Standing infornt of a love hotel as their only place to stay for the night, Yamato looked around. It was an interesting city, to say the least. It had normal buildings, just what you would expect from a world with this level of technological advancement. But there where also some big trees in the middle of the city, with structures build on them. It was a mystery what those structures were for now. But Yamato didn't see a point in thinking too much about it now, as it was already late. So they entered the hotel.
It was pretty fancy, compared to the rest of the city. While Yuki walked around excited about the situation, Yamato spoke to a receptionist.
"Hello? We were told that we are expected."
"Uh-huh. Names, please."
"...Tasumaki Yamato and Hikari Yuki"
"Just a moment.. ah, there we go. We don't usually have people reserve here if they aren't regular customers. Anyway, enjoy your stay. You have room 212. Some of your belongings were brought to your rooms, make sure to take them with you once you leave."
"Thank you."
Yamato took the keys that were handed to him. Yuki decided that she was going to pull him away to their room as fast as posible. So she grabbed onto Yamato's arm and pulled him away from the reception, towards some stairs that lead to the second floor. While she did that, Yamato spoke to her without showing any real resistence to her actions.
"Hey, Yuki... That Satomi got us this place to stay was your fault, right?"
"...Whaaaat? I have no idea what you are talking about, Master~..."
"Right..."
She got a little flustered at him calling her out like that. She thought she hid her actions well. But not well enough, it seemed. But since she didn't feel like he was mad at her, she didn't feel bad for it. She continued pulling Yamato towards room 212. They eventually stood before a door labled 212. So Yuki snatched the room key from Yamato's hands and quickly opened the door. She entered just as quickly, pulling Yamato along.
"Look, Master! It's all looking so comfy!"
"Well, yeah."
"Are we going to share a bed, Master~? Or will you have me sleep on the floor..."
Yamato looked at the bed in the room, then the floor and back at her.
"Do you even need sleep? Didn't you have "infinite stamina" stated earlier?"
"Uhm... That's only when I have a connection to the mana.. Yes! Which I don't have right now, so I need sleep, yes."
"Sounds made up..."
"But it's true!!"
"...fine. We can share the bed."
"Awwww, really, Master~? Will we cuddle??"
"Do what you want."
"Yay! So I can also talk to you and ask you questions all night?"
Yuki's enthusiasm was exhausting, in a way. But Yamato could handle it. It was like entertaining a child. A child that can't stand not getting attention. Yuki ended up not asking much questions. The things she did ask were harmless things like Yamato's favorite color or his favorite food. Her innocence was almost misplaced, concidering where they are right now. But maybe it was better that way. Yamato thought about this world, how it all worked. His mind was complex and deep in thoughts.
'What a strange world... I can't say if I find it boring or not. Concepts like magic.. or my stats.. I wonder what death is like in this world. How it's viewed. Is it a tragedy? Something inevitable? Do people accept it? Well.. there would always be those who couldn't accept it. Maybe there is a way to cheat it. In a world with magic, surely there would be some who tried achieving immortality. But does it matter? I'm not sure yet. Death is a concept of the end. Fearing an end like death...seems pointless. If you died, you can't fear anything. As it is already over with your consciousness. But if it isn't over with your consciousness, you can't be dead, again, making your fear unreasonable. So if that's the case, how come it is even a thing to fear anything? Should I fear anything in this world? Probably not. It seems.. this world will be just as boring. Just as pointless, as my old one. But maybe not.. I feel tired. This city is weird. I wonder how one could burn it to the ground... but I also don't have a real reason to do so right now. Though, I don't really need a reason... If this world is as boring as I think it could be, it shouldn't have any consequenses for me to destroy this place. But if it isn't boring... maybe something fun will happen. I wonder what Yuki would think about that.. though, her opinion wouldn't matter.. she'd just follow my opinion anyway.. oh. She's already asleep.. I'll just ask her tomorrow then...'
And so, Yamato's thoughts came to a rest. As he too, fell asleep. Yuki clung to him even in sleep, though nothing special happen, they looked quite wholesome. However, as the next morning came, Yamato woke up as soon as sunlight entered the room. Only to find Yuki staring at his face, while playing with his hair.
"Morning, Young Master~!"
"...what are you doing...?"
"I was watching you sleep."
"...for how long?"
"Uh... When did you fall asleep?"
"So the entire time. I thought you needed sleep too. Did you lie?"
"N-no! I'd never lie~ I just didn't tell the entire truth~ I do need sleep without mana supply, but still less than a human. I need like twenty minutes of sleep to stay awake for two days~"
Yamato just looked at her with a blank stare. It seemed like she expected some sort of praise for her ability. So he patted her head in hope that it would be enough, which it seemed to be.
"Yay!"
"...anyway, I was thinking last night. I think we should destroy this city."
"...oh. Okay, Master~."
Yamato was once again suprised by her not questioning him at all. But whatever floats her boat, he thought.
"Do you already know how to destroy the city, Master?"
"Well, I'd have multiple ways. But first, do you have any ways of regaining your mana?"
"Ah... Well there is that one method~... We need to kiss."
Yuki's face blushed, and she had a teasing expressin on.
"That's a lie."
"No, it's not! I don't lie~. I said there is one method, and we'd have to kiss. I never said one had to do with the other. Thinking that is actually your fault, Master!"
Though, she was right in a way, her intend was obvious..
"Fair enough... But what's the method then?"
"Ah, right. I have to kill something, to steal it's soul and with it it's mana~."
She again looked proud of that. But this time she wasn't after a praise, but approval.
"Aha... You don't sound like an angel at all... anyway, so what has a soul and what dosn't?"
"Well, everything that is conscious. But humanoid creatures have better souls since they have the intellect to understand about morals. So their soul is more conscious, y'know?"
"Aha.. makes sense. How much mana does one human soul give then?"
Yuki looked up and thought for a moment.
"That's hard to tell. I'd say enough to fly and maybe even create one ability."
"Create an ability?"
Yuki got excited since she could explain something again.
"Yes, Master! You remember when we got our stats shown, and under 'special abilities' was 'currently not available'? That was probably since we don't have any. But since I'm a divinity, I can change that with enough mana~"
"...that seems convinient. There are some restrictions on that influence though, right?"
"Ah.. yeah. Abilities are ranked in a way. The way their rank is evaluated is by their ability to influence the world and those in it. The higher the rank, the more mana it costs."
"Interesting.. can I also obtain them in a normal way?"
"That should be posible. But I'm not sure how exactly, sorry, Master..."
He looked out of the window, at the sky. It was blue and without any clouds. It was also time to go for them, so they should start packing their things.
"Don't you wanna eat breakfast, Master?"
"Not really.. I'm good right now."
"Aww.. alright then.."
Yuki looked disappointed she wanted to make him something, but since he didn't want any right now, she'd have to wait for another opportunity. She started getting ready to leave with him.
"Ah, Master, you didn't tell me about how to destroy the city now."
"I'll tell you later. We should look around the city more first, before we decide on a plan."
"Oh, okay."
That made sense to her. So she didn't push for more details. They went out to the city streets. It was quite lively. There were many people. Mostly elves, though. Yamato and Yuki got multiple looks, since they clearly weren't elves. It created a weird the atmosphere around them. So they got into a part of the city where there were less people. It was an alley, that was dark despite it being broad daylight. Yamato was about to talk to Yuki about the plan. But he was interrupted by some hooded strangers. Three of them were visible to them. They blocked the exit of the alley. A voice, of a middle aged man began to speak.
"...we don't like your kind of people here."
Yamato understood what they were getting at. It didn't seem like they were open to talk either. However Yamato wasn't going to respond anyway. Instead he imidiently moved towards the guy that spoke, and with an speed difficult to follow with the naked eye, he hit him in the stomach. The hooded stranger, shocked by this, tried to react. But it was all in vain, as before he could even let out a sign of pain, Yamato pulled his head down and smashed his knee against his face. The force of impact left the person unconscious in an instant. His nose broke and started to bleed heavily, some of it landing on Yamato. The other two people next two the first stranger pulled out knifes, and tried to attack. However that was probably the worst thing they could've done. As Yuki, who was already pissed of at the fact that her master got blood on his clothes, was about to lose it. She moved so fast, almost teleporting, her wings appearing just so they could form a sort of speer-like weapon. The second guy got impaled by her sharp wing before he even realized that she had moved. The third guy, realizing the scale of threat that he just walked into, was attempting to run off. But failed to do so as he felt Yamato's foot in his face, giving him a tornado-kick, which threw him completly off, against the wall. Impact making him lose consciousness aswell.
"...Why did we just attack them, Master?"
"Because we could. There was no one around. Now we have to people to interrogate."
Yuki realized that unlike Yamato, she didn't make her guy unconcious. She killed him. But since they still had two of then alive, she didn't see a problem in the one casualty. The guy who got impaled by her wing fell to the ground as she hid her wings again.
"Ah... That makes sense! Still, you could've warned me, Master. Just rushing ahead like that.. I didn't know you were that fast."
"I'll make sure to tell you next time."
"...next time?"
"Anyway, didn't you say you needed to absorb souls.. Why don't you take the one of the guy you just killed?"
"Oh.. r-right. I'll do that. Just a moment."
Yuki pointed her index finger at the body on the ground. It floated slightly above the ground, as a blue liminating sphere came out of him. It flew towards Yuki, and the body stopped floating. It flew into her hand, and disappeared as she closed said hand.
"All done, Master."
"Okay. So how much mana can you use now?"
"Quite alot, Master. He was pretty strong, so he had a good amount of mana for me."
"Okay. Can you carry those two remaining into that corner over there?"
He pointed at the most isolated corner of the alley they were in.
"Sure can do."
Yuki used her just gained mana to make the two unconcious people levitate into the corner. She was clearly wanting to get praised again. So she looked over to Yamato expecting some sort of approval. He just patted her head and it was enough for her. While patting her Yamato asked for another favor.
"Can you make them wake up?"
"Yeah.. but we don't have anything to tue them up with."
"That's alright. Just do."
Yuki looked hesitant at first. They were a threat to her master after all. But if anything happened, she'd just kill them, she thought. So she did just as Yamato said, and woke them up through healing magic. The first guy who got his nose broken was the first to wake up.
"Ugh... What happened... Where..."
Yamato crouched down to him and pulled in his hair, staring right into his eyes. In a cold and threatening voice he spoke. Clearly mocking him by using his own phrase.
"Hey... I don't like people like you here..."
He stared back at Yamato. First putting on a tough facade. But as he glanced behind Yamato, he saw the person Yuki killed earlier, lying onthe ground. His pupils widened at that. Yuki casually standing next to the body, poking it with her feet.
"What did you-..."
Yamato punshed him in the face. Not too hard, but hard enough to make him lose direction for a moment.
"I didn't give you permission to talk."
He looked at Yamato, trying to look unbothered, still. But the moment he looked into Yamato's eyes, he found himself losing all motivation to fight back. What he saw was nothing. Eyes filled with nothing. Only reflecting himself as he stared into Yamato's eyes. He wanted to look away, but he felt like moving in any direction would end up at the same place. At that very moment, all he felt was fear. Afraid of eyes that saw right through him. As if he wasn't even there. As if he didn't matter. He failed to speak in all his fear. So Yamato started talking again, in a cold and empty tone.
"Say... Could it be that you are having a great debt by someone?"
"...w-what…?"
"When you were young... You and your friends did something bad. You were kids. You couldn't help being stupid and doing stupid things. But you got into big trouble. The trouble was so big that you lost everything. But then you found someone to save you. I'm guesing they were a person with alot of power and influence here. They took care of you, raises you. When you had no one. That's why you feel like you have to pay that person back. With all you got. What you did here.. I mean why you came here to me in the first place, was because of that persons order, right?"
He started sweating. He got nervous. Nervous in the sense of a panick attack. He was afraid. He had no idea how he could posibly know any of that.
"...w...how...."
"Don't you wanna tell me who that person is? And where to find them?"
"...I-i..."
"You have three seconds. Or else your other friend dies too."
He looked to his right, where there was the third person. The one Yamato kicked into a wall, still unconcious, but alive. For now.