with +100% durability bonus for the latter. You are also able to devise new combat skills based upon the foundations of this sword-style.


    Heaven''s Slash Intermediate [9] 10%


    An active combat skill devised by creator of Soaring Sword Style. Using the one-handed sword, you slash down towards the earth, creating a powerful shock-wave that ruptures the earth in the direction of your slash. On the current level, it starts with 250% of your normal damage that weakens by 10% every 1 m and has the range of 10 meters. Cooldown is 40s.


    Air Sundering Slash Intermediate [4] 5%


    A powerful version of Heaven''s Slash created by you. Though you are not the first one to come up with that, disappointed? The only difference is that the shock-wave travels through the air horizontally. Current damage equals 200% of normal damage and is weakened by 10% per meter, therefore the range is 20 m. Cooldown is 30s.


    Iron Jet Intermediate [1] 39%


    Any rapid attack with a sword that is reinforced with mana to enhance it''s speed, it is difficult to either perceive or evade. Thanks to it''s speed, it deals 300% of normal damage. Cooldown is 1 min.


    Impaling Sword [9] 91%


    Second strongest of currently existing skills in the repertoire of Soaring Sword Style. The user charges at the target and impales it with his/her sword, dealing 400% of basic damage with +10% damage bonus for every meter of the distance traveled between starting point and target. Cooldown is 90s.


    Sword of Judgment Intermediate [1] 68%


    The strongest out of currently known skills in Soaring Sword Style. The target cannot evade nor parry/block the attack performed with this skill. The damage output equals 700% of basic damage. Due to it being overkill, cooldown is 5 min.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Ken gazed in astonishment at his skill window. Finally, after a moment, he closed it and after picking a random direction, he was on his way.


    ***


    Whilst going forward, the youth tackled with recent happenings in his head. Not only has he almost died not even a week after departing for a journey, but there was also that ridiculous self-proclaimed goddess Freia. It was a bit hard for him to accept that that deity was that kind of being.


    Obviously, he continued to scan his surroundings even though he was deep in thought, pondering. Thanks to that, he managed to sense another being''s presence before it sensed him.


    After hiding in the bushes, it turned out, that the being he sensed was nothing but a wolf. Yes, nothing but one ridiculously strong-looking wolf.


    Ken automatically, thanks to his master''s teachings, hid in a direction where the wind blew. Thanks to that the first hunter of the forest didn''t notice him. Without moving an inch, young swordsman scrutinized the foe. At first glance, it was just a big wolf. It wasn''t only that, though - it was black, and this color itself held a menacing meaning. But what was even more menacing - predator had a very well developed musculature and mighty big jaws.


    The man sat still in his hiding place, deciding to observe strange specimen of wolf. Carnivore seemed to be waiting for something. Indeed - after half a minute passed, it suddenly tensed up and leaped over the bushes. Ken could swear that just a moment before the jump he made out some rustle, as though something was running through the area where the wolf jumped. It was as he thought - after a short noise and suppressed moan, the wolf came back. With it was another wolf, almost the same but a bit smaller, and both carried a deer. Well, more like the game was pulled on the ground.


    ''Why don''t they eat here though? Is this supposed to be seasoning or public service?'', he thought mockingly.


    Thanks to that though, he could feast his eyes on the game. And there was a reason to do it - it was likewise heavy with muscles, looking incomparably strong to the ones living in the forest that he has seen and heard about.


    ''I don''t think it is possible, but... are those demonic creatures?''


    He has heard once from his master that when an animal or monster absorbs enough demonic power to turn into a demon you can distinguish it by it''s abnormal muscles spawned all over the body which not only makes them stronger and also tougher.


    After two predators left dragging the prey in a direction only they knew, Ken waited a few minutes and carefully exited his hiding place, resuming his travel. He decided that he would seek some easy prey, like rabbits - demonic, of course - to ascertain the level of his opponents.


    After an hour of walking he heard a noise, as though many voices were gathered in one placed. Rejoiced, he quickened the pace and walked out of the tree''s cover to see what he thought would be settlement.


    What it really was...? An open-air gym where demonic animals were working out and chatting happily together! Astonished, he somehow made out that there were only herbivores and they were using professional equipment like benching press and such... As he was there, overcome with shock, one of the demons noticed him.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have found the open-air demonic gym!


    You receive 200 fame and 400 XP for being the first one to discover it. In addition, you are fucked, so you had better start running now!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Guys, it''s a human!"


    "A human?!"


    "A human entered our forest?!"


    "It''s a competition! First come first served!"


    After the last sentence all supposedly vegetarian creatures all abandoned their respective activities and a rat race has begun.


    "Oh shit!"


    Needless to say, Ken was quickly pressed to forget his amazement aimed at one more nonsensical event he was going through and focused on running away. The animals were all full of muscles and they were doing a good job pursuing him, most being at least as quick as he was, and few even quicker, even though they were generally heavy species, like a boar or a bull, for example.


    What happened next can only be described as a frantic escape from a horde of hungry, macho-like animals.


    The first one to close on him was a muscle guy with a head of a horse. Incidentally, it was just a horse, that was running on hind legs, thus looking a bit human-like. Just as it was catching up to him, he turned his upper body without slowing down and used Air Sundering Slash to cut at the enemy. It took 220% of his normal damage, being 3 meters from him.


    The horse guy tripped, rolling in the bushes. Ken spared another look back a moment later, only to discover that it was getting back up, seemingly unscathed.


    ''What the fuck, are you even serious?''


    It wasn''t his strongest attack, but that muscleman didn''t even took any visible damage. It would dictate that he was at least level 300 and possibly even higher than that... and that the snake Ken defeated not long ago may have been a small fry compared to the ones he was running from. Especially since they probably weren''t even vice-captain level creatures, not to mention boss level.


    The next to draw close was a piggyman. Well, ok, it was a boar running on two legs and hitting his ribcage... Eh? Was that a gorilla or something? Truth be told, it''s face was mighty strange, so Ken without thinking too much just used Heaven''s Slash to destroy it''s footing.


    Much to his surprise, his pursuer managed to evade it though. It started making funny sounds and shouting.


    "Puny human! You have no chance against me! Come now, I will eat you quick and painless!"


    "Huh? Screw you!"


    That angered the demonic specimen. It lunged at the human, only to meet his sword half-way.


    "Kekeke! That won''t work on me!"


    "Oh really? Iron Jet!"


    Youth had to use one of his trump cards. Well, it wasn''t really his trump card, but in this situation he had to mind the cooldown. He hit his foe on the side of his head, destabilizing him and evading his clasp, following with demon coming into a closer-than-he-would-have-ever-liked mouth-to-mouth contact with ground. And the human, the human ran.


    ***


    Ken wouldn''t tell anyone how long he ran even if he wanted to. A simple thing - he lost the sense of time during the escape. He was currently in a dense forest area, and there should be no more demons following him. Thus, he stopped and tried to stabilize his rough breath.


    In that very moment, something tackled him, making him lose the balance and fall to the ground. He quickly tried to stand up, of course, but the unknown enemy took the necessary steps to prevent him from doing that. He was kicked in the head and the hand, thus involuntary releasing his grip on the sword''s hilt and being disarmed. The attacks ceased and he looked up to see two demons, a buffalo and an elephant demon lookalikes. They were standing on his both sides and gazing at him. Suddenly, they spoke.


    "Ok, Harry, I believe you have prepared to cutlery."


    "What? Dennis, you didn''t tell me anything like this!"


    "Harry, you blockhead, and just how do you think we are going to eat him now?!"


    "Well, there is no problem, I have two sets of silverware with me after all."


    "What silverware?! I told you to bring cutlery!"


    "I don''t give a crap about your cutlery nor do I know what that is!"


    "Omfg, are you dumb?! It''s obviously the stuff you eat food with, chap!"


    "Really, I freaking can''t stand your problems!"


    Even though he would lose his first life soon, Ken looked in amazement. What the hell are those guys arguing about? Isn''t it the same thing?


    Suddenly, both pseudo-herbivores froze and unanimously turned to look at something behind Ken. As he didn''t stand up yet, he couldn''t see what they saw, but the looks of pure terror and primal fear on their faces were so evident even he could make them out.


    A loud growl was let out from the direction the shivering demons faced.


    ''Oh shit, that''s just sweet. From fire into the frying pan...''


    Both demons run in panic and young swordsman, without wasting time, quickly reclaimed his blade and glanced at the source of their fear.


    ''Holy shit!''


    It was a large, feline mammal with glowing eyes. It was black with green eyes and, of course, it had quite impressive muscles. And now it was looking at Ken.


    If the herbivores were so strong, than just how strong is that guy?! If you want to find out, stay tuned!

 Chapter 5

    Notice: I mended two things in chapter 4. Nothing important, really. Just that in stat window, the hp and mp are displayed now like that: current/max. Sorry about that, I''m writing now so you won''t be surprised the next time a status window shows up. Have a good read!


    Chapter 5: What unexpected happens twice


    Ken found himself deep in shit. Let us start from the meeting with demonic Black Panther.


    After frantic escape of Dennis and Harry, Ken was left looking straight in the eyes of enormous black feline. At a first look it was a typical panther-like animal - black fur, green eyes. At the same moment though, it was full of muscles and was the size of an average horse carriage, one which is harnessed by a single horse - the smallest kind.


    Ken stared straight in the nuzzle of demonic carnivore with cold sweet running down his back. Although he was saved from a sure death, another grim reaper was way too close.


    In the meanwhile, the panther started moving. It was creeping upon the youth growling, nearing to him as if he was a point a bit above the center of a circle. The human was racking his brain furiously, but didn''t manage to think of any way that would help him with that situation. So he managed to do only one thing - he yelled.


    "Cat Mode: on!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have activated sustained mode: Cat Mode


    It is a mysterious skill available only to your class. Actually, you are the only one who has this skill. Why do you keep piling the work up for me? Anyway, due to activating it for the first time, the information about it will be added to the skill list. Even though I say that, you have to figure out most information first, nothing for free. Well, actually, one thing is for free: you are able to more or less communicate with any being that have at least some affinity with cats. Also, the sustained mode will freeze half of your mana, which is necessary for sustaining it. On the bright side, your mana regeneration will work as usual and the sustained mode won''t deactivate unless you say so. Have fun with the kittens!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Suddenly, the feline''s growl started making sense.


    "...I''m asking one last time, who are you and what the hell do you think you are doing on my territory?!"


    Ken looked at him with shock, but quickly snapped out of it. Time was of importance.


    "Ee, mm, I am just a passerby."


    "Oh really? Wait, that appearance... I thought there was something strange with you..."


    ''Really, what a pain... what did it start seeing now...'', thought human, fatigued. But out loud he said something else, "Please don''t mind me, boss, I will quickly be on my way and you will never see me in your territory again..."


    As he was saying that, he started to withdraw slowly and cautiously. But the next words he heard froze him on a spot.


    "B,Boss? Heh, heheh, I like the sound of that! All right, I decided, from today you are my underling!"


    ''What the fuuuuuck?!'', Ken felt like screaming. He was a lazy person at heart, and after those crazy events there was something even more crazy?! The cat who sounded happy as he said that - human barely registered that through his disbelief - suddenly released a powerful killing intent.


    "What, you don''t want to?"


    "No, but of course, it will be a great honor for someone like me to serve under you, boss!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have become an underling of Black Panther! Congratulations, lackey!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Heheheh, that''s more like it. My name''s Black Panther, what''s yours?"


    "Ah... it''s Ken.


    "Good, follow me, Ken!"


    And thus Ken found himself an underling of the wild feline.


    ***


    The youth soon resigned himself to his fate. Black Panther, what a ''surprising'' name for a black panther, was a loner. That was a relief - human didn''t know what he would do if he was to interact with a whole group. He decided to use this situation to his advantage and started looking for opportunities to become stronger.


    "Boss, actually, I am pretty weak. If you could lend me your, em, paw sometimes, I''m sure I''d be a lot more of use to you."


    "Hah, and then what? Challange me? You think I am stupid?"


    ''Che, looks like it won''t be that easy'', Ken thought annoyed.


    "Well, we will look and see. For starters, I''m hungry. Follow me, we are going hunting."


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have joined Black Panther''s party. Congrats, lackey.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Now that Ken thought about it, he was pretty hungry as well. Thus he followed.


    "Good. I can smell a boar in that direction. Go taunt it and run in my direction, so I don''t have to do it myself. I will be in these bushes."


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have received a quest, First hunt with Black Panther.


    Get a boar running close to the bushes where Black Panther is laying in wait so he can prey on it.


    Rewards: Quick and successful hunting. Black Panther''s good mood.


    Quest rank: F</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ''Great, what a hassle'', thought human to himself. Meanwhile, his ''boss'' hid to lay in ambush.


    But, whatever. He was hungry anyway, so he may as well do it. He looked around to memorize the area, and when he was sure he would recognize it, he went into the mentioned direction.


    The distance was greater than he thought. Probably because of something like lack of common grounds when it came to measuring distances. Nevertheless, while he walked quietly, he noticed the boar before it could notice him. Young man scrutinized the animal.


    It was a big, brown boar, full of muscles and with big, sharp tusks. It seemed to be alone and was eating something after searching for it in the grass, perhaps mushrooms or nuts. Either way, Ken had to do his job so he decided to be about it already. He only waited a bit first to make sure it''s alone. It was.


    Ken jumped out in the open with a quiet snap of branches fallen in the grass. The boar turned extremely fast and looked at the human with threatening eyes. It didn''t let out a sound and just looked at the unknown, bipedal creature in front of it.


    "Hey, stupid pig, you can''t touch me!", Ken taunted while lightly spanking his ass which he leaned towards the animal, then showed it his tongue and let out a hoarse laugh.


    The boar was not impressed.


    It just snorted at him and came back to eating with it''s snout in the grass, only looking every now and then to have strange bipedal creature in it''s sights.


    But young swordsman was not the one to give up halfway. He looked around, found a small pebble and threw it at animal''s head. It made an angry, pig-like squeak and looked angrily at the perpetrator, who in turn was standing with another pebble in his hand and was throwing it in the air to catch it with the same hand continuously. Because the animal didn''t make any other reaction, he threw it once more, this time harder. The creature''s HP lowered by a few points and it charged mad at the human.


    It was what Ken was waiting for. He run straight in the direction of the trap laid by Black Panther.


    It was hard, and human was almost caught up with. Boar also lost interest once little after half the way, so young swordsman had to taunt it some more. He could swear the boar was red from fury now, with steam coming out of it''s nose and veins popping on the forehead. They would arrive at the ambush soon.


    Suddenly, youth felt pain in his posterior. The infuriated boar tackled him with his tusks! Last 100 meters to the bushes where Black Panther was waiting was filled with continuous instances were boar would catch up with Ken, prickle him in his buttocks which in turn made the prickled run faster for a moment so he would get ahead of the angry animal, and then he would be caught up with again.


    Such a circle went on and on.


    The salvation came when he finally crossed the point of no return in front of the bushes where Black Panther was concealed - the feline launched itself from hiding, immediately assaulting the prey, which failed to notice the danger until it was to late. A growl, a squeak, and everything was over.


    Black Panther laughed.


    "It was a fabulous spectacle. Good job out there, underling. It would be a pain to catch up with that boar if I had to get it myself."


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have finished the quest, First hunt with Black Panther!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Ken looked at the hunted boar, saliva dripping from his mouth.


    "Hey boss, can I have a leg? I''m quite hungry, you know"


    Suddenly the feline''s mood took a 180 degree turn.


    "Huuuh? I am THE BOSS, you are AN UNDERLING! What kind of bullshit are you spewing?"


    "Huh?"


    "Don''t ''huh'' me, it''s only normal that the stronger one feasts first and the weaker one waits for his turn!"


    "Ah... I''m sorry, boss, I went ahead of myself."


    "Humph! It''s the first time so I''ll be benevolent and pardon it, but the next time I''ll snap your neck!"


    "Yes, boss. It won''t happen again."


    ''Shit. Is this supposed to be a 100% affinity with cats!? Ah, Black Panther is a demonic cat. But, shit, I will repay him one day for this!''


    Thus, the daily life with a puss on a dark side began with a sore ass and scraps from a boar that have been nibbled on.


    ***


    Certain day, approximately a month after the class change.


    Ken and Black Panther were resting after a hunt. The prey was a large one - a buffalo, so the big cat was generous today and let Ken eat a whole leg. Well, the human sneaked out to hunt by himself last days, he was at the level where he could fight lesser demonic opponents.


    After eating the demon flesh for the first time youth quickly noticed that it had a negative influence on his body. Probably it couldn''t wholly utilize the food, especially demonic particles. It might''ve been dangerous if Ken didn''t had somewhat profound knowledge of herbs and didn''t add two of them to his meals: one to counteract the food poisoning, and the second to drastically improve digestion. The second one was rare but thankfully there was plenty of it here. After three weeks of such meals, he unexpectedly gained a skill.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have gained a new skill


    Iron stomach (passive) beginner [1] 13%


    You are able to digest food that no normal people would bother with. Currently able to digest:


    -Demonic flesh


    Also, your resistance to poisons is heightened. Current bonus: 10%, rises with the level.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    That was a rather pleasant surprise. Anyway, Ken decided to try getting advice from Black Panther.


    "Boss?"


    "Mm... hm?"


    "Can you give me a hint to get stronger?"


    "Hm... Well, ok. I guess it will benefit me as well if you get a bit stronger. Listen, it''s about fighting spirit. If you arrive at a certain threshold, it will be upgraded. The first upgrade is aura - you can project your fighting spirit so that the weaker creatures will instinctively be afraid of you. With time, you will be able to select who you want to affect and who not, as well as the distance. Well, it''s the practice that matters. That would be all for now, I''m hitting the hay."


    After a surprisingly long advice a loud snoring reverberated across the clearing.


    ''Hmm, Black Panther was rather unexpectedly benevolent today. Well, let''s have a look at my stats - it has been a while.''


    He checked the status window.


    ''Whoa! I''ve got lotsa points to allocate. Better do that already. Also, it seems that some stats have risen by themselves... gotta be the result of hunting here...''


    Without delay, he did so.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td colspan=''3''>Ken</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Alignment</td><td width="25%">Neutral</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">252</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Class</td><td width="25%">Copycat</td><td width="25%">Title</td><td width="25%">Role-player</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fame</td><td colspan=''3''>750</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">2671/2671</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">2300/2300</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">466</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">429</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">260</td><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">2520</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">90</td><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">230</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Endurance</td><td width="25%">71</td><td width="25%">Luck</td><td width="25%">43</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Fighting spirit</td><td colspan=''2''>94</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Leadership</td><td colspan=''2''>13</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attack</td><td colspan=''2''>93</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Defense</td><td colspan=''2''>71</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Magic Resistance</td><td colspan=''3''>None</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Unallocated points</td><td colspan=''2''>0</td></tr></tbody></table><table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Bonus stats</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Equip Bonuses: +110 Atk +60 Def +10 Fighting spirt</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Skill Masteries Bonuses: +208% to attack with one-handed sword and +14% to other weapons or unarmed damage</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ''That''s considerably better. Gotta grind the fighting spirit now...''


    After allocating points and thinking that, Ken himself drifted away to the dreamland...


    ***


    A few days later an unusual guest has arrived.


    Normally, the only creatures dwelling on the territory of Black Panther are small animals that do not feel threatened by him due to their small statue, in other words - pathetic level of satiety gained upon eating them - and occasional young herbivores that don''t know any better. Every animal experienced in the ways of the world and knowing the laws of the jungle won''t get close no matter the reason. Thus, the feline has to hunt on the borders of his territory, unwillingly expanding it bit by bit with every feast.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    But, let''s get to the matter on hand: the unusual guest consisted of a pack of wolves, led by a slender, yet giving off a feeling of strength, werewolf. It had silver fur, and there were two scars on it''s body: one going over whole right side of his chest, and another on his right eye, which was closed by the way, hinting that the eye socket was empty or unable to fulfill it''s raison d''etre.


    With him, a dozen of wolves came. There were three kinds of them, all visibly different. There were: two silver wolves, the biggest and probably the strongest ones, six brown ones, seemingly the weakest and obviously the smallest, and four black ones, stationed in the middle in the terms of size and, likely, strength.


    Black Panther and Ken obviously noticed the intrusion. It would be difficult not to, since the wolves were manifesting their arrival with mighty powerful fighting spirit.


    "Ken, go and ask them whatever they want. I would like not to bothered after a meal."


    "Yes, boss!"


    Feline assigned the task to his underling and lied down on the grass to savor the tender touch of the afternoon sun rays.


    "What art thou seeking?", the wolves were asked by Ken in a mocking manner. Both him and the panther already knew it, but they wouldn''t fight now unless provoked.


    "A human? Hahaha, this is to good. I didn''t think there still would be any living one in the forest."


    "What do you mean!?"


    Did that mean that there were people in the forest at some point in time?


    "Oh, a little savage is upset. Listen, puny hairless monkey, I''ve personally slain more of your kind than ever lived in that sorry settlements you call home. I''ve mastered the art of killing your sorry species before you were even born. I will soon proceed to teach you the true definition of pain while breaking every single bone in your body before I kill you, but now get out of the way, since I''ve got talk with Black Panther."


    "I will kill you!"


    After the whole speech of the werewolf Ken could barely contain his anger. The werewolf has just set up a deathflag with his words and it was not to be revoked.


    But for now, from behind the human''s back a voice could be heard.


    "Enough! What do you want, Silver?"


    "You should have your hairless monkey on a tight leash, Black Panther. Not to mention the point of keeping that measly creature."


    "I will deal with that matter later! For now, state your business!"


    "Oh, with pleasure. I''ve came to reclaim what was rightfully mine."


    "Huh, rightfully you say? There is only one set of laws in the forest, the laws of nature. The strong prevail and the weak crawl in the mud. What you are saying isn''t even amusing. Or did you forget who dealt you the blow on your chest that left you with that scar?"


    "Grr, enough! You will regret the day when you spared my life. This time, my pack is two times stronger, and even two times as big! Go get them!"


    After he barked the order, the combat began.


    "Underling, go kill them, I''m gonna take a nap", murmured Black Panther while laying his head on his paws.


    "Yeah, yeah...", an unenthusiastic reply came.


    "This impudent...! Get him first!"


    Ken unsheathed his sword whilst the whole horde - minus Silver - rushed at him.


    The wolves seemed to equal his level, at least the weakest ones that attacked him first. Well, they were still demonic creatures, so he had to be careful. Thanks to his experience in fighting animals demonic herbivores and weaker wolves back home, he managed to kill all the six enemies without taking an injury nor using any mana.


    Neither the black nor silver wolves attacked him. The reason was quite simple, really - they were observing his moves and learning his patterns. Good thing he didn''t use active skills. But then the remaining six of the pack came in.


    Ken quickly found out that he was right on the mark. Black wolves were stronger than the brown ones, and silver ones were the strongest. Honestly, they were quite a bit above his level and if not the fact that the level wasn''t everything, he would die in this fight. He used almost all of his skills, so although he killed all the wolves, he showed almost all his cards to the strongest enemy, Silver.


    Silver on the other hand, looked at the spectacle with rising anger and incredulity. A human killed off his whole pack? Unbelievable! And, above all, it was a deed punishable only by death, indeed!


    As he was already in his transformed state - or rather, did he have any untransformed state? - Silver lunged towards the youth in wrath, wanting to dismember him with his claws and tear him apart with his jaws, and finally reduce only to bloody shreds. What awaited him though was a splendid evasion combined with a similarly splendid counter. It took a little over 10% of the enemy''s health, but also brought him back to his senses. The werewolf would now be more cautious, having lost part of his anger that controlled him.


    Even from that brief exchange Ken understood one thing: this enemy was at higher a level compared to the serpent he fought with a party some time ago. He took a perfect counter without guarding and still lost only this much hp. Also, he felt that his body was harder than still, and his would-be deep injury turned out to be shallow as powerful muscles stopped the blade from penetrating further.


    Silver looked at him angrily. There was no doubt that even if physical injury wasn''t serious, the one on his pride was.


    "Die, human!"


    The werewolf attacked once more, but this time more cautiously and elaborately. He feigned an attack on the upper body, but threw himself at Ken''s legs, instead.


    What met his muzzle was note a human leg as he expected, but the sword''s sheath. He fought some humans but never did he encounter one that would use his scabbard in a battle, also this was first from the two things Ken didn''t show him while fighting his pack. On the other hand, even if he lost some health to this and the a barrage of following attacks, he still had 75% of his hp and would now be careful about the scabbard as well.


    This time, surprising the enemy, it was the young swordsman who initiated assault. He used his scabbard to execute a feign, and then stabbed with his sword in the Silver''s closed eye. His foe, who has just been shown the use of scabbard in the battle, haven''t been given any time to think if this attack was serious or not as well, and he couldn''t make it out due to observing the pattern which used the scabbard to little - since he didn''t have the time to do it.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have dealt a critical hit!


    Damage for your last attack has been multiplied by several times. The enemy is in shock, and receives -50% to defense for a period of ten seconds!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The werewolf''s hp fell to 45% and also an opening has been created. Full of enthusiasm, Ken jumped at his enemy to exploit it, but he has been too careless.


    Shocked and angered by the lost of his eye, Silver started flailing his arms around uncontrollably. Because of it, his attacks for a moment were made completely unreadable in their randomness, and thus Ken was hit with a single swing of the paw.


    The youth was thrown for a five meters thanks to obviously higher strength stat of his foe. Not only that, also his health plummeted to 2/3 of his max amount! He looked at his health in the status window with astonishment and recovered only when the werewolf did, both standing up to face their respective nemesis.


    "You are something else, human. But enough is enough! The great me is gonna finish you right now!"


    Just when Ken started wondering what was he talking about, he got his answer, first ambiguous and only later obvious. Needless to say, he didn''t like it.


    They clashed once again, Ken managed to sever one of his enemy''s arm in the middle thanks to Heaven''s Slash skill, but in return suffered a terrible fist blow to his stomach. Now, Ken had 10% and Silver had 30% of health left. Needless to say, but the difference in their health meant, that it wasn''t like one had 3 times as much as the other. No, the werewolf had quite a high level, and also a racial ability guaranteed him some additional health. No to mention his regenerative powers, in this battle his health already recovered by 1-2%.


    Ken, battered by enemy and weakened by wounds - although his enemy was in quite the same situation, or maybe even a bit worse since the loss of the arm if one were to disregard the health remaining - decided to try tactical retreat.


    "Boss, how about dealing the death blow? If it''s you, you will oneshot this small fry without problem."


    "Lol, nope. I said you have to do this, so don''t give me that crap. Also, flattery will get you nowhere. Don''t worry, I will avenge you though."


    ''No use as expected, huh'', Ken had already anticipated such outcome. But well, asking it was worth it - Silver got distracted with that, putting on a guard in case Black Panther decided to interfere. Although he relaxed visibly, he still harbored worries - and thanks to that, Ken managed to find an opening.


    "Eat this! Sword of Judgment!"


    It was his strongest skill, with a 5 min cooldown, and also his last hidden ace in the sleeve. The werewolf started to the back, trying with all his might to evade the attack his instincts warned him he might get killed with, but it was too late. Ken''s sword slashed his chest from above, completely ignoring his defenses to deal the fatal blow along with critical hit, which even further magnified the damage.


    Ken turned around to face the feline while breathing hard, "Huff, puff, I didn''t, puff, think I, puff, would be able, puff, to pull it off, huff, in the end, puff."


    "That''s good, since you didn''t", replied Black Panther nonchalantly. Ken turned abruptly to see Silver standing up slowly and with visible difficulty. He could only gawk at him astonished while panting.


    "It''s not the end yet, human!", the werewolf roared loudly, as if declaring that he is still alive and kicking. He had less than 1% of health remaining.


    "Tsk, huff, quite impressive, puff, you are, huff, that you managed, puff, to survive my, huff, final resort, puff...", commented his opponent, who still had troubles catching his breath.


    They both understood: this was the final clash, and the victor would finally emerge.


    They stared at each other, searching for a best opening to exploit and appraising each other''s defenses. A minute passed, two, three. Finally, Black Panther, who wanted to continue his afternoon nap, shouted "Just do it already, you retards!"


    That served as a signal. Both opponents rushed at each other, one brandishing a sword, the other his paw. They crossed each other in a blink of an eye and finally, finally the winner was decided.


    ***


    A week later.


    On the edge of the forest, one could see two lumps of fur. One was black, and other was silver.


    Upon the closer inspection, one could make a distinction between their nature. One belonged to a feline, and other to a canine. Both were quite big-sized, and their respective owners were sleeping in the afternoon sun.


    The first was Black Panther, the top dog - or should I say top cat? - of the forest and powerful demonic creature.


    The other one had belonged to another demonic creature, second only to the feline. A silver werewolf, by the name of Silver.


    Yes, had belonged, because currently, from under the fur, a human hand could be seen. On it one could see calluses, the one that are made from the excessive use of a tool. In this instance, the tool was a sword.


    It was none other than Ken - who valiantly fought and defeated the werewolf. Not only has he gained a lot of experience - and a few level ups - but also quite a lot of fighting spirit stat, a reward for defeating the wolf pack and it''s leader by himself. Well, Black Panther was there as well, but he was the one to deal all the damage, so it counted.


    At the moment, Black Panther was yawning after awakening. A strange sensation disturbed his slumber, and although he tried, he couldn''t fall asleep once more. So he said, "Hey, human. Wake up. I''m bored."


    "Snorrrrrr... mmhmm..."


    Although feline, even a human could make out the feeling of displeasure from panther''s muzzle.


    "Wake up, I say!"


    "Mmhm... Five more minutes..."


    "Get up, dammit!"


    "Auu!"


    Losing his patience, the animal unsheathed less than one centimeter of his claws on his paw and smacked the creature snoring under the silver fur, which in turn was followed by a cry of pain.


    Ken looked around, trying to find the culprit while massaging his aching bottom.


    "Finally. So, what do you think of Silver?"


    "Hm... Well, he was very strong, certainly. Yaaawwwnn... I almost got killed, 1% of HP left is no joke for sure."


    "Right?"


    "True enough. Although, there was something strange: in our last clash, he looked away for a split second, and only thanks to that am I alive. If not for that, we would both die."


    "Stupid, aren''cha? It was obviously me, idiot. I used fighting spirit to divert his attention, since you are useful to me and I didn''t want to discard you."


    Ken looked at him in surprise. He pinpointed the fighting spirit? That would certainly explain it, but for it to be possible... It seemed that the fighting spirit held many secrets waiting to be discovered...


    "Hm...?!"


    "What is it, boss?"


    "Something''s on my territory! It feels strange but strong, we are going!"


    "Eh? Ah, yes, boss!"


    The travel was quiet, Black Panther behaved funny and youth, puzzled by his behavior, was sending him quizzical glances while trying to figure out the cause. After a few minutes they arrived in front of the intruder.


    It was a sylphlike, yet well-built feline. To be precise, a white feline similar in size to Black Panther, but of a different build. Also, it had a slender muzzle, also differing from black feline''s one. It had overall different feeling, not bulging with muscles, yet giving off an aura of strength, and also, what he noticed after a while, two tails.


    Yet a greater surprise was in store for him.


    "Human, help me.", Black Panther whispered to him.


    ''What the hell?'', the swordsman thought. It was a first for demonic creature to speak to him like that.


    "What''s the problem, boss?"


    "I''ve fallen for her. Help me get that female''s heart."


    "Ah, help you get her heart... What?!"


    For the end of the chapter, a loud yell resounded through the forest. What will happen next? Wait and see!

 Chapter 6

    Notice: the academic year is starting, so I''m afraid the releases may not be weekly :/ Also, I apologize for being late with this chapter, but it''s considerably longer than the previous ones so it took me a while.


    Chapter 6: Love Crusade


    After Black Panther''s unexpected plea, they learned that newcomer feline''s name was Dia. The panther told her that he will ''reluctantly allow'' her to stay on his territory ''for some time''. She nodded, and after naming themselves, both males went off to hold a strategy meeting.


    "Okay, time to start the war council!"


    "Boss, this isn''t war..."


    "No, you are wrong! Love is war!"


    "Okay whatever..."


    "What, you don''t believe me?!"


    "Ah no boss, I meant it was a common knowledge and I am in the wrong for not knowing..."


    "Hmpf, I will let you off this time. More importantly, you humans are mating whole year, right?! Help me get her heart!"


    Ken sighed heavily in his mind. This was a though cookie, but he had to munch on it, after all Black Panther was his ticket to survival in this area... while he might become his grim reaper. He had to please him - argh, how he hated kowtowing before others and toiling for them, and put up with that only because it was a matter of his survival.


    "Okay, I will try to think of something. But do note that you are no humans so I may be completely wrong about this."


    "It''s fine, so do it already!"


    "...Okay. Let''s see..."


    After that he submerged himself in thought. And that was no easy task, with a panther prancing about in impatience before him and spurring him with his eyes. Despite this, the youth had a little bit of experience so he thought of a few things.


    "Okay, I think that the manliest way to get her would be to confess right away, but..."


    "But?"


    "That one may have low chance since it''s abrupt and the other party don''t even know you..."


    "What else?"


    "The other way is to show off how cool you are to her and build up foundation for the relationship"


    "Is that all?"


    "Well, there is also one more... to shower her with compliments and to fuss about her, but it depends on what kind of, hm, person she is. Depending on it, it may be totally wrong or totally correct."


    "So you are saying that which is the best?"


    "Hm, probably a mix of all of them, I think? Show off your coolness to her, give her some honest compliments and don''t wait too much with confessing?"


    "Hoo, you really are something else. Good thing I''ve decided to made you my underling, Ken! Hahahah!"


    ''Good thing, my ass. Then again, if not for this I might''ve died at least once, so I guess it has it perks...''


    Young swordsman dived in his gloomy thoughts, but he was soon taken back to the surface by the Black Panther''s question and the title he used.


    "So, what''s the plan, strategist?"


    ''Strategist? Who is?'', he thought surprised, but said out loud, "Oh, okay, so here''s my idea."


    "Yeah?"


    "First, show off to her. Kill a powerful creature to show off your strength, get a belonging of a something at least twice as strong as you are and thus unbeatable for you to show off your wit, get here something rare that can be found only in few, almost unaccessible places to show off your perseverance and dedication. Things like that."


    "Oh, as expected of my underling! Let''s go with that!"


    And thus, the strategy meeting saw it''s end.


    ***


    ''Shit, if I knew that''s how it would end, I would have never thought up something like that!''


    Currently, Ken was alone, trudging through the forest. He was exhausted after walking for a day.


    ''That''s it, I gotta rest. Shit, why can''t he do it himself?''


    The situation at hand was as follows: Black Panther spent the morning with Dia, complimenting her a bit and showing off his good side telling her tales of his past victories. She showed mild interest, so he went back and told Ken to go slay one of the Heavenly Demon Kings and bring back his head. Apparently, there were four of the Heavenly Demon Kings in the forest, and the one who he was told to kill was a bear named North. Young swordsman thought that this must be a nickname, but in this world if the black panther was called ''Black Panther''... everything was possible.


    "Open quest window: Love Crusade!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Love crusade


    You have been told by Black Panther to gather three things, so he can ask Dia out.


    Heavenly Demon King North''s head: 0/1


    Phoenix''s egg: 0/1


    A Blue Night flower: 0/1


    Rewards: Black Panther may teach you something.


    Quest rank: C</td></tr></tbody></table>


    He spent the night in a safe place he managed to find near a river he has seen for the first time. It was not big, maybe five meters wide, but had a somewhat strong flow.


    In the afternoon, he finally arrived at the North''s territory and not long after that he saw the agenda of his mission. The bear was walking peacefully. Ken found out that Silver was one of the four Heavenly Demon Kings as well, so he decided to try the straightforward way.


    Suddenly, he felt a spark down his spine. It was as if someone was watching him. The feeling quickly disappeared, and seeing that the bear was looking around as if searching for something, he came out.


    "!"


    "Hello there, teddy. I''ve come to duel with you."


    "T-t-teddy?! I don''t know who you are, but you will pay for your insolence!"


    The fight started. Bear, full of fury after being slighted, rushed him as though he was a novice.


    ''What the? Is he really one of the Heavenly Demon Kings?'', thought human, but he had to change his mind quickly. ''Whoa!"


    The bear stroke the place where his opponent was standing just a moment ago. Now, there was a few meters long and half a meter deep crevice in the ground.


    ''His strength is no joke! But! As long as he doesn''t hit me, it won''t matter!''


    "You are gonna die, human!"


    "Huh? Is this seriously the extent of your strength? I was right, you deserve to be called teddy at most! You are no Heavenly Demon King, you are just a Stuffed Toy Servant! Since you are not strong enough to be called a king and even a mouse could best you!"


    "Rgggaargrgh!"


    A bellow of wrath resounded through the forest, there would be no mercy for the puny human being who dared to insult the royalty. King used another of his skills, and a tree behind Ken was pulverized, as he avoided the attack.


    At the same time, the swordsman attacked with Iron Jet, injuring the foe. In spite of being a well-executed counter, it took only 5% of his health.


    "You only have this much?", he continued to taunt the furious enemy.


    For the next few minutes, the pattern repeated itself. North had only 45% of his health left, and he only grazed the human once - although it took 30% of his health. It was clearly obvious that he could one shot him if he succeeded in scoring a hit point-blank.


    But then, the bear''s demeanor changed.


    "Ah... that''s right! You shall be the one used as a practice target for my new, upgraded skill! Beary Quake!"


    His paws started glowing with a golden light, and he himself stopped moving. Ken wasn''t playing around and tried to hit him, but to no avail, it seemed that the golden glow rendered attacks harmless. In desperation, youth used every of his skill, including Sword of Judgment, but no visible change has appeared.


    "Ha!"


    The bear shouted, the glow expanded in every direction... it was the last thing Ken saw, as he died the very moment it reached him.


    ***


    He came back to life in the very same place where he appeared in the forest for the first time. It took him some time to get back to the bear''s territory, but this time, as he grew stronger, he didn''t have problems with defeating a few demonic herbivores he happened upon, and let a few of them off in exchange for showing him where to go. On the way he finally thought up a plan to deal with his enemy, although it was crude.


    When he got to the river, he pulled down his pants and... well you can guess what he did. After that, he unsheathed his sword and smeared his blade with the... aftereffect of his previous action, while apologizing in his mind to the sword and to his master.


    Next he went looking for North while wrinkling his face because of the foul odor and trying to hold the tip of the sword as far away from himself as he could. Normally, he wouldn''t do something like this, but he heard about a great army of players who banded together in thousands being defeated by diseases inflicted upon them by a manifold smaller number of kamikaze savages, who had their crap smeared on their spears'' tips. According to the rumor, only a handful of the invaders survived and, although sacrificing themselves in this way, the natives succeeded in repelling them.


    Not to mention, that this fucking teddy killed him, one of the 9 precious lives he had, so he would spare no effort to get back at him, even at the cost of another one of his lives.


    Suddenly, he noticed the bear, sleeping in the clearing. He couldn''t believe his own luck - he had a chance to chop his head off without any resistance!


    Just as he was thinking that, the bear started moving in his sleep. Ken almost gave himself away due to the outburst of his killing intent, but he got lucky this time.


    He neared the bear, which started to growl quietly in the sleep. He held his sword above his head, and brought it down in a powerful slash... only to stop midway.


    What was the reason? The bear, without waking up, changed his position on the ground... and got out of range of Ken''s incoming attack. Swordsman smothered a curse and decided to be more decisive. He used Iron Jet so as to not give the enemy time to evade.


    The same thing happened.


    The youth was on the verge of his patience. He decided to finish it once and for all... and froze.


    North has awakened.


    "Hm? What is that shitty smell?"


    "..."


    "You! You came to taunt me again! Die!"


    Without any words, Ken used Sword of Judgment point-blank to deal a sure-fire critical damage.


    Boom!


    Although he succeeded, he died again, in a large blast of bear''s power.


    ***


    Once again, he has come back to life in the very same place. This time, though, there was one difference.


    "Oh shit! Where''s my sword?!"


    He only had so much time to realize that he must have dropped it when he died, as his loud shout attracted every animal in the vicinity that was either hungry or confident it would be able to survive the rivalry with whatever other animal that would come here.


    Due to his lack of sword, arriving on the shore of the river took him twice as long, even though he knew where to go this time. Only a handful of animal that came to his respawn place survived, as they preferred to chew on the already dead rivals and knew better than to attack the youth, who even without a sword posed a significant threat with his sheath and Soaring Sword Style that could utilize it as though it was a real blade.


    After his arrival, he took a rest before entering the bear''s territory. Well-rested, he resumed his advance and soon found his nemesis.


    North, once great and majestic, was now lying on the grass. It was clear he wasn''t in his peak condition, the infection was a success and so now Ken decided to wait until he''s even more weakened. Unfortunately, he didn''t see his sword anywhere in the area so he decided to spend time looking for it.


    ***


    The sword hasn''t been found.


    Ken was really vexed. Not only was it his late master''s sword, but also his only sword! There was probably no human (or, for that matter, any at all) settlement in days worth of travel from here, so there was no way to replace it.


    At least the other thing went well. North was on the verge of death, so whittling his remaining health down was no challenge. On the other hand, without a sword, it was difficult for Ken to sever the bear''s head from the body. As expected of the fur of one of the four Heavenly Demon Kings.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>The quest Love Crusade has been updated.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    After he came back to Black Panther, frustrated over the loss of his sword, Ken wasn''t heartily welcomed.


    "You are late! What took you so long?!"


    And with a loud sound he received a hit to his head. Then, as he was busy looking at all the stars that amazingly somehow found themselves in the sky during the day, the Trophy was taken from him.


    "Hm. So you managed to do it, sidekick. Although I can smell that he was sick, so it must have been easy for you, eh? And yet you have taken your sweet time! This and only this time will I forgive you! Okay then, time to see my honey!"


    And he took off.


    Ken looked after him confused. ''Honey? I would bet my own head that she is no girlfriend of his yet, and that he will not get her easily!''


    Thus the first challenge has been completed, and the second one awaits.


    ***


    The second task was even more difficult. Ken had been told to get a phoenix''s egg.


    But, seriously, phoenix''s?! Not only is that a powerful creature akin to weaker dragons, but supposedly the ones in the area are also demonic creatures! Their strength probably equals an average dragon''s. For some better idea, this would make them level 600 or so.


    And he had to steal it''s egg, or face Black Panther''s fury - and, probably, death as a consequence.


    He had no other option but to strengthen his resolve and depart.


    The nest of the phoenix was rumored - yes, he didn''t even have accurate information, the slave driving panther only leisurely gave him a conjecture or a gossip - to be up the river, in a volcano a few days worth of travel from where he left.


    Ken was dispirited after losing the sword, but it wasn''t like he wanted to die, even if he would respawn it would still be painful, not to mention that without the sword, any sword, he would sooner or later run out of all his lives in this dangerous forest. So although reluctant, he went to the volcano.


    The journey was hard, but not as hard as the first one without the blade. He started learning how to avoid especially dangerous denizens of the forest and accumulated even more proficiency now.


    After a week of traveling, the a single mountain entered his view. He presumed it to be the volcano, and a thin strip of smoke raising from it seemed to be the admittance of his assumption. Also, starting from the previous day, the creatures around got stronger then elsewhere. He faced only one of them, an injured lamia that was as strong as Silver despite her being wounded. Fortunately, he managed to avoid other encounters.


    One time was close, though. Downhill the volcano, on a small meadow, there was another dangerous beast. A wyvern. Depending on a specimen, level 400-500, so definitely nothing Ken wanted to meet. Unfortunately, the wyvern turned out to be a mother guarding her young, so unknown to him, the youth entered the premises of the wyvern''s nest and thus attracted her attention.


    The wyvern fixed her gaze on him, and with a loud sound, being something in between a roar and a squeak, the attack has begun.


    Ken didn''t have second thoughts about staying so he turned in the direction of the closest part of the forest and hightailed it. The wyvern launched itself in the sky with a powerful beat of wings and dived at him, intent on killing him.


    It was very, very close to losing another of his lives, but fortunately, Lady Luck decided to intervene. The swordsman tripped and, since he knew the position of incoming death, he turned around in a hopeless attempt to ward off the creature. In this very moment, the real intruder saved his life.


    In the very last moment before wyvern reached Ken, she flew by instead. It turns out something more urgent teared her attention away from her current target. It was a giant rat, and it was making it''s way to the reptile''s nest, creeping silently. Apparently it was looking for an opening and judged it was as good as any.


    The flying monster let out a loud roar of fury and dived towards it, and despite it''s frantic efforts to save it''s life, it ended up in the powerful jaws of it''s flying adversary. The drama ended with giant rat becoming the food of the ones he intended to prey on.


    It doesn''t need to be mentioned, but of course the human made use of the situation to the fullest and he was nowhere to be seen, thus the creature went back to guarding her young.


    ***


    ''Shit, I was careless. Almost lost my life again.'', thought Ken, panting in the nearby forest.


    After a few minutes of rest, he decided to carry on. He wanted to do it already and leave it behind.


    The volcano wasn''t very steep, so he didn''t have problems climbing it. Something more troubling lied in the existence of some strange ape-like creatures that were apparently living there, but after the previous encounter he doubled the effort to avoid them - successfully.


    After climbing the top of the volcano, he was taken aback by a wave of hot air that suddenly hit him. After he sent a cautious glance inside the volcano, he started sweating, and this time not because of the temperature. Inside volcano, a lake of lava existed.


    And below the steepest edge he has ever seen, a narrow ledge protruded - and there also was the phoenix in it''s nest.


    ''Cool, so not only do I have to climb down there but also somehow avoid the monster? I''m starting to worry about my 3rd and last assign then...''


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    He took out a jerky from his inventory and started to chew on it, simultaneously observing the giant bird to determine the next course of action.


    He decided to do that for a few days.


    Once he run out of food, he decided to try and hunt an ape from the volcano. It turned out to be a difficult and ferocious enemy, close to the level of Silver. Thankfully, not only has Ken leveled up several times since then, but more importantly, his fighting skills were beyond that of his level. So despite being handicapped with Joyeuse missing he won the now close fight.


    After staying up for two days, he sorted out the living pattern of the phoenix. It seemed to fly off two times a day to search for a prey, as it was apparently carnivorous. He decided to sleep the next night, and after waking up he waited till the big mommy''s out.


    His hideout was in the forest, so he would waste too much time to climb the volcano. But it was not a problem. He decided he would just hide again after climbing to the top, he already saw a suitable pile of stones. That he did, and after waiting for the phoenix to come back, he once again waited for it to go away to hunt.


    It was the late afternoon now, and the phoenix has just went out. The swordsman took action.


    First was descending down the volcano. The stone was very hot, but he already thought about that. As he had nothing to do when he waited, he used the hide of the hunted ape to try tailoring. At first it wasn''t going too well, and overall his creations could be described as shoddy at best. But, he still created a practical set of gloves from resilient to heat hide, and advanced the skill to level 6 while waiting for the big momma to leave.


    He was advancing slowly at first, but he soon got the hang of it and it went better. It took him about 20 minutes to arrive at the nest, as the distance wasn''t anything great.


    When he got to the nest at least, he faced another problem. The phoenix''s egg was big (about the size of the tv from late 1990s - author''s note) and wouldn''t fit in the inventory. Facing this predicament, Ken sat down and looked at his inventory window to look if he had anything that might help. Thankfully, a big bag laid there, long since forgotten and quite fitting for the task. He put the egg inside and started climbing back up. It went quite awkwardly since he wrapped the bag around with a rope tightly and wrapped it around his hip.


    When he was around five meters from the top, he suddenly noticed an unexpected plot twist: the phoenix returned earlier than usual, carrying one of the apes in it''s beak. He ceased to move while it was landing in the nest. Then he resumed climbing, this time slowly as to not alarm the creature.


    But plans never go the way their creators want it.


    When he was three meters from his goal, a pebble - how the hell it even got there? - slipped from under his feet when he was probing for a footing. So although it had no effect on him, it hit the phoenix''s head.


    The giant bird looked at him, squinted it''s eyes, then looked at it''s nest where there was one egg missing, and looked back at him, noticing the bag hanging down from his waist. Then it squawked furiously.


    For a second he waited for it to turn him into molecules with magic, but it took off instead. ''She doesn''t want to harm the egg'', he realized. Then he resumed climbing, waiting for the inevitable hit of the beak ending his life. But to his surprise, big momma merely flew out of the volcano. It was a mild surprise though - due to his earlier realization which was a bullseye.


    But when he got above ground - it immediately changed. He started to run downhill, with the monster in his wake. What''s worse, he didn''t have any room nor time for sneaking around, so he couldn''t avoid the apes.


    This soon turned out not to be a problem - the apes weren''t all that intelligent, so before they processed the situation, they were flying in every direction due to angry attacks of phoenix that was getting rid of every obstacle in it''s way. Close to the base of the volcano, it apparently started gaining in resolve, as thunders and fireballs started consecutively attacking Ken, fortunately being a bit late every time. On the other hand, just this much sufficed to take a half of his health.


    The phoenix started getting rowdy when the human entered the forest. It of course could perceive him, but with increasing difficulty. Thus, it started using advanced AoE spells, engulfing the forest in fire. Ken prayed that it didn''t hit him, but it did. Although, he was still alive with about 10% of health left.


    And then, an idea sprouted in his mind. Of course! There was this one thing he could try! So, he changed direction of his frantic escape.


    After half a minute of crazy escape, he found what he hoped to: the wyvern''s nest.


    Yes, his plan was to get the wyvern and phoenix to fight each other. Why should he, a weak human being that lost his sword, fight it out with monsters that are theoretically two times as strong as he is? Not to mention, that practice and theory are not the same thing, so in truth they were at least a few times as strong as he is.


    He ran through the meadow where the monster''s nest was with his maximum speed. It was a wise choice, because not only he avoided getting roasted by phoenix''s fire and thunders but also he decreased the time for the other beast to sort out the situation, and after the wyvern growled at him angrily, it soon shifted it''s attention to the far greater threat - the phoenix rampaging in the direction of it''s nest.


    And so, Ken ran, and was almost hit by yet another thunder on the edge of the long-awaited cover of the forest''s trees. About 2% of his health remained and he tripped from the impact, losing his balance. He glanced quickly behind only to see the phoenix preparing to smash him with it''s attack... and being interrupted by the wyvern''s attack.


    Ken would like to see the whole fight between these powerful beings, but he didn''t have the leisure to do just that. He had to flee from the battlefield unless he wanted to be engulfed in deathly attacks of both opponents, since every of their attacks had radius of at least 1-2 meters where it hit. Not to mention their AoE attacks that they yet haven''t, but inevitably will use.


    So, he circled around the meadow under the cover of the trees, setting up his observation point in a place farthest from the battle. He took care of his wounds so that these started to heal slowly, and sat under a bush to start observing the fight.


    It was short, so he saw only the finish. The wyvern was bleeding heavily, but without slightest hesitation it was biting and clawing at the phoenix furiously. The phoenix wasn''t nearly as injured, but it retreated without engaging in the fight again. It seemed that the wyvern, although weaker, was ready to put it''s life on stake whereas phoenix wasn''t intending to enter this fight, as it''s goal was something entirely different.


    Ken stood up and started retreating even further into the forest, but stopped in his tracks. He felt as if something laid it''s gaze upon him, so after inspecting his immediate surroundings, he doubled the pace and started going back.


    ***


    The last challenge was getting a flower from a mountain peak. Sounds easy compared to the others, right?


    Well... not really. It IS a challenge, after all.


    Ken was halfway to the top, he just entered the level were the snow doesn''t melt. He made a coat out of Silver''s fur, also a rather crappy but still warm clothes. He also made a scarf and a pair of gloves out of it, so at least he was protected against the cold. This time, Black Panther came with him.


    Ken was really tired of fighting it each and every snow ape this mountain had to offer without even having a real sword, and this guy was completely useless, only going on and on how Dia is fabulous. Seriously, the youth was growing tired of it. Since he tagged along, he could at least make himself useful.


    One more ape appeared. It charged at the human, who swiftly avoided it''s body slam and sliced it''s legs, making it fall in the snow and exploiting the situation to kill it. The apes weren''t all that difficult once you figured out how to deal with them, but...


    ...on the horizon two other apes appeared.


    "...And, Dia said... Isn''t she lovely...?"


    From behind him Ken could hear that the feline''s blabbing did not cease for even a moment. So, without thinking, he blurted out, "Oh for fuck''s sake, I don''t care about that bitch!"


    Not even a second after he finished saying that, the strongest pressure he ever felt from the panther hit him.


    "What. Did. You. Say?!"


    "Eh... boss... this is... right, that wasn''t me!"


    "What?"


    "It was those apes in front of me! You know how all monkeys like to smear shit on their opponents, right?"


    "How dare they...!"


    Ken couldn''t believe his own eyes. Black Panther, this lovestruck maiden in a hide of a wild demonic feline, actually moved his ass to take care of enemies before them! In no time, as well! In this very moment, a realization struck him.


    ''Could it be... have I finally found a way to do it the way I like it, without straining myself?!''


    Three another apes ran in their direction. When Black Panther was busy tearing the already dead ape to shreds, Ken rushed the three newcomers, slipped in behind them and started shouting in a different voices while avoiding and blocking their attacks.


    "Heheh, you know that bitch Dia? Let''s fuck her!"


    "I know, I know! Let''s fuck her on the peak!"


    "Good idea, hehehe, and after we finish, let''s take THAT flower and stuff it in her ass!"


    "Hehehe! Everyone in our ape tribe will fuck her!"


    The plan was a great success. Black Panther had no clue it was Ken who actually said it all, and rushed the apes with fury in his eyes. The trio couldn''t even move yet alone defend under the pressure he exerted. He destroyed them completely, then shouted to his human underling:


    "Ken, we are going up quickly!"


    "Yes, boss!"


    Then, it was a walk in the park. Black Panther mowed down every monkey he found till they reached the peak, and Ken just ran in his wake while smothering a happy laugh all this time. At the peak, they found the flower, and after they didn''t found Dia there, the panther rushed down the mountain to see if she was in the forest down below without even sparing Ken a single look or word. The swordsman followed him down the mountain in glee.


    ***


    "So, I have gathered these three gifts for you."


    "Hm... that''s nice of you, but I''m sure you expect something in return?"


    "Yes, actually... I''m in love with you, please be my woman!"


    After finishing all challenges, the time has come for confession. Black Panther and Dia stood in a clearing, while Ken watched from afar in a shadow of a tree.


    "Sorry, but there''s no way."


    "What?! Why?!"


    "First and foremost, We''re a different species. See?"


    After saying that, she transformed into a... human! Both Black Panther and Ken looked at her astonished, but the human brushed it off quickly due to his increasing resistance to odd things he gained after dying killed by the spider. Thanks to that, he made out some interesting details: she had cat ears and two tails! He shuddered a bit unconsciously, he had heard that so-called catwitches existed in some unexplored lands, their name derived from their appearance.


    "That... That doesn''t matter!"


    "Oh, does it now? Well, if you insist, then I will give you another reason. He", she pointed at Ken whose jaw opened in surprise at her gesture and words that followed, "is of my species, so I prefer him. Even more so since it was him - not you - who gathered all of ''your'' gifts, why you were loafing around, even though you were strong enough to do it by yourself. You are the worst, get lost from my sight!"


    After that, well, Black Panther was a wreck. Not only was he rejected, but also in such strong words! Meanwhile, Dia approached dumbfounded Ken and said, "I have observed both of you, especially you all the time since I came here."


    ''Those gazes I felt sometimes'', realized the human. Out loud he said, "What do you mean about this same species thing?"


    "What, you don''t know?", she let out a pleasant laugh. "Touch your head."


    He did that and then, he involuntarily shouted in surprise.


    He had cat ears! So that was what the Cat Mode was about!


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Your skill definition has been updated following your discovery.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    She giggled lightly, and tapped him on his forehead.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Your skill definition has been updated.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    While one more window appeared, he felt something itchy on his lower back. He looked back and his voice betrayed him again, for his surprise was to great to hold it in - a cat tail sprouted from his coccyx!


    Both ears and tail could move according to his wishes and he felt it when he touched them. Now it was clear why his hearing was better when he was in Cat Mode. Well, he had it on almost all the time, since when he turned it off once, Black Panther almost killed him, so he got used to it by now anyway.


    While he was still filling confusion, she spoke again, this time with sadness, "I have found your sword, but I am afraid it was destroyed by North, so I didn''t retrieve it."


    He froze for a moment at that, as it meant that his scabbard was now the only memento after his late master... unless one were to include his memories and all that he was taught.


    Then, she spoke again, with irony and a bit of both amusement and anger, "I liked your wit when you used Black Panther, but I''m not a bitch nor is any ape going to fuck me."


    He recoiled unconsciously at that, "Ahaha, sorry about that, I didn''t mean those words, the situation called for them...", he laughed a bit embarrassed.


    "I know, that''s why I will forgive you this once", she winked at him while saying it in an arrogant tone.


    "That''s a good girl!", he patted her head and she blushed slightly, falling into silence. Using this short break from surprises, Ken looked at her thoroughly.


    She was a fair maiden, looking like she was maybe seventeen years old, and about a head shorter than him. She had a slim body, and unfortunately, regarding her three sizes, her upper one wasn''t developed that well, if you know what I mean. But maybe there was still some room for growth...?


    Other than that, she had good-looking legs, not much fat - rather, you could even see some muscles on her legs. Also, she had white, flowing and long hair - most of them created an attractive-looking ponytail reaching the middle of her back while there was also a strand on both sides of her face, reaching her jaw. Her face was plain, but beaming with almost invisible and mysterious gleam, which made her look more attractive. She lacked human ears, she had cat ears on top of her head though. She was wearing a plain, white dress suited to her hair color, which stretched from her arms to the middle of her thighs. From under it, two tails hanged down. It depended on one''s tastes, but she was definitely to Ken''s liking.


    "S-stop staring at me...", she murmured breaking his focus.


    "Ah, sorry about that, it was the first time I could have a good look at you. Not to mention that you are the first human... well, very human-like, not to mention pretty, female I''ve seen in weeks if not months."


    Her blush deepened slightly. Unfortunately for them, the spring of youth had to wait, as certain someone couldn''t read the atmosphere and groaned loudly.


    "Ah, right. We had better move before Black Panther recovers. You don''t want to have a ''talk'' with him, do you?"


    He shuddered slightly hearing that. No, he definitely didn''t want that.


    "Yeah, I had about enough of that forest anyway."


    "Good, now you can have the egg back, I don''t need it."


    "Eh?"


    "Just take it. Ah, I have thrown out the head away, so disgusting. The flower I''m going to keep, though, it''s pretty and hasn''t whithered yet."


    "Eh... okay. Let''s go, then!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have finished the quest Love Crusade!


    The quest hasn''t turned out quite how you thought it would, but it could have been worse. You have gained a new cute companion and left the position of Black Panther''s underling. Do note though that should he come back to his senses, he will shred you to bits in an outburst of his feeling''s of jealousy resulting from his broken heart.


    You have received Phoenix''s egg x1


    Your Cat Mode skill has been upgraded.


    You have leveled up!


    You have leveled up!


    You have leveled up!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Author''s note: for those of you who don''t know what coccyx is and are too lazy to check it, it''s the lowest bone in your spine. Millions of years ago our arboreal ancestors before homo australopithecus (or whatever it was called) came to be may have had a tail sprouting from there and most of animals from our group (like mammals, reptiles, birds, fishes i think) have a tail instead of coccyx. You can think of it as a genetic memento. I thought it would be the best place to have it. For those of you who want a more clarified info and don''t want to touch themselves down there to feel the end of their spine, it''s a few centimeters lower than the beginning of the buttocks. This note is created for the sake of non-native speakers (such as me lol) and brought to you by Promet

 Chapter 7

    Notice: A vulgar language will appear in this chapter. And also in the following chapters. Don''t tell me I didn''t warn you.


    Chapter 7 Companions


    Ken and Dia were walking by the river, a few days of travel farther than North''s place. She was taking him out of the forest, and it does not need to be said that they were a bit bored, so they started talking.


    "I have never seen a male from my race, only females. I didn''t think I''d see any in my life, not to mention that any existed!"


    "Ah, that''s nothing strange. I''m a human, after all."


    "What?", Dia was dumbfounded.


    The youth sighed and murmured, "Cat Mode off."


    She watched flabbergasted as his cat ears and tail disappear along with a vague feeling of closeness only to hear as he said, "Cat Mode on" and to see all of it reappear.


    "You really are human... but how come you have acquired this kind of power?"


    "Hmm... how to best explain it... it''s sorta a gift from the gods."


    "Huh?"


    "Mmm... Well, just take a look and see. Show skill window: Cat Mode to Dia."


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Skill window: Cat Mode


    It is a mysterious class-exclusive skill only you have gained possession of so far. As such, the only information you can see in this window is a summary of what you have found out yourself. It''s a good thing since I have to work less, so don''t be too hasty with discovering new properties of this skill, you hear me? Anyway, here''s what you''ve found out so far:


    Ability to communicate with most feline or feline-related beings


    Cat ears and tail are added to your body when this skill is activated (are you a monkey or what?)


    -Better hearing (you will hear better then any human when you focus on hearing with your feline ears)


    -Innate balance (you can travel on very narrow surface without falling; your tail will move angrily whenever you are angry)


    -Sentient beings with kindness in them or fancying cats and/or small animals will try to pet you if they see your feline features


    Mana cost: freezes half of your total mana (sustained mode)


    Duration: as long as you like (even infinitely)


    As this is this skill''s first appearance in this world, it is yet unknown if there are any other properties to unlock. Should you happen to do so though, they will be listed in this window. Puhaa, I''ve finished writing this gibberish at least...</td></tr></tbody></table>


    She perused it flabbergasted. Seeing that, Ken smiled wryly, waited for her to finish reading and look at him, and said "Well? Guess you are not interested in me anymore as I turned out to be a human, huh?" with a laugh, successfully hiding a bit of concern in his question.


    "No... I''m just surprised. You can have it activated infinitely, right? So it''s like you are one of us."


    "Mwahaha, is that so?", he camouflaged his relief with a loud laugh. An awkward silence lasted for a few minutes.


    "Ah, I almost forgot. I heard there aren''t any human villages near, right? Then, you don''t happen to know any place I can get a sword at?"


    He was sure he was asking in vain, but to his surprise, the answer varied from the one he expected.


    "Ah, I forgot about it! You also should''ve reminded me! We will have to go to the further edge of the forest, there lives a gorilla swordsman who is dying because of his old age and is looking for someone to give his sword to before he''s dead!"


    ''Gorilla swordsman? The hell?''


    "Well, anyway, take me to him, please."


    "Okay, follow me!"


    ***


    Two weeks worth of traveling later, they have arrived on the edge of the forest, where the said swordsman lived. Before they entered, Dia spoke to the young man, "Be advised though, he is quite an eccentric. So he may request something strange in exchange for the blade."


    Her companion was pretty confident in his resistance to surprises, "Don''t worry. Nothing''s gonna surprise me anymore."


    On the other hand, he might be the one to surprise the host. Why? Well, he had a bag fastened to his back with the phoenix''s egg inside, after all it didn''t fit into his inventory. Disregarding this, they entered a bungalow on the edge of the forest, when the gorilla swordsman lived.


    "Who is it?", a hoarse voice reached them upon entering the rather shabby house.


    "Hello, Mr. Bananan. I''ve come to pay a visit.", responded Dia after taking a step forward.


    "Oh! If it isn''t the young demi-human witch! What brings you - cough, cough, cough...! - ...here?", an old gorilla lying on a pile of dry leaves greeted her, interrupted by a coughing fit. He had black, although weathered fur and a scar on his left cheek and gave off an impression of strong yet old and weakened individual.


    ''I can tell he''s strong, but not if he''s stronger than me or not. Well, maybe he was stronger and is weaker now?'', Ken appraised him silently in his thoughts.


    "Well, remember how you told me that you want to give someone worthy your sword before you die? Meet Ken, my companion. I believe hi is a decent candidate."


    Gorilla scrutinized him slowly after the young man took a step forward and gave him a respectful nod.


    "Hm, hm. I see, I see. He certainly has some strength. But, alas! I cannot give him a sword until he shows me his Family!"


    ''Family?'', Ken''s surprise was visible on his face as he tried to understand what it was supposed to mean now.


    "Oh, you don''t know? Cough, cough...! That''s no good. I can only give my sword to the one who has a splendid Family! But, unfortunately, the time of my dead is nigh. So, I will concede a bit. If you can show me your Family before I die, you will be granted with my legacy! Cough, cough...! Listen, Family is a term for a group of individuals that support each other under their leader''s lead. Although they don''t fear to steal, murder and plunder, they have their honor and treasure their ties as though they were a single family. At least, it''s what I''d like for it to be. My successor and I had an argument after he took over my Family and after becoming especially notorious, they were all wiped out. I''ve learned after that, that I was the only one with such ideals, and - cough, cough...! - every other Family wasn''t like that, not treasuring their allies, soiling their honor and succumbing to treason resulting from thirst for power and money or even envy. Cough, cough, cough...!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Founding your Family


    In order to get a new sword, you are tasked with assembling your own criminal syndicate. You have to gather at least three members other than yourself. Moreover, at least YOU have to be tied by strong bonds with every member of your Family. You also have to hurry for Bananan isn''t gonna live for more than few weeks.


    Awards:


    Bananan''s sword


    Unknown


    Difficulty: C


    Failure if the deadline is not met.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Do you wish to accept the quest?</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Yes</td><td colspan=''2''>Lol nope</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ''What the hell, I don''t want to have anything to do with any relationship like the one I had with Black Panther! But I need the sword... shit, what to do... Oh, I know. I can always disband it after it''s over.''


    "I accept."


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>You have accepted the quest.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Good, cough, cough, I''m grateful. I look forward to seeing your Family. Ah, let me tell you something about the sword - it''s will gets stronger according to the strength and number of your bonds in the Family, and you won''t be able to equip it unless you are it''s leader."


    ''Da faq did you just say?! I won''t be able to equip it?! This sucks!'', Ken though with a deadpan face while they left the bungalow.


    ''So I have to get the sword if I want to survive here'', he pondered. ''Well, I can always ditch that Family thing after I get another sword.''


    Dia didn''t interrupt while he was thinking, since she was thinking about something else, ''Will he ask?''


    ''Well, maybe that Family can be a bit of an interesting thing'', youth concluded his thinking process. Then he turned to his companion.


    "Hey, wanna join my Family as a first member?"


    "Yes!"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>The quest have been updated</td></tr></tbody></table>


    He didn''t bother to check it as he already knew what had changed.


    ''Good, I''ve got one already. This will be a walk in a park''


    ''Yes! He asked me! I''m so happy!''


    Thinking about two completely different things, determined Ken and blushing happily Dia departed to look for two more people to join their newly founded Family.


    Little did they know they would encounter their third member soon.


    ***


    Evening, the same day.


    Dia and Ken were by a campfire, eating their supper in silence. Both submerged in thought, tried to figure out a way to find new and adequate members quickly. Suddenly, something snapped in the bushes just outside their range of vision.


    Alarmed, they got ready to fight.


    ''Is it a carnivore attracted by a scent of roasted meat?'', thought Dia. On the other hand, Ken''s thoughts were more self-centered, ''I hate being bothered when I''m eating.''


    To their partial relief, an elf came out. Only partial because he wasn''t a beast, since on the other hand the intelligent races can pose an even greater threat if they want to. Yes, the key is ''want to'' and they didn''t know what did he ''want to'' do and thus were wary.


    "Oohhh!!! People in this forest!?", the guest exclaimed, seemingly glad. He was somewhat tall and slender, with stern face and silver long hair, ending a few centimeters close to shoulders. He was wearing a stylish coat, but you could see that he probably had leather armor under it.


    "Yes, so state your business", young swordsman answered him indifferently.


    "Uh, never mind that. I was just surprised seeing humans here. You on some quest to?"


    "Sorta."


    "He-eh. Is that so? Mind telling me?", the elf sat on the opposite side of the fire and asked.


    "Huh? Why should I? Aren''t you too comfortable here, by the way?"


    "Oh, so you don''t believe me? Okaaaay, I will tell you first. Actually, I have heard that somewhere in this forest is a man who can help become a boss of the mafia. A mafia, you know?! I have always dreamed about it!"


    Ken and Dia tensed up.


    "Well, I am on a quest to create one, but I will disba-"


    "WHAT?! YOU ARE?! NOOO!!! I''M THE ONLY ONE FIT TO BE THE BOSS!!!", the elf suddenly went in a fit of rage and bellowed. Not only that, he also took out a bow and started to aim at Ken!


    ''What the?!''


    The duo dived in a nearby bushes, avoiding the arrow which hit the place where Ken has just been sitting which... exploded! Scraps of roasted meat and embers from the campfire erupted in every direction, caught up in the explosion!


    ''It will probably be bad if I''m hit with these, also better not block them...'', thought Ken while jumping out of the bushes with his scabbard, ready to fight and running in direction of the elf, who meanwhile has already created some distance to avoid close combat. Soon, a new arrow with explosives attached came flying, but Ken changed the trajectory of the projectile with his scabbard so that it exploded quite a few meters away from him.


    "Shit! Then, how about this! Two times bombs!", elf shouted while releasing two arrows at the same time, both aimed at different places of Ken''s body. He didn''t shot anymore, apparently confident in his attack.


    Ken repelled the attack once again without difficulty, advancing towards his opponent who, seeing it, shouted again, "Then, three times bombs! The end of you!"


    Unfortunately for him, only two flew towards the swordsman who was now only a few meters away while the third misfired, falling about a meter in front of him.


    "Crap!"


    The elf jumped back in order to escape the radius of the explosion, which he mostly did. Unfortunately, when he looked above him while he still laid on his back, he saw jaws of a wolf, which was lured by the scent of the roasted meat and attacked him. He only had enough time to whisper, "The end of me...". The next thing he saw though was a scabbard dealing a mortal blow to the canine.


    Little did he know, Ken didn''t have any plans to kill him from the start, ''I will make him provide us with two, no, three times the food he just wasted.''


    Meanwhile the elf gathered himself up and looked around. After that he... kowtowed in front of Ken and started shouting while crying.


    "I didn''t realize! You are the one fit to be the boss! I will follow you to the end of the Earth!"


    "...Stand up already..."


    The new mafia boss felt awkward, it was the first time someone bowed in front of him.


    "Yes!"


    After standing up, the elf started looking at him with puppy eyes. The gazed at was ready to wage that if he had a tail, it would be wagging now.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "Not only you didn''t kill me, you also saved me from the wolf! I''m deeply impressed! Let me be your right hand, boss!" (author''s note: to all of the virgins and whoever else who misunderstood, right hand as in second-in-command, not whatever you just thought...)


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>The quest has been updated.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Whatever, just bring us food instead of the one you wasted."


    "Yes!"


    Thus, the third member has joined.


    ***


    The elf was named Speed. It seems his class was a hybrid, a mixture of archer and, well... who knows? Anyway, it''s apparently one of the hidden classes. He claimed that he created it himself.


    That aside, Ken appointed him to be their new food provider, to which he said, "Leave everything to me, boss!" with puppy eyes, and quickly set off to complete the mission.


    A day later, the young human decided that it was time to polish their teamwork. He called Speed and Dia for the sake of that.


    "So, I have to know what kind of abilities you have so that I can decide on some kind of pattern. After that, we will go and train together, hunting some demons or something.", he began.


    "Well, I am an archer and can use explosives as you have seen, boss", said Speed.


    "First and foremost, I can change into a feline form, the one the panther fell for the other day."


    And so, the explanations have begun. Ken also told them about his skills. They decided they would need to try it in practice and chose hunting as a real combat training.


    Finding some prey wasn''t difficult, it was a forest after all and both Dia and Ken had their alternative forms which had better senses than their human ones. By the way, when Speed saw that both Dia and Ken had cat ears and tails, he exclaimed, "Woah, so cool! As expected from boss and his first companion!"


    That being said, he acted with extreme jealousy towards the catwitch. It seems he regretted not being the first one to join as he relentlessly tried to get the swordsman to appoint him the second-in-command. Unfortunately for him, his boss wasn''t the one to trust someone quickly, so he only told him "be useful and show that you can be trusted, then I will think about it", and now Speed zealously and without complaint heeded his every word. By the way, he was a hardcore rpg player.


    One of the next days, they decided to hunt something other than herbivores to truly assess their teamwork.


    After searching the woods, they have found a river strand. Apparently, it was a different river and not the same Ken has seen before. And there, on the sandy beach, a demonic crocodile was taking a nap. As an aquatic animal, it should be in disadvantage in a fight on land.They decided Speed would startle it and deny it the retreat route back to the water. That way, it should enter the forest in it''s confusion, where it would fall prey to Ken and Dia.


    In truth, it went a bit differently than they wanted.


    After waking up the crocodile, the startled creature rushed in the water... rushing frantically through explosions disregarding any danger. It quickly fled down the river, denying them meat and other spoils. And thus, their croc cutlets and sturdy, tough skin for new items were flushed down the toilet.


    But, as if to mock them, fate had something more in store. The explosions were heard by other demonic animals in the vicinity and they were now surrounding the trio against the river.


    "They are humans!"


    "Despicable humans!"


    "Kill them humans!"


    "Me kill!"


    "Groaaaarhr!"


    After letting out various shouts and groans, the apparently furious animals rushed to attack the group. Any negotiations were of no use, this was clear. The number of enemies was quite big, around 30 or so, and although they were herbivores or omnivores, they mostly belonged to the strongest species living in this forest.


    "Boss, I shall give them taste of hell for daring to bare their fangs at you!", shouted Speed with enthusiasm.


    "Alright, I''m counting on you.", answered Ken.


    "Yes!"


    And so, the TNT began the battle with a loud bang. Almost instantly three creatures were dead, two demonic zebras and one demonic giraffe. But unfortunately, the rest was still alive and kicking, and didn''t need any more reasons to attack the trio. So, although three animals died, the rest was only a few meters from them and it was a matter of 2-3 seconds till they reached. In a situation like this, firing arrows with bombs attached to them was useless.


    "Speed, you hide behind us..."


    "But, boss! How can I, as your right hand, hide behind when you face enemies!"


    "...Let me finish. Hide behind as and fire your exploding arrows in the sky so that they hit the rear of the enemy."


    "Oh! As expected of my boss, coming up with a new technique for me in the midst of the battle!"


    "..."


    Ken didn''t respond this time - he was too busy killing a wild demonic horse with his scabbard. Using one of his skills, Iron Jet, he crushed it''s skull after weakening it considerably with some normal attacks. Dia, on the other hand, transformed into her feline form, and ripped necks of two demonic bulls that tried to impale her with their horns.


    The tide of battle seemed to flow into the direction of the trio, but those were only small fries from the vanguard that attacked. The most dangerous opponents were still waiting for their turn, and the trio began to get tired a bit. They held the advantageous position, but that didn''t change the fact that they had to defend against too many reckless attacks at once. Still, they didn''t have any other way than to just persevere.


    On the other hand, the elf was doing better and better. At first, he had no clue about the angle he should use to perform a close ranged fire support over obstacles, but with time he was getting more used to his new technique. He even named it, ''Mortar Bomb Barrage''. That being said, they were almost hit by his bombs'' shock wave several times.


    At any rate, they have managed to kill about 10-15 of their enemies, that meant that more than the half remained. And things were starting to get ugly. Ken was slowly running out of mana, and although neither Dia nor Speed required it, they used quite a bit of their stamina. And finally, the strongest enemies have emerged.


    The situation was grim indeed. The young human was fighting two rhinos at once, both demonic and determined to make him into a kebab on their horns. There was also a third attacker, a demonic baboon reigning over the element of fire, who apparently shared their goal, since he was either throwing flaming punches at him or attacking with flamethrower-like attack from his muzzle.


    On his left side, there was Dia in her white feline form, surrounded by two gazelles and one hippo. She barely avoided attacks of the former two while riding atop the posterior one, trying to slash it with her claws - but almost to no avail, as it''s skin was tough and thick, resulting in only shallow scratches.


    After most of the small fries were taken care of, Speed''s attacks almost ceased to have an effect. The best they could do was confuse their enemies a bit, as they eventually got used to loud explosions.


    If it''s like this, they may be annihilated without help.


    If it''s help that''s necessary though, then there is no problem.


    "ORRRYAAAAAH!!!"


    Suddenly, a powerful war cry resounded through the battlefield. Everyone stopped in their tracks and, baffled, looked in the direction of the voice. First, though, let''s have a look at everyone fighting.


    Ken, with his left arm injured and useless.


    Dia, blinded by blood flowing from her forehead.


    Speed, with cramped right arm and his right hand bleeding from continuous usage of the bow.


    Seventeen demonic animals - hippos, rhinos, baboons, gazelles, buffaloes and an elephant. About half of them more or less heavily injured, while the other half lead by elephant still awaited their turn. Now, they shuddered hearing THE VOICE.


    "Shit... I thought it was them!"


    "So we took on a wrong opponent!"


    "We have no chance against him now with our dwindled numbers!"


    So they were shouting.


    "ARE THERE ANY SHITTY DEMONS HERE?!", the voice resounded again, making the demonic animals break into a sweat profusely.


    And then, IT happened - a blue rain with big droplets fell on the battlefield, disintegrating each and every demonic animal it hit.


    ***


    The spell lasted for 30 seconds, more than enough for every demonic animal present. A few seconds later, a man wearing dark purple robes appeared.


    "Oya? Seems like three shitty demons survived... Oh, now that I look at you, you are no demons."


    In response, Ken walked to him and, stopping two meters before him, he said, "Thank you. We were having problems with them due to their numbers. I''m a swordsman, name''s Ken. The other two behind me are archer Speed and... Dia."


    "No need to thanks, all I did was exterminate thosy shitty akumas. I''m Feier, an exorcist, and I like killing shitty demons!", the last sentence he exclaimed while prancing in a manner similar to running in place and pulling out his tongue roguishly.


    ''Akumas? The hell is that? And, what does he think he is doing?!''


    Everyone looked at him, wondering if he''s sane. Ken decided he would try to recruit him.


    "So, what are you doing here? I''m here on a quest to assemble my so-called Family, in other words, my own mafia."


    "Well, is that so. I''m here to fuck up all the fucking demons I can see. Dunno why, but bishop at church told me I''m to roam the lands to exorcise demons. But whatever, killing demons is what I like the most after all."


    ''I can think of at least two reasons why they told him to get out'', thought the trio while keeping their deadpan faces.


    "Well, we are going to leave this forest soon, but first we have to get one more member for my Family. After that, we will have to cut through the hordes of demonic beasts to the location were the one who issued the quest lives. So, how about you join us?"


    "Hm... killing demonic pricks... I like that. But, you see?", whilst speaking, Feier took out a sword and licked the blade slowly in a showy way, "you have to first show me a proof that you are worthy to be above me!"


    With that being said, he suddenly lunged at Ken, who barely had enough time to block it with his scabbard.


    "Boss! How dare you attack him, you..."


    "Ken!"


    "Stay out of this! I can do this much if it helps me finish this ridiculous quest!"


    Dia and Speed wanted to help him, but swordsman told them not to do it, so they stopped after each taking a single step forward.


    The fight wasn''t on equal terms. Feier was unscathed after the battle with demons (although it can''t even be called as such if we exclude the part before he appeared) and was in a good form. On the other hand, Ken was exhausted and injured after the previous battle and didn''t even have a real sword.


    Despite the Disadvantage with capital D, Ken still was on par with crazy exorcist. Attack, parry, attack, counter, attack, block and evade. He was only focused on those things and somehow endured. In the end, after a battle 30 minutes long, they both fell on the sand, out of breath and completely exhausted.


    "Mwahahahah! That was good! I had yet to find an equal! And you might be even a little stronger than me, since you were fighting handicapped. But, fuck! That is only right if you are to be my...", he stuttered, and looked at Speed, "How did you call him, shitty elf? Ah, that''s right, boss!"


    "Boss!", shouted his self-proclaimed right hand suddenly, "I object to him being in our Family! A vulgar, mad exorcist like this...!"


    "Don''t worry about it, we need a powerful guy like him", Ken hushed him."That being said, I do have one question first. Why didn''t you use any skills other than your sword mastery? If you did, the outcome might have been different!"


    "Mwahahah! That''s fucking right! Unfortunately, all of them work only against demons!"


    ''I see'', thought the swordsman and scrutinized him. Feier was a tall (about 1,70-1,80) man in his early twenties, with red eyes (!) and silver hair, just like the elf. His face could be a handsome one if not for his mad expressions he constantly sustains. The rest of his body was hidden under a dark, purple coat almost reaching the ground, so it could only be speculated what kind of body he had, other than the fact that he wasn''t visibly fat. From under the coat, a military-type shoes protruded, brown in color. Awaiting the Ken''s decision, mad exorcist jumped onto the remains of the demons and started stomping on them with apparent glee.


    "Okay, welcome on board"


    "Boss!"


    "It''s okay"


    "But...! Having someone this unpredictable is too dangerous...!"


    "It''s okay. I think we can trust him for now."


    "But...!"


    "I''m counting on you."


    "...Yes!"


    And thus, the Family that was finally assembled departed for Bananan''s hut to finish the quest.

 Attention, please read

    Hi guys.


    I''m sorry for stopping with my FF, but I actually underestimated the university life. Especially one which is supposedly free of costs yet close to every mistake costs you money (I managed to avoid all of them save for one, which costs me about 30$ every month, lol). Not to mention, that I''m actually 3/4 of the time (when awake) away from home. So it''s impossible for me to write a FF like Not your average player, which I was planning to have a deep plot and and prepared part of it, in such circumstances.


    Fortunately, some classes don''t require my attention as they are rather easy. That''s way I thought I''d take a notebook and write one of my other two ideas for FFs. To not spoil the fun, I will only say that one is going to be a survival story, and the other a comedy story. I have ideas for both of them and as they won''t require me to create a deep plot, I should manage 1-2 chapters a month. I tried to create a poll, but it seems it isn''t possible as of yet after the update. That''s why, please do speak your mind here. After some time (in days) I will count the votes and declare which story I will go with (it will be the one with most voices).


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Ps.: Not your average player isn''t axed, just on hiatus. Probably till July, but it may change.