Defeating a horde with dozens of monsters proved harder than I initially thought. It started off well, but everything went downhill when I got surrounded. I should have listened to Ririna and ran away before I got surrounded. I ended up getting burned for nothing.
“Iroha! What took you so long? Didn’t I tell you not to get yourself hurt?” I met up with Ririna behind the rock we were using as cover.
“Sorry… I thought I’d be able to do it, but there were too many of them.” I sat down to catch my breath, and Ririna crouched next to me.
“Don’t worry… This is pretty much an impossible task. Our situation is pretty much hopeless… Wait… What happened to your leg? We need to take care of that!” Right… I didn’t think about it at the time, but that’s gonna leave a scar, isn’t it? At least I can cover it up by replacing the ripped tight high…
“Was it really that hopeless?” Is Ririna right? I did pretty well, didn’t I? If only I was just a bit stronger… I’m almost at that break point where fighting off the horde would be a breeze. They’re all low-level monsters, so a few more levels, and they won’t be able to do anything to me. Except for maybe that fox monster… That one was dangerous… Was it higher level than me? It gave me the same feeling I got when I fought that big Golem Muncher. I got caught up in the moment, but I don’t want to fight that fox again. Maybe it is hopeless… Who knows what other strong monsters might show up…
“It’s impossible. Look at how quickly you got hurt. Why didn’t you retreat as soon as I warned you? Did you really think you could take on all of them?” Ririna tended to my burn, but I wasn’t even that hurt. In a few more tries, with a few more levels…
“No, no… It’s possible, Ririna. Even if I can’t defeat all of them at once, if I keep chipping away at their numbers, it might be possible. An entire week is plenty of time. We can probably wipe them out and save the town before the deadline…” At the very least, it’s not completely impossible…
“What are you saying? You’re gonna do what you just did over and over until they’re all gone? That’s not gonna work—you’re not gonna last until the end of the week.”
“You don’t know that… It will work! I said I wasn’t gonna let the town kill you! Even if it’s risky, if that’s what it takes to save you, then I’m gonna do it! I don’t care about getting hurt.” Ririna stopped moving her hands and looked at me with a surprised face. Her cheeks were slightly rosy. She shakes her head briefly and focuses on my burn again.
“Even so, I told you this was my problem! I’m the only one who should be getting hurt! You decided to help me, and… well… I’m happy for that… But you promised you wouldn’t get yourself hurt for my sake! Just like you don’t want me to die, I also don’t want to see you get hurt because of me… If you insist on being reckless, I’m going to turn myself in.” Ririna pouted stubbornly.
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“How’s that different from giving up? If I can’t fight them, we’re not getting out of this mess!” Losing Ririna is something I cannot accept. She told me to forget about her if we can’t solve this situation, but there’s no way I’d be able to forget.
“I’m not giving up! If you haven’t given up, then I won’t either… I told you I’d give it a try… If you’re by my side, then I won’t turn myself in yet.” Ririna’s voice sounded sweet. “Besides, we didn’t come here to solve the problem right now, remember? We came to check on the situation. Now that we know where we stand, we can try to come up with a plan to deal with the hordes. We may not be able to beat them as we are now, but what if we can find another approach?”
“Right… That was our goal, wasn’t it? What are you thinking?”
“First, let’s go over what we’ve learned. Why weren’t you able to keep fighting? What problems did you run into? You need more power, don’t you? I don’t know anything about physical combat, so correct me if I’m wrong.”
More power, huh? It certainly wouldn’t hurt… I ran out of MP at the end, and that was the biggest problem. With more power, I wouldn’t have to rely on my skills so much, and I would have been able to fight for longer. But is that the biggest problem? “More power would definitely have helped, but the biggest problem is that I got surrounded. That really complicated things.”
“Right, that’s a good point. So the fact that you’re getting surrounded and the lack of power are our two biggest problems. Anything else?” Monsters that can use magic are a problem too. But if I had more strength, I could have gotten to the fox monster. It’s only because it used the other monsters as shields that I wasn’t able to beat it. At least that’s what I think… It’s certainly smarter than the other monsters. Is there a way to catch it by surprise? “By the way, I’m done treating your leg. You should be good now.”
“Huh? Wow… It’s completely healed up.” It’s like I didn’t even get hurt in the first place. Turns out I won’t have to worry about scars after all. I stood up, and there was no pain at all. Ririna’s proven before that she’s good with her hands, this should come as no surprise. I was trying not to think about it, but she was touching my leg a lot just now… I’m getting embarrassed again… No, now’s not the time for this, we’re in the middle of a serious conversation…
“So, I’m not really sure where to start, but I’ve got an idea to make you stronger!” Ririna stood up and spoke with some enthusiasm. “It might sound crazy, and you don’t have to say yes, but hear me out. I’ve always liked the story of the Torn Violence Potion, and I discovered a way to make it without any of the side effects! If you’re up for it… It might be a good idea…”
“Torn Violence Potion?” Can’t say I’ve ever heard that name. I never cared much for consumables in games, so it’s natural I wouldn’t remember the name of a potion from this world. If it even appeared in the game, that is.
“You don’t like it, do you? That’s alright, I know how crazy it sounds. Just because I tell you I can remove the madness effect, it’s normal you wouldn’t just take my word for it. This is the Torn Violence Potion we’re talking about after all… We’ll think of something else then. I can make other types of strength potions.” It’s a type of strength potion? Ririna was jumping to conclusions, but I didn’t even say anything.
“I’m not saying no to your idea. I’ve just never heard of that potion before. Is it dangerous? You said it causes madness?”
“Wait! You’ve never heard about it? How is that possible? You did say you were from somewhere remote, but I thought most people knew about it… It’s a pretty well-known fairy tale.” This was a common-sense check? I made Ririna more suspicious about me… Good job, me.
“Sorry, I never heard about it. I don’t think it reached where I’m from… Ahahaha…” Or maybe it did reach me, and I just forgot. Maybe it was a piece of lore from the game that I didn’t pay much attention to. Who knows?
“I’ll tell you the story then. It’s an infamous potion for a reason. I think it’s only fair for you to know before you decide what to do. I found a way to remove the side effects, but it’s fine if you don’t want it. I don’t want to force you into anything.”
She’s making it sound like such a big deal… I have to admit, I’m getting curious now. “Tell me the story. I want to know.”
“Alright, where do I start…? Let me tell you the basics first. The Torn Violence Potion gives whoever drinks it a huge increase in strength. However, it also drives them crazy and makes them lose their minds. That’s where it gets its name from. I’m sure you can already tell, but the potion is named after that legend.”
“It’s named after the Violence Witch.”