Our walk through the forest is quite uneventful. We keep ourselves ready for another attack, but none come. We meet more pokemons on the way. Some are repeats of previous encounters, but other are new.
We are treated to the sight of sewaddles preparing a nest under a leavanny direction. The tiny leaves covered yellow caterpillars slowly converts a large hollow below a tree into a hidden hideout. The leavanny, A yellow bipedal insectoid covered in green leaves and the tallest pokemon I have seen to this point discounting Mewtwo, keep producing silk and making correction to the ongoing construction. As they see us pass, the leavanny eyes narrow and her stance become slightly aggressive, but a growl from our guide get her relaxed quickly. She then proceed to ignore us until we leave.
A couple of pidgeys watch us pass with curiosity and a pikachu scurries under bushes at our approach. The walk however is not spent just sightseeing. Mewtwo and I are hard at work with the system.
We may have been interrupted, but I still have to advance the quests, as well as Mewtwo. His next quest is similar to my own second quest, although more... vague?
Tool making
Using your powers for more than fighting is a good start, but let us see how far you can stretch that mind.
Create a 'hatchet': 0/1
Rewards: 10xp; 1 Exp. Candy XS
Mewtwo has been scratching his head on it for a few moments already, but has yet to crack what the system wants. I have given him some rocks and sticks, but just like I had no idea how to assemble two sticks and a rock into an hatchet, he too is struggling. On my part, I have made some progress toward the sword and pickaxe. I have both of their templates figures out. At least their heads. I now need two more parts and at least two new crafting systems. One to use the templates to create the parts and another to assemble said parts. I think I know what I need to make both, but I could only make one at the moment. The other seems to require a crafting table and I do not have enought material left to make a new one. It may or may not be from the fact I made a few too many patterns. But on the bright side, I can now make a lot of different tools once I have the materials, and all the parts.
OH! That! Okay, I have just found one of the missing pieces: the bindings. A simple x shape arrangement of patterns in the crafting table and there is the binding part patterns. Now I am missing the rod? Three patterns? No that's a large tool rod... One? Nope. Two? Yep, one on top of the other and here is the tool rod pattern. Now I just need to make the crafting systems. I am almost certain they will have their own wooden chips versions, but right now I cannot even craft the tables themselves.
A sudden change in scenery breaks me out of my search. We have exited the forest. And we now stand before the plain I started from. We exited a bit further down from where I first entered I think. I try to see if I can find the place where I cut down those few trees yesterday, but cannot. The poochyena starts walking in a diagonal path from the forest.
"Wait," I stop her. "Can you let me gather some supplies? It won't take long."
She growls in annoyance but let me. I quickly cut down a couple of trees, and Mewtwo tries to help, but whatever he does, the system does not consider it as having created a hatchet. I quickly gather the logs and branches and then gives a thumb up to our guide.
She huffs and resume her walk toward our destination. I resume my experimentation as does Mewtwo. I finally made one of the station: the tool station. With it I can finally assemble parts into a usable tool. Too bad I still do not have the part station. I am not sure if that will be the name but I feel like it could easily be. Now I just need to figure out how to make said station.
While I wrack my head and try dumber and dumber combinations, Mewtwo is playing with a log, trying to figure out how to use his powers as a hatchet. So far he has given me quite a lot of bark pieces, but nothing he does validates the quest. He tries multiple times to shape his powers into sharp psychic blades, but he cannot keep them solid enough. They keep breaking down the moment he tries to use them.
I feel so close to be able to use those blades, but it taxes my mind too much to even just hold them together! He tells me at some point, frustration bleeding from his every words. Words he has gotten really good at now. Too bad psychic communication is not a quest. He would have validated it hands down at this point. And that impresses me. Yesterday, he was barely able to send words that would not carry his very will to me, but now it is like I hear him talk directly into my mind. It is still unsettling, but the speed of his growth astonish me.
You are also growing quickly, you are getting more and more familiar with your system. You quickly seem to grasp what you need to achieve your goals.
"Eh, thanks, I still have a lot to learn." I reply with embarrassment. I still have a hard time reconciling the fact he can read my mind at all time.
So do I. This entire world is nothing but a mystery to us.
Yup, we have so much to learn still. May it be about this world or its inhabitants.
A distant bell echoes in the distance and I stop. Something the matter? Mewtwo's question stuns me.
"Did you not hear it?"
The bell chimes again, and a choir of voices start to whisper a chant. "Do you not hear that?"
Hear what? Uh? What is this?
The bell chimes again, the choir grows louder. You are the only one hearing this. How is this possible? You hear it so loudly!
"What?" I blink in confusion as the bell chimes once more and the choir grows louder still. Something shift in the air.
I turn around and see it. Mewtwo also sees it as does our guide. The little poochyena places herself in front of us and start to growl.
A few meters away from us. A small spark is dancing in the air. Little lightning bolts are escaping from it. The bell chimes, and the spark flares. More bolts escapes, and the chanting continues to swell. What the choir is singing is incomprehensible. The words almost seem to twist on themselves as they are said. The bell chimes again, and again, and again.
And the spark suddenly expands. It forms a flaming circle. What appears within the circle is quite different from the plain surrounding it. The circle of flames open onto the interior of a building. Dark stone pavements, pillars and high stained-glass windows are visible. The entire interior is bathed in a sickly purple-red light. One of the stained glass has a strange symbol visible on it: a black diamond shaped eye, with a red round iris containing another diamond shaped iris this one a dark red in color, with a vertical black pupil at the center.
However our attention is quickly diverted from the symbol. A massive figure steps out of the portal. A knight, dressed in dark grey medieval armor with golden trim. A long crimson cape flows from behind him and a crimson skirt hides most of the armored legs. He is easily taller than Mewtwo.
He steps out of the portal and the portal quickly collapses. He unsheathes a long sword with a crimson blade. He looks at me, ignoring the poochyena and even Mewtwo, and declares... something?
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
His words are similar to those of the choir, it sounds as if he has just said three sentences at once each in their own foreign language, none of which I understand. Is this thing even human? The title given by the WAYLA system is 'Crimson Praetor'-
"We run."
I could not stop myself. We cannot win. That man is literally a killing machine. An ascended knight from the Crimson order, the cult worshiping Eziakophael, lord of the Ezian plane. The praetor is a highly trained warrior able to wield powerful magic and wards. We are doomed. So doomed that my broken memories have just resigned themselves. My unlocking memories just continue to give me fact about the Praetor.
If we fight that man, we will die. A glance at the poochyena confirms it. She had seemed ready to take on whatever would come out of the portal, but now her ears are down against her head and her tail is tucked between her legs. I can see her entire body is shaking and it is not anticipation.
Our reaction is clearly not lost on the praetor as he starts to laugh. Nope! We are out. I jump on the poochyena and start running. I do not care that she barks at me and try to make me let go, we need distance and we need it NOW! An unseen force trips me down and a torrent of lightning passes over me. I'll try to delay it! Go!
"Don't!" I shoot back, "Just run, we'll have to find each over again later!" I scramble back to my feet and run without looking back. The poochyena struggles in my arms but I ignore it, holding her tighter. The thunderous laugh of the praetor echoes behind us and I go even faster.
Power will be an issue soon, but power is an issue I can worry about once I am sure I will survive that encounter! The lightning barrage would have fried me without Mewtwo. After a few minutes of running, I look behind me. I can cover a lot of distance if I go as fast as I can, and thankfully, the praetor is no longer visible. I sigh in relief-
The world spins, I feel my arms becoming boneless. The poochyena yaps in surprise. I touch the ground. Once, twice, then a third time where I just keep on rolling. Red screens full of warning clutter my sight and I am barely able to read any of them. Most are about shattered or twisted parts. My sense of direction seems fucked for some reason.
I try to raise my left arm, but it only pushes against the floor. What? Why? I try again, looking left, and seeing my left arm made of flesh. What? No! OH FUCK! My head has gone backward. I look to the side and see the Praetor approaching. He... He just punched me so hard my head made a half turn. But I'm still alive? How much punishment can this body take?
I quickly push myself upright, the inverted sensation making me slightly nauseous. I cannot run. That much I now know. I also can survive my vertebrae dislocating. Oh hey, I can see what my spine looks like. Not the time though. Once I am back up, I turn around, so my front faces him. I then take my head in my hand and twist. With a clack the sound of metal scratching against metal, I realign my head to face forward. Once I am done, I feel like part of my movement are now limited. I see some warning messages disappearing, but others replace them. I gulp. That just took almost two third of my remaining power. I can feel my body growing hot. The repair system is clearly hard at work.
The praetor seems to have waited for me to get back up. And with speed almost as close to Rick, he closes the gap between us. I barely evade the second punch and earn a sound of amused surprise from the praetor. I also glimpse something. His sword is sheathed. He has determined that I would not be worthy of his blade.
This gives me an idea. A third punch comes and I barely react in time.Both my hands close on the sword hilt just as the punch lands. I can hear something tear on my neck, and a new slew of windows appear. I ignore them. I sail through the air, my hands still clutching what I have just taken from the praetor. My fall this time is softer, not because I could land better, but because something cushions it. Mewtwo's telekinetic powers slow me enough for me to land on my feet.
I look around and can see Mewtwo floating above me. He sends me a thumbs up and I nod. We will have to defeat the praetor if we wish to continue our existence.
----------------------------------------
Mewtwo is ready to throw down. As much as the sight of the Praetor had rattled Astra, some sort of instinct tells Mewtwo they can take it down. He saw Astra fall off, he saw his head twisted backward, But he also saw that he survived the hit. There is a chance. And they will take it.
The poochyena is gone, it seems to have run off the moment Astra let her go. He takes her out of his mind for now, and summon swift stars aimed directly to the praetor. Ten, twenty, thirty. At fifty, he launches them. The moment they are sent, he duck down, he is almost certain a counter attack will come.
The small yellow stars all impact the praetor, most are stopped by hexagonal ethereal shields, but a few manage to pass and impact the Praetor. The Praetor goes to retaliate, but takes a slight second to find Mewtwo. Mewtwo takes advantage of that. As the lightnings coalesces in the Praetor hand, Mewtwo strikes. A glint passes through his eyes and the lightning dies, disabled.
The Praetor reels back from some unseen backlash. Astra rushes forward, and slash. The hexagon shields come to life again, but clearly weakened. When Astra manages to strike a second time, some shatters. His third strike is interrupted by the Praetor armored arm. Mewtwo act swiftly. The Praetor is quick, but with a push of telekinesis, Mewtwo is able to push Astra out of the Praetor return punch.
Mewtwo hears Astra grunt. He look toward him for a second and what he sees makes him freeze for a second. On his right arm, his tattoo is flaring, unseen energies fighting back against strange dark tendrils burrowing under his right hand skin. The sword he has taken is slowly hurting him. The timer they are under just became even shorter.
Think, we need a way to stop that warrior. Changing the terrain will not work. I can only do harassement. And then an idea clicks. The new path he has unlocked with his recent level up has a lot of flexibility. A lot of flexibility he could use. He gathers his strength and pebbles surrounded by a blue aura slowly appears.
The Praetor ignores Mewtwo's preparations and focuses once more on Astra. As he is about to reach Astra, Mewtwo sends the first wave of pebbles. Which are no longer pebbles at this point. Arrows of hardened rock fly toward the Praetor. None penetrates its armor, but some impact with enough force to stagger the warrior. And that stagger is immediately taken advantage of by Astra. The remaining shields shatter and the sword continues. It bounces back against the Praetor armor, but this is the first direct hit Astra has done, and the reaction from the Praetor is telling.
The strike leaves a mark on the armor, the Praetor looks down in shock and then act with clear haste. The punch is even sloppier than before, to the point Astra actually manages to avoid it by himself. He ducks beneath it and then comes right up, striking again, this time he goes for the leg joint in the armor. The hit fails to penetrate but tears down part of the crimson skirt, which seems to anger the Praetor even more. They start to speak in their incomprehensible tongue again and flames slowly gather in their hands.
Mewtwo quickly moves at the sight. He put himself straight in the line of sight of the Praetor and once more disable their powers. The roar of anger and annoyance that follows tells Mewtwo enough. Their powers have backfired again. He is starting to really appreciate this little ability.
Astra capitalizes on the Praetor annoyance and strikes once more.This time the sword bites into the Praetor leg, and he goes down on one knee. Astra dislodge the blade quickly.
Go for the neck! I will help! Mewtwo sends as he rushes behind the Praetor.
The Praetor head and neck is heavily defended, his helmet covers both completely. Having seen the damage the sword had done to the armor, Mewtwo can gather it will need to bypass the helmet to make a killing strike. And so, Mewtwo moves behind the Praetor.
Physically, Mewtwo considers himself weaker than Astra, but he can still compensate with his powers. With a grunt of effort, Mewtwo pulls back the helmet. The Praetor tries to dislodge him, but their bulky armor prevents them from reaching him.
GO! Mewtwo screams at Astra.
And Astra goes. The helmet has sufficiently come up. The sword slashes and red blood splashes the both of them. The roars of anger from the Praetor turn into wet gurgles. Astra keeps forcing the sword until, finally it completely goes through. Mewtwo falls backward with the now separated head.
He roars in victory, a primal urge to declare their win overcoming him.
Achievement got: Raid survivor.
(Defeat a crimson raid. They will come next to you every week! Have fun with them)
Reward: 100xp, 3 Exp. candy S
Achievement got: Commander killer.
(Slay a Crimson Praetor. The bigger they are- EDIT: HOW THE FUCK DID YOU MANAGE THAT ON YOUR SECOND DAY????)
Reward: 500xp, 2 Exp. candy M
Both screens pop up at the same time. Mewtwo simply look at them in confusion and worry. They will have to face such a threat every weeks? How? They barely survived that one? A thud makes him look away from his screens and toward Astra. The human has let go of the sword and is swaying on his legs.
Astra?
"No... Power... left... need... food..." And he then falls forward.
Almost all of Mewtwo's screens immediately wink out of existence. And in the distance, the howl of poochyenas and mightyenas become audible.