Time to strike (3) (Revised) – Rising Up Arc (8)

The day I arrived, we would strike against the 2 Lords. This is the day when I felt a part of my break.

"So, Hikaru, what are we going to do at today's meeting?"- Fumiko is eating with me and Hana at a table inside our cabin.

"Well, we will see what your dad says today. I expect the meeting to go well," Hana said, trying to reassure them.

"I don't think so, Fumiko. These kinds of discussions can go wrong as well. We tried to help, but what they do is up to them."- I don't want to tell her too much about what will happen today. But it's good to at least prepare her for the worst.

"What do you mean by this? Will something bad happen today?"- She looked a little uneasy. With that illness of her's not being fully cured, I can not tell if she is understanding it like an adult will.

"I say that there is potential for something bad to happen. There is still a lot that can go wrong in the meeting. It would be best if you thought like an adult; no matter how harsh the truth might seem about what will happen, you will have to accept it. Most of the time, these types of meetings go wrong. I am just warning you." Maybe it's not a brilliant idea to say this to her; I just want her to be prepared.

"Thank you, Hikaru; I hope that nothing bad happens." – She then proceeded to look outside, maybe to get this off her mind.

"She is too optimistic for her good."- I spoke to Hana over the telepathic network.

"Or maybe you are trying to make yourself feel better as to what you are about to do today. I know you want to prepare her, but, you need to be prepared yourself. As I said, I will deal with Fumiko to the best of my ability"- Hana retorted.

"That as well, but we need to prepare Fumiko; today will be the day that her father is put down. I hope you can take care of her while I am doing it, Hana" – What a way to reply to her, dumbass.

"Sure. I will be taking care of Fumiko. It's better to leave the hard stuff for you. You promised you would do it anyway."- I ended the telepathic conversation with Hana.

Fumiko is looking at me; she is ready to go in for a new day of living, only if I were that excited about living another day in this run-down world where there is a goddess out for my head.

"Hey, Fumiko, what do you want to do today, there is still some time before we go to the meeting, what would you like to do?"- Fumiko is snacking on some candies that Hana made for her.

"Well, I would like to take a stroll with the 2 of you to Welcia Academy, where the heroes are. I know the situation you are in, so it's best to hide. But I want to go there, to see it at least 1 more time."

"Fine"

The 3 of us agreed and went to the Welcia Academy; we were around the entrance. The trip there took us a bit, but with our enhanced movement speed, it was nothing

*Use skill: Lord of Deceit and Lies, Lucifer*- We used this to change our looks to that of a regular student here. I don't know if this is going to help against the brainwashed people here, but let's hope it does

"Hey there, haven't seen you 3. Wait, you are Lord Welcia's daughter. Have you come to visit? Then please go right in."- The guards bowed and let us through. They looked brainwashed and also had Goddess Ifrit's mark on their hand and armor, so that confirms it

"Where do you want to go, Fumiko?"- We whispered to her.

"I want to see how the classes are going; I want to go and see the hero's classroom!" - Being the daughter of the local Lord has its perks, huh?

We headed towards the Heroes classroom; by the name, I expected all of my classmates to be there as well. I hoped no one would detect the disguise that we put on, but from what I could expect, most of them were or would be already brainwashed.

"Fumiko, don't use our real names okay?"- We leaned down to whisper to her.

"Ok"

We entered the Heroes classroom, where they were taught magic and combat. This time, they are doing both simultaneously, against adventurers stronger than them. And as I expected, 90% of them are brainwashed and marked by Goddess Ifrit.

The teacher approached us, recognized Fumiko, and let her in.

"Who are they?"- Pointing at us in disgust. Well, we do look like commoners, and maybe the brainwashing made her look toward us that way.

"They are my advisors; my dad hired them for me. I wanted to see what this academy is like since I will be enrolling soon."- She took a defensive stance before us.

"I hope they are strong; they won't be given time off. Now, if you want to experience this class ahead, I suggest you do some training here, along with the 2 of them; of course, I want to see what they are made of."- The teacher looked at us for 3 more minutes before dropping their gaze.

"Excuse me, can we go outside, somewhere where we can destroy things freely?"- Some students heard me saying this and looked at me. They don't recognize who I am. But some glances may say that some do know who I am; of course, it's the classmates who weren't brainwashed.

"Fine, I doubt you will ever do that. Commoners don't have many skills and magic power like nobles."- Maybe, but monsters do. I smiled at her and nodded.

"The strongest 3 in the class, come outside with me. You will have a mock battle!"- Is this how newcomers are treated? And then, the 3 most robust were brainwashed by Ifrit as well. They mostly looked like jocks, any other gym rat, bully archetype

!Because you look like commoners, they want to humiliate you in front of the heroes and make the heroes go on the same road as them!

"Huh, that's a scummy tactic."

We reached the training grounds, which was the same place where we had saved our classmates from the Alpha Magi wolf.

"Now, you can begin the battle!"- The 3 most vital students in our class are the gym rats. These guys have always gone to the gym and were the first in any sports class.

"Sia, tell me their levels."

!All of them are level 10!

"Level 10, can't they be over-leveled a little?"

!Yes, and their stats are half of yours. I told you that heroes gain levels slower, but their stats increase faster than yours. All of them have been blessed with the Legendary skill: Exponential growth and another random skill that they chose. Plus, the enhancement was granted by Goddess Ifrit for willingly following her!

"Well, I want to have a worthy fight with the 2 of you. I see that she can only provide help with potions since your little lady there is a potioneer. Let's see how you deal against us!"- They charged at us; their movements were so slow and sloppy I could almost see them in slow motion. Why did we even bother with them? They have so much help, yet they can only match half of our stats

I won't be using my shadow tendrils here.

"You 2, drink up, it's a special buff potion made by me!"- Fumiko threw us 2 potion vials.

!This potion will multiply your current status 4 times. It sounds overkill, but the potion will work!

We kept the potion, I signaled Hana to do the same.

"Don't worry, we can beat them without it!"- The first 1 charged at me; I grabbed him by the neck with my left hand and smashed him into the earth; I could even hear a few bones breaking.

The other one was charging at Hana; she kicked him in the stomach and poked him in the eyes. She finished him off with a kick to the head.

!The 3rd one is of the assassin class and wants to attack you from behind. Cast wind magic at the tree behind you!

I blew the leaves off the tree behind me, and he was there, true to what Sia said. Being caught by surprise, I made the first move, climbed the tree, and punched him in the face; falling, he hit his head and fainted.

"This can't be it. You are cheating; look at you, you are commoners, nothing more; how can the 2 of you beat heroes that are way stronger than you.?!"- The teacher looked at us angrily. Her face is red; maybe she is seeing red as well,

"Give them a break; they are stronger, okay? Now, I will take my leave, I have a meeting to attend."

"Fine miss, take care of these 2 disgusting commoners, keep them on a leash not to destroy anything"- Man, I want to punch her face so bad!

!Solution: use your shadow tendrils to trip her or your shadow hand to do so!

Covertly, I used my shadow tendril to make her trip. I placed my shadow hand right where her face was with land, and at the last moment, I formed a punch.

"She got what she deserved."- Fumiko turned around to look at her and smiled.

On the way to the meeting, I kept thinking about Fumiko and what she would have to endure. Unlike me, she had a proper relationship with her parents; it's easier for me to do this because I never knew what it meant to have appropriate parents; from what I can remember, I hated both my mother and father a lot, the only person I loved was Hana, my little sister. I am sorry, Fumiko.

At the meeting:

"So, tell me. You want to soothe relations with us, right?"- Lord Ikrel looked at me, holding a bottle of wine. I bowed my head and looked at the 2 of them.

"Yes, why not toast to our new reunion? Please, butler, put some wine in the glass."

I grabbed the glass and poured 1 glass of wine for Lord Ikrel; I needed more time to use my skill set.

"Well, we will need your butler and maid out of this room if we want to talk business." – Lord Ikrel glared at us.

"Okay, but can they pour us 1 last glass of wine before they go?"- Lord Welcia gave me the glass, and Lord Ikrel did the same."

"Wait, I will bring another sort of wine from the cellar, wait a little bit. I found that this one smells foul and it's not a suitable wine for important people such as yourselves."- I bowed and went to the cellar and searched for a new bottle of wine.

*Use skill: Predator*- I infused the wine with all the poison I had from Lord Welcia.

Returning to their room, I poured them 1 glass of wine, and I was now outside with Fumiko, waiting to see what would happen.

"So what do you think will happen?"- Fumiko sat on a chair; I had to lower myself to talk to her.

"I don't know, I hope it goes okay. But there is a chance for things to fail ad lead to further conflict. We will see."

"I expect only the best!"- Fumiko is so optimistic.

After a few minutes, I hear a thud from the room.

"What was that?"- Fumiko wanted to enter, but Hana stopped her. Hana's eyes started to tear up.

"Don't worry. I will check! Hana, it's too dangerous for Fumiko, keep her here."

"But I want to go!"- Tears started to stream down her eyes.

"It's too dangerous; if they were attacked by someone else, they must be after you, Fumiko, please, stay here. Hana, protect her!"- I tried to say in the most urgent tone I could muster like I was surprised.

"Yes"- Hana turned Fumiko backward to the door.

Looking around the large room, I can see Lord Welcia's and Lord Ikrel's corpses. Mission done. Using my shadow tendrils, I silently dragged their corpses into a separate part of the room.

*Use skill: Predator*- I devoured the skills of both lords; they didn't have many useful skills; well, I already had this basic skill.

#Skill gained: Dimension Home#- Huh, what is this skill?

!It allows you to create a dimension to store living things!- Sia responded, somewhat excited.

"No time to ponder this new skill."

Using the shadow tendril already out, I placed the corpses in the following manner: Lord Welcia defended himself from Lord Ikrel, who was trying to stab him. He got his throat slashed by the knife and couldn't scream, and then Lord Ikrel took his own life.

"Hana, Fumiko, bad news!"- The 2 of them came in and saw the corpse.

Hana looked sad; Fumiko fell to her knees and started to cry even louder and harder.

"Look, I am sorry that this happened."- I walked near Fumiko; she extended her arm and gripped my waist tightly.

She didn't let go of me for like 30 minutes. Man, I feel like crap for what I did to Fumiko, but it was needed; Kinf Wieka is counting on us; we don't need to disappoint him; that man is about to sacrifice his whole life and the life of his army for this world.

We evacuated the mansion since royal guards would likely come there; most of the people are brainwashed, and they won't take kindly to the scene. We need to protect Fumiko with all that we have.

I am at my house with Hana and Fumiko. She finally calmed down, but she looked like a shell of herself; I needed to cheer her up the best way I could.

I must do something to make her feel happy, but what? It doesn't matter; I will do whatever I can.