Preparation for Shigai (2)
An unassuming boar stood there on the dreaded forest. In mere seconds, its head came flying off as I swiftly dash towards it and cleanly decapitated his head, marking the last kill of my daily quest.
"Oh my days, I finally found the last monster. Who knew finding monsters would take longer than actually killing them." I say in frustration, sheathing my sword as I walk slowly back to the town.
[Daily Quest: Slayer I
20/20 Monsters Slayed
Reward: 1000 XP
Failure: Penalty Zone.]
Maybe it's because I've already slayed so much on these past days.
Also, I've noticed that in this forest, I've only encountered boars, gorillas, and different types of reptiles/insects these past days.
...
Am I going to be the cause of extinction of these monsters or something?
As I reached Crescentia, I feigned ignorance to the quest as that amount of XP barely makes me level up anymore.
Also, while the time I completed the daily quests, there wasn't any notifications. It was only when the level up notification pops up when my experience bar somewhat aligns.
At the boar's corpse, a party was nearby.
One was a male assassin with black hair and eyes, one was a female mage that had brown hair and hazel eyes, and the last person was a female healer with silver hair and eyes.
I forgot to pick up its corpse while I scrolled through my status window.
"Hey, look. It's a boar corpse, want to test your revival ability?" The assassin says pointing at its corpse, hinting the healer to test out her newfound ability.
"O-Oh, alright. That's um... good timing." The healer seemed a bit nervous and was hesitant at first, but in the end, she decided to do it.
As she chanted the magic spell, the corpse of the boar lit a faint yellow light. Her teammates exclaim in surprise.
When the magic spell was done, the boar corpse stood up, grew a head, and ran away from the party.
"Oh my god! It actually worked!" She exclaims in joy, looking at her 2 hands as she contemplated on what she had done.
"Did I... really do that?" She asks, denying the situation and not believing her own eyes.
"Yeah, you did, Rei. You've gotten a lot stronger, you can even help us when we actually die." The female mage says, joking around with her as she pats her shoulder.
"Hey, don't say it like that! You're saying it like you'll die soon!" She remarks, trying to act mad.
"Haha, I was just joking." The mage says, enjoying the banter with them three.
Meanwhile...
[Daily Quest: Slayer I
20/20 Monsters Slayed
Reward: 1000 XP
Failure: Penalty Zone.]
...
[Daily Quest: Slayer I
19/20 Monsters Slayed
Reward: 1000 XP
Failure: Penalty Zone.]
Back at Crescentia, I walked on its streets, looking at my left and right, taking in the always lively feeling of the streets.
To be honest, I haven't encountered any spoiled brats yet, except for Katsuro.
That guy has everything since birth. It pisses me off.
I thought as I looked and sneered at the night sky, imagining Katsuro's face as I get angry. Then, I realized Mika's remark of a meeting inside the inn I was staying.
"Oh, right. I had a meeting this evening."
Anyway, which direction was my inn? I'm really bad with directions. Ah, I have to ask the locals again.
"Excuse me, do you mind knowing where Kenzou's inn is?" I ask a random stranger.
"Oh, it's over in that direction..." He responds.
As I stopped at the entrance of my inn, I check the time of the clock when I went inside.
[8:02pm]
Damn. I'm late, am I gonna get yelled at?
I thought as I frowned and looked at my left, spotting a glaring gaze of a person named Mika, a wild Katsuro beside her, and 10 other people...?
"You're 2 minutes late." She says, checking the clock.
I avert her gaze, coming up with an excuse.
"What? How, I'm just two minutes late..." I complained, looking at her confusingly as I walked towards her and the raid team.
"Anyways, take a seat. We'll discuss our plans for the upcoming raid tomorrow." She says, her usual cheerful demeanor fading away replaced by a serious look.
I took a seat for myself, secretly aware of my surroundings and the people here. The people around the inn sipped their coffee and looked at us with suspicion, but it's not because of them.
Something feels off.
I don't know what exactly, but I have a really terrible feeling. Is it one of these people?
For some reason, the anomaly's perspective skill isn't responding like it usually does. Hello? Are you there?
...
Oh, nothing.
Alright. I mean, I did tell it that I wanted to grow by my own and not rely on it.
It's not like I regret it or anything. But I still have to do what that darned system tells me...
I thought while pouting a little bit, a little mad by the fact that the system telling me what to do but doesn't help me.
"First of all, we need to stack on perfumes." Mika stoods up, remarking it with confidence. The moment I hear this, I exclaimed a medium-volumed "Huh?".
A few moments of awkward silence pass. For a second, the silence was the loudest sound in the room. But, the silence was broken by a question I asked instinctively.
"What?" I tilt my head, confused by her query.
"Spiders in general, big or small, hate chemicals and strong smell." She says, everyone nodding their head in approval as they listened.
"So what you mean is that once you go in, they'll all be killed because you have 3 bottles of perfume sprayed on yourself?" I ask sarcastically, grinning as I tried to lift up the dreaded mood.
"That's not what I meant!" She stood up, both hands planted on the table as she exclaims defensively. Katsuro even chuckles a bit hearing my revelation.
"But, we need perfume. If there isn't any perfume, we can go for chemicals; mainly alcohol." Mika says.
"Then, we just need to finish them off. Let's discuss our formation in detail..." She continues, everyone nodding her head. Just then, a few seconds pass, someone raises their hand.
He was somewhat taller than me but a bit slimmer, had purple hair and dark indigo eyes. His eyebags were extremely prominent.
"Excuse me, I have lots of alcohol at home. May I take some with me tomorrow? I'll even get some for others" He closed his eyes and smiled, asking Mika for permission as he slowly, eerily opened his eyes. The others were wary and looked at him in suspicion, but dropped it after hearing his suggestion.
"...Okay. Go ahead. But, why do you have a lot in the first place?" She replies, looking thankful but then began to be suspicious.
"Oh, I'm a healer and an alchemist. I experiment with healing potions so I have alcohol and perfume. But, I'm not giving my healing potion for free." He says, closing his eyes eerily and smiling.
That guy, why does he have such heavy eyebags?
I might just be judgemental, but heavy eyebags like that aren't normal.
But...
...I'm looking forward to tomorrow's raid. Can I clear it successfully, or will I just block the boss's attacks like what the system said?
Since I'm an anomaly on just the story, I'll be an anomaly to the system itself. I'm going to change my fate to something the system will never expect.