It felt like my life was going in circles. I had rescued Cain to fight by my side, then brought him to a place I thought was his home because I realised it was wrong to force kids to fight. When he came back, he said he’d fight for me again, in, what I was now sure, was his only way of justifying his stay to himself. And I, like an idiot, agreed, because during that conversation I had forgotten about my current ‘monster magnet’ situation.
Had I not known better, I would have called it ‘main character aura’. Whatever its name, it had caused me to get a one-month ban from public transport after a monster attack (and the fight that ensued). Hence now I was forced to wake up 40 minutes earlier, and walk to work, with Cain by my side on most days.
It had been less than a week since our reunion, and we’d already gone head to head with monsters twice. Although part of me insisted on the idea that these attacks targeted me specifically, regional statistics showed that increased monster sightings and encounters correlated with the seasonal opening of Wild Lands.
“What are you thinking about?” Cain asked, snapping me back to reality.
“The monster attacks.” I replied. “There seems to be more and more of them these days.”
“As always before the Solstice. Or is that not usually the case in big cities?”
I shrugged in response.
Truth be told, I didn’t know, and I had taken the resolution to stop lying as much.
“Well, it’s not much of an issue anyway, with how weak they usually are.” Cain continued.
I suddenly felt a familiar tingly sensation in my eye, one that I had not felt in weeks. Cain carried on rambling, but I briefly stopped listening to him, as my attention diverted towards the semi-translucent red ribbon that appeared before my eyes. It was directing me into a nearby alleyway. Then, it suddenly turned on itself and swirled around my legs, telling me to stand still.
“-And that’s why I think that winter is the worst season-”
I grabbed Cain by the hood of his jacket, pulling him back, and interrupting whatever it was he had been saying. He gave me an angry look, and smacked my hand, telling me to let go. I did just that, and before he’d had the time to verbally complain, we both felt the ground rumble underneath our feet.
Cain put an arm out to protect me from whatever was coming, just as I did the same. My skill told me to stay in place, so I ignored the cars speeding past us, or trying to turn around, and the other people on the sidewalks hastily taking shelter.
The ground suddenly cracked. The rumbles stopped, and everything froze in place. But that quiet only lasted a second, as immediately after a giant red centipede burst through the asphalt. Whatever cars were left on the road drove onto the sidewalk, hoping to avoid it. Those few that had failed to do so, were pushed aside as the thing that kept crawling out from under the ground, fell down onto the road with a heavy ‘thump’. One of those cars drove right past us, and into the alleyway, my skill had tried to lead me to earlier.
“Why are we just standing here?” Cain asked, his eyes darting between the monster, who seemed unaware of us, and the people and cars chaotically moving around.
“One of my skills-”
The red ribbon suddenly stopped swirling around my legs and flashed in straight ahead.
“Come on.” I said, as I grabbed Cain’s hand and pulled him along.
We ran a good fifty meters before a loud scream made me turn around.
“Help!” Some cried out.
I couldn’t quite make out what was going on from this distance, but it seemed someone was stuck under a fallen lamppost right under the centipede. The creature let out a screech, and suddenly this became my problem.
“Wait here.” I told Cain.
MP -2
With my sword in hand, I dashed back in the same direction we’d come from.
“I’ll help!” I heard Cain call out in the distance.
I glances back at him, and saw him change form into that of a giant wasp. I did not remember him being able to do that in the novel, but there were many other things that had not existed in that book either. While in that form, his shadow suddenly lifted off the ground, and formed into a mirrored copy of the giant insect. That I did remember form the book.
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Both Cain and his shadow attacked the centipede’s tail and rear flanks, trying to distract it from its victim. That worked well enough, as the creature rolled back on itself, creating a loop with its body, before disappearing underground. I felt the ground vibrate below me once more, as the thing burrowed back where it had come from.
I glanced at the person who’d cried out. They’d taken the first chance they’d got to get from under that lamppost and limp away. With that settled, and with my sword unsheathed, I felt the need to at least seem useful.
I stabbed the moving creature in the side. It took a lot more force than I’d expected to get the sword in. I did not manage to get it out before the oversized insect pulled me, and the blade, along with it.
I desperately tried to get it out before it’d drag me underground. But the only thing I seemed to be able to do was to heat the blade up. However, even with it burning in my hand I could not let go. I could not lose the only weapon I had in this world to some stupid oversized bug.
Aim for its core. I will do the rest.
I felt as if my skin was going to melt around the handle, but my katana finally slid out from the cartilage-covered body of the insect.
In that same exact moment the creature, and the tiny earthquakes, both stopped.
I knew what would happen next. I didn’t even have to look at the red ribbon that’d appeared before me to know that I should be getting out of here.
The ground opened up in the spot where I stood only seconds prior. I could hear the creature screech as it did so. Then, the red ribbon I’d been following fell through the ground. It had never done so before, and in a moment of uncharacteristic clarity, I understood that there was nowhere I could run to avoid it.
I spun around, blade up in a guard.
Several meters above me, a triangular head with four massive V-shaped horns, and a teeth-filled triangular mouth that could easily swallow me whole, looked down at me. The thing did not have any eyes, and a part of me knew that I could come up with some strategy to trick its senses. But another part of me was just too distracted with how disgusting it was to focus on anything else.
Yet, I still somehow managed to move my legs and dodge out of the way as it fell over me.
Time slowed down as its head hit the ground, on the verge of burrowing once more, no doubt to try and swallow me from below. I leapt up, higher than I thought I could, and landed on top of its head. Grabbing my blade with both hands, I fell to my knees as I planted it in between its multiple horns. Dark-orange slime oozed out of the wound.
MP + 6
Luck + 273
I remained like that for the longest fraction of a second of my life. Then the creature rose upwards, and fell backwards on itself, creating a loop. I fell with it, having the presence of mind to pull my sword along with me. I didn’t hit the ground, as a giant red wasp intercepted me.
Cain landed on the ground, before taking human form.
“What now?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.”
On one hand, there was nothing just the two of us could do against a giant insect, on the other, well there was no one else here to take care of it.
A loud screech, unmistakably belonging to a car whose driver slapped its brakes too fast answered that dilemma for us.
“Don’t worry citizens!” A young swordsman in a colourful costume jumped out of the back of the military car. “The great Pierre-Vincent is here to save you all!”
“I think we can go.” I told Cain.
The ground shook once more, but this time my ‘environmental awareness’ skill did not activate.
“Just by his mere presence, The great Pierre-Vincent has defeated your beast!” the swordsman yelled once more. “I-”
The ground opened right under him, making him stumble and fall back. He found himself in the same position I had been in mere moments prior, except he didn’t look like he’d get up in time. I was about to dash in to help once more, but Cain tugged on my jacket and gestured toward four more people who’d come out of the car.
“I think the Defence Guild will handle the rest.” Cain told me.
And he was right. In a very coordinated manner, the five of them, after having used a teleportation spell to get Pierre-Vincent from under the centipede, spread along its flanks and began attacking it. One was using energy-based projectiles, one was buffing or perhaps healing them from behind, one had leapt onto the creature and had grabbed it by a pair of horns, like with a bull, and one was shooting at its now exposed stomach with an explosive (probably skill-enhanced) shotgun. And there was Pierre-Vincent who was desperately trying to stab through its cartilage with his longsword.
“Yeah, I think they’re good.”
I took Cain’s hand, and we began walking toward our original destination, ignoring the insect subjugation that was taking place behind us.
----------------------------------------
“Where’d you learned about the Defence Guild anyway?” I asked.
As its name suggested, it was a private military group that now had people in many cities, but which had originated in Paris. Its name came from one of the three arched the city was famous for.
“I did my research.” Cain replied with pride. “But more importantly, are you not going to put that away?” He gestured towards my sword.
“Right…”
MP - 2
I’d forgotten that it was even there, which was strange considering how much it hurt in my hand not that long ago. But, when I looked, the palm of my hand seemed just fine, so I dismissed it all. Afterall, there were more important things to tend to, like the fact that I was running late for work.
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