January 11th, 2022
***
The group had slowed down a bit, no longer using mana to rush through. The rain and wind did a solid job of covering their tracks. Each of them was soaked to the bone, feeling the added weight of their soggy clothing.
Richter picked up an aura in the underbrush ahead. They had arrived.
In the clearing sat a tall man with a shaved head. Richter spoke up first, hoping to move things along.
As it turned out, Brent was a pretty nice guy. He was an Olympic Swimmer before the System, claiming several silver medals in his career. The four sped through their meet and greet before Reed nudged Richter.
"So, let's hear your explanation."
"Hold on, I wanna start our journey first."
Richter walked past him toward the trail. He turned to Brent.
"I'm mixed up in some potentially life-threatening stuff. If you don't want to get involved that's fine. But I would at least stick with us till Kagawa."
Brent didn't blink an eye at this.
"We'll see."
With the party together, they turned toward the trail. The journey had begun.
***
After half an hour, Richter finally spoke up, ready to talk.
He cleared his throat, "So, last night, some guy named Daul attempted to assassinate me from a rooftop. I defended myself and ended up killing him in the process."
"How do you know his name?" Rio asked.
She had finally woken up, still a bit groggy.
"I got a notification congratulating me for it. Turns out he's a human from a different planet."
Brent eyed him curiously.
"Was there anything unique about his appearance?"
Richter shrugged, "He had on a cloak, and I never checked his body."
"Hmm," Brent said. "Well, I've met a few strange individuals the last couple of days. People who were out of place and lacking in common knowledge."
"You sure they weren't just socially inept?" Rio quipped.
"No no it was- well," He thought for a second and conceded. "Okay yes. But on top of that, they were strange."
During the conversation, Richter had kept his sense working like sonar. Anything that moved or made a noise he would scan. Otherwise, it was a blind journey. They had a long way to go and exhausting himself was a bad idea.
He tuned back into the discussion.
"-yeah. Some of them had strange hair colors or clothing. Stuff I ain't seen before."
Reed grunted, "We're getting off-topic. I wanna hear why Richter blasted Pleasure Inn."
"Well, the next morning – today – I was grabbing some breakfast when a group of strangers locked onto me. They had strange assassin-esque weapons and kept staring."
He motioned toward Reed and Koga.
"Right after they entered, the crowd calmed down, except for a teenage girl who lost her cool briefly. In that instant, I could feel her aura, which was just like Daul's."
'Aura?' the three questioned.
Koga jumped in for the first time, his eyes burning with passion.
"Aura?! Does that mean you have the skill 'Sense Life'?"
"Huh? No. I've never even heard of that skill. It's related to my prior profession, and I don't teach it to outsiders."
Koga deflated quickly, his mind brushing past an important detail.
At that time, Richter got a ping from his Sense. Two weird humans were on their way.
"We've got two of them on the way. Pay attention to their reactions."
Two strangers put on smiles and 'bumped into' their group.
"Woah! Sorry about that, didn't think anyone else would be all the way out here."
'Exactly,' Richter thought.
"We were just in the area, looking for monsters. What're y'alls names?"
'??'
Richter stepped forward to reply.
"Daul Stadz."
Their faces failed to respond.
Richter turned to his companions, "Told you so."
Brent, Rio, Reed, and Koga drew their weapons at once, slightly nervous about combat.
The two strangers made ugly expressions, seeing their plan fall through.
"Look, we're just here to talk, and maybe negotiate a deal."
The two didn't like their two-to-one odds.
"Uh-huh. Sounds like bullshit to me."
The sour expressions of the strangers grew worse. They drew their weapons. Seems they're Swordsmen or Berserkers.
Brent had an idea, so he spoke up.
"If Richter is telling the truth, we should get notifications for killing them. It'll prove his claims."
Rio smiled viciously at the prospect, while Koga and Reed were slightly pale.
"And if you're wrong you'll have killed two innocent people!"
Richter was quite fond of the idea. It would also give him a chance to see their combat capabilities.
"I'll watch from back here. Wesley spoke highly of you all."
More than that, he hadn't seen many skills.
Brent made the first move. He grit his teeth, a sliver of fear passing through his eyes.
In a bizarre display, he held out his left arm and slashed it off completely.
'What the-'
With tears streamed down his face, Brent pushed through the pain and grabbed his severed arm.
Meanwhile, the two strangers looked on in shock. They had extensive knowledge about the System, having been taught from a young age. So they knew all too well what he was doing, and what it implied:
Earth had a variant class. And a good one too.
Brent steeled his gaze and tossed his arm up into the air, snapping his fingers.
[Blood Deal - Left Arm]
At the same time, his stump was miraculously regrowing. Pale flesh spread out, shaking and creaking as every cell, tendon, and bone popped into place. Within seconds, it was finished. Like his arm was never gone to begin with.
His extra arm in the air froze, melting and corroding into flowing red liquid. Richter's sense was conflicting. It was a form of energy that felt different than mana. The liquid shot back into Brent's body. Faint red wisps were floating up through his skin.
The two strangers pulled themselves together.
"Shit! Nobody told us they had Berserk-
Brent appeared in a flash, his clumsy swing decapitating the young man. The other took off running, desperately using a communicator. He knew his final moments were at hand. Sure enough, he was right.
[Teleport.]
Rio reappeared onto a tree branch and jumped straight on him.
[Fireball – 5%]
She pinned his arms with her legs and shoved a small fireball into his head. His screams cut out as it melted through his skull, cooking his brain at a cool 1200°F (~648°C). Steam rose up from his scorched head as the raindrops hit it.
Mmm. Toasty.
Koga and Reed winced through the destruction, seems they aren't committed just yet.
Regardless, Richter watched it all with fascination, his habit of critiquing coming back.
Rio took several seconds to activate her skill, which was awful. But her use of it was efficient. In particular, he was unsure why she didn't cue the fireball pre-teleport as Mira did.
Brent had the same activation issue, but the boost to his abilities was incredible. His speed post-boost couldn't be matched by Richter without mana. His senses confirmed that he wasn't circulating mana during it either. If he could add mana onto that, he'd be very dangerous.
They had other glaring issues, but it wasn't the right time. The two walked back to the group, engrossed in their notifications.
Richter took this time to open his own from earlier.
['Ceilia Stadz – Human – Level 17' Killed. 80% XP awarded]
[Contributions have been updated]
-Richter."
He looked up to see uneasy expressions from Rio and Brent.
"So, what exactly does it mean when it mentions 'contributions'?" she asked.
He scratched his chin awkwardly.
"Ahaha, I guess I didn't mention that before. Supposedly, we have allied planets, and it just lets them know that we're doing good. I think. It also 'might' serve to taunt our rival planets."
Rio's eyes bugged out. "So we're painting targets on our backs?"
"That's one way to put it."
"You assh-"
"That was a dick move." Brent overlapped.
Richter shrugged, uncaring.
"I don't know for certain. Regardless, no one was around when I killed Daul, yet they still came for me the next morning. Information travels somehow."
The group was left in silence, listening to their footsteps on the gravel trail.
***
Through the hours, they hadn't run into another person.
Koga and Reed were having a silent discussion in the back of the group.
"-Does this mean we're guilty by association?"
"I don't think so.
"Can you get arrested for killing a human from another planet?"
"Probably not."
"What if we-"
Koga sighed, tuning out his friend. In a way, it reminded him of the old days, when they first started Mirage.
Such a good guy, beloved by his family and in-game friends. After the loss of a loved one, Reed crashed hard. This is the most animated he'd been in months. It brought a wry smile to Koga's face.
"Quit worrying so much. I doubt laws have much meaning anymore, given the circumstances."
The touching moment came to an end, with the group quietly moving forward. Everyone was tense, on guard, expecting an enemy to jump out at any moment. They didn't know just how powerful Richter's sense was.
He had observed their friendship silently. Richter didn't have many close relations. In fact, aside from his disciples, he had none. It wasn't always like this, nor did he try to push people away. They simply moved on, uninterested in him.
His heartbeat slowed, lost in thought.
***