"Wake up you lazy zygotes!" The loud order of a drill sergeant wakes up the room filled with a variety of races, with a variety of people.
The beds are positioned like how you'd expect a military to do it, but the room is high tech, with the area being filled with a blank void of the color white.
It's a facility that is no doubt much much more fit for something like training the new gen youth.
"Hey you! Your name is Corkey, right? Your new bunk buddy is here." The drill sergeant shouts as he points towards someone.
Corkey is a rather lean young boy, with reddish hair. His hair is very messy, most likely attributed to him just recently waking up. He's wearing pajamas and has a half awake look. Unlike the majority of the people present, he's human.
"Yeeesss sergeant." Corkey lazily moves his hand to aim towards his head and does a salute.
"Cocky kid." The sergeant mutters under his breath.
"Moving on, your new friend is named Katsumi, he's been personally scouted by Ark, so it's best to mind your manners."
The drill sergeant guides Katsumi to be in front of him and they have a rather large height difference. The drill sergeant looks like he's on the older scale of things and has grown to about 5 '10, not too tall, but definitely taller than his peers.
Katsumi has a very quiet demeanor, not even minding the current events, and his eyes look rather empty. His lips look dried out and he looks like he hasn't been able to rest well.
"Sergeant Jaune, Ark has informed me that he wants the group to hunt. He also emphasized that the new kid comes." A woman walks up beside the drill sergeant, she has military clothing and is holding a stack of papers placed on a clipboard. She has a name tag on her left breast that reads "Jane." She wears a rather uneasy expression as she reports to the sergeant.
"He's that confident? He knows how many subjects we've lost to it right? Tell me, what level did he choose?"
"Well.. He told me to just let them out."
"What?"
"He didn't choose a level, sir."
"He's out of his mind.."
"By standard procedure, when there's no level chosen, that means to just let everything out."
".. Jane, prepare for new subjects."
"Understood." Jane bows and escorts herself out of the room.
Sergeant Jaune scratches his head and clears his throat.
"Listen up! It's time for you guys to go on another 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭." The sergeant declares.
This spurs a lot of murmurs and a lot are clearly retaliating in their own small ways, but they know they can't act out of order.
The reason being? It's not the sergeant, they have a switch release on the collars they wear, they're more like dogs rather than humans. Should they ever retaliate, they'll be put down.
"I will give you one hour to prepare." Jaune tells them.
"Go along now Katsumi, Kyoraku will tell you the rest." The sergeant commands Katsumi and leaves.
Katsumi doesn't respond and moves towards his bed.
"Yo!" Corkey greets Katsumi, but Katsumi remains silent and keeps walking.
"What typa magic do you use? Though, you're probably focused on swordsmanship, right?" Corkey asks Katsumi, to which Katsumi doesn't reply and simply puts down his bag, along with his swords.
"Hey, it's not very nice to just not talk to people, you know?"
"..." Katsumi remains silent.
THUMP!
The sound was from someone hitting Corkey in the back of the head. Who comes into view is someone who looks to be in their teenage years, with a bulkier build than the average person, yet still remaining very lean. His hair is turquoise and his hair is taken care of, looking like a scissor fade.
His eyes have a deep blue, similar to the ocean. His pupils are like a line, rather than a circle.
The most interesting detail about him however is his arms, which look scaly and have a small hue of blue.
"I'm Kyoraku." He extends his arm for a handshake, but Katsumi ignores it.
"A quiet type, I see."
"Well it matters little, don't let this guy distract you." Kyoraku says as he holds down Corkey's head.
"The hunt that the sergeant mentioned is usually a rare occurrence, due to the difficulty of it. They will lead us to an island designated by them and pour in animals that they have captive. You should've been briefed but I'll go over it one more time, this facility was created for the purpose of making the next gen military and everyone here was cherry picked from the norm. Depending on your performance, the way they treat you will be different."
"Since we'll have to leave for the hunt very soon, I don't suppose that I need to show you the ropes in this area for now, we can cover that some other time."
"A word of advice, don't be cocky. I've seen talented people come and go. They think they're strong, they think they're smart, but they take everything too lightly. They all ended up dying. Don't be the same as them."
"..." Katsumi nods.
The other people all range from children to teens, separated from each other through sections and walls. The doors that connect the facilities have their sections written on a board on top of the doors.
The labeling is very simple, they are separated by years, such as the one Katsumi is residing in right now is the 14-17 years old section.
Some of the people are huddled into a fetus position, some are shaking uncontrollably, some are doing meditation, the usual for a situation that spells panic.
One of the more interesting of the batch is a man approaching Katsumi, with a straw hat on his head and farmer clothing. His face is grotesque and is colored red. Everyone knows what he is, it's easy to tell, he's an oni. He towers most of their heights and his build is unlike his age range, definitely one that only soldiers should have.
"I don't like you." His deep voice resounded
"What do you want, Tanuki?" Kyoraku questions
Corkey raises his eyebrows, snickers slightly and moves his eyes slightly lower.
"When will you let me see them man?" Corkey jokes
"Never." Tanuki replies
Kyoraku looks at the two and becomes increasingly more irritated, his eyebrows twitching.
"What do you want with the new guy?" Corkey asks
"Nothing. I simply don't like him. I came here to tell him that." Tanuki tells them and leaves.
"Yeesh, talk about a bummer!" Corkey stretches his arms.
"Corkey, put on your clothes. We have to go soon. Go teach Katsumi where his clothing is." Kyoraku commands and leaves.
"He's really one hell of a boss man, you know?" Corkey comments.
"..."
"Ahh whatever! Just come with me." Corkey says and walks towards a door labeled the changing room. Katsumi follows behind his back.
"This is the changing room, they should hand you your uniform."
"Who will?" Katsumi finally speaks, his voice sounds raspy.
".. Shocker.. I thought you were mute."
Katsumi simply looks at him.
"Well I don't really know! It's hard to see them, they kind of just blend into the background and hand you your uniform."
"..." Katsumi opens the door and enters.
Surely enough, his uniform is handed to him, it has gray lines running out of the gem, which is also gray. It looks to be skin tight and is a color of pure black. The pants have the same pattern.
Katsumi grabs his uniform and changes, still unsure whether the people that gave him his clothing are watching.
He walks outside and sees Corkey resting his back on the wall.
"It was a little creepy right? Feels like someone is watching you while you're changing, eurgh!" Corkey complains
Katsumi stares at him for a few seconds and walks away.
".. I can't wait to kill that guy." Corkey mutters
-An hour later-
The people are placed in a fashion fit for the military, like they're on roll call. Everyone is wearing the same grayed out uniform, with some of the others having modified uniforms that have holes to fit their genetic traits, like tails and multiple limbed hybrids.
They all seem to be carrying a backpack, with water bottles on the side.
"Everyone, are you ready? Because it doesn't matter whether you're ready or not, we're sending you in now."
A huge magic circle fills the area, with white light trapping the entirety of them aside from the sergeant.
A huge flash occurs and the organized group is now scattered as groups of three.
Katsumi is paired with an Atlantean who looks to be a lizardman and a spider-human hybrid. The field is a huge empty grass field, with a mass of trees seen in the south.
The arachne is a female, evidenced by their chest.
The lizardman however is a male and he's carrying a trident, his skin is scaly and his eyes are of brown color. He's of teenage height, looking about 5'6 and his body looks as slender as a lizard. His most notable factor? He's bald.
The arachne has long black hair and her eyes look slightly worn out, most notably the underside of her eyes having a small bluish to purple hue. Her height is taller than the lizardman, thanks to her long limbs afforded to her due to her temperament.
"How are thee? All is well, I hope?" The lizardman asks the group.
".. What's wrong with him?" Katsumi reluctantly asks.
""In the Genesis, he is a rare case. Mostly because he speaks a modified version of Common when he's stressed." The woman replies
"How dare thou ridicule me?! I do not speak Shakespearean in times of despair, uncertainty and fear, NAY! 'Tis mine passion! Mine nature!"
"I never mentioned anything about despair.." The girl comments
"Uh!" The lizardman stutters
".. I admit I am flummoxed, 'tis thine's victory." The lizardman admits, looking very defeated for an unknown reason.
"..." Katsumi silently laments his situation, his annoyance is painted on his face.
"May you, sirra, introduce yourself?" The lizardman curiously gazes upon Katsumi.
".. Katsumi."
"Bizarre. Does thy have kin? Perhaps one of ancestral ties?"
Katsumi looks at the woman with blank eyes and a strained forehead.
"Father, he means a father, or more accurately, your family name." The woman clears up.
".. No." Katsumi answers, his face looks rather stressed however.
".. Worry not! We art an existence devoid of harsh judgment!" The lizardman declares.
"He's terrible at cheering someone up." The woman whispers in Katsumi's ear.
Katsumi nods.
"Forsooth, the fair damsel ran thy's mouth, worry not lass, she is a prattler!"
"He also kind of acts like the victim a lot." The woman whispers
Katsumi nods vigorously.
The lizardman simply looks at the two, his confused stare clearly screams a question, "What are they talking about?"
"Okay!" The woman claps her hands once.
"He first introduced himself as Brian Friar, but he goes by Laurence Friar now."
" 'T must be fate, the sisters brought together to grant me my destiny." Brian or supposedly Laurence comments.
"Okay okay enough about you, my name is Nitya Alora." The arachne introduces herself.
"Usually hunts are done with bigger packs, I wonder what they're doing with it this time." Nitya remarks
"..." Katsumi goes silent.
There are no other people around them, so through a silent agreement, they decide to walk around in a group.
They decide to head north and ignore the forest, with the reasoning being that Nitya recommended that they avoid tight spaces, especially with the nature of their activity.
"The beasts are usually better in tight spaces, they're more accustomed to it than us, and the darkness only benefits them."
-About 2 hours later-
The land seems to be much bigger than their usual, though they've only met small critters, such as squirrels, birds, the usual.
"Look! It's a campfire!" Nitya yells out
It's unusual to see a campfire, it's still daytime after all, but they must have used this as an opportunity to find the other members of the Genesis.
"Pray tell, how doth thou suggest we meet these ladies or gentlemen?"
"Pish posh! Easy as pie, you just meet them."
"Did thee forget the Genesis hold disdain for me?"
"I forgot everyone hates you because you act like your entire personality is based off Shakespeare.."
Laurence steps back a little dramatically and puts his hand on his chest, as if he was hit with an arrow through his chest.
"Nay! Balderdash of the highest order, I sayeth! Tis a simple truth that they are day brained!"
"He's calling everyone dumb." Nitya explains to Katsumi, to which Katsumi responds by staring down Laurence, with an intense gaze.
"Prithee, I did not suggest that you, my sirra, are day brained, so I pray you put away your weapon, for 't stares daggers at me."
Katsumi has a bit of a confused look, especially after Laurence refers to him having a weapon.
"We're wasting timeee, let's just go you two." Nitya says
With a nod of approval from both, they run towards the campfire.
Coming into view is a human with a fairy on their shoulder and a golem, with a dwarf sitting on a log drinking ale from a wooden mug.
On closer inspection, the fairy has a radiant glow of yellow and her hair is a deep black and falls down. Curiously, unlike everyone, her clothing is a mini sized clothing fit for a princess in ancient times and she has a small leaf crown. Her face is too far right now to see her eye color.
The human has brown hair with a short cut, it's messy and looks curly. He's slightly tanned and he has a small flute placed on his ear, with his hair tangling it and making sure it doesn't fall out. His eyes look cloudy, with his eye color, it looks like the distinct color of mud.
The dwarf has a long beard and has a brown hair color, it seems all his hair went into his beard. On the side of him is his helmet, it has a rather vintage style, considering that most helmets are sleek in design, however, this one is still made of wood and metal, with a gem in the forehead area.
"What do you want?" The fairy's high pitched voice can be heard.
"Hi hi my cute fairy! I miss you!" Nitya excitedly runs towards her
"Wha- NO!" The fairy screams as she floats away from the human's shoulder and flies away.
"Nitya get away!" The fairy runs and squeals
"I just want to show you my love!"
"Nooo!!"
"So, what brings you here, Brian and.. I wanna say.. uhhh, who are you?" The human looks towards the two.
"..." Katsumi remains silent
"It's Laurence, L-A-U-R-E-N-C-E!"
"Whatever you say, Brian. Would you mind telling me who that is beside you?"
Laurence sighs and looks defeated.
"He's Katsumi, he doesn't have a family name."
"Oh the new recruit."
"Katsumi, this is Zora Roltes. He's a bit of an ignorant jackass, but he's not a bad guy, he just kind of forgets to respect others." Laurence explains, dropping the Shakespeare act.
"Nice to meet ya!" Zora extends his hand out and smiles.
"..." Katsumi doesn't respond, or shake his hand either.
Zora retracts his hand, keeping a smile on his face despite Katsumi's disrespect.
".. Do you hear that everyone?" Zora whispers
"What?" Laurence asks
"It's in the East. It's the sound of my familia." Zora explains
"What?! There hasn't been a time you found one in a hunt, right?"
".. No." Zora has a rough look on his face.
"Atrius, we need to go." Zora calls
"You called?" The dwarf sets down his mug quickly and puts on his helmet.
"The East."
"Nitya, my fair lady, we must go!" Laurence calls out.
"But I'm not done with Hania yet!" Nitya says as she's playing around with the fairy.
"No! We're done!" Hania whines
"Nitya, let go." Zora commands and interestingly enough, Nitya follows.
"That's so unfair you know!" Nitya squeals
".. What is?" Katsumi curiously asks
"I forgot you're new! So-" Nitya was ready to explain, but she was cut off by Zora covering her mouth with his hand.
"He'll find out in time. If he was a bit less of an ass, I would let you tell him." Zora whispers
"Fouihn!" Nitya garbles
"Nod if you understand."
Nitya nods.
"Okay!" Zora releases her from his grasp and smiles.
"..."
"Time to go." Zora commands the group, and they start running to the East.
-Time skip(It is only a minor time skip, like a few minutes, I will be shortening this to TS.)-
The group arrive at the scene, which is a forest, though a few trees have already fallen down. Coming into view is a hunk of a man standing on top of a dead gargoyle and a large greatsword propped on his back. His hair is a light color of yellow and it reaches to his neck.
"You're a poor imitation!" Katsumi shouts, unexpectedly for his character.
The man looks behind and sees the group, and utters, "Huh?"
"You're just a cheap copy."
"What does this rascal want?" The man looks over the group, expecting an answer.
"You're trying to imitate the Black Warrior."
".. How do you know that?"
"He's my father."
".. That man does not have a child." The man says
"Yet here I stand." Katsumi sharply looks at him
"Are you picking a fight with me, kid?"
"Throw away your clownlike copy of him, and I will."
"Hey, Katsumi, psst! You don't want to mess with him." Nitya whispers
"Hush." Katsumi shuts her up as he places his index on her lips.
"A wager? Bold. So you want me to stop imitating The Predator if you win, what's in it for me?"
"Your choice."
"Fine, then your life."
"Then it shall be."
[MATCH UP!]
A game-like interface appears above them, with their name and a long bar on the top.
On Katsumi's side of the bar, it says his name, Katsumi [⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️], indicating his lack of a family name. On the bottom of it, it says his wager "Katsumi's life."
On his opponent's side, it says his name, formerly Dorkal, now Kaail Feral. On the bottom of it, it says his wager, "Kaail's pride."
"An official duel?!" Nitya exclaims
"Tis folly! Methinks this is a glitch, a mistake mayhap."
"They don't make mistakes, Laurence. That means this hunt is special, that even duels can be formally initiated." Nitya inferences
A counter appears in the middle of the bar, starting from 3 and slowly counts down to 2.
"Katsumi you can forf-!" Nitya tries to shout, but is cut off by Zora yet again.
"Hush.." Zora intercepts her
As it counts down to 1, an arena forms, with a small bluish hue that looks to be the wall.
[MATCH START!]
Katsumi looks at his opponent up and down, sizing him up. The difference is massive, with the man being far bigger and having much more muscles, though one can say that it would be a disadvantage in a battle.
However, Katsumi is way too thin, while his muscles seem very toned, if someone were to ask them to judge who would win, they'd bet on Kaail, no matter what. It doesn't matter when someone is fast if they get caught once.
Katsumi engages the first attack, dashing quickly onto his opponent. Everyone knows taking the initiative is a mistake in a fight.
Kaail reads his movement and raises his greatsword to his left and sweeps.
Katsumi jumps in the air and lands straight on top of Kaail's sword and just stands there, with the poise of a dancer.
"That's all?" Katsumi arrogantly mocks
Kaail jumps back and throws away his greatsword. Katsumi jumps away from the greatsword and lands on his hands and flips, the spectators could easily tell, he was not taking this seriously.
Kaail extends his hand and commands his sword to fly back to him and surely enough it does.
SMACK!
Katsumi's palm lands straight onto Kaail's face before he could even see it and it knocks him off balance for a slight moment. That slight moment was enough for him to make a blunder, a massive mistake. His sword that was flying back at him wasn't commanded to stop, so it landed straight into his ribcage. Kaail falls down on his knees, coughing up blood.
Katsumi hunches slightly and whispers into Kaail's ear,
"You'd die in less than a second against the Black Warrior."
"SHUT UP!" Kaail shouts as he puts his hand on his greatsword and tries to pick it up, but to his dismay, Katsumi has his hand tightly gripped onto his greatsword and is intensely pushing it down. It's a mistake to do this, it's clear to see from Katsumi's bleeding hand, the edge, while more blunt than a dagger or a sword, is still sharp enough to cut, especially with the force he's using on it.
But he's not doing this to win, he's doing this to break his opponent's soul.
Kaail uses his free hand to punch Katsumi, to which Katsumi doesn't care to dodge, it's easy to see that he saw the hit, he even showed a massive smile just before it landed.
PWACK!
The sound of the punch was loud and it clearly sent Katsumi flying, so much so that he even had let go of the sword and flew back enough to hit the border of the duel.
Katsumi lands on the ground and spits some blood and some teeth.
"That's not how you throw a punch." Katsumi grins widely, it looks far more malicious than he usually smiles.
"THIS IS HOW YOU THROW A PUNCH!" Katsumi shouts and disappears off their vision, he's faster than the blink of an eye.
He reappears quickly below Kaail and throws an uppercut straight to his stomach, with enough force to make Kaail basically vomit blood.
"That's inhuman" is what they would've said if this was done to a normal person. But here in the Genesis, it's normal to see prodigies, to see people blessed by the gods themselves. It's said a conflict between the rulers could easily split the Earth, so a feat like this, while insane, is to be expected.
Expected.. If Katsumi were as humungous as Kaail.
Some jaws dropped, some gazes intensified, but there was a common thought.
This is not normal.
"You're unfit to be a swordsman, perhaps a predator does fit you, but do not dare imitate my father again." Katsumi tells Kaail as Kaail is on the ground unconscious.
"Wake up." Katsumi slaps around the unconscious Kaail.
"Wake. Up." Katsumi says as he unleashes his mana. His technique is sloppy at best, he's only brute forcing this.
Seeing Kaail not waking up, Katsumi forcefully opens one of his eyelids with his thumb and index. With his free hand, he conjures a claw with his mana.
He shows it to the opened eyes of Kaail, even though his eyes clearly seem blank.
"Use this. This is more fit for someone like you."
[MATCH OVER! KATSUMI IS THE WINNER!]
{Should your opponent fail to finish his side of the bargain in under a day, he shall face 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.}
[Subject Kaail is fatally injured, withdrawing in 3..2..1]
A flash of light covers Kaail, with the next second showing him gone.
Katsumi pulls out his MID and stares at it for a few seconds before sheathing it again.
"If you talked with us as much as you did here, you'd be a fun person to hang out with." Zora faces Katsumi, who's walking away from the scene.
"..." Katsumi moves his head away.
"Figures."
CLAP CLAP CLAP!
The noises of a person clapping is heard, with the silhouette of a person coming into view as they clap slowly and walk towards the group.
"You're battle crazed, I like that." It's a familiar voice to Katsumi.
CLANG!
The loud render of steel on steel echoes, with Corkey's small dagger faced against Katsumi's MID. Their faces came close, Corkey's eyes that were colored lime spelled danger, bloodlust.
"You're sharp." Corkey praises
"You're terrible."
"How could you tell?"
"Even a braindead sponge could sense you, that bloodthirst of yours."
"You're the same."
"I'm not as cowardly."
Corkey jumps back, releasing the tension between them.
"I have to go now, it's a bit too dangerous here."
"Sleep with one eye open, kay?" Corkey bids them farewell, with a threat no less.
Corkey molds into the darkness, disappearing into the shadows provided by the thick foliage of trees.
"That magic of his is familiar.." Katsumi notes
"How are your teeth, are you alright?" Nitya inquires with her face filled with worry.
"..." Katsumi pushes her away.
"You're rude." Nitya comments
"You've made me so so very sad!" Nitya cries, even though her acting skills leave a lot to be desired.
"..." Katsumi cups up Hania and holds her practically hostage.
"EEK!" Hania squeals
Katsumi then offers Hania up to Nitya, as his silent way of telling her to cheer up, or shut up.
"Yay!" Nitya joyfully squeals
"We got a little sidetracked, but the thing we came here for is already gone." Zora says
"What did we come here for, anyway?" Atrius asks
Zora points towards the dead gargoyle.
"Shit really?"
"It's not just him, I can sense about 4 more around us, and on the way here, I felt a few more."
"I always felt the Genesis was messed up, but to use mutated people?"
"This is different, much more different than our normal tests." Zora inferences
"They have the minds of a human, the body of a monster, and the insanity that comes along with it."
"That means Kaail was lucky this gargoyle was a creature nearing insanity."
"Fuck me.." Atrius swears
-TS-
"Are you sure it's alright for us to dismantle the gargoyle?" Nitya asks as she rips off another limb from the gargoyle.
"It's fine, dead beings have no conscience, they hold no meaning." Zora replies
"You sure do have a cold way of looking at this, considering how much you plead to someone when they hurt a mutated person."
"Ahem, they're like my kin, so if someone hurt them, I'd do everything."
"Still, though he's dead, I feel remorseful that he could not spend his dying moments with me."
"If only you were as kind to people as you are with him." Hania murmurs
"Hmm?" Zora inquires
"I said what will we get from dismantling his limbs?" Hania changes her thought
"I want to find his core."
"For what?"
"Food."
"For your pets?"
"For my 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀." Zora insinuates
".. Sorry, forgive me." Hania flies towards Zora and sits on his shoulder.
"It's this, right?" Laurence walks towards Zora and hands him a small orb, which is grayed out.
Zora receives the orb gently and lowers his head as he's given it.
"Thank you."
"It's nothing man, just refer to me as Laurence from now on."
"Then, thank you, Laurence." Zora sincerely offers his gratitude.
Laurence smiles slightly, and turns away.
"Where did your friend go?" Atrius asks
"He told me he was going hunting." Nitya puts her finger on her lips and looks up to the sky.
"That explains my constant headache.." Zora clutches his forehead.
"Are you alright Zora?" Hania makes a concerned face.
"I'm fine, he's a little rough with them, but he ends their life quickly."
"His blade is so sharp though, it hurts."
-Katsumi's POV-
Dodge to the right. Jump. Slice.
SWISH
My blade makes quick contact and slices through the troll's neck. The radeon sword is more useful right now.
!!
Another enemy to the right, unknown target.
I run to the right and make out a small silhouette and jump to the trees.
I land on a branch, and like a predator waiting for its prey, I conceal my mana.
Step, step.
I jump from the tree branch, and before it can render the sound, I slice quickly.
SWISH
Surely enough, my blade lands true and decapitates the banshee.
Banshees are real huh, I thought they'd belong to a kingdom.
,, I don't know which of these are edible.
I'll just bring all of them.
-TS-
Katsumi arrives at the same place, where the group unanimously voted to stay and wait for Katsumi, although it was a close 3-2, with the dwarf arguing that it's safer to have more numbers, or to put it in his words, "Are you two idiots? Ain't this hunt like super mega different from usual? Dumbasses, we need numbers."
Seeing the dead bodies Katsumi was dragging with him, Zora wanted to vomit and almost did, until he looked away from the carnage that Katsumi had brought along with him.
Everyone revolted at the smell, half the bodies were already rotting, and the smell of the rusted iron in the blood lingered in their nose so much they could taste it.
By instinct, everyone pinched their noses.
"Gods! What is that smell?"
"Mine friend made of carnage and pulled out of hell itself, might ye explain this?"
".. Food."
"Gods, throw away the corpses!"
Katsumi walks away for a few minutes and comes back with the other corpses that thankfully, don't smell like rotting garbage.
Nitya looked over the corpses, perhaps gauging what she can and can't cook.
She conjures a small fire with magic and controls it so it doesn't spread.
"Just let go of it." She tells Katsumi.
She moves her hand around smoothly, slowly ripping off parts of the monster and guiding it using telekinesis.
She rotates the torn off leg and keeps spinning it slowly, evenly cooking it and the insides.
After about 10 minutes of this going on, with the group sharing a few words with each other in between, the entire meal gets prepared and she hands them over the parts that were cooked.
"Ow ow ow! It's hot!" Zora exclaimed
"Of course it is, it just got cooked."
"Could've prepared a plate or something."
"No! I've only brought things I need, no need for plates, they take too much space."
Zora sighs, he knows she's right. She probably brought as many things as she could to prepare for anything. It's a hunt, after all.
Nitya brings out a few empty bottles and fills it with water using her magic and distributes it to the group.
"Bollocks, waste for thyself to bring this." Laurence grabs a water bottle in his bag, filled to the brim with water.
"Well, if you didn't have me, it would have been good!"
"Prithee, it is no concern of ye to comfort thine."
"Ehhh."
It felt peaceful, it was rare that it felt this peaceful.
-TS-
They reconvened at the place they first met so they didn't abandon the golem.
Soon later, daytime came to its end, the moon peered into them.
The fire of the bonfire sparked, it danced like swaying grass on a windy day.
They sit by a log, it's rough, and it hurts to sit on, but it's better than getting dirty, I suppose.
"Would ye telleth a story?" Laurence looks over Atrius
"Me? I've got not an interesting story to tell!" Atrius laughs jollily
"Still, go ahead." Nitya nudges
"Hm.. You can tell my origins are from the Lilliputians, no?"
"Yep, yep!"
"Goes about as well as anyone else's story, whole family got evicted for refusing to comply with Glaze's requests to make military grade weapons. Some guys from the Genesis take the children and now practically hold us hostage." He taps his collar.
"It's degrading, really."
"Sounds like it went about as well as anyone else." Nitya remarks, although it's a depressing truth.
"What about before the Genesis?"
"Oh, you know, we made vases and stuff. I loved making them, I wasn't cut out for heavy work."
"What about the helmet?"
"Oh, this?" He removes his helmet.
"Gift from my late father." He runs his finger through the masterfully crafted wood. The wood has a shine, even despite its age.
"He said it was his magnum opus."
"I'm a bad son, y'know? I don't even take care of this thing, I just can't bear to throw it away."
"You haven't thrown it away. At least, you're not a terrible son." Nitya offers her words of encouragement, though it's not much, in the Genesis, it's everything.
"Nah, don't think so. Still, thank you."
A silence formed, it wasn't too unpleasant, but the crackles of the fire were louder than them.
"I was called a curse." Zora breaks the silence
"I was insignificant."
"It made sense, I wasn't normal after all."
"To them, I had less value than a blade of grass, less value than the shit they flush down their toilets. They thought I was a parasite."
"It was fine to me, I had my father, he was my world."
"He died, all things do, anyhow."
"They exiled me and I was left to wander, Ark found me and brought me into the Genesis. I have to say, this place was way better than that place."
"Sucks that my dad isn't here, but I'm sure he's somewhere better, somewhere that deserves him." Zora smiles, it's bitter, but it's a smile nonetheless.
Hania makes a sorrow look and flies on the top of Zora's head. She moves her arms and caresses his head."
"Thanks, Hania."
"What about your fairy friend? I heard they're mythical or something." Laurence inquires
"No thanks."
"You heard her, how about you, Nitya?"
"About me? I'm the same as everyone."
"We were at the border. Couldn't really do anything about invasions when your strongest in the village was me."
"Ark took me in, he saved everyone, or whoever was left. I'll be forever indebted to him."
"YOU were the strongest?" Laurence looks dumbfounded
"Yeah!"
"Well no wonder, you were a child."
"And still are" Laurence mutters lowly
'How about you, Laurence?" Zora inquires
"Well, someone really beautiful actually came into my hometime a few years before I was taken."
"I wanted to become strong, someone really strong. I hoped one day, I would be able to take her hand in marriage."
"It was a far away dream, it only got farther after the goblins attacked. They had cannons, they had a military far above us."
"What about the queen?"
"We were in the north, we weren't a part of her kingdom."
"What happened to the woman?"
"She was a.. Fake. She only looked lovely, but she was a whore. The men had used her as a breeding tool. To grow and expand their population."
"Aha.." Nitya nervously laughs
"I'm sorry to hear that." Zora gives his sincerity.
"It's nothing, my good lad."
"What about you, Katsumi?" Nitya looks over Katsumi and jitters.
"..A lot of it is a huge blur to me."
"I just know my dad is Senrai and he's the Black Warrior and that I'm proud to be his son."
"Nothing else?"
"..." Katsumi silently lays his head on the ground.
-The morning after-
The golem starts beeping loudly and it's releasing a loud siren sound that signals danger.
"What's wrong with it?"
"It's going crazy, none of the monsters from yesterday made it this crazy."
"Safe to say, they're increasing the difficulty."
"That's a first, isn't it?"
"It's also the first time that I've got a reaction like this from the golem."
"Is it strong?" Katsumi's sudden question surprises the group.
"It.. uh, yeah."
"Do you think I can beat him?
"Don't know, but let me try to calm it down first."
"..."
-TS-
They walk towards the monster, coming into view is a creature with a beak that makes it look like an eagle, wings of a griffin and legs that look like tentacles. There wasn't a doubt, this monster had gone insane.
"..." Zora sighs
"I'm sorry." Zora places his hands on the ground, it creates a barrier and traps all of them inside. He constructs another circle and another on top of each other. Sharp razor-like claws and fangs are coming out of the second circle and a mass of small creatures that look to be ants, maggots, and the such are coming out of the third.
"Katsumi, go ahead." Zora gives the green light as he walks out from the barrier.
Katsumi grows a wide grin, he's excited.
Zora faces away, carnage is about to spawn.
Katsumi unsheathes his sword and dives in, he does a swift thrust.
WHISH!
He misses his target as the griffin octopus amalgamation dodges to the right and screams at Katsumi, temporarily breaking his consciousness and rupturing his eardrums.
The monster dives in at Katsumi with its talons ready.
CLANG!
The monster's talons make contact with the front of Laurence's spear, the monster grips his spear and contests Laurence in strength.
Nitya swoops in to save the unconscious Katsumi.
"
Atrius jumps to the sky with his large war hammer ready.
The griffin wins the strength battle and throws Laurence into Atrius, knocking Atrius clean out of the sky.
The arachne places Katsumi on the ground and crawls to the top of the border as the summoned creatures hold the monster down.
The werewolf is controlling the griffin's wings and talons, to make sure it can't fly away while the creature made of insects is trying to crawl its way into the inside of the griffin's beak.
Nitya conjures a magic circle and pours down a continuous stream of acid that is melting off the griffin's wings.
SHRIEEKKK!
The griffin lets out a bloodcurdling scream that is enough to incapacitate everyone.
Nitya falls out of the sky and Laurence and Atrius are frantically covering their ears to drown the scream.
Even Zora is struggling just to keep the barrier up.
Katsumi already ruptured his ears from the first shriek.
He dashes in and slices the griffin's beak clean off. The amalgamation that it was even got worse, its beak was sliced clean off and it has tattered wings that can't even get up on their own.
Safe to say, it looked like a naked chicken, take away the beak and the wings or replace them with a dead fly's wings and you'd get it.
Blood is spewing from his head, it looks to be a fountain, until it suddenly closes and his face is like a contorted balloon, sucking on itself.
Katsumi dashes in again, to try to stop it from regenerating.
CLANG! SLOOSH! SWISH!
The monster blocks his sword with his talons and his octopus-like hands and feet.
Katsumi keeps going on with the flurry, not stopping to even breathe, his eyes are burning from the focus but his face has a wicked smile.
The monster eventually grows his beak back, and nobody knows how, but even without a face, it smiled at them.
Nitya regains her consciousness and gets up quickly and crawls the walls, trying to look for a proper time to release her acid.
Zora walks in the arena again and slaps Atrius and Laurence, telling them to stop cowering as the monster had already stopped screaming.
With everyone reassembled, it's time to attack again.
"Is this working?" Hania telepathically connects to everyone.
They nod.
"Laurence, pester the griffin and DON'T lose. Nitya, keep looking and Atrius, stand back and wait for a proper chance to attack. Katsumi, work with Atrius and step back!"
Katsumi ignores her and maniacally laughs, he keeps attacking and attacking, it's as if he lives for nothing but the thrill of the battle. His sword is infused with mana but it's sloppy, his mana is constantly getting wasted.
"AHH! SCREW IT!" Hania loses her patience.
"Laurence! Swap with Katsumi once the griffin attacks, until then, Katsumi, keep attacking!"
"If you screw up the timing, we all die."
Katsumi keeps laughing and attacking, he's born to fight.
Katsumi senses a small gap in his attack and jumps back after the griffin commits his attack, to which Laurence switches in and defends. Laurence parries the hit to a degree and slaps the tentacles away.
Laurence moves to the side slightly and Katsumi dashes in, slicing off all the talons before thrusting his sword into the chest of the monster.
Nitya melts off the monster's tentacles and Atrius smashes its head in.
All that's left of the monster is a disconfigured mess of blood and parts that didn't used to be outside of its body.
"Gyahahaha!" Katsumi laughs as he keeps stabbing the dead body of the griffin. He uses his hand to pluck out its heart and crushes it using his hands.
It's dead, it's a hundred percent dead but Katsumi keeps stabbing, there's such little blood left now, but he keeps stabbing.
"Laurence stop him!" Hania cries out
Laurence moves to Katsumi's side and taps him by the shoulder.
"You can stop now."
"It's dead."
HAHAHAHAHA
They can't hear anything, but the face of joy Katsumi makes as he laughs, they figured he was psychotic.
As if possessed by an animal, he rips apart the remaining flesh and finds the crystal and puts it between his teeth.
The only remaining things there were the shards broken from his bite and the face of horror Zora had.
Katsumi did not kill because he needed to, it was not a duty for him. It was a leisure, he hunted because he was made a hunter, born a hunter.
…
It's silent, despite the outrage, maybe it's because their eardrums got busted.
The walls of the barrier fall down slowly and Zora makes his way inside.
He walks up to Katsumi and stands just slightly behind Katsumi. Katsumi was crouched, he looked crazy, he wanted more.
WHACK!
There wasn't a sound to be heard, the only thing Katsumi could hear was a high pitch ringing that seemed to only grow louder.
"Monster." Zora mouthed.
It was hard to understand for the boy, he only did what he needed to do, it was his job to put down the monster before him. The means did not matter, only the result.
The group gathered, they shared a few words, something that Katsumi couldn't hear. His ears bled, it ran from his ear to his neck, it was warm.
Laurence and Nitya looked back at the boy, who had eyes that did not fit the carnage he just unleashed.
"Sorry." They mouthed.
The ringing got worse.
He huddled himself under the dissolved corpse of the horror he'd just brutalized.
His senses grew numb, his nose grew tired of the rotten smell of flesh and blood. His hearing was gone, big thanks to the horror he used now as a cover.
The ground rumbled slightly.
-Katsumi's POV-
The ground shakes every now and then.
It rained some time ago, and my clothes feel wet.
The moon dawned on me, the moonlight scattered through the tattered pieces of flesh.
Was I wrong? I only did what I thought was right.
I remember I had a companion, perhaps they left. It's not a surprise, people are all the same.
Still, it's a strange feeling to be left out.
I don't like that feeling.
I rest my head on the dirt, it's uncomfortable and the floor is wet.
-The next morning-
I awoke to the harsh light of day, it's not that hot, but the light is scurrying it's way inside my eyelids.
I sit up straight and rub my eyes- I look over my dirty mud ridden fingers, nevermind.
If I remember correctly, the difficulty will rise today.
Then, I need to survive.
First thing on my list is food, then water. I should've learned elemental magic.
I go outside of the corpse hut and I can see explosions outside, there's a mass of mana gathering. I can tell it's an experienced group.
That's the reason for the tremors? I should avoid it for now.
Ugh, I feel sticky, the mud stuck to my clothes.
I wonder if I can make a bucket, or something, I can make a sword, can't I?
I create a magic circle on my palm, it's not good, I can see mana pouring out and the lines look wobbly.
…
It failed.
No use, I'll just figure out some other way to get water.
I collect some firewood and some dead leaves.
It's easy to make a fire with magic but I'll have to do it the old fashioned way.
I grab a stick and spin it quickly to produce enough friction to burn the leaves and start a fire. I huddle around it so that the flame doesn't disappear and it grows to be a raging fire.
I need to wash my clothes, I can get a fish or something too.
I look around for a few seconds and there's a big enough pod for me to jump in. I jump in with my clothes on and I can see the dirt mixing into the water.
This is fun. The calm water is mine to control.
…
I spotted something under the water, it's a small Kraken..!
It looks too small, though? It's still bigger than any squid I've seen but they describe this to be a ginormous creature.
It looks like what they describe it to be, though.
It spots me and starts swimming at me quickly. It surfaces out of the water and it grows, holy shit.
It's massive and covers the whole pond, I can see its teeth appearing as I was swimming out of the pond. It goes wild and starts wildly swinging around its tentacles.
I dodge them easily, my eyes and movement feel faster than.. Back then.
While the size of the kraken is menacing, it doesn't necessarily feel threatening. It's swinging wildly, like a wild beast and its skin looks soft, like I could cut through it without an issue.
I test that theory as I jump on top of the kraken and start slicing, surely enough, I was correct.
After a few minutes of me cutting it down, it shrinks down to a smaller size and shrivels slightly.
That was boring, that must have been a gimmick for the first day.
I grab a tree branch and poke the squid in the middle and carry along a few of his tentacles to use as food for later.
I go back to the fire I made and luckily enough, it is still burning brightly.
I set up two sticks on the side and put the squid on top, grilling it slowly.
I warm up to the warmth of the fire, drying my clothes lightly.
The issue with water is if the waters can house a kraken, that would be a problem.
I'm tempted to boil it but I'm sure that won't work.
I know I'll be sent back if I get to the brink of death but frankly that would be a waste. This is an opportunity to hunt, wasting that is a fool's move.
Let's recap.
I am ill equipped, it's clear to see by the other people that were sent here, evidenced by the group I had. They all had proper provisions that helped make their daily life easier. That means the hunt is either an occasional event or something that happens rarely but always has casualties, I'll guess it's the second.
Second, they must know the water isn't suitable for consumption. I can base this off the fact they brought water bottles. If it were suitable, they would only need to bring cups, they can sterilize water easily with magic, if it were normal.
The third thing I found was the special nature of this hunt. Everybody seemed surprised that I initiated a duel and the fact the creatures grew stronger.
Moving over, the existence of duels means you can fight someone formally and wager.
Then, if I add everything together, I can initiate duels to get water.
I bite into the overgrown squid, it tastes terrible.
The inside is cold, only the outside is hot.
Like a soup that's been microwaved wrong.
This sucks, I want to eat.. I want to eat.. Whose cooking again?
…
I'm going to hunt.
I follow the feeling of the tremors, it seems to be in the northeast.
I jump to a branch, landing softly enough for it to not break.
The darkness of the forest doesn't bother me, I can see rather clearly, it's nothing compared to the fog back home.
It's unusual to not hear the rustling of trees, the flap of wings, the crickets.
It's weird to miss the faint foul stench of animals, isn't it?
…
I've searched for a few hours, about 3 or so now, I may have been moving around in circles.
!
It's people?
There's a group of them.
What are they attacking? Some kind of blob?
Their group consists of 9 people, four of them are goblins and 2 of them are dwarves. One is a minotaur, a male elf, and a person with a long tail and cat ears, having the features of a feline human hybrid.
The blob they're attacking is an amalgamation, just like the griffin we fought. It has limbs sticking out of its black goo and hundreds of eyes. The right side of its eyes lock down on me, despite me blending into the darkness of the trees. Any damage they do to it seems insignificant, it always grows its parts quickly.
The four goblins wield a variety of weapons, the one on the frontlines is wielding a lightsaber, the light is discolored and it can barely cut through the goo.
The second goblin is wielding two uzis and running while spraying and praying.
The third one is throwing insect looking devices that stick to the goo, when it lasts long enough before the goo eats it, it explodes and creates a small hole inside the goo monster.
The fourth is a shaman, he's chanting some words while ringing his staff decorated with a skull on the top, with a ring that has chimes on it.
The dwarf is running around and ducking every now and then, he seems to be placing traps?
The other dwarf is attacking every time the goo overextends its attack and punishes it.
The minotaur is using his strength to try and clobber the blob while trying to guard any of his teammates that get caught off-guard. He seems to be the one that's putting the most effort in beating this as the others have seemed to lose their morale.
The male elf is sitting on top of a tree branch, he's pulling back his bow and infusing the arrow with magic, creating a strong spiraling water vortex on it. He's the only one that can make a dent in the monster but he's preoccupied with timing correctly so he doesn't hit his allies.
The feline is throwing a frisbee looking weapon using her tail. Why is she using such an ineffective weapon?
The blob doesn't bother to dodge them, not like its large grotesque body would allow it to.
Its regeneration clearly triumphs the griffin I fought, every time it has an opening, if given just a few seconds, it closes any wound it sustains.
The monster retaliates by shaping its black goo into spikes or a blade.
The group is doing terribly against it, the minotaur, who is supposed to be another heavy hitter, is too preoccupied on keeping everyone alive when they can barely make a small dent. To add insult to injury, he doesn't even have a shield, so he's just slowly getting worn down.
The archer is too worried about aiming, his teammates need to get out of the way. Why can't they coordinate properly?
The goblins are being a nuisance, they barely even do anything and the feline is just as useless.
Not to mention, the dwarf placing traps, that's not gonna help you kill the monster, idiot.
I watch their pathetic struggle for a few minutes and decide my next move.
...
I've decided, I'm done watching this clown show, I'll end it myself.
I jumped from the branches, alerting the blob, who had turned a blind eye to me.
I can see its eyes frantically tracking me.
I dash in and it uses its spikes to try to impale me. I dodge to the right and swiftly cut off its part. The cut off part is wriggling and trying to go back to its owner.
I sprint quickly after slicing its arm off and it fires a barrage of spikes at me. I dodge to the right and left, making sure I don't jump.
Dodge to the left. Slice.
Dodge to the left again. Slash.
Weave in the middle of its spikes and run through.
Slide down and slash upwards.
I get close enough to finally damage it and I thrust my blade in.
I pull out the sword and..!
The blade is stuck.
It tries to slice me in half as I struggle to pull the sword out.
I let go of the handle and jumped on top of the handle. The landing is shaky, but I made it.
I jump off the handle and reassess the situation. I turn my head left and right quickly.
Everyone has run to the backlines and is letting me handle the situation.
I can see the archer has a ready shot.
I give up on getting my sword back and I unsheathe my MID then infuse it with my mana. It's receiving the mana better, but my technique is still sloppy at best.
I summon my mana blades. 2 of them have the curious color of the midnight sky.
I move my arm forward.
The swords land in and put a small dent in the monster, which it quickly grows back.
Damn it.
I sprint forward, dodging its attacks by weaving in the spikes.
I cut it as much as I can, transferring most of my mana into my arms and legs instead of evenly spreading it.
If I mess up once, I die.
I get close again, and this time, I make sure to try and slice it, instead of risking the chance of trapping my sword.
I can see it slowly contort itself, the goo is slowly dripping to the ground.
What is it trying to do?
My answer gets answered as I can feel the spikes slowly peek its way inside my skin, like a worm wriggling its way in. I'm lucky I got my chip, if I didn't, my feet would be messed up.
I dodge to the right, to which a surprise befalls me, a huge wall of goo has made its way to cover me.
Damn it! I was too preoccupied with the spikes!
How can I save this? Throw my sword at it? Propel myself with magic?
Not enough time!
I see the archer's mana arrow blast through the goo, giving me a second chance at survival.
I duck my head to avoid the upcoming spike and dash as fast as I can to the blob.
Last resort, this costs so much mana, I wish I could've avoided using it.
I move both my arms forward, getting them both stuck inside the blob and project as much mana as I can.
3.. The blob seems content, it looks like it thinks I surrendered.
2.. I can see it rear its mouth, to try and swallow me whole.
1.. I can see the light of day slowly disappearing from my sight, but I know I've won.
0!
The ground rumbled loudly and the blob exploded, raining a bright red shower. I bask in the light drizzling of blood, it feels good.
...
Blood counts as water, doesn't it?
I stick my tongue out, basking in the sanguine rain.
It tastes salty.
I open my mouth.
It tastes like rotting metal.
It's more vile than I thought, like I can taste the sin inside it.
I can see the onlookers throw the most disgusted and terrified faces I've seen, I run quickly to grab the crystal from the monster and disappear into the foliage of trees.
-POV of the male elf-
I knew it, I knew I shouldn't have helped the guy!
Look at him, he's drinking blood!
First, he went in with the scariest smile I've seen and started laughing like a goddamn maniac!
I only helped him to save myself. I only helped him to save myself.
I can see him turn his head to look at us.
!
Look away! Look away! Those eyes of yours! Surely, he doesn't want our blood, is he a vampire?!
Oh.. He just wanted the crystal? I still hope he never comes back.
-Katsumi's POV, 6 hours later-
I'm hungry again. The crystal didn't taste good, but it was the only thing I could've eaten from that. It's a bit soft and can get eaten, despite the crystallized structure, but it didn't taste good.
I get out of the small cover of leaves I made, it's rudimentary, and it can be blown away pretty easily but it's good enough.
I try to trace my way back to the pond, but end up at a river.
The water splashed, it looked frothy.
I can see a large mammoth looking thing by the side of the river, trying to drink the water like its last day is near.
Its trunk is comically large and it has two tusks growing out of the trunk.
Its stomach bore a hole, a large one, any water it drank went back in the river it just drank in.
From what I can tell, every monster here has some insane regeneration, so why does its stomach not regenerate?
That means its body was made that way, but why?
[Congratulations! You've found one of the seven sins, Gluttony.]
A message appears in front of my eyes, giving me a reminiscent memory of the duel. Whoever made this system must be addicted to games.
[Would you like to become its predator?]
The message reads.
[YES] [NO]
I pick yes.
[Sin of Gluttony]
[Appointed hunter, Katsumi {⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️}]
I can feel the mammoth's eyes look at me, it wants to kill me.
I can see it move its legs backward, it's getting ready to charge at me.
Smoke bellows behind it, the ground is rumbling and it shakes like an earthquake.
It feels like the ground is going to split.
I should be scared.
I should be trying to run.
But I just can't help but feel excited!
…
I lost.
I'm going to die.
[You are unfit to be Gluttony's s̶a̶v̶i̶o̶r Predator.]
[Try again?]
[YES] [NO]
Screw it, let's do this again.
[YES]
The mammoth sits down for a few minutes and lets me rest.
Why is it doing this?
I rest to the best of my capabilities but the damage it's done to my body still aches all over.
No matter, I can still do this, I can feel the adrenaline rushing through me.
I need to reassess the situation again.
It's not fast but it's smart, it can read when I attack to punish me. Its skin is too tough for me to pierce and it doesn't bother to open its eyes.
I remember my dad mentioned something about that, its magical sense is keen enough to sense its location and where I am.
Blunt attacks won't do me good, I'll end up breaking my hand.
My only way to survive this is to grow.
…
"O' Athena, guide my hand, I, your fair child. Give me strength and the courage to fight the beast before me." I pray.
I'm unsure when I learned to pray, I just know I do.
I jump the sin, perhaps this trial before me is to temper my strength, to test and grow me.
It wails and wildly swings around, it truly is more like a beast than an intelligent creature.
After a few minutes of constantly trying to wear down its steel like skin, it catches me off guard and crushes me under its feet before letting go.
It walks away afterward, as if to tell me I'm not even worthy to be its food.
[You are unfit to be Gluttony's s̶a̶v̶i̶o̶r Predator.]
[Try again?]
[YES] [NO]
It won't fucking end me!
This must be a part of the Genesis.
I'm not dead, but everything aches.
I want to give up.
I want to die.
I want to lose.
These thoughts race through my mind as my breathing gets heavier.
My sword is starting to show dents, the blasted thing can't even cut and it's breaking.
The mammoth triumphantly blows its horn, knowing it's scored another knockdown.
I am gonna enjoy eating that fucker.
I rest on one knee, giving myself time to breathe.
I stand up straight and use my sword as a crutch.
My mana reserves are getting low and I haven't had anything to drink or eat for about 8 hours now.
[YES], I answer
I attack the mammoth, giving up all my tricks and just trying to bruteforce it through stats.
I know.
I know I can't pierce its skin.
It can't touch me when I'm in my best state, nor can I even tickle the thing.
The only weak spot I can think of is the eyes.
I've tried exploding it, thrusting, slicing, literally everything I can do that won't put me out of commission.
The only thing I can do now is to make my magic better.
I wasn't taught that stuff!
But I can't just give up quickly.
Fortunately, the time I spent fighting this thing, I've developed a sixth sense. I know when it's gonna attack from its breathing, from its eye movement, I've got him nailed down.
His head is lowered and his eyes are fixated on something.
He's going for my chest.
I wait for the precise moment.
..
..
.!
Now!
I jump upwards to avoid the trunk and tusks from slamming into me and land on the trunk. I run up its weirdly metallic body and get to its eyes.
I plunge my sword at its eyelids.
It's not enough!
I flood the sword with mana, again, and again.
I can feel my mana depleting quickly and the mammoth is starting to feel fear as the air is getting puffier, it's breathing quickly.
I can see my sword cracking, it wasn't suited to hold this much mana.
I can feel it slowly getting through the skin.
My throat was burning, I felt like a cat scratched it.
Nevertheless, I kept going, I exerted as much as I could, even to the point I could feel my insides burning from the stress.
!
I've cut through!
Blood splattered through the small crack I made and the mammoth wildly swung.
YES!
I STABBED THE BITCH!
The air shakes, the sissy thing must be crying in pain right now, serves you right.
It wails around, swinging me from side to side.
I clenched at the blood stained handle.
I do my utmost to hold on but I fail. It sent me flying to a tree, the impact alone broke a tree and shook the other one so hard it dropped so many of its leaves.
I feel my internal organs are in a mess and I can feel my blood surging up to my mouth.
There it is again, that salty and metallic taste.
I can taste it too, the sins. It tastes more pure than the last, almost as if it was water taken from a fresh pond, if I had to put it into words.
I spit my blood out, I can see a small pool forming.
[You are unfit to be Gluttony's s̶a̶v̶i̶o̶r Predator.]
There it is again, the small flash that reads "Savior" instead of "Predator."
[Try again?]
[YES] [NO]
I sit, not giving it an answer.
I realized a few things.
One, that it won't attack me until I say yes.
It will sit there, waiting for its opportunity. Only this time, I can see those eyes that felt like they were looking down at me, brimming with rage.
Two, unlike other monsters, it does not have an insanely fast regeneration.
Three, it's susceptible to magic, almost everything is.
Four, I vaguely remember that mana heals you slightly when you channel it around your body, it's negligible in a fight but in a situation like this, it's perfect.
I sit down in a lotus position, it is unnecessary, I just like this sitting position.
I channel my mana throughout every point in my body, I visualize the mana flow properly and guide it, starting from the feet and slowly moving it throughout my entire body until it covers it.
I meditate for as long as I can, which I can tell about 3 hours passed until the system started notifying me.
[Do you wish to forfeit?]
[Failure to answer in a minute shall begin the process of 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.]
[YES] [NO]
I answer.
[NO]
I feel good enough to do this, I feel light even.
I'm worried about my sword though.
I can see it is still lodged inside Gluttony's eye and I'm worried I can't pull it out.
As I organize my thoughts, the ground shakes violently, like the earth beneath me is splitting.
It stares at me dead on. Who knew having only one eye can make you feel more threatening?
It's going to attack in a second.
It should attack.. Now!
I jump, expecting a slam by the trunk but it completely tricked me and is firing off sonic booms using the wind blown from its trunk.
That's such a cheat man!
I dodge the blasts and once I get close, it starts breaking the ground beneath it.
This bastard. He's bringing me along with him.
The ground splits open and a cave can be seen at the bottom. There are blue crystals surrounding the area and the water is rushing down the opening like a dam that just bursted open.
Gluttony lands quicker than me and uses its trunk to try and suction me as I'm falling.
I use the debris as a foothold and jump off them.
1..2..3..4..5
His suction force is so strong!
The mammoth is relentless and the rocks he's swallowed are coming out of his belly, though they look like fine dust now.
I get close and use a rock as my foothold to dash off.
My speed triumphs it and I land on its eye again.
I grab my sword and brace myself.
It tries throwing another tantrum but I secure myself a good spot by gripping onto my sword as hard as I can.
I use my sword as a catalyst and internally say my goodbyes, it has served me well.
I flood it with mana and I can feel my mana depleting insanely quickly until it's reached critical levels, I can feel my consciousness already wavering.
…
BOOM!
The entire cave shook and the mammoth exploded from the inside, turning into a blood whale as it spewed out blood from what used to be its eye.
[You have f̶r̶e̶e̶d hunted the sin of Gluttony.]
It flashes the word freed before changing it quickly to "Hunted"
[Award, the soul of Gluttony.]
Its crystal appears in my hand, like a game. How much effort did they put into this?
[Would you like to be exempt from the hunt?]
My vision is fading.
I used too much mana.
[Failure to answer will automatically answer for you.]
[YES] [NO]
I black out.
-END OF CHAPTER 6-