Be Better to Survive

Walking through desolate snowy lands, Christopher ignored the woman behind him, not bothering to start up a conversation. She tried talking to him, but he gave one-word responses. Lucia was her name, the woman who asked if she could join the Phantom Mutiny, specifically Emerald Lionheart herself.

"I've been playing Isekai World Online for a few months now, it's always been my favorite game, but never in my life would I expect to be joining the Phantom Mutiny! It's like a dream come true." Lucia was talkative as ever, it was one of her main traits that made some people find her annoying, or even likable at times, "What about you Sir Christopher? How long have you been playing?"

"Refer to me as Sandman."

"Huh?" She tilted her head to the side, "Why Sandman?"

"Members of the Phantom Mutiny have their own unique titles. I am Sandman, Emerald is Equinox, Lucienne is Calamity, Crimson is Hydra, Maverick is Emperor, and Angelica is Angel. Kuma is the only one who lacks a title, but it is used to hide the identity of our avatars."

Lucia crossed her arms, looking down in thought.

"O-Oh… I see, so Sandman works, got it."

"Indeed, and to answer your question, I've played for two years, though I missed the Beta."

"Wow, two years? You must be skilled!"

Christopher rooted himself in place, stretching his arm to the side, "Just a moment." Lucia bumped into his forearm, confused as ever.

"What's the matter? Did something happen?"

"We've been followed."

"Seriously?" Lucia summoned her sword inside her hand, turning around to scan their area, ("Crap, I didn't notice anything… I was too busy trying to learn about Sir Christopher that I forgot to watch our surroundings!")

"They appear to be relatively weak, so earning Snow crests from them shouldn't be too difficult."

"R-Right!" Lucia nodded her head, ("Sir Christopher dislikes me, that much is obvious, he thinks I'm weak and incapable of handling myself… but I'll show him… that I'm not your ordinary girl!"

Elves with bows, swords, and pitchforks had emerged from the snow, exposing their whereabouts. Some fired arrows at the two of them, but Lucia intercepted, deflecting them away, "Haaaaah!" She charged forward, skewering one of the elves through their chest, depleting their HP to zero.

"Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Joy to the world, the Lord is come!" The Mobs chanted in unison.

"Honestly, this song played in November more than it has on the actual holiday." Christopher summoned Velocity's edge in his hand, "Hmpf." He snickered before casting his spell, "Jesters Act!" F-Tier debuff magic. This spell can create illusions, but the illusions vary. Christopher jabbed his weapon forward, but in reality, he was actually swinging his weapon from above, but the elves couldn't perceive it, which caused their deaths. One of them was sliced in half before the other had its head decapitated from its body.

"That's two." Muttered Sandman, as he elegantly backflipped around multiple arrows, landing atop their heads, "…That's… four!" He shouted, slicing apart their domes, and kicking one of them like a soccer ball towards a horde of zombie elves, "Five, Six, Seven, Eight!" He dashed towards the horde, killing them one by one.

"Wow…" Lucia took her attention off the mobs, glancing at Christopher behind her, "His movements are so elegant… and refining, he fights like royalty almost."

Gnomes started jumping up from the ground with daggers, attacking Lucia while she was distracted.

She didn't hear them… her full attention was targeted elsewhere.

"Fifty…" Christopher was standing in a throng of corpses, extending his hand towards Lucia, "Insignia." Casting an E-tier Debuff spell, Insignia launched negative energy from the void of oblivion, jamming the Gnomes that surrounded her, and inflicting them with the Sinful Debuff.

They fell forward, annihilated by its effects.

Lucia jumped in her skin, turning around to notice them lying by her feet, "Ah!" She looked down at them, sighing at her failure. "I-I apologize! I was… distracted…" Lucia glanced away in shame.

"You were watching me fight." Christopher approached her, placing his hand against his hip with Velocity's edge resting on his shoulder, "But the same could be said for me as well."

"…?" Turning to face Sandman, she could see he was smiling, "O-Oh… you were watching me fight as well?!"

"Yes, you know how to hold a blade, good. You aren't some coward that I thought you to be, however," He frowned at Lucia, which had her body tense up, "You haven't shown me enough. Distraction causes death, and you aren't ready to be on an actual battlefield."

"Y-Yes!" She bowed in front of him, "I understand! It won't happen again!!"

"It better not, for the sake of your own life. If I wasn't there, those Gnomes would've killed you, their weapons are created from Mythril and Orichalcum ore, and are also enchanted with the blessing of the Christmas spirit. In other words, they all possess Legendary Grade Equipment. If they all attacked you at once, you would've surely died."

"Legendary… Grade Equipment?" Lucia slowly looked up at Sandman, anxious in her eyes, "Wow, even my weapon is Legendary Grade… and you're telling me they all have something just as strong?"

"Naturally. Though, I'm assuming this event started because of Hydra."

"You mean, Sir Crimson?"

"Yes. His luck is horrendous, he has the worst luck stat in the game, which is why he ran into the Red Primordial and also caused this challenge to occur."

"Ehhhh??" Lucia widened her eyes, jolting back from the sudden claim, "The Worst luck stat in the game?! That's ridiculous! How do you guys even manage?"

"It's with Kuma, he has the highest luck out of our group, and it balances out Crimson's luck when they're together. I can assure you if Kuma wasn't around, this challenge would've been a lot harder than it is now."

"Poor Crimson, that really seems like a lot to deal with." Lucia pitied him, visible from her expression alone.

"Sulk another time. More importantly, can you fly?"

Lucia stared at Christopher, rubbing the back of her head, "Well…" She looked off to the side, chuckling, "Not really, I didn't complete the tutorial of the game. I kinda skipped over it."

"Honestly…" Christopher looked disappointed, "The entire Phantom Mutiny completed the game tutorial, so they have all the General Magic, you should finish it once this is all over. You'll be useless without it."

"Right… I'll do my best." Nodded Lucia.

General Magic. It's magic that all players should naturally have in the game if they complete the tutorial. The known spells of General Magic are Spatial Warp, Augment Magic, Expose Magic, Conceal Magic, and Inflict Magic.

"And find new clothing, looking at yours disgusts me."

The blonde-haired girl dropped her jaw in shock, balling up her fists to pout, "Listen, I may be a clumsy oaf sometimes, but it doesn't give you the right to insult my style, even if you're part of the Phantom Mutiny!"

Christopher ignored her, walking off into the distance.

"Hey, I'm serious! Don't ignore me!" She frantically waved her arms in the air, shouting loud as she could.

"Let's regroup with the others."

"Hold on just a second!" Lucia chased after him, frowning.

***

"Haaaaah!" A small fox danced through a crowd of men, striking them with her paws, and bashing them with their tail. Each one of them fell victim to her strength, suffering depletion of their HP.

"Grab her goddamnit!!" One of the hooded men shouted, jumping to grab the fox, but it dodged to the side and kicked underneath his chin, "Guooahh!!"

"Keep your filthy hands off of me, child of man!" Carmine landed on her two feet, opening her jaw wide before fire started gathering in the center of her maw as the heat intensified.

"Shit! Cast the Enshroud spell, quickly!" One of them shouted, but it was too late.

Carmine fired the massive beam of fire from her mouth, engulfing them in its nuclear heat. They all screamed in agony, feeling their bodies being washed away into ash, and leaving nothing of them left.

"Good riddance, worms." Carmine looked around her, scanning their area, "Though… that familiar scent I smelled is suddenly gone. Who could that be?"

"I-Is it over?" Florian peaked her head from the side of a building, shaking in her legs.

"Yes child, they have been dealt with, it's fine to come out now."

"O-Okay…" Florian timidly walked from behind the building, pulling her skirt down, fidgety in her hands, "D-Did you find out who it was that you smelled earlier? Was it a member of the Phantom Mutiny?"

"Hmm. I'm unsure, they managed to escape me. They were fast and agile, but I think it's safe to assume that they were of the demon race from their void-like aura."

"D-Demon race?!"

The Fox nodded their head, "Yes. Could it be that girl they talked about? What was her name again?"

"Y-You mean… Lucienne, the Calamity?"

"Ah, yes, Lucienne. The demon that went missing for some time. I smelt her scent in Emperor's castle when we escaped from Lucifer's wrath, though she wasn't there at the time."

Florian crossed her arms, tensing up her shoulder, "Why would someone like Lucienne want to betray the Phantom Mutiny? Aren't they her friends?"

"I have no clue, nor do I know of their relationships. I haven't hung around them enough to make any assumptions, I only know my master more than anyone in this entire world."

"Oh," Florian smiled, "It's okay Carmine." Crouching down, she would pat the fox's head, "The same could be said for me and Lucia. I only know her more than anyone else in this whole entire world as well."

"Fuhuhu, what a precious child." The fox closed her eyes, indulging in the head pats.

"Hehehe!" Florian giggled, pulling her hand away.

"We're lucky. During my fight against those men, a challenge suddenly started. The mobs from the Frost Division are unable to enter this village, it's as if something is keeping them away." Carmine glanced at the Christmas tree in the center of the village, "I'm sure I know what it is."

"The… Christmas Tree?" Asked Florian.

"That's part of it, but it also has something to do with you."

"H-Huh? It does!?"

"Indeed." Nodded Carmine.