Propagate: A survival litrpg

Day 52

Once again, I wake up bright and early to a new day. Somehow, the wolf pelt blanket I slept in has been wound into a perfect ball placed on top of me. Looking to the side, it appears lily has woken up before me, for once, and moved her cot back to her side. That or the entire event that took place last night was a dream.

I stand up out of bed, setting the balled up blanket to the side of the cot, slumped against the wall. I stretch and pop every inch of me, before releasing a mighty yawn and walking over to my table where I keep my equipment.

I slip on my armor, cuffs and leg guards as well as my mantle. I stand for a moment, reveling in the comfort the pelt provides as it slips into its familiar spot on my shoulders. I slip on my belt and shoulder strap, and begin clipping on the leather pouches I have, as well as my knife holster. It is at this moment that I notice the lack of a knife in said holster.

I only mildly freak out, going double time on slipping my throwing knives into my belt loops. Once everything is secure, I slip on my shoes and head outside.

I follow my search as it leads me to the storage room. Upon opening the door, I sneak up on Lily, huddled over something. She sits in the attached table in the upper left corner, tinkering with something. I soften my steps, tiptoeing my way over to her. I watch over her shoulder for a solid minute before deciding to say anything.

“Watcha doin!?” I yell right next to her ear. She yelps, entire body jumping, making her slam painfully into the table. She leans over in pain, and I snatch the object of her fascination.

I lift my knife from within the clutter, now without its handle. “What do you think you're doing?” I stare at her hunched form accusingly as I wait for her to recover.

“W… was scaring me really necessary??” I squint my eyes at her. “Fine, fine.” She relented. “I was fixing your knife. It’s almost broken. I tried to fix it before you got up but…” she gestured uselessly towards the untouched blade. “You can see how well that went.”

“Huh. How'd you know it was broken? It looks fine to me.” Indeed, the blade was just as thin and smooth as ever, the exact same as when ‘I’ first made it.

“ I noticed it when I got up this morning. I've been trying to get into the habit of spraying everything with [Super Appraisal] whenever I remember. It told me your knife had less than 20% durability.” She squinted at the memory, before leering at the knife again. “Actually, rather than durability, it'd be more accurate to say it's dying.”

“That is a horrifying statement.” I drawled. “Care to clarify?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Remind me how you got this?”

“ Lets see… got bored, wandered into a forest. Found a biome where everything was dying. I saw the big hexsidian crystal where I got that knife from near what I can only assume was a volcano. I touched it, and ‘curiosity killed the cat’ style, I got mind ra-” I then remembered who I was talking to. “..I mean, mind controlled. Then I took a big chunk, brought it home, made the knife, and butchered a bunch of wolves.”

The crystal was actually still here, or at least, part of it. About half was left from the ax and all the master arrows I've been making lately. I keep it in a locked and reinforced box, ensuring no one ever gets accidentally mind controlled. Though I've been tempted to go back to the source and power level my resistance skills. Perhaps another day.

“ From your explanation, I think the knife is dying because it was cut off from the new crystal. Plus, I'm sure using it all the time didn’t help.” Lily explained.

“Huh, so what do I do? The crystal I got it from is probably also on its last legs.”

“Well, are you willing to go back and get more?”

“No.” Way too risky. Especially with her around. There's a chance I could attack her if I get controlled again. It simply is not worth the risk.

“ I figured. Well, you probably have around a week of lifespan left right?”

“Probably more if I don't use it.

“Right. I think this is our que to go talk to those soldiers.” I glare at her, and she refutes me with a genuine, pleading look. “Look, I know you don't want to talk to them, ‘too dangerous’ and all that. But with them, we could find a town, get supplies, get you a real sword. Face it, Max. They are our future!”

Really, the benefits far outweigh the risks. I'm just being a contrarian. I never did like change, but being content with this lifestyle is not what we need. We need civilization, modernity. I’ll just have to deal with it. Life is all about compromise, after all. Man, I've been so philosophical lately.

I look into her eyes, my last ounce of reservation crumbling away. “ Fine, fine, have it your way. Before we go, I need to prepare, and you need to come up with a strategy. This is your plan, so you do the talking and I'll be intimidating, so no one tries to take advantage of you and shrug you off.” I add the last part when I see her quizzical expression.

She quirkes an eyebrow at me, not yet convinced. “Is that really necessary?”

“I've read a lot of fantasy books in my time. We will need that sort of thing, trust me on this one.”

“I'm going to hide in that corner over there.” I gesture to the far left corner from the entrance, bordered by both the house and store room. “Don't bother me. Seriously.” I add when I notice her non-committed look.

“ Fine, have it your way.” She pouted, crossing her arms and turning away.

“Mmm.” I rumble in acknowledgement.

Modification time.

I've been putting it off for so long for one big reason; Lily. If eating kobold intestines freaked her out, I can't imagine what she would do if she saw the spasming and shriek-inducing pain brought on by the reinforcements and modifications.

I saunter over to the corner and sit down. I begin pursuing through my menus, looking for anything worthwhile

Total reinforcements- 132 | Total Modifications- 13 | Souls- 489 145 3

Small = Reinforcements, Exchange

Medium = Modifications, Combination (New!!!)

Large = Reconfiguration, Annexation (adds new abilities or body parts)

Body systems-

Graceful Explosive Muscular-4 Absorbing Skeletal-4 respiratory-4 reproductive-4 nervous-4 immune-4 Circulatory-4 Integumentary-4 Assimilating Digestive-4

Organs-

Brain-4 Heart-4 Lungs-4 Liver-

Kidney- Stomach-4 Intestines-4

Pharynx- Larynx- Arteries-4 Muscles- 4

Gallbladder- Lymph nodes- Spleen-

Bone marrow-4 Veins-4 Pancreas- Urinary Bladder-

Salivary Glands-

Body Parts-

Head- Hair- Eyes-4 Ears-4

Jaw-4 Nose-4 Mouth-4 Tough Neck-4 Supportive Shoulders-

Forked Tongue-4 Chest- Arms-4 Elbow- Umbilicus-

Stomach-4 Hard Hands-4 Fingers-4 Condor Thumbs-4

Quick Coiled Legs-4 Knees- Ankles- Soft Feet-4 Toes-

Splintering Teeth-4

Special parts-

Sky Catalyst-

Huh, there's a new tab under medium. Looks like it lets me consolidate modifications into one, strengthening two mods synergy with each other. It's pricey though. First thing I look at is combining {Explosive} and {Graceful}. Its forty medium souls, quite steep.

Turns out, the limit on reinforcements is decided by rank. Now I can get everything up to eight. Getting a part to eight from four costs twenty six souls. I'll just go ahead and reinforce all or my systems to eight. I have plenty of souls for it.

—

I think I know why people commit suicide now.

But, the deed has been done. My soul supply has been halved, and now I'm unreasonably strong. Besides that, I'll be modifying a few more parts. For one, I'll upgrade my teeth with {Breaking}, which is basically the same as {Splintering}, but then I'll combine them together for thirty medium souls, a total cost of forty five souls, making {Demolishing Teeth}.

Besides that, I'll do the graceful + explosive combination for muscular, and quick + coiled for my legs. Eighty souls down the drain, but man am I feeling the difference. I only have twenty medium souls left, so I'll just spend the rest on.. Here we go.

{Primal} Digestive: Removes penalty for eating raw food. Makes previously unappealing foods more bearable. Prevents injury to the mouth, esophagus, and stomach from sharp pieces of bone or chitin.

That pairs excellently with my {Assimilating} digestive system. Now to apply all of that..

Pain part two, electric boogaloo.

Total reinforcements- 168 | Total Modifications- 15 | Total Combinations- 3 |

Souls- 255 2 3

Small = Reinforcements, Exchange

Medium = Modifications, Combination

Large = Reconfiguration, Annexation (adds new abilities or body parts)

Body systems-

Ardent Muscular-8 Absorbing Skeletal-8 respiratory-8 reproductive-8 nervous-8 immune-8 Circulatory-8 Integumentary-8 Primal Assimilating Digestive-8

Organs-

Brain-4 Heart-4 Lungs-4 Liver-

Kidney- Stomach-4 Intestines-4

Pharynx- Larynx- Arteries-4 Muscles- 4

Gallbladder- Lymph nodes- Spleen-

Bone marrow-4 Veins-4 Pancreas-

Urinary Bladder- Salivary Glands-

Body Parts-

Head- Hair- Eyes-4 Ears-4

Jaw-4 Nose-4 Mouth-4 Tough Neck-4 Supportive Shoulders-

Forked Tongue-4 Chest- Arms-4 Elbow- Umbilicus-

Stomach-4 Hard Hands-4 Fingers-4 Condor Thumbs-4

Vigorous Legs-4 Knees- Ankles- Soft Feet-4 Toes-

Demolishing Teeth-4

{Ardent} Muscular System: Massively increases strength, both instant and constant. Muscles become tightly corded, allowing for increased defense. Muscles and tendons are perfectly synergized, allowing for great control of all parts of the body.

{Vigorous} Legs: Greatly increases speed and jump force. Less stamina is used to move greater distances. Decreases fall damage.

{Demolishing} Teeth: Massively increases ability to crush armor. Most bones, chitin, scales, and any other hard parts of the body can be easily chewed through. Also increases durability. It is also possible to chew ordinary materials, such as wood and rock.

I am extremely tired after all that. Now, it's time to do something even more tiring. I stand up and walk over to where lily is, hiding inside the house. I slam open the door to alert her of my presence before slowly entering the room.

As soon as I walk into the room, I notice her sitting at the table. Before I even think of something to say, she opens her mouth. “Are you done with your ‘preparations’?”

“Yes.” I state dryly. “ You got a plan?”

She puffs out her chest. “Why yes I do! This plan is completely revolutionary, utilizing techniques never before seen by man!” She pauses for dramatic effect. I stare at her blankly, and she dead pans. “We’re gonna talk to them.”

I squint at her. “.... Yeah, but how?”

She sighs exasperatedly. “How else? We just walk up to their base, fortress, thingy… put our hands up, and talk to the big guy in charge. If they really are soldiers, wouldn't they be happy to help?”

“I'm not so sure. If their soldiers, then they clearly came here for something. Seeing us would just put them on edge, not that there's anything we can do to prevent that sort of reaction.”

I sigh. “Well, whatever. I'll lead you there, then I'll follow your lead.”

“Wait a second...” She sputters. “Didn’t you say there was a language barrier?”

I physically facepalm.

“FFFFUUUUUUCCCCKKKK.” I drawl, continuously dragging my hand down my face in one huge sigh. I completely forgot about that.

She jumps at my use of strong language, I try to hold back when she's around.

My skill isn't high enough to speak the language yet either.

I think quickly. “Alright, we both head over, I'll eavesdrop on them until I get my skill to a reasonable level to talk back to them. After that, we'll do our introduction, okay?”

She tentatively nods at me before turning around to fiddle nervously with some leather satchels.

I walk out of the house to stock up on equipment. I clip on my quiver, filled with fifty hexsidian arrows and almost two hundred shark arrows. I fully stock all of my poisons, ensuring I keep the non-lethal ones on my right and lethal ones on my left. I also double my stock of throwing knives.

I wait for about five minutes before Lily emerges from the house, covered in leather-ware. I made her boiled leather armor in preparation for something like this. I wanted to use the metal scales, but they were too heavy for her. She also has a smaller version of my mantle, minus the metal bits.

I begin putting ratios into her large leather backpack. I top it up with all the extra supplies any traveling duo would need, along with the sources. Plural.

I found another source. It was an absolute bitch to get my hands on, but boy am I glad I did. This one is a deep blue color, and it creates cool droplets of water with every little pulse of light. I ended up cutting the triangle into five smaller pieces, and engineered two infinite water bottles, though I still had one left, which is what I packed.

Just because I can technically survive without water for a long time, doesn't mean I should neglect my thirst. Parts of my body will straight up shut down after too long. While I'll live, I won't be able to do much besides stay alive. It's also agonizing.

With all preparation done, I give one last longing glance toward my camp. This.. might be the last time I see it. Well no, actually. I still need to come back for the wyrm egg. Bringing it with us would be super inconvenient. Despite that, it feels like I'll never really belong here again.

I swallow my remorse, and begin trekking toward the soldiers campsite. I think the technical term is garrison? Much to my humor, and Lily’s hatred, I end up having to carry her across the river and onto the mainland. Despite all the supplies she's carrying, she's still light as a feather.

Despite knowing that me carrying her would make the journey faster, she still insists I put her down the second we touch land. After two and a half hours, we make it to the garrison just a few hours before sunset, the sun already falling in the sky.

“ Okay. You stay here, there's no monsters around. I'll go eavesdrop on those soldiers for a few hours…. Try to keep yourself entertained, okay?”

“Wait a second!” I feel a feeble force tug at my mantle. “Take me with you.” I open my mouth to dissuade her but she's already ahead of me. “ I know you grow faster than me, but with my intellect, I'm sure I can get the skill too in that amount of time. Even if you still have to translate my words for me, at least you won't have to go the other way right?”

She looks at me pleadingly. It's a good point, and a better use of her time. “ Yeah, that makes sense.” I give in easily, much to her shock. “Come on.”

I gesture for her to follow me and I make my way toward my secret entrance. With Lily on my heels, I get over to the hedge wall and start shimmying through the gap. Of course, the thin metal walls have been replaced with towering brick walls. Interestingly, the entire wall is permeated with brown mana. I can only assume they were raised with magic.

I sit and listen as Lily slithers up beside me. After checking that she can also hear them, I expand my sense with [Lofty Meditation]. Hours tick by, my levels rising noticeably.

Hour one:

<[SOLC] Experience threshold Reached. Lv1 -> Lv4>

<[Hide] Experience threshold Reached. Lv1 -> Lv3>

<[Lofty Meditation] Experience threshold Reached. Lv8 -> Lv9>

Hour two:

<[SOLC] Experience threshold Reached. Lv4 -> Lv5>

<[Hide] Experience threshold Reached. Lv3 -> Lv5>

< [1st] Tier [SOLC] Has ranked up into [2nd] tier: [Specific otherworld Language Understanding (SOLU)]- Increase ability to comprehend a specific otherworld language to a frequently accurate level. Allows for rudimentary vocal expression. >

< [1st] Tier [Hide] Has ranked up into [2nd] tier: [Conceal]- Increases ability to remain unseen. Increases stealth while moving, and reduces detection range.>

Hour three:

<[SOLU] Experience threshold Reached. Lv1 -> Lv4>

<[Conceal] Experience threshold Reached. Lv1 -> Lv3>

Damn, [Lofty meditation] is SO close to hitting level ten, but Lily is at her limit. Whether it's not falling asleep, or having to constantly shift from back pain, it's about time for the confrontation. Of course, I checked and made sure that she got the skill, which is now at level three, as well as [Hide] at level two. I poke her shoulder and gesture for her to retreat. Once she fully crawls out, I follow after her.

The little hidey hole is on the side of the fortress, forcing us to wrap around to the main road. We walk back about half a mile before turning around onto the road, yet another thing that was not here before.

Sure, we could just follow the road out of the forest now that I know it's here, but it could be some secret supply line, or lead to a town with rampant crime, or any place that hates strangers. Asking the soldiers is still risky though, they might lie and lead us straight to our doom. For this reason, I'm going to try and barter for a map. Maps can be trusted.

We walk all the way up to the fortress, high stone walls casting long shadows onto us. I listen closely for any signs they know were here. Despite my senses, it's very difficult to tell apart what everyone is saying, with the thousands of voices and what not.

Though I have to say, the hundred archers standing atop the walls with bows trained on us was a pretty good indication.

It's at this point one might wonder why I'm having Lily do this. Why don't I just talk to them? It's not just because I'm antisocial, it's because of her specification, leadership. Since she cant fight, she's going to have to do negotiations like this from now on. Think of this like a test, or practice.

A man adorned with gilded armor and a tall metal hat screams at us from his perch on the wall. "STATE YOUR PURPOSE AND AFFILIATION IMMEDIATELY!” Purpose? Information. Affiliation? None. But let's hear the Lily translation. I glance at her.

She's sweating bullets. Understandable, considering the current situation. I'm confident I can get us both out of here if they decide to fire, but then we'll really be on our own.

She tugs on my mantle and I lean down to hear her speak, though I could hear her regardless, it's more of a privacy thing. “Uh huh… Uh huuuh… hmmmmm. Pretty basic, I like it.” I mutter in our mother tongue.

“WE HAVE NO AFFILIATION! WE HAVE BEEN LOST IN THIS FOREST FOR WEEKS AND WISH TO ESCAPE! WE COME HERE WILLING TO BARTER FOR INFORMATION, SUPPLIES, OR ANY TOOLS OF NAVIGATION YOU POSSES!"

Smooth. Not 100% true, but it's unnecessary to say any more.

The loud man ducks back and out of view. I hear rustling, and shouting, as well as loud footsteps leaving the wall. After a moment, the man comes back shadowed by a larger and heavier pair of footsteps. Upon settling back into their little wall cubicle, the new man speaks.

“ WE ARE WILLING TO LET YOU INSIDE FOR EXCHANGE PURPOSES IF, AND ONLY IF, YOU GO THROUGH KINGDOM MANDATED RIGOROUS INSPECTIONS. If you refuse,” he continued grimly and at a normal volume. “ Then we will have to expel you from this territory.” It takes no genius to recognize the threat in his words.

I look at Lily, and she nods her head. “ WE’LL DO THE INSPECTION! “ The large man nods his head, the thin smile gone from his lips the second he turns to his men. Shouts emulate across the walls, and eventually the gate rises. Heavily armed soldiers flood out of the entrance, and begin shepherding us into a medium size stone brick room.

Within said rooms, both me and Lily were subjected to three trials. The first one, was a pat down by four suspiciously grippy gentlemen, in which I was stripped of all of my more dangerous possessions. Safe to say, the whole room was giving me the stink eye when they found my bottles of poison. After an extra fifteen minutes compared to Lilys search, undoubtedly because of the poison, they released me with a frustrated sigh. Lily's guards seemed to be all business though.

We were then brought to a smaller room, though they separated us for this occasion. They had a wooden table with an older man sitting across it. On his left, my right, was a crystal orb. It was an ordinary glass ball to my normal senses, but to my mana sense, it glowed like a light bulb.

The semi-old man began asking me questions, personal questions like name and age, always glancing at the crystal ball after every question. With my introduction done, he dived into the meat of this interrogation.

“Have you ever committed any crimes against humanity?”

So, stuff like murder, rape, general bad things? Not to my knowledge. They might have some other beliefs that are general to them, but not us dislocaters.

“ Not to my knowledge. “ He accepts the answer easier than I expected. After a few more ‘terrible person’ checks, they deem the interrogation over. I prepare to leave with them, until another soldier walks in and whispers to the interrogator. He squints at me.

“ …Your partner cant speak ___?”

No clue what that word is. Must be what they call this language.

“ She can understand the language to an extent, she just can't answer back… do you want me to translate? “ He seems surprised at my insight, before simply nodding. He waves his hand and escapes to one of the side doors. A short walk later, and I find Lily sitting at a similar set up as mine.

Translating ends up being an easy task, with the interrogation wrapping up only five minutes after I walked in, I even got a level in [SOLU] in the process. With the second stage complete, They begin herding the both of us towards another door, which leads outside.

Im unceremoniously dumped into a busy clearing, all types of men adorned in all sorts of clothing and armor rush around me. Some carrying messages, others simply practicing marches. All around me are posts, wooden stakes holding up thin tarps with a myriad of crates stacked underneath.

The entire fortress is large, but not absolutely massive. I can see a huge row of horse stables, canteens and beer barrels. And even a training area, or mock up arena, looking at the ring of people surrounding a pair of quarreling knights.

The big guy who ordered us to interrogation walks up and gestures for us to follow him. A tour it seems. A little too friendly after the ordeal he just put us through, though it's not like I can do anything about it.

As he walks through the busy crowd of soldiers, the incoming traffic halts and backs away at his arrival. Oddly, they look at him with nervousness and dread. Not the respect he seemed to commandeer. What's that about? I quietly observe to sate my curiosity.

While the soldiers move out of the way, they all seem to regard him distastefully. It was very conflicting with his demeanor. We wander towards another campsite, this one with a tarp fully curved around for walls, like an igloo.

He gestures grandiosly to the wooden tables and boxes full of wound up paper. “And finally, this is our cartography station. Every tool of navigation you could possibly need can be found right here.“

I reach towards one of the bound maps. From my slight lean, I notice a man crouched down rustling through a stack of papers, apparently unaware of our presence. An inch away from the paper, the large man, who introduced himself as: General Gwako, snatched my arm away from the papers, firmly holding my wrist in his gasp.

It was at that moment, it took every ounce of my will I had to not sucker punch him. And even more to keep a straight face. I turned a baleful glare his way, which did little to dampen his shit eating grin.

“Not so fast, sunny. Providing such tools free of cost would be a forgettable inconvenience. However, handing away such valuable material for absolutely free just doesn't sit right with me.“ His grin widens further, morphing his whole face into twisted glee. "You could say it goes against my personal creed.” Apparently, that saying was some kind of reference, as the book keeper that was hunched over on the floor suddenly shivered violently. He twisted his head around and noticed my gaze. He mouthed something with a sorry look on his face.

If Gwako had seen the exchange, he showed no sign of it. I gave him a leveled stare, holding on to my simmering anger that continued to boil the longer he grasped my arm. With monumental effort, I spoke without a hint of warning. “ Can you let go now? “ Despite my face staying reminiscent of a stone wall, Gwako had somehow still taken offense to it.

“ Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you? I humbly ask your forgiveness, I do not know my own strength. “ He rehearsed with uncontained sarcasm. His eyes rolled up so far into his skull I wouldn't be surprised if he could see his own very small and smooth brain.

He let go of my arm, and lightly shoved me to the side. Damn. This guys a prick. He looked so nice too… there's that age old saying again; never judge a book by its cover.

“So” I began, “what exactly do you want in turn for the maps?” I made ‘Maps’ plural just in case. “Why, it's simple, my prickly friend! I am a part of the iron blood clan, and we have a tradition. Bartering and exchanging is boring, only a beat down of crossing blood will suffice in any negotiations!” I can't tell if my language understanding is bad or if this guy is just autistic. Basically, he wants to fight. You couldn’t just come out and say that at the start?

“... This guy has got to be fucking with me.” I deadpan. Gwako’s face contorted in mild confusion at my sudden use of an unknown language, but was otherwise unperturbed.

“ You want me to fight you for the maps? “ He nods in agreement. Wow. What an unbelievable waste of time.

—

In a blur of motion, I suddenly find myself in the middle of the arena. I was so deep in thought about the stupidity of the situation I didn’t even notice when I was carted off to the battle grounds.

I look at my hand, a short iron sword clutched in it. They had refused to give me any of my stuff back. Well, after I beat this guy I'll black mail them into giving it all back, using the general's life as collateral. Is that overly violent? Yes. Is that extremely unnecessary? Honestly, I'm not even sure at this point.

I watch the general stand behind a thick line in the dirt. Fully clad in thick metal armor, a tower shield and broadsword. He looks like he's about to fight a dragon. I watch a very tired semi-young man walk up to a stand, which had some kind of symbol carved into it. He places his hands onto the lectern and channels mana into the rune. He spoke, and his voice carried across the whole stadium.

“ON THE RIGHT SIDE, OUR GRAND GENERAL GWAKO POSSESSOR OF- “ BLAH BLAH BLAH, who cares. I wait until I hear him say ‘left side’ which takes an increasingly alarming amount of time. How many titles does this dude have?

“ON THE LEFT, MAX, A HUNTER FROM A FAR OFF LAND! WHO WILL BE THE WINNER? Sigh… place your bets…” I then watched as the announcer nearly collapsed onto the lectern, and quickly dozed off. I hadn't even looked away from the poor announcer when Gwako let out a fearsome war cry, and started charging at me.

It was at this moment my danger sense went off. Upon inspection, Gwako’s entire body was coated in some kind of fiery red aura. He swung down at me, and I deftly dodged to the right. The force of his slash scattered dust in all directions, and even left a thin line in the ground. He continued swinging the large sword easily, and in a defined way. Clearly some sort of sword style.

While his slashes contained power, he was decently slow. I dodged left and right, easily strafing away from his blows. I went in for a punch to test the waters. Once he saw my stance, he quickly erected his shield. I hit it with all my strength and let alone crumpling, I felt the kinetic force drain out of my arm.

A green sheen flickered across the shield, before I felt monumental force thrust upon my entire body, flinging me far backwards. Even with my absorbing bones and [Force resistance] I was still launched back by quite a bit, though the damage was negligible. Looks like he's using skills.

Deciding my earlier strategy of dipping my toes in the pool was now obsolete, I decided to jump in the water. I stopped holding back on my stats, and sprinted towards Gwako. I pretended to charge a punch, before strafing around his shield using [Strafe Lith] and landing a mean right hook into his ribs.

The strike sent him sprawling and his body landed lopsided. I approached anxiously as I noticed him bent over and shaking slightly. I was suspicious, but my good nature got the best of me. I got three feet away from him, and before I could ask if he was alright, the fucking rat threw sand in my eyes!!!

He then smashed his shield into my chest, causing me to shoot backwards and onto my back. He ran up to me, kackling with glee. He lifted his shield over my neck and thrust downwards. I shoved my right arm roughly against the side, deflecting the metal disk to just barely not decapitate me. I slammed my right foot into the ground, and thrust my entire body upwards with one tremendous move. My head slammed into his chin, and before he could recollect himself, I smashed my left fist into his face, specifically his jaw.

He took a knee and traced a hand across his face. “ How dare- “ I smashed his face once again. I waited a moment to see if he was really out, and once satisfied. I began walking back over to the entrance. Just then, I heard rushed footsteps and Lily’s frantic shouting. “MAX! HE'S STILL CONSCIOUS!”

Then, I feel pain erupt in between my ribs as a slick, foreign object slid through my flesh.

< -960hp | 3415/4850 >

< Condition: Concussed (lesser) | Poisoned | Paralyzed (Lesser) >

I lurch forward, clutching my side. I see something blur in the corner of my vision. I leap forward and roll into a crouch. My eyes go blurry, and the pain in my side throbs painfully. I stand, struggling to find purchase on the scuffed earth beneath me. Gwako has no care for my condition though, as he charges at me with renewed ferocity. I idly notice the disgusted looks of the watching soldiers. Yelling and frenzied pointing begins to break out.

Whether they want to help me, or their commander I don't know. I just need to focus on surviving. And so, a literal dizzying melee insews. I dodge desperately and counter attack weakly, getting knocked to the ground again and again.

Soldiers begin hoping into the arena, but Gwako just screams at them severely, continuing my torture. Just then I see Lily hop down into the arena. She attacks Gwako relentlessly until he shoves her to the side. My rage boils over.

< Due to the influence of [Defense Orientation] Skill: Paralysis resistance has been Acquired! >

I sober up. I regain my balance, though my vision remains fragmented. I run at Gwako who ready’s his shield. I activate [Wrecking smash] and slam fist after blue coated fist into his shield, attempting to hit around the entire time. I see the green sheen again and [spring] away before I get launched again.

I study by myself before running at him again. I ready my iron sword and [Slash] into his shield. The cut makes a thin line across the midsection of the shield. Neither skills were very effective, but what about together? I could probably one shot him with [[Wave Cutter]], but that would definitely kill him. I doubt the soldiers would be willing to help us out after that, no matter how corrupt their commander was.

I weave between his strikes, gaining a level in [Evasion] and [Strafe Lith]. Once the cooldowns for [Wrecking Smash] and [Slash] expire, I begin resonating with them. In attempting to use both skills at one, the skills seem to vibrate in place. By exerting my will, I shove the vibrating skills together, which violently reject the attempt for a moment before neatly slotting in place.

I jump towards Gwako, my blade raised above my head. He once again raises his shield. I clasp the sword handle with two hands, as a tremendous energy forms around the blade, doubling its width and tripling its length. Once my feet are planted on the ground again, I slam the glowing green aura blade through the shield, cutting through the metal like paper, and severing Gwakos armor as well. A thin red streak of blood runs down his entire body, and he freezes in mock shock.

I give him no time to process, as I use [Power Boost] to knock his lights out. With Gwako down, for real this time, I take my time to study the surroundings. Most of the spectators have been worked into a tisy. Lily as well as any other soldiers brutalized by Gwako or run over by the mob were being given medical attention. I noticed a team rushing towards me as well.

The ground was destroyed. No longer smooth dirt, the entire floor had been churned into farmland, with a small cavern formed where I used the combo skill. Speaking of said skill, I checked the combo skill part of my status, which keeps track of all the combos i've tried, as well as the official names. This one is called; [[Helm Splitter]].

Despite not actually losing that much hp, the effects of the poison, as well as the wound itself, was taking a heavy toll on me. I took care to sit down before I passed out, and landed heavily on the soft dirt.

—

I woke up with a start.

It appears I'm in some kind of medical ward. My wounds have been healed, and the poison has been completely cleansed from my system. Without any notice, a doctor, or more likely some kind of healing mage or pharmacist, rushed in to check on me. After ten minutes, he said I was free to go. As I was leaving, he told me to go to the holding cells for my gear back.

I quickly collected items, and then began to seek out Lily. turns out she was being kept at the barracks, like a daycare. The soldiers were actually delighted by her presence. Good for them. She was joyous once she saw me walking towards her, and she dived at me for a hug. Once I assured her of my health, I began leaving towards the map library.

I didn’t get very far before some kind of officer directed me to Gwako’s office. Upon entrance, it appears I failed in keeping a scowl off my face. Gwako was sitting at a desk covered in all sorts of papers, with four high ranked guards standing right next to him. He looked up at me nervously, sweat dripping off his face. “ I- “ before he could even start, I ripped the map clutched in his hand away. Before Gwako could even think of reacting, his four guards collectively gave him a severe look.

I glanced at said guards, and the one seemingly in charge nodded his head at me. Signal received, I turned to leave. “ I'm sorry. ” I heard Gwako say right before I walked out the door. I refused to acknowledge his words, and left the office.

Upon heading towards the supply gate, several clusters of soldiers came up to us. Thank yous were exchanged, some of the younger ones asked me to show them a few punches, even the porters waved at him. Lily was also flooded with all sorts of gifts and flattery.

About six hours had passed since I passed out. Just in time for a wagon that was about to leave. The man let us hitch a ride in exchange for protection, and we sallied forth. The map isn't useless though, as it detailed all the neighboring cities, countries, and even held information about important landmarks.

I still don't know what Gwako’s whole deal was. Clearly there was some sort of story to be heard within that garrison, not that I cared to hear it. Truthfully, I just wanted to be as far away from him as possible. On that dreary note, I look forward to the future. Just what awaits us next?