The moon rose high and mighty, but the glowing organisms of the forest illuminated the space.
Swoosh!
A shadow propelled through the trees, rocketing in a straight line with great speed. Its momentum was so fast that despite the glowing fruits it remained cloaked by darkness. Behind it was a bald person chasing but was easily outran.
At that moment, a person on top of a branch yelled as it passed through him. "It's here!"
Instantaneously, four figures jumped out of the trees, pouncing on the creature. However, they were easily evaded. The beast slowed down and dodged them flawlessly. But in that window of time, they were able to discern the being.
It was a green quadruped beast akin to leopards stripped with black spots that have yellow pigments in the middle.
"It's a Pardus Silva!" Chase yelled, confirming their target.
Simultaneously, four more figures came out of the ground—underneath a cloth covered with leaves and dove into the creature.
Swoosh—Swish!
The leopard hopped in a meandering manner, evading once more. But just as it thought it had passed them, it felt two tugs from behind.
It turned its head to see two individuals clinging onto its hind legs; Zack and Michael. However, it ignored the hitchhikers as it showed its mighty strength and continued running using only its front paws.
It growled in annoyance but knew it could take them out once it loses the group.
But they—Michael had already anticipated it and tied a rope to its leg attached to a dagger and threw it behind.
Whu-tch!
Fortunately landing on its pointy edge, stabbing the ground. But the immense speed of the leopard made the rope immediately stretch out and dislodge the dagger.
"Hng!" Tanaka reacted quick enough and luckily grabbed the rope in time. He was soon joined by the others as they pulled the rope with all their strength.
"GRAAA! The leopard roared. It flailed, trying to break free.
But again, Michael had a countermeasure. He quickly brought out a vial and reached out for a stick on the grass.
He poured the suspiciously green contents on the stick and stabbed it on its butt where its most effective to spread poison, at least in his own knowledge. It was also the least lethal location as they needed the beast alive.
"RAWRRRRR" It screamed as it squirmed, writhing and wriggling, trying its best to break free feeling—knowing something was injected into it. And based on experience and its survival instincts, this wasn't good…
"Grawrr….." It kept struggling for a minute until it finally stopped moving and dropped onto the cold ground.
The teens were sent flying as soon as the leopard suddenly stopped resisting.
Thud!
They all fell down like dominos.
Getting their bearings, a teen with bleached hair—Steve stomped towards Michael. "Did you just fucking kill it?" He yelled.
Pulling him by the collar, he continued. "After how hard we tried to find one you're just going to claim its EXP for your own?! We even needed it alive!" Coming to his own conclusions.
"Fuck off, it's just asleep." Michael shoved Steve's hands away and glared at him.
"Huh? How?!" Steve roared, glaring back with a scowl of disdain. He was back to his arrogant self now that he had a clear mind.
Back then when they first fought monsters, he was shocked and stunned after nearly killing someone so he backed away. But now that he did kill something, his ego was at an all-time high. He felt powerful.
However, power is a dangerous pill when taken in massive amounts. And these naive off-world kids were starting to become tipsy…
If you've only eaten stale food all your life, once you eat something better you will naturally get addicted. For the better or worse...
Michael's brows furrowed seeing Steve's expression. "I stabbed it with something similar to anesthesia, idiot." He raised the bloody stick he pierced through the creature, brandishing it right in front of his face.
"Who do you think you're calling an idiot?!" Steve formed a fist and pulled back his arm. Threatening a punch.
But the argument quickly ceased as two shadows emerged from the ground.
"Amazing performance!" Duke said in a booming tone.
"You…"
—
2 weeks ago
"Passed." Celine suddenly uttered coming out of the forest's shade.
In front of her was a bloody pool filled with corpses…
Eight figures sat in the middle…Bloodied and bruised also.
Their eyes shone multiple emotions, conflicted. Relief, anger, sorrow, guilt resided within their flickering glints.
Hearing the statement, none could raise their voice against it despite the enraging news—these were all on purpose, a scheme.
But no one could voice out their hatred—voice out their frustrations and grief of what they were forced to experience. They expected to be slowly exposed to the new reality, but they were instead thrown into a slugfest. Forced to fight for their lives.
For some, this was the first time they bled. More so, kill someone, something.
They could only stare at the puddles of blood listlessly and come to terms with themselves.
Celine smiled seeing the results of her 'teaching'. They were now men of this world—warriors. She felt bad for seizing the innocence of clean souls, but it was overshadowed by her pride, subsequently wearing an unsettling smirk.
She prepared the vessels for the responsibilities it will burden and the training it will endure.
They were like an endless bottle but with a tiny drinking hole—the hole that was forcefully wedged open by Celine to dab into their potential given by the Goddess.
An attempt that made them lose their title as modern people as a consequence. The start of a chain reaction slowly leading the former civilized teens into prejudiced, arrogant, and apathetic beings.
Heroes? No.
They were more like slaves forced to fight for another land…
But the thought of saving the world obscured that absurd reality. Realistically, who were they to care? They weren't from this world anyways.
The noble cause of being heroes blinded them…
"You're late," Celine suddenly uttered, directed to the rustling shrubbery behind her.
Turning her gaze behind, she greeted Duke with an indifferent expression.
"I followed through your plan…" Duke stomped towards her. "But when did I hear of a hobgoblin? Fighting that in their current state is a death wish!"
"But they defeated it. Did they not?" Celine looked at her nails. Taking glances at Michael and Zack who were supporting each other just coming out of the forest.
Both looked surprised to see the camp. There were more than 40 corpses littered around compared to the 16 they fought earlier. The second wave didn't happen to them only…
All experienced something beyond words.
"Move," Celine pushed the Duke to the side.
She walked towards Michael and threw him a pendant, "Gutsy, I like it. Here,"
It was a golden pendant embedded with a white…naz* symbol?!
"What?!" Michael exclaimed.
"What? You don't like it?!" Celine glared at him.
"N-No, I like it. I was just surprised since the symbol looked familiar."
"Of course, it's an ancient relic said to have traversed worlds. It's a symbol of divinity." She said proudly with a smile but Michael begged to differ…
'No, it can't be a sw*stika…' That's when he remembered a similar buddha sign. He held the pendant right up to see the symbol straight not slanted.
It didn't take long for it to raise questions, 'How can it be here also? Is it a coincidence? Or is this world somehow connected to Earth?' Michael thought.
"That's so damn cool, man." Zack suddenly uttered, taking glances at the item.
"Wait…is that?!"
"No, it's not, it's…kind of like the original symbol of Buddhism if I remember correctly." He explained subconsciously, looking at the pendant—awed it's the dazzling appearance.
"Ahem," Celine coughed, stepping into the bloody pool.
"All of you exceeded my expectations. Congratulations for surviving." She clapped.
Her clap echoed throughout the forest breaking the eerie silence.
"Now, the real training camp begins."
—
Present
[ Golden Pendant (???) {99.79} ]
'Real helpful…' Michael sighed as he squeezed oddly orange leaves on his hands, draining its juice into a vial.
He was currently sitting underneath a tree, accompanied by a thick book beside him, opened.
[ Poison Know-how, A Beginners Guide (Good) {45.78} ]
'Seems like my skill is...improving? That wasn't there before.' Michael thought.
'If my knowledge is right, then 'Good' is the quality of the item and the numbers are the durability.' He continued as he blankly stared at the clouds, bored to death doing his concoction.
'Then why is the pendant's quality not revealed?' He continued as he scratched his head.
The liquid on his hand trickled down his hair, then his forehead and…
"AHH! FUCK!" Michael suddenly screamed. The contents of the leaves entering his eyes—making it feel like it was burning.
"You idiot! Why would you do that!" He cursed himself.
Fortunately, he was near the camp, and the tree he always sat under he had memorized like the back of his hand.
He bolted out of the forest and rushed to the lake.
"What's wrong, Michael?" Zack called out but he didn't answer and immediately washed his hands before rubbing his eyes with water.
"Damn it! It isn't leaving!" Michael cried out. "Fucking idiot!" He cursed himself again.
Zack rushed towards him and pulled him out of the water. "Michael-"
"What the fuck are you doing?!" He roared which made Zack flinch.
Seeing his surprised face, he calmed down and immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, I just-"
"Dude your eye…"
"What?"
Michael looked at his reflection in the water…
In his blood-shot eyes, his iris turned into maroon…The same exact hue whenever he would use ( Thorough Analysis ).
He was relieved thinking he had just activated the skill but remembered he didn't do any of that sort.
Taking a big gulp of saliva, he called out inwardly, '( Thorough Analysis )'
Compared to before, his eyes turned bright red. Glowing.
"Holy shit!"