Where is my party? This is a question I find myself asking a lot. Despite taking a break, my ears are picking up another spirit trying to mess with mine, I push it aside effortlessly and hurl a [Fountain Gun] into the direction, shooting a spider-monster from a tree. I don't even need to stand up for this.
I return to my thoughts. Someone is pulling the strings here, someone with a strong spirit, a familiar spirit. The most logical answer would be that it's an alfr. The fact that the owner of the spirit was able to put me to sleep for a moment, makes me think about one of the rangers doing a journey, just like Kara'toss or Irin'vein, or one of the heroes of my generation. Though I haven't heard from the latter for about twenty years, they're still out there.
Could this be a prank? The alfar of this world have a more vicious sense of humor, so it's within the realms of possibility. A good prank, in my opinion, is one that makes the target suffer greatly without significant risks to their lives in a physical and social sense. So if it's one of the heroes, it has to be Hu'arur, who always was a bit of a madwoman.
I try to compare my image of her spirit against the one I had felt before I was put to sleep, only to discern that it's not a good match.
There is another possibility though. Spirits don't only change with time, the spirits of relatives are often similar. So maybe one of the heroes had a child and the child is playing its game with us, though it has to be an impressive child to be able to influence my spirit. ...I have to admit, that lazing around all these years in Aroahenn, concentrating on my research instead of my hero-status and my magic, may have made me weak in this sense. I may be a master in using [Spirit Magic] on an everyday basis, but I severely lack in combat-experience.
The child of a hero... at best, it's about a century old, so not that much younger than I. Heroes do procreate, they can do with each other and native people, so maybe a male hero left a native person pregnant or a female hero has given the child to the father, though that rarely happens in modern society and the heroes are from modern Alfrheim. Still, it's a possibility.
Though like there are shapeshifters and camouflaging, maybe there are also monsters or people capable of changing their spirit to seem familiar, this trait would be very beneficial in an environment where the spirit sense is prevalent. I think that this has the highest probability so far.
Let's not jump into conclusion though. The only fact that my pondering provided me is that there are multiple likely scenarios and that it would be unwise to narrow my expectations down at this point.
I wipe my behind, stand up from my squatting position and step a bit forward before rearranging my dress. Now that I took this activity of most concentration and creativity, I can continue with thinking about a strategy. As this whole mess came because I slipped, I refuse to come up with anything less than a masterful plan that solves all of the problems. However, the biggest obstacle is that I have no idea where my party-members are and therefore I can neither determine a viable route nor devise a good strategy.
So the whereabouts of my companions is unknown, there are at least four logical possibilities of what the enemy is, and I lack Kenta-kun's expertise in reading tracks, while the area is large, deceitful, and lethal. This seems like a lot of work, which dampens my motivation, though finding the easy way out will be very satisfying. How can I solve this problematic situation with as little effort as possible?
The spirits around me are just trees, but there is also a monster in there. It’s snake-like, uses mimicry and is clad in bark-like scales. In general a viable strategy, yet against an alfr is almost pointless. “[Chin-upper]!” I hit it in the air, switch my class to [Druid], and: “[Icicle Knives]!” Perforate it with icy blades.
… …I was a fool. All this time, I have only been fooling around. I just naturally switch between my [Classes], just like Kenta-kun does, and I haven't seen the potential. I need a new monster! There, another bark snake! I use [Acrobat] to make an impressive, wide jump using [Athletics]'s [Like the Wind] while performing a cartwheel in the air. With [Motion Health] I can do anything without disturbing my vestibular system. Then I change to [Druid] and use [Fountain Gun].
I learned five things while doing so.
1. When I change class, there is a small lag in my movements, as my body and senses need to adjust, so perfecting the timing is necessary.
2. As [Druid] has no access to [Athletics], [Motion Health] isn't usable. Therefore I feel bad afterwards.
3. [Fountain Gun] has a recoil. Therefore it alters my jump after using it.
4. As I'm not an [Acrobat] anymore, landing on my feet is difficult, so in the future, I need to [Class Change] before I land.
5. All things considered, it's a moment of perfect coolness, so I should harness this combination more.
Kenta-kun might criticize it, so I need to have some good arguments why this move is necessary. One of them would be that I could do a high jump quite a distance above the others and bombard the enemies from above. This is a good point. I need to write it down, so I change to [Bookie]. This class has the [Memory Note]-skill which makes it easier to remember what I've written down.
Another valid argument... I'm more difficult to hit, as I move around more. It also makes me more mobile on the battleground with little drawback to my offense. Actually, it'll increase the numbers of attacks I'm capable of doing in combat as I have an easier time finding angles to attack which don't risk my teammates.
...what is that? That noise? It sounds like swampy footsteps. I change to [Druid] and try my best to approach stealthily. Ah, three ss'rak. Do they live here? I should have known it. This is one of the dirtiest mud-holes I've ever encountered, the perfect habitat for ss'rak and ooaks to do their businesses.
No, they're not all from here. The one in front looks different from the others, the mud is so ingrained into its scales, that they look more humid and colorful, this one also seems to be more adept about walking inside the swamps, given that the others lift their feet more clumsily on the soft ground. It's sensible to assume that the other two of them are usually living in the mountains. While ss'rak don't have different races in general, they're highly adaptable to different environments. Therefore the claws, muscle-groups, scales, and even their organs change throughout the years to adapt to their current surroundings. The pale and dry scales, the long claws, the lack of webbings, and the way they're taking deep breaths tells me that they're used to living in a dry environment with solid footing, which requires much climbing and is short on air.
They haven't seen me so far. Differently to them, I don't need to get close to hear how they breathe, and my eyes work well despite the underbrush, I'm a Ljos alfr after all. Being specialized in a terrain from the beginning is a much better strategy. My brain also doesn't have the size of a pea which means I can think up strategies.
In this case, I may try following them. I'm curious about what ss'rak who used to live in the mountains are doing inside the swamps, meeting up with a ss'rak who obviously lives here. The latter will be the most difficult to fool, as it's logical to assume that the swamp-ss'rak also adapted to actively use their spirit sense to a degree.
In my [Acrobat]-class, I follow them while staying on top of the treetops, using my superior [Balance] to make as little noise as possible. They will pass this section, therefore... I lift a branch with my staff, laying the branch on top of a different one to put it under tension. Then I step a bit back, avoiding the inferior spirit sense of the swamp-ss'rak. I wait until the three ss'rak pass this point, then I shake the branch the tensed one is resting on with my staff, and suddenly, the tensed branch lashes out, hitting a mountain-ss'rak in the face. “Ou!” He holds his snout while groaning for several seconds.
Mission accomplished.
The swamp-ss'rak is moving its head, but I'm outside of what I believe his spirit sense range is. This one might be tough, he's much more alarmed and aware. Therefore I need something that will get him without coming too close, so he won't be able to react on time.
I need a swamp rat or another critter. Oh, even better, a slug. First, I change to [Druid] to look at it with [Poisonous]. A poisonous slug, perfect. I take a handkerchief to grab it, thinking about the possibilities. The scales of the ss'rak are probably making it too hard, so I have to make one of them swallow it.
[Acrobat]. Using my mastery of everyday [Spirit Magic], I move through the branches, while the branches do their best to avoid me. The trees might be out to kill me, but they also know that I can do much worse to them.
The mountain-ss'raks are cautious... I see. They're what the common alfr calls 'victims.' They don't have any spirit senses, so the trees are messing with their minds, most likely the swamp-ss'rak is the one that keeps them in line.
There! The guide is about to say something, so I swing the handkerchief, using it as an improvised sling. As an [Acrobat], I'm rather dexterous, my [Luck]-status is also high, so... “Shraaa!” I hit the eye, not what I wanted, but still funny.
Oh, the eye swells, it really swells! This is much better than expected! A feeling of bliss goes through me as I look at the eye of the ss'rak. The poison of a small slug isn't enough to cause lasting damage, but the red-shot eye of the ss'rak marks the success of this operation.
I need a spell that will let me create pitfalls. I want to lure them into one, I want to make them fall into it. Wait, I have let my primal instincts take reign over my actions! Playing pranks is one thing, but actually, I want to follow the ss'rak to find out what they're doing, so I should stop playing pranks that hinder them. Still, it was fun while it lasted.
Obeying the logic of the situation, I retreat a bit, using [Druid]'s [Plant Eye] to observe the ss'rak, who treat the swollen eye with some herbs they pick up. Looks like ss'rak can identify medicinal plants, most likely by the insects that gather around them. Delicious insects equal medicine.
The treatment is over and the small group continues their journey. The swamp-ss'rak explains: “Laik yuu shaw, shuamp ish danjeruus. Hear, shish ish zhe bodder.” This is the reason why I don't consider capturing and interrogating a ss'rak so far. They just can't talk like people. Maybe the reason why there are so few ss'rak around here is that the best way to differentiate a monster and a person is by speech, of course, ss'rak are seen as monsters the moment they try to explain themselves and therefore attacked by those who can't understand them.
Poor ss'rak, imagining how they want to say 'We come in peace' while hissing 'Wii komm iin peesh' and being slaughtered as they're seen in the same way as kobolds, they never stood a chance to begin with.
One of the mountain ss'rak answers: “This is the border? I can see nothing.” !!! A ss'rak who can speak clearly, which means it's a hero! The way the hero-system translates the language of the hero to this world's words is most likely the cause for that proper pronunciation.
“Zhish ish borrda. Aphta hiir, monshter mush shtronga.”
“Hm... the swamp is much bigger, so this might be only an outer ring. The Great One asks of us to seek the center.”
“Zhuishaidal.”
“We won't do it today. We do it when our other hero is ready.” So they have another hero, I see... the real question is why they want to reach the center of the swamps. Some areas, including the Spirit Swamps, have different monster habitats, often the strongest ones are at the center. The legends of the swamps tell about treasures, about secrets ranging from divine wrath, to a monster’s civilization, to cultivation. Maybe it's true and the Spirit Swamps were actually made to act as a hero-training-facility.
Therefore the ss'rak hero may be actually powerful and they were sent by The Great One, the title a specific god called Muaotef claims, to train here. For the conflict with Feuerberg? Maybe... so did we run into one of the two heroes of Muaotef, and he decided to separate us for... what?
Let's put them on the list of suspects for now. As ss'rak implement the term 'honor' to quickly pay back injustice done to them before they forget it due to their lack of long-term memory, it's highly questionable whether they did it because of Momo and Kenta-kun and their encounter with them.
The status of my two friends is- oh, Momo is in a bad spot. Kenta-kun as well... This is troubling, but as I lack any means to help I need to concentrate on what's before me: Three stinking ss'rak, two of whom should take a language course, and with the final one being a hero.
I’d like to capture that hero and question him until I get the tiniest bit of knowledge out of him. I've never had a ss'rak-hero before, he will be my first. What to do with his companions? I can tell that the swamp-ss'rak is acting as a guide, but why the non-hero mountain-ss'rak?
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Intriguing. Still, hiding my presence will serve me well.
Suddenly, a strange sound occurs and the mud around the ss'rak starts to rise, swallowing the lizard people, while the sound of quick waddle approaches, it's a green duck, almost as big as me. Its feathers are glimmering like steel, its wings are spread, and it's about to cut the mud-trap.
You won't steal my hero, you mo- While I'm preparing to cast a spell, the mud-trap is blasted away by pure force, it's the mountain-ss'rak, the one who isn't even a hero! Did he use a [Skill]? Native people can learn them, it just takes much longer, and they can't learn as many as a hero can.
Then the non-hero jumps at the duck, catching its wings with his clawed hands with a jarring sound. The duck stops, the hands of the ss'rak are hard enough to not to be cut. I get it, this non-hero is here for his combat-strength.
What about the hero? He opens his jaws and yells, though most non-alfr might not even notice as the sound is concentrated into a sonic attack directed at the head of the duck. The only thing I can hear is the high pitch that escapes him while exhaling.
Actually, I expected the duck to be incapacitated by the spell, as sonic attacks usually damage internal organs, but either the hero is weak or the duck is strong. However, the monster loses its balance and the warrior-ss'rak lifts it up and ground-piles it. “Hero.”
“Yes!” The hero kills it by ripping its throat with his claws. Heroes become stronger by killing monsters, so this is the sensible choice. “This went well.”
“Wizh one it doss, butt too oar shree?”
“You're right, but ultimately we have to find the center, so I'll ask the Voice to move the camp into this area soon.” The Voice... this is a ss'rak Kenta-kun told me about, so it's most likely really Muaotef.
'COOOOM TUUU CAAAAAAMP, INTRUUUUUDAAA!' This is a high-pitched message coming from far away, several maooaf at least. By the slur, I expect another ss'rak, but for who is this message? Well, it could be for me, I'm the well-known hero-sage after all, but I doubt that they need my expertise to deal with intruders.
Maybe I've just overheard a message which is supposed to arrive at a specific person, as I have a properly functional hearing.
With this distance, it will be difficult to find the origin. From the slur, I can exclude another hero. This is probably from the [Sound]-ability, one of the many forms of magic. This may be a somewhat common [Ability] for ss'rak. However, I expect this spell to be a difficult one, as otherwise, the head of the user might explode while creating these sound-waves. Not that I know how [Sound] works precisely, I just assume it, as I enjoy the mental picture.
Still, a ss'rak who sends the message and talks about a camp. To find said camp I need directions. Maybe I need to interrogate the hero after all, so I better check out the ropes and herbal interrogation tools.
―○●○―
“FAIT!!!” Crunch's tail begins to grow while he swings it, a glowing arc follows it, increasing the reach of his attack by a lot.
My body mechanically blocks the attack, but I put way to little force into it. Therefore I'm blown away, while the wooden part of my spear groans about the abuse.
I need to get my head into the fight, but it's too busy processing everything. My feelings about my first kills are back, it's like back then, when I realized that I just killed people. My thoughts return to that fateful moment, trying to recollect my kills. Two of mine, the third one by Kyou-san, as feelings of guilt paralyzed me. I should have killed him as well, but because I was unable to, I needed Kyou-san to kill him. Could that final one his father? Would it make a difference?
I stand up with shaking knees. While my body is used to fighting at this point, it feels sluggish and doesn't move as I want it to. “[Speedthrust]!” With my skill, it moves on its own, but my sluggishness is still there, weighing me down. I already realized before that skills aren't exactly autopilot, you can alter them to some degree and you can stop them, but they also don't override your physical condition, and physical and mental states are closely related. Right now my muscles aren't ready to fight. I force them nonetheless.
Crunch blocks my attack with his scaled elbow and he's hitting me with a claw, I can feel a searing pain in my face. Dammit, move, body! I should've been able to evade it! I'm a nimble and agile [Ranger], after all!
I need to tough it out, I guess. I switch to [Pikeman], and with the increase of muscle mass, something else changes as well. My body feels lighter, much lighter! Crunch is pouncing at me, but I smash my spear against him, I feel how the power transfers from my body to my weapon, pushing him back, while there is a cut at his chest.
What's this? Why? I still feel like shit, but while it's a mental effort to command my body, it follows easily enough. Wait, isn't it obvious? I'm a [Pikeman]! The moment I got the [Class], it made me feel like I've been fighting with spears for years. A [Ranger] might also be a strong fighter, but for a [Pikeman] it's its bread and butter, its whole point of existence.
A [Class] always grants the hero the capabilities necessary. A [Ranger] is, in the end, a warrior of nature, who uses magic, wits, and martial skills, a [Pikeman] is someone who stoically stands within a military rang, who has nothing else but his spear and his comrades. The spear feels like a friend right now, and this eases my mind to have it in my hand with an enemy to fight.
I change to [Ranger] again, while the spear does feel familiar, it's unlike before, but I sense how something that was clogged before has been freed. Still, what I need is not being a warrior, it's being a soldier. A [Pikeman]. “Which one was your father?” I must know it. I killed two, Kyou-san murdered one. The first died by a knife through the throat, the second by a stab into the heart with a bone, the last one was killed by so many stabbing wounds that I couldn't even keep my eyes open. I have no idea what knowing which one he meant will accomplish, but still, I need to know!
If I guess right… “Zhe wann hu wash shtabbed zrou zhe hart.” ...I was wrong. My guess would have been that he was my first kill. Instead, he's my second one, which takes a lot of... —weight?—from the whole situation.
This unfateful revelation makes it easier to calm down a bit. However, it doesn't mean that Crunch will be any less of a threat, but I guess I'm stronger than him. I admit it's difficult to guess his moves right as he's using claws, teeth, and his tail to their advantage and I lack experience fighting it, yet I should be able to beat him.
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While my thoughts are running in high-speed through my brain, he's already attacking again, I block his first claw with my spear-pole, then his head shoots forward, trying to bite or headbutt me, and I twist my weapon to hit his head on the side, but he seizes the momentum to attack with his second claw. My body reacts to it in time though. It feels so light right now. I get low while moving my spear a bit more while my head is now below his waist. I change the movement to a strike, hitting Crunch in his now open hip.
Need to get away here. With wide steps, I try to get some distance, but the muddy underground slows me down and Crunch got me with his tail. Good thing that I have the armor, I feel some pain, but my HP is only reduced by a small amount.
I'm in a swamp, I need to remember it. While my fighting style isn't all about mobility, it's one of my options, the option I'd usually use with this kind of opponent, as he has more weapons than I do and it's hard to keep track of all of them in close quarters.
Change of tactics, I swap the way I'm holding my spear, my thumbs are pointed to each other, this ensures the best attack speed, using both sides of my weapons, beating any attempt of using two weapons at once. Just like a quarterstaff.
My spear has a small blade at the other end, other than the main-blade. It's not a monster bone, but wood. Wood made by the alfr to serve me as a weapon, wood as good if not better than most steel. The process killed the spirit inside, but its remains merged with the fiber to grant me the best offense and defense possible. The wooden blade clashes against the scales of Crunch. He recoils without a visible wound, but now the main blade, made of monster bone comes from the other side. A claw deflects it, but then the wooden edge comes from another angle, this time it's blocked with a tail, he tries to bite me, but my monster bone side comes, causing a cut at the face.
We exchange a real flurry of blows. Crunch has his claws on hands and feet, his teeth, and his tail, I have only one weapon, a long weapon with two sides which I need to coordinate to use. On the other hand, his limbs are getting in his way when he tries to attack. I'm on the offense now!
There! His last block caused Crunch to lose his balance. Now it's the time: “[Armor Piercer]!” This skill halves the [Defense] of the enemy, I believe that stat is used for armor and natural protection, like scales.
With a vastly different feeling than before, my spear stabs through scales and flesh, though Crunch was fast enough to put his arm in the way. Still, I've penetrated it, now I need to push for the torso! “AAAAAAH!” Clenching my weapon with both hands while screaming to get more power out of my muscles, I begin twisting my spear to open the wound as much as possible to let my blade advance towards his body.
Crunch's other hand begins to glow, shit, a skill! I change the direction of the force I put onto the spear, sidewards instead of forwards, but he stands firm, stopping his balance from shifting. Means I can try to evade, which has already proved to be difficult here, try to block the attack, or endure it and keep going.
… Block! I'm a coward deep inside, so I don't want to be hit by that unknown skill! The pole of my spear meets Crunch's hand and my weapon bends under the pressure of the attack! Then it flies out of my hand, but it also moves around in Crunch's arm, which looks more like a blood fountain than a limb now. Seriously, Crunch?
His teeth are coming! I push my left arm between his jaws, good thing that I have my armguard there. Time to use my knife, I draw it with my free hand and stab him into the neck, though his scales are too hard around there. Again, again! There, blood!
His tail comes and strikes me in the side, while he's gnawing into my armguard. Whoever imagines fighting as something remotely clean doesn't know how infighting really looks like. It's just a dirty mess of wild attacks, both hoping for the other to go down first.
So I knife and knife again. I can see how the blade chips, my arm becomes heavy, but my SP keeps me going, I'm stronger than I was with the patriarch! I can keep it up for a while!
I feel a shift in weight and I realize that the delicate balance Crunch and I had was because we mutually supported each other. Now, with this small change happening, both of us fall to the ground while our limbs keep flailing, hoping to hurt the other one as much as possible.
Stop! Moving! I notice that I had let go of my knife as well and am just punching him with enough force to rip the skin of my knuckles open. I need to stand up!
“Hehhhhhhhh... hehhhhhh...” My breathing is hard, my brain is filled with cotton, my eyes are narrowing. There, my spear. I need it. I stumble towards it and pick it up, the motion to stand straight afterwards feels like hard work for me right now.
There, Crunch. He's also struggling to stand up, covered in wounds and with a nonfunctional arm. He looks at me, his eyes full of hate, full of resolve, full of love. He... really loved his father...
...”[Speedthrust]!” My body ignores the fatigue, it ignores my second-guessing, it may not be on auto-pilot, but it's guiding me. At this moment, my own resolve meets his. My spear pierces through his scales, somewhere into the torso, close to where humans have their hearts. It may be lethal.
Crunch looks at the weapon that impaled him, looks at me, who holds it, then his eyes are looking somewhere, maybe at the image of his father in his mind.
I pull my spear out and he falls, all stretched out. I've won. It's strange, how he doesn't look like his father at all after I'm finished with him. Emptiness spreads through my body. I feel at the border of all the emotions I don't need right now: Hate, pity, sadness, envy.
Crunch's body twitches and his jaws are moving. “...fffi-nish id.” He closes his eyes, waiting for me to do the finishing blow, his body half-submerged into the water, mud running into his open wounds, every muscle relaxed, awaiting the inevitable.
I open my mouth. My throat is dry as a desert, not only from the fight but from something else. In this dry voice, I tell him my answer: “...no!” I grab his tail and drag him out to a spot of dry land... well, not exactly dry, but less muddy.
“kshhhh!” While this may have hurt him, I guess he's pissed about my answer: “Khill meee!”
“No!” I go back into the mud to look for my knife, there it is. Cleaning it up will be a task, but at least the blade can be fixed with a whetstone. “I won't kill you!” My voice grows stronger.
“KHILLL MEEE!” His voice is also louder, though an undertone of pain is there.
“Shut up! Seriously, shut the hell up! Don't tell me what I'm supposed to do! I'm sick of it! Do you hear? Sick! Since coming here, it's all about 'do this, do that'! Oh, a demon king, you have to kill him to get back home! What bullshit! Why me!? I didn't ask for it! Then this fucking curse, I have to be close to my wives!? I didn't ask to marry them! To lift the curse, just fetch some water from that spring! Seriously!? I ran into you assholes and then your stupid god tells me to kill your patriarch or he kills me! WHY DO YOU KEEP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!? I'm me, I make my own decisions, and you, blockhead, will now accept my mercy and leave me alone! You like honor, right!? I've won our damn duel, you've lost! It's me who decides whether to kill you or not! I decide that you'll live! Also, you won't never, ever cross my path again, understood!? I'm sure your shitty honor demands that after a fight you respect the winner's request or crap like that! Just leave me alone, dammit!” My bottled up rage is flowing freely, my words and spit come out while I finally let off the steam that was building up. “Not only you, everyone you know! Just let me do my stuff, and not one of you will die!”
While Crunch isn't saying anything, his eyes swell with anger and hatred against me. He grinds his teeth, unable to move a muscle right now, incapable of doing something other than growling with his voice.
I look around, looking for his allies to jump in, but nothing. I switch to [Ranger] enhancing my senses by doing so, even going out of my way to use [Pitch] and [Wild Eyes] to make sure that nobody is trying to sneak up on me. Nothing.
“Phewwwwww...” I relax a bit and my body is about to fall, I quickly save it by falling on my left foot instead, the pain wanders up to my knee. “...shit.” It hurts, not too bad, but I definitely felt it. Another small prick that makes my anger flare up again.
If it weren't for this whole damn revenge-stuff, I might just fall into self-pity about right now, but instead, I take my backpack and open it. The [Inventory]-screen pops up after I put my hand inside, ready to give me any item out of it that I want. A swift glance tells me that there is nothing new inside, not even new messages from the girls. Well, figures.
I get some HP-pots, as well as some of Kyou-san's herbal poultices and bandages. Better to chuck down an SP-pot as well, regaining some HP and SP. I treat my worst wounds by just wrapping stuff around it, works wonders for heroes. Then I get closer to Crunch: “These,” I tell him, “let you restore some of your blood and it helps the healing process.” As he's not a hero, the effect of HP-pots will be much weaker, but it'll help nonetheless. “Also, poultices and bandages.” I kneel next to him and put them next to his head, so he can easily take them when he can move again.
“...tekk zhem bakk!”
Instead of answering him, I stand up and head to the trees, which were like a barrier before.
KA-SHH!
The sound of breaking glass makes me look back! This... asshole! He shattered the potion vials with his tail! So you had enough in you to do that, huh!? “...forget it!” I turn away and try my best to find my way out of here.