A/N: Chapter 2 is probably one of the chapters that really needed an update... Well, almost all the chapters need a proper update :)
Chapter 2: One Shot
Hate...
An emotion that can very much kill a person containing this or the person who is being felt upon by this dreaded human emotion.
It is said that you can very much take on everything with vengeance in your heart. And before you know it, your feet unconsciously run towards that hated person.
The more you hate, the more you love...right?
DEBT: 700,001 eris
Kazuma POV
I...need...money.
But cash is not given for free however. You need every single ounce of sweat and hardwork to earn your life saving pouches of eris... And to make matters worst, I'm at my limit.
'I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!' Everyday, everyday, everyday, everyday, EVERYDAY we would take the quest on killing 10 Giant Toads... And each time we would go home our bodies being covered with that huge ass amphibian's thick fluids! Not to mention I have deal with my useless party members everytime!
I have to carry our trademark self nuking bomb, deal with that crybaby blue haired coward, and the always wanting to be eaten first perverted blonde knight! The townspeople already gave us the nickname: The ToadBusters, always calling out that name towards us every time we come back slimed, and even the kids poking fun at us and throwing pebbles towards our direction!(And Aqua always giving chase whenever they do.)
We... Need... To... Pay... This... Debt .. NOW.
We were currently sitting in our usual table in the Guild. My head brooding with dark aura, and my allies looking at me with excitement and delight in their eyes, expecting me to finally snap and take on a serious quest.
'They already know what I'm about to say...'
"Yosh, okay guys let's take a quest today." I said to them, finally giving in.
And then they say their usual lines as usual.
"Let's take a quest with a lot of small fry monsters! I wanna blow them all up in one blow!" Said the lil midget who started wriggling at her staff.
'I really want to hire someone to carry her after exploding herself...' At least it's better to carry her than to carry that heavy horse weight Aqua.
" No, let's take a quest that has big monsters that give you a pleasurable blow!"Said the hopeless-type masochist, as her face starts getting red with...excitement?
'Excitement huh?...' I've felt that once...
And it was horrible.
Getting all excited that I'd live in the parallel world, living the parallel life, with my parallel wife. But to be hit to the face by a toad slimed blue haired debt making alcoholic who would barf everywhere after drinking gallons of bear.
And lastly my eyes went to the last contender. Seeing the goddess flexing her non consistent muscles, and her head soared out high.
" No, let's take a profitable quest I don't have to pay my tabs today so it's fine." Said the girl who I brought to this good for nothing world.
And as the trio waits for my answer, I just point at the quest board.
" Well let's take a look on the quest board for now." I just rub my contained head ache as they all nodded with excitement.
'Please let there be some decent quests.' With slight laziness and exhaustion in my body, I just tried to search for a reasonable quest.
"Kazuma! Kazuma!"
'I'm not going to bother to say my name there.'
Megumin pointed at a quest paper. "Let's try and take this one!"
I looked at the quest she was pointing.
"Quest: Kill the 800,000 Fire Resistant Bee Swarm!
A huge swarm of bees suddenly flew towards the honey trees of Axis. The most cruel of all kinds of bees and the most strongest with their resistance of the usual weakness element of bees. Not even explosion spells can kill a single one of them."
Reward: 300,000 eris."
I looked at Megumin, imagining what would she look like if her face got stung by 800,000 fire resistant bees. Noticing something written else on the quest paper, I looked closer and read some sort of warning.
"Warning: Not advisable for the "crazy one" to take this quest."
'...Its even warning Megumin.'
"Do you wanna explode by being stung by 800,000 "FIRE-RESISTANT" bees? Hmm~~?" I said slowly.
"My name is Megumi-!"
"Shaoooooooo!~~~~" I karate chopped her before she starts doing her so long~ introduction before firing her signature and only move. "Read this part." I grabbed the paper and gave it to her.
I hear something like a curse or some sorts after she read it. But it must be my imagination..
But I heard someone trembling in their boots and that's not my imagination.
My eyes slowly gone towards the crusader. My gaze already being blank as I saw her staring at a quest sheet and her face being already flushed as she sweats her face off. I quietly closed in on her as I try to look at what she's getting turned on by.
"Quest: The Undying Ogre
An ogre has suddenly taken over an area in the forests of Axel. It cannot be killed or be kicked out. It can only leave the place if it has released its contained fury, and had lost the interest in the battle. Battles can last for 3 days.
Reward: 600, 000 eris"
I just looked at Darkness with a gaze that can only given to a person beyond saving.
"Kazum-"
"No."
Following this cycle, Aqua would probably have the most highest reward of the bunch.
"How about you Aqua?" I exclaimed, not bothering to react to her probably unreasonable picked quest.
"Let's give this a try Kazuma?" Unexpecting the lack of excitement in her voice, she pointed towards the quest she thought seriously in.
'Huh... She does have her serious moments here and there.' I thought out surprised as I read her chosen quest.
Quest: Defeat the One Shot Bear
The beast with no natural enemies has taken its territory in the up hills of Axis this season of Winter. Make sure to be ready when taking on this dreaded beast. Really do make sure, because this bear packs a lot in one punch.
Reward: 1,250, 000 eris
'I take that back... She's just choosing a more profitable quest again.'
"No. There's no way we're taking this one. We're still too weak for it, and to make matters worse, look at its name! Even its name is terrifying!" I even felt my body shudder for a moment there!
"Ehhhh!? We can beat it! With me, the great Aqua-sam-Ihai!" Not bothering to let her finish, I pinched her cheek.
"Even if we have you in there, we need to cover for Megumin's vulnerability after using her only one use spell and Darkness's attacks that don't land! And I do not have any decent attack spells to use for it!"
Currently, I only have the skills; Create Water, Tinder, Create Earth, Freeze, and Lurk. The basic skills for a Beginner Adventurer.
"Whe chan dho iht! I ghave uhnlimhited mhana, sho I cen ahlwhays ghive yhu bhuffs! (We can do it! I have unlimited amounts of mana, so I can always give you buffs!)" Aqua tried to speak properly with her cheeks still being stretched out.
"Even if we do have buffs, if Megumin can only use her Explosion spell once we can't have any more attack power. There's no way that this beast can be taken down by only one Explosion spell. And I don't think me and Darkness can make its HP low enough for Megumin's one Explosion skill to kill it." Not to mention, Darkness can't probably harm it since she can only block and shield attacks and her attacks don't land their marks.
With our two party members listening to me and Aqua's discussion, the seriously listening arch wizard suddenly raised her hand.
"What" "Hat?" Me and Aqua's stretched out voice asked in sync.
"When I chant an Explosion skill, I always use all of my mana at once. So my feet tend to always run out of strength because of the sudden loss of all my mana." she explained.
"Yes?" "Yhes?"
"So... If I can replenish my mana, I can probably use another Explosion spell."
...
"YOU EXPLOSION FREAK!" Removing my lock on Aqua's cheek, I quickly pinched the crazy girl.
"Ihai~!" she exclaimed with the same fashion as the useless-goddess.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT WHEN WE FIRST MET!"
"Ith's bhecause yhou nver ahsked! (It's because you never asked!)"
"*sigh~* So?" My party and I were now sitting in our table, with the quest of the One Shot Bear at the middle of our table. "How many Explosions can you chant in one day?" I asked to the sore cheeked Megumin in front, with Aqua rubbing her own butt cheeked face beside me.
"I'm not sure... I've never tried using more than one Explosion. But my family said that 4 is the absolute limit. If we do more than 4, we are paralysed for a whole day." she explained.
'I can't force Megumin to do at least more than 3. Her family are probably more powerful than her, and I don't want to risk something that can potentially damage her.'
But is that enough to kill this beast...
That last thought made me look at the quest paper again. Even in the paper, the drawn beast's bloodlust eyes made my Enemy Detection skill activate.
'We can't risk this.'
"We can't accept this quest... Even with Megumin's multiple Explosion, we can't risk making her do something she hasn't done before... It's really still too early for us." I said to my party.
The group only sat there in silence, probably agreeing to what I announced.
"Let's take this when we're stronger." And as when I stood up, Aqua suddenly grabbed the quest paper.
"We can do this guys!" she again insisted her butt cheeked face not yet healed.
"What is up with you, Aqua! If you want to make money then just find another lake to purify in the quests!"
'You just want to take this quest because it's the most profitable one.'
"Watashi..." she placed her hand on her chest. "I want to pay our debt."
'...Eh?' I felt my expression being a mix of shock and unbelief as I heard what she said.
And I'm sure Megumin and Darkness's has the same faces as I have.
"I really want to pay the debt... And when I saw this quest on the board, I felt that I now have the chance to pay back the damage I've caused." The useless-goddess confessed her head down. 'And I really need to pay my debts too.' Aqua thought secretly.
The useless goddess who had a butt cheeked face as she confessed...
The useless goddess that was so intent on taking on the terrifying beast...
The...Aqua who was always running away first when confronting Giant Toads...
And...
Aqua who had a confident smile on her face.
"Let's do it!" Megumin was the first one to react. "I am Megumin! No beast or monster can withstand the multiple blows of my Explosion spell!" she exclaimed holding on her eyepatch.
"Megumin!" Aqua grabbed her hand, and shook it like long time comrades.
'Butt cheeked faces get along I guess.' I just shook my head.
"I really wonder if I can get knocked out by only one hit from that One Shot Bear." Darkness slammed her hand on the table. "T-Thinking if I would shake in pain by only one h-hit from that m-monstrous bear i-is making m-me..." she said creepily with unnatural breaths. "I-I-Is m-m-making m-me t-t-t-tremble with EXCITEMENT!" she came...with the same conclusion as the other two as she also placed her hand on the center.
"That's 3!" The butt cheeked Aqua exclaimed happily as our other two party members grinned like maniacs. "So?" The 3 of them locked their eyes on me. "What will it be Kazuma?" The 3 smiled as they waited for my answer, the answer they all were expecting from me.
'...You three useless party members.' I just shook my head not able to maintain a grin escaping my lips.
"Don't be cocky with a butt cheeked expression, useless-goddess." I said joining my hands with them.
"Uso!?" she checked her face, wincing when her hand touched the swelling part of her cheeks.
"Alright, don't blame me if we all die!" I yelled our team motto.
"Yeah!" The two responded, with the useless-goddess healing her swelling her cheeks.
"Megumin, you should probably let Aqua heal yours too." The crusader said pointing at Megumin's own butt cheeks.
"Wait, I have one too!?" Megumin winced when she checked her own cheeks. "Aqua! Aqua! Heal mine too!" The red cheeked little arch wizard run towards the busy Aqua(Finding a mirror).
"Mattaku, what kind of a party is this." I sighed tiredly as I grabbed the quest paper and went to the Account Lady.
"Good morning, Satou-san!" her big boobs juggled in response. "May you and your party again be accepting a Giant Toad Kill Quest again?" she searches through her desk, expecting that the Toad Busters will save the day again.
"No thanks. We're accepting a quest this time." I interrupted as her eyes widened with surprise.
"Is that so? It's been a while since your party had accepted a quest."
"Man, do I say." I said dejectedly as I gave her the quest paper.
The moment the Accountant Lady got the paper, she nervously sweat dropped as she thought of what she will say to me. "Etooo~, Satou-san are you really sure about this one?" she gave a warning.
"Yes I am." I said sadly.
"Are you really sure?" she again asked worriedly.
"Yes I am." I replied putting my head down.
"Satou san... Are you really really sure? You're not accepting this because of Aqua san right?"
'I wish I can deny it!' I bit my lip desperately wanting to deny what she said.
"..." I can't even make a comeback as I averted my gaze.
"*sigh~* Please be careful, Satou-san." she sighed dejectedly as she stamped the quest paper.
"Please send us your condolences..." I let out a tear as I received the stamped paper. Seeing that the quest paper have the "ACCEPTED" stamp made me know that this isn't a dream.
My 3 party members just waited for me just behind the counter, waiting for my instructions. Smiling like idiots all the while.
"Gah~! We're thinking of a strategy right now!" Scratching my head I went to our table first.
"Understood!" The 3 responded as they followed suit.
"One Shot Bear
Wght: 600 pounds Hgt: 10 ft" I read silently the Monster Book at my hand. We were currently on a Shop on the outskirts of town. Readying our equipment, gathering data, and buying items before making a strategy.
"Kazuma! Kazuma! These Mana potions are 8-10 thousand eris each! I didn't bring my eris pouch!" Megumin said, shaking my cloak.
I gave 50,000 eris to her without batting an eye. She received it like a little kid as its probably more than enough for her, and she ran back towards the Potion shelfs.
"A beast with the fur as white as snow. Tend to sleep in very cold temperatures in their chosen territories, mainly on the highest peaks on hills."
"Hey, Kazuma. I'm going to go to a Blacksmith shop for a moment. I'm going to check if my gear is ready for tomorrow." Darkness tapped my shoulder, wanting to avoid disrupting me.
"Sure, sure. Need to borrow some eris?" I said not bothering to look away from the book, as I held out my eris pouch.
"Thanks for the offer, but I always bring enough eris for my equipment everyday." Darkness said gratefully as she went towards the door. "I'll meet you guys on the Guild after I'm finished."
"Got it." I managed to reply as I heard the door bell being rang.
"Specializing on brute force and melee attacks, this monster doesn't use any spells or magic to fire off ranged attacks but makes up for it on attack power. With decent defences, physical attacks aren't much effectiv-"
"Ka~-zu~-ma~- san~~?" The useless-goddess now started to lightly tap my shoulder. "I realize that you let Megumin and Darkness borrow some eris~?" I see her blue eyes shining with a mischievous light surrounding it. "Following that order would be my turn now isn't it~?" she then had a smile befitting a completely demonic cheap person.
"No." I reverted my attention back to the book.
"So it is wisely recommended to use spells of the element Fir-"
"That's unfair, Kazuma-san! Why am I the only one you didn't let to borrow your money~!" The blue haired child complained shaking my cloak in anger.
"Be cautious "Let me have some~!" in fighting it on close range, "Just a little bit~!" because it deals a lot of damage "Stop being such a cheap person, Hiki-NEET~!" with only one hi-" "Mohhhh~!"
"GAH~! Let me focus here, you money worshipping goddess!" I yelled throwing a 1,000 eris coin out the window.
"MONEY~!" And of course, instead of going through the door. The pitiful poor goddess jumped out the window.
Rushing to make the most of my chance to focus, I quickly returned to the book.
"Explosion spells deal the most damage to this monster... Of course, no monster would want being hit by one of those."
'Nicely said, Monstopedia'
Realizing that I was almost finished with the One Shot Bears entry page, I now noticed the red markings on the last parts of the monster's entry.
"The One Shot Bear's fighting patterns..." I muttered out, my eyes widening with delight to the godsend information.
'We have a chance...' I grinned, as I continued to read this too good to be true book.
"Okay, do not bother staying up late." I announced, the moon already placed on the night sky when we left the guild. "Megumin, please sleep early. Don't bother practicing your long ass lines when you fire off those Explosion spells of yours."
"That's rude! Those lines your saying are chants so I can unleash an Explosion spell!" she defended rubbing her eyes already sleepy.
"Yeah, yeah, your our only line of attack so rest up properly for tomorrow." I finished rubbing her head.
"Darkness, make sure your gear are ready for tomorrow... And please don't think about "accidentally" letting yourself get hit by that one shooting behemoth." I said to the crusader with a blank expression.
"W-W-What are you saying, Kazuma?" she said nervously, probably hitting her mark. "T-There's no way I'd do that! No way at all!" she defended looking away from my blank stare.
"*sigh~* Your our only line of defence. The only one who can probably survive from a hit of that monster. So don't bother thinking you can last another blow from that bear." I said shaking my head.
Darkness only just nodded seriously, hearing what probably is a compliment from me.
"And Aqua..."
"Yeah? Yeah?" she nodded probably expecting the same line I used from the other 2.
"I'll tell you later. Dismissed everyone!" I shouted walking back towards the stables.
"EHHHH~!? Tell it to me now, Hiki-NEET!" the yet again left out goddess yelled out towards the sky as she chased after me.
Our two party members just sighed with tired smiles on their faces, as they went towards their respected resting place.
And here we are... Aqua and me, walking back towards our stable. My eyes turned towards her. Seeing her smiling like a huge weirdo beside me. Probably not scared, terrified and even nervous.
'I sure wish, I have her confidence right now.'
"So?" she decided to break the silence.
"So what?" I raised a brow not knowing what's up.
"You know!" she shot back, probably thinking I know what she's talking about.
"You're welcome for the 1,000 eris I let you borrow."
"Yeah! Yeah!" she nodded... "NO! That's not it, Hiki-NEET!" she lightly bumped me.
"Just tell me what it is!" I bumped her back for gender equality-ism.
"Y-You know give me a warning, like how you gave one to Megumin and Darkness!" she said rather excited, thinking that what she's going to receive is probably the best one of the 3.
"*sigh~* Your the best line of support we have, Aqua sama. So please rest for tomorrow." I said lazily shaking my hand.
"Yeah! Yeah!" she nodded... Waiting for me to continue. We then continued back towards stable, with Aqua still nodding towards nothing, still expecting me to continue what I said.
We then grabbed both our pajama clothes as we went separately towards the back of the stables to change. Brushing our teeth and spreading the sheets on our horse pooped hay and finally laying down with our blanket tucked at us with Aqua nodding through the whole thing.
"Oyasumi~." I said turning around to get some shut eye.
"Ah! Oyasumi, Kazuma! Sweet dreams!" she smiled brightly...finally snapping out of her trance. "WAIT, THAT'S IT!?" she yelled with disbelief towards the night. With the sudden big footsteps being produced towards our room shortly after.
And we all know what probably happens.
"You have your potions, Megumin?" Doing our last check, we all grouped up already wearing our winter outfits.
"Check!" she exclaimed showing the bag containing the Mana bottles.
"Let me check." I opened her bag, seeing 5 potions ready to use. "NO. You're only using 3." I grabbed 1 of the potions and placed it on my pocket.
"Ehhhh~? Why?" Megumin complained.
"I'm not making you use more than 3 Explosion spells even if it really is desperately needed, we still don't know what will happen if you were to use more than one spell a day. Better to be safe than sorry." I shrugged my shoulders, ignoring her grumpy face I went to Darkness.
I inspected her armor, noticing she had 2 feathered shoulder plates means that she seriously readied her equipment for this quest. "You actually prepared for this quest Darkness." I exclaimed surprised as I nodded, impressed.
"What did you mean by "actually"?" she replied blankly, raising a brow. "Well, of course I wanted to be ready for the very 1st serious quest we took." she explained stretching her body.
'... That's... really surprising.' I managed to think out, seeing her in a new light.
"And..." Suddenly a warm breath exhaled out of her mouth. "How else am I going to survive from a single blow of that g-giant monster, t-that w-would probably c-crush my body..." she said averting her gaze to the ground, while her body now started to shake.
The new light I sensed from her, flew out of the universe. Never to be seen again.
"*sigh~* Just don't get knocked out "that" early okay?" Exclaiming a tired sigh, I now moved towards the last of our party.
The blue haired goddess with the middle school kid outfit that goes ciccada hunting in winter. And Aqua, bringing another net and a glass bottle didn't make my nervousness any less nerve wracking than it already is.
'Holy crap, I'm starting to regret taking this quest now.' I facepalmed in my mind.
Seeing the middle schooler having another expression that's probably saying "What about me, Kazuma!?"
"What about me, Kazuma?" she said happily pointing to herself.
'And she's right on the money...'
"Don't cast your Nature's Beauty, that's all." I said lazily as Aqua again nodded her head like yesterday.
"*sigh~* Let's get this over with." I heaved out, starting to walk towards the hills of Axis.
"Yeah!" Only Megumin and Darkness replied shooting their hands up.
"WAIT... THAT'S IT?!" And again, Aqua now recovered late through her delusions.
'...We're going to die.' I put my head down as I felt a dark aura as gloomy as the darkest night itself.
Walking towards the One Shot Bear's location, little by little sighs of snow covering the area had been noticeable. Until the road we continued to walk on was completely covered in snow, also the cold air started to be covered my light snowfall. It was a little difficult to walk due to the road being covered in white powder, but the road being slightly upward takes the cake. And...
Each step I took became more and more heavier and slower, as we slowly become closer to the monster we're about to face. I was the one who was in front of everyone earlier and now I'm at the very back. And seeing the excited faces of my party members did not make my mood any less better...it only made it worse.
Looking at Megumin who was playfully waving her staff trying to practice her chant lines made me thought out... 'Will she be spotted by the Bear?, Can she last for 3 Explosions?' Thinking that made me shiver in fear, knowing that those thoughts were possible to happen.
And my shaking gaze turned towards Darkness who was also shaking but for an entirely different reason. 'Will her attacks land their marks on the bear?, Can she really survive after taking one hit from that monster?' My terrified state worsened as I felt my already shaking. And the winter snow on my boots and the light snow fall didn't make my state any less better.
Until... My gaze turned to Aqua who was grinning on her usual idiotic way. My thoughts died out for a moment, as I unconsciously stared at her and my foot steps also following my line of thought.
The 3 of them noticed my sudden stop, and questioningly walked towards me.
'Crap... I don't want them to see me terrified! If they see me in this state, they'll...they'll make fun of me!' I closed my eyes, trying to focus on removing this shaking state of my body... 'DAMMIT! Stop shaking!' I thought out angrily as I already felt my eyebrows narrowing.
And as it was almost a couple of feet away from me... Suddenly Aqua had stopped the 2 from getting closer. "I'll deal with the faking sick Hiki-NEET, so you guys go on ahead and check if the Bear is at the top." Aqua said blocking Megumin and Darkness's line of sight.
The two just raised a brow to Aqua's suspicious anticts..."Okay." But decided to go along with her. Giving us one last look, the two of them continued to walk upwards.
And here we are again... The two of us in our winter clothes just staring at each other with the snow falling down slowly at the background.
...Until her lips started to quiver as she looks at me, trying to contain her laughter. "Y-You l-look t-t-terified, H-H-Hiki-NEE-*pfft!*" she said in between snorts and laughter.
"Y-Y-You're n-not H-HELPING!"
'Crap, I can't even speak properly.' I bit my lip, frustrated that she's seeing this side of me.
"*snicker~* Oh, how the tables have turned Kazuma!" she said triumphantly, putting words into my mouth.
"S-S-Shut up!" My chattering teeth still not calming down.
"*giggle* Gumen, gumen." she apologized light-heartedly as she wiped off her tears of laughter. "It's your fault for not wearing any more winter clothing." she said showing off her middle school clothes.
'There's no way I'm looking like that.'
"Just exhale some of your breath to your hands. It can help you warm up a little bit." she said pointing to her hands.
'That's... actually a good idea there.'
I complied to her actually good idea as I shakily brought my hands near my lips. And inhaling the freezing air, I exhaled the transformed breath to my shaking hands. Feeling the bliss heat filling my hand for only a moment, I shakily hurried to do it again and again and again. My body still shaking so much as I repeated my actions yet again.
And I saw the look that Aqua was giving me... "You look pitiful, Pity-NEET."
'THAT'S WHAT I SHOULD BE SAYING TO YOU DAMN IT!' Glaring at my shaking hands, I continued releasing my warm breath, rushing to finally warm and hit this cocky goddess right in the head.
"*sigh~* I can't bear and watch this pitiful display anymore." she said shaking her head as she walked closer to me.
"S-S-Screw you!" I said not bothering to stop warming my hands.
Until... A pair of gloved hands suddenly took hold of mine. Removing the gloves containing my hands and tucked them on my belt. And...those hands belonged to Aqua.
"W-W-W-Wha-" I tried to speak to the sudden shock and light blush appearing in my cheeks, already starting to warm up.
"S-Shut up. I, the great Aqua sama decided to help you, be grateful." she said also having the same expression as me. She inhaled the cold oxygen on the snow producing sky, bringing my hands closer, she exhaled her warm breath... Even warmer than mine. And from that alone, my shaking stopped.
"You know that's not helping, right?" Feeling embarrassed at her sudden actions, I decided to just tease her to get my usual mood going.
"Oho~ You've already recovered from shaking just from a single breath from me, Pity-NEET~?" Finding a new name to tease with me with, she smugly grinned at me.
"It's because I was laughing internally as I saw you exhaling your breath with your mouth wide open." I replied a comeback which is probably the truth(obviously a lie).
"Oho~? That's what the Ba-Kazuma who was shaking in his boots as we're getting closer to the One Shot Bear~?" she grinned not even nervous to what we're about to face.
And that sentence made me shake in my boots again, making me remember the fear that I was feeling earlier. And Aqua noticing this had now a worried expression on her face. "Why are you so scared on facing it, Kazuma? We have a plan to face it, and not mentioning me(cocky), you have us there." she tried comforting me as I felt her hands gripping mine.
...And I felt slightly better from that mysteriously.
"I-It's... because of the fact that you're all there with me is the reason why I'm terrified." I managed to speak with no shakiness in my voice.
"Eh?" she just muttered questioningly as she probably didn't expect that comment from me.
"If I was just there alone, I wouldn't have been this scared. I'm worried if my plan didn't workout, we'll all be taken out because of me." I again said with no shakiness. "If Megumin was the first to go, we don't have any more fire power... If Darkness comes first we won't have anymore time to distract it... And." My eyes went towards the wide eyed expression of the useless-goddess.
"You're our only hope of surviving Aqua..." I suddenly told the very truth to her. The truth that I was supposed to say last night. Imagining that the bear 1st targeting and killing her makes me scared the most. "If you die, we all die with you... And I can't bear (pun) to see you be the one to get killed first..." That comment made her blush for some reason.
A moment of silence was flowing around us as the snow continued to fall in the sky. And suddenly Aqua now removed her gloves and put it in her pockets. And when she held my hand again they felt warm. Warmer than when I had my gloves on. "You're being oddly out of character, Coward-NEET." she said looking on my hands instead of my face, probably hiding from me. "Nobody is going to die." The useless-goddess said slightly gripping my hand. "I'll do my best out there, we all will." she smiled.
And I also smiled with chattering teeth... And that made her serious look suddenly turned into a puffed out cheeks that was containing her laughter.
"N-Now I'm just shaking because of the cold here, you dumb useless-goddess." I defended seriously being cold here.
"Don't make any excuses for wanting my divine warm breath, Pity-NEET." she teased but still proceeded to warm again my shaking hands.
"Again, that's not helping, you goddess of party tricks." And again, a single breath from her brings me back to normal.
"Yeah, yeah...Pedo-NEET." Seeing that I've already warmed up, she then rubbed my hands together to create heat through friction.
"You're... actually a kind today, Aqua." ...
'Crap, I unconsciously said what I was thinking.'
"Hey, what do you mean 'actually?'" she raised a brow, having another blush painting through her face as she averted her gaze from me.
"Oho~? You're actually acting like a girl their, Aqua sama." A smug grin probably formed in me as I finally get my revenge.
"I was... I was just slightly happy by what you said earlier...Only slightly though!" she defended. "And I'm also paying you back on how kind you were back then." she defended again her gaze away from me.
"What are you talking about?" I cocked my head questioningly.
"...You broke the mood now, Hiki-NEET." she said blankly.
"Do you mean the time when I said you weren't useless?"
"...Yep." she nodded her head embarrassed.
"You better pay me back, my arms felt sore for a week because of your "temporary" injury you healed halfway through."
"T-That's karma for giving my clothes to the landlord!"
And by that, we went on bickering our usual mood, the cold not bothering my body that was now completely warm... Until..
"Oyyy~! What's taking so long~? Is Kazuma pooping right there~?" The crazy one now called out to us, almost at the top of the hill.
"In hell!" I responded with a shout. "Gahh~! Let's get this over with!" I scratched my head as I now walked towards our other 2 party members (Still thinks I'm pooping).
I turned my head seeing Aqua deep in thought. Until... "*pfft!*...Poopy-NEET." she blurted out with puffed cheeks.
"S-Shut up!" Rushing, I grabbed her gloved hand and walked quickly to the others.
Having one last look at her laughing face, I quickly changed my gaze forward.
'I owe you one, useless-goddess.'
"Dammit, where the hell is that One Shooting Bearserker (P not intended)." Now getting impatient on finally facing it, we continue walking up another hill for the 3rd time.
"Well, there are a lot of hills surrounding this area." Darkness chimed in, keeping up with me and probably the only one not breaking a sweat.
"Why did you take this quest Kazuma~." Aqua yelled tiredly at the back, using her net as a walking stick.
"You're the one who picked this quest, not me!"
'And that's karma for your nicknames earlier, middle school goddess.'
"Where!? Where is it!?" Megumin yelled out now hallucinating from the lust of Explosions. "Is that it!?" she pointed at a slightly circle shaped snow. "DARKNESS DARKER THAN BL-" I karate chopped her.
"CALM THE HELL DOWN! Are you going to die if you don't fire that Nuking spell of yours!?"
"The excitement of firing more than one Explosion is overflowing!" The way she said that while wriggling in her staff is completely wrong in so many ways. "I'm...I'm...I'M GOING TO EXPLOD-!"
Her...uncomfortable statement was interrupted when we heard the sound of birds flying away on the south. Indicating that someone or some THING is responsible for the birds scared response. That made my party believe that what we're facing was now just up ahead. I heard Megumin checking her bag for a last checkup, Darkness slowly unsheathing her sword checking its condition, Aqua summoning her raiment and staff, and I looked at them behind me. Giving me a nod and a thumbs up, they waited for my response. And I... gave a thumbs up of my own and just smiled tiredly. 'What kind of party are we?' I thought out sarcastically as I now unsheathed my sword. "Let's go." I announced.
"Right!" A complete response was replied.
And I started walking towards the quest, the shaking completely forgotten.
Normal POV
'Crap...there it is.' I felt my hand tighten the handle on my sword when I saw what we're up againts.
The white furred One Shot Bear. Seeing it at the center of this open snow covered field, seeing blood surrounding his area implementing the deer like prey it successfully hunted. Noticing the finished bones and the huge release of air coming from its nostrils meant it was finished eating and asleep.
We were currently hiding from the trees, observing our opponent. Seeing that there are a lot of trees and bushes surrounding that wide open area, we had a clear advantage.
"Wow that bear is unexpectedly fluffy... I kinda want to pet it." Megumin whispered peeking at the bush she and Aqua was hiding.
"I'm kind off hungry right now, I want to eat." Aqua whispered probably hungry because of seeing the bear devouring its prey earlier.
"I...want to keep it." Darkness whispered with another excited fit.
I can only just shake my head on their attitude. "Let's get ready... Plan B." I announced and they all went to their assigned tasks.
"Okay, we have Plan A and Plan B." I explained to the 3 who were looking at me with excited eyes.
"Plan A is for when the bear is active or awake and Plan B is when its asleep. But I really don't want to have trouble on making another plan, so I'm just making Plan B. Let's just hope my luck is better enough to face the bear when its sleeping." The 3 just raised a brow on my laziness, especially the useless-goddess's blank expression.
"First, we must find a safe spot where Megumin and Aqua will not be easily be found by the bear. Even if we have to make a hiding spot from snow, we cannot proceed if we haven't found a hiding spot for them."
They all nodded at my words, listening intently.
Behind a bush, suitable for hiding two people were Aqua and Megumin. Megumin readying her potions and checking her staff and Aqua spreading a yellow powder surrounding their hiding spot.
"Second, Aqua will spread the Invisibility Powder on the chosen spot. Make sure you guys don't make any noise, because monsters can't see you but they can hear you. I know this probably impossible because you're hiding, but make sure you don't injure yourselves. The One Shot Bear can smell even the tiniest drop of blood from far away, so it can probably tell somethings up with your spot even if it doesn't see you." Kazuma looked towards the Megumin and Aqua, and the nodded getting the information.
"Accelerate." Aqua chanted, Kazuma and Darkness enveloped by yellow light the moment she did. "Hardening." She chanted again, this time a brownish light illuminated from Kazuma and Darkness's bodies.
"Third," Kazuma grabbed the glass of water on the table, as he was probably getting thirsty from explaining. "Third, Aqua must cast Accelerate to give me and Darkness a speed advantage so we can dodge the bear's attacks easier. And also Hardening for increased defence just in case we get hit. Always cast it when we do ran out of the buffs." Kazuma said chopping Aqua, seeing her gulping the beer mug on her hand.
Kazuma breathed slowly cold air slowly...and exhaled the now warm breath from his mouth. Having one last look at his party, he now eyed the sleeping One Shot Bear at the center. "Let's go, Darkness." And finally...he started to run the sword on his hand. Darkness only nodded seriously with her long sword held tightly on her hands.
The sound of running was made through the snow filled fields. The bear's ears perked up hearing the unnatural sounds interrupting the peaceful silence it was feeling. But decided to ignore, thinking it was probably another animal running away for its dear life after seeing the bear up close. And another reason would be that the bear was too lazy to get up and was too comfortable sleeping on its spot.
'Underestimating us huh?' Kazuma thought out slightly irritated. And seeing their chance he silently chanted Steal making his hand shine brightly and holding it up to the air.
"Four, we can't shout or say it towards the useless goddess and Megumin or they would be dead meat after they get found out. So we need signals for when Megumin is casting Explosion, and a signal if she's ready for another one." Kazuma explained grabbing a hold of Aqua's bear mug to keep her from getting drunk. He had a moment to think and... "Cast the Explosion right away after I chanted Steal. And Aqua, you cast the Powered attack buff spell at us when Megumin is ready for another Explosion."
"Ohhhh~!" Megumin and Darkness clapped at Kazuma's impressive plan. Meanwhile Aqua was trying to steal back her stolen 1,000 eris cheap bear.
"Darkness darker than black..." Megumin started to chant her trademark spell, and the gem on her staff responding to it.
A magic circle suddenly appeared below the anonymous monster. And the bear quickly realizing that something is terribly wrong on the way its sleeping spot that earlier was cool and comfortable turned into a hot burning sensation. It opened its eyes too late, but saw the sight of a smug faced Kazuma from afar.
'Are we a challenge for you now, Winnie?' he thought out, not wanting to say it because no one would probably get the joke. The two never bothered to run as they were already in a safe distance far away from the Explosion spot.
"The ultimate magic... Explosion." And the last of the chants had been quietly casted almost immediately, the magic circle instantly blowed up like a nuke. And the faint pained roars were not heard because of the powerful spell. Kazuma and Darkness had to cover their faces to prevent their eyes from receiving any unnecessary backlashes.
'Nice Explosion.' he held a thumbs up in his mind.
The strength from Megumin's legs had now been depleted as she was immediately caught by Aqua. And opening up one of the two Mana potions that Megumin had, she waited for her to catch her breath before making her drink the potion.
'This is going to be the hard part...' Kazuma thought out nervously as he saw the now injured One Shot Bear at the center of the blow, stand from its hind legs.
"The bear's fighting patterns." I muttered out, reading from the book.
"Kazuma~! Can I keep the change~?" Megumin yelled out from across the counter.
Kazuma only gave a thumbs up, not wanting to avert his attention off the book.
"1st pattern: This line of attack is what you would expect from a four legged beast. It goes in the attack in all fours, charging and pinning down the prey. And biting the neck for the kill. (Rarely does this on the attacker, underestimating the challenger unless it knows the attacker is a threat.)"
'Well, that's Explosion 1 for us.' Kazuma thought out, a little bit relieved.
The slightly churned beast mutely roared seeing its attacker. And it's eyes glowed red, acting like a switch of some sorts. Until, finally. It released a terrifying roar. Releasing a battle cry, the beast now started to run towards the 2 attackers.
"Here it comes!" Kazuma announced readying his sword, with Darkness also going on the defensive.
"2nd pattern: The bear runs on 2 legs, more likely to attack with its 2 hands. Every way of offense it can do with both its arms, is more than likely. Whether it would punch, slash, or whether it would rip out your guts, everything works." Kazuma muttered, imagining the book shrugging at the last part.
"Oyy~! Megumin! Why do you keep the change!? Give some to me!" Aqua barged in the store, slightly dirty.
"Warning: At this point the One Shot Bear's eyes turns red. Its attack power maxed, and guaranteed it will...it WILL one shot you." Kazuma gulped nervously at how the book warned TWICE about the monster's one shooting capabilities. "Fortunately, its defense stat is reduced to its max too. So every kind of damage given to the bear is 3x stronger."
'That doesn't help the fact that we're already screwed before we can even fire another Explosion!' Kazuma thought out, already feeling the pressure his party will experience.
"No! I'm going to use this money to buy my favorite stake!" Megumin kept a tight hold at her money pouch from the money hungry goddess.
The now bipedal beast being intimidatingly twice its size from earlier, released a ear shattering roar yet again as it jumped towards Kazuma's and Darkness's location. The two still having their arch priest's Accelerate buff, immediately ran from the bear's landing spot. A small magnitude was felt as the bear landed at the ground, small amounts of snow bursts from the hard landing of the bear. Seeing this as her chance Darkness ran towards the bear, and Kazuma shot out his hand towards the One Shot Bear's direction. The monster took note of its 2 hunters, immediately readied its stance as it ran slowly towards the blonde knight.
Darkness having an expression befitting of a knight calmly breathed and composed herself as the distance of woman and bear slowly lessened. 'Become the sword and shield of the party!' she thought out one of the lines she heard from her training to be a crusader as she now faced the red eyed beast.
"GRRRR...GROOOOAR~!" The eyes of the bear again flickered its blood red soles as it goes for a punch with its left arm, but again due to Darkness's unexpectedly good reflexes and enhancement from the buffs she easily dodged the wind cutting punch of the bear. A small gust of wind breezed through Darkness's side as the punch missed its mark, making the crusader feel fear and a small amount of pleasure coursing through her body.
"Wh-What destructive power..." she said with the same knight expression she had but having a small blush still painting at her face.
Kazuma, Aqua and Megumin only raised a brow to their crusader's usual antics. But immediately took notice at the claws retracting out of the bear's right hand... As it was going to hit Darkness... "Tinder!" he chanted, and a small fireball hit the bears back. It released a quiet irritated growl at the small speck of dust that was Kazuma. Darkness's weakly slashed at the distracted bear as its attention went back to the crusader in front of it. Knowing that slow but DESTRUCTIVE was does not work on the quick feet of the crusader it was facing, it decided to do combo slashes, and punches in quick but STILL DESTRUCTIVE succession. A punch quicker than earlier went towards the crusader which she dodged easily again, then a slash coming sideways which she immediately ducked, but was only met by another uppercut coming from below. Not thinking of the consequences Darkness rolled out of One Shooting Behemoth, only dodging by a hair's breath. "Ow!" Immediately after rolling the crusader put a hand towards her temple that suddenly ached strongly, noticing that there was blood at the palm of her hand. She was scratched... She was ONLY scratched and she already received a mind blowing head ache. The beast eyes flickered red again as it momentarily grinned. It roared again, as it jumped towards the wounded crusader.
And watching that made Kazuma goosebumps from how this fight is so intense and nerve wracking. Seeing the crusader that always gets pleasure from pain, not even a having a tinge of happiness spread throughout her face was the whole reason why Kazuma's all nervous. Clicking his tongue, he ran towards the back of One Shot Bear, holding out his right hand towards its direction. "Tinder! Tinder! Tinder!" he chanted in quick succession as a series of fireballs shot out of his arm.
Due to the elevation of the hills and the headache the crusader had, Darkness lost her footing trying to dodge the endless barrage of the bear's attacks and landed on the snowy floor on her back with a thud. "Oh no!" she said in a panic as the bear's claws came crashing downwards towards her body... Only for its claws to stop coming as a barrage of fireballs hit the bear's exposed back, making the bear roar out in pain due to 6x damage and fire weakness output. It clenched its teeth, eyes flickering red with anger as it glared at Kazuma. Following the return of events, it felt a sword slash hitting its leg again with a weak stab barely reaching his flesh due to its high resistance to physical attacks but still felt irritating for it. The One Shot Bear shaked in anger as it saw the almost finished crusader earlier standing up, having her sword up as she faced the monster yet again, only this time she had a bottle on her hand. "Your opponent is me!" Darkness screamed nobly (Had really impressed looks from the party) as she gulped the potion in her hand. Darkness finished the potion quickly, and soon her body glowed green and the cut from her head and the mind splitting head ache was no more as she readied her stance once more.
"What the-!? You had potions all this time!? Why didn't you use it earlier!?" Kazuma yelled out in anger, trying to ignore how cool Darkness was looking.
"I-I-I forgot!" Darkness yelled out in embarrassment as her body now shook in its usual perverted way. "I-I-It's not like I got t-turned on from the thrill of facing a beast with a head ache hoping I'd get hit with its powerful, manly, well built, impressive, muscular hands!" Darkness finished in the most creepy way possible...as the bear even not understanding what the crusader had said at all, still backed away a little from the blonde crusader.
"You clearly did! You clearly wanted it!" The NEET pointed at the shaking crusader as the One Shot Bear looked at him with pity in his eyes. 'Just when I thought that you looked cool!' he thought out staring blankly at the One Shot Bear.
Until... Kazuma's and Darkness's bodies glowed red. Surprised at first, the two immediately looked at each other and nodded much to the monster's confusion and frustration. Kazuma started running closer towards the battle as Darkness again stabbed the One Shot Bear's feet. The monster now winced, and just looked at the 2 hunters helplessly as they again glowed in yellow and brown earning buffs yet again. Doing another barrage of attacks towards the now buffed and healed up crusader, it did not notice again the two fireballs going towards him, this time the two elemental balls heated up the spot on the bear's feet making a small hole on the snowy floor. The One Shot Bear wondered why Kazuma had attacked the floor instead, but not having another thought as it was Darkness's turn to attack. The crusader did her best to do a wide swing for the One Shot Bear's body but to no avail her attacks seemed to fall of short and missed, having to go with stabs instead of wide slashes. As the bear fixed his footing, then it had realized that he couldn't move both of its feet. It noticed both of its foot had already been frozen and the small spot that had suddenly been filled with water and had been frozen. Much to its horror, the One Shot Bear found it difficult to have the strength to lift its legs due to the multiple stabs that the blonde knight had done from the very start. Looking at her she was slightly smiling as she dashed closer to the bear. The monster grinned maniacally as it reared both of its arms to go for a point black slash to the crusader's closing in body.
"NOW!" Kazuma screamed out suddenly, coming out of his Lurk he suddenly appeared right in front of the bear, and chanted Steal. Blinding the bear at point blank range before it even had the time to react, it roared in pain as its already sharp but sensitive eyes had been blinded by something that bright that point blank.
Megumin immediately noticed the signal, chanting another Explosion spell and soon forth a red magic circle appeared right again below the monster's frame. The bear knew all too well what was going to happen if it doesn't get out in that trap, raising its arms up it goes for a smash at the ice that was trapping its feet. Not wasting a second at all Kazuma blasted the One Shot Bear's arms with water and chanted Freeze in quick succession. The bear's arms were frozen solid, it snarled irritated as it smashes frozen hands on the ground. One hit was all it took for all the frost to be removed, but by the time the bear had been freed, the magic circle had already shined to its maximum light.
"Explosion!" Megumin screamed ecstatically for the 2nd time as another 10/10 explosion was released. A loud roar was heard again from the pitiably probably churned bear. Kazuma and Darkness were already at a safe distance when the spell had hit, bracing from the tremors and wind that had been released Kazuma tries to think for another plan for the last Explosion.
"One more...Kazuma, just one more..." he muttered as he felt the pressure. 'We can do this... We can do this...'
Darkness called out to him in a calm tone noticing his nervousness. "Don't worry, Kazuma. We can achieve victory." she gave him a thumbs up. "I got your back." she said having an unbeknownst smile on her face.
Kazuma only blinked as the weird actions of Darkness sink in, not a moment after a cocky smile just creeped on his face, nervousness shot out of his face. "Stop being cool. It really doesn't suit you." he said readying his sword.
"Now that's rude." Darkness responded mildly hurt as she did the same.
The last of the explosions went by, the strength in Megumin's body left as she fell to the arms of Aqua, and Aqua already healing her up and giving her Mana potions.
'We need buffs if we really hope to win this unscathed...' Kazuma thought as he clicked his tongue. 'Aqua's busy at the moment so we have no choice but to just run and be on the defensive for now.'
"Darkness! Let's run for no-!" A large thud sound was heard as Kazuma was sent to the ground before he can finish his sentence. Darkness was the reason. All of a sudden a huge white blur suddenly appeared in front of the spot where Kazuma was just now. Only then, it was replaced by Darkness. Her sword already ready to block the moment she pushed Kazuma out of the way. Her eyes filled with emotion as she gets a glimpse at the Bear's red eyes as it delivered its blow towards her in blinding speeds.
Kazuma spat out the snow that he got from the face land, as he was abut to shout out his complaints... Feathers suddenly flowed down to the ground, gracefully maneuvering in the air before they landed on the soft snow on the ground. Not like the body of Darkness that was blown out of the air as her body landed slowly on the ground. Her blonde hair flowed at the wind in the air, before she landed on the soft white snow with a loud thud. Kazuma only stared at his injured party member as the bear roared out in complaint as a broken part Darkness's sword was embedded on its left hand just in front of Kazuma. But even Kazuma didn't even notice it for a second as he just stared at Darkness's fallen form. Every armor in her body was cracked and shattered, she was still holding her sword that only had the handle left, and her face that should be drooling in ecstasy was only planted on the cold snow on the floor. She was not moving...Not even a hint of movement that she was breathing...The crusader was only there...laying on the floor.
"Hey... What the hell..." The shocked Kazuma only muttered. "What the hell is all this, Darkness...?" He just smiled like a maniac as his face twitched. "The hell are you putting up an act for...?" he muttered thinking that she's faking but knowing that she's not. "I thought that you'd survive at least one of this stupidly over-powered bear's blows..."
'I'm sorry...'
"What the hell, I thought you were stronger than that..." he looked at the ground.
'This was all my fault...'
"At least try and be cool for once..." he gripped the everlasting snow at the floor.
'If I had been more prepared...'
"You said that we can do it..." His body shook all over.
'If I had even researched better...'
"I thought you had my back for once..." Regret suddenly pulling his body to unbeknownst depths.
'If I just didn't accept this stupid quest...' Kazuma thought out louder and louder, but something else was getting louder... Louder which actually means getting brighter.
Kazuma noticed his arms... No, his whole body illuminating different colors simultaneously. Red, blue, yellow, brown and the cycle repeats itself. His eyes went towards the useless goddess who was waving from their hidden position., spamming him with buffs to get his attention.
"W-H-A-T A-R-E Y-O-U D-O-I-N-G HIKINEET" Aqua skillfully spoke the sign language, looking at the stunned Kazuma angrily. "D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T I-T! L-E-A-V-E D-A-R-K-N-E-S-S T-O M-E!" she finished with a cocky grin and a thumbs up.
Kazuma can only stare as he remembered the memories of last night.
"I remembered!" Aqua sprung out from her deep drooling slumber, as she woke up at 3 am in the morning. "Kazuma! Kazuma! Wake up! There's something we need to discuss!" She shook the sleeping form of Kazuma beside her.
Kazuma only replied with a grunt of annoyance as he ignored her shaking. "If you need to pee just pee in the haystack, it doesn't make a difference anyway." he replied shortly, as he continued to sleep.
"N-O, Hiki-NEET! Goddesses don't go to the bathroom! And don't sully my name, saying that I do my business in the haystack!" she replied obviously angry. Kazuma continued sleeping not caring about the ignored Aqua nonetheless.
"WAKE UP!" she pinched his side, earning a surprised jump from Kazuma. He slowly looked at her, completely devoid of any positive emotions for what she's done. "Okay, we're going to study some sign language!" she ignored the look of anger from Kazuma, as she just continued happily.
"No." Was Kazuma's answer as he faced the other side again, the horse doing a number two just in front of his face.
"Oh yes we are!" Aqua said cleaning off the said poop with her party trick. "You can never know when we need specific information to be told! Signals are good, but having some other way of sending messages is good to you know." she explained, making Kazuma at least impressed with her.
"That's...actually a great idea." Was Kazuma's reply much to his dismay as Aqua cockily smiled. "Coming from you."
"Hehehe~! Wait... what was that last part?"
"Nothing~." Kazuma looked in the other direction.
"Okay!" Aqua ignored it as the excitement washed her questions away. "We need to perfect this properly so we can understand each other perfectly. Sign language is not a game, and must be taken seriously. And considering that we're going to face a life threatening situation tomorrow, we must take this seriously." Aqua said, the intensity on her voice entering Kazuma.
"Right." Kazuma now looked at Aqua's eyes, hinting that he is taking it seriously. 'Huh... her eyes are pretty.' That thought came to his mind.
"Okay..." Aqua now did a fist, and she slowly put her middle finger up. "This sign means "Hiki-NEET"." Aqua then laid down, fixing her blanket, and slipped her feet in the small blanket. "That's all I wanted you to know. Goodnight!" she announced as she instantly fell asleep.
"..." Kazuma only sat there and looked at the sleeping goddess's form menacingly for an hour. That's how long it took for him to control his anger. "DON'T MESS WITH ME! WE'RE PRACTICING SIGN LANGUANGE, USELESS GODDESS!"
*BANG*
"How..." The landlord kicked their already fragile door yet again, as he entered through their room in his pajamas. "Many times have I told you..." Weapon on hand, the two cowered in nervousness as they knew they're going to raise their rent yet again. "TO SHUT UP~!" Swinging down his weapon, the two only screamed in horror as they dodged the onslaught of an angry landlord.
Kazuma eyes flared up in a second as he immediately took the chance to cast Tinders right in the bear's wound. It roared in pain, as it used its singed hand to block the incoming onslaught. "AQUA~! YOUR FIXING THAT DOOR WHEN WE GET HOME~!" He said with his usual angered voice as he ran backwards wanting to gain some distance from him and the beast, not stopping from casting Tinder. The bear noticing his plan, now ran towards the revived Kazuma. Not knowing the blue figure that was running towards the wounded Darkness.
"HUH~!? YOU'RE THE REASON WHY IT BROKE!" she screamed, fortunately not heard by the bear. She dashed towards the fallen crusader, immediately chanting her recovery spells.
'I don't owe you one bit, you useless goddess.' He thought out rather annoyed but with joy for once.
Kazuma, now set on running he planned on putting the bear out of his party's reach. Settling on an open area, that can give her party some time to recover. 'Crap, how will I distract it and how will I get back?' He rumbled his head to think of a plan. Noticing the area he was in, with how his feet was almost covered up to his knees with snow, realized he was on an heavily snowed field. He smiled a little as he formed his plan in action.
The One Shot Bear being already heavily injured, having multiple stabs on its feet, and its fur being almost completely burned off. It was on its limits now, its speed has decreased on a significant amount. It can leave and just escape from the hunters, but its pride refrained it from doing so. It then entered the area full of small snow walls all around the field. It's damaged ears heard a sound, and it turned around to see a fireball being launched toward it. Its reflex made it block the fireball with its arm. It roared as it sprung towards the snow wall that had released it, destroying it the bear did not see any body or even sigh that the hunter had been there. Its ears had picked up another sound and a fireball yet again was on the verge of impacting the bears body. It tried dodging but was hit on its chest, it roared in pain as it went to attack the snow wall that was responsible, and yet again there was no sign of the hunter yet again. And the cycle continued.
Kazuma dashed towards another snow wall he had made body completely in Lurk, drinking a Mana potion from his pouch his body turned blue, he chanted Tinder yet again as the bear attacked his earlier position. He dashed again to another snow wall, as he tried catching his breath for a second. 'I have three more snow walls to use, and after the last one. I'm running all the way back to our spot.' He noted, he chanted Tinder again to the bear,as he dashed towards the second to the last wall. But suddenly... he tripped and his face rammed hard at the small snow wall. There a light thud heard from it but the bear did not notice the sound as its fury refrained it from calming down and use its ears. It roared as it smashed the snow wall that Kazuma had previously been, and suddenly its nose began to twitch as it started to smell. Kazuma looked at it questioningly as he felt something slightly wet from his left arm.
Blood...There was blood... His left arm had hit a stray pointy rock from the snow. His Lurk had no effect now. He covered it as he looked in fear at the One Shot Bear as it started to smell and verify his position. "Crap...Crap...Crap..." Kazuma panicked as his now shaking hands had gone to his pouch, pulling out an HP potion but accidentally dropping it on the snowy floor earning a sound of verification from the bear. Its eyes glowed eerily red as it walked slowly towards the position of Kazuma.
Kazuma's hand was shaking so much that due to him panicking he can't properly open the potion that was now in his hand. He gritted his teeth as he opened the potion, completely forgotten about the creature, he turned and saw the Bear upclose in front of him. His body started to shake as he dropped helplessly on the ground completely stunned and unable to move. The bear's breath turned to steam as it looked menacingly at its hunter. The leader that almost killed him. It roared in deep pleasure as it raised its right arm, and its claws started getting longer as it retracted its deepest root out.
Kazuma only looked at the monster in front of him, accepting his defeat, he looked towards the ground. 'Well... Aqua's going to revive me anyway. I just hope that their going to cry their eyes out again if they see me dead.' Thinking that, he just spread his arms waiting for his demise. 'At least...they're safe.' He thought out satisfied as the bear swung down...
"Kazuma~!" The sound of an unfamiliar voice was suddenly heard by the bear. Making its attack towards the leader stop. Kazuma's eyes widened in horror as he heard Aqua's voice. "What's taking you so long~?!" Aqua obliviously screamed again, not even feeling the dreadful consequence of what she had done.
"Are you dead~!?" And another unfamiliar voice had been heard by the bear, this time the voice had been from a child. Kazuma looked in fear and realization as he turned towards the bear. And not soon after a claw had made its way on Kazuma's cheek ,lightly scratching him. That small scratch made Kazuma's head feel the worst head ache he had felt on his entire life.
'IT HURTS!' He clutched his head in pain as he saw the look of glee from the Bear's face, as it grinned devilishly towards the sound. Kazuma glared helplessly. "No...No!" he screamed in horror as the bear just walked slowly towards the others. The bear had planned making Kazuma suffer to the fullest, wanting to let him see the his party's corpses, wanting him to hear the screams of terror from his treasured family. "NO! COME BACK HERE YOU STUPID BEAR!" he screamed, but was only ignored and soon after the Bear quickened its pace as it was excited to finally have some fresh human meat in long while.
"DAMN IT...DAMN IT!" Kazuma yelled hitting the snow. "MY HEAD HURTS! COME ON, KAZUMA! THINK!" he desperately tried to properly form his thoughts with the head splitting headache. And due to his rambling his sack had landed on the snow. His body quickened its pace as he searched through his stash.
Aqua did not return back to their hiding spot, after healing Darkness she immediately tried to search where Kazuma had taken the bear. Megumin also left their hiding spot, unable to contain her worry as Kazuma took too long to comeback. Her feet were slightly shaking, and her body was exhausted for already doing 2 Explosions, but she can make do with one more. Darkness just slept through her fatigue. Aqua's eyes squinted as she now saw a figure walking throughout the field. "He's back!" she said to the others. "Oyyyy~!" she waved her hand to the walking figure. "Damn, Kazuma! You actually defeated that powerful of a monster!? Without the amazing goddess, Aqua!? Don't get too cocky now!" she boasts to the figure that was slowly starting to be clear. Megumin became nervous as to why Kazuma did not reply back to Aqua's usual talk. "Why is he silent?" Megumin said with a tired yet satisfied voice.
"Man, and to think that you...died.." Her voice trailed off as they now saw clearly what was getting closer in front of them.
The bear walked on intimidating fashion as it stretched itself out for another round. Its eyes were eerily glowing red, as it retracted its 8 inch claws to its full capacity. Megumin and Aqua felt fear, as goosebumps trailed all over their skin. "Where's Kazuma?" Megumin asked out hopelessly as the monster just snickered in response. "No...This isn't happening.." Megumin muttered out helplessly as she looked at Aqua for support.
"You..." Aqua fell on the snow. "You...stupid honey eating mascot! You think you're strong!? You're just a cheater! You're worse than that brute of a Hiki-NEET!" she pointed her hands shakingly, having the knack to even speak. The bear ignored her insults as it just kept on getting closer and closer. Megumin also sat on the snow, hugging her staff tightly, knowing playing dead will not help her this time. "Y-Y-You stupid ball of burned of fur! W-What did you do to Kazuma!? I-If you ate him it was a big mistake! Y-You'll get his germs!" she continued as the bear now stood meters in front of them. "D-D-Damn it! Where are you, Hiki-NEET!" she yelled out as there was no reply. Darkness stood up in front of the two, no sword in hand, she just stood as a wall for them as the bear looked at the crusader with fury. It roared as it lashed out towards them. Aqua with tears now in her eyes... "KAZUMA!"
And by a miracle, Kazuma had come up in front of them all in a flash, Lurk deactivating, and his fist clenching. They all watched out in awe with his sudden entrance, seeing their leader appearing to their rescue. With his sudden entrance, he shot out his clenched fist. The 3 excitedly awaited his plan. "CREATE EARTH!" His arm glowed with the color of the earth, he crushed the dirt in his hands,...and blew the said dust of dirt to the bear's eyes... It roared in pain, as it landed on the snow, as its sensitive eyes had been dusted. "YOSHAAA~!" Kazuma cheered, clearly happy that his plan had worked. The 3 only watching him blankly as he celebrated his own accomplishment.
"That was it?" Megumin commented her sudden respect for him now out in the air.
"Such a grand entrance, but the payoff is bad." Darkness muttered out, her sudden noble sacrifice being trashed.
"What the actual hell, Shitty-Neet?" Aqua said in disgust, clearly forgetting how cool he was earlier.
"Why the hell are you looking at me like that? I clearly saved your asses their." He replied nonchalantly not caring for what they thought of him.
"*GR-GROAAAAR~!" They heard an ear deafening roar as they came across the bear yet again. Its eyes were releasing tears as it regretted not killing the leader earlier on. The group looked at each other and they only just grinned as they threw out their Plan C,D or E (Mainly just B) as they readied their weapons facing it. Darkness sheathed another sword, as she charged first. "Megumin! Get some distance!" Kazuma yelled as he followed Darkness.
"Yokai!" she replied immediately running to a safe spot.
"Buffs, you useless-goddess!" Kazuma added as he and Darkness desperately tried to dodge another onslaught from the monster.
"Ask nicely! But, I'll consider it this time!" Aqua pumped her fist. "Blessing! Hardening! Accelerate! Powered!" she chanted all the stat increasing buffs. Their body's illuminating with different colors.
Darkness continued with the stabs, as it was her only way of attacking. Kazuma had also entered in, attacking with melee as he dodged and slashed the bear's arms. The bear roared out in frustration, not only did it have bad eyesight, his hunters were now recovering and attacking him in every direction. Seeing his chance as the bear was distracted by Darkness, Kazuma had seen his opportunity to leave the battle. He felt his feet for any part of area that was deep in snow. Settling for a spot, he casted Tinder, creating a small hole. He tried to catch his breath as he exhaustingly shot out his right arm. "Come on, Kazuma. Just a little more." he was already depleting in mana, as he casted Create Water on the hole, filling it with water. His body was so tired that his eyes were dropping already. "Darkness!" He yelled out as loud as he can. Darkness averted her eyes for a moment and immediately got the message. She ran in an ugly way manner, as the monster angrily followed. Darkness, Aqua, and Kazuma stood in front of the trap. The bear stopped, having a bad feeling with this. But all of them flipped the bird, and the monster's line of thought completely skyrocketed as it jumped towards them. The 3 dodged and the bear fell onto the hole, immediately after landing at the water Kazuma held his breath, as he shot his arm towards the hole. "FREEZE!" he chanted, and as he was about to chant Steal... "Now, Megumin!" Aqua and Darkness beat him to it... And Megumin happily recited her chant.
"Crimson-black blaze, king of myriad worlds,
though I promulgate the laws of nature,"
The monster roared horribly as it desperately tried to escape the trap. Its spot already being occupied by the spell circle of the Explosion spell.
"I am the alias of destruction incarnate
in accordance with the principles of all creation."
'Strange, my Steal didn't activate... Must be all out of Mana.' Kazuma thought out as they all ran from the hole.
Let the hammer of eternity descend unto me!
Explosion!"
*BOOOOOM~!* A 10/10 explosion exploded in the snowy area, the shockwave sending tremors shaking the trees. "Hehe, Exploding is the best feeling ever..." Megumin said some *dirty* words unconsciously, as she collapsed at the soft snow.
"We did it..." Aqua whispered in disbelief. "WE ACTUALLY DID IT!" she jumped through the air, not even having the slightest fatigue on her.
"It was a miracle... But, we all won victoriously." Darkness said with joy, as she picked up the exhausted Megumin.
"Yaay~... We did it~..." she said tiredly as she pumped her shaking fist in the air.
"Crap... Man, that was a lifetime of luck I used their..." Kazuma sat on the snow as he eyed his party. Seeing Aqua throwing the snow as she just screams her head off, Darkness and Megumin just laying on soft snow on the ground... It brought a smile of accomplishment and satisfaction from Kazuma. "Darkness... you actually can have a decent aim with those sword stabs. And here I thought you were blind when using your sword. Try going for stabs from now on." Kazuma said blankly at his sword armed friend.
"Hey, what are you implying on that first part?" she said her joy completely overlapping any negative emotion the crusader felt.
"Megumin... you really outdone yourself. And those Explosions were damn powerful. Now, since you're satisfied and exploded 3 times today. You will not cast any Explosions for three days." Kazuma said scolding their arch mage.
"No...can do... Kazuma... Nothing can...stop the great...mage, Megu...min." Megumin said trailing off from her sentence.
'You can't even say your bizarre name straight...' Kazuma thought out blankly.
And lastly, Kazuma eyed the cross legged sitting grinning goddess in front. "Praise me too, Kazuma! Hehehe~!" The useless goddess happily smiled as she waited for her turn.
'The heck are you sitting like that, are you an old man?'
"Since you didn't do much, Aqua. You won't get any reward." Kazuma finished as he lay down on the snow.
"NO~! Are you kidding me!? You should be the one not having any money, with that grand entrance of yours earlier!" she hit the floor like a child with a temper tantrum.
"Yeah, and I saved you guys with that super cool entrance!" Kazuma defended... And the party lightly laughed to what happened.
"*snicker* Seriously, Kazuma... That entrance was actually *pfft* so lame." Megumin said properly, stiffing a laugh as she looked away from Kazuma's annoyed look.
"I was actually quite impressed with what you did, but I really didn't expect 'that'." Darkness added, also trying to hide her laughter as she just hid her face.
"Just when the thought hit me that you were cool, it all evaporated in the air when you did 'that'! That's what I get for thinking the unthinkable!" Aqua finished, rolling on the snow with laughter.
"S-S-Screw you guys! I won't save your asses again next time!" Now Kazuma felt embarrassed, as he grumpily looked away with anger.
"But with all seriousness, you really saved us their, Kazuma." Darkness now said, completely genuine with her words.
'Because of you doing your best to distract giving me time to think.' Kazuma thought out to Darkness.
"Yep... You saved us. 10/10." Megumin now said, completely tired.
'It's because of your amazing Explosions why we even had a chance to beat it.' He thought out to Megumin.
"W-Well, it's not like you didn't saved us back there. So I'm giving you props for that, and that's coming from a goddess such as myself." Now Aqua, trailed off as she snow angeled in embarrassment.
'...You didn't do anything so I'll not thankful to you.' He finished rudely to Aqua.
"Oy, why did I sense negative emotions from you just now?" Aqua raised a brow.
"Nothing~."
"Man, but that monster was something! That's like a demon lord commander level!" Aqua stood up, as she went closer to the trap. "I'll have his fur stuffed and be used as a warm rug of accomplishment!"
"I don't think his fur is still intact for having taken 3 Explosions..." Despite his exhaustion, Kazuma still went to check the monster with Aqua.
"I'll take Megumin and fix our equipment at the cart." Darkness offered as she carefully lifted the already snoring arch wizard.
"Sorry and Thanks, Darkness!"
"Hmmm~ Hmmm~" Getting closer to the explosion spot, Aqua skips like the middle schooler clothes she's wearing.
'... Should I praise this girl?' Kazuma thought blankly as she looked at the skipping blue haired goddess. 'I'm serioi afraid that she'll get more cocky and self centered.'
Aqua noticing Kazuma staring at her, she grinned as she walked backwards while facing him. "Hehehe, finally seeing me as a beautiful goddess, Kazuma?" she asked with her usual cocky voice.
Kazuma just shaked his head knowingly. "No one could find you beautiful or even charming in that outf-" he didn't finish his sentence, as his eyes widened from the scene in front of him.
The One Shot Bear...All burned and his skin already showing its muscle tissues... It was behind the oblivious walking backwards smiling Aqua... Its only functioning arm reared back as it prepares to strike the useless goddess...
Kazuma dashed, his painful legs mustering out the last of their strength to speed towards Aqua. He reached out his hand, knowing that he will not reach her in time angered him. Not saving this goddess angered him more. But imagining that he will not see the useless goddess's expressions angered him the most. He hates this girl, and that's why he wants to save her.
"LURK!" The speedboost from that spell, miraculously reached him towards Aqua by a hair's breath. Pushing her out of the way.
"Puwah!" Aqua landed on the snow face first and mouth wide open. "*Spit!* What the hell was that fo-"
And just in front of her, she saw what was Kazuma's body... Fling out the air like it was nothing. A bloody shower pouring out as his body flew in the air.
"Man, I have to buy this book. It's seriously a guide on how to beat every monster." Kazuma said impressed with the book's content, finished reading everything about the monster they're going to face.
"Kazuma~! Aqua's got your money pouch! She's running back to the guild screaming that she'll buy the most expensive sake!" Megumin yelled outside the store.
"NANI~!?" Kazuma scremed in anger, as he finally noticed that his pockets were light. "I'm going to kill that AQUA!" he placed the book to its original spot in a hurry as he ran out with Megumin back to the guild.
The book not being placed properly ended up slipping and dropping on the floor. A page of the One Shot bear was shown... A slight breeze made the page turn, revealing the 2nd page Kazuma did not know. Its writing completely in the color red. "WARNING! IF THIS BEAR GENERATES ENOUGH FURY FROM THE BATTLE IT WILL REMAIN WITH ONE HP FOR A BRIEF MOMENT FOR ITS LAST CHANCE FOR REVENGE."
Chapter 2 END
I actually felt really guilty for abusing this animal...Not really fond of writing about killing a creature. Whether its a predator or not HAHAHA!