Ch 25: It's Turkey time [pt2]

The battle with the fire-breathing beast got intense. 

The humans initially had the upper hand, but their side slowly lost hope and momentum.

Then it happened - Angelica dropped her weapon on the ground, and no one moved to pick it up.

The weapon sizzled with a mixture of energies, and people feared getting close to it.

But one individual stepped forward among this crowd to grip and protect the weapon.

Katherine felt her right-side burn as she picked up the spear and prevented the monster from getting to it.

She managed to throw it back into Angelica's hands, earning the respect and attention of the others.

"H-Hurry and kill this monster. I don't think we will survive otherwise."

Angelica snapped out of the daze when she heard the desperation in her teammate's voice.

She had not expected anyone to step up and help, but Katherine earned her respect because of what she did.

The monster also looked surprised, which allowed Angelica to land the final blow.

Everyone looked at Katherine with admiring eyes, and she felt a little shy.

"You were brave out there. What's your name?"

Elric asked Katherine as he walked past her to assist his injured teammates.

This was the first time Katherine had been acknowledged by someone stronger than herself, which increased her confidence.

'I can get stronger. I got this far already. I am sure I can get even stronger than this.'

...

The Turkey was finally suffering from being hurt.

As a result, its accuracy was all over the place. 

The control switch was behind the door that this Turkey was guarding, but Soma had yet to see the location of this door.

He was counting on Turkey to show him where this hidden door was so that Soma could use it.

The Turkey turned right and tried to flee. 

Soma forced himself to slow down. 

He needed the monster to think that it had a chance in the first place. 

The boss of Turkey knew the place of its hideout. 

That hideout was also the only place with Soma's last gate to clear.

Soma did not know how, but the boss realized what Soma was trying to do, and it turned around.

It happened too fast for Soma to react, and he was sure the monster was heading toward him. 

But then the Turkey ran past him and toward the door he had entered from. 

It was trying to escape Soma and leaving him hanging.

The stage was built for the boss's ease of access, so it opened when the boss approached it.

Soma followed it, but he was hit with a strong wind which knocked him back.

That allowed the boss to escape it properly.

Luckily, Soma did not have to worry about relying on the boss to find the final gate.

He had the location of the gate from the map he had purchased.

Once Soma was at the location indicated on the map, he looked around for anything that could look like the gate he needed to clear.

There was only empty ground, and Soma saw nothing like the gate he was trying to find.

"Where is the gate? The map shows its location, so I cannot be wrong. Is it underground?"

Soma jumped where he stood to check if the ground made any noise. But the ground felt normal, and there was no opening Soma could exploit.

The gate was not underground, leaving only a few places where it could be.

"Where did the gate go? If it's not on the ground, then perhaps-"

Soma looked up when he was not supposed to and immediately saw the gate he was looking for.

Instead of putting it on the ground like a sane person would, the gate floated in the air.

No, not even floating. It was flushed with the dome's roof and did not look like it would come down.

"Darn it. I don't think I can reach that high on my own. I do not have any skills that allow me to fly. Should I wait for others to come and help me? But there is no guarantee that the others will have a relevant skill to help me out."

It was ironic that the biggest problem Soma was currently facing was not a monster or even a puzzle.

It was reaching a place that was too tall.

"Tsk, if only I had a ladder. Then I could climb and-"

Soma stopped talking in the middle of his rant. 

He looked up at the high ceiling before him, and his mind flashed with ideas.

Soma might not be able to reach the top normally, but he could make it if he had something to climb up now.

A pile of monster bodies would work in this case. 

If they were stacked together, the number of monsters' bodies would act like a ladder, allowing Soma to reach the top.

His plan might have taken some time, but it was better than waiting for someone else's help.

"I should start with the bosses and any heavy thing I can find here."

Soma tried to move a few bodies first, bringing them back in here to dump them.

There were many more tall monsters around that were not difficult to kill. 

It was easy for Soma to kill and drag these bodies around with him.

Soma had quite a nice bundle ready in about an hour, but it was still not enough, and Soma was running low on body count.

He had about ten feet left before using his strings to open the gate.

"Wait! I don't think I need to use a monster body if it's only ten feet. I can use anything to gain this much height. Should I drag a few desks here?"

Soma's strings were currently holding together the current mismatched bundle of bodies.

It was not a stable mass, and adding a few unconventional items would not matter.

Soma dragged as much stuff in the room as he could and considered himself competent for investing in body strength.

Once he assembled everything, Soma decided to turn the gate around

He barely reached the ceiling even with all the additional height, but he snuck his strings around the gate and pulled hard.

The gate closed, causing Soma to sigh in relief.

But a loud yell broke his concentration, causing Soma to lose his balance.

He pulled the string tightly around the mass he was standing on so that it would not fall apart and then looked at the group that arrived inside.

"Y-Y-You! Don't tell me that you finished with all three games?"

Elric asked with a hopeful voice.

But his hopes were dashed when the monotonous voice of the system confirmed Soma's achievements.

[Gate 3/3 cleared. An unbelievable achievement has been unlocked. You can now head toward the second part of the tutorial stage.]

[Warning: Any attempts to leave the designated area will result in death until the completion of the current job.]

The warning was issued, and everyone looked shocked at the harsh words the system gave out.

But while most people focused on the system's announcement, Elric decided to go after Soma's head.

"Give me back my points. I deserve to be number one for all my hard work. I will defeat you and take my points away."

Elric promised as he rushed toward Soma with his sword ready, but someone decided to be brave and block him from reaching Soma.

"Wait! I know you want to kill Soma and reclaim your first position, but you must stop now. We don't know what challenges we will face in the future. We should keep him as an ally."

Katherine reasoned, and Soma was surprised to see that everyone else looked at her with varied interests.

Elric's face seemed to be getting redder by the moment, and he tried his best not to show how angry he was.

"Katherine is right. We should cooperate and try to find a solution to our problem. There is no need for us to fight among each other."

Out of everyone, Angelica was the last person Soma expected to take his side.

But there she was, being the first one to say that she trusted him.

Soma could see the suspicion in her eyes, but Angelica still decided to wait and see what Soma was planning.

Katherine also realized once she realized that Soma would not get killed by her new friends.

"We are even now. You saved my life before, and I saved yours now."

Katherine informed Soma in an almost entitled voice.

But Soma could hear the nervousness in her voice that indicated that Katherine was trying to act tough.

"About that…"

Soma heard the faint footsteps heading toward him and the wings flapping.

The bird was returning, and Soma knew how best to take advantage of the group before him.

"Katherine, since you want to repay me, I will give you a chance. Take care of this monster for me, and I will consider us even."

Soma pulled his hand back and quickly walked out before anyone could stop him.

Seconds later, a loud yell penetrated the tutorial area, and an angry Turkey flew inside the room.