Good afternoon, my readers! Sorry for the small delay, had a walk with my mother, but now here i am. Before we start, let's go with the response!
To Exodus12345:yeah, it was about time, and to make things better Shinko will finally meet Mizuki for the first time (in the present story that is)!
The following day Shinko and the Wastelanders were in the hideout, where the following scene was unfolding:Monoculor was trying to get everyone's attention (failing at the task), Malware's mind was trained on a computer (while he pondered what bank account should he hack today), Gaia was healing a scorched Gobold (who tried to mug a passing hero), Ariol was watching his sister (while also training an eye on Shinko), Beetle-Roach was heavily drinking (because he knew this mission was going to get bad real fast), Nark was telling bad jokes about homeless people (despite Gelgo's utter displeasure) and Shinko was thinking about Genos.
'I hope he'll be fine, sparring with Saitama and all...' Shinko thought when Monoculor finally had enough of everyone's shit and shot a rainbow laser out of his eye, making a hole out of the ceiling, melting the weakened concrete like butter.
Everyone then shut up and Monoculor could finally start with the briefing.
"You already know why i have called you all here:now it's official that the antlion tribe has invaded the territory and created an underground nest on its borders of the ghost town. The colonization attempt started last night and we know of this thanks to Malware and Gaia's sensors. Anyway, the heroes are of course taking action as we speak, they have destroyed the antlion army sent to repel them and they're making their way in the nest. But that's not really important right now. Because the heroes will not approach the nest from our side, we can easily profit from the infighting and take the antlion's supplies, since we are lacking of them at the moment"
Ariol then spoke up "But since Shinko is a hero, shouldn't he contribute on this front by buying as much food as possible?"
"Shinko has a limited paycheck since he is a B class, which is also why he's coming with us:if we, by any chance, encounter a hero we can sneak away while Shinko handles it" Monoculor said matter-of-factly.
Shinko understood Monoculor's simple reasoning and inspired, while Ariol muttered something and sat down.
"Now for the two teams:Gobold, Nark, Malware, Beetle-Roach and i will handle the stealing because the antlion forces will be strained. Shinko, Ariol, Gaia and Gelgo will drag the attention of the guards and make our job easier"
Ariol trembled with rage, but, mainly thanks to Gaia, settled down quickly enough for no one but Shinko to notice.
'At least i'll be with my sister if this guy tries something' he thought to reassure himself.
"Why do i always have to do these kinds of works?" Asked a sulking Gelgo "Because you can take a lot of hits and regenerate your injuries very quickly" Monoculor told him.
"Don't worry Gelgo! With me and Ariol we'll be fine!" Shinko smiled at Gelgo to reassure him, while Ariol simply looked away and Gaia gave a deadpan look to her brother.
"We're settled then, let's move out!" Monoculor said in a commanding manner and everyone moved out with their respective groups.
X X X
"Whoa" Shinko said aloud as they approached the huge chasm:a moltitude of bridges encompassed it, while lots of small holes here and there stained the walls. The sounds of marching feet and chattering echoed from within the nest and occupied the vackground of everyone's thoughts.
"I wonder how many people lost their houses...or how could the antlions even manage to make it in such a short amount of time..." the boy thought in morbid amazement, while Ariol was more focused.
It was right between the borders of the ghost town and Z city and there was absolutely no trace of whatever was there.
"Ok, the way to their supply racks will be steep an uneven for us, so, in order not to fall off and die, we will proceed carefully-" Monoculor could not even finish the sentence because Ariol immediately jumped into the chasm with his sister on his shoulders, followed then by Shinko with Gelgo on his back.
Everyone else looked shocked for a second before Monoculor calmly said "Oh well, they'll be fine, now as i was saying..."
X X X
When Ariol and Gaia landed safely on a particularly large bridge, the former noted that Shinko followed them.
He and Gelgo landed safely just behind Ariol.
But they were soon rounded by antlion soldiers:they were orange and yellow with big mandibles, eight limbs (six for walking) and held a big spear each with both arms.
Ariol braced himself and charged the enemies, cutting three at a time.
'They aren't that much by themselves, but in groups they could be a problem' Ariol noted before he looked back.
Gelgo was going to be attacked by some acid shots but Shinko stepped in, tanked the shots (thus losing his shirt instantly) and moved his right arm horizontally like a blade.
The attack didn't connect, but the pressurized wind blade was enough to kill not only the other enemy team, but other incoming reinforcements.
Ariol's eyes widened at Shinko's ridiculous feat 'So Monoculor was right on his strenght all along?' he wondered while cutting in half other three enemies, but then shook his head 'No, i must have imagined it, there's no way that cute-looking idiot is stronger than me!'
"Over here!" Shinko said as he grabbed a stunned Gelgo and ran in the direction he was facing.
Ariol simply did as Shinko told him, since the way was clear anyways.
They ran at high speed, eliminating the incoming reinforcements with ease. They then entered a big cave that gave way to a tunnel going on the right.
Shinko threw a punch at an incoming troop, obliterating it, while Ariol threw a wind blade upwards, causing the entrance to collapse.
"Now what do we do? Monoculor didn't give us precise information" said Gelgo in a worried tone, already imagining the worst case scenarios.
"Don't worry! We only need to attract as much attention as possible, but you'll be fine with us!" Shinko said, trying again to calm down his worried friend, while Gaia stood by Shinko's leg.
But then something tore a hole (just barely missing Gelgo) throughthe wall on their left and chargen after Gaia.
The being was NOT an antlion soldier, however, since its appearance was more reminiscent of a sabertooth tiger with a huge spear-like horn on its forehead.
Ariol's eyes widened "GAIA!" he shouted as he rushed to his little sister, but then something else happened instead.
Shinko, with a serious expression, appeared in front of the charging monster and took the attack square on his chest, the monster's horn shattering aganist the boy's pectoral muscles, and punched.
A powerful shockwave rattled the structure around them and what Ariol could see, now that his little sister was in his arms, was the remains of the monster:its body was nearly obliterated with only its legs and the splinters of its horn remaining.
'What the hell? How...how could he do something like that?' Ariol questioned himself as Shinko turned to look at them, checking if they were okay.
Since Gaia was already safe with Ariol, Shinko then turned to check a nearly-petrified Gelgo to calm him down.
X X X
Iaian was currently in the west side of the nest along with the estimated S class hero Bang.
The sword user fought hordes of the antlions with his katana and Bang could see why he was the A class rank two hero.
That said, his ability with the sword was nothing in front of his martial arts skills.
Suddenly, as they were traversing the caverns, his device started beeping and he reached for his pocket, the confident voice revealing immediately who was speaking to Bang.
"Hey Bang, we're having an easy time here, how is your situation?" Atomic Samurai asked.
"Nothing we can't handle. I can see why Iaian is your strongest disciple" Bang replied.
"Ok then, but one thing:at my side there was a huge shockwave that rattled up these guys really good. Before we exit this dump we should take care of that, but still! Nothing my sword can't handle!" Atomic Samurai then laughed and closed the communication.
"Well, looks like we have yet another dangerous monster on our hands" Bang said aloud while avoiding the walls with his eyes:the sight of half eaten people in the walls sickening him to his core.
'We better take out these savages and fast, who knows what they could do if they were to expand this nest' Bang thought to himself as he and Iaian took fighting stances aganist the incoming horde of enemies.
X X X
"Monoculor, i thought this was supposed to be easy!" Gobold said as he slashed an antlion with one of his golden daggers.
"I didn't say that! Anyway, Shinko and the others are doing their job properly, if that shockwave from before is of any indication" Monoculor calmly said as he shot a scythe-shaped laser from his eye, effectively cutting in half two antlions.
"Besssidesss, thisss isss just one step higher than 'easssy'!" said Nark as he swallowed two antlion soldiers whole, despite their sharp weapons.
Meanwhile Malware and Beetle-Roach were taking a more stealthy approach as Monoculor suggested.
"I think we are close to the treasury" Malware said as they were behind a huge column, overlooking a giant two-faced door...
...guarded by a very powerful breed of antlion.
"What is that thing!?" Beetle-Roach hissed quietly.
"This must be an antlion berseker, the intel of the Hero Association talked about it in one of their top secret files" Malware confirmed after looking through his newly aquired data files.
According to the files (backed by eye-evidence) the aforementioned antlion was the size of four loaded trucks with thick limbs and strong hide around its neck, abdomen, forelegs and wrists.
One of them appeared yesterday in D city and was confronted by Tank Top Master, after that five others were seen near the newly created nest and were taken out by Atomic Samurai.
"Don't tell me it's a demon level" Beetle-Roach told Malware in an agry-worried tone.
"It IS a medium demon level, possibly high since it could withstand some of Tank Top Master's attacks as well as injure him" Malware told him.
"Damn it!" Beetle-Roach hissed in reply, hoping Shinko or Ariol would get their asses there quickly.
"Enough of your mental venting, let's report our findings back to Monoculor" Malware told him off dryly.
X X X
Shinko, Ariol, Gaia and Gelgo made their way to the deeper parts of the nest, where whitin the walls were rests of some of the Z city citiziens.
Gaia and Gelgo recoiled from them, Ariol shuddered inwardly and Shinko thought that he should get to the bottom of this nest to deal with the entire situation (since he was now a professional hero).
"If you want to be the hero of the situation then be my guest, just don't drag us all in a suicide mission" Ariol suddenly said, almost reading Shinko's thoughts clearing.
Shinko turned back and said "What? I would never do that!" while Ariol simply replied "You better not then"
After a little more walking the group came across a wide room that seemed like an arena, on the west side there was a huge, two-faced door while on all other sides were a lot of smaller doors.
They all knew that this was a trap, so Gelgo and Gaia went on Shinko's and Ariol's backs and then they stepped into the humongous arena.
Predictably, the entrance became submerged in rocks and concrete, then all doors (except the biggest one) opened at once, giving way to dozens of bigger antlion soldiers.
It would have still gone well, but zombiefied antlions began rising from the centre as well.
Because of this, Shinko and Ariol had to fight on opposite sides, surrounded AND swarmed:Shinko was having an easy time, dashing around with hand swipes and punches, obliterating dozens of them every hit. But Ariol wasn't doing all that bad either with his wind slashes.
However, as the battle was drawing for longer, Ariol began to tire as the fatigue and the occasional injuries were taking their toll.
As he slashed at a few undead antlions, now that the majority of the incoming enemies had focused on Shinko, he felt a powerful killing intent coming from behind.
"Brother, look out!" Gaia screamed as Ariol turned around and was greeted by two swinging axes, which created two deep cuts on his chest.
Ariol shouted in pain and was thrown back, Gaia now next to him with tears in her eyes, placing her paws on Ariol in oder to start healing him.
The huge door had opened and an antlion berseker, along with a colossal unit of antlion brutes, stated his welcome with a sneak attack.
Ariol tried to stand up to shield his little sister from the incoming blow, at least he would defend her until the end.
However, as Ariol's eyes widened, someone decided that they would not die that day.
Shinko heard Ariol's cry of pain and, after sweeping at most antlions in front of him, he sprinted towards the antlion berseker, its axes shattering on contact aganist his chest, and thrusted his hand foward.
The shockwave was so strong that all the antlions behind him were forcefully pushed back into the tunnel from where they came (the antlion berseker being decapitated upon contact with the high wall) until they were all slammed into a very far away wall, creating one huge slimy puddle.
Ariol finally got with terms with Shinko's strength:now any further doubts about it would be pointless, for Shinko was far stronger than him, without even putting some effort.
But there was something else too:Shinko had come to save not just Ariol, but Gaia too and he could not overlook that, despite his attitude.
Maybe Gaia was right about Shinko... Peraphs they could even be friends one day, but one thing at a time.
Ariol got in a sitting position as Gaia started to heal him, the lively green energy pouring from Gaia's palms sanating his wounds.
"Well, even though that you're of those heroes who LOVE to come at the last second, i suppose i should thank you for the help" Ariol said.
"Don't mention it! You're like friends to me!" Shinko said amicably.
"Colleagues" Ariol repeat annoyed, but Gaia smiled, having silently stated her opinion.
"Wait, where's Gelgo?" Gaia asked and Shinko's eyes widened, having forgotten his timid gelatinous friend...
...who was now chased by 6 dozens of antlion brutes.
Shinko simply turned and swiped his hand resulting in all of the enemies getting cut in half.
Ariol smirked at that "I also see that you manned up a little, i think i can ACTUALLY consider being your friend"
Shinko sighed, he noticed this change too:it wasn't pretty, but the antlions did horrible things, therefore they deserved it.
"Someone has to make sure they don't hurt anybody" Shinko said as he tended to Gelgo (who really needed a hug now), but Gaia could see there was something wrong.
Or maybe not, he would propably be fine anyway (but she would step in, should Shinko get worse).
Suddenly Gaia's horns glowed and she knew what meant.
"Guys, Monoculor found the treasury!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Good, at last we can leave this dreadful hole" Gelgo said, but Shinko raised his hand.
"You go guys, but i stay here. Someone has to stop the antlions' spreading" Shinko said calmly before looking at Ariol and asking"How are your injuries?"
"All healed up, Gaia's abilities are unmatched" he said proudly before narrowing his eyes "And you better not die, it would be a shame since i just started barely liking you"
"Don't worry Ariol, i'll be fine!" Shinko said as Ariol grabbed both Gaia and Gelgo and made his way to the surface.
X X X
"YES! GOL-" Gobold exclaimed happily, overlooking the huge piles of gold, foods, drinks and other valuables before Beetle-Roach and Malware bonked his head.
"Shut it idiot! Or you'll bring that muscular fucker next door on us!" Beetle-Roach hissed quietly.
"Although the data suggests it doesn't react that much to sounds, i don't want to test its credibility in this situation" Malware said in a hollow tone.
"Look, let's just grab as much loot as we can:whatever will happen, we'll need almost twice the amount of those supplies" Monoculor said hastily, then looked at Nark.
He nodded and regurgitated 6 big sacks, just as he did this the others took them and started gathering as much as they could.
"Gaia, Ariol and Gelgo are coming here, ssso we can take more resssourcesss from thessse blockadesss" Nark said, then he turned to Monoculor with a grin "They alssso sssaid that SSShinko intendsss to go all the way down the nessst, it ssseemsss he isss embracing hisss hero work"
Monoculor sighed as he looked in Nark's eyes "I know what you're thinking, and you're absolutely wrong:Shinko is more neutral than the other heroes and he sees us as friends. And, as you know very well, trust is a two-way street"
Nark stood there, recalling the past adventures with the group before Ariol and Gaia came along, and calmly said "I hope you're right"
X X X
Atomic Samurai went to check on his two disciples Bushdrill and Okamaitachi:as they were fighting hordes of antlions the walls, ceiling and floor trembled and shattered as an extremely powerful shockwave tore through the ranks of monsters.
Atomic Samurai could deflect the pressurized air, but he had to put a good deal of effort in doing so.
'Whatever caused the tremors before is closer' Atomic thought with a smirk 'But i am sure that it won't last a second aganist my swordmanship!'
"Just what is lurking in here?" Bushdrill asked aloud as he dusted himself off "I think there's more than meets the eye about this invasion"
"Don't be like that Bushdrill" Okamaitachi told him "This will be a perfect opportunity to sharpen our skills!"
"Exactly!" said Atomic Samurai in agreement, before returning serious "Let's find this monster! We can't let it escape in the city"
Iaian was NOT calm:they had now reached a deeper level of the nest, the dark yellow of the structure not helping with the thick darkness, only tamed by few torches.
The worst part was that the killing intent was pouring from every crevice and structure, and the fact that it manifested itself in a subtle manner was bringing him to exasperation.
In short it was an onslaught of ambushes waiting to happen.
Iaian looked at Bang, who was beside and looked calm as ever. The sight brought a bit of calm to the swordsman's spirit since with him nothing could go wrong.
They kept walking until they came to a bridge, both of them already aware of the incoming ambush.
So they crossed the bridge, not really having any other choice.
Instead of the hordes of enemies, the entire bridge exploded and both heroes fell into the void, soon followed by falling antlion soldiers and what looked like crossbreeds between centipedes and antlions.
Bang noted that the monsters coming at him were in greater numbers than before.
The old hero killed 5 antlion soldiers behind him and, launching himself from an antpede, made an attempt to reach Iaian.
But as he was midway, something new was upon him.
"Oh no you don't!" a cackling voice said and two powerful fists slammed on his back.
Bang was thrown into the darkness below at rapid speed and, as he turned, he could barely see his assailant:it looked like a big, fat and ugly man.
X X X
Shinko said that he would defeat whoever was leading this invasion, however he soon realized that the only reason he did not get lost in these caves before was because of Ariol's guidance.
So, after going in circles for what felt like a mid hour, Shinko decided to put his brute force to use.
Now he was proceeding at a much faster pace, the sturdy walls and floor shattering to his punches and landings.
As Shinko got deeper the scenery became much different:it was almost like being in a cave, the yellow walls and polished pavement gradually disappearing in favor of black stone, stalagmites and stalactites; the air was also much warmer than before and darkness was blanketing everything.
Shinko was not deterred by this and kept going, also noticing that the antlion attacks were getting scarse (mimus a few ambushes).
Eventually...
'I have gotten pretty deep now, just where is their leader?' Shinko asked himself as he kept walking in the darkness.
Suddenly he heard clunky noises who sounded like footsteps.
Shinko got closer to the source of the noise and found himself in front of a guy clad in a kinght armor.
Honestly, now that he was alone in a monster-infested underground, Iaian was on edge since an attack could come from any direction.
He then heard footsteps and the hero would have slashed right away the incoming figure, had it not come closer.
It was a tanned, shirtless boy with fluffy white hair and rather good muscles.
"Who are you, stranger?" Iaian asked.
"I'm Shinko, a B class hero!" Shinko replied, then asked "Who are you?"
"Iaian, A class hero rank 2" the swordsman replied calmly, but then asked "However how did you get here? I don't remember you being with the heroes sent here"
"I came here on my own" Shinko said normally, hiding the wastelanders' involvement in the situation.
"Did...you fight your way through the nest?" Iaian asked in bewilderment and, when Shinko nodded, his mind was trying to figure out the puzzle in front of him.
'This place is full of monsters, any B class would have died upon setting foot in here, but he just fought to get here?' Iaian's train of thoughts was then stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Um...you okay over there?" Shinko said, his thoughtful expression making him concerned.
"No, i was just thinking of the route to take, but these communicators will do just fine" Iaian said as he reached for a black, disk-shaped object with a red button at the center.
"Come on now, we have some dangerous road ahead of us" the swordsman then walked away, Shinko following suit.
X X X
They had walked for a good ten minutes and, so far, they were only ambushed once, but with that one battle Iaian started to watch Shinko suspiciously.
'It doesn't make sense:his strength and durability were almost S class level, maybe even further, but then why is he a B class hero? Did he seriously performed that badly in the written test?' Iaian thought to himself.
Meanwhile they entered another room, but this one had something the others didn't:lava lakes.
While Iaian was thinking of the road to take, Shinko went to inspect one of them and, as he gazed in it, he wanted to answer one question...
...what would lava feel like?
Shinko simply put his hand in the lake:it was like putting a hand in sticky water, only much, much warmer.
"Ok, we're pretty close by now, just stick with me" Iaian suddenly said and Shinko immediately retracted his hand from the lava lake:that hero was already eyeing him suspiciously and Shinko didn't want Iaian to think he was even more of a weirdo.
Not having a shirt also made matters more awkward, but with this kind of heat Shinko was relieved he didn't have it.
X X X
They then walked and walked, without any kind of ambushes, and entered the final room:it was gigantic, with lava flowing everywhere, and at the center...
...there was a huge, shredded corpse of an antlion, along with four people, two of them looking pretty old.
"Ah, Iaian! I see you finally made it here, but who is the guy beside you?" Atomic Samurai asked, pointing at Shinko.
The boy stiffened for a bit and then answered proudly "I'm Shinko, a B class hero!"
"Really? Then you must be pretty strong for having made it here" Bang said in an amused tone, from his supposed strength and attitude this boy would maybe make a good disciple.
"Anyway, we took care of the antlion commander over here, it was no match for two S class like us" Atomic said confidently.
Shinko jumped a bit 'These are S class heroes?! I guess that i would be bound to meet one of them eventually...still it was a shame that i didn't see them fight' he thought, sulking a little bit.
Bang, seeing the boy was eyeing them surprised, went and tapped Shinko's shoulder "You think an old man like me can't be strong?" Bang said in fake-offended tone, making Shinko jump slightly.
Before he could try to apologize the old man then smiled "We're done here, but since you joined this mission i'll put a note for the Hero Association, after all it would be pretty disappointing to see someone with that potential not growing in rank"
As Shinko smiled and thanked him, Bang's mind wandered a little:he was quite curious of the boy and he wanted to observe his abilities in action.
X X X
Shinko was finally in his futon:by the time they got out of the nest it was late afternoon, Bang asked him if he could join his dojo and Shinko accepted without much hesitation:the first lesson would be in two days.
When he returned to the Wastelanders' hideout, Shinko found out that the mission was a success and they celebrated all evening.
With Monoculor sleeping soundly next to him, Shinko finally descended into a heavy slumber, but in his mind there was a clear objective:tomorrow he would meet again with Mizuki.
Well then, did you expect a chapter like this? Honestly, i wanted to experiment with the concept of natural monsters and expand it (trust me, this won't be the only time i'll do this kind of thing, besides i think you'll my takes interesting enough).
Honestly this chapter was going to showcase a spar between Shinko and Saitama:it would end with Saitama acknowledging Shinko's strength, but still not getting the fight he wanted because Shinko was holding back.
Anyway, see you next Tuesday!