Some announcements will be said in the Authors Notes so please be sure to read once you finish.
"We found another village."
"Wait, what?! Where?!" I asked, startled.
Nickoli nudged Faith, who was sitting alongside his tankette, and she got up to move some of the shrubbery hiding the view. In the distance, I could make out what looked like a building, similar to the one in the earlier village, but not exactly the same.
"Did you guys just find this?" I asked, sounding puzzled.
"Yeah, we did. We were just waiting for you to catch up to us," Faith remarked as she sat back down.
"As I said, I was busy fighting for my life, practically," I said in an irritated tone.
"So that's where that EXP came from, huh? I assumed those gunshots were just you messing around or something," Faith said with a nonchalant shrug.
I swear I could feel one of my veins bulging in my head from hearing that.
Deciding to just glare at her, I continued, "So, any other information other than that there is a village?"
Nickoli finally popped his head out of his tankette, "Well, I noticed at least how they are different compared to the lizard men that attacked us," he explained.
"So are they like the animal people or beast people that imprisoned us before, or...?" I said, sounding puzzled.
Nickoli shook his head in disagreement before continuing, "No, they seem more… like us."
Wait a minute, does this mean that there are humans here as well? If so, then maybe we won't be attacked.
"So, are these humans friendly or?" I asked Nickoli.
"No, they are not human, at least not any human I recognize," Faith said while twiddling with some sticks she found on the ground.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked again, this time more confused than before.
She just gave me a shrug in response before going back to messing around with her sticks.
"Are you going to take this seriously or not?! Last time we went uninformed and unprepared, we got our arses handed to us!" I angrily yelled at Faith.
Nickoli slightly jumped from my sudden exclamation, however, he quickly recovered and shushed me.
"Calm down, it's not like we have many options here. We can't just turn back," Faith stated.
This actually makes me wonder, how long would we be able to keep this up? While being on the move constantly in the forest means that we can stay undetected from hostile forces, this comes with its own set of drawbacks.
The first is that we need a more stable source of food. Some days we have plenty of food for the day, but other days we have barely enough for one meal each. The longer we stay in the forest, the more the latter happens.
Not sure why the Tacs are appearing less and less often, but if this keeps up, then I don't think our nomadic lifestyle will sustain itself for much longer. That is alongside the fact that we need proper protection and resupply of healable items. Also, I would rather have armor to protect myself from claw attacks, as last time that almost got me killed.
"Care to indulge us in your deep thoughts, or are you just going to keep sitting there looking like an idiot?" Faith mocked.
I waved my hand to quiet her down before saying, "Give me a second, I'm thinking of a plan."
The question now is how I will sneak into town and grab the said items. I may have some of this weird money, but I'm not sure how much of it equates to in total. That, alongside the fact that they may be hostile, makes it worse.
I guess the only possible scenario that would be plausible is one of us sneaking into town late at night in order to nab some items. Since more than one of us would lead to us getting caught and maybe even killed, actually, that does also bring up another question.
"Wait, do they have patrols or guards roaming the area?" I asked both of them in a small panic.
"Yeah… Why are you asking?" Nickoli asked, clearly confused.
Oh shit, this might be bad. My fight with the Saber-Toothed Tiger was not that far away; they might have already raised an alarm or something from the sound of my gunshots!
"If you are wondering if they have spotted us, they have not. They only have 2 dudes on patrol around the village, and while I'm certain they heard it, they probably can't do much due to their limited numbers," Faith said while she threw the sticks she had a distance away.
I gave her a puzzled look as she seemed to be speaking using her brain rather than just spouting the first hateful thing she could think of. But still, the logic does hold up with what she stated.
"Anyways… I have a plan, though I know one of you will hate it, we kinda have to do it," I said while giving a glance at Faith.
"I don't like the sound of this already," Faith said as she slightly fixed her sitting posture.
"So what's the plan, Alex?" Nickoli asked curiously.
"Well, this plan will really only involve me, but you guys have a role to take into it as well. I'm going to sneak into the village," I began explaining.
"Wooh, nobody saw that coming," Faith nonchalantly whispered under her breath.
"Shut it, anyways, I will need a couple of things from you two for this to work," I continued.
They both gave very mixed responses to this.
"I mean if we need to, then sure," Nickoli said with uncertainty.
"Nope, I don't consent," Faith said as she crossed her arms in disagreement.
I gave a small sigh upon hearing the second response before continuing, "You did not even let me say what I needed from you two," I said, sounding pretty annoyed.
Faith eyed me before she seemed to put her arms on her lap, indicating she is willing to listen.
"Okay… I need to first borrow Faith's Cloa-"
"No."
"I need it for what I'm planning on doing. Could you at least hear me out?" I said, pretty irritated.
"No, anything involving my stuff, I won't allow you to use, especially my robe," Faith spat back angrily.
"Listen, what do you want me to do? Go in there just like how I'm dressed and potentially get captured?" I said angrily before continuing, "You already know we are running low on those healing potions, and the bandages we have are only so useful. You also know for a fact that you don't want to be injured horribly, especially considering how you seem to get a deep laceration almost from a small bite."
Faith only glared at me as I explained angrily how not cooperating would just lead to our downfall. However, she seemed to remain stubborn and not take my logic at all. Now this was really irritating me.
"Fine, if you don't want to help, then I guess I'll figure something out later today. Since going at it while there was still plenty of daylight left is just asking to be caught," I said as I got up and walked back to where I was before.
There was no point in trying to argue or convince someone who is unwilling to listen. After all, I had my fair deal with this due to my dad. My dad is, in fact, the most stubborn person ever, I dare say.
If I bring up a fair argument, he just ignores it completely. If I list out a list of reasons why one method is easier and better than the old method he does, he does not care and forces me to use his due to "If it still works, then it works." Every single time he says something along those lines, it makes me internally rage.
That's why I learned to just go along with it and avoid trying to argue with my dad when it comes to stuff like that. Even if internally I hate it, it's better than getting into a heated argument I ultimately lose with my dad's trump card… "Because I said so." Faith just reminded me heavily of that, and I knew if I tried to further then it would just be the last straw before I go off on her and leave.
Whatever, I might as well take my mind off of this and instead do something more productive… maybe getting enough Tacs to actually fill my stomach for once? Though since we are in close proximity to the village, I should avoid shooting. Actually… this reminds me of the new weapon form I unlocked.
Saber-Tooth Tiger Double Barrel Shotgun LV 1
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: +5 Attack
Equip Effect: Hearing Improvement (Small), Sight improvement (Small)
[O,O]
Interesting… Hearing and sight improvement… not sure how that would work, but I might as well test it out. I switched my weapon form from my dire wolf submachine gun to the new saber-tooth tiger double-barrel shotgun.
The length of the weapon was decently sized, with it not being super long while also not being one of those super short ones, so at least I'm not going to be trolled with the naming of the weapons. In the back of my head, I am still a little irritated with how a submachine gun basically gave me a machine pistol, but whatever, I have better forms now.
One recurring theme with the weapon forms is them having cool additions near their barrels or on their designs. For this gun specifically, it seems to have the teeth of the animal or monster in this case attached to the under barrel of it. Sort of like double bayonets but somehow cooler as well, and also larger.
The only issue is the fact that they are both pointing downward like their teeth. A small inconvenience as I can just slash with it then… I should probably level it up then, probably. I mean, how many points do I have left?
Available Weapon EXP: 357
I'll just invest 300 and leave 57 for the future. After all, it will be worth it if I can learn how to handle this weapon properly. The only issue is the possibly spread it might have due to it being a shotgun, but whatever can come later.
Saber-Tooth Tiger Double Barrel Shotgun LV 10
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: +5 Attack
Equip Effect: Hearing Improvement (Small), Sight improvement (Small)
[O,O]
Huh? I guess since it's level ten, that means my other two weapons are not that far off from a new level either… No, I should probably save my EXP whenever I accumulate a good amount of it again. I will, however, use weapon synthesis on it though.
I did the same process I always do, open the menu after touching the O on my status and select the two I want. A no-brainer is the paralyzing poison bullet, so I looked for that first and selected it. A small number on its side also went down, but I just ignored it as I always do.
Saber-Tooth Tiger Double Barrel Shotgun LV 10
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: +5 Attack
Equip Effect: Hearing Improvement (Small), Sight improvement (Small)
[Paralyzing Poison Bullet (Weak),O]
Actually… this does beg the question of whether or not I can reassign weapon synthesis slots. Since if not, then I think it would be better to wait until I unlock a melee-based special equip effect so it can help it. I think it's just better to be patient…
While thinking, a group of Ilumi rolled—well, more like stumbled—into my view out of the corner of my vision.
"Eh, whatever, I'd rather take my frustrations out on these little guys," I said as I began to run over to where the group was.
I wasn't sure whether what I saw from them was fear as they jumped a little when they noticed me running at them. However, I didn't care, as a second later, only little tiny bits were what remained.
While the weapon length was not long enough for me to hit them while standing, as long as I leaned forward a little and did a sweeping attack, it seemed to work well. One swing was enough to send them tumbling away as they turned into fragments.
As I finished making quick work of that small fry, I turned my head to more groups of them in the distance. I then continued on my small little rampage of the Ilumi and other weaker monsters like the Tacs or Konus, it appeared, with them being killed in a swing or two.
…
Before I knew it, a couple of hours had passed, and the sun was about to fully set on the skyline.
"Okay, I might have gotten a little carried away," I said in a small sweat as I stretched and switched my weapon form to my dire wolf submachine gun again.
While I wanted to stay by myself, I knew that it was dumb, especially now, to stay solo. So I started looking for Nickoli and Faith. I checked my inventory or storage as I began to walk back to where they were last time. I had collected quite the amount of fragments from Ilumi and Konus. I also had a decent amount of Tac fruits, enough to eat a decent fill for myself.
"Good job me," I said half-heartedly congratulating myself.
I returned to where the two previously were, surprisingly I could see footprints and tank tracks that led slightly deeper inside the forest. At least they know not to make a fire near a possibly enemy area. I followed it for a little bit until finding them sitting around a fire, with Nickoli always dead asleep the second the sun dropped.
Faith just glanced at me as she went back into looking at the fire. She seemed to be trapped in her thoughts, not sure what she was thinking of, but I don't really care at this point with her.
"Looks like you guys are doing fine, I assume you ate as well?" I asked her.
She glanced back at me before answering, "Yeah, we ate the remaining amount of tacs left in the basket."
"There were only 3 fruits left though?" I asked puzzled.
"Yeah, we ate them," she said.
I gave her a long and hard stare before speaking, "I see…"
There was a long silence as I contemplated what to do next… OH, I forgot I need to sneak inside the village.
"Anyways, I have to get inside the village now that it's getting dark, don't die or anything," I said as I walked away.
However, in the back of my mind, a thought came across my head. Wait a minute, Nickoli is usually the glutton out of us three, and knowing her, she mostly eats late at night… which would mean that-
I slowly turned around, and for some reason, I felt sympathy. Knowing Faith, she probably let Nickoli eat all the remaining fruit, leaving none for herself. I also usually eat late, so I have spotted her eating hungrily at night right before sleeping sometimes.
I wasn't that far away; I walked back near the fire, and Faith didn't even bother to glance at me this time.
I opened my inventory and took out half of the Tac fruits that I had collected, numbering 4.
"Here," I said as I slowly rolled the fruit over to where she was sitting.
She ignored me at first; however, once the fruit touched her, she turned to it and then turned to me.
"What?" She asked questionably.
"Take it," I said as I began to walk away. There was no point trying to explain and probably getting into another argument.
As I began to walk away, however, I heard her voice again, "Wait!"
I don't know why, but under normal circumstances, I would assume Faith is trying to belittle me, and I would ignore it. However, this time felt different, not sure if it's how she said it, but it compelled me to actually turn around.
I turned to see Faith standing a few steps behind me with a weird look on her face, one I have not seen yet, at least. I wasn't that far from the fire, so I could still faintly see my shadow being made from the illumination it gave.
"Here," she said. To my surprise, she took off the cloak and handed it to me.
Now it was my turn to be confused.
"What?"
"Do you want it or not?"
I was pretty dumbfounded, to be honest, but I decided to grab it from her hand and put it on. While normally it would probably not fit, due to our height similarities and it being a heavy cloak, it meant that it wore pretty well. It was somewhat heavy, maybe it was in the name, but it was nothing I could not handle.
"Wait before you leave," she said as she reached into the coat pockets and took out a couple of things.
I could not recognize most of them, but among them, the lighter was there.
"I'll let you take my cloak with you for now, but don't think I will let you grab my other stuff," she said as she pocketed the items into her pockets.
Actually, I have never seen her without her cloak, now thinking about it. It always made her seem kind of bulky and strong. However, since now she only seemed to have what looked like to be a light jacket, it was different. She was slimmer than I expected, with her body now looking similar to mine. I also subconsciously checked her chest… it seemed average if not a little on the smaller side.
That, alongside the fact that the fire illuminating her figure somehow made it majestic almost. Maybe if my first impression was this Faith, a slightly smaller girl with silver hair and blue eyes, maybe I would have even called her cute. I guess those teen instincts don't just go away, even in another world.
"Are you going to go or?" She said pretty confused as to why I was just staring at her.
"Oh right! My bad," I said sheepishly as I turned and began heading toward the village.
I began to run towards where the village was. While the cloak slightly hindered my movement, it was not too much to pull down my speed. With the night sky being filled with stars, it sort of fit the aesthetic of a fantasy world.
I eventually got within close visible distance of the first building, so I decided to hide behind a tree quickly and put on the cloak hood to mask my facial features. From the looks of it, they have very few lights, well in this case torches around, so with this and the darkness, I should not be immediately recognized.
"Alright then, time to move in."
End of Chapter 9.5
Authors Notes:
Hello everyone! I'll get right to it and explain what is happening with the announcements.
Firstly I wish to say that I won't be able to post next week due to me taking a small vacation with family. That's the same reason why I posted this shorter chapter earlier than normally, which I apologize for but this is the best I could do due to time constraints.
Now the next announcement is regarding a new discord server I and other MWP creators have made. It is meant for readers of the MWP to be able to communicate with us more clearly and vice versa. Also, there will be notifications for whenever your favorite MWP fics are updated so be sure to join if you are interested! Don't worry, chapter 10 will show Alex's trek into the village so stay tuned for that the week after next week.
TLDR: Won't post until the week after next week due to vacation. A MWP server was made so we could communicate and notify you on MWP fics.
MWP Fan Server: Dis cord .g g/Buha9QaKzW (Broken up due to Fanfic censoring it) (Might need to add ht-ttps at the start too)