Chapter 37 : Crimson (Part 4)

*TAP*

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*TAP*

Rei quietly approached Banzana who was still clinging on what's left of his life and consciousness.

There's a large gaping hole on his left chest and he's now sitting on his knees without any strength left to move his body.

*COUGH*

Banzana coughed out blood as Rei stopped right in front of him, holding the last sword that he had in his inventory.

Banzana looked up with unfocused eyes, "Heh...never thought someone like you would defeat me, despite the gap in our levels and..."

*SWOOSH*

As the wind brushed past both of them, the sunlight casted an ethereal glow on Rei.

"...for me to be defeated by a brat like you."

Rei's a young boy with brown and different colored eyes who's not even close to an adult yet...no...more like a literal child. Just like the ones he caught for money.

Banzana grinned for a moment and looked up, "I guess this is my retribution for all of my bad deeds towards those brats...now...end me Kiritsuka Rei." Banzana spoke with a smile while closing his eyes.

"....." Rei stayed quiet for a moment and slowly opened his mouth, "Tell me...

do you not feel anything towards those people you hurt and kill?"

"...."

Silence settled in between them for a while before Banzana smirked and looked at him again, "Heh...do you really want me to answer that?"

"...."

"Then go to hell...you bastard." Banzana spat out blood to the ground, still grinning like a madman.

"I see...I'm really glad...you're someone who won't change even when dying."

*CLINK*

Rei lifted his sword and looked at him, "Thank you...Banzana."

"Heh...fuck you brat!–"

*SLASH*

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*THUD*

*****

[You leveled up!]

[You leveled up!]

[You leveled up!]

[You leveled up!]

[You leveled up!]

[You leveled up!]

[You leveled up!]

[You leveled up!]...

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*SIGH*

Rei sighed as the notice continued to rang in his head. After he ended Banzana's life, he took a seat on a broken tree, stabbing his sword to the ground beside him and then hanging his helmet on its hilt.

"Damn...how strong was Banzana...it won't stop."

'Well he was the Bandit's king after all, so he was like a pack of EXP that have been stored up for so long.' Ray commented.

"Uhhh...never thought there would be a day for you to say that..." Rei shook his head after hearing the unbelievable statement coming from him.

'Well...he was a madman who was smiling as he battled...and we barely have HP left after defeating that guy.'

"True."

[You leveled up!]

As he talked, the notice finally stopped ringing.

"Phew...that was relief...I thought it went error. " He spoke, "[Status]."

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[STATUS]

NAME: Kiritsuka Rei / Ray Houston

JOB : Blacksmith

TITLE : [The Reincarnator], [Time Traveler], [Quick Learner], [Beast Slayer], [Die Hard], [Jack of All Trade]

Level: 36 >>> 59

[HP: 5450/5450]

[MP: 625/625]

[FATIGUE: 1600]

EXP: 300/60500

STATUS POINT :  12 >>> 242

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STRENGTH : 152 >>> 175

AGILITY : 76(+5) >>> 99(+5)

VITALITY : 81 >>> 104

INTELLIGENCE : 66(+5) >>> 89(+)

SENSE : 71(+5) >>> 94(+5)

[SKILL]

<PASSIVE>

Blacksmith Mastery Lv6; Sword Mastery Lv6; Battle Instinct Lv6; Super Growth LvMax; Fire Magic Lv4; Aura Lv5; Cooking Mastery Lv3; Knitting Mastery Lv3; Alchemy Mastery Lv2; Pain Resistance Lv1; Speart Arts Lv2

<ACTIVE>

Fire LvMax

Blacksmith Flame Lv1

Horizontal Slash LvMax

Vertical Slash LvMax

Omni Slash Lv3

Persona LvMax [Locked]

Imitation Fire Sword Lv3

Shukuchi Lv5

Weapon Breaker Lv2

Intimidate Lv3

Sprint Lv2

Focused Block Lv2

Spear Arts: One Strike Lv2

Spear Arts: Gungnir Lv1 !!NEW!!

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"I jumped level to 59 now."

'Woah...23 level at once? That's crazy...I guess he is a pack of EXP after all.' Ray said it nonchalantly.

"And I never expected I–no...we could pull it off using that skill."

'Well I should be saying, it's thanks to Uncle Nel's demonstration. If we didn't see his last strongest skill, we might be dead now.'

'That's true...'

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[Spear Arts: Gungnir]

Active Skill

MP Cost: 200

Cooldown: 60 sec.

Maintain the skill: -20 MP/1 sec.

A skill that matched its name. [Gungnir], the spear of Odin. It is said that this spear can destroy and strike any target no matter the skill or strength of the wielder.

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As they looked at the skill's description, Ray asked.

'One question, why [Gungnir]?? if it were me, I would choose [Imitation Flaming Spiral Spear]'

"Uhhhh...no that's lame." Rei shook his head, "You really don't have a good naming sense huh."

'Just answer the question' he could feel Ray rolling his eyes to that, making him chuckle a bit.

"[Gungnir] or [The swaying one] it is said it's the strongest spear of the god named [Odin] from Norse mythology. He's the [God of War], and it is said he's the father of the gods as well."

As Rei explained it, Ray still couldn't comprehend the conversation.

"I-i see...so basically you took that name from the famous spear in your world?"

"Well...I guess so? I mean, his spear was the strongest of all the things I read." Rei smiled, and as soon as he said that, he received a notice.

[Notice!]

[You earned a title!]

"E-eh??"

Confused, Rei quickly checked his status as soon as possible.

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[STATUS]

NAME: Kiritsuka Rei / Ray Houston

JOB : Blacksmith

TITLE : [The Reincarnator], [Time Traveler], [Quick Learner], [Beast Slayer], [Die Hard], [Jack of All Trades], [The Warrior Might] !!NEW!!

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Then he clicked on the description of that new tittle of his.

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[The Warrior Might]

A tittle given by the [God of War, Odin] who heard his conversation. He's interested about how he described his weapon as the strongest and fascinated with the way he fought against someone who's stronger than him. So he gave him this title and an additional skill called [War Cry].

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'Kiritsuka...'

"Yes."

'Isn't that–'

"Don't ask."

Rei sighed, looking at his other title that he got from two years of training.

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[Die Hard]

Due to this individual's achievement for achieving more than 100 death, they got +5% additional EXP on every skill they trained.

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[Jack of All Trades]

Due to this individual's achievement for achieving every production skills (Cooking Mastery, Knitting Mastery, Alchemy Mastery). They will receive 20% effectiveness on the product they made.

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"I guess i know why my potion got even more effective despite being lower-rank now..."

'Yeah...how about checking this [War Cry]?'

"Okay."

As he clicked the skill, it showed the description in front of him.

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[War Cry]

Active Skill

MP Cost: 100

Cooldown: 45 sec.

Duration: 10 min.

A skill that allows its user to apply [Paralyze] towards the enemy with a thunder like roar and gains 20% additional buff for Strength, Agility and Vitality.

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"Woah...so basically, it's a debuff and buff skill at the same time?!"

'Damn...I guess the Gods who watched you were happy with the fight.'

"Well this is the toughest fight I ever had after that monster."

'Agreed.'

Rei stood up as he took his helmet and put them on back again.

"Well then...shall we go back now?"

'Not yet...we haven't looted their base first.'

"Isn't that basically robbing?"

'I know you would have said that, since you have some sort of sense of justice, I will tell you this...it's fine to take their things, after all there's no ownership of the item they have, at least the things they rob wouldn't be left in vain and as for the money, we can share them to the village so they can hire some guards and adventurer.' Ray explained.

"Hmmmm...I can see your point...since your reasons are always good, I will agree."

'Heh, you should always listen to me now.'

"Tsk...let's just go back to their base."

He turned around and started walking towards the direction of that cave again.

"Wait–!!"

Rei stopped and quickly turned around to see who just called him.

"Who!?–huh??" When Rei was about to take his sword again, he stopped when he recognized the person.

It was Alicia who called him out, her face was flushed red for some reason and she was wearing a cloak with her hood on.

"Huh? Alicia? Why are you here?" Rei asked.

"U-ummm...I was worried about you and when I heard the explosion...I rushed here to see if you are doing alright." Alicia replied softly as she fiddled with her fingers.

"I see...but I am fine now, I defeated that guy already." He shook his head, "That aside...did you meet your sister?"

"Y-yes! I met her....I'm so happy to see her...thank you very much mr. Knight!" Alicia bowed her head as she sincerely thanked him again.

Rei looked at her and sighed a bit while rubbing the back of his helmet, "Well it's fine...I'm just doing what anyone else would do...anyway, I had to go for a moment, you should go back with–"

"E-excuse me! C-can I accompany you there?!" Alicia shouted a bit and looked down as her cheeks got even redder.

Rei blinked for a few times, "Pardon?"

"I-i mean, let me accompany you! I....I need to meet someone there before I leave." Alicia looked up and this time her expression was more controlled and serious, Rei could tell from her voice and looks that she had to do this or else she would regret it.

'Houston.' Kiritsuka called him, a bit unsure.

'Let her be...I'm guessing it had to do with someone she's close with in that place before.'

'Then is that person–'

'You already knew...what kind of place is that right?'

Rei sighed after a while and turned his body around, "Let's go...we won't be long."

Alicia's face lit up before she tried to catch up with him, and then walking right beside him with a small smile.

Rei only spared her a glace for a moment as they continued to walk together towards the cave again.

He could see that Alicia's smile never left her face.

'Why is she so happy?' Rei wondered.

'Beats me...maybe because her savior allowed her to come with him.'

'Ohh, that make sense!' Rei who was quite oblivious about this situation, just accepting that fact without questions asked again. But there was something that bothered his mind...

'But...how come I couldn't sense her at all earlier?' Rei glanced at her again.

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Meanwhile in Alicia's head...

She remembered about what she saw before they met up...

******

Actually, when she ran towards his location before and after the battle ended, she hid herself behind a tree...

Then she took a peek to see her savior's condition...

She widened her eyes the moment he took off his helmet. He turned out to be a young boy who looked roughly the same age as her.

He had brown hair and beautiful different colored eyes...and his calmness after the intense fight with Banzana...

*BA-THUMP*

*BA-THUMP*

...Made her little young maiden's heart raced faster..she held her breath and covered her mouth with her two hands. All the while turning red faced just like a ripe tomato.

That was when....

The future [Saint], Alicia's first love began to bloom...

******

Back to the present, Rei and Alicia finally arrived at that cave once again.

But before they went inside, Rei walked towards something.

There were three bandits left alive, they were the cave entrance guards and the leader of the group of bandits who came to Rubal village to take Leticia.

*SPLASH*

"Huh?!–" The bandits jolted awake after Rei splashed a potion on them.

"Wake up." Rei spoke coldly as Alicia hid behind him.

"Y-you are–"

*CLINK*

Rei pointed his sword without hesitation to the leader's neck.

"I want an answer from you three, where did you guys keep your treasure." Rei asked calmly.

One of the bandits sneered, "Heh, like hell we will tell you!"

"Yeah! Tell him Howard!"

"O-oi you guys!–"

*CLINK*

Rei pushed his sword closer to his neck, drawing a bit of blood

"H-hii!–"

"I see...so your name is Howard huh...then you already know what will I do to you...if you won't answer me right?"

When Rei asked that question, Howard, the Bandit's leader from before, remembered just what happened last night.

"N-no!!–P-please no!! I-I-I will tell you!" Howard begged as he cried like a child

It shocked the others especially Alicia who was peeking on them from behind him.

"O-Our boss won't let you off!! We are [Banzana's crew]! Mess with us means you are messing with him!" One of them shouted in desperation.

Rei suddenly pulled out of something from his inventory and when they saw it, their eyes grew wide.

*THUNG*

A saber sword that was very large was held on his hand. With just a glance, they recognized that sword.

"N-no way...it can't be..."

"B-b-boss is..!!"

"He's dead now." Rei finished it for him, "Now then...will you listen to me, or you wanna die the same way as him and the others." Rei glared at them as they turned white as sheet.

"Y-yes!! We will tell you!!"

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******

*TAP*

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Rei and Alicia walked into the cave besides each other. He glanced at her for a moment as he could tell that the little girl beside him was shivering in fear.

Knowing that...

*THUD*

Rei reached his hand and gave her a gentle pat, "I am here...so don't worry okay?" he spoke gently, as if talking to a wounded animal.

Alicia nodded a bit, feeling her cheeks warmed at his touch.

Shortly, they arrived inside that room once again.

*CREAK*

The room where Alicia got tortured before...

Rei cleaned the body of the man he killed then put them aside while Alicia knelt on her knees, staring at the floor.

"Elle...I'm back for you..." She spoke

"I'm sorry...that I couldn't save you....that I'm weak....I'm sorry...Elle..." Her tears started to pool on her eyes, dripping down her cheeks as the little girl cried out for her friend.

Rei could only stood there watching. He felt bad towards her friend...it made him thought that...If he got here much earlier, will things change?

The thought gnawed him for a while but he tried to brush it off as he walked towards the girl.

"Alicia...let's go." Rei couldn't bear to see her cry and would very much like to get both of them out of here as fast as possible, "I know you are sad for your friends...but...always remember."

Alicia who heard his voice, turned her head around but her tears continued to fall.

Rei's right golden eyes glinted a bit, "You need to keep on living and smiling for her sake, that way, you can repay her kindness and for her to rest in peace." His voice sounded a bit different, like she was hearing another man speaking through him.

Alicia widened her red puffy eyes before pulling him close into a hug.

Rei couldn't help but returned the hug, and gently comforted the little girl who cried her eyes out until she's satisfied.

After a few minutes of crying...Rei and Alicia started to walk out from the door but when they were about to close the door...Alicia heard something.

'Thank you for coming to see me.'

Alicia widened her eyes a bit and smiled, "Goodbye...Elle."

*CREAK* *THUNG*

******

*TAP*

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After seeing her friend for one last time, Rei and Alicia went to the other path of this cave where the bandits stayed in.

*CREAK*

When Rei opened the door, he was met with a vast storage room. It was filled with some sort of barrells and boxes inside.

They decided to split up to look around the place.

There were a lot of things stored in this particular room, like booze, weapons, armors and even...gold.

There's also a box that was filled with so many money from all of the villages they raided. Rei decided to put all those things into his [Inventory].

Alicia who saw him putting the loot into some sort of invisible pocket made her curious and continued to stare at him.

"Hm? What's wrong Alicia?"

"A-ah! N-no...I'm just...curious about mr. Knight...how come you are so good at fighting and also using [Space Magic], a-are you a [Magic Swordsman] mr. Knight??" Alicia beamed, excited to hear his answer.

"Well...I can't say I'm like those jobs, but mine is different than you think and can I ask?"

Alicia tilted her head, "Hmm? Sure."

"How come you know [Space Magic]?" Rei asked.

"Ummm...I read about books for magic, apparently I don't know what my job is..."

"Huh? How come?"

"Actually...I had my job being appraised...but they don't know my actual job is...and since I told them I can sense mana, they determined my job is either a [Mage] or a [Cleric]."

"I see..."

'Well as expected, a low level appraisal won't know her actual job...since it is more [Legendary] than one could imagine.' Ray commented.

"I see, so you are interested on [Space Magic]?"

"Y-yes! I-if you could tell me how to do it, I will appreciate it!"

"Ummmm..."

'What should I do...Houston.'

'Don't ask me! I'm a [Blacksmith] remember! Even I don't know how this [Inventory] and [Space Magic] works.'

"I don't think...I can teach you about it."

"I-i see...I'm sorry." Alicia frowned while looking down a bit, disappointed.

'Houston!!'

'What?! Don't blame me!!'

As they argued inside his head, his hand stumbled on something.

*THUD*

"Huh?"

There were two books, one of them have a bow mark on its cover and the other was...

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Banzana's journal...

To be continue...