The gloved hands tugged at his limp arm. Sepeti fought the urge to tense up, trying to play the part of an unfortunate victim as best as he could.

“I need some help! This one’s dug in. Might be dead!” The voice was muffled behind a leather mask sitting snug on their face. They grunted as they tugged at his arm. The rest of his body moved, ever so slightly, so Sepeti felt it was the right time to do something to alert them that he was alive.

He groaned. It came out weird.

“Wait, they’re alive!” The person yelled as they continued to try to leverage him out of the mud. The quakes from the monster must have dug him in much deeper than he’d realized.

Sepeti pushed with his other arm and was met with a shock of pain flowing through him. He yelped, biting his lip a little too late to stop the sound from escaping.

“Hey, you might be hurt, let me help you up.” They hooked their arm under his and pulled, trying their best not to cause him any more pain.

“Thanks,” Sepeti murmured as he freed his bad leg with a wet pop. It was almost as if the mud were refusing to let go of him.

“You’re gonna have to lose the clothes and the boots,” the person said as they pulled him upright.

“Why?”

The person frowned at him as they gave him a once-over. “You ain’t from around here, are you?”

Sepeti shook his head, trying his best to look as sheepish and milquetoast as possible. He really hated acting the fool but it was better than rousing their suspicions further than necessary.

Pressure began to build on his bad foot. He looked down and realized that it had sunk back into the mud. Or had the mud risen to encase his foot?

“Here,” his savior yanked him out of the mud and placed him on a stable piece of land. “Mud ‘round here is alive and very toxic. Clean yourself off before it seeps into your bloodstream.”

They handed him a medium-sized leather flask. “Do it quick. Once the mud dries the toxins get stronger.”

Sepeti upended the flask, dousing himself with frigid water. He rubbed his face and hands before checking his hair and the rest of his body. This feeble vessel wouldn’t stand a chance against a toxin-based attack on its nervous system.

He quickly stripped, pulling the shabby clothes he’d arrived in off and throwing them aside. Pinpricks of pain threatened to flare up but he was too cold from the water to worry. He was much more concerned with the threat of something he couldn’t currently combat.

“Need some clothes?” the scout asked as they gave him a once over. A lifetime ago, Sepeti would have felt a modicum of embarrassment at standing mostly naked in front of another person. But that was a very long time ago. Someone of his experience had very little time to waste on propriety and modesty. Or so he told himself.

“Please.” He continued to douse himself in cold water. Every time he felt the flask empty it would suddenly refill itself, growing heavy in his hand. It reminded him of a spell an old… acquaintance had tried to teach him before. A self-propagating style of magic that the user could set and forget. Maybe this was just a linking spell etched into the inside of the flask to connect it to a water source.

Sepeti continued to ponder the mysteries of the constantly-full flask as he scraped the mud off of his gangly body.

Partial Magic Learned!

Vai (Water) - {Minor}

Further understanding is required...

“That should be enough,” the soldier said as they held out clothes and a pair of shoes. “You can use my spare set, just try not to end up in the mud again.”

“Thanks,” Sepeti mumbled as he pulled the clothes on, shivering as the crisp air bounced off his wet body. The soldier didn’t seem all that much bigger than he was but the clothes illustrated just how malnourished his current body was. The clothes hung loosely, shirt ballooning as he tucked it into the pants. As he finished getting dressed, he finally noticed that he was surrounded by the soldier’s party.

Five in total, all taller and much more squarely built than him. They wore the same leather masks, firmly clasped around their faces as they eyed him through the thin slits that served as eyeholes.

“So,” one of them began, a squarely built tank of a person who was definitely a man, judging by their voice. That or they were a woman with a very deep, husky voice. He was sure he’d find out soon enough. “We have some questions for you.”

They shouldered their way forward and unclasped their mask, sighing as if they hadn’t breathed fresh air in a long time. A salt and pepper beard occupied most of the man’s face, complemented by a pair of deep-set jet-black eyes that shone with years of experience. The urge to squirm under the man’s gaze was intense, but Sepeti resisted. Showing weakness in front of others was unforgivable, even though he’d done just that not even a few minutes earlier.

“First, what’s your name?”

“Sepeti,” he replied, keeping his voice as level as possible. He would have given a fake name but he saw no point in trying to lie. They had been kind enough, so far anyway. The only problem he saw was whether they found his name odd or not. Boba hadn’t filled him in on anything, the inept bastard.

The man turned and looked at one of his party members, the tallest out of the bunch. The tall one gave him a thumbs up.

“What are you doing out here?” the man asked as he turned his gaze back on Sepeti.

Sepeti noticed that the man’s eyes refused to stay put. They shifted all over, studying him and the surrounding destruction at the same time, taking in everything. The man exuded an air of preparedness.

“I was out foraging when I heard some beasts fighting. I tried to get away but got turned around and got too close.”

The man looked at his tall comrade again. This time the tall man gave him a sideways thumb.

The man scratched his beard for a moment then lashed out with a stiff backhand, catching Sepeti across the cheek. Sepeti reeled, stepping back painfully on his bad leg as he caught himself. The slap hurt, yes, but what surprised him the most was the shock of the hit. It had been way too long since he’d last been hit like that. He clenched his fist and steadied himself as his old mental exercises worked overtime to keep him cool. Anger in this situation would end up with a one-sided beating. At least, that’s what he told himself as he forced the building anger down, deep down into his gut.

“One more time, boy. What are you doing out here?”

Sepeti let some bloody spit dribble out of his mouth before he straightened himself, bowing his shoulders so he wouldn’t look like he was challenging the man. He kept his eyes lowered and controlled his voice. The small hairs on the back of his neck stood on edge. He was sure that one false step could mean his death.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“I was out for a walk. I heard the two monsters fighting and I got curious, so I got close to sneak a peek. Got too close and almost got trampled, ended up stuck in the mud.”

The tall soldier gave a thumbs up.

Sepeti flinched as the tank of a man shifted.

“Be at ease, boy. Keep answering truthfully and I won’t have to hurt you any further. What did you see?”

Sepeti rubbed his cheek, spitting another bloody glob out before slowly giving his answer.

“Two giant monsters were fighting. One was sleek and silvery, it moved like a cat. The other looked like it was made out of rock and mud.”

The large man didn’t even look at his companion to confirm, he just grunted as he turned his gaze on the destroyed clearing.

“You two,” he said, pointing at the furthest pair of his group. “Pick up the trail. They shouldn’t be too far off. ‘Ata, escort our guest out of the forest and make sure he doesn’t stumble across our paths again. Ngano, with me.”

The rest of the company saluted the gruff man as they quickly dispersed. The soldier who had offered him clothes, ‘Ata, tugged at his arm.

“Come on, I’ll show you the way out.”

Sepeti pulled his arm free. He’d had enough of the farce and he wasn’t going to let himself be dragged out of the forest like he’d done something wrong.

“I’m fine. I know which way I came. I’ll see myself out. Thanks for the clothes and the heads up about the mud.”

He scooped up his walking stick as gracefully as he could, ignoring the aching in his cheek and the constant throbbing in his leg, and trudged off before the soldier could stop him. Limp be damned, he wasn’t going to suffer being in the presence of another person for too much longer. He was over it. He’d met his quota for social interaction long before this lot had stumbled on him.

Sepeti hurried away from the clearing, ignoring the searing pain in his leg as he forced himself to move faster. He needed to make some space. It was suffocating being around others.

“Well, that was no fun. I was hoping they’d mess you up a bit more.” Boba sounded like he was smiling from ear to ear. Only an idiot God would revel in their charges' pain despite the mutual need for said charge to remain alive and unharmed. “Just because we’re contracted and I need something from you doesn’t mean I have to be overly supportive. You’re a pain in my ass. I’ll keep you alive but you won’t come out of this unharmed. Mark me.”

“Whatever,” Sepeti mumbled as he skipped from dry patch to dry patch, completely avoiding the noxious mud. He hadn’t noticed before, but the forest was rank. It smelled of wet, rotting trees and murky swamp.

It took all his energy to concentrate on not tripping as he willed his bad leg to cooperate. Sweat soon dripped down his face as the exertion from having used his skills set in. Fatigue shook his vision, not for the first time today. His breath escaped in whistles as the cool air whooshed between his teeth.

“Dammit,” he hissed as he stopped, leaning against his makeshift walking stick in an effort to rally some energy. “This body’s so fuckin’ useless.”

He coughed as he inhaled too much cold air. His lungs burned as he breathed. He would have found it a refreshing feeling had he not been in the middle of hurting. It really made no sense, how was he drenched in sweat when the air was so crisp and chipper?

Sepeti spat as he tried to clear his throat and chest. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar figure trying to hide behind a tree. They were pretty good, given that they were wearing earthy colors and seemed to be well-trained. But spotting them was easy for Sepeti. No one in his previous life had been able to hide from him. Even at the beginning of his journey, he’d always been highly perceptive. And it would seem that this innate ability had carried over.

He continued coughing, choosing not to acknowledge his new tail. It smelled like an interesting development. After finally corralling his fit of coughing, he continued his journey. He would have liked to have made his way back to the little shack but he couldn’t remember how to get there.

“I’ll give you a mapping skill if you’ll do me a favor,” Boba whispered creepily. It felt like Boba was right next to his ears, making the little hair follicles quiver with ticklishness. “Deal?”

“What you want?” Sepeti mumbled, keeping his voice low. He didn’t want his tail to know that he was speaking with something in his head. Who would? That would just get them labeled a crazy person.

“Sacrifice your tail to me.” Boba tittered, filling his head with the most obnoxious laughing he’d ever heard. “Kick up some dirt. I wanna see how you’ll fare against them. Kill them in my name.”

Sepeti suppressed a groan. He felt… conflicted. Or maybe it wasn’t him per se who felt conflicted, but the host body that was feeling some type of way about killing another being.

He sighed as he continued his shambling trek through the dense forest.

“Come on, do it! It’s only one measly little human. You can even get to test out the present from Journal like you’ve been wanting to. I know you’ve been itching to pull it out of your little pocket space.”

Sepeti rolled his eyes. This damned God was going to give him whiplash with all the mood changes.

“Do it! Do it! Do it! I need a cathartic release man! I need some blood spilled in my name! Do it!” Boba continued chanting, filling his head with the God’s inane antics.

“Fine,” Sepeti muttered as he reached a well-worn path. It appeared that the dirt was packed, treated to keep it from devolving into the noxious mud that most of the forest was made up of.

He wasn’t sure how this was going to go but he’d need to take advantage of every bit of luck he could muster. Turning down the path, he broke into a shambling run, leaning forward and keeping himself upright with the walking stick.

He could hear his tail clambering over the small rise leading to the trail. Before they could reach the path, he ducked behind the nearest tree and made himself small. His leg ached something fierce but his mind was churning through any and all scenarios he could come up with.

The sound of a lock unclasping filled his head as he felt the connection to his pocket dimension. It was nice to feel something so familiar. He braced his hand against the trunk of the tree and concentrated.

He could just barely make out the slowed footsteps of his tail. They walked carefully, probably checking behind every tree. Obviously, this person wasn’t stupid enough to rush headlong into the forest without first checking the immediate vicinity for their quarry.

Sepeti held his breath and focused on spreading his internal energies down into his legs. He was going to need to generate as much power as possible and it all originated from the ground up. None of that purely upper body bullshit some of his old contemporaries used to spout. It was all in the technique. Even with this feeble little body, he could still pull off some of his old techniques. Maybe.

He slowly exhaled as his vision pulsed. He pushed harder against the tree, shifting more of his weight onto the balls of his feet. The pain was nearly unbearable, shooting up and down his lower body as he readied himself to pounce.

The footsteps drew nearer. Sepeti sucked in another large gulp of air and moved it deep into his gut. He held it there, just like he’d been taught back when he was first learning how to swim.

[Adrenal Rush]

A hand gripped the edge of the tree. Then a head poked around the corner. Sepeti exhaled forcefully as he launched himself at the soldier, forehead first as he aimed for the tail’s lower jaw.

His forehead connected with their mouth with an audible crunch, sending dizzy waves through his body as he tackled them. They stumbled backward, surprised by the sudden attack, as Sepeti landed in the middle of the trail.

One step, two. They caught themselves on the third step, flailing their arms to keep themselves from falling. They grasped at the nearest branches, anything to keep them upright, completely exposing their torso.

Sepeti held his makeshift cane at his waist as he lowered his stance. Before his shadow could right themselves, his arm whipped out, wielding the cane like a sword of the east. Light glimmered along the outline of the makeshift walking stick as it transformed, elongating as it rushed toward its target.

The summoned sword tore into the tail’s exposed abdomen, slicing clean through on the way out and on its way back to Sepeti's free hand. It transformed back into a stick as the soldier collapsed, blood spilling from their opened stomach. They gurgled as they slumped over onto their side.

Sepeti hobbled up to them and gingerly slipped the leather mask off. The face that looked up at him was that of a young woman’s. Blood dribbled down onto her cheek, slipping out from between her lips.

“Sorry,” Sepeti said as he knelt next to her. His hands shook as adrenaline coursed through his veins for the fourth time today. He fought the urge to throw up as the bile tickled the back of his throat. Damned host body.

“That’s the good stuff, very nice,” Boba hissed.

Sepeti ignored the God, choosing to stand watch as the last vestiges of life drained from the woman’s eyes. A pang of guilt gripped his stomach. Nothing too big, just enough to make him feel a morose sense of loss. He would have never felt this before. Right?

The woman coughed, drawing his attention back to her. She held a small crystal in her hand, strobing a deep green. Sepeti pursed his lips as he watched her crush it with the last ounce of strength she could muster.

An ear-splitting howl issued from the crystal, echoing through the oddly quiet forest.

“Shit.”

----------------------------------------

New Skills Acquired!

|Passive: Mapping| |Iaijutsu|