Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Volume 3 - Chapter 2 - Traumas

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS ONE OF THE CHAPTERS THAT PLACED THIS SERIES INTO THE SEINEN CATEGORY DUE TO ITS GRAPHIC NATURE. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Welcome back viewers! Have you logged in today yet?! Leviathan publicly announced their new revolutionary update for Second Phantasia today! This system was apparently in the game a while ago, but only those that bothered toying with the game’s advanced options would’ve discovered it. Sadly, I wasn’t aware of it, if you, my dear viewers, knew of it, please share your experience in our forums, we would LOVE to hear about it from you!

According to the official site, only 1322 players accessed that option during its testing period! No word on how much of that number consists of official testers though… At any rate, the [Martial Mastery] system is based on data collected from various martial art masters from around the world. According to sources within the company, Leviathan spent a fortune to get these masters to work with them, I hope there isn’t going to be any price jump for new units in the near future.

Back to the system, different schools are present within the system, albeit with their name scrubbed out and replaced with a generic alphanumeric naming scheme. Also, the system will automatically recommend a school depending on your avatar body type, your weapon of choice, and even your attack style! Be sure to check it out when you log in!

As usual, check out our portals below to learn more as well as news, analysis and tips. As a special mention, Jeanie, the user that delivered the news about the founding of Missouri and the assassination involved will be joining us officially as an in-game correspondent! Be sure to check her out as she brings you hot in-game news from the center of the continent, OneWingedPegasus signing out!


*shu* *shu* *shu* *dota*

A black-haired young man shifts with sweeping steps as he dodges projectiles from a sling and two slingshots while parrying a young demihuman’s slash with a rod. His body shudders slightly, his feet shifting a bit before launching a sword thrust with his other hand, bursting forth with a *fiuuu*. He’s currently testing out the recently announced [Martial Mastery] system and has taken on the recommendation provided by the system.

In another area a stone’s throw away…

“Holy shit! Waah!” A blond youth is alternating between twisting in the air and rapidly shuffling along the ground in a crouching position, dodging the numerous projectiles coming at him, his movements surprise even himself as he flips, turns, ducks and spins successively. The four demihumans around him had given up trying to attack him in melee, resorting to a two-and-two attack with slings and slingshots. Every single one of the projectiles fly past him with a *shu* as he throws clumps of dried grass at the quartet, occasionally hitting one of them. The youth suddenly stands up, holding a hand up while covering his mouth with his other, revealing a slightly pale expression on his face.

“Teach us, Rick-sensei!”
“Please!”
“…!”
“That was really cool! The whoosh and burururu!”

The four demimhumans and the others watching approached their teacher-cum-headmaster with admiration in their eyes. They have just seen a series of movements and attacks that simply didn’t exist within their knowledge. The acrobatic attack and defense are rolled into one; the unexpected rhythm of his movements that would put birds’ mating dances to shame. At the same time, clumps of grass managed to hit the four that surrounded him, causing many to imagine what would happen if those were his normal daggers.

“Argh, maybe later, I feel a little sick.” Rick continues to suppress the urge to vomit from the nauseating movements, nodding thankfully to the young demihuman that is handing him a cup of water.

Unexpectedly, his natural movements, his modification of Kun’s dual-wielding technique after learning it, and robust constitution from his daily training caused the system to trigger a hidden function, limiting the [Martial Mastery] system to present only one option to him. It should be noted that the programmers who built the system are the crème de la crème within the Leviathan Corporation, they are exceptionally careful, meticulous and considerate, with numerous oversights to ensure the users’ safety. But, likely because they are so brilliant, they have a mischievous side to them. They jokingly added a hidden function, that when a 99%+ compatibility occurs between the user’s data and a given school’s set of data, it will become the only option available to the user. This was done with the blessings of everyone, including the masters involved, one of them even said “If there’s such a player, I’ll drag him to become my successor even if I have to swim across an ocean of fire and cross a mountain of blades!”.

Rick waves the students off, pointing toward Kun who is visibly struggling against the students. His evasion is crisp and precise, but there’s a notable delay between his dodging and attacking. The students, having competed almost daily with the games at the Academy, immediately latched onto this weakness, attacking seriously only after he dodges a weak assault.

“Rrr! System Menu - Cancel [Martial Compensation]!” The young man’s posture immediately loosens up, his knees bending slightly less than before, his height gaining about an inch. His footwork is no longer done in powerful, sweeping motions, but bursts of quick steps followed by quick, powerful attacks that catches the students off-guard, ending the training battle.

“Alright, that wraps up the practice, everyone go wash up and have lunch.” Kun says in a loud voice after helping the students up.

“““““Osu!””””” The demihumans start gathering at the various barrels of water, which were purified with fire magic, cleaning the grime and dirt off their body.

“So… how are the different schools?” The youth looks at Kun enviously.

“None of them seems to match me… there’s a few that has amazing steps for footwork, but their attack don’t feel right. I mean, this W1A7 school that I was just using says it focuses on using a sword and sheath combo, but a rod is really different…” The young man explains his experience bluntly, with a note of regret on his face. “What about you? Those were some… interesting moves you did.”

*heh*

Rick shows a complicated face, unsure whether to laugh, cry, or drop on all fours in despair. “Those moves are amazing alright, assuming I don’t lose my lunch in the first place.” The youth sighs with a *fuu*, then, quickly perking back up. “Speaking of lunch, what are we having today?”

“Hahahaha!” Kun laughs heartily, completely understanding his friend’s suffering while unable to suppress his reaction from Rick’s mentioning of food. It seems everyone has been getting excited about food lately, probably due to the lack of variety as a result of the trade barriers on Earth. Of course, Kun, not to mention Gui, is no exception. “Apparently, Till brought the students to town, sold the loot and bought some stuff. Mainly antidotes for the various creatures in the jungle, some weapons, and a variety of food. Today we are going to have sweet and sour minced snake vegetable soup, earth-baked vegetables with aromatic herbs, roasted sweetfish with salt, soft-boiled python eggs, rice and beans with spices steamed in lilypad leaf, and boiled fruit pudding for dessert.”

“Rice and beans? Steamed in lilypad? How does it taste like…?” Rick swallows his saliva with an audible *guku*. He has always craved tea since it was introduced to him, not to mention that he tried different ethnic food while he was in South America with his parents, eventually staying at Bell’s place. That’s why he was able to eat wolf meat and snake so easily, even if it’s in-game.

“Why don’t you ask Gui?” Kun nods his head toward the campfire where a few students are, busy cooking the food.

The gray fox is stalking the cooking area, giving instructions to some of the cook trainees, especially the roasting of the sweetfish and the timing for the eggs. Having watched Kun cook since he was a pup, he had gained the ability to tell how something is cooking by sound and smell alone, even if he can’t cook himself. Of course, he also designated himself as the official taster before seasoning is done on all the dishes. He’s already a unique figure to the demihumans, whom wants to pamper him as though he’s some rare, treasured animal; so when he starts giving instructions like their sensei, they followed, even if somewhat hesitantly. Of course, that only lasted until his instructions provided clear results. Eggs came out with the perfectly cooked, slightly runny yolk, the fish were cooked to perfection, not having the chance to toughen up from overcooking.

“Eh… your brother is a little strange, Kun.” Rick scratches his cheek uncomfortably. “I mean, why a fox of all things? Isn’t that a little perverted?”

“What does it matter? Doesn’t change the fact that he’s my brother and it’s not like he’s hurting anyone by being a fox. Not that much different from your eh… usual face.” Kun starts walking away, toward the campfire to inspect the cooking process.

The blond youth looks stunned for a moment, before realizing Kun has already moved away and starts chasing him from the back. “Eh?! Wait! What do you mean by that?!”

“Ah, Kun-sensei! We are a little short on some berries. Can we go forage some real quick?”

“Nah, don’t worry, I’ll go get it for you.” The young man turns toward Gui, whose ears are twitching at the cooking fish and eggs, paying close attention to them. “Come on Gui, help me sniff out some berries.”

“Hmm? Okay, brother!” Gui takes a few step before turning back towards the trainees, “Remember, 2 more minutes for the eggs, and turn the fish over once before taking it out of the fire.”

“““Yes, Gui-sensei!”””

“Hey, wait for me, Kun! What did you mean earlier?!” The youth continues to chase Kun who is already near the edge of the jungle.





Gui is busy sniffing the air, determining where the berries are. Of course, being the glutton that he is, he also directs Kun toward fruits that are in their prime. With the person in question present, Rick didn’t have the nerve to ask Kun again. Leaving him to forage with the pair.

“Hmmm… what’s this? It smells so good.” Rick is plucking an elongated fruit from a 9 meters tall palm-like tree as directed by Gui, the fruits bunched together similar to a flower in bloom. The fruits wouldn’t have been visible from the ground as the the leaves from other trees block its view.

“It’s soft and sweet! Soft and Sweet!” Gui is excitedly hopping around underneath.

“Oh? Sweet?” Kun is smiling at the fox that is acting like a kid in a candy store.

“Damn it, there’s so many!”

“Don’t worry, just cut it and let it drop!”

The two humans shouts at each other in the rather quiet jungle. A few birds are nearby, stalking Rick from the tree branches, eyeing the fruit.

*supa* *koro* *sha sha sha*

With a cut, Rick drops the circle of fruits from its stem, causing the leaves below to rustle as it goes past them.

“Woah, here we go!” Kun skillfully jumps up as the bundle of fruit approaches from above, reaches for it with both his hands before gently retracting as he falls back down, absorbing most of the momentum.

*dote dote*

Two fruit, already ripened and thus having weak attachment to the bundle, drops to the ground, where the gray fox makes quick work of them, leaving only their peels and traces of bright-yellowish orange pulp behind.

*Da*

Rick makes a dull sound as he drops from the tree half way down. He notices the peel as he gets into an upright position. “Damn you are fast… Well, how is it?”

“Give me more and I’ll tell you.” The fox’s tail swings back and forth gently.

“You rascal!” Kun ties the bag where he divided the fruit and gives Gui’s head a rustle. A split moment later, the fox’s demeanor changes quickly, ears perking up, tail standing tall.


[T/N: Both me and the editor are assuming these are bananas, the description matches too well. As such, that would explain why the fruit would get divided inside a bag instead of being separated into individual pieces.]

“Brother, hurry back!” Within a blink of an eye, the gray fox is already a dot in the direction of the savannah where their camp is.

Both Kun and Rick turns to each other with a look, before chasing after Gui.

* * * * *

*kan* *kan* *kan*

Weapons are striking each other, as a large group of humans attacks the campsite. The Demi-humans are fighting back desperately, some with shaking knees. A few of the cook trainees are even fighting back with metal skewers and pans as they were caught completely unprepared for battle.

“Slippery little bastards!” A large, rough, and bulky looking man in crude leather armour curses as he tries to subdue the young demihumans, who continues to run away. “Don’t let them escape, they are worth their weight in gold!”

“““Aye, boss!”””

“Should we call for the Immortals? Boss?” A skinny looking man with an eye-patch inquires.

“Damn it, might as well, didn’t think these little punks had training, there’s even a slime-man protecting them.” The man gives an evil smile. “But that means they will be worth that much more as slaves after a little education.”

“Shit shit shit! Everyone, remember the training! Keep moving, don’t stop!”
“Disperse into groups! Cover each other!”
“The younger ones! Go with Dosnak!”
“Mal’on, escape when you get the chance and go inform the senseis!”

The demihumans are capable of flight, but unfortunately, half of them require timing and wind or an updraft to get airborne in the first place. As a result, they are forced into a ground battle to protect the rest of the group. Dosnak and two others form a three-man ring, protecting four younger demi-humans in the middle. The other eight of them are working in two and threes, running and fighting off the slavers with their hit and run tactics.

The slavers outnumbers them three to one, having spotted them a few days ago, they were well-prepared to capture the entire camp after observing from afar. Although slavery is illegal in the region, as long as they don’t get caught, it wouldn’t matter. The group is only here as hired mercenaries from the North anyhow, they can leave at a moment’s notice as long as they pay for the contract penalty, which is insignificant in comparison to the more than a dozen young demihumans before them. Nobles and guilds alike would pay handsomely for them, as they make excellent playthings for the rich, terrifying guards for the powerful, and exceptional labourers for the merchants.

*sasan*

“AHAHAHA! Your little group is no match for us, behave and you might get to keep all your limbs!” One of the barbaric men managed to cut one of the demi-humans retreating after an attack, others quickly came to assist him, but it ended up being a battle of attrition as they can’t move away or the injured one would get overwhelmed immediately. Needless to say, being outnumbered, outleveled, inexperienced in actual life and death battles, they could not resist the slavers for long.

*mu*

“HALT YOUR RESISTANCE IF YOU DON’T WANT THIS PIPSQUEAK TO DIE!” A party of users appears from within the jungle, a raven-like demihuman with arrows lodged in his body is lifted up by a tall human by the throat, six elves standing guard in a fan position behind him - with arrows notched in their shortbows.

The battle suddenly ceases as the demihumans gather themselves around Dosnak, with the injured in tow. The slavers disengage, forming a large circle around them. Both sides have their weapons drawn, staring down at each other.

“Excellent work! As expected of you Immortals!” The leader of the slaver laughs with a loud voice. Dosnak’s body quivers, the humanoid face shifting back from the head and his back as he looks at both the leader of the slavers and the new arrivals with Mal’on in their hands, unsure of what to do.

“Ah!” A slaver suddenly lunges forward, grabbing a spear held by one of the demihumans and toppling him to the ground, some of the humans jump on him at once and drag him away from the group. Two humans grab onto the arms of the young demihuman with reddish-brown plumage, forcing him to stand up as their boss walks leisurely towards them. The other demihumans looks on nervously as they tighten their formation.

“Hehehehe, such naive little things, be good and-” The caught demihuman suddenly jumps up and kicks the man in the crotch, who goes down with a pitiful *mui*.

“You little bastard…” The man with the eye-patch draws out a rugged carving knife from his belt as the men roughly shoves the struggling demihuman on the the floor. “You are going to pay for that… guess we can just sell you off as labourer.” The man licks the length of the knife with his tongue before slashing down at the young demihuman’s right eye.

““AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”” Screams rip through the air, the demihuman tries to twist away as he squirms involuntarily from the pain, half-screaming, half moaning on the ground.

“What the fu-” An elf exclaims as their party leader screams in pain at the same time. A gray blur has zoomed past from beneath his legs and latches onto the human’s right leg, just below the calf, the moment the demihuman was cut in the distance.

“Into the jungle, quickly!”

*Gurororororo*

Gui spits out the piece of leather, flesh, and tendon in his mouth onto the floor, his growls sounding like gravel being crushed. The human rolls on the floor, holding his right leg and screaming in pain with numerous *aahhhhh*. In a flash, the fox becomes a gray blur once more and reaches the leg of the nearest elf, biting him in the same way. The sudden attack causes the group to panic and break formation. Mal’on, taking his chance, sprints into the trees while holding onto his wounds tightly while clenching his teeth.

“Stop him!” One of the elves turns and points his shortbow at the escaping demihuman.

*gapu*

Gui dashes under the man, who stops aiming his bow to throw a kick at him and misses wildly, allowing him to bite the elf’s inner thigh, tearing out a chunk of flesh with the pants’ fabric.

*pa*

Without stopping, the gray blur lunges at another elf, who swings his arms together to block the jumping beast.

*to to*

Instead of attacking, Gui uses the upheld arms as a platform, pushing the elf over before changing direction and flying toward another at head-height.

*gapu*

The unsuspecting elf loses an ear by the flash of fur. In just a short amount of time, Gui incapacitates more than half the user team. He turns and glares at the remaining elves, buying more time for Mal’on to get further into the jungle. Gui’s fur is standing straight up, making him seem bigger; coupled with his bared fang and growl, he gives the impression of a sinister, demonic beast.

“Shit, the fuck is that thing?!” The slavers turn their attention to the sudden collapse of their allies.

“Who cares, just beat them all into submission!”
“AHAHAHAHA, JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT!”
“Don’t chop off more than a limb!”
“The girls are mine!”

*za* *za* *gobaaaa*

A sudden gust picks up as the slavers rush forward. Dead leaves start rolling softly on the floor, gradually flying into the air. The demihumans all turn their heads, hope in their eyes, causing the slavers to falter and follow their gaze. A little girl, with unrestrained aquamarine hair dancing in the wind, approaches from the shelters, advancing toward the men still holding the sobbing demihuman on the ground.

“Ano-”

*do*

A slaver turns to say something with a lewd smile, before suddenly stopping mid-word. A cool sensation covers his throat before a warmth seeps through, wondering what’s wrong, he touches his own throat with his left hand. He manages to show a look of surprise before looking back up, his head snapping backward grotesquely as his forehead releases a spray of blood like a blooming flower.

“Shit, an Immortal! Stop playing around and kill her so we can get the hell out of here!” The boss of the slavers struggles to get up with the help of his subordinates. Limping noticeably as he tries to stand straight and shout at the same time.

“Dosnak, cover him.” The girl’s voice carries no emotion as she orders the translucent humanoid.

*do* *do* *do* *do* *do* *do* *do* *do* *do* *do* *do*

Wavy thread-like jets of water drift to the slavers still holding the sobbing demihuman on the ground, going through them like thread through a needle before suddenly spreading out like the tail of a peacock. A mist of blood bursts forth from the dumbstruck slavers, who can only scream pitifully before tumbling to the ground, slowly bleeding to their deaths. Without missing a beat, Till pops open a [Mana Potion] that’s held in her vambraced hand and drinks it in one gulp and continues walking forward.

“You three, with me!” Dosnak turns into an amorphous blob before leaping forward as a lance, chasing the other slavers away from the pile of bodies. As soon as he reaches the demihuman on the floor, he returns to his humanoid shape with eight long, sharp, appendages spread equally around his torso. Three other winged demihumans rush forwards as well, two quickly lifting up their adopted brother from the ground as Dosnak and another guards them.

“Fuck it, kill that little bitch! KILL THEM ALL! WE CAN FEAST ON THEIR CORPSES EVEN IF WE CAN’T SELL THEM!” Used to death and slaughter, the slaver boss and his crew are undeterred as they brandish their weapons, intending on killing everyone instead of capturing them. The slavers split into two teams, a third of them to fight against the new arrival, the rest to take care of the demihumans.

Meanwhile…

*pyu* *pyu* *pyu* *pyu* *saku*

The elves release their arrows in coordination, which the gray fox evades with quick graceful steps, except a throwing knife flies towards him unexpectedly from the man on the floor, lightly piercing through the vest pack and into his flesh. Gui’s ears perk up and he lowers his center of gravity, undaunted, he circles around and charges toward the nearest elf’s legs.

*zashi*

The elf nearest to the jungle opens his eyes wide in surprise before slumping forward, a deep, long slash crossing from his right shoulder blade to his left hip. A black-haired young man steps over the elf’s corpse with his sword-arm extended.

*pyu pyu pyu pyu*

Immediately, a string of invisible arrows fly beside Kun’s flank and strike a tight cluster against a second elf’s back, causing him to stumble. Gui, who was charging at the other elf, changes his target and with a *gapu*, rips the stumbling elf’s testicles right off. In perfect sync, Kun and Gui charge at the same elf who decided to drop his shortbow and use a rapier instead. Kun lifts his sword high up while bringing his rod wielding arm to the opposite hip, causing the elf to bring his rapier up to get ready to intercept the sword.

*KAN*

Instead of the sword coming down, the metal rod sweeps across his body, whipping the blunt instrument into the ribs of the elf. At the same time, Gui bites down hard on the Achilles tendon, severing it like he did with the others.

“Who the fucking hell are you people and why are you attacking our students?” Kun’s fury can be felt through his words, the surrounding air feels as though it dropped several degrees suddenly as he stares at the lone standing elf who is pinned by Rick’s drawn bow and the other six wounded or dead users on the ground. Rick approaches Kun with his bow held up, his eyes never leaving the elf. Gui is strolling with his fur still standing up, releasing his unique growl as though daring the ones on the ground to try anything.

“Your students…?” The man on the floor asks with a confused expression.

*pyu*

“Ku…” The last elf slumps forward, clutching his throat that reveals a blue sky through the hole, courtesy of Rick’s «Aimed Shot».

“Son of a bitch tried to throw daggers.” Rick casually draws the invisible bowstring again, pointing casually toward the crippled, but living users.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

A blood curdling scream fills the air, causing Gui, Kun, and Rick to look toward the noise. With a nod, Rick changes into a serious expression while staring at the users. Gui circles closer to Rick as though to guard him while Kun runs off toward the camp.

“Mer..mer..mercy…” A slaver is begging a student, clutching both his hands tightly to her leg.

The rest of the slavers are either dead, sobbing, begging, or dying. The students are just as stunned, save for Dosnak who’s watching the rest of the slavers apathetically. The younger students are huddled together, burying their heads into the older students’ chests and waists, while the older students turn their heads away from the scene of their older sister’s rampage.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” After a short pause, the scream resumes again before stopping abruptly. The girl stands up, leaving the burnt mess of a carcass behind while casually downing another [Mana Potion].

“No, it wasn’t me! It was him, he did it!” The boss of the slavers points at his second-in-command with his remaining arm that’s a stump.

“You ordered me! It was him! It was him all along! I didn’t even want to be a slaver, he forced me into this.”

The defeated leaders blame each other as the expressionless girl approaches them, shaking in terror all the while.

The two had thought the Immortal could be overpowered and killed, they hadn’t expected that the entire team would be sent flying in such a way by an invisible wall of wind. A few slavers were sent skyward before coming back down from the sky with a *gushu*, littering the ground as splattered corpses. Others had holes forcibly opened throughout their bodies, while the rest had their limbs and heads blown off by explosive, howling bursts of air. Every single one of them on the assault team, save for three of them, died miserably. Correction, two of them.

“You enjoy cutting eyeballs, right?”

“No, no, it was a mistake, a mistake.”

“Left, or Right?”

“No, no, no…”

“Ah, you only have one eye right, sorry for asking.”

The man with the eye-patch faints from the terror, laying on his back.

*bacha* *bacha* *bacha* *bacha*

Powerful jets of water repeatedly slams into the man’s face, causing him to wake up with a *pua* as he grasps for air.

“Welcome back.” The girl picks up a clumps of dirt and walks toward the crippled, eye-patched man’s face.

*giri giri*

The clump of dirt grinds into ever smaller pieces until it turns into small particles as it spins rapidly in the girl’s hand.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” The scream from the man is even more terrifying than the previous time.

*giri giri*

“Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………………………” The scream is short-lived and trails off quickly. The girl stands up once more, drinking another [Mana Potion], leaving a head with a highly polished exposed skull on one part with a missing eye socket and a pulpy mess where an eye once was. Surprisingly, not a drop of blood can be seen on her or her clothing. Many of the surviving slavers from the other teams piss their pants, a few fainted, while one died from the terror alone as he clutches his chest before falling lifelessly onto the floor.

“Wait! Stop! I was invited here by the 1st princess! We aren’t slavers, really, we are mercenaries! Look, I even have a contract here!” The man tries to reach for his waistpack, forgetting that he no longer has a hand. “Oh, heh, I can’t grab it. You can check it yourself!” The man is delirious with terror, saying anything and everything that might save his life.

“Oh? Then why were you trying to kill my precious brothers and sisters? Is that part of the contract?”

“What, no! I mean, yes, yes! It is all the princess’ fault!”

“Did she also tell you to ‘feast on our corpses even if you can’t sell them’?”

“Yes, yes, it was all her idea! Her idea!” The man shouts with spittle flying out of his mouth.

“Reaaaallllyyy?” The girl gives a disturbingly sweet smile at the man, causing him to smile as well.

“Yes, yes… not my fault, spare me! I will do anything, spare me!”

Her face drops back into an expressionless look, causing the man to drag his body backward on the ground, away from the angel-faced demon in front of him.

*huoooo giri giri*

A fire spins in the girl’s hand, mixed with a dusting of earth, which grinds together rapidly. The man continues to move back in terror as she calmly walks forward, reaching for the man’s torso.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!”

“TILL! STOP!” Kun rushes forward, pushing her away from the man while hugging her.

“Why are you stopping me, Kun-ni? They wanted to kill us! They hurt them… They dare hurt them!”

“And you are hurting them too! Look at them! They are terrified of you!”

A hint of light returns to the girl’s emotionless eyes, causing her to blink and look around. All the demihumans are scared stiff, either quietly crying or huddled together, none of them dares to look at her directly, aside from Dosnak.

“Oh. I…” The girl drops her head. “Kun-ni! You are hurt… I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay, we are in a game, remember? It still doesn’t hurt as much as the time I got sucked into that Fire Devil.” He forces a smile, with the left side of his chest cover with numerous cauterized cuts.


“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.” The man on the floor mumbles deliriously at Kun.

Kun glances at the translucent creature, who quickly comes to his side. He gently brings the confused girl’s body toward Dosnak, who holds her lovingly like a parent.

*zaku*

The young man picks up his sword that he threw away to hold onto Till, stabbing into the man’s heart. The man looks up in shock and surprise, his eyes bulging. “You are welcome.” Kun says coldly as he withdraws his sword.





The users, being completely horrified by the screams, logged out, not caring one bit about their items. Left with no choice, Rick and Kun ended up having to interrogate the surviving slavers. With the horrors of death still fresh on their mind, they spill everything. They are hired mercenaries to assist the 1st princess in her grand Revitalization Project - by attacking the surrounding areas just outside the kingdom with monsters via the help of Immortals. The border regions within the kingdom would be attacked by a vastly smaller contingent of monsters, waking up the slothful, laid-back citizens into providing more productivity. By doing so, the Norman Kingdom’s national power will rise. As proof, a contract is extracted from the corpse of their boss. Upon searching through the users’ body, a similar contract is found as well.

“What should we do…?” Rick frowns, internally blaming himself for accepting the quest. What does it mean by saving the 1st Princess? Isn’t she beyond saving? This wouldn’t have happened if he just ignored the quest in the first place!

“I will bring the injured to Lilyheim and see what treatments I can get for them. I will also bring these bastards to Lilyheim, the guards will know what to do.” Kun chews on his lip for a moment. “Do you think you can keep an eye on Till and hold the fort?” His gaze drifts toward Till and Dosnak, as well as the demihumans, his face twitching when seeing the younger ones in shock.

“Sounds like a plan.” Rick gives a solemn nod.


* * * * *


After handing off the criminals to the soldiers at the gate, he went to the local healers following the directions of one of the more sympathetic guards. With the more seriously injured demihuman strapped to his back, he made his way there. The bad news is that, that eye will never see the light of day again. The good news is, he will live as long as the wound gets cleaned frequently and gets some proper rest. Kun had wanted to pay for an inn to house the injured, but then they will be exposed to dangers since if there’s one group of slavers, it is likely there would be another. As a result, he bought medical supplies, beddings, and other materials out of his own pocket, after getting everyone treated.


* * * * *


By the time Kun returns, Till had already logged off. Rick awkwardly tries to cheer everyone up, but all the demihumans are no doubt traumatized. In the listless silence of the camp, Kun starts building a large tent with breathable white fabric as protection against the elements. Using his tools and the beddings he bought in Lilyheim, he builds some crude, but comfortable, beds for the injured to rest in. Gui is moving between the younger demihumans, headbutting them and licking them every once in a while. After ordering everyone to get dinner and to stay on alert just in case, the two of them log out as well.

* * * * *

*konkon*

“Hmm…?” Hank looks at the clock on the wall, wondering who would need him at such a late hour. “Come in.”

“Uncle Hank.”

“What’s the matter, Kun?”

“I need your help.” Kun asks with a serious expression, one that Hank has never seen before.


16 comments:

  1. O_O
    Till will likely become the Goddess of Vengeance and Wrath.

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  2. That was great. Sandblasting is pretty horrifying when used on organics.

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    Replies
    1. I guess the practice she had while teaching in the hidden cave when they were in the Field of Ashes didn't go to waste... *shudder*

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    2. Somehow, I love this chapter the most, compared to the previous chapters.

      .....do you think I should check myself to a psychiatrist?

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  3. If only their was a priest, thing could have gotten more interesting.

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  4. ahh.. this just got dark really fast.. i feel sad for the demi-humans especially the one with one blind eye.. i hope uncle hank will help them recuperate :(

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    Replies
    1. The series is kinda dark to begin with, what with Kun's intro and Till's childhood mentioned in the earlier volumes as well as the setting with serfdom and slavery being mentioned, I guess the focus on adventuring and slapsticks gave readers a false sense of security before darkness assplode onto the scene xD

      I had a hard time translating that last part, it's okay to read it, but when I had to focus and try to get the scene right in english, the imagery became a little too real for me (I loss my appetite and haven't ate this since last night/this morning) ><

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  5. Now I Know why someone Said "she scares me" a couple of chapters ago

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    Replies
    1. I was already a little scare of her when the story was explaining how she dealt with her bullies in her current school tbh...

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  6. I have a feeling they're going to get together his forces and wipe out the princess and her mercs. Though he could also be asking uncle hank to go guard them in shifts before they set out to start a war to build their own kingdom.

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    Replies
    1. They gonna lay siege to the castle save the innocent Princes from her army of evil mercs, but at last in the final moments they find the princes bound to the walls.... people say she was torture by the merc's leader leaving her traumatized unable to utter a single word...

      I think they are just gonna build up on their academy and become like the 7Great Clans in DD that not even the Emperor dare insult.

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  7. Politics, you never know who whould use the name of the first princess. The princess herself might be in a dark dungeon forsaken by her followers.

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  8. Or another player who imprison the real so can disguise/transform into her.

    With player's skill and magic, that scenario has to happen one of these days.

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  9. Thanks for the new chapter!
    Not much progress with the story but enjoyed the thrashing of the shitty slavers and users. :)

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  10. Scary Till is scary...

    Sometimes i have difficulty remembering its a game.

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    Replies
    1. Its not, they are currently in an alternate universe.

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