A Former Hero’s Journey : I just want to live peacefully!

Chapter 11

Tidbits of information

The world of Vesperia has two kinds of body armors. One is the classic Defensive armor that gives you massive DEF value than the other one. It is mostly those which have used metals or such hard materials to forge it and as a result have low mana conductivity. The other one however, gives you buffs more powerful than those of the first one. It is mostly those which are woven by magical threads and have high mana conductivity.

Cult Mistress Pov

She looked at the broken crystal on her hand. She just smiled because it was her that broke it. It was a [Seal of Servitude] grafted onto the minds of Titled Assassins of the cult. After all it was the seal that overpowered their mind into giving them their absolute loyalty. In this crystal she could feel the emotions of the Assassin. Frankly The Assassin gathered from the camp would be 'broken' by the killing at such young age. Most were 11 years or below when they pass out from the camp, hands all bloody. They were given these seals when at their weakest. Then they would be loyal. Most of them suffered from PTSD but this seals removed and suppressed those memories. But the Cult knew that Theta was not truly 'broken' by the trial. Instead, her will strengthened to 'live' due to ‘that’ infamous incident. That was why Theta was the weakest as well as the most troublesome of the cult. Her seal could not suppress her will fully that was why Theta retained some emotions as well as suffered from cases where her memory leaked into her mind.

That was one of the reason why she took her under her care. She wanted to break her. She wanted to see Theta's despair. After all Theta was still a dangerous one. That was why the Cult gave Theta to her, who was just in the middle of the cult's Hierarchy despite the Elder’s support. After all, Titled Assassin was only gifted to the top dogs of the Cult. Theta was naive to think that the Cult wasn't monitoring her. Her weapons forged by the Cult also acted a kind of locating device. She thought she wasn't being monitored but the Mistress could see her position. The informant from the Guild had told her that Theta was planning on going on an Exploration Quest. With some money and teleportation scroll, it was pretty evident what Theta was planning on. But one thing was Theta clearly missed was: everything she had with her, she bought it from the [Cult]. The teleportation scroll was pretty much rigged to teleport her back to the base.

And the time came; the crystal on her hand had pretty much glowed with the color of blood, which indicated that Theta was under severe bout of anguish and despair. The Mistress then broke the seal which would cause the memory to flood all at once. How she lived before coming to camp, how she spent her time in the camp, how she made friends and how she ‘killed’ everyone. Every influx of emotion that would pretty much be like adding oil to the fire and it would burn her will. Make her a living person with a dead soul. Then she would come in using the teleportation scroll to Theta's side and carve another seal to break her, mold her into the perfect loyal dog of the cult. Then she will be rewarded by the cult for it, but the true reward for her would be to see the spark snuffed out of Theta's eyes when she would arrive.

She smiled coyly as she took out the scroll and said.

"Teleport: waypoint mark: Theta"

But the Scroll did not respond.

The mistress frowned. It meant that there was something wrong with Theta's side. There was something interfering the teleportation spell. She pointed with her slender fingers out to the assassins working for the [Cult].

"You, you, you and you. Go to these coordinates and find out what is happening. You all are among the fastest Assassin of this branch right now. Take this scroll with you. Once you reach there, use it to teleport me to the site. Now GO!"

All the Assassin's nodded and disappeared.

She frowned and used a spell to connect to the Guild informant. It was regrettable that he did not have a teleportation scroll she could use as a mark. As she could feel her mind connect to his she gave out orders.

'Go to these coordinates, find out what is happening.'

'Yes, Mistress.'

Neither the Mistress knew what she had done when she broke the crystal nor will she know what her action had unleashed.

Theta Pov

She did not know where she was. She remembered ..... what....what did she remember? Her mind was hazy. As if in a fog trying to piece together, her broken mind. She tried to remember but when she did try, a static sound would disrupt her thoughts. She looked at herself. She was just 5 years old and was wearing a gray piece of clothing. She was dirty and in a dirty alleyway of some city.

"Hey Mira? You ok?"

Who...who was that? She looked up to find someone who looked a lot like her. He was also in a rag clothes and was taller than she was. He looked older as well. Maybe it was her brother?

"Br-Brother?"

The boy tilted his head as he replied.

"Yes Mira? Can't find any food in the junk?"

He sighed.

"Then let's go. The others may have come here faster than we did."

They returned back to a wooden shack. She wondered if this was the place they lived. It looked like it would be destroyed anytime. Then every day time passed on with the same schedule. They both lived with only each other as the company. They searched for food in the garbage or did some menial work. Mostly her brother did all the work. She was always the one being taken care of. She once asked her brother.

"Brother....Where is our parents?"

The brother looked in melancholy before looking at her in regret.

"They.....they won't ever be coming back Mira...."

No need to mash up lies. Before his face scrunched up in anger. The first time he ever looked like that.

"Those betraying pieces of shi-…..”

He looked at her before quickly correcting himself.

“rotten nobles. They....."

He then sighed, murmuring to himself.

"But .... maybe....amnesia? They did those inhuman acts in front of her so did her memories fade or what?"

She just looked puzzled. One day, one of the neighborhood kids who were orphans like them told them.

"I heard of a place that said they were taking in orphans."

Her brother was skeptical.

"Why? There are no such things as free food in this world."

"Well who cares? At least we get food to eat and a shelter to rest in."

Just as her brother was about to retort.

*Grumble*

Both her brother and the boy looked at her. Her brother sighed.

"Ok let's see what is there."

Again it was because of her inability that her brother was forced to make a decision. If she had focused a bit to her surrounding she could have seen a shadow on top of the building. It was showing a feral smile at her.

Kimiko Pov

Kimiko felt some tremor. She looked towards the direction of the tremor.

"Huh?"

Then she looked on her radar. There was big red dot, indicating the enemy, and another red dot that appeared out of nowhere. They both seemed to be fighting each other but the collateral shock was enough to be felt till the entrance. Even the Combat maids looked solemn. Kimiko looked at them with twitching eye. They had completely transformed from before. All of them were now wearing some ninja attire that completely hid their body as well as the face with only the eye place opened. Frankly it looked ridiculous.

"Frankly, it looks ridiculous."

There she said it. Lara shrugged and said

"But if it works, it works."

Kimiko did not retort and just ignored them. Then she headed inside fast. After a few second, she arrived to the place where the traps were activated. There were huge rocks in the way. Kimiko just exhaled before she concentrated on her hand. A blue magic circle appeared.

[Water Jet Stream]

Then from the circle a pressurized water shot out creating a hole straight through those rocks. The hole was 3 meters in radius. The walls did not crumble inside thankfully. Then they all followed through the trail. At last they all arrived at the scene. Below in the pit, two figures could be seen duking it out.

The first figure was that of the monster. The second one was the curious one. It was a long white haired young cat-like woman. But she was completely in a frenzy mode. She was hitting the Skeleton monster with everything she had got. When Kimiko checked the status, it was interesting to say the least.

[Check Status]

[Successful

Name: Theta (no name) (pseudo name: Deena, if the host is confused)     

Age: 14     Level: 274

Title: Titled Assassin of the [Cult] (Hidden)

Condition*= Frenzified, the brainwash by the Cult to erase memories has become undone, leaving the mind in a poor state of shock on having all of the memories returned at once. Having some diluted Nekomata bloodline, renowned for their mastery over nature mana, mind magic as well as sensing malice, her mind was more prone to the malice of more than 1,000,000 people. Plus, someone is trying to possess her, causing her body to act out in self-defense. However, the one trying to possess seems to have a bloodline relation to the host making it easier for possessing.

The body forcefully evolved into Nekomata (?), using VIT in order to empower its undeserved evolution. As the spirits inside are fighting for supremacy, the body regards everyone as an 'enemy'.

Kimiko frowned at this description. She never was given information with such details. Then she heard a ping.

[Gratitude of the World lets you have more 'liberties' with the system]

Kimiko nodded in appreciation.

'Really sometimes a bit of extra information can help you.'

She looked at the corpse of Hayley who had died with a small smile. She frowned again before looking at the false Nekomata. The [Cult] did use some nasty mind spells to control their rabid dogs back in her time but it was not this advanced. But she could see that the girl was fighting a losing battle.

'To even suppress emotions and memories, the [Cult] really deserved to be destroyed thoroughly. In those time I was too busy by the [Demon King] to even give them the proper wipeout. I only killed their leader but this time I will destroy them thoroughly should they ever cross me.'

As she was in her own world, she heard someone yell.

"Mistress! What should we do now? If that girl keeps on using it then she will exhaust her VIT completely!"

"I will engage both of them at the same time. The rest will focus on the ones that are alive. As for explanation, make up anything about a secret organization that deals with ruins or something like that. Take the injured ones to the healers."

All of them bowed in unison.

""""" Got it, de gozaru. """"""

"You all are just pulling my leg, aren't you?"

Then they all descended.

 Theta Pov

Just as they said they took them all in. But all of them were separated into different groups. She was in Theta group, while her brother was in Beta group. Though she did not know what that meant. Her brother was clinging onto her.

"NO! I will stay with my sister!"

One of the guards separated them both. Two more were grabbing her brother.

"Brat! Be grateful that we even allowed you filthy street urchins to even gain sanctuary in this place. Follow the order or else."

She looked at her brother with worried eyes. She never could do anything while her brother shouldered everything for her. She was such a useless girl. Then she mustered up some courage before saying.

" I .....I .....will be fine brother. Just do your best then, we will meet again?"

Her brother looked conflicted before nodding.

"I will be back for you Mira, I promise!"

But he never did, did he?

She could hear those whispers.

She looked at the clouds looming over the sky. One of the children came to her.

"Dinner is ready. We must hurry otherwise the caretaker will get angry."

Mira just nodded absentmindedly. It had been few days since she had arrived. The caretakers here were teaching about how to read and write. She never mingled with anyone, she was always alone.

"Sigh, just come to dinner."

She decided she didn't like this place. It was eerie and she felt sick from the bottom of her heart. There was something happening here and she could feel it. She liked drawing. She was not good at it but she tried her best. There were several groups of children formed in the Theta series. The one group that has the most members was these girls or boys who looked almost as old as her brother who was just 10. They seemed to know each other as well. She could count up to 30 but even that wasn't enough to count all those children. Some of them were missing few limbs as well.

She drew one of their pictures as she was sitting under the shade of a tree observing them in a distance. Then suddenly the leaves rustled and she looked up. She was startled to see the leader of that group was hanging by his leg as he was positioned downwards right above her head. He asked.

"What are you doing?"

".....Nothing."

Damn it! He was too close to her face!

He let go of the branch and with some amazing agility landed on his feet. He showed his hand.

"If that is so then show me!"

"Why should I?"

*Stare*

"Zezezezeze"

She found it funny.

"pftt"

Then he suddenly snatched her drawing. She was shocked by it.

"Hey give it back, meanie!"

"Meanie? What are you? 6 years old?"

"In fact I am 5! Now give it back!"

"Sheesh, just let me see what you were doing. You are always staring at us that even some guys are troubled!”

He looked at her secret drawings!

“Whoa! This is some great drawing! Hey guys, check this out."

He called out to his group. Mira was embarrassed as she was being stared by more than 30+ children.

"Hey give it back!"

The groups of children then arrived and looked at the drawing with some amazement.

"Hey isn't this Sonia? She looks better surrounded by flower!"

"Hey Matt, what were you doing in this picture? Is that....my cookie in YOUR HAND!???"

"....Oh shit..."

Everyone was discussing about her drawings. In fact, she was troubled by these unknown people taking her drawing copy gifted by her brother. But she was afraid to ask them. All she could do was,

"*sob* Give...it... back *hic* give my...treasure...back..."

The whole group panicked. One of the girls stuttered.

"Hey Will....Give her drawings back!"

"Why me?"

"Duh, you were the one to take it from her!"

"......Alright."

Will took the Drawing copy from the awkward looking group and tried to give to Mira.

"Uhhhhh...Here's your Drawing copy back."

Suddenly he got a slap from Mira. Despite the strength behind it being negligible, he looked sorry.

"Guess, I deserved that......Hey to make it up you I will introduce you to my family!"

He grinned brightly by saying that. Mira was surprised and backed a little by the enthusiasm showed by the boy. He took her hands and dragged her towards the curious looking children.

"This one is Matt" "Hi, there."

"She is Sonia." "Why hello."

"And this ...............

And it went on one by one until he introduced himself.

"And at last I am Will."

Mira looked exhausted already.

"How...many.....are.....there?"

Will grinned,

"We are a big family of 43, now 44."

Mira looked confused.

"Huh?"

"Welcome to the Family! Everyone! A group Hug for the new member!"

"Huh, just like that?"

"Nah, just for trying to make it up to you and you always looked like as if you were alone."

And she got enveloped by everyone. In this dark and eerie place, their warm hugs did not feel that bad.

'I guess...I like to be a part of it....'

The entity observed her from the top of the tree in distaste. Next time for sure, it will break her and take over her body.

"tsk!"

Before disappearing.

Kimiko's Pov

'Hmm she thinks the Monster to be its ultimate opponent, huh.'

Kimiko dived in between the two battling beasts. The monster had more [STR] and [CON] while the other was actively using her body's [VIT] to power up her [DEX] to the limit as well as passively to sustain the forced evolution. The monster was trying to get a shot at the agile figure who was dodging everything but couldn't do anything to the monster due to its armor and [CON]. It was before long the body of the girl would be sucked dry of [VIT] and she would die.

[Acceleration x 2]

She quickly got behind of the girl and grabbed her by the head before slamming it on the ground with enough strength to stun her. The ground cracked due to the force and the Nekomata was stunned for a while. However, it was not the end, as series of blow continued to whittle her senses.

[Non-Lethal Strike]

'At least, she will live a little longer now that she won't be using her VIT actively.'

She looked at her Golems. Two were on standby while the others were helping the stunned Adventurers. One of the Adventurers asked in surprise.

"Who....who are you?"

Kimiko could feel Lara, who was about to reply the Adventurer, cook something up as a response and she had a bad feeling just like the other maids did. Lara tried to imitate an Italian accent while speaking.

"Nothing is true, everything is permitted. We work in the Dark to serve the Light. We are the vanquisher of Evil. WE ARE THE 'GUARDIANS OF ORDER!!'."

Every line she spoke, she spoke them with gestures and confidence. Every Adventurer was awed. But to Kimiko and the rest of the maids, they were in OTL position. She did not know if Lara had said it to erase the tension in this serious situation or for just shit and giggles.

'Why? Just why? Is this Karma for reciting Assassin's creed's motto? Will they even buy it? Look at Martin and the elf! They are petrified!'

But to her dismay as well as the rest of the maids, Isaac spoke in astonishment.

"What! To elude even the prestigious Adventurer Guild? Truly such a frightening 'secret organization'!!"

The Fuck?

'God, why didn't you let me die again?'

She just wanted to dig a grave and jump in it to hide her shame. But now was not the time. The other monster was about to attack her while she had incapacitated the girl. The other two maids arrived to her side robotically, still shell-shocked, and bind the unconscious girl with the rope provided by Kimiko. Kimiko, whose voice now gained a heavy British accent, spoke.

"Watch her. If she regains consciousness, send her back to the dreamland."

The maid was about to ask something.

"No, I can't do anything for her. The entity trying to get her is tied deeply to her bloodline, which means he/she could be her ancestors. It is as responsible as the seal in her head that caused her instability of emotion. Only she can fight it back. The only thing that can work are advance 'Mind Magic' to enter her subconscious mind but right now I can't perform it. I only have one lethal magic which I may be forced to do."

Then she quickly grabbed the weapon, which was being swung by the Monster, by her gloves with had some decent [DEF] stats. Then her voice sounded a bit British.

"I have ..... (Adjusts her gloves coolly) prior engagements to deal with."

Every Adventurer had one thought.

'SO COOL!!!'

Edited: 22-Nov-2020 Grammar improvement, minor tweaks