Chapter 31 Lost Art

Boom!

The ground cracked into pieces. Isaac was thrown backwards by the shockwave. "Oof!" Isaac slammed to the ground and coughed out blood. "Korf. Ha. Ha. Ha." Isaac breathed heavily and with lots of blood gushing out of his mouth. "My bones..." Isaac looked at his HP bar. "That shockwave took 50% HP? What bullshit is this?"

Looney crawled toward Isaac slowly with its mouth wide open.

"Llyne was right. Its teeth are really white." Isaac laughed, and more blood splatted out his mouth. "Shit! There is no time for idle talk. Got to think of a way to butcher that worm." Isaac tried to move his body, but he couldn't feel anything. He couldn't even lift or feel his fingers. All of his bones were broken. He was stuck on the ground as Looney moved closer. Suddenly, a blue screen appeared.

[Warning! Your enemy's hit took 50% of your HP. Your HP will be reduced continuously.]

"Continuous? You are kidding me."

[Warning! Your enemy's level is too high. Recommend: Run.]

"Run? In this condition? Whoever programmed this thing isn't very bright."

[ Congratulations! You have met the condition of your weapon skill, 'Lost Art'. You may use the skill without consuming MP.]

"I can use the 'Lost Art'?"

Isaac looked at his katana's skill list. The 'Lost Art' name was shining. The MP consumption was reduced to 0, and there was a description of the skill. It wrote, 'Recover user's HP and eliminate a single target regardless of level.'.

[Do you wish to use 'Lost Art'? Yes / No]

"Hell ya." Isaac smiled.

Suddenly, a bright blue light shone and enveloped Isaac's body. Looney was blinded by the blue light and screamed. "Kiechhk!!!"

Isaac slowly got up. "This light is..."

[ Congratulations! Your HP is fully recovered.]

The light disappeared. Isaac rubbed his eyes. "This is too unrealistic. I can't comprehend any of this." Isaac turned toward Looney, who was itching to kill him. "But one thing I know for sure is it's payback time." Isaac slowly unsheathed his katana. "Goodbye and begone forever, you bloated worm."

Looney rushed toward Isaac. Isaac took a deep breath and adjusted his position. He made sure his feet shoulder-width apart and his katana pointed towards the target. Then he raised his katana above his head until his sword was parallel to the ground. He bent his elbow slightly. He closed his eyes and relied on his ear to wait for the right moment to swing his blade.

Looney jumped toward Isaac and was about to gobble him. "Hooh," Isaac exhaled through his mouth. The blade turned bright blue, and Isaac swung his blade straight down.

Swoosh!

Looney was split into half cleanly. The air went completely still for a moment. Isaac opened his eyes calmly and saw Looney disintegrated before him. Isaac blinked his eyes. Again and again. Isaac froze at the spot where Looney fell. "Shouldn't the body still be there, at least? Hah...Looks like I have to create another plan." Inside Isaac's head, it was pure chaos. There were multiple of him running around his head, screaming and hitting each other. Isaac closed his eyes and cleared his thoughts. "I'm fine." He whispered in silence. Isaac sheathed his katana. "I'm fine." He said again. He breathed in and out repetitively before he rushed toward Llyne and Rona.

[Llyne and Rona's side]

[Time left: 00:42:33]

I equipped my scythe and tried slicing LM's tail. Whereas Rona used her axe and tried chopping the tail off. After 15 minutes of hacking the tail, the tail still looks as sparkling as ever.

Blink.

Blink.

"Oui...I give up." I laid on the floor to rest, whereas Rona continued to swing her axe.

Rustle.

"Who's there?" I got up and held my scythe toward the sound.

Isaac came out of the bushes and asked. "Me, duh. What are you guys doing?"

I placed my scythe down and said. "Isaac, you're back. Where's Looney?"

"..." Isaac looked away and kept silent.

"Well?"

Isaac gulped and said. "Disintegrate?"

"What?"

"Accident happens."

"Disintegration isn't common."

"What can I do if it just fell apart."

"Put it back together."

"I can't. It turned into dust and got blown away by the wind."

"You know, in future, if I ever ruin your plan, replay this moment in your head."

"The past is the past. Let it be."

"Do you not know women? They never let go of the past. They store the past in their RAM, and when they try to access the RAM, you know you're screwed."

Isaac gulped nervously.

"Anyways, you should be lucky. Although the plan failed, we might still be able to clear this stupid trial."

"Really? How?"

"You know how worms can't understand our language."

"So?"

"The whole thing was a misunderstanding. LM doesn't understand a word Rona said."

"Then why was LM so mad before this?"

"LM was constipated."

"Constipated?"

"It had crystals for lunch or something."

"Worm can't eat crystals."

"This one did, and I saw it. Anyways, LM is kinda agitated, so we decided to help him."

"So before this, we were just at the wrong place and wrong time when LM was constipated?"

"Ya."

"I can't believe my ear. But now LM understands you guys?"

"We did a show for it, then it understand."

"Unbelievable. Do you think if you cut off its tail, it will solve the constipation?"

"If you don't try, you'll never know."

"What a waste of time."

"It's better than swimming in its anus just to unplug it."

"You mean you guys haven't tried that?" Isaac scoffed.

I glared at Isaac, and we started arguing like cats and dogs.

While Isaac and I were bickering, Rona was able to crack through the tail.

"Isaac! Lil! A hole!" Rona exclaimed.

I ran toward Rona and said. "Really? Let's hack some more." I turned toward Isaac. "Help us. Don't just stand there like an idiot."

Isaac sighed and used his katana to slice off the tail.

After 10 minutes, the tail was finally cut off.

"Oui... That was hard work."

"I used my katana to cut a tail..."

"Rona helped, too!"

Rumble.

Rumble.

The ground shook fiercely. We dropped to the ground.

"What's going on?" Isaac asked.

"I don't know. Do you think I know just because I experienced this so many times?" I shouted.

Poot!

Something flew out the worm's anus and landed on Rona and me.

Splat!

'...' I was stunned. Then I heard Isaac calling out to us. I shook my head and started to find myself out of this yucky and sticky situation. I started kicking, punching, and slamming, but it was no use. I couldn't budge, so I tried swimming. As I swam upward, I finally got out of whatever I was in. I looked down only to realize I was swimming in dung.

"Ptoooh!!! Ptoooh!!" I spitted dung out my mouth. "There's dung in my mouth. Disgusting! Not just that, it's so dark and moist and stinks so bad. Yuck!" I barfed till I teared up.

At the same time, Rona was enjoying eating the dung.

I pulled Rona out of the dung. "Don't eat that. Spit it out."

Isaac covered his nose and backed away. "Don't you know worm's dung are very nutritious?"

"Don't encourage her, you goon." I screamed.

Clang!

Rona cried. "Owie!"

"That's why I told you not to eat dung." I scolded Rona again.

Rona removed the solid object from her mouth and found a crystal.

My eyes widened. "Crystal! The dung has crystals in it. Isaac, help me find more crystal."

"You crazy? I ain't touching that."

"Stop being such a clean freak. This is crystal we're talking about."

"Over my dead body!"

"How do you survive in the jungle? You're such a clean freak."

"That's why I sanitize every second."

"No wonder your hands are so dry. Come moist up your hands." I tried jumping on Isaac, but he dodged.

"No way!" Isaac started running, but I quickly chased after Isaac.

"Oh no, you don't. Bwahahaha." I jumped and managed to catch Isaac, and he screamed bloody murder.

"Oui... All those misfortunes must be for this moment." I grinned from ear to ear while Isaac was cursing me. "I hate you, you %^@$#^!"

Ping.

A blue screen with Mr. James's face appeared.

[ Congratulations! You have survived the 'Survival Trial' with a few minutes to spare, my little bunnies. At the same time, you disintegrated our dear mascot, Looney.]

Rona and I stared at Isaac, and Isaac looked away.

[Oh well. Unfortunately, everyone's fate is already set in stone. It's just the when. Our little sweet mascot, Looney, just had an earlier leave due to somebody.]

We didn't dare to mutter a sound, just in case Mr. James might go crazy from losing 2 of his mascots.

[Moving on. The 3rd game has already been finalized and is currently in progress of building it. It will take 10 days to build, and till then, do rest well, my little bunnies, as we will never know when your time is up.]

"Mr. James, how many survivors are there left?" Isaac asked timidly.

[That's none of your business, is it? Unless you are telling me, you want to be a hero and save the remaining poor bunnies, who are going to get their skull crush and flesh consumed by their enemies, then please, by all means. Just say the word, and I'll zip you there, my chubby little bunnies.]

We shook our heads furiously.

"Okay then. See you little bunnies, 10 days from now.]

Mr. James snapped his finger, and everything disappeared, even the ground.