Killer RPG
Chapter 2
-Talon-
"Too early" I said with a groan as I woke up in my new and temporary bed and saw some morning sunlight come into my room. "Holy shit I slept though more than half a day?" I asked myself since I thought I would be taking a short nap, but it turns out that I was just out cold for hours at a time.
Also, I didn't get a health and mana recovery screen for some reason.
[Finishing updates to the system as well as patching several glitches and hacks as well as removing hackers from the system]
Nani?
[Updates complete…Your game has been updated and the following has changed.
Earlier a glitch occurred with the fishing skill as it didn't follow the rank system and now has been patched to work properly.
You can check on what achievements and titles you can earn though the game system.
New daily quests have been added which you can do repeatedly.
New quests have appeared after installing all DLC's and bonus content.
New lore is available as well as new faction quests.
You can now access the gamer shop to sell and buy certain items.
That's all for now and yes, you've fully recovered all HP, MP, and SP]
"Okay…I also slept through a system update that apparently seemed very important" I said to myself as I got out of bed and stretched a bit as well as crack the bones in my back, neck, arms, and legs.
Some good stretching always gets the blood flowing.
"I want to look around but that wouldn't really be smart since people still need to come in from the forest of nightmares so what can I do?" I asked myself as I put all of my clothes and armor in my inventory to look over their durability and frankly my basic clothes are total shit.
The durability on the clothes I wear under my armor is at zero which is why they look horrible and torn up but sadly I don't have anything else and buying new clothes from the gamer store would create unwanted questions so for now it is best for me to just keep wearing these rags so I can blend in.
[You've earned +1 INT for making a smart decision]
"Thanks" I said sarcastically before I put my raggedy clothes back on as well as my armor as I felt a little hungry and exited my room to try and find something to eat.
I just can't explore anything and get in trouble. All I need to do is get something to eat and stay in my room until the last four days of this test comes to an end.
"Your up early" A old voice said from behind me as I stepped out of my room, so I turned around and saw Babara walking towards me with a smile on her face as I felt an uncomfortable shiver run down my entire body.
"I've always woken up early. You can maximize your day by waking up when the sun first rises" I told her back as she chuckled before she stopped in front of me.
"Well, that is a nice way to greet the days in my opinion. You must be hungry so why don't you come with me for some breakfast?" Babara said as she walked past me as I slowly started following her and I swear I do not trust this woman at all.
Now it is true that she is a part of the revolution but what chills me is the fact that she keeps giving me a weird look like she's checking me out and frankly that's worse than her showing me her murderous intent/bloodlust.
"So, will Chelsea or Taeko be joining us?" I asked her as we walked.
"No, they are still asleep and will eat later" Babara said as we soon made it to the eating hall of this fort as it was a large room with various and large wooden tables and seats all around and there is also a open kitchen area where two butlers are cooking the food as well as putting the food in wooden bowls as the food was a soup of sorts that smelled good but spicy.
"Do we have to pay for this food?" I asked since I had silver but according to my memories. Silver won't get as much as gold would and if you could only pay in silver you would have to pay a lot and I mean a lot of silver.
"No. This food is free of charge for any and all survivors." Babara said as she and I went over to the kitchen area that at a closer look has a small series of wooden tables blocking them off from the rest of the food hall as they gave Babara and myself both wooden bowls and spoons of stew before we took a seat near the end of the hall as I started eating the stew and my goodness it was the hottest and spiciest stew, I ever had but for some reason I couldn't stop myself from eating it.
Even if it has weird meats and vegetables in it…Also weird seasonings but I don't care. It's delicious.
"You look like you haven't had a good meal in quite a while" Babara said to me as I finished my next spoonful.
"That's because I haven't had something this good in years." I told her as I quickly finished the stew but sadly the food didn't give me any buffs like the food in skyrim, fallout, or final fantasy 15.
"Oh really?" Babara asked as I told her about the fact that I'm an orphan and I've had to be self-reliant for a long time as Babara smiled at that but not in a superior way but more like she looked as if she could understand where I was coming from as an orphan in the wild.
Well wild adjacent since I never actually fought any danger beast or anything.
"Well Talon I can safely say that this line of work your in will most likely be your death and will take it's toll on you…So, do you think you can shoulder that burden?" Babara asked me with a serious look on her face.
"Yes, I do and it's not because I'm cocky or because I'm overly smart but it's because I have no choice but to shoulder that burden since I wouldn't have an actual life otherwise" I told her as she kept her serious look.
"You say that now but soon enough you will truly be tested on your level of resolve" Babara said before she left the table as she threw her bowl and spoon away in the trash as I did the same before I went into my room as I looked into my inventory and first the random skill book interests me but right now, I focused more on the book of legends as I unequipped my armor before I started reading the book on my bed.
Now I didn't get any skills or quests from the book, but it is still interesting and shows a lot of lore of this world as well as great hero's and villains from the empire's history.
"I can't train freely in this place, but I also can't leave so this is going to be a difficult four days" I said as I kept reading and ultimately decided to avoid learning the random skill book until I had time for myself.
xxx-Four days later-xxx
Soon enough after four days past I was awoken in my room by the former general Rokugou as he and other people were gathering all the test survivors outside and soon enough, I stood outside with the group of people standing outside of the fort in the jungle as we all looked at the generals as well as some elite officers that stood in front of us each with those weird steampunk microphones in their hands.
"Greetings everyone! All of you have survived this test and as you can imagine this isn't the normal way the revolutionary army operates! This test is designed for us to form experimental teams of elite warriors to operate in places where the normal army can not operate! Now we will all start selecting people at random to join the various strike teams we are forming!" Rokugou said before people started getting selected for teams as they walked towards their general or elite knight that they would take orders from.
Soon enough the group got smaller and small until I finally got picked by Babara as I was now on her team which only consisted of herself, Taeko, and Chelsea and after the teams where all selected we where all escorted back to the main fort where the test first started thanks to a underground tunnel in the basement of fort [Sanctuary]
As some teams stayed at the fort for a while to rest but granny, Taeko, Chelsea and myself all began walking away from the fort as Chelsea was still wearing that maid outfit but now seemed to avoid looking at anyone with a light blush on her face.
"Where are we going?" I asked out as I felt weird wearing my ruined clothes under my leather armor. Seriously it feels weird and gross.
"Where going to base of the Oarburgh clan. In the Gappi Marsh" Babara said as I just realized why that Merraid name sounded familiar. Now the name is familiar because the Gappi Marsh is the first place where we saw the scary and kinda sexy bug woman along with her maids that I call four arms and super strong along with a classy looking butler that has a thing for the old woman I am following.
That means I am totally fucked because she truly hates men with the exception of the butler I just mentioned and will probably try to kill me.
"What's wrong Talon? You look like you saw a ghost" Chelsea said looking at me as I looked down a bit.
"I'm fine…I just got a bone chilling shiver run down my spine for some reason" I told her since I can't exactly say that I already knew who we were meeting.
[You've created a new skill!]
[Lying-Rank 1]-[Active]
You have a talent for bending the truth to suit your needs in any way you wish in any language that matters which includes sign language, written language, and verbal language!
4% Success rate]
Lie Success!
"Yeah, that usually happens when people hear about Gappi Marsh. It is a place of monsters." Chelsea said with a shiver of her own.
"Chelsea stop your pouting. Now first thing is first, which means Talon needs some proper clothing." Babara said as we walked.
"Towards my home village as Babara bought me some new clothes which slightly shocked some people when they saw who I was with.
Granted they didn't know I was with killers, but they were mostly shocked by the fact that I was traveling with girls like Chelsea and Taeko. Anyway, after I got rid of my old clothes, I was now wearing a dark green long sleeved shirt with brown trousers and new leather shoes while I still wore my armor underneath as I was changing in a privacy stall behind the clothing shop as the girls all waited for me as I was finished but instead of leaving I took this moment to learn the skill from my random skill book in my inventory as the book faded away into what looks like gold flower pedals before I saw the skill window.
[Chakra-Rank 1]-[Active]
Your inner lifeforce can now be used as it is defined by your strength, endurance, agility, intelligence, and your senses as your life energy/Chakra is a combination of spiritual and physical abilities as it can heal and rejuvenate your body from harm as well as purge your body of impurities, toxins, and harmful substances.]
[Warning! You lack the prerequisite skill or skills to effectively use the [Chakra] skill!]
"Alright I'm done" I said as I walked out of the privacy stall while being a bit upset since I lack the ability to use this skill, but I also gained some important information because that warning told me that Chakra aka life energy has rules, and it isn't like magic where I can just do whatever I want.
But then again, I don't really have any magic either so I don't even know if I can do anything with my MP or not yet.
"That's better now let's go" Babara said as I said goodbye to this place since I knew I would probably never come back here as we soon began walking as Babara also made sure to keep us away from the roads used by merchants and normal people as have been using the more dangerous and forbidden roads.
xxx-Much Later-xxx
I have no idea how long we've been walking but soon enough night fell as we made camp near the road and by camp, I mean just a campfire.
"Alright Talon I will start training you to improve quickly and efficiently however if you ever start to drag us down, I will remove you from this team. Do you understand" Babara asked with a serious tone as I sensed a lot of malice coming from her as she looked me over.
"Yes, I understand, and I promise I won't be a hinderance" I told her as the malice stopped for a moment before she walked past me.
"Good now let's start your training. All you have to do is follow me as I go hunt down a proper feast" Babara said as she looked straight into the forest near us as we could hear several animals in these woods from all the noise that is being made.
"Okay. I'll stick close" I said before Babara chuckled a bit before I saw another quest window appear.
Quest Alert!
[Name: Hunting!
Objective 1: Follow Babara as she goes hunting!
Objective 2: ?
Rewards: 3,000 XP!, Increased reputation with Oarburgh and Revolutionary Army factions!
This quest has been auto-accepted!]
"We'll see about that" Babara said as she looked back at the forest and it seemed like she leaped deep into the forest as I quickly ran as fast as I could into the woods as I barley saw for a second as she seemed to jump from tree to tree as I ran after her with all my might only getting glimpses of her as I jumped over bushed and tree limbs.
I don't know how long I was running as I was already out of breath and sweating up a storm from running none stop before I heard a loud howl and a loud thud come from a far distance in front of me as I stopped running for a moment not sure if I should keep going or not but knowing that Babara is a master assassin I should think that she can handle herself so I pressed on but I lacked the power to run so I just walked until I came to a unreal scene.
In a large area of broken tree's, I saw Babara holding a sharp and bloodied knife in her hand as she was standing on a dead…Thing…I has the head and body of a lion but with large feather covered wings and no tail as it has a large bleeding gash on its neck and honestly it was a bit unnerving to see as its eye's felt like they were staring right back at me.
"Good you've made it even though you look like shit. Although I half expected you to ditch the armor to chase after me." Babara said as I walked up to her and saw that she didn't even have a scratch on her clothes before she raised her knife into the air before thrusting it downward to get the blood off of the blade as the blood hit the ground and no speck of blood was left on the knife.
"I honestly didn't think about doing that" I told her as I wheezed and gasped for air before I coughed a bit.
"We need to do something about that stamina and breathing of yours if we ever want to put you to proper use" Babara said as she put her knife away before grabbing the wing of the beast she killed as she started dragging it towards me. "Now let's get back to the camp." Babara said we walked back to the campfire as she and Taeko created a massive fire spit that they put the massive beast on after they properly skinned the beast.
"Do you just carry those things on you all the time?" I asked as Babara was carrying a large sack she pulled out of nowhere as she placed the skinned fur, feathers, and teeth in the sack as the fur was cut up into squares for easier storage.
"Yes, I do. You need to remember that you must always be prepared for anything in our line of work" Babara said before an obvious question just came to mind as Chelsea was cooking the danger beast or more accurately, she was rotating the large beast with Taeko's help to make sure it was getting perfectly cooked on the wooden cooking spit over the fire that they tripled in size to cook the bird.
"I don't think I ever asked this but what team are we exactly? I mean the other strike teams stayed behind so are we scouts or something?" I asked as Babara tied off her large sack of supplies that she easily slung over her shoulder.
"Where the assassination team. Is that a problem?" Babara asked in a serious tone of voice as she looked as if she was staring right through me as I felt as if a large surge of bloodlust was directed right at me.
"No but…Well…I'm mean I never…" I honestly didn't know what to say as I couldn't tell her killing is wrong but at the same time, I'm already here with them and I plan to survive even if it means harming others.
"You've never killed anyone…You're a killing virgin" Babara said as she looked away for a moment. "However, didn't show any hesitation or hatred of the subject like most people would and you didn't seem to disbelief me either when I mentioned such a thing." Babara said as I felt the killing intent stop.
"Well, you don't seem like the lying type and I'm already here with you so if I rejected being a part of the team, I would have ended up dead anyway. Besides it's not like I have anything to live for." I told her since I am basically living for the sake of living.
I just want to live a long live and enjoy myself in this world and maybe kill Esdeath and save the empire if I feel like it…Oh who am I kidding I'm totally saving this world even if I hate myself for it.
"Well, we will see just how far you can go in this world Talon." Babara said before I saw and completed me quest.
Quest Completed!
[You've completed [Hunting] Quest as well as unlocking the second objective of discovering what strike team you're on and as such you've doubled your rewards!
You've earned 6,000 XP! And increased reputation with the Oarburgh faction and the Revolutionary faction]
[You've levelled up! Lvl: 6-7-8 and six SP for a total of 12 SP!]
"I promise I won't disappoint you" I told her and before long we all ate some of the roasted danger beast before going to sleep on the dirt much to Chelsea's annoyance and after a while I sat up. "I should improve some things" I said to myself before I brought up my status screen before I finally saw my perk screen come up.
[Sorry about the lag. But now I can tell you that you will get perks every two levels with the exception of perks you can learn by training, experiences and stuff like that.
Anyway, here are your perks!]
"Okay…What to pick?" I whispered to myself as I scrolled over the perks for a moment or two as I looked a lot of stuff over and granted a lot of stuff seems good to have but I also need to think practical and get a perk that I need right now instead of what I want to get that just seems cool and fun…
What to choose…What to choose…This one.
[Precision-Rank-Max]-[Active/Passive]-[Perk]
Precision is the ability to be exact, focused, extremely accurate and refined in anything. You now have the mental and biological ability to be precise in everything you do from sight to penmanship to weapon handling.
You are also extremely adaptable as your precision allows you to be precise in anything possible. Also, this perk stacks with all skills and perks]
"This is practical and slightly vague but still it will help me in the long run" I whispered to myself as I than brought up my status screen and thought about what to do with my status points as I closed my eyes and gave it some serious thought since everything seemed good.
After some deep thought I felt as if a lightning bolt strike my brain before I looked over my status points once more and now everything seemed a lot clearer and now I know what points to increase and focus on.
This must be [Precision] working but I'll question that later.
-Stats-
Name: Talon Snow, Age: 17
Race: Human, Gender: Male
Title: The Gamer, Level: 8 (0/6,450 XP!)
HP: 280/280, MP: 230/230 (10 MP Regen every twenty minutes), SP: 240/240 (10 SP Regen every five minutes)
STR: 8, PER: 10
END: 8, CHA: 10
INT: 11+5=16, AGI: 8
Luck: 10+7=17, SP: 0]
"This is the best option. If I increase my physical abilities right now it would create to many questions especially after my run which didn't earn me any increased stat points.
Instead increasing my mental power and luck will offer more experience, faster learning speed, better critical hits and better rewards but that is with the idea that my stats work in the same way that fallout games work" I whispered to myself before I took off my armor and placed it on the ground before I decided to start doing some exercises to not only tire me out but to also speed up my training since I need to get strong as fast as possible.
Wow my thinking is getting better after the stat increase and my precision skill…Wait with precision I can be perfectly accurate in anything so let's do the perfect push-ups and other exercises.
-The next morning-
I woke up a bit latter than everyone else as Babara woke me up with strong flick to my forehead that didn't actually hurt but was strong enough to wake me up and after exercising last night I learned that [Precision] works based on my mind and I need to be careful about how and when I use it.
Now I say that because in my mind I was imagining the military style push-ups and due to precision, that is exactly what I did down to the last detail as my muscles did what I imagined and military push-ups aren't easy…My arms are so sore along with the rest of my body as I also did squats, sit-ups, pull-ups on tree branches, jumping jacks and stuff like that for a long while before I went to sleep.
"Time to wake up. Where hitting the road" Babara said as we started walking again as we went none stop towards the Gappi Marsh which will take up days on land but lucky for me we hit a village that has a lake which leads into thee ocean as Babara made a fortune by selling the danger beast parts she collected as she bought a small boat from a fisherman with the money as we than started making our way by boat.
"With this boat we should make it to the marshes in about…six or seven hours" Chelsea said with a mixed attitude of relief and sadness.
"Chelsea don't complain so much. Besides your lucky I know the way by water since the marsh can easily make people lost if they don't know where they should be going." Babara said as Taeko and I were rowing the boat as we each have two oars that we are using with her in the front of the canoe like boat while I was in the back and I have to say that even with [Precision] it is very difficult to row a boat.
"That does beg the question of how we are going to pass the time. Granted rowing helps speeds things along but it will still be very dull if we just make small talk for hours on end" I said as I than saw a large fish do a flip in the air next to our boat before diving back into the water.
"That's why granny also bought us lot's of books to read and study when we switch shifts for the rowing." Taeko said as I am somehow just now noticing the large amounts of books that the old woman had bought and stored in the same tan sack that she used to hold the danger beast body parts.
"Taeko we won't be taking shifts this time, or I should say that Talon won't. He needs to build up strength quickly so he will be rowing the entire time while you or Chelsea will help him study the books" Babara said as I felt like my jaw just hit the floor.
"There's no way I can row for that long. My arms would fall off from the strain" I quickly told her as she smirked at me.
"Calm down brat I was just kidding. You'll take short breaks, but you will still do most of the rowing. Now stop complaining and get back to work." Babara ordered sternly as I sighed sadly before I went back to rowing as I saw Chelsea pick up a book and start reading as I soon discovered that the Oarburgh not only make strong assassins physically superior to basic grunts, but they also do it mentally as Babara grabbed several books on science, arts, literature, biology and other important books like that.
"Alright I'm working" I simply said as I rowed my boat gently down this stream.
-Several hours later!-
"Are we almost their yet?" Chelsea asked childishly as she was rowing with me as we are rowing through a swamp land area that we entered a while ago…It was maybe two or three and a half hours ago and luckily for us nothing tried attacking us…Yet anyway.
"We are getting close brat and for the hundredth time. Stop complaining" Babara said sternly as my arms felt like limp noodles and it was only thanks to precision that I was able to still row.
Thank god I choose this perk since it's already paying off so amazingly.
"Granny I didn't think about this before but what are we going to do with this boat after we hit land?" I asked as I am honestly just now thinking about what we can do with this boat since it seems like a waste to just buy it and scarp it.
"We are going to leave it behind and just head to our base" Babara said as I also noticed the sun start to set before we soon hit a good spot of land in this swamp that had some thick mist covering it. "Alright let's go" Babara said as she gathered all her books as we all hopped out of the boat before Babara kicked the thing back into the water as we watched it drift away into the ocean.
[Do to prologued strength and endurance training you've earned +2 STR and END]
'Not helping' I thought to myself as I couldn't even really lift my arms even with precision as my entire body felt heavy.
[You have been given the [Physical Exhaustion] De-Buff and you SP/Stamina Point recovery speed has been severely nerfed until the [Physical Exhaustion] has disappeared]
"I feel like I'm about to die" I said weakly as I stepped onto the soft but sturdy ground.
"Talon you have a long way to go if some light boating has weakened you this much" Babara said as we started walking through the swamp with Babara and Taeko killing any danger beast or wild animal that attacked up or would attack us after we turned our backs on them.
We walked for a super long time and the moon was high in the sky when we finally stopped at a massive and fancy looking mansion surrounded by a massive metal gate and when I say mansion, I mean a mansion like the Xavier school for gifted children from the X-men kind.
"This place is huge" I said in total shock at what I saw before some woman in a maid outfit came up to the gate and opened it as I saw several people/guards patrolling the outside of the mansion.
"This is the Oarburgh HQ and stick close or else you will be killed" Babara said to my in a deadly serious tone of voice as I followed her and immediately noticed all eyes on my specifically which feel's very unnerving and I also noticed that the staff here and the people are 90% woman with a handful of men here and there but still the point of me being in the minority was fairly obvious.
Anyway, Babara walked all of us through the mansion and up a few staircases before we came up to what I assumed is the leaders room as I also noticed several insects around all over the place and nobody dared step on one as we entered the room and I saw a scary and beautiful woman sitting in a chair with her back turned at us as she stared out at the massive swamplands from the massive window that had actually replaced the entire back wall of the room.
This woman is none other than Merraid Oarburgh.
Merraid Oarburgh, Lvl: ?
Madam Mera/Oarburgh Leader/Host of the Wrigglers
Merraid has long black hair with flawless skin, long fingernails that where a dark purple color and clearly sharp, she is also wearing a purple free-flowing dress with a black and white plaid belt from what I saw as she didn't have a desk or anything to obscure my view and in all honestly, she is a perfect imitation of her manga counterpart as she didn't even turn around before speaking.
"Babara I trust that you have a good reason to have brough in some random man to our hideout" Merraid said as I felt like her bloodlust would crush me into the dirt.
"Calm down princess this brat is with me and I do have a reason for bringing him. Now this young man here has a lot of potential to become a great assassin and I want to nurture that potential and make him one of us" Babara said without seeming phased by Merraid's malice as Chelsea and Taeko both felt similar to how I felt.
However, I knew I was clearly the worst looking by far since I didn't even think about putting on a brave face in front of this woman.
"One of us? Only a select few men have the compacity to become assassins of our organization. The only great assassins here should be women" Merraid said as she stood up and turned around to look right at me and instead of a hatred look on her face she looked as if she was bored by my presence.
"That's only because you can't keep your hormones under control" Babara countered as you could hear a pin drop in the room from all this tension.
"Fair enough I suppose. I simply can't help myself when it comes to beautiful woman." Merriad said with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders.
"More like any woman you see. Anyway, this kid is Talon and he's going to become a member of our organization" Babara said as Merriad chuckled before going back to her seat.
"Fine but don't complain when he cracks under the pressure" Merriad said as I was actually tempted to say something back before I instantly squashed the thought as I remembered what happens to her victims.
Death by insects is not a death that I want to experience.
"Come on brats" Babara said as we all left the room as I took the biggest exhale of my entire life. "Girls your free to go but Talon you're going to come with me" Babara said as we split up as I followed Babara alone down to the first floor of this mansion before we took another staircase down towards the basement as I saw that this place is aa hall of tortures as I saw woman in extreme S&M attire torturing people in various cells and not the fun kind of torture as several eyes were on me before Babara took me to the very last cell and opened it as we both walked in and I saw three people with black sacks over their faces, their bodies beat up and damages as their hands are bound with what looks like barbed wire.
They are two men and one woman as each of them were butt naked.
"Talon these three are where traveling together but one of them is an imperial spy. We have tortured them but none of them have confessed so they all are going to die.
This is your first and most important test…You need to figure out who the spy is and kill them right here and right now." Babara said as she gave me her knife that I slowly grabbed.
I got another quest alert, but I didn't even bother looking at it since I knew I wouldn't be living this cell alive if I refused and I also know that I won't leave without killing someone or I would end up dead.
I slowly walked over to the person in the middle as I once again used [Precision] to think of what to do…
Okay I obviously need to kill one of them, but I have only a one in three chance of getting this right. There is also the fact that I don't know what will happen to the other two and I might only be prolonging their suffering by letting them live in this hell but that would mean that I wouldn't have to kill one but three people to make sure they won't suffer anymore but the main problem is that I don't know if I'm capable of killing someone even with my new enhanced way of thinking.
I mean I know that I have to kill but the part of me that feels that killing is wrong is still clearly here and present in my mind so ultimately, I need to wager these strangers life against my own even with the fact that they will most likely die anyway.
"Why are you hesitating?" Babara asked me in a serious tone as swallowed what little saliva I had in my mouth as I had to make the smartest choice available here…Kill all three of them.
"I'm sorry" I said as I tightly gripped the knife with both hands before I quickly shoved the knife into one of the guys necks as felt sick to my stomach, but I forced myself to move as I took the knife out of his neck and saw real human blood splatter all around as I did the same with the other two as I felt tears falling down my face, but I held in my sobs.
If I show such weakness, I'll die but I can't stop myself from crying these tears as I tightly gripped the old woman's knife and saw the blood coating my hands as I clenched my teeth as tightly as I could to hold in the screams.
[Congrats you've earned the title [Serial Killer]
This title granted a 50% Damage bonus to all humans]
'I think I'm going to be sick' I thought to myself before Babara took her knife back.
"You couldn't be sure who the spy was, so you killed all three…Reluctantly but you still did as you where told. You made the right decision and have passed my test. Welcome to the Oarburgh" Babara said as she patted me on the shoulder.
[You've become accepted by the [Oarburgh] Faction]
"Thanks" I said quietly before Babara and I started walking through the mansion again.
"We will do something about that soft heart of yours but right now it's about time you got some rest" Babara said before she led me to my new room as the room was basic in design as she also told me about where the showers and restrooms are. As I looked in my dresser and saw some towels as I simply grabbed one and headed towards the men's shower as nobody else was their so I took a hot shower in deep thought as I used one of the many soap bars and just scrubbed my hands as clean as I could as well as my whole body.
I actually killed three people…I killed people and got rewarded for it…I feel sick, but I would have died if I refused or try to run…No that doesn't make me feel better because that is an excuse.
I've taken the lives of three people for no other reason than to keep living my own life…I'm disgusting.
After my shower and after getting as clean as I could I went back to my room on the second floor and just fell asleep in 'my' bed…Eventually. Because the truth is that despite [Gamers Mind] my actions still haunt me and I can still fell my hands taking the lives of other people…It's nothing like tv, books, and videogames make it seem.
Taking a life is a horrible experience no matter how you dress it up and now I am in a world where I have to kill for what seems like the rest of my life until I'm also killed.
…I just want to sleep.
xxx-The next day!-xxx
"Morning…At least I'm still alive" I said ignoring the message about me fully recovering all my health, magic and stamina as I also ignored the well-rested bonus perk as well since it seemed to mimic the same perk from Skyrim as it would boost all my experience gaining speed.
Also, now that I think about it I'm just now realizing that despite grinding the bloodlust detection skill I haven't seen it level up yet for some reason. Is the game lagging or something?
[Skills in game system operate differently than the standard level system and operates on tiers/ranks. The skills and perks you have will increase in their ranks after they reach a certain threshold, or you reach a critical point of mastery of your skill or perk.
This system is meant to closer emulate real life and how a person gets better which is also why you have to properly train and study to raise your core stats as well as use the stat points themselves but that isn't important right now.]
"Well thanks for explaining that at least" I said as I slowly got up out of bed with those deaths still on my mind as I walked over to my window and opened it to see it was kinda early as I took in the swamp air for a moment before I walked over to my new dresser and looked inside for some new clothes and saw that they at least gave me a proper uniform to wear.
Multiple versions of the same black and white butler suit with black pants and next to my dresser are black dress shoes…Which means someone was in here while I was asleep because I never saw these shoes here yesterday and my regular clothes are gone along with my leather armor.
"Good your awake" Babara said as she came into my room after I had gotten dressed in these black trousers, a white button-up shirt underneath a black long-sleeved blazer with cufflinks on the wrists as well as short white socks and lastly, I had put on the dress shoes I was given.
"Should I even ask about what happened to my clothes and armor?" I asked her as I turned around to meet her gaze.
"Your clothes are being cleaned and your armor is being repaired and take these" Babara said as she reached into her pocket and tossed me a toothbrush along with a mason jar filled with a silver looking paste and sealed with a yellow top with a label on it saying, 'Tooth Polish'.
"Thanks" I told her before I went to the male restroom and brushed my teeth before coming back to my room as I placed the jar and toothbrush on top of my dresser and yes, the tooth polish taste like alcohol and no, I don't mean the drinking kind.
"Your welcome now today we start your real training along with a friend of mine so come along" Babara said as we walked to the outside of the mansion before coming to the rear of the place as I noticed the backyard has a massive garden and it seemed to dominate the entire back of the mansion as several people where tending to it as Babara walked up to the old man who was watering a large dark pink flower with a large water pail in his hands as I looked at this guys name and saw who he is.
Daniel, Lvl: ?
Oarburgh lead butler
"Daniel this is the brat I was telling you about and even though he is in my care I would like your assistance in training him" Babara said as Daniel stood up and looked me over a bit as he honestly didn't seem that old to me as he does rock a full head of grey hair and mustache but did still have a fit build to him as he wore a similar suit to me but his looked fancier and he was wearing fancy white gloves on his hands as he put his water pail down on the ground and walked over to me.
"Of course, Babara I would be honored." Daniel said as he bowed to the old woman with his right hand over his chest. "Young man your name is Talon Snow which itself shows you have some form of noble lineage since most common folk like myself don't have last names.
However, that doesn't matter to me. What matters is your level of commitment to the Oarburgh clan. Now Babara has told me that you did kill as commanded but you hesitated severely and that is something we can not allow so the first real step we must take is preparing you on how to properly kill" Daniel explained as I gulped down what little saliva I had in my mouth as Daniel gave me a serious look.
"I understand" I told him before he spoke louder and with a sterner voice.
"No, you don't! Those deaths are still clearly on your mind and the guilt will not only weigh you down, but it will also get you killed. Now, normally we would have taught you proper coping mechanisms at a younger age but right now with your mentality we will need to go beyond the normal means so you can truly be of proper use to us!" Daniel said as I flinched from his words.
"We don't tolerate the weak here Talon. You will become strong even if we declare you unfit to be an assassin and sentence you to a life of servitude." Babara warned me before she turned around and walked away. "Daniel he's all yours" Babara said as she left me alone with this man as I turned back around and looked this guy over.
"Talon this garden as you can see hosts various flowers of beauty and splendor, but each flower has poisonous properties as some are lethal while others only cause mild fevers or paralysis." Daniel said as I easily felt intimidated by these plants that could hurt me if I didn't know how to properly treat them.
Granted I know I am being overly dramatic but still I don't want to risk being poisoned by some flower by sucking at gardening.
"All of them have poison?" I asked as a part of me was in disbelief of that.
"No, they have poison properties as I said before. Now some are harmless unless mixed with other plants while others only have poison found in their roots. The difference between a poisonous plant and a plant with poison properties is how the poison is used in nature or used in alchemy as some plants can even kill with the slightest touch but poisons like that are rare.
So, Talon our first lesson in changing your state of mind is to start getting you resistant or even immune to these poisons and yes I know you might not want to experience such pain so I will give you a choice" Daniel said as I honestly didn't know what to say or how I can or should respond.
"What do you mean?" I asked as I slowly balled up my fists.
"Simple we will have a sparing match right now. If you can land a hit on me by the time my watch stops than you won't be poisoned but if you fail, you will be.
However, I will clarify that the poison will not kill you but merely incapacitate you." Daniel said as he reached into his shirt pocket and took out a gold stopwatch.
Seriously I thought this world wasn't super advanced with technology that didn't involve weapons but so far, I've seen modern tech like microphones and showers and now a stopwatch…What is this place because it is not the Akame ga Kill world that I am familiar with.
"If that's what it takes than I will go along with this" I told him as he pressed the button on his watch as I charged at him and I used [Precision] and [Street Fighting] together to try and hit him but unsurprisingly I didn't even hit him once as he didn't bother blocking my strikes and instead just evaded everything before he stopped his stopwatch.
"Your attacks are extremely predictable, far to slow and generally lack any real power behind them. We certainly have or work cut out for us but sadly you failed and now you need to uphold your end of our little agreement" Daniel said before I felt something hit my neck.
"Gah!" I cried in pain as I reached behind my neck and took out what looks like a dart before my body felt limp and I felt giddy and started laughing.
[You've been poisoned! [(Light)-Euphoric Paralysis] De-Buff added!]
"That poison will effect your senses and stop you from moving for a short while. I will come back when the poison wears off" Daniel said as I found everything he said to be hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing.
Daniel poisoned me and I can't move. He's so funny and now I'm on the grass…Hi ants your skin is cracking me up.
xxx-Thirty Minutes Later-xxx
"Ugh" I groaned as I slowly stood up and covered my eyes since it felt like I was being blinded by the sun.
"Good you've snapped out of it" Daniel said as I turned around and saw him behind me.
"What was that?" I asked as I can't really remember anything after I fought him.
"That was one of the many light poisons you will be dealing with while you're here young man and now we move onto the next. After we go over how to remain calm in all circumstances as well as the finer points of service as far as the Oarburgh clan is concerned and I also need to mention that you won't be seeing much of Chelsea or Taeko while you're here since Mera-sama has taken an interest in them.
"Oh…Goodie" I said sadly before my training began.
xxx-Three Months Later-xxx
I am currently sitting in my room waking up to yet another day here as these past months have been hell, but they are paying off since I have increased my physical and mental abilities by a lot as well as my fighting abilities and skills.
Or more accurately I should say my alchemy skill since Daniel has allows me to use this places alchemy lab and making potions is a lot more difficult than some games make it look because making potions, elixirs, tonic and stuff like that is very time consuming.
Anyway, I have greatly grown as far as stats and skills are concerned but again that is with the context that the only real skills, I've improved on so far is my alchemy, street fighting, and my poison resistance which took me the better part of the first month to finally learn.
Also, Daniel has informed me that starting now I will be learning how to handle weapons of all forms as well as some of the Oarburgh more intensive techniques which he hasn't told me about but from my meta knowledge they would be things like how to remove mental limiters as well as muscle reinforcement.
Although Daniel and Babara have made it known that I am still too soft, and I may very well be forced to only serve this clan as a butler which brings me to a certain problem…Should I save this organization from destruction?
Honestly, this world is a lot different than canon, but this clan of reapers is not and the only reason they are siding with the revolutionary army is because they are being paid to and once that stops they will cut off all ties with the revolution.
Hell, they would be backing the empire right now if the empire cared enough to pay more…So despite liking Taeko and Chelsea I don't think I will save this organization from destruction but that doesn't mean I won't try to save certain people like Chelsea, Taeko and the twins Loris and Meela who unlike their manga counter parts aren't little girls and instead are teens like me at sixteen but have similar builds to Mine from way farther ahead into the future but overall they still look the same visually.
Loris has cyan hair which she puts in two pigtails, on the left side of her forehead is a star sticker or something, she has purple eyes, and she wears a white shirt under a black dress and no she doesn't wear shoes.
Meela is identical to her sister in every way except she has her hair done in a single ponytail and on the left side of her forehead is a moon sticker or whatever that thing is on their heads as she also wears the same clothes as her sister, and she also doesn't wear shoes.
They do not like me and think the girls that do are making a great sin against Mera-sama but still their like little sisters to me so I can't just let them die.
"Talon let's go" Babara said as she opened my door which surprised me a bit as I had just finished getting myself dressed and all together.
"I wasn't expecting to see you granny. I thought Daniel was coming to get me." I told her as I saw Taeko and Chelsea behind her as I followed her out of my room.
"Long time no see Talon. We've heard that Daniel has been training you pretty hard" Chelsea said teasingly as we walked.
"Yeah, say whatever you but that old man has been teaching me all kinds of stuff like the different types of plants that can poison people, the beginning forms of alchemy, how to resist poisons and how to enhance my fighting style." I told her as she just closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at me with a smile.
She teases me way too much for my liking.
"What about you girls? Has Babara taught either of you anything since she put Daniel in charge of me" I said as we walked outside.
"Granny usually teaches us the basics to make sure we don't make any mistakes in the field." Taeko said as we actually began moving throughout the marshes which is a bit strange.
"Where are we going anyway?" I asked the old woman who yawned a bit bored.
"We are hunting some of the wild game in the mashes or more specifically you are." Babara said as I was actually a bit confused by that.
"Seriously?" I asked her since I had no clue, I was doing something like this.
"Yes. Now I've talked with Daniel at length about your mindset and you have matured in such a short time, but we need to be sure you can kill quickly and efficiently so this mission of yours is to bring back and kill at least three danger beast by the end of the day.
The size and type of the beast doesn't matter, and Daniel has told me you still lack proper physical ability so this exercise will also help you improve greatly." Babara said in a serious voice.
Quest Alert!
[Name: Blooded
Objective: Prove you can be cold blooded and kill 3 Danger Beast with any means possible.
Rewards: More reputation with the Oarburgh faction/Chelsea/Taeko/Babara/ and Daniel, 6,000 XP!
Failure: Your classified as a permanent servant until you get another chance to prove that you can be a killer! Possible Death!
This quest has been auto-accepted!]
"I won't let you down, but couldn't I at least have a weapon or something?" I asked since this felt a little bit unfair even for assassin training.
"You'll be able to find weapons in the marshes Talon. Many people traverse these lands but only a rare few survive long enough to escape it. Which is why we can make our base here" Babara explained as I sighed and walked into the marshes looking for any clues for any predators.
Like footsteps or markings or something.
…I've been walking for about fifteen minutes and I still haven't found anything.
"Oh hello" I said as I came up to a tree with claw markings on it and sitting against the tree is a dead guy and next to his hand is a strange mask in the style of a wooden red Noh mask in the shape and design of a red Oni.
Something about this mask is just drawing me to it almost as if it is calling to me somehow so I picked it up and used [Gamer Vision] on it.
[(Item)-(Teigu)
Name: Mask of the Red Ogre: Oni
Rank: Legendary
Description: This Teigu is the Red Ogre mask made from the body of a powerful Ogre demon as this mask grants the user immense strength while making the users skin red and as strong as steel granting incredible durability.
This boost in strength also transfers to other physical aspects like speed and jumping ability but using this mask puts a large strain on the user's stamina and as a bonus this mask also allows the user to summon [Kanabo] aka a spiked two-handed war club.
Trump Card: Not attainable yet so no description available]
"What the hell? I know that in this world there are unknown imperial arms, but I didn't actually think I'd find one and I also never planned on looking for that matter" I said as I picked up the mask and even though the mask description didn't say anything about it being alive, I felt as if this thing was giving off some kind of powerful aura as I held it in my hands.
"Does putting it on activate it?" I asked thinking this might be like the dragon priests masks from Skyrim so for the moment I just placed the mask in my inventory for a proper moment to use it.
Now a Imperial Arms/Teigu is amazing and can obviously give the a insanely powerful upper hand in battle but for the moment I need to keep playing this smart and if I have to reveal it to anyone I will do it on my terms only.
Again, I want to save the girls I like but otherwise I will leave the Oarburgh faction to it's inevitable destruction and I don't plan on complication that plan…The sad thing is that I actually don't truly know if [Precision] gave me this idea of if it was truly mine.
HISSSSS.
"Oh boy" I said in slight fear as I sensed some bloodlust nearby, so I looked towards the left of me and saw two things.
[Detect Bloodlust has Ranked up! Rank-1 has become Rank-2]
The second thing I saw was a Danger Beast appropriately named [Winged Viper] now the thing has the body of a dark green snake with black accents on its scales forming bizarre designs that I couldn't fully see as its eyes are a dark crimson and its mouth was wide open showing a ungodly amount of saliva or venom and extremely sharp looking fangs along with small bone spikes on its head as it looked like one of the titan boas from ARK but it has four pairs of black feathery wings on its back.
"Now's a great time" I said as I mentally thought of equipping the oni mask as the thing leaped at me in what seemed like slow motion. Now don't get the wrong idea this thing isn't slow, and I wasn't fast but the reason it seemed slow was because of how badly I feel as if my life is about to end.
Now that I actually think about it, I remember there are dozens of stories where people face death and their brains react so quickly that they see everything in slow motion because their brain is using all of its power to analyze, comprehend, and memorize every single moment of such a traumatic and life threatening situation.
I can feel my inventory shift as it was equipping the mask as the massive serpent neared me…This is it…I'm going to die.
[Mask of the Red Ogre: Oni-Equipped]
In one quick moment I felt the mask on my face as my body felt stronger before I was hit by the winged serpent as I was knocked into a tree and instead of numbers I saw my health bar decrease in front of my vision and it hurt a lot but I still felt like I was able to fight on as I didn't even fall to my knees as I stood in front of the serpent and looked at it through the eyes of the mask as I felt my muscles increase in size as my body felt like it was on fire.
[Steel Skin]-[Herculean Body]-[Herculean Speed] Perks have been added! You've become an Ogre!
"Okay and my senses are still the same so that means my reaction time won't have increased but otherwise I'm strong enough to kick your ass now!" I said as I pointed at the snake that hissed at me again but this time I stood my ground and I charged at the thing.
Was this stupid? The answer is yes but backed into a corner I have to say that I need to be strong and kill this thing or else I'll never be able to survive this world when people like Mera-sama, Esdeath, and Akame can kill this thing with ease.
…Fuck I'm calling her Mera-sama now like everyone else…She really does terrify me, I guess.
Anyway, the serpent quickly circled around me as it dove it's mouth towards me as I jumped up to avoid it as it crashed into the ground underneath me, but I underestimated the power of this mask because I jumped very high into the air with the serpent below me and with no other choice I shamelessly stole Wave's kicking technique as I extended my right leg out as I rocked downward thanks to gravity as the snake raised it's head at the right moment as my foot collided with serpents skull as I heard a loud cracking sound.
Not only did I hit its head, but I also hit a soft spot apparently as the serpent crashed onto the ground with its eyes closed as it stopped moving and making noise.
[You've earned 5,000 XP!]
"Well not so tough now, are you?" I asked as I walked onto the ground and honestly, I'm surprised I didn't explode this things head from the force of my attack. I guess Danger Beast really are superior to normal animals.
Anyway, I took the mask off and felt my body return to normal as I lost the perks it gave me but that isn't important. What's important is the fact that I actually just killed a danger beast by myself.
The thing hit me pretty hard and my entire body hurts, but I still survived and now sadly I have to kill two more things like this.
"At least I have a better chance now." I said as I put the mask back in my inventory as I thought about things for a moment as I realized that I do have some time to kill and maybe I can use this time to create a mana shield since I'm alone and apparently I need it since tanking that hit with the oni mask doesn't sound to safe or fun and the mask itself did a number on my stamina and was a point or two away from reaching the critical stage of decline.
"I'll just sit here and meditate a bit" I said as I found a safe and stable patch of land to sit on as I still had the snake body in view as I crossed my legs and began meditating as I basically did the cliché thing as I cleared my mind and focused on breathing.
I heard a ding in my ear, but I ignored it as I kept meditating and breathing in and out at a nice and stable paste. As I focused internally to try and feel my mana I guess since reading and playing games about this was very different from actual practice.
Seriously I don't even know what mana feels like, so I have no clue what I'm supposed to be looking for…Just focus on my breathing. Just focus and now instead of trying to find my mana I need to focus on my body itself and just relaxing all my tense muscles.
'I actually feel something now…I feel like I'm being rejuvenated and being filled with energy' I thought to myself as I was encompassed in a warm feeling before I opened my eyes and saw the following.
[Due to entering a hot environment you've developed [Heat Resistance]]
"Dismiss I don't need to know about it" I said dismissing that window before seeing the entire perk summary.
[You've created the [Meditation] skill and as such you've reached the requirements to use [Chakra]
[Chakra-Rank 1]-[Active]
Your inner lifeforce can now be used as it is defined by your strength, endurance, agility, intelligence, and your senses as your life energy/Chakra is a combination of spiritual and physical abilities as it can heal and rejuvenate your body from harm as well as purge your body of impurities, toxins, and harmful substances.
You can restore 20% of your max HP, MP, and SP while this skill is in use.]
[Meditation-Rank 1]-[Active]
Meditation is the art of focusing intently on yourself to refine you physical and mental abilities as well as calm yourself and take away your stress as meditation is not only universal in use outside of battle, but it can also create good habits like keeping a calm mind and body.
This increases HP, MP, and SP recovery speed by 50%]
My Chakra so far didn't seem like Chakra from Naruto or Ki from Dragon Ball which suits me fine actually since I don't need that much destructive power at the moment especially since I have magic that I can't figure out how to use yet.
Anyway, my Chakra was clearly visible with a light aura around me that was a mix of gold, red, and green colors before it faded away and I saw a ability cooldown symbol in view next to the Chakra skill near my hud which means that Chakra has to be used repeatedly which is not ideal but again slow progress means that less questions will be asked.
Anyway, after waiting several seconds, I used Chakra again until I was back at one hundred percent as I memorized where this snake is by using [Precision] before I made my way further into the swamp.
Chelsea POV
'For once I am willing to admit that granny has good ideas' I thought to myself as I looked down at Talon from the skies. [Gaia Foundation] is so useful that I can even be a cute little bird in the air.
I can give myself compliments later but now I'm interested in what I'm seeing even if I can't hear him. This guy found a random Teigu on some bandit that got close to the base and now he's glowing after removing the Teigu and making it disappear into thin air.
He is interesting…Very interesting and now even with Mera-sama and her underlings I fear that my pure heart might be tainted…Granted I won't outright sleep with him but if these woman taught me anything its that sex comes in many forms.
END!
A/N: Okay this is another chapter of Killer RPG done and I hope you all like it and enjoyed reading it. Also if it wasn't obvious I want to make one thing about this story and all my stories know.
In stories of all kinds to canon to fanfic. Good writing is key to a good story but there is also good characters and plots as well and I am seeing a lot of stories where they neglect characters and their character development.
Now a lot of stories have badly written or poorly executed character interactions and development as well as personality and I am not saying I am immune to this, but a pet peeve of mine is when stories like these hit thousands of fans as they say the story is the best one ever and stuff like that.
Now you can call me jealous or whatever, but you can't deny that some popular stories aren't written as best as they could be, and it pisses me off. Especially when there are cases of a redemption arc for former villains or morally questionable characters as they just constantly dump on the characters that want to change instead of just letting them change.
Seriously the entire point of redemption isn't to make others happy it's to make yourself happy and people that don't understand that piss me off along with other such mistakes but ultimately the thing that makes me mad the most about certain stories is the fact that the characters lack empathy.
Now call me soft if you want but I believe that empathy is important in stories for good and well-remembered characters throughout all of written history. And not even just in fiction but in other genres as well because characters with empathy are always the best and most fun to see.
Like the SYFY show Van Helsing had Venessa being…An asshole and lacked Empathy. Now the show itself and plot was good but the main character dropped the ball, but I feel like I ranted long enough.
Anyway, I didn't come up with this mask Teigu because the credit goes to omega9028 who was kind enough to tell me several Teigu idea's that I can use for this story.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this story and remember to fav, follow, and review this story because it helps. Also, no I will not have Esdeath join the rebels because she is evil and is one rare individual that doesn't earn redemption in the main canon of the story let alone a fanfic.
Seriously why do people always simp over Esdeath? She is a sadistic and truly evil woman that only enjoys torture and harming others even if she shows moments of kindness to her comrads.