“A hired killer and a criminal,” Yoshitsune said with a slight hint of disappointment staining her voice. “How were you killed?”
“Execution,” I answered plainly with a laugh. “It was funny, some minor internet celebrity murdered his girlfriend and sloppily left it behind in Okefenokee. Cops found the bones of several other missing persons while they tried to fish out the corpse. A couple of them were my own handiwork. One of my former clients got sweaty and blabbed as soon as any pressure got applied. I got exposed along with Terry and a couple others. But, the investigation into me connected me to several other cold case killings over the years so I was sentenced to death. I very much deserve to be down here.”
“Do you regret it?” She asked.
I remained silent for a moment. Yoshitsune wanted a tortured soul like her to be her companion. Unfortunately, I would not be a suitable person to commiserate with. Instead, I decided to simply choose my words a bit more carefully to make it seem a little justified.
“No, I replied simply. “Everyone that I dealt with was scum. I wouldn’t say that they deserved to be killed like that, but I don’t regret it. Also, when I was offered a lighter punishment in exchange for giving up names and connections, I refused. I’m no traitor. At least I didn’t maim any kids, my brave samurai.”
Yoshitsune shrank as I turned her crimes back her way. It was refreshing that she accepted her own culpability in her actions, orders or no.
“You’re right,” she admitted with a defeated posture. “I was overly harsh. You seem to be honest about loyalty to your comrades, as despicable as they may be. I will accept you as my comrade as well. What is it that you desire in payment for your assistance?”
I put my hand to my chin and scratched my rough scales. There was not much in the way of items that I could use nor did I even know if my targets had anything worth taking. Even if they did, weapons were useless for me and my scales acted as suitable armor. There was only one thing that I wanted from Yoshitsune.
“I want your cooperation after this is over,” I answered, much to the demon’s surprise. “I realize that braving this world alone is suicide and your abilities have impressed me enough that I want to recruit you.”
“I am willing to accompany you until we reach the level cap of the region,” Yoshitsune replied.
“That is more than appropriate," I answered, with a smile.
image [https://i.imgur.com/Q7XkfWk.jpeg]
Quest!
Murder Mitsuhide:
Our pitiful warrior wants to avenge her unfortunate death at the hands of her comrades. Butcher the traitors and leave their remains at the mercy of the aggrieved.
Reward: Loyalty from Yoshitsune until Level 20 is reached.
“So, what is this method for getting stronger?” I asked, curious of the plan that Yoshitsune devised.
“Ishmael-san, you have not leveled-up to 6 yet, have you?” Yoshitsune asked.
My mouth opened, but did not produce an answer. I knew that I definitely earned enough XP to level up between saving Yoshitsune and the deaths of all of those beasts. However, I did not recall ever receiving a notification that I had leveled up. I opened up my character page to investigate the discrepancy.
image [https://i.imgur.com/8B6IEmX.jpeg]
Name: Ishmael
Level 5
HP: 199/199 MP: 0/0
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Title: The One Who Entertains the Aspect of Wrath
EXP: 4775/2500
Transformation: Reptilian (Stage 3)
Stats:
Strength: 38.19 (+6.82)
Agility: 27.47 (+6.82)
Magic: 0
Body: 40.04 (+6.82)
Armor: 10 (Natural)
Passive Abilities: Taken in One’s Prime. They Don’t Make Them like They Used To (D). A True Beast Has No Need for Magic (D). The Body is the Best Weapon (E). Lernaean Blood.
Active Abilities: Flaying Tail. Sanguine Bite. Acid Spit.
Notoriety: Demon of the Depths. You ripped to shreds the only safety that these poor lost souls ever knew. For better or for worse, they are on their own. Your actions will never leave their thoughts. +1 Level to all skills.
As it turned out, I had already far exceeded the requirements for leveling up. A new color appeared over my current XP as if to loudly display the strange situation.
“Oh, that is peculiar,” I commented. “I have already far exceeded the level-up requirement. I wonder if there is a way to level up now.”
“No!” Yoshitsune shouted in a way that was quite uncharacteristic and made me snap into attention. “This is what we want. Now that you have advanced from the tutorial and you use XP as currency, you must purchase level ups. My previous group made the decision to purchase levels as soon as we got it. When you are Level 10, then the creatures here don’t give any XP or bonus stats.”
The lightbulb in my head shone brilliant light on an entire realm of new possibilities. When and how you level became a game of its own. The perfect demon would not level up from the minimum until they maximized their stat gain and purchased all the equipment they needed. If they managed to survive until that point, that is.
“But there must be some limit to the amount of stats you can siphon off the monsters,” I said, doubting that there was such a simple exploit to the system.
“That is true,” Yoshitsune conceded. “We will only level when we stop gaining additional stats. I haven’t been able to use this method myself, but we had met someone far stronger than us who had.”
Seeing no glaring flaws in Yoshitsune’s grand plan, I accompanied her down the sand hill and back towards the shores of the tar lake. She reached down and picked up a crab that was relaxed upon the beach. The poor crustacean was lobbed into the lake, making a small plop in the active surface of the tar.
Ripples formed on the surface before quickly turning into waves as creatures emerged from the displaced tar to hunt down the ones that disturbed their rest.
It wasn’t enviable work. We traveled from shore to shore to obliterate the beasts that lurked within. We would allow the first creature to call for help while systematically disassembling the reinforcements without much concern or danger of retribution.
I swallowed my dissatisfaction at the loss of danger I felt towards these combats. It was my necessary sacrifice to suitably prepare myself for greater challenges in the future. Yoshitsune’s methods were surgical and sterile, indicative of someone that possessed a fair amount of experience in military command. Our battles were innumerous and without struggle. The numbers only climbed and climbed and climbed as we subjected the local ecosystem to a mass extinction event that only mankind could inflict upon nature.
Even with a sky, it was still ceaselessly gray and did not show the passage of the day. I felt like a retiree glued to a Vegas slot machine, oblivious to the hours that disappeared behind the addictive clunk of the lever.
I still felt like I was freshly dead; that I had only spent a short time in the depths of Hell. But, that could just be the delirium of limbo. Weeks, even months, could have already passed without me ever being the wiser.
“My growth has ceased,” Yoshitsune reported, a massive plume of miasma flowing from the blade of her sword.
I looked up at her as I ripped apart a bouncing beast. As I looked up my stats for the unknown time since we began, I frowned.
“I think I have a couple more,” I replied.
It took four more kills before I reached my own limit and purchased my way to Level 6. It was already immediately apparent how much worse it would get the higher up they got. Something about the larger growth requirement combined with the lower XP income infuriated me to no end. It was a reminder of the cruelty of inflation and stagnant wages of my impoverished childhood. No wonder the demons who ruled took inspiration from the worst human inventions.
As I was in the depths of my monotonous slaughter, a sharp scream broke me from my mindless killing. Across the tar lakes, the figure of a demon could be seen. They were slowly being overwhelmed by the murky inhabitants. Just like my first encounter, their limbs seemed to be slowly crippled.
“That’s the common way people go,” Yoshitsune commented, her attention also grabbed by the unfolding desperation. “You die from the mounting injuries and they drag your corpse into the lake to feed on. That, or you get found by roaming demons that steal your stats and your life. We can go that way and clear out the beasts.”
“Poor bastard,” I joked as I watched the creatures close in on them. Must have been a new Level 5 that got unlucky with where they were dropped.
But, an idea flared up in my mind; an idea that only my memories of Charles could conjure up. There was a more effective way to go about this. I cursed internally that my memories of that damnable Charles that inspired me to reach this conclusion.
“Yoshitsune,” I said, gaining the samurai’s attention. “I want to save that demon, but I want you to follow my lead.”
“I assume it is not out of the kindness of your heart, Ishmael-san,” Yoshitsune replied.
“I’m sure that they will find it kind compared to what is in store for them,” I argued. “Besides, it will benefit both of us tremendously.”
“Fine, lead the way.”