Yuya laughed as he shoved the blunt edge of his staff into a rabbit monster's guts. Sparks flared up as he twirled with a graceful step. The thing died with annoying screeches.
Raphtalia stared horrified at the blood dripping from the staff. "Relax, it's just a worthless monster, no need to get worked up over nothing." Yuya said, flicking the blood off the staff.
"But…but… its… so bloody…" The racoon girl trembled. Yuya sighed, he turned his attention to Naofumi who was watching the two fight. Making sure they didn't get ambushed. Yuya bent down.
"So it bleeds. Get used to it." Yuya didn't bother sugar coating his words, but he held back its usual bark.
Naofumi blocked another rabbit that barreled out of the bushes. Yuya made a move to attack but Naofumi stopped him.
"Raphtalia should kill it, you said it yourself, she needs to get used to it." The human reasoned. Accepting that answer the puppet backed away. The nasty rodent was trying its best to tear his young lord's arm apart, though it wasn't making much progress with how absurd the Human's defense stats were.
The racoon girl trembled before the curse mark on her chest flared to life, a sick mockery of the very element Yuya commanded. She cried out, gripping on to her dagger, trying to steady her hands through the pain. Lord Naofumi shouted encouragement to the girl that Yuya tuned out, the current display in front of him wasn't all too entertaining anymore.
Sure enough she finally killed it. The white body lifelessly dropped as the blood stained the grass below. "This world isn't a game." He heard Naofumi say, as his gaze locked onto the two monster corpses. Was this the first time either of them saw actual bloodshed caused by their own hands?
They took a break after spilling monster blood. Yuya felt slight guilt for getting Raphtalia shocked so he put together a meal with the ingredients they had on hand. If they asked him why he'd just lie and say he felt like eating something that didn't taste like shit.
The dish wasn't anything amazing, just a simple curry, during preparation Raphtalia got curious and watched Yuya work. Amazed that he had such a good grip on cooking.
"How'd you get so good?" She asked, sniffing the food. Her tail wagging happily, Yuya made a hum debating whether or not to answer. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to tell them a little.
"Some kind people taught me how to do all kinds of things way back when." He didn't elaborate further, anymore and he'd ruin his own mood. It seemed to be enough for the raccoon girl. She had picked up on the sad fondness in his tone. He silently cursed to himself. He distracted himself by looking at his young lord.
Naofumi was poking at the food with a scowl on his face. "Is the curry not to your liking?" Yuya asked a frown forming on his own features as well.
"I can't taste it, did you make it bland or something?" The man said. Yuya crooked his head at that. He was sure the curry had enough flavor.
"It's definitely not my cooking's fault..!" Yuya felt offended, a slight raise in his hair as he childishly huffed, swinging his spoon in the air. Yuya excused himself for the night.
The next morning they made their tracks to the next location, a small town that was called Lute. Everything here was very reminiscent to the Anemo Archon's land. The people and the language. Yuya could thank the Irmensal for complete understanding of the spoken language, however he couldn't make head or tails of the written words.
The town was peaceful, Yuya however found the over friendliness of the humans grating at his limited pachients already and they haven't even been in town for more than an hour!
How the puppet hated the chatty humans the most, at least Lord Naofumi didn't talk nearly as much when they were out slaying monsters, he could put up with the tanuki's chatter as she was just a little kid.
Everytime they stopped at a shop or moved to the next, the annoying humans wanted to strike up conversation with them or he heard someone whisper to others at how pretty he was. Yuya was really starting to miss his hat.
Yuya in turn glared at everyone he saw, almost growling a few times from growing irritation. He kept himself in check when his lord asked him to calm down. Raphtalia took that as a cue to grab hold of Yuya's arm. "Humans can get overwhelming so let's stick together." The raccoon girl insisted.
Yuya didn't have it in him to push the girl away so he let her cling to his arm. Naofumi finally found a stall that would accept monster parts. Yuya could care less so he focused on the wall that seemed a lot more interesting than whatever the humans were discussing at the moment.
"There's an old mine that you could use, it's now sadly a nest for monsters from the last wave of calamity." The human who was looking at the rabbit furs informed them. Yuya refocused on the conversation.
These waves sounded awfully similar to the darkest days in Teyvat, when the Cataclysm hit, he had yet to come into existence so he's only heard stories from others in passing.
"Ore huh… we can sell those for some decent prices."Naofumi set their next destination, the abandoned mines. Yuya didn't mind the constant changes in scenery. It was rather nostalgic in a way.
The mine itself reeked of past battles. The ore glowed in the dark. Some of it was normal, others held magical properties. "Alright this spot will do, keep a lookout for any monsters." Naofumi ordered as he got to mining. Yuya examined the ores with his elemental sight.
None of them shone as brightly as they should. This world wasn't as elementally rich as his old one. Yuya paused in his musings, having heard something in the distance, it wasn't the sound of metal striking at crystal chunks. He drew his staff silently.
Footsteps. Light and swift. So it had to be a monster. Humans were rarely that quiet. Sure enough from the darkness a giant form skulked up to them. With a roar it lunged. Its teeth met wood. Yuya had rather recklessly jumped in front of its attack. Despite being a lower level than it, he didn't seem to be struggling all that much.
Naofumi cursed as he threw up his shield. Giving Yuya a chance to free his weapon. The shield slammed into the jaws of the dog monster. "Now this is more like it! I've been getting bored of the balloons and rodents!" Yuya laughed, a crazed look entered his eyes.
Naofumi was taken aback by the sudden switch in demeanor, he should be used to it as Yuya often fluttered between being nice and down right rude depending on who the puppet interacted with.
Raphtalia froze up again, her entire body shook with fear. Eyes trained on the two headed dog that was recovering from being stunned. Lighting burst to life as Yuya swung his staff. The tip alight with power. It shot out a sharp blade of energy. Cutting through the flesh of the monster.
Yuya sighed disappointed that it didn't tear the monster apart. Levels seem to actually matter, how annoying. Shifting his stance he kicked up some loose rocks at the now electrified beast. "Don't just gawk at it!" Yuya snapped sending the rocks hurling towards the black dog.
One missed, the other hit the hound square in the eye. It roared furiously. Charing at them, Yuya danced around its bites and slashes, applying Electro to it with every hit. He felt the Air Shield his lord usually used activated to block a bite from his left. Interestingly enough his electro clung to the shield, causing a small swirl reaction.
"Raphtalia! Don't just stand there! Help Yuya kill it!" Naofumi ordered. All three backed away, the girl was on the verge of tears when the slave Crest activated again.
"I… I.. I can't! The dog monster..!" she was crying full now. Yuya heard his lord exhale. "Then hide, we'll kill it." The Crest stopped shocking the poor girl. So his lord truly had a soft spot for children like Yuya did… They were a lot more alike than the puppet cared for.
Yuya felt his energy returning with each strike. Seems like his elemental energy regeneration had kicked in with the proper battle raging. Each attack got periodically more powerful.
"Hey! You're going to electrocute us too if you keep that up!" His lord barked. Yuya noticed the floor sparking on some spots. The cave was wet after all.
"Apologies, I got carried away." He reigned in his output. Though that did give Naofumi an idea. "We'll push it off and then you can let loose!"Brandishing his shield. It turned into the Rope Shield.
If he was alone Yuya could easily just flood the cave with his Electro but killing his employer and the tanuki were out of the question. So he rushed at the girl grabbing her easily just as the dog tried to bite at the easiest target. The rope from Naofumi's shield shot out and tangled itself around the dog's hind legs. Making it trip.
The human was a lot stronger than Yuya first guessed as he was able to drag the beast down. Naofumi manuvoired to entangle the beast. Yuya assisted with a well placed kick before it tried to get up again. Hearing a satisfying crunch in the monster's jaw. They worked to push it off.
Raphtalia realized what she had to do when Yuya shot her a look, making a glance at her sword and the rope. She shook until Naofumi spoke.
"This is your chance to prove to me that you are strong, that you have worth on this team." He said. The dog snarled and whimpered as it tried getting up. Yuya kicked it again. The monster wasn't as dumb as it looked. Using its other head, it bit down into Yuya's leg.
Teeth gnawing at the skin that had yet to break." Unsightly insect! "Yuya snarled, his eyes glowed with rising anger.
"If you keep freezing up like that we'll get killed and then we can't save anyone from these things!" Naofumi warned. He couldn't move from his spot to help Yuya as it would loosen the straining rope around the beast.
Yuya was getting annoyed, his hp was slowly being drained with each annoying gnaw, getting deeper and deeper into his leg. It was starting to actually hurt the puppet. He let out an excited chuckle.
Something in Raphtalia snapped as she used her sword to stab the head biting down right in the eye with as much strength as she could muster. It reared letting go, roaring in pain as it nearly pulled Naofumi down with it. With another strike the rope was severed. The momentum sent the beast barreling off the cliff hitting rocks on the way down.
A huge splash echoed in the cave. Naofumi ordered Yuya to fire his magic into the water below. The puppet happily did so. With a swift movement he pointed the tip of his staff downward, creating a small ball of electro before kicking it down. Markings previously hidden under cloth revealed itself as he glowed purple. The energy hit the beast in the water. He watched as it got supercharged, before it finally died.
Yuya felt himself get stronger the moment the beast died. Leveling up was a strange feeling no matter how many times it had happened so far. Raphtalia let out a small sigh of relief as she fell onto her butt. It was over. She helped kill it!
After the rush of a proper threat died down Naofumi started making his way down to where the slain dog monster floated in the water. Occasionally sparks danced across the water surface before it finally died down.
Yuya helped Raphtalia up as they joined their young lord at the bottom of the cliff. "You want to salvage parts of that mutt?" Yuya asked. He had a slight limp from his injury.
Naofumi nodded. "We can't let it go to waste. Not after all that effort we put in to kill it." He said. Yuya sighed at that.
"Fair enough, though you fish it out." He didn't feel like getting wet. Naofumi used his Rope Shield to grapple the corpse closer. Once in range, Yuya helped haul it onto the slippery rocks. Raphtalia eyed it warily. Making a small noise when it twitched. She dived behind Yuya.
"Relax, it's dead. It's probably my electro in its systems."True enough small sparks danced around the body before that died down as well. The two companions watched as Naofumi carefully tore the monster apart, he had a lot of practice with smaller monsters beforehand.
Yuya lazily watched the man dismantle the corpse. Naofuni fed parts of it to his shield too. Once he was done, the human turned his attention to the puppet.
"Let me see your injuries." Naofumi said. Yuya looked at his bloody leg. A dull throbbing had stayed behind.
"It's nothing I can't handle." Yuya insisted. Naofumi frowned. He switched shields. The one looked like it came from his mecha. Yuya paled at the sight. "I'm fine. I've healed from worse!" he tried.
"It doesn't matter, I need you in peak condition, if you break down you'll have no more use for me." There was the cruel human heart Yuya grew to expect. He'd be thrown away…!
"I'm a lot more durable than I seem!" Yuya didn't mean to raise his voice. Naofumi stood up. Turning fully to the shorter man.
"I have yet to actually see if that's true or not. You weren't in the best condition when we found you, so I simply don't trust your claim on that." Lord Naofumi's words clawed at all of Yuya's fears and insecurities. Panic was rising within the puppet.
"Even Raphtalia knows it's stupid to deny treatment as both of you are useless if you are dead or too injured. "He pointed to the tanuki girl, who froze at being brought up.
He held the shield out. The purple strings on it made the puppet's back burn."If you don't cooperate I will use this Shield's abilities to force you into line." Naofumi threatened. The puppet took a step back. Those strings came from the Shouki no Kami… If the shield had the power to control him…
"Dottore…was planning…" A newfound realization hit him harder than he'd like to admit. He was shaking, rage and a fresh wave of betrayal hit him.
He fell to his knees. Head turned down to the rocks. "... Do as you wish…" Yuya sounded so defeated. What life he had regained was stripped from him yet again.
Naofumi flinched but kept his face. He approached the puppet with a bit more caution. Easing the doll into a better sitting position as he got to work on healing the injury. Using the shield to guide his mana over to Yuya. Naofumi let one of the strings attach to Yuya's leg.
"Relax, I'm just healing you." Naofumi said as he felt the puppet flinch under his touch.
Raphtalia watched uncertainty about what to do. It was hard to watch someone like Yuya crumble that quickly, but she thinks she understood what he felt to some degree.
The wound glowed purple shortly after as the skin started knitting itself back together. Once there was no sign of it Naofumi let the string detach. The small hole it left behind closed as well.
"Get up. We're leaving." Naofumi said to his companions. The dull look in Yuya's eyes tugged at his heart a bit. The puppet got up, shaking his leg.
The walk back to Lute was filled with uncomfortable silence.