Kivotos dares to dream of a savior, a Sensei, someone who would solve their problems.
This is not that story.
Fully maxed tank build comes to Kivotos to dick around. These goofy's don't move at ridiculous speeds? They aren't dungeon scaled? They…aren't min maxed? L
I'm a Tank and I'm going to fight the Wither King solo.
You lint licker, you ain't soloing anything, go be regular and get a squad.
Nah nah. ¾ Goldor's, Reaper Mask and All for One Dark Claymore? You made the gear, you don't got faith in me?
Zero percent. Go call it a day and git back to farming. Cata 50 means nothing in the face of those damage numbers, I'll keep it a hunnid witch you, like I always do.
You're my number three hater, I swear.
I walk through the dungeon portal, taking a moment to gander at all the poor people here, the Dragon Armor people and the Shadow Assasin people. I feel bad for the ones thaat invested in Superior Dragon Armor before the Dungeons were discovered, all that bread gone, they got finagled.
Scammed, got got, proper highway robbery.
Yeah, that.
I sprint towards the dungeon hub before I see something shiny at one of the dungeon portals, specifically one of the portals to the side of the main one, the endstone one. It has a different color name tag so it must be something important.
Nobody else is there because it's been a funny haha joke that one day that useless end stone portal might finally open up, a proper 'Dungeon Update', some particularly chronically online goobers would say.
The same ones who try to 'game' the economy. Weirdos, the lot of them.
There's a weird blue spark present there. It's glowing and flickering and-
You're on a 'see food diet' go walk into it, you know you want to.
Mindlessly, I walk into it and get a prompt.
'Entering this dimension will revoke your quick access to teleportation. Access to the Hub and other such dimensions will need to be found, this new dimension will be your default spawn point until you do. command usage will be revoked. Only your Island and Farm will be available via your Nether Star.''
Uh….
What?
You'll be trapped there! Dang, you acting up today, just read the subtext in this.
Subtext? There's nothing underneath this message?
Oh my lord, you grasped th- you know what? Nevermind.
I've never seen something like this… but…
A devious grin spreads across my face. New dimensions usually bring along things that really shake up the meta and I haven't heard anybody talking about this. If I get my hands on something broken here first? I can literally name my price.
Infinite bread method?
Yeah. M7 Dungeon sounds boring in comparison. This type of exploration is something that I so rarely ever get to do.
A new frontier. No spoilers, no word of mouth from others, just me.
Oi. You talking crazy for someone who couldn't bother to enchant their gear properly.
I was getting along fine without it, that whole deal is boring.
So when the prompt eventually gives me the choice of-
Damn, he died like that? Tch, immensely disappointing, though his body is here, his mind is not.
May as well take it over then, not like he's going to ne-
Uh….
Oop, you woke up? How's it feel to be unconscious?
Wow. I genuinely can't remember the last time I was. Actually, have I ever been?
Couple of times? You got cooked proper by the Wither King on the first run.
Huh. Oh yeah, how did I not get departed then?
You…remember that I can take control of this body yeah? I'll have to investigate how this body isn't negatively impacted by you getting knocked unconscious but it was by a spell, maybe it was something magic-related?
A spell to make someone unconscious?
Something like that. Considering I'm not you, I wasn't affected by it, I had to wing it until you 'woke' up.
Keep that in mind for later. Right now I'm in the middle of some office with no idea where I am.
It's not like anything I've ever seen and it's not very quaint. The sofa I'm on is soft but also making a very bad creaking sound that has my Carpenting skill acting up.
Don't even try it.
I quickly peel myself off of it and get onto my feet. All my armor is...
Oh shrimp, where's my mask?
I reach to my back and pull…
Chief, chief, calm it.
It's not in my inventory... m-maybe it's just not working? I pull again...
It's familiar grip and imbalanced weight distribution brings some comfort. The Dark Claymore, in my hands once again, so my inventory is working fine.
That doesn't solve the issue though?! Where's my Reaper Mask?
Do a deeper scan of the office before you start freaking out.
I look around the office and- oh. It's on that desk...huh.
Somebody took it off of me… how dare, my handsome face is reserved for close friends only!
Oh, I knew you were cheesing, you almost had me.
Hm? Nevermind.
I approach the desk and strap the mask back onto my face. The enchantments and innate power flow through my body, granting innumerable buffs and effects to my person. I feel strong every time I equip something like this.
Kept in mind who made those enchantments? I appreciate the glaze.
I idly attempt to crack my knuckles and... I still have my armor on, can't really crack my knuckles through my glo... uh.
I'll let that go considering you just woke up.
Anyway... I'll have to discuss that infringement with whoever took my mask off.
"Yo? Anyone there?" I called out.
Nobody responds. Rude.
I whip out my Nether Star and scroll through the various utilities before putting a message into the World Chat.
"Anyone around?"
…
…
Huh. Guess I'm the first one here after all. Somebody woulda said something by now-
Footsteps. It's coming from beyond the door.
I turn around, put my Dark Claymore and Nether Star back in my inventory, and try to appear as friendly as possible. It's quite difficult with all this armor and the mask, but I've found that standing slightly hunched and having your hands by your sides will help. Or, if worse comes to shove, I can simply crouch down and stand back up repeatedly.
Your people are strange, I'm sure other humans aren't like that, such a bizarre universal peace gesture.
The footsteps reach the door before it slowly opens and reveals a scholarly woman, or a wizard, can't ever count that out.
She's… beautiful. And... uh, those are two b- ah. My face is heating up…
Chief…
Chief! Eyes up and focus! You are lucky you have a mask on, she would see where you're looking otherwise..
"Sensei? You're awake?" She says.
Oh shrimp, I've been standing around like a goofy for seconds.
Say something!
I look around the office quickly before looking back at her and pointing at myself. She nods slowly.
"My name's Will, not Sensei," I say.
Oh my lord, I- Lock In! Dang, you're cheesin' hard.
What the tuna is a Sensei? I kinda have to go with the flow here but not before she interrupts my train of thought with:
"Sorry for that, I wasn't informed of your name, but that's not what's important right now. Do you know what-" I raise my right hand up slowly as she's talking. "you're here to-" She pauses in the middle of her sentence. "Yes?" She raises an eyebrow as she asks that.
"Sorry but where am I?" I ask.
Not really going with the flow but I actually need to know that.
Asking the real questions now, that's good.
"...?" She looks confused for a second before she walks past me and gestures for me to follow.
She's walking towards the window. My footsteps are heavy as I follow, I hope that doesn't unnerve her. We both make it to the window and...
Holy carp. What a city!
Not actually that much compared to what I've seen but…
This is nothing like the Hub or anything else I've seen. The only thing that compares is the ruins of the Nether or... nah, there's nothing I know that truly compares.
Can't beam images into your mind, unfortunately.
"This is Kivotos, the academy city." She says while looking at me expectantly.
Ah. This is the part where I suddenly get my memory jogged and laugh sheepishly at my fumble…
Don't look at me, I don't know anything about this Kivotos, you're on your own.
Come on! Really?! You know so much useless malarky.
Well, sorry I'm not a map freak, I have other hobbies.
Straight slander, you don't do anything for fun.
"Uh. Don't know how to put this, actually, yeah. I don't have the slightest idea of where I am, what I'm doing here or who you are. Like...that's a thing." I'm genuinely not sure how to finish that sentence.
That's the best you got? Coulda hit her with the:
'I need a reality low-down,'
That feels like a reference to something, also she doesn't seem like she messes with slang.
That's no- never mind, keep it chugging along.
She looks at me disbelievingly before she reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. She reads it quickly for a second before folding it and putting it back.
"...I didn't think she'd leave you like this." She mumbles.
"Yeah, I pulled up without the lowdown…" I grin sheepishly.
"Yes..." She trails off, probably thinking of her next words. "Are you aware of what being Sensei entails?"
"Not really. Mind-" Horrible, horrible memories of hearing yap sessions that lasted minutes flash through my, nah, they plague my thoughts. I..i-..can't.. not again.
Does extremely important pieces of information count as 'boring' to you? Not this nonsense again…
She looks concerned at my abrupt PTSD, that's fair.
"Could... is it possib- could you just keep it short? Like, real short? Tell me what a Sensei is and what I'm meant to do here. That's it. I.." I struggle to keep the heat from my voice, gotta sound chill. "I don't, I- I do not care about whatever neat or cool things are here. Do not start yapping."
This is a mistake. This is a mistake and I will rag on you for it if we encounter a situation where having this knowledge would've been useful.
Clam up hater, I'm not in the business of being an exposition recipient.
She ruffles around in her coat pocket again before pulling out the same? sheet of paper.
"I was going to explain it to you, but considering..." She leaves it unsaid. I must've sounded like I was off my rocker there. I ain't apologizing for that. "I think you can read this instead. It'll explain the situation, in the meanwhile, follow me."
She starts to walk away again before she stops.
"My name is Nanagami Rin. I hope you'll find the contents of that letter agreeable."
Nanagami Rin? Strange name, eh, not like I'm one to talk. Mr Goodwill Cashier here! Chatting about someone else's weird name.
Yeah, were you born with that? Never bothered to ask.
Yes? Did you think I came up with this name?
Well, considering some of your closest friends are called 'Goodwill_Janitor, Goodwill_CEO and GoodWill_Manager.' Hopefully you can forgive me for thinking it's a surname.
You talking wild 'bout the gang, I'll let that slide.
Rin walks to a nearby elevator and I follow promptly. She presses a button for the 1st floor and we're off.
Honestly? I can't wait for whatever I'm going to encounter here. No weirdos on a power trip to interrupt and no bureaucracy to get in the way.
Just me, all simple like, doing my thing.
That's how I like it.
…'see food diet' will haunt you for the rest of your days…
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[DayShift.] Instigating and Frantic Beginnings *Rewritten.*
'Asks a lot of me' git out of here with that nonsense, it's simple.
'I'll make this short. Keep your eyes and attention on what I'm about to say, it's important'
Look, just because I have problems with people yapping, doesn't mean I have some sort of mental problem. This paper is real sassy with me.
You're over here arguing with a piece of paper, maybe you do?
'I know who you are and what you've done, that's why I've chosen you, Will, for this job. I know you're intimately familiar with your ilk, it doesn't take a genius to realize why
they would be a bad choice'
…yeah… that's…pretty much on the point. What am I even here to do though? Glad to know someone appreciates what I've set out to do but is it just my attitude that separates me?
'I'm sure you're begging for me to get to the point but I had to butter you up first, sorry!'
Dang…she got you good with that one, you're on the ropes against this piece of paper chief.
What the tuna? Nah, that's kinda freaky, she really just… you know what? Let me just keep reading this paper. I'll consider my biases later.
'You're here to act as a teacher (That's what Sensei means BTW). Take a moment to think about that, and then read everything after'
There's a line break between that and the rest of the paper.
Huh, I'm a teacher now? That's a thing. Uh…I've been weirder things before. I guess I'll hear this out.
Well, I have quite the amount of reservations about you teaching, but yeah. Let's hear it out first.
'You're also the only teacher in Kivotos. Not that everybody will come to you for education, we have laser discs for that, but girls will come to you for whatever you decide to hold classes on.'
My class? What would I even tea-
COMBAT. LEVEL. 60. CATA. 63.
What do you think? Take a wild guess, or do you need me to repeat those numbers? Hell, I'll even throw in FARMING 60 in there as well.
I might be a three hit wonder then…so it-
It's just fighting, yeah, you wanna teach people how to farm you can do that too.
'Rinny will probably tell you what you're supposed to do right now, but in the future? It's mostly up to your jurisdiction. You'll be the head for a extrajudicial organization called SCHALE.'
Extrajudicial? Holy carp, what in the world have I stumbled into?
Have I become the bureaucracy now?
That's…literally the exact opposite of what- nevermind, keep it chugging chief.
'You can register students from any academy into SCHALE and you can perform battle activities in any academy region without restriction. I understand that that was a lot I just threw at your face, so I'll end this letter with something to help you digest it better.'
I think I get the gist of what I'm here to do now. Be a teacher, teach things, be a good influence on others?
Sounds like a more thoughtful experience than the rat race back home.
It would definitely help you find yourself…go for it, I'm not going to say much to influence you, this is your decision.
'You have great power in your hands. I trust you to use it justly in the turbulent times to come. Kivotos needed something outside of the box to save it, I believe that to be you, Will-Sensei.
I have only one more thing to say. Kivotos isn't anything like the place you call home. Remember that.'
I put the paper into my inventory…
…
…
"Rin. What am I supposed to do right now? I think I understand what I'm here to do in the future though." I say.
The girl in question perks up at my question. She clears her throat and responds.
"The letter informed you of what SCHALE is, correct?" She asks.
I nod and she continues.
"The SCHALE club room is 30 kilometers from here and we need to get there to regain administrator access to Sanctum Tower. Without it, we haven't been able to enforce any authority over Kivotos, leading to anarchy breaking out." She says.
She looks gloomy as she says that. Eyebrows scrunched, slight frown, the works.
She…and hear me out on this, might be a little depressed about her city going into anarchy. Crazy right?
Jeez. Did nobody bother to set up a waypoint there? What a criminal lack of foresight.
I know that you know. Don't try to play that off.
"I'm assuming because of the anarchy, there's alot of people just going around attacking each other? That's why you haven't been able to just send someone to this… Sanctum Tower?" I say.
Astute observation.
Yup…
"Yes, that's exactly what we're here to solve, It's my job to bring you the-" An elevator chime interrupts her.
We promptly walk out of the elevator and into a neat little reception area but it's not even a few seconds before a blue-haired girl with pigtails?... I think that's what they're called?
Holy cod that fig…uh…not sure how to put this into words…
Whew, man, it's hot in this office. What the ca-
…I don't… never let that mask off chief, please, for both of our sakes.
Uh… she comes up and starts shouting at Rin.
"There you are Acting President! We've been waiting, get the real President in here already!"
Rin is about to say something-
Hey so…here's an easy out of having to talk to these people because I KNOW yo goofy self is 'boutta fumble that hypothetical conversation hard.
Use the Aspect of The Void. That's it, of course ask Rin to tag along, but don't take battles you can't win.
Uh. Yeah, great idea, I think I'll do that. I need fresh air anyways.
"Hey… Rin… Hey, Rin!" I whisper-shout at her.
She looks back at me with an aggrieved look. I know that I wasn't supposed to interrupt this, you don't need to look at me like that.
"Do you want to deal with this right now? Like… I can solve this issue, right now, just say the word." I say.
"Don't act like I'm not here! I can hear you, you know!?" The blue-haired girl continues shouting, no matter.
"...I…would like that, yes, but how do you plan o-" I don't plan on letting Rin continue to speak, she gave her affirmation, that's all I needed.
I reach behind my back with my right hand and pull…
Out the Aspect of the Void. It's a wand with a purple gemstone at the end of it, it's the best teleportation option for this situation.
"Alright then, off we go, see ya!" I shout that out… while flashing a wink at that purple haired girl.
It's only now that you get the confidence, huh?
Pipe down. I don't want to hear that right now.
I reach my left hand around Rin's shoulders and pull her close.
She's frozen from the series of actions I just to… oh, she's blushing a little, that's neat and also not important right now.
I aim the Aspect of the Void to the center of the reception area and pump around an eighth of my Mana into it. From there it's a blur of rapid teleportation that my eyes and mind are only barely able to keep track of, even with my experience in this matter, it's a dizzying and nauseating ordeal every time.
You coul-I need to focus right now.
We teleport to the center of the reception area, right before the revolving door that leads outside, and then onto the street, multiple teleports later and we're at an alleyway. The reception area we were just in is around… I'd say a quarter mile away.
I cease the flow of mana into the Aspect of the Void. The latent Mage within me pouts.
Who the hell you calling latent?
"Wha…?" Rin blinks rapidly as she mutters.
She looks around with a bewildered gaze.
Don't interrupt me for this and don't ignore me.
If you have a mask on…how exactly was the blue-haired girl supposed to catch that wink?
…shrimp…
Uh… back to Rin, I release her from my grasp as I put the Aspect of the Void back into my inventory. It's no surprise that she's, well, baffled at what just happened… maybe it's a bit worse than that…it's her first time teleporting isn't it?
…yeah…
I gotta be the anchor in this scenario, the straight man… I'm still wearing a Reaper Mask… and 3⁄4 'ths Goldors… eh… this is going to be hard.
Focus on your tone of voice and body language. Most meaning humans glean from conversations is based on those two.
"Rin." I start out, taking great care to keep my tone even. "Rin, look at me." I reach around to the back of my head and unstrap my Reaper mask, putting it back into my inventory. "We just teleported, that happened, and…hey." I snap my fingers in front of her eyes, hopefully breaking her daze. "Rin, remember all the chaos in Kivotos? Yeah, we still have to solve that, mind telling me how?"
Giving her mind a quick and familiar route back into reality should work. I'd imagine she's intimately familiar with the anarchy that's supposedly happening here.
This…good job actually, considering the lack of information you're working with.
"...Will-Sensei?..." She's coming down, that's good. "Wh..teleportation?..." She brings her right hand up to rub her eyes. "Thi- Kivotos!" She shouts that out. Welp, indignation is certainly an instinctual response I wasn't expecting, wonder what that says about her? "We have to- Will-Sensei, can you just teleport us to Sanctum then?"
Oh, I would love to Rin, I would love to. That would be crazy convenient, do you know what would make that a possibility? A waypoint!
Chief, remember when that President person said this place wasn't anything like your home?
Ah…
That. Tch, then they might not have waypoints?
I saw some public transportation so yes, most likely.
Huh.
"Nope. I can teleport us short distances often but.. I mean, you just experienced seven teleports and you're only a couple away from passing out. We'll just hoof it, thirty kilometers huh? Sounds doable." I say.
Rin looks disappointed at my response.
I mean, even if you could teleport her there or carry her while you run, I think this is a good opportunity to build rapport with someone who has real power in this city. Just take the long walk.
…eh…you know what? That doesn't even sound that bad. I'm just surprised that we haven't fou-
Footsteps. I hear you, you actually thought you could sneak me? Me?
Instinct, instincts, I swear. You're cheating.
"Oop, put that on the backburner Rin, there's some enemies nearby.." I declare.
My right and left hand go behind my back and pull…
Reaper Mask and Dark Claymore, left and right hand respectively, I strap on the mask and grip the claymore with both hands.
"Sensei? Are you.. You don't have a halo!- is that a sword?!" She shouts like she's never seen a tank befor- wait, she might not have.
I think this is an explanation that is going to happen later though. There's a scrap I gotta institgate.
Yeah, just go fight somebody, that'll get your mind right.
I slow my breaths and focus on those footsteps. They're from outside this alleyway and out onto the streets, two distinct rhythms indicate that there are two humanoids.
"Jeez, somebody's gotta shout up that trap, I could hear that from like a mile away." One of them says.
"Yeah, let's just rob their ass, we could use the money anyways." The other comments.
…well that's new. Usually, things just want to kill me, robbing me though?
I carefully walk out of the alleyway and glance into the street to see two helmeted girls walking down the sidewalk.
They both have a black trench coat that looks oversized on them with one of them having a black helmet with a red vizor, the other doesn't, their hair is brown and they look rather plain….ugh, these people, even here I'm not free from them.
Can't even really argue with you on that one. Could slice sinew on the edge present in those fits.
My Goldor's is painted a light blue for this exact reason.
They have..firearms? Are those firearms? Oh shrimp, I've heard of things like this. There's the long barrel, magazine and… they see me. Stealth was never my strong suit anyway.
You literally just sauntered out onto the sidewalk, how is that stealth? I think I could've done better.
I said it wasn't my strong suit!
"Woah. Look at this goober. Yo! Chunni!" One of them shouts out, the other one is chuckling.
That's pretty hypocritical, put them in their place please.
Take the P's out of that sentence and I just might.
I hear the rapid footsteps well before they get to me. A pair of hands shove me back into the alleyway, it's Rin, she's standing in my place now. She glares at me before shouting:
"Sensei! A stray bullet coul-" She doesn't get to finish her sentence.
"Hey! It's the Acting President!" The helmeted girl said that, their muffled sound gives that away.
I tap my feet against the ground as I see Rin in the side of my vision rush hurriedly back into the alleyway to avoid the volley of bullets that whiz past her,
Yeah, enough of this, let's get to it now. Keep any comments to essential call-outs only.
Sounds good.
I take a quick scan of my area, spotting the tall brick wall of the alleyway on my left and mentally noting the two attackers positions from the noise of their guns, I put the Dark Claymore back in my inventory for this maneuver.
"Rin, make sure to get a good view of this, then tell me to stay back again." Might be a bit rude of me but fighting good is literally my job.
I will not let Rin slander my skills in combat by implying I can't fight, that is an insult I won't let slide.
I don't bother sticking around for her rebuttal. Instead, I leap towards the brick wall and wall jump off of it, launching over the roof and well over our attackers' heads. I land behind them while reaching at my back and pulling… out my Dark Claymore.
The gunshots stop as the two girls whip around to look at me. Lackluster reaction time it is then.
A quick note about guns: They're modern weapons, so enchantments slide off of them like butter, thus they're comically fragile; cut the barrel, and they're useless.
Duly noted but not necessary.
I crouch down, legs tensing as I take a deep breath.
It only takes a moment for me to rocket forth at the both of them in a short leap, the flat side of the claymore slamming down at the space between them, splintering the concrete and shaking the earth. It serves as a good way to set the tone and rattle them mentally from the force and resulting shockwave.
My claymore is embedded into the ground and they haven't started attacking, what slowpokes they are.
I stop gripping the Dark Claymore and step blindly into the direction of the attacker on my right, I trust in my instincts to guide me as I shift slightly to throw a decent amount of my weight into an elbow strike aimed at where i believe to be her stomach…
I feel the sensation of flesh and I promptly pull my elbow back, I turn to face my victim and the fierce palm strike to the abdomen that follows isn't wholly necessary but I need to make some distance.
I watch her get flinged away like a ragdoll, I would've thought she'd have put up more of a fight…
No matter, my head whips around to spot the other girl who's still shocked at what just happened in the past three seconds. It's the non-helmeted girl and she's going to wish she brought some head protection for this one.
I crouch down slightly, right hand balled in a fist at my hip level, before hopping forth once and ripping loose an uppercut straight from the Nether. It crashes into the jaw of the girl and sends her flying upward.
The cracking noise that rings throughout the streets has me wincing slightly. The girl clips the rooftop slightly in her unwilling flight, she clears the roof and lands somewhere on top of it.
I turn around to look for the one I struck first and shes…
Hm… oh, she's crumpled in the fetal position on the other side of the street, that weird glowy ring over her head flickers for a second before dissipating.
Huh, did everyone here have those? I haven't noticed until now but I think they did.
Whatever. I walk over to my claymore and extract it from the ground and into my inventory. I could find out the answer to that question right now. Rin's still in the alleyway looking…
Well, she has that glowy ring above her head, the utterly baffled look on her face says that I shouldn't be focusing on that.
Was going to say that I'm pretty sure everybody you've seen so far has had those 'halo' things but yeah, focus on Rin first, get crucial background information second.
…hoh boy…
How am I going to explain this?
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[DayShift.] O Fledgling Sparks of Passion *Rewritten.*
"Rin, do you know what a Tank is?" That would be the simplest question to answer for anyone with a brain but..
"Yes?... what does a tank have to do with this?"
Of course. The way she says it implies we're talking about different things.
Also if y'all were talking about the same thing, it'd be the simplest connection.
"Rin. Listen." We're walking in the middle of the street and I'm over here, putting a hand on her shoulder, all romantic-like.
Chief, stop acting like this.
Okay, I actually need to get this point across, it's necessary.
"Unless you have a couple of hours for me to get to the point where I can explain how I'm this strong, I think you can live with just not knowing. Yeah? Get what I'm putting down?" My chronic fear of yap marathons is acting up.
Rin looks down at the ground for a second. She's stopped walking, hands limp at her sides, a long sigh comes from her mouth. She clicks her tongue before looking up at me with an… I genuinely can't tell what expression that is.
A conflicted expression, are your eyes bad? Do you need eyeglasses?
What? No, I'm in perfect health.
"Will-Sensei." She pauses before continuing. "You don't have a halo and yet you fought like that. You didn't even use a gun, just…" I'm sure the memories of me dismantling my attackers with my martial experience are flashing through her head. That training with Tao did pay off if it's that impressive. "What are you? I know you're human but there's something else about you."
…
…
Adopt the thinker pose at this poin-
Shut it, it's time to get serious.
"Rin. I am human, I'm simply a really well trained fighter. If you're wondering how I'm able to move like that, maybe you ought to expand your horizons? There are other paths to power…" I trail off while purposefully taking a deep breath, all wistful-like.
Now you're some 'elder on the mountain'? You cannot to maintain that facade chief and I'll put that on every bit of fun I've ever got from my hobbies.
Matter of fact? You better cut that out, I doubt you got the clout to keep it up without becoming burnt-out, stay on that 'see food diet' or I riot. It's simple…
Oh, he got bars? Shame I ain't listening.
Rin looks perturbed. I take my hand off her shoulder and continue walking down the street, after a couple a seconds, she starts to follow.
"Look. I'm really good at many things and have a lot to teach as well. Let's just get to Sanctum and we can discuss exactly what I'm capable of, yeah?" I say.
Rin seems pretty out of it if I'm honest.
Still not well from the teleportation, having multiple bombshells of information dropped on her, the city devolving into anarchy and you dodging her question probably has her rattled.
The sound of innumerable bullets plinking off my armor fills the air. Stings erupt from the area where they're hitting me.
Oh ho ho, we can actually feel that.
"What the hell? What is that armor made of?" One of my opponents says.
We're in the middle of a (What I'm assuming was a former) marketplace. There's four helmeted girls spread out across it but as they learn that I'm not attacking back, they slowly come out of cover and into the middle of the market square, guns unloading repeatedly until the click of an empty magazine rings out.
Except for that girl with the big gun. She's still firing at my abdomen, oop she's shifting to shoot my face, can't let that happen.
It's called a 'mini gun.' don't worry 'bout why, just know that it is.
Alright then, I won't worry 'bout why then, I'll just ignore it if there ain't a good reason.
I crouch down and tap the tip of my blade against the ground, the Yeti Sword doing the rest of the work, the ground having a chunk taken out of it in a cube shape. I hurl it at the girl with the big gun.
"Woa-" She doesn't get to finish that.
It crashes into her, the block disintegrating upon impact, the girl gets launched through a window and into one of the desolate shops here.
I click my tongue before glaring at the other three left.
"You know running is an option? Y'all don't drop loot and this got boring after the first few."
One of them begins to step back before the other two begin sprinting away. The first one looks back in surprise before following.
"We're nearing Sanctum tower and, have you been injured by any of the bullets that have been shot at you?" Rin asks.
She was a comfortable distance behind me while I was 'fighting'
Not much of a fight. You haven't even tried yet, these 'injuries' can literally be healed by sitting pretty and waiting.
Yeah, that's what I'm concerned about, this is getting boring.
"No." I say.
"Okay. There might be an actual threat to you coming up." She's pulled out her tablet thing and is tapping on it. "This is Wakamo."
On the screen and-
For once the... woman? has a mask, just remember what we discussed earlier during that hour-long walk.
…uh,..rather not remember that…
You know it's tru-
Stop.
"Otherwise known as the Fox of Calamity. I don't know your exact capabilities but I recommend you keep your guard up around her." Rin says.
Alright, head back in the game. Deep breaths..
…
…
She got that clothing on though.
Really? That's wha-
Nah nah, she got it on though, look at her.
Somebody given the kenning of 'Fox of Calamity' isn't someone you should be cheesing about with.
Kenning?
That's what you focus on?
Alright, alright, I'll decide how I'll handle her when I see her. Titles and descriptions only do so much. Though Fox of Calamity sounds like a good time.
Good time? You're on some top shelf buffoonery, take this seriously, you odn't know what the top fighters in this city are like.
"Aight. Sounds good. I'll keep that in mind." I responded to Rin with.
Rin nods and we continue walking.
It's one of the most droll journeys I've ever embarked on but I know there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Maybe it's a good fight but I'm more so looking forward to teaching people. I know a lot and I'm eager to teach people how to be successful in things like farming or maybe even giving people the ability to not want to end themselves leveling foraging.
You're not that good.
I don't think anybody is.
We keep walking until we come across a barricade of cars. Further in the distance lies what I presume to be Sanctum Tower.
"Rin. That's-" I point towards the tall tower in the distance. "Sanctum tower, isn't it?"
She nods in affirmation.
"Okay. This reeks of a trap so I'm going to take that on, you can hang behind."
"Agreed. I don't think I'd be of much help here." Rin skulks away into a nearby alleyway.
Harsh word choice.
Eh. It's technically true.
I vault over the barricade of cars and into a large opening in the middle of the street. It is filled with concrete barriers, parked cars, a random assortment of girls lounging about and…a large green vehicle in the middle. There's somebody on top… no, that's Wakamo. I recognize that fit and shes…
Posted up. That pose is crazy. The gun over the shoulders?
Effortlessly cool.
I gotta get me some of that.
"Yo!" I shout.
Immediately, the… I'd say 30 or so girls in the area immediately stop whatever they are doing to look at me. Many of them are picking up their guns and are muttering to each other.
Things along the lines of "Who is this?" and "Are they crazy?"
Yeah. Guess what I'm here to do? Not fight any of you bums.
I put the Yeti Sword back in my inventory, in the same motion I pull… out the Gyrokinetic Wand and Axe of the Shredded.. A small black wand with a concentrated gravity storm sealed within a floating blue orb that hovers above the tip of the wand, perfect for this exact type of crowd clearance.
Before you go crazy on em', keep in mind that 'large green vehicle' is a tank. It shoots out large projectiles that might hurt even you.
It's also a tank? Bet. Lemme peep how much that thing can take.
These people can call me 'Shade' when I'm done with em', the way I be giving fades out.
…
That…
Almost works…needs work.
Clam up.
"If y'all know what's good for you, you'll stay down after this, my fight's with that one." I shout.
I point the Axe at Wakamo whilst my right hand is channeling all of my mana into the Gyrokinetic Wand.
"What're you going to do with an axe? Dumbass, we have you surrounded." One of the many goons here shouts that out.
I ain't dignifying that with a response, at least not a verbal one.
I point the tip of the Gyrokinetic wand at the center of the street, a localized gravity storm erupting from that spot, pulling in anybody in the vicinity.
"Woah!" One of them shouts.
Soon enough there's a conglomerate of flailing bodies and weapons all being pulled into the same spot. Sitting duck-
My legs tense and my body twists. All in the service of diving out of the way of a shell that whizzes past me at an incredible speed before exploding further down the street behind me.
Told ya. Those instincts bail you out once again.
I land with a roll and almost collide into a nearby car on my right. I'm back onto my feet quickly.
The large green- tank. The tank's long barrel shot that. Alright then, let's adjust my throw.
I grip the Axe of the Shredded with both hands, blade humming and pulsing with an incredible electrical charge, I throw it over the heads of the girls and at the tank.
The Axe only passes over their heads for half a second, but that's all the Axe needs, many small lightning bolts erupt from it, shocking every girl near it and leaving them unconscious from the high volts. The gravity storm dissipates shortly after.
That might've killed someone.
Not the priority.
The Axe continues it's flight and cuts clean through the barrel of the tank, it eventually buries itself in the hood of the vehicle before it extracts itself and rockets towards my awaiting left hand.
I catch it and observe the state of my enemies.
A heap of bodies lie strewn at where the gravity storm once was, the tank has smoke coming out of it and I doubt it's in any condition to fire again, Wakamo is…huh? Where'd she go?
Okay. You can use skulk for this scenario, I think she ran.
…what the carp?
Fox of Calamity my a-
A soft thud upon the tank's roof answers my question. She jumped to avoid being hit by the Axe…jumped really high.
Hm?
She has her rifle poised to shoot at me.
She moves like one of them. That's interesting.
Hopefully…hopefully…
One rifle round blitzes towards me at a speed that I can just barely track. It's rapid rotation and pink flower petals flaking off of it? That's…regardless, both would make catching it a bad idea.
Did you think catching a bullet would be a good idea?
As a flex, maybe?
I tilt my head to avoid the shot as two other rifle rounds come towards me. I move to the right to avoid the first and duck to avoid the second. She thinks I don't know how to dodge, Tao taught me well.
One last round comes directly at my head, I mo-
The car to my right blocks that path. Shrimp, it's al-
My head snaps back from the force of the bullet, Reaper Mask taking the brunt of it.
That'll bruise if you don't heal it. Either you didn't pay as much attention to Tao as you thought or she just trapped your movement options by penning you in with the first three shots.
…huh…
I put both the Axe and Wand back into my inventory as I crouch slightly to get the force necessary to jump over the car barricade behind me.
I land and quickly sprint back to find adequate cover, this alleyway should do-
"Sensei? What's going on over there?" Rin's… here. Oh yeah.
"I obliterated the fodder and got caught by Wakamo." I state.
Atleast you're honest with her.
"Caught by Wakamo? Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Just need to think a little, I've been taking it too easy." I sigh.
Alright… let's think.
You haven't hit her yet so you don't know how durable she is and her bullets can actually do something to you. You're not going to get one-shot.
Okay. Ju-
"So the General Student Council sent a masked ant after me? How cute, come out and face me! It's clear you're capable of sowing destruction like I am!" A high-pitched voice…
The inflection in that voice. The emotion and passion in it…That's Wakamo, isn't it?
Rin looks profoundly disturbed at that voice echoing throughout the street, I…
…you good?
After witnessing everything I just did, the demolishing of 30 people… the confidence? She's a smart fighter and…
I can feel my mouth straining, a grand smile is breaking out, I don't bother to contain it. It's probably slightly visible even with the Reaper Mask covering most of my face. A heat travels throughout my body, maybe it's excitement.
"Fine then! I'll come to you!" She shouts again.
Oh…there it is again. That voice. It comes from someone who understands.
I can feel it. That voice gets me going.
…get's you going as in: I'm ready to fight now, or get's you 'going'?
My hands reach my back… heh… haha… what to choose? Hahaha.
Yo. You can't just say things like that without clarifying.
I know Rin's saying something, I just don't bother to hear it.
Hello?!
Finally, I've found something good here.
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[DayShift.] The Passion and Movement that goes into such a display.
The familiar weight of it in my hands. It's texture, it's…length.
Stop it.
The Dark Claymore is in my hands as I strut out of the alleyway.
…I think I've lost him.
"Wakamo! Give me the best you've got!" My voice…I try to match that fervor she has.
You sound guttural. Do you hear yourself? WaKaMo!!! Yeesh, that's embarrassing, I'm hoping someone recorded that.
Quit the yap, I'm having some real fun.
There she is, standing on top of the car barricade and aiming her rifle at me, my first challenge here…
A burst of bullets is fired and this time, this time, I am ready for it.
I put the Dark Claymore back in my inventory, loosen my stance, crouch slightly with my eyes laser-focused on her rifle, and move.
A hop to my right gets me out of the way of the initial burst. A second volley comes and I duck low to avoid that barrage. The third and final burst is coming so I stand up fully.
You could jus-
A step to the right, tilting my shoulders to the left, and making eye contact with the ground to the right of me. The first bullet is shot at where I'm going to be, perfect, I've got it.
I stop dead in my tracks, watching the bullet strike the ground in front of me, before I continue with my fancy footwork. Tao must be so proud.
"Phew, phew!" I can't resist making that sound.
Are you…making wind-whooshing sounds as you dodge?
A shoulder drop and fake-out step later, I've dodged the next two bullets without even moving. The rifle doesn't click to signify an empty magazine but I can tell she's reloading from the corner of my eyes.
"Heh. How's about I show you mine now?" I shout. My hands splayed out to either side of me, about as open as I could ever be.
I bring my left hand to my back and pull… out the Dark Claymore. I wield it with both hands as I rush towards the car barricade with Wakamo on top.. It's a telegraphed attack and the quick jump off the barricade that she does is expected.
Even still, I gotta set the mood, and maybe even play my part if you look at this from a certain angle.
I slam the flat of the Dark Claymore downward into the car barricade that isn't there anymore, the reason why? It's because it basically disintegrated from the blow. The car implodes into itself with the sound of tearing metal, like some industrial crusher eating a car, or something like that…
…leave the metaphors alone, chief.
I tear the Dark Claymore from the car and spot Wakamo standing on a nearby rooftop. She's looking down at me…
"Tch, tch." I click my tongue twice. "Nah, let me get in on some of that." I say.
I brace the Dark Claymore on my left shoulder before leaping up at the rooftop. It's a difficult jump to make cleanly but I manage, my feet displacing some of the gravel on top, but I land standing relatively fully. The look of the jump is important, trust.
We end up staring each other down, mask to mask, rifle to Claymore. I'm holding my weapon rather loosely whilst she looks like she could crush netherite into diamonds with the force of her grip on her rifle.
…how the hell can you tell that? Her grip isn't even white.
I might be built better.
"So…how's your day been so far? I've been having a great day, even better now that you're here, but I'd like to make a request." I hold a hand to the string connecting the Reaper Mask to my face. "I just want to know who I'm about to fight here beyond the name, get what I'm putting down? An eye for an eye. Masks off."
She's not responding, still… just staring at me, wonder what's going through her head?
She.,..nah, gotta keep it a hunnid with you, I don't have a clue.
Fine, I'll take the initiative.
I reach behind my head with my right hand to undo the string. The Reaper Mask is taken off quickly as I reach to my back and put the Reaper Mask back into my inventory. I take a deep breath as I run my right hand through my hair in an attempt to keep it from getting in my eyes, and also to keep it styled because I know that I have good hair, luscious black locks falling like a waterfall between my fingers.
Yeah…you got pretty long hair, also please keep the metaphors out of your head, that was painful.
Keep hating.
"Uh…" Oh, there it is, I thought she mighta mentally bluescreened or sumthin, she speaks!
'Uh…' hardly counts. Is she good? I can see her shuffling her feet a little, fingers tapping idly against her rifle.
Nah…leave the descriptions to me! You cheesed it.
How th-
No.
"I…uh..I- well…" She's stuttering… why?
"Wakamo. I understand if that mask is the crux of your enhancements, but I took mine off and it's pretty important to mine, humor me for a second." I flash a (hopefully) encouraging smile at her.
She only fidgets more at that…holy carp, is she good?
That's what I'm saying!
"I..I think I left my oven on! " She turns around after she shouts that out and… jumps?
She's leaving.
Uh. She's tactically repositioning?
Over that rooftop and… she's gone.
…huh…
Did…what? Did the best fight since I've gotten here just leave before I even got to hit her once ?!
That seems like the course of events, yes.
…what the tuna???
You've gotta be kidding me.
"Sensei! What's happening up there?" Rin's down at the alleyway, peeking out to shout.
"Uh…I think I got her. She left." I reply.
…tch. Come on…
I put the Dark Claymore back into my inventory and whip out the Aspect of the Void for a second to teleport next to Rin, I immediately put it back into my inventory afterward.
"...let's just get to Sanctum and resolve this whole thing." I'm pretty sure my shoulders are hanging as I say that. It's hard to not show my disappointment with this.
Rin nods, her eyebrow is raised presumably at my body language, but she starts to walk toward Sanctum and I follow.
"Here's what the General Student Council President left behind for you. It's called the Shittim Chest."
…heh…
Come on chief, keep it cool.
Yeah… yeah…
I take the..sh…heh… Shittim Chest from Rin's hands. It's about as light as my Nether Star.
"Its origins are a mystery to all of us but the President said that you'll be able to take control of Sanctum with it. I hope you can do that, Will-Sensei." She sighed before walking to the door that led us into the room. "I'll leave you to it."
She walks out.
All I have is the Shittim Chest in my hands. I press the power button on it and a deluge of codes and information in a blue color text flash on the screen before it stops and shows a screen that says:
'Please enter the system password.'
Slight problem.
I think this deserves the few moments of panic you have in reserve.
…I'll keep that in mind.
I enter the first password that I can think of.
'Omegpix240285'
'Access denied'
Shrimp.
…I don't think your password is going to work here, chief, think of something else.
Hm…
'/changepass'
'Access denied'
Tch. I thought that woulda worked. Let me cook for a few more tries, yeah?
Imagine the look on Rin's face if you tell her you cheesed it, give it a bit more than a 'few'.
'/bungeecord'
'Access denied'
I don't remember exactly how that guy did that. Shame.
'/help'
'Access denied'
'/stuck'
'Access denied'
Why would that work?
'↑↑↓↓←→←→BA'
'Access denied'
'42'
'Access denied'
'opensesame'
'Access denied'
…
Nah, he ain't even trying anymore.
'Password'
'Access denied'
'password'
'Access denied'
…
I think we're cooked.
Yeah…might have to tell Rin that…how's about you give it one last try? Head empty, not thoughts, rely on luck?
…why not.
'We thirst for the seven wailing. We bear the koan of Jericho.'
Uh…
…chief? What the -
The tablet is getting brighter. It's…shrimp, I can't see!
Turn down the bloom!
THAT'S NEVER WORKED! I THINK THAT SETTING ON MY NETHER STARS BROKE!
Brace yourself!
[DayShift.] And the Reprieve and Intrusive Thoughts that follow.
…
…
… The second time you've been unconscious, all in one day…
…
…
Yo? Chief, this water might rise and you- wait no, you can regenerate, eh, get some sleep in then.
…
…
… Wait, you can't even sleep, what're you doing?... being LAZY?!
… Tch. Alright then.
CHIEF! YOUR MINIONS ARE FULL!!!
WHAT?! IT'S ONLY BEEN A MONTH!
Nah, I just had to wake you up, it's all good.
…? What the tuna? Alright… uh, where am I?
Isn't the physical description your onus now?
Alright, alright.
Uh…blurry vision, how do I have Blindness?
I think it's because you were slumped, try rubbing your eyes.
Okay…I can see now. It's a…ruined classroom in the middle of ankle-deep water…? What? How did I get here?
You were slumped. How many more times do I have to repeat myself, goofy?
"...banana milk goes better than strawberry milk"
Based.
Oh yeah. That little girl who's also slumped sitting in one of the desks. She's got a weird white ribbon on her head that forms rabbit ear-
Imma have to cut you off there. You cannot be shaming other people for their fashion choice, hypocritical trifling cornhead.
…I'm going to let that slide. You acting up.
Anyways…she looks about 12 years old? There's another one of those halo thingies hanging above her head. She's sleeping right now and mumbling in her sleep.
"..heh…banana splits…there's so much…" She mumbles.
Based.
That's fair.
I peel myself off the ground and onto my feet…I don't hear the clanking of armor… what the shrimp?
Where's my armor?
Calm it. Look in your inventory
I reach behind my back and pull…nothing…
…
Oh bo-
WHAT THE TUNA?!?!
"WHERE'S MY THINGS?!"
You might be in a dimension like the Void, alright?
Oh…yeah…that's a thing okay… phew….
Deep…breaths…one….two….you good now?
Yeah…okay. Uh. back to the gir-
She's looking up at me with a rattled look.
You mighta shouted something out there, probably woke her up, she also looks like a native resident so don't rattle her further. You aren't strong right now.
"S-Sensei?" She whimpers.
I got this.
"Uh…yo….how-wh-,you-uh…..tch." I click my tongue. "What's poppin'?"
…nah…
She looks confused for a second…she ain't scared no more though, that's a dub.
"How are you here?... if yo- are you Will-Sensei?" She asks.
You failed and fumbled through that whole exchange, we ain't even get through three sentences…you fell off.
…
"Yup. Tha's me, what's your name?" I say.
"Huh? I'm right? What's the time?" She starts looking around frantically.
I reach to my pockets and pull out my Nether Star…it says it's 3:30 PM.
"It's 3:30 in the afternoon. I think you should chill it."
"Um…oh, I forgot to introduce myself!" She visibly perks up now. "My name is Arona! I'm the system manager that lives inside of the Shittim Chest. I serve as it's main OS, you can think of me as your secretary, Sensei!"
…huh…
What?
Nah, keep talking, I'm thinking of something good over here.
Alright?
"Cool? Uh, so…you're a computer then? OS…" I snap my fingers a couple of times to jog my memory.
You draw two blanks.
Weren't you busy thinking? Shut it.
"OS…you know what? Nevermind, nice to meet you Arona." I say.
"Yeah! I'm happy to hear that." She beams an adorable smile. "My physical body is still small and I could use a serious voice upgrade…But I know I can still be useful to you!" She pauses for a second. "Oh, yeah! We have to complete your biological authentication." She walks closer to me and holds out a finger at me. "Place your fingertip against mine." She says.
Tch. This reminds me…
"What? This reminds you of a movie or something? This is just how I'm supposed to verify your fingerprint!" She wiggles her finger to emphasize what I'm supposed to be doing.
Eh. Fine. I press my fingertip against hers and…
A couple of seconds pass…
…
I narrow my eyes.
"Everything alright?" I ask.
She looks conflicted for a second before walking back away from me and saying:
"Yup! It's all done."
"Uh…I thought something more, I dunno, grand would happen? Biological authentication sounds pretty important." I look to the side.
"No…I did it the way I was supposed to…you don't seem convinced." She mumbles that last part out. She's no longer looking at me, instead looking down at the floor.
Not this again…
I got this.
"Nah. I'm sure you got it right…uh, yeah." You finish lamely.
..?!
Chief, with Rin you actually managed to calm her down, that's why I said you fell off. Cause you did.
Are you done thinking now?
Yeah. I got something real good also it might cheer her up, and unlike you, it doesn't require persuasion. Just something logical that I'm sure a computer would appreciate.
Spit it out, she looks like she's going to cry any second now.
Ask her if she can automate your minions, actually, just ask her if she can connect to your Nether Star. This would fix so many problems chief, trust.
Aight.
"Um. This might seem sudden but can I ask something of you?" I ask.
She looks up from the ground and..yeah her eyes are slightly red, shrimp, I almost cheesed it. Nevertheless, she nods at my question and I continue.
"Can you connect to this? If you can, then I can elaborate." I hold out my Nether Star in my hands and pass it to Arona.
She looks star-struck-
Heh.
-for a second at the glowing star in my hands before walking to grab it from my hands. She idly runs her hands over the smooth exterior before reaching into the middle of the Nether Star and closing her eyes.
…
…
Figured by now she woulda connected to it. Her eyebrows are furrowed and she's clutching the Nether Star pretty tightly.
…
"I'm…i'm sorry Sensei, I can't connect to this thing." She glumly hands it back to me.
…I don't have a backup, I'm going to leave it to you now.
Ah. This could be a problem.
"Nah, that's fine, that's fine." I put my Nether Star back in my pockets before crouching down to get to eye-level with her. "Look, I'm sure we can work it out later but some major things is going on outside of this dimension and I'm pretty sure you can help with that." She looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "Rin sent me to…"
Get control of Sanctum Tower.
"Get control of Sanctum tower because…"
The President went missing.
"The President went missing. The General Student Council needs control of Sanctum to actually enforce any authority over Kivotos…"
That's a stupid trail off, what do you want me to say?
"You get what I'm putting down, right?" I finish with that.
Her eyes have been gradually widening as my spiel went on. It's only now that she closes her eyes to think for a second, she nods before opening her eyes again and saying:
"Got it. A lot's been going on then."
There we go, she's getting serious now, you should be too. The both of y'all gotta stop cheesing it.
Thanks for the save by the way.
I'm not just going to sit there and let you fumble with this. There's potential here.
That…I'll think about that later.
"I can help with the Sanctum Tower problem, not with the President, I have alot of data on Kivotos but very little on her…sorry about that." Arona says.
"Nah, it's all good, just get that Sanctum Tower control thing solved and no problem from there on." I nod as I say that.
She flashes a smile before closing her eyes in (presumably) focus…
…
"Sanctum Tower Admin permissions acquired." She states. "I've got control back now, which means that all of Kivotos is in the palm of your hand now, Sensei!" She…what?!
What?!
Uh. Wow, that's a thing?
Goofy here got upgraded to a Mayor on the spot? That's crazy, how.. Ho- HOW HAVE YOU FUMBLED YOUR WAY INTO THIS?!
I DON'T KNOW BUT I'M NOT COMPLAINING!
Finally, I'm sick of those guys' stupid policies anyways, it's WILL TIME!
Arona looks concerned at my… I reach a hand to my face and feel it straining.
The muscles strain to display a wide smile with voracious intent.
…yeah that.
No wonder she's concerned, no matter, you know what we gotta get up to.
"I can transfer control of Sanctum Tower back to the General Student Council with your approval if that's what you want…" She trails off.
Hm… big thoughts… big thoughts…
Yeah..no.
I was about to cut you off if you thought of just handing it all off. Glad to know we can come to an accord…
"Gimme a sec to think about it Arona." I ask and she nods.
Good. Can't have interlopers interfering with your fun.
So? What's the plan?
Well, I didn't think we'd just stumble into absolute power on the first damn day. But now that we have, lets think, you got any ideas?
Well, I could institute policies that benefit farming and start up something farming-related events to promote…huh, why do they make events? How do they make money off of them?
You ever think that maybe they just want a fun event for people to enjoy?
That's ridiculous.
Of course it is, they make money by getting people to sell Purple Candy to them or selling an exorbitant amount of vegetables. That's probably where the Bazaar gets all its product, it's not terribly complex, you get other people to do the hard work for you whilst you profit off of it without having to lift a finger. All whilst you frame it as a holiday so it's not blatant what you're doing. It's genius.
Okay…uh. So I make a farming holiday and or other event and profit. Good, anything else?
If there isn't a replacement already here, you could make your own Bazaar or Auction House? Get a monopoly on those industries before anyone can.
Alright, alright. There's alot I can do with this power but can we think of any reason I shouldn't just horde it all for myself?
Rin would be mad? Also the General Student Council, they're the ones who run this city presumably and unless you want to deal with all that paperwork-
Ugh. Absolutely not.
-yeah, that's what I thought. So…you can give them authority of Sanctum so they can deal with all that nonsense for you while you maintain a…backdoor? Yes, a backdoor to access that very same authority whenever you need it. It's a win-win. You get to do all those policies and events whilst the poor office workers do all the paperwork for you.
No responsibility and All. The. Fun.
…yeah. I like the sound of that.
"Arona. Transfer control of Sanctum to the General Student Council, but leave me a backdoor so that I can take control of anything back whenever I want too. Make sure to hide that backdoor as well as you can, can't have the General Student Council figuring out that their control-"
Is fickle.
"Is fickle."
"Okay then. I can do that. Transfer control to the GSC and maintain a backdoor…" She mumbles that last part out. "That's doable."
Probably wasn't the smartest idea to leave control of the city to a child, even if it is a computer, they're still naive.
…you make it sound like I'm going to be like I'm going to be Dante or sumthin'.
*Announcement.*
I'll change the previous chapters to accommodate this new development in the story, but Finals week has arrived, and I'm pretty busy these days.
I'll eventually get to those revisions. Wait until the end of this week, and I'll probably have it done.
*Announcement over.*
For he wept, because there were no more worlds to conquer.
…was that a cold stinger?
Are you serious? Do you know what you just did?
Okay…that's fair.
Anyways. I'm standing in the middle of the now lit-up room holding a tablet up, looking like a goofy, on another note I'm now God.
Chill it. You just a lowly Mayor.
'Lowly' yeah, alright-
There's a voice outside that do-wait, it's just Rin.
She opens the door and struts in.
Struts? Oh my lord, QUIT. CEASE.
Nah, nah, I might be a little bolder after becoming God. Don't worry 'bout nuthin'.
"You can call me the manager, 'cause I'm running things."
Rin looks confused, oh, I said that out loud. Eh, who cares.
"Don't worry about what I just said, I was in my feels, get what I'm putting down?" I raise the tablet up and down several times in place of wiggling my eyebrows. I should really take off my mask, they need to witness gl-
CEASE.
Alright, heh, alright. I'll let her off easy.
"No, I don't get what you're…" She says the next part more to herself than me. " 'Putting down' " She pauses for a moment before continuing. "There's been confirmation of our regaining of control over Sanctum." She sighs. "Well done Sensei, I speak on behalf of all of Kivotos for that, you've prevented this city from falling into utter chaos." She…sounds oddly monotone about that…wonder what that's about.
I just don't think she likes you very much chief.
…why?
Hmph. Let's go through it. First, you keep touching her, like I know why you're so physical when discussing things with others but I'm pretty sure she values her personal space. Second, I don't think you've had a single interaction where you effectively 'bounce' off each other, do you get what I'm- nah, screw the rhetorical question, y'all just don't got chemistry.
Alright, I thin-
Third, you keep dodging her questions, maybe she's a curious person and you keeping a tight lip on almost everything you do is pretty off-putting. Fourth, did you ever notice that she just let you handle everything while you were walking to Sanctum? She isn't interested in helping you in any way herself-
Okay, that's because she can't keep up, that one is slander.
Might be, might be.
Alright then. Fifth, maybe, as a figure of authority in this city, she values control over most things. Crazy jump in logic, I know, but you didn't really follow much of anything she wanted you to do and just went off to do your own thing.
…uh…
So, in summary, it isn't any one thing that fuels her dislike of you. Nor is it anything more than just a general dislike, it's not like she hates you, but I seriously doubt she's messing with your vibe chief.
…
…
"Rin. Do you-"
DO NOT ASK THAT!
Goofy is ASKING for a social faux pas, you cheesehead, you probably won't talk with her much after this. Just keep it to yourself.
"Uh…I mean, nice to hear that?" I awkwardly say that because someone threw me off my game.
Are you serious?
I might be cheering.
"...right." She raises an eyebrow at my antics, but continues. "Could you follow me? There's one last thing I must show you before I get to my duties."
She walks out the door quickly.
I dutifully follow Rin out the door and to the entrance of another room with a sign hanging off of it. It says 'SCHALE.'
"This is the SCHALE club room, it's been empty for a while but now it has an owner." Rin enters the room and continues the yap. "This is where you'll be working."
It looks…way too bland. I don't like this design very much.
We'll worry about that way later, get acclimated to this city first before you start destroying and remodeling the house that was provided for free to you.
Rin looks at the office for a couple of seconds before looking back to me and saying.
"You have alot of freedom from now on…I'm not…" She takes a few moments to find the correct words. "I'll leave you to it for today. Tomorrow, I'll have something more substantial to start you off with, I think you just need a day to yourself…" She leaves pretty quickly after that.
…
Huh. You know, I think you might've been right.
Yeah? Whilst you're thugging it out on the frontlines, I'm busy trying to keep you from cheesing too many social interactions.
Alright. Uh…standing here in the middle of the SCHALE club room makes me feel goofy… oh shrimp.
What?
How much bread do we have?
…it's not connected to your Nether Star so I don't know, check?
We have to fix that. Uh… can't we just ask the Arona?
I think she has enough of a personality to be called a person.
Okay but should we?
Yeah, she seems like she knows this city way better than we do,
I pull…out the Shittim Chest and ask it:
"Arona, how much brea-money, how much money do I have available to me? Personal and co-op vault included if there are any."
…
… I think you have to turn on the tablet first.
…oh yeah. Let's… I do that and ask again:
"Arona, how much money do I have available to me?"
…
… Do you…know how to turn a tablet on?
…its the button on the side right?
It's on the top.
Okay. I push the button on the top and the screen turns on this time, Arona is staring off into the distance, facing away from the screen.
"Arona, how much money do I have?"
She perks up before she turns around and says with a smile:
"Two million Yen as of right now, there's a larger emergency fund but that needs approval from the GSC to be used."
"How much is that emergency fund?"
"Two hundred million Yen. I really mean it when I say it's supposed to be used in emergencies, that's a lot of money saved up!"
So I've got two hundred and two million yen to my name. Not a bad start considering I came up from nilch, but far from being able to sit on my laurels, we've gotta make more.
Agreed. This is not a comfortable cushion, we need income.
True, true, I've got some ideas. I'm the best farmer there is and one of the best Dungeon delvers there are, I've just got to find alternatives in Kivotos that use those skills and I'm set.
Time to enter the rat race once again.
I came out ahead the first time, I'll be the one to start the races this time.
"Alright, that's all I needed Arona, thank you." I turn off the Shittim Chest after that. I don't need her for this.
A nearby clock tells me the time, 6:30…
6:30?!
Huh, the sun is already setting.Welp, you can take a rest now, I'll do the NightShift, you'll crash if you keep up this hellish schedule.
…ugh…
Holy carp. The worst part about this is that I agree with you on that, I've seen the results but…
Yeah, It's hard to let someone else take the reins but you've shown a massive improvement in mood from taking a rest, the physical body may not be able to sleep on command but your mental one can.
Fine. I want to have gotten a farm built or have found a Dungeon alternative by the time I wake. I think I'll take a cozy 15 hours this time.
That's enough time for me, peaceful rests be upon you.
Yeah…yeah…
…
…
Ugh. Getting control over this body is never easy but… I stretch my arms…oh….yep, there it is, calisthenics is important. I won't shout 'Victory!' at the end though, not exactly my style.
Regardless, now that he's gone I don't have to change my voice anymore. Now I can talk normally.
Phew, that voice just isn't good to keep up forever.
Alright. Mental list. From largest priority to smallest.
Ensure this body's prosperity. As always.
Secure power and neutralize threats..
This one came far sooner than I could have ever anticipated. Full control of the entire city in one day? This one was trivial but it's still not over. I'll have to see what information database this city keeps on it's citizens, from there I can make plans to defeat any that may oppose us.
3. Enhance tools and hypothesize combinations of equipment to optimize activity, I;E: do all the 'boring things' as repeatedly said by Will.
Hm…I've lost access to the Bazaar and any way of acquiring more raw material aside from minions and what is already in storage, though this land may have more of that in store, this one may have to go on the backburner for a while.
4. Settle social and monetary debts, consolidate social standing.
No monetary debts have been sicced upon us yet. That blue-haired woman almost certainly does not like us and Rin has a similarly low opinion of us. Wakamo will hold a grudge after today so overall? Far from the worst day.
Hm…that leaves my current course of action as follows.
Build a farm or find an alternative that can satiate Wil's need for combat while also making coins → Look over information databases on any locally known threats, ideally do this while farming or looking. → Mull over how to best tell Will to settle his social debt with Rin, tell him to ignore the other two.
That last one in particular is important because there's little I can do about that. Will is his own person and we have already come to the consensus that I cannot emulate his likeness in social situations that pertain to grievances. Thus, I'll advise him on it, though I'll have to be more firm in my advice with Wakamo and that blue haired woman. His rapidly forming rapport with Wakamo is very concerning… I'll mull that over, time for action.
Specifically, talking with the other entity that attaches itself to humans.
Reaching into our inventory and pulling... out the Shittim Chest is difficult. For him it's instinctual, the process of reaching into an extra dimensional plane that is, for me it's a process that requires precision and care.
…bypass that barrier…reach bey-no, not that square...hm, I'm reaching into the wrong overlay, next one it is…no, still not that one, this one! Ah…this is an iron bar…why does he have a singular iron bar in here?
There.
The Shittim Chest is in my hands. I will not allow the tablet camera to see my face as facial expressions are important to social dialogue, they make up a decent percentage of the meaning that humans gather from conversation, I've been told my facial expressions are uncanny. Far from helpful in this regard.
'Arona, I would like to know how the farming scene in Kivotos is handled. Name all the big players and methods of distribution.'
…no, that's nothing like Will, allow me to rephrase that in a way that does sound like Will before I speak to Arona. It's very fortunate that she has spoken little with him, which makes it so that even if my portrayal of Will is farcical, it won't sound out of character.
'Arona. Could ya tell me 'bout how the goofy's here farm? I used to make fucka-'
No…Will doesn't curse, he uses various fish names as stand-ins, revise that.
'Arona. Mind telling me 'bout the farming scene here? I was the veritable god of farming where I came from, on some monopoly timing, I might need to teach these goofy's a lesson on my type of farming. Get what I'm putting down?'
My usage of slang isn't perfect, far from it, but there's enough of it that it sounds like Will.
Slang is one of the most fascinating parts of human culture. Even with extensive exposure to all of it's forms and even the formation of it, I still cannot fathom how it came to be so popular. How does it spread so effectively? How do those not in the 'know' catch on so quickly?
That is quite skibidi as they would say…no, that doesn't sound right…
I turn the Shittim Chest on at last and angle its camera facing towards the table.
"Yo, what's poppin' Arona? I'm feeling myself but the vibe can't be gucci if I don't know about one specific thing…" I lead off on that last part to invite the other person into the conversation. I've heard this helps them feel better.
"Sensei?.. Uh, the camera is.. Never mind, what do you want to know?" The AI stutters… I've never noticed that…why?
"Could you give me the lowdown on the farming scene here? I was the veritable god of farming where I'm from, on some monopoly timing, so I finst to get a feel of the opps." I might have freestyle a little, I figured it would work better.
"...what?" She sounds confused. Huh, that's fair in hindsight, I needed a long time to understand the intricacies and constantly changing world of slang. "...I'm…uh…you want to know about farming in Kivotos, that's right? Right???" She sounds befuddled. Baffled.
"Yup." So I respond simply.
She takes a moment to presumably gather the data before she presents it in a series of graphs and visual demonstrations.
It's a lot of jargon that people like Will would balk at attempting to formulate a plan around…they're not me.
It goes something like this.
Approximately 85 trillion Yen has been sold in the form of animal products and crops. In Coins that's around 552 billion.
Both of these numbers would be incredible numbers for even someone like Will, except that number is the sum of the entire city of Kivotos's collective effort.
Will, in a dedicated day, can make around 100 million Coins. In one calendar year, he could make 36 billion Coins assuming that Fermento drops aren't accounted for which…is an incredibly complex equation that I am not in the mood for today.
Regardless, Will cannot outpace the whole market by himself, he would need some truly revolutionary technique, enchantment or crop to do that.
It isn't necessary to outpace the whole market but it was nice when Will would win a gold medal in every crop contest he decides to participate in.
If such a thing were to happen here, he would lap the competition many thousands of times over because these people are HORRENDOUS at farming.
They can only pull one carrot from a ripe carrot.
Truly wasteful farming.
Hm…there's not much I can do about this. I've optimized our farming as much as I theoretically could. Even the upgrades that will never make their money spent back I got so we could farm better.
So…
There are no improvements in farming here, everybody is worse at farming than Will, there's just too many to compete with. This means that farming is unfortunately a dead end if he wishes to make as much money as he did before.
I:E, he can't have a monopoly on farming, he would still be the best farmer around though.
…
…
Ugh. Combat it is then…
…
There's a good reason why I don't want this as the alternative.
"Arona, is killing great monsters, demons or otherworldly entities and selling their limbs and organs a profitable business here?"
[NightShift.] Enlightenment and Perspectives: Commissions, commissions.New
The sun is setting, casting the tower in a variety of orange and yellow hues, the wind howling around a figure who is hurtling through the air at an incredible speed reserved for aircraft. Their trajectory would lead to them crashing directly into the tower were it not for them disappearing in mid air, leaving a deluge of purple sparks in their wake, and materializing on the ground with the very same deluge of purple sparks flaking off of them as they land without a sound.
'The Situation Room is what I'm seeking.' They think.
The figure glances upwards at the tower before opting to simply walk in through the front door. Their footsteps make no sound as they walk in through the revolving door and to the receptionist desk.
The girl manning the station in the morning is still here, Iwabitsu Ayumu, she's busy looking through an email she just received on her computer but is interrupted by the sound of the revolving door being used.
"Hello!" She says with a customary smile and chipper tone that belies the everpresent stress on her mind. "Do you have an appo…" All the training in the world couldn't have let her keep her cool.
Why? It's because of the figure standing in front of the reception desk, or, more so towering over it.
Clad in dark, navy blue robes that bear the occasional metal armor plate with a cyan trim, said plate armor covers the vital areas and nothing else. Their head is covered with a black hood that has two baleful white orbs where eyes would presumably be, their withering gaze boring metaphorical holes into Ayumu, the faint outline of a jaw and humanoid figure the only indication that this person is a human.
"Good afternoon. Do you know where the Situation Room is? I have business with Momoka." They say.
"..." Ayumu is staring wide-eyed at them, face growing pale and pupils dilating, the rigors of the work-life the farthest thing from her mind. "A-ah…" Her lip quivers for a second before she finds her voice. "Six..s, Sixth Floor. Room 621." She mutters.
Her mind rambling with inane encouraging words in a vain attempt to regain her cool, she would've panicked and done something rash were it not for the email present on her computer garnering her attention.
It detailed the person Rin traveled with, the Sensei, and how they re-took Sanctum Tower. Rin did not give a good opinion of the man, but that wasn't what was getting Ayumu's attention; specifically, it was the photo she took of him.
He was clad in heavy medieval-looking armor. It had many layered plates and was painted light blue. His face was covered by a red mask permanently etched into a snarl. And the most important part?
No halo, yet was capable of taking on Wakamo alone…it sounded like lunacy at first but if it was corroborated by Rin then it must be true.
Unless there were two people who were running around in a medieval looking get up with no halo, then this is most likely the same person, maybe he just changes armor? Ayumu has to make sure before she can tell him anything more.
"Excuse me, sir." She has to turn her head to say that. Sensei had already begun walking to the nearby elevator while she was thinking. "Are you…" She skims the email quickly and finds his name. "Will-Sensei?"
The figure stops in it's tracks and merely glances over it's shoulders and says:
"Yes, I'll be on my way now."
Goodwill_Cashier, colloquially known as 'Will', begins to walk away once again but not before muttering:
"People in this city must have amnesia, keep forgetting I'm him."
He walks into the elevator which quickly closes…
The insult plinks off of Ayumu. A long shift of hearing tirades and hissyfits has long since gotten her accustomed, especially over the last few days…did he really need to get that last jab in?
That is what Momoka is thinking, the crunch and taste of these crackers help a little… eh, not like she's going to stop, if it helps it helps.
The good thing is that apparently somebody actually got around to that whole 'restoring the GSC's authority' thing, that's crazy, that's so many students to fight off and stuff…hopefully whoever that was gets around to fixing the situation around rogue students and robots.
Seriously, Slumpia is making students disappear and causing defunct robots to move and nobody investigated that? Why? It's almost like they expect her to do that. Ridiculous.
Momoka pulls out her phone to check the time once again to see if it's 8:00 yet but sees a notification from 5 minutes ago, it's an email from Rin, figures, this isn't anything good, especially at this hour. Momoka already got around to closing down the Situations Room (Shoving everything into cupboards and wiping crumbs off tables and onto the floor) and was ready to finally clock out. It's 7:35, why is this place even open this late?
The email says a lot of things. Some pretty ridiculous things too that Momoka wouldn't believe if it didn't come from Rin. That whole 'Sensei' thing Rin was talking about finally came around huh? Apparently, he was the one to restore the GSC's access to Sanctum, did it with Rin tagging along, and he somehow fought off all the students on the path and even Wakamo?
'Wow, he sounds like a real hard worker.' A smile spreads across Momoka's face as she thinks that.
This guy could solve some of these problems then, she'll just have to somehow get him to-
The entrance door to the Situation Room slams open, no footsteps follow…what?
Momoka quickly turns around and sees a person dressed in medieval looking armor…huh…that's crazy convenient.
"Hi, you must be that Sensei that retook Sanctum…" Momoka looks him over. "Wow, you came prepared, I'm Momoka. General Student Council Officer, just like Rin." Her smile grows rather devious as she remembers her 'work' load. "Say…I didn't invite you here and you-" But she's interrupted.
"Give me all of your work. A comprehensive list and the rewards I can expect to be given upon completion will suffice." He states.
He walks forward…menacingly…towering over Momoka who doesn't look rattled in the slightest, instead…
"Woah, uh, I can send you copies of all the reports, bounties and commissions I have but…" Her tone takes a drastic shift. "I…even if there were ten of you, there's way too much to accomplish for one person, how's about you tell me what rewards you're looking for and I can give you every task here that might supply you with that? Don't want to scare you off with all of this at once." She lazily waves a hand at the many screens littering the Situations Room.
A snort comes from Will immediately, the rebuttal follows just as quickly.
"You don't know me. Extra-Dimensional beings blanch at the sight of my opulent wealth, I take cues from Mansa Musa, the enchantments on my armor are worth the GDP of Kivotos. The only reason I'm here is to get back into the rat race because my wealth already lapped the competition in my quadrant one thousand times over so I had to go to another reality to seek competition. Doopity-doo build looking, I've hailed from a long line of wealth-seekers so you'll give me everything you have here." The next part lacks the snarl present in the sentences before. "Or the last thing you'll see is the price tag on these gauntlets."
…
…
"...I'll just text you the documents then…"
"Tomorrow, I'll come back here with everything I've completed, see you then."
He walks out after.
…
…
"Well, that's a lot off my shoulders, huh." Momoka sighs.
The thought that much of this work doesn't require a finger to be lifted on her part now motivates her to actually go through the process of sending all of it in an email to him.
(I do not own anything in this story. Not the song linked or the setting, please do not get on me for this.)
10:30 PM. Kivotos, in Slumpia Square M.
Some declare I'm calculated, unrelenting, and assertive.
Sentiments from my homeland, rumors from the Hub, thoughts from Will.
I will not give my opinion on those assertions, but I get results, it's the primary proponent of my contract with Will.
Waiting outside of this amusement park is part of that. Investigating Slumpia was part of the commissions that Momoka sent but I have yet to see any clues as to the missing people.
When I was walking around the amusement park though, everytime I came across a new decrepit market square there lived the same odd enemy.
It was a big wind up box that opened when I walked in close proximity, a jester on a spring erupts forth which…does not attack. It simply laughs and jeers as I attack it, when an arbitrary amount of damage is dealt (It's been increasing over time but I note that a singular second time increase is ultimately meaningless if the enemy does not fight back.) it finally collapses and with it's defeat comes a briefcase full of the local currency, Yen.
I've made around 430,000 Yen in the past hour. I've vanquished 13 of these things and I'm simply waiting outside of Slumpia to give them time to respawn.
430,000 Yen an hour? Terrible if put into Coins. Of course, I haven't optimized this route in the slightest since it was my first try. If I use the Aspect of The Void and Scylla to one-shot these things I could probably be done with the entire amusement park in around 15 minutes.
That sounds much better. 430,000 in 15 minutes? Still mediocre especially when taking into account respawn times.
I've been waiting here for around 10 minutes. My right-hand goes to my belt and pulls out the Aspect of the Void attached to it, I teleport multiple times into the air, far above any buildings on the ground. From this high up I can see all of the market squares and…
They haven't respawned yet. The most I've ever had to wait was 20 minutes, that's unfortunate.
I teleport back to the ground and reattach the Aspect of the Void to my belt.
…
…
Downtime is unusual.
Can't do anything other than wait right now, this is my dedicated 'mulling' time, so what is there to mull over?
Wil's very concerning rapport with Wakamo? There's that, let's think.
Two people on a 'see food' diet. Basically, they see 'food' they 'eat' it. In this case, they see something they think is fun and they do it, regardless of anybody else. I use other such categories for different types of people but they both neatly fit into this one.
The fact that Will had just heard what Wakamo was and had gotten excited was bad. When he actually fought her and had some…dangerous thoughts during that? Even worse.
If they meet again, the onus is on Wakamo to prevent a relationship from forming, because I'm certain that Will would try it, not only does that make me uncomfortable at the thought of that I also don't share his positive opinion of her.
When it comes to my contractually obligated time in this body, I would probably have to avoid Wakamo like the plague.
…
…
That's that then…can't…really think of anything else…
…
Eh, not like anyone's telling me how to get results, I can have some fun for once.
I reach into Will's inventory and pull…out a very special piece of technology. Normally, reaching into the inventory is extraordinarily difficult but I keep this thing in the same spot every time.
My tablet, not the Nether Star, but my tablet
It's password locked so Will can't access it but it hides the things I don't let him see, less importantly, it has the ability to play music.
I don't need to plug earbuds in because it's far too late in the night for anybody to be wandering about, let alone in an abandoned amusement park, so I can let the sounds that enrapture me out into the cold of the night.
The things I'd do for a comprehensive list of humanities music…
Instead, I only have the scraps and remnants of a world far far out of my grasp. This has been a project I've been working on recently through collecting the rare CD's I find and I'll say that it's brought me some of the most consistent joy I've ever experienced.
Case in point, my favorite piece of music, I can only fathom the motives behind its maker or even just who made it.
I start the music and there begins the drums…the slightest hint of a smile is apparent on my face I'm sure.
I love music for a variety of reasons, but primarily for the story it tells.
♩We be infamous,you heard of us♩
I can just imagine the life a human would have to lead to make a song like this. Seeing behind the veil of toughness and calling people out for what they are a coward, someone who is rattled by pressure. A shook one.
It helps that the background music is incredible. The thought that this song is only one of many excites me. Maybe there's a whole genre behind this song? I've heard others that sound like it but most of the songs I've found are more 'good background music and no substance behind the lyrics.' rather than 'mediocre background music with immense substance in the lyrics.' I much prefer the second.
♩When the bullets penetrate, you feel a burning sensation♩
Promises of violence and retribution are rife throughout this song. I haven't had the need to spout many such promises throughout my time in Kivotos, only once did I have to, very strange considering I'm dealing with humans.
♩Ain't no such thing as halfway crooks♩
Seeing through the veil of others also a big part of this song. I've tried my hand at this sort of thing and I've given what I think is good advice to Will but he couldn't discern a hidden motive if his bank account depended on it.
♩Thirteen years in the projects, my mentality is what kid?♩
The need for ethos isn't something that applies to me or Will. He's a warrior capable of fighting the Wither King and I'm the one responsible for enchanting and making the gear he needs to do that. Whoever is singing this song repeatedly needs to assert their ethos throughout it, Will hasn't been asked of his credentials in years.
I whip out the Aspect of the Void and teleport up once again. This time, I see another 13 square shapes in the middle of those marketplaces, brilliant, I'll try to get this done as fast as possible.
I put my tablet away and attempt to pull out the Scylla.
Hm…way past that first square…definitely past that bag…I get that Will doesn't use magic but does he really have to put it this far back- Ah.
There we go.
The Scylla is an iron rapier bearing an insignia of the Wither King on it's hilt. It's wicked sharp tip allows for it to pierce essentially anything, subsequently triggering its many enchantments.
The damage that can be wrought with a single stab is truly absurd, paradoxically outclassing the Dark Claymore for the first strike, that'll allow me to one-shot those bizarre jester creatures in Slumpia.
Okay then… deep breaths.
…in…
…
And out…
Begin.
I teleport quickly through the front gate and infront of the first jester. It pops out the box and is immediately shattered by my fist going clean through it's box. The briefcase it drops is quickly thrown into Will's inventory.
The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh jesters only need my fist. The eighth is stabbed in the centre of the box.
The jester is promptly lit on fire, struck by lightning, drained of its life and its soul eaten. The last one was because it died, the others are all because of Enchantments.
The ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth are all taken out in a similar manner until the last one is before me.
I teleport right in front of it as it springs out of its box and begins laughing. In a textbook motion, I thrust the rapier square in the middle of it's box. The box is pierced, lit on fire, struck by lightning and drained of it's life but it's still not broken. The jester immediately quits laughing and hides back in it's box. It springs forth once again and one final stab from the Scylla shatters the box.
I put the briefcase it drops in Will's inventory before teleporting back to the entrance of Slumpia.
That took…ten minutes…
I had already waited ten minutes for the jesters to respawn and Shook Ones pt II is four minutes and twenty five seconds long.
They could've respawned in exactly ten minutes and one second but assuming the worst case scenario that's 430,000 in twenty four minutes and twenty seconds.
I could optimize this process further and kill the first jester the moment it appears but that's not a bad start to making money here.
I'll be at this until morning then. The Situations Room opens at 8:00 am and it's 10 pm right now, assuming I'm at this the entire time then I'll make around…
10 million yen? Might have to include some room for error in that.
The commissions sent by Momoka were probably meant to be accomplished during the day, not this late at night, that explains why the one time I checked a railroad there was nobody there to fight. The bounty said that there were…
…
I did promise to return even if I have done literally nothing that she asked of me…
…
Tch, guess I have to.
While I'm slaving away at this, I may as well listen to the rest of my playlist.
…
A door flings open and an array of screens promptly turns on.
Momoka saunters in, idly eating crackers as she sits in a nearby chair, scanning through the many screens for anything different.
Yesterday was a barrage of news that brought a mixture of emotions within Momoka. Good that the GSC can actually do it's job now, bad that the GSC would now have much more work for her in the coming days.
The saltiness of these roe crackers help to take the edge off stress, it's on the healthier side of similar types of actions, at least she isn't a serial coffee drinker.
Momoka pauses. She hasn't heard the noise of the door closing, she spins her chair around and sees a very familiar person in the doorframe, preventing it from closing.
"Huh. Aren't you punctual?" She smirks. "That's cool, what have you done in the time since I gave you those commissions?"
Will promptly walks in but not enough to let the door close on it's own, his face is still obscured by an unnatural darkness inside of the hood.
"I investigated Slumpia and found nothing that could be connected to those disappearances. I showed up to a railroad expecting a fight and didn't get one, that's all." He states.
Momoka clicks her tongue before replying.
"Huh. Well, you're not really an investigator so I didn't expect much on the Slumpia front, but those delinquents on the railroad start doing things in around an hour if those reports are right…" She chuckles. "Tell you what, maybe you should go investigate that railroad right about now? You could… I dunno, hang around and wait for them to show up? It's not like I'm the one who's going to do that, just get it done." She spins her chair around to face the screens, away from Will.
She pops some more crackers into her mouth to punctuate her point.
"I'll consider it." Will says
He leaves shortly afterward. Momoka pulls out her phone and begins to idly doomscroll Bwitter before getting to work.
"Huh, Kirarung posted something that wasn't memes? That's crazy."
This next chapter will take a while to make because it features another slight format change, like the Twitter chapter.
In the meantime, I will be updating the fic starting from Chapter 1.
You can read the rewritten chapter now and I will be dropping more rewritten chapters over this week and the next one.
When I wrote the first couple of chapters I didn't really have the...other one talking in Will's head fully fleshed out yet. That's why it's so much more of Will thinking and not the...other one making comments. Also the first few chapters are slightly weak in my opinion, just some general improvements.
Be excited for that new chapter though, it's going to be interesting.
Also happy new year, for my new Year resolution, I resolve to become a better writer by coming down from my mountaintop more often. Can't really be a good writer if I'm lurking atop my mountain's peak.
*Announcement.*
This is not Crouching Non, Hidden Cata 50.
That chapter will come later but I had this idea and I had to write it.
This piece will make much more sense once I have rewritten all the old chapters, so keep on the lookout for those.
*Announcement over.
Sometime between Chapter 3's hour-long walk.
There's nothing but buildings upon buildings in this cod frickin city. No ice cream stands, no thrift markets, what do the people even do here?
Buy clothes? Get drip?
Get drip?... man… we been walking for a spell!
We perambulating. I thank my lucky stars on the daily that I ain't have to be the one to participate in this tomfoolery.
You afraid of getting your hands dirty? Getting in some exercise?
Absolutely. I'm not on the NightShift? You gonna have to bribe me to get things done for you, I know you aint due for another slumber for atleast a couple of hours, you're on your own.
Tch…man…and I knew you were obese.
See I would rebuttal and correct you on that word choice but I don't need to, want to know why? You're the one walking at a leisurely pace when you could just teleport or run, your insults slide off me like butter.
I'm pretty sure if I ever got the grips on you, my hands would slide right off, slimy goober.
Take it easy from now on.
…uh…
I wonder how Rin is holding up? I've been walking behind her for all this time because it got boring-
Boring, it got boring to maintain a faster pace then her, how she walks that fast on heels is baffling.
She's trying to save her city GOOFY, you don't got nary a motivation to walk fast.
Okay, but the fa- nary!?
Yeah, medieval peasants take cues from me, what about it?
…you tripping…
Anyways…huh…this is the time where I'd describe in physical detail what I'm seeing but there's literally nothing new. Huh… that's a nice vie-
And what would that nice view happen to be, hm?
Uh. Nevermind.
Nah nah, speak your mind, the class is listening.
…come on….
Mmm….no…what were you enjoying the sight of? Answer the question chief, we eagerly await your declaration.
I could…okay, hear me ou-
Chief, It's not a crime to glance, I ain't no judge of morality.
Uh…my cod, alright, I was…it doesn't sound right man.
Alright, I've been holding off on having this discussion with you for a while, I think it's an appropriate time considering everyone we've seen in this city is a woman.
Discussion?
Yeah, you getting flustered is funny to watch but it doesn't exactly contribute to you making rational decisions, you'll have to confront this topic eventually if you want to overcome it.
Get to the point, ominous a-
Quit interrupting and I might do that.
Anyways. Let me preface this by reiterating that I am not human, but you aren't exactly going to get this talk from anyone back 'home', so I'm probably the best alternative you got. Alright, you have had almost no interaction with women your age, at least ones that aren't clad in armor and aren't at odds with your personality.
Is this….a talk about my hormones?
Yup, that's what this is about, and considering that you don't have anything else to do you may as well listen.
Obviously, I can listen into your thoughts and it's good that you haven't been thinking of anything outrageous yet, but I fear that your judgment may be clouded because the people who you're talking to are people you find incredibly attractive.
I…
You should've had this discussion with whoever or whatever birthed you but I guess they're absent and I know you don't like talking about that. You also should've confronted these more…'earthly' desires early in life but you did not have a traditional human childhood in the slightest. You aren't a traditional human in any way to be honest, most of your 'friends' are much older than you, you've also gone through a war veteran's worth of battles in just 17 years.
Chief, the best thing you can do is be aware that you are biased. I know what goes through your head and I know that you find these people agreeable partially because they're attractive and not because their points are logically sound. Just…keep that in mind…I'm sure your time in this city will help with this problem.
Like, when was the last time you agreed and willingly helped a bureaucrat? Answer me that.
That time with Barry?
You helped him because it would get you to another dimension. Rin literally had nothing in store for you other than the job which is just more work for you that'll get in the way of your training.
Teaching sounds fun though?
Most of what you do during fights is based on instinct and nothing more, you'd be a terrible teacher, assuming these girls know the basics of combat.
I'm keeping it truthful with you, I just want the best for you.
Okay…uh…that's cool… You kinda sound like a parent right now...
You are not my progeny, if you're over here making foolish decisions, that affects me too. I have a vested interest in your success.
Not..really sure what..I'll keep all of that in mind.
You say that yet every time you do, you hardly pay me attention, tell ya what…
Why don't you tell me what you were looking at earlier? That'll show me if you were listening.
…I..mighta been…looking-
Very passive word choice.
I was staring at Rin's behind, okay? Happy now?
Hm. It'll do, now that you know what you're doing it should help to avoid it.
…uh..my cod…
Quit with the sighing.
Say…hypothetically..what do you find attractive in a-
Nothing in common with what you do. The physical form could not matter less to me, I know what I want in a mating partner, it'd be difficult for one made of flesh and blood to understand.
That's the most robotic I've ever heard you talk. You hiding sumthin'?
I'm a different species. You literally could not understand on anything more than an academic level.
Hm…alright…how's about we just let this whole thing lie low then?
I'll remind you of this if you start acting up again, but I can agree to that.
Aight. This whole thing was pretty awkwar-
"Will-Sensei?" Rin's a bit further ahea…oh…I haven't been moving for a while.
Wait, you haven't?
"Heh, uh… yeah, I'm good!" I shout out.
She's staring at me expectantly, probably because I just stopped for no reason, oh boy…
I walk hurriedly towards her as she continues walking…uh…wow, is it hot today? I think it's pretty hot today.
Keep the mask on at all times, you're blushing up a storm, it's fair considering what we were just talking about.
No…no… I'm cool… I got it handled, don't worry.
Let's just continue walking, yeah, a walk will help me here.
Alright, I've been holding off on having this discussion with you for a while, I think it's an appropriate time considering everyone we've seen in this city is a woman.
They haven't actually seen any npc robots or animal people yet. The city is pretty barren of civilians being out and about due to the whole anarchy thing at the beginning. Also the...other wouldn't count those as people because they're not human. Not in this discussion at least.
I dunno, mostly human people with animal features is a strange middle ground.
The...other one doesn't exactly mess with the concept of Will having romantic relationships for reasons already stated and if he did, the other one would prefer it to be someone of the same 'species' in his eyes.
Though I think both of them would not view any of the Blue Archive NPC's as in their 'strike zone,'
Will doesn't actually care about the whole animal feature thing (Provided they're not a literal dog walking on it's hind legs.), it's just the...other one who does, though they may try to dissuade Will from pursuing a relationship. WIll won't listen.
Also I was definitely wrong in my last post, they have seen an animal person, that was Wakamo but there were far more important things to worry about, this is also a discussion pretty blatantly about romance and the...other one's biases are definitely leaking through.
(I will address this in the later chapter rewrites; this is an angle I hadn't considered until I wrote this chapter.)
