Long ago, when I first turned nine, I discovered puberty. It was a horrific experience, filled with awkward, sweaty memories that I'd rather forget. The sudden flood of hormones hadn't done me any favors, only serving to make me into a hairy, horny trainwreck.
So when I started going through it again, I was more than a little pissed off. I'd already done it before, and quite frankly, I felt that a do-over was completely unnecessary. Unfortunately, I had no choice in the matter. I could bitch and moan and cry foul all I wanted, but there wasn't anything I could do to stop it.
It had been a few years since I first met Yuri. If I had to guess, I'd say that my body was around fourteen or fifteen at this point. I wasn't a small child anymore, which was good, because I was tired of being less than five feet tall.
While I wasn't yet an adult, I was certainly growing into one. Currently, I was about 5 feet 9 inches in height. Yuri still towered over me, but she was also freakishly tall, so I wasn't too worried about that.
However, what I was worried about was all the damn villagers and their seductive ways. They'd realized that I was much weaker to their advances now, due to the fact that my penis finally started being something more than a piss hose. I hadn't fallen to their temptations yet, but I was unsure of how long I'd last. Yuri didn't understand my plight, so I couldn't really talk to her about it. All I could do was regularly walk out into the woods and "rub one out", if you get my meaning.
...This is a gross topic. Why am I talking about this again? Oh yeah, because my life is being made all the more difficult because of it. I'd become something of a hermit, only leaving the house to train. Afterwards, I'd go back inside, and wait until sundown, and sleep. Every now and then, when the sun dipped below the horizon, I'd slink off into the woods to perform certain... activities.
You see, a couple weeks after that incident with the that red-haired bastard, I'd woken up with a horrific pain in my throat. I felt so thirsty, yet no matter how much water I drank, it didn't get any better. Yuri, after trying desperately to figure out what was wrong, finally had an idea. She'd told me to stay put, and quickly rushed out of the house. Ten minutes later, she returned with a freshly-killed rabbit, handing the still-twitching cadaver over to me with the instructions to "drink up."
I'd torn into it with my teeth, relishing the sheer relief that the crimson liquid brought me. Any pain I felt was immediately washed away in a torrent of bliss. I spaced out somewhat, thoroughly entranced by the red. When I finally came to my senses, it had been about an hour. The rabbit had been torn to pieces, and most of the meat was gone. I'd eaten it raw. Yuri wasn't phased by this, only reacting with a shrug, and the phrase "I kind of expected that, honestly."
The red brought about such intense sensations, some of the best I've ever experienced. Actually, it was one of the main reasons I'd been able to ignore those pesky townsfolk for so long. I wasn't convinced that anything they could do would even remotely compare to the pleasure that the red brought. It wasn't a sexual feeling, which, in my opinion, made it all the sweeter. None of that filth permeated what was obviously such a sacred act. After all, how could anything this good be seen as anything other than godlike?
In short, it was fucking amazing.
Anyways, I'm getting off track here. The point is that around every other night, I'd leave the house at around nine or ten P.M, and go hunting for the red. Usually, I only targeted animals, as that was usually all I could get my hands on. Very rarely did I come across a person who deserved to die. It was a shame too, because animal red was so much more bitter. It was still good, but it couldn't compare to what came from humans and monsters.
I'd been tempted to attack random people before, but I resisted the urge. I wasn't that desperate. My morals, no matter how twisted they may have been, still existed, at least to an extent.
I had been doing this for at least a couple years now. Yuri actually taught me how to hunt, so I didn't have to stumble around aimlessly until I spotted something. Whenever I caught something big enough, I'd drag it back to the village to sell. Waste not, want not, or however the fuck that saying goes.
Most of that money went to Yuri, as I didn't really have a use for it. I didn't buy stuff, because to do that, I'd have to interact with people, and we've already discussed why I didn't really do that.
Out of all the villagers though, there was one I didn't completely ignore. That blue-haired elf was, in my opinion, lovely to talk to. Yuri was distrustful of her, but I didn't really care. It wasn't like I was going to let myself get taken advantage of. At least, not yet. After around three more years, I'd probably leap dick-first into the arms of anyone that offered, be it an elf, a worm girl, or even a fuckin' roper.
Oh, by the way, the blue-haired elf's name was Amelia. I hadn't learned her name until our second conversation. That was pretty dumb of me, but whatever. I was pretty distracted during our first meeting. The point is, she was nice, and I liked her. As a friend, of course. I had no time for romance, and besides, why would she ever be interested in an edgy shitwad like me?
While we didn't talk very often, it was nice whenever we did. That is all I have to say on the subject.
My training was coming along well enough. I was probably the strongest human on the continent at this point. Though, to be fair, that's not saying all that much. I could take a lot more hits than I used to be able to, so that was nice. My spars with Yuri had grown steadily more and more demanding, and I was loving it. It was challenging, but fun. Yuri still kicked the ever-living shit out of me, but now she at least needed to put some effort into it.
However, as hard as I tried, I couldn't replicate what I'd done when I fought that red-haired bastard. I wanted to train with it, but I had no earthly idea of how to go about activating it.
Oh well, there wasn't much I could do about that.
*LINEBREAK*
When I was almost sixteen, I had a second meeting with Ilias.
It had been a normal day, filled with training, eating, and all that nonsense. However, once I fell asleep, I almost immediately found myself within that strange, cloudy realm yet again. I watched her float from the sky once more, feeling my eye twitch as I did so. She loved her theatrics, it seemed.
"You've grown a lot, young man." She observed, wearing a warm smile that I knew was fake.
Shit, was she going to make me leave right now? I wasn't even an adult yet, for fuck's sake!
"I'm still just a lousy teenager, ma'am." I grunted, doing my best to keep my voice even. "I'm sorry if you expected something more."
Ilias laughed good-naturedly. At least, that's what it was supposed to come off as. Since I knew the truth, I could hear the darkness in it. It was amazing how many people were fooled by her. I mean, you had to look for the signs, but they were definitely there. It was rare, but every now and then, there was a crack in her seemingly perfect mask. Though, to be fair, that was also just my heavy bias talking.
"You've already become a fine warrior." She chuckled, giving me a reassuring look that was fake as hell. "There's no need to downplay your strength."
For about a fraction of a second, there seemed to be an edge to her words. Had I not been paying attention, I would've never noticed.
"So," She continued. "Have you thought about becoming a hero?"
I sighed. There was no getting out of this. Still, I hoped that I'd get at least a few more years in. Hmmm... Maybe she'd listen to my request if I went with the religious shtick? I could probably fake that.
"Ma'am." I quietly said. "I understand that you wish for me to be a hero. I'd rather live a quiet life, but if you command me to become a fighter, I will do so. I only ask that I have a little more time. At least until I'm an adult."
She raised an eyebrow at this, a frown coming to her face.
"Faking loyalty will get you nowhere, especially when it's so poorly done." She deadpanned, and I swore I could feel the temperature drop a few degrees. "I've been around long enough to be able to see through people. You hate me, don't you?"
...
FUCKING. PANIC!
Oh god, oh fuck! How do I get out of this one? Uhm, okay, let's see here... what would be the best thing to say? Would it be best to lie, or tell the truth? I was probably fucked either way, but which answer would get me a less painful death? I could lie, but that would probably make her even more angry. Still, was that better than just telling her that I despised her?
Fuck it, watered-down truth it is.
"Ma'am, you have to understand..." I grimaced, backing away slowly. "I don't really know much about you. You're trying to force me away from a life that I love, to fight for people I don't particularly care about."
Ilias' frown became more pronounced. She ran a hand through her hair, quietly staring at me.
"...I see what's happening here." She said eventually. "You're still afraid of me."
The tension in the air suddenly dispersed, almost as if it had never existed. She looked upon me with an expression that was full of pity. That made me pretty angry, but I knew better than to say anything.
"I don't wish to harm you, young man." She stated sadly. "I won't brand you a heretic, because you're not really at fault."
I blinked. This was going kind of similarly to the last conversation, now that I think about it. Still, this was an easy out, I supposed. I just had to not fuck it up.
"...Okay." I eventually mumbled. "I thought you'd be a little bit angry, so quite frankly, I'm just glad I'm not dead."
Her expression became more agonized.
"...You barely know anything about me." She eventually said, her voice filled with woe. "It is deeply saddening to see one as young as you led astray by forces outside of your control. I couldn't possibly blame you, for how would you even learn of me in such a horrible town?"
So... she thought I was just ignorant, then? I mean, I was, so this wasn't something I really had to lie about. When it came to her personality, I knew everything, but I was in the dark about most of the actual religion. The game never really went into detail about it, other than the part that prevented sweet, sweet monster-girl sex.
"I am somewhat curious about the religion." I said respectfully. "There aren't really any books on the subject in the village, however. The only novels sold there are... well, smut."
She nodded grimly, seemingly expecting such an answer.
"Though, I would've thought your father would've at least taught you something about me." She said. "He wasn't the most religious, but he was at least somewhat of a worshipper."
...That was a hole in my story. I would panic, but it's actually somewhat fixable. All I had to do was feign amnesia. For all Ilias knew, the big bad monster girls had erased my memory. She'd probably take it at face value, because her head was so far up her own ass that she was practically inside-out.
"I... don't remember my father." I murmured, pensively looking down at the ground. "My earliest memory in this world is being found by Yuri. The day I killed that man was the first time I met him."
That wasn't necessarily a lie, which is probably why she couldn't see through it as well. Her expression softened somewhat, and the false pity in her expression grew even more. She didn't comment on the "In this world", thing, which was good. I'd only added that in so I wouldn't be telling a straight-up fib. Besides, she probably thought I was just being dramatic with my words. After all, how many people actually claimed to be from another world?
"That is truly disheartening. Your father was a great man, even if he didn't always act like it." She said. "Like him, you have been blessed with impressive power. You could do an incredible amount of good with it."
She was trying to use the guise of "The greater good", and that pissed me off. The best thing to do would be to put her down like the dog she is. Unfortunately, that wasn't really an option right now. I had to play nice, much to my chagrin.
Let me tell you, when this bitch finally died, I was going to take a long vacation. It would be nice, traveling the world, scouring the earth for red. I'd probably be doing a lot of that as a "hero", but I'd rather do it on my own time, and not because some stupid sky-bitch said to do it. Maybe I'd find myself a nice monster lady, or something like that.
"Well... I guess." I muttered, continuing my façade of uncertainty. "I'm just not sure if that's really something I should do."
If Ilias was annoyed at my constant denial, she didn't show it. Instead, she simply continued to give that stupid fucking smile. It made me want to smack her, but that would end very poorly for me, so I didn't do that.
"I can understand your hesitance." She said. "Please understand that I only wish the best for humanity. Besides, this journey could benefit you more than you realize..."
I raised an eyebrow. Where was she going with this?
"There are plenty of evildoers in the world, and nobody would miss them if they were to be purged." She said, crossing her arms. "You could easily use them to sate your... condition."
...I was already thinking about doing that. Was that her master plan? Just let me loose on the world, killing as I pleased? To be fair, it didn't sound unpleasant, but since that was something I would've done regardless, it didn't really stand well as an argument. Still, I didn't point that out, for fear of repercussion.
"You could build quite a reputation with your power." She pointed out. "Your name would strike fear into the hearts of evil, as you mercilessly defeated all who opposed you."
You know, it was strange, but part of me did want to be feared. I'd laugh as my victims fled in terror, relishing the horror in their eyes when I finally caught them. Then, I'd take my time-
Okay, that's not a train of thought I want to go down right now. Where the hell did that even come from? I wasn't that horrible, was I?
Eh, that was probably just the monster blood talking.
"You raise some points." I conceded. "But I am still not ready for such a journey."
Ilias didn't look disappointed by my words. Actually, she agreed with me, which was odd. I didn't question it, because I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"You're not fully grown yet." She stated. "It would be foolish of me to send you out now."
Okay, so she was at least somewhat reasonable. She's obviously still insane, but at least she wasn't dumb. If I had to go to Sentora right now, I'd probably have my ass handed to me on a silver platter. It wouldn't go well, let me tell you.
"I will let you know when the time is right, young Alex." She said with a smile. "Until then, farewell."
My vision began to dim again, signaling the end of the dream. I sighed as unconsciousness took me, already dreading the years that were to come.
This was gonna suck.
*LINEBREAK*
Hurriedly, I twisted my body to the left, narrowly avoiding the vicious blow that aimed to slam into my stomach. I retaliated with a swift jab, which my opponent blocked. She jumped backwards, regarding me warily.
I charged towards her, feinting a punch aimed at her face. When she blocked that, I kicked her in the chest, sending her stumbling backwards. She recovered quickly, letting loose a flurry of jabs. I blocked most of them, but one or two slipped through my guard, slamming into my face. My head exploded into pain, but I ignored it, cursing as I did so. Instead of dodging away, I ran towards her, slamming my shoulder into her. She was knocked off balance, and I took advantage of that by punching her in the mouth.
Yuri rolled across the ground, getting to her feet rather quickly. She jumped backwards, creating some distance between us. She gazed at me for a moment, her expression having defaulted to that stoicism that we all know and love.
"You've become quite the fighter over the years." Yuri stated, frowning slightly. "It seems that I'll have to finally take you seriously."
We'd been sparring for a couple of hours now. I was sweating profusely, and my limbs were aching uncomfortably. The blazing heat that seemed to permeate the air only made me feel worse.
I fuckin' hated summertime. It was full of heat, and bugs. Two things that I absolutely despised.
Anyways, ever since that conversation with Ilias, I'd asked Yuri to push me even harder in my training. I was strong, but it likely wouldn't be enough for the journey which seemed to loom overhead.
Yuri jumped forwards, snapping me out of my thoughts. Quickly, she aimed a harsh jab at my stomach. I blocked it, and ducked under the violent haymaker that followed, wincing as I felt it whistle above my head. I lashed out with a quick punch, which she dodged easily.
This didn't feel like a spar anymore. She was moving much faster than before, and I was starting to struggle. For every hit I got in, she got three or four. It was tough.
Desperately, I charged into her, trying to knock her backwards. She sidestepped my attack, and kicked me in the back of the knee, causing me to fall over. Before I could even begin to recover, I felt her weight on my back. Suddenly, my arm was twisted in her grasp, contorted at a harsh angle that made me curse.
"You've lost." She deadpanned. "I could break your arm from here, if I wished to."
She released me, allowing me to stumble back onto my feet, cursing as I felt a twinge of pain in my shoulder. Still, I wasn't down yet. I had plenty more fight left in me.
"Alright, let's do this again." I said, falling into a combat stance. "I'm not tired yet."
Yuri looked at me for a moment, before a small, yet vicious smirk invaded her features.
"Alright." She said after a moment. "You asked for this."
I felt a pit form in my stomach as I took in her expression. A dark hint of amusement danced across her face, which did nothing for my confidence.
Disregarding the apprehension I felt, I charged forwards, intent on fighting with everything I had.
*LINEBREAK*
I laid face-down in the dirt, groaning as pain flowed throughout my entire body. My muscles teemed with discomfort whenever I moved so much as an inch. I could barely fidget, let alone walk. Nothing was broken though. I was just really sore.
"...Perhaps I overdid it somewhat." I heard Yuri mutter to herself. "Alex, are you okay?"
I groaned again in response, too tired for words. I just wanted to flop down onto my bed, but I wasn't sure I had the strength. Plus, I smelled like shit, and I didn't want to dirty my sheets like that.
After a moment of wallowing on the ground, the pain faded into a dull throb. I got up shakily, feeling as if I was about to fall over again at any moment. My balance was basically nonexistent, which only complicated matters.
Yuri had absolutely thrashed me. There wasn't much else to say about that. She'd kicked the hell out of me, and I'm fairly sure she enjoyed every second of it. I mean, I was stupid for continuing to get back up, but that was beside the point.
Yuri at least had the decency to feel bad afterwards. She apologized, which was all well and good, but it didn't change the fact that I was still too weak.
"I need to keep training." I grunted to her as I walked towards the river, intent on cleaning some of the filth from my body. "I'm not strong enough yet."
She raised an eyebrow at my words.
"Alex, you're probably one of the strongest humans alive." She deadpanned. "You can easily beat most of the monsters on this continent as well. Why are you training so hard?"
I winced, silently cursing to myself. I hadn't yet told her what I was planning to do. Of course, I couldn't phrase it like "I'm being forced to leave.", because I doubted Ilias would take kindly to that. I had to make it sound like I wanted to travel the world. Of course, there was also the issue of whether or not she'd let me go. If I had too, I'd sneak away, but that would break Yuri's heart, and I didn't want to do that if I could help it.
"I've been thinking... about my future." I said quietly. "As much as I like the peace and quiet around here, I'd really like to see what all the world has to offer."
Yuri looked over to me, her expression neutral.
"You plan to travel, then?" She asked, staring at me with an uncomfortable intensity. "You do realize how dangerous that would be, right?"
I flinched under her gaze, feeling a pit begin to form in my stomach. It seemed like she was against the idea. Unfortunately, I had to do it. Still, maybe I could convince her...
"It's not like I won't come back." I argued. "I just want to explore a little. Hell, maybe I'll actually learn something useful."
Yuri frowned, and crossed her arms. After a moment of silence, she sighed dejectedly, her shoulders sagging somewhat.
"...It's your life." She eventually muttered. "As much as I'd like to stop you, I know I don't have much of a right to."
I looked over to her, feeling my heart ache as I noticed how sad she looked. Before I could even process what I was doing, I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug. She froze for a moment, before reluctantly hugging back.
"Yuri, I'm not just gonna abandon you." I grunted quietly, slowly pulling away. "You're one of the only people in this world that I actually give a shit about. Besides, I don't plan to leave until I'm at least eighteen."
Yuri bit her lip, as if debating whether or not she should say something. After a moment, she finally managed to squeeze out a few words.
"I don't think you'll abandon me, at least not willingly." She said eventually. "But the world is a dangerous place. You could be killed, and I would never know."
That thought made me frown. I mean, I didn't want to die, of course, and the thought of leaving Yuri by herself really hurt me, for some reason. I gave her a lot of shit over the years, but I cared about her, and that wasn't something I could say about most of the people in this world.
"Yuri, that is literally the point of me training." I deadpanned. "Besides, it's not like I'm gonna go knock on the Monster Lord's door, or something."
She sighed again, looking at the ground with a forlorn expression. An uncomfortable silence filled the air, one that I wasn't quite sure how to break. After a moment or two of silent contemplation, she looked back up at me, her eyes blazing with a strange, determined look.
"If you plan to travel across the world, then you need to prove your strength to me." She declared. "If you cannot convince me, then I shall not let you leave."
There was a hard finality in her voice, one that made me step back in sudden alarm. Yuri looked serious. Like, murdery-serious.
It was stuff like this that made me remember that Yuri was a very dangerous individual. Usually, that wasn't something that quite registered, because after living with her for so long, you just get used to her personality. Usually, she was a little stoic, but genuinely kind once you got past that cold exterior. Still, when she was truly serious, Yuri was a terrifying individual to be around. She had the aura of a killer, so to speak.
I gulped, nodding sheepishly.
"Don't worry about that." I grunted awkwardly. "I plan to get stronger anyways."
Yuri nodded, continuing to gaze at me for a moment, before she closed her eyes with a sigh. When she opened them again, they were much softer.
"But that isn't something to worry about for a couple of years now." She said with a small, reassuring smile. "Anyways, you need to get a bath already. You smell terrible."
I laughed, but did as I was told. I smelled like shit, after all that sparring.
Damn you, puberty.
A/N: I cut this one off a little early, to be honest. However, with the way things are going, this would end up being a 10k word chapter, and I learned my lesson last time I did one of those. Editing that was a pain in the ass. So, I'm gonna cut this short, and make the next chapter around the same length.
Things are moving along, finally. I might be rushing just a tad bit, but we're already over 60k words in, and we haven't even started the main plot yet! There's so much I want to do, but I have to wait until we get to that part. So, I'm speeding things up just a tad.
As someone pointed out, yes, Enrika is supposed to be a place for pacifist monsters and whatnot. However, there are a couple of things I'd like to say to that. For one, most of the monsters there haven't attacked Alex. They're trying to seduce him, which isn't necessarily a punishable offense. Also, I would like to point out the dark elf fencer, and the dark elf mage. Both of them attack you in the game (granted, you technically were trespassing, but they jumped to lewd violence pretty fucking quick), and the dark elf mage fucks you to death, if my memory is correct.
So, while it is a somewhat safe place for Alex, there will always be thirsty monsters trying to get into his pants the legal way. The reason that some of the more aggressive monsters haven't tried anything is because of Yuri. She'd kill them, and they know that. However, when it comes to simple words and gestures, there isn't much that can be done.
