Author-kun: Sup! It's me, your best bud and fellow writer/reader. I'm here again to deliver you all another chapter of Fanfiction! Yay! And I do apologize in advance... I kinda got carried away with the... gore and somewhat serious content, if you will.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
{Chapter 4}
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
'What the hell am I looking at right now?' Rick asked himself, his eyes staring at a blue-haired woman standing on a table while she performed cheap-ass party tricks on a table.
"Nature's Beauty!" The woman exclaimed dramatically, her incredible short skirt swaying and giving Rick a really nice view of her... bare ass?
'... My Goddess Eris, have you sent me to a world full of perverts and prostitutes? If so, please strike me now and send me to Heaven before I indulge in any sinful activities...' He prayed to her as he averted his eyes from the... half-naked lady.
He was supposed to talk to some of the Guild's staff about fetching them a few mana potions from one of their suppliers, saying that they were running extremely low, something about a young red-witch purchasing about half of their stocks, but only the cheapest ones, of course.
It wasn't much of a problem for him, with his limitless amount of stamina and his ability to augment his strenght and body. It was pretty much a trivial task to him now.
But now that he thought about it, when was the last time he ate? More less drank a glass of water? He hasn't felt hungry or thirsty since he got here. Does that mean he no longer needs sustenance to survive?
If so, then that's fantasic! More money for other essentials.
He should really thank his Goddess whenever he gets the chance.
Now back to the woman at hand, she was still performing the same tricks over and over again, while the people who were still watching were still amazed by her tricks.
'Wow... These people have really low-standards for entertainment.' He thought, amused. Eventually a guy with brown hair came and dragged the blue-haired woman away by the ear, both of them swearing at each other loudly. 'A couple maybe?'
"Ah, Mister Nathan! Good to know that you did your end of the bargain." Luna the receptionist walked up to him with a friendly smile on. "So, how is your day to today?" She asked, trying to make a bit of small talk.
Well, he did have time to kill before his partner arrived. "Well, walked around town and... that's pretty much it actually. Nothing really special happened except for fetching a few cases of mana potions..." He trailed off, thinking on how boring his day today was compared to others.
"Huh, at least you had a relaxing day..." Luna mumbled to herself. "Well, best I return to the counter. Every job pays, but someone has to do this job." She tried to act cool, but Rick gave her a deadpanned look instead.
"Really? That's the second worst metaphor I've heard yet."
"Oh shush, you!" Luna hissed as she left the teen alone, but she had a smile on her face.
Rick simply sighed to himself as he took a seat on a nearby table, waiting for his supposed partner in crime to come and meet up. Ever since he got stuck with her – which was just yesterday – he truly tried to tolerate the girl.
Fortunately, his temper was long.
Unfortunately, the girl was an expert in shortening one's temper.
She had a natural talent for being a complete nuisance to anyone, and she was one of the main reasons why they didn't take a quest just after they got their Adventurer Cards. He just wanted to finally try out his abilities for real this time and get a few levels while he was at it. But no, she wanted to relax the whole day and do absolutely nothing.
He was fine with that, but knowing her, she would get in trouble immediately without him. Remembering the threat looming over him, he had no choice but to follow her around town, which wasn't too bad.
Except for the part where every Adventurer they came across tried to either flirt with her or asked her to join their party, or on rare occasions, both.
They even badmouthed him infront of her, saying that a beautiful, young girl like her shouldn't walk around with a creepy, old man – because of the graying hair – even though he was way younger than all of them.
He was still a teen, but his sharp features made him look a bit too mature, added up with his natural graying hair. Yes, he looks handsome... if he was dating the more older women. Whenever he takes a glance at someone as old or younger than him – real age, not physical looks – people would start judging, eyes full of hate and disdain, like the eyes of a person judging a lolicon or a sick weirdo on the internet.
Sometimes blessings can be curses too, ya know?
"Oi! Gray-head, you dozin' off or thinking about pervy crap again?" An annoying blonde girl pulled him out of his concerning thoughts. Hearing her voice, he just wanted to cut the girl's tongue out and shove it up her goddamn anus!
... Where did those thoughts come from? He was never the violent one. Annoying but never violent. He was the one who would laugh things off and plan a horrible payback plan that would end horribly on both ends.
"... Where the hell have you been, Lady?" Rick said, putting those thoughts at the very back of his psyche. "I have been waiting all day for you, and you just show up now? What? Did you forget your way here or got into another fight?"
"Those idiots were asking for it! Especially that brown-haired guy! Using Steal to get his dirty hands on my panties! The nerve of him! He was lucky that I broke only one of his testicles!" Saya ranted, her voice loud enough for the whole guild to hear her.
"Dude, did I hear that, right?! Trash-zuma striked again?"
"Yeah, I heard. Damn, that guy is probably the biggest pervert yet!"
"But you gotta give it to him, he has three beautiful girls following him everywhere! I even heard that he let two of them walk around covered in slime!"
Thanks to his enhanced hearing, he could hear everyone's conversation clear as day. His eyebrow was now twitching, feeling his cliche-o-meter rising.
Truth be told, he enjoyed cliches, especially the harem-theme ones: the protagonist getting his ass handed to him, playing the dense card, and having a small legion of beautiful women following him everywhere he goes. It was indeed funny to watch and read. It was basically a man's wet dream at this point.
But this was the point, it is a dream.
No real woman – beautiful or ugly – would ever fall in love with an almost useless guy – which would crush the guy's pride like a mallet on a tomato. He swears, with every generation of anime and manga, women are starting to be unrealistic to ridiculous. What next? Girls falling in love with the protagonist for being in the same world with him?
It was insufferable, it was digusting, it is the fine definition of sexism!
"Oi, if you keep staring at my chest, I'll poke your eyes out with my halberd..." Saya threatened with her halberd in her hands, her eyes trying to dig holes deep inside Rick's skull.
Rick was indeed staring, but his mind was elsewhere while his eyes continued to stare infront of him – specifically Saya's mammaries.
With a growl, Saya thrusted two armored, clawed fingers, both of which were about to poke the teen's eyes.
Funny thing, Rick would always know if someone tried to touch him when his mind was preoccupied with something else. So, it was a big surprise when Rick suddenly opened his mouth – sharpened and jagged teeth with a green luminescent glow – and clumped down on both of her fingers, hard.
Saya had to cover her mouth from shouting in shock and pain, feeling her personal armor being pierced like paper – luckly neither her flesh nor skin was being damaged – her fingers felt the mouth beginning to tighten, threatening to break her fingers' bones.
"O-Oi! Gray-head!" She tried pulling her fingers out, but the mouth held tightly onto them. She felt her fingers slightly bending. "P-Please! I promise to come early next time!" Her fingers were still continuing to bend, feeling a few bones popping. "I-If you don't let go..." She grabbed her halberd and pointed it at the teen's forehead. "I'll replace your forehead with a hole on the head!" She threatened.
Rick's face had a stoic expression, his mouth now sucking on the fingers like two lollipops.
Lollipops that were going to get crushed, that is.
"I'm warning! I'll do it, goddammit!" Saya's halberd was now drawing green blood, but the teen's face was still stoic and unresponsive. "I warned you! Take this!"
'... Why do I feel the sidder arge tu panch a... pirsin...?'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Deep inside the Demon Lands, a white-haired man was walking down a wide, dark hall, a mischievous grin on his pale face. The hall was decorated with skeletons hanging on the walls with torches in their hands. The whole place was shaking, stone falling from the ceiling.
"Oh-ho! The lady seems to be anxious today. Is it this time of the month already?" He snickered in amusement, passing by a bunch of fear-stricken, armored guards.
The guards were surrounding a giant, locked, double-door, their feet shaking. They were supposed to guard said door, but they couldn't even get an inch near it before the entire hall shaked furiously once more.
"L-Lord Invidia!" One of the guards saluted, albeit slightly shaken. "What brings you, the Great Leviathan, here!"
The Demon of Envy simply waved the tense guard off, a carefree smile present on his relaxed face. "Please, do not fear. I am simply here to visit the Great Lady." He gave them a smile, but the smile instead made them tense. "So, if you excuse me..." He place a hand on the door, giving the guards stationed here a look.
"O-Of course, milord!" The guard saluted once more before turning to the other guards. "Men, return to your stations and do not disturb Lord Invidia unless called upon!" He ordered to everyone present, his voice booming loudly.
"Sir, yes, sir!" The other guards saluted before leaving the hall with the main guardsmen.
With the guards gone, the white-haired released a puff of breath that he was holding back. A amused smile crawling up to his lips. "This is why I passed the crown down to her; I'd rather be a captain instead of a ruler. It's funner that way!" He pushed the doors open.
He then entered the room without hesitation, and tried to keep himself from laughing at what he saw inside.
The room was far off from what the outside looked like. Instead of black walls, it had a mix of white and fair yellow ones, giving off an almost pleasent vibe instead of the mysterious and scary one outside. The room was beyond big, possibly as big as four bedrooms combined, and it was fully furnished with the same colors. In the middle of was white, queen-size bed, with someone sleeping on it, covered in a large, thick blanket.
Invidia walked up to the bed's side, seeing a lump under the bed's covers. "Umm? A bad dream perhaps..." He said to himself, seeing the lump on the bed squirming around. "Little sister, wake up, it's morning..." He shook the lump gently.
The lump on the bed groaned. "Get the hell out... I'm sleepin', ya shit...!" A smoothing feminine voice came from the lump.
"You really are the Demon of Sloth, Acedia..." Suddenly an idea popped out of Invidia's head, a mischievous grin crawling up to his face. "Oh wow! Looks like you're out cold for today. Maybe I should tell mister Ignis to reschedule his visit today. What an Inconvenience, he even brought a bonquet of flowers and a box of chocolates..." He cracked one of his eyes open to gauge their reaction.
And it was beyond priceless.
"Don't you shittin' dare!" A pair of delicate, pale hands grabbed his cloak roughly, coming face to face with an angry face of a extremely beautiful woman with glaring, crimson eyes and long flowing, fair blonde hair with a pair of small, black horns jutting out of them.
"Woah! Is that anyway to treat your older brother?" Invidia snarked, amusement written on their expression. "Plus, can you let go of me? You're buck-naked right now and I can feel your mammaries on me. Not that I mind..." He teased, his grin widening.
The woman at first was confused before she looked down at herself... She was wearing only her skin, with her breast being pressed up onto the white-haired demon.
For a normal woman, they would have screamed and slapped the person silly.
But this was no normal person.
The woman reeled back her fist and delivered a nasty haymaker at the man's jewels, a loud pop and crack was heard around the room.
The man in question simply held onto his grin, but his legs were now squezzed together as his hands were now cradling his crotch. "Y-Youch..." He slowly crumbled onto the ground, sweat and tears dripping off his face.
"Pervert...!" The woman hissed as she stood up from her bed and walked up to one of the wardrobe in the room, her eyes glaring at Invidia.
"O-Ow..." The white-haired man picked himself up, still cradling his possibly broken pride. "You know... We are related, so you don't need to be flustered about it..." He said, which only got him an even fiercer glare than before.
"I am not flustered! Plus, you deserved that for being an ass!" The woman hissed as she opened the wardrobe and began picking her clothes.
"Heh, still my tsundere, little sister..." Invidia chuckled to himself, turning around to give his sister some privacy. "So... Have you heard yet?"
"About what?"
"Your little brat finally got a friend!" He laughed as he dodged a shoe thrown at him. "And I can say the kid is gonna be a keeper, Acedia."
"Oh, really? You didn't threaten them or anything?" The demon Acedia questioned, pulling the final touches on her clothes.
What Acedia wore was nothing more than revealing and seductive. She wore a black, sleeveless, crop top that showed off her smooth, toned, pale stomach, with a pair of long, gray, leather pants that hugged her creamy, slender legs, but it did have long-cut sections that showed a little bit of her pale thighs. She also wore a long, blue, tailcoat, which only served to increase her beauty.
"Or used my name as a threat?" She continued, staring at the shaking form of the Demon of Envy. "Invidia?"
Invidia was staring at the ceiling, nervously whistling while Acedia's intense gaze tried to pierce his very soul, like a screwdriver to a piece of paper.
"Well... I might have..."
"Leviathan!"
"Okay! Okay!" Invidia turned around as he was waving his hands. "I kinda... sorta... threatened the guy... by slicing off some of his appendages... Heh..." He tried cracking a smile, which only received one of the coldest glares he had yet.
"You did what?!" Acedia roared, the whole room shaking and the glass around them shattering. "Severing their arms...?! And it's a He?!" By this point she was grabbing the poor man by his robe's collar, her teeth gnashing with each other.
"... Mercy?" Invidia pleaded, raising both of his hands.
After a short and brutal beatdown, Invidia was lying on the floor, his face wreaked beyond recognition. With Acedia rubbing her bruising and numb knuckles from beating the absolute tar out of her brother.
"Dammit! Last thing I need is one of my subordinates threatening to expose my existence to human kind!" She growled, annoyence written all over her face. "Like, seriously! I get enough shit from those creepy-ass suitors father keep sending, already..."
Invidia stood up, all of his injuries gone like it was nothing. "Technically the guy is a demon... I think?" He then winced at the harsh glare he got from his sister. "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry, alright? I ain't gonna do it again, I swear." He said, rubbing his neck and wincing in pain. Good thing demon magic worked wonders to the body, but the pain was still there.
Acedia sighed in frustration, taking a sit on her really comfy bed. "... God, I'm tired..." She groaned to herself, getting her brother's attention.
"Ace... Are you sure you still want to continue this?" Invidia asked, his face serious yet worried. "My sister's wellbeing is more important than my freedom, so just say the word and I'll-"
"Stop it." Acedia snapped at her brother, her face full of irritation and worry. "I told you once before and I'll tell you again: you're my brother – my older brother – and you took care of me like I was your own daughter." She stared at the floor, her hair shadowing her eyes.
"You stood up for me when I fell in love with a mortal... And in exchange for what you did... You lost her... You lost the one you hold dear! And for what?! My love life?!" She shouted, standing up from her bed and marching up infront of her brother. "The least I can do for you is to take some of the burden you carry. I chose this because I wanted you to be free! Just like when I was when I met Ignis for the first time!" She grabbed him by his cloak's collar, lifting him up off his feet. "And you're going to throw all that away just because I'm tired?! I ain't letting you waste all my hard-ass-work just for some goddamn, worthless-ass slee-"
She was effectively interrupted from her rant when Invidia began patting her on the head. He was gently stroking her hair, a grateful smile on his face. "I don't blame you for anything... Your happiness is more important than mine, Ace. Don't forget that you aren't alone." He cooed her sister.
"S-Shut up..." She lets go of her brother, turning around to cover the blush she had on her cheeks. "I am the great demon Belphegor! I don't need help! Especially from a reptile like you!" She grumbled to herself, making Invidia chuckle from amusement.
"Heh. After more than a decade, you're still the brat-sister I love." Invidia teased, continuing to laugh, and brightening Acedia's blush even more.
Before he knew it, he found a fist aimed to his face, with his body flying through a solid wall and out of the room. "F-Fuck off!" Acedia growled, her blush brighter than a christmas tree, with tears in the corners of her eyes. "I don't want to hear anything from you! I just want to see my hubby today!"
"Oh yeah! About that. I lied, actually."
And that was the worst mistake he made in his entire life.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Livid cannot describe how angry he was right now. There were a ton of reasons why he was mad. But there are three main reasons.
One, his – forced – partner stabbed her halberd through his goddamn skull, which caused a number of people to freak out. Second, after being lobotomized, they ran him to the nearest clinic, which housed a number of skilled – clowns – healers and priests. And the third and final one – the thing he hates the most – he got into damn debt.
After – regenerating – healing him, the doctors in the clinic charged him with the most ludicrous prices he has ever seen in his life. Sadly, he couldn't pay them. So, they decided the second best option.
They made the Guild pay his medical bill, thus making him owe the Guild with added interest.
And now he was in debt, with him not even starting his adventure yet.
"What a great start..." Rick sarcastically grumbled to himself, trudging through a grassy field with small hills, with his partner following him with a few complaints here and there.
"You just had to get us into debt, huh, Gray-head?" Saya complained for the umpteenth time, chipping away from Rick's patience. "This is your fault, by the way."
"My fault?!" Rick turned to her, with his eyes literally glowing with hatred and annoyence. "Says the one who stabbed me with a goddamn halberd! And you should've been the one to pay for my medication!" He pointed an accusing finger at his partner, taking her slightly aback. "What happened to being the daughter of a noble? Maybe you're just spouting shit up at this point!"
Saya retaliated with a fierce glare, her teeth bare, showing a pair of sharp fangs at the corners of her mouth. "... You better put that finger down or I'mma gonna have shove them up your bum-hole!" She growled. "And for your information, I am not lying about me being a daughter of a noble! My mom taught not to lie, especially if it's the truth!"
"A demon who doesn't lie? Heh, I might be going mad...?" Rick laughed to himself, rubbing his temples. "Nevermind, I don't care at this point. You can either help or stay out of my way, you're call." He turned his back to the blond girl.
Saya scoffed, looking at the other way while refusing to stare at him directly or indirectly.
Now with that done, before they went out, he took one of the most easiest quests he could find, just to measure the difficulty of the monsters. He was told that Giant Toads were in season, with it being the easiest monsters to hunt down for money and experience.
And the best part, the quest is repeatable. Meaning, he can take as many of those quests as he can.
Now for the large question-elephant in the room, why hasn't anyone exploited this before? Surely this quest could be grinded for money. Or maybe people in this world are just stupid and they don't care for killing oversize froggers?
Either way, more money for him!
Rick was pulled out of his thoughts after he felt the ground shake violently, with something... Hopping to him?
He turned his head to the left, a huge-ass, green frog hopping over to him. He could've swore he saw a murderous glint in the frog's eyes before it turned back to its normal slimy self. And when the frog was finally infront of him, it looked down at him with a tilted head.
Now that he noticed it, he was pretty far from the city, being that he was in the middle of a forest, right in the open with a frog looming over him. Plus, he couldn't see his partner – slave driver – anywhere.
With Rick, there were a lot of things running around in his brain, but the words 'what', 'the', and 'hell' were the most distinct ones, and 'where the hell was he?' was also included.
He was told they were giant, but he didn't think they meant this kind of giant.
'Can I even punch through this?!' He screamed in his mind, contemplating between running away or just quitting altogether. 'No! You can do this, Derick! You know you can!'
With new vigor, he reeled back his fist, using the Gift given to him to he increased his strength beyond his normal limits.
And he wished he held more back.
He thought he was at best going to blast the frog away with the punch, not go through the frog with his whole arm stuck deep inside it, its blood splashing onto his face.
He was stuck between shocked and horrified. And when he pulled out his arm, in his tight grasp was the still beating heart of the frog.
With its last croak, the frog fell forward onto the grass, painting the green field red with its blood. Going down without as much of a fight.
Damn, that was just dark...
And it wasn't even a frog, it was a toad.
But the scariest thing was, he felt really good and tingly after that.
He then saw even more toads come out of the forest and hop over to him, their dead-fish eyes full of vengeance for their fallen comrade.
And Rick just smiled at this.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Where the hell is that ass?!" Saya growled to herself, her halberd in her hands with fresh blood dripping off it. After their argument, she tried following Rick after she lost sight of him.
With the keyword 'tried'.
She couldn't find or hear – demons are gifted with heightened senses – him anywhere in the fields. Hell, she even killed more than five toads while finding for him. With the last place she hasn't check were the nearby forests in the city.
She was told that Toads indeed go to the forest, but Rookie Killers inhabit the area, with Goblins – because Rookie Killers love guarding them so they could beat the newbies to the ground, hence the name Rookie Killers – being everywhere.
So, here she was in the forest, her armor dirty and her weapon bloody.
She was so totally going to kick the guy's ass after this.
Her musing was interrupted by a loud, monstrous roar, scaring any nearby avian away. That roar sounded almost demonic and angry, especially the angry part. She was familiar with demon roars, a type of gesture that showed their dominance. But that roar she just heard, it was something she wasn't familiar with.
And that sent shivers down her spine.
Normally she would avoid the obvious and dangerous, but sadly her partner was in the forest and could be in trouble. And why was she worried about? She wasn't, actually.
She was only worried because he was her source of income – really, why did she blow her allowance on gambling again? – right now. Unless she wants to sleep outside for the next month, she's gonna have to save him.
"... I hate my life." Saya sighed to herself while she trudged to the direction of the roar. "Stupid Guild rules, having me save that ass' sorry bum..." She grumbled to herself. If her partner died, then the Quest – Rick was the one to accept it, not her – would be invalid and her time wasted.
She entered a clearing into the forest, her halbed tightly clenched in her fists. She was prepared for anything...
She then saw a brutal hellscape.
Blood, organs, and corpses were scattered everywhere in the clearing. The bodies were beyond mutilated, with limbs and body parts ripped and torn in the most brutal fashion possible. Hell, there were even large, bloody bite marks on the bodies' flesh, with bone sticking out and broken.
She was no stranger to death, especially being a creature that sometimes revolved around things like these. But the fashion in how they were killed, it was inhuman – in-demon if some of the distinct bodies suggested much.
The bodies were composed of a mix of Toads, Goblins – low-level demons – and even Rookie Killers, with the feline-like creatures sporting severed limbs, mangled jaws and torn off eyes. She was sure this could've been the work of a high-level demon, but the Goblin bodies suggested something different did this.
Then another loud roar was heard, but this time it was really, really near.
And by instinct, Saya turned around just in time manifest a blue shield made out of pure mana and block an unbelievable fast and strong blow. And by block, she meant feeling her entire body raddle down to the bone and get knocked back into a tree, threatening to snap both her and the tree in half.
The Guardian, a class she picked. It was both tank and support, using its strong defenses to protect and support their allies with strong buffing effects. But what made the Guardian so special was their method of using their mana. Whenever they used an offensive skill, mana isn't used but the person's own lifeforce instead, making the class more dangerous than useful in the field of battle. But the good thing was that Guardians' have a way to replenish their own vitality, and that lies in their ability to produce shields made out of pure mana.
Whenever they made the shield, their vitality would replenish faster and more efficiently than a health potion, but the downside to it was that Guardian's relied heavily on their mana reserves. No reserves, no healing.
Plus the shields did make good shields.
"... Fuck." Saya hissed through the pain, feeling both her forearm and back beginning to bruise. If she hadn't produced that shield... She rather not think about it, actually.
But after a short moment, the bruises around her body quickly dissapeared, with her own strength returning as well. She also felt a small chunk of her mana reserves were gone, but it was better than being dead or injured. "Damn. I'mma starting to love that healing part..." She stood up from her prone position and took a two-handed polearm style.
Her eyes landed on the most threatening and scariest-looking monster she had seen in her entire life. Its flesh was black as night with glowing green veins or slitted eyes running along its muscular body. It stood on its muscular, hind legs with three clawed-toes on each foot. Both of its arms were also muscular – or thicker than logs – but they were covered in a chitinous-like plate armor around its forearms, with pointy, sharp claws ending on each finger.
The torso was easily twice – or even thrice – her size, with a gaping maw full of sharp teeth in the middle. Its head was a mix of dragon and goat, having the horns of a goat but the maw of a dragon, with burning red eyes glaring at her, as if it was looking down at a simple piece of meat. But the most terrifying thing was...
The smell of death loomed over it like distasteful perfume.
Then the thing let loose a horrifying roar.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Author-kun: ... I did warn you about this, right? Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Drop a review if you guys want to. And as always, I will see all of you next time, bye, bye!
P.S: Wrong site!