First Dungeon (9)

I woke up to my body being squeezed by something cool in temperature while surrounded by a ring of fire. As I looked around, I caught sight of Julius Crimson staring at me with a serious expression while Solomon Nova looked on in amusement.

Seeing the mocking smile on Solomon's face, I wanted to reach out and slap it right off and pummel him to the ground. Instead, I decided to check my status screen.

[

Asani Martin

Child of the Nox Clan

Rank: E

▷Stats:

[Strength – E]

[Stamina – E]

[Speed – E]

[Perception – E]

[Vitality – E]

[Magic power – D]

[Intelligence – A]

[Charm – A]

Gifts: 3/3

Gifts: ▷Eye of Odin (D), ▷Beloved By Mana (E), ▷Mana Craftsman(E)

Curses: 5 Effects.

Blessing: 5 Effects.

Crimes committed: (0/1)

Familiar: Shadow Mimic (E)

[Abilities: ▷Spawn (E) ▷Devour (C) ▷Shapeshapeshift ▷Storage (E) ▷Disguise (E) ]

Mana attribute: N/A ]

On one hand, I was happy since I had finally moved up to Rank E though I truly couldn't guess what pushed my perception up. On the other hand, I was angry since I now had an unwanted tag-along. Thankfully, my status screen looked normal compared to the one Rachel and the boy had so I supposed I had to be satisfied with that.

I glared down at the offender. The shadow mimic was in the shape of a large snake and wrapped around my entire body like a blanket just within the ring of fire. Seeing that I was looking at it, it snuggled its face into my neck while squeaking happily.

Through a bond that connected the two of us, I could feel that it was happy to touch me, hungry for food and my mana, and hot from the flames.

Mentally pushing away the unwanted thoughts, I caught its eyes and hissed at it, "I'm going to kill you, you little bastard. Just you wait." 

Rolling my eyes as it hid its head in my neck while sending feelings of fear and hunger, I glanced up at Solomon and Julius.

Catching my eyes, Solomon laughed before walking closer and squatting in front of me before he began poking my cheek. 

Poke. Poke. Poke.

"So soft and squishy." 

Restraining my temper, I ignored him.

Poke. Poke. Poke. My other cheek this time.

"So tender and mild."

I took a deep breath and ignored him again.

Poke.

[Scan has been partially resisted]

Poke.

[Scan has been partially resisted]

Poke.

[Scan has been partially resisted]

As he went to poke my cheek again, I snapped my teeth at his finger and he pulled it back while laughing.

"He reacts. Hello again black rank. Or should I say, mimic host?" the crystalline eyes curled up in a mocking smile.

"Shut up. You know that's not true. Release me."

"How will I know? Obviously, I can't make sure because I'm currently being suppressed and can't fully utilize my gift. I wonder who in this world can release these cuffs without alerting my Dear Aunt Caerus. I'd be willing to trade your freedom for mine." As his eyes narrowed and he smirked at me, I rolled my eyes before turning to look at Julius.

"Oi Crimson. How long have I been out? And why the hell didn't you burn this thing off from me."

"I considered doing it, but seeing how entangled it was with your body, you would have had to die with it. We've already got another person scheduled to die tonight, I didn't want to add a third. Lucky for you, Nova showed up on time. But, if you're regretting it, shall I take you out? I've heard that being burned alive is an ugly way to die though."

"…Pass."

"That's what I thought. You've been out for a couple of hours. It's a little past midnight now."

"Let me out then. I'm not being controlled by the mimic."

"So you say. People don't control mimics as familiars, it controls them. I can't free you until Nova says you're clean and in control. Sorry kid." He almost looked remorseful as he stared at me.

"Which I am willing to do once you do one little tiny thing for me. My freedom. For yours black rank. A fair deal I think." Solomon repeated, holding his hands out as the silver cuffs flashed in the light.

"I refuse. Keep me tied up here until the exam is over or just kill the mimic. I don't care."

As the mimic began squeaking indignantly before headbutting me with its head, Julius looked thoughtful before glaring at Solomon.

"You do not want someone to kill your familiar let me assure you. Hmmm." Julius stood up and went to stand beside Solomon, his larger figure almost towering over him.

"Oi, Nova. Is he clean or not?"

"Not," Solomon replied with no hesitation.

"Then why are you trying to make a deal with him to remove your cuffs? Are you screwing around here?"

"Who knows?" Solomon smiled mysteriously and Julius shot a fireball at him in disgust. Easily blocking it with a barrier, Solomon began laughing, causing Julius' frown to get more intense as his body flared up with flames and his blue hair ignited into blue flames as well.

"I don't have the patience for you fucking around Nova."

With a wave of his hand, the fire ring surrounding me disappeared and the mimic shrunk down to its small blob form and hopped onto my shoulder, trying to dig inside of it to hide from the light now that the fire was gone.

Before turning away, the taller boy reached out quickly and smacked the back of Solomon's head. As I got up and walked past Solomon, I smacked his head as hard as I could, feeling quite satisfied at the sound it made.

As I joined Julius by the campfire, I looked around the now-empty cave. All the students were gone except the boy who was still slumped unconscious off to the side and Rachel's beheaded body which was next to him.

"Where is everyone?"

"Nova said the rest were clean so he took them somewhere to protect them from him… and you. When that one wakes up, we'll ask what the hell it's planning before killing him." He paused then looked at me, "How's your little…pet? Feeling controlled or any intrusive thoughts?"

"This thing?" I reached out and yanked the mimic off my shoulder and threw it to the ground where it splatted before collecting its body into a blob and squeaking pitifully while sending feelings of being wronged.

Crafting a gun, I pointed it at it. "I don't like things attaching themselves to me like a parasite. I don't like things in my head. And I certainly don't like things bitting and draining me of mana and blood. Undo it."

"Nah, don't be too harsh on it. When Nova was messing around with you. It diligently protected you. And your hand is fine. Honestly, if they're well-behaved like this, it makes me kind of want one." 

I looked down at my right hand and noted that he was right. Apart from some faint indentations, my right hand was perfectly fine.

"Besides, you don't want to kill a familiar. The effects are apparently not good."

"What happens?"

"I dunno kid. I've never had a familiar die before. This one is pretty cute though."

As Julius reached out a flame-covered finger to poke the mimic, it created a mouth with jagged teeth and chomped on his finger. Unfortunately, its body caught fire, it rolled around while squeaking until the flames went out and then came to settle at my feet with a sad squeak.

"Hot." It created a human mouth before speaking in the same disconcerting blend of voices and Julius flinched.

"That part is very creepy though. I don't know how I feel about it talking."

"I don't know how I feel about having such a stupid familiar that thinks flames are food." I poked it with my finger and it latched onto my hand, turning into a convenient ball shape for squishing. Taking out my stress by stretching and pulling it into different shapes, I found myself annoyed that it was enjoying it and having fun.

After watching me for a bit, Julius shook his head before lighting a cigarette. After a deep puff, he started speaking. 

"Anyway, Nova had some news to share. He was just waiting for you to wake up. Should have known you were clean, that fucker. Oi Nova."

"Stop screaming my name. I'm here." Solomon grumbled before plopping down by the fire.

"Your news?"

"First, I just want to say fuck you, Julius. You've broken the childhood friend clause of unconditional support in the face of opposition. We are supposed to present a united front. Shame on you."

"We were never friends you arrogant bastard." 

"You say this now, but I'll let you know I no longer consider you my childhood best friend."

"Thank god. I'm finally free of you annoying me. Praise be." Julius blew an 'O' right in Solomon's face and began laughing when he coughed.

"Whatever volcano head. Anyway, I have bad news and worse news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"Bad news."

"There's a den of spiders. They've captured around 30 to 50 students and killed about a dozen. They're mainly E-rank but I spotted a couple of D-rank ones as well. I couldn't get closer because of the sheer amount roaming that part of the forest and these " he held his wrists to display the cuffs.

"That's bad. And the worse?" Julius asked

"You already found out about the mimics and congrats I guess to our fellow black rank for trying it out first hand. Julius told me you were playing around with it instead of killing it. Very stupid of you by the way."

"Focus. What did you find Solomon?"

"As I was saying, mimics. I snuck close to the central tower and followed the hero with wings. I have reason to suspect they're not portaling students out as she was flying them out of there. I found out where they're taking the students. You'll never guess where. If you ask me nicely I'll tell you."

"The lighthouse? By the water?" I interrupted.

Solomon: "..."

"…how did you know?"

Turning to Julius, I smirked, "He's pretty useless isn't he?"

"The worst. Do you see why I say associating with him will bring your credibility down kid? Look at how proud he is to share information we already know. All that built up for nothing."

"I see that now. Pretty useless indeed."

"He is. And extra arrogant to boot."

"…are you two done or can I continue?" Solomon asked in an irritated voice.

I glanced over at Julius and we exchanged a smile before I pretended to zip my mouth shut.

"Anyways, yes. They're taking them to the lighthouse. I didn't get too close but they have some students as guards there and I asked Cassandra and Killian to keep a close watch on the tower and the lighthouse and try to get in if they think they won't be caught."

"Anything else?"

"I've tried to question some mimic-controlled kids but had to kill them. They shouted 'For Survival' so I'm guessing Darwinists. I've been telling the clean students that I've seen to hide. Those who didn't want to listen have been soundly beaten and tied up. Once, my cuffs are off, I'll do one more round to make sure, I didn't miss any mimics. I'd like to get them before they're fully blended."

"Question?"

"Yes, black rank."

"What does that mean? Blended?"

"You've seen the fucked up mimic status yeah?"

"Yes."

"Good, take a look at that punk." Solomon pointed to the boy slumped against the wall.

When I analyzed him, it looked like a completely normal status screen. 

[

Gregory Shale

Age: 18

Rank: D

▷Stats:

[Strength – D]

[Stamina – D ]

[Speed – D]

[Perception – D]

[Vitality – D]

[Magic power –D]

[Intelligence – D]

Gifts: 1/1

Gifts: ▷Accuracy (E)

Familiar: N/A

Mana attribute: N/A

]

No familiar, no mana attribute, no spawn gift. It was as if he was a regular person.

"What the fuck?" I whispered.

"That's a blend. Can't catch it unless you have a skill like analyzing at a high rank and even then you have to be significantly stronger than it. This one's D rank, and if I hadn't caught it before it disappeared, I would have said he's clean. Anyway, that's all I found. We gotta go take out the main body, contact the professors, and do a sweep of the current students."

"Solid intel. What's the plan?" Julius asked him.

"Lionheart wants to tackle the spiders first which is fine with me. One of you should volunteer to go with him. As for me, once I get these cuffs off, I'm going to destroy the barrier and contact the professors to let them know what's going on. If that fails, I'll round up some people and tackle the lighthouse, the heroes, and the mimic. What do you want to do Julius?"

"I'll get the spiders. Should simple enough if I just burn the nest down."

"And you black rank?" they both turned to me.

"I volunteer for neither." I raised my hand up and told them seriously, "Honestly, I don't care enough about other students to risk my life saving them and I have no reason to battle against heroes gone bad or mimics or Darwinists. I'm ranked 1000 in case you didn't know and as Solomon rightfully told me at the previous exam. I'm a weakling. I'll leave the battling to you, strong kids, and take my weak self out of the way. Pretend you never saw me and that I never heard this information. Good luck. Fighting." 

I sarcastically cheered the both of them on. Go fight giant spiders to rescue students I didn't know or like? Hell no. If they got themselves caught, they should free themselves or get eaten. 

There were Darwinists who wanted to infiltrate the academy with mimic-controlled students including two mid-ranked heroes? Not my problem. As long as they didn't bother me and focused their attention on students from 9 clans, I couldn't care less. 

"Julius, how do you feel about reporting to the professors and your clan head that we found a student who willingly made a mimic his familiar? This student also refused to aid the efforts in freeing students from monster grasp and help in the battle against the Darwinists. I suspect he might be a spy."

"I think I'll get some good merit points on both accounts. My old man really hates mimics and especially hates the Darwinists for all the trouble they cause. I figure he'll send me a fat check and give me a break from dungeon duty for at least a couple of months."

"Same here, my aunt would definitely love to take a look at the student who wasn't taken over by a mimic. And he's a spy on top of it? She's been looking for a new person to dissect."

Looking at the vicious gaze in both their eyes and shooting a glare at the culprit of all this, I squeezed the little bastard who was having fun while sighing. "I think that you're both bastards and I hate you both."

"What do you think kid? You still don't want to help? I wouldn't want to force you of course. You're allowed to say no. You'll just be tied up while missing a few limbs until the professors come."

"No, he isn't. It's all hands on deck. Since his eyes are useful and yours are useless, you can pair up with him Julius. He can be your little guide dog when you come across people so you can check for mimics."

Asani: "..."

"So you plan on helping, right?" Solomon smiled mischievously as he patted my back extra hard, almost knocking me into flames.

Sighing again, I continued squeezing and pulling the mimic, marveling at the smooth springy texture. 

You little bastard, I mentally told it. Your master is here suffering and you're squeaking and having fun. Traitor.

At the cheerful squeak of happiness and a mental order to squeeze harder, I could only sigh in resignation before complying.

Clearly, my streak of good luck had run out. Still, it shouldn't be so bad. Julius seemed laid back enough, listened to orders without a lot of backtalk, and was clearly raring to go. If I was paired with him, I could just let that strong energetic bastard do the brunt of the work while I occasionally shot my gun from the back. 

And Nova, that punk, I would definitely free him from those cuffs and work him like a farm animal until he wanted to croak. Then I would chain him up again and have him beg me to free him.

"Fine." I pretended to reluctantly agree, "Let's make a deal you bastards."

"Glad you see it my way." The smile on Solomon's face was chilling but I just gave him my most innocent smile.

"Sure thing Nova. First, let's eat. Who makes a deal on an empty stomach anyway?"