"Hello again. I was wondering if you have any training or missions available for me to do?" Kryse asked the Kerub Captain as soon as he walked in.
"Ahh, so nice to see you again. I've heard about you from Shaa Kwira. You were trained by Struk'tohr Nhin, weren't you? A militiaman to be proud of, that fella. Back in the day, he could smash up Chafer bones with his shovel like no other."
"He was in the militia? Can I work for the militia too? I want to follow my master's path."
"Well, let's see...it looks as though you know how to handle a sword and a shield. A swashbuckler like you should be able to find missions in the area. In fact, I have a few to start with if you want."
"Okay. Let's do this." Kryse replied as he agreed to join the Kerub Militia.
"First off, you can cut down the number of Larvae in this area. There seem to be more and more of these monsters appearing recently. Not to mention, they tend to reproduce very quickly."
"Alright, no problem. How many should I kill?"
"Go take out one Immature Orange Larva, one Immature Blue Larva, and one Immature Green Larva. Also, you should kill some of those monsters on the Mission List in order to increase your services to the Kerub militia."
"What monsters?"
"All kinds of Larvae both young and immature, wild flower monsters such as the Demonic Rose and the Wild Sunflower, Giant Crabs, Giant Boars, and Chafers."
"Chafers? What are they?"
"They're undead monsters...skeleton-type warriors. They're strong...but they're fragile."
After confirming the mission requests, Kryse headed west to where he could find some Young Larvae. He assumed that in a place where there were plenty of Young Larvae, a few Immature Larvae should appear as well. As soon as he arrived at the place, he suddenly stopped...a cold sweat drop trickled down his spine. Right in front of him was a huge number of Young and Immature Larvae of orange, blue, and green colors. If possible, the young Masqueraider wanted to avoid such a large confrontation. He knew that if he were to fight, he would have to experience a possible defeat. However, a battle will be unavoidable. The monsters necessary to complete his missions were right there...there was no way he will refuse such an opportunity.
Kryse drew out his sword and cautiously approached a nearby cluster of Young Larvae. Since the low-leveled monsters had not noticed him yet, he decided to use the element of surprise and kill a number of these Young Larvae before they could register what was going on and retaliate. He decided he should use a hit-and-run tactic where he charged in and kill a few before switching on his Bling mask and teleporting to a safe distance. He thought he would continue with this process until a manageable size was left. Kryse nodded in satisfaction and prepared to carry out his plan. Luckily, Kryse had overestimated the processing abilities of the Young Larvae. They showed no signs of retaliation even when Kryse charged in and slashed a number of times with his sword. It was until he killed around thirty of them did these Young Larvae finally decided to retaliate. Groups of ten Young Larvae flanked the young Masqueraider from all sides. They converged towards the young Masqueraider and lunged at him once they were in range. Kryse pulled out his Bling Mask and put it on. He could feel the power within him surging. The attacks of the low-leveled monsters all missed as he teleported to a safe distance far away from the monsters. The Young Larvae searched the area in surprise before giving up and went back to their business. Kryse smiled at the Young Larvae's future predicament. He felt that he was on a good pace and decided to continue with this method of fighting. With another teleport, he arrived somewhere near a group of Young Larvae and slashed and kicked another ten Young Larvae to death. Then, he dodged the attacks by teleporting back to the safe place. Kryse would continue with this process for a while until the number of enemies were reduced by about one half.
Kryse teleported back to the location once more but this time, he switched his Bling mask with his Martelo mask. The Young Larvae, however, were more alert now that their numbers were decreased by about half. As soon as they saw Kryse, they charged towards him and attacked. The first tackle from behind smashed into the back of his leg causing him to stumble backward. A Young Larva tackled towards his head as he fell down. With a sharp twist of his body, he was able to dodge that tackle. But, he had no time to rest as another Young Larva crashed into his chest. Kryse sprawled onto the ground and coughed out some spit. Ugh...the wind just got knocked out of him. Kryse remembered the advice of the Kerub Militiaman Oover from the Militia building that speed was essential in a fight, especially in a group fight situation because of the dangers of being ganged up on. Since he had previously experienced the hard way first hand, he felt that he should be able to defeat these low-leveled monsters in no time.
But this wasn't the time to dwell on the past, he needed to find a way to beat all of these Young Larvae and win. Kryse expertly flailed his sword and kicked his legs all around him, landing quite a few hits and even one-hit instant killed a few of them as well. As the Young Larvae continued to swarm towards him, one of his sword attacks and one of his kicks had managed to knock two Young Larvae away. Seeing an opening, Kryse dove out of the crowd of monsters and scrambled to his feet. Without a moment of hesitation, he used Martelo and heel-kicked a few of the Young Larvae, knocking them senseless and causing them to block the path of the monsters behind them. Then, he switched his Martelo mask with his Picada mask and raised his legs in preparation. Next, he released a number of kicks right in front of him causing a plethora of air-type spears to smash into the faces of a number of surprised Young Larvae. In addition, with a couple of swings of his sword, he one-hit killed a group of low-leveled monsters who were smart enough to try and pincer attack him. As the other Young Larvae reacted and converged towards him, he switched his Picada mask with his Bling mask and met the charge with a teleportation to behind the monsters. Kryse switched his Bling mask with his Martelo mask and let loose a flurry of heel kicks, smashing into six of the Young Larvae at the back of the charge, snapping their backs inwards and killing them instantly.
Suddenly, three of the attacking Young Larvae successfully tackled Kryse. The young Masqueraider jumped backwards, borrowing the force of the tackles of the three Young Larvae. Although it hurts, he was able to gain some distance from the Young Larvae. With a grimace, he gritted his teeth through the pain and switched his Martelo mask with his Picada mask. With this mask on, he felt that his feet could move really fast...he felt air-type magic circulating at his feet. With a grin, Kryse ran to the side of the charging Young Larvae. The low-leveled monsters were able to follow Kryse's movements...but only their heads followed. Their bodies, however, were too slow to react and they all crashed into each other. As the heap of fallen Young Larvae attempted to rise up, Kryse activated his Picada skill and kicked his leg out. A piercing spear of air soared out from his kick and smashed into the pile of monsters. A number of Young Larvae screeched in pain before they collapsed, two bloody holes forming on each of their heads and each of their tails.
Even with all those kills, there were still about fifty Young Larvae left. Kryse sighed...at least he was getting the hang of it now. Even more fortunate, at least he wasn't as injured as he had been a few hours ago. Although he was hurt a few times, the only problems were some aching as well as a few bruises and scratches. Thankfully, there wasn't a lot of bleeding and no broken bones either. The results of his new method was clearly more efficient than had he just charged in and attacked. He was like an Osamodas acting like an Ecaflip - a dragon acting like a cat. Anyways, he needed to finish this and move on to fighting the Immature Larvae who were sitting over there and grazing nonchalantly. Now that Kryse was in an easygoing situation, he was able to take all the necessary measures to save his face. Anyways, enough thinking...more action. Kryse roared as he switched to his Reinforcement mask and lunged towards the Young Larvae. With a couple of swipes, he knocked back ten Young Larvae. Not giving them time to recover, Kryse lunged forward and swiped again. He repeated this attack over and over until finally...the fifty Young Larvae became twenty-five Young Larvae. Kryse could have continued to use Martelo instead but that was too taxing. That's why he had used a less tiring and less damaging move. Not to mention, he needed to use a weaker skill more often in order to increase the skill's fighting power. Kryse surveyed his surroundings. Twenty-five Young Larvae left. Seeing half of their numbers dead, the low-leveled monsters did not needlessly charge in anymore. They cautiously edged closer towards the young Masqueraider. Suddenly two Young Larvae lunged forward, one aimed at his head and the other aimed at his legs. Playing it smart now eh? Didn't know these creatures could think of a strategy like that...must have been instinct. Kryse jumped forward and twisted his body sideways in order to thread through the two monsters.
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Kryse switched back to the Picada mask and fired two piercing air-type spears into the two lunging Young Larvae. The two Young Larvae collapsed in a bloody heap. Kryse turned towards the twenty-two Young Larvae that were left and fired a couple of Picadas at the spread out crowd. Some of the attacks missed, but the ones that did hit, killed quite a few of the monsters. With ten Young Larvae left, Kryse found that it would be too difficult to continue using the Picada skill especially with so much dodging space in between each Young Larva. Thus, Kryse switched his Picada mask with his Bling mask. He teleported towards the monster farthest from the other monsters and kicked the monster up. The monster flew into the air before him and Kryse swung his sword at the monster, cutting it in half. Suddenly, he heard a few swishes behind him. Kryse turned around just in time to see a Young Larva fly towards his face. Kryse brought up his sword at an angle and deflected the attack. The low-leveled monster bounced off of the sword and into the air. Kryse swung his sword up and beheaded the little monster. Two down...eight more to go.
Seeing everyone dead, the eight Young Larvae turned tail and scattered. However, all that killings had sparked something in Kryse. With his bloodlust increased to a new high, Kryse did not want to let a single one of the scattered monsters go. They must die...they must all die! Kryse reached in his bag and grabbed the Reinforcement mask. Then, with the Reinforcement mask still in his left hand, he teleported in front of one of the fleeing Young Larva and switched his Bling mask with the Reinforcement mask. With a sweeping kick, Kryse knocked the terrified monster back, stunning it. Then, Kryse switched back to the Bling mask and teleported in front of another Young Larva. He switched back to the Reinforcement mask and knocked the low-leveled monster back as well. The young Masqueraider repeated these steps until all eight of the fleeing Young Larvae laid stunned in a pile.
Kryse teleported in front of the pile of eight Young Larvae and switched his Bling mask with his Martelo mask. With a flurry of heel-kicks, Kryse smashed the heads of each of the eight monsters and killed them. After defeating all of the Young Larvae, his bloodlust finally cooled down and he was able to calm down. Straightening up, the young Masqueraider took out his sword and looted the monsters of their hide, their eyes, and even their flesh. Anyways, after storing a number of materials into his bag, Kryse continued towards the Kerub Captain's training mission - to kill orange, blue, and green colored Immature Larvae.
Suddenly, ten Immature Larvae rushed out of the rustling bush and lunged towards Kryse. An ambush! Of these ten Immature Larvae, there were five Immature Orange Larvae, three Immature Blue Larvae, and two Immature Green Larvae. Shit! Kryse hefted up his shield and blocked the tackle of one of the Immature Orange Larvae...or at least he tried to block it that is. Kryse had forgotten about the strength and power of the Immature Larvae. The Immature Orange Larva smashed through Kryse's shield, breaking it into pieces , but it didn't stop there. The Immature Orange Larva continued boring through and finally it crashed into Kryse's chest. Kryse flew back and skidded on the ground, his chest ached and his ribs obviously broken. The young Masqueraider grunted in pain as he checked his ribs to see exactly how serious the injury was...yep...his ribs were shattered. Not to mention they were swelling at an incredible pace. Kryse grimaced as he looked at his broken sword...guess he'll have to make do with his masks...hopefully everything will work out fine.
Kryse scrambled to his feet just in time to dodge a second Immature Orange Larva. He kicked out his leg at the big monster only to have his attack stopped by the monster's tough skin. Damn it! One of the Immature Blue Larvae dashed towards him and chomped. Its teeth tearing towards his throat. Kryse jerked his head to the side and avoided a fatal wound. Kryse switched to his Reinforcement mask and knocked the monsters back in order to gain some breathing room. The young Masqueraider decided that he could not take on all ten of these monsters at the same time...not to mention, he did not want to run away after suffering from such humiliation. The only thing left to do now...was to try his best to separate them - divide and conquer. The method had worked before, so he assumed that it will work again.
Kryse approached a stunned Immature Orange Larva and switched his Reinforcement mask with his Martelo mask. With a flurry of heel-kicks on the Immature Orange Larva's body, Kryse was able to mercilessly and fiercely crush the monster to pulp. Then, he switched his Martelo mask with his Bling mask and teleported to another Immature Orange Larva. Switching his masks once again, Kryse put on the Martelo mask and began heel-kicking the Immature Orange Larva. After a few more heel-kicks to the Immature Orange Larva, the other monsters began to regain their senses. Finishing this, Kryse placed the bruised and weak Immature Orange Larva below him and stomped at the monster fiercely and mercilessly, crushing them to pulp. Two down...Kryse switched back to his Reinforcement mask and swiped at the two battered Immature Orange Larva corpses, sending them flying.
Then, the young Masqueraider stood there and waited for the other eight monsters to converge to his position. Kryse casually switched from his Reinforcement mask to his Martelo mask and prepared a battle stance. Right as an Immature Green Larva approached within range, Kryse heel-kicked the lumbering monster in the head. The huge beast staggered a bit before collapsing. Though alive, the monster was panting for air and squinting in pain. Quickly Kryse used Martelo once again, landing multiple hits to the seven other Immature Larvae. Then, the young Masqueraider immediately switched to his Picada mask and kicked out his leg at each of the collapsed Immature Larvae at point blank range. With each kick, an air-type spear shot forth and pierced through each of the Immature Larvae. However, one kick wasn't enough and so Kryse fired about ten more to each of the seven strong monsters. Before long, seven bloodied and pierced bodies lay on the ground, blood gushing out of each body forming a blood puddle and mixing with the other puddles of blood.
A loud roar erupted as the last Immature Orange Larva charged towards him. Kryse switched on his Coward mask and dodged the tackle...barely. As he was about to retaliate with a kick, the monster suddenly twisted around and chomped on Kryse's leg. With a scream, Kryse fell onto the floor. With a couple of kicks from his good leg, Kryse smashed the Immature Orange Larva and knocked it back a couple of feet away. An aching, stinging sensation spread throughout his left leg. Oh Sadida...that was painful. Kryse cringed as he stood up, making sure to keep the Immature Orange Larva within sight. With his Coward mask on, as long as this Immature Orange Larva was within his line of sight, he would be able to dodge any of its attacks. The young Masqueraider reached into his bag and grabbed his Martelo mask. He needed to finish this quickly and Martelo was his most powerful skill. As Kryse tried to move about, he winced in pain. His legs weren't responding. He's got to make his last stand here. It was now or never.
"Come on!" Kryse roared, trying to provoke the Immature Orange Larvae into attacking first...and he succeeded.
The Immature Orange Larva growled with anger and charged towards Kryse. As soon as it entered his range, Kryse unleashed a flurry of Martelo kicks. The young Masqueraider grunted with pain afterwards as he collapsed on both knees. Fortunately, the Immature Orange Larva was dead, dents displayed all over his head. Kryse gasped for air as he eyed larva monster corpses around him, making sure that all of the monsters were really dead. He looked around in order to make sure there were no hidden monsters in the vicinity. He did not want to be unpleasantly surprised especially at his current state.
Kryse gingerly laid on the floor, wincing at the pain in his ribs, his eyes blurry and heavy with tiredness. Slowly, he closed his eyes...he just needed to sleep for a bit...just for a bit.... NO! He shouldn't fall asleep! Kryse rubbed his tired eyes awake before struggling to sit up. He reached into his bag and rummaged around carefully...where did he put it? Where was that vial of water from the Fountain of Youth again? Finally finding one, Kryse uncorked the vial and gulped down the refreshing liquid. A cold shudder spread throughout his body as he felt his wounds healing and his fatigue washing away.
After a few minutes, Kryse got up. Although there were still some pain and his shattered ribs still hadn't fully healed, Kryse decided to drink his last vial of water from the Fountain of Youth. After drinking the potion, his broken ribs were fully mended. Though it hurts still from the bruises, he was otherwise rejuvenated. Next stop - Giant Crabs, Wild Flower monsters, Giant Boars, and Chafers.