As the man slumped over on the ground, Ran watched him with keen interest. His cold and unfeeling eyes receded before he got out of his own stupor.
"Ah?"
Ran was confused. He bent over and booped what he thought was the man's face… Nothing.
"Huh. I thought I would have at least felt something. No empathy? Sympathy? Not even pity?"
The only thing he had felt was disgust for the man's blatant disrespect for a woman's body, but even now… that was gone. He decided to move on.
But before he did so, he felt something. A warmth; specifically across his whole body. "Oh? Is it finally coming? What is it, what is it. Is it barf? More disgust? Maybe… a hairball? Tell me!" He continuously booped his chest to make it give him an answer, but he got nothing in return… wait, hairball?
Well, he did feel something. A sort of warmth, a very slight one. He felt comfortable even with his pale face. He had grown slightly stronger! Actually it was barely noticeable except for the fact that his body was stirred during the fight.
But he quickly put that behind his head as he surveyed his surroundings. With his temporary blindness, he was forced to view the world in a new way. His surroundings were mostly black except for the various flora around him. The air had a slight discoloration as well. The trees and grass were just green globs and the dirt was just brown. The man had been a red glob.
He looked around and found the red glob was split into three pieces… wait three!? One was the man and the other was actually his arm, but what about the last one? Ran went to one of the others and accidentally picked the wrong one. He scratched his back with the man's detached arm, as the bark had left many splinters on his back, before throwing it away. He then approached the other one.
Upon touching it, he immediately knew what it was. It felt dense, and smooth. It was the man's fetal organ!
"Oh, an artifact. Lucky me!"
Artifacts. They're basically just fetal organs left behind by the dead. But theirs called artifacts because if they died and hadn't summoned their fetal organ, then it couldn't be obtained. As well as the fact that now everyone can use it, to a certain extent. The more similar the nature a person is to the artifact, the more potential they can wring out if it. For Ran, at most, he could use the blinding attack and it would probably cost twice as much just to use it.
After pocketing it, he recovered his fetal organ. But out of nowhere, he heard a scream.
"Argh! You stupid cat, just stay still!"
Ran observed the area where he heard the noise and found a light green glob shooting tiny green globs at a black glob. The black glob was barely avoiding all the attacks, but it was slowly starting to slow down.
Oh s**t, Ran you better get your a** over there, Cheetahs are notorious for their low stamina. And it's Fluffy! The Fluffy! It's in the name gosh dang it, get over there!
While fighting bow-man, Fluffy took a glance at the other situation and found Ran looking over and not doing anything. Her mouth hung open in shock.
What!? You dare not help the almighty Fluffy!? Whore! You sleep with the almighty Fluffy every night and this is how you repay her!?
Wait, by sleep does she mean… oh, she meant as a pillow. Phew, I thought she meant something else…
"Meor…"
She spoke softly, but Ran heard it. Alright, please help the almighty Fluffy… b**ch. Ran did not hear that last part, however.
Except when Ran came running to help, he heard another scream.
"You stay right where you are!" The bow-man looked straight at Ran as if he wasn't blinded. Except he wasn't … not anymore. If you looked at the man, then you would find runes circling his eyes. A rune formation; that's what it was.
As an archer, his eyes could be said to be his most powerful weapon, even though the bow is the one doing the work. After all, accuracy plays what is probably the most important role in archery. With the runes, while he was blinded, it lasted only a couple seconds before the formation helped him recover and enter his best state of combat. But Ran, however…
"Or else, what?" Ran put his fingers on his chin, seemingly in deep thought. He was pondering what else exactly.
"Or else I'll release my special move!" The bow-man was slowly backing up while shooting at Fluffy. He wanted to escape. Special moves are, of course, special moves! Moves that can't be trifled with! Ran, however…
"Oh? A special move?"
Aw s**t! Look what you've gone and done. You went and made him curious! Welp, there's no stopping him now. Look, see, he's walking toward you right now!
"F**k! This sick monster's really pushing me!" As he saw the white hooded individual approach the area, he gritted his teeth in anger with a twinge of fear.
Fifteen meters. Fourteen meters. Ten meters. Fluffy was slowly making her way towards the familiar scent of Ran while dodging within an inch of her life. They had begun grazing her skin.
"F**k it, now you've gone and done it! Leaf Whirlwind!!!"
With a burst of aura, the bow-man retracted his bow and spawned a green leaf.
This leaf was a serrate leaf. As its name suggests, its edges are serrated, saw-like. But it was also just a normal leaf. About the same size as a normal one and it didn't seem sharp either.
Yet, Ran was shocked just a second later. Why? Well, after he summoned the leaf, he folded it in half. Then he unfolded it and it doubled in size. Yet, even now, it was still folded!
He unfolded it again and again it doubled in size! But, again, it was still partly folded! And it happened again… and again, and again!
Finally, when it was about the same area an ordinary house covers, the green aura left the bow-man body and surrounded the giant leaf. Then, like a zipper, seams began to appear on the leaf.
After the last seam connected to each other, it blew up into a thousand, sharp, individual leaves, slowly descending.
Yet, it didn't end there as the green aura seemed to breathe into the leaves, a life of their own. So, they started revolving around the bow-man. Faster and faster, until eventually, a dome of extremely fast leaves surrounded everyone and everything for a hundred feet (thirty meters)!
Ran and Fluffy were both bombarded by what are essentially blades. Except, why did the bow-man feel ticklish?
Looking at his own body, he found that he was being cut up as we speak! His mouth twitched, what the f**k was this!? He hurriedly deactivated it, but when he actually tried, he found he couldn't!
Looking around, he found that all the leaves had been forcefully cut off from him and they had completely changed colors! This left a distasteful feeling in his mouth; why pink!? He thought. Well, it was only for a short time as he was cut up and ended up dying of blood loss very quickly. The leaves had cut all the way to the bone and he looked almost like a broken slinky. Yeah, there was no way he died without knowing the true meaning of pain.
Observing the slumped body, Ran suddenly felt dizzy. He had used too much energy. Healing both his and Fluffy's injuries continuously cost a lot, so he decided to just take control of the entire attack. But he didn't know just how much energy that attack actually needed. No wonder the bow-man was frustrated from Rans provocation. After this attack, he would barely have enough left to move around, let alone continue fighting.
Ran began tipping over as he lost his balance and fell. Well, before that happened, a soft and plush pillow had caught his fall.
He petted Fluffy's head as she licked his nose. They were both finally starting to recover after five minutes of being blind. Five minutes! That's pretty long for a single attack to have an effect, especially one concerning sight or other senses. It would be enough time to chop you into pieces and turn you into ground beef. Wait… beef?
Ran was now feeling groggy and really sleepy. His eyes were slowly closing as he laid on Fluffy like a pillow. Like this, they stayed here and rested for a bit before heading back home.
***
Knock.
Ran knocked once on his door before opening it, quietly. After all, like yesterday, if she was truly ahem… naked, then he didn't want to intrude on whatever she was doing (wink). But there was another reason as well.
He, of course, was trying to enter without a certain someone finding out because of a certain something in his pocket. But as soon as he opened the door, he only saw black. And it advanced towards his face at incredible speeds; so fast it was just a blur!
What was this black blur, you ask? Well, if you must really know, it was actually the sole of Ann's boot!
"Fool! Can you at least leave me a note or something!?"
Boom! The dorm shook from her strike that, inevitably, struck Rans face. His head bent backwards as his neck could barely keep itself from snapping. He was sent flying a couple meters and Fluffy just stood there. She had seen the fire in Ann's belly and was scared to her very core! Such a woman was certainly worthy of praise, she thought. After all, Fluffy had been planning to get back at Ran for not saving her fast enough… but it seemed it was now unneeded.
But of course, I'm writing this scene for a reason. You see, as he flew through the air, a certain object fell from his pocket. And she had seen this object.
Picking it up, she looked at the beautiful gem that was embedded in a silver necklace. She looked at Fluffy inquisitively with narrowed eyes.
Of course, this was the crystal he had gotten from the ocean in his dreams. During his adventure through the city, he found a jewelry store and got his crystal embedded in this beautiful silver necklace. This was partly why it was already mid-afternoon after he got out of the Wild Catz Emporium when he had started early in the morning. However…
Fluffy shivered from the gaze she had received; she had to answer the question somehow! But she can't talk! Meoring would just be suicide since Ann cant speak feline. Only Ran and his make-believe can guess what she was actually saying. So, she has only one option left.
She put up her big paw and unretracted her black claw. It pointed towards Ann. Ann could now guess. But just to be sure, as Fluffy really did not want a beating, she did it multiple times.
Unretract, retract, unretract, retract. Her black claw just kept pointing and signalling at Ann. It was pretty silly to watch a cat double the size of a normal human cower in front of a "perfectly normal" woman!
Ann looked at Fluffy for a while, her eyes still narrow. Until eventually she turned away. Phew, thought she would try to beat up the almighty Fluffy. Fluffy ran her paw against her forehead like she was sweating before disappearing into the dormitory. She wanted nothing to do with what came next.
Ann, looked at the slumped body on the ground and thought he looked kind of like a fish out of water, except for all of the flapping of course. She went up to his face and booped his nose.
No response.
S**t! She knocked him out! Dang, woman, can't you use less force!? Please… you'll ruin his beautiful face. Wu…
Seeing he was unconscious, she carefully put him over her shoulder before bringing him into the dorm.
Oh and don't forget the necklace before the scene changes. She pocketed the necklace, but it looked like she was stealing it from how carefully she handled the goods.
***
As Ran finally started returning from being unconscious, he found himself in a dimly lit room. A light orb floated in one corner and lit up the room, but he was on the opposite side so he only got a little bit of light. But that light illuminated a figure that was right on top of him!
He saw the figure staring right at him… and his beautiful face.
He rubbed his eyes as he was still a bit groggy and his eyes were fuzzy. After rubbing his eyes, he saw it was actually just Ann. Apparently, he was laying on her lap and she was just there… staring at him. After a second of eye contact, he could no longer take it and did something.
What did he do? Are you sure you want to know? It's okay, you can just back out now and wait for the next chapter to come out. Please… I-I don't want to hurt you! It's okay, really, you don't have to do this to yourself…
Okay, if you're still reading this, you've been warned.
What Ran did was…
Was…
He lifted his finger…
And picked her nose! Ahh, I'm sorry, please… forgive me! What? you're leaving; you're not going to read this novel ever again!?
No!!!
***
Anyways, sorry about that, I get very emotional sometimes. But seriously, that's what he did. I'm not playing. No jokes here.
He dug deep in search of treasure and came out with gold! Then like any person, he flicked it and it stuck to Ann's forehead!
How did Ann react? Do you really want to know?
Okay, I won't do that again.
She flicked it off her forehead and reached for Rans face.
She went to Ran's cheek and pulled it. After all, it's a very "scientific" method to measure elasticity. After measuring it and confirming that was, indeed, very elastic, she put her hand up against. Almost like a mother caressing her child.
Ran, however, only felt death! He disappeared before reappearing at the corner of the room. Thankfully the corner was only a couple meters so he was easily able to escape from death itself. Only God knows that if she slapped him, he would truly be dead! He looked at Ann, yet, he only saw her eyes narrowed.
Aw s**t! Ran, you better make like your name and run! You know what that look means, right Ran!? It's her inquisitive look! Who knows what she'd do to get her answers!
She opened her mouth, presumably to speak. Oh no, you're done now boi! If she speaks, there's no getting out of it!
"Where were you? Were you… with other… girls!?"
"Yes." Ran answered. After all, he's never lied in his entire life!
Hah, you know, there's this funny story. One day, Ann was you know (wink) and wanted to get it on with Ran (you know what I mean). His parents, the next day, asked about some strange noises that had happened in his room that night and you know what he said!? He told them about it! He even told them how he did it! Coincidently, Ann was there as well and her face was all red from embarrassment, but Ran was just… himself.
Even his parents were shocked with their mouths all open and their eyes popping out of their skull. They knew he was an honest kid, but seriously!?
Point is, Ann was gonna get to the bottom of this.
So, Ran recounted what he did today, including killing two men, casually. Ann was absolutely shocked, but she heard about the men's hideous actions, she was infuriated as well. Who knew if there were other victims!? But the Emporium was when her fury reached the peak.
"What!? Someone dares to manipulate his Tiny Holiness!? Only I can do that!" Ann could already imagine how ugly that girl from the Wild Catz Emporium was! Supremely ugly! She thought. But then her eyes narrowed again.
"But then, who's necklace is this!?" She looked at Ran.
"Well, for who else then?" He pointed his finger at Ann and did like Fluffy.
Furl and unfurl. Furl and unfurl. He kept signalling towards Ann until she finally got it.
It was for her! She looked at it before a radiant smile bloomed on her face. She swayed her long, black hair back and put on the necklace.
Ran nodded consecutively. Looks really good on her, he thought.
But, most importantly, he had successfully cheered her up! Finally, mission complete!
Ann looked at Ran deeply. She had known his character since her earliest memories and even with those new, even more stunning, eyes, she knew that he was growing stronger. Right now, she's supposed to be protecting him, but he was growing stronger and she… wasn't. Going by this logic, wouldn't there be a day where he wouldn't need her at all? This was her thought process. Sighing, he clutched the gem wrapped around her neck and felt something.
Something warm. She looked at the crystal and felt its surface. Suddenly, a jolt passed through her very being as she felt incomparably comfortable. For the first time in her life, she felt a warmth that didnt come from Ran!
Then, like a sweet little baby, she found the nearest couch before beginning to snore loudly. She fell asleep. Her body flashed with a red light briefly before it went away.
Ran, seeing this, only smiled. He yawned before going to sleep in his room. When he went to sleep, he found himself in the ocean once again. He looked around but didn't see Granny anywhere. He shrugged before immersing himself in the rainbow mist again.
When he woke up, his body felt rejuvenated. The amount of progress was actually noticeably slower than before, but Ran just assumed it to be because his bloodline was already at a very low level when he started, so he got a boost the first time he meditated in the mist. That was actually a very accurate guess mind you.
But, soon, a smirk was raised. Why was it raised? Well, because of one reason.
Today was a new day!
***
After eating at the Silver Wire Inn (which was the place he decided to eat breakfast in from now on), he looked up at a sign of a certain shop.
Wild Catz Emporium.
He walked in with a jingle.