29 First Dungeon (7)
"What the hell is going on? Why is half the forest on fire? Did the Crimson brat finally lose his temper?" Robin complained as he watched over a fourth of the forest on the island catch fire. The blaze was unstoppable, blazing through large areas and causing trees to burn and fall rapidly while causing monsters and beasts alike to flee in droves. It was honestly a massacre on a scale he hadn't seen before.
"No it wasn't him, it was another student battling Evelynn Isolde but we lost track of the two of them as the drones went offline," Swallow replied as she checked the large screen that was displaying the drone footage. As compared to earlier, the screen displayed far less footage, and of the ones that existed, the majority just displayed the raging flames.
"Shit. What about the students?"
"Most of them have scattered around and are waiting out the flames. Not to worry as our insiders have infiltrated quite a few groups. We can't do any pickups until the flames die down though."
"Tch. Any sign of Solomon Nova or any other students noticing anything?"
"No. Before losing sight of him, he was diligently hunting monsters."
"Fine. I have a bad feeling so you go to the Lighthouse and check on that bastard and ask for updates. I'll keep an eye out here and report to the professors."
"Got it."
****
"Calling Solomon Nova. Solomon Nova, if you hear this message you're parents are looking for you. Please follow the sound of this voice and show up." I spoke into my megaphone in a deadpan voice.
I had been walking through an unburnt portion of the forest all day in search of Solomon Nova as I had a couple of questions for him, mainly regarding what he could see with those eyes of his. Anytime I looked up at the sky, it wavered as if there was a barrier there and it appeared to be quite bright when looking at it in my mana vision. When I asked Lina about it, she claimed not to be able to see or sense anything, so I had to find the resident expert with special eyes and get his opinion. The sun was close to setting and not to talk of Solomon, I hadn't even seen any monsters. The smell of smoke still lingered in the air despite there being no sight of flames, so I guess they were either hiding away from the fire or scared by the loud noise I was making.
"Solomon Nova. Calling Solomon Nova. Please respond to this message. Your parents are looking for you."
"Yo. You called?" a voice suddenly spoke out and I glanced up to see the culprit looking down at me while hanging upside down from a branch.
"…where did you come from? And isn't blood rushing to your head?"
"It is and I feel very dizzy but it looks cool right?" he replied with a wide grin although his face was turning red.
At my unimpressed expression, he laughed before flipping himself to sitting upright on the branch.
"As for where I've been, I've been tailing you for a minute. It seems the range of your eyes is about a mile right? Anytime I got closer than that, it felt as if you could sense me."
[Scan has been resisted partially.]
The sharp feeling raked over me once more.
Tsk. What an annoying bastard. I almost regretted calling him over.
Deciding to ignore him, I continued walking, watching out of the corner of my eye as he hopped from tree to tree and followed me.
"So why were you looking for me? You called me so much today that I think I'm going deaf." He rubbed his ears with his hands dramatically causing me to roll my eyes at him.
"First come down from there. I don't like looking up when I talk to people." I stopped and glanced up at him.
"What if I don't want to?"
Seeing his annoying smile, I smiled back in return before I analyzed his cuff.
[Rank Restricting Cuffs]
[Creator: Caerus Nova]
[Target: Solomon Nova]
[Magic cuffs created to absorb mana and dissipate it into the environment from the target (Solomon Nova) and restrict his rank as well as all his gifts by ??? levels until he is Rank E)*
* If the cuffs are forcibly removed by anyone with a mana signature different from Caerus Nova, the foreign mana signature will be recorded and transmitted to Caerus Nova. You will be hunted down and beaten up before being questioned to the fullest extent of the law. Be advised, Solomon Nova, I'm not joking around with you.]
It was the first time I had seen such a detailed message for an item and seeing that it was specifically targeted at Solomon Nova, it seemed that he was a frequent offender and this wasn't the first time something like this had happened to him.
Concentrating on imitating the mana around the cuff, I crafted a key in my hands and it at him as I analyzed it.
[Rank Restricting Cuff Key]
[Creator: Asani Martin]
[Target: Solomon Nova]
[A key created to release magic cuffs from the target (Solomon Nova) *
* The key matches the mana signature of the cuff creator by a large amount.
**There is a small chance that the mana signature sent back to the creator will not match the original creator of the cuff]
I shook the key at him, hiding a laugh as his eyes widened before willing the key away.
"You, how did you get that?"
"As you said, you don't want to get down and my calling your name hurt your ears right? I'll be on my way then."
Whistling to myself, I continued walking forward without a care in the world.
Come down, you bastard. He should be feeling a sense of urgency since I assumed no other student would willingly remove his cuffs. After all, why would they willingly release a bastard who had not only ruined their last exam but also forced them to this one?
After a moment's pause, Solomon jumped down and landed softly beside me, "Hey black rank, let's chat. What do you want for that key?"
"First of all, it's Asani not black rank. And secondly, let's trade information so I can see how useful you are. If your info is good, let's make a deal for your freedom."
"…what makes you think I need the key? I can break out of these cuffs if I wanted to."
"You're down here aren't you?" I gave him a mocking smile.
"Fine. You start since you called me over here. What did you want?"
"First, have you seen the barrier in the sky?"
"…I don't know what you mean."
"Playing stupid? Fine by me." I shrugged and walked in silence as we continued walking.
5 minutes.
10 minutes passed.
At the 15-minute mark, he finally spoke up.
"I've seen it. What of it?"
"It looks pretty big. Do you know who did it and was it you?"
"Me? Pfftt. I'm restricted right now and even if I wanted to, it's a waste of mana putting one up that large and keeping it up. And it is pretty big. I've gone from one end of the island to the other and it surrounds the whole thing. No gaps as far as I can tell though I haven't checked the full perimeter yet."
"Where is it coming from? Any thoughts on who did it?"
"Why does this sound like you don't have any information to trade and are just questioning me?"
"I don't need to have information. I have the key to your freedom. Unless you want to free yourself and have Caerus beat your ass? The threat looked pretty serious." I smiled mockingly.
I could see his eyes rolling around before he sighed.
"…pass. The barrier looks to be coming from the central tower on the island. That's where the mana looks most concentrated anyway. I couldn't get closer since I couldn't be sure my concealment would work at rank E. Damn cuffs." He spat while looking disgusted, "But I have a suspicion that it's the heroes watching us. They've been flying around destroying drones and…"
At his hesitation, I arched my brows, "And?"
"And I've noticed a few weird students mingling with the rest and I've seen the heroes carrying some students somewhere. The fire seemed to have stopped them temporarily but now that it's stopped, they've started back up again. All I have is my suspicions for now but there's one more area of the island I need to check to verify what I'm thinking."
"Tell me your suspicions."
"No. I'm going to check out the last area. You continue straight ahead for about another two miles. Julius is there as well as a couple of suspicious students in a cave. Your eyes are pretty sharp so take note of what you see. We'll compare notes when I find you later."
Seeing that I was silent, he held out his hands, "Want to take my cuffs off now? I feel like I've been pretty helpful."
"Sure thing." I smiled before whipping out a mana contract, "Just sign on the dotted line and I'll free you straight away."
Solomon snatched it from my hands, his widening as he read it.
"Become Asani's Dog 10 times for 24 hours each time?? Obey all orders no questions asked. No payment can be requested for services rendered. Are you out of your mind?" He threw the contract back in my face.
"Aren't you desperate? Don't you need your full gifts to investigate?" I carefully caught the contract and smoothed it out.
"Not desperate enough to sign that bullshit. I told you I can take the cuffs off if I want."
"I see. I see. Well goodbye then. Have fun investigating. Come find me if you find anything and properly think through my offer when you come back. See you later."
"You're awfully confident that I won't attack you and steal your watch."
"Have fun taking it, I'm indifferent about the points and I'm pretty confident I can run away from you right now." I wasn't interested in a direct confrontation with him and worse come to worse, I would just set fire to the forest and run away.
"Plus, judging by your willingness to talk, I'm the only one who has noticed anything wrong. Are you sure you don't need my help, Nova? After all, I'm currently holding the key to your freedom. I doubt any of the other students will risk releasing you after your last stunt and if they know they'll get in trouble with your clan head, they won't do it."
Solomon observed me silently before slumping with a sigh, "I can see why Professor Lee likes you. You have a nasty personality just like her."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It's not."
Chuckling, I reached out and patted his shoulder in sympathy.
"… Shouldn't you get going and go do some work? It's getting dark."
[Scan has been partially resisted]
[Scan has been partially resisted]
"How annoying. I don't like you, black rank. You and those creepy eyes of yours."
"Oh? You know? I assure you the feeling is mutual Nova."
As he scanned me again, I analyzed him with a smile, happy to finally see some results.
[Analyze has been partially resisted]
[
Solomon Nova
Suppressed by Rank Restricting Mana Cuffs
Age: 17
Rank: ?? (E)
▷Stats:
[Strength – ??(E)]
[Stamina – ??(E)]
[Speed – ??(E)]
[Perception – ??(E)]
[Vitality – ??(E)]
[Magic power – ??(E)]
[Intelligence – ??(E)]
Gifts: 2/??
Gifts: ▷Fairy Eyes ??(E), ▷Blessed by Mana ??(E)
Familiar: ??
Mana attribute: ??
]
[Craft key to break restriction?]
Hell no.
Laughing as I read through the attributes of his gift, I could see Solomon's face form a deep frown.
"Tsk. I'll be back."
"Wait. Share your location with me so I don't have to scream your name again to find you. My throat hurts."
Solomon: "..." What the hell was going on? Why did he feel like he was back in his clan being ordered around like a gopher by his aunt?
As Solomon reluctantly shared his location with me, I couldn't help but smile. Despite his tone, he seemed like a diligent worker. If managed well, I could have him running around the island to figure out what was going on before reporting back to me. Although he might get worked to death, shouldn't the culprit of this island trip do the most work? All I wanted was to peacefully get through the rest of the week without any more trouble.
"Wipe that smile from your face black rank. I'm leaving."
"Sure, see you later. Make sure you come find me to report what you find in a timely manner. Ideally before tomorrow. And don't get caught since I don't plan on rescuing you or sending anyone after you."
"…You're a bastard you know that?"
"Yep." I casually waved him off before jogging in the direction he had pointed out earlier.
After about 30 minutes, I spotted a cave. From a distance, it had the glow of fire inside and as I approached nobody tried to stop me.
"What is going on here?" I asked as I took a look around the cave.
There were three students tied up with a ring of fire around their torso and neck kneeling in the center of the cave. Julius Crimson, the blue-haired boy with a large build rivaling Lionel Lionheart stood over them with a calm look on his face, as if what was going on had nothing to do with him.
In the far corners of the cave, 5 students, 3 boys and two girls sat huddled together as they stared at the kneeling students. Their clothes looked lightly charred and their eyes were glazed as they stared forward in a daze.
Turning my gaze towards the kneeling students, I examined their unfamiliar faces.
The girl kneeling to the left had blond hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in a black body suit.
The boy kneeling in the middle was plainer with black hair and dark eyes covered with reading glasses.
The girl kneeling to the right had the most interesting looks I had seen so far. Her short buzz-cut hair was green with yellow polka dots while her eyes were green and yellow concentric circles. Dark freckles dotted her pale face and both her nose and lips were pierced while she had what looked like a turtle-shaped backpack on her back.
All three had red bruises on their faces as if they had been punched and the ground around the cave was slightly smooth like glass as if it had melted and hardened.
"Nothing." Julius replied before coldly looking me up and down, "Who are you?"
"Just a regular student. I saw the light and came to see if I could spend the night. What's happening here?"
"Then go sit in the corner with those weaklings who were getting attacked without even knowing it." He nodded his head toward the huddled-up students.
"Sure sure. But quick question, why are they tied up?" I looked at the flame-bound students curiously.
"Who do you think was doing the attacking?" Julius snorted, before continuing, "I've been trying to calmly question them with no luck. Since they want to remain tightlipped, I'm considering burning up a limb or two to see if they speak up. If they're innocent, they can just take the portal back to the academy and the school nurse can fix them right up."
"They're not answering when questioning?" I clarified while watching the three tied-up students. The girl on the right firmly looked at the ground not moving, while the one on the left kept surreptitiously glancing at the boy in the center. The boy on the other hand stared angrily ahead, his eyes flickering with a dark light in the firelight.
"They're not and no one here can use analyze. I'm waiting for Nova to get back to me so he can take a look for me. I hate to say it but that rainbow-haired bastard was right. Something weird is going on and these punks give me a bad vibe." Julius grumbled as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"I can use Analyze. Allow me." I gave him a light smile before analyzing the three students.
[
Rachel Fraiser
Controlled by Rank E Shadow Mimic
Age: 17
Rank: F(̷͕̻̯̠̟͚̺͓̰̻͔̩̩̤͒́̃̽̈̊̈́͒̈̐̊͝ͅE̸̛̲͔̥͖̥̬̠̘͙̥̟̘̿̄͂̏͜͜ͅ)̴̨̱̘̖͍͉̥̲͚̥̋́͌̀
▷Stats:
[Strength – F(̷͕̻̯̠̟͚̺͓̰̻͔̩̩̤͒́̃̽̈̊̈́͒̈̐̊͝ͅE̸̛̲͔̥͖̥̬̠̘͙̥̟̘̿̄͂̏͜͜ͅ)̴̨̱̘̖͍͉̥̲͚̥̋́͌̀]
[Stamina – F (̷͕̻̯̠̟͚̺͓̰̻͔̩̩̤͒́̃̽̈̊̈́͒̈̐̊͝ͅE̸̛̲͔̥͖̥̬̠̘͙̥̟̘̿̄͂̏͜͜ͅ)̴̨̱̘̖͍͉̥̲͚̥̋́͌̀]
[Speed – E (̷͕̻̯̠̟͚̺͓̰̻͔̩̩̤͒́̃̽̈̊̈́͒̈̐̊͝ͅE̸̛̲͔̥͖̥̬̠̘͙̥̟̘̿̄͂̏͜͜ͅ)̴̨̱̘̖͍͉̥̲͚̥̋́͌̀]
[Perception – F(̷͕̻̯̠̟͚̺͓̰̻͔̩̩̤͒́̃̽̈̊̈́͒̈̐̊͝ͅE̸̛̲͔̥͖̥̬̠̘͙̥̟̘̿̄͂̏͜͜ͅ)̴̨̱̘̖͍͉̥̲͚̥̋́͌̀]
[Vitality - F (̷͕̻̯̠̟͚̺͓̰̻͔̩̩̤͒́̃̽̈̊̈́͒̈̐̊͝ͅE̸̛̲͔̥͖̥̬̠̘͙̥̟̘̿̄͂̏͜͜ͅ)̴̨̱̘̖͍͉̥̲͚̥̋́͌̀)]
[Magic power – F(̷͕̻̯̠̟͚̺͓̰̻͔̩̩̤͒́̃̽̈̊̈́͒̈̐̊͝ͅE̸̛̲͔̥͖̥̬̠̘͙̥̟̘̿̄͂̏͜͜ͅ)̴̨̱̘̖͍͉̥̲͚̥̋́͌̀]
[Intelligence – F(̷͕̻̯̠̟͚̺͓̰̻͔̩̩̤͒́̃̽̈̊̈́͒̈̐̊͝ͅE̸̛̲͔̥͖̥̬̠̘͙̥̟̘̿̄͂̏͜͜ͅ)̴̨̱̘̖͍͉̥̲͚̥̋́͌̀]
Gifts: 2/2̶̢̡̰̼̮̣̺̙̠͔̳͗ͅ
Gifts: ▷Condense(E), ▷S̶̩̞̤͚̯̈́̉͜ͅp̸̢̢͇͚͚͙̬̳̥̭̼͕͐́̌̅̒̈́̐̎̏̑̽͗̕ą̴̦͇̬̰̟̭͓̞̩́͋̌̈́͒͌̅̎̎̇̀̊̑̚͝w̴̧̢̪̺̲̫̙̙͕̙̜̺͉͔̜͛n̶̢̝̻̥̦̳͆́́́̂́̓̎̅̓̉͠ ̷̯͇̰̯̎̑̉͌̈́͆͝(̴̢̘̠̘̝̪̤̑̉̀̿̈́̒̍́̅͑̄͆̈́̒͘E̶̡̥̠͓̳̦͐̈́͂)̵̨̢̧̜͈̟͕̣͇̲̈́
Familiar:Ş̵̨̜̣̟͚͓̆̅̋̀̆̾̐̈́͗͆͘͘͘͝ͅh̶̢̛̠̳̱̠̣̮̗͈͉̘̐͜a̴̝͑̆̒̇̿̏̇͊̍̓͠ḑ̸̺̪̃̍͐̈́͐̔͛̍͊̒͒̽̏̚͘ơ̴̫̣͓̬͕̐̒̂̈́͐͂̽̈̐͐͆̇͝ẘ̵̢͎͛ ̸̛̳̻͉͆̓̀̂̄̀͛̅M̸̫̩̹͖̀̓͑͊̀͐̍͛̀i̸̛̺͈̮̭͈͙̣̤̲̓͑͂͗͊͆̎͊̊͋̇ͅm̷̢̧̛͙̣̣͚̼̓͋̈́̂́́̀͒͂̈́̿ĩ̷̯͖̗̳̀́͋̐͊̈́̾͌̎͝͠c̸̠͍̤͔̎͂̆̑͐͂̓͠
Mana attribute: Shadow
]
[
Gregory Shale
Rank D Mimic Sub-Controller
Controlled by Rank C Mimic
Age: 18
Rank: E (̷̨̦̣̗̺̯̣̻͎̫̬͕̻̂̽́̌͛̃͐̇̏͘͜D̴̡͉̪̱͉̠̯̣͍̼̗̑͆͛̊̀̆̑͝͝)̸̨̧̠̺͍̹̖̺̟͚͈̬͊͊̓̒̈́̐͊́̎͒̕͝͝
▷Stats:
[Strength – E (̷̨̦̣̗̺̯̣̻͎̫̬͕̻̂̽́̌͛̃͐̇̏͘͜D̴̡͉̪̱͉̠̯̣͍̼̗̑͆͛̊̀̆̑͝͝)̸̨̧̠̺͍̹̖̺̟͚͈̬͊͊̓̒̈́̐͊́̎͒̕͝͝]
[Stamina – E (̷̨̦̣̗̺̯̣̻͎̫̬͕̻̂̽́̌͛̃͐̇̏͘͜D̴̡͉̪̱͉̠̯̣͍̼̗̑͆͛̊̀̆̑͝͝)̸̨̧̠̺͍̹̖̺̟͚͈̬͊͊̓̒̈́̐͊́̎͒̕͝͝]
[Speed – E (̷̨̦̣̗̺̯̣̻͎̫̬͕̻̂̽́̌͛̃͐̇̏͘͜D̴̡͉̪̱͉̠̯̣͍̼̗̑͆͛̊̀̆̑͝͝)̸̨̧̠̺͍̹̖̺̟͚͈̬͊͊̓̒̈́̐͊́̎͒̕͝͝)]
[Perception – F (̷̨̦̣̗̺̯̣̻͎̫̬͕̻̂̽́̌͛̃͐̇̏͘͜D̴̡͉̪̱͉̠̯̣͍̼̗̑͆͛̊̀̆̑͝͝)̸̨̧̠̺͍̹̖̺̟͚͈̬͊͊̓̒̈́̐͊́̎͒̕͝͝]
[Vitality – E (̷̨̦̣̗̺̯̣̻͎̫̬͕̻̂̽́̌͛̃͐̇̏͘͜D̴̡͉̪̱͉̠̯̣͍̼̗̑͆͛̊̀̆̑͝͝)̸̨̧̠̺͍̹̖̺̟͚͈̬͊͊̓̒̈́̐͊́̎͒̕͝͝]
[Magic power –F (̷̨̦̣̗̺̯̣̻͎̫̬͕̻̂̽́̌͛̃͐̇̏͘͜D̴̡͉̪̱͉̠̯̣͍̼̗̑͆͛̊̀̆̑͝͝)̸̨̧̠̺͍̹̖̺̟͚͈̬͊͊̓̒̈́̐͊́̎͒̕͝͝]
[Intelligence – E (̷̨̦̣̗̺̯̣̻͎̫̬͕̻̂̽́̌͛̃͐̇̏͘͜D̴̡͉̪̱͉̠̯̣͍̼̗̑͆͛̊̀̆̑͝͝)̸̨̧̠̺͍̹̖̺̟͚͈̬͊͊̓̒̈́̐͊́̎͒̕͝͝]
Gifts: 2/2̶̢̡̰̼̮̣̺̙̠͔̳͗ͅ
Gifts: ▷Accuracy(E) , ▷ S̵̛̝̜̘̈́̂̓̏̿͌̒͠p̴̢̛̘̥̰̖͓̦̝͚͑͌̆͒́͗̔̌̔̂͛͊̕͜ͅȁ̷̢̹̳̲͇̃̈́͜͜w̴̧̛͈̱͎͔̮̪̹͖̩̏̌͋̈́͆̇n̷̡̨̨̢͖̩̠̻̟͌̈͆̓̍͒̔̎̄̊̚͠ ̶̧͕̣̰̣̫̫̟͙̤̣͈̮̩̩̍̔͌̆̈̌͝(̵̛̼͌̄̈́̀͌́͛̓̍̑Ḍ̴̖̘͓̣̤́͐̈́̽̅̈́̓͘͝͝)̸̨͔̳̗͓̘͙̫̝̩̬͙̱̊̀͂̀͊̿̅̚͜ͅ
Familiar: Ş̵̨̜̣̟͚͓̆̅̋̀̆̾̐̈́͗͆͘͘͘͝ͅh̶̢̛̠̳̱̠̣̮̗͈͉̘̐͜a̴̝͑̆̒̇̿̏̇͊̍̓͠ḑ̸̺̪̃̍͐̈́͐̔͛̍͊̒͒̽̏̚͘ơ̴̫̣͓̬͕̐̒̂̈́͐͂̽̈̐͐͆̇͝ẘ̵̢͎͛ ̸̛̳̻͉͆̓̀̂̄̀͛̅M̸̫̩̹͖̀̓͑͊̀͐̍͛̀i̸̛̺͈̮̭͈͙̣̤̲̓͑͂͗͊͆̎͊̊͋̇ͅm̷̢̧̛͙̣̣͚̼̓͋̈́̂́́̀͒͂̈́̿ĩ̷̯͖̗̳̀́͋̐͊̈́̾͌̎͝͠c̸̠͍̤͔̎͂̆̑͐͂̓͠
Mana attribute: Shadow
]
[
Ivy Mamoru
[Turtle Monster Human Hybrid (Hidden)]
[Illusion Suppression Anklet]
Age: 18
Rank: E
▷Stats:
[Strength – E]
[Stamina – D]
[Speed – F]
[Perception – E]
[Vitality – D]
[Magic power – E]
[Intelligence – E]
Gifts: 2/2
Gifts: ▷Guardian (E), ▷Transform (E)
Familiar: Turtle Snake
Mana attribute: Water, Earth
]
[Break Illusion Anklet?]
Interesting. Very interesting. It was the first time I had seen a fucked up status like this. The things I had to ask Rachel to research kept piling up.
"What exactly did you say they were doing that you caught them?"
"Standing over those sleeping punks while darkness poured out of their hands. It looked like it was trying to eat them. They wouldn't wake up until I lightly toasted them and even now they're still dazed. Polkadots over there was just standing and watching so I tied her up too."
I slowly walked toward the three tied-up students, pulling out my handgun and taking off the safety. Squatting in front of the girl who was shiftily looking around, I tapped her face with the gun.
"Do you want to talk? He wants to just burn off a limb me? I like being direct. I'll just blow your head off." I calmly told her.
"I have nothing to say to you. I'm innocent! You're restricting an innocent person! As soon as I get back to the academy, I'll report you all to the professors! I don't understand why you're doing this to me." she began sobbing before her eyes shifted to the side once more. Not paying attention, I continued tapping her cheek with my gun.
"And what were you doing when Crimson caught you?"
"There's no law that says I can't attack other students and steal their watches! It's not like I was trying to kill them."
Ignoring her nonsense, I squatted in front of the boy.
"Anything to say?"
"As Rachel said, we're innocent. We're allowed to attack other students as long as we don't kill them. You're both putting your nose in business that's not yours and restricting us like this and trying to force us to make a false confession is illegal. I plan on reporting this to the academy as well. Even if we're regular students, we don't have to deal with bullying and suppression by 9 clan students. At the academy everyone is equal."
At his stubborn glare, I began clapping my hands slowly.
"Great speech. Love the passion behind it. Very convincing. And you?" I turned to the final girl, noting her green and yellow eyes finally looking up at me.
"I have nothing to do with the two of them. I just happened to team up with them because of necessity. If you release me, I won't pursue this further and just go on my way." She replied calmly, her gaze peaceful and direct.
"I believe you. Not because you're not suspicious because you are. But I don't believe you're in cahoots with them. You two on the other hand are very suspicious. Those statuses of yours, I don't know how you fudged it but it makes my skin crawl."
"As I said. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm innocent." The blond girl shouted out.
"Is that right? Crimson, shall we chat?" Standing up, I threw my hand around Julius's shoulder and pulled him toward the entrance of the cave.
As we slowly walked away, I heard Rachel hiss, "He can use analyze? Did he see anything?"
"He didn't and is just making things up. Now shut up and remain calm."
Pretending I didn't hear their words, I whispered to Julius, "Put up a sound barrier if you can."
As we stepped out, a barrier of blue flames immediately sealed the entrance, slightly melting the rock until it began dripping.
As we stood outside, Julius pulled out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth before offering me one.
"I'm underage."
"So?"
At my blank expression, he shrugged before putting the box away and igniting his cigarette. After taking a deep puff and blowing out a cloud of smoke, he glanced at me.
"You pulled me out for a reason. What's the verdict?"
"All suspicious but for different reasons." I started.
"What's the immediate threat? I suspect the boy and blondie over there." His calm voice spoke softly.
At my look of surprise, he snorted before speaking, "I may not be able to use analyze but my eyes work just fine. Those two are clearly in cahoots and were the ones acting suspiciously when I caught them. Polkadots there is not under suspicion for now. What's up with them?"
"What do you know about mimics?" I whispered.
"Oh hell no," Julius muttered.
As his body flared up in flames, I quickly distanced myself and looked at him questioningly.
"I really hoped it was just some stupid shadow gift. Mimics are fucking annoying to deal with. It's a constantly increasing shadow monster that devours everything it can and can turn into what it's eaten previously. If it can't be devoured it creates sub-mimics and spawns that enter people, animals, or monsters and controls them. Once it's inside somebody, it's over for them. It can't be removed, it can't be tamed and once it's fully assimilated, it's basically undetectable. All mimics have a global kill-on-sight order, threat level 1."
"Really? Sounds like a pretty convenient familiar to me." I murmured. Something that could transform into anything it ate and more importantly control other people seemed like my type of familiar.
"Yeah, if you want to die. Those things can't be controlled. All mimics eventually suck all the mana from people they contract with and drive them insane before killing them. Everyone who has tried owning one has ended up being devoured. If those two are mimics that means there's a main body on the island with an insane person controlling it or the mimic ranked up and is making moves on its own. Shit, this stinks of those fucking Darwinists. I hate when Nova is right about these things."
Hiding my interest in the mimic, I stayed silent and watched him chain smoke.
Julius sighed before taking a deep puff of his still-intact cigarette.
"The two inside?"
"E rank mimic, D rank sub mimic being controlled by a C rank mimic." I dutifully reported.
"Tch. That's not the worst. I can deal with that if I team up with Nova or Lionheart. How sure are you about that? Your Analyze I mean. If they're mimics you shouldn't be able to pick it up unless they're fresh or you're strong. You don't look that strong to me."
"Solomon Nova sent me."
"That tanks your credibility by a ton I hope you know that."
"He said my eyes are good and specifically asked me to come here."
He also said that he hated my guts and my disgusting eyes but I chose not to add that part.
"Nova did? Interesting. He never compliments anyone. Verification of your words?"
I showed him my watch that had Solomon's location.
Julius grinned before stubbing out his cigarette.
"Good enough. Guess I'll be killing these ones before going to find the main body. Thanks for the info kid."
"Wait. Let me do it. I just need you to back me up. Let's try to get some information out of them before they die."
Julius examined me for a moment before his eyes narrowed in amusement.
"Heh. I don't mind but have you ever killed something before kid? They're still people you know, despite being controlled by a monster. I don't want you to piss your pants."
I gave him a wild grin that matched his own.
"Killing people is my specialty. And my name is Asani, not kid."
"I'll keep that in mind. If you hesitate, I'm incinerating both of them and I'll tie you up for collusion until Nova comes and verifies you're clean."
"Noted."
As the wall of flames died down, I walked over to Rachel with a smile and squatted in front of her.
"Miss me?"
Peh.
Dodging as she spat in my face, I looked at her like he was crazy.
"I told you I'm innocent! Even if he thought I was acting suspicious that's no grounds to tie me up. Besides, this is all hearsay! You have no way to prove anything! I'm allowed to attack other students!" Seeing as she continued spouting bullshit, even while tearing up, I gave her a gentle smile.
"You want me to prove it? With pleasure." Pointing the gun directly at her forehead, I unhesitatingly pulled the trigger.
Boom.
