“Doesn’t your village have others to deal with this?! I am in no shape whatsoever to be qualified for this sort of thing…”
“Well… Uh… It’d be best if I gave you a bit more detail back at my house.” Nerth directed, flailing the strips of clothing from his arms.
I swear Donum must’ve said something outrageous to convince them that I was truly some mighty warrior, which I am DEFINITELY NOT! Hell, even the Zox encounter was just sheer luck. A fluke even! That decimator person literally self-destructed… Why was he even acting that way after I broke his mask..?
We stepped inside the chief’s house. Immediately after first entering, I smelt the familiar scent of sap and incense wafting throughout the rooms. The place also didn’t have any windows, leaving it to be rather dark inside. He lit a few candles, which had a very nice fruity aroma… I must say, that’s probably the best scent I’ve ever had the pleasure of smelling…
As he sat down, his wife, who was sweeping the floors, stood right by his side in a rather formal pose. I’m guessing that’s a custom of theirs here. I took a seat as well, sitting on the diagonal to him at the table. The old man also took a seat to my right and passed Liberus back to me.
“No need to be so tense! Here, have some sana leaf tea.”
His wife then walked towards me with a wooden cup in hand and poured some of the tea with a kettle. It appeared rather fancy, consisting of many intricate patterns and also being made of metal, so I’m assuming Donum sold that to their family. I blew on the cup and took a light sip, careful as to not to burn my tongue.
“How is it?” The chief asks with his hand planted on the table.
“Mmm! It’s great..!”
“Right? That tea really soothes your nerves!”
I lied. Oh my god it was so bitter! I didn’t want to really be rude though… Yet, it did ease up my nervousness a little. I’m guessing whatever these sana leaves have are a whole lot tamer than that fibiko drug…
“Now, to clear up a few things for you, Ranku. To answer your first question… we really don’t have any skilled fighters in our village, nor does anyone here possess an accumulation…”
“So then… Why ask me to calm down a wild animal? I’m assuming that your village is full of hunters? Shouldn’t they have more expertise when it comes to these situations?”
“Well, we tried that. It didn’t work out too smoothly. Although our village treats the Huntair in high regard, we know little to nothing about its behavior. Not a single one of us has even spotted it, despite the screeches haunting the poor kids…”
“I-I know nothing about it too! I’ve only heard of it from tales!”
“However, what you have that the hunters don't, is experience. Donum has told me all about what you’ve done over at Inwell, and I must say, you’re definitely more powerful than the rest of us. Even with that one arm of yours, you could probably knock out our whole village with no sweat!”
“Haha, oh surely not!” I say, admittedly flattered by his compliment.
“Speaking of which, you possess an accumulation, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do in fact. It’s a rather odd-”
“GREAT! So… Does the Venari village have your cooperation?”
To be honest, I was quite pressed on that decision. It’s almost as if they don’t see the fact that my arm is lying in a damn cast… however, I’d like to help out… But… MAN! I really can’t risk it just for a bit of some gratitude…
“Sorry… I can’t promise tha-”
“We’ll reward you handsomely with Kols, if that’s what you desire-”
“I’m in. Wait… no… How much are we talking?”
“Well, considering how much of an issue this is for the future of the village, I’ll offer around 100 thousand.”
“WHA?! THAT MUCH?! A-ARE YOU SURE?!”
“Well uh… yes?”
“SIGN ME UP! I’LL MAKE SURE THIS HUNTAIR LEAVES SOME ANIMALS TO SHARE WITH YOU!”
----------------------------------------
“And so… you accepted their deal once you heard money… right..?” Liberus questioned me as we were already quite deep into the Termena forest. Like last night, it was dead quiet, only the gales above filled that silence, alongside me attempting to not get tangled by these tall ass grass…
“Yeah… I couldn’t help myself…”
“You promised me that you wouldn’t get into more of these situations! Welp, HERE WE ARE! TRYING TO CALM DOWN A BEAST SAID TO BE THE FASTEST IN THE WORLD!”
“Yo, can you maybe try like, keeping it down a bit..?”
“I genuinely don’t know what goes on in your head.” As he complained again, waving his ribbon around like a lunatic… “Didn’t I tell you that you could just make the money back at Baricht once we do get there?”
“But 100 thousand! Think about the things you could do with all of that money! That’s enough to buy enough bread to fill an entire boat!”
“Why… are you gauging it’s worth in bread..?”
“Well, what do you suggest I spend my money on, huh?”
“For starters, get some new damn clothes! I mean look at you! You’re a complete mess!”
“Hm… I suppose you’re right… I really should drop this raggedy coat already-”
“Oi, wait, stop. STOP ALREADY!”
“What? WHAT?!”
“Look. On the ground.”
I turned my attention to where Liberus was pointing to. Streaks of smudged dirt, spanning quite a distance away. Everyone tells me how fast the Huntair is, however I didn’t expect for it to literally slightly singe even the grass down below… Some of it was just straight up burnt… I’m shocked that this place hasn’t even burnt down yet.
We followed the trail, hoping for it to lead somewhere, however after passing over rocks and vegetation, the streaks just wouldn’t end… Jeez… and the villagers expect me to calm this fucker down?!
“Maybe we should just give up honestly…” Liberus sighed. I know it’s been about an hour since we began following it, I didn’t want to lose my chances yet.
“Nah. We’re doing this from start to finish. And besides, I got a bit of a trick up my sleeve!”
“You… do..?”
I pull down the goggles from my hair and adjust them to comfortably fit my eyes. Heh… he’ll be so amazed at what these bad boys can do-
“Didn’t you forget to use those back at the Zox-”
“Shut up. Watch this! I can zoom if I flick the second lever here! Lemme just- ACK! WHA?! EVERYTHING’S BLACK AGAIN!”
“AHAHAHA! You hyped it all up just for it to conk on you?!”
“NO! I JUST FLICKED THE… Third… lever… wait…”
Wait a second, those blue splotches I saw last night… There were a shit ton of them around the Huntair’s trails… The hell? Man I WISH I asked Grace about what this damn third option did…
“Lemme have a go on those.”
“Sure… The first two levers are pretty self-explanatory, however the third lever I just flicked does some weird funky shit…”
I stamped one of the glasses of the goggles onto Liberus’ face and held it there for him to come up with an answer, hoping he’d at least somewhat have one… As much of a prick he is, he’s still quite intelligent compared to most that I’ve met. I also made sure to follow whatever direction he was facing.
“Well…”
“You know what that blue stuff is?” I pull the goggles away from Liberus’ eye and place them back onto my head. Please tell me he does…
“Obviously not! You think I’m omniscient?”
“Tch. Do you at least have a guess as to what it is..?”
“Hm… It could be relin. Try looking directly at me. If I’m correct, I should be glowing completely blue right now.”
I followed his advice. Putting them back on, I shuffled the goggles and to my surprise, I couldn’t even see him through the goggles… Weird…
“Nothing changed when I’m looking at you dude. Are you sure it’s whatever this relin thing is?”
“Really? Well… I guess I was wrong about what the goggles are seeing…”
“Wait… so what the fuck even is relin..? I swear you already know more than me and you’ve been here for about two weeks at this point…”
“One of Vale’s books. Relin apparently is the concentration of energy, which was the discovery of the Great Pioneer. It’s what fuels accumulations.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?! No wonder why that ‘repel’ thing exhausted me so much…”
“It’s a bit odd though…”
“Odd? What’s odd?”
“Normally when relin is exhausted from an individual, they simply just can’t use their accumulations for a short period of time… and yet… it’s your body that gets punished for expending so much…”
“Seriously… What the hell were you in your past life…”
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“I wish I knew that! I really do! Now focus. I saw a trail of that blue stuff going deeper into the forest here.” He points further away from where we came. I took the goggles and zoomed in as much as I could without having my sight blocked by the vast amount of trees. There appears to be some sort of cave up ahead…
“Yep. I can see something alright! That’s probably where it lives.”
“Wait a damn minute! Ugh… Slow down will you?”
“What?” As I say, rushing towards the cave. Although this is quite an opportunity for me right now, I’d rather not waste so much time being too cautious. We don’t have much time left until dad and Vel leave Baricht.
“Jeez… At least be a bit more careful. Especially considering you’re not even watching where you’re stepping…” Liberus, trailing behind me. And what does he mean that I’m not looking where I’m-
“HMPH!” Okay… maybe I should’ve listened… I face planted straight into a bush… Really nice…
“At this point, I can’t even laugh… I just feel pity…”
“Ugh… I don’t wanna hear it.” Crunching the twigs and swiping the leaves out of my face, I pick myself back up to find ourselves right in front of the cave.
“Well, at least we’re here! Ready, Liberus?”
“What choice do I have? Let’s see what's inside…”
I slipped the goggles back on and navigated my way through the large tunnel. The dripping of water droplets echoed throughout the cave, along with the rattling of what appeared to be the remains of its prey… God… it smelt so foul in here… I almost gagged at the stench of some of the corpses, some of which were just straight up rotting… It really goes to show how this thing hunts… Most of these bodies were straight up decapitated…
“Don’t tell me those goggles also have night vision…”
“Ha! Oh right! You don’t have this luxury! I’m honestly loving these features!”
“Just let me in the damn bag already!”
“Here. Make it quick. We don’t have much time until it’ll probably return, ‘cause right now, I’m suspecting that it’s out at the moment.”
“What makes you think that, bushface?”
“Well the screeches came from where the sun rose, and this cave is located on the opposite side-Did you just call me bushface?”
“Hm? The hell you talking about? I’m just asking a questio-”
“That’s it. Out of the bag. Have fun getting lost!” I shook the bag, spewing Liberus onto the cold, wet stone floor. Calling me names now huh? He is SO getting it once we’re back from this damn job…
“HEY! YOU GOT MY PAGES ALL WE-”
SCREEEEEEECH!!!
SHIT! IT’S HERE?! FUCK WHERE DO I HIDE?! WE MADE TOO MUCH NOISE! UH… UH…
“QUICK! RANKU! HIDE BENEATH THESE! HURRY! I'M BENEATH THESE PILES OF BONES! OVER HERE!”
I immediately plunge into the hill of skeletons and find a spot where I wouldn’t have them move on me. Shit… that was close… I shouldn’t make a sound. Nothing. If I were to make a single noise, at least have it be drowned out by the occasional drips…
It was getting closer. I could hear its steps… the pebbles scurried down the cave as if they were afraid too. Liberus was so still, he almost resembled a normal book to me for a brief moment. This was it. I was about to see what was a creature of fiction in my eyes. Just then, a leg crossed the corner.
The thoughts that filled my head were just about the same as with the encounter with the Decimator, however things were slightly different. The constant clicking of its teeth prevented me from even thinking straight… Those large, void black eyes consumed even the faintest of light that the cave had left. Those legs… they were by far its most notable feature… They were nothing short of absolutely abnormal… How is this even possible to find in nature?! The fastest thing I know of is a fruddia and even then, their legs pale in comparison to this monstrosity of a creature…
Then, this terrifying fucker threw three creatures that were skewered from its left appendage right next to the pile of bones we were hiding underneath. I couldn’t even smell any of the putrid odors anymore… All I could smell were the walls and floors that were painted red… I wanted to vomit. I really did. The pain from my arm wasn’t helping any of this. But all I could do was to keep it in, close my eyes and calm myself down… Keep still… Don’t think of anything now… All that matters is survival…
I opened them right back up, and… it was gone?! Already?! I didn’t even notice a thing! Right… it was fast as fuck… I roll to my side towards Liberus.
“Dude. It’s gone. Wake up dammit!”
“It is? Thank god you stood still…”
“I wish I could’ve pulled off what you did there. But c’mon, we have to go deeper. We still don’t know why it’s running rampant.”
I carefully removed the bones on top of me and stood back up. My clothes dripped alongside the ambience, but that didn’t matter now. We both pressed onwards, until we found a rather deep hole, wide enough for probably the Huntair to slide through…
“You think we should go down here?” I asked while attempting to make out what laid down there. LIberus nodded in agreement. Well, I prepared to brace myself in case the drop is much deeper than it was made out to be, which it wasn’t.
“W-what the… What… is this…”
My eyes couldn’t even begin to comprehend what the two of us were seeing. A fucking enormous- No… a MOUNTAIN of bones were pilled right in the middle of the large room that we just found ourselves in… That wasn’t all. There was a sole skeleton of what appeared to be that of a person covered in nothing but black fur arranged in a strangely familiar way, sitting on top of a throne. A throne made entirely of skulls.
“Just… what is this…”
“You tell me! I still can’t see a damn thing!”
“Hold on a damn second! Lemme take a closer look at this thing…”
I scaled the pile to get a closer look of the throne. I hesitantly pushed aside the black fur which an intriguing bracelet shone from beneath. I had a hunch this was causing its rage. But I seriously have no clue as to what this thing is…
“What was that? I saw something glow red!”
“A bracelet! This might be the cause!” I wave towards him with it resting in my palm.
“Are you seriously just going to make that assumption?! You might as well just call that a rinky dinky antique! Why do you think it’s the cause anyway?”
“Uh… I dunno? It’s emitting this weird energy, so I assume so? I’ll show you what I mean-”
The hell? I didn’t even notice these odd patterns on the floor… It was encircled in some strange symbols, alongside three large streaks right in the dead center… Seriously, this creature keeps giving me more questions than answers… I scale down the bones, with some following alongside me, rattling as they land.
“You notice them too?” Liberus floats towards my side.
“Yeah… Just what the fuck is going on?! Is this thing tryna summon something?”
“By the way, while you were desecrating that body over there, I found this over here!”
“I did NOT desecrate the skeleton… It was just… uh… merely handing their belongings down to someone who could actually use them!”
“Uh huh… anyways, follow me over here. I found a book that you might want to take with you. From what I’ve read, it appears to be some sort of diary. Looks like it belonged to this guy right here.” He points towards another single skeleton, isolated from the heap of bones.
“A diary? And why would I want something of that sort to take with me?”
I took the book to read it for myself. I highly doubt that there’s anything here that can be of use to me-
“...”
“See? What did I tell you? Pretty interesting, ain’t it?”
Journal Entry #231: Noticing various changes with the behavior of classes with accumulations. Each appears to have varying subclasses depending on the mindset and experiences of the individual. Interestingly, these subclasses are not static and can evolve further based on significant life events or intense training. I have been getting into closer contact with the Huntair, which exceeds an abnormal amount of relin. Hopefully I am able to approach the concentrates of relin before it appears to further study and provide further information on subclasses.
“Subclasses..? I’ve at least heard of classes before, but subclasses?”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen any of that information back at the drunkard. This is probably some confidential information that the public isn’t meant to see yet.”
“I’ll read more on our trip to Baricht. Let’s get out of here. Now.”
I quickly stuffed both the bracelet and the diary into my bag and the two of us quickly scaled the hole. Alright, we’re out. I tightened my goggles one last time and adjusted them so that I’m able to see clearly. Past that fucking terrible stench, we eventually made it out. I really needed that fresh forest air, ‘cause damn that cave was awful… If my memory serves me correctly, we should be heading this way.
I didn’t feel that motivated to run at top speeds. That Huntair already freaked me out enough, I don’t need to stress my body even further.
“Stop. Ranku. RANKU!”
“Whaddya want now?!”
“Something’s following us.”
“Fuck, really..? No… stop with these jokes dude. They’re not funny.”
“I’m serious this time…”
Just then, I heard that same clicking again. I need to get out of here-Wait, no… that monster’s speed is otherworldly. I don’t have any hopes of running from this thing. What the hell do I do?! I need to hide, but there’s nothing for me to hide in. Hide. I need to hide. Where do I go?! FUCK! Can this accumulation of mine be of use at all?! I don’t want to waste any repels… My sword won’t do jackshit. I’ll just be swinging at nothing. This stupid power of mine is USELESS-Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit it’s right in front of me. I covered myself in my arm, bracing myself to probably be impaled.
“...”
Wait… wh-where the hell is my arm?! Wait… WHERE’S MY BODY?! IT’S GONE?! Did… I die? Am I a ghost now?! Wait no… I can still feel my body. It’s just… I can see through it… It’s totally invisible. I look upwards at the Huntair, looking just as confused as I am right now. Of course, Liberus just played dead and immediately flopped to the ground. Right now, all I could process was that apparently, I’m invisible right now. Was this thanks to my accumulation..? I thought all it could do was to simply erase shit that isn’t living and to push those that are away… Yet, I’ve basically erased myself…
The Huntair stood still, which to be honest, as much as this thing almost made me piss myself, it honestly looks kinda cool… I’m guessing it was trying to search for me, as it was constantly turning its head, clicking constantly with those teeth… On one of its hind legs though, I noticed a small object sticking out of it… I carefully plucked it out-
SCREEEEEEECH!!!
DAMN! Well okay… That almost made me fall on my back… Now what the hell is this thing..? “Property of Scathanna Enterprises”..? WAIT-
It disappeared?! Oh wait… I’m not… invisible anymore..? What… was that… I tried to replicate the same thing again, but to no avail. If I can somehow replicate what I just did. This could be huge. Now I won’t have to worry so much about being caught! This would make stealing so much easier! Wait, no. Stop it. I vowed to not do that shit again… Liberus was still playing dead… heh… I wonder if I can…
“AUGHHGH!!! NO! PLEASE! AHH!! SOMEONE SAVE ME…”
“WHA?! WAIT-”
“Gotcha!~”
“...”
“How funny. Wait… How are you alive? Genuinely? I could’ve sworn the Huntair was right next to us…”
“Oh! Actually funny thing is, apparently I’m able to turn invisible now!”
“Really? Let me see if I can find it in my pages… Usually new skills like these show up… Ah! Here we go! ‘Omit’... Kind of an odd name-”
“OMIT!”
“...”
“Nothing happened…”
“Well I’d assume that not all of your moveset consists of you shouting the name like a squealing kid.”
“Well it was worth a shot. Anyways, we should head back. I’d prefer not to stay in this damn forest for too long…”
----------------------------------------
“HAHA! YOU’VE MADE IT BACK! TELL ME! WERE YOU SUCCESSFUL?” Chief Nerth being much louder than usual…
“Yes! Indeed I was!”
“I KNEW IT! AND HERE I WAS BEGINNING TO DOUBT YOUR ABILITIES! Now tell me! What was the cause of the Huntair’s anger?”
I would’ve liked to tell the truth, however that truth is me knowing absolutely nothing of the source of it’s anger. The bracelet, the strange needle, the throne… All of these sound so unreasonable, and I’d rather not speak of it and have them explain to me everything I really saw… so…
“I found the cave it resided in to actually find a few eggs. It seems that it was preparing enough food for them once they hatch! I’m assuming it’ll calm down once it’s hunted for enough food for its children. ” PLEASE BUY IT, PLEASE BUY IT, PLEASE BUY IT…
“...”
“GLORIOUS! WHO WOULD’VE THOUGHT! HAHA! The guardian of the forest has offspring now? This warrants a feast! Please! Join us tonight! We shall celebrate this joyous day!”
“Uh… sure..!”
I wish I could’ve just taken the money and left. However, that night was rather nice actually. I’ve never been to any sort of celebration other than the occasional birthday that my family would celebrate once and a while, however this one felt very different. These people genuinely felt true joy. It was unlike that fake happiness back at the drunkard. Here, they celebrated till they passed out. The chief even gave a toast to commemorate my efforts. Shit, now I really felt guilty for lying to them… I couldn’t take back those words though. Hopefully this doesn’t affect them much…
An old woman also approached me and gave me a small jar of what appeared to be oil. She told me it would help heal my arm slightly faster, which was quite nice of her. I’ll try rubbing it for a few days in case it actually does do something though. I have a hard time believing these medicines do indeed work. Oh well, no hurt in trying.
The night passed quite faster than I expected it would've. By that time it was already morning. Man, I really did miss the comforts of an actual bed. That hard ass forest floor really did numbers on my back… Liberus and Donum were already prepared to leave, so, swinging my bag over my shoulder and slipping my goggles back on, we could finally leave for Baricht.
“Everyone ready?” Donum says whilst he takes his seat on the carriage.
As we also rest inside the carriage, we both say in unison:
“Let’s roll!”