Chapter 17
Banana knife
-Luca-
Let’s say you’re a kid. Now imagine being the smartest kid in your class without actually having the grades to reflect that.
That would be me. My names Lilian Flux. Cool name right. Well you’d be wrong. Having a main character name is awful. Sometimes I feel like people expect more from me. I feel like it's effected my personality to some degree. People say my name sounds like it came from a comic book reporter.
Not a reporter of comics but a reporter inside a comic. Get what I mean. To be fair I probably painted myself that way with all the supposed mysteries I would solve. Not necessarily by solving mysteries but in the way I would investigate and ask questions.
When I was a little kid I would hear rumors and start investigating. Things like “If you watch that house long enough you'll see a shadow in that window.” Turns out it was just a nice old lady.
I remember walking around and calling out stupid things like. “I’ll find out what happened or my name isn't Lilian Flux worlds greatest detective!” My parents thought it was cute. The kids at school not so much.
You'd be surprised how easy it is to dispel rumors by asking a few simple questions. There are multiple sides to every story. There’s my side, your side, there side, his side, her side, and the side that actually matters. Which is the truth.
In middle school I was hired by fellow students to find out things about their friends, enemies, or to see if their boyfriends or girlfriends were cheating on them. It was good money. About twenty bucks per case and there was a lot of cases. That’s how I afforded my gaming PC.
Anyway my guild mates call me Luca. The name is just something I made up when I first joined TEO. I entered it on a whim as my avatar name and now it's what everyone calls me. To be honest my avatar name isn’t actually Luca. It’s Luca37. All the other ones were taken. Jokes on them I’m way more famous and successful than them. I haven't even met another Luca.
Right now I find myself in a make shift office. I managed to scrounge up a decent looking desk from the guild inventory. I even set up an abstract painting that reminded me of the stain my dog left after it got hit by a car.
There was a few knickknacks on the desk including a screen shot of our entire guild, after we beat the last world boss Ifrit. The picture was in a frame on my desk. The boss was kind of like a cross between a genii and Krampus. Only it wasn't a Christmas event. The boss was unbelievable strong.
Ifrit had two forms. One form made it invulnerable so you ended up having to tank or avoid its hits till it became vulnerable again. It was so frustrating! Especially since it would heal most of the damage dealt while it was invulnerable. Along with a bunch of other guilds it took us about seven hours to take it down.
That thing had been terrorizing the game world for almost a week. It brought down a bunch of player cities. The devs said they were gonna take it out of the game seeing as no one could beat it. In fact the server was supposed to go into maintenance that very night.
That was a huge mistake. Because the moment everyone found out that the devs thought of us as a bunch of weak noobs. Everyone of us made it our life’s mission to see its death. What did the devs think would happen when you insult a bunch of gamers. Everyone showed up! Even the noobs and they were useless!
Players that hated each other banded together and worked on a plan to bring that thing down. It was awesome! There was even a bunch of videos on YouTube talking about the strategies used in the battle. I had no idea the raiders had videos online about our exploits. I even got interviewed by a youtuber. Not in person but through a chat room.
To get an advantage over the boss the raiders and the country Bruh designed a route that would not only slow the thing down, it would also lower its HP. It took a lot of work but with a bunch of tanks riding on horseback we managed to get it to chase us all the way into the ocean.
You might think why not use a motorcycle or a car? Those required gas, and the terrain wasn’t suited for it. A flying vehicle would be to fast, besides With the horses the system treated them as if they were in your party. That was beneficial for healing and buffs. We didn't need speed at the time. The horses were also cheaper. There was also the fact that the boss could and would summon flying mobs if anything was in the air for to long.
Since horses could fit two people we had archers and other long range classes ride along. While the tank rode forward activating war cry to keep the bosses attention. The long range classes shot arrows, bullets, and spells at the boss.
Our arrows were poisoned to counter the bosses healing. It kind of worked. Not really. The thing was pretty resistant to poison but ten arrows was enough to give it poison level one. It probably only saved us a few minutes but damage was damage I guess. The beauty of poison was the reduction to healing.
Every once in a while if they got to far the boss would use long range attacks. Most of those times the tanks could throw up a barrier but sometimes they'd get burnt. It took us three hours to lead it to the shore. Mostly because we lost it a few times.
Once down by the ocean things were different. With its weakness to water it was down in stats. We even used terraforming spells to make the area cold. That’s when bruh’s battle ships blasted it repeatedly. A lot of the tech based countries showed up with mechs. My job — along with all the other dark mages — was to bog it down with every de-buff we had and make it even weaker to water by lowering its resistance.
Chiefs traps were just a bunch of magical land mines and pit falls. She would set them up in real time. They did the trick slowing the boss down and keeping it from wiping everyone. Not only did they lower its health down by about 20%. They also gave it slow de-buffs.
Somehow during previous fights. Chief figured out that the boss did take damage in its invulnerable state when you used guild city traps. It was a glitch we took advantage of. They were expensive though but it was totally worth it when we actually won.
The boss would go invulnerable and some of our tanks would be standing on the shore. They’d lead it over and chief would set traps up in the shallow waters. Once it went back to vulnerable. The tanks on the ships would call it back.
Stupid devs how dare they insult our skills! There will be no hand holding or baby difficulty! If its to hard then you should get good! Enough said.
I love my guild there the best. Even though I only joined the game a year ago they took me in and helped me become really strong. Chief is especially nice to me. Though I hate it when she sees me online on a school night and tells me to go to bed. It’s annoying! She’s supposed to be my friend not my parent.
She’s also the one that invited me to join the raiders. I met chief in that same tavern we met up in yesterday. She gave me a rundown on the game and even helped me with some quests. I think we teamed up for a week before she invited me to her guild. I didn't even know she owned the country till she told me. It was crazy. I thought chief was just a regular player like me but nope.
When joining I was sure everyone would treat me bad since I was so new to the game and I hadn't maxed any classes yet. That's what most players did. I got called noob and was made fun of for my lame gear. However, everyone in the raiders was really nice. I got lots of tips and I even got to go level with Eco. He is the best at grinding. He kind of reminds me of an uncle.
Every time I saw the screen shot I felt a wholeness inside me. It was warm and fuzzy kind of like when I got drunk. In a way coming to this world is a dream come true. I get to meet all my online aunts and uncles. Not really looking forward to meeting fish. He isn’t as nice.
Anyway Chief was very specific about our new recruits. I was to figure out what skills they might have and set them up with tasks. Chief also said to try and use Austin as a bargaining chip. I didn't feel right doing that. While I might be smart. I don’t have chief’s blood thirst. That’s why chief is chief.
I’m not sure why chief wanted me to run the interviews. It probably had something to do with the bad blood between them. Then again it could also be the fact chief is a nervous wreck most of the time.
Chief has always been a little awkward but it never really showed all that much because we were texting before. This time everything was in person. She no longer had the time to think about her words and now had to respond in real time. At least that's how I saw it. It made her extra cute. Who’s the adult now chief! Let’s see how she likes it when I tell her to go to bed early!
I shook my head. No that doesn’t feel right. This sucks. Chief has always been good at talking. If something was bothering me chief was the one I’d turn to. Actually… it's not so much that chief was a good talker. It’s more like she’s really good at listening and she’d come back with these answers that made me feel warm inside. Like my situation wasn't so bad and that it would turn out okay.
Yeah something like that. Alright lets get back to my current situation. As of yet the new recruits hadn’t been accepted into the guild. I was expected to sign them up and restrict them to little to no guild access with a minimum wage of one silver per week. That seemed a little low for minimum wage but chief said it was fine. She said that Austin’s care was being subtracted from their pay.
Originally chief was gonna give them a full gold coin but changed her mind. Her reasoning was that one silver was enough to keep them around but not to much that they would become lazy and just sit around all day. With food and housing taken care of that one silver was basically just spending money. Not much but better than nothing.
If they wanted luxury and hand outs they’d need to hustle. Raises could be earned but that depended on there devotion and usefulness to the guild.
Chief calls it grunt rank. That basically meant they could enter the castle and were being paid but they couldn’t do much else. In this sense they weren’t really members at all. More like employees with paid housing and food.
With those two taken care of the money they made would probably be used to fund whatever craft they take up. Worst case scenario we were paying them to be cannon fodder.
It’s simple make them dependent on the machine and when the machine is attacked they will defend it. It’s evil when you think about it but that’s how society works. You put your citizens in a protective bubble. Keep them fed and safe and when something threatens to destroy there safe space then they’ll stop at nothing to defend it.
Not because it’s the right thing to do but simply because it’s what they must do in order to continue their shelter life style. They’ll preach about how they’re righteous and moral meanwhile they keep feeding the machine with fresh dead bodies. At least that's how chief puts it.
Just because I understood that didn’t mean I was all for it. If anything I wish we could build a country where we were an actual force for good, but that was impossible. In order for any society to function people will always get crushed under the machine. And they'll always be the ones that rage against it.
I’ve never had a job before and now I was like a manager. The only experience I’ve had with managers was when my mom went off on that waitress for keeping the change.
To be fair my mom paid with a hundred dollar bill and was expecting to get back over thirty dollars of change only for the lady to just assume the change was a tip.
Honestly I don’t see the appeal of hiring these guys. There basically useless. Chief told me she wanted a lot more players and that this would only be the start. A test run if you will.
It almost seemed like Chief wanted a company not a guild. I guess the core members would be something like the board of directors and chief was something like the CEO?
Although Chief did call herself the mascot? Did that make chief like that lizard from those car insurance commercials? That didn’t sit right with me. Chief isn’t a mas— I didn’t get to finish that thought. The sound of knocking on wood permeated the room. I guess it was time for the interviews.
Boner opened the door peeking in. “Hi there.” His face expressed a tense smile. He didn’t step inside. Instead he stood there like an idiot. He looked like he’d pooped his pants. It was clear this guy did not do well with interviews.
“Oh my goober! get in here! I have like three more to do after this!” The guy panicked and scrambled to sit down leaving the door wide open.
I sighed. Then with a thought slotted in a wind spell and activated it. “gust.” A lime green magic circle appeared in the air and a gust of wind blasted past Boners face causing the door to slam shut. The spell did no damage and was supposed to be used for knockback and disorientating targets for brief moments.
It was useful when you wanted space from a mob or when you needed to change their formation and set them up for an attack. Most used it ether to set up fire walls, or to push mobs into fire walls. It could also be comboed with earth spikes and traps.
The clumsy giant looked back at the door realizing what he’d done wrong. “My bad.” It wasn’t that big a deal but it brought back memories of my family doing something similar.
They’d come to my room to ask me something, then I’d ask them to close the door on there way out only for the door to stay open.
Sometimes they’ll tug the door hard as they leave so it slams shut behind them only for it to just creak back open. I hate when that happens! I swear I’ll kill the person that didn't level my door before drilling in the hinges! Oh, actually that was my dad.
He lied to me. I asked him about my door and he said the door was leveled and that it was the house that was sideways. It worked on me when I was six, but now I understand how gravity works. He still won't admit it. In fact now he says my door is haunted. That's kind of how I ended up sharing a bed with mom and dad for a night or two.
That door was so annoying especially when my brother would come by my room just to open the door and run away. He would push it just enough to where gravity would take over and that familiar creak sounded out. I started locking my door but then realized I’d need to get up every time someone wanted me so that came to a stop. Families can be so annoying…. Well…. Not always.
“Alright Ryan? That’s your name right?” He nodded in response. “let’s start the interview. In ten years where do you see yourself in this company?”
The guy looked unsure as if waiting for me to reveal the joke. “For real?” He kept staring at me waiting for me to budge.
I stayed calm and smiled waiting for him to answer. He finally sighed and sat back in his seat realizing this was going to be a whole thing.
“Alright. Ten years huh?” He paused giving it some thought. “I’ll probably be dead by then.” His answer caught me off guard.
I was expecting him to come back with something clever or witty. Maybe even something fake and made up. Perhaps some brown nosing. There wasn’t any of that. He didn’t even get mad at the stupid question.
His words came from sincerity. Did he really think he was going to die within ten years? This deserved a fallow up. What would chief say in this situation?
“Why do you think you’ll be dead? Are you planning on killing yourself. Just so you know the suicide hotline doesn’t exist here….um…. I’m also not qualified to help you.” Hopefully that would throw him off.
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I knew his game. He was trying to claim depression. That way we’ll feel sorry for him and let him stay for free. Chief warned me this might happen. Though she also said it would be that king guy not Boner.
It didn’t phase him. He seemed to calm down even further. Maybe I should of taken this more seriously. Crud, did he lose his fear of me. Oh no! That means I'm no longer in control! Chief is gonna be so mad. It's okay. Just keep your cool. Don't let him phase you.
He stared at his hands. They were resting on the desk. “No, I don’t plan on killing myself. Actually, I’ve been thinking. Originally I wanted to move away from adventuring but now, I want to go back out there. I can’t really do that without a team so I’d like to join whatever military force you guys have. I know I’m weak but I can get stronger.”
That was surprising. “ I see. Tell me what sort of skills do you have. I don’t mean like the system. I mean like real world skills.”
“Skills? First off. Sapphire, king, and I are all high school signors. Rosy is in college. She was a signor at our school two years ago. As you can see none of us have very many skills. The only thing I can think of is driving but that’s not very useful here. Actually, I know some basic mechanics, but that wont help in a none tech based country.” He was so honest.
He wants to join our military? It technically doesn’t exist yet. Chief said she was working on it. I’m sure Ryan can help with that. If he grows alongside our troops he could even lead them one day. He’ll be able to watch it form and will understand it's reach and capabilities.
Most likely he'll have to go through some training. From what chief said about him. He doesn’t even know how to swing a sword. I didn’t either but there was no reason for me to learn. Leave that to the melee fighters.
He could do basic mechanic work. That seemed kind of useless considering our guild was more magic based. I'm sure there might be a use for it but for now I can't think of one. I put a pin in that one. Right now there was a burning question in my gut.
“Why?” He looked up from his hands his face meeting mine. “Why go back out there. Didn't you and your team go through hell just so you wouldn't have to risk your lives anymore?” He looked away from me. Then met my eyes once more. This time they were as cold as steel.
“I want to become strong. I want to be strong enough so that the people that follow me stop dying.” His hands caused the desk to creak as his muscles tensed. He was only level nineteen, but he already had super human strength. His strength ratting must be really high. With his mass I’m not surprised.
“Okay…. military it is then. But for now please take a break. I’m sure Shadow can find you a room to rest in. Once master wakes up we’ll discuss where to send you.” He nodded.
“I have a question. Your guild master? How did he get so strong. I don't mean levels or gear. I'm talking about the way he fights. When we fought I couldn't touch him.” He made a fist putting all his pent up aggression into it.
“Chief? Um…. Well.” Was chief actually good at fighting? I don’t think she ever said anything about it. Actually didn’t chief say something about her dad teaching her how to fight? Yeah I remember.
“I know! Chief told me once her dad showed her how to box! Right… also she said she was never really good at it because her body wasn’t suited for it. I think she meant she wasn't in shape. Aside from that I’d say it has something to do with chiefs perception and dexterity.” That’s really all I could think of.
“So it all comes down to stats then. Boxing also explains why your guild master bounced around so much. Those fists were small but they also hit like lightning bolts.” He rubbed his ribs as if remembering pain.
He was ready to go turning his attention to the door. Before he left I had to ask. “What do you want to do about your brother? What's his deal anyway?” He stopped and turned back around.
“Austin was tagging along with us because I was supposed to watch him. I wanted to play TEO with my friends so I figured as long as he was playing with us I could get away with gaming. That’s why he’s here. As to what to do with him? Can you keep him in the castle for now?”
Now was the time to exploit him, but should I really do that? I know chief wanted me to but still. I wasn’t like chief. I couldn't bring myself to take advantage of people.
“For now its fine. What’s wrong with him anyway? Your brother that is. Do we need to worry about it? He isn’t dangerous is he?”
He scratched his head. “My brother is a normal kid….. He was a normal kid. Then everything happened and he stopped talking. That’s all there really is to it. He is no more crazy than your guild mascot.”
Something ignited inside me. Before I knew it I stood up. “Chief isn't a fucking mascot! If it was up to me I would of killed every last one of you for trying to hurt chief! The only reason you’re here is because chief allows it!” I wasn’t expecting myself to get so emotional. It’s like the words were already loaded.
Boner didn’t skip a beat. In fact he hadn’t been phased by my outburst. His eyes fell on mine emanating coldness. “Maybe so…. But you didn't say he wasn't crazy.” Compared to me he was so calm. Like still water.
Where did the nervous interviewee go. The tables had turned. Wasn’t boner the one with the anger problem? When did I become angry? I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and fell back into my seat.
My eyes dropped to the desk. My body felt tense like it was made of stone. “Okay... you can go. Have the next person come in.” He left the room closing the door behind him.
The rest of the interviews went fairly smoothly. Some of the questions included. “If you could be a tree what tree would you be?” Sapphire said she wanted to be a pecan tree. That way people would be eating her nuts. I felt like I’d heard that somewhere before and she was just repeating it.
Rosy said she wanted to be an apple tree because she planted one with her dad in their backyard, way back when she was a little kid. That was way to wholesome compared to Sapphire’s response.
King said he wanted to be a bonsai tree because that meant he would be well taken care of. That said way to much about him.
I also asked them “What's your biggest weakness?” Sapphire said the bathroom wall at school. I felt like there was a very sad story there and decided not to continue.
When Rosy was asked this question she said dogs. Apparently she’s been terrified of them ever since she was a kid. Which begged the question why wasn’t she afraid of Sapphire? She got all nervous and responded with “Don’t be silly! Sapphire isn’t a dog she’s my friend!”
I wisely decided not to pursue that bizarre logic. King had an…. Interesting response. He said his weakness was he couldn’t breathe underwater. I wasn’t even sure how to approach that so I left it alone.
In the end Sapphire had an interest in crafting accessories so I decided to set her up with an apprenticeship with a local crafter. She’ll basically be making jewelry. Apparently she used to make jewelry back home and had even designed and created cosplay. Once that was revealed I also decided to set her up with an apprenticeship with our local seamstress.
She seemed like the type of person that didn’t trust people very often, but when she did decide to trust you she was basically the most reliable friend you’ll ever have.
King was similar to Sapphire only he wanted to try blacksmithing. I didn't want him bothering Cindy so I think I’ll have him get the basics down from one of the Verta street guys. That should be enough to get him started. If he gets good at it I'll let Cindy teach him. Maybe we can even set him up with his own shop and have him train new guys.
He seemed like the type of person that would survive the apocalypse. That kind of cockroach type of person that dose anything to insure their survival. As long as the guilds survival meant his own I’m sure he’ll be an okay asset.
I left Rosie’s story for last seeing as she might actually contribute to our guild. Apparently she had been taking classes for architecture. She had also been mentoring under her father during breaks so she knew a thing or two about buildings.
From what she told me it looked like our buildings were missing vital support structures and that a strong wind might actually cause the buildings to collapse. Mao was amazing at making things look pretty but he had no idea how to make them function.
I ended up giving her access to the blueprints Mao had created and she immediately got to work. All she had to do was modify the blueprints then update the buildings accordingly.
This meant she had access to the guilds materials, but that was okay since she had to ask a core member to actually make and pay for the alterations.
Chief actually told me what to do in this situation. If I found someone that was actually useful then I could give them extra coin. Rosy ended up making eight silver and we’d also be paying her for the alterations for each individual blue print. That was just to start with. We’d see just how useful she really was.
As for her personality…. I’d say she’s shy but not crippled. She might hold her tongue and fluff her words but for the most part she stands up for her beliefs. She seems like a fairly noble person and could sympathize with just about anyone.
At least she tried to. The architect showed some concern for chief and was wondering if everything was okay. I reassured her the best I could. She seemed to take it at face value. Just like that the interviews ended and I was left to look through my notes. I was making sure everything was organized when Shadow came through the door in a panic.
“Luca have you seen master!?” She looked like she’d been running around.
“Is master missing?” There was no way. I was sure Shadow was watching her like a hawk.
“I got up to help the new recruits find and furnish their rooms! When I came back master was gone!” She started to cry.
Why did she assume the worst? “I’m sure chief is fine she must of gone for a walk or something.” I felt like I was making excuses. Chief wasn’t crazy enough to warrant this type of treatment.
“I don’t think so. One of my pillows was on the floor and my window was wide open. I think….. I think master ran away.” The words sounded so bizarre. It still sounded like chief went for a walk but… why go out the window? Unless she thought she was in danger. She was in the guild though. Its safe here…. Unless she’s running away from us? Wait, wait! This was chief we were talking about.
“Did you try chat or the guild tab!?” I looked for any change in expression. Her eyes went wide in realization.
“The map how could I forget!” She opened her menu. “I did try chat, but she never answered. Also… there's something up with masters name. I don’t know what’s going on.” I guess when your in a panic you forget things.
I opened my own menu. We weren’t in a party anymore and chief wasn’t chief anymore. Her name tag just said Centa. That wasn’t right. How did chief change her name and why? She was over in the southwest area of Serenity.
That’s when I noticed it. A dark cloud in the distance. out the window smoke was coming from the southwest. Was that a coincidence? It had to be….. but that was also where chief was.
Shadow came to the conclusion faster than I did. “Honey grab your gear were going out!” Shadow’s eyes were thin slits. I felt chills running up my spine as Ryan’s words echoed through my head.
“Maybe so…. But you didn’t say he wasn’t crazy.”
This was bad. I opened my menu and equipped my mage gear. Shadow did the same but went with a different gee. This one was a dark red and had more of a monk style rather than the usual karate gee. I remember her telling me about her gear losing its stats after she washed it. That was a terrible loss.
Right when we were about to leave Sapphire stopped us in the hallway. “Guys there's someone outside.” She was calm so there probably wasn't any danger. What did bother me was the fact that she looked a little unnerved.
Shadow confronted her. “Sweetie, what do you mean someone’s outside? Didn’t you guys close the gate on your way in?” The wolf girl shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't know.
I stepped in. “Sapphire what did you see?” The girl froze for a sec then came back with. “I was in my room and looked out the window when I saw a person standing outside. A real freak if you ask me. They were wearing a banana costume and acted kind of aggressive.”
Huh… that sounds terrifying! Why is she so calm! “Like outside your window!? Were they watching you?” That was way to creepy! What kind of pervert goes around dressed as a giant banana while peeking into teenage girls rooms!
“No” She shook her head. “nothing like that. They were out front near the entrance. They kept yelling out a name. uh… Iss or something like it. Regardless of why they’re here, they seem a bit unhinged. Maybe we should call the cops? We have those right?”
I scratched my head. Cops? What made her think that was a thing? “Iss? That’s not a name I know of. No one here goes by that name. We don’t have time for this! Chief is in danger!” I pushed passed her. Shadow followed. Technically chief wasn’t in danger chief was the danger but I wasn’t ready to admit that. I’m sure chief is just going for a walk. I just need to make sure. Then we can leave all this behind us and be a normal guild again. We'll deal with that weirdo first and then go get chief.
Sapphire called after us. “Is Isaac okay?” Shadow answered back. “She’s fine. Just went for a walk.” I suppose starting up a panic was a bad idea. Especially after what chief did in the lounge. What if she does it in the middle of town!? How did chief even do that!? Even with Snowball she should of only been able to fire off two spells at the most.
Together we rushed to the front door and when we opened it we were faced with someone in a bright yellow banana costume. Now that I think about it isn’t that a really old drop from way back when? Yeah, chief had one of those.
“Where is Izzy?” It was a girl. She was around Chief size. The only thing that showed she was a she was her voice and her cute face. Her eyes were a light blue with golden star shaped pupils. Her name tag read Alice and she was a level 39 magical girl. You didn't see that class very often. It was one of the first classes ever added in a update to the game. No one really used it all that much.
The class gave you the ability to transform into a cute outfit and even a hair change. At the same time you'd gain buffs and an even boost of 0.5 to all your stat ratios. The abilities varied from physical attacks to magic attacks, and the transformations didn't last very long. Usually about three minutes. Once that happened you had to let it recharge for a whole minute.
In her hands was a kitchen knife. It had blood stains from previous use. The blood was old. It was evident by the dried out rust color it had.
I had no idea who this girl could be but Shadow looked like she’d seen a ghost. I wanted to say something but she beat me to it.
“Are you that Alice?”
The girl smiled. “So you’re that Shadow. Where is my Isaac? I know he’s here... Izzy! Get your ass out here! You've been playing with these girls haven't you!” She waved the knife around with the same enthusiasm as a child swinging around a doll. The girl had red Puffy eyes like she’d been crying.
In true Shadow-like fashion she jumped into mom mode. “Isaac isn't here sweetie. Don't swing that knife like that you might get hurt.” Sadly she wasn’t getting the same murder vibes I was getting. Had I read the situation wrong? Was this not chiefs jealous ex about to go full yandere on us. Maybe I should—
I didn't get to finish that thought as the girls presence became all wavy. Like seeing a mirage in the distance while walking through a desert. That was the after image ability! Where!?
Shadow screamed as Alice held her hand behind her back and pressed the knife against her kidney. She hadn’t stabbed her yet. The girl was holding Shadow hostage.
“Shadow! How!? Your perception is higher than mine!” There’s no way this noob could manhandled Shadow like that! Yet somehow she was being held hostage. Did she have other classes leveled? She definitely had ninja leveled and that was an advanced class so she had to have some levels in assassin and some dark affinity magic. Hang on, I totally noticed her use that ninja ability why didn’t Shadow see it? Shadow should be stronger. She just needs to over power her, but that knife.
“Sorry. I’m a cat my eye sight is awful in the day time. I’m basically near sighted.” That’s no good. I didn’t know that was a thing. What do I do? Why was Shadow so calm!?
“Where is Isaac!? tell me before things get messy!” She pressed the knife against Shadows back making her yelp in pain. Blood started to bubble around the tip. That wasn’t a vital spot. It might hurt like crazy but she won’t die from it. Sorry Shadow.
“Bind!” I reached out with my hand activating a spell on my hot bar. A purple magic circle appeared under Alice and Shadow. Alice stabbed Shadow forcing the knife down to the hilt. Glowing purple chains came out of the magic circle and wrapped around Alice. They held her suspended a foot off the ground and kept her from moving to much.
“Let me go you fucking bitches! I’ll kill you both!” The girl struggled against her magical restraints but couldn’t break free.
“Oh, crud! that hurts! Ow, ow, ow!” even to this extent Shadow made sure not to let out a cuss word. I was impressed.
I pulled a potion out of my inventory and handed it to her. Then ripped the knife out of her back. She cried out in pain then drank the potion. It took only a moment for her flesh to mend. If we ever make it home I’m taking one of these potions with me and having it analyzed.
“Let me go you fucks! Ill kill you all! Isaac you asshole! You coward! Hiding behind your sluts! You son of a fucking whooooore!” She kicked and screamed but she wasn’t getting out of that spell. It would last a few more seconds and I could always cast it again.
Shadow looked like she wanted to murder the little gremlin. I wasn’t sure if I should stop her or not. On one hand she did try to kill Shadow. On the other hand I didn’t want to be apart of a murder.
I watched as she reached over and pulled the girl over her knee. The chains seemed to stretch keeping her from moving around to much. Shadow stripped the girl of that awful costume leaving her in a black sports bra and black Spanx shorts. Then proceeded to not kill but spank the living shit out of her.
She was actually really cute. Like chief but with long blonde hair. True to the Alice name.
The punishment went on for far longer than I thought it would. I mean she did stab someone. I kind of wanted to just walk away and go find Chief, but was afraid this girl might do something else to Shadow. That and I felt like I was also in trouble.
Kind of like when my mom would spank my brother in front of me and all I could really do was sit there and try not to be the next target. When Shadow was done the girl was left a crying mess on the grass.
“You better watch your mouth young lady or ill wash it out with soup next time! What is wrong with you kids and using cuss words! I won’t stand for it!” Shadow paced back and forth like she wanted something else to hit. I was on my best behavior. It almost seemed like she was more upset about the profanity than being stabbed.
The girl continued to cry. She seemed much more docile now. I think she might be to embarrassed to fight back. The chains were no longer needed. I heard her mumble something. Shadow instantly snapped at her.
“What was that!?” the small girl squeaked in fear like a frightened mouse and curled into a ball. “Wh-wh-where is Izzy?” She cried.
Shadow let out a breath like she was calming herself down. “Master was here but now she’s not. She went out for a walk. We were on our way to go get her.” She seemed to accept the answer rubbing the tears from her eyes.
I felt like now was a good time to ask. “Who Is she? Is this Chief’s ex?” Shadow was hesitant to answer.
“This is…. This is masters wife Alice.” Shadow wouldn’t meet my wide eyes.
This was masters wife! I thought she was fake. I used to make fun of master by telling him his wife went to another school. This… this was an opportunity!
I crotched down to meet the girls eyes. She looked somewhat fearful. “Uh… excuse me but Isaac? Has he ever done anything strange. Like hallucinate some kind of monster.”
The girl went wide eyed at my words. No longer was she a frightened little girl. “What kind of monster? Was it a centipede?” She sat up and was a little to close for comfort.
Her words confirmed my suspicion. I felt a chill run through me. The wind as if coming to the same conclusion picked up. I slowly nodded my head afraid of what might come next.
The look of horror that came upon her face was enough to unnerve even the toughest of veterans.
“Has Izzy killed anyone yet?” Her words. The implications of “yet” I didn’t know what to say. Shadow piped up for me.
“Almost.”
Everyone was silent. Shadow told me about their encounter with Mantis. She said Chief had lost it and was about to kill the guy, but I mean he deserved it right? Maybe not death but he wasn’t a good person. Of course master would want to hurt him. I would to.
“You let him run around free! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Do you have any idea what you've done! His meds… Isaac has been off his meds for longer than a day! I thought I had more time!”
I looked to the bellows of smoke in the horizon and could tell it was getting worse. Alice followed my line of sight and realized something I refused to acknowledge.
The look on Alice’s face became down right terrified. Shadow seemed to already know what was going on and didn’t dare follow my gaze. She was in fact crying. I hadn’t noticed until now.
“I should of dropped her in a cell alongside Mantis. I could of… I thought about it but I was blinded by our friendship. I didn’t want to believe it…. and now people are being hurt because of me.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
This was all wrong, Chief wasn’t… Chief couldn’t…….