28 First Dungeon (6)
Last chapter for the week, sorry for being late but I kept rewriting it and might still rewrite it again. 😓
If you're in the States, Happy Thanksgiving/Indigenous Day, and see you all again on Sunday!
*As always things that happened in the novel are not indicative of my viewpoints. Murder is bad.*
***********
POV Evelynn Isolde
As she walked away from the annoying encounter with that lousy black rank student, Evelynn's mind began turning in circles as her anger began rising again. Ever since meeting that trashy black rank student, she felt as if nothing was going her way. She had gotten in trouble with the professors and even the students who supported her were slowly decreasing. Worthless weak individuals like Lina Meraki dared to talk back to her and even mock her openly
Remembering those gold eyes laughing mockingly at her, she gritted her teeth as she stomped through the forest.
She had to make him pay, had to make him kneel down before her begging for his life or her name wasn't Evelynn Isolde.
Rustle.
Without any thought, she immediately grabbed her spear and threw it directly at where the sound came from.
"Eeeeek!!"
Two boys came stumbling out of the bushes and she glared at them. The one on the left was slightly chubby and held a crossbow in his hands. His entire body except for his eyes was covered in mud and twigs and if her eyes didn't focus on him, he seemed to blend in with the bushes behind him. The other was whip-thin with dirty blonde hair who was holding a sword. Although he wasn't as dirty, a slight stench emanated from them and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Do you want to die?"
"N-no! I'm sorry Miss Isolde! I'm a big fan and my dream is to join one of the Isolde family guilds once I graduate!"
"Same here! Please don't attack, we want to team up with you!"
"And why would I team up with weaklings like you?" she snarled as spears of ice began forming behind her."
"We have food at our camp! We're willing to share!!"
Evelyn: "..."
"Take me to your camp then and I'll let you go."
"Of course! Follow me!"
As she silently followed behind them, the peaceful silence was broken yet again.
"Miss Evelynn, I just want to say that I'm amazed at your strength! You're currently number four on the points board!"
"Shut up."
"Yes of course!"
A short walk later, they arrived at a small campfire surrounded by large logs with a small tent made of branches. There was a crude wooden bucket placed by the fire as well as a wooden spit over it.
As she looked around, Evelynn snorted derisively, "You made this?"
"Yes! My dad is a hunter so he taught me how to survive in the woods."
"It's ugly. Where's the food? I'm hungry."
"Coming right up! Please sit and warm your body. We'll begin prepping the food!"
Without any fanfare, Evelynn sat down on the largest log and watched the two boys.
The slim one backed away while the mud-covered one stood at the ready with his crossbow primed.
"Ready Roger?"
"I'm ready, release it!"
"Okay. Releasing now!"
The taller boy waved his hand and the small black box in his hand flashed and suddenly a hog the size of a large dog appeared in front of him.
Squuuueeaaaaaaal!
The hog pawed the ground in anger before charging straight at Roger.
Schoom.
Roger immediately released the arrow before jumping to the side. The arrow struck the hog directly below the nose as it rushed past the boy.
Squuuueeaaaaaaal!
Angry, the hog immediately charged again, but before it could get far, it was suddenly pierced with a barrage of ice arrows and slumped to the ground.
As the two boys gazed at her with a stunned and worshipping look, Evelynn flipped her hair arrogantly.
"You there, what's your name?"
"Carl Sanger, Miss Isolde."
"What's that gift of yours?" Evelynn asked even though she wasn't curious about the answer. She felt disgusted having to speak with the students much less make small talk with them. If they weren't providing her with a mediocre meal in her time of hunger, she would have directly beaten them and taken their watches.
"Ahaha, my gift Trapbox allows me to trap things as long as it meets the requirements. Roger helped me subdue them and I locked them right up." Carl replied with a smile.
"Is that right? And Roger, what did you say your gift was?"
"Switcheroo." The gangly boy dropped his head in embarrassment, "It's a silly gift that allows me to swap locations with a completely still person or object. It sucks for battle but I have another one that allows me to camouflage myself in different environments that has been quite useful!"
"Is that right?" Hearing their words, Evelynn wanted to laugh to herself as a plan to fuck up that annoying black-ranked student came to her mind.
"Ray, how big did you say your trapbox was? And can it hold monsters not just regular beasts?"
"It's large I assure you I haven't had to take my trash out in months." At her expression of disgust, he coughed before continuing.
"I can hold around 40 monsters D rank. More if they're weaker but they'll only be stored for around 6 hours before I have to release them and they'll be released in the condition they're put in."
"So you're saying that if something is stored enraged, it will come out enraged?"
"…Yes."
"Perfect." At the thought of the black rank student getting trampled beneath a horde of beasts and then her feet, an angelic smile crossed her face causing the two men to blush.
"Hurry up and eat, then the two of you will follow me. We have some hunting to do. I've decided to work with you both and you'll have to help me get my revenge. You'll do that for me right?"
"Of course!"
After quickly eating the slightly burnt meal without talking, she led the men to a relatively clear spot and chopped the trees down causing some animals to begin shrieking and running away as the trees fell.
She held her hands out and began forming large ice walls until she had a large enclosed fence.
Turning toward Carl, she ordered him "I'm going to bring monsters here so set up your sandbox to trap them."
"It's actually trapbox…"
"Whatever." As she began walking away, she turned to look back at the two boys.
"And let me know if you see any of those pesky drones so I can take them down." After all, she couldn't leave any evidence behind that would incriminate her.
***
POV Asani Martin
"I thought I told you to leave?" I shot a glance at Lina who seemed to be making herself comfortable in the cave as she dug through her pack bringing out all sorts of supplies.
"Wrong, I believe you said I could leave if I wanted to. Since I have no guarantee you'll survive if Evelynn Isolde decides to attack you, I plan on sticking by your side and protecting you. You owe me way too much money for you to die now." She stuck her hands on her hips while glaring at me and I could feel my lips quirk up. I was almost touched that she wanted to protect me but I had no interest in her messing up my plans.
"First I don't need your protection. I can handle myself and I have a plan. I don't need you being nosy and fucking shit up understand?"
Seeing her roll her eyes, I cocked the shotgun and pointed it in her direction.
"Which do you think is faster, your barrier or a mid-rank bullet?"
"…I could avoid it if I had some distance." She grumbled while grabbing at her staff.
"I've been wanting to test it out so do you want to try? I'll aim for your head and you try to avoid it," I asked her honestly.
When visiting her warehouse, I took the opportunity not only to analyze various weapons but different ranks of bullets as well. Although I couldn't craft high-rank bullets, mid-rank ones were no longer a problem and I found that the best combination was of my crafted shotgun copied from one in Lina Meraki's warehouse and an explosive mid-ranked bullet.
[Mid-rank Magic Bullet]
[A magic bullet made with higher quality mana-infused metal and mana crystals.]
[20 Guage Magic Mossberg 500]
[A pump action shotgun made with higher quality mana-infused metal. Due to the fabrication, it is able to handle higher-ranked ranked mana-bullets without being destroyed.]
[Acuraccy (C): Helps improve the user's accuracyt]
"…Pass. Point that thing away from me."
Seeing as I still looked at her, she rolled her eyes again.
"I won't interfere with your plans. And I'll stay inside without looking."
"Good. Secondly, once I'm done with Evelynn and I give you what I need to give you, we go our separate ways until the end of the exam."
"What? But we planned on conning people out of points for supplies!"
"You can continue doing that. I'll be moving around on my own."
At her unwilling expression, I snorted, "You don't have to split any points with me. Just take it as you owe me one for helping you prep for the exam."
"I accept. What will you be doing?"
"Bribing somebody."
Seeing her confused look, I pretended to dig through my bag and created an air-purifying respirator and goggles for her.
"Don't worry about it and put these on. You'll need it. And whatever you do, don't come outside and make your golem go away. Got it? Don't blame me if it gets fucking destroyed."
I quickly exited the cave and climbed up to the top of the outcropping. After making sure, the drones I had tied up were concealed properly, I prepped the surrounding area by hiding more bottles of Energy sludge while coating the entire ground area as far as I could see with Mana Sludge. If nothing happened, I would have to evacuate anyway as the material was too volatile but if something did happen, I would be prepared.
Carefully climbing up once more, I lay back staring at the weird-looking sky, and settled in to wait.
A couple of hours later, just as the sun was setting, I spotted a mud-covered boy approaching the stream.
I sat up and held my gun up in warning and he immediately stopped and raised his hands up.
"Hey- don't shoot! I heard I could trade with you for some goods. Do you mind coming down?"
I glanced down from my perch on top of the rocky outcrop, taking in the mud-stained clothes and shifty eyes before commenting.
"How did you know to come here?"
"Uh, I was told to find a large golem and there should be a student there I can trade with." The boy stuttered as he continued looking up edging closer and closer to the stream.
"Do-do you mind coming down? I want to trade! I have points."
I glanced at the boy before giving him a gentle smile as I replied.
"I do actually. You see, there's no golem here, and the only person who knows about this place is a certain blue-haired bitch. So that means if you're here, you're plotting something with her. I didn't know she had it in her to team up with others."
I paused to cock the shotgun while analyzing him.
[
Roger Stone
Age: 17
Rank: E
▷Stats:
[Strength – E]
[Stamina – E]
[Speed – F]
[Perception – E]
[Vitality – F]
[Magic power – E]
[Intelligence – E]
Gifts: 2/2
Gifts: ▷Camouflage (E), ▷Switcheroo (E)
Familiar: None
Mana attribute: N/A
]
Aiming the gun, I pretended to fire a shot at his feet laughing as he jumped back.
"Whatever you and your friend hidden in the back have planned with her, I suggest you cancel it and get out. Otherwise, the next shot goes through your leg."
He stared up at me, legs shaking before yelling. "Switch!!!"
He immediately disappeared and a small black box appeared.
Simultaneously, 5 ice spears flew at me, piercing the rocky outcropping.
I looked down, noticing that each spear had a shrieking bleeding monster pinned to the wall.
[Black-Tailed Bear Cub]
[Mud Boar Farrow]
[Green Whip Fox Kit]
[Green Willowed Infant]
[Spring Fawn]
"This bitch…."
Seeing that they were all young monsters, I couldn't help but curse. Who the hell went after children?
The previously still black box began glowing and then a large group of monsters appeared. Foxes, bears, gorillas, bucks, boars. Their gazes all zeroed in on the shrieking monsters pinned below me.
Looking between the angry horde and a smirking Evelynn Isolde who had suddenly appeared beside the now two male students, I could feel my anger rising.
Switching to my handgun, I quickly put the screaming monsters out of their misery before firing at the bottles I had hidden on the ground, causing them to begin exploding. As the previously coated grass and shrubs began rapidly catching on fire, I continued firing shots farther and farther away. With my left hand, I continually shot at any animal racing to climb up the outcrop while with my right hand, I kept crafting Mana and Energy Sludge Potions as fast as I could and throwing it at them. As their bodies caught on fire, it seemed that their panic grew and instead of trying to rush me, they began screaming and rolling about, trying to put out the fires that clung to their bodies.
Seeing Lina about to poke her head out of the cave entrance, I fired a warning shot in her direction before switching back to my shotgun and balancing at the top and continued shooting down the monsters.
Five remaining.
Bam! Straight between the buck's head.
Four shots and the bear finally went down.
Three remaining.
Two.
One.
The loud noise finally stopped and all that could be heard was the crackling sound of fire as it spread rapidly. Trees began falling from the heat and all that could be seen was a sea of fire.
Watching the blaze burn everything beneath me before continuing to spread unchallenged, I calmly created a gas mask for myself along with some goggles before turning to look at Evelynn Isolde.
Despite the flames and everything burning around her, she looked calm as the area around her and the three students was bare of flames. As she caught my gaze, her face widened in a crazed grin as she said something to the boys and glanced up in the air as if searching for something.
Not spotting what she was looking for, as a unit they begin to walk forward, the ground before them freezing temporarily before heating up in flames as they walked past.
Once she got to the stream, she stopped before speaking out.
"Not bad. I see Meraki finally got some sense and abandoned you. Did you like the present I prepared for you?"
In response, I shot an explosive bullet at her that was quickly blocked by a shield of ice which shattered immediately.
"Wow. It's even stronger than last time. How nice!"
"You're crazy."
"What? Are you angry? Are you going to kill me? Then do it, I'll give you a free shot. Hit me with your strongest, I guarantee it won't have any effect." She gave a crazed smile as she spread her arms wide open and glanced up once more.
"If that's what you want, allow me." I smiled in return before crafting mid-rank bullets in the shotgun. Calmly aiming at her chest, I pitied the two clueless students caught up in a mess they didn't understand before shooting two bullets directly at her while crafting a bear trap right behind her foot.
Almost in slow motion, I watched as she grabbed the two boys by the neck, forced them in front of her, and took a step back while crafting an ice barrier in front of her,
In an explosion of flames, the bullet tore through the chests of the students before being stopped by her shield while her foot stepped right into the open bear trap and her leg buckled as it snapped shut.
"Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" as she began screaming, I calmly sat down and watched as the two bodies fell around her.
I watched as she tried to pull her partially severed ankle out of the trap and shot a plain magic bullet beside her.
"You murdering bastard, I'm going to kill you!" Evelynn screamed and if looks could kill, I would have been vaporized on the spot.
"Maybe you should take a look at that first? I don't think your foot is supposed to dangle off the bone like that." It was honestly disgusting to look at. Her white uniform was stained red and the exposed shattered bone glimmered in the fire. The foot was dangling by the barest bit of skin and looked as if it would fall off at any moment.
As she continued, screaming the area around her that was resisting the flames shrank and the bodies of the two students began to catch fire, from their uniforms to the hair on their bodies.
Evelynn slowly climbed to her feet, having freed her ankle from the trap and frozen her whole left leg. As she panted, her face pale and sweating, while leaning on a spear of ice, I could see the need to attack me warring with pain and fear in her eyes.
"Hah! Hah! Hah! You filthy black rank! I look forward to seeing you in jail and getting kicked out of the academy."
"Shall I help you get rid of the other leg? Guaranteed weight loss of at least five pounds." I couldn't help but laugh as she comprehended my words before screaming again.
"You'll pay for this!"
Saying nothing, I simply shot at her foot, laughing to myself as she limped away.
As everything continued burning, I quietly tossed some more sludge potions, igniting the flames to burn even harder.
Seeing that the area was clear, I gave a relieved sigh before walking into the cave.
Lina was staring at me with a shell-shocked expression and her face was pale as she gripped a fully extended scythe.
"Did you see?" I asked her with a soft smile.
"I-I didn't see anything!" she stuttered while shaking her head rapidly.
"Tsk. That's why I told you to leave." I clicked my teeth while pumping the gun.
"I said I didn't see anything! Besides we're partners! No betrayal and no killing unless you want to mana contract to activate and kill you!" she screamed while gripping her scythe tighter.
"Lucky you right? Evelynn is gone. Hold this and shoot anything that moves." I tossed the gun to her before grabbing the rope I had previously hung and climbed to the top of the rock.
Seeing the drones flying safely right where I had tied them down, I couldn't help but smile.
I quickly grabbed them both before climbing down and handing one to Lina.
"What is this?"
"Evidence, just in case I get in trouble for this."
"In trouble for murder?"
"I thought you said you didn't see anything!" I chuckled as she began shaking again.
Lina: "…."
"Anyways take it. If any weird situation happens, send it to an independent lab you trust and get the memory card certified as an original and undoctored piece of evidence. Pass a copy to Professor Lee as well. Got it?"
As she stared at me suspiciously I laughed.
"This was Evelynn's plot so I'm sure she'll find a way to blame me. Since I don't trust Evelynn to come out and say she was part of the reason for their deaths, this is just so I can defend myself in case that situation happens.
"…you just killed two people. You're taking this very calmly." She whispered.
I didn't bother responding and just held the drone out to her.
"…fine, I'll do as you ask but I'm leaving. And you owe me."
"Just get it done as soon as we leave the island got it? It's urgent. And make sure you don't say anything. No betrayal right?" I murmured as I gazed down into the fire.
"…okay."
"Go out the back. There's less fire that way."
As she stored the drone in her bags and began leaving, I didn't bother looking at her. I absentmindedly sat at the mouth of the cave and placed a barrier in front of me. Even with it, the hot air continually rose and bathed my face and body while my eyes took in the sea of red and orange below me. As the flames continued to burn and spread, an occasional explosion was heard here and there, my gaze focused solely on one spot.
The two students that had perished. I could see their bodies burning as they lay on the ground. The only thing untouched by fire was two gleaming silver watches and their weapons; a crossbow and a sword.
As the smoke began getting thicker, I recrafted a gas mask and goggles and continued to watch their bodies burn, engraving every second of it into my mind.
Even though I didn't need to, I looked at my status screen, wanting to verify what I already knew and there it was.
[
Asani Martin
Child of the Nox Clan
…
Gifts: 3/3
Gifts: ▷Eye of Odin (D), ▷Beloved By Mana (E), ▷Mana Craftsman(E)
Curses: 5 Effects.
Blessing: 5 Effects.
Crimes committed: (3/1)(Manslaughter(2), Third-Degree Arson(1))
Familiar: None
Mana attribute: N/A ]
For the first time since I entered this body. Since I became Asani. I had killed a human being. Although I had no qualms about it, it was a senseless death with no benefits to me. Plus unintentionally benefitting Evelynn Isolde left an unpleasant taste in my mouth.
Well, seeing as she had planned to have me violate one of the academy's ironclad rules of no intentional murder among students, I could see that she had used her head a little.
Still, if she expected things to go her way, she would be very surprised.
Patting the drone lying beside me, I let out a cold smile.
Authors Note:
Not-so-fun facts:
Third-degree arson: the arsonist sets fire to an empty tract of land, such as a vacant lot field, or forest.
Manslaughter: the crime of killing a human being without malice aforethought, or otherwise in circumstances not amounting to murder.
