Katsuya slipped his hands into his pocket as he walked down the street.
He was on his way to a clothing store to buy something nice to wear to the party. A sigh was let out.
"I wonder what color of a tuxedo I should go with. I've seen some whit-colored ones before. But, a part of me wants to go with the traditional black colored ones. I also need to buy some new shoes."
Katsuya looked down and saw that his footwear was all dirty and beat-up.
Shoes were a thing he needed for sure. He began approaching the front of the clothing store. The walls were painted white and the whole building was at least four stories high. The window would reflect the sun's brightness, creating a beautiful shine.
Katsuya stopped as he noticed something out of the ordinary. Further out was a giant blue dome covering an entire area where lots of neighborhoods were. Outside of the dome were military vehicles such as jeeps and armored trucks. Soldiers with assault rifles and other guns guarded the area as a man wearing a tuxedo seemed to be giving them orders.
Katsuya started to think to himself.
"Whatever happened must be serious if the national guard is there. Because of my rank, I have the authority to ask what's going on and offer my help. But, a part of me is telling me not to. "
He then spoke, asking Sora a question.
"Sora, what's your opinion on this? Do you sense anything out of the ordinary?"
"Yes, I do. Somewhere beyond that giant dome you see, there is a strong being, maybe around the same strength as you. I would have to see the being in order to tell you more." Sora's voice replied.
Katsuya knew how strong he had gotten, so if Sora said that something posed a threat, that meant that it had to be serious.
"The being that you sense, do you think that national guard soldiers will be enough to handle it?" He asked.
"No, they won't. They do have a strong man with them though. That man in the tuxedo, I can sense that he is powerful. Maybe twice as strong as you. Still, he may not be enough."
There were easily around forty soldiers. To be able to join the national guard, your overall had to be at least B-rank or higher. Katsuya knew how dangerous the situation was; when Sora said that the man in the tuxedo was two times as strong as him, which meant that the man had to be at least Platinum-rank. The fact that all of them wouldn't be enough to handle it was terrifying to Katsuya.
He thought back on how monsters were the reason that his dad was dead and that his mother and sister were in a coma. If he decided to help them out with the situation, it still probably wouldn't be enough. But, he wanted to try for the off chance that they would succeed. He knew the pain of having his family hurt, never would he want anyone else to feel the exact pain.
Thoughts ran through-out Katsuya's mind.
"I probably won't be much help but, I have to go try to do as much as I can. The situation is dire, so maybe I can prevent others from dying or losing loved ones. I don't want others to go through what I'm going through, it's painful."
"What are you going to do?" Sora's voice asked.
"I'm going to do what I should. I'll go help them."
Katsuya began walking towards the soldiers as Sora's voice asked him a question.
"What you do is your choice but, the being that's beyond that dome is no joke. Do you still want to do this?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I? I have crazy adaptability and I also have that skill that lets me evolve depending on what I go through. I have what it takes, don't I?"
He did state some true facts but, Sora was still unsure. What she sensed beyond that dome was something that was as big a threat as a Platinum-rank dungeon. Even she felt a little bit of fear.
"Katsuya, it won't be easy but, with your current stats and skills, you have a forty percent chance of winning."
"I'll take that chance." Katsuya replied.
He had finally walked close enough, catching the man in the tuxedo's attention.
The man held out his hand, signaling Katsuya to stop.
Katsuya complied and his walking came to a stop.
It's dangerous here, you need to leave. The national guard with the help of some adventurers will deal with it." said the Man.
"But...I'm an adventurer too." Katsuya replied.
The man's face had an intense expression on it.
Oh, you are? What rank? What guild? And don't even think about lying, kid." His eyes shined purple as he stared into Katsuya's eyes.
"I'm Gold-rank and I am a part of the Beast Slayer Guild."
There was silence as the man continued to intensely stare. Katsuya felt as if this unsettling moment would never come to an end, not even in a million years. Finally, the man spoke.
" I have a specific skill that let's me tell when the person in question is lying. Kid, I can see that you are telling the truth."
The man adjusted the tie on his suit and turned to face the dome, continuing his talking.
"I apologize for the intensity, sometimes I do jump to conclusions."
"It's fine. So, what's the situation?" Katsuya asked.
"This dome you see is a barrier, we had a mage put it up. Inside is an incredible dangerous killer. Because of the sudden sighting, he didn't have time to evacuate the citizens inside."
"Why not just send a team to do that?"
The man looked at the floor and let out a sigh.
"I'm afraid that it's not as simple as you would think. We don't know the exact threat of this killer. Because of the high kill count that the killer had, we assumed it to be S-rank so we sent in two teams of adventurers to check it out. Each team had one S-ranker and three A-rankers. After coming into contact with the suspect, we lost contact with both teams."
Meaning that it was to be assumed that both teams were wiped out. To be able to defeat two
S-rankers and six A-rankers was an amazing feat all on its own.
Katsuya was surprised.
"What do I have to do?"
"I'm a government agent, on the level of a Platinum-ranker. Me, you and a team of soldiers will go in. We should be able to take down the suspect, assuming he doesn't have any skills that are out of the ordinary.
The phrase "out of the ordinary" gave Katsuya a bad feeling.
Even in situations that seemed like nothing could go wrong, would go wrong for him. He could name a number of times this happened. Though, he wouldn't say that he was custard with bad luck. One way or another, he always managed to get through the unordinary situation that happened.
After hearing what the man had said, Katsuya was more than sure something 'unordinary' was bound to happen.
"By the way, Kid, you can call me shadow." said the man.
"And you, you can call me Katsuya."
One of the soldiers from the national guard ran over to Shadow.
"Sir, the adventurer you requested still hasn't arrived."
"It's alright, we should be enough to handle the threat. Afterall, there's no way this is going to be a threat higher than Platinum."
Katsuya, had a different opinion on the matter.
"I think maybe we should wait for help. What if the threat is higher than we think?" He asked.
After thinking, Shadow replied.
"Well, Katsuya, you're absolutely right. Still, we had a mage do a scan, the threat is only Silver-rank."
Sora's voice spoke inside Katsuya's head.
"That can't be right. What I sensed was capable of being a Platinum-rank threat."
Katsuya replied to Sora, telepathically. To Shadow, it looked as if Katsuya was only spacing-out with no sign that he was having a whole other conversation.
"I believe you. But, why did their mage sense that it was only Silver-rank? Any ideas, Sora?" Katsuya asked
"When us A.I's sense things, we don't always necessarily sense power levels. Most of the time, we only sense what Someone or something is capable of. So, maybe in power levels, the killer is only Silver-ranked but in capability, the killer Platinum-rank."
"That does make more sense. Okay, Sora, I'll talk to you later. Right now I need to finish up my conversation with Shadow." said Katsuya.
Shadow moved his hand, side to side in front of Katsuya's face.
"Hey, kid, stop spacing out."
"Sorry, my bad." said Katsuya.
"It's alright. Anyway, we should be heading in now."
Shadow began walking towards the soldiers as he waved his hand in the air towards them.
"Okay, men! Gather, let's get ready to head in."
"Sir, we're on it!" one of the soldiers replied.
Katsuya thought to himself "Well, he thinks the threat is only silver-rank so I guess we're heading in. I can't just tell him that my A.I sensed that the threat is stronger than they think. I have reasons to keep quiet about having an A.I. The only person I've told was Jill."
His reason for not wanting to tell certain individuals about his A.I was because he would receive unwanted attention. Many of the Limit-breakers were heavily tailed and influenced to join guilds under a contact or government organizations. If a high-ranking government member believed him to be a threat, there would be a hit put out on him; worst caseinario would be that All the top-ranking adventurers would put him down. Though the chances of him being seen as a threat and killed was rare, Katsuya was not ready to take that chance. Not until his mother and sister woke up from their coma at least.
Katsuya walked over and stood by shadow as the soldiers lined up behind.
"You ready, Katsuya?" Shadow asked.
"Yeah, I am."
Each of the soldiers behind were highly trained and ready for the worst to happen. Even so, would they survive the threat inside of the barrier?
Shadow turned and faced the dome, walking towards it.
"Let's head in."
(20 minutes later, Inside the barrier)
Katsuya and Shadow walked behind the large group of soldiers as they all continued the search. It was noticeable that each individual felt a bit of unease, some of their hands would slightly tremble as they held their guns.
"Sir, We've been walking for quite some time already. Should we turn back?" one of the soldiers asked.
"No, we'll keep searching until we find the killer. The longer we take, the more lives he'll take."
Katsuya looked up at the sky as he noticed that it was beginning to get dark. The moon was already starting to come out.
The soldiers all stopped as they approached a dark alleyway. Hesitant to go any further, the soldier the front spoke.
"Should...we keep going? Your call, sir."
Shadow was also feeling hesitation but let out a reply.
"Turn on your flashlights, we're gonna keep going."
"Understood." the soldiers replied.
Each of the national guard members powered their lights on, lighting up the alleyway. What lied up ahead was expected, the lifeless bodies of citizens laid all around; streaks of blood were on the walls and puddles were on the ground. In total, there were 23 different boies, all up and down the way.
The scene was regrettable, if only there had been time to evacuate the people, this wouldn't have happened. But, nothing could be done for the now lost lives. No thoughts or prayers could reverse what had already happened.
"The bastard that did this must be sick in the head. Alright, keep moving further." said Shadow.
The soldiers steadily walked as Shadow followed. This wasn't Katsuya's first time seeing the deceased bodies of people but, he still felt some sickness in his stomach as he stepped over them.
"The fact that someone would actually do this, it makes me mad." He thought to himself.
The walk to the end of the way seemed like it took ages. Right before they walked out of the alley, Katsuya took one look back at all the bodies and thought to himself.
"If only there something I could've done to prevent all of their deaths."
He then followed behind the soldiers.
[Warning: Dangerous creature nearby]
Without wasting another second, Katsuya spoke.
"Let's stop here."
Shadow signaled the soldiers to stop as he turned to Katsuya.
"What is it, kid?"
"Something close, a monster." said Katsuya.
"Wait, how do you know this? Do you have a sensing skill?"
"It's a long story but, just believe me. We have to prepare to fight." Katsuya replied.
Shadow was confused as he wondered what a monster was doing here.
Slow footsteps were coming and closer, then a chilling voice spoke.
"Oh? More of you came for me?"
Standing there was a tall pale skinned man with long white hair and glowing yellow eyes. He wore a shadow black coat.
Each of the soldiers raised their guns, aiming at the man.
"Sir, Some-one just showed up." one of them shouted.
Shadow quickly turned and realized right away, that man had to be the killer.
"That's him! Fire!"
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
A hail of bullets shot forward with no sign of stopping. The smell of gunpowder and the sound of shots moved through the air.
The color orange would shine bright out of each gun barrel.
All the noise and racket came to a stop as the shells fell to the floor.
Click. Click. Click. Chink. Chink.Chink.
Each of the soldiers had reached the end of their clips. Smoke gently traveled up into the air, coming from the barrel to the guns.
Confusions set the mood as there was no sight of the man they were all shooting at. The entire team began reloading their weapons and some of them were shouting.
"Where'd he go?!"
"He just disappeared!"
"Be careful, he could be anywhere."
Both Katsuya's and Shadow's eyes scanned the area, trying to figure out where the pale man had gone.
Slash. Gush. Slash.
Each of the soldiers' heads began falling off of their bodies, one by one.
One of the soldiers in the back spoke "What the fu-" but before he could finish, his head was removed from his body.
"Damn! He's fast!" Shadow thought to himself.
His eyes widened and he instantly crossed his arms, guarding his chest.
Boom!
And incredible force had struck him, pushing his back; as he slid back, dirt flew up. He was off balance but stomped his foot on the ground, regaining it. His sleeves were torn and his forearms had smoke emitting from it.
Shadow took a deep breath and swiftly blew it back out.
His eyes looked at the tall pale skinned man that stood ahead of them.
"Oh, you're a strong one. Your power will be quite useful to me when I harvest it."
"You're no ordinary killer. You're probably not even human. What are you? Son of a bitch." Shadow's purple eyes shined greatly and his spiky blue hair began glowing.
[Allie has activated 'Fast Tracking']
[Allie has activated 'Double Speed']
[Allie has activated 'Time Limit Expansion' x4]
"Aha, such harsh language. Just call me Vamp. Also, What I am is an ancient vampire, something you can never hope to win against." The pale man replied.
Katsuya was able to feel the energy flowing from Shadow's body. He was surprised even though that kind of power was to be expected of somebody on the level of a Platinum-ranker.
Shadow glanced over to Katsuya and spoke to him.
"Kid, this isn't some-one I can beat alone. It's going to take the effort of both of us. Get ready to fight."
"Don't worry, I'm on it." Katsuya replied. Inside of his thoughts, he gave Sora a command to appear. A blue flash of light shine from the side; as it faded away, a girl whit hair and jewel red eyes appeared.
She held a long blue sword, she was none other than Sora.
"I'm here, ready to assist."
Shadow seemed surprised as this girl had just appeared from thin air.
"Where did she come from?" he asked.
"Well, I didn't really want to call her here but, this is a dire situation. She's my A.I." Katsuya replied.
With the odds being 3 against one, Katsuya was sure they had at least a 50% chance of winning. Sora knew exactly what He was thinking and corrected him.
"Now that I can see the enemy up close, I can see his stats and skills. We only have a forty-six percent chance of success, assuming you don't use your monster-like skill."
{Opponent: Level: 412/912
Hp: 122,688 | Intelligence: 746 | Mp: 42,561 | Atk: 22,224
Speed: 1,266 | Skills: Devour, Deflect, High hp regeneration, Magic amplifier, Speed Boost, Life steal, Penetrate, Limb Regeneration, Attack Triple, Claws, second Chance, Hide Presence}
After observing the window Sora had shown Katsuya, he replied.
"Looks like I might have to."
"Alright, kid, I'm going to get this fight started. Get ready to start." said Shadow.
He then turned his head and glared at Vamp and shouted.
"Here I come,you bastard."
With a sudden movement, Shadow sprinted forward and swung his fist across the air. Vamp grinned and dodged with little effort.
"So very slow."
The vampire's yellow eyes lit up as he kicked him in the chest.
The force of the impact was great enough that it shook the wind and even surprised Shadow.
Thump.
He fell with his back to the floor.
"Here I go!" Sora shouted.
[Warning: Enemy activated 'Claws']
A blue stream of light followed her sword as she swung it. Still, Vamp's speed was too fast and he quickly ducked. Long black claws grew from his hands and he slashed Sora's chest.
Clink.
Her sword fell to the floor as she let out a painful groan, falling to her knees.
"You guys are supposed to be the strong humans, could this really be all you got?" Vamp asked.
He then looked over at Shadow who had already gained him balance. For the most part, it seemed as if the vampire's previous attack had only done a little bit of damage.
"You're pretty damn fast, I'll give you that. Your attacks, that's another story, they're weak." said Shadow.
Katsuya had learned a couple new skills just from watching the vampire fight.
[New skill learned: Attack Triple]
[New Skill learned: Claws]
It was his time to fight.
[You have activated 4 skills: Attack Double, Attack Triple, Monster, Limit Break.]
Vamp wore an evil smile while he began walking towards Shadow.
"Let me show you what I'm capable of."
A flurry of attacks struck Shadow's chest in an instant, tearing the chest area of his tuxedo. He fell to his knees as the Vampire vanished then reappeared, standing behind him.
"You're wondering what just hit you, right? That was ten hits in a single second. I am capable of doing one-hundred but that would kill you right away. I want to toy with you just a little longer."
The vampire was filled with nothing but wicked ideas for torture. His excited thoughts came to an end as a voice came from behind.
"Did you forget that I was here too?"
The voice had come from Katsuya.
He swung his fist into the Vamp's side, creating a loud boom.
Boom! Swoosh!
(Opponent: Hp: 0/122,688)
The wind shook violently and the vampire's entire body launched against a house. The home's entire structure was ripped apart and the dry paint and other ruble flew everywhere; A cloud of dust was created.
Shadow got back on his feet and gave Katsuya an appraise.
"Nice one, kid."
Katsuya noticed the cuts and bruises over Shadow's chest and spoke.
"That strike that I delivered, it killed him. But, the strike he delivered to you, it looks like they injured you pretty heavily."
Because of Sora, Katsuya was able to see Shadow's status.
{Allie: Hp: 82,980/771,924}
"I'll admit, that vampire's attacks weren't anything special but his speed was extraordinary, allowing him to hit me many times in only a second. I think he may have broken one of my ribs." said Shadow.
It wasn't as big of a deal as it seemed. Any body that was above level 1 was able to completely heal broken and cracked bones in only a matter of days.
[All of your skills have deactivated]
Sora had already gotten over the pain she had felt from getting slashed at. She walked over and placed her hand on Katsuya's shoulder. She was glaring at the house that had been destroyed.
"What's wrong?" Katsuya asked.
"It's not over. He's still alive."
"What do you mean?"
[Warning: Enemy's 'Second Chance' skill has activated]
He didn't even have to wait for her answer. He knew right away what she meant as he heard the ruble moving. Slowly standing up was the ancient vampire, Vamp.
"Oh, oh, oh, boy. You got me pretty good, didn't you? It's still not enough to stop me?"
Shadow had his arm, holding his injured rib cage.
"Kid, because of my injuries,I'm in no condition to fight him. Hit him with another strike, act fast!"
A sudden movement came from Vamp, Shadow was stuck in the stomach and fell to the floor;
Thump.
Shadow held his stomach as he fell to the floor. The vampire's speed was incredible, it looked as if he had just appeared behind him.
"That's enough from you, small fry. This is between me and the kid." said Vamp.
Sora raised her sword above the vampire's head and swiftly swung it down at him.
Swip. Swoosh. Thump.
His speed was too much for her, he was just too fast. The vampire had easily dodged and smashed his fist into her stomach. Sora's eyes widened as she disappeared, followed by a fading blue light.
Vamp's eyes turned darker than black on a devilish smile shot onto his face. He held his hand out to the side as he spoke with a cocky attitude.
"Easy, easy, easy. Every human I come across will only become more fodder for me, making me stronger."
[Warning: Opponent has activated 'Claws']
Long dark claws grew from his hands, he pointed to Katsuya and asked a question.
"Are you ready for me to end your pointless life?"
Katsuya's face was emotionless as if he wasn't human anymore.
"Sorry but, that won't happen. I can't die and I won't die, not until….they wake up at least." When he spoke, he was referring to his mother and sister.
[4 of your skills were activated: Fast Tracking, Monster, Brawler, Double Speed]
Katsuya closed his eyes and took a fighting stance, thinking back to the time he fought the ancient shadow monster.
"Thanks to my Combat Genius skill, I was able to pick up on how he fought. Calm the mind, Imagine to be power stronger than my opponent, I will be steel hardened and have reflexes like light."
He took a deep breath then let it out, opening his eyes, speaking to the vampire.
"Okay, I'm ready. Bring it on."
"Well, then. Here I go!"
Vamp ran forward at a wind shaking speed and swung his claws. A red stream of light followed the movement of Katsuya's hands as he gently flicked the vampire's claws to the side. Vamp had missed his target and instead, struck the floor. The ground cracked and shook violently.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
There was a flash of red light as the vampire was struck in the chest many, many times.
"Agh….What just hit me?" Vamp was genuinely shocked by the speed that his opponent had just shown.
Katsuya's face still showed little to no emotion as he replied.
"I picked up on your little move, ten strikes in a single second. I was generous and held back on killing you, your welcome. " Of course, id Katsuya had wanted, he could have finished off the enemy right there but instead, he didn't. This was exactly what Sora had meant when she said that he was beginning to get monster instincts. Stronger monsters would usually toy with their prey before killing them.
[Two of your skills are in cooldown: Brawler, Double Speed]
An overwhelming amount of energy was felt flowing from Vamp's body as he stood in silence.
Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, humans, kill humans. Those were the words that shot around inside the vampires head as he felt an extreme amount of anger.
"So you're that kind of human. You're able to pick up on moves and skills pretty easily. I have something that'll stop you from learning anything else from me."
[Warning: Enemy has activated 'Hide Presence']
The point of the skill wasn't to hide the presence of yourself against the opponent but to hide yourself against skill that activate under certain conditions.
This was where Katsuya had realized his mistake, he took too long and his skills were already in cooldown. Meaning that it would be difficult to keep up with his opponents movements.