Complete Clean Up
“What happened?” One of the President’s companions - Emiko exclaimed, as she stared in shock at the President’s current, disheveled appearance.
Well, disheveled might be a bit of an understatement. With his forehead leaking blood, half his clothes melted by acid, and bruises and discolorations covering his body, the President looked more dead than he was alive.
“Ah, well, there was a bit of trouble…” The President responded with an all too obviously forced smile. He glared at me for an instant, before he quickly turned back around to face Emiko. “Despite how I look, it really isn’t that big of a deal” He explained with a false sense of bravado, “It’s just that my legs are sort of numb, it’s hard to breathe, and my vision is kind of blurry… so just minor things.”
“That sounds extremely disheartening!” Emiko cried out. “P-please, go get yourself healed…”
“Ah, that might be a good idea.” He replied back as he turned to face the stairs. “Yeah, I think that’s what I’m going to do….I’ll head back up stair for now, I’ll go see Cielle, and I’ll get myself fixed.”
Without further elaboration, the President trudged forward, his steps slow, lethargic, and bitter. As he reached the final step that led out into the 1st floor of the East building, he turned back around, sardonically smiled and said, “Hide, please don’t do what you did earlier to these guys.”
“Ah well…” I awkwardly coughed as I scratched my head. “Looking at your current appearance, I might, maybe, gone a bit too far.”
I dryly laughed, to which he responded with a closed mouthed stare before turning around and leaving the basement.
Seeing the President leave, someone else stepped forward and walked towards the stairs with a nervous gait.
“Ah, well then, since my role here is done, I think I’ll also go back now…” Mr. Tei, squeaked out between tired sighs and baggy eyes, as he darted out of the basement.
“....”
“....”
“....”
Prompted by their departure, the rest of the group entered an awkward silence. Their faces were blank, but their eyes were all staring daggers at me. They did not say anything, but I had the sinking feeling that they were all thinking something along the lines of, “What did you do?”
Well, that’s an understandable reaction, after all, when we met back up with the group, the very first thing they saw was the Prez’s half crippled state, Mr. Tei’s despondent expression, and my nonchalant smile.
As if to dispel the lingering awkwardness, I coughed lightly, and began explaining. I ignored all the piercing stares and spoke. “There’s a time limit of about an hour before the generators lose all their energy and the lights go dark again. In that hour, we need to hunt down all the remaining Gilas.”
“Ah, um... “ From within the group, a timid hand shot up. The owner of that hand was Emiko, and she nervously fidgeted in her spot before finally stating, “Isn’t that a bit difficult? I mean, didn’t you say there were 60 of them in total? 60 in an hour….”
“No, there’s only 55.”
“Eh?” She tilted her head in confusion.
“The Prez killed 5 already.”
“Eh? The Prez… five?”
“Ah, never mind, that’s not important.” I sighed. “That’s not important, and honestly speaking, I don’t think it should be that hard. The Gilas are all located towards the back of the basement, spaced out between all of the unfurbished classrooms. What’s more, their greatest asset, stealth has been neutralized and they should also be receiving a stat decrease because of all this light...
The situation being what it is right now, I don’t think this next hour will be particularly taxing.”
With those carefree, and nonchalant words, I led the group deeper into the basement, and our Gila extermination began in full swing.
****
Like I had already gathered with [Echolocation], the Gilas were all sparsely separated throughout the classrooms. Within the basement, there were 12 classrooms in total. 9 of these classrooms were “occupied”, and within each occupied room, there was an average of 3 to 9 Gilas per classroom.
With their numbers, and their conveniently spaced out formation, hunting progressed relatively smoothly.
The only real problem we had would be when they used their sound attacks. Gilas were monsters that were capable of producing low buzzing noises that could disorient the mind. Luckily, there was a simple way to block this attack.
After numerous encounters and first hand experience with their sound attacks, I finally learned exactly how their buzzing noise works.
In short, they operated like echoes. One Gila starts the chorus, then another joins in. More and more Gilas join, syncing their buzzing together to amplify its effects. They form a sort of completed network that reciprocally boosts the separate effects of their attack. With enough numbers and concealment, this was a perfect hunting strategy for the quick and stealth oriented Gilas.
Yet, despite their danger, there was a relatively easy way to stop their attack. By disrupting even just one of the Gilas during mid chorus, one could stop the whole thing entirely.
It was like how in a circuit, unlinking just one of the components/connections completely stops circulation. The Gila’s “sound system” worked much in the same manner. Disconnect part of the circuit, and the whole thing comes tumbling down.
Well, despite making it sound easy, under normal circumstances, disrupting the Gila’s chorus is harder than it looks. This method of attack was only really effective in the dark when finding and confronting a Gila was virtually next to impossible. Without their biggest advantage in play, they were basically sitting ducks quacking noisily.
---
As the others fought, I stood behind, and observed. Doing so allowed me to notice several things, and discover aspects that I would have otherwise overlooked in the heat of battle. One of the many things that caught my interest was everyone’s respective fighting styles.
From a detached perspective, it was clear that there was a difference in how the President’s party, and Kido’s group fought. Rather, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that their stark contrast was the thing that stood out the most.
One one side, there was the President’s group. And despite the absence of the majority of their usual party, the two that remained were fully utilizing the important aspect of teamwork. They used a method of fighting that complemented their faults and enhanced their battle prowess and efficiency.
The duo that comprised of only Emiko and the surviving female twin were like two sides of the same coin. Implementing the simple tactic of one vanguard and one ranged, they fought in a way that prioritized the other’s safety, yet still efficiently engaged in combat. And while this style of fighting was indeed simple, if done improperly, it could lead to fatal results. The vanguard has to always protect, while the ranged has to always support. If they were even a bit off on their timing, execution, etc., then death wouldn't at all that surprising.
Of course, it’s not like they were without faults. On a few occasions, their coordination would stall, or their movements would dull. Emiko would sometimes retreat too far, or the Twin would avoid too late, really, while their teamwork overall was impressive, you could not say they were perfect.
Luckily, they made up for their collective faults by borrowing Hina’s power.
Off to the side, Kido’s group fought in a somewhat different manner. Rather than calling it a proper cohesive party, it was more like a single fighter and his two supports. While they did possess some team work capabilities, their battle tactic could be summed up in one word: Kido.
With aggressive and almost beastly movements, he pressured the monsters, at times, almost soloing them by himself, while his two teammates - his childhood friend and the transfer student (the other two were upstairs with Cielle) - frantically rushed to catch up to him. Rather than say they were fighting, it looked more like they were playing an intricate game of tag.
Due to this reckless, and chaotic method of attack, Kido’s group received more injuries than the President’s group, but in return they hunted at a much faster pace than the President’s group.
If I were to sum up both groups in as simple of terms as possible, then one group was well balanced, while the other focused primarily on reckless attack.
--
As the Gila hunting progressed, I continued to quietly observe - adhering to my current stance on no-interference - and acted as a third party.
Eventually though, I noticed that one of my own team mates was acting weird. Well, although I say weird, in truth, it was just that Hina wasn’t fighting in her usual manner.
She did not use her fire magic, which was her most used magic, and something generally regarded as her speciality. Instead, she experimented with her other elements, although it was apparent with one glance that her control and usage of the other elements was much weaker compared to when she primarily used fire.
Well, seeing Hina actively trying to improve herself wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, just that, it did incite some of my curiosity.
After the others killed the Gilas from the most recent classroom, I confronted Hina about her change in tactic.
She shrugged in response. “ There’s really no real reason. Just that, I’ve been considering a few things and fire magic isn’t really… effective.”
Her eyes were vague, and somewhat melancholic. As she further explained, her mouth unconsciously twisted into a bitter, regret filled smile. “The Dungeon Boss that we’ll eventually have to fight… given our past encounters, there’s a high possibility that it’s resistant to fire… also, even right now, Gila exoskeletons have a bit of fire resistance too. While the impact might hurt them a bit, the flames and heat won’t.”
“I see…” I nodded.
Looking over at the fresh Gila corpses that littered the floor, I recounted all the trouble and danger we went through when we first encountered the Gilas. They had resistance to bladed weaponry, resistance to fire, and a pesky sound attack that disoriented the mind. Really, back then, we barely survived by the skin of our teeth, and in the end, all we had to show for it was the knowledge that they were weak against blunt impact.
I glanced back over at Hina, and as I was about to respond, I saw her staring wistfully at her clenched fist. She continued to stare as she unclenched and re-clenched her hand. This action was followed by a heavy sigh, before she eventually turned around to look back up at me.
Again, Hina creased her mouth to form a bitter smile. The dark-tinged amalgamation of emotion that swirled around her was almost palpable. Looking into her murky stare, I recalled the conversation I had with Cielle earlier.
I hesitated for a moment, before I could not help but start, “Hina… you-”
“You know, Hide…” She suddenly cut me off as she abruptly turned around. With her back facing towards me, a quiet, almost sorrowful voice echoed for only my ears to hear. “I’m not really good at this. This… this sort of situation. This kill or be killed, fighting constantly with almost no end in sight… for someone like me… it’s a bit too much.”
A sardonic laugh leaked out from her throat.
“You know, lately, I’ve been feeling a bit numb to all this. After killing so many monsters, day after day, mindlessly repeating the same bloody task with no signs of change... I thought I had grown immune to all of it. I thought I had learned to separate myself- learned to not care about the countless lives I took… and for a while, I thought that might have been a good thing.”
Hina’s voice grew misty, almost nostalgic. She unclenched her hand once more and reached out into the open space in front of her, almost as if she was grasping at some sort of distant memory, or whatever vague and fragile ideal she had carried in the past.
“... Recently, I woke up from that vague numbness. I realized at that time - I realized almost instantaneously, just exactly what type of world I was living in. This was a world where magic was real, a world where monsters existed, a world where killing people was normal… Those corpses we always pass by on the halls… it was almost as if for the first time, I realized they were human.”
Hina’s voice quivered. I could not see the expression she was making, but the tremors in her shoulders were more than enough. She laid herself bare, and all I could do was listen in silence.
“You know, Hide… On that night, back when you were away, for the first time I seriously fought another person. It was just for a few minutes, in retrospect, those few minutes which felt like an eternity probably weren’t even enough time for me to brush my teeth… but still, they were only for a few minutes but- but for the first time, I tried to kill someone…
And you know what I did- you know what I did, Hide? You know what I did in this world where killing has become normal?”
Her hollow question echoed with every syllable. The raw emotion that had molded itself into regret halfway through her sentence vibrated through the air like some silent butcher knife. Her voice was choppy, frantic, quiet, and ultimately, it was sorrowful.
“I hesitated. I hesitated even though I could have easily killed. I hesitated despite having the advantage. I hesitated even though Cher- even though everyone was in danger. I hesitated, I hesitated, I hesitated, I hesitated, I hesitated, I hesitated, I hesitated…. Why did I hesitate?
Why? Just because I hesitated to kill, why… why did something like that have to happen?”
Her body bent over, her knees buckled. Hina threw her clenched fists to her sides, and opened her mouth to yell, to scream, to holler… to repent, but no sound came out.
Only the image of a regretful girl in silent anger and self-hatred existed.
For a few seconds, Hina did not say anything. She merely crumpled to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut loose. Her head bent downward, and her shoulders drooped. The feeling of catharsis was present, yet at the same time, the vague notion that something else still hidden, remained.
After a while, Hina swiveled her head slightly, and stared at me from the corner of her eye. She opened her mouth, hesitated, and closed it. She repeated this action for a couple more times before finally, she managed a thin, “A-also, back then I….” Second guessing herself, Hina once again closed her mouth and shook her head. She paused for a moment, almost as if to re-organize her thoughts, before, in a quiet, almost silent voice, she asked one simple question, “Tell me Hide, is it really so easy to kill a person?”
“...”
In the face of her question, I could not respond.
In the past, I used to think a lot about this question. Whether it was really okay for me to take another person’s life, or how different killing a human was from killing a monster.
I dwelled a lot on it, but now- after killing Satou, strangely enough, I’ve stopped having such thoughts. For me, the action of killing… it was natural. It wasn’t anything impactful, nor did it shake any sort of emotion that dwelled within me. No, to me, it was as simple as breathing. Like Hina had said, killing had become normal.
This was how I felt, but, looking down at that girl with the creased eyebrows and foggy eyes, I could not tell her this. Something within in me held me back. As if she were a budding lily in a battlefield, I could not bring myself to trample on her last hope.
I could not do the simple task of saying, “Killing is normal.”
“Hina… I… I-”
Just as I was about to respond, a sudden voice interrupted. In an innocent, and all too nonchalant tone, the voice simply said, “Killing is normal.”
Simultaneously, Hina and I turned towards the source of the voice.
Carrying a black long sword with its edges dulled, a single person nonchalantly walked towards us. The smile he adorned was light, and guiltless, seemingly with no connection to the blood splatters that covered his outfit or to the newly formed injuries that riddled his body.
With the same nonchalant voice, Kido repeated, “Killing is normal. It’s as easy as swinging a sword. Just one strike, one swing, and it’s all over.”
He playfully swung the long sword in his hand, while he made “swishing” noises with the lisp of his lips. He continued to do so for a while before, he suddenly turned frigid and paused. He opened his eyes widely as he turned to stare at the both of us.
As if her had just realized what he had just said out loud, he laughed wryly while scratching his head in mock-embarrassment. “Well, what I’m saying is that in this world, something like killing is necessary.”
He cleared his throat as he gently lowered his blade. “We’ve been raised in the past to see killing as wrong, as immoral, something we should never, in under any circumstance, even think about doing. In a a a sense, there’s some social stigma to the simple action of killing.
Yet, with everything as it is, that social stigma becomes meaningless, rather, it becomes somewhat of a hindrance. Killing is essential. It’s not an act of evil, or something morally wrong, it's just… essential.”
He glanced longingly at the sword in his hand, a vague expression clouding his face. Almost as if to reaffirm it within himself, Kido reiterated, “What’s important now is surviving, and killing is just one of the ways to do it.”
Suddenly, he jerked his sword upwards, and swung it down towards us. With the tip of the dulled blade pointed directly at Hina, he spoke, “ You’ve experienced it before right? Killing that is.”
Hina fidgeted uncomfortably in her spot. Her mouth opened and closed like a dying fish as she struggled to find words to respond, “I-I…”
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“You’ve killed monsters. Minotaurs, Boars, Shadows, even a Gila no less than a minute ago- You’ve killed monsters before, and that is an undeniable fact.” He slowly lowered his sword, but maintained eye contact with Hina as he quietly spoke, “Well, killing someone is the same thing, except, you know, but with people. But even if they are people, whether the thing you kill is an animal, monster, or a human, none of that matters in this world anymore.
What all of those things have in common, the one thing that perpetually links them together is survival. The animals kill to survive, the monsters kill to survive, and just the same, humans kill to survive. And in this world, survival… survival is everything.”
With a somewhat ambiguous smile, he glances off at the far distance, before he slowly shook his head, and sighed.
“Ah, well, sorry about that.” He ruefully apologized, his atmosphere quickly shifting back to his usual one. A carefree smile adorned his face as he awkwardly scratched his head. “Well, we’ve still got a few more rooms to visit, so I’ll be going ahead.”
As he walked away, Hina and I silently stared at his receding back. Even after he had left the classroom and turned the corner, the two of us still did not say anything.
I occasionally glanced at Hina, only to see her sweat streaked and hair matted face covered in a expression lost in thought. She did not move, nor speak for a while, but simply stared off into the far distance.
After what felt like an eternity, Hina abruptly turned around and thanked me.
I don’t know why she did, and I had a feeling she didn’t know either, but nevertheless, she thanked me. With one last parting goodbye, she followed in Kido's footsteps and left the classroom, leaving me alone in a room filled with alien-like corpses.
****
After fighting nonstop for a little under an hour, we finally reached the last classroom.
“Ahh...hah...hah… finally…” Kido’s childhood friend spat out in between a series of heavy pants. Her body was drenched in a mixture of blood and sweat (mostly sweat), causing her thin layer of clothing to cling to her jade white skin. The combination of her wet clothes and sweat drenched body may have been appealing had the haggard, and dead tired expression on her face not existed.
In fact, almost everyone here, with the exception of Hina (who specialized in magic, which required minimal movement) and me (who did not participate) was of similar appearance. Even the President and the teacher from the President’s party - who joined in halfway after the President got himself healed - sported a similar appearance.
“Just one more room guys.” I consoled from the far back, while I chewed on a granola bar (taken from the Bomb Shelter). “Good news is there’s only one more Gila left, so the last fight shouldn’t be all that hard, plus we still have plenty of time.”
This was the truth. Using [Echolocation] I could tell the approximate location of all moving targets, and after an hour of nonstop fighting, the only moving target aside from our group was the one within the last classroom. But… while I did confirm it was the last… there was something a bit off about it.
Almost as if it had sensed my thoughts, a low and mildly irritating buzzing sound came from behind the closed door of the last classroom. Despite everyone’s fatigue, hearing the familiar noise, their complaints died down within themselves as they all readied into their respective fighting stances.
In the next instant, the door that guarded the last classroom flew open, as the head of a larger than average Gila poked outside to greet us.
It opened its mouth, and the low buzzing intensified before it proceeded to stalk forward and into the hallway, revealing its larger than average body. Unlike the other Gila’s, its armor plating was more grayish, and a bit scratched. The limbs that protruded from its abdomen were about 1.5 times larger than the previous ones we encountered, and several new protrusions were forming within the crown of its oblong shaped head. The most striking feature of the creature was its tail.
The tail was covered to the brim in unnaturally spiky plating, and to top it off, it was about twice as long as ordinary Gila tails.
Seeing the monstrosity before us, brought an abrupt shiver to our bones. Everyone tensed up as they prepared for a viscious battle.
In the meantime, during this period of inactivity, I checked its status screen, and was doubly surprised to find out that it was still classified as an ordinary [Black Plated Gila] by the world system. While it did have a significantly higher level - level 41 -, given its appearance, I expected it to be a different species altogether, or at least a higher ranked version of [Gila].
As I mused over the surprising results of [Identify], the Gila suddenly charged forward.
To meet its attack, Kido immediately stepped forward and raised his sword to block the incoming tackle. The subsequent collision between the two caused sparks to fly as sword met exoskeleton, and sent Kido reeling backwards a couple of steps.
The Gila’s hiss intensified, while from a distance, I could see the numb shaking of Kido’s hands.
Prompted by Kido’s charge, immediately after, the rest of the group engaged in combat.
the President took center stage as he confronted the Gila head on. The Cyclops club that I had lent him was worked into overdrive, as the Prez continued to block and parry numerous slashes and tail swipes. The intensity of the Gila’s attacks left no room for retaliation, and even with the other melee combatants tanking and mitigating some of the blows, they were still stuck on the defensive.
Like an animal backed into a corner, the Grey Gila howled, and its attacks kept coming like a rain of perpetual arrows. The only ones who could retaliate were Hina and the twin who specialized in ranged combat.
Making full use of the handcrafted sling shot I made for her, the twin continually fired off numerous metal projectiles. Despite the amateurish appearance of the weapon, it possessed an unnaturally strong kickback, which was only natural, due to how I had crafted it. Losing out in accuracy, what this slingshot made up for was its destructive capabilities.
Crafted out of Cyclops wood, and subsequent Cyclops sinew, the Slingshot was something next to impossible to use for ordinary humans. A small boost in strength was needed in order to properly cock the slingshot. The sinew that acted as the Slingshot’s elastic was also tougher, and sturdier than normal, so while pulling it back took considerable effort, in return, it produced devastating results.
Not even the metal plating of the Grey Gila’s exoskeleton could remain completely intact after taking several hits from the slingshot.
Besides the twin who was continuously firing projectiles with frantic haste, stood Hina, who had her arms stretched out in front of her and whose face was contorted in extreme concentration. Despite Hina’s earnest appearance though, there were no visible outward signs of her magic taking effect.
At first, I was skeptical, but after a few more seconds, it quickly became apparent what Hina’s magic was doing.
Despite not receiving any direct blows from anyone, the Grey Gila suddenly staggered. It’s irritating buzzing noise was immediately cut off, only to be replaced by a series of choking sounds. If one looked closely enough, within its agape maw, one could see the slight distortions of dust that flew in all directions.
The Gila’s sudden reaction, and the slight distortions were all due to Hina’s magic finally taking effect.
Wind magic. A branch of Hina’s [Full Element] that she had little opportunity to use was showing its full prowess right in front of me. While at first glance, it may look like Hina was choking the Gila by depriving it of air, but in actuality it was the opposite.
Hina was continually funneling air and wind into the Gila’s open mouth. She funneled so much air that it did not allow time for the Gila to exhale, producing effects similar to suffocation.
Normally, this sort of tactic would be extremely difficult to pull off, even with Hina’s current level of magic accuracy. The continuous action of producing wind required a fine amount of magic, and the accuracy needed to properly push air into as small a target as a mouth was no easy feat either. The only reason why Hina’s current strategy was working was due to the others restraining and keeping the Gila immobile.
As the Gila started succumbing to the effects of suffocation, the others’ attacks started connecting. With the Gilas movements significantly slower, the situation was quickly reversing in their favor.
When the Gila’s hp finally reached the 50% mark, Kido who, up until now was still recovering from the first exchange, dashed forward and joined in on the fray.
He squeezed himself in between the Gila and the President, fully utilizing his whole body to slice upwards at the Gila’s flank. The attack caused a resounding ‘CLANK’, as the Gila staggered back a step. Afterwards, Kido’s attacks only intensified as he rained blow upon blow at the Grey Gila’s exposed carapace.
Watching him fight with such primal intensity made me realize one of the fundamental factors in Kido’s fighting style.
In short, Kido was inexperienced.
His movements were amateurish, much like mine before, and on numerous occasions, he exposed many openings that even from such a distance, were easy to notice. In the end, Kido fought by relying on instinct, dodging when he sensed danger, blocking when he couldn’t dodge, and attacking at almost every opportunity he could find.
He was fighting in the most human way possible.
Kido continued to single handedly attack the Gila. Their ferocious and feverish exchange of blows left no room for interference, as the others could only stand behind him and watch.
Things were progressing quite smoothly as the battle entered its last stage. The Gila’s carapace was cracked and damaged in numerous locations and it was painfully obvious that it was on its last legs. Even if we didn’t kill it now, it would still end up dead from its accumulated injuries.
When the Gila’s hp finally dipped down below 5%, Kido abruptly jumped backwards, hiding behind the safety of the rest of the party.
Kido’s abrupt retreat gave the Gila a chance to retaliate. In its desperate madness, it rushed forward, and practically slammed into the rest of the group who had stayed idle up until now. The attack sent a few of them flying, but luckily, a few of them managed to maintain their ground and block.
Meanwhile, behind the mess of bodies and exoskeleton, Kido was the only one out of the melee group to remain unscathed. Without missing a beat, the moment his feet touched the ground, he immediately sprinted forward.
Kido circled around the commotion and immediately got behind the Gila. With little hesitation, he jumped upwards, and swung his sword down with primal ferocity. The blow connected squarely with the Gila’s exposed neck, and the subsequent impact resulted in a simultaneous critical and fatal blow.
A sound like that of shattering glass filled the hall as green, acidic blood sprayed outwards. The Gila’s now lifeless body slumped forward, narrowly crushing the rest of the scattered party members.
Seeing the sudden demise of the monster that had so plagued them even in its final moments, the others could only stare with blank eyed expressions.
“I… hah…. leveled up again…” Kido tiredly uttered as he grinned broadly before collapsing face first onto the unfurnished floor, His body overcome by the exhaustion and physical fatigue that had accumulated throughout the one hour of constant fighting.
“D...hah...Damn Kido….” The President exhaled in between a series of pants, before he too fell backwards, and laid back down onto the floor besides the fresh corpse.
With no energy to spare, Kido could only respond back with a weak grunt, just as the others also succumbed to the fatigue and collapsed onto the floor.
The only ones still left standing after the fight were Hina and I. Even the twin, who acted as long ranged alongside Hina, was collapsed onto the floor, the use of the “Heavy” slingshot draining her more than originally anticipated.
“...”
Staring at the corpse-like and heavily breathing bodies that laid strewn all over the hall, I could do nothing but stare and exchange awkward glances with Hina.
Eventually, unable to remain still, I finally spoke up, “Well, you guys can rest and recover. I’ve already confirmed that there’s no more monsters left, so you guys can take it easy until then. Meanwhile, I’ll check out what’s in the last classroom, that Gila was guarding the place pretty persistently after all.”
“Ah, I’ll go to.” Hina chimed in as I made my way towards the door. Sidestepping past tired and unconscious bodies, she chased after me, and together we entered what had been the last fortitude of the Gilas.
****
The room was dark.
Despite the generator still in full effect, this room still managed to remain under the cover of the darkness. This was primarily due to the broken lights that hung limp above our heads.
Hina took out a small, portable flashlight as the two of us continued deeper into the room.
We did not even take three steps forward before I finally realized why this room had been so guarded. Near the center of the room, the floor had caved inward. Or more accurately, a portion of the floor was thoroughly melted by Gila acid, forming a semi-crater that spanned a good 2 meters in diameter.
Within that crater, murky white oblong sized objects covered in a thick film of green mucus were present. It was obvious enough, going by its general appearance that the objects located in the center of the crater were eggs, Gila Eggs.
There were about three dozen of them, and they completely filled every inch of the crater full to the brim.
Hina and I wordlessly stared at the crater in deep fascination. Without realizing, we were slowly inching closer and closer to the eggs.
“[Identify]” I inwardly spoke to myself while I observed the egg’s outer texture and sticky film.
Ding!
Gila Egg
An egg belonging to the Black Plated Gila Species. Under the proper conditions, these eggs will hatch into Black Plated Gilas.
Incubation Period Left: 14 days 7 hrs
The newly opened window panel revealed the obvious information revolving around the eggs. The only real surprise, and unexpected bonus was that [Identify] also showed the incubation period of the eggs.
As I silently read through the window panel, a voice from besides me suddenly broke the pre established silence.
“Should we destroy them?” Hina uttered with a cold, practical calmness. Her eyes kept glued onto the eggs, yet those very same eyes were squinted and her brow was furrowed in heavy thought. Without herself even realizing, her right arm was slowly rising in front of her, and the first signs of fire magic swirled across her open palm.
I considered Hina’s words, and thought for a while. A fairly decent amount of time passed, and a fairly large amount of flames congregated on Hina’s palm before I finally took action and lowered her outstretched arm down with my own.
Hina’s fire magic slowly dissipated as I reasoned, “Keeping them alive for now might be better than outright killing them right away.
After all, they might end up useful in the future, and even if they aren’t we can always kill them for additional experience.”
Hina paused for a while before she sighed out, and nodded. “Okay, but I think it might be a good idea to keep watch of them. Leaving them unattended could be dangerous.”
I nodded receptively as I moved to turn back around. “We can get some of the Cafeteria survivors to monitor the eggs. Even if they can’t fight, they can atleast keep watch.”
Hina nodded in agreement, before she too turned around and followed me out of the room.
With a heavy sigh, I was once again greeted with the sight of the others, whose position remained unchanged even after we left the room.
“It’s been a long day,” I ignored the fact that I didn’t particularly do anything very taxing today, and stifled a yawn as I nonchalantly spoke to Hina.
“Nnn…”
“With all of the Gila’s dead, we’ve finally secured the East building. We can worry about the rest of our problems after everyone gets a chance to cool off and get some rest.”
Hina once again nodded, and as if prompted by my words, her eyes drooped and she let out an extremely long and extremely fatigued yawn.
“You too Hina, go rest. Although you weren’t moving very much, using magic still takes a toll on a person. As for me… since I didn’t really do anything, I’ll waste some time by checking to see if the Gilas dropped any loot we overlooked.”
As I continued talking and walking, I suddenly heard an abrupt thud from behind me. Looking around, I finally noticed that Hina wasn’t next to me anymore, and that she had fallen asleep mid stride while I was talking.
I stared quietly at her face down figure. Seeing the puddle of drool that hand congregated before her mouth extend outwards, I finally sighed, turned around, and began the “taxing” job of loot collecting.
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