At Yugo’s instruction, the three of us sped to the nearest exit to the city where a group of what looked like dozens of Wild Men gathered with makeshift wooden weapons in their hands. I coated my arms in Fire-Attuned Aura as I approached and cut through the Wild Men with ease. Just like they had earlier, the Myths quickly swarmed me and tried to pounce on me, but a sharp burst of Wind-Attuned Aura was enough to blast them away from me.
This battle – if you could even call it that – continued for what felt like hours, yet neither I nor the others looked any worse for wear. That seemed a bit off, considering there were a few Level 50 Wild Men in there. Hell, one of them was Level 53 – the same Level I’d been when I was fighting Futakcuhi-Onna –, and I know I hadn’t been as pathetic as he had! More than that, I’d been asking Fallen Star to keep me updated on my Level as I fought, but the Curse insisted that I hadn’t gotten any stronger despite the numerous Wild Men I’d run through since yesterday.
“YOU ARE STRONGER THAN YOU EVER HAVE BEEN, RUI. YOU HAVE NOT LEVELED HIGHER BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT FACED AN OPPONENT STRONGER THAN YOU IN SOME TIME,” Fallen Star had said.
That hadn’t been entirely true. Somnia was Level 105 now and we’d been training almost every day. The same was true for Hana who was Level 322, though in both cases none of us went all-out. I’d have to change that if I wanted to level at the same rate I had been up to this point. As Fallen Star put it, because I’d been weaker than nearly everyone I fought I’d been pushed to my limits on an almost daily basis – thus forcing my body to Level to keep up. Now that I was Level 88, I’d need to either push myself against people stronger than me or fight a lot of weaker Rogues. Unfortunately for the crowd of Wild Men surrounding me, I knew which option I preferred at the moment.
***
As much as he wanted to, Archie refused to use his [GYROSTOMP] Skill. Sure, it’d wipe out the horde of Wild Men surrounding him and his allies, but it’d also destroy parts of the city wall – thus allowing more Wild Men to pour into the city! Maybe if he was still in the low 50’s he could get away with it, but he was Level 84 now and he needed to act like it.
Right now, “acting like it” looked like relying on Lochness to do the heavy lifting and [WRAITH STRIKING] any Wild Man that got too close to her blind spots. Lochness, clearly enjoying the heightened responsibility, fought in her serpentine form as she ripped holes through the strong Wild Men and blasted the weaker ones away with her [HIGH-PRESSURE BLAST]. Archie thought it was a bit much, but his Contract with Lochness indicated that he needed to grow her fear factor. And considering how terrified the Wild Men were starting to look around her, hiding behind distant trees and running away every time she’d look at them – to no avail –, he was clearly on the right path.
And so, Archie’s role had been set. Lochess, Rui, and Somnia mowed through Wild Men while Archie stood between them all and the city entrance. Any time they’d get close, Archie had a [WRAITH STRIKE] ready and waiting for them. Such was his purpose: keeping the people safe. He heard some townspeople behind him, whispering amongst themselves or expressing concern from their open windows. He felt a healthy amount of pride knowing that he was the one responsible for keeping them–
A Wild Man sped past Lochness, darting for the city with a makeshift wooden axe in either hand. Archie widened his stance and charged a [WRAITH STRIKE] only for Rui to jump in and slam the creature’s head into the ground and obliterating it with a [WRAITH STRIKE] of his own.
“Hey!” Archie called. “He was mine!”
Rui tilted his head. “Yours? He belonged to you?”
Archie narrowed his eyes. Perhaps teaching Rui how to banter wasn’t his greatest idea. He turned around, noticed the lack of Wild Men in the city, then noticed the lack of Wild Men around them. Somnia was engaged with about four more of them, but there were far more Wild Men in the city. Lochness had been inching her way towards Somnia’s battle but was visibly unsure whether to jump in or not.
“Fine. I’ll go look for more Wild Men in the city,” Archie allowed.
Lochness, cover the wall alright?
His Myth hissed her agreement at the same time Rui said, “I’ll follow you, then.”
“Why? You already killed plenty! I’ve been guarding the wall while you all got busy.”
“You chose to do that. I need to level up, and there’s a finite amount of Wild Men in the city.”
“I need to level up too!”
The two boys narrowed their eyes at one another. Yugo’d sold Archie on the idea of a third member of the Seekers by telling him he needed a rival to improve. Looking at Rui’s challenging expression made him think otherwise.
“Try to keep up,” Archie said, allowing bits of his Burnish accent to slip.
Rui snorted. “You’re already behind. Try to catch up.”
***
Somnia was proud of how she fought against the Wild Men. This hadn’t been a particularly difficult fight, but she’d been good not to get all… manic against them while still fighting as hard as she needed to. It was like a savings account; she’d only take out what she needed to when she needed to. Yeah! This was easy!
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
She fought with maximum efficiency, using her Aura Shot technique to blast the laser-like beams through their heads. They hardly suffered, instead only twitching a bit before their bodies would stiffen and fall to the ground like cut trees. Somnia had brought an Aura-Enhanced combat knife to the battle as well which she’d used to cut through any Wild Man that got too close to her. She’d stolen the idea from Rui, but combat was collaborative. He wouldn’t mind.
As Archie and Rui ran off into the city, leaving Somnia alone with Lochness, she took in her surroundings once more. The grounds outside of downtown Saikou were littered with Wild Man corpses, mangled and dismembered like flimsy chew toys. There were four left, though three of them looked like they’d rather be anywhere else. There was one more Wild Man that seemed more confident than the rest, though. He was a bit taller than the rest, his skin a lighter green and his hair a deeper blonde. While the other Wild Men nervously slinked towards Lochness with axes in their hands, the taller one kept an eye on Somnia.
What do you have planned?
Lochness shifted to her bipedal form, gathering one of the Wild Men in her mouth and slamming it into the ground repeatedly before tossing its lifeless body into the gravel path surrounding the wall. The other two finally fled, tossing their weapons and running deeper into the city. When Lochness chased after them, the taller Wild Man smiled a wicked grin at Somnia and dashed deeper into the city.
He’d been waiting for that to happen! He planned that!
Excluding their leader, this was the first time Somnia had ever encountered a Wild Man with the ability to think. Yugo had said something about Wild Men being able to evolve, but if all of them operated at a higher level they’d be in real danger. Thankfully for now they weren’t as dangerous…
…to her.
When Somnia finally caught up to the slightly more intelligent Wild Man it’d been in an alleyway in the Red-Light District. The same alleyway she and the others had been hiding behind and stalking Yugo in, funnily enough. It stood beneath a newly installed light, though its dimness lent to an eerie atmosphere. It didn’t help that the Wild Man had been holding a woman hostage. The Wild Man stood over the black-haired, brown-robed woman who was kneeling in front of the small Myth with tears in her eyes and a panicked expression on her face. Most concerningly was the way in which the Wild Man held this woman hostage: it’d coated its arms in Unaspected Aura that it’d shaped into something resembling a blade – just like Rui had a day earlier.
Somnia took in the scene and cursed herself. Everything in her told her to remain professional. This woman was afraid and needed to be reassured that she’d be safe. The people watching her from the adjacent windows needed to know that she – a member of the Galerose Family – could be trusted and relied upon. Despite knowing all of this, one single thought played over and over in her mind, a thought she knew her mother would be proud to hear.
You need to die.
The Wild Man brought the arm-blade closer to the crying woman’s neck as Somnia stepped closer to it. She ignored the bluff, staring deep into the creature's eyes as red and black aura poured out of her in droves. With each step, the Wild Man’s death drew nearer. The Wild Man seemed to understand this on a deep, primal level as it slowly removed its arm from the woman’s neck. Somnia towered over the Myth, as she gathered an absurd amount of aura in her right hand.
“Turn around and walk forward,” Somnia ordered.
The Wild Man shrieked, dispersing the aura-blade and running out of the alleyway as instructed. Somnia brought her hand back and prepared to launch her attack at the Myth, only for Rui to pop up and Wraith Strike it – killing the creature in a single blow. Archie chased behind after him with a Wraith Strike charged in his hand.
“I saw him first!” Archie shouted.
“Then why didn’t you kill him first?” Rui challenged.
Following that brief exchange, they sped off into the distance.
Are they seriously doing that now?!
She couldn’t help herself. She laughed. Those two would fit in just fine with the Family.
“Um,” A voice called from beside her. Somnia turned, remembering the woman who’d previously been held hostage. “Thank you. For saving me. I was worried about my parents so I wanted to try and run over there but then I got caught and–”
“You’re safe,” Somnia said, immediately shifting to her 'professional" mode. She helped the woman to her feet. She was about as tall as Averyl, interestingly enough. “You don’t have to worry about him anymore. I’ll escort you to your parents’ house, alright?”
The woman smiled, taking Somnia’s hand. “I’d feel safer if I had someone scary like you so close by.”
Somnia winced, remembering that the woman had seen her nearly execute a Wild Man. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that. Please don’t let that affect your view of the Galerose Family.”
“Sorry?! That was incredible! If you were like that with everyone, I don’t think anyone would ever mess with you again!” She turned to Somnia, softening her gaze and gripping her hand a bit tighter. “Besides, some people like scary, you know?”
“D-do they?” Somnia stammered, having understood the implication. “I s-see…”
With that, Somnia led the woman to her parent’s house. It was only a few blocks away. Once they’d been reunited, the first thing Somnia did was text the Seekers. She’d been playing that exchange with the Wild Man back in her head, and between the ideas that it potentially copied Rui’s technique, understood that they were protecting people and so decided to hold a hostage, and had dropped all of that in the face of proper intimidation, Somnia had come to a conclusion. It was still just a theory, but if it worked…
Somnia: i think i know how to beat the wild men
Archie: What is it? Also, I’m with Rui. Since he can’t text right now I’ll relay the message.
Somnia envied Archie’s System a bit. How convenient would it be to message people with your mind? The only caveat was that she’d need to give money to the Mamoru Clan to do it. She didn’t need it that badly.
Somnia: i think you might be able to intimidate or convince the wild men not to fight. notice how they ran away or looked apprehensive when it was clear that they wouldn’t win? if we force them to that point, i think it might theoretically be possible to get them to either surrender or run away
Archie: Rui says that letting them live is just giving them an opportunity to regroup, and I’m inclined to agree. Both of us are reaching the limits of our Auric Stamina, though, so we don’t really have a choice but to test this theory. I can’t speak for Rui or Lochness, but I’ll give it all I have.