Ajax's Office
3rd Pov
"With that done, let's see just what's inside this office, " said Leo as he started searching the office
"Alright, let see here. There has to be something inside this table, " said Leo as he started rummaging the office table
"Okay, so there's a map in here. Let see, it looks like it's the map of the island. Hmm, there's a red circle here. Obviously, it must be something important. I'll go check it out later, " said Leo as he puts the map in his inventory
"Oh? What's this? There's a button under this table. Let's see what it does, " said Leo as he pushed a button under the table
Behind the office table, a random wall opened up. Leo goes to the open up wall and sees what's inside of it.
"Okay, there's a hallway in here. This either leads to the exit or somewhere else, " said Leo as he inspects the area
BANG!
Leo immediately looks back and saw Kuina broke down the door. She looks exhausted, very injured and is bleeding.
"Observe, " thought Leo
Name=Kuina Koushirou
Age=17
Alignment=Neutral
Level=33
Hp=35,000/63,000
Strength=3550
Perception=3400
Endurance=4000
Charisma=3000
Inteligent=3250
Agility=4300
Luck=2900
"Huff...Huff...Alright- *Cough* *Cough*...Alright, I finally got here. Now...*Cough*...where are you Ajax!" said Kuina as she started coughing out blood
"Uhhh...Kuina?" said Leo
"W-wait! Captain! What a- *Cough* *Cough*... What are you doing here?! And where's Ajax?!" said Kuina
"Okay, first of all, let's get you healed up first. You look like you just went through hell. Diarama" chanted Leo as he started healing Kuina
After that, green lights started enveloping around Kuina and all of her wounds are starting to heal. A few seconds later, all of her wounds are gone.
"Alright, now that's done. Why don't you start explaining what happened?" said Leo
"Yeah, but you didn't answer my question. Where is he? Did he escaped or did you kill him? If so then where is his body? Did you burned it or did you turn him into an ice sculpture and smash it?" questioned Kuina
"I' wouldn't say I've killed him, more like I've beaten him. As for his body, let's just say that I'm 'borrowing' it for some other purpose, " said Leo
"Okay? Exactly, what is this 'purpose' are you talking about?" questioned Kuina
"Now, now, Kuina. That one would be a big spoiler for the surprise. Sorry to say but you're just gonna have to find that one out yourself, " said Leo
"Ugghh, why do you gotta be so superstitious sometimes, " murmured Kuina
"Hmm? Hey, Kuina. What's that katana that you're holding right now? That doesn't look like the one that you've used before, " said Leo as he looks at the sword in her right hand
"Oh, this? Remember Murasame?" said Kuina
"...Don't tell me, " said Leo
"Yup! I can now wield this sword now!" said Kuina as she lets out a small grin
"Then care to explain how you were able to finally unsheathe it? Last I've heard, it wouldn't even budge at all, " said Leo
"Well, it starts out like this..." said Kuina as she started explaining
Flashback...
Kuina's Pov
"Damn it! Just how many of these things are there?!" thought Kuina as she dodges an attack from the infected wolf
She retaliates back and kills the infected wolf by decapitating it. After that, she took a deep breath and looks around the area. There were lots of blood and dead bodies scattered around the area.
"I guess that's the last of them. Finally, that took a while, " thought Kuina as she relaxed a bit
Unfortunately, for her, the battle was far from finished. Just as she was about to go, she hears a very loud footstep. She turns around and saw a big monster walking slowly towards her.
The said monster has a lion's body from head to tail, a goats head rising from between its shoulder and a venomous snake as its tail. The monster's skin is grey except for the snake as it has purple skin and has a big scar on its face.
"I...Is that a damn chimera?! I thought those things were just some fantasy myth?! Just what have these people been doing to these animals?!" thought Kuina as she saw the chimere roars and charges toward at her
Kuina dodges the strike and tries to retaliate back. She slashes the chimera with her sword but unfortunately, it did almost nothing. The chimera immediately attacks her with its claws and she tries to block it with her sword. The attack landed so hard that it sent her flying.
"Ugh, damn that was strong. I'm gonna have to be more cautious fighting it, " thought Kuina as she shakily gets up from the ground
The chimera backs away and started spewing from the goat's head. Kuina backs away and uses Soru to get behind the Chimera. As the Chimera is still attacking, she tries to attack it from the behind. Unfortunately for her again, the snake saw this and immediately bites the sword to stop her attack. Kuina tries to shake it off but the snake's grip is too strong.
The Chimera tries to shake her off by shaking its body very fast. Kuina seeing that it's useless, immediately let's go of the sword and backs away. She saw that her sword has been snapped in half by the snake's bite.
"Shit! This is bad! Scratch that, this is worse than bad! I don't have any weapons that I can use. Unless..." thought Kuina as she looks at Murasame.
"...Guess, there's no choice, huh? The only way I could win this is as if I use this sword, " thought Kuina as she grabs Murasame and tries to unsheathe it.
"Come on! Come on! Just open already!" thought Kuina as she tries so hard to unsheathe it.
The Chimera immediately rushes towards her. Kuina barely dodges the attack and she saw the snake splitting out some venomous acid from its mouth. Kuina quickly dodges the acid with some of them nearly hitting her. Unfortunately, Kuina got so distracted that she didn't realize the Chimera was about to strike her with its claws. The hit landed on her chest and she got sent flying to a wall.
She shakily gets up from the ground and tries to stand up. She almost falls down but she was able to catch herself. She coughed some blood and tries to unsheathe Murasame again.
"Okay-*Cough* *Cough*. I don't know if you can hear me or not Murasame b-*Cough* but I need your help right now. So if you please, I mean, please just cooperate with me for once!" said Kuina
After trying so many times, the katana wouldn't even budge. She was just about to give up and tries to formulate an escape plan only for her to hear a voice.
"Do you wish for power?" said the mysterious voice
"What?! Who said that?!" said Kuina as she looks around to find the person
"Do you wish to succeed and be victorious in every battle?" said the mysterious voice again
"Seriously?! Who is talking?! Are you in my head or something?!" said Kuina
"Do you want to live? Answer my question, child," said the mysterious voice yet again
"I...yes. Of-*Cough* course, I want to live?!" said Kuina
"Then do you wish to use me? Even if it means risking losing your humanity?" questioned the mysterious voice
"Use me? Wait... don't tell me..." thought Kuina as she looks at Murasame again
"What is your answer, child? Do you wish to use me or not?" questioned the mysterious voice
"Y-yes! I want to use you even if it means losing my humanity in the process," said Kuina
"Are you sure?" said the mysterious voice
"Yes! I'm very sure!" said Kuina sounding very determined
"...Child, I will say it now, by choosing this path, you will feel nothing but anguish, pain both mentally and physically and even hell itself. So, I will say this one last time. Are you sure about this?" questioned the mysterious voice
"I don't care. Even if I have to defy the heavens I even go to hell and back to achieve my dreams then so be it, " said Kuina
"...Very well, child. I shall let you use me. Don't say I didn't warn you, " said the mysterious voice as it started to fade
Kuina looks at Murasame and slowly tries to unsheathe the sword. This time, Kuina was able to unsheathe Murasame from its sheath. She looks at the sword and is marvelled by how beautiful and exquisite the katana is. To other people, the katana may look like any normal katana but to her, she knows that the Murasame holds so much power and potential.
She hears a roar and saw that The Chimera was about to charge at her again. This time, Kuina holds Murasame forward and was ready to strike the Chimera. The Chimera charges towards her and tries to strike her with its claws again. However, before it could strike, Kuina immediately cuts off its claws. A few seconds later, the claw falls off and blood started pouring out.
Before the Chimera could even react, Kuina immediately hops onto the lion body and cuts off the goats head. The snake tries to bite her but she shuts that down by cutting lower part. The Chimera roars and tries to shake her off. Kuina stabs Murasame onto its body and starts cutting it open by dragging it. Blood started pouring out and Kuina jump off of the Chimera.
She saw The Chimera writhing in pain as it tries to stand up. After a few seconds later, she saw some weird black marking started to appear all around its body. The Chimera was in pain as it started roaring. After that, The Chimera drops dead onto the ground still with the black markings on its body.
Kuina looks at Murasame again and tries to inspect it. She notices that the katana is oozing a dark aura around it. However, that faded after a few seconds and the swords return backs to normal.
"This sword...I can feel it. It's hunger and bloodlust for more people. I can tell you now that you're gonna be a problem child, " thought Kuina as she sheath back Murasame
"Alright then, since everyone is dead, now I can go to Ajax's office, " thought Kuina as she started running towards his office
Flashback ended
"And that's what happened, " said Kuina as she finishes her story
"Interesting. So you said that you heard a voice inside your head and you think that it was the Murasame talking to you, right?" questioned Leo
"I know this might sound crazy but truthfully yes, " said Kuina
"Okay then, I believe you, " said Leo
"Of course if you...wait, you believe me? That easily?" said Kuina
"Yup. I mean, this world is full of surprises anyway so a talking sword isn't honestly that surprising, " said Leo
"Enough talk about the sword. Now, let's get back to what I was doing, " said Leo as he goes to the secret entrance
"So, you found a secret passageway? Do you know where it leads?" questioned Kuina as she follows behind
"I don't know. Guess we'll just find out after we get in, " said Leo
"But It's too dark in here, I can't see anything, at all," said Kuina
"Not anymore, that is. Agi!" chanted Leo as a ball of fire form on his hand
"Ladies first, " said Leo
"Hmph, what a gentleman you are, " said Kuina sarcastically as she goes inside and Leo follow suit
Outside of the factory
3rd Pov
"Hey, Kuro! Is there any more enemies left?" questioned Cole as he swings The Amp at another person
"No. That's the last of them, " said Kuro as he impales another person with his claws
A guard sneaks behind Kuro and tries to attack him. Unfortunately, Kuro dodges it and impales him right through his skull
"Oh, my bad. Looks like there's one more person here, " said Kuro as he retracts his claw
"Yup. It looks like it, " said Cole as he looks around the area to see lots of dead bodies
"So, about our little competition. Not to brag or anything but last I counted, I had for about 120 kills. What about you? You probably don't have much, " said Cole as he puts his weapon back
"Hmph, funny you should ask that. I too also have the same kill count as you, " said Kuro
"Oh, well that's a disappointment. Who won then?" questioned Cole
"It doesn't matter who wins or who loses. It's just a stupid competition anyway, " said Kuro
"Yeah, a stupid competition that you decided to join, " said Cole
"So, what's this competition that you guys decided to do?" said a voice behind them
They turn around and saw Alex Mercer walking towards them.
"Oh, there you are Alex! That was fast. Where's Kuina though?" questioned Cole
"Eh, probably still dealing with Ajax or something. Good news though, while trying to get out, I found a secret passageway, " said Alex
"Oh sweet, that's nice. Now we have ourselves a shortcut to this factory, " said Cole
"Hey, now that I notice, there's only 2 of you here. Didn't Hans helped you guys on your little killing spree?" questioned Alex
"Oh, don't worry about that. He's right over there, " said Cole as he pointed at another direction
Alex looks at the direction and saw Hans sitting on a pile full of dead bodies. He looks at Alex and gave him a nod.
"Okay, gonna be honest here, that looks quite... unnerving. Anyway, what do we do now?" questioned Alex
"Well, guess we'll just wait until Kuina returns. For now, we can just do whatever we want, " said Cole as he sits on a dead body
"Seriously?" said Alex
"What? Don't look at me like that. You would have consumed these people if you were here with us, " said Cole
A few minutes later...
"Okay, so I should be nearing the location now. Can't wait to see what it is. It's either money or something more valuable," said Leo as he reads the map while flying using his wings
"Oh! I think I see it, " said Leo as he puts away the map and landed on the ground
"So, it's a cave, huh. Not sure if I should be surprised or not, " said Leo as his wings disappear
Without saying anything, he walks inside the cave.
"Thank God, I have night vision. Otherwise, I wouldn't see anything around here, " thought Leo
He keeps on walking until he hits a dead end. He touches the wall and tries to find if there's any hidden switch or anything
"Nope, nothing here...nothing here also...still not finding anything yet, " murmured Leo as he tries to find any hidden switch
"Yup, I've searched again and again and I'm not finding anything here. There can't be a dead-end in here. It's not possible at all. There must be some other way that I still hadn't found yet, " said Leo as he looks around the area
"There's a massive crack here between the walls. Learning from all the games I've played before, this must lead somewhere else which could either be a death trap or something. Either way, I'm going in, " said Leo as he goes inside the crack
He had a hard time trying to navigate through the crack but he eventually found a way out and got out of it. Once he got out of the massive crack in the wall, he saw that there was a giant door blocking his path. He pushed the door and surprisingly enough, it opened.
He looks inside and saw a pond full of black water. He got close to the pond and started inspecting it.
"Observe, " thought Leo
The Pond of the ?????
Desc: This pond is the source of The Monstrum Virus. Unfortunately, we don't know it's the origin of the pond or how it came to be but one thing for sure is that it's dangerous. Be careful there, partner.
"Well, this is a first. You don't know anything about this thing, System? Like nothing at all?" questioned Leo
[ Not exactly, partner.] said the System as he appears right beside Leo
"What do you mean 'not exactly'? Are you telling me that you've seen this before? Of so then why didn't you say anything before?" questioned Leo
[ You could say that. However, the reason I've been keeping quiet about it is that I was trying to recover some of my past memories.] said the System
"Past memories? Oh right! I almost forgot that you've mentioned that there were previous users before me. Right, now it makes sense. No wonder you were quiet for the past 3 weeks. I was actually getting quite uncomfortable, you know, " said Leo
[ Yes and I'm very sorry for not mentioning it to you. I was too focused on trying to recover back my memories that I didn't have time.] said the System
"Apology accepted. Now, did you recover anything at all? If so, can you tell me anything about it? Oooh, maybe there is some exploit that I could use to make myself stronger, " said Leo as he rubs his hand
[ Unfortunately, I wasn't able to much of my memories. However, I did remember a few of my memories and it's regarding this pond.] said the System
[ I don't remember my previous user name nor his/her appearance but I did remember my previous user encountering a beast. At first, we thought it was just a normal beast in the woods but then we noticed that something felt off about it. It radiates a dark and malevolent aura. At first, my user thought nothing of it and just ignored it. However, while he/she was fighting against the beast, it started to...mutate and learn.] said the System
"Learn? You're telling me that this beast has some form of intelligence?! I thought they were just mindless beast?" said Leo
[ You might think that they're mindless but they're not. The only reason as to why they're mindless is probably because they were only on the first stage.] said the System
"Probably?" said Leo
[ Most likely. In a way, think of it as your race like to call it human growth and development. In which case the first stage is baby, the second stage toddler, the third stage child and so on until elder.] said the System
"Okay, that makes much more sense. So, what would you rank the one's that we fought?" questioned, Leo
[ They're most likely still at the first stage. Anyway, back to what I was saying, yes the beast was both mutating and learning as it was fighting against my user. My user noticed this and tries to end it as fast as possible. Fast forward later, at the end of the fight, my user was already exhausted but the beast was still fine. My user tries to attack the beast again but in the end, he/she was already beyond exhausted and just fainted on the ground.] said the System
"So, did the user survived or not?" questioned Leo
[ Fortunately, he survived. From what I remember, the beast was about to kill my user. Just before that could happen, reinforcement has arrived. The beast saw this and immediately ran off. After that encounter, we never met that beast ever again.] said the System as he finished his story
"Wow, what a story. I have a lot of question by the way. Like, what does this beast look like and are you telling me that this beast still could be out there?" said Leo
[ The beast looked like a giant albino tiger with red cracks around its body and... that's it. That's all I could remember about it. Also, it's highly unlikely that you would encounter with this beast because that beast resides on another planet.] said the System
"Oh thank God, that's good to know. I still have lots of questions to ask but for now, I'll just hold it off. Now, what am I gonna do with you, " said Leo as he looks at the pond
[ Ding! A new quest has been added!]
Quest
Decision, Decision...
Desc: It looks like you're in a dilemma now. Now that you find the source, what do you do now?
Option A: Cure the pond
Option B: Secure the source of the virus for yourself
Option C: Do nothing
*Warning, each option will lead you to another path. You will also get different rewards regarding the path that you took. Choose wisely*
"So an option, quest? Never had one before so this is a first. So let see here, I could cure the pond but how the hell am I gonna do it?" questioned Leo
[ Well, actually partner, in the Shop there's actually an item called The Cure Potion. What it does is that it can cure any diseases.] said the System
"Wait?! There's an item that can do that?! Why didn't you tell me before, System?!" said Leo sounded a bit angry
[ Well, one it's really expensive. It cost about 2 Billion SP. Second, you can only purchase it only once before it gets refreshed which would take 4 months. Finally, before you think about it, no, you can't manufacture it.] said the System
"Ahh, dammit. I actually thought of doing that. *Sigh* so you said that it cost 2 Billion SP right? Then can you make the purchase?" said Leo
[ Affirmative. Please wait for a moment...]
SP:6,350,342,047 - 2,000,000,000
=4,350,342,047
"Yup, there goes 1/4th of my money, " thought Leo
A few seconds later, a tube full of rainbow liquid appeared on his hand
[ Ding! The purchased has been successful!]
"Okay, so I can do option A but I still haven't made my decision yet. So, option B, I could become like Ajax and just make a bunch of these abominations. It's tempting but I'm not gonna do that. Although, at the same time I'm not gonna ignore it because if I did then I might accidentally make another beast just like from the story, " said Leo
"So, here's what I'm about to do. I'm gonna take some of it from the pond and then I'll cure it. That way no one else but I can have it. So, I'll just buy a few jars from the Shop and..." said Leo as he puts The Cure Potion in his inventory and bought 3 jars
"Thankfully, I'm wearing gloves so nothing bad is gonna happen. Alright, let me just do this..." said Leo as he opens one of the jars and scoops the black water out of the pond
A few seconds later, he finished scooping the black water and pulls out The Cure Potion from his inventory.
"All I gotta say is that, goodbye and thank you for giving me this virus, " said Leo as he pops open the tube and pours out the liquid from the Cure Potion
After that, the water from the pond started to change from black water to clean water. After a few seconds later, all of the black water is gone. The water in the pond is now clean.
[Ding! You have completed a quest! Gained 25 Stat Points! ]
"Alright, I think I'm done here. I already got what I wanted, " said Leo as he put all 3 of the jar in his inventory
"Now, I just gotta find a way out of here..." said Leo as he looks around the area and notices another path.
"...Okay, nevermind. I actually thought that it was gonna be hard, " said Leo as he walks towards the path
After that, he continues walking until he saw a bright light. He slowly walks toward the light and...
To be continued------>