I expected the owner of that very loud voice to walk right up to Flora and deck her, instead a guy with matted green hair stomped in front of Jurea.
"You remember me bitch?!"
I could smell the booze from his mouth from where I was standing.
"Should I?"
Jurea nonchalantly answered him.
"I am Tarn, brother of Arno."
"Again, you're not making it any easier to remember you."
"You and my brother had words. My brother was gonna give you the honor of joining him, and you not only turned him down, you embarrassed him!"
"Sounds like something I would do, but you're still not ringing any bells."
"My brother left saying he was going to put you in your place, he used to say forcing a baby into a bitch was the best way tame them. Next thing I hear he's dead, stripped naked in a ravine and mauled to death by monsters."
"Maybe he was there to fuck the monsters and it got out of hand, happens more often than you might think."
I think she killed this guy.
"After bribing the right people, I found out my brother was tied up before being thrown to the dogs, and you were the last one seen with him."
Yup, definitely killed him.
"Still not ringing any bells, I guess he was so unmemorable that even his death didn't mean a thing."
Tarn didn't say anything more, he just picked up a chair and bashed it into pieces over Jurea's head.
The revelry stopped in an instant, as everyone stopped to stare at Jurea.
"Hey! Asshole those ain't free!"
(Bartender)
I started to leap into action - Flora didn't move a single inch - when Jurea raised her hand signaling me to wait.
"Is that the best you've got? I'll give you the first two hundred punches, maybe then you'll have a chance. However slim it may be."
She spread her arms in derisive manner.
"You sure are one stupid bitch, my ability is 'Rock Hard' I will kill you in the first blow!"
Seriously! His ability name is a porn star name, haha haha!
Thank you.
I couldn't laugh for long though, his skin hardened into a rock-like substance.
He threw a punch with all of his might at Jurea's cheek.
It barely made her face move an inch.
Noticing her still standing, he punched her again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and you get the drift.
After dozens and dozens of hits, he took a breather.
Jurea spat out a blood loogie.
"That's it? I'm waiting for you to start."
Patty, show me Jurea's status.
------------------
Name : Jurea
Level : 93 points available : N/A
Species : human
Strength : 2000
Increases the ease to lift and damage objects and opponents
Intelligence : 67
Makes resisting mind control, solving complex problems, reading people, learning magic and skills easier
Durability : 1450
Resistance of disease, sleep deprivation, injury of body and soul, temperature, starvation
Energy : 200
Increases pool of energy and energy rate
Health : 4567
Increases pool of health and healing rate
Stamina : 3000
Increases pool of stamina and stamina rate
Luck : 100
Odds play out in your favor
Speed : 85
Increases reaction time, sensory perception, rate of travel, time perception
Agility : 150
Allows for complex movement's
Special ability : Titan's Fury
Titan's Fury: the longer you stay in battle, the stronger you become. After reaching a full fight meter health will start to drain.
Meter increases with level.
Fight meter : 1.2/ 93.8
------------------
When the hell did her strength, durability, and health stats go up?
"You... think... huh... huh I'm done? I haven't even begu...."
"How long do you think it's been so far? A minute? Two?"
Jurea interrupted him, the look of complete lack of concern still on her face.
"What?"
"You're right, it doesn't matter."
She threw a punch at his chest.
A loud cracking sound was heard, as the rocky armor cracked under her casual hit.
He flew back, breaking chairs, tables, and went straight through the bar wall.
Jurea turned to the bar keep.
"Put all of that, and two rounds for everybody, on his tab."
Damn!
___________________
A day later we - Eric, Jurea, Flora, and I - were in the mountains tracking the Battagg.
"I don't get why we didn't just leave with Ethan and that broad, when the teleportation circle was finished."
Flora sounded exasperated as we hiked up the trail.
"Emira, and because you offered our services to take out this beast."
"That's not what it says on the contract, any counselor would agree that we are not legally bound to do anything."
"That's because on your 'contract' you just say you'll hear them out basically."
"That's exactly right, so we don't have to try to kill this beast."
At first, I was planning on just returning their money and leaving, but after hearing their tales about the beast we decided to help.
The Battagg is not a monster, instead it is an animal from further up into the mountain's wilderness.
Every couple of decades or so a fierce storm would blow a stronger monster or beast towards populated areas, and since its base starting point is at least the sixth tier it dominates the area.
The monsters/beasts normally don't affect the money making of the town (a launch-pad into the mountains) - it only hurts the herders, farmers, and loner adventurers.
So, the powers that be wouldn't dish out a hefty reward for a subjugation quest, and soldiers from the empire wouldn't be deployed for something this insignificant.
The really fucked up part is the fact that they're so desperate they have to believe any con artist that comes along, otherwise they'd starve.
So, I had no choice but to help.
"At least we are getting paid."
(Eric)
"Not enough! Their paltry life savings only came up to around thirty gold!"
Actually we wasn't even getting the thirty gold.
I didn't feel right taking their life savings.
We've already been up here since dawn trying to find it, apparently it only likes attacking targets it knows it can beat quickly and efficiently.
"We've been at this for hours, we should head ba....."
(Flora)
Rooaaar!!!
We dove behind a large boulder, then cautiously looked out.
About five hundred yards away a mountain bear is clawing at the side of a cliff, trying to catch and kill a tiny mountain goat looking thing that had climbed up there to escape from being lunch.
Standing on its hind legs the bear easily topped eighteen feet, muscles that were flexed under its heavy fur looked like steel cables, its claws were at least a foot long and gouging into the wall of the cliff, and its mouth looked ready to snap steel rebars.
Yeah, I'm not fucking with that fucker.
I turned toward the others to whisper that we should go back and try to find another way around, when I saw a stupid big grin on Flora's face.
I don't like that grin.
"You can take that ursak, right? That cupra's horns are used to treat supposedly untreatable diseases, therefore they sell for obscene prices."
I looked at her like she lost her damn mind.
"I'm not fucking with no bear."
She had a disappointed look on her face, but dropped it soon afterwards.
"You're right, it would be wrong of me to ask you to do that."
Does she really think I'll fall for this act, and be willing to fight that demon?
But she didn't continue, so I guess not.
I guess I was wrong about her this tim.....
Without warning, she shoved me out in the open.
"HEY! LARD ASS!"
.....
.....
.....
Maybe it didn't hear her?
I looked over and saw it staring right at me, it was giving me a weird 'did this fool really just announce himself?' look.
It must have decided that a prey on the ground ready to eat is better than one stuck on a cliff face because it charged at me.
I turned to Flora, she had the biggest shit eating grin I'd ever seen.
She knew.
I could summon them all into my gem and run away, but depending on that bastard's stamina I could end up using all of my stamina and excess energy escaping.
I don't even have enough time to try to transform into a bird to fly away.
The only real choice I have is to fight and win.
I flip Flora the bird, then charged at the ursak.
Mini status.
------------------
Health:700/700
Energy:1026/1026
Stamina:532/532
Excess energy : 5,000
------------------
"{Force bubble}{force bubble}{force bubble}{force bubble}!"
My spells barely slow it down as it's barreling towards me.
Roooaar!!!
As we meet I faint to the right, then jump left, making it totally miss me.
As it skids to a stop then slowly turns back towards me, I blast its face with a fire-ball.
It paws at its face to put the fire out, as it does that I use my ace.
I plopped into a puddle of goo, then I rose up as a twelve-foot ogre.
Wait! Why am I only twelve feet?! The ogre we defeated was twenty feet?!
Magic!
Noted.
Roooaar!!
It looks like Smokey managed to put out the fire.
As it was charging at me, I balled up my massive fists waiting to make a bearskin rug.
What!!!
The bear caught up to me and sideswiped me, I flew into a cliff wall.
None of my other forms use mana.
I picked up a medium-sized boulder and lugged it at the bear.
Well, gee, thanks for that!
The bear latched onto my arm and started violently shaking its head back and forth.
My tendons in my arm are being torn up then healed instantly, somehow that made it feel worse.
Jurea's hammer slammed into the bear's rear end, causing it to let go of me.
Rooar!!!
It spun around to face Jurea who, not wanting to waste a perfect opportunity, threw a decent sized rock into its nose.
Rooaar!!
Whoosh!!!
Whoosh!!!
Whoosh!!!
Arrow after arrow pelted the bear.
None of which pierced its hide, but it's the thought that counts.
Patty, why is it so hard to take down this bear? I'm using a Mid-rank monster!
Damn it!
Yeah, but this really isn't the time for this.
Yes, just get to the point.
Don't you da....
Shut up Patty!
At this time while I was getting a quick breather Jurea was holding it off, using the chain in her hammer to zip past it and land a solid hit.
Not that it was doing much good, it hasn't been long enough for her to be strong enough to do any serious damage.
While she was fighting it, I came up with a plan.
I told Patty my idea.
Yeah, tell me something I don't know.
What?
Shut up Patty.
I activated 'Thermal Absorption' and charged into Smokey.
As its reactions got slower and its resistance faded, I started pushing it towards a gap that leads into a deep ravine.
I increased my force.
Just a few yards more.
Shit!
I turned back into goop, then into my lizard form.
The bear shook its head, then raised its paw to squish me flat.
"{Inertial carry}{Force bubble}!"
Whereas my force bubble spells just made it stumble a little, Flora's caused it to fly off the mountain into the deep ravine.
I turned back to look at her.
She was dragging the cupra she shot with an ice-spear by the horns grinning.
"In the gods names! It took y'all forever to finish that."
I sat up and glared at her.
"What the hell!! You almost got us killed!"
"No, I didn't. I know all of your capabilities, and I knew you could win. Besides, I wouldn't put you in any real danger because I don't know what would happen to me."
"Still, why risk our lives to get a single animal?"
(Eric)
Flora pointed at me.
"Because that idiot excepted a Mid-rank quest for only thirty measly gold, that doesn't even begin to cover the expenses of this quest. This cupra's horns will."
"What expenses?! We're here to kill, something we've been doing for a while now."
I hope she can tell just how livid I am.
I motioned to Eric, and she reached into the capacity bag to gave me a couple of mana potions.
"You do realize that you just fought a Low-rank beast, and now have to down a couple of mana potions to get back up to full strength. Each one of those cheap ones cost fifteen gold each, which is okay for your silk production because I... we make a decent profit from it. How many potions do you think you'll need after fighting a Mid-rank beast?"
After finishing the potions I answered her.
"Fine, let's just get moving."
I went over to her, snapped the horns of the cupra, tossed them to Eric to put in the capacity bag, and started eating the cupra.
Mini status.
------------------
Health:698/700
Energy:789/1026
Stamina:306/532
Excess energy : 5,034
------------------
Good, a couple more potions and my mana will be fully recovered.
_______________________________
A while later we were still on the prowl for the Battagg.
"Maybe we should head back for today before it gets dark? And maybe find something to bait it out."
(Jurea)
I was a little bit ahead of them, on a tall rock that is jutting out off the mountain getting a bird's eye view.
"Yeah, maybe you're right."
Sreeeee!!!!!
"Watch out!!"
(Jurea)
A dark shadow passed over me.
Before I could look up and see what was attacking me, I heard thunder and was pushed off the mountain towards my certain demise.