Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The middle-class saiyan Zuccho took a long, deep gulp of his drink as he sat alone at a bar, tuning out the ambient chaos of his fellow warriors to stare down into the mug of beer on the countertop; his thoughts drifted to his latest mission which, by all accounts was a perfect success, Rigor XI (Now Frieza planet 2098) had been cleared of native life and was now ready to be sold around to the various rich nobles within the empire, the only sign of what once existed being the sparse ruins of it's previous inhabitant's civilization and the charred craters upon the surface. Zuccho was quickly brought out of his deep retrospective by the heavy hand of a large, rotund saiyan, lacking much of his hair aside from some spiky tufts around the back and sides of his head, leaving the top completely bald.

"What's eatin' ya Zuccho? Ya' just got offa' mission din't ya'?" The large man's voice grumbled, an uncharacteristic display of concern being aimed towards his smaller compatriot as the bulky Saiyan took a seat next to him.

"Yeah...Flawless, we got rid of the natives, didn't have any trouble aside from a couple issues with the pod's navigational systems...What about you, Melno?" Zuccho deflected, lightly swishing around the mug and watching the golden liquid within splash along the sides of the glass.

"I'm aw'right lad, but I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about you. Ya' have this look to ya', like you just failed and got a chewin' out from Lord Frieza 'imself." The smaller saiyan refused to meet his gaze, keeping his head down as he sulked, Melno leaning in to speak quietly. "...It's about Her, isn't it lad?" Zuccho's head snapped to glare at the round saiyan, venom filling his tone.

"You-!"

"-mean no harm, lad. I know what happened that day, I've seen how that can change a warrior, losing your mate on a mission...It's even worse when you were there, isn't it?" Melno said softly, his signature accent absent in his words. Zuccho's rage faltered, before being replaced with remorse as his companion spoke.

"Yeah...I just...Every time, whenever...Whenever I'm on a mission, I look into their eyes, I feel it-their pain, their fear-" His grip tightened around his glass, a loud cracking coming from the fragile container, "-do you realize, just how sick, that makes me feel!? I'm forcing them to face the same pain that I had to feel when I lost Xeleri!" Zuccho's voice rose along with his aura, catching the attention of the rest of the Saiyans until the mug in his hand shattered, bringing him out of his tirade to stare at his hand and see the remnants of his mug in his grasp, before looking up at the slightly receding form of Melno and the inquisitive looks from the rest of the bar's patrons. "...Sorry..." He muttered, his shoulders slumping as the bar returned to its normal volume, if only a bit quieter. Melno tentatively wraps an arm over Zuccho's shoulders as he speaks in a hearty voice.

"Enough o' that sappy stuff then, let's talk about somethin' a bit lighter, how's your promotion treatin' ya'?"

Suddenly the bar ceased in their collective actions as all of them reached to their scouters, the small eyepieces relaying a single order to all of the patrons:

"All Saiyans, abandon your missions and report to Planet Vegeta immediately, this is an urgent order from Lord Frieza himself. Repeat, all Saiyans to Planet Vegeta immediately." The Saiyans in the bar exchanged confused looks with each other, all of them wondering what could possibly warrant such extreme measures. The previously light-hearted and energetic mood was quickly replaced by an air of unease, murmurs being the only audible noise as they all began discussing the sudden order. Zuccho looked to Melno and moved to stand up.

"I'm gonna go, It's about time I go and spend some time with my son, haven't seen him since I got back." The stout man beside him gave a mirthful guffaw as Zuccho walked towards the exit.

"Hahaha! Take care, my friend! I'll see ya' around!" Melno responded, raising a full mug to his mouth and downing it in one go. As Zuccho reaches the door, it's suddenly barged open, a bloodied and battered saiyan body-checking him and causing them both to collapse.

"Hey, what's the big idea-Bardock!?" Zuccho's eyes widened as he recognised the figure, his armour cracked and missing in some places as he tried to stagger to his feet, panting heavily. "H-hey Bardock, take it easy...The hell happened?" Zuccho asked him, being promptly grabbed as the injured Saiyan gasped out through his ragged breaths.

"F-Frieza..! He's gonna...Destroy Planet Vegeta...! Tora...Fasha...They were all murdered...!" The raving Saiyan pushing himself off of Zuccho, only to collapse through a table, much to the amusement of the other patrons. While the others were laughing at Bardock's hysteria, Zuccho couldn't help but feel a pit form in his stomach, as he rushed out of the door to make it back to his residence, nearly running through the halls to make it outside and get to the open air.

After nearly a minute of tense running, Zuccho finally reached the outside, his Ki exploding into existence around him as he took off and began flying towards his home, his heart pounding in his chest as he raced to his destination. 'Bardock's no fool, I know that, Planet Kanassa surely doesn't possess beings that could possibly damage him, let alone take out an entire squad of Saiyans of his calibre...I need to get to Toma now!" He thought, his aura tearing through the air as he reached his hut, rushing inside to see that his son was still asleep inside of his incubation pod. "Good, he's still here...If Bardock was correct...I'll need to send him off the planet. His power level is low enough that they wouldn't suspect anything..." The father mused, rushing over to a desk and pulling out a piece of paper. "I wish I could say goodbye properly...But it seems I won't have that chance..." He muttered to himself, writing down a hasty note, before walking over to a bag and putting it inside, along with a spare set of armour, and a scouter. "This'll have to do...I don't have much time..."

Zuccho closed the bag and tied it around his waist, before opening the incubation pod, reaching in to gently scoop the infant into his arms and swiftly move outside before flying towards the space pod docking area, looking up to see a white trail of Ki rising up into the atmosphere, a familiar figure encased in energy as they blasted off into the upper reaches of the sky. Slowing down to put on his scouter, Zuccho stared up at the shrinking figure. 'Bardock...So it was true all along, huh?' He thought as he noted the familiar power level of the aforementioned Saiyan alongside numerous lower power levels, likely belonging to Frieza's soldiers and a cluster of incredibly powerful signatures. With a shake of his head, Zuccho continued on, his eyes narrowing as he approached the facility.

Frantic footsteps rang out through the deserted halls of the spacepod bay as Zuccho rushed towards the space pod holding area, his son held securely to his chest as the child cried lightly, almost as if sensing what was about to happen. "It's alright kid, it's alright, we're just gonna get you to a pod and then...I'm just speaking to myself really aren't I?" the lone Saiyan spoke bluntly, his eyes narrowing as he groaned. "I hate being nervous..." After a few moments, the father and son arrive at the surprisingly empty bay, "Seems like we hit a break kid, Now then..." Zuccho quickly runs over to one of the pods and starts preparing the pod for launch. "Let's see...Ah, here we go, a planet far outside the empire's reach, should be relatively safe...No sign of exceedingly dangerous flora or fauna..." Selecting the world, he removed the bag from his waist and placed it in the pod with Toma, the baby clutching at the bag as he opened his eyes slightly and was met with the smiling face of his father. "Well...This is it kiddo, I'm gonna miss you. Even if we never got to share any moments together. I hope you'll stay safe, and are free to live the life you want to live, unlike your old man..." Bringing a hand to his eyes, Zuccho removed his hand to see a distinct wet trail on his palm. "Heh...You got me to cry, not many can say that...Goodbye, Toma." With teary eyes, he slammed his hand on the launch button, watching as the pod shot up into the sky at blistering speed until it was out of sight, before heading back the way he came.

[Planet Vegeta's Exosphere]

Bardock grit his teeth as his fist found purchase in the ribcage of one of the many soldiers of Frieza's army, the bone creaking under his sheer brute strength as the body slammed into a group of unsuspecting grunts, the impact sending them spiralling into space as the Saiyan warrior tore a path through the approaching horde. Dodging blasts and swinging limbs, he nimbly fought his way towards Frieza's ship, the circular saucer-like craft hovering menacingly over the planet below. Unfortunately for Bardock, his skills could only take him so far, as a lone soldier had managed to slam into his back, looping his arms under his to hold him still.

"Keh-keh! Get him!" The alien hollered, prompting the surrounding soldiers to rush forwards with a rallying cry, only to be hit by a hail of ki blasts, followed by the alien holding Bardock to be hit with a thunderous kick to the neck, knocking him completely off of the Saiyan and incapacitating him.

"Need some help, Bardock?" Zuccho's voice carried across the thin atmosphere as he hovered there before his fellow comrade.

"W-what are you doing here...?" Slurred the injured Saiyan, looking even worse for wear than when he stumbled into the bar earlier.

"Seems you were right. Thanks to you, my son is now safe, the least I could do-" Zuccho tensed his body, his aura flaring around him as he settled into a fighting stance. "-is fight alongside you against Frieza, for all he's taken from us." Bardock stared at the figure next to him in shock, before giving him an odd look.

"Why...Why throw your life away...You could have escaped..." He told him, only to receive a huff of amusement in response.

"And how do you suppose I'll get out of the system? Frieza's men have scouters, they'd just follow my power level and deal with me and my son. That's why you are here right? To buy time?" The bloodied saiyan stares in surprise at the logical deduction, before huffing and staring down the army as well.

"You speak too much, but yeah, that's right. Try and keep up." And with that, the two Saiyans charged forward, roaring as they entered the fray, splitting up to fight their own battles.

Zuccho's face was split by a wide grin, his lust for battle taking over as he charged towards the nearest group he could see, slamming an elbow into one soldier's face and grabbing his leg to swing him into the others, following up with a quick blast which blew them away. "Come on! If you really think you can compare to us Saiyans, you are in over your head!" He yelled out, rushing to the next group and quickly engaging with a kick smashing into the first member's skull, sending him careening backwards as his comrades turned and lashed out, only to hit each other as the Saiyan appeared above them, slamming their heads together before erasing them with a blue energy wave and sending out a barrage of blasts to clear the way for him and Bardock, the soldiers around suspiciously backing off as a haughty, mocking laugh reaches the both of their ears.

"Well, well, well. That was an admittedly impressive show you two put on, for being nothing more than some monkeys!" Both Zuccho and Bardock froze up, eyes widening in dread and rage respectively as their heads snapped to the ship to see a small, horned alien rise from the now open hatch. "But rejoice now, lowly Saiyans. Your ever-so-generous Lord Frieza is here to send you off." His face twisted into a cruel smirk as he raised a single finger and a miniature sun formed rapidly above him, the sheer power sending a physical force towards the warrior duo. Zuccho clicked his tongue as he looked at Bardock, the father of Kakarot holding his head in pain, before seemingly snapping back into focus with a grin, his arms reaching out in front of him,

"This...Will change everything...Both our fate...And yours!" Looking over to Zuccho with a manic grin, the warrior responded with a smirk, their auras flaring up as they both charged a respective ki blast.

"We might not be able to stop you...But we'll keep trying until these bodies are turned to dust!" Zuccho chimed, both of them throwing a ball of ki each which slammed together, merging before it shot towards the tyrant.

"Ohohoho! I like the sound of that! Let us make it a reality..." Frieza chuckled, malice seeping into his tone as he flicked his finger, sending the colossal ball of energy towards the Saiyans, their blasts being devoured effortlessly by the emperor's attack much to their combined shock.

"W-what power!" Zuccho gawked, both he and Bardock unable to do anything but get hit by the blast, being bathed in the volatile energy as it soared towards the planet, the final thoughts of Zuccho as his body was torn apart being but a simple phrase:

'Well...Fuck.'

[A few days later, Iliasville Mountains]

Under the starlit sky, John trudged through the unforgiving mountain path, his form slumped exhaustedly as he neared the top of the tallest mountain in Iliasville's proximity, his hands clutched tightly to the cross hanging around his neck, bringing him a sense of determination. "Just a bit further..." He gasped; this journey had been the most exhaustive task he had ever been on, the harsh landscape and poorly maintained path had led to many close encounters which had sapped him of the strength and vigour he had before, his gait having gone from a hearty step to a slow, sluggish shuffle, his body pleading with him to rest as he shouldered on through the pain. After but a few more painful moments, he had reached it: the highest peak of the Iliasville mountain range. To him, this journey should have been enough to warrant the Goddess Ilias to at least listen to his plea, to impart upon him his purpose in her grand plan to save humanity from the vile scourge of the Monster Lord. "My goddess...Hear this humble plea from one of your servants...What is my fate...?" He prayed, his hands clasped together as he fell to his knees in both exhaustion and reverence, his eyes glued tightly shut as he shook in anticipation, his heart thundering as the air seemed to vibrate with tension.

John's ears perked up as he heard a faint noise, almost like a rumble of thunder, but a constant sound that seemed to grow ever louder the more he listened, yet his faith ordered him to stay still and to await Ilias' answer, lest he desire to insult her in some way: a horrifying thought to John as he suffered the noise, which at this point had grown to such an intensity that he briefly considered covering his ears in a somewhat vain attempt to preserve his hearing before the age of 40. Fortunately for him, the sound quickly reached a peak before ending with a resounding explosion, lifting John off of his knees for a short moment before gravity slammed him back down. Cracking open his eyes, the man stood shakily, his gaze immediately being caught by a thick smoke trail coming from back towards the way he came; the look he sent over the edge gained him a small glimpse of a spherical object buried in a large crater and surrounded by burning vegetation just off in the distance from his position. John, in a stunning display of both recklessness and zealotry, took this as a sign from Ilias, that he must investigate the odd-looking construct as he forced his aching and sore body to stand before marching his way down the slope at a medium pace.

After an extraordinarily long walk and an obscene amount of breaks on the way, the man had finally reached the bottom of the mountain, his destination close enough that he could smell the thick scent of burning trees and smoke from his position; an ever-increasing sense of tension found purchase in his heart with each step, carefully navigating the fallen trees and the hungry flames surrounding the crater. Peeking his head over the lip of the crater, John stared in bewilderment at the odd shape before him: a white ball of what seemed like some sort of metal with a large, circular window on the front and a small set of buttons on the side. The devoted follower of Ilias slowly inched his way ever closer to the orb, noting that it was even bigger than him before placing a hand on the glass and wiping away some of the dirt and dust that had marred the otherwise pristine shell; John could not believe his eyes, within the pod was the faint outline of a child, along with another object, the figure within seeming to move ever so slightly, much to the man's suprise. He moved away from the window and faced the small cluster of buttons on the outside of the container, he was met with an unfamiliar, foreign language marking each button, each square holding different symbols that he could not recognise as anything he had ever seen or heard of before. "Uhhhh...This one?" John spoke with uncertainty as he pressed one of the small square buttons, jolting away from the sphere as it hissed, a portion on the front lifting to reveal the interior.

Slowly, the man stepped closer, observing the child before him with a mixture of fear and curiosity; the child was clearly a boy, that was for certain, yet he possessed a long, furry brown tail and as if that was not enough, his hair seemed to be permanently spiked up like it had been dipped in hot wax and left to set with two prominent horn-like protrusions of hair on the front of his head and numerous smaller yet similarly shaped tufts arching around his scalp and pointing downwards. With a quick poke of his finger, this was quickly proven as false, the hair clearly having not lost any of its elasticity as it deformed under his touch, only to bounce back into shape as soon as the pressure had been removed. "What an interesting child...Is this my purpose? To raise this boy into a fine young man?" John pondered, only to bring his hands to his head as he groaned. "B-but I have no idea how to raise a child! M-much less one with monster blood! What if he grows a taste for human flesh...WHAT IF HE TRIES TO EAT ME!?" He fretted, comically crying tears of fear as he unconsciously shuffled away, his voice raising and prompting the young infant to stir, a groan coming from its throat as its eyes opened, peering out at the man who stared back with wide eyes.

For a moment the two stared at each other, one displaying innocence and curiosity while the other stared back in muted fear, the baby's seemingly peaceful demeanour settled John's racing heart as he maintained eye contact before slowly reaching out to the boy, shakily but gently grasping him under the arms and lifting him. The boy's tail dangled beneath him as he stared up at the odd man, before giggling at the seemingly amusing face in his vision, a wide smile forming in his elation. John's heart ached with indecision, his mind split between leaving the pod as it is, or bringing the child back to Iliasville with him and asking within the village for someone to take him in, however unlikely it may be. Before he could make a decision, the tense silence was broken by a voice resounding through his mind,

'John...Oh, John...'

[Roughly 30 Minutes Earlier, Heaven]

Ilias yawned as she sat upon her golden throne, her boredom reaching unprecedented levels as she idly looked down upon the world through her (nigh) omniscience, listening to the few prayers of the select few humans still awake through the night, silently ordering some of her angels of low importance to respond in her stead; the idiots down below would still worship her as they always had, so long as they got an answer, it didn't matter if it was from her, or from one of her subordinates. 'Except Wormiel...Or Silkiel...Eh, I'm sure someone is into that...' The goddess of light pondered absentmindedly, her eyes moving towards Iliasville as they took on a sorrowful look, a faint sting making its unwelcome appearance within her chest. 'Lucifina...Micaela...Where had I gone wrong...? How could you both leave me, after all we had seen? All we had done?' She questioned, looking back through her memories for the thousandth time, seeing no errors in her decisions or interactions with her two eldest creations. Snapping out of her self-evaluation, she dismissed her emotional reaction. 'It's unfortunate, you two were my proudest creations, almost perfect...I'm sure I can find a way to fix the both of you.' Ilias smirked, her half-lidded eyes brimming with confidence. 'Soon...'  She giggled, her ample chest rising and falling with the melodious sound

Ilias' eyes widened as she felt an anomalous presence appear on the edge of her perception, the mere implication that something could have come from that far away baffling her. 'What in my name is that? Did some moron fuck up a teleport spell!? How would you even screw up that bad!?' she tried to reason, before calming herself down with some deep breaths. 'Okay Ilias, stop throwing a bitch fit, it's probably nothing to worry about, the seal is still up, Alipheese and her creations aren't getting out and eating everyone, you are fine.' Feeling the presence come within range of her visual capabilities, she honed in on the mysterious existence: A small, white ball hurtling from the upper-most boundaries of the sky, surrounded by some odd aura as it rapidly approached the mountains near Iliasville. Focusing intently on the object, Ilias only listened to the prayer from within the mountain range as the object carved a new divot into the landscape with explosive force. 'Ugh, I can't even get a read on what this thing is...WHY. WON'T. YOU. WORK!?' The goddess sounded out in her head, emphasized with multiple smacks of her hand on her throne in petulant rage at her inability to see past the outer shell. 'Hah~ guess I'll just wait for something to happen...Any time now...'

After around 20 minutes of observing, Ilias was at last able to get a look at what was inside the pod and her eyes widened as she saw the child within. 'A male monster child? No, that's not right, he's not tainted with that vile, oversized garden snake's energy...He seems to have an excess of spirit energy though, he might be a useful pawn in the future.' She hummed to herself, getting ready to call out to the rather plain man before the pod -John, she found after a quick search through his memories-. 'Alright, this guy should be easy.'

[Present, Iliasville Mountains]

'John...Oh, John...' Called an angelic voice from seemingly nowhere, the aforementioned man freezing up as he responded with elation,

"M-my goddess! You heard my prayer!" He swooned, looking up into the sky with a joyous look on his face,

'Hmph, of course. Do you doubt the power of your goddess, my child?' Ilias questioned, her tone taking on a dangerous undertone as John paled and shook his head frantically in disagreement.

"N-no my goddess! I-I would never doubt you so!" The man denied fervently. his heart pounding rapidly in his chest at being granted an audience by Ilias herself. "I-If I may be so bold to ask...What would you like me to do with this child?" Ilias hummed in response, a contemplating cadence entering her elegant voice.

'Take the boy back to your village, raise him as you would your own spawn...I must admit I am curious about this one...' The goddess ordered, her tone leaving no room for discussion on the matter. 'Do this, and I shall ensure that you are rewarded in death...An eternal rest up here in heaven. Sampling the finest pleasures that anyone could ever dream of.' Ilias offered, her voice dripping with allure as John's eyes widened and his jaw dropped before he nodded his head fast enough that he began to feel faint.

"Y-yes my goddess! It shall be done!" He replied, his voice saturated with faith and reverence, as he quickly grabbed the bag from the pod and galloped off, having seemingly forgotten about his exhaustion as he blazed down the trail towards Iliasville, never looking back to watch as the pod disappeared from its place in a brief flash of light.

[Heaven]

Ilias stared at the orb before her, slowly pacing around it as she observed the design and mumbled to herself. "This thing doesn't seem to originate from here...Is that why I couldn't see through it?" She huffs angrily, "That's dangerous, If I give this to Promestein, I'm sure she could bring me some answers, but the risk is too great...And that involves actually talking to Promestein, or me-forbid, even that hideous failure of a Monster Lord...I can't seem to access that kid's mind either, probably for a similar reason." Ilias groaned in frustration while rubbing her forehead. "No matter, I still have Lucifina's child, Luka if I remember correctly. A fitting name for a hero." With a wave of her hand, she pulled the orb close in her magic, lifting it effortlessly as she called out, "Eden! Your goddess requires you!" In a flash of light, a tall, buxom woman appeared, her grey hair adorned with a miniature pair of wings accompanying the six full-sized wings connected to her back.

"Yes, my goddess?" Eden replied, her eyes darting between Ilias and the pod in curiosity,

"Dispose of this at once, it's grown to be an eyesore and an annoyance within the short amount of time I've known of it." Ilias commanded dismissively, not even bothering to look upon her creation as she turned to walk back to her throne, much to Eden's brief and subtle disappointment,

"As you wish, Ilias." With as much fanfare as the seraph appeared with, she disappeared with the pod, leaving the golden-haired goddess to stew in her thoughts, her mind drifting to only the most important thing she could think of,

'Did I ever ask why she refuses to wear clothes?'

[Iliasville]

John's feet thundered against the ground as he barrelled into the village, his ragged gasps echoing through the slumbering settlement and prompting a few of his fellows to wake up and groggily peek out of their windows at the haggard form of the man sprinting, or as everyone viewing would put it, stumbling through the empty streets towards his home, though while they could see he was carrying something, none of the residents were able to identify what was in his arms as he disappeared behind the door, locking it behind him and collapsing against it in exhaustion as he held the bag and the boy tightly in his grasp. John's eyes drifted to the child in his arms, the infant's eyes closed as it snored gently and peacefully, much to his surprise. "Hah...Must have been tired...So am I..." He breathed out, forcing himself to his feet slowly as he shambled to the spare room in his house and placed the child in the small bed there, "Not the safest place...But I suppose it'll have to do until I can get something more permanent." John baulked as his hands flew to his head. "Oh for the love of Ilias, how am I gonna explain this!? I-I need to keep this on the down low, for as long as possible at least!" The man fretted, making sure to keep his voice down so that he didnt wake the monster-like child, walking out of the room and closing the door behind him before taking a seat at the table, "Hm? Oh, almost forgot about the bag, I wonder what it could be?" Opening the bag, his eyes were immediately drawn to the presence of what seemed to be a note sitting on top of a small odd suit.

John picked up the sliver of paper and began reading, internally thanking whoever the writer was that it was an understandable language. As he read, his mind began to race with questions, 'Saiyans? Frieza? W-what is all of this!? Does Ilias know!? Is this another creation of hers? Perhaps a long lost species of human?' Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he carried on before quickly reaching the end, 'Huh? What does he mean by "Dont let him look into the full moon"? I-Wha-How do I even react to this!? This is far too much info for a small little note!' John's shoulders slumped as he processed the information, exhaustion hitting him both mentally and physically. "I should probably get some sleep...Luckily the next full moon is not for another few weeks, so hopefully I'll at least have some time to prepare, still..." He muttered to himself, trailing off as he weighed the positives and negatives of his next idea, "Maybe I can talk to someone about this, maybe I can talk to Betty, she does live next to that outsider woman and seems to be relatively friendly with them." With his thoughts in order, the man pushed himself to his feet and dragged himself to his room, practically falling into bed as he found sleep not too long after.

[The Next Day, Iliasville]

As the sun rose above Iliasville and the streets filled with the familiar sounds of chatter and work, John slunk out of his house and made his way towards Iliasville Temple, his nerves at an all-time high due to the burden Ilias had placed on him. 'Man, I hope Ilias will grant me an audience again, I feel like I'm even more lost on what to do than yesterday!' He lamented, wincing as he grasped at his leg. 'First I wake up to the kid crying, Sort that out, and now I'm gonna have to try and hide the fact that I got a kid until I can be sure they won't just chase us out of town! That's if they don't lynch us first...' John thought, trudging up the steps toward the temple proper.

"Hey John, how'd your little pilgrimage go? Any luck?" The first guard greeted, a serene smile and cheerful glint on his face.

"U-uh...It went w-well, Ilias...Told me to come today a-as well..." John half-lied, his eyes darting away as he rubbed his palms together nervously, somewhere deep down he felt shame in using Ilias' name in such a heinous manner.

"Alright, head on in, hope you find what you're looking for my friend." With that, the guard opened the door and let John into the large open chamber, the head priest standing at the altar as the doors closed behind him.

"Ah, John, what ails you, my son? Was your trip to the mountains fruitful?" The priest asked as he came forth to place a hand on the nervous man's shoulder and lead him to the centre of the room. "Come, sit, tell me of your troubles."

"W-well..." John began, pulling at the collar of his shirt as his face flushed from embarrassment. "I-I got an answer from Ilias, but I need some more guidance in regards to..." He trailed off, realizing that his best bet would be to be completely truthful, lest he seem suspicious and be sent away. "I was given a...Child... And Ilias told me to raise him, but I know how the village treats outsiders...I don't want the kid to be harmed or chased out of the village by an angry mob." The priest stared on in intrigue, his eyebrow quirking in question.

"I understand the caution, but I do not think they would be that aggressive, after all, we did allow Lucifina and Marcellus into our village." John's face became a nervous smile as he looked away, an unsure laugh coming from his mouth.

"Y-yeah, about that...It...May, or may not be a monster child...T-though it is a male!" He added as the priest's face dropped into an angered frown.

"John, do you think I am a fool? I am not here to play games, or tie into your deluded fantasies-"

"W-wait! I can prove it! I'll pray to Ilias and she'll be able to tell you!" He pleaded, his hands clasped together as he looked up at the priest. The head priest hummed in contemplation, his face now a frown of disgust,

"Very well, if Ilias will answer your call, then I shall obey. But if she does not come, I will personally ensure you are thrown to the hordes of monsters outside the village." He promised, moving aside and motioning to the altar. "Go now, do not waste my time with your idleness." John scrambled to the altar and sat on his knees, head bowed in prayer as he desperately called out to Ilias. Suddenly, A voice familiar to John echoed throughout the room.

"Do not harm the child, nor John, they have their roles to play, and I will not tolerate any of you getting in the way of their destiny." Ilias commanded, the goddess' power radiating through the room as both men froze in awe. "That goes for all of you within the village, I will not repeat myself, understood?" Both men nodded, eyes widened in shock as the sudden pressure slowly dissipated.

"So...Are we good?" John asked sheepishly.

"Get out of here, I'm too old to deal with this." The head priest immediately headed towards a small room in the back of the temple as John quickly made himself scarce. Arriving back home, the man was greeted by the excited babbles of an infant as it sat in the middle of the floor, now clad in some proper clothing, courtesy of a very early trip to Betty's house, much to her annoyance and confusion. Taking a seat on a small armchair, John sat back and watched the kid crawl around carelessly, unaware of his foster father's plight,

'I hope this goes well...For both your sake and mine.'

Chapter Text

[7 Years Later, Iliasville, Toma's POV]

I awoke to the sun gleaming into my room, the thick curtains unable to block out the power of the it's rays as it lit the room faintly for my groggy eyes to see as I stretched languidly, a yawn making its way from my throat as I stood up from the bed and made my way to the door. My ears faintly twitched as I heard the telltale humming of my father in the main room, a faint sizzling and the aroma of freshly cooked meat told me that he was already making breakfast, a hungry grumble reminding me that I should hurry and get ready to eat. Opening the door I swung around the doorway and headed down the small hallway towards the dining room, my footsteps thudding dully against the wooden floor as I entered the room, noticing the familiar figure at the stove cheerfully cooking something in the light, "Hey Dad, what's for breakfast?" Turning around, John's smile widened as he saw me approach,

"Good morning kiddo, I'm cooking us some pork and a healthy side of some potatoes and lettuce!" His face dropped into a concerned frown "Did you sleep well? Are you feeling ill?" The man questioned, fretting over my health in an eccentric manner.

"Heheheh, I'm fine Dad, just like every other time you've asked me." I giggled, walking over to a seat and sitting down as he dishes out the food between the two plates. Father sat down across from me as we thanked Ilias for the meal and began eating, occasionally chatting about recent events, enjoying the casual atmosphere. Suddenly, Father's face dropped into a serious, yet calm look,

"Toma, I'm going to have to head to Iliasburg, I should be back by the afternoon, if not tomorrow. In the meantime, I think you should go out and make some friends, you've barely even interacted with anyone your age."

"B-but Dad, the adults always seem to give me mean looks, w-what if I get people in trouble?" I sputter, my heart tightening up at the thought of facing the spiteful looks of the older members of the village,

"I know son, but they wont do anything to you, just go out there and behave nicely, if all goes well, you'll end the day with a couple of new playmates. It's better than being around this crummy old man all day." Father joked with a soft smile, his words calming me as I hesitantly nod. I follow him outside and he bids me farewell, walking towards the edge of the village while waving back at me, which I return slowly before moving in the opposite direction,

"I have to do this...I'll make Dad proud!" I chant to myself, a small smile finding it's way onto my face as I run off into the village. After a few minutes of running, I find some others kicking a ball around and approach them slowly, my tail idly swaying behind me, "Hey! Can I join you?" I call out, making all of them turn to look at me before they all stop playing and look at each other with nervous faces. Noticing their discomfort, I step forward, "Hey, what's wrong?" Each step I take seems to make them more nervous until...

"Waaaaaaah!","Monster!","Stay away!" They all scream as they run away, leaving me alone in the middle of the street with the villagers around me staring in contempt. Tears fill my eyes as I close them and run away, much to the jeers of the villagers around me, their voices spurring me onwards even as they fade from earshot. Suddenly, I run into something, knocking both me and it down as I sniffle, opening my eyes to see a boy roughly my age with purple hair on the floor across from me holding his shoulder, his blue eyes meeting my onyx ones,

"O-ow, you should watch where you are going, you could have hurt someone!" He scolds me, I flinch at his tone, looking away as I mumble sadly,

"S-sorry..." He seems to notice my sadness and calls it out,

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

"N-no, I...I'm fine." I lie, turning away before trying to get up, falling back to a knee as a sharp pain shoots through my ankle, causing me to let out a pained yelp,

"H-hey, stay here, I'll get help!" The boy says as he runs off towards the edge of the village, the same direction dad used to go whenever he went to go see a lady named Betty. I thought to myself, 'Maybe he's gone to find that Betty lady...Or he's just run away because I'm a monster...' I growl in anger as I try to force myself to my feet, determined to get back home on my own without help,

"Please wait!" An unfamiliar voice sounds out, causing me to turn my head back the way the lavender haired boy had ran; there, I saw a blonde, blue eyed woman alongside the boy from before, both quickly making their way over as I turn to face them, ceasing my attempts at standing, "Let me have a look at that, I can help you child." The lady, likely the kid's mother, requests, lifting my leg and looking at my ankle, "It's sprained, and it seems you've been running on it recently, it's all swollen. You need to rest, please, come with me." She tells me, a kind, comforting smile on her face. I pause, my mouth opens as if to say something, to refuse her offer of help and make my way back home to my father, but all that comes out is a weak, pitiful question:

"Why..." I croak out, my eyes growing blurry as I glare into theirs, "Why are you helping me!? Aren't I just a monster to both of you!?" I cry out, a faint wetness trailing down my cheeks as I sob, the lady pulling me into a hug which I melt into. I sit there in the arms of the strange woman as my heart pours out it's sorrow, her embrace never wavering as she rubs my back comfortingly. Eventually I calm down, my sniffles dying down until eventually the mother speaks up

"You aren't a monster, I know that much at least, little one. My name is Lucifina, and this is my son Luka, would you mind telling us your name?" She speaks softly, my eyes meeting hers as I pull away from the embrace and look up at her and back to Luka,

"I-I'm Toma..." I tell them, prompting Lucifina to smile and suddenly pick me up, causing me to let out a surprised noise in response, "Wha-!?"

"Now, lets take you back home, that ankle wont heal if you keep using it. I think I might have some ointment in the medicine cabinet..." She muses to herself, completely ignoring my squirming in her surprisingly strong grip.

"W-wait-wait!" I desperately call out, only for it to fall on death ears, much to Luka's amusement, a bout of laughter coming from him at my plight. After a minute of walking we arrive at an inn on the edge of Iliasville, Lucifina walks over, still holding me up with hardly any effort, and pushes open the door revealing a modestly decorated dining room.

"Right, let's set you down now, take a seat. Luka, could you be a dear and get that bottle in the small cabinet in the bathroom?" she points down a hall towards the other end of the building,

"Yes Mom!" He responds with a cheerful tone, quickly scampering off to the room she pointed out,

"Fufufu~ He's always so eager to help, I'm so lucky to have such a helpful son." She muses to herself before addressing me, "Now, Toma, what were you talking about when you said you are a monster?" I look down, my hands clasping together as I fidget nervously.

"I wanted to play with some of the other kids...They all just ran away from me, and all the grown ups kept making fun of me..." I tell her honestly, feeling weirdly compelled to tell her, "I don't know why they say that, papa-err, John, he tells me that it's because they don't understand, that I'm different and they don't like that." Lucifina hums in response, gently holding my tail as she inspects it,

"Hmm, curious...I meant it when I said you weren't a monster, I have seen many, and very few even bared a resemblance to you, however..." She runs a hand through my hair, watching it deform under the pressure before springing back into it's previous form, "Never mind, the point is: you aren't a monster, they just don't understand you. It's the same for us, Luka and I are not very well received in the village. The poor boy has hardly anyone to talk to outside of me or Betty on the off day of the week." Her eyes close slightly in pity and sadness, before returning to their previously kind glimmer. "Toma, I would like to ask something of you..."

"Y-yes ma'am?" I ask politely, causing a chuckle of amusement from Lucifina as she waves her hand,

"Please, Just call me Lucifina, or Lucy if you want. As for what I want from you...I want you to be Luka's friend." I look at her in confusion, prompting her to continue, "The villagers don't like any of us very much, I don't want to see two children suffer for something they cant control or for who their parents were." She grasped my hand gently and held it as she looked into my eyes, "What do you say?" After a few moments of contemplation, I meet her gaze and nod,

"Okay...Lucy." The mother beams with happiness as she hears this, right as Luka appears into the dining room with a small glass bottle with a clear liquid in it,

"Hey Mom! I found it!" He says proudly, puffing out his chest as Lucy takes it from him and ruffles his hair, before opening it and pouring some onto her hand,

"Okay, this might hurt." She warned, before pressing the cold, viscous liquid onto my injured foot and gently massaging it in, causing me to grit my teeth and groan from the aching pain shooting through my leg. After a few minutes of rubbing and a small amount of cloth, my ankle is fully covered and wrapped up; Lucifina walked away and picked up a small cane, "You might need this for a few days or so, just don't put too much weight on that ankle or it'll get worse." She warned, handing me the cane before taking my hand, "Now, let's get you home, don't want John to worry about you now." Me, Luka and Lucifina ended up walking back to me and my father's house; the son and daughter vividly chatting away and asking questions occasionally. We arrive at the house after a few minutes of walking - or in my case, limping - and the two begin heading back to their home, but not before Luka calls out while waving,

"Bye Toma! Let's play sometime!"

"Y-yeah, sure." I return the wave slowly, watching as they walk down the street before I turn away and hobble inside the house, "Ugh, how am I gonna explain this to Dad?" I mutter to myself while taking a seat at the dining room table, "I guess I'll just wait for him to get back..."

By the time Father got back into the house, it was already starting to get dark, the sunset casting golden-orange rays into the house as he smiled upon seeing me, "Hey son, how'd it g - oh my Ilias what happened!?" His voice and face quickly became panicked as he saw my injured foot and rushed over to get a closer look.

"Dad it's fine! I just hurt my ankle running around!" I half-lie, before motioning to the bandage, "See? It's fine, I got told I should let it rest for a while, so it must not be that bad." Dad's face softened as backed up before his face twisted in confusion,

"Wait, who treated you? Did you make a new friend?" He asked excitedly,

"Yeah, A boy named Luka; his mother Lucifina was nice enough to wrap it up and give me this." I hold up the walking stick for him to notice. Noticing a sudden odd look on his face, I call out to him, "Hey Dad? What's wrong?" Father stands up and gives me a small smile,

"Just...Righting a wrong."

[Third Person POV]

John stepped out from his home and into the sunset lit street, looking towards the edge of the village with determination as he began his trek towards the outer edge of the village; his face set into a frown as he marched through the empty streets, his long brown coat billowing gently in the wind with each step. As he approached the edge of the village he saw the familiar sight of Betty on her porch, the slightly older lady noticing him and calling out, "Oh, John, leaving again so soon? I thought you just got back from Iliasburg?" She asked with a small amount of concern. The man flashed her a comforting smile,

"No, no, I just need to talk to Lucifina, is she still in her home?"

"John, what are you thinking of doing? You never even cared about her existence before, what's changed now?" Betty asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowing in disapproval, "You'd better not do something I'll make you regret..." John flinched and put his hands up placatingly,

"N-no! Good heavens, no! I just..." He took in a breath to calm himself before continuing, "I just want to thank them, my boy got hurt and they helped him, Betty. You know how much I care for the kid." He sighed as he adjusted his coat, his shoulders slumping in shame, "I know how they feel now, and I understand it's too late to come crying to them about my own plight but I want to at least set things straight." Betty looked at him with a judging gaze, seeing the earnest look on his face.

"Alright, I can see you aren't faking it. Go on, she's in there. Don't cause any more trouble for her now, she's been through a lot already." John nodded his head in agreement,

"Yeah, don't worry, I wont." And with that, he continued onwards, his steps bringing him up to the door. He breathed out a nervous sigh as he heard the humming of Lucifina through the door before rapping his knuckles on the wood, silencing the talking on the other side. After a few seconds of silence he heard footsteps coming to the door before it opened, revealing the face of the mother as she peered out,

"Hello, can I help you?" She asked politely, easing John's worries as he introduced himself,

"Good Evening to you Lucifina, my name is John, Toma's father. May I come in and speak with you?" She nodded and opened the door for him to come in, offering him a seat at the table as she went and rummaged through the cupboards.

"I'm sorry I haven't gotten anything out, I was not expecting visitors at this time." She apologised, pulling out a small tea set and placing it before them, sitting down at her own chair, "What is it you wanted to talk about?" John rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke,

"I heard about what you did for my son." He began, gratitude filling his voice as he spoke again, "And I wanted to thank you, for being there for him when I couldn't." Lucifina smiled at his words, waving them off,

"It's fine, it was nothing really. I just did what anyone would do in that situation, what they should do." She emphasized, pouring them both a cup of tea, the man before her nodding in thanks as he took a drink.

"Look, I...I'm sorry. For both myself and the village's treatment of you. I know I can't change their minds, but...If you need anything, just tell me. I'll see what I can do." He said with no small amount of regret in his tone, "My son is all I have...If something happened to him...I'd never be able to forgive myself." He whispered hoarsely, feeling the familiar sting of tears building in his eyes as he averted his gaze to the table. Lucifina reached over to place a hand on his shoulder,

"You are a good father, John. Taking in a child and raising them like you have is impressive, and you should feel proud that he's growing up so well." She applauded him, before sitting back up and taking a sip of the tea she had poured, "Though If you don't mind me asking, how did you find the boy? He's obviously quite an odd child." John rubbed his head with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair as he began to speak,

"I...I can't tell you much, all I can say is that I found him in the mountains when I went on a pilgrimage. His parents died and sent him away, so I took him in under Ilias' order." Lucifina's face twitched, but he failed to notice as he carried on, "The first few years...They were rough. I started doubting myself, thought that maybe I wasn't cut out for being a parent you know? But I persevered and eventually...I came to care for him." John took in a deep breath, seeming to age visibly as he cradled his head in his hands, "Now I'm just...Worried for him, you know? If something happens to me, he'll... I'm afraid he'll be targeted for it." After a brief period of silence, the man looked back up, "I hate to request this from you, I don't feel I deserve it but I ask of you, if anything happens to me; if I'm ever unable to be there for him, just take care of him in my stead." Lucifina looked back at him, her face softening at his plight. After a few seconds she responded,

"Very well, may I ask that you do the same for my boy, Luka?" John nodded, his gaze filled with sincerity,

"Of course, thank you, again. This means a lot to me." He smiled before looking at the grandfather clock against the wall, "I should get back, It's about time I get Toma to bed, poor kid's probably falling asleep already." The man stands up and adjusts his coat, before bidding her goodbye and exiting the house.

[A Year Later, Iliasville, Toma's POV]

"See ya Dad! I'll be back soon!" I call out as I run out of the house, speeding my way towards Luka's house with a grin on my face, "Heh, today's gonna be great!" I snicker to myself, waving at Betty as I blaze past before stopping at the door of my destination. Letting out a sigh, I knock twice on the door, listening for any footsteps inside; my ears perk up at the sound light thuds approaching the door before it opens to reveal Luka, "Hey Luka, how's Aunt Lucy?" I ask as I step inside, taking a seat on one of the chairs at the dining room table. Luka's face drops into a sad frown,

"Mom's still not better... Betty even went to the healer to try and buy some medicine but they wont let her buy it." He said with a downcast tone, his shoulders sagging as he walks over to another chair, "I'm scared Toma, what if she never gets better? I don't want to lose her!" I grin as I get up and walk over, placing a hand on his shoulder,

"She will, I've got a genius plan! You and me are gonna head to the healer and get her what she needs. It's fool proof!" I tell him with a cheeky tone, "Lets go! I'll explain on the way." We walk out of the house and begin our trek towards the healer's cabin,

"So what did think of? You aren't exactly the first person I think of when it comes to smart plans." Luka remarks, causing me to pout,

"Hey! I can be smart when I need to! The plan is simple: I go in and distract him by stealing something, he runs out after me." I point to him, "Then you come in, walk into the back and take the medicine we need. Once I've lost him, I'll meet you back at Betty's house and we can give your mom the medicine." I explain, smiling while puffing my chest out in pride,

"B-but that's stealing! We'd get in trouble!"

"Who cares? We wanted to buy it but they wouldn't give it to us. Besides, I heard from my father that the guards at the temple are starting to hate the guy anyway, he keeps telling them they don't need to use herbs for their training wounds." I inform him as we step into view of the healer's, "Alright, when he runs out, you know what to do, until then, try not to get any attention." I whisper to Luka before  walking into the healer's. The old man at the counter's eyes narrow in disgust,

"What do you want, you little abomination?" He snarls, "I told you that you can forget about that medicine, you and that outsider brat of hers." I smirk as I lean against one of the walls, eyeing up a bundle of herbs,

"Well, I just wanted to get some healing herbs, you seem to have a good stock in here so I'll take a few off your hands." I say as I swipe a few from the shelf and start to walk out. The man's eyes widen as his face goes red in rage,

"Why you little rat! Get back here with those!" And with that I start running, hearing the thunderous steps of the shopkeep as he chases after me,

"Maybe I'll share some with the guards! They'll be happy to know that I liberated a few from the old bat at the healers!" I taunt, giggling as he roars out in rage and indignation, "What's wrong? Failing to keep up with me!?" I call back at him, noticing that I'm gaining distance on him,

"I'll have your head for this you filthy monster! You'll pay!" He screams, panting heavily as he stops and starts trudging back the way we came.

"Heh, as If, at least some people are on my side." I scoff under my breath, beginning my walk back to Betty's; the surprisingly less scornful looks from some of the villagers being proof of the animosity he had accrued. After a few minutes of walking, I arrive at Betty's, seeing Luka standing there with a familiar vial of liquid in his hand, "Great! You got it! Now all we gotta do is break the news to Aunt Lucy and we'll give her the medicine, I told you to believe in me more often."

"Toma, last time I believed in you, you were hanging upside down from a tree and I had to get Hans to come and get you down. Why did you even have that book on how to create a snare trap in the first place?" I scratched the back of my head nervously as we made our way into his house,

"I told you, my dad has a bunch of these hunting books, I wanted to try and learn something." I told him sheepishly before walking over to Aunt Lucy's room and knocking, "Hey, Aunt Lucy! We got you the medicine! Are you awake!?" I called out through the door, only to hear silence to my surprise, "Huh, Dad said I'm quite loud, should we go in and wake her up?" I ask Luka, my friend shaking his head in the positive. I open the door quietly before stepping inside and letting the door swing wide for Luka, "Hey, Aunt Lucy? Wake up, we got your medicine." I repeat as I walk closer, reaching out to jostle her slightly, "Lucy?" I call out, getting up onto the bed to pat shake her more roughly, "Hey, wake up, this isn't funny, we have your medicine!" I tell her, only for her to stay still, her head slumped to the side. Luka followed me up and tried himself,

"M-mom, we got your medicine, please get up." He sounded on the verge of tears, my own heart racing as I grab both of her shoulders,

"Aunt Lucy! Wake up! You can get better! You can..." I trail off as I notice something, looking down at her, I bring a hand to her mouth, "O-oh no...Aunt Lucy!" I cry out, tears filling my eyes as I jump off the bed in horror, "N-nonono! I'll get Betty! She'll know what to do!" I run out of the house as fast as I can, my ears picking up Luka's sorrowful wailing as I sprint towards Betty's house. I almost slam into the door in my haste, hammering my fist on the door violently, "Betty! Please come out! It's Aunt Lucy!" I sob, tears rolling down my eyes as I do my best to keep from breaking down into tears. Betty rushes to the door and I tell her what happened,

"Toma, go get your father, I'll go and see to Luka! Go!" She urges me, rushing off towards the faint sound of Luka's haunting cries; I follow her orders as I run faster than I ever had before, almost bowling into other villagers on the way to my house; their scolding yells falling on deaf ears as I barge through the door of my house, startling Father,

"D-Dad, Aunt Lucy's in trouble! Please help!" I beg him, his eyes widening as he gets up and rushes out the house, my own pace matching his as we rush back to Luka's house. Arriving back there in record time, we can still hear Luka's sobs as Betty stands outside, her own face marred with tears,

"B-Betty, Lucifina, is she...?" John asks, his voice quivering with emotion as Betty sadly nods,

"She's gone, John...She went in peace." Betty's own voice was shaky, clearly trying to hold back her own sadness as I wasted no time to rush inside, stomping into main bedroom where Luka was hunched over Aunt Lucy. I stood there for a second before treading closer, my steps uneven as my entire body felt heavy, "N-no...No you can't go yet, we did it! We got your medicine! You were supposed to get better!" I cried, rushing forward to grab Lucifina's arm, "P-please...Wake up...Please..." My eyes glued themselves shut as I prayed to Ilias for something, anything to happen; there was no response, nothing, just the sound of our cries as we held onto the woman who the both of us considered a mother.

Some time passed before we were pried from Aunt Lucy's form, John and Betty having to hold us from rushing back to her as they took us back to my house; me and Luka were left with Betty as Father began to dig a small grave behind Luka's house; the both of us were inconsolable as Betty held us until we fell asleep in her arms, exhausting ourselves both mentally and physically as we cried ourselves into slumber. The makeshift funeral was held the next day, Betty and Hans having to muscle their way into getting a suitable coffin for Aunt Lucy as we all said our goodbyes, some more teary than others as Father and Hans buried Lucifina; the latter's face was twisted into a sorrowful frown, an almost ludicrous expression for the normally stoic lumberjack.

[Heaven, Third Person POV]

Ilias glared down at the proceedings before her, "You were stubborn, Lucifina. All you had to do was call upon your power again and you would have lived." She began, her eyes narrowing as she hissed, "Do you hate me so much, that you would condemn your son to watching you be buried before him?" Her voice wavered as she spoke, the aching in her chest prompting her to growl in frustration. Ilias's wrathful visage looked upon the rest of the village, many of them happily going about their day with little care of the macabre news spreading throughout town, "And you...How dare you...Your impudence will be punished, and I know just how to do it..." She snarled, waving her hand over the villagers on display through her magic, "I hope you'll enjoy the slow and painful death I've crafted for you all, suffer as she did like the good little wastes of life you all are." Her gaze shifted back to the funeral, her anger momentarily simmering as she gazed at Toma, the monkey-tailed boy making her grin sinisterly, "I think I have an idea..." She snickered menacingly, "And I know a little angel who just loves ideas..."

With a flash of light, Ilias appeared within the well-lit atrium of a lab, her eyes quickly finding a familiar tall, red-headed figure hunched over a desk as she waltzed over, "Ah Promestein, I have a task for you, I trust you aren't busy..." Ilias' voice rang out through the lab, causing the now named Promestein to turn around, her bespectacled face showing mild surprise,

"No. What is it you require, my goddess?" She asks, turning back around to continue writing on a piece of paper. Ilias struts over and leans against the desk, a smug look painting her face,

"Well I have a little proposition for you...You might find it interesting..."

[A Week Later, Iliasville]

John sat by his son's bed, staring down worriedly at the boy as he weakly groaned. It had been sudden, one moment a villager had fallen ill, the next: half of the village was slowly and painfully dying. The father of the boy had watched as Toma gradually got weaker and weaker, eventually being unable to even walk without assistance before being bedridden by the unknown contagion, 'Please, Ilias, hear my prayer. Please don't take him from me...He's done nothing to deserve this torture.' John prayed, his eyes welling with tears as he clenched them shut. Suddenly, a small flash of light found it's way into the room, the man in the room jolting to attention and moving back as the light consolidated into a tall female figure clad in a white labcoat with two dull white wings,

"You are the one named John, correct?" She asked in a dull tone, her eyes showing nothing but apathy for the man.

"Y-yes! Did Ilias send you?" John's voice filled with hope, his previous tears forgotten about as his mood took an about turn at the arrival of the mysterious woman, "C-can you do anything for him? Please, I-"

"Be quiet. Yes Ilias sent me, now let me do what I need to do." She rudely interrupted, her tone showing a slight hint of annoyance as she pulled out a couple of syringes, "I'm going to need some blood samples to be able to synthesize a cure for the boy, in the mean time, you will give him this." She pulls out a bottle of a dark liquid, "This will keep him from getting worse until I have a suitable treatment for him." John looked at her in confusion,

"W-wait, but why can't Ilias just heal him herself? S-she can do that, can't she?" Promestein shook her head in the negative,

"In normal cases, yes. But for him, his genetic makeup is much different from a regular human. Ilias would not have sent me if she could have done it herself with one hundred percent safety." The red headed angel informed him as she carefully extracted some samples of Toma's blood. Once she finished, she pocketed the samples and turned to John, "Don't forget to give him that medicine. Once I have the vaccine, I'll come and administer it." With that, the angel disappears with the same flash of light she came in with, leaving the father and son alone in the room.

[Heaven]

Promestein walked through the empty halls of her lab, the vials of blood that she had collected jingling within her labcoat pocket, 'These samples should be enough for a few tests. I look forward to seeing what secrets this child's DNA holds.' She thought to herself, stepping through a doorway to see the form of a girl wearing a blue and white dress waiting for her,

"Hey Prommie~, where did you run off to earlier...?" The girl asked, a deranged smile on her face as she skips over, leaning in to inspect the angel, "Did you really go to have fun without me? That's so mean of you~" Promestein resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she carried on past the odd girl to her desk.

"I was merely indulging an interest, Ilias found a unique boy that she wanted me to investigate. I took some blood samples, I doubt it's something you would be interested in, Black Alice." The girl merely hummed cutely at the dismissive words of the angel,

"A pity, I've been cooped up for so long~" Black Alice playfully whined, "Ilias wont let me have any fun...It's enough to turn a girl to tears..." She sniffled as she looked away dramatically, "To think...This would be my end, a death of boredom..." Promestein kept her eyes on the desk as she stored away the vials of blood,

"I'm sure you will live." She remarked dryly, immediately getting to work on studying the plundered blood she had obtained. The Eighth Monster Lord pouted at the dismissive response, before huffing and walking off,

"Very well. I trust you'll let me know if that 'interest' of yours affects our plan. I'd hate to have to...Intervene, shall we say~?" She giggled maliciously, leaving the studious angel to her own devices.

[A Week Later, Iliasville]

John woke up to the noise of footsteps outside his door, immediately jumping to his feet in fear as it opened, only for him to be overcome with relief as he saw the familiar spiky hair of Toma. The boy grinned and ran to hug his father, the two embracing each other tightly in joy, "My boy! You're awake! And-oof-hugging me too tightly...!" John groaned out as Toma sheepishly laughed,

"Whoops! Sorry Dad, It's just...I thought I'd never get better. Like Aunt Lucy..." The boy's face dropped into a sad frown, the emotional wound left from the death of Lucifina still weighing heavily on all who knew her. John frowned at the sudden shift and decided to change topic,

"Never mind that for now, son. How are you feeling? Do you feel weird in any way?" He asked the saiyan, his eyes roaming over his body in concern, "I trust Ilias' judgement but I want to hear it from you." Toma checked his body for anything odd, frowning in confusion,

"Now that you mention it, I feel...Really good, like I'm full of energy!" He smiles as he jumps in place, "And I feel way lighter too! Like a weight has been lifted off of me." John smiles at the reinvigorated boy, his haggard face from his worry-fueled sleepless nights finally lightening up,

"That's great to hear son. Welcome back." The two walk outside and into the empty street, much to Toma's confusion,

"Hey, Dad. Where is everyone?" His father's face turns serious as he surveys the street, a sigh coming from his lips as he explains,

"Most of the village is gone now, Toma. The village was hit by a plague, the same one both you and Lucifina were afflicted with. The ones who were initailly infected passed away, and the ones who weren't ended up migrating up north towards Iliasport, fearing that it might spread." The older man looked down and quickly added, "Betty and Hans are safe, as is Luka...And of course I'm here still, so there's no need to poke me as if I'm a ghost!" He yelled in playful indignation, the boy recoiling with a sheepish laugh and apology. The two walk down the desolate street towards Luka's home, the sound of their voices echoing emptily throughout the village.

"It's kinda creepy now...But it's also kind of nice." Toma remarks, looking around with a small smile, "Being able to walk around without being glared at is sweet." John chuckled at the boy's words,

"Don't worry, I've talked to some of the people in Iliasburg, hopefully the village will get up and running again. The folk over there seem a good bit more accepting, so hopefully they bring that with them when the new settlers come in." The two reach Luka's house and knock at the door, hearing a short shout of acknowledgement before the door swings open,

"Oh, hello John- T-Toma!?" Luka sputters, clearly shocked before he rushes forward and hugs his friend, "I-I thought you wouldn't wake up!" He cried as Toma chuckled lightly at his reaction,

"Well you know me, I've been through worse." He said dismissively before returning the hug, "But yeah, missed you too Luka." John chuckled at the two's heartfelt reunion,

"What do you say we celebrate? Who's up for fishing!?" He cheered, followed by the cheers of agreement from the two boys.

Chapter Text

[10 Years Later, Iliasville, Toma's POV]

The streets of Iliasville were bustling with activity, foreign merchants selling their wares at various stands as I walked through while pulling a cart of pelts. Shortly after my recovery from the plague that had assailed the village, Luka had expressed his desire for coexistence and to become a hero; John, being the ever-helpful man that he was, encouraged the idea by recommending that we learn basic survival skills in case we ever needed to camp out in the wilderness. In the following years, Luka and I trained in the village's surrounding forest, learning how to set traps and hunt the smaller creatures that called the forest home, while also keeping an eye out for any monsters that might have wandered nearby. Eventually, the two of us got into a pattern of sorts, with me being the more physically gifted one, I would often be the one doing most of the hunting while Luka was tasked with preparing and cooking whatever I was able to find.

My hand unconsciously slid down to the small blade that rested within its sheath on my hip; the blade had been a gift from my father, who'd asked a blacksmith on one of his business trips to Iliasburg to forge a sturdy hunting knife. I turned the corner and saw the local tailor, the portly man's eyes twinkling with delight at my collection,

"Toma! It's fantastic to see you again. Here to sell me some more pelts?" I chuckle at his enthusiasm as I respond,

"Yep, managed to get a good haul today. Al was certainly happy with it at least." The short man guffaws at my words,

"I'm sure he was!" He said mirthfully, before sighing, "It's not going to be the same without you, my boy. You've no idea how much you have helped this old coot..." He wiped his eyes with a shaky breath, trying to hold back tears. I sigh with a smile on my face as I kneel and put a hand on his shoulder,

"I'm sure you'll manage Oz, you always do. I'll see you around." The man sniffles slightly at my words before nodding,

"M-maybe you are right...Just don't forget us little people when you become a great hero." He mutters. I stand up and scoff in amusement,

"Not in a million years Oz." And with that, I leave the cart with him, walking off towards Luka's house to meet up with him. Rounding the corner, I'm met with the sight of my father walking from Luka's house; our gazes meet and he smiles nervously,

"Toma...How are you, son?" I walk closer and embrace him, smiling happily,

"I'm good Father, I assume you are here to say goodbye?" The old man solemnly nods,

"Yes, I... I just wanted to tell you something... In case I never got to get the chance to again." His arms reach out to grasp my shoulders gently, "I am proud of you, of the man you've become...I know that once you leave... I may never get to see you again-" his eyes water as he tries to carry on, "-so I wanted to say...Come back safe." I smirk at him as my own eyes tear up, a sad chuckle coming from me.

"You sure know how to make it emotional, Dad," I pull him into another hug, my arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, "I will...I promise...I'll come back." We stood there for a few seconds before going our separate ways. When I arrive at Luka's house, I knock on the door, listening to the excited footsteps approaching the entrance, before it swings open revealing the smaller form of Luka.

"Toma! Come in!" He chirps, stepping aside to let me in as I take a seat at the table,

"So, excited for the baptism, Luka?" I ask, smirking at the bright smile on his face,

"Yeah! I can't wait to finally get started. What about you?" I shrug nonchalantly, not seeing much reason to look forward to it.

"I guess, I'm less interested in what I'm getting from it than what the ritual actually involves. I mean, no offence to the guards here, but they are baptised and they haven't really...Y'know, got any cool abilities or even anything substantial from it." Luka chuckles nervously at my words, an unspoken agreement that, while the guards are sufficient in defending against the monsters here, they lack any unique abilities or strength. Suddenly, the piercing screams of a panicked villager reached our ears,

"Help! There's a monster!" Instinctively, my hand went to my back, only for me to click my tongue in annoyance as I realised I had left my spear back at my house. I looked to Luka, seeing him don his red cape and grab his sword,

"We have to go face it!" The smaller boy yells as he runs out the door, causing me to almost trip in my haste to follow him,

"H-Hey Luka! Wait up!" I call out, vaguely aware of Betty as she warns us to let the guards take care of the monster. I catch up relatively quickly to the purple-haired boy, ducking and weaving between the thick forest vegetation, before we both stop and stare at the sight in front of us. In front of us was an odd, translucent blue figure: clearly female from the breast-like mounds of slime and formations of slime on her head to mimic hair,

"Wow~! I found two travellers~ You both look yummy...!" The slime sang, giving us both a lustful look, "Hey, I'm hungry~... Give me some semen..." The sudden request made me do a double-take, our first encounter with a monster, and all it asked for was...Semen?

"H-Hey, can you leave...? There's a village close by," Luka begins nervously, our eyes meeting for a second, "you are scaring the villagers." The girl giggles mischievously in response,

"I'm too hungry... If you won't give me some...Then I'll just take it!" The girl's arm extends out, twin tendrils forming from the limb as I grab Luka and pull us back.

"Hey! The hell's your problem!?" I question her, readying myself in case she decides to attack again, with Luka doing the same and lifting his blade,

"Hihihi! Is that your daddy, little boy? Don't worry, I won't hurt you~" The comment sends me into a fit of laughter as the so-called 'boy' wheels around to punch me indignantly,

"D-don't laugh, you ass! It's not funny!" I wipe the tears from my face as I calm myself down,

"S-Sorry, it's just...Just- Ahahaha!" I burst back into laughter at the caped hero's attempt to look threatening before composing myself again, "Ah...We should probably-eh?" I look down to see a puddle of blue...Slime?

"Gotcha~!" The puddle rises and wraps around our feet, prompting both of us to struggle against the restraints as the girl slides closer, "Now, it's time to puru puru! ♪" Her hands reach out for our waists, only for me to manage to pull myself out of my bindings with a yell. I staggered back and quickly rebalanced myself before lunging forward with a strong punch, smacking wetly against the slime girl's face as she recoiled in pain,

"O-Owie~" She moaned, faltering enough so that Luka could escape and lash out with his sword, slicing into the slimy body of the monster, before the gash seemingly closed up. The girl glowered at us as she spoke, "You two are mean! That punch hurt!" The girl jiggled in what seemed to be anger before huffing, "Fine if you want to be mean, I'll get serious!" Me and Luka shared a look before glaring back at the monster, readying ourselves for the fight. I rush forward and punch out again, only for the slime to deform around my fist, holding me by my forearm,

"W-What the-!?" I stutter, feeling the cool and surprisingly nice feeling of the slime on my arm, causing the slime girl to giggle,

"It feels good right~? Let me make you feel even better. ♪" Her hand reached down to rub at my crotch, causing me to grunt in embarrassment and pleasure before I yanked my arm with all of my strength, causing it to come free and send me tumbling backwards. Luka rushed over to me in worry, kneeling to pull me up,

"I'm fine...Just caught me off guard is all." I told him with a blush, "It seems like heavy attacks aren't going to work on her. We need to damage her quicker than she can remould herself." The boy nodded as we both stood up and rushed towards the slime girl, trying to overwhelm her with quick attacks; I immediately backed off, however, when Luka started flailing his sword wildly, the blade swinging out in wide arcs as the slime girl cried out in pain,

"Ahh! Leave me alone! Meanie!" And with that, the slime girl slid off as fast as she could.

"Wow... I actually feel bad about that one." I muttered after a moment of silence, "I mean, you kinda just...Flailed." Luka's head dropped in shame as I patted him on the back, "But hey, it could have been worse. At least we saved the village." And at that, we began our walk back to the village, albeit with a slight bit of guilt coursing through our hearts; Our walk back was abruptly cut short, as a shockwave echoed throughout the forest, causing us to stumble at the sudden force,

"W-What was that!?" Luka called out fearfully, as both of us looked towards the source of the sound,

"How would I know!? I may be taller than you, but I'm not tall enough to see over these trees!" I snapped back at him before we ran over to where the noise came from. We arrived in a small clearing, some of the trees nearby having blown over by whatever caused the shockwave, 

"W-We should be careful," Luka whispered, getting a nod from me as we slowly crept into the clearing, "Wait, there's something in the middle..." Seeing the lip of a crater, we inched closer before looking into it. A long, serpentine monster lay in the middle of the crater; the upper half of her body was humanoid, with long silver hair, light purple skin, and pointed ears, while the lower half was that of a snake, with red scales covering the outside. I pulled Luka back to whisper to him,

"I think we should probably leave, the baptism is soon..." Luka looks at me with a conflicted expression, his eyes darting between me and the monster's location before his eyes take on a determined look,

"No, we can't just leave her here, we have to help her." I look on at him in shock, and then begin smiling, rubbing my eyes playfully,

"My boy has grown up...I'm so proud..." Luka merely grumbles as he walks over and into the crater, with me following closely behind. After a few moments of checking her for injuries, I decided to tap her shoulder, only to watch in horror as her eyes opened before I could even reach down. The three of us stare at each other awkwardly, before I smile nervously and decide to speak up, "Yo-Ack!" As soon as I opened my mouth, the snake girl burst into action, her tail wrapping around both of us tightly, binding us.

"Where am I?" The girl questioned, glaring at us in suspicion as Luka intelligently responded,

"Eh?"

"I said: where am I?" The girl's coils tighten around us, making me hiss in discomfort,

"A-ah...You are just outside of Iliasville." My fellow prisoner finally answers, making her grip loosen up,

"That far, huh...? That girl has some crazy strength..." The monster hums to herself, before giving us a stern look as she sets us down, "Now, who are you both?" I let out a sigh of relief upon being placed on the ground,

"Uh...I'm Toma, and the one who just told you where we are is called Luka. We are apprentice heroes." I inform her, only to feel dread creep down the back of my spine at the lustful look on her face,

"Oh, a hero you say? So the both of you aren't baptized yet? You do smell quite delicious..." The mention of the baptism causes both me and Luka to snap to attention,

"Oh no! We need to go Toma!" Luka shouts. I nod back as we begin to run off, only to be wrapped up in the lamia's tail once again,

"Not so fast. That makes more sense now; you both are going to be baptized because it is Ilias' birthday today." I groan as I writhe in the grasp of her tail

"Yes! Now can you please let go!? We can't wait another year!" I tell her with a sense of urgency, only for the girl to scoff,

"A baptism...How foolish of you both." A choked noise comes from Luka at her words as I growl in annoyance,

"What's that supposed to mean!?" I demand, only to be silenced by a glare from her. The lamia brings the both of us closer as she asks,

"Why did you not try to kill me...? As heroes, that would be your duty..." Luka and I stared at her in confusion as we spoke in unison,

"What? Why would we kill you?" The lady stares at us in shock and a slight amount of discomfort,

"I-I'm a monster of course...And what was with that sync-up...? That was creepy..."

"B-but we had no way of knowing if you were good or bad, how could we take your life over chance?" Luka retorted, causing the woman to ponder his words,

"Hmm, so you both don't see all monsters as your enemy? How do you expect to become a hero that doesn't kill monsters, when your main goal would be to kill the Monster Lord?" I looked at Luka as he began his speech about coexistence, sighing as I realized that we'd probably end up missing our baptism. I'm brought out of my thoughts by the shaking of the monster's tail, followed by her annoyed voice,

"Finally back to reality? I was asking about why you were aspiring to be a hero since you obviously share the same view as this idiot."

"Me? I suppose I'm doing it for the same reason in the end, I just want to bring peace...And do something exciting." I told her honestly, causing her to deadpan,

"Another idiot? When are you both going to wake up to reality?" She snorted derisively, "Monsters and humans living in harmony? How immature of you both." My eye twitched as she took in a deep breath, "You both haven't grown out of that childish mindset yet. Just go..." And with that, she released us, causing me to fall onto my ass in surprise,

"W-What do you know!? You idiot!" Luka yells, having already started running. I scrambled to my feet to start running after him, only for the lamia to grab onto my arm,

"Wait...What are you?" She asks, having noticed the tail protruding from my lower back,

"Huh? What do you mean?" I responded, as I looked at her in confusion, "I'm a human as far as I know..." The monster stares at me incredulously before shaking her head

"Hmph, never mind...Aren't you going to hurry after your friend? I thought you were excited about that useless ritual." I rub the back of my neck as I look the way he went. Judging by the time we spent talking, even if we were to run, we'd definitely have missed the baptism,

"Well, I think we might have missed it already...It's unfortunate, but I'm sure we'll manage." I angled a look at her, "You said something about the baptism, do you know what it does?" I asked, prompting her to scoff at my question,

"It does nothing but ruin your taste. Baptised heroes' semen tastes like Angel Liver." I stared at her in confusion and disgust, my mouth opening and closing as I tried to formulate a sentence,

"I...What...I'm just- I'm just gonna go, I could have lived without knowing now." I said as I began walking back to the village, turning my head to see the lamia was gone. Eventually, I arrived back at the village, heading straight to Luka's house instead of the church; as I got there, I saw Luka trudging along the street towards me, his shoulders slumped and his face contorted in a sad frown. I sighed as I walked over to him and slung an arm around his shoulders, "Cheer up bud, I'm sure we'll be great heroes without Ilias' blessing" I told him as I opened the door for him, "now let's not worry about that, and just...focus..." Sitting in the middle of the room, the lamia from before crossed her arms as she levelled us a disappointed look,

"You two are slow."

"W-What?/The fuck?" Luka and I blurted respectively at the sight of the monster in Luka's house,

"W-Who are you?" Luka stuttered, clearly taken aback and shaken by the unexpected appearance.

"Just a travelling monster..." That was not much of an answer, so I decided to speak up next,

"How did you even get here in the first place?" The girl huffed before speaking,

"I just followed both of your unsophisticated scents, and it led me here."

"How did you even get into the village without causing panic?" Luka spoke up,

"It's easy to trick humans. Just who do you think I am?"

"You didn't tell us!" We both shouted. I sighed at the odd monster's antics before noting something important,

"So, why are you actually here? The baptism didn't happen, so what's the point of being here? You here to gloat or something?" The girl lets out a satisfied hum at my words,

"Well...I did want to know if the baptism went through. Judging by the purple idiot's face, I'd say she didn't show up." I notice Luka perked up in surprise at her words before she continued with an almost smug smile on her face, "She deserved that for giving me those wounds..." I leaned to whisper into Luka's ear as she carried on,

"Hey, I think she might have hit her head, she's delusional..."

"Yeah, there's no way she met Ilias..." A glare from the monster quickly shut us up as she motioned to the kitchen area,

"I'm hungry. Get me some food." I sweatdrop at the request as Luka begrudgingly accepts her request. I take a seat as I wait for Luka to be done, only for the lamia girl to slither over to me,

"Huh? Can I help you?" I ask her, looking up at her from my chair as she leans down and sniffs me, causing me to yelp and fall backwards on my chair with a loud *THUNK*,

"Hmm, Interesting. You certainly don't smell like a monster...Yet, there's no doubt in my mind that you are more than just a human..."

"W-What is that supposed to mean!? You can't just go up to a guy and sniff them like that! That's creepy as hell!" I chide her as I get back up, pulling the chair up and sitting back down. After a few minutes of tense, awkward silence, Luka goes towards Alice and hands her a plate of what seemed to be dry meat,

"This is all I had...The rest is packed away for our journey." The monster looks at the meat with a disappointed gaze, her eyes flicking up to meet Luka's,

"This is pathetic..." Nonetheless, she devoured the meat with little more complaint, a pleased smile appearing on her face, "Hm, not bad. It's seasoned well and the spices compliment the meat."

"Yep, that's Luka's cooking for you." I tell her with a shrug, "I've never known a better cook...Though to be fair I don't know many." I add with an embarrassed look. The lamia stared at me with a deadpan before continuing,

"Right... Well, either way, I doubt I'll need the main dish for now..." Me and Luka looked at her in confusion before it slowly dawned on us, a blush appearing on both of our faces. I coughed to break the tension that began to build after that comment,

"So...Why are you still here? We kinda need to get going soon..." She closed her eyes in thought, before humming,

"Ah, the truth then...I came because of your childishness... You both are idiots, but...Those foolish ideals are interesting and, while they are ridiculous...They are nice to see. I'd like to join you on this journey of yours." Luka and I stared at the monster in a mixture of shock and confusion; the change from calling our reasons for becoming heroes ridiculous, to wanting to join us was enough to throw both of us through a loop. I sighed as I gave Luka a pat on the back, my face showing my unwillingness to carry this conversation on,

"You can make the choice here. I'll go get my stuff and meet you outside the village once I've finished." The boy nodded back with a similar countenance before I opened the door and walked out towards my house, quickly arriving and stepping inside, much to the surprise of my father,

"Oh, Toma! I heard about the baptism...Are you still planning on going?" John asked, to which  I smirked and pointed my thumb at my chest,

"Of course, we aren't going to let some baptism get in our way of spreading peace!" I declared before  I looked around and quickly noticed my trusty hunting spear; the spear was actually just a gift from some of the guards stationed here, they often have a number of spare spears in reserve in case of emergencies, this one having been given to me after I did some quick tasks for the local quartermaster. The size of it was a large problem for me in the beginning, being a two-handed weapon, it was not made with agility in mind, so I cut off the handle to make it more suitable for quicker, decisive attacks. I grabbed the spear and slung it over my back, before grabbing my travel pack and heading out, flashing my father a sincere smile, "I'll be back, Dad." The old man returned the smile before I closed the door behind me and made my way towards the outer edge of the village.

Upon arriving outside of the village, I walked a fair distance down the main path and was greeted by the sight of Luka and the same lamia from earlier,

"It took you long enough. Were you planning on making us wait all day?" the snake-like monster sneered at me, my eyes narrowing in challenge,

"What, you wanted me to come out without my own set of supplies? Sure, let me make our already unprepared situation worse!" I growled, annoyed at the accusing tone of the monster already. Luka quickly came between us and broke up the confrontation,

"Stop it both of you! Alice, it's been ten minutes, we aren't desperate for time. Toma, there's no need for the sass" He scolded both of us, causing both me and the now-named Alice to huff and look away, "Now that everyone is here, we can get going. Oh, and Toma, this is-"

"-Alice. I heard you the first time." I looked at Alice and nodded, "It's, uh...Certainly something to meet you I guess?" I offered with a shrug, the lamia merely giving a hum of acknowledgement as we began to walk down the path. A bit into the journey, Luka gave a sad sigh and spoke aloud,

"Oh Ilias...Did you really abandon me? I was waiting for so long..." I walked over and patted him on the back as Alice scoffed,

"Are you still on about that? Why would you want to be a slave of Ilias anyway?" I shrugged at her words,

"I don't know, you get some pretty nice benefits for being a hero...Like steal-Appropriating things from people, discounts, and admiration." I told her, the lamia giving me a suspicious look, "And as you said...It makes your semen taste bad for monsters, so it'd stand to reason that monsters wouldn't try and eat you, right?" Alice nodded before she gave us an odd look,

"It's why you two smell so delicious~" Me and Luka unconsciously shuffled closer together in fear, with the latter letting out a squeak from her worrying words. Alice spoke up again to break the silence, "So, where are we heading? Are you just going to head straight to the Monster Lord's castle?" Luka pulled out his map and began telling her the path we were going to take: Heading north to Iliasburg, then north again to Iliasport, and taking a ferry across the channel to Sentora. Alice seemed to glower at the names, "Iliasville, Iliasburg, Iliasport. That goddess sure loves to spout her name about..." I saw the boy next to me about to respond to her, likely in indignation if his angered face was anything to go by,

"She does have a point, Luka. These names are kinda scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of creativity." Suddenly, we heard an odd noise in front of us, causing me and Luka to quickly stop and tense up: standing in front of us was a woman, seemingly some kind of noble judging from the dress and hat she wore...Wait, was that slime coming from under her dress!?

"Travelers...Unbaptized too..." She said slowly, lifting her dress to reveal a disgusting mass of slimy flesh, "I'll make you cum over and over with this...Don't resist." Her vulgar words made my skin crawl, and by Luka's visible shudder, I'd assume he felt the same, as we got into a fighting stance.

"Toma...What do we do?" Luka asked me in ambivalence, my eyes drifting off to ask Alice, only to find the spot she had previously taken up completely vacant.

"Uh, Luka? Where'd Alice go?" I asked as we both looked around at our surroundings, finding nothing but vegetation and the slowly approaching slug girl, the latter causing us to snap back into focus before I thrust forward with my spear, aiming to somehow slow the encroaching enemy down. The spear digs into the slimy flesh under her dress, but aside from a mild wince, she doesn't react to it despite the force I put in. Gritting my teeth, I try and pull back on the spear, but it stays stuck, the slime and muscle around it grabbing onto it tightly,

"You'll pay for that...!" The girl mutters angrily, her voice never once rising above a mutter as she makes a surprising leap, landing on me and trying to push me down, only to underestimate my strength as I force her off with a yell of exertion, the power of which manages to free my spear from the elastic flesh, "Strong...Then I'll go for you..." She turns to Luka, the boy had pushed forward and prepared a decent swing with his sword to her lower body - only for it to bounce off harmlessly, causing both of us to stare in shock.

"W-Wha-!?" Luka yells, only for him to be quickly nailed in the head by a glob of vile mucus, granting the slug an opening to push forward in an attempt to pounce on him, before being quickly thwarted by a shoulder barge from me,

"Luka! Think of something! I'll hold her off until then!" I order him, brandishing my spear menacingly at the girl. I don't want to cause any permanent harm...But she doesn't relent, throwing slime and trying to grab onto me with whatever she can while I try and hit spots that won't cause serious damage, until...

"Hey! Get away from him!" Luka calls out, his hand raised high while holding a bag of some kind, "I have salt!" At the mention of the substance, the slug girl immediately flinches away, her demeanour changing from aggressive to fearful within seconds,

"Y-You wouldn't...!" Luka waved the bag slowly as she crept back, terrified of the young hero, "I-I'll remember this!" She finally yelled, before shuffling away as fast as she could. A large grin painted itself across my face as I walked over to Luka,

"Hahaha! Nice thinking Luka! That was- Alice!?" I yelped, seeing the form of the lamia right behind the small hero, causing the two of us to jump backwards in shock,

"That...Was the worst display of fighting I have ever seen...Pathetic, even." The harsh words caused both me and Luka to droop in shame and embarrassment,

"Hey Alice...Where did you run off to? You weren't scared were you?" Luka asked, causing me to stare at him in horror, before looking back at the lamia to see an indignant scowl on her face,

"I didn't run off! I just don't want to be seen by any monsters." She growled glaring daggers at the purple-haired boy, "Anyway, you made a risky move there...You almost threw all of the salt away." Me and Luka both sweatdropped at her words while speaking,

"You sure do like food, huh?"

"Stop doing that! It's creepy!" Alice yelled at us before composing herself, "Look, we should get to setting up camp, it's getting dark and we should start up dinner." Me and Luka looked up to see the sun had begun to set, and nodded to each other,

"Right, I'll help set up camp while Toma goes and hunts some animals for fresh food." Luka said to Alice as I whistled nonchalantly and walked off into the forest. After around a quarter of an hour, I had managed to catch a large boar, the beast having quickly fallen to my brutal, swift attack, and was now carrying it back to the campsite. Upon seeing the boar, the resident lamia began to salivate,

"Oh? You are quite the hunter it seems..." Ignoring the odd comment from Alice, I began to gut the animal, my expertise in the field of hunting making quick work of the large corpse and before long, the boar was turned into little more than strips of clean, fresh meat for Luka to cook. After another ten minutes, the food was done, after which Alice, and to a lesser extent me, began to wolf down the food.

"Ah...You could honestly give this cooking stuff a try if we fail to be heroes, Luka," I tell him, patting him on the back as I clean my plate of food, "you really have a talent for it." Luka merely laughed my compliment off as Alice spoke up,

"Now that's out of the way...Where did you two learn such terrible form? I've seen masonry that's better with a blade than you two." The both of us looked away at Alice's questioning glance.

"W-Well, I learned my skills from the pilgrims that entered Iliasville, Toma always refused to train with them and went off to train with the guards."

"That's because the pilgrims sucked, Luka. The guards weren't much better but they were better." I told him with a sweatdrop, his face turning to shock at my words,

"Enough, that's given me all I need to know...Both of you have absolutely no chance of surviving as you are now, you'd fall at the first decent challenge." Alice sighed, crossing her arms across her admittedly bountiful chest, "I'll train you. I may not be your ally, but watching this journey end prematurely is not going to be entertaining." Both me and Luka looked at her in shock; this was a great opportunity, but to learn techniques from a monster, to defeat other monsters was very odd to say the least. After a few seconds of pondering, I spoke up with a resolute gaze,

"Alright...If you are willing to train me, I'll accept." Luka stared at me as if I'd grown a second head before hesitation appeared on his face,

"I-I'll do it too then! Please teach me!" Alice let a smile slip onto her face as she huffed in satisfaction and we promptly got to training. The session was surprisingly less taxing than most of me and Luka's previous experiences, as the lamia training us was much more focused on ensuring we knew the proper basics of fighting with our respective weapons, before heading on to teach us something completely new. Luka ended up learning something known as [Demon Decapitation], a sword skill that came with a pretty brutal story alongside it before Alice turned to me and began teaching me,

"Toma, you'll learn [Bloody Fissure Thunder Thrust], a skill used by Bloody Fernandez to kill her enemies in quick succession, creating a lake of blood." ...Luka was right, these aren't very heroic names are they? "Now first, balance yourself, then step forward and thrust!" Doing as she said, my spear finds itself dug into the bark of a large, old oak tree, "Hm, you are a pretty quick learner, it's amateur work at best...But you do have a lot of strength and speed in your favour. Just don't forget that this attack is best when you are trying to catch someone off guard, such as at the beginning of a fight or as a trump card in case you are outmatched." I nodded and stared at the spear that was now stuck firmly into the tree, a sweatdrop sliding down my face as I realised it was wedged in there and I'd need to pull it out.

The next morning, we packed up our things and headed forward to Iliasburg, but not before saying a prayer to Ilias, getting a scoff out of the local lamia,

"You idiots...It's a miracle that you still pray to that so-called 'goddess' of yours while preaching coexistence." Alice stated with a not-insignificant amount of displeasure. I pondered her words as both she and Luka began to argue; her words rung somewhat true when it comes to her commandments, monsters do need humans to reproduce, and to follow Ilias' teachings would mean leaving them to stagnate before eventually dying off. 'Do I really want that? Could I follow those teachings and still achieve the peace Luka and I dreamt of?' I thought to myself, my brow furrowing in contemplation. My introspective was quickly shattered by our arrival at Iliasburg's perimeter, the three of us stopping just before entering into view,

"Uh, Alice? You don't expect to walk in there like that, do you?" Luka spoke up, showing some clear apprehension about the lamia's appearance. Alice sighed and with a flash of purple magic, her serpentine form was replaced by a relatively normal girl, or rather, as close as you could expect with her exotic clothing and markings,

"Fine, are you happy now? Let's just get this over and done with." The lamia-turned-human grumbled, clearly not enjoying her current form very much. We walked into the scarcely populated street at the edge of town,

"Man, not even any guards? That's pretty unusual, Dad always told me how the security on this place is top-notch for the continent." I reminisced, thinking back to when I wanted to come here with my father at one point, but he had sadly denied my request.

"Uh, Toma? You should probably hide your tail, just in case, you know?" Luka called out, reminding me as I curled my tail around my waist as if it were a belt before we carried on in and were met with a crowded street of civilians. I tapped Luka on the shoulder to grab his attention,

"I'm gonna go head to the guild quickly, meet you back in the centre of town with what I find." I tell him, getting a nod in response before noticing that Alice had also walked off, "I hope she doesn't get in trouble..." I muttered as I walked off down a sidestreet, noting that there is in fact a guild building, with a few twitchy-looking guards stationed outside of it, "Hey guys, what's up?" I holler, the guards jumping and swerving to point their spears at me before settling down,

"O-Oh thank goodness...For a second I thought you were that monster..." I raised an eyebrow as I began to speak,

"What mon-" The man I was talking to rushed to me after noticing my spear and began shaking me violently,

"It's in the city centre! You're a hero right!? Please help us!" My eyes widened as I pushed the man off, quickly running back the way I came,

'Shit! Luka's headed right there! Please don't be late!" I climbed up onto the rooftops to bypass the cramped streets, quickly leaping over gaps until I reached the main plaza. Standing there, her blade raised over Luka was a humanoid monster with dragon-like features. I quickly leapt off the roof and onto the floor before shooting towards the dragon warrior, my form shifting into the signature stance for [Thunder Thrust] as the woman wheeled around, a look of surprise on my face as I used all of my strength to dash forward and strike. The tip of my spear slammed into her armor, before shattering under the force along with the hilt, causing me to stare in shock before being batted away by the blunt side of the warrior's sword. After rolling a few times I managed to stop myself, looking down at the remnant of my spear in my hand, little more than a stick at this point before looking back up to lock eyes with the dragon,

"Another one? And that move...[Bloody Fissure Thunder Thrust]...Now I'm very interested." She said with a cold, calculating tone as I got up slowly, not looking away for even a split second, "Just who is your master? If you tell me, then I'll end this quickly..." She offered before I growled in anger,

"Like hell...! I won't sell out a friend!" With that, I threw the piece of wood in my hand at the warrior, the item in question being predictably batted away as I dashed towards her, my fist reared back for a punch which slammed into her outstretched hand with a resounding smack. The dragonkin hummed with interest as she slowly pushed my hand down, much to my shock,

"Hm. There was some strength behind that...Not bad." Suddenly I found myself flying across the plaza and barrelling into a recovering Luka, the two of us landing at the edge of the open area, "But if you won't tell me who taught you...Then I'll kill you here, starting with you." She appeared before me with her blade raised, I could only close my eyes as it swung down.

"Hold it!" A familiar voice echoed through the city before I opened my eyes and turned my head to see Alice walking towards us, the warrior from before kneeling in her presence,

"M-My lord! I-"

"Enough, I don't want to hear your excuses, begone from my sight." Alice orders, a cold look in her eyes as the dragon warrior tries to protest,

"But my Lord, I was going to take over this city-"

"If you do that, how am I to enjoy the Ama-Ama Dango in this city with you terrorizing it? Just leave."

"But you can do that after I-" Alice's patience seemingly runs out as she suddenly snaps,

"Do I have to repeat myself three times!? Is this how you show your loyalty!? Begone now!" Seeming frightened of the now furious lamia, she disappears in a flash of magic. I manage to pick myself up, being less injured than Luka was,

"T-Thanks for the save Alice. That was pretty badass." Alice merely huffed before grabbing the hero beside me and walking off,

"Come on, let's just go to the Sutherland Inn before anything else goes wrong." I raise an eyebrow as I catch up, walking alongside her,

"Sutherland Inn? You know a place here?" Alice lets out an annoyed groan at my words,

"Do you not remember? After I told you that Ilias' commandments are directly in your way of coexistence?" I looked away as I gave a sheepish grin,

"N-No, I was lost in thought." the monster rolled her eyes as we came into view of the Inn, a grandiose building which towered over the others around it. We stepped inside and were immediately met by the sight of a man walking over to the reception,

"Hey, get me a room will ya'? I'm a hero." The old lady at the desk seemed to fume at the arrogance on display, angrily whacking him over the head with a book as he retreated,

"Get out of here you damn fraud! You didn't even go and fight!" We stepped to the side as the man ran out of the establishment, the woman's face lighting up as she saw us, "Oh! You three! Come in, come in. Are you here for a room?" I looked to the side and baulked at the large price,

"Uh...I don't think we can afford that..." I laughed nervously, the woman laughing along at my reaction as she waved her hand,

"Oh don't worry about that! That's the price non-heroes have to pay, heroes can stay for two gold per person."

"But miss, we aren't baptized." Luka perks up, looking a bit worse for wear but better than earlier, "Alice, can you put me down now? I'm not a bag of potatoes." *Thunk* "Thanks..." Luka moaned out as he faceplanted the floor. The inn owner scoffed at our honesty, seemingly finding it amusing,

"As if that matters! You three faced that monster while the others cowered in their boots! If anyone deserves a room here, it'd be you lot." Luka and I shared a grin as we high-fived each other. I decided to speak up after a few moments of thought,

"Do you have two rooms? I'd like a single room if that's fine." The woman quickly flipped through her book before nodding back with a smile,

"Yes, we do have two rooms. You are quite lucky you know, there would have only been one, but the guy decided to cancel last minute." After some scribbling down, the woman gave us two sets of keys and sent us on our way. We reached our rooms, conveniently not too far from each other, as I gave Luka and Alice a wave,

"Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow. Don't do anything I wouldn't do Luka!" The boy gave me a squawk of indignation as Alice dragged him in, my laughter being the last thing he heard as the door shut behind him. After going into my own room and locking the door, I sat down on the bed and looked out the window at the now-sunset sky, the warm orange light shining into the room as I gathered my thoughts, "I should make sure to check in at the guild tomorrow...And I'll need a new weapon, can't just use my knife after all." I sighed as I pulled the knife out, looking into my reflection, "Guess I'll sort it all out tomorrow...It's better to get some rest after today." And with that, I closed my eyes and let the world fade away...

Chapter Text

The sun rose above Iliasburg as I awoke to the sound of laughter down in the lobby of the inn, letting out a yawn as I stretched before quickly having a shower and getting dressed; it was not going to be very often that I could enjoy such amenities, so I opted to make use of them while I could. I looked at myself in the mirror of the small dresser that sat in the corner of the room, the brown leather reinforced shirt I had was quickly finding itself needing repairs, various rips having formed from my tussle with the dragonkin warrior from yesterday - Granberia - I remembered, having rushed in too soon for me to get a good look. A few minutes of checking myself over for any hidden injuries or damage to my clothing later, I walked out of my room and headed down to the lobby, seeing Alice and Luka talking to the lady at the inn,

"Oh? It seems your friend's finally woken up." The lady smiled at me before it turned into a devious grin as she looked at Luka and Alice, "A surprise he could sleep after the racket you two were making last night, eh?" I could see Luka's face burning bright red and Alice's adorned by a pleased smirk; it did not take me long to realize why the young hero was embarrassed, a slight flush on my face as I realized what happened between the two before coughing nervously,

"So...What's the agenda for today? I've got some stuff I need to do while we are here." I told the two, Alice making a frustrated sigh as she glared at me, 

"Really? What could be more important than my dango?" I gave her a questioning look before I turned to Luka, the boy beginning to explain,

"The inn's out of honey, which they use to make their Ama-Ama Dango. Supposedly they get it from a village nearby called Happiness Village...But they've had troubles recently with their deliveries, so I offered to help them." I nodded in agreement as we began to head out. Luka's head turned to me as we began to walk down the street, "So, Toma, what is it you need to do here?" I held up a hand with three fingers raised,

"First, I have to get some new armour, this stuff is a bit torn from being thrown around the plaza like a ragdoll." Luka chuckled nervously as Alice gave a somewhat amused huff, "Then I also need to find a new weapon since my spear broke, but I can do that alongside the armour. And finally, I need to head to the guild and see what missions they have for us; this journey isn't gonna be cheap and we can always do with more funds?" Luka tilted his head at my words,

"There's a guild? I didn't know that..." I rolled my eyes jokingly as we began walking,

"Well, I did tell you to sign up, that way when we get missions, you'll gain points and start climbing the ranks...I did it a year ago so I'm all set, you on the other hand might need to wait a small period before you can properly start taking them." I explained to my fellow hero, the boy giving a sheepish laugh as he scratched the back of his head nervously. Alice cleared her throat to make herself known, the both of us turning to regard her with a curious stare,

"Don't worry about the weapons, I'll give you two once we leave the town." Her words put a smile on both of our faces as we nodded in thanks,

"That's very kind of you, Alice..." Luka said as I nodded in agreement,

"Also means we only have to get some new armour," I added as we walked towards the local blacksmith's. Walking in, we were met with rows upon rows of steel plate and chainmail, various blades and clubs on display for us to look at,

"Hey, you guys are the ones who defended the city right?" The man behind the counter asked, getting a nod in response as he grinned happily, "Well then, welcome to my emporium! We've got all you'd need to take the fight to those vile creatures!" Alice growled in anger as we chuckled nervously.

"Anyway...Do you have anything light and easy to move in? As you can see, this leather stuff hasn't lasted me very long..." I told the clerk, pointing out the various damaged parts in the chest piece, the man humming as he rubbed his chin in thought,

"Hold on, I think I have a couple...Ah! Here we go!" The man pulled out two...Shirts? "This stuff may look like just some regular old shirt, but it's actually an Enrikan shirt! Nothing beats this when it comes to being flexible and protective!" I hummed in thought as I took one from him, pulling out my knife and plunging it into the shirt, much to the clerk's horror, "W-What are you doing!?"

"Hm, pretty good actually, look." I pulled the knife away from the shirt and pointed at the spot I stabbed, revealing a completely unharmed patch despite trying to shove the knife through it, "It's good. We'll take two of these." The clerk merely nodded, his face pale as we paid for the shirts and put them on, alongside my purchase of some metal vambraces for the added protection on my arms. I patted the Enrikan shirt with a grin, marvelling at the deceptive article of clothing, "Man, it's even pretty comfy. You think we can find this Enrika place and browse its wares a bit later?" I asked the two, looking at Alice with a hopeful gaze and getting a sigh of disappointment from her,

"Very well...But we'll fix Happiness Village's problem first, I want my Ama-Ama dango." She relented as Luka and I chuckled at her words as we walked closer to the guild, before...

"LUKA-CHAN!" 

MONSTER CLAN UNFORTUNATE FRIENDS CAPTAIN
GORO AMIRA

Suddenly, something jumped out of a nearby trashcan; it was some kind of lamia but reversed with a snake-like upper body and a human lower half, dressed like an odd delinquent with an eyepatch over her left eye. The three of us stared in confusion at the sight, Alice and I sent a confused look to Luka, who blushed and shook his head as if to say he had no idea who she was. We turned back to see the lamia staring at us with her one visible eye,

"What? Was this reference too on the nose?" The lamia asked, before sighing, "That guy really had to write this huh?" She muttered something odd to herself as our party of three stood there awkwardly, sending each other looks that clearly conveyed the same thought: this girl was crazy. After a few seconds, the lamia just huffed dejectedly before speaking again, "You know what? I'm Amira, there's rumours of bandits up in the Irina Mountains, you already know about Happiness Village and Enrika, so I'll just go." The lamia sulked off back into the trashcan she came from and left the three of us stunned at the turn of events,

"I don't...How...Why?" I stammered, at a loss for words before bringing a hand up to massage my temple, a slight headache forming from trying to understand just what we saw. Luka cleared his throat to catch our attention, 

"Can we just forget this ever happened? I think I'm beginning to question why I'm fighting..." He pleaded, getting a nod from me and Alice as we carried on towards the guild, though I couldn't help but cast a wary glance behind us at the trashcan from before as it tumbled open again, only to reveal the lamia was gone, the only thing that remained was the clothing it was wearing. Eventually, we arrived at the guild and we went to walk in before the guards from yesterday stopped us,

"You guys got a permit?" I gave the guard a card and he scanned it with his eyes before nodding, "Alright, you can enter, but I'm afraid we can't let your friends in, security is being ramped up because of Granberia's attack yesterday, you know?" Alice rolled her eyes as she grabbed Luka's arm and pulled him away,

"As if any monster would waste their time on a place like this..." She muttered, indignation filling her tone as she stormed off with the small hero in tow, much to his protest. I walked into the somewhat imposing building, a girl at the counter who was clearly the receptionist was idly staring at the adjacent wall, it seemed as if there was not a lot of activity for the guild in this town,

"Hey, are there any missions available?" I asked the girl, prompting her to open her book and skim the page before nodding in affirmation,

"Yep! There's one that has a pretty big reward attached to it: supposedly, it's a reclamation effort for the old town of Rostrum." Her brow furrowed as she read the details, "Apparently, Iliasburg had sent settlers to go and claim it again, but they never came back and anyone else they sent went missing after reaching the area." I hummed as I rubbed my chin in thought, it was certainly an odd quest, I had never heard of there being any other settlements on the continent - though there was that one mention of a supposed town named Pornof that was meant to be built south of Iliasville, but it was quickly scrapped - and the details of the missing settlers was unnerving, to say the least,

"I'll take it I guess, what's the reward for this?" I asked, the girl just ripped the page out of her book and handed it to me so I could read the details:

Looking for heroes to help with the Rostrum Reclamation Plan
Iliasburg is looking for heroes to help secure the lost town of Rostrum in Ilias' name, as a number of settlers and messengers have been declared missing after passing through the caves leading to the town. Reports indicate that no monsters inhabit the caves, however, those who had exited the cave on the other side during a nightly excursion reported loud, booming roars which have yet to be traced back to any known monster. The cave and the town are located southeast of Iliasburg and are marked with a warning sign outside of the entrance to the caverns. The reward for securing the town is 80,000 gold and 250 Hunting Points.

My eyes widened at the reward, not only was the sum of gold an abnormally high amount for the continent, but the points alone were enough to rank up my permit multiple times over, "Woah! Are you sure this is a beginner mission?" I asked the girl, getting a sigh in response,

"Honestly? I don't think they have much of a choice, Sentora has been unreachable for a long time right now, so all the heroes that are here are normally quite a low rank, which also means that they have to hope that some lesser heroes can fix the problem." I nodded in acknowledgement as I thought on the matter before bidding farewell to the girl and exiting the building. I walked over to a very grumpy Alice and a bored Luka and gave them the piece of paper while explaining what the girl had told me about the task.

"Interesting..." Alice hummed as she looked over the paper, an indescribable look on her face, "This has caught my attention. We should do this last before carrying on with our travels, I don't think either of you are experienced enough to handle this right now." I wanted to argue against that, but I decided to keep my mouth shut, she wasn't wrong, but it still was a blow to my pride nonetheless.

"I think we should deal with those bandits first," Luka spoke up, his face showing determination, "We can't let them keep stealing from the villagers." Alice scoffed while I contemplated our options, before nodding in agreement,

"Yeah, this is perfect to get some experience with fighting, at least we know they aren't too strong," I said, slamming a fist against my palm as I grinned in excitement. Alice raised an eyebrow at my reaction before speaking,

"I wouldn't get too excited if I were you. We have no idea how many there are or how skilled they are in combat..." Alice sighed as she closed her eyes, "But if you want to run headfirst into the arms of a monster, who am I to stop you?" She said dramatically, getting a laugh out of me and a sheepish chuckle out of Luka as we began our walk to the edge of Iliasburg, in the direction of the Irina Mountains. The buildings around us eventually turned to trees and plains as we gradually left the city behind, with Alice leading in front of us, now in her lamia form once again, "This is far enough..." She stops abruptly and spins to regard Luka and I with a serious gaze, "Now, I promised that I would give you both a weapon each, and I think I know exactly what would fit..." She reached into some kind of portal and pulled out a disgusting, amalgamated mass of some kind of metal, shaped into what seemed to be angels, judging by the wings and halo-like protrusions,

"Alice...What is that...?" Luka asked slowly, a look of disgust and fear on his face as she held it out in front of her, and upon closer inspection...

'Is that an eye? Did it just blink at me!?' I thought, disturbed by the unnatural weapon as Alice gave it to Luka, a haunting moan coming from the sword-club-thing as he gripped it and almost dropped it in surprise and horror,

"Luka, this is Angel Halo, a weapon forged by the original fallen angel. It is perfect for you, as the curse bestowed upon it allows it to seal creatures away without killing them." Alice explains, almost boastfully as she carried on, "It was forged with the souls of 666 angels, which is why it is a perfect weapon for fighting both monster and angel alike." At the mention of the angels, the sword let out another moan, causing Luka and I to jump in surprise at its sudden reaction. Alice turned to me and gave me a conflicted look, "Now, Toma...I do not have any more weapons like Angel Halo for you." I felt my shoulders droop a bit at the revelation, it was an odd sword - and a bit of a creepy one at that - but another weapon like it would have been great to have, "Instead, I grant you...This." Reaching into another portal, she brings out a staff with a red base and rounded, golden ends, "This is the Ruyi-Bang, a weapon used by the legendary Sun Wukong, a fierce warrior who once existed even before the time of the infamous Black Alice." I took the weapon from Alice gingerly, noting its surprisingly low weight as I gave it some practice swings, "She even had a book written about her travels, though your goddess tried to limit the spread of it...Typical." Alice hissed, clear disdain filling her voice.

Suddenly, Alice disappeared as the sound of digging approached us, the head of a woman popping out of the ground before us, "Ah, humans? That's good, I was getting pretty hungry." The girl revealed herself to be some kind of worm monster, the only human portion being everything from her chest to her head, "You both smell delicious..." She drooled, staring at us lecherously while letting out small giggles as me and Luka got into our stances. Deciding to take the initiative, I rushed forward with a [Thunder Thrust] catching the girl off guard as the staff dug into where her stomach would have been, winding her as Luka followed up with a swift [Demon Decapitation] to the earthworm girl's torso area, leaving a brightly coloured gash which oozed energy, much to her surprise, "W-What!?" She gasped as she whipped her tail in front of her, causing the both of us to dodge back and barely avoid it. The girl growled as she coiled herself up and sprung forward, tackling Luka and binding him on the floor; immediately the girl began fumbling for his pants as I rushed over and grabbed her tail, trying to uncoil her as her slimy body writhed against my friend. After a few seconds, Luka was able to slide out of the worm girl's grip, quickly rising to his feet and rushing towards me and the worm girl, who was now trying her best to overpower me; I saw Luka coming and smirked as I let out a roar of effort and lifted the worm girl between me and the diminutive hero as he landed a brutal slash on the girl's neck. The earthworm landed on the floor and gasped as she began to glow, shrinking into a small, normal worm crawling on the ground.

Luka and I smiled as we saw the effect of Angel Halo on the monster, now completely harmless as she began digging her way back into the ground, "Well, that sword sure is something." I say with a sigh of relief, before being splashed with water, followed by Luka,

"That was sloppy." And of course, the one who did it appeared with her classic grumpy countenance, "However...It was much better than that slug or Granberia, so...Good job." I noticed the slime from the worm girl's body on the floor, having been washed away by the water, causing an annoyed frown to plaster itself onto my face as we began moving towards the mountains again. On our way there, I looked at the Angel Halo, feeling an odd sensation coming from the blade; a faint, residual heat being emitted, though it seemed as if Alice and Luka either did not feel it or ignored it as I kept shooting glances at the weapon throughout the journey.

Eventually, we reached the Irina Mountain range before quickly realizing that we had no clue where to begin looking for the bandits we needed to deal with, Alice mirrored our thoughts as she spoke up, "So, do either of you even have a plan for finding these bandits, or are you seriously planning on running around aimlessly?" Me and Luka looked at each other with an embarrassed look on our faces. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Alice disappeared, the two of us remaining pulling out our weapons as we turned to face the faint footsteps, only to see a small girl with a giant hammer scamper into view while giggling,

"Hey, you two! Give me your money!" The girl demanded, a grin on her face as she pointed at us, "I'm the Goblin Bandit of the Four Bandits!" With that statement, I relaxed a bit; the kid didn't look all that impressive, she had a large hammer, but it seemed too big for her to possibly wield it effectively,

"Hey, Luka. I'll deal with this." I told the young hero, getting a confused look before he nodded hesitantly, stepping back to get out of the way. I pulled out the Ruyi-Bang from the holster on my back, the staff resting lazily in my grip as I settled into a stance, "So you are one of the bandits, huh? How about we make a deal?" The girl looked confused at my words, her confident demeanour quickly fading away, "If I win, you tell me where your hideout is, if you win...You can have our stuff." I could almost feel the fiery gazes of my two companions as I gambled with our items, the goblin perked up in excitement as she giggled,

"Hehehe! You're on, old man!" I felt my eye twitch as a stifled laugh came from behind me, before focusing back on the battle at hand. The goblin girl kicked the ground and sent a fine shower of dirt and trail dust towards me, forcing me to close my eyes as I covered them to stop it from blinding me; as I opened my eyes again, I saw the goblin girl, now much closer to me, raising her hammer to swing at me, causing me to hold my staff to block the blow; the hammer came down in an arc, slamming into the staff with surprising force as I felt my entire body shake and creak under the strain, causing a pained groan to force its way out of my throat as I held the hammer up. The goblin girl stared at me in shock and fear as she pulled away with swift steps, "H-How!? No one has ever survived my famous [Earth Crashing Goblin] attack!"

"Ugh...I can see why..." I moaned, feeling the burning ache in my arms and legs from the attack, "The hell did your mother feed you, kid?" I asked, a look of sadness flashing onto her face before being replaced with indignation,

"Fine! Then I'll just beat you with this!" The girl began to spin around wildly, her hammer spinning dangerously as I jumped back and tensed up before realizing she had no control over the spin, the weight of the hammer making her drift comically towards a small lip in the road and trip over, falling flat onto her face. Walking over, I nudged the prone monster, her face turning to look up at me with tears in her eyes,

"...You did good. Stand proud, Goblin of the earth." I tell her with a grin, reaching down to pull her to her feet, "Now, can you take us to your friends?" The girl nodded as she rubbed her tears away, beginning to lead both me and Luka along the path to a small cave on the side of a mountain; I wanted to go in, but I couldn't just leave the girl to wander around aimlessly, "Luka, you stay here, I'll go in and deal with this." Luka looked at me worriedly as he tried to protest,

"But Toma, it could be dangerous!" I smirk as I patted him on the back, confidence shining in my eyes,

"Don't worry, I got this. Have some faith in me." I nodded to him, getting one back after a few seconds of contemplation before turning and walking into the cave. Walking in, I immediately found that the cave was very faintly lit by some bioluminescent mushrooms, casting a faint turquoise glow that illuminated just enough of the path for me to follow it along before I stopped and cast a gaze around at the passage in front of me. A mischievous voice echoed from the darkness as a somewhat small, slim figure approached from the cavern,

"Fufufu~ A hero? Do you think you can take on the Lamia Bandit of Water?" The small figure was clad in a revealing bikini and a skirt with various golden accessories, probably stolen goods from various caravans, "Let me coil around you and show you my strength!" She rushes towards me and wraps herself around my lower body, "Hahaha! Now I've got you! Take this!" Her tail began to tighten around me as I stood there; if I was to be honest...It was pretty weak, I just pulled her off and held her out in front of me as she dangled above the floor. The lamia child stared at me in shock before tears began to fall from her eyes, a wail coming from her as she started to bawl in my grasp, "Waaaaaah! Why didn't it work!?" She cried, causing me to stare at her in exasperation,

"H-Hey now...There's no need to cry," I tried to reassure her, feeling rather uncomfortable, "I'm not gonna hurt you or your friends, I just want you to stop stealing from people." The lamia girl stared at me with teary eyes, a glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes,

"R-Really?" She asked, her voice cracking slightly as she spoke; I gave a nod, causing her to sniffle lightly and nod back, "O-Okay..." I smiled as I put her on the ground and pointed towards the entrance of the cave,

"Just go to the entrance, one of my friends is there and he'll make sure you stay safe," I told her, the lamia was clearly hesitant to leave, likely not trusting my words, "Hah...Fine, tell you what, come with me and I'll gather the rest of your friends, and then you can meet him with me. How is that?" I suggested, getting a small smile and a nod as the two of us began walking further into the cave, the lamia showing me the way to their hideout. "So, what's your name anyway? Calling you the Lamia Bandit of the Water is a bit of a mouthful." I asked to strike up some sort of conversation in the awkward silence that followed,

"M-My name is Teeny..." She said with a small amount of embarrassment; I stifled a chuckle at her name and ruffled her hair, much to her surprise and indignation,

"That's a cute name. What about your friends?" I asked, realizing that I never quite got the goblin girl's name from earlier,

"Well...There's Gob, Vanilla, me, and Papi. Gob is a goblin, Vanilla is a vampire, and Papi is a dragon." She elaborated, before puffing her chest out, "And of course, I'm the strongest, so big brother should have no problems with the rest!" I almost tripped from her declaration, barely saving myself from face-planting the ground,

"B-Big brother!? Where'd that come from?" I questioned in surprise, causing the lamia to jump as she cowered slightly from my raised voice,

"I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean anything by it..." She whispered, staring at me in fear. Seeing her terrified expression was almost too much for me to bear as I kneeled down and gently placed my hands on her shoulders,

"Don't be scared...I'm not mad, honest. I just wasn't expecting it, that's all..." I reassured her, wiping away the tears of fear from her eyes, "If...If you really want to call me that, I don't mind." I told her hesitantly, her face immediately brightening as she glomped me,

"Yay! Thank you, big brother!" She yelled with joy, causing me to chuckle at her enthusiasm before a voice cut through the air,

"So, you've captured the Lamia of the Water, huh?" Me and Teeny turned to see a child with blonde hair in twin-tails and red eyes standing in our way, "You must be pretty skilled to beat two of our members...But! I am the terror that flaps in the night, the Bandit of the Wind!" She laughed, pointing a finger at the two of us as I slowly nudged the lamia behind me and out of harm's way,

"Right...I could have sworn that title is already taken by someone..." I mused to myself, before shrugging nonchalantly, "There's a bigger problem anyway...What the hell are you wearing?" I asked, my eye twitching at the revealing attire that the vampire was wearing: A black cape and a simple pair of white panties were all that she wore, aside from two bat-shaped hair accessories,

"W-What do you mean!? Are you making fun of me!?" She growled, trying to sound intimidating as I felt a sweatdrop form on my head from the attempt, "I'll suck all of your energy out of you for that!" She yelled as she turned into a horde of bats and swarmed me, their fangs nipping at me as I tried to swat them away; the fangs were not sharp enough to penetrate my skin and were more annoying than dangerous as they gradually left me alone. My ears caught the shout of Teeny as she warned me,

"Big Brother! Behind you!" I wheeled around and was met with the vampire jumping at me, my hands coming up to catch her in a similar way to how I was holding the lamia earlier,

"Wha-? Why would you do that!?" The vampire shouted at her comrade, her eyes welling with tears as she tried to escape my grasp, to no avail, "Let me go!" I felt bad for the small vampire, on one hand, it was pretty mean to betray your friend, on the other, she could have had some surprise special attack that I might have barely been saved from.

"Alright, I'm gonna put you down now. Are you going to behave?" I ask pointedly as I lower her down to the ground; the vampire girl quickly scampered away and grinned at me,

"Kukuku~! I still have one more trick up my sleeve!" The girl's eyes began to glow brighter, my eyes widening as I realised she knew some magic, "Now, look into my eyes!" Not taking any chances, I quickly looked away, avoiding a flash of light which lit the tunnel up, "Oh come on! Why did you look away!?" The vampire whined, tears filling her eyes as me and Teeny watched her run past us toward the exit. I turned to the lamia who smiled proudly at me,

"Hey, in future, don't worry about me. Your friends probably would struggle to beat me without you helping me...That and I think she's upset with you now." I scolded the lamia softly, careful to not cause her another crying fit; Teeny's head drooped at my words as she whipped her tail around bashfully,

"Okay..." She mumbled, clearly displeased with my decision, but agreeing anyway. I sighed as we began walking towards the final chamber of the cave, Teeny slithering closely behind me as we carried on; I was about to turn a corner, when the small lamia grabbed my hand, catching my attention, "Big Bro...I know you don't want any help, but you need to know...That stuff about me being the strongest was a lie, Papi is actually the strongest of us," The lamia's grip on my hand tightened, a worried glint in her eyes visible under the dim illumination of the cave, "please be careful..." I smirked as I kneeled down and ruffled her hair,

"Don't worry Teeny, I'll win. After all..." I stood up and struck a pose, "I'm a superhero!" The lamia stared at me in surprise before beginning to laugh,

"Hehehehe! You are so silly!" She said, making me chuckle as we carried on. Eventually, we reached the end of the cave, the final bandit standing in the middle of the room,

"Wahaha! So you've finally come!" The girl announced boisterously, a wide grin on her face, "The Dragon of Fire shall face you now and restore the reputation of the Four Bandits!" I could tell this fight was going to be difficult, along her legs and arms were scales and her hands ended in sharp claws; Teeny and Vanilla might have been unable to harm me, but this one was just as dangerous as Gob's insane strength, I didn't trust the shirt when it came to trying to resist the slashes of a dragon's claws. I settled into a stance before the dragon girl, the Ruyi Bang held tightly in my grasp,

"I can tell I won't be able to convince you to give up," I admit, my eyes narrowing in concentration as I tense my legs, "so I'm sorry for this!" With that, I push all of my strength into my legs and unleash a [Thunder Thrust], only for it to miss the dragon by a slight margin as she scrambled to the side, 'Damn, I'm so used to using this on people my size, I'm not precise enough to land it!' I watched as the dragon reared her head back, before releasing a gout of flames towards me, forcing me to jump back to prevent myself from being burned, 'And of course, she knows how to breathe fire. This is going to be difficult, unless...' I prepared to use another [Thunder Thrust], my legs gathering with strength before launching off towards her again, but this time, going for a swing and utilizing what I had seen from Luka's performance of [Demon Decapitation] for the attack, the staff slamming into the dragon girl's scaled arm and sending her skidding across the floor as she tumbled. I cursed under my breath and walked over, afraid that I might have injured her, only for her to surprise me with a slash to the chest; her claws dug into the shirt but failed to punch through, as I felt the scratch and jumped back holding my chest and wincing at the soreness,

"Hahaha! Got you!" The dragon girl cheered, smiling as she gloated over the lapse in judgement and getting a smirk out of me,

"Yeah, you really did...You should be careful though, if I didn't have this shirt, I'd probably be almost dead right now." I sighed as my heart calmed down from the near-death experience, mentally thanking the blacksmith for recommending such a durable piece of clothing. The dragon girl's face dropped into a worried frown as she stared at her claws,

"R-Really...? I don't want to hurt anyone badly..." She muttered with tearful eyes, sniffling as she began to cry; I felt guilt wash over me at the sound as I decided to ask something that was on my mind since I got here,

"Where are your parents? Surely there's no way four powerful monster children just appeared out of thin air on this continent..." Teeny slithered over to Papi as she comforted her, beginning to answer,

"W-We don't know...We've only had each other ever since we could remember...And our dream of one day becoming Heavenly Knights." She said, tears sliding down her face as she coiled around Papi, the two hugging each other tightly; I couldn't help but frown at the information, their story striking a chord deep within me,

'These four...They are just like me.' I thought, my fists clenched tightly as I felt anger fill my veins at their plight, 'But they didn't have someone there for them like I did. They didn't have someone to teach them right from wrong.' I walked over and hugged the two monsters, letting them cry into my chest, 'Thank you, Ilias...I see why you sent us here, I promise, I'll be there for them all.' I held them tightly until they calmed down, their sobs and cries calming slowly. I stood up and stared down at them, "Come on, let's go, you girls have to apologise to Iliasburg, and I'll make sure you can leave this life behind." I told them resolutely, walking towards the entrance with them in tow. When we reached the entrance, we were met by the two remaining bandits, along with Luka and Alice,

"So, you've finally defeated the bandits. Would you like another few hours to waste our time?" Alice snarked, getting a glare from me, "Well, now that we are finished, you are free to do what you want with them. Kill them, violate them, sell them, or eat them." Hearing the terrified squeaks of the bandits, I growled in anger,

"Enough Alice! If you are going to do nothing but terrorize them, then leave!" I spat, surprising both Luka and Alice at my tone, though the latter quickly hid her surprise behind indifference,

"T-Toma? Is everything alright?" Luka asked tentatively, prompting me to take a deep breath and nod,

"Yeah...Just some bad memories. I'll live." I reassured him, before smacking the end of the Ruyi-Bang into the floor, "We are going to head to Iliasburg and have the four of you apologise for stealing." The bandits showed clear apprehension, something that was shared with our own monster companion,

"And what are you going to do if they try to kill them? Don't tell me you think that they won't want revenge?" I gave the blue-skinned lamia a resolute, unwavering gaze as I looked her in the eyes,

"Then I will kill those who try." Luka gasped at my words and stuttered,

"B-But Toma you can't!" The boy cried, fear and disapproval in his voice, "You can't just go around killing people!" I fixed him with a sharp look, my friend tensing up at the intensity of my gaze,

"They are innocent, Luka. I will not stand idly by and watch them be killed for not knowing any better." I turned to the four bandits, my face softening as I nodded towards the exit, "Come on, I won't let anyone harm you." The four girls gave each other shaky looks before nodding, seemingly trusting my words as they walked out of the cave, Luka following quickly behind and leaving me and Alice alone in the cave. The lamia had a strange look on her face, "Toma...Tell me, why are you suddenly so protective of those girls? For all you know, their thievery has caused people to die." I sigh as I lean against the wall of the cave, my eyes drifting to the floor,

"Did Luka ever tell you anything about me? Probably not, right?" My eyes drifted to her, seeing her shake her head in the negative, "Well...I never knew my true parents, I was taken in from the Iliasville mountains." I met Alice's gaze as I continued, "You can probably tell I'm not normal, right? Well the villagers did; they made it hell for me and my father until they were killed by a plague." I pushed off of the wall and walked to the edge of the cave, seeing the faint forms of Luka and the bandits waiting for us by the main path, "I...I don't want them to experience that." I muttered, leaving Alice to ponder those words as I trudged towards the bandits and Luka. After a few minutes, Alice rejoined us, slithering behind us as the rest of us chatted cheerfully amongst ourselves, the heavy atmosphere from earlier having lightened considerably.

Luka walked closer to me, keeping pace as he whispered, "Hey, what's our plan? Do we just go in there and have them apologise?" I shake my head in disagreement,

"Nah, we'll go to the plaza, and I'll make an announcement, that way everyone knows what they are risking if they try anything." Luka frowns at my words, placing a hand on my shoulder,

"Please don't do anything rash. We are heroes, remember?" I nodded reassuringly at the boy as we entered the outskirts of the town, some confused stares being thrown our way by the locals on our way to the plaza. Once we reached the plaza, I jumped up onto the water fountain and whistled loudly, getting the attention of all of the locals in the area,

"People of Iliasburg! We have brought the Four Bandits to justice," I pointed with my staff to the four girls, clearly nervous at the sudden attention, "They are here to offer their apologies for all of those who were affected by their thievery. However!" I slammed my staff down with a resounding *SLAM*, "I will not tolerate any aggression or harm befalling these girls! They are children who had no other alternative to thievery...Until now." I turned to the girls who stared up at me in awe, "I made a promise to the four of them. A promise, that I would find a way for them to live. So I ask you all, please consider giving these girls a chance." I hopped down and sighed; now all we had to do was make sure no one tried anything as the girls began to apologise. Surprisingly, Iliasburg was more than accommodating to the girls, some were confused at the bandits' looks and expected them to be more frightening, while others chose to forgive them on account of their mostly minor offences; some even offered to put their abilities to good use, Gob being offered a job to transport goods within the city, Papi being given the chance to become an apprentice blacksmith, Vanilla was asked to work in the local item shop, and Teeny was even offered a job at the Sutherland Inn as a waitress.

The three of us watched the sight, Luka and I smiling while Alice merely gazed at the scene with her usual disinterest, "Hmph, you got lucky this time...Your silly little dream is still impossible." Her lips quirked up slightly, a smirk appearing on her face, "Still, I suppose it worked out well enough this time." The gluttonous lamia grabbed Luka's arm and began to drag him away, much to his protest as he flailed, "Come on you idiots, if we are quick, we can reach Happiness Village before nightfall." I chuckled at the scene as I followed along, but not before being stopped by a chorus of voices,

"Big Brother!" I turned my head to see the four bandits scrambling over to me, Papi stepping forward and pulling out a red orb, "Here! We wanted to give you something before you left." I took the orb and put it in my bag, smiling gratefully at the little monsters,

"Thanks...After our travels are over, I'll come back and check on you all. Maybe even introduce you to my old man, I think you'd love him." I promised them, mirth coming into my voice as I mentioned John; the girls cheered and rushed forward to embrace me as I laughed at their enthusiasm, returning the hug for a moment. After a few seconds, I stood and jogged over towards Alice and Luka, waving back at the bandits as they did the same; Alice and Luka watched the exchange with a smirk and a smile respectively,

"You really took a liking to them, didn't you Toma?" Luka asked me as I joined him and Alice, a faint smile gracing my lips as I looked ahead,

"They are good kids. They just needed someone in their corner, you know?" I raised a fist and grinned in excitement, "Alright! One down, another three to go! Let's give it our best shot!" Luka cheered and our monster companion sighed in exasperation as we began our journey to Happiness Village,

"You both are such idiots..."

Chapter Text

The trees around us rustled as we walked down the path towards Happiness Village, Alice humming excitedly as she slithered ahead of us, both me and Luka having to push ourselves to meet her pace; it was an odd sight seeing the lamia in such an upbeat mood compared to her usual apathy, "So...Any guesses on what the problem is? I'm betting it's some secret cult that's formed." I offered, turning to my fellow hero and breaking the silence that was beginning to grow somewhat awkward,

"What? No way, it's gonna be some sort of political issue. Why would anyone abandon Ilias?"

"Well, she doesn't like us very much, so why don't you give me some of your semen?" An unfamiliar voice interjected, causing the small hero and I to jump in surprise, facing forward and seeing a large, insectoid monster girl, seemingly a bee judging by the large honeycomb on its back,

"We really need to keep an eye out from now on, huh? Alice didn't even give us a warning." I mused to Luka, before we both turned to the girl, "You can fight her. I realize I kinda hogged the last four."

"Alright!" Luka settled into a stance, his eyes sharpening as he faced the bee girl, her arms bracing as she sent him a lewd smirk. As the battle began, I watched closely from the sidelines; Luka opened with a quick slash to one of the girl's arms, the limb quickly seeming to slacken, like it was suddenly hit with some sort of unnatural exhaustion, with the Bee girl wincing and trying to move her arm in confusion before flying quickly at Luka in an attempt to tackle him.

"Yaaaaa!" A yell broke me out of my focus as I quickly rolled to the side to avoid a swing from a flying girl who had leapt at me from the bushes with a large stone club in her hand; I turned to face her with the Ruyi-Bang drawn, my eyes analysing her as I noticed the curly, short tail protruding from her large backside, "Oink! Give us your stuff!" She demanded, a menacing grin on her face. At her words, the bushes around began to rustle as another three girls stepped into view, some of them eyeing my bag while the others gave me lecherous looks,

"Yeah! We are orcs you know!" "Or resist! We'll take free food! Oihihii!" "Orcs for the orc throne!" The new girls giggled, the four of them advancing slowly as I clicked my tongue in annoyance; I couldn't let them catch me off guard, their clubs looked to be made of solid rock, which most likely meant they were pretty strong individually,

"Like hell, get out of my way." I ordered them, only for them to laugh at my reaction. Growing increasingly frustrated by the audacity of the girls, I shot forward, planting the end of my staff into the chest of one of the girls in a swift execution of [Thunder Thrust], knocking the breath out of her before grabbing her by an outstretched arm and swinging her into another; the two remaining girls quickly lunged at me, one wrapping her arms around my waist tightly as the other began to grind against my crotch, the heat from her body combining with the abnormal softness causing me to let out a groan,

"Oihihii! Come on, give in! You'll love it." the girl in front of me tried to coerce me with her words, getting only a grunt in response as I swung my staff behind me, earning a loud shout of "Oink!" before wrapping my arms around the girl in front of me and hoisting her into the air before slamming her down onto the ground; The girls from before jumped at me in an attempt to bind me, only for me to dodge and leave them in the path of an attack from the girl who had held onto me before, a club swing slamming into them and sending them flying,

"Oiiink! I'm sorry!" The girl cried, rushing over to the now unconscious orcs, only to be silenced by [Demon Decapitation] as my staff swung into the back of her head and left her face down on the floor, knocked out. I turned to the final orc girl, the same one whom I'd slammed down, her body shaking as all of her bravado faded,

"H-Hey now...I'm just a bad little piggy, how about you use my mouth?" She offered, lust filling her voice as she opened her mouth in an obscene gesture; I merely gave her a wide-eyed glare, my face emotionless as I menacingly stepped closer, raising my staff, "Oihiiiiii! P-Please don't hurt meeeeee~! I'll let you do anything you want!" She cried in a vain attempt to stop me, crawling backwards as she spread her legs to show off her naked form; I continued to raise the staff, lifting it above my head as I got in range before swinging it down, meeting the top of her head with a thunderous *THWACK* as she slumped, quickly slipping into the land of dreams. I sighed in relief as I relaxed, my eyes lingering on the forms of the orcs before I pulled it away with a blush,

'Mind out of the gutter, Toma. You are better than that.' With that reminder, I shook my head to clear my thoughts, looking back towards Luka's fight, the boy seemingly finished with his battle, as a small bumblebee flew around him, trying to sting him as he swatted at the annoying insect for a few seconds until it flew away; I walked over and watched it fly off down the path with him before Alice appeared from behind a tree to our right,

"Such barbarism from both of you...Was your plan for coexistence subjugation of all who oppose you?" She snarked, sending a gaze at the four orc girls on the floor, "You would have lost if these idiots could work together. Lucky for you, their brains are about as thick as their bodies...Speaking of which." The lamia's face twisted from disappointment into hunger as she crept towards the unconscious girls, Luka immediately jumping in front of her,

"A-Alice! You can't just eat them!" He told her, the lamia giving him a scathing glare as he wilted under her attention, "Um...What if you end up filling yourself up, and then you're too full to eat the Ama Ama Dango?" He offered, giving a nervous smile to the seemingly irate girl. Alice's eyes closed in thought, humming in contemplation,

"I suppose you are right...But I expect some dessert~" She gave him a lewd smirk, turning to flash me one as well as I backed up with my staff pointed at her,

"Oh no, no way. You can have him, every man for himself after all!" I said with a nervous smile, Luka gawked at me as he pointed his sword at me,

"You traitor!" He cried, indignation plastering itself across his face, "Ten years! That's how long we've known each other, and you'll throw it away like that!?" I gave a maniacal laugh in response, a wide smile spreading across my face as Alice watched on in amusement,

"As charming as this is...We need to get to Happiness Village, so get moving." She reminded us as we began our travels again. Eventually, we reached the village, a small little town nestled at the edge of a forest; we walked in and quickly noticed a glaring issue,

"Uh, not to sound weird here, but there's just a bunch of women walking around." I pointed out: it was true, there were very few men, with the only visible male in sight being a small boy working in one of the fields alongside some women, "Hell, you never normally see children working the farms either..." We walked further into the village before a scream rang out and the villagers scrambled to hide, causing both me and Luka to turn to see the previously mentioned boy being grabbed by a monster; the girl had long wings instead of arms and feathers covering most of her legs aside from the feet, which ended in sharp talons,

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Luka cried out, rushing over with his sword drawn as the harpy looked towards us and grinned,

"Oh? I was not expecting travellers here." The girl gently flapped her wings as she shot us a mischievous look, "Mmmm, and unbaptized? Today just gets better and better!" The girl giggled as she slowly flew close, only for Luka to slash out at her in retaliation, causing her to retreat a fair distance, "Woah! That was mean..." She pouted, before narrowing her eyes and smiling, "Okay then! Let's play a bit, I'll be sure to have fun with you when I make you my husband." She crooned lewdly, giving Luka a lidded gaze before turning to look at me, "Don't worry, I'll let some of my friends know about you~. You'll see each other soon..." Me and Luka gave each other a nod as we rushed forth, the girl squawking as my staff soared towards her, barely missing as she flew up out of range,

"Luka!" I left out an outstretched hand, the boy jumping and placing his foot on it like a springboard as I flung him up, shocking the harpy as Angel's Halo sliced through one of her wings, causing her to plummet; As the two fell, I rushed forward and caught the small hero, earning a thanks from the young man as the harpy staggered to her feet, 

"M-My wing...!" She gasped, the limb hanging slack as her ragged breathing grew angry, "You'll pay for that...!" The wind around her began to pick up as she kicked out, sending a blast of air towards us; I pushed Luka out of the way as I felt my feet lift off the ground, wind whistling in my ears as I soared back and crashed into a bundle of crates and pots, letting out a groan of pain. I pushed myself up to my feet with a wince and quickly began to run back to the fight, Luka struggling to keep up with the enraged harpy's surprising agility as she rushed around him in a flurry of wind, talons and flashing steel; I rejoined the fight and struck with my version of [Demon Decapitation],

'I really gotta think of a better name for that move, it's hardly much of a decapitation if I'm just hitting someone with a blunt stick.' I mused as the harpy tried to get up, only to meet Luka's blade piercing her chest as it sprayed out white miasma, 'Maybe I'll just call it something cooler, like [Heavenly Strike]. Yeah, that works.' Nodding my head and smiling at my genius for a name, I walked over as we watched the girl turn into a small songbird, flying away into the forest while chirping angrily, "I think it's safe to say we probably were both wrong on our guesses." I declared dryly. Alice's surprise reappearance didn't make us jump as much as before when she spoke up from behind,

"Hmph. That was an interesting move from both of you. Certainly risky, but it was a good use of your respective strengths." The usually sardonic girl praised us, bringing a smile to our faces,

"No way, a genuine compliment? Maybe it's getting cooler in Hellgondo." The girl's eyebrow twitched at Luka's comment as an unknown force hit us both upside the head,

"Just what exactly is that supposed to mean...?" She asked menacingly, causing us both to rub the newly forming bumps on our heads as we shrunk back in fear. A sudden cheer came from behind us as we turned to see the women of the village praising us for protecting the village from the singular harpy: which struck me as odd, considering that there were more than enough people to drive off just one monster, especially one as weak as a wild harpy. An elderly woman parted the sea of villagers as she addressed us with a grateful tone,

"Thank you, kind strangers, for defending our village. We have been going through trying times recently..." Alice raised an eyebrow at the woman's words, clearly not impressed,

"Really? Bad enough that you run and hide at the slightest hint of conflict?" The disguised lamia snarked scathingly, "A single harpy should not have been an issue, especially not one of that calibre." The elder seemed to wilt under Alice's gaze as she stammered,

"W-Well, we have lost a lot of our workforce...The nearby harpy village has been raiding our village for men." A heavy sigh of despair heaved itself from her chest as she continued on, "There's nothing we can do when all the able-bodied fighters are being kidnapped...How can we fight back against that...?" The pseudo-chief of the village looked terrible, her visage seeming to age years in little more than seconds, her eyes dimming as the entire village seemed to follow her lead. Alice laughed disdainfully at the sight of the dejected villagers,

"Pathetic...Look at you all, waiting for some hero to throw at your problem." She sneered, her golden eyes twinkling with sinister amusement, "Just how many did you send to deal with this problem? Five? Ten?" Luka stepped forward and placed a hand on the monster's arm and gave her a stern look,

"Alice. That's enough." He insisted, looking up at her pleadingly before turning his head to the elder, "We'll try and help you with your problem." I stepped forward and nodded with a grin,

"Yeah. After all, we are Super Hero- Gah!" Alice punched me mid-sentence, scoffing at my reaction, "What did I do!?" I cried, rubbing my arm and wincing at the bruise that was forming. The villagers cheered at our choice, many of them giving their gratitude as they swarmed around us, much to all of our discomfort; after a few minutes of calming them down, the elder came forth again, this time with a small piece of paper in hand, "Here is a map. The Harpy's village is past the forest, just follow the path along and you'll reach the outer walls." Luka took the map and nodded before turning to us,

"Alright, let's go!" The boy quickly tried to walk past me, my hand snapping out to grab him,

"Hold on, we should think about this really quick." I reminded him, nodding my head to the forest, "Let's go somewhere we can talk without being interrupted." We walked over to the edge of the village and began to think, "Personally, I think it'd be smart to try and do this quietly." I proposed, "If we go in there at night, beat up the queen and tell her to give back the men, we can solve this without causing much of a commotion." Luka's face was blank, his eyes staring at me unsurprised,

"Way to think outside the box, Toma..." He sighed and scratched his purple hair, "But surely there's going to be guards, how are we going to sneak in?" I smirked as I pointed at myself with my thumb,

"I'll cause a distraction, you sneak in and get to the queen before she's alerted. I'll see what I can do to keep them occupied." I explained to the boy as Alice stared at me in shock,

"...Are you an idiot? You'll be harpy breeding stock before you even pull out your weapon." She scoffed; I gave her a grin in response,

"Well...That's why I'm counting on Luka, or I'm going to haunt him." A squawk of indignation from Luka followed my comment, "But seriously, I'm counting on him to get it done within the night." The lamia merely shook her head in disappointment, clearly not amused by my lighthearted outlook,

"Whatever...Do what you want." Alice grumbled as the two of us nodded in determination.

[A Couple Hours Later]

Night fell upon the forest as we stalked through the bush, a gentle wind belying the approaching storm in the form of our raid, "Okay. Get ready, Luka." I told him, patting him on the back as I jogged ahead a bit, "Remember, send up that flare thingy we found if you need help!" I called back to him, before breaking into a sprint down the path, the Ruyi-Bang finding its way into my hand as the wind whipped past me, 'You got this, Toma. Remember, this is your element.' I psyched myself up, my heart thundering in my chest as the gate came into view, 'Time to raise hell!' I pushed as much of my strength into my legs to launch myself over the gate, my head turning to meet the gaze of a surprised harpy guard as I soared past the bird girl and landed in the village.

Immediately, I found myself accosted by two harpies, the one who had seen me fly past her being accompanied by another; the two of them staring at me with lustful gazes, "Look! It's that man Reina was talking about~" Harpy number one crooned,

"You mean the one that was with that boy? The one with the weird sword thing?" Harpy number two asked as the first gave her a bland look,

"Of course, you only care about the boy..." I stared at the two in confusion before narrowing my eyes,

'Shit...Is that what it looks like from the outside? Being ignored is...Insulting.' Shaking my head, I rush forward and thrust my bo-staff forward, the two harpies barely escaping as they flew out of range. I clicked my tongue as I pressed Harpy number one, rushing forward with a [Heavenly Strike], the girl bringing a claw up to move it off course, wincing in pain at the force behind it, 'I'm stronger, but they are slightly faster...And probably better at fighting too...' A gust of wind from behind me alerted me to the  fact that I was fighting more than one opponent, as I dodged to the side and avoided a grab from the second harpy; they didn't seem to be trying to harm me, more focused on trying to capture me alive, 'I can use this.' Dashing forward again, I used [Thunder Thrust] to take the harpies off guard, the end of my staff creating a flash of sparks from grinding against the metal breastplate as the second harpy flew backwards from the force, tumbling head over claws,

"Hey! Just let us capture you! I promise to be gentle!" The first harpy requested, causing me to grin as I cracked my neck,

"To be fair! I don't even know your name!" I retorted, idly looking in the direction that Luka had entered in by, 'You better hurry up...These bird's squawking is gonna attract a lot more attention if this carries on.'

"Oh? Is that all?" The first harpy asked happily, bouncing on her claws, "I'm Kiko! And my friend that you not-so-nicely attacked is Rika." The harpy shot me a smouldering look, "You better pay for that, and I know just the way~" Her cheeks flushed as she smiled lecherously at me; I shifted my stance as I stared her down,

"Sorry, but I can't get hitched just yet. Got some things I have to do!" I told her, pushing forward as Rika rejoined Kiko across the street from me. The harpy girls flapped their wings and took off, flying up before swooping down, surprising me with their speed as Kiko latched onto my arm,

"Got you~!" She sang as she tried to pull me, only for me to wrench my arm out of her grip and slam my fist into her stomach, sending her skidding across the ground. My staff came up in an attempt to stop the sudden appearance of a claw from gouging one of my eyes out, earning me a gash above my right eye that caused blood to pour down over my face,

"Gah!" I grunted, swiping with the staff as I glared through my half-blind eye, forcing Rika back through the red-tinged view of my right eye, 'Shit! I can barely even see anything on my right...!' I cursed, seeing the watery, blurred form of said harpy swooping down for another attack as Kiko joined her; Pain lanced through my body as their claws dug into the Enrikan shirt, leaving small cuts through the fabric as I tried to adapt to the sudden blind spot. On their next pass, I dodged into the form of Kiko on my left, slamming my staff into her skull as she tried to stop herself and dodge, the rather cheery bird girl slumping to the floor unconscious as it left me and Rika, who glowered at me,

"We don't want to hurt you! Just give up and be mi- I mean ours!" She demanded, her claws flexing angrily as she floated in place. I rubbed at my eye in an attempt to clear my vision of blood, to no avail, as I stared down the now-enraged harpy with a glare. We circled each other slowly, the air filled with tension until she rushed towards me, claws flashing out and meeting the Ruyi-Bang in a shower of sparks as I deflected them away before countering with an elbow, surprising her from the sudden switch to unarmed combat and allowing me to strike out with a [Heavenly Strike], flooring her from the force as she weakly rolled away,

'She's weak...! Just one more hit!" I mentally cheered to myself, rushing forward with a final [Thunder Thrust] and slamming it into her chest, shattering her metal breastplate and sending her careening into a wall, slumping against it. Sighing softly, I saw the light of Luka's flare and clicked my tongue, "Damn it..." I cursed to myself, quickly rushing towards the boy's location as I pushed myself despite the burning in my limbs, 'Overused those skills too much...I should reserve them for when I need them.' I groaned in annoyance at the revelation, hoping that Luka was in better shape than I was. I began to hear the sounds of battle ahead as I turned a corner, seeing an exhausted Luka and what seemed to be the Queen Harpy, judging by the numerous pieces of jewellery and her much larger stature than the guards I had tangled with,

"This ends here, boy." She declared, a visible distortion appearing around her as the wind picked up before she shot down towards him quicker than I could see and slammed him into the ground, pinning him down with her feet, "I've yet to have a man so far~ Fufufu...You'll make some nice children~" By this time, she hadn't noticed me, so I hoisted the Ruyi-Bang over my shoulder and leaned back, launching it forward with all of the power I could muster as it soared through the air; the Queen noticed it a second too late, as it hit her wing and bounced onto the floor beside Luka, causing her to retreat with a howl of pain. I quickly ran over to Luka and checked on him while the Harpy Queen was reeling from the injury to her wing,

"Luka, can you move?" I asked, getting a shake of the head and a groan from the boy, causing me to click my tongue and stand up, retrieving my bo-staff as I got to my feet,

"Toma...Wait..." Luka's weak voice might as well have been thunder in my ears as I turned to look at him, seeing him lift Angel Halo, "T-Take this..." He told me, holding it out for me to recieve; I was hesitant to take the weapon, both because it would leave him completely unarmed aside from his iron sword, and because the sword still gave me an eerie feeling. After looking back and seeing the Queen Harpy almost recovered, I reached out and grasped the sword, shuddering as a strange feeling coursed through my body: it was like something was latching onto something within me, a pull of some kind; I couldn't dwell further on it as the royal harpy faced me with a frown,

"Attacking a queen like that...Do you know the punishment for such a thing?" She growled, her voice lowering to dangerous levels, "I'm going to make sure you both are punished severely for this!" She rushed towards me at an explosive speed, forcing me to dodge as I was buffeted by the gust that formed from her movement, sending me crashing to the ground in an uncoordinated heap. I looked up and saw the queen diving towards me again and rolled, feeling the impact of her talons piercing the ground as I lashed out with Angel Halo, earning a cut along her leg which bled white ichor,

'Crap, I have no idea how to wield both of these!' I cursed, putting away the Ruyi-Bang in favour of the magical blade, knowing that it would be easier to put my full strength behind each swing as I got to my feet and rushed towards the queen. The cursed blade lashed out and was met with nothing but the air as the queen-class monster danced out of the way of each slash, retaliating with swipes from her wings and attempts at pinning me with her feet until a particularly risky slash from me left me open for her to grab onto my arms and yank them, pushing me off balance as she landed on me; what she didn't expect was for me to wrench my hands from her grip with a mighty roar, the pulling feeling from earlier intensifying as my body filled with strength and allowed me to unleash a brutal slash down her chest. The harpy queen stared down at me, then at the deep cut down her chest, bleeding out the same white energy as the rest of her injuries before falling off and leaving both of us heaving for breath as I tried to get up to no avail,

"It's your win..." The queen started, weariness evident in her tone from the fact that her energy was leaking out of her, "I've failed..." I managed to get to my knees as I dug the sword into the ground, unable to force myself to my feet,

"Yeah...Now return the me-" A loud slam made me jump, the air being filled with the cries and stomping footsteps of a horde of women,

"Give us our husbands back!" "Where is my son!?" "Daddy! We've come to rescue you!" The cries of the villagers echoed throughout the village as numerous harpies and surprisingly men appeared from the houses, an odd scene playing out before the three of us as the two parties had a tense reunion, many of the women's rage wilting at the sight of their new stepdaughters. Footsteps approached us as I turned my head to see Alice frowning at us,

"You two should be grateful I bothered to help." Her disdainful tone made my shoulders slump, "I won't help you out again...It'd be cruel of me to deny my cute little subordinates such high-quality food." She smirked deviously as she walked over to me and took the Angel Halo, causing me to fall onto the ground as my vision faded to black.

[10 Hours Later, Sutherland Inn]

I awoke to the familiar ceiling of my room in the Sutherland Inn, my eyes blinking as they adjusted to the light streaming in through the windows; I would have assumed that I had merely dreamt the previous night if it was not for the aching pain throughout my body as I lifted myself up into a sitting position,

"How are you feeling?" I looked to my right to see the teary face of Teeny, now dressed in a miniature maid's outfit, "D-Does it still hurt?" I smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair playfully,

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." I reassured her before looking down, seeing that my chest was covered in bandages, "I-Is this necessary? I only had a few cuts..." The little lamia gaped at me as she yelled in disbelief,

"A few!? You were covered in scratches! That shirt was almost dyed red!" I winced at the new knowledge, it seemed that the blood covering my eye had blinded me to the true extent of my injuries, along with the rampant adrenaline from fighting the Harpy Queen and those two guards.

"What about Happiness Village? Did everything go alright?" Teeny flashed me a smile as she nodded,

"Yeah, Luka and the scary lady said that the villages are merged now and that they are finally able to produce more honey!" I sighed as my head fell back against the bed as my eyes closed in relaxation,

"So, where are my clothes?" I asked, opening my eyes and seeing the lamia point to the wardrobe opposite my bed and slither towards the door, earning a nod from me, "Thanks, Teeny." The purple-haired girl waved a hand as she closed the door behind her, leaving me alone to get dressed; it was not easy, however, as the wounds from yesterday were still somewhat sore, and the overuse of my muscles through [Heavenly Strike] and [Thunder Thrust] had left me with an ache in both of my arms and legs as I trudged down the stairs and into the reception, where I saw Teeny chatting away with the owner of the inn,

"Oh. Toma right?" The lady assumed with a smile, "Your friends said they'd be waiting for you on the way to some place called Enrika?" I nodded and smiled as I began walking towards the door to leave,

"Wait!" Teeny's voice rang out behind me, causing me to turn and look at her, "Go visit Vanilla! She has something for your injuries!" With that said, I walked outside and began my slow and arduous journey to the general store; it wasn't particularly far, but the inability to move at a faster pace than a light walk was painful, both physically and mentally. Eventually, I made it to the store and walked in, seeing the still scantily-clad vampire girl rushing around the store and ordering the shelves before noticing me and perking up,

"Big Brother!" She jumped at me and I caught her, only to gasp at the sharp pain that lanced through my body, as she quickly realized her fault, "S-Sorry! Here, it's some herbs, they'll heal you up!" She pulled out some green leaves and placed them in my hand. I stuffed the herbs into my mouth and chewed, my face scrunching at the bitter, earthy taste that filled my mouth as I opted to swallow them before my tastebuds decided to revolt; upon swallowing the herbs, I felt a rush of energy course through my body, the pains and aches ebbing away until nothing remained,

"Woah! Thanks, Vanilla!" I smiled at the girl, flexing my arms and stretching to see if there was any left-over pain, only to find none at all, "Those must have been some pretty high-level herbs...How much do I owe you?"

"You owe us nothing, my son." An old man came from behind the counter, his wrinkled visage contorted in delight, "After all, you are John's boy, correct?" I nodded my head in confusion, not recognising the man at first before it clicked,

"Wait...Are you 'Gerry'?" The man chuckled mirthfully at the name before introducing himself, "The name is Geronimo, John just calls me that because he's a cheeky young sprout." I laughed at the light-hearted comment before he continued, "He's spoken a lot about you, boy. Never in a million years would I have ever expected you to drive off Granberia of all monsters." He looked down at the vampire girl beside me, "And you gave me such a lively apprentice! She's really catching on to the trade, perhaps one day she'll even be better than me!" I smiled at the girl and ruffled her hair, getting a giggle in return,

"That's good..." I sighed, before fixing the man a serious glare, "I'll have to ask you to take care of her for me in the meantime...I can't just abandon the quest me and my friends are on." The man nodded and I returned it as Vanilla got back to her chores of stocking the shelves. As I walked out I looked to the sky,

'I hope this next trip is worth it...'

Chapter Text

The sound of my whistling filled the air as I strolled down the path towards our next destination, sure of myself that I'd find both Luka and Alice waiting for me along the way, 'I wonder what ended up happening after I passed out last night...I hope I didn't miss anything important.' I thought to myself idly as the last few houses turned to dense trees and the path became more rough and uneven as if it hadn't been trekked in a good while. A smile slipped onto my face as I saw the familiar sight of my two companions resting a bit further on the path, my arm waving at them as I called out to them, "Hey! I'm here now! We can start going!" I watched Alice's eyes roll in exasperation as she pushed herself up,

"The gorilla returns...And slightly different somehow..." The lamia slithered over to me, circling me while prodding me with a finger, "Your scent...It's thicker than before..." She mused, narrowing her eyes as they roamed over me; I felt a bead of sweat fall down my forehead at the intense gaze, shrinking back with an exasperated look,

"I don't feel any different...Do you have to give me such a look?" I asked, subtly looking to Luka for some help, only to get a shrug and a smirk from the smug midget as he grinned at my misfortune. I cleared my throat, hoping to clear the awkward silence that had set in, "So, what did I miss last night? The last thing I remember was the floor, and it was approaching very quickly." Luka decided to step forward, speaking up for the first time today,

"Well, the villagers and the harpies ended up striking a deal: the men would work and help the harpies...Grow, and the harpies would help with labour alongside the men." The boy explained as I hummed in satisfaction,

"I suppose that's the best outcome we could have gotten." I sighed before frowning, "How...How is the queen? She was in pretty rough shape before I clocked out."

"She was fine after a bit of rest, enough that she could participate in the talks..." Luka's face twisted in confusion and curiosity, "What was that thing you did when you hit her? It was like you were glowing..." I looked at him like he had grown a second head. Glowing? I had no clue what he was talking about, I didn't know any magic, hell, even finding someone magically gifted on Ilias continent was equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack.

"I don't know what you are talking about, all I did was slash at her with Angel Halo." I told him honestly, getting a raise of an eyebrow from Alice as she hummed,

"Interesting...Luka, give him Angel Halo." She ordered, causing the small hero's head to snap to her in confusion and hurt, "Not permanently, dumbass. Just give it to him for a second and let's see if we can get him to replicate what happened." Begrudgingly, Luka trudged over and handed me the sword, the sight of it still causing me to grimace in revulsion, "Now, try and remember what you felt then, and see if you can channel it." Giving her a nod, I stared at the sword in my hand, focusing on the blade and the feel of it in my hand; sure enough, I felt that familiar pull, though it was faint, negligible compared to the last time it had appeared it.

"It...Feels like something is pulling on my arm...But it's not pulling on my arm at the same time?" I had no idea how to explain it: it was a pull, but it was not on my arm, at least not physically. The feeling was as if something was being drawn into the blade unconsciously; focusing on the feeling, I felt it pulse gently - Warmly even, revealing more of its path as the pull reached all the way up to my shoulder before fading away,

"So, care to share with the rest of the class? Judging by that stupefied look on your face, you must have felt something at least." Our favourite lamia urged mockingly, her voice letting a bit of enthusiasm slip through as my head turned to her,

"It's odd. I can feel it, but it only goes up to my shoulder before fading completely." I motioned to my arm, "It's nowhere near as intense as before - Probably why that glow isn't showing up again." I switched the sword between my hands, the feeling following the blade as I observed the pattern, "I don't think we are really making much progress with this. I can feel something happening, but I can't even seem to keep hold of whatever is being sucked up by this thing." I admitted, much to the disappointment of both Alice and Luka,

"That's too bad." Luka sighed as I handed him back the sword, the amalgam sliding into place on his hip, "That was really cool too. It was like you were engulfed in flame!" 

"...That sounds less like a superpower and more like a liability if I'm honest." I observed blandly, giving him a disturbed look. Alice whistled to grab our attention, smirking cheekily at us,

"Alright, enough talking about Toma's performance issues -" "Hey!" "- And let's go find this 'Enrika' place." With that, the lamia began to slither off, prompting us to follow, with me glaring a hole into the back of her skull and Luka doing his best impression of a pufferfish with the great effort of trying not to burst out laughing. As we walked, I gazed down at my hand, flexing the fingers tentatively,

'Just what is this power? Is it to do with...?' My thoughts trailed off as Luka patted my arm comfortingly, seemingly sensing my confusion,

"Hey, it's alright. I'm sure we'll figure out that power soon enough." The boy smiled before it dropped into a sigh, "Wish I had something like that...Then I wouldn't need you to save me all the time." The boy's words made me frown as I retorted,

"What do you mean?" My voice showed my confusion, "Did you forget we both had to be saved by Alice a couple of times? Hell, I found out what it was like to fly against Granberia, I'm surprised I wasn't visible from the outskirts of the village with the airtime I got." Luka gave a chuckle at my words, seemingly lightening up from the banter,

"Yeah. Thanks, Toma." I smirked and nodded as we settled back down into calm silence, making our way down the gradually darkening path, the trees thickening and blocking out a large portion of the light.

"Quite secretive, isn't it? I can't see why, surely monsters would attack the settlement more if they knew it was so disconnected from Iliasburg..." I mused, looking around at the thick foliage around us, my eyes scanning for anything out of place or any sign of life, "Silent too...Like a haunted forest." Alice froze with a squeak of fear, causing us to end up running into her,

"Alice!? What's wrong?" Luka spoke with worry lacing his tone, quickly running around to her front and seeing the look on her face, "Did you hear or see something!?"

"No! Both of you shut up! Ghosts aren't real!" She yelled, her body shaking like a leaf as her head snapped from side to side, "Ghosts aren't real...Ghosts aren't real..." I stared at her in shock, before snickering from the sudden shift from confident to fearful,

"Well, I never would have thought such a powerful monster would be scared of a silly little thing like a ghost." I chuckled, patting her on the back, "Don't worry Alice, I'm sure you'll manage. I don't think there's any ghosts around." A crack from the forest sent Alice bolting in the other direction, fast enough that the force slammed me onto the floor with a yelp. I rubbed the back of my head while looking in the direction she went, "Jeez, talk about a drama queen..." I murmured, getting back up and patting myself off as me and Luka turned to face the suspicious noise from before, revealing two humanoid figures,

"Travelers, this area is prohibited for humans, leave now or be eliminated." One of the women stepped forth, the pointed ears on their head telling us exactly what kind of monster these were: Dark Elves, "If you refuse...I'll send you into an abyss of pleasure...And make you my slave!" The girl drew a sword from the scabbard at her hip and pointed it at the two of us as our own weapons found themselves in our hands. I looked between the two figures, my eyes lingering on the one who had yet to introduce herself; she kept staring at the two of us with a deranged grin, her eyes gleaming with lustful intent,

"Alright, you take the one with the sword, I'll take the other one." Luka nodded in agreement with my words, as we split up to engage our respective opponents. I walked cautiously toward the unarmed elf, analysing her for any hidden weapons; she just kept standing there, menacingly, "It's rude not to introduce yourself, you know." I called out, my stance never wavering under her gaze, even as she began to speak,

"Fufufu~ My apologies...I must have drifted off thinking about how much I'm going to enjoy having you as a pet." Her words caused me to huff in annoyance, the gall she had to assume that she'd already won! "You won't be needing my name...Just call me 'Mistress'~" Her hands whipped to her skirt and lifted it, revealing a writhing mass of tentacles which exploded into action, rushing towards me in an attempt to catch me off guard. I was quick to recover from the sudden shock, dashing to the side and rushing past the tentacles as they scrambled to keep up with my speed; once in range, I swung the staff towards the side of her head, only for yet another bundle of tentacles to arise and take the blow, some of them splurting out purple ichor, while others began wrapping around the end of the weapon,

"Ugh! That hurt!" She growled, trying to pull me into the writhing embrace of her slimy tentacles; thankfully, I managed to push her back before I could be caught by the first set of tentacles, jumping back as they latched at the air. My eyes met the enraged glare of the dark elf mage, as the injured tentacles limply dangled, leaking the sickeningly blood-like substance,

'I didn't think I swung that hard... Is she just that weak?' I shook my head and shot off toward the mage, who retaliated with yet another swarm of tentacles, 'Tch, I can't get an opening. If I attack, she'll just overwhelm me with numbers...or worse, anticipate my move.' I dashed around the elf, hoping to try and find a chance to attack as she kept pushing me away with the wall of flesh. I dashed around, taking cover behind the trees and moving when she sent her tentacles after me, 'I can't keep this up...I need to end this quickly or I'm gonna get caught eventually.'  Planting my feet on the trunk of a tree, I channelled my strength and pushed off with a  [Thunder Thrust], the burst of speed helping me close the distance before the end of my weapon slammed through the hastily erected wall of tentacles, and into the monster's gut. The dark elf's eyes bulged from the force as the wind left her lungs, staggering back as she held the area before collapsing in a heap, unable to continue,

"You...!" She gasped, glaring at me with indignation in her eyes, "To be defeated...By a mere human..." Her eyelids drooped before she ceased moving, aside from the laboured rise-and-fall of her chest. My ears caught the sound of rushing wind as my staff came up to block another that had been thrown, the force causing me to skid backwards and my entire body to reverberate,

"Guh! The hell?" I looked in the direction of the projectile and saw a tall, muscular woman clad in very little other than a loincloth and some kind of jewellery over her admittedly buxom chest, "Another one...?" I groaned in exasperation, "Couldn't just give me a break huh?" I shook my arms, getting back into a stance as the woman picked up her staff and twirled it,

"So, you defeated one of us huh? Don't disappoint me now, brat!" The busty elf rushed towards me, with my own charge opposing her as our weapons met in a contest of strength. I pushed back against the elf, the two of us locked in a stalemate as we looked to overpower one another,

"Kh! Damn...Hag!" I gritted my teeth and let out a shout as I forced her arms up, my own burning with exertion; the end of my staff found itself meeting her chin with a loud smack before she retaliated with a wide swing of her arm, sending me sprawling onto the floor. I rolled to my feet, kneeling as I glared at the enemy across from me, 'Okay, she's pretty strong...Durable too.' My gaze shifted to the battle between Luka and the other elf; the boy was evidently doing well, the elf swordswoman was leaking energy from multiple wounds while Luka was only sporting a blush and a very ruffled appearance as if he had just gotten dressed, 'He should be done soon, I'll just have to hold out until he wins. I don't know whether either of us can take this one on alone.' I stood up and rushed towards the muscular elf, feinting a swing from the right and lashing out with a kick to her midsection,

"Hngh!?" The elf slid backwards from the blow, though it seemed to have been little more than an annoyance to her, "I can see how you won against Marion, boy." She huffed before grinning at me maniacally, "But you are as good as fucked against me!" She surprised me with her speed as she charged forward, swinging her staff towards my head which I was barely able to parry, before slamming a knee into her gut and receiving a backhand which sent me tumbling head over heels for my troubles. Forcing myself to my feet, I kept up my assault, pressuring the elf with rapid strikes, each one hitting her staff and pushing her back gradually. Just as I was about to hit her again, she swung out, hitting the Ruyi-Bang out of my hands and into the air, my eyes widened in surprise as she immediately lunged forward and grabbed my wrists in an attempt to force me onto the ground.

"Haaaaa!" I heard Luka's cry as Angel Halo bit into the side of the muscular monster, stunning her and weakening her grip enough for me to rip one of my hands out of her grip and slam a fist into her face with all of my strength, sending her crashing backwards onto the ground as I caught my staff and settled into a stance beside Luka to compose myself,

"Heh. As always, your timing is impeccable." I praised him, before locking my eyes on the form of the monster before us who staggered to her feet and growled menacingly,

"Oh, I am definitely going to make you pay for that." The woman spat a bit of blood onto the floor before charging at us, with both me and Luka meeting her halfway as we simultaneously struck at her from both sides; each strike she blocked was followed up by the edge of a cursed blade slicing into her, or the blunt end of a staff bruising her flesh as she began to slow down under the onslaught, eventually staggering back and being caught between Luka's [Demon Decapitation] and a [Heavenly Strike] from me, causing her to glow brightly before turning into a small, doll-like creature on the floor. Seeing the lack of movement despite her injuries having healed from being sealed, I collapsed onto my knees, thoroughly exhausted from the long fight.

After a few moments of silence, Alice appeared from the bushes, still flustered if the light dusting of pink on her cheeks was an indicator, "Hmph, that was unexpected. I was sure that Amazoness would have been far too much for the both of you." Her eyes drifted to me and narrowed accusingly, "Specifically, you, Toma. If not for you having some hidden ability, I'd call you out for being stronger than you let on." She shook her head in exasperation, "But that's giving you far too much credit. You've proven that you're far too naive to do something like that." I blinked cluelessly at her, unsure of whether I should be insulted at the shot towards my intelligence or proud that I exceeded her expectations. 

The lamia cupped her chin in one of her hands as she slithered back and forth as if pacing around, "You seem to have gotten stronger...But there is no way to explain this increase, even if you somehow trained between fighting the Harpy Queen and now." She let out a sigh as she rubbed her temples, clearly exasperated, "You are a real freak of nature, you know that, Toma?" I rubbed the back of my head nervously, it was almost jarring getting praise from Alice, even if some insults or sarcasm was mixed in. Luka seemed to share my confusion, his face turning scrutinizing as he stared at the purple snake girl,

"Alice...Are you feeling okay? Did you eat something poisonous?" A startled choke came from Alice as she sputtered angrily while looking between us,

"I am-! What does that-!? Am I not allowed to give a compliment!?" I cackled at her angered face, earning her ire as she grabbed my shirt and shook me violently, "Shut up, moron! It's not funny!" After a few moments, I calmed down, wiping my eyes of the moisture that had begun to build from my laughing fit and apologised, getting a glare from the only female member of our trio, "Anyway, those first two were dark elves, while that other one was clearly uncorrupted." Alice began, eyeing the Amazoness elf curiously, "It's rare for both kinds of elves to be living close to each other. It is especially rare if they are working together like these three were." Luka and I nodded in agreement,

"So, you think it's possible that this Enrika place could be a monster settlement? It'd explain the secrecy at least." I mused, patting myself off and giving myself a once-over in case I had dropped anything as Luka spoke up,

"Even so, I think we should keep going. This could be great news!" He spoke excitedly, his eyes gleaming with hope, "If monsters are working alongside humans, then it'd prove that our dream isn't as far-fetched as you think, Alice!"

"Tch, and what will you do when they inevitably drive you away? Because I don't think these elves wanted you anywhere near." I sighed and tilted my head as I pondered the idea,

"It's worth a shot, if they ask us to leave, we'll just do it. Besides, it was self-defence if they ask us about these three." I began walking down the path, whistling peacefully as Luka and the now-human-form Alice fell in line just behind me. The forest began to clear up after a bit of walking and we eventually made it to the edge of the village, which looked quite a lot like Iliasville, though it had thicker vegetation and was obviously much quieter. Standing there to greet us was a pretty mean-looking blonde lady wearing a surprisingly regal green dress with gold accents and jewellery, her blue eyes were cold as she fixed us with an inquisitive glance,

"Who are you? You don't look like merchants." She spoke with authority, her stern face hardly faltering as we introduced ourselves. I couldn't help but squint my eyes at her appearance though...She looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out why,

"We came from Iliasburg, a blacksmith told us that these shirts came from this village." Luka explained, the woman's head nodding in understanding as she responded,

"I see. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I will have to ask you to leave." Her words sent a wave of disappointment through us as we sighed,

"Really? Damn...Here I was hoping we could browse some wares." I groaned. It was a shame, the shirt was durable, if a bit too elastic to fully prevent cuts as I had come to learn the hard way; it would have been nice to get something similar or see if it could be improved upon.

"Ah...Sorry for bothering you then." Luka said meekly, bowing respectfully, followed by me as we turned to leave.

"Wait! That ring... Are you Luka by any chance?" I wheeled around with wide eyes, looking between the woman and Luka, the boy looking just as shocked as I was when he nodded in response,

"You really are him...How you've grown..." She smiled, her eyes warming for the first time since we had met, before her eyes drifted to me, "If he is Luka...Then that hair...You must be Toma right?" My hands flew up to my hair as I stared at her in disbelief. How the hell did she know who Luka was? Furthermore, why the hell did she know me!?

"Uh...Do we know you from somewhere?" Luka tentatively asked, the woman's face twisting in hesitation as if trying to choose her words wisely,

"No...But my name is Micaela. I was close with your mother and your father." Her eyes quickly snapped from hesitation to determination as she stepped forward, "Nevertheless, you three shouldn't be here...Not now at least. When the time comes, that's when we'll talk." Her tone was final and there was most likely little we could do to sway her judgment, but one thing didn't sit right with me,

"Wait, before we leave. You said you knew Luka through his mother and father...That doesn't explain why you know about me." Her eyes drifted over my body before settling on my tail, inconspicuously wrapped around my waist,

"Lucifina...Liked to send letters. She mentioned a boy with spiky hair and a tail, which I am assuming is what is wrapped around your waist." I grimaced and let the appendage unfurl, proving her suspicion right as her eyes widened, "So it was true..." She shook her head lightly, fixing us with another stern look, "Go, we'll meet again another time." The three of us shared a look before shrugging and voicing our agreement, reluctant as it was. As we walked out of sight of the village, Alice spoke up with no small amount of disappointment,

"Impressive, you managed to beat up three monsters, walk us halfway across the continent, and we didn't even get a feast from the village." She responded sarcastically, causing both me and Luka to roll our eyes at the lamia's gluttonous desires,

"Alright, we get it, we fucked up." I put my hands up as I admitted to it, "But it got us a bit of excitement no? We found out you - Hrmph!?" Alice's hand slapped across my mouth, muffling my words as she leant in with a growl,

"Not. One. Word." I let out a muffled agreement before she removed her hand from my mouth. We carried on walking down the path before Luka stopped us,

"Hey, are we still heading to Rostrum? It'd probably be easier if we camped outside the cave rather than walking back from Iliasburg." Alice looked displeased but after a bit of thought she nodded reluctantly,

"As much as I hate it...That makes sense." She glared at the two of us, "You better prepare something good in return, or else..." I coughed and looked away to hide my dread,

"Y-Yeah, yeah. Of course." I nervously agreed, "But let's just get there before we start doing any of that." And with that, we began our trek towards our next destination, the setting sun lighting our way

After a few hours of walking, we were almost at the cave, the sun having completely set by now as the half-moon shined down and bathed the small clearing we had found in an ethereal light, "Alright, let's set up camp here. Don't wanna be too close in case there are monsters in the cave." I hoisted my bag off of my back and placed it down in the middle of the clearing, Luka doing the same as he got to set up the tents while I began trying to light a fire, striking a rock with the blunt end of my knife, showering the bundle of wooden sticks I had gathered in sparks as they quickly caught fire. I stood up and watched the flames crackle for a moment, before walking off into the darkened forest, my knife glinting off the scant moonlight.

Quickly, I was able to find a large deer, the buck completely oblivious as I stalked between the trees behind it, its head turning as if sensing my presence, its posture tensing before galloping off, with me in close pursuit of it as we weaved between the thick vegetation, 'Huh...Alice was right. It's way easier to keep up now compared to before.' The deer stumbled as it tripped over an upturned root, giving me an opportunity to shoot forward and jam my knife into its neck, quickly swiping it across as the deer's weak flailing slowly stopped. I sighed and flicked the blade, splattering blood across the ground as I went to pick up the corpse, before feeling an odd sense of dread overtake me as I turned and saw that the deer had wandered close to the cave, the entrance was a sea of black before me.

Stepping back, I kept myself facing forward while dragging the deer's carcass with me, unable to will myself to look away from the ominous sight, 'What...What is this feeling?' I thought to myself, feeling sweat drip down my forehead from the sudden pressure. A roar echoed from within the cave...No, it was as if it had gone both through the cave, and over the mountains; faint, but the power it held was undiminished as I managed to finally tear my eyes away from the entrance and run with my hunt back to the camp. My heart raced as I slid into the camp, collapsing onto my hands and knees as the deer's body hit the ground with a meaty thud.

"Toma! What happened!?" Luka immediately rushed over to me, followed by Alice as the two gave me concerned looks,

"I-It was nothing...Nothing at all..." I gasped, clutching at my chest in a desperate attempt to calm myself, "I-It was just...I...Heard something..." I stammered out, looking at my shaking arms and closing my eyes as I slowly but surely calmed myself down.

"What did you hear?" Alice questioned, giving me a more intrigued look than anything else,

"A...Roar of some kind...Must have been the one that note mentioned..." I breathed deeply as I continued to recall the events, "It was like...A pressure, or something. All I knew was I needed to leave, like some kind of intuition..." Luka placed his hand on my shoulder, stopping me and getting me to look at him,

"Hey. It's alright, forget about it for now. Let's prepare this food before Alice decides to eat our campsite." I gave a chuckle at his words, finally calming down from the almost supernatural encounter,

"Yeah...Thanks Luka." He nodded as we both got to work preparing the deer for the three of us, all while Alice seemed lost in thought, to the point that she only noticed we had finished once her portion was slid in front of her; it took her little time to clear the plate and ask for seconds, much to the amusement of me and Luka, though I was not far behind her in that regard. Luka gawked at me with a shocked look, having almost kept up with Alice's gluttony,

"W-Wow, you must have been more hungry than usual...Though I suppose you hadn't eaten for a while..." I nodded sheepishly, feeling slightly embarrassed by the attention,

"Yeah...To be fair I completely forgot until we started cooking." I yawned and got up, walking over to one of the tents, "Though I think it'd be a good idea to get some rest... Gonna need it for tomorrow I'm sure." Luka smiled and nodded, Alice merely raising a hand, still scarfing down what remained of the food we prepared as I crawled into my tent and fell asleep soon after.

My dreams were plagued with the image of something large...with glowing red eyes a demonic visage, and a booming roar which reverberated through my mind.

Chapter Text

The sky crackled with thunder as my footsteps rang out among the desolate landscape, my chest heaving as I weaved through the broken trees and cracked ground. A roar echoed behind me, reminding me of the imminent danger as a wave of liquid light carved a trench into the ground beside me, bathing half my body in a sharp, burning agony as I yelped in pain; the sheer power of the blast sent me flying through the air and rolling across the ground, my body lighting up in pain as the rough ground scraped my exposed skin, leaving me covered in cuts and bruises.

I began pushing myself up to run again: there was no chance of beating that… Thing, whatever it was, I could barely even keep myself away from the large strides it had made. Its snarling face looked down at me, as if wronged by my very existence, before it opened its mouth to fire another burning wave of power, this time landing just in front of me before erupting in a blinding flash as a crushing wave of force and shrapnel sent me flying backwards.

My limbs burned, my head throbbed, and every bone in my body cried out in pain as I stared up into the fiery sky, embers dancing chaotically through the air as the thunderous stomping of the beast caught up to me. My eyes met its own, as the fur on its body began to bristle and a dazzling light began to pour from the maw of the creature; the beast prepared to end me, and as my vision faded, I could do nothing but watch as the world lit up in a bright light before oblivion took me…

I awoke with a gasp, my heart pounding as my arms shot forward, guarding against the light before my frenzied mind began to calm; the roof of my tent was letting in a small amount of pale blue light, signifying that the sun had yet to rise. I crawled out of my tent and sat down outside, closing my eyes and breathing in deeply to compose myself, ‘I’ve never had a dream like that before…Just what the hell was that?’ My mind raced as I brought a hand up to my head and shook it to clear my thoughts.

I opened my eyes and looked around, seeing Alice still wrapped around her tree and Luka’s tent still closed with Angel Halo still propped up outside, ‘The others are still asleep, might as well do something productive.’ I thought, getting up and stretching before walking back to my tent and slinging the holder for the Ruyi-Bang over my shoulders as I began walking away from camp, making sure not to make enough noise to wake the others.

Once I was a fair distance away from camp, I unholstered my staff and began practising my swings on a nearby tree, getting into a slowly intensifying barrage of strikes as pieces of bark cracked and detached, pieces flying into the air as I let out a yell, roughly slamming the end of my staff into the weakened trunk as it exploded into a hail of shards and promptly collapsed onto the ground with a loud crash. The sound of a voice pierced through the following silence,

“What are you doing, idiot?” Alice questioned, slithering into view as I turned to regard her, “You should have gotten some rest. Training out here alone isn’t going to do anything but tire you out for when we actually get going.” I winced at the truth in her words, looking away in embarrassment,

“Yeah…I suppose you are right…Hey, Alice?” I asked tentatively, looking back to see an inquisitive eyebrow rise on her face. “Do you…Have any tips for me? In terms of fighting, at least.” I rubbed the back of my head tentatively, “I just…Want to be prepared, you know?” Alice sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

“Your tail, for one.” She pointed to my waist at the furred appendage, “You hardly use it, despite it being perfect for catching someone off guard. Use it to wield a weapon, sweep someone’s legs, or even grab hold of someone while they are too busy focusing on your arms, and that could mean the difference between life or death.” I looked down at my tail, seeing the logic in her words as I unfurled it and gave it some experimental swings.

Alice’s tail swung up with blinding speed and whipped the Ruyi-Bang from my grasp, sending it clattering to the side as she lashed out with a fist that I barely blocked, my body rattling from the surprising force as I skidded back in a fighting stance, “Next…You need to get better at fighting hand-to-hand. I see that you often stick to getting close to a monster; at that distance, a staff is going to be unwieldy, and less effective.” The girl smirked as her eyes took on a dangerous look, “I’ll teach you some basics, make sure you can at least contend without that staff being your lifeline…If you survive that is.”

I clicked my tongue as I barely avoided another swing from the lamia, the fist brushing past my cheek as I tried to respond with a punch to her gut, only for her tail to wrap around and stop the blow before it reached her, “You certainly have the necessary strength, but you lack finesse.” she noted, blocking a kick aimed for her head with an arm. “Now you are just completely open.” her other fist shot forward and dug into my gut, sending me sprawling as I gasped for breath, trying to lift myself back up.

‘Today is going to be a long day, isn’t it?’

[A few hours later]

Luka was sitting at the camp cooking breakfast, having awoken to the absence of both myself and Alice before deciding that he’d get started on preparing for the two of us to come back with more food; however, he was not ready for Alice to slither back into camp, dragging my battered and bruised body along like a sack of potatoes before letting me hit the ground with a pained groan. “T-Toma! Alice, what did you do!?” he yelled, rushing over from the campfire to prop me up.

“Just a bit of light training. Give him a bit of time and he’ll be able to move.” My hand raised and shakily formed a thumbs-up in agreement before falling to the ground again. Luka sighed and grabbed onto my arms, lifting me and carrying me over to the campfire, setting me down slowly as he got back to cooking. “So what ‘training’ did you both get up to?” Luka asked, sending an inquisitive look between the two of us.

“What does it look like? She turned me into a walking bruise!” I groaned in pain, feeling the ache from where our lamia companion had so generously taught me how it felt to be a punching bag. Alice chuckled at my exaggerated comment, shaking her head with some mirth. “He wanted tips on how to improve in a fight. I just taught him a couple of tricks.” She smirked at the glare I gave her out of the corner of her eye, clearly satisfied with her work. Luka shook his head and began dishing out portions of food, handing me a bowl of stew as I slowly, painfully took it from him and began eating.

Eventually, after the meal, - or feast in Alice’s case - we set off towards the mouth of the cave that leads to Rostrum. Luka settled into pace beside me as Alice led us in front. “So, did you catch anything else last night when you were here?” I shook my head in the negative. “So we don’t know what we are dealing with. How fun.” I was about to respond before Alice disappeared in front of us, causing us to pull out our respective weapons and slowly advance forward. My gaze whipped around at the dual treelines as we crept along the rugged path, the tension almost palpable in the air.

After a few minutes of silent walking, we entered the clearing just before the passageway’s entrance. Standing in our way was a relatively tall woman with pink hair and two long ears protruding from her head with a few golden bangles around her arms and fur around her wrists. Her body was partially covered by a skintight leotard which, in all honesty, covered barely any of her torso, leaving a large amount of cleavage and most of her belly bare. Slung around her waist was a quiver and a bow, though she did not reach for it despite our aggressive posture.

“Turn back, travellers,” she ordered, a stern yet concerned frown forming on her face. “I understand why you are here, but it is not worth throwing your lives away. Please.” Me and Luka gave each other a confused look before I relaxed slightly.

“Who are you?” Luka questioned, giving her a cautious glance as he kept Angel Halo at the ready.

“My name is Barbun. I’m here to try and stop adventurers like you,” she informed us with a solemn tone. “It’s too dangerous, especially for ones as young as the two of you.” I felt a small amount of indignation at being referred to as young, but I swallowed the retort.

“What do you know about this place?” I asked, motioning to the cave with my staff. 

A sigh found its way out of the girl’s mouth as she idly bounced her oddly shaped foot, making me realise that she was in fact a rabbit girl. “It’s a cursed place. Word around these parts is that some horrifying creature lies beyond in that abandoned town.” The girl looked up into the sky wistfully, a sad look appearing on her face. “A friend of mine tried to go through the pass a long time ago and retrieve some of the men…We never saw her again.”

“I see…” I hummed, intrigued by her words and simultaneously worried by them. If whatever was behind the disappearances was also causing monsters to disappear, the likelihood of this being a case of another secret monster settlement grew slimmer and slimmer. ‘Humans and monsters going missing? That seems unlikely unless it’s a roper infestation - please don't let it be a roper infestation!’ I shuddered at the thought.

“We can investigate for you.” Luka stepped forward and offered. “We need to get to the bottom of this, no matter what.” He shot me a look and I nodded back in agreement.

“Yeah. we're going to search for the missing humans anyway, so why not keep an eye out for your friend?” I reasoned. The rabbit girl gave us a conflicted look, clearly unhappy with our decision, but a shard of hope still gleamed through in her eyes.

“I see there’s no convincing you to turn back now…” she sighed dejectedly before moving to the side, out of our path. “Just…keep your guard up when you get through the pass. The cave itself is empty, most of the monsters left after people started going missing. They probably thought they’d be next if they stayed.” We nodded and bid her farewell as she walked off and we stepped into the cave, beginning to make our way through the dimly lit tunnels as Alice appeared beside us.

“How do you manage to stay unseen?” I asked the lamia, the girl giving a prideful smirk in response.

“It’s easy for a monster of my calibre. It’s all down to my skill in magic.”

“Can I learn -”

“Nope!” she smugly replied, seemingly taking some cruel sense of joy from my disappointment if the cocky look on her face was any indication. “I’m surprised by the two of you. I would have thought those ‘heroic’ instincts of yours would have kicked in and you’d have started attacking the poor girl.” We turned to look at her with insulted stares.

“We don’t like to fight monsters…It just happens sometimes.” Luka pouted, getting a nod of agreement from me as we passed through a particularly open part of the cavern. The dim light made it difficult for us to see the floor, evident by the startled shout from Luka as he fell over, causing me to freeze in place.

“Luka! Are you okay!?” A groan and the sight of his head rising from the darkness quickly dissuaded my fears as I carefully walked over to him and grabbed his shoulder.

“I’m okay. Just slipped on something on the floor…” Alice slithered over and reached towards the floor, picking up a small hardcover book. 

“Seems to be a journal of some sort. Hey, Toma, you take it.” I received the book and gave her a questioning look. “You’d be less likely to lose it.”

“Hey!” Luka cried out in offence. “I’m not that bad!”

Eventually, we made it out of the cave and I decided to try and read the book we had found in the cave, apparently the journal of a man named ‘Cassius’. The pages were worn, with some of them being completely destroyed and much of the writing near the edges of the pages being illegible, smudged by the ambient moisture in the cave.

Day 3

We finally reached the passage that Jeremiah had told us about, took us long enough because that fool brother of his made us walk off the path to avoid getting ambushed by monsters. There’s a couple dozen of us, one measly monster won’t be able to do anything! It’s not like there are many strong monsters in these parts anyway.

We decided to set up camp outside the cave since it was getting dark, the bucket heads decided they’d take turns on night watch while the rest of us got some sleep. Hopefully the ground treats me right and doesn’t give me a damn crick in my neck while I’m asleep.

Something happened while we were asleep, the boy who was on his shift - the damn kid didn’t even look like he’d even had his first kiss yet - he began screaming and bawling, rambling something about some kind of distant noise he heard: a roar of some kind. I’m surprised he hadn’t pissed himself, what with him shaking like a damn leaf.

Eventually, he calmed down and one of the other guards took his place. Better not wake me up again, I’m getting too old to deal with this.

The three of us stared at the page, intrigued by the story being told. “Sounds familiar. Whatever you heard must have been involved somewhat with the disappearances.” Alice assumed. Luka and I nodded along as I put the book away.

“We should keep an eye out for any extra notes. Maybe the others might have written some records.” I suggested. The three of us began walking again, this time through the forest surrounding Rostrum. The air was still as if frozen under an inexplicable tension, the echoing sounds of our movements were the only noise aside from the rustling of trees in the wind.

“Hey, is that a tent up ahead?” Luka pointed down the path to a small, collapsed sheet on the road, mold had clearly begun to set in on the fabric, likely over the various cycles of rain since it had been set up. We walked closer and investigated the campsite: it was odd, almost as if it had just been abandoned in the middle of the night. Once the tent had been removed, we could see that a good amount of personal belongings still remained, with a locked chest being one of them.

“How heroic of us. Looting like common bandits.” Alice dryly remarked as I broke the lock with the edge of my staff. “...Is there anything edible?” Ignoring the predictable words of gluttony from the resident lamia, Luka and I crack open the chest and find little more than some rancid food and a small note at the top of the chest.

Day 1̷̢̝͕͎̫͎̖̰̳́̃̾́̈͑̓̎̑̚͜͜͜͝8̷̨̛̗̬͖̟̼̙̾͋̐̏̿̕

They didn’t believe me, those bastards!

I told them that there was something off - that the longer we stayed in this Ilias-forsaken hellhole, the more of us would die! Claire and Dutch being taken without any trace should have been our first clue to get the fuck out of here, and that big, bald bastard, Kellog, should have been the second.

I couldn’t stand it any more, I had to make a run for it, even if it meant I got snatched up by a monster in the wilderness on the other side of the mountains, surely it couldn’t be worse than waiting to get dragged off back to who-knows-where?.

Day ///

It’s here. I can hear it stalking around in the woods.

I snuffed the campfire out, I can’t see at all in the darkness.

Oh goddess, it’s close now, I can hear it - smell it even.

It’s like rotting meat that’s been out in the sun for hours! Please Ilias let me live! I didn’t do anything to deserve this!

If anyone finds this. Please. Go and don’t ever come back. Do whatever you can, seal the cave, set a trap, whatever, just do NOT let this thing get out of here.

Remember Patrick.

I stared at the note in disturbed curiosity, my eyes brushing over the lines of text over and over until a hand on my shoulder shook me out of the daze I was in. “What?” I replied automatically, turning my head to see Luka’s concerned face.

“Are you alright, Toma? You zoned out or something.” the boy informed me. I shook my head and pocketed the note as I stood back up from my crouch.

“I’m fine…What’s up?”

“We should head into Rostrum for more clues. Or we’ll find what’s been taking all of these people out one by one.” Luka suggested. I nodded and turned to Alice, the lamia was looking around at the scenery with an odd look on her face, it almost looked like…Worry?

“Hey, Alice. You good?” I called out, seemingly snapping her out of her own thoughts as she turned to regard me with her usual stare. “We are heading into the town now, is there something wrong?” The lamia looked around slowly, casting a cautious gaze at the surrounding forest.

“This place…It feels wrong somehow.” she admitted, scrunching her face up. “It’s too quiet. Add on what that girl said, and it’s clear that this is something more sinister than a simple ‘monster problem’.” I frowned at her words. It makes a lot of sense, every monster we’d met so far was much more focused on trying to find a mate or to do…Less than savoury things to humans. However, this felt like far more than some errant monster, especially given the information the notes had provided us so far. Just what the hell was this ‘monster’ they spoke of?

“Hey! Are we going or what?” Luka called out, getting our attention as we both nodded and fell in line beside him, all the while keeping an eye on our surroundings. After a short walk, we found ourselves standing at the edge of the town; it was a mess of crumbling buildings and uneven ground, much of the buildings we could see looked as if they had lopsidedly sunk into the ground, most likely due to them having been derelict for decades.

“...I have no clue what they were thinking with this place.” I admitted, staring at the ruins with contempt. “I mean look at it! You’d be safer sleeping in the wilderness.” Luka and Alice seemed to share my distaste for the location as they looked at the buildings with disgust. We crept slowly into the town, our eyes scanning the debris as we walked tensely through the overgrown streets.

I cleared my throat to catch the other’s attention. “I think it’d be a good idea to split up. We’ll cover more ground that way.” The other two looked at me as if I was crazy before I put my hands up placatingly. “Hold on. I was going to say that you two should stick together while I split off, I’m pretty good at hunting, I’ll know if I’m the hunted.”

“I don’t like it…But I trust you.” Luka spoke up hesitantly. “Just be careful out there, okay?” I gave him a nod and a smirk as I turned to walk down one of the branching paths.

“Yeah. I’ll make sure to keep an eye out. Alice, if Luka gets attacked, can you find me and let me know?” I asked her, getting a slow nod from the lamia as she gave me a dismissive look.

“Fine. But you better not die out there. I don’t want to deal with this idiot’s sulking.” I chuckled at her words, hearing the small tone of worry in her voice.

“Thanks, Alice. Tell you what, once we turn in that bounty, I’ll pay for a feast. My treat.” Her eyes widened and I could practically feel the excitement radiating off her. We bid each other a quick farewell and turned down different streets, the voices of the young hero and our gluttonous companion eventually fading out as I progressed down the path.

I froze up as I caught a flash of red and white darting behind a building, my head snapping to stare at the corner. “Hey! Who’s there?” I called out, my voice piercing the silence like an arrow through the air. After no answer, I rushed over and turned the corner before looking down at my feet and seeing bootprint-shaped marks in the overgrowth, as if someone had stepped on the grass and flattened it.

I continued following the marks, jogging along until I noticed an additional, unknown trail of white feathers following the marks, their colour faded, yet still vibrant in contrast to the grass below. ‘A harpy maybe? But what would one be doing here?’ Shaking my head, I continued following the tracks until it led to a small, destroyed homestead, the wood having clearly rotted…But the damage it had sustained almost seemed as if a heavy impact had caused it to collapse, what with the shattered fragments of housing supports scattered across the floor.

I stepped closer, eager to investigate the ruin when my foot hit something on the ground. Turning my head to look at the floor, horror flooded me as I realised it was a skeletal hand, grasping onto an old, leather journal and jumped back in surprise. After a few short breaths to calm myself, I slowly walked over and reached down, shakily removing the journal from the limb.

Jeremiah’s Journal

Day 5

We finally reached the town, well, what's left of it at least. If Ilias will forgive me, I do not see how this ‘expedition’ of ours is going to be successful.

The buildings are in severe disrepair and the nasty fungi inside of them could put the Monster Lord herself down. Adding on the fact that the foundations are about as sturdy as a sandcastle in a hurricane, we are quickly finding a lot more work that will need to be done before we even think of calling new settlers in.

Day 7

All is going as well as can be I suppose.

The guards are in high spirits and we’ve just sent a messenger back the way we came: a spry young fellow, he should be back within the next three or so days, the joys of being young. It’s a shame he’s having to spend a portion of his life with this sour old bunch, but maybe he and the rest of the youngsters will bring some much-needed life to this (not so) thriving community of ours.

On another note, we’ve managed to pick out some of the better homesteads, ones that hopefully won’t collapse on our heads or give us some kind of deadly disease. As for the rest? Well, there’s scant else to do about them until we get a solid supply chain running, we don’t have the tools or the manpower to repair them at the moment.

Day 10

Something’s wrong.

Outside of our messenger boy seemingly having not returned, some of the guards are spreading rumours about shadows stalking around the town. Big ones as well, not like a deer or some kind of wolf, but more humanoid, it’s making the lads antsy every night.

My brother recommended we start a hunt for whatever’s out there, but we cannot afford to go on a wild goose chase for some mysterious creature. Not with our population already busy and half of the combat-ready folk being a bunch of greenhorns.

I can only hope that the rumours die down and we go back to that tentative peace we’ve had since we settled down.

The rest of the notebook was missing, torn paper showing that it had been ripped out for some unknown reason. I looked around, feeling a sense of uneasiness descend upon the area after reading the note; it was almost uncanny how the silence had become so deafening, but I had to keep going. Walking further in the direction of where the tracks were heading, I quickly came across one of the more intact buildings I had seen so far, having an actually visible doorframe for once.

I stepped into the structure, wincing at the creaking of the floorboards under my weight as I entered what seemed to be an old kitchen; part of the roof had caved in, so I couldn’t access the actual countertop in the corner, but there was a hallway that led a bit further into the house. It was at this point that a vile stench hit me, a mixture of mildew and rotting wood mixed with the odour of rancid meat.

‘Ugh…I think I’m gonna be sick.’ I groaned mentally, lifting my shirt to my face in a vain attempt to shield myself from the smell as I pushed on through into the hall. I almost threw up at the sight before me: in the middle of the hallway was the body of a woman, badly decomposed, but still somewhat recognisable, indicating that she had not been dead for as long as the others may have been. She must have been a monster, as she had similar protrusions to the rabbit girl from earlier that day, probably the missing friend of hers.

Fighting the urge to get out of there and eject the contents of my stomach onto the floor, I kneeled down and examined the body, using my staff to move the stiff corpse. She had not died of natural causes, several deep gashes lined her torso and upon closer inspection, there was a faint trail of a dark substance leading from her body. ‘Blood’ I realized; she had been injured by something and whatever had done it had lost her somehow.

I looked closer at the wounds in an attempt to discern what had caused them, noticing that they were not clean cuts like a sharp claw or a fine blade, but more as if something had caught her, and forcefully ripped through the flesh. ‘Maybe she got those from running away? Or maybe being hit by debris?’ I thought, my eyes narrowing in suspicion. ‘This gets worse and worse by the minute’ My eyes caught a glimpse of a small silver locket on the floor, prompting me to pick it up. ‘Well, at least that girl has something to remember her by.’

I pocketed the locket and made my way outside, casting one last look at the ruined home before stepping back into the open air. As I stepped out of the house, the overwhelming feeling of being watched made its appearance as I looked around uneasily at my surroundings. ‘Alright…I’ve had enough of this!’ I growled mentally, reaching the end of my patience. “Hey! Whoever’s out there, show yourself!” A loud creak caught my attention as I swivelled to face the source of the noise. The creaking continued as the house before me seemed to lean forward.

“I’m not gonna repeat myself! Come out now or-!” My order was quickly interrupted by a loud roar as a hulking creature, almost double the size of me, barrelled through the aforementioned house, showering me in shards of wood and forcing me to dodge out of the way to avoid being flattened by its bulk. The creature was a disgusting sight, its flesh was covered in patchy fur, some parts being completely bare while others were fully coated, its snarling maw resembling that of the creature I had seen in my dreams.

I got into a stance as I stared the creature down, my eyes meeting its own, enraged snarls coming from the creature’s throat. Despite the pounding in my chest, I stood my ground, tensed and ready for anything it might do. A roar tore its way from the beast's throat as it stampeded towards me at a frightening pace for something of its size, my own charge meeting it as I dodged to the side at the last minute with a swing of my staff hitting it in the ribs. To my shock, the beast merely grunted and swung back with a fist, sending me flying backwards with a gasp of pain.

“T-Tough bastard…!” I groaned, pushing myself back to my feet in time for the next wild charge as I dodged again, this time preparing for the back fist, only for a long, furry appendage to slam into my side and knock the wind out of me as I rolled across the floor from the force. ‘Ow…It’s always the tail, huh…?’ I had little time to recover as the creature was already upon me, its foot raised high. 

“▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!” it roared as I barely rolled out of the way, lashing out with a strike to its leg which it once again shrugged off before slamming a bulbous fist into my hastily-formed block, once again launching me into the air. I felt my world spin as I crashed head-first into one of the broken buildings, my vision darkening as I lingered on the edge of consciousness, the giant’s footsteps moving away, likely sensing my inability to fight.

For a moment, I lay there, my vision swimming as I began to black out, before hearing something which caught my attention. ’W____ U_.’ A voice, something familiar, but I couldn’t make it out clearly. ‘Wa__ Up.’ Again, it spoke, clearer this time. It almost sounded like…Me?

‘WAKE. UP !’ It spoke yet again, this time though, I could hear its words clearly.

“W-What…?” I mumbled, still teetering on the edge of consciousness.

‘Is this it? Is this your limit?’ the voice spoke again, disdain filling its tone as it continued. ‘Are you really going to just sit here on your ass? Like a weakling?’ I felt shame fill me as I groggily snapped back.

“I can’t…Win…” The voice let out a cruel laugh at my words, finding some sick amusement in them.

‘Of course you can’t. You want to know why? B ecause you don’t care, do you?’ Indignation bubbled up within me, but the voice cut me off. ‘I feel sorry for those bandits, for that monster you decided to give false hope to. They’d have been better off without you worming your way into their lives.’ Indignation turned to anger at its cruel statement.

“N-No…That’s…” I growled out, my body straining to get up but failing to find the energy to do so.

‘You know, the best part about this? You believe it, don’t you? You know that I’m right.’ The voice cackled disdainfully before carrying on. ’ Poor John, he’s going to be in tears when he finds out that you aren’t coming back. How cruel of his son to make a promise, he knows he could never keep.’ I felt my rage rise, how dare this…Thing criticise me, to make a joke out of this!?

“Y-You…”

‘Do you feel it? That anger? That Hatred ?’ The voice asked, giddiness filling its tone as if it was finally getting what it wanted. ‘Hah, comical. You have no right. After all, you led Luka to his death.’ The chilling statement clashed with the boiling emotions within me. ‘Without you, they would have just ignored this place completely. Alice won’t help Luka here, she’s given the both of you one too many saves.’ I felt a fire light up within me, a burning, searing sensation in the very core of my being.

“Shut up…” I snarled, the darkness at the edge of my vision receding slightly as my body twitched, my hands clenching into fists.

‘Do you want to prove me wrong? Do you want to prove yourself wrong?’ the voice echoed over the sound of the blood pumping in my ears. ‘Then reach inside of yourself…Grab that flame, that anger…And let it drive you forward!’ I felt the heat in my chest rise, almost like a volcano, ready to erupt. Reaching out mentally, I felt the heat encompass me as energy surged through my body, clearing my vision and filling me with strength.

Tearing my way out of the building, I staggered out into the open, staring at my hands in wonderment as I saw the faint white cowl of flame that encompassed my body. “W-Woah…Is this…?” I trailed off as I looked past my arms and at the giant footprint embedded in the ground. “Right, no time to waste. Time for round two!”

[Third Person POV]

Luka had heard the sounds of roaring and destruction, rushing over as quickly as he could with Angel Halo drawn. Alice had disappeared, and he knew better than to expect help from her, no matter how dangerous this could be. The sounds quickly died down, and the young hero assumed the worst as thunderous footsteps resounded in the distance, getting louder and louder as he readied himself.

The beast turned round the corner, spotted the son of Lucifina and growled, its maw stretching with a sinister grin as it anticipated easy prey, its feral gaze locked onto the small boy. With another resounding roar, it charged towards the much smaller boy, lashing out with a wide swipe of its arm which barely missed as the boy slid under the creature and left a glowing wound on its leg with a quick swipe of his cursed blade.

Luka rolled back to his feet and rushed back towards the beast as it was distracted by the odd wound, hoping to land a decisive strike with Angel Halo. The beast quickly snapped out of its confusion, lashing out with its large tail, coiling it around the boy and pinning his arms to his sides.

“C-Crap!” The boy cursed, staring up in fear at the creature as it towered over him.

“Hey, dumbass!” A voice called, catching the ape-like creature’s attention as it turned its head, only to be met with a heavy impact to its face as the glowing form of Toma slammed a kick into its snout, bowling it over and making it drop Luka to the ground. The boy stared up with wide eyes at his friend, seeing the white aura billowing over him.

“T-Toma! Y-You’re…” The Saiyan's head turned to regard him, a grin appearing on his face.

“Hey, Luka. Are you ok?” the glowing warrior asked, turning his head to look back at the ape, which had begun to stand back up from its brief daze, snarling angrily as its red eyes landed on the cause of its pain. Not waiting for an answer from the shocked boy, the staff-wielding hero stepped forward, brandishing his weapon. “I’ll handle this. Have to pay him back for flinging me around like a rag doll.” Luka nodded, still stunned by the sight of his friend wreathed in energy.

“Y-Yeah. Alright.” He stuttered, moving out of the way as the beast finally got back to its feet, the Saiyan and the beast staring each other down once more. Toma chuckled lowly as his eyes narrowed, a burning malice igniting in his gaze.

“I’m going to break you. Count on that.”

[Toma’s POV]

Power surged through me as my aura flared, the distance between me and the ape closing in seconds as the creature swung out in a haphazard blow, its fist moving in slow motion compared to me as I ducked under the arm and stepped into its guard. My hand clenched into a fist, rearing back before snapping forth, burrowing into the chest of the creature as I felt its ribcage buckle against the force of the blow, a wheezing gurgle coming from it as its maw opened in a silent roar.

The creature staggered back, clutching at its chest as I stared at my fist in amazement. ‘Heh…Hehahahaha! I can break through that thick skin of yours, you ugly freak!’ I grinned maniacally, dashing forward and weaving between two more wide swings before slamming the end of my staff into its jaw, rattling its brain and shutting its mouth. Not willing to let it recover, I let my tail coil around my staff, before releasing a flurry of punches into its torso, hammering blow after blow into it as the creature roared in agony, slamming its fists down onto the ground and forcing me to dodge.

The impact shook the ground and sent rocks and dirt flying through the air, most of them bouncing off my skin as I slid back in a crouch, my eyes staring ahead at the resulting dust cloud. I took my staff from my tail, stood up and began scanning the cloud of dust with a cautious gaze. A flash of movement caught my eye as I brought my staff to block against the large arm which burst from the dust, the force causing me to slide across the ground, my bones creaking from the pressure placed on them.

I watched as the ape stumbled forward, red liquid dripping from its mouth as it let out raspy, shuddering coughs. ‘Good, seems it’s got some internal injuries. Just gotta overwhelm this thing before it can get any hits in!’ Dashing forward, I watched as the ape snarled and lunged a hand towards me, prompting me to leap onto the outstretched limb and use it as a platform to dropkick it in the face, a sickening crunch emitting from the connection as it staggered and fell onto its back.

Landing on my back from performing the unfamiliar move, I quickly sat up and saw the still form of the creature, its chest heaving with shaky, laboured breaths as I got to my feet. I walked around toward the beast’s head, seeing its shattered, deformed face and the unfocused gaze in its eyes. ‘It’s over…But why does it feel like this wasn’t a victory? I won, didn’t I?’ I met its gaze, staring into the red orbs which once blazed with such fiery intensity, now calmed with an odd serenity.

After a few seconds, I realised something. ‘It was in pain…All this time…” I thought to myself, staring down at the creature’s body. The closer look gave me an insight into its suffering, many of the creature’s joints were…Odd, to say it lightly, it looked as if the muscle there had overgrown, leaving tight, dense knots of muscle, likely making movement painfully uncomfortable. It wasn’t just the joints either, much of its body was uneven, almost incomplete in a way.

I stared into the beast’s eyes, its glassy red orbs meeting my onyx ones as I stood there in thought. ‘You just wanted freedom, didn’t you? From this agonizing existence.’ My hand moved down to the hunting knife in its sheathe, the handle being clenched in a tight grip as I slid it free from the leather. I lifted the blade and let it point towards the beast’s jugular, a fatal blow, quick and controlled.

Giving the beast one last look, I closed my eyes and plunged the blade into its neck, relieving its suffering as the ape’s breathing stopped; an airy breath, almost like a sigh escaped from its mouth as its eyes closed for the final time.

“Toma?” Luka’s voice pierced through the silence, causing me to open my eyes as I looked up and turned to face him. “Is…Everything alright?” I shook my head as I flicked my knife to the side, sending a line of blood splattering onto the floor before placing it back in its hilt.

“Honestly…?” I started, a shaky breath making its way out of my mouth with a sigh. “No…I let myself get lost in that power…I probably could have ended it quicker but I-”

“-Did well.” Alice’s voice rang out, cutting me off and finishing my sentence as she travelled over to Luka’s side. “That thing…It was human at one point. I can smell it.” The lamia slithered closer to the creature, staring down at the corpse with disgust and pity. “Whatever happened to it…It lost its mind a long time ago. You’ve put it to rest now, and you’ve also brought closure for those who lost their families to its rampage.”

I looked away with a conflicted look on my face; it was somewhat relieving to hear, even if the words only improved my mood a bit. “Let’s go. I think I’ve had enough of this place…” I admitted, sliding my staff back into its holster on my back and began trudging down the path towards the way we came in. Luka and Alice joined me after a short pause, an uncomfortable silence blanketed our party on the way back towards the cave entrance.

Eventually, we ended up at the cave and were about to go in before Luka spoke up. “Wait! Toma, did you find any more journal entries? We found a couple, and it’d be a good idea to compile them so we can hand them in at the guild.”

“That’s a good idea. Hand them here, I’ll hold onto them for now.” I took the pages from Luka and slid them into the journal I had found. “Did you find anything else?” I asked, getting a shake of the head from both of my companions. “Alright, let’s go and report back to the girl. If she’s there still of course.” With that, we started making our way through the cave before an idea occurred to me.

“Haaaah!” With a rousing cry, I reached for that same burning sensation in my chest, the white aura exploding around me once more and flooding the cave with its light.

“Gah! Don’t just scream like that!” Luka scolded, having jumped from the sudden loud noise as I sheepishly laughed and apologised. We made it out of the cave with no accidents this time thanks to my aura, the white glow fizzling out as soon as we got into the open.

“Phew…I should save that for emergencies…Takes a lot out of me.” I panted, my limbs feeling as if they were made of solid rock as I trudged behind Luka and Alice.

“Hm…You should also be careful. That ability of yours practically drowns the area in your scent, so unless you are looking to get milked dry, I’d suggest using it sparingly until you are able to fight at full capacity.” Alice informed me, causing a blush to appear on my face at the lewd implication. Suddenly, Alice disappeared as a set of footsteps rung out from the vegetation, the figure of the rabbit girl from earlier appeared in through the trees and her eyes widened at the sight of us.

“Y-You lived! Did you see the monster?” She asked giddily, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she got up in our faces.

“Uh…Yeah…” I told her, looking away while scratching the back of my head awkwardly. “It won’t be a problem anymore. That’s for sure.”

“That’s a relief…Did you find my friend? What happened to her? I really want to know.” She pleaded, her expressive eyes taking on a hopeful glint as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the silver locket I found.

“She didn’t make it…This is what I was able to bring back, though.” The girl tenderly reached out and cupped the locket in her hands, a sorrowful smile finding its way onto her face as her eyes began to water.

“Thank you…” She sobbed lightly, before wrapping her arms around me in a sudden hug, her face burying itself into my shoulder as I felt the wetness on my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Luka smiling at me as I hesitantly wrapped my arms around the weeping rabbit girl, a look of uncomfortableness on my face as I gently rubbed her back.

‘...Where is that idiot going?’ I questioned in my head as I saw Luka slowly back off into the treeline, a sense of dread filling me as I cursed in my head. ‘Luka you bastard! Get back here! No, don’t speed up, come back!’ Feeling thoroughly betrayed by my closest friend, I let out a quiet sigh as the last of the rabbit girl’s sobs cleared up and she let go of me.

“Sorry about that…It’s just…We always thought we’d never see her again.” she sniffled, before smiling sadly down at the locket. “But now…It’s like I can finally say goodbye. One last time.” She shook her head, causing her pink locks to sway softly before looking up at me. “I know that you didn’t do this expecting a reward…But I’d feel terrible if you were to leave without anything.”

In an unexpected move, her arms came up to wrap around my neck as she pressed her lips against mine, a noise of surprise escaping my throat as I stood there, frozen in shock; it was an oddly intense sensation as she deepened the kiss, taking advantage of my lack of preparedness and tangling her tongue with mine. I had no clue what else to do but to try and reciprocate the passionate act, the lewd smacking of our lips was almost deafening in my ears as I clumsily responded to her skilled kissing.

After a few seconds, she pulled away with a sensual giggle, finding amusement at my awestruck face, the burning in my cheeks indicating that I was probably doing my best impression of a tomato as my mouth opened and closed in an attempt to understand what just happened. “I…What…Uh…You…” I stammered, completely lost for words as the rabbit girl reached up and patted my cheek.

“Fufufu~ Was that your first? Don’t worry about it, you did well for a kissing virgin~” She said lustfully, giving me an admittedly alluring pair of bedroom eyes. “What do you say? Care to take this a bit further~?” My cheeks felt as if they had been set alight as I made to speak, but failed to produce any coherent sentence, simply falling over my words again and again. “Fufu~ Don’t worry, I won’t push you. It’d be rude of me to force that on you after all you’ve done for me.”

“U-Uh…Thanks…” I managed to force out as she stepped even further back and the embarrassing pressure became slightly more bearable. The rabbit girl turned around and walked back the way she came, but not before turning her upper body to wave at me, emphasising her rear end as she slowly swayed it from side to side.

“Let me know if you want to take me up on that offer, cutie~ I’ll be waiting.” Seeing a chance to prevent a complete meltdown of my higher brain functions, I gave her a brief bow and squeaked out a ‘thank you’ before quickly walking in the direction Luka went, the melodious laughter of Barbun ringing in my ears even after she was out of earshot.

I was quickly joined by a very smug-looking Alice and an amused Luka. “How was the kiss, lover boy?” Alice teased, earning a smouldering glare from me as Luka snickered and slapped me on the back.

“Come on, Toma! Cheer up! She really seemed to like you!” I growled and lunged for Luka, grabbing his shirt and violently shaking him.

“Don’t try and comfort me, you traitorous dwarf! You left me!” I yelled as he continued to laugh at my expense, our resident lamia making a poor attempt at masking her own amusement by covering her mouth. “Sure, you two can get down and dirty, but as soon as I get a kiss as a reward, it’s apparently a big deal…” I grumbled, making Luka quickly shut up as Alice snickered at our reactions.

“Well someone needs to feed me, unless this is your way of offering?” I shook my head and waved my hands.

“Uhhh…I think I’m good! I’ll leave that to him!”

“What!? You mean you aren’t going to help her with that!?” Luka cried, seemingly despairing over the thought of being the sole target of Alice’s debauchery. Alice sighed, shaking her head in disappointment.

“A shame. Luka tastes very good, but…” She got in my face and stared at me, scrutinising me for something. “That aura…There was no mistaking it, that is life energy in its purest form…Somehow, you were able to project it outside of your body.” Her voice took on a lewd tone as her eyes narrowed. “The promise of such a bountiful supply…You’d be a very filling meal~ That’s for certain.”

“I-I think I’ll pass, Alice…B-Besides, I’m already buying that feast, remember?” I reminded her nervously while stepping back and putting some distance between us. The lamia tilted her head and closed her eyes in thought, before sighing and nodding her head in agreement.

“I suppose you have a point…For now. I intend to sample as much cuisine as I can on this journey.” She smirked at me while crossing her arms under her chest. “I won’t pass up an opportunity to try something…New.” Her eyes glinted menacingly as I turned back with a blush on my face. The rest of the trip was quiet, the setting sun casting an orange glow through the trees as we finally reached the familiar sight of Iliasburg.

“You guys head to the Sutherland Inn. I’ll go cash in the quest at the guild and join you once I’m finished.” I told them, raising a hand in a wave as I walked off towards the guild.

“Be quick, I’m hungry!” Alice called from behind me before I eventually walked out of earshot of the two. The walk was uneventful, most of the residents being inside apart from a couple of older pedestrians who gave a friendly wave which was returned with a smile. The guards outside of the guild saw me coming from down the road, most likely remembering me from my unique appearance as they stepped aside and let me inside.

I walked up to the desk and saw the same girl from when I had originally requested a mission. “Oh, it’s you! Did you think twice about that Rostrum place?” she asked with an almost certain tone, her words clearly showing a lack of trust in my abilities. “It’s fine. No one blames you for-”

“Actually…I’ve come to report that the issue is dealt with.” I cut her off, pulling the journal we found in the cave out of my bag. “There were predictably no survivors, they got caught by a monster that was taking refuge in the village. Not one I’ve ever heard of either, it didn’t look like most monsters I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with.” I pointed at the journal. “Those are the only records we could find from the residents, the rest suffered too much damage.”

The girl stared at the journal in complete shock, her eyes bulging out of their sockets as she slowly opened it and confirmed the names of the settlers. “I…W-Wow…I didn’t think…This is incredible…!” Her face lit up in joy at the revelation. “L-Let me get you the reward. We set it aside just in case the day ever came…I honestly didn’t expect to see it.” she said as she walked into a back room. The subsequent noises which came from the room caused me to sweatdrop, it certainly sounded like she was struggling.

“Uh…Do you need help in there?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at the muffled, heavy impact of something hitting the ground along with a frustrated groan from the girl. After a few seconds of follow-up groaning, she finally appeared through the door, dragging a large sack over to the counter before collapsing against it with a sigh.

“T-The points…Will be assigned to your records…Thank you for your contribution.” she gasped, resting face first on the counter as I reached over and with a bit of effort, hoisted the bag into my grasp, surprised and concerned at its weight.

“Y-Yeah…Thanks, I guess…” I slung the bag over my back, wincing at the burn in my arms as I walked back out of the door, passing the guards and heading back towards the Sutherland Inn with as much spring in my step as a deflated balloon.

Eventually, I made it back to the Inn and was greeted by the sight of a large table, stocked with various dishes, with some of it being devoured by the human form of Alice as she shovelled down food at an almost ungodly rate. The owner of the Inn walked over with a perturbed look on her face from the horrific display of manners.

“Ah…Your friends told me that you were paying for the food, right?” I nodded with a slight chuckle, opening the bag and scooping out multiple handfuls of gold until the bag was almost halfway empty. I picked up the gold and handed it to her, silencing her impending reassurance that I had given her too much.

“Please, take it. I don’t think I could carry this much around along with my stuff…” My stomach grumbled loudly as I said this, causing me to blush and duck my head in an attempt to hide it when I went to sit down at the table. I took a seat next to Luka and dug into the feast before me, with my fellow hero staring at me uneasily.

“Jeez Toma…Are you trying to keep up with Alice?” he joked nervously, chuckling to himself as I stopped and wheeled around to regard him with a confused look. The boy pointed back at my plate and my eyes almost popped out of their sockets, as the plate I had taken was barren: it was full only moments ago.

“S-Sorry, I’m just really hungry for some reason…” I admitted with a sheepish blush, staring down at my plate embarrassedly. Alice let out a muffled chuckle, staring at me with a chicken leg halfway stuck in her mouth before she pulled it out, revealing the meat had been stripped off the bone.

“If I was to take a guess…Your sudden hunger has something to do with that ability of yours…” She hummed in intrigue as she paused in her gluttonous assault on the food before us. “Oh well. We’ll find out soon enough, for now, let's enjoy the fruits of our labour.” I stared blankly at her, followed by Luka’s own stare.

“You barely did anything though…” Our deadpan words fell on deaf ears as the lamia in disguise ignored our matter-of-fact statement, making the both of us sigh in exasperation. 

Eventually, we finished the feast and headed to our respective rooms to retire for the night, the sun had fully set as darkness swamped Iliasburg, lit up only by the faint moonlight streaming through the clouds as I sat there on the bed, staring idly at my hand while reflecting on the day’s events. ‘This power of mine…What is it really? Why can I use it?’ I questioned myself mentally, almost hoping for an answer to spring to the forefront of my thoughts, to no avail.

‘Even so…I need to understand this power better if I’m going to protect everyone. I won't let them all down…” My vision went hazy as I suddenly yawned, falling back on the soft bed as my aching body seemingly begged for me to rest, my eyes closing slowly until I slipped into a peaceful sleep.

Chapter Text

I awoke to the sound of knocks on the door, jolting awake and almost falling onto the floor as Alice's voice rang through the door. "Still alive in there, sleeping beauty? We're leaving soon. Get ready and come meet us outside." I glared at the door, rubbing one of my eyes as I sluggishly rolled out of bed, stretching and groaning in annoyance at being woken up so early in the day. As I got ready for the day ahead, my mind wandered to the thought of leaving; part of me was almost reluctant to leave, knowing that we’d be leaving behind the luxurious facilities.

After a few minutes of preparing, I made my way out of the room and to the main entrance of the Sutherland Inn, where I saw Luka and Alice waiting just outside the door. “Alright, ready to get moving?” I asked, smirking confidently at the two of them.

Luka nodded with a smile as Alice merely closed her eyes and huffed in agreement, clearly eager to sample whatever cuisine Iliasport might have. The three of us made our way out of the town, heading northwards towards the coastal town, waving goodbye to the Four Bandits who had gathered to see us off.

The town faded from our view as the forest grew thicker, the feeling of isolation only increasing as we trod the dirt path. “So, I assume the plan is to find a way to Sentora, but how the hell are we going to do that? Supposedly, the port hasn’t been able to reach the mainland for a good bit now.” I questioned, furrowing my brow in thought as I pondered our options. We could get a boat, but if it were that easy, surely the guild would have been able to get some more experienced heroes from San Ilia by now. Alternatively, we could try to convince the sailors in the hopes that they are willing to try.

“When we get there, we’ll ask around. For all we know, it could be something simple, like they are missing something for their ships, or maybe they don’t have enough ship hands to sail.” Luka proposed optimistically, which earned a nod from me as I let out a sigh.

“I hope so. Though given our luck…I’d say we have a higher chance of it being something that’s more of a hassle.” I commented off-handedly, cupping my hands behind my head as my eyes scanned the foliage idly. My eyes narrowed as a sudden fragrance began to permeate the air. My nose wrinkled at the scent, irritated by it. “What is that smell?” The smell was floral, mixed with an underlying sweetness that, admittedly, was not unpleasant outside of the irritation to my nose.

“I don’t smell anything right now,” Luka admitted, looking around with a curious gaze. “But it’s probably some flowers. You’ve always had a pretty sensitive nose when we went hunting together.” I huffed in annoyance; during our hunting expeditions, I had always been glad for my gifted sense of smell, though it was certainly causing me grief now as I tried to locate the source of my irritation.

After a few moments of attempting to discern the direction the smell was coming from, I waved my hand at Luka and Alice. “Let’s just ignore it and carry on. Whatever it is, it’s messing with my nose.” I began to trudge down the path, the footsteps of Luka following behind me. 

Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks, swivelling around to fix my gaze on the path behind me and Luka. “Luka, where did Ali — ” I felt something coil around my ankle and roughly yank my legs out from underneath me as it began to pull me through the bushes. “Oh, SHIIIIIIT !” I screamed as I tried to grab onto anything that could provide me a method of slowing down my momentum.

I felt my body get hoisted into the air, my body dangling from what I could now see was a vine curled around my leg as I was suddenly turned around to face an odd, plantlike monster. The creature seemed to consist of a large, circular bulb from which a multitude of smooth, vine-like tendrils sprouted. At the centre of the bulb, two thicker offshoots seemed to connect the upper bodies of what seemed to be two naked women with green hair and what almost looked like saplings growing out of their heads.

“Finally, I was wondering when the next traveller would fall into my trap. Were you lured here by my lovely scent?” The plant girl smiled excitedly. “It’s amazing, right~? Here, have some more…” The petals seemed to flap slightly as a very faint yellow mist puffed out from the gaping hole in the middle of the bulb.

‘I can’t afford to breathe that in! That damn stink is already thick enough!’ I growled mentally as I tried to look around for something to sever the monster’s grip on my leg. I was already beginning to feel lightheaded just from the proximity, and any more, and it’s likely I wouldn’t be able to escape. My eyes lit up as I remembered that I still had my knife. My hand scrambled to its place on my hip as I slid it free from the sheath and threw it at the vine holding my leg. The plant girl yelped in pain as the sharp steel cut through the vine like it was paper, allowing me to hit the ground and roll to my feet.

“Ouch! Why are you resisting so hard!? Just give up already!” The plant growled, more vines snaking out towards me at a rapid pace as I did my best to avoid them, ducking and weaving between them while waiting for an opening to appear.

My prayers were answered when Luka's familiar red cape appeared in my vision, executing a surprise [Thunder Thrust] that dug into one of the monster's torsos. The pain from the blow seemed to cause her vines to falter and her gaze to snap to Luka, and that was all that I needed to get in close and land a [Heavenly Strike] with as much strength as I could force into the blow, which launched the plant out of the ground, the roots flailing like legs as the creature tumbled across the dirt.

Luka quickly ran to my side as we both readied ourselves for a fight, given that the roots dug themselves back into the ground and the plant readied herself, a scowl forming on her face as the large red and white leaves folded upwards, concealing the main body of the monster as it seemed to puff up. “What is it doing?” Luka asked as I gave a shrug in response. The flower looked almost ready to burst before the leaves fell, revealing a thick fog of yellow pollen, which rapidly spread out as the sound of rushing wind emanated from the plant.

“Crap, we can’t dodge that!” I cursed, stepping back along with Luka as the wall of pheromone-laced mist rushed towards us.

“Wait! Toma, use that energy-aura thing!” Luka yelled, my eyes widening at the boy’s quick thinking. I took in a deep breath as I mentally called for that inner power, its response coming quickly in the form of an eruption of wild energy, which pushed the potent haze away from us. I looked back at Luka with a smirk, nodding my head in thanks as the aura receded before rushing forward at the stunned plant girl. The monster failed to react in time, as the end of the Ruyi-Bang dug into one of its bodies, and my fist slammed into one of its faces before being roughly launched back by a wall of vines.

I hissed in pain as I rolled back onto my feet. The blow wasn’t significantly damaging, but it was enough to prevent me from finishing the creature as Luka joined me. “Just a bit more,” Luka noted, seeing the clear signs of exhaustion and weariness in the alarune’s movements, along with the notable swelling of one of the creature’s cheeks. The three of us froze as we heard the rustle of the bushes as another set of tentacles – this time a purple set covered in a viscous liquid – shot out at us, almost grabbing both of us if not for our quick reaction.

The bushes rustled as a grotesque monster pulled itself into the clearing. The monster was almost plant-like with a sickly green complexion on its carapace, which split halfway down its lower half, revealing a disgusting, fleshy mass of muscle and a slit in the middle. The front of the creature was adorned with red, eye-like jewels which glinted from the clear fluid which covered the creature, including its upper human half, the arms being replaced by slimy tentacles that flexed and lashed around impatiently. There was no mistaking the creature: It was a Roper, one of the most dangerous monsters on this continent and one that many adventurers prayed they would never face.

“Hmm…You got away…I wanted to get this over with quickly.” She remarked slowly, seemingly either unbothered by the failed surprise attack, or she was simply too dull to care about it . The Roper’s eyes drifted over to the plant girl, who simply scowled back in response. “A Rafflesia…Not meaty enough for me, and you definitely didn’t make that nice smell.” She stated after a short period of eyeing the plant girl up, earning an indignified squawk from the now-identified rafflesia. 

“My pollen is amazing! You have terrible taste!” The plant retorted indignantly, beginning to bicker back and forth with the Roper as we both stared in bewilderment at the comedic scene.

“You’d have thought they would have focused on us first…” I remarked quietly to Luka. The boy nodded as a look of discomfort appeared on his face.

“Yeah…It’s a shame; this’d be a perfect time to slip away,” I sighed with a nod of agreement as I crouched down, preparing for a [Thunder Thrust], “But we need to seak them now, or they’ll keep attacking others.”

“Alright, I’ll take the Roper; you finish off the plant.” The two continued to bicker as I whispered just loud enough for Luka to hear. “I hate to say it, but I can’t just blow that pollen away all the time.” I gripped the Ruyi-Bang harder, my eyes narrowing as I tensed my body.

 With a sudden burst of movement, I erupted forward and landed a direct hit on the Roper, which sent it skidding across the ground, a noticeable crack forming in the hard carapace-like formation on its body. The girl let out a grunt of pain as she winced, righting herself with her numerous tentacles.

“That’s…Unfortunate. I hoped this would be an easy meal.” The creature spoke with a mixture of intrigue and disappointment. She seemed to sniff the air for a moment before smiling with a menacing gaze. “You and that boy…I’ll melt you both, savour your taste.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself!” I growled at her, dashing forward as she sent out a wave of tentacles, my staff being used to bat away the slimy appendages as best I could while dodging the others. The sheer number of limbs made it nearly impossible to block, however, as I felt a few of the tentacles wrap around one of my arms, causing an unexpectedly enjoyable sensation to wash over my skin.

 I ripped my arm out of the soft, slimy grip of the Roper and jumped backwards just in time to dodge the flurry of tentacles before she could ensnare me further.

I backed up and observed my arm, seeing a faint redness – a burn, I realised – before I clicked my tongue in irritation and readied myself again. Another wave of tentacles was sent my way as I ran around the monster, trying to make them over-extend so I could close the distance and strike.

 I ran towards a tree and planted my foot on the bark, my momentum allowing me to walk up it for a few steps before I pushed off to launch myself over the swarming purple limbs in a desperate bid to catch her off guard as I spun and hoisted my weapon high above my head. 

The Roper’s eyes widened, then bulged as my staff slammed down on her head with a thunderous crack, the force bouncing her off the floor as I landed with a fist cocked back. With a loud cry, I slammed my fist into her cheek, launching her already airborne body back as she tumbled across the clearing.

I observed the creature from a distance, looking for any signs of consciousness as I circled around, eyeing the limp tentacles as they lay there motionless. After a few moments, I relaxed, stepping closer until I was looming over the Roper’s body before giving her a light kick to find that she was out cold. I turned and saw Luka walking towards me, a sealed rafflesia now angrily swaying behind him as I put my staff away.

“Alright, let’s seal this one before she wakes up again, " the boy said as he walked over and plunged the Angel Halo into what would be the monster’s chest. The monster's body seemed to crack apart before dispersing into energy. Once the energy dissipated, it left a small rock-like creature with tentacles protruding from its body. The red eye in the middle of its body widened upon seeing us as it began frantically, though it was still very slow, crawling away from us.

“We didn’t have to leave you alive! Don’t kill anyone else, you hear?” I called out after the sealed roper as it crawled over to a bush and disappeared beyond the leaves. After collecting my knife, which was now lodged in the bark of a tree, I let out a sigh as I turned and began walking back towards the path, with Luka following just behind me.

“You okay, Toma?” The boy asked as he walked up beside me, earning a slightly tired look from me for the question.

“Yeah, it's just that flaring my aura wears me out. It’s good for a quick boost, but I need to use it sparingly. Or I could just rush someone with it; that’d work too.” I admitted. We got back to the path and found Alice waiting for us, a judging frown on her face as she spoke.

“You’ll need to control that energy of yours.” She stated bluntly. “Unless you plan to attract every monster within the local area each time you fight.” I let out a nervous chuckle as a hand reached up to scratch the back of my head.

“Y-Yeah, I get that…But I don’t…Really know how…” I informed her sheepishly, a noticeable twitch of her eye showing her disbelief.

“You…” Alice sighed as she shook her head in exasperation. “Honestly, how either of you planned to survive on this journey is a mystery.” Her brow scrunched up in thought before her eyes lit up. “I have an idea. Sit down, both of you— Yes, even you, Luka, you might be able to unlock something similar.” She responded to Luka’s confused gaze, watching both of us reluctantly sit down on the dirt, staring up at her quizzically. “Now, both of you close your eyes. I’m going to teach you both something new, something both of you should be able to benefit from.”

Luka and I shared a glance before we followed her instruction, closing our eyes and waiting for her to continue. “Now, focus your mind and meditate. Supposedly, a fallen angel by the name of Erigora was able to heal their wounds by meditating. Though that’s probably a myth, it should still be able to help both of you.” She explained with an ounce of scepticism in her tone. Doing my best to focus, I tried to block out the sound of nature and clear my mind, the rustling leaves and birds chirping fading into nothing.

I mentally reached for the familiar burning sensation that I felt back in Rostrum, visualising it in the darkness, a flickering ember which danced around in my mind. Every time I used this life energy – this “Ki” – I simply called upon it, letting it naturally respond to my command. I mentally reached out, a projection of my hand clasped the flame, the burning glow intensifying between the fingers as I felt my chest burn. I imagined the flame flowing through my hand, into the rest of my body as it spread to fill the space.

The energy’s faint hum began to intensify as the heat from my chest spread out, tracing down my limbs until my entire body was engulfed in the familiar feeling. A hand on my shoulder shook me harshly and brought me back to reality, as my eyes opened to see the shocked face of Luka and the intrigued face of Alice.

“What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at their reactions until I looked down, seeing the same aura from earlier covering me; however, the aura clung closely to my body instead of flaring out wildly. I watched in amazement at the rippling waves of Ki flowing up and down my body: It was much more manageable than before, and I could feel the drain on my reserves was far less substantial.

“Hm. Good work,” Alice hummed, her eyes raking over my form in appraisal. “It’s certainly less obnoxious than it was before, but it does still make you easier to sense.” She shook her head. “First, you awaken that aura–”

“I was going to call it Ki–”

“–Whatever, then Luka ends up somehow regaining his energy from just sitting down and meditating. What’s next? One of you getting some kind of transformation?” Luka and I let out a sheepish chuckle at her words.

Alice’s face sharpened as her head snapped to the side, staring into the trees before she disappeared in a blur of movement, both of us whirling around to face the same direction. There was a loud dragging sound as if a large, cumbersome mass was weighing down whatever it was.

The dragging sound suddenly stopped as Luka and I stared uneasily in the direction it was coming from, our respective weapons held tightly in our hands. The tense silence was shattered as a large, black-brown creature with the upper half of a human flopped into view, landing with a loud THUMP!

“Phew… I hate being forced to move around.” The creature said, wiping her forehead with an arm before shifting to face us. I resisted the urge to shudder as I saw the gaping lower mouth on her body, the innumerable tendrils of flesh wriggled restlessly as her mouth curved into a salacious smile, “Now then, do both of you mind being sucked on?”

Luka and I settled into our stances as we faced the creature down. I mentally reached inside, pulling my Ki into my legs as I readied myself for a [Thunder Thrust]. ‘If I focus on charging my legs with Ki… What would happen?’ I was going to find out, my legs tensing as the large monster reared back before it leapt at us.

Pushing off the ground, my vision blurred as suddenly I was right in front of the monster, ‘Damn it! I wasn’t expecting to go that fast!’ I couldn’t lift my staff to thrust in time and ploughed into the girl with my shoulder, the impact rattling my body as I cancelled out all of her momentum and sent both of us sprawling onto the dirt.

I cursed as I hit the ground, disoriented from the jarring impact. A shadow fell over me as I stared up in panic at the gaping maw of the lower half of the monster as it quickly moved to engulf me. I slammed my hands against the edges of the maw, pushing with all of my strength as the slimy tongues wrapped around me, a tense struggle ensuing as I grunted with exertion.

“Oh? You are pretty strong. Maybe I should use you to create some offspring~.” The girl mused, shifting more of her weight onto me in an attempt to gain leverage.

“Hah!” Luka’s voice rang out, the weight on my body lifting slightly as she leaned back, holding her side from the glowing wound.

“Gah!? Wait your turn!” She growled in anger, her tail swinging out and nailing the boy in the side as he tumbled away. I let out a snarl as my Ki ignited around me, filling my body with newfound strength as I ripped my arm free from her maw.

“Hrraaah!” I roared as I reared my arm back and slammed it into her abdomen, her eyes widening as she gasped, winded from the strike. The grip of the slimy appendages went slack as I climbed to my feet and went to strike again. I was quickly slapped aside by the monster’s tail, grunting as it sent me rolling across the ground.

‘Crap, she’s more durable than the others. I should be careful.’ I looked back to see Luka, his eyes closed as he concentrated. My eyes widened as his laboured breathing returned to normal before he stood up, joining the fight once more. ‘Huh… I thought Alice was exaggerating. That’s… Actually, not too surprising at this point.’ I shook my head as my gaze returned to our opponent.

I went back on the offensive as I rushed forward, Luka following just behind me. I watched as the large tail from before swung out again, aiming to slam into me as I braced for the impact. Right as the tail hit, I wrapped my arms around the bulky, slimy appendage, restraining it as I gritted my teeth from the force behind the swing.

I pulled on the girl’s tail, unbalancing her and causing her to fall down as Luka stepped in close and landed a couple of slashes with Angel Halo, leaving long gashes of light across her form. I felt her tail thrash violently, eventually slipping free of my grip due to its slickness and proceeding to bat me away.

I rolled across the floor, and as I looked up, my eyes widened at the sight of the girl’s maw bearing down on Luka. The boy was caught completely off guard at her hasty recovery as he tried to pull himself free. Ki flowed through my body as I rushed forward and closed the distance, my fist cocked back.

 The leech’s head turned to look at me, her eyes wide as my energy-coated fist dug into her gut, forcing the air out of her lungs. The girl let out a strangled gasp as her eyes rolled back, before she slumped onto the floor, unconscious.

“Thanks for the save…” Luka sighed, taking my offered hand as I pulled him back to his feet. He looked down at our fallen opponent before he jabbed the Angel Halo into her, releasing her form and leaving…A leech?

“ That’s what she was!? I mean, I can kind of see it, but I was expecting something with more teeth.” I admitted, scratching the back of my head in confusion. Luka and I quickly got back onto the path as Alice appeared behind us,

“So this ability of yours, you are calling it ‘Ki’?” She asked, almost as if she was disappointed in my choice.

“What? It’s short, and the word roughly translates to life energy, no?” I raised an eyebrow at Alice’s surprised face. “My father is a merchant; is it so hard to believe he’s met someone from Yamatai before?”

“No, but it’s rare to see anything that resembles intelligent thought come out of your head.” She snarkily responded, smirking as I glared at her for the comment.

“I mean, ‘Ki’ is much easier to say than ‘Bloody Fissure Thunder Thrust.’ That one just sounds morbid.” Luka chimed in, earning a disapproving look from Alice and a triumphant laugh from me.

[A couple of hours later, Iliasport]

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and we eventually made it to Iliasport without any further interruptions from any more hungry monsters. When we got to the town, though…

“It seems a bit deserted, doesn’t it?” Luka spoke up, casting a glance across the street as we walked. He was right, there were very few people walking around, with most of them seeming quite dour as they trudged along.

 As we walked, there was a disturbing lack of either merchants or sailors; even if Iliasburg was the capital of all trade on the continent, it didn’t make sense for there to be so little activity, especially since it was the only route to Port Natalia on the mainland.

We eventually came to a stop once we reached the main plaza, which was similarly lifeless to the rest of the town, aside from the docks. There was a small team of sailors gloomily wiping down a ship that could barely be called sea-worthy, A grizzled old man with a peg leg— Likely the captain if the hat on his head was anything to go by–Sat on a crate, lazily flipping a coin as his crew worked on maintaining the ship, occasionally looking up and barking an order at his underlings. “Oi! You there! Quit dallying!” He called out at a man who was staring off into the sea, seemingly daydreaming, before he snapped to attention and began wiping the deck.

“Well, seems like our only option,” I mused unenthusiastically. My gaze drifted to Luka and Alice as I waved my hand in the direction of the sailors. “Who’s speaking with them then?” Luka and Alice merely stared back at me; Alice’s gaze held something more akin to amusement as she smirked, whilst Luka’s was more apprehensive. “Damn…” I let out a sigh and walked over to the captain, his gaze flickering up to regard me with disinterest.

“And? What do you want?” The captain spat, his eyes narrowing as he looked me up and down, seeming to notice something. “A newcomer, eh? I assume ya ain’t heard the rumours?”

“I’ve heard travel between Ilias Continent and Sentora has been difficult, not much else aside from that,” I admitted. “Figured I’d check to see if there was any way I could convince you to take us over.”

 The captain stared at me, dumbfounded, before letting out a hearty cackle, “Keheheha! Do you take us ‘ere for fools, boy?” He straightened himself up and pointed out at sea, “That storm has taken enough ships, as much as I hate to admit it, ones much better than our fine lady here.” He leaned in close, his eyes narrowed as he spoke lowly, “Unless you can make Ilias-damned miracles, we wouldn’t last a minute in that storm.”

I frowned at his words, feeling both curious and disheartened at the knowledge he was sharing. “Why do you say that? Where’d you hear this from?”

“I was captain of another ship. A year ago, we set out on a routine trade run: pickin’ up and delivering cargo between Natalia and Iliasport.” He stared wistfully up at the sky, sighing deeply. “It was meant to be mundane, an easy trek. No clouds in the sky, no rain, nothin’. But then on the way back, a sudden storm came rollin’ in, smashed into our vessel and battered 'er to shreds.”

 His gaze shifted to one of the empty docking bays, looking down into the water. “By the time we got back, the vessel was doomed. It took on too much water and sank just before getting back to port. Thankfully, we were able to swim back when it went under, but it was a grave loss.”

The man looked back up, his gaze had grown more worn as he made eye contact, “If you were looking to get to Sentora, then I’m sorry, but there’s no way we can manage the trip; you’ll have to find some other way.”

I nodded reluctantly. “Right, sorry to bother you then…?”

“Captain Josh, Josh Swallow.”

I nodded in thanks before I turned and headed back to Alice and Luka, “Well, looks like sailing is a no-go, apparently—”

“I heard… Looks like we’ll need to find another way to Sentora.” Alice cut me off, her face set in a disappointed frown, “What a bother…” She muttered something under her breath that I couldn’t fully hear as we began to walk through the rest of the town.

“Any idea what could be causing it? Storms are common, sure, but one that’s lasted over a year now… It’s not natural.” Luka questioned, his brow furrowed in thought.

Alice looked away, staring off into the distance as she spoke, “It’s the work of a powerful Yoma. Intended to stop pilgrims from reaching Iliasville’s temple.”

The statement caught us off guard as we stared at her in surprise, “Really? A monster can be that strong, they can keep something like that up for an entire year?” I asked, my hope to get to Port Natalia shrinking by the second.

“It’s not feasible to keep it up at all times. It’s more than likely something they put up when a ship tries to cross.” Alice shook her head, “No one has the reserves to keep it up indefinitely.”

Luka looked down, his gaze quickly turning dejected, “A powerful Yoma…” he clenched his fists, his eyes hardened as he looked back up, “It doesn’t matter, we’ll just have to find a way to beat them!”

I let out a grunt, smirking at his words, “Yeah, we’ve come this far, we can’t just stop now.” I agreed, a defiant fist raised in the air. I blinked, quickly remembering something, “Though we do still need a way to actually sail through the storm, we can’t fly.”

“There’s a way, heroes!” 

A familiar voice cut through the air as the three of us spun around, staring at the new presence in surprise. It was–

“I am Amira, a snake flowing in the wind.” The unfortunate Lamia introduced herself as our group shared a confused glance.

“D-Didn’t you already introduce yourself in Iliasburg?” I asked, earning what seemed like an indignant look from the reverse lamia.

“Don’t interrupt me, you half-baked OC!” She snapped, before turning to Luka and Alice as I mumbled quietly.

“What does that even mean…?”

“Anyway, I know a guy–who knows a guy–who happened to hear about a special artefact.” We listened closely as she continued, “The legendary Pirate Selene supposedly stashed her treasures away in a cave to the east of here. One of those treasures is Poseidon’s Bell, a magical bell that allows any ship to sail through even the most extreme weather without fail.”

The description of the bell caused an eyebrow to rise on Luka’s face as he responded, “Wow, that’s… Exactly what we needed. Thanks, Amira!”

“Of course! As your main love interest, I am obligated to assist. In any way you need me to~” Amira beamed, puffing out her… Chest?

Luka’s face dropped, his gaze turning cold as he glared at her, “Don’t push your luck.” He said frigidly, his eye twitching as I collapsed in a fit of cackling laughter, clutching my stomach as I tried to compose myself.

“Well, that’s all the information I have to offer at the moment, I’m afraid.” Amira sighed, “Take care, my love!” Her words almost sent me into another fit of laughter as I staggered to my feet. The three of us watched as she quickly made her exit, moving much faster than her frame would suggest.

“...Let’s just forget this happened,” Alice suggested, earning a nod from Luka. “We should head out to the cave in the morning. It’s getting late.”

I nodded as I rested my hands behind my head, “Sounds good. We’ll probably be better off camping tonight. Given the state of everything around here, I don’t think I want to test my luck with the inn.” I sighed dramatically, “Already missing Sutherland.”

“Well, we can’t always expect to be staying in high-class accommodation all the time, Toma.” Luka reminded me, “Besides, I thought you liked camping?”

“I’ve gotten too used to civilisation. And I’ve never gone camping this close to a full moon before.” I told him, earning a quirk of an eyebrow from Alice.

“What difference does it make if it’s a full moon?” Alice’s tone was filled with confusion, her eyes narrowed.

I shrugged, “I don’t know, my father had a thing about me being out on full moons. Might have just been a superstition, but I’ve kept to it.” I frowned as I remembered Father’s face, “He always seemed scared of something, never told me anything about it either…” I trailed off, lost in thought as I pondered.

Luka’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts as he spoke up, “Well, we’re heroes now! We’ll be ready for whatever it is!” His enthusiasm was almost infectious as my lips quirked upwards mirthfully.

“Yeah, you’re right.” I agreed as we began to walk back to the outskirts of town.

The sun eventually set as we sat around a small campfire, our camp prepared as we ate our meal. The night sky sparkled with countless stars as Luka stared on, perturbed awe etched onto his face as Alice and I quickly finished our respective food.

“Alice, you aren’t infecting people, are you?” He asked, looking between the two of us, “I’ve never seen Toma eat so fast before.” Alice glared at him for his words, while I just shrugged.

“Ever since I’ve started using Ki, I just feel hungrier than usual. Might be that my body is just demanding more food because I’m using it up?” I suggested, shrugging my shoulders as Alice hummed in thought.

“It is a good theory. You are the first being I have ever heard of being able to manipulate pure life energy. For a human, wasting as much energy as you did in Rostrum should have left you severely weakened. Yet, you can still fight.” Her eyes narrowed, drilling into me as if trying to look through me. “It doesn’t seem like any of your ‘Ki’ is being turned into magic either. You seem completely magically inept.”

My shoulders drooped a little at the blunt observation, “Way to kill a guy’s hopes, Alice…”

“You might be incapable of magic, but you could potentially replicate some spells using that Ki. You are already enhancing yourself with it, and you’ve used it to create a shockwave, weak as it was.” She continued, providing me with some hope. “I think the next step for you would be learning to refine your control. We don’t know what the limit to your power is, so logically the best way to find it is to test it in different ways.”

Luka looked on, envy written on his face, “Kinda wish I had that, it would be a lot of help.” He sighed.

Alice looked at him, “Don’t get your hopes up, again, it could be extremely limited or extremely flexible. Your ability to heal your wounds is simple, but powerful.”

“Yeah. If I get hit really hard, I probably wouldn’t be able to keep going for much longer.” I agreed, “Hell, at the moment, using Ki still wears me out, so you’d last longer in a fight than I would.”

Luka smiled at our words of encouragement, “Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.”

Alice merely let out a huff, looking away, “Don’t take this as a sign to get complacent. You both have a long way to go before you could even think of taking on a Heavenly Knight.”

My heart raced, determination filling me as I stood, “We’ll keep getting stronger, we won’t give up!” I grinned as I felt reinvigorated, “Alright, let's train! I’m fired up!”

“Toma, it’s literally about to turn night.” Luka deadpanned, quickly squashing my determination.

“Ah…Right.” I sheepishly sat down, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment as Alice scoffed.

“I think we should turn in for the night. We don’t want you two idiots exhausted before we get to the cave.” Alice reasoned, slowly slithering towards a nearby tree.

I stretched, nodding my head. “Right, good night,” I said as I shuffled over to my bag, slipping into it and closing my eyes, drifting into a calm slumber as the crackling of the fire slowly faded away.

[Current time, Heaven’s Laboratory, Third person POV]

The humming machines had become a comforting sound to Promestein; the sound of progress, of the closest thing she had to a home. She walked along the cold, sterile floor of the lab, her hand clasped around a jagged, splintered shard of wood, the edge covered in a barely noticeable smudge of blood.

The results of her latest experiment had provided her with a wealth of data on the young Saiyan, showcasing his previously unknown ability to manifest and manipulate his own life essence, as well as testing the effectiveness of genetic splicing with human DNA. Though the hybrid had gone berserk after being exposed to a certain frequency of light, its physical attributes showed promising results if controlled.

Toma was proving to be an interesting investment; his cells showed incredible adaptability, an innate ability to undergo a transformation that could multiply both his size and strength, and even the ability to metabolise life energy at an unprecedented rate.

She felt as if she was young again; few pursuits got her frigid heart to race in excitement as this did. It was an entirely new variable, one which she could easily take advantage of, provided she could secure more samples. Capturing the boy was off the table, and Ilias would catch on quickly to what she was doing if she were to make him ‘disappear’. She also wanted to see how he would grow, to watch him from afar and see how his environment would change him.

She continued walking until she reached a large sliding door. She punched in a code as the door slid open before slamming shut behind her as she strode into the room. She took a seat at her desk, placing the shard of wood into a glass box connected to a large, cylindrical machine as it began to whir quietly. Beams of light flashed over the shard, each wave producing line after line of data on her screen, her eyes scanning each line like a hawk.

“Life essence has increased by two hundred and three percent. Cell resiliency has grown by thirteen percent…Oh?” Promestein's eyes narrowed in curiosity as she stared at a particular section. “Unidentified cells… Possible contamination?” She mused as she ran her fingers along the keyboard, typing in more commands as the machine started again.

The scientist’s lips rose into a nearly unnoticeable smirk, her eyes gleaming with delight as she hummed.

“It seems you are full of surprises, Toma…”