Big Boy

Glancing around the scenery, Peter turned to Ciel before asking:

"What's this place?"

Turning around to get an extra view of the place. Suddenly, ciel spotted a green lotus flower in the middle of the lake.

"There! This place is a secret mission. Once you clear it, you get extra cores."

"Extra cores? The instructor never mentioned anything like that." Peter expressed, feeling suspicious of the sudden mission.

"Of course he didn't." Ciel exclaimed in a frank attitude. "You think the instructor would simply tell you everything. Remember this place is meant to mirror an actual scene, such things always have hidden clues and things contained in them."

"Oh. I see." Peter acknowledged the relevance of the provided information.

Sighing, Ciel expressed,

"You see, despite being just a student, I don't really have that high of strength."

"You didn't train before becoming a reader?" Peter questioned.

"Yes!" Ciel dramatically snapped his fingers. "If only I trained. In any case, I can't easily get the lotus flower. So why don't you get it for me… I mean us."

"Hmm" Peter visibly pondered.

After a few minutes, he nodded and said calmly.

"Very well, once I get it, we can then share the cores. And I apologize."

"What for?" Ciel asked with feigned ignorance.

Pausing for a moment, Peter looked down on the ground before answering.

"You are nothing like what the rumors portrayed you as. You're very alright." Peter said with a smile.

'Oh honey.' Ciel's expression for a swift second had a look of pity..

Nodding, Peter rushed forward towards the lake. Once he reached, he prepared to directly jump into the water.

"Stop! Before you start I believe we need a few things. Just in case, their might be a monster in there. And since we're working together, I plan on increasing chances of survival if that were to happen."

Stopping himself from jumping in the lake upon hearing the shout, Peter reflected for a few seconds before nodding his head.

With a smile on his face, "Your very different from the rumors."

"Ah it's nothing much… Just." Ciel pointed at the water, "Just look over there, I think the monster is there."

Turning his head, to see what Ciel was pointing at, Peter expressed his perplexity.

"There's nothing there. I can't see anything."

"Dear Dear…."

Splurge!

"Huh?"

Swish!

"Gaahhhhh!"

"What is? Haaaa!"

A dreadful scream echoed through the forest, the birds flapped to the air- startled by the scream.

Turning around half dazed, Peter stared at the katana within Ciel's hands, his expression pained and pale.

Looking back at him, Ciel pocused solely on the round hole dripping with blood in Peter's chest.

'My strength really has to increase.'

"What did you do?" Peter questioned, his hands covering his chest, as to block the red blood that poured out in waves.

"Me? Didn't you hear me? I said I wanted to increase the chances of survival.

My survival." Ciel responded frankly.

In truth, the moment Ciel saw Peter his mind had began calculating ways to rip value from the unsuspecting reader. Firstly, he created a fake mission about the beautiful lake, and when Peter finally stopped his guard against him. It became a perfect moment to strike.

Furthermore, Ciel needed to practice killing actual people. Though he didn't kill anyone considering this was a simulated reality, it would help prepare his psyche for when the day finally came.

However, this alone didn't fuel his desire to kill the rather nice reader. No, it came from the unspoken rule he gleaned from the instructor.

Even though killing wasn't expressly stated, it was implied that readers could kill other readers. However, Ciel didn't believe that no reward existed for those that manged to kill others. Naturally, he sort out to test the theory.

Looking down on Peter who now knelt, his clothes completely bathed in the iron smelling blood- his face grimacing in pain.

By observation, Ciel realized that pain was also simulated with the Reality, but perhaps not at a high degree.

"Kuhk…You tricked me! You are exactly as the rumors say!"

Ciel paused, a smile slowly crept into his face.

"But at least you learnt your lesson." Ciel crouched before him, "Sometimes we learn by making mistakes. Example, you never know whether an egg is spoiled or not unless you open it. Then you call it a mistake. But at least you learnt from it…"

Wiping the blood on his katana on Peter's clothes, Ciel grabbed the reader's head, looked into his eyes and said calmly:

"At least now you have made the mistake, you can learn better. Always be on guard against people who have had reputations."

"Please don't - don't kill me!" Peter exclaimed, tears bubbling up in his eyes.

"Dear dear. Calm yourself… it's only going to…"

Crack!

Peter's head turned a full 90 degrees! Letting go on the head, the body dropped like an old sack of sand.

At that moment, the system interface appeared before ciel- it's color, a turquoise blue hue.

[Killed a reader. Total points: 4]

'Oh? He must have killed a monster before coming here.' Ciel stood up, he bent a little and carried Peter's corpse on his back.

Taking a few steps towards the water, he took a breath and tossed the body into the lake.

With a splash that ripped the surface of the water. Ciel watched as the corpse sunk into the lake.

"Sigh… My school life just got a lot more chaotic." In the advent of those words, Ciel suddenly felt a cold liquid move through his bones and body, granting a serene feeling, his eyes half closed to relish the sensation.

However, the voice of the web didn't echo in his ears.

'Must be because I'm not really not in reality.' Ciel acknowledged the possibility.

About to turn away from the lake, a large shadow suddenly extended from the lake.

It was a monster!

'Wait there was an actual monster?'

The creature looked like a large black bear- standing at roughly about 3 meters tall. It's head had a green lotus flower growing on it.

'So it was hiding in the water? Using the flower to attract prey.' Ciel made a deduction.

[Spotted The Baron of bane. Worth 8 cores.]

"Damnit!" Ciel exclaimed.

Though not expressly stated by the instructor, Ciel had come to understand that the rule that a monster gave a core was false, or perhaps misunderstood. In this case, it depended on the monster, the stronger it was, the more cores it could give.

The mercurial slime gave a messily 2 cores, and Ciel had a descent amount of struggle against it. What would he do to a creature that was three times stronger than it.

Well, the answer is quite simple: You run!

Ciel attempted to run, however the moment he turned around to move, a smile curled up on his face. He stopped, turned around and looked at the monster - opening up his arms, he said joyfully.

"Come give mama a hug."

The bear like monster who held Peter's corpse in his large paws, roared loudly, the surface of the water churning like a storm.

However, Ciel wasn't disturbed by this, he raised his hands higher and exclaimed excitedly:

"Who wants a back ride…"

…..

Standing on the other side of the lake, hidden behind a certain tall tree, Circe dressed in the plain uniform wondered to herself.

'Does he have something for monsters?' she gripped her sword, her eyes flashed with an illusory light. 'Or is it something else.'

Not long after spawning within the simulation, she discovered herself separated from her brother, who she immediately actively began seeking. However, she stopped in her tracks, when she heard the sound of water splashing.

Investigating the source of the sound, she discovered Sinbad: the boy who didn't smell, acting funny with a big dangerous monster.

Her interface had informed her of the monster's cores worth, which meant it was likely an apprentice rank. And Ciel as a student, couldn't possibly defeat something like that.

Now, she waited to see if he had some plan that bordered on his strange behavior. If he didn't, she was ready to swop in and save him. She couldn't have him fail, at least until she discovered his secret. The secret as to why he didn't smell.

Ciel at this point had a warm smile on his face, his hands raised high in a welcoming embrace.

"Come here you. Come to Mama, you beauty."

The monster roared, it slowly placed Peter's corpse into his mouth.

Scrunch!

The massive teeth bit down on Peter! Blood dripping in waves into the lake, dieing it into a deep crimson hue. Peter's hand dropped into the water, as the monster munched on the simulated body of the reader.

Ciel, on the other hand, had a welcoming smile on his face.

"Dear Dear, you should eat slowly, less you get a hiccup."

Circe at this moment noticed a peculiarity. Although, Ciel had a welcoming smile on his face, his arms stretched out as he desired to embrace the monster - his eyes told a different story.

The eyes that circe had seen hold disgust, annoyance and a slight maliciousness, had now transformed into something else.

Wide eyed, Ciel's expression transformed into a split screen of emotions. The lower half of his face had a welcoming-all embracing smile, while the other half had a twitching, dilated look. If Circe wanted to link it to anything, it would only be connected to the expression of horror and apprehension.

This was what she felt from him.

It didn't take her long to realize: Something was wrong!

Gripping her blades handle, she stared in silence, in case he still had some plan to save himself. She wouldn't want to be the reason, his plan got ruined.

Ciel at that same time was experiencing a horrifying phenomenon!

'What's happening? Why can't I move?'

"Come get a back ride…" Ciel's lips moved with an excited face.

'Wait what? Why did I just say that? That wasn't me. What's going on here?'

"You sweet boy, mama gonna take care of you." Ciel drew closer to the monster, his legs bordering on entering into the now crimson lake.

'This isn't right? Why am I saying that? No, let's calm down. Something is obviously wrong with me, is it the monster? Did it do something to me? Yes, that's a possibility. But why hasn't it eaten me yet? Is it waiting for something?'

Staring at the monster: the bear-like creature, now had eaten most of Peter, with the only remaining parts; the hand, which was currently being devoured.

'So it's still eating. In that case, I have only a few minutes to think of something.'

Staring at Ciel, barely a feet away from the lake,Circe raised a brow.

'Should I attack now?.... No. He probably still has some plans.'

'Nononono! That won't work! I can't access my body!' Ciel was near a panic attack. 'Flames of black? Yes! That might work. But what if it isn't the monster that's doing this? Wouldn't I have revealed my secret to the library without gaining any useful things back?

'Illusion? No, what would illusion even do? At most scare the monster? But what if that just makes it agitated?'

Watching for any signs of trouble from Ciel, Circe hidden behind a tree suddenly curled up a smile. She let go of the grip on her sword,raised her hands slightly into the air. And in a muffled whispery voice she exclaimed joyfully:

"Come here you big boy."