Chapter 53: Intermission: Collecting
๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ: ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ค๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฐ.
"Hahhhh....I guess I'll need to get my armor repaired."
The battle at the Crimson Grotto had been more brutal than I had remembered. This was because of my frenzied state due to [๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐๐ซ]. I really don't remember taking this much damage. Just looking at the armor.....honestly I am surprised I survived even with the buff I get from the skill.
After settling down in the cottage with Fiona, I had gone to a remote place in the woods to do research on the skill. Maybe it had saved me from certain death, but it was also the reason Taleena died. I had lost myself in the slaughter. I needed to be able to tame it, and bend it to my will. I couldn't afford to lose control again.
Some might say, "Well just stop killing! Don't be a murderer! Plenty of Isekai MCs are able to go without killing! How could you suddenly flip a switch and murder people!?". To those people I say, "Are you a fucken idiot? Have you seen how this world is?".
This world is brutal. Since the short time I have been here I have witnessed multiple acts of violence that would have occurred with or without me. The perpetrators that executed those acts? Ya, they weren't going to be stopped by lofty ideals. I wasn't some invincible protagonist that was given immense power because I was a deity's childhood friend or something. I didn't have the leeway to go easy on anyone. No, much like the residents of this world I ended up choosing the route that gave me the highest odds of success and safety.
I'll admit, I still had an aversion to killing, and I would avoid it if I could. When I shut my eyes I felt a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach as the scenes flashed before my eyes. I had even started having nightmares and waking up in a cold sweat. However, that would not change my mind, and I would not hesitate at this point if it was the best option. I have nearly died multiple times in this world while giving it my all, if I handicapped myself to hold up some lofty ideals, I'd definitely die sooner rather than later. ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ.....๐บ๐ข ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ....๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต.
My eyes wandered through the doorway to the other room. I could see Fiona trying to play a board game with the zombie Taleena.
"You should put the piece there? Yay! Good job mother! Hmmm...now what should be my next move?"
Yup, I definitely wouldn't hesitate, I would not sacrifice Fiona just to hold the moral high ground. Taleena sacrificed herself so her daughter would live, and I had promised to protect her. There was no room for mercy. At the end of the day power was everything. If I had sufficient power to protect what I needed to protect and have the leeway to be merciful....maybe at that time I'd try to be the stereotypical Isekai MC.
But I digress, my experiments in the woods confirmed my assumptions. First, every time I killed something I would gain a buff. I took less damage, dealt more damage, moved faster, my mana recovered faster, I felt less pain, the list goes on. To sum it up, it helped turn me into the best slaughterer I could be. No cutting corners, just cutting up enemies.
Second, while I was buffed, the cost seemed to be a loss of my sanity. Though to be more precise, it removed any mental barriers to allow me to be the most efficient killer I could be. Unfortunately, that also meant forgetting any higher level thoughts I might have outside of slaughter. I found that certain external stimuli would be able to bring me some clarity, and if I concentrated I could remain in control.....for the most part.
Finally, the effects seemed to also muddy up my memories during the action. There might be other effects I was unaware of, but these were the main ones I was able to identify. I had thought the loss of memory was such a negative at first, but then I realized it was because of that I was still able to sleep to some extent.
I had some fuzzy thoughts about what I had done to those bandits, but I could not recall the exact scenes. Perhaps it was a way of protecting my psyche afterwards when I came down from the slaughter high. Whatever the reason, I was grateful for not being able to remember vivid details of every life I had reaped that night. Though based on the fuzzy memories I had, Fiona was right, I am a monster.
Anyways, enough unpleasant thoughts, I got enough of those when I closed my eyes. Where was I? Oh ya, unfortunately none of the buffs extended to my armor, and thus I found myself in need of repairs. I packed up the armor in a bag, and headed out of the room.
"Fiona, I am heading to Rockfort's. Do you need anything?"
"......."
She stared at me silently for a few moments before shaking her head. ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ! ๐๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด!
I kept those thoughts deep inside. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ....๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ....๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต?!? ๐๐๐๐๐?!?
**********
"OY! Look who's back! Looks like ya survived eh?"
Rockfort was surprised and elated when I came back into her shop. She ruffled my head and slapped my back so hard I thought I'd lost a lung.
"Ya made it back! Ya one lucky bastard!"
"So what are ya here for? Supplies for another quest or are ya here to collect?"
"C-collect?"
"What? Am I so unappealing that you already forgot our deal?"
"D-deal....OH!"
"So ya do remember! If you wanna do it.....we gotta do it in the back.....so no one walks in ya see."
That's right, before I left for the Crimson Grotto, Rockfort had said I could have a free "feel" if I came back alive. I wasn't sure why she cared so much whether I lived or not, but it felt good knowing she cared nonetheless.
With everything that had happened I had forgotten, but it looks like she didn't. It seems she thought I came back to collect my reward.
"...I-I-I....."
Before I could say more she had pulled me into the back of the store causing me to drop the bag in my hands. The back was filled with all different kinds of materials, half finished pieces, and an anvil. Oddly enough I didn't see a furnace. I was curious how the blacksmiths of this world worked, but I didn't have too much time to dwell before Rockfort's words hit me.
"I just ask that...ya...be....gentle.......my....first....time."
Her last words were so meek and quiet that I couldn't believe they came from Rockfort. She always seemed so strong, both physically and mentally, that I'd never thought she could be so.....girly.
"I-I-I-I...y-yes."
"Un"
I probably should of said no, should of reassured her this wasn't necessary, and that her concern was enough. However, I didn't say any of those things. Who would be able to say no? Don't judge me! Let he who is without a sex drive cast the first stone I say!
While all of this went through my head she had nodded and unclasped her overalls. Then she slowly started unbuttoning her shirt that she had under it. I gulped hard, slowly more and more tanned skin revealed itself, and finally.....boom. They exploded out of their confinement and I was greeted by two glorious breasts the size of basketballs. You'd think that would be grotesquely large, but due to how large Rockfort was, they seemed fine for her stature.
Even more surprising, they had no sag, gravity had no hold over them, they were....ROCKET TITS. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ?!? ๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค? ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ....๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ....๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ?
"....Ya....ya embarrasing me. You going to look forever or are ya going to touch em? You only get a few moments though!"
I gulped again and walked forward....they were even bigger than I initially thought. I reached one hand out and tried to gently cup one. Heavy. It was much heavier than I'd thought it'd be. I slowly switched from cupping to squeezing, being extremely careful as I grasped it. Soft. SO SOFT.
".....Hoh....."
It was so quiet, but I definitely heard it.....Rockfort's light moan. I looked up and our eyes met, she had been looking at me the whole time it seems. That made me even more nervous and I lost my train of thought, but my hands had a mind of their own apparently. My other hand reached up to match its brother and they moved up to cover her nipples.
I hadn't really noticed, but I had started to massage and tease them.
"...Hah...hoh.....no...that's enough....th-that's....th-th-THAT'S ENOUGH!"
She slapped my hands away and turned around. I had lost myself in the moment. ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ป๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ?!? ๐๐ฐ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ! ๐ ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ.
"S-sorry....I.....lost myself for a bit."
She turned around once she had finished up, her normal look was back, and she put on a wide grin.
"So ya a little perv eh? Here I thought you were a shy boy, but ya more bold than I thought. I'll remember not to let my guard down again next time."
"I-I...."
"So....how was it?"
"...s-so.....beautiful...amazing."
I could have sworn I saw her blush for a moment, but it was gone in the next instant as she came over and slapped me on the shoulder.
"HAHAHA! Well aren't I great? Well you have more self control than most, most men would have...huh?"
She had stopped mid sentence and was looking down. I followed her gaze and my eyes fell upon...a very noticeable tent I had pitched. I looked up to see her reaction and our eyes met. She was definitely blushing this time.
"Th-this....you see.....c-couldn't be help--"
"GET OUT YA PERV!"
With that she shoved me out of her shop before I could pick up my armor or tell her I needed repairs. Later on when I mustered up the courage to come back, she had the armor completely repaired and ready for pickup. I tried profusely apologizing, but she still ended up adding on an extra silver for "labor costs for helping erect a tent".
Also, for some reason when I returned that day Fiona gave me an even harsher glare than usual. It must have been my imagination though. There is now way she could know...right? Plus I did nothing wrong......................probably.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone