Chapter 6: Redo of a…

In the Hunter's Dream, Ray is seen fighting against Scáthach intensely. Ray's body was battered by stab wounds left and right from Scáthach attack.

"Can we rest for a bit?" Ray pants while struggling to ask Scáthach for time out.

The hunter's body was already long exhausted by non-stop training regimes made up by Scáthach under the pretense of 'checking his limit'.

More than 72 hours had passed since he started his training which started when he told Scáthach he wanted to challenge the Rank Up dungeon to increase his level cap.

His suggestion however was shot down by Scáthach when she said he isn't ready yet. Ray is barely able to make use of 100% of his stats on demand. He currently uses 40-50% of them and 80% of his stats when his instinct kicks in.

This Scáthach is now training him to be able to use his full power on demand and help him raise his swordsmanship.

"Please Shishou, even my willpower is already depleted. Artemis is the one that controls my body right now." Ray desperately tries to convince Scáthach to let him rest.

This is the first time since his return from Bloodborne world that he feels very desperate and exhausted every bit of energy. His soul almost became dormant due to sudden depletion of willpower.

Willpower is energy of the soul, without it the soul will automatically shut down until the energy regenerates to sufficient level.

However, facing a strict teacher like Scáthach, she will not care if he faint and in fact encourage it since it's the fastest way to train his willpower.

Ray's plea fell on deaf ears as Scáthach continued her attack while looking at him mercilessly with her deep red eyes.

After a few more minutes, Ray finally passed out in exhaustion when his grip on Artemis loosened. Artemis quickly changes back to human form to catch Ray from falling but Scáthach is faster.

Artemis looks as Scáthach drags him back to the house to let him rest on the sole furniture in the subspace, the one and only wheelchair.

"Are you not angry with my rough treatment to your master?" Scáthach asked the weapon soul.

"No… Artemis can see master's memories and according to him, Scáthach shishou training is harsh but will greatly benefit master." Artemis replied while following Scáthach into the house.

"… Indeed this is the fastest way to let him use his full potential that was wasted due to lack of body control."

"Also, you can see his memories?" Scáthach asked with raised eyebrows, trying to dig deeper into Artemis' nature.

She was shocked when she saw the sword Ray used against her during the summoning, turning from a sword into a girl. The name also raised some flags when she sensed divinity similar to her own world's Artemis.

"Yes, Artemis and master are bound by soul, forever as master's sword, master's own property." She proudly explained to Scáthach who definitely misunderstood a part of it.

"I see…" Scáthach immediately let the conversation die down as they reached the house.

Maria who usually occupied the wheelchair with the true body is nowhere to be seen. Scáthach dumps Ray on the wheelchair before leaving him there with Artemis, who looks strangely happy. She left to look around the Hunter's Dream waiting for Ray to wake up.

…

"Uh did I faint?" Ray that just woke up asked Artemis who dutifully awaited for him by his side.

"Master fainted after an intense training with Scáthach shishou and she dropped master here before she left to explore the place." Artemis recapped what happened after he fainted.

Ray nods then catches Artemis in a hug before petting her head. Ray needs to recover his expended energy after the intense 'training' by petting a cute loli.

"Truly the gift of heaven, the profound truth of the Loli sect." Ray leaked his hidden desire that was awakened by Scáthach's training.

Artemis however was in shock, her master finally took initiative to get intimate with her. Her master that usually keeps his desire hidden finally opened up to her, she shouted in her mind.

Ray can smell the moon scent from Artemis which is slightly different from him. His scent gave a masculine impression while Artemis's scent gave a feminine impression, he also smelled his scent from her.

He never realised such detail before as his mind is constantly thinking about something and has no time to sit down to relax. It's either about contract or training skills that goes through his mind.

Out of the sudden, Artemis asked a question.

"Master… Do masters love Artemis as a lover? Artemis looked at master's memories and realised that master didn't see Artemis as someone master would love."

"Master has a lot of wives, from master's memories, Artemis saw master have more than sixty 'waifus' married." Artemis looks at Ray intensely, giving him no chance to evade her question.

"Do master love Artemis or only sees Artemis as a temporary replacement for the wives that master is trying to get back?"

Ray was speechless and didn't know what to answer her sudden questions.

He does love Artemis and sees her as… his partner literally and figuratively as his sword and lover.

But he sees her as a replacement for her real waifu that he is trying to summon using Character Summon Gem (Custom).

Knowing that he made a mistake, Ray apologizes to Artemis while trying to comfort her.

"Um… I'm sorry Artemis, I didn't realise I thought of you as a replacement for them."

"Worry not master, Artemis will never hate master. Artemis only wants to correct the master's misguided way." Artemis smiled happily as she gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"Oh, it seems that you are awake now, a disciple of mine. Are you ready for the second round of training?" Silently entering through the window, Scáthach spoke menacingly that made even the fearless gods raise their white flags.

"Ah shishou"

"Scáthach shishou"

Artemis blushed slightly as she disappeared, returning into spiritual form inside Ray to escape embarrassment. However her retreat left Ray alone to face Scáthach.

Ray desperately tries to avoid another tortu- training session, remembering that he has the Rank Up dungeon to complete.

"Shishou, let's tackle the Rank Up dungeon first. Now that I have full control of my body strength and trained my new skills" He tried to convince her to do anything other than another training which she noticed but didn't point it out.

"Sure, I am interested in fighting some enemies from the Grand Labyrinth you spoke of and it's time to test your blade against an enemy." She agreed.

Ray left the house and strangely still didn't see Maria or his true body anywhere in the dream. The splitted soul is probably in Yharnam with Maria doing something.

They left the Hunter's Dream while Scáthach followed him in spiritual form. They went to the Teleportation Hall to teleport to Grand Labyrinth.

On their way there, Ray notices that there are fewer people wandering in the Hub. He saw only a group of seven people at the Contract Hall and the rest of the Hub were barren.

When he arrived at Teleportation Hall, he stepped on the pad before setting the destination to Grand Labyrinth.

The space rippled slightly before Ray is hit by a dizzy feeling and greeted with a similar Teleportation Hall but has people constantly going in and out.

Ray overheard that there are factions war occuring on the lower layer of the Grand Labyrinth over a rare resource they discovered a few days ago.

Many users are flocking to the lower layer trying to fish for benefits over the muddy water. The intelligent races living in the Grand Labyrinth also flock to major cities all over the Hub branches in every layer.

When Ray exited the hall, he saw a grand fantasy-like city filled with users and people in the massive bazaar. However his goal is to enter the Rank Up dungeon, he left the city into the hostile territory.

As he walked out of the city, he passed by the bazaar which is a straight line from the Teleportation Hall to the exit. He saw the product sold by the merchants.

He saw a few interesting items sold on several stalls opened by a group of dwarves. They are selling magic guns, armour and other weapons.

The one that interests Ray is magic firearms, the firearms are very flexible. They can use both energy or bullets as ammunition and few are even able to add attributes to the bullet like piercing, exploding or poison.

"Oh boss, come and look at our wares. I as a blacksmith of the dwarven union can guarantee every weapon we make is high quality."

"I notice that you have been checking the firearms, this baby here was made by a blacksmith who settled in the dwarven capital. She is made of magi steel and mithril, she can effectively flow mana and is compatible with both kinds of ammunition." The dwarf enthusiastically explains the firearm to Ray who inspect using Observation skill.

Magic Hand Cannon (Copper)

A firearm that was designed by its creator to be a handheld cannon. Its cumbersome weight and very strong recoil require the wielder to have great strength and dexterity to properly use the firearm.

-can switch ammunition type

-have two firing mode, buckshot and single shot

The gun isn't that bad and the requirements he can easily fulfill. The weapons are vastly superior than his current one although not peak copper rank, still an upgrade to this current one.

"What's the price?"

"Oh don't worry, I gave you a discount for this one since you are doing me a favor to discard this unsellable gun."

A screen appeared in front of Ray. It's a transaction screen that shows the item, price and yes no option. Ray accepted the transaction which cost him 6k HP.

When the transaction completed, the Magic Hand Cannon disappeared from the stall into my inventory while a sack of coins replaced the gun.

"Thank you for buying." The dwarf said before he went to tend another customer while taking away the sack of coins.

…

When Ray arrived outside the city, Scáthach appeared from her spiritual form wielding her spear while following Ray deeper into the Grand Labyrinth.

Above, there is no sky, instead there is a layer of bedrock to the end of the horizon. The sun is replaced by massive crystals that look like a kaleidoscope on the inside.

Ray stopped when he no longer saw the city that was blocked by trees. He took out the plain Iron key then inserted it into the keyhole shaped void then twist it.

(Initiate Rank Up dungeon (Iron) ?)

'Yes'

Ray is then displaced into a dungeon. The stone walls are dilapidated and filled with glowing moss and roots that occasionally dangle from the ceiling.

"Ray, I'll wait for you over here. I cannot enter the dungeon to observe your progress. Scáthach said as she saw a prompt appear to her.

Ray nodded before calling upon Artemis and taking out the Magic Hand Cannon he just bought. He can comfortably wield the firearm one handed and use his mana to reload.

---Ray PoV---

After equipped my new firearm, I walk deeper into the dungeon with Artemis on my right hand. I can already feel her excitement to fight against a strong enemy which will be at peak copper rank.

As I walked, I reached a cavern filled with humanoid golem and a 4 meters tall one kneeling in the middle of the cavern seems to be inactive.

———

Name:Stone Golem Soldiers

Race: Golem

Level: 100 (Copper)

HP:10,000

MP: -

———

STR: 100

VIT: 100

AGI: 100

DEX: 100

INT: -

WIS: -

LUK: -

———

NAME: Stone Golem Knight

RACE: Golem

LEVEL: 100 (Copper)

HP: 1,000,000

—————

STR: 100

VIT: 100

AGI: 100

DEX: 100

INT: -

WIS: -

LUK: -

Skills:

Adaptive Tactics EX

Will adjust tactics and skill to suit the test candidate's ability.

Physical Resistance C

Magic Resistance D

Anti Divinity D

Swordsmanship A

———

Sensing my arrival, the Stone Golem Soldiers eyes socket glows in red light before they start creaking, awakening from their slumber to attack the intruder.

The normal golem soldiers didn't have any skills, only superior stats. Although, they didn't seem to be mindless and capable of tactics.

I tried to attack them one at a time however the twenty stone golem soldiers didn't give me any opportunities to pick them down one at a time.

My Prototype Aegis isn't immune against attacks that are not caused by skill. Thus the slashes caused by them still can damage me.

I quickened in rapid succession forward before using Haki to coat my hands and Artemis. When the golem got closer, I shot them with a buckshot before slashing at them as hard as I could.

The slash didn't leave any mark but I can see that their hp dropped by three percent.

Without an opportunity to rest, I release a psychic blast powered by Haki through a slash to disperse the crowd slightly. Then I shot one of the golem in the head to shave off 5 more percent of the hp.

I had to go with this slow method because I need to reserve most of my mana and willpower for the boss later.

After half an hour rinse and repeat of kiting and attack, I finally killed off the final golem. This helped me to improve my dodging which I paired with quickening.

Finally when the last golem was killed, the Stone Golem Knight activated with a bright red glow in its eye socket. It stands up while holding the sword in a ready stance as if waiting for me to attack.

Very different from the soldiers, the golem knight didn't actively approach me, instead it waited for me to attack him first.

Making use of the opportunity given, I put away the firearm into inventory and activate True Body Descent that causes a purplish black vein to appear on my body as the eldritch energy floods my body.

I then hold Artemis that shifted to 2H form causing the energy to also flood into the sword like a broken dam eliciting moans from Artemis.

When I finished my preparation, I was initiated with a slash from Artemis that caused an ethereal green slash that is tainted by purplish black colour to crash on to the golem knight.

The golem resisted the impact then dash toward me to trade blows using its remarkable swordsmanship that put me into a passive tactic of parry and block with the greatsword as he waited for opportunities to disengage from melee attack.

I waited and waited as the golem knight became more fierce with its assault until suddenly it went for a wider stance to release a strong attack.

Immediately I releases a quick slash stacked with psychic blast and weapon Haki to stagger the golem which is successful.

Seizing the opportunity, I continues to release a barrage of sword slashes that send the poor golem knight smashing into the cavern wall, creating a big dent as more sword slashes impact the golem knight.

As I send more sword slashes, I can feel the strain from using eldritch energy slowly tear apart my hunter body. I deactivate the True Body Descent and use Artemis to engage in melee attack.

Warily I walk toward the golem knight that stuck to the wall holding Artemis ready for an unexpected attack from it which didn't come.

'Did it die already?'

'Master, I can still feel its presence.'

Hearing Artemis, I used observation and saw it still had 20% of its hp but it slowly trickled down as. Then I saw its status which stated its being corrupted.

Apparently the golem knight is being corrupted by eldritch energy that smashed it along with the sword slashes earlier.

Suddenly the crack caused by eldritch corruption flashes a bright golden light before the golem is freed from the corruption. A skill added by the Adaptive Tactics EX.

Eldritch Corruption Resistance

The skill stopped the corruption which caused it to return into a stance before attacking me, fully into offensive tactics.

I switch Athena back into 1H form before clashing our swords together. Spark appears with each clash, I infuse haki into Artemis to boost her sharpness to fullest before I strike as hard as I could and shatter its stone sword.

I was wondering what kind of stone that sword made of to withstand uru mithril alloy which used to create armament of gods like mjolnir of Thor.

When its sword shattered, I finished off its remaining health before emerging victorious. Few notifications appeared when the golem knight fell to the ground and broke into multiple sections of rock.

———

Congratulation for successfully cleared Rank Up dungeon (Iron)

Rank had increased and a new level cap was achieved.

A tailored reward, Eclipse (weapon) obtained for successful clearing the dungeon.

Eclipse (Copper - Silver)

A growth weapon, a weapon that grows along its wielder. Eclipse is a telekinesis weapon that is made of a million knives. The knives are made of special crystal nurtured under constant moonlight that is only possible to find naturally in Night Elves habitat that have moonlight all day long.

-Starts out at 10k knives at copper rank to 1 million knives at silver rank.

-Can switch from knives into small hexagonal armor plates for defense.

-Receive power boost when exposed to the moon.

———

Words cannot describe my excitement and glee. I didn't know that the reward would be tailored to my ability.

I took out the Eclipse which is a ring that has rune inscribed to it and a pitch black gem inlaid into the ring. The ring is a storage space ring that stored the knives which amounted to exactly 1 million knives.

I also discovered that the Eclipse is a spiritual weapon. Means it can be bound to the soul automatically upon recognising its owner.

I put on the ring. I feel a slight drain of my mana before the gem on the ring glows in silver light. Then I had a headache like something drilling into my brain.

When the headache subsided, I discovered that the headache is due to Eclipse inscribing the knowledge to use it into my mind.

Using my will, I willed Eclipse to activate itself. Then the ring glows slightly before all 10k knives float around me. It then turns into a green translucent hexagon shaped small plate that forms into a barrier around me.

I can feel my psychic thread split itself to have finer control of the hexagonal plates. Just by simply wielding the telekinesis weapon, my willpower, telekinesis and psychic manipulation can upgrade itself. Truly hit a jackpot this time.

…

Scáthach, who was waiting for Ray, finally saw him exiting the dungeon while playing with Eclipse. Ray was walking out while constantly changing the knives into hexagonal plates in seemingly random patterns.

"Shishou, let's return to hub. I need to buy something at the marketplace." Ray urges her while smiling with a creepy chuckle.

Then Artemis suddenly appears while looking like a disappointed asian parents after finding out their son has a calculator.

"Master! I won't allow you. You cannot add another one after you have me!" Artemis spoke out loudly, fully knowing her master's next intention.

"But… but I'm trying to 'upgrade' Eclipse… to increase its offensive power. Yes, to increase its offensive power." Ray tries to find an excuse but fails to convince Artemis who looks like sulking rather than angry.

"Why does the upgrade need to specifically be adding a weapon soul. Please explain, master." Artemis added, she crossed both arms while waiting for an explanation.

Scáthach at the side not knowing what to do and simply stand there and enjoy the drama which honestly is not bad after waiting for Ray in this bland room for a very long time.

"With the addition of a weapon soul, Eclipse can control itself when I'm distracted in battle or need it to auto attack. That's the reason…"

"If you don't believe me, I will even set its gender as male when I'm creating him later." Ray added, hoping that Artemis will buy his words.

Artemis accepted but still had suspicion. She cannot feel through the bond like her master could unless he gave her permission to. She thinks that he still has a trick under his sleeve but is unsure if it is true.

Then Artemis returned into spiritual form before Ray left the dungeon to return with Scáthach to the Hub branch.

The trip back is uneventful as they encounter nothing even after they reach the city. Ray take a seat while waiting for the meat skewer that the ordered from the bazaar stall near the city exit.

He open his status to inspect new changes that occur after the rank up.

———

NAME: Ray Elliot

RACE: Human Hybrid

GENDER: Male

TITLE: Caretaker of the Dream

LEVEL: 4 (Iron)

HP: 15,640/15,640

MP: 5,160/5,160

EP: –/–

—————

STR: 60

VIT: 55

AGI: 80

DEX: 60

INT: 140

WIS:135

LUK: 100

SP:20

HP: 1,402,000

(Hub Points)

SKILL:

Passive:

*Weapon Mastery EX>D [Bloodborne]

* Psychic Manipulation F*>D

*Production C>D

*Marksmanship A>C

*Exploration -

*Observation -

* Language Comprehension C

Active:

*True Body Descent E

*Quickening A>D

*Presence Concealment EX

(Note: People with very strong sensing skill or higher ranks can still detect him)

*Haki F*>E*

Innate Ability:

*Beast Hunter A**>B

*Marked by Death -

*Divinity E*

-[Eldritch]

-[Blood]

-[Moon]

-[Hunt]

*Unchained Fate -

*One Beyond Stars -

*Moon's Grace EX

*Hunter's Dream A*

*Odeon Beloved Child -

———

First thing he noticed is his hp and mp increased after he ranked up. Then some skills drop in rating, his weapon mastery that covers all trick weapons of Bloodborne world, dropped from EX to D.

Haki and Psychic Manipulation however increased and he could definitely feel it, he felt like he could rip a building apart with his Psychic Manipulation.

He adds the newly obtained sp into WIS since that start will increase his willpower and also the stat that influences the spiritual side of him.

"Hey brother, your skewer is ready."

"That will cost 5 Hub Points. Thanks, please come again."

Ray took the skewer from the hawker before making a beeline to Teleportation Hall while Scáthach snag two skewers from him.

Standing on the teleportation pad, he selects his destination before a similar dizziness hits him and he is greeted with a similar layout of both Teleportation Hall.

When he arrived at Hub, he received a mail from the administrator to meet at the Pub again which he replied with a thumbs up before quickly walking to the marketplace.

When he entered the marketplace, Ray went to one of the terminals before he searched for the Weapon Soul Awakening Gem which cost 1.2 million. He buys it without hesitation and exits the marketplace filled with excitement and enters the Hunter's Dream.

Ray didn't bother to enter the house before he initiated the awakening while laughing like a mad scientist.

On the sideline we have a terrified Artemis, amused Scáthach and confused Maria with Ray's true body watch as Ray awakens his new weapon, Eclipse.

(Weapon Soul Awakening Gem

used,ego creation initiated… complete. Forming empty weapon soul, inserting ego, adjusting personality… completed. Weapon Soul Awaken success.)

Ray nervously waited until the ring on his finger glow brightly and a person appeared. When he laid his eye on the figure in front of him, he shouted to the sky with great joy.

"Wooooo! Truly marvelous… didn't know it could work like this hahahaha…" Ray continued to laugh in joy before he abruptly stopped.

"Hm… names, since you are related to the moon too. Let's keep up the theme." Ray shifts into thinking pose.

"Since your material and name are somehow hinting toward the moon while your appearance looks more like a japanese shrine maiden, I name you Tsukuyomi."

Upon receiving his name, Tsukuyomi nodded and gave Ray a thanks and bowed to him.

"Mas- master, you said that… that the weapon will be a male. She is clearly a female." Artemis immediately interrogates Ray.

"Tsukuyomi is a he. What are you talking about." Ray feigns ignorance while Tsukuyomi nodded to support his new master.

Meanwhile Scáthach looked at who had seen similar cases before explaining it to Maria who was confused by the situation and asked Scáthach.

Tsukuyomi is a male biologically but mentally a female which Ray adjusted during the awakening process. He is very feminine which is highlighted by his elegant and refined manners. He is also a shy and silent type that expresses himself vocally when in private spaces.

His shining silver hair is long enough to pass his shoulder that he tied into a ponytail style. On his head is a pair of fox ears with similar colour as his hair. He wears the shrine priestess outfit that has a hole at the back for his soft and fluffy fox tail.

"Master! Let Artemis see the master's thoughts, and Artemis must know master's intention." Artemis demanded.

"Tsuku, help me." Ray fakes his expression before he kneels in front of Tsukuyomi who understood Ray's intention through their mental link. Tsukuyomi moves his tail to his front for Ray to 'mofu mofu'.

Having had enough of this madness, Scáthach finally did something to resolve the matter of his troublesome master and his weapon souls.

"Ray, don't forget you need to meet up with your administrator."? Immediately Ray snapped out of it.

(Note: She can see the screens that appear due to Ray only.)

"Ah, I totally forgot about it due to my excitement. Let's go Artemis, I'm sorry, so don't have to be angry anymore. You are always my first partner." Ray coax Artemis which works effectively.

"Mhn" Artemis reluctantly nods then returns into spiritual form along with Tsukuyomi.

When Ray almost left the dream, he noticed that Maria is finally here, along with his true body.

"Where have you been Maria?" Ray halted before asking Maria.

Maria who is carrying his true body and wearing a light coloured Victorian style dress. Ray's true body also looks bigger now, especially the 4 pairs of wings that look more like a wing than fleshy protrusion.

"Good Hunter, I follow your true body to manage your world." Maria said as his true body also seems to be nodding.

"I did what?" Ray exclaimed in surprise before accessing the split soul in his true body. The splitted soul merged with the true soul in the hunter's body and Ray saw all the memories of the split soul.

What Ray sees surprised him greatly. While he is away, his split soul has been diligently tending to his job as the god of Yharnam people.

He even went ahead and resolved the Vileblood and Healing Church issue diplomatically with Laurence and Logarius' help.

Since the Vileblood queen no longer wish to seek blood dreg for her attempt to birth the Child of Blood since his true body supply better blood for her.

To seal the deal, his split soul even proposed marriage using the betrothal ring in his inventory to take her under his wing. Ray of course are very surprised that his split soul went ahead and married himself behind his back.

Now that both covenant are literally under his command, his split soul declare both as allies and ended the conflict permanently.

Ray is genuinely surprised that his split soul capable of governing this world which he is definitely grateful for.

He then return the split soul before leaving the Hunter's Dream to meet the administrator. Ray bid Maria farewell as his body disappeared from the messenger lamp.

Arrived outside of the marketplace where he enter the Hunter's Dream, he walk east toward the Pub without materialise Artemis or Tsukuyomi to avoid getting questions by the worker.

Ray walk into the Pub and saw a big group of customers wearing similar outfit or have similar crest on their outfit. A wolf head and water wave on the background.

"Ray! Over here." He saw the administrator on the bottom left corner of the Pub where he last sat on.

Ray march toward the table before he sat opposite of the administrator.

"So… why did you called for me?" Ray immediately ask after he seated.

The administrator nodded and take out the black book again before he open it and start explaining.

"About that, I have something to inform you. Remember your failed contract of Date a Live world?"

Ray nodded as he listen.

"When you failed, the Hub governor had decided under the Date a Live world will request. Since you had replaced Itsuka Shido, when you failed, the world are doomed to be scrapped because the plot cannot be restored since no one able to seal the spirits." The administrator explain while showing him the governor request on the book.

"Scrapped… I thought the world will resume like usual… oh right Itsuka Shido gone right?" Ray stated.

"Yes since the timeline had changed when you entered, you replaced him. Now you are Itsuka Shido of that timeline." The administrator stated before he adjust his glasses that magically appeared.

"The governor and the world will gave you a second chance to complete the contract. You will return but under different timeline to assist Shido."

"Do I have to? I already have another plan after this." Ray groaned as he ordered a mug of the special beer that arrived instantly.

Sensing Ray's distress, Tsukuyomi appear to comfort him with his fluffy sliver fured tail. The administrator look at the situation with great interest while Tsukuyomi face blushed while he try to remain expressionless.

"I know from your first life that you like shipgirl from the game you had played but… I never expect you to create a harem of weapon souls."

"Anyway, you have to redo your first contract. The governor will prevent you from taking any contract until it is completed." The administrator pack up his book before leaving Ray with Tsukuyomi and Artemis that just appeared.

"Hope you have a pleasant experience in the Hub. Bye" The administrator then vanish via teleportation.

"Master is it true that master trying to create a harem of us?" Confused Artemis asked.

"Yes" Ray replied instantly while buried his face on the fox tail.

"But Tsukuyomi is a male, isn't a lover supposed to be made of two opposite gender?" Artemis added.

"That's the reason, trap is better. I purposely make Tsukuyomi like that because I like trap too." His face turn serious as he reply to Artemis that have given up on questioning her master's sexuality.

"Anyway… Scáthach, as you have heard, we have another contract to do. Although I'm redoing the contract I failed."

Scáthach exit the spiritual form and seated where the administrator sat just now.

"..."

Scáthach waiting for Ray to continue but he is looking at the screen displaying the content of the contract.

———

[Contract]

World: Date a Live

Status: Pending

Description: A failed contract that the Hub governor decided for user 'Ray Elliot' to redo under the request of its world will. The effect of losing the main pillar of the world (mc) had cause the world to be marked for scrapping. Due to the weakening of the world will, the world are currently susceptible to outer being invasion.

Main Quest

Ensure Itsuka Shido survival until the world will restore its strength or replace him.(0/1)

Eliminate any outside world threat that appear.(0/1)

Eliminate any presence of illegal reincarnator or transmigrator (0/?)

Side Quest

Seal spirit using Spirit Vessel (0/9)

Expose Phantom's plan for creating spirits.(0/1)

Eliminate Issac Westcott and DEM before appearance of The Second Spirit (0/1)

???

Extra Quest

???

———

Ray looked at the screen with a complicated feeling as he saw the main quest. He never tried to fight any reincarnator or transmigrator since they usually have cheat or system.

He is forced to do this one without any option to decline the contract.

"Right, I forget to check out system function shop."

'Where to check them?' Ray asked the system.

(User can access through system only when user is within the hub. Display system function shop?)

'Yes'

———

Job classes function

Price: 1k CP

System blacksmith function

Price: 25k CP

System alchemy function

Price: 30k CP

Pet function

Price: 100k CP

Territory management function

Price: 450k CP

…

…

…

———

The screen displays several functions that Ray probably needed but the one he is searching for is listed for 1k contribution points.

He didn't know how much that amount is but that is the amount of his current rank annual tax. He then decided to get enough points from the Grand Labyrinth before he step into Date a Live world.

"Let's go, I need to earn points to exchange for a new system function."

Everyone agrees then leaves after Ray pays the bill. His weapon souls return into his soul while Scáthach said that she wants to stay in the subspace and he should call her when he arrived.

…

Ten minutes later, Ray arrived in a grassland outside of the Hub branch city. He spotted several enemies which consisted of oversized caterpillars, groups of goblins and slimes.

He summoned Scáthach before he dived ahead to kill a few goblins using Tsukuyomi's swarm of knives swarm. He is currently only able to perfectly control 500 knives due to lacking time to train after he returns from the Rank Up dungeon.

Ray is using current opportunity to train his control of the telekinetic knives until he can perfectly control all 10k of them and be able to smoothly switch form.

(No exp obtained due to the enemy being on lower rank.)

(1 CP obtained for killing Goblin(Copper))

(1 CP obtained for killing Goblin(Copper))

(1 CP obtained for killing Goblin(Copper))

(1 CP obtained for killing Goblin(Copper))

The notification appeared then the goblins turned into swiss cheese after being used by Ray as practice dummies.

"Haah, as expected their level is too low." Ray exclaimed while Scáthach walked toward him when he finished attacking the goblins.

"We have to go deeper perhaps. With game logic, we are currently in the beginning area."

"Then, let's go deeper, perhaps there is also a natural dungeon deeper in the labyrinth." Ray suggested as he walked toward the opposite direction of the city.

…

As they walk for almost a day, Ray gets an idea to fly or float using his psychic manipulation which causes Scáthach to squint her eyes but Ray swiftly dismisses it as training his power which Scáthach reluctantly agrees to.

Ray also trained himself to control Tsukuyomi's knives which now he is able to control almost all 10k of the knives.

He split half for defence and another half as knives. However his constant use of Tsukuyomi causes Artemis to sulk again while saying that her master had forgotten about her.

Ray ends up having Artemis latching on him with a hug while he enters deeper into the current layer.

His plan was actually using Tsukuyomi for most enemies and reserve Artemis for enemies that Tsukuyomi cannot handle since he had to use True Body Descent to use her to maximum potential.

"Ray, another troll nest ahead but this one is empty." Scáthach, who was squatting on a tree branch, told Ray through voice transmission she made using rune.

"Another one? Let me scout from above." Ray then fly upward really fast using telekinesis and quicky reached above the trees canopy that covered the view below.

As Ray scout around, he saw another opening in the trees canopy which indicates there is open space below. He informs Scáthach before he flies toward the opening.

He used observation to inspect the enemies.

———

Woodland Troll (Copper)

LV: 81

HP: 9,000

Woodland Troll Shaman(Copper)

LV: 95

HP: 15,000

Woodland Troll Chieftain (Iron)

LV:15

HP:25,000

———

He saw a total of twenty normal trolls and one shaman and chieftain.

The shaman are troublesome unlike the normal one that only have Power Strike as skill. Shaman have healing and hex spell which definitely problematic during a fight.

The Chieftain is the area boss that has more skills that lean toward attacking and one or two support skills.

"Shishou, you take out the shaman and block the chieftain while I take care of the normal ones." Ray gave his order which Scáthach agreed then they began their attack.

Ray uses his advantage to fly to attack the trolls from above using Tsukuyomi knives swarm. Ray shoots accelerated knives like a certain golden king while using half of the defensive plates to hear the trolls.

In a few minutes, all the trolls and shaman are killed by Ray's group leaving only the enraged chieftain that is constantly bashing at Scáthach who is able to evade with ease using her high AGI and DEX.

"It's your turn Artemis!" Ray called upon Artemis who eagerly waiting to be wield by Ray.

Ray shifts Artemis to 2H form before charging her up with mana that causes ethereal green light to burst from the sword as Ray sends a total of seven rapid slashes that killed the Troll Chieftain.

"See! Artemis is my strongest weapon. Not even Tsukuyomi was able to take down the Chieftain this fast." Ray praises Artemis, trying to reaffirm her position as his stronger weapon.

Tsukuyomi understood his master's intention and didn't take offense to his master's words. This is because, during his creation, his master already set him with a loyal and dedicated personality.

Tsukuyomi knows that his master will always love him, so he didn't have any doubts or jealousy on his master. Perfect assistant and helper for his slowly growing harem.

"Hm… this is the third camp we cleared. Do you have enough points now?" Scáthach after inspecting her level that raised to level 7.

"More than enough Shishou, but I wanted to increase my level to around level 30." Ray stated after considering for a few seconds.

Scáthach nodded before they continued moving deeper into the woods.

The trees became bigger as they walked for another few hours while eliminating a few groups of normal troll scouts.

The trees they saw probably need more than ten people to encircle the trees. The humidity is also higher as thin fog appears to shroud their view.

Ray can feel using his sensing Haki that something is stalking from above the trees.

Using Tsukuyomi, he shot multiple knives to pierce the stalking enemies which resulted with multiple hisses when the knives stabbed them.

(5 CP obtained for killing Woodland Stalker(Copper)) x14

They continue to march forward until Ray suddenly sees a floating screen out of nowhere.

———

Dungeon

Dead Marsh (Iron)

Enter?

Yes/No

———

Ray and the group saw what to be a natural dungeon although the name is quite ominous.

He selected Yes before they got displaced into a swamp with murky green water all over the place. He then saw a mini map that showed the space of the dungeon and 2 red skull symbols which he assumed to be the boss.

Before they could do anything, the tendrils of the root and vine attacked them from behind the trees.

Tsukuyomi automatically sends out her knives that switch into defensive plates to shield the group from onslaught of whip attack.

Scáthach draws runes on air that become homing fire balls then fly toward the attackers hiding behind the trees.

They nod at each other before rushing toward the trees while being shielded by Tsukuyomi.

"There!" Ray equipped with Magic Hand Cannon shot toward the silhouette which results with shrill cries of a… mushroom?

What they saw was a mushroom like monster with blue tops and white dots that have vines as limbs.

———

Dead Marsh Shrooms (Iron) x3

LV: 15

HP: 0/5,000

Skills:

Ambush

Poison spore

Parasitic vines

———

(5 CP obtained for killing Dead Marsh Shrooms (Iron))x3

(Poisonous Spore(material obtained))

Dismissing the notification, Ray checked the surroundings using Haki to detect multiple groups of enemies in front of him.

The dungeon is a open space like a triangle shape with one end being the place they started at and other end is where the skull symbol is located at.

"Shishou, there are multiple enemies ahead. Tsukuyomi will shield against the vines." Ray then points out the direction of all enemies except the big group in the middle of the dungeon.

Slowly they cleared up the enemies one the edges before they stopped on the left boss room.

"Can you see its status?" Scáthach asks Ray while she looks at the boss that is idling in the boss room.

———

Dead Marsh Elder Shrooms (Iron)

LV: 30

HP: 40,000

Skills:

Summon Kin

Poison Spore

Acid Splash

Hyper Regeneration

———

Ray then let her see the boss status screen.

"We go in or deal with the Shooms in the middle?" Scáthach asked.

"Shrooms. Also I want to scout the other boss too."

They left to continue clearing the other Shrooms which numbered to a hundred.

"This will take some time to finish." As Ray was about to attack the Shrooms, Scáthach halted him with her right arm.

"Master, let me take care of this."

"You wanna use Gate of Skye?" Ray asked Scáthach, who was surprisingly excited, which she confirmed with a nod.

Didn't notice the excitement, Ray simply increased the mana he supplied to Scáthach for her noble phantasm since her mana are low from constant use of rune magic.

"O power that is tied to my name.

Answer me and open the gates.

Come my castle...my castle of shadows.

Gate of Skye!"

She temporarily summons the gate to the Land of Shadows that sucked all the Shrooms into the gate and instantly killed them all.

Ray opened his mouth wide enough to fit a dil-, to fit an egg while Scáthach looked proud of her handiwork that wiped out all the enemies.

Ray could only stare in envy as he didn't possess any nuking ability like Scáthach Gate of Skye. The most he can do is kill five or six Shrooms with his sword slash powered by his True Body Descent.

The satisfied Scáthach turns her face to Ray who is definitely unhappy about something since he is having a session of fluffy tail therapy with a happy Tsukuyomi while seated on the floating defensive plates.

"Haah… once your psychic abilities are strong enough, an attack of such scale is child play." Scáthach palmed her face at her master's antic.

Usually Scáthach will not tolerate such behaviour unless the person passes her 'test' but she doesn't know why she behaves like this.

Little did anyone expect, his surrogate father pulled a fast one in this situation. Odeon feels that he needs a caretaker for his new son, secretly influencing Scáthach into acting like his caretaker.

If this is real Scáthach, she would have noticed but the Scáthach is a copy of the Scáthach from Throne of Hero made by Hub's ability.

Scáthach probably didn't mind acting like a glorified nanny for Ray since Odeon could grant her wish although partially since Akashic Record would keep a copy of her which is a copy not real one.

"Let's go finish the bosses." Scáthach then walks toward the other boss with Ray on tow while still fluffing Tsukuyomi.

…

When they reached a cave where the boss is located. Ray used his observation to see the boss' status.

———

Dead Marsh Elder Treant (Iron)

LV: 30

HP: 50,000

Skills:

Agrokinesis

Root Web

Iron Root

Harden Skin

———

The boss are another plant type monster, Elder Treant which is a tree with human features.

They decide to kill this one first which is easier since most skills are physical attack rather than using poison like Elder Shroom.

Scáthach took the frontline while Ray took the midrange since he used firearms and melee. Tsukuyomi will assist with defending them and attack with his knife form.

Scáthach uses her fire coated spear to attack directly which causes the Elder Treant to awaken and lash its tree branch limb that only manages to graze her due to its wideness.

Ray shot fire attribute bullets that caused the gunshot wound to be burned. However the fire quickly died off leaving a charred scar.

Releasing a loud grating roar, the Elder Treant stomp its leg, causing multiple roots to shoot up from under the swamp and aimed at Ray and Scáthach.

Tsukuyomi immediately use its defensive plates to shield the wave of roots from harming his master and Scáthach.

As if knowing that it will be shielded, the roots split into finer roots which breached the plates gap and stabbed Ray while Scáthach dodged them.

The roots entered Ray thighs and spread themselves and dug into his flesh like a root then tore apart the root infested flesh.

"Shit!" Ray cursed loudly as half of his thighs meat teared apart, showing his right leg femur and the major blood vessels.

"Defend master quickly so I can take care of myself!" Scáthach shouted to Tsukuyomi before another crimson spear appeared in her hand.

Reddish aura engulfed her body as she used Wisdom of Dún Scáith to use skills similar to Mana Burst before she poured all her mana to activate her noble phantasm.

"Stab and penetrate!

Thrust and impale!

Gáe Bolg Alternative!"

She throws the first spear that travel instantaneously to the core of the Elder Treant then the second spear that followed by multiple red lightning streaks that pierced its body and hit the wall behind it.

As a last act of defiance, roots burst out of its body into the swamp to use its Agrokinesis.

The roots all over the cave twitched then caused stakes to burst out of it then more stake burst out of the existing stake until it turned the cave into a world of stake.

(Note: Just imagine Vlad III Kazikli Bey)

When the Elder Treant life dissipates, the stakes decay into wood dust and sinks into the swamp.

In the devastated cave, the only thing that is unscathed is the circular multilayer shield made of tens of thousands of hexagonal plates.

(Note: Iron rank unlock 100k knives/plates but due to desperation Tsukuyomi forcefully activated half of it.)

The shield opens itself after a while, releasing Ray and Scáthach from it.

Ray still grit his teeth as he sat on the plates that Tsukuyomi levitated as he took out a blood vial before he stabbed his other thighs to inject the blood.

Scáthach looks at his wound that now looks like a pulsating pink flesh before his thigh fully heals but leaves a mark of lighter colour skin than the unharmed part.

"Master!" x2

Artemis and Tsukuyomi almost shouted as they worried about Ray's injury.

Tsukuyomi was about to blame himself for being careless but Ray shut him up.

"It's not your fault. Yes, you can control the blade yourself but it's ultimately my proficiency and willpower that is lacking for you to perform better." Ray firmly declared while rubbing Tsukuyomi's flopped fox ears.

"Hey Ray, what did you just inject yourself with?" Scáthach curiously asked.

She is genuinely interested in such a great healing item that is able to regenerate chunks of missing flesh with such ease.

"The old or new one?" Ray asks back.

"What's the difference between the two?"

"Old one I'm not sure from who but new one is my own blood. More specifically blood from my true body which is diluted with normal blood that circulates in Yharnam by the Healing Church." Ray explains while being hugged by Artemis on the left while his right hand are petting Tsukuyomi's silky silver hair.

"Your blood? How does it work?" Scáthach asked while mind blown by this discovery.

"I don't know but this current body of mine is that of a hunter that underwent blood ministration and somehow able to consume blood that contains diluted blood or essence of sort from great ones." Ray tries his hardest to explain.

Ray never knew how it worked and he never bothered to discover its secret since he was only busy with quickly completing the contract.

Meanwhile, Scáthach looks 'very' interested in his blood since mage's blood usually contains their essence and mana. She is currently wondering what's inside his blood.

"Look like I'm ok now, even the Hunter attire mend itself." Ray inspecting his previous wound.

"Let's go and finish the other boss then, I want to leave this stinky swamp."

Woke from her deep thoughts, Scáthach catches his shoulder to stop Ray from exiting the cave.

"Can I have a sample of your true body's blood? I have something to test."

Even if Scáthach covers her face with a mask, Ray is sure that he just saw her licking her lip. He has a bad feeling about her sudden request.

He lifted his head slightly to peek at Scáthach and saw her eyes filled with expectation.

'Artemis, Tsukuyomi, we need to run. Now!'

But before he could deploy the ultimate skill, Nigerundayo. A vice grip held his shoulder and he could see her eyes narrowed as she looked at him.

"Here" Ray took out a small vial of his true body blood that Laurence 'slipped' into his inventory that he shared with his true body.

Scáthach opened the vial and smelled the blood then drank it. She froze for a second before holding her mouth while blushes heavily.

Ray looks at the scene, deadpanned as he already expects such cliche going to happen.

"Mhm, I didn't expect your… blood to contain such concentrated energy that I am overflowing with mana." Scáthach coughs as she tries to hide her blushes.

"Anyway, let me handle the next boss since you are injured."

Something is definitely wrong here. Why is she acting like this, where is the prideful, strong and proud Warrior Queen Scáthach.

'I want a Refund!'

(Note: My second attempt to fix Scáthach character inconsistencies)

After a few minutes, they were ejected from the dungeon since the bosses had already been killed. Scáthach used the Gae Bolg Alternative twice on the Elder Shroom.

———

Dead Marsh Dungeon

Status: Cleared ( 71:58:37 until reset)

Reward:

2.5k CP

23k HP

Elder Treant Bracelet

Elder Treant Staff

Elder Shroom Magic Core

Edible Mushroom x70

———

Looking at the reward, Ray saw the Elder Treant Bracelet which has an active ability that is very useful in an emergency.

Elder Treant Bracelet

-Increase Mana Regen

-Increase green magic affinity

-Absorb vitality from nature to greatly self heal.(once a day)

The rest of the items he probably sells for HP since he is running low on points after creating Tsukuyomi.

Having more than enough points for buying new functions, Ray decided to wrap it up and return to Hub immediately.

…

Upon arriving at Hub, Ray immediately open system function shop and bought 2 new function

———

Job classes function

Price: 1k CP

Random Shop function

Price: 500 CP

———

Job classes function

Enable users to use levels to increase classes that are compatible with the user to unlock skills and abilities.

Random Shop function

A shop that randomly sells 8 items. Can be influenced by luck stats to get more favourable daily reset.

———

After achieving all his current goals, he feels weirdly tired which he never did since he finished his penalty contract.

Ray drops by the marketplace to buy a mattress, pillow and quilt before returning into his house in Hunter's Dream to sleep before embarking on a new contract.

When he arrived at home, he immediately took out the queen size mattress with the quilt and put it in one of the empty rooms of the house.

"Cmon, I'm going to sleep." Ray called for his weapon souls.

Artemis and Tsukuyomi appeared on the mattress before Ray hugged them both to sleep with his head facing the floor.

Scáthach leaves them be and decides to 'explore' Yharnam while Maria will act as guide for her. Although she looks more interested in the great one that Maria always carries rather than the exploration.

—————

(Note: Boy oh boy, that took me long enough. The fighting scene I tried my best but I keep feel like it's lacking and I tried to compare and improve but it takes too much time that I gave up on the second boss.

Also the new job system is a pain in the ass to make, I spent like 3 hours or more googling the meaning, effect and anything related to make sure I understand the stuff I'm going to add. Thank goodness dnd wikis exist, most of the stuff i add will be sourced from there.)

(About Tsukuyomi… his main inspiration is from the Monster Paradise novel. Even my mc power is influenced by that novel. I was impressed with the potential of psychic manipulation.

Imagine if someone is able to reach a realm of power where they can bend or manipulate laws, dimensions or even the universe using sheer will.

They can reenact rinnegan abilities like almighty push/pull, planetary devastation or even manipulate souls simply by willing it to happen.

Anyway you probably get what I mean. I'm leaking some spoilers here. So my decision to make Tsukuyomi a trap is purely my taste, her description should be added to vol 0)