章 13: Chapter 013: Strange Feeling
Author: WolfSpatial
Co-Author: Lucifer
[To know you are close to the end is a certain kind of freedom.]
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I think it was around the third horde of balloon monsters that Percival decided he would actually try, showing me power that put what I had shown in Cantria in its shadows. Sure, I could burn and scorch and turn my enemies to ash, but if they were resistant to Magic I was kind of fucked.
Percival's level alone was impressive, adding his skills into the mix was just unfair. The knight — though his class was technically Swordsman — had way too many skills, to the point it made me doubt that he wasn't some sword god in disguise.
Of course, I wasn't one to talk. My own skills were proven to be bullshit when Itsuki and Malty had joined us for a hunt and I almost burned down a section of the forest. Luckily I had a certain spirit that could calm the flames on my behalf so there wouldn't be any lasting damage in five to ten years.
"I guess I should have expected this from you," Smiling with my hands on my hips and my staff beside me, I gained a small glare from Percival. There was almost no way he should know that I'd been having Naofumi and Raphtalia push the balloons our way, but if he did that was impressive on his part.
"Are you going to help him?" Itsuki glanced at me from his spot in Malty's lap, his head laying on the softness of female thighs. I envied the kid, and I desperately needed a waifu that could deal with my eccentric persona.
"I don't see you out there, Robin Hood." I quipped back, salty at the situation but not mad at the person. Taking a seat, my staff planted itself on the ground behind me to use as a backrest.
Itsuki laughed, clearly understanding the joke that made Malty confused. He looked up at her — past her breasts — and explained, "In my world, there's a famous archer named Robin Hood that almost always hit his mark."
"Of course he knows that," Malty closed her eyes in lament, stroking Itsuki's chestnut hair with her left hand.
"I've been meaning to ask," Itsuki voiced as Percival used his Swift Footwork skill to dodge the twenty-or-so balloons that jumped at him, "Why do you wear an eyepatch? Did you get hurt?"
"It's more to shield other people than it is to hide a wound," Setting my left hand over the patch, I looked down and forced a somber expression onto my face, "I've been burdened by a powerful curse, the eye patch helps to keep the curse from affecting other people as well."
"But what about you?" Itsuki sat up, causing me to remove my hand and look over at him, "Does it protect you from the curse!? Have you been suffering in silence, all alone, this entire time!?"
"It's not that bad," I chuckled and gave a smile, "I've had it for as long as I can remember; don't even know what it's like not to have it anymore."
"We can fix it!" Itsuki moved closer, way too close for my comfort and I could see Malty beginning to get uncomfortable as well, "Me and Naofumi and Malty, we'll find a cure! You won't have to suffer anymore!"
How this kid could believe some bullshit story I made up thirty seconds ago was more astounding than if I had an actual curse. He was way too innocent, and I hoped Malty would protect that for as long as she could.
Setting a hand on Itsuki's shoulder, I pushed him back to sit next to Malty. He gave me a sad look as I explained, "Don't worry about it, the curse also lets me see past illusions, so it's not a bad thing in the long run."
"Does it hurt?" Itsuki wondered aloud, laying his head back onto his girlfriend's lap.
"Sometimes," I sighed and turned to see Percival swipe through a group of five balloons, my EXP rising continuously, "It burns at times, a reminder of what's happened to me."
"Itsuki told me that you were treated like a god in your world," Malty stroked Itsuki's cheek, making me want to vomit blood, "Is that because of the curse and its side effects?"
"No," Shaking my head, I reached out and formed a ball of Hellfire in my right hand, "It was because I was only useful to them when they needed something done that they couldn't do themselves. They'd call upon me and ask me to do it. This curse is a mark of years of doing things that…"
"You don't have to explain," Itsuki sent a look to Malty, causing her to nod in response.
Percival walked up shortly after a comfortable silence fell, sweat all along his brow and soaking the gray shirt that clung to his body, "I'm done… Master."
"Good," I patted the ground next to me, "Take a rest, you deserve it. Naofumi and Raphtalia should be here soon."
The sun was just starting to set as Naofumi and co came from the tree line. Raphtalia looked somewhat worse for wear, but she had noticeably aged from when I first met her last week.
Under my training regimen, Naofumi and Raphtalia's levels had skyrocketed to hover around thirty whereas Itsuki and Malty's settled around twenty-five. Percival had raised from level fifty to sixty, and had gotten me — through me stealing all of his EXP — to level fifty.
I was broken, stupidly broken. And with the books on Magic that Malty had gotten for me, I had some stupidly broken spells to go along with it.
Percival sat next to me, his sword on the ground to his right as he surveyed the area around us. He felt grateful to me — somehow — despite his words and hesitation to call me Master. He proved his resolve to protect and served me with his actions, not complaining even when I had him do things like kill hundreds of balloons so I could be lazy.
Naofumi stopped not far from us, feeding balloon skin into his shield as Raphtalia collected them and setting some aside for Itsuki. I had found it strange that my staff couldn't absorb materials like their weapons, nor did it have the skill tree that they both claimed allowed their weapons to change shape and use.
Given that my staff was supposedly from Cantria instead of this world — which I had found to be named Cardinal — it made sense that it was different. My entire system was different from theirs, I didn't see a lot of the things that they both did.
I could, of course, still form a party with Percival but his name didn't appear in the corner of my vision and I didn't have a HUD aside from when I intentionally tried to interact with it or open a sheet.
However, I had an easier time learning individual skills than they did. It almost felt like something was guiding me, helping me interpret and understand Magic on a fundamental level.
It was something I'd need to study some more before being able to fully grasp just how far I could take it. There was always the chance that I was just that good with Magic that I could learn it extremely fast.
I was pulled from my musings by a wisp of light green energy swirling in the sky, almost like the waters of a beach crashing against the shore. If anything was what these people called a wave, it was this. It radiated a malevolent, yet slightly familiar, feeling as it passed us overhead.
Malty pushed Itsuki off her lap and stood up, looking into the distance where a light orange hue had barely started to form. It wasn't until she started to run that Naofumi and Raphtalia took notice, leaving behind their balloons to follow her and a frantic and confused Itsuki.
Percival looked to me for instructions, waiting patiently as I stood up and dusted myself off. My staff flew into my left hand and I began a slow walk after my companions. I could hear Percival's sword slide into its sheath as he came up next to me, "Are we not in a hurry, Sir?"
"I don't really see a need to be," Glancing at him, I could almost feel the look he gave me turn sour, "Go ahead and speed up if you want, I can defend myself."
He nodded and bolted forward with his left hand stabilizing the sheath on his hip. Clicking my tongue as I came over a hill, I stopped and looked out over the battlefield that had become the village of Lute.
Lute village was fairly small, if I was being honest, about the size of the convention hall I had been in prior to coming to Cardinal — if not a bit bigger. Despite its small size, however, it was protected on every side by a wooden fence and two large gates; one to the south and one the northeast.
Motoyasu and Ren were off in the distance fighting against some type of Chimera with three heads and a tail that lashed out like a whip. Despite not being that close to the creature, I could already feel a strong force around it, pushing it to attack and clear the area.
Itsuki went to join the two Heroes with Malty whilst Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Percival went into the village and aided the townspeople who hadn't yet escaped. They were lucky, in all honesty, that Naofumi had a soft spot for those who needed help and that Percival was an all-around good guy.
Personally, I didn't care about a small town like this; whether they died or not. It wasn't any problem of mine. That's if I was alone, of course.
With the eyes of my friends and companions on me, I'd have to assist or risk a lecture. I could make an excuse about unchangeable events, but I doubted all of them would buy it. Then again, I didn't really have to explain myself to any of them.
Zombies poured into the village from the northeastern gate, quickly overpowering the few village guards that tried to stop them and tearing down a watchtower. I could barely make out the form of a girl in black clothes swoop in at the last second to save each of the guards as they were about to be killed.
She took them to the only inn in the village and left to rescue more, intriguing me as I began to make my way down the hill and toward Lute. The few Zombies and giant bees — the latter of which I hadn't noticed until I was closer — that came close to me were blasted away by a quick casting of Hellfire Barrage, a Magic Missile, or even Chain Lightning depending on which one I was inclined to at the moment.
I tapped my staff on the ground lazily as I walked through the entrance to the village, yawning a bit at the situation. If I didn't know any better, I'd think the monsters were avoiding me. Of course, I did know better, and I was awfully observant.
They didn't move out of my way or turn their cheek when I walked by them, but neither did they move toward me or try to attack me like they did the others. There wasn't much to complain about, though, as it at least raised my position in the eyes of others.
I arrived at the skirmish between a group of monsters and a small militia led by Raphtalia and Percival just in time to watch my slave parry a strong blow from one of the Zombies.
There was definitely something about the energy that the monsters gave off that resonated with me, and I'm sure that if I acted solely on instinct like them, I wouldn't attack them either.
However, I knew that I couldn't employ the same tactics from dealing with the Shades on these monsters. These monsters had no intelligence, they couldn't talk or even really understand what I had to say. Thus, my lecturing would be useless.
But, I digress. Percival slid back as the blow collided, surprising me that they could move such a strong combatant. They didn't seem that strong to me when I was annihilating them one by one just a bit ago.
Raphtalia's sword got stuck in the skull of one of the Zombies, causing her to jump back without it as he tried to attack her. I pulled my brow together as Percival looked over at me, pointing a finger forward and casting the spell that I filled a slot with when I hit level fifty.
The Zombie that had 'stolen' Raphtalia's sword became bloated for half a second before fire erupted from his orifices and his body turned into an explosion of guts and blood that scattered across the shocked militia. Raphtalia quickly collected her sword and gave me a glance before going to attack a bee that was descending toward the group.
Before her sword collided with the insect from hell, Chain Lightning coarsed through the being's body and jumped around the sky to the other bees. The rest of the militia noticed me as I came closer, a small tornado of ice forming in my right hand before being let loose against the remaining enemies.
Though not quite dead, the Zombies could no longer move and since they didn't have any body heat, their muscles and nerves quickly became rigid and shattered as they tried to move.
Percival stepped forward and used his Bladestorm skill, his arm seeming to flicker as the Zombies turned to snow cones before our eyes. When he stopped, he turned to me, "I wasn't expecting you to help us… Master."
"Why would I not?" Turning my nose upward, I grinned, "Weaker beings like these villagers and yourself need all the help you can get."
"Uh…" He sheathed his sword and gave me a concerned look, "Of course…?"
"Onto more important things," Turning my attention to the poorly-armed militia — one man was literally missing an arm — I gave them a dissatisfied frown, "You all should go to the Inn, your guards and those who were injured have been taken there. Keep them safe so I don't have to do it."
"Thank you," One of them said and nodded to the others, a kind of leader to the barely put together militia, "Let's go, guys."
Raphtalia took off after they left, heading to where Naofumi had been defending some knight who came to the party late.
"What?" Looking at Raphtalia's back, I gave Percival a chance to voice his opinion.
"I've never seen magic like yours," He admitted, not surprising me in the slightest, "Able to commune and utilize so many elements. How do you do it?"
"It's quite simple really," Glancing at him from the corner of my eye, I smiled inwardly, "The elements just know that they should be serving me is all. In the words of people from my homeland, 'I'm that guy.'"
Percival nodded and then asked, "What guy?"
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