As the notification appeared, the magical beast gave out a last hiss and vanished, turning into a blue ray of light. Kai's eyes followed. He saw the ray entering the red and white ball, but the ball disappeared too.
A hologram of the treasure chest appeared over the man's body.
It wasn't the time to enjoy the loot, though.
Kai snapped his head, looking into the distance. He could hear the gun going off. A dim burst of light now and then.
How much MP Arlen has left? Kai asked himself, his thoughts murderous. Should I… go?
Of course, he wasn't thinking of going and helping the Captain, but…
…
[
Your Title Status is updated…
…
Title: Murderer
Specification: Kill 10 Contestants in a single random world. The Contestants must be from the same or higher floor than yours.
Status: (8/10)
Effect: Perception +2, Worth +1
]
…
Kai ran, looking at the number 8.
His direction, though, was taking him away from Arlen. A pile of mud was in his sight and two figures were struggling to come out from under it.
Kai appeared like a phantom at the top of the mud.
33 points, he saw his HP crawling up. Tiredness, though, didn't have any step, and it HP regaining points didn't affect it either. Their was no replacement for what Kai need; Rest.
Kai's hand went for the longsword's hilt, its blade stuck in the mud.
It took him time, a few seconds, but he pulled it out. It was bent. One edge had lost its sharpness.
Kai looked at Simon first. Only his head and right hand were out of the mud. His face was flattened against the ground. His fingers were twitching, pushing the rocks, but in vain. He couldn't even twist his neck. The weight of mud was too much to give the one-eyed man much freedom.
Then he looked at Shae. She looked back. Her entire body was under the layer of thick, viscous mud, save her head. She was crying big, heavy tears. Her mouth became an ugly smile, then turned into a sad frown as she looked at him. A whimper came out of her throat. It could have meant anything.
A loud boom resounded behind his back, but Kai was looking at the orange, yolk-like morning sun.
Kai wasn't an indecisive person, but cunning deeds needed thinking, and thinking needed time. He had to compromise and find a middle ground somewhere.
What would happen next? Kai gave it a hard thought. There is no way to pin Simon and Shae's death on the enemy.
Am I strong enough to kill an injured Arlen? Kai asked himself. The answer was flat No. He could scarcely hold back the urge to vomit. His SP was still down, his soul weak. One flick of Arlen's wand was enough to send him tumbling down.
Can I poison him? The thought passed by. No, he answered. The Blood Essence was still in cooldown. If he were to lose more HP, he won't have the strength to take Mr. Beedle to the destination.
Huh! Kai snorted. And how will I take him? I can't even use a broom.
A victorious laugh followed the previous boom. Kai knew the meaning behind it. The woman's dead.
"Please," Shae finally forced out a word. Then another, "Don't…"
Kai asked the last question. Can killing Simon become a fatal mistake?
It can, he reluctantly answered. The man was indeed a messy knot of tangled threads. Kai had seen men like Simon. He knew what had happened to those who weren't smart about their choices regarding them.
The answer might have come from his experience. Or it could have been an instinct. But both were important enough for Kai to not ignore them.
Kai sighed. The thrill of killing, getting a Title, and becoming powerful got buried by a persistent will. He extended the longsword towards Shae's head. She closed her eyes, muttering the names of gods, of whom Kai knew nothing about. She blubbered. Tears, snot, and saliva was running down from her face, diffusing into the puddle of muddy water under her head.
Slap!
Kai hit her cheek with the flat of the sword. "Hey!" he said, almost laughing. "What are you crying about?" He stepped off and hacked at the mud. Not heavily, but with enough force to loosen the hardened soil.
Murderer, he thought, pulling out Shae. There is still plenty of time to get it. I have just arrived in this mysterious place.
Shae backed away from him as soon as she came out in the open. Kai didn't even spare her a single glance. He moved towards Simon. His longsword lifted and was just about to come down when the mud around Simon broke apart.
Dozens of water bullets ripped apart the hardened soil, and Simon slid out, looking up. Kai's widened eyes met the single pupil of the man.
"Ah! Red," Simon said, a dry smile on his face. "Thank you, but I won't be needing your help."
Kai let the longsword return to Inventory.
He looked at the one-eyed man and knew he had been lucky to not attack him before. Simon's face was ashen, almost white. He was dying. But the water bullets could have injured Kai mortally.
A dangerous opponent, Kai thought. For how long he was holding them back?
"I won't survive," Simon said, looking up at Kai. "I've lost too much blood."
When he slid out of the broken pieces of hardened mud, Kai saw what Simon was talking about then. Simon's broken leg seemed to have been crushed to pulp from the impact of the mud bomb.
"Can't you just eat and regenerate HP?" Kai asked. "Desmond's injury wasn't any worse."
"Yeah," Simon said, grimacing with pain. "But Desmond had that water pouch, didn't he? No water pouch for this old man, I guess."
It struck Kai then. No amount of food was going to be enough for Simon. He needed to stop the blood loss, and let his HP regeneration overcome the HP drop. It was a feat that can only be done using magical Items.
Should I take the risk then? Kai asked himself.
"Do you want to kill me?"
Kai didn't respond. He stared into the old man's one eye. It had lost all the brightness of living. His mouth was opening and closing for every puff of air.
"Your death means nothing," Kai replied. "Not now."
"Ah," Simon nodded, seeing the two approaching figures from afar. "What about my life?"
What?! "Is it some trick question, Simon?" Kai asked, also noticing Arlen and Shae's blurry figures in the distance. "What do you mean?"
Simon watched Kai with that one eye of his as if looking into him. The dry smile was still on his face, but it didn't look hopeless to Kai. "No trick, Red," Simon said, chuckling. "Only you can save my life."
"I am done here," Kai said, taking a step away from Simon. "Live or die. It's your business."
"Wait!" Simon shouted. It must have taken him all his strength, for he couldn't do anything for a few moments after that.
Kai looked back and saw the dead man, fighting the urge to put a drop of Light Neurotoxin into him.
"What now?"
The wind had picked up momentum by then. Dawn turned into a mature morning, and Kai found he was hungry. His stomach grumbled as he saw his HP regenerating. Though the SP regeneration was almost half that of HP, it was rising too.
"I am not joking," Simon said, taking another shallow breath. His hands found their grip in a muddy puddle, and he straightened himself to look at Kai. "You have the food that can save me."
For a moment, Kai did not know what Simon meant. But it came fast to him. The food. The meaning behind Simon's words.
"Haha!" Kai laughed, amused over Simon's foolish suggestion. "You want the flesh of Hippogriff's legs? Even ten of you isn't enough for me to give it up."
"No, not me… I know," Simon said, his voice breaking. "But I have something which can match its value. More than enough, I would say."
Kai's brows pressed, hearing that. As much as Kai knew, Simon had nothing that Kai wanted. Yes, the man was more mysterious than Arlen. But what use of that mysteriousness when Simon couldn't even save himself?
Still, a dead man is talking, Kai thought. No harm in hearing him out.
"Say it," Kai said. "If a trade you want, a trade you will get."
"Yes… a trade," Simon whispered, his eyes shining against the morning sunlight. "But not now. I can only give it after the mission's end before teleporting back to the Primordial Tower."
Are you fucking kidding me?! Kai's eyes widened.
"No," Simon said, looking into Kai's hazel pupils as if he could read his thoughts. "Think about it. A man of your nature must know when to take the advantage of an opportunity when presented. Also… it's not like I am your match. You can kill me anytime if I back out and turn your… 8 into 9."
Kai's pupils almost became slits, hotness rising in his chest.
How? Just how Simon got to know that he killed the three in the shops? Kai asked himself, his hands twitching to take out the longsword. Or is he just guessing?
Simon chuckled. "I am just a dying old man at your mercy…"
Kai was as strange to mercy as the sky was to the earth. But… his instincts had never betrayed him.
So, he chuckled back. "Alright, No. 9. You got yourself a deal."
*
*
"Tell me again," Arlen asked, eating the roasted chicken. "How did the man die?"
Damn it! Kai cursed. He is not letting it go.
The braided man's death seemed to have troubled Arlen. If not in Stats, the enemy was as strong as Arlen in battle prowess. For him to die, even under the combined power of Kai, Simon, and Shae, could mean a lot of things.
"He had taken out a snake type of magical beast," Kai said, repeating the same words. "… and then the beast turned against him. I took the opportunity and killed the bastard."
"Crushed his heart, you mean," Arlen said, narrowing his eyes at Kai. "Didn't you fear the beast?"
Fuck you! Just eat the meat, Kai thought, anger bubbling up inside him. "No," he said. "The beast had already disappeared into the red and white ball."
"Pokeball…" A tiny, feeble voice came from Arlen's behind. Kai could barely see Shae's hair shining red and gold there.
Pokeball?! Is that what the thing is called? Kai thought. How does she know?
"Shae's right," Arlen said, looking at Shae over his shoulder, making her blush. "That's an Item from a Random World full of magical beasts."
Thump!
Kai felt his heart would have given out if he hadn't eaten to his fill by now. He remembered the purple-yellow-colored snake, and a hidden smile surfaced on his face.
"Which world is it, Captain?" Kai asked, looking at Mr. Beedle. "Can you tell me?"
Arlen followed Kai's gaze. Even an idiot could tell Kai was using the man he had killed as a payment for the answer.
"I know," Arlen chuckled, not minding Kai's shameless attitude. On the contrary, Arlen even seemed to admire these little things about Kai. "The World of Pokemon."
Pokemon… Kai imprinted the name into his memory.
"Go on then," Arlen commanded, finishing the meal. "Collect your loot. We will leave the moment Simon says he can handle the broom."
"Captain," Kai said, standing up as if it was just a fleeting comment. "I think we should cover Mr. Beedle under a cloth. His state isn't exactly becomingly, don't you think?"
Kai approached the corpse, leaving behind Arlen to mull over his words.
The smell of death hit Kai, along with piss and shit. The man must have lost control of his bowels at the moment of death. Crabs had claimed his body, and some were even going inside him as Kai had left a big hole from his throat to chest.
The treasure chest's hologram beckoned him.
The key appeared, then. Kai had already chosen the random Item option.
Click!
The key and treasure chest vanished. Kai scanned his Inventory, hoping it had enough space to hold whatever the System and his Luck had awarded him.
A smile. "Haha!" Kai laughed, seeing the Item. He took it out.
…
[
Item: Pokeball - Generation 1
Grade: Common
Specification: An Item to catch and store live magical beasts
Requirement:
1. Elementary Pokemon Trainer
2. 2 MP per second
Attributes:
1. Pokemon Catch Rate - 15% - 45%
2. Current Status: Empty
Skill: Not Applicable
Effect:
1. Store magical beasts by converting them from matter to energy
2. The beasts within the Item will become friendly with the Contestant
3. Only E- to E+ graded magical beasts can be captured
4. Any type of magical beast can be stored
5. Magical Beasts HP, MP, and SP regeneration +100% (within the Item)
6. Pokemon Catch Rate depends on the beast's Stats while being captured
Quality: 73%
]