Hey guys, sorry this chapter is late. tbh I just forgot to post it this sunday so its comming out like 10 hours late.
Omni-Trickery: Clara is going to be having a lot on her plate now… Wonder if Laura can help out with that, and keep the Queen in check.
I also wonder if the items dropped from the monsters could be reabsorbed into the knife… Would be interesting to see what a chef hat yields.
Clara is sure getting busy with, you know, stopping a literal apocalypse. And her two vassals either died or dipped into a whole other story (Looking at you Hol, going over to blank slate). As for the reabsorbed stuff. Techically Clara can reabsorb it, but most items will just give the materials they are made out off. So if Naofumi absorbed a Steel Sword, he would get a Steel Shield, not a blade shield. While mob drops can be anything from ores, crafting materials, items/weapons, or even clothes, reabsorbing it might not unlock anything new unless you got an ore you never absorbed before. In that case I wonder if it will even be a monster drop?
Omni-Trickery: So the material being more geared to offense means it becomes a more fighting oriented kitchen utensil when absorbed, while the more defensive it is makes it more likely to become something else like a pot or a lid. So the other kitchen supplies, like a roller and a spatula, would land somewhere in between the two extremes…
Yep, pretty much. Though knives also give an agility stat, because apparently video game weapons do that sometimes, so knives would give the most attack and agility, something like a spatula, tenderizing helmet, roller and so on would be more of a mix between attack and defense, with maybe agility sprinkled in between, and thinks like pots pans and lids would be all in on defense. Meanwhile a spoon (yes, she can copy a spoon but not a form, because stiring is possible with a spoon idk) would be mostly defense focused, with agility added to it. So have fun with that info.
Anyhow, enjoy this chapter! And feel free to add a review and I will try to respond!
"Erst Lid! Second Lid!" Clara yelled, summoning two barriers in front of her. The monster rammed head first into the first lid and shattered it in an instant. It crashed onto the ground and looked at the second barrier with surprise, before raising its fist and punching through it.
"SHAAAAA!" it screeched, flying towards Clara.
"Chain Bind! Knife Rain!" Clara yelled, sending several knives and chains at the monster. However, to her surprise, the soul eater grabbed the floor and pushed its entire body through it, disappearing from sight.
Clara took a few steps back and listened for any sound that could indicate the direction the monster would come from. She swapped her weapon back to the knife with heat sense just in case. Suddenly, she felt another shiver run through her body and something cold to her right. She barely had enough time to turn and swap to her pot when a massive white fist phased through the wall and punched her. Clara felt her arms grow numb from the impact as she got pushed into the wall.
"Where did you come from?!" Clara grumbled as she pushed the monster back. It swung at her again with the other arm, but Clara ducked and ran down the corridor.
I need to buy time for my skill cooldown to recover and attack it at a safe distance.
However, just as Clara thought she was safe rounding a corner, the monster phased out of the wall and punched her in the gut.
Shoot, it's fast!
"*Cough*, E Float *gasp* knife!" Clara gasped out, summoning the blue knife. She ordered it to fly at the monster to try to create some distance, however, it simply ducked under it and swung at Clara again. With all other skills on cooldown, Clara used her last option.
"Portal Knife!" with no other skill avaliable, Clara teleported back to her room, away from the monster. She reached into her cabinet, pulled out an SP recovery potion and downed it in one go. Her energy bar quickly refilled and Clara ran out into the hallway, grabbing her shield and swapping to the heat sensing knife as she ran towards the direction of the monster with the cooldown timers quickly running out.
Alright, I should try to tie it down with chain bind and restrict its movements with lids before attacking wi-
Whatever plan Clara was about to cook up ended when she felt something big and hot coming at her at incredible speeds. She barely had time to react as the wall before her was blasted open and a bright green beam slammed into her shield, sending her flying through the wall. She yelled out in pain as she slammed into a fridge in the kitchen and crashed onto the cold tiled floor. The fridge itself cracked open, spilling its contents onto the floor.
Not good, that hurt like hell and I think I broke somethi-AGH! IT BURNS!
Clara grabbed her shield and threw it to the side. Some of the scales fell off while the shield itself bend and melted. The rims were cracked and the shield itself had a small hole in the center with red got metal surrounding the hole.
Shoot, I thought I could just block with a shield and keep my knife but that blast almost killed me!
Clara grabbed onto the handle of a nearby oven and pulled herself up. Her back and arms hurt from the blast and she felt a sharp pain run through her entire body as if she just got hit by a truck. She looked around and tried to get her bearings, but she could already sense the monster approaching her again from under her.
"Erst-" was all Clara managed to call out before a massive arm wrapped its freezing cold white fingers around her throat. Before she could do anything, a second arm grabbed her arm with her weapon and pinned it to the wall, stopping Clara from chanting her skills or even using her weapon. The monster opened its mouth and Clara saw some blue mist leave her body and go into the beast's mouth. In the corner of her vision, her SP bar was rapidly depleting as her body was growing cold.
Clara's vision was beginning to blur as the monster's grasp around her throat got tighter and tighter. Clara swapped her weapon to the strongest one she had and tried to punch the arm off of her, but it didn't seem to have any effect on the monster.
Let go! I can't die here! I don't want to die! Please!
No matter how much Clara thrashed around, the monster didn't relent. Her lungs began to burn and her vision continued to fade. In a last ditch effort Clara pushed all of her mana together into a ball and threw it at the monster's eye.
"SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
That got a reaction out of the monster as it grabbed its eye and thrashed around, knocking and slamming into everything around it, dropping Clara to the ground. Clara gasped for air and tried to move as far away as she could from the monster. Her SP bar and MP bar were completely empty, so all she had available to her was her weapon. She reached behind her and felt something soft and greasy under her hand. Clara grabbed it and threw it at the monster.
Her weapon seemed to react to this as it shocked her hand the second the piece of meat left it, but her mind was too hazy and the adrenaline in her body seemed to be numbing the feeling. The monster finally recovered from the magic assault and glared at Clara with renewed hatred. The chicken leg she threw had phased through the monster and plopped harmlessly onto the floor. Clara pulled out a pan and threw a few pieces of the fridge and food around her before launching it at the monster.
However, just like before, the objects phased through the monster and it continued its approach. Clara scooted back and continued to throw objects with her frying pan. They all phased through the monster and it lunged at Clara at incredible speeds.
"GET AWAY!" Clara shrieked and threw the last thing she picked up at the monster.
*Smack*
To both of their shock, the sandwich didn't phase through, and instead stuck to the monster's eye. It recoiled back and looked at the sandwich in confusion. It then grumbled and was about to lunge back at Clara, but then it stopped and began to sniff the air. The soul eater began to sniff the sandwich and gave it a curious look before stuffing the entire thing into its mouth.
Huh?
Clara was stunned, but an idea suddenly came to her. She pushed herself towards the broken fridge and opened up the box of sandwiches she made for tomorrow.
I hope this at least distracts it long enough for my SP to recover.
Clara opened the box and slid it towards the monster. It looked at the box and without a second thought dug its massive face into it, letting out disgusting chewing noises as it greedily devoured the sandwiches.
So the food I made doesn't phase through it? Is this because of the cooking exp?
Clara shrugged and pulled out whatever ingredients she could find and cut them as quickly as she could. The pieces were sloppy and their thickness was random, but she didn't care at the moment. She finished assembling several more sandwiches and watched a green glow surround them. Then she turned back towards the monster and slid the sandwiches towards it.
The soul eater grabbed the new batch with its hands and stuffed it down its mouth. Clara turned towards the ingredients for a moment before her eyes widened in surprise. She looked back at the monster and frowned in confusion.
Wasn't it… twice that size just a minute ago?
Clara watched in wonder as the monster's claws turned to fingers, its ghostly tail split into two legs. The sharp teeth turned into small human ones, and the monster's size deflated greatly. The monster itself didn't seem to be aware of this as it continued to stuff its face with food.
Clara blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating from the suffocation earlier. But just before her sat a girl, roughly her age, maybe a year younger, with white glowing skin, equally white hair, and bright red eyes. The girl was now nibbling at the sandwich in her hands. Her body was still covered in bruises and cuts, but they seemed a lot smaller now, and some were even healing in front of Clara's eyes.
She glanced at Clara and the hero saw the small red pupils looking at her. There was no hatred or anger, but instead it was replaced with confusion and a little bit of fear. She looked at the sandwich in her hands and then at Clara who stared at her with a frying pan raised defensively.
"Was this yours?"
"*Confused Screaming*"
"Agh!" the girl yelled, jumping back with the sandwich still in her hands. "Why did you yell?!"
"Huh?! Who… what… I don't know!" Clara yelled back, rubbing her neck.
"Are you okay? You are hurt!" the girl exclaimed as she began to slowly approach Clara. However, she stopped once Clara took a step back and raised her weapon.
"Don't come any closer!" Clara warned. The ghost girl nodded and sat down on the floor again. She began to eat the sandwich again as she continued to look at Clara.
"What's… wrong?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. If Clara didn't know this was the same monster that tried to strangle her not even 5 minutes ago she might have thought it was cute. But right now her body hurt and she was way too confused and distracted to care.
"Who are you? Why did you attack me?" she asked. The ghost girl looked at her as if she grew a third head,
"I attacked you? Sorry. Are you sure?" she inquired, her voice changing just slightly every few seconds. Clara frowned and slowly lowered her weapon.
"Do you know where you are?" she questioned the ghost girl, who shook her head in response. This caused some hair to go into her mouth and she paused to spit it back out.
"I was in a cave with Scales guy and Green Scales guy, but this doesn't look like the cave. Where are… am I?" she questioned, looking around the room.
"We're on an… wait, how do I know this isn't a trap?!"
"Um… what's a trap?" she asked.
What do I do?! She just tried to kill me and now she's a girl that's eating my food? Well, this beats her killing me.
Her… killing me…
Holy sh*t, I almost died! I almost f*cking died! Oh my god, oh f*ck! I… I was this close to… I almost…
She rubbed her hand around the bruises on her neck as realization began to set in and adrenaline wore off. She grabbed her head as her knees gave out and she collapsed onto the floor.
Clara started to hyperventilate, her breathing becoming short and rapid. The world began to spin as the waves of terror crashed onto her body. Memories of the creature's screech, its soul piercing glare, its huge cold hand on her back began to loop in her mind.
Her body trembled as Clara huddled on the floor. Tears began to run out of her eyes as she realized how close she came to death.
It.. wasn't a wave… or boss… just a… a…
Her thoughts fell into chaos as she struggled to form a coherent thought. She wanted to scream and cry. A choked sob escaped her. She continued to sob as the walls of the kitchen seemed to close in on her. She closed her eyes and continued to cry until she felt something warm touch her shoulder.
She looked up to see the ghost girl looking at her, eyes filled with concern. Clara didn't know if she wanted to run away or come closer to her. She didn't know anything anymore. Luckily, the ghost girl made the decision for her.
She wrapped her arms around Clara. Her presence, despite everything prior, felt comforting and warm. Clara continued to cry into the girl's shoulder for a while longer. Her breathing became calmer with each passing moment.
After a few more minutes, Clara finally calmed down. The ghost girl seemed to feel this and looked Clara in the eyes. She patted Clara on the head and smiled.
Before either of them could make another move, Clara heard shouting and footsteps approaching them. It was then that Clara realized that the ghost girl next to her wasn't wearing any clothes. She took off her armor and handed it to the girl.
"What's this?" she asked, looking at the armor.
"Put it on!" Clara exclaimed, raising the armor over the girl's head and pushing it down. It took a few seconds and grunts but Clara managed to put her armor onto the girl.
"*Cough* is everything alright in here?! The whole ship is a mess… WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE FRIDGE?!" Goron screamed as he walked into the room. His gaze fell on Clara and the ghost girl, the latter of which quickly ducked behind Clara. "AND WHO THE F*CK IS SHE?!"
"WHO SENT YOU?!" Goron yelled at the scared ghost girl. The girl wrapped her arms around her knees and seemed to shrink in her seat. Laura was sitting across the table with Goron and was looking at the girl with her cold piercing gaze. Clara was sitting in the corner of Laura's room, wrapped up in a blanket that Laura gave her while sipping a health recovery potion and pouring some on her burned arm.
"I-I don't know…" she mumbled. This seemed to anger Goron as he slammed his fist on the table, which caused the pale girl to flinch.
"WHY DID YOU COME HERE?!"
"I-I d-don't k-know…" the ghost girl whimpered, covering her head with her hands.
"So you don't know how you got here, or where you are or why, but you just so happened to attack one of the most important people here?!" Goron growled, leaning across the table. The soul eater girl tried to shrink further into the armor Clara gave her, looking almost like a turtle retreating into its shell. She didn't respond this time, but Clara could hear her whimpering from where she sat.
"And you expect me to believe that?! B*LLSHIT!" Goron yelled, hitting the table so hard that it cracked. Everyone in the room other than Laura flinched at the noise.
"Break my table and I'll make you pay for it," Laura said calmly. However, the tone of her voice made Clara shiver.
"You have to give me something before I pull out my set of knives and-" Goron began but Clara stood up from her corner and walked to the table.
"Chef, can I talk to her in private?" she inquired. Goron and Laura looked at Clara as if she was crazy.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Laura replied.
"Same here. She just attacked the ship and blasted through several walls like they were paper. I am not leaving you alone with her," Goron agreed.
"I can handle myself!" Clara protested.
"The marks on your neck and body say otherwise," Goron replied.
"I still managed to survive fighting her on my own! And if something happens, you aren't that far away," Clara argued. Goron and Laura looked between themselves for a moment. After a few seconds, Goron grumbled.
"Fine. But call us the second she makes any movement!" Goron exclaimed and turned to the ghost girl. He pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at the ghost girl before leaving the room. Laura looked at the two girls and sighed.
"Be careful. We'll be right outside the door if anything happens," she said, patting Clara on the shoulder.
"Thanks. I will."
With Laura outside the room, Clara and the ghost girl were left alone. The girl in question curled up into a trembling ball inside of Clara's armor, too scared to look back up. Clara slowly approached her and put her hand onto the girl's head. The girl looked up at Clara with teary and fearful eyes.
You're also scared. Alone in an unfamiliar place.
Clara began to slowly pet the girl's head. She didn't know what else to do to calm her down, but this seemed to be working for now. The girl slowly stopped trembling and smiled.
"You're nice, Knife Lady,"
Knife lady?
"Oh, um. My name is Clara. What's yours?" Clara asked, rubbing the back of her neck.
"What's a name?" she asked and tilted her head.
Oh boy.
"Well, you know how some things are called differently? Well, people have names to help differentiate themselves. Do uh… do you not have that?"
"Well, soul eaters change personalities and souls every now and then when devouring new souls. So we don't remain the same entity for long. We don't have a need for names," she replied as if this was common knowledge. Clara didn't doubt that wherever this girl came from this was well known.
"Hmm. Can I call you Soul-Chan then?" Clara suggested, but the girl shook her head.
"It sounds weird," she mumbled. Clara thought for a moment and tried to remember any name that could possibly fit the girl before her.
"Carla?"
"Carla… sounds like Clara, but weirder."
Clara frowned and sighed. "Lanna? Alisa? Violet?"
"Lan…na. A li sa. Violent? I don't know," the girl frowned.
"How about Reiya?" she tried.
"Hmm. Reiya. It sounds nice. I think I like it," Reiya replied, smiling from ear to ear. Her smile reminded Clara of one a kid would give when receiving a gift for christmas.
So cute!
"*Cough* So, Reiya. You don't know how you got here, right?" Clara inquired, sitting down across from Reiya. "What is the last thing you remember?"
The girl looked at the ground as she thought about the question. Clara simply looked at the girl as she waited for an answer. After a few seconds, Reiya looked up from the table.
"So… I was fighting with a friend… then a crack appeared… then I woke up in a different place. Then… uh… HEY! Mean Hoe Guy stabbed me!" Reiya suddenly shot up and yelled, startling Clara, who turned her weapon into a pot and raised it just in case.
"Sorry," Reiya mumbled, sitting back down with a guilty expression on her face.
"It's fine. I'm just on edge a bit. You were saying?" Clara replied, urging the girl to continue.
So this is the same soul eater Ellis and Hol fought during the wave? Did she survive somehow? But I remember getting exp for it.
"So then I died, but then I woke up and a guy with red scales grabbed me. Then I fell asleep, and then I woke up, and I was in a cave," Reiya explained, looking deep in thought. "Then I had chains on me, and then the Red Scales Guy didn't feed me, and then I got really really really hungry, and then I woke up here!"
With that Reiya finished and looked at Clara, her legs swinging back and forth.
"Wait, you got caught in chains? Why didn't you just phase out of them?" Clara questioned. "And what happened between you getting hungry and you ending up here?"
"Phase out? What do you mean?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
Clara blinked a few times and pointed to a wall.
"You phased through walls when you attacked me," Clara pointed out. "Were those magic chains or something?"
"No, normal chains. I also don't know how to phase through things. Some older soul eaters know how, but I never figured it out," Reiya responded, rubbing her wrists.
"Then how did you do it in the monster form?"
To this Reiya just shrugged. Then she looked down at the table before continuing.
"Did I… hurt a lot of people?" Reiya asked, her voice barely a whisper. Clara shook her head.
"No. Goron and Laura said that you destroyed a couple of things and scared some people, but you seemed to ignore everyone else and focused on me instead. Other than a few scratches and bruises from the turbulence, no one seemed to get hurt," Clara assured her.
Except myself. Well, I guess that's what they summoned me for. To fight and be hurt in someone else's stead. I succeeded this time, but I would have died if I didn't get lucky. I need to level up a bunch fast. Damn it, just as I was getting used to things.
"I'm sorry," Reiya mumbled and covered her head with her hands. "When I get really, really hungry, I fall asleep. When I wake up, others are hurt."
"Did the red scale guy starve you? Is that why you went rampaging?" Clara questioned. Reiya nodded. "And when you ate my food, you came back to your senses."
"Yes. I am a soul eater, so souls are my food. But your food, it has energy that is almost like a soul. I don't know why, as human food phases through me if I try to eat it, but yours didn't," Reiya explained and looked at Clara.
Huh. Maybe it's because of the holy tool? If exp is something like soul energy, then what is Food Exp? Or are the two different?
"Miss Clara, can I stay with you?"
"Eh?!"