Seidon watched as the child’s head rolled on the wooden floor. This sight made him feel… empty. But what a strange sight! Why is the little girl’s head separated from her body?

“Huh?” His eyes sparkled up as the cut-down head twitched. “Gonyo, can you hear me?”

She wasn’t dead. She appeared to feel no pain at all, only slight discomfort. That’s when he saw what Sunny missed: The little girl’s body was alive, crawling towards her cut-off head.

“Sunny-gonyo!” Seidon shouted, collecting both parts of the child. ”She is alive! I’ll bring her to safety, don’t die until then!”

“H-Huh? Wait! Please, don’t leave me alone!”

“I’ll be fast!” He said while dashing away.

Sunny remained alone against the spider.

That monster was the size of an entire house. Such gigantic beast of nature with sharp beaks the size of two men… she was an arachnophobe’s worst nightmare.

“Eek!” He squealed as the spider picked him up with her mouth, holding him above the rubbish mist.

“Smaller core. Smaller cell. Yes. Weaker.”

“P-Put me down!” He shot an array of influence at the spider. She raised an arm and summoned a rune shield, which sent the attack straight to back to the core.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Blasts shook the gem!

“Hard. Firm. Solid. Yes. Needs more damage.”

Deep below the spider’s voice, another rose to the occasion. It wasn’t that of human, but a soldier’s decisive attack!

Thwonk!

The spider threw away the little gem as an arrow pierced her eye!

“Gwahh!”

It was a tiny wooden arrow, but one that shot through her eyeball. It came from a samurai, one that Sunny planted on top of the houses.

He reloaded his weapon and shot another arrow into the sky. As it flew more and more arrows joined, coming from the other mushrooms!

Thwonk! Thwonk! Thwonk!

The tiny arrows weren’t big or sharp enough to be lethal. To maximize their damage, the soldiers aimed for softer parts of the body: the eyes, the back of the head, and the knees.

“Grahh!”

Green blood dripped down her face. She turned towards the one who blinded her and jumped at him. The samurai didn’t have any time to react before getting flattened with the building. The beast tore at his remains, even after he couldn’t be recognized.

Thwonk! An arrow pierced her back.

She raised her head, aimed for the attacker, and jumped. And as she flew through the air, a blast hit her from the side.

“Obey!”

It was Sunny with a surprise attack!

“Trash like you should bow before a samurai!”

His attack was so powerful, the spider was set off course and fell through the roof of another building. Crack! Was the sound her leg made as it broke. And though the sight of her crawling back on the road would’ve been a huge morale boost, Sunny felt a chill run down his spine as the spider looked him in the eye.

“I won’t bow before anyone.” She said with the utmost calm before charging him!

Thwonk! Thwonk!

Arrows pierced her chitin, but the beast shook off the pain. She cared not, for her eyes were green from a cocktail of anger and blood. Her hatred was much stronger than any agony.

“oh nyo...” Sunny braced for impact.

The two spider beaks hit him like horns of a raging bull! The impact was so powerful, so full of hate, the little gem got shot off like a tiny football.

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“UWAAH!!! I don’t want to die! I still have so much to do!”

The village disappeared as he flew above the spore clouds, out into the moss field.

“I want to visit the beach! I want to touch boobs! Please god, at least let me touch boobs!”

Thump!

He landed in a pile of mud.

“PLEASE GOD BOOBIES!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hah?”

He didn’t die. In fact, you could maybe even fathom he was alive.

“Oh yeah, this gemstone can’t really break.”

“Are you alright?”

A girl’s voice. Sunny looked around the moss field, but he was alone. The only company he had was a large stone.

“God? Is that you? Are you here to give me boobs?”

“Master, please!” Luna appeared from behind the stone. “You’re scaring me!”

“Luna! I worried so much! Why did you—“

She looked terrible. Her fluffy body was dirty from mud. Her wings were dusty and exhaustion oozed from her eyes.

With weak steps, she approached and hugged the little gem.

“Please calm down, Master! I’m here. You’re safe.”

“Luna, what happened?! You look so… wait! Your legs are bleeding!”

“Huss now, Master!” She whispered calmly. “My wounds are not important. They are but mere scars.”

“Oy! Let’s go back to the village. I can’t heal your wounds; they are so dirty you might get infected. Let’s find the shaman and—“

“Shhh!” She closed her eyes and rested her head on the gem. “It’s all going to be over soon. Let’s just enjoy this moment of peace.”

Worry burnt his stomach. Seeing his friend in such state, that feeling came back. That feeling that whatever he does, it won’t matter. It won’t have any meaning in the end.

“I’m such a pathetic loser.”

“Master, what are you talking about? You’re…”

“I couldn’t save you. I couldn’t save those mushrooms. I couldn’t save anyone. I survived that spider the first time because of you. So when I learned she’s about to come back, I tried to plan ahead and do it by myself, but… but…”

“You’re talking about that big one? Was that all the ruckus I heard?”

“I had to rely on others, again! I couldn’t do anything just watch as they worked and prepared. I wanted to help, but how? I’m just a useless voice, floating inside a useless crystal!

“Master, are you… crying?”

“God damn it! What could I do? What the hell could I do?! I’m so weak, I’m so useless, I’m so…”

“You tried your best?”

“Yes! But…”

“Then it’s fine.”

“What are you—“

“You tried your best and it wasn’t enough. So who cares? I’m proud of you. We’re all proud of you. Even though you knew you’re weak and you had no chance of winning, you still stood by your morals. You put all those negative thoughts inside a box, buried that box underground, and set the field on fire. All that just so you could give it your best shot. If anything, you should be proud of yourself! More than we are.”

As the world trembled, spores gathered around. These were tiny with only the smallest of light, yet they sparkled in Luna’s eyes. As tiny stars would in the darkest of nights.

“Luna… I’m sorry I can’t save you.”

“That’s fine. I never asked you of such. Yet you were kind enough to try. So thank you, Master!” She chuckled.

The ringing of such fragile laughs brought peace into this crazy world. They were frail bubbles of serenity in a restless river.

“Why did you run away?”

“Huh? Oh… I didn’t want to be another burden.”

“But you’re not a burden! You’ll never be one! You’re my friend, Luna!”

“Master… heh, this is a bit embarrassing to say, but… do you remember how I gained your memories? When you gave me a name?”

“Yeah, why?”

“This little speech was something I learned from you…” She looked away shyly.

“Don’t be dumb, I never said anything like you just now.”

“That’s true! But… maybe these thoughts were always inside of you. In the back of your mind. Behind all those thoughts about boobs.”

“That was a low blow.”

“And… well… I know this is stupid and very-very stupid and absolutely stupid, but maybe those words were meant for me. A-And that really scares me, because if true, then that means you’re proud of me. And that’s so scary! I don’t want to disappoint you!”

“Luna, what the hell are you talking about? Disappointing others is a natural part of life. We’ll probably disappoint each other a lot, but that’s normal!”

“And what would happen if I died?”

“I would be sad!”

“Yeah, but if I would die on the battlefield, if I would die while fighting for you… your last memory of me could make you proud! But if I were to die because of exhaustion, because I can’t eat… I’d leave you with so much sorrow. And I know you would feel even worse about yourself. You’re the type of man who takes the blame for others’ suffering, despite being the one who soothes their pain. That’s why I ran away. I thought if you’d just forget about me, I’d save you from the pain.”

Debris shot into the sky and monstrous skies echoed through the field.

[ Name: Luna ]

[ Race: Insect ]

[ Subrace: Silk Moth ]

[ Level: 8 (2/35) ]

[ HP: 6/6 ]

[ Strength: 3 ]

[ Agility: 7 ]

[ Constitution: 2 ]

[ Intelligence: 3 ]

[ Boons: 'Soul-gifted' ]

“So there’s really no other way?”

“I’m afraid not. I’m sorry we’ve met, Master. Please don’t take this the wrong way.”

“Say something like that again and I’ll punch you! You are the best thing that ever happened to me!”

“Heh, I know. And I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be! God, I’m… Please, even if you have only a few days left, stay with me! Be by my side! I don’t care if it’ll be painful once you leave. Let’s make a few more memories together, alright? Please! Once you’re gone, I’ll still have memories of you! I want to cherish them! After all, those are memories of the best friend I ever had!”

“Heh… alright, but under one condition.”

“Alright! Out with it!”

“Promise something!”

“Yes! I’d do anything for you!”

“Lose your virginity.”

“Please ask something easier.”

Laughs echoed through the field, broken by a piece of wall landing beside them.

“O-Oh, yeah… we should do something about that spider.”

“I could push you to the village, but that would take a day.”

“Huh…”

He spied the field for a possible solution.

There were fat beetles running towards the tall grass. Their barn must’ve been broken by all the ruckus the spider caused.

That’s when he saw it. It. The solution to all his problems.

“One of the beetles… it stopped to take a crap.”

“Ew.”

“These beetles are kinda like bulls… so… it’s almost like that thing is bullshit!”

“Huh?”

“THAT’S IT! Bullshit! The only road to victory is through bullshitting! Luna, that’s it! We have to use the power of bullshit!”

“W-What’s… Bullshit?”

“That, my friend, is our ticket to heaven.”