A/N- Hi guys, Godreal back once again with another chapter. on a side note this chapter was suppose to end the Northern Cavern expedition until I realized that it was more then twice as big as my normal ones, an as such I decided to cut it in half, and switch some stuff around, this also allowed me to stop it at the dreadful cliffhanger. I have no problem with chapters going a little above average length, but twice is far too much. Also for those that asked what Naofumi and company are doing, worry not there will be a small intermission showing exactly what they are up too coming.
Now lets get on with it. Where Ryou, and company deal with their problem, unfortunately the Northern Cavern isn't quite done with them, and Ryou gets another traumatic experience to add to the list, along with a freighting revelation.
Chapter 26 - Braving Into a New World: Horrors in the Depths
Morning came and went, with Ryou and his party coming up with simulations, and possible scenarios. After some brainstorming he and Rishia, (but mostly Rishia) had come up with a simple, if effective plan to deal with their problem, one that didn't exactly involve conspicuous amounts of fire.
The Bow Hero had also decided to have his party members carry a side pouch to stash potions, or a magic one attached to her gothic dress as far as Quartz was concerned.
While they did not have the opportunity to test out the Dragon Blessed Healing Potions, he had used the other two upgraded versions. Both the Dragon Blessed Magic-Recovery Potions and the Dragon Blessed Soul-Healing Potions worked wonders in terms of recovering their respective focus, not only that but they also temporarily increased their passive recovery by a small percentage.
Now walking through the dark confines of the Northern Cavern once more, the Bow Hero felt a lot more confident in their chances, his partner, however, did not share that sentiment.
"Ryou…" Rishia mumbled, her eyes moving from one side to another, trying to keep both additions to their group in her line of sight, "... I don't think this is safe at all."
Ryou shifted his gaze towards the green-haired girl for a moment, before returning it to what had his attention previously, "Perhaps, but Quartz appears to disagree with you."
The small girl in question lashed out with one hand, hitting a shining ball. The glowing bulb moved back before returning to its original position. Once more Quartz hit it again with her hand, eyes locked on the luminous appendage.
"No matter how friendly they seem, they are still wild monsters, they could attack us at any time." She warned, her hand gripping the handle of her rapier tighter.
I think if they were going to attack us they would have done so by now. Shrugging Ryou offered no response.
His eyes moved once more to Quartz who continued to hit the bulbous appendage of one of the two Eldritch Pigs that decided to escort them. The small girl had apparently decided that walking was above her so she took a seat on the creatures back. Before long the shining appendage had her complete attention, and she had turned back, content in playing with it.
One hand patted the creature in the side as it released a soft grunt, Ryou would have petted it on the head, if it weren't for the rows upon rows of sharp teeth that made up it's gaping maw.
I'm crazy, but not that crazy...The Bow Hero admitted to himself.
Moving closer to Rishia he nudged her lightly with his shoulder, "Calm down, they are only walking near us because of my Bow." He finished throwing what he thought was a reassuring smile.
This thing attracts monsters like a flame attracts moths, but at least we won't get another surprise… Ryou's eyes fell on his new upgraded bow.
[Marble Horror Mimick Bow - Awaken - Uncommon - Equipment Bonus - 6 + Attack, Hiding Bonus(Small) Detection Bonus(Small) - Special Effect - Monster Lure(Medium), Monster Attraction Range Bonus(Medium)]
His new Bow was indeed a double-edged sword. On one hand, it attracted every monster in the vicinity, and such a thing made so they would come straight at him, preventing the Marble Mimicks from pulling their shenanigans, and would eventually be a nice tool for leveling. On the other, the Marble Horror Mimick Bow when equipped attracted everything, even passive monsters, as shown by the two abominations that were walking side by side with his party.
"Onii-shama, Quartz can smell the ugly white monsters," Quartz announced, her head slightly raised in the air as she took a couple more sniffs.
A soft glow emanated from Ryou's weapon, as he changed it to his Bio-luminescent Bow.
Quartz jumped off of her new friend as it shook its head from side to side before dashing into the darkness followed by the other one.
"Mean!" The small dragon accused finger pointing into the direction they had taken off.
Light bathed the tunnel, the walls now a lighter tone of grey with some patches of the dreadful white, though there were no pieces of marble on the ground.
"No sight of them yet, but I want your eyes on the ground as we planned." He ordered as they made their way through the tunnel.
Slowly but surely the white patches of marble became more prominent, and Ryou raised a hand as he spotted the first couple of fallen rocks a few meters ahead.
"Rish…" Ryou paused, a small grin blooming in his face, "...do your thing."
His partner came to a stop a couple of steps in front of him raising her hands into the air, "As source of thee power I order thee. Decipher the laws of Nature, and create a pond in front of me. Faust Water Splash!" The glowing magic formation in front of the girl's hands shined blue for a moment, and like a fire-hose, water explode from it.
The Magic spell that Rishia used to put out the accidental fires that their party keep creating, drenched the tunnel in front of them in water.
Ryou clenched his Bow in anticipation, "Quartz you know what to do." He said, throwing in a side glance to the girl.
The small girl nodded, turning their back to them, and raising her small fists towards the darkness to where they had come from as if shadowboxing an unseen foe.
"Ready Rishia?" Ryou asked, receiving a hesitantly but sharp nod in reply.
"Okay, here we go… Change Bow, Marble Mimick Horror Bow!" The shout was followed by his new bow materializing, and the effect became visible not even two seconds later.
Three humanoid creatures formed in front of the party, sluggishly making their way towards them, but Ryou could hear the gurgles, and hisses of many more beyond the darkness, many, many more.
"Wait for it, Rish!" Ryou ordered, lining his bow with the upcoming opposition," Rapid Arrow!"
Three arrows flew forward, followed quickly by two other barrages, puncturing holes in the creatures who fell into the shallow water with a loud splash.
Eyes on the front of him, Ryou began to see movement just beyond the shroud of darkness, and a second later, he patted his partner on the shoulder, "Light them up, Rish!"
The mage of the party, quickly crouched on the ground, just an inch away from the water, and placed a hand on its surface, "As source of thee power I order thee. Decipher the laws of Nature, and let lightning strike my enemies true. Faust Lightning Strike!"
A purple pentagram formed on top of the water, and small sparks shimmered in Rishia's hand, lightning soon followed, snaking across the surface and reflecting across the white walls.
An almost deafening choir of shrieks rebounded across the marble stone, as electric arcs danced on the multitude of monsters in front of them.
Arrows flew as quickly as bodies hit the electrified water, some of them punctured with holes others just releasing small wisps of smoke.
Sometimes I forget that I have an Elementalist in my party, and with her arsenal, there is hardly any situation she doesn't have an answer too, given time to prepare that is… Ryou conceded between shots.
The idea had been supplied by his partner the day before, in the midst of brainstorming, since any other of their abilities, even Quartz fire breath had dangers to it. The new plan could be used to deal amazing amounts of damage but could also paralyze the monsters in place neatly solving their problem.
Lowering himself, behind the girl, Ryou pried open a bottle and brought it to her lips. Her face contorted in disgust but she drank it nonetheless, and the Bow Hero watched as her dwindling MP bar, slowly crawled back to full, much slower than it should, due to her being in the middle of channeling her spell.
A loud sound echoed behind them followed by a crash, and he only saw the aftermath of a collision between a Marble Mimick that had managed to sneak up on them and Quartz's rising uppercut.
Shoryuken! Ryou snorted at how apt his thought was.
The monster slammed into the ceiling cracking it, with such force that it burst open, showering the small girl in red, who didn't even bat an eye at being drenched in blood and guts, her body already in mid-motion, as she jumped almost touching the ceiling before curling and lashing with her tail. A sickening crunch echoed as her tail met the faceless head of another monster, breaking its neck instantly.
What insane strength… Ryou shook his head in disbelief. Quartz would eventually turn into the powerhouse of their team, that was a given fact.
Looking towards his partner who kept frying and paralyzing the wave of monsters, Ryou took in her panting breaths, "Switch with me Rish, I can do it…"
Rishia gave him an uncertain look, before nodding slightly.
Here it goes... Just as she taught you… Hand hovering just above the electrified water Ryou closed his eyes in focus, "As the source of thee power, and Yumi-no Yuusha, I command thee. Decypher the Laws of Nature and let lightning strike my enemies true. Faust Lightning Strike."
Lightning burst from Ryou's hand arcing in a far more savage manner than Rishia's. Placing his hand on the surface, like slithering snakes his spell race forward paralyzing the ensuing mob of monsters, and a choir of shrieks echoed once more.
Arcs of wind flew above his head, as Rishia slashed the air with her rapier releasing wave upon wave of ethereal wind that bisected entire groups of monsters, the water soon taking on a far darker tone.
The only spell in his arsenal had taken him most of the previous day to learn, and to adapt the incantation to himself with Rishia's help. Unfortunately just like learning from a crystal ball, his mastery over it paled in comparison to his partner who could modify the spell in various ways according to her wishes. Ryou could not do it though, the only thing he could do was gather what little magic he began to perceive from himself and cast the spell at full throttle.
Of course one of the first things Ryou had done when he had been able to manifest the spell, had been crouching low, before dashing forward at full speed, obliterating every boulder and tree he could see with a little bit of childish glee, as his lightning encased hand cut and burst through nature with impunity, finally realizing one of his teenager, otaku fantasies. The down part of the previous day had been the fifteen minutes it had taken him to explain to Rishia what exactly a Chidori was, and it only took the girl five, to dash his hopes, and explain exactly how silly the idea of punching holes in monsters with first level magic was.
Light far brighter than what his lamp could provide reached the corner of his vision, and he caught the end result of Quartz bathing the tunnel behind them in fire, burning to ashes whatever opposition tried to sneak on them.
Eyes back on the front, the scene was one straight from a nightmarish horror. Countless mutilated bodies filled the tunnel, with each second more being added to the count. The water under his hand was almost pure black, yet it still served its purpose of conducting his spell.
There is one plus to this massacre… He admitted gulping down the magic potion that Rishia had placed near his lips, while banishing the third warning window that came announcing that his smallest party member had leveled up, on the span of a few minutes.
It took another three minutes, and Quartz rising another level for the wave of incoming enemies to finally die down. With a suspicious glance towards the pile of mutilated monsters, Ryou pointed his bow towards the front, revealing nothing but death.
A strained exhale came from his mouth, "... Well, I think it's over…" The Bow Hero announced, cutting his spell short.
"Fuee… T-There were a lot of them." The green-haired girl commented, her face looking slightly paler even in the dim light.
"Yeah, there wer… Guh!" Ryou grunted from his crouched position.
Rishia crouched near him, a hand falling on his shoulder, "Ryou was wrong?"
The Bow Hero gritted his teeth as his body fought in vain against an unseen force, "I can't move!" He grunted again, and try as he might he couldn't move an inch.
A red window popped up in front of his vision, almost mockingly.
[Weight Capacity Exceeded - Your Overburden]
Blinking a couple of times at the warning, Ryou opened his inventory, to see that he was indeed carrying far more than he should, even if his caring capacity had been growing as he leveled. Willing his inventory to scroll down, the culprit instantly became noticeable.
"Well, that explains it…" The Bow Hero mumbled.
"...Ryou?"
[Do you wish to convert this Item into Energy Points?]
Focusing his vision on the yes option, Ryou continued to repeat the process, "I just went over my Legendary Bow weight capacity." He explained, before adding, "But I would love to know what I'm supposed to do with three hundred pieces of Marble…"
The girl's eyes went to the walls of the tunnel, widening in excitement, "We could build a statue!"
Huh? Taking a pause from the conversion, Ryou's brows furrowed, "A Statue?"
Rishia nodded eagerly, a smile appearing in her face, "Yes, father has been considering it."
An uneasy feeling began to pool in his stomach, "Just what kind of statue are we talking about here?"
Her smile widened so much, her eyes crinkled, "Of you, Ryou."
"Rejected!" Ryou hissed. The last thing he needed would be a statue in his likeness, not only had he hardly done anything worth being immortalized in stone, but it would be extremely embarrassing.
...Taking into account this is Almond we are talking about, he would probably try to add an even more troublesome tablet to go along with it…
At last able to stand, Ryou let out a huff, "Quartz, can you clear us a way through that blockade?" He motioned, towards the pile of corpses that stood higher than he did.
Quartz nodded, then with a leap, she landed in front of the barrier, and with a puff of smoke, a dragon occupied most of the tunnel.
Turning his back away from the unpleasant sight, Ryou addressed his other problem, "Rishia, when you get back, your going to tell your father that I refuse to have a statue or any type of monument built in my honor."
Rishia's eyes went to the ground, as she clapped her hands in front of her, "Fuee… Okay…"
Ryou frown lightly, at the disappointment clear both on her face, and posture. He could understand, Almond and Rishia wanting to show their gratitude for his actions, but they were already doing more than enough. Sometimes Ryou felt he had even been abusing their goodwill. He had gotten his reward from toppling Gentlewood, along with gaining an invaluable party member, a roof over his head, and a place he could feel at peace away from the drama of Melromarc. All those things more than paid for what he had done.
A sound bounced from the walls, like scraping glass that hurt his ears, as Quartz landed near them, her yellow slitted eyes narrowed but clearly focused on the front.
Rishia's head lashed towards the end of the tunnel, as she gripped her rapier tightly in response to the sound of a new threat.
Posture going rigid, Ryou shinned light towards it. An involuntary shiver that started at the base of his neck and worked its way down his body came when he caught sight of a furry appendage, that scratched the ivory wall with its red claw. More limbs began to appear from just outside the reach of his light, many more, stretching all over the tunnel.
Ohhh… My... God...
Another shriek followed, from an unseen mouth, as it climbed over the still lingering bodies of the Marble Mimicks, and gnawing noises followed.
"Haaaa! That's Quartz dinner!" The small girl beside him moaned with more emotion that he had ever heard in her voice.
"Fuee! That's one big…
"Quartz torch it! Sneeze!" Ryou swiftly ordered, with a noticeably higher pitch in his voice.
The girl puffed out her chest, her eyes narrowing in anger, before releasing a torrent of flames, engulfing the monstrous arachnid in fire. The monster hardly could be categorized as a spider, being composed of mostly dozens of spider legs.
The monstrosity released another piercing sound, wriggling around with frantic movements as it tried to put out the flames.
"Double-tap it Quartz!" Ryou commanded again, clamping his hand over the small girl's shoulder and gripping it tightly.
Once more Quartz bathed the tunnel in fire, scorching the mutilated remains, along with putting an end to the inhuman shrieks of the newest horror.
After a few seconds, Ryou scrutinized the creature stretching his head to get a better look, and flinched when his eyes spotted the carbonized remains.
"Goddammit Rish, you said this was a Mithril mine, but between this Eldritch Abomination, the pigs, and the Marble Mimicks, I'm beginning to think this cavern is actually Cthulhu's Nursery!" Ryou yelled, pointing towards the monster in question.
"Fuuee! I'm sorry! Its s-suppose to be!" The girl apologized, lowering her head.
Taking a breath Ryou, sent her an apologetic look, while rubbing his neck," Sorry Rish, but that just freaked the hell out of me."
Raising her head, Rishia couldn't help but inquire,"Ryou are you afraid of spiders?"
He turned his eyes towards Rishia, who was blinking at him with a small downturn on her lips. There was a moment of awkward silence before his shoulders dropped in defeat.
"I'm totally afraid of spiders." He muttered. There was another moment of silence before giggling was heard.
Raising his head, he saw his partner attempting to hide her laugh behind both hands, however, her trembling shoulders gave her away.
With an irritated scowl, Ryou glanced to the side, "Yeah, yeah, get it out of your system, one of the mighty legendary heroes is afraid of arachnids."
From the edge of his vision, he saw her shaking her head, trying to reign in her laughter, "Its not that… Its...It's just that you are one of the Yuushas, and I know you already said it, but… but seeing you like this...I guess it makes you seem more human…" That could have been taken in a very bad way, but Ryou immediately understood the context, and his eyes softened a fraction.
"Rish, I might look strong to you, and have the title of hero, but at the end of the day I have fears, doubts, likes, and desires like everyone else, I'm just as human as you are."
Rishia nodded her head, a small smile on her face, even if her cheeks had a little more color in them. "I know, and understand that, but I guess… I guess sometimes it is easy to forget…" She trailed off, eyes moving to the floor again.
Ryou walked near the girl and tapped her shoulder. "You really shouldn't, especially you of all people, Partner..." Ryou finished with a grin. The girl's head shoot upward at the mention of her title, her cheeks gaining even more color, and she bobbed her head in agreement.
"Fueee! R-Right!" She exclaimed, stammering lightly, her expression looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Onii-shama… Is Cthulhu tasty?" The interruption came from the third member.
"I don't know, but I'm not sure if you can consider it seafood, or just straight cannibalism…" Ryou wondered, putting together the knowledge of the Eldrich beast slash god.
"Cannibalism? What exactly is a Cthulhu?" Rishia shifted in place attempting to picture it.
"It's a creature from a story or a myth? Its like half-dragon, half-octopus. Nasty fellow apparently is asleep at the bottom of the sea, and if it awakens it's bye-bye humanity…" Ryou explained, and Rishia let out a frightened gasp.
"How is that possible?!" The girl questioned suddenly afraid.
"Calm down Rish, it doesn't exist, not really. Besides its supposed to be a god, so yeah, not much you can do against something like that." Ryou admitted with a shrug. There were somethings one couldn't fight against, real or not.
"Sounds terrifying…" Rishia mumbled.
"Sounds tasty…" Quartz added placing a finger on her lower lip.
"Only you would think of eating Cthulhu, Quartz." Ryou shook his head in amusement at the antics of the dragon girl.
After the small break, the party resumed their way through the now free path. Eventually, the tunnels turned back to their normal composition mostly of grey stone, though they began twisting with curves and counter curves, and with far less branching. Quartz had also taken point temporarily during the expedition. Between the girl's astounding physical strength, and instincts, she was the closest thing his party had to a front-line fighter.
The small girl bulldozed through any opposition they came across, and Ryou felt more at ease with having a mobile flamethrower, when a second, and third spider made its presence known.
They had also come across some Eldrich Pigs, sporting a red coloration, and those had been hostile, but even they fell victim to the might if small fists of the dragon girl.
It took roughly another hour before they finally reached the end of the tunnel, and walked into a gigantic gallery.
Hand lashing, Ryou pulled Quartz back by the hem of her dress, "Stop!"
The small girl gazed at him confused, but the Bow Hero offered nothing else, his eyes studying the new area.
The huge dome-like area, stretched into the distance, with the ceiling filled with Crystal Stalagmites that offered their own blue dim glow - same glow that bounced off the walls with a metallic shine.
"Rish look at the walls…" He pointed out. The girl also narrowed her eyes slightly to examine it, before her expression brighten in realization.
"That's mithril!" She exclaimed, making Ryou's lips twitch.
Of course, it is... Ryou mused sarcastically ...like I'm not getting the boss arena vibe from this place at all, it couldn't be more obvious if it had a fog wall...
Surveying the area again, Ryou looked with suspicion to the wide round holes on the ground, and on the walls, wide enough for a pick-up truck to fall in.
Those are far too flawless to be natural… Still, seeing nothing that immediately screamed hostile, he took gradual steps further into the area, now on the front of the party.
Instincts on high alert he threw Quartz a glance, "Quartz, do you smell or feel anything?"
The girl, took a few sniffs with her small nose, before shaking her head. Ryou nodded and proceeded to turn to the front when something got his attention.
"What the..?" He exclaimed in confusion. The reason being, the hole they had walked in was no more, a wall with the mystical metal encroached in it, in its place.
A hidden mechanism, or trap? Ryou questioned, as his partner released her verbal tic when she realized that there way out was gone.
The party approached the new mysterious wall, and Rishia laid a hand on it. The girl dipped her head, expression turning even more inquisitive.
"Fueee... It's warm to the touch."
"Warm?" The Bow Hero asked, his brain attempting to figure out the new mystery.
Quartz took two sniffs of the mysterious wall, stopping for a moment before turning around in a blur, hes eyes wide open. In a burst of speed, she hooked an arm around Rishia's waist earning a startle whelp from the green-haired girl, as she effortlessly dashed past him.
"Onii-shama move!" There was a tone of urgency in her voice, and Ryou felt the earth under him move. With a slow side glance, he found himself gazing into a void, a fleshy packed to the brim with pointy curved teeth, void, the space extending beyond what his bow allowed to see.
On instinct he jumped back into the room, watching as the hole closed where he was standing, a groan reverberating in the area, similar in Ryou's ears to a whale.
Then something came out of the tunnel, a black tunnel-shaped form, that shined with the same glow as mithril, far larger than anything he had ever come across.
"Fuee what's that?!" Rishia questioned in horror, unfortunately, Ryou couldn't answer since he was busy putting some distance between himself, and the worm like monstrosity, that was still creeping out of the tunnel.
How did such a big thing sneak up on us without we noticing?! "Fire Shot!" The blazing missile hit the creature on the side, the dome of fire like construct from his attack forcing its body to the side, but the flames rolled off its protective plating, hardly showing any damage.
Eyes widening Ryou watched hunched as the creature elevated itself in the air, nearly touching the high ceiling, before exposing it's now-familiar maw. Five flaps like petals spreading themselves in five separate directions, and from its depths it released a roar that rocked the entire cavern.
Cthulhu Nursery indeed… This thing is on a completely different level from the rest of the monsters here! "Change bow, Great Fanged Bow! Rapid Air Strike Arrow!" Ryou yelled.
The arrows flew with a high pitch noise, crossing the distance and puncturing holes in the monster exiting on the opposite side, before detonating in shock-waves of wind on the wall.
The upper part of the worm trashed around at the sudden injury, boulders, and crystals dropping down from the ceiling.
In an attempt to evade the rocks, Rishia dodged left, and to the horror of the Bow Hero, the beast immediately stopped and locked on Rishia before coming down on the girl, attempting to swallow her whole.
Quartz was on it within a moment ramming the side of its head, now in dragon form forcing it off course, however, the worm didn't even slow down, and begun to drill into the ground, in a second the creature was underground, its movements shaking the floor under them.
The Bow Hero's head shifted from side to side quickly, trying to anticipate where the worm would come from. A crashing sound came from his right, as the top of the monster's head broke through the ground.
Tugging on his string, three more Air Strike Arrows were released, punching more holes in its frame, as the head dropped down aligning itself with Ryou, and opening its jaws.
Now! Ryou materialized another burning arrow, as the air began to waver. Releasing the flaming projectile, the Bow Hero followed it with his eyes as it flew, before colliding with an unseen barrier of distorted air inside the worm's mouth, the arrow dissolving the next instant.
"Ohh boy..." Ryou breath out, as blue lightning began to accumulate at the back of the worm's throat, and a low humming strained his ears, one that slowly grew both in strength, and pitch.
A large flaming orb exploded against the side of the creature's head, followed immediately by a torrent of fire, making it move slightly to the side, but hardly delivering any visible damage. The moment the flames disappeared, Quartz once again crashed against the worm, pushing it even more to the side, however, the creature quickly returned the favor lashing with far more strength, sending the dragon sliding across the ground before it crashed against the wall on the other side.
The monster once more locked onto Ryou, who had sprung into action dashing in the opposite direction of his party, knowing full well that a direct hit from what was coming would instantly kill any of them.
The vibration rattled at his bones, and from the corner of his vision, he saw the monster close its mouth and rearing back. Ryou dived forward, as an earth-splitting roar exploded, followed by a pillar of blue light, that passed right where the Bow Hero had been standing previously. The distorted heatwave encompassing the beam seared his skin, and he clenched his teeth as it felt like he was being cooked alive, the force sending him flying through the air before smashing into the ground far further than intended.
The blue beam hit the wall melting through mithril and stone alike like a hot knife through butter, quaking the whole cave.
Rolling on his side, Ryou's eyes widen even as his vision clouded slightly, and he rolled once more to avoid a large crystal stalagmite, that dropped right where he had been laying.
Within a moment he rose to all fours, clumsily attempting to regain his footing as the ground under him trembled. A weird sound reached his ringing ears, and he turned his head to see Rishia's lips moving like she was yelling, her eyes wide with horror, but the Bow Hero never heard what the girl was saying, or even saw the shadow being cast over him, only catching sight of a pinkish petal-like appendage from the edge of his vision before darkness claimed him.
"I think he's waking up." A dull voice sounded in the background.
There was a short pause, "Can you even call this waking up, though?" Another much closer voice inquired.
Ryou moaned, feeling his body as battered as when he had been hit by a car the first time around, or when he had almost been mauled too death courtesy of the Great Dire Wolf.
Cracking open his eyes, he blinked away the fogginess to see a vaguely familiar ceiling.
"What happened? Where am I?" Ryou asked, his voice sounding strained.
"Hi ,bro!" The voice sounded familiar in the Bow Hero's ears, and swinging his head to the side he came face to face with his own visage.
The apparition beamed, and opened its arms in a grand fashion, "Welcome…." He drawled in mock suspense, it's voice dropping just above a whisper, "...to the Batcave…"
"What?" Ryou gaped in incredulity. Before him stood his old room. His desktop in his desk, above it a wall saturated with anime and game posters.
"... as for what happened, " The figure continued without pause, "You got eaten by a big ass worm, something that while remarkably funny, is also…"
"I actually find it insulting, though in his defense that monster is not even close to anything normal, boss of the cavern or not…" Another voice came from the corner, the owner seated on his office chair, and just like the other figure this one could also pass as his doppelganger, the only difference being the heavy eye bags, along with eeary golden glowing eyes.
"You would! And who cares if it's normal or not, he still became dinner anyways..." The figure crouched on the carpet near the bedside exclaimed, before returning his gaze to Ryou, "...as I was saying... While it was hilarious, it is also somewhat aggravating, and that does nothing for my already short fuse."
"Tiny fuse you mean?" The one seated in the chair questioned with a raised brow.
"Stop doing that!" The one in front of the Bow hero hissed, "You're always doing that, you patronizing bastard!"
"Go suck a dick." Replied the yellow-eyed Ryou offhandedly.
"Ah!" The twin on the ground cried out with a grin, "The joke is on you, you bastard! If I suck a dick, you also suck a dick, as does this guy!" He ended pointing to Ryou.
The gesture finally broke Ryou out of his funk. Shaking his head he scowled at both figures, "Okay what the actual fuck is this, who the fuck are you guys and why am I back in my room?!"
The outburst only made the two figures blink, before the closest switched into a crossed leg seated position, placing his palms on his knees."To answer your questions in reverse order, this place is your mind-scape, slash your subconscious, slash whatever mental mumbo jumbo title you feel like slapping on this space, it only looks like your old room because I, took the liberty of making it cozier. As for who we are…" The figure paused, grinning once more, "You're a bright guy... You're me, in a way, so I'm sure you can figure it out."
The doppelganger stared expectantly at Ryou, who's glare only got more severe with each passing second, feeling his patience running out, but before he could reply, his copy lost it before he did.
"Fine!" The twin seated on the ground exclaimed, thrusting his arms into the air, "I'll give you a hint," with a wave of its hand, a familiar window materialized in front of Ryou.
Symbols of Bows rested before him, all the ones he had unlocked since becoming the Yumi-no Yuusha, some in groups, others separated, but it was a window he recognized by heart, and he felt confused at the action.
"Ohh gods is this how you're going to explain it?!" The figure on the chair exclaimed, holding his palm to his forehead.
The twin on the ground turned his head slightly to the corner, offering only a wide grin.
The yellow-eyed Ryou deadpan at the other figure, "This is not going to end well... He's already making wrong assumptions in his head as it is! I'm out." With those words, the figure faded from existence leaving only an empty chair behind.
"I find it ironic that given what he is, or rather what he supposedly represents, that he would jump ship… Well, whatever." The remaining figure dismissed, eyes returning to Ryou. Waving his hand again, the Bow Tree Window rearranged itself. A grim feeling filled Ryou as animated lightning erupted from the center of the window, drawing all the bows towards the center where they converge into a single red-glowing symbol.
Before the Bow Hero could utter a single word, a small red window emerged, and Ryou's eyes widen in shock, a chill moving through his body, leaving behind a numbing feeling.
"Does this answer your question?" The figure questioned amused, its greenish-brown eyes gaining a sinister red glow.
[Bow of Rage - Status - Unsealed - Requirements - Met]
"Impossible... There's no way…" Ryou whispered but the small tremor in his voice obvious.
"I'm pretty sure you said that when we got our mutual asses Isekaied to this world, and yet here we are. Funny… Isn't it?"
Next Chapter - Omens of a Coming Storm