10.The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #10 a LitRPG (ATS)

by Alvin Atwater

  Thor, God of Thunder.

  Fuyoko : leader of the Blood Seekers, a group dedicated to locating treasures in highly dangerous areas. Known as Master of the Stars for some reason. Blue-green hair, light blue eyes, and is quite a beautiful young woman. Her mother is disappointed in her.

  Naoko : kuudere loli as Clyde refers to her—she is the Blood Servant. In reality, she’s an entity with a mission to help the Stone reach his true potential. She was injured during her warp to Satovia. Fuyoko r isked her life, taking down three powerful demons to save the injured girl. Naoko has served her since. These days, Fuyoko sees her as a precious little sister that would probably emotionally fall apart if she left.

  Episode 51 (Part 1): Departure

  Last time on The Anime Trope System, Aunder learned the honor-lacking taste of betrayal. Now playtime is over. The Watchers will rue the day they’ve crossed the warrior. It seems that despite taunting the man, some of the gods welcome the challenge and the opportunity to crush the Viper.

  Meanwhile Clyde prepares to leave Lot City behind for an entire month of adventuring!

  Welcome to….

  The Anime Trope System Volume 10:

  Stone of Adventure vs. the Viper of Revelation…

  Thursday. Week 3. Month 2. Year 1. Season: Late Autumn.

  [School: Off day. Classes: Monday, Wednesday, Friday.]

  [Current declared fiancée(s): Melody, Alice, Tear, Harumi.]

  [Card bearers in Ring City: 1. Unknown.]

  [Cook-off opponents in Ring City: 322. Liru. The rest are unknown.]

  [Stone mode: still recharging. You must rely on your learned strength for now…]

  Liru’s Garage…

  Clyde muttered to himself as he helped Harumi’s older sister, Liru, clean the garage. It was a messy place, consisting of heavy boxes containing family trinkets and possible mystical items. Even in his mind’s eye, some of the items had a slight-silver glow to them—which possibly meant a relic-class item. RELIC.

  But that wasn’t why the young man muttered angrily to himself. Natalia. Oh evil Professor Natalia assigned the entire class over fifty pages of homework, all super-intense essay questions, due on Friday. The day of the exams. To make matters worse, when he mumbled a complaint, she assigned him fifty extra pages.

  He was seconds from telling her where she could shove those pages, but the dean walked in. Respect her, he said. Her assignments are worth double points, he said. Bullshit! That had to be mind control …but the young man had no proof. Their kind and merciful Hinako had the Flu and would be out for the rest of the semester.

  And Natalia…was hired to be permanent staff , effective during the Spring semester.

  He practically threw himself at Harumi when she mentioned the need for a volunteer to help Liru. Poor Kanako, outspoken, but it was all he could do to drop the thoughts of sabotaging Natalia’s job. Instead, he’d find a use for it. He wasn’t a master manipulator or anything, but bribing the loli was quite easy.

  “Uhmm, that box goes here—agh!”

  Liru tripped over something and fell into Clyde. The young man didn’t want to acknowledge the anime falling trope, but his mind already noted it to the ever-growing mental list.

  He took just a second to scope the beautiful woman. Hair, a darker pink in comparison to his Harumi’s, but the same gentle blue eyes.

  From an observation, Harumi sometimes changed her hair style, often from straight to an alluring wavy, to a few others when shopping with the girls. Liru had two modes. Straight down in a style similar to her sister’s and business, secretary bun.

  “Are you good?” the young man said. Liru nodded.

  “Sorry,” she said. “This whole place is a tripping hazard.”

  [Your telekinesis has reached level 2]

  [Your relationship with Liru has increased to friendly-associate level 4.]

  Practice made perfect, though he only had limited use of it due to the low level mingled with an annoying cooldown.

  Clyde and Liru returned to the massive task cleaning the garage. The older sister had pounced him with basic questions at the beginning of the session. The young man answered them without much emotion—she was simply an older sister concerned about her sibling.

  “Could you reach over and place that box on the shelf above?”

  “You sure you want to keep shelves in here?” Clyde said as he reached over her. “What about a car?”

  He suddenly felt soft yoga pants colliding against a freshly spawned boner. She inventoried a container on top of a washer while he reached over for a small box. And it required him to push. He attempted to move to the side, but Liru just so happened to drop something at that moment. She bent over and flinched, taking it all in. He was in sweat pants and shorts due to the cold temperatures of Lot City. Also, he cancelled his planned jog to volunteer for this.

  At this point, Clyde couldn’t move.

  Liru’s ass suddenly pushed against him harder.

  “Where did it go?” she said.

  No way… There was no way she couldn’t feel his super erection. She flinched—there was no way Liru would fall into the dense category. If he made the woman uncomfortable, why did she push into him harder when he attempted to give her some space? The simple answer danced around his brain.

  Liru was simply horny. A normal thing really. What if he…

  Clyde pushed his erection further into her and moved in a sexual rhythm. Liru held onto the washer, ignoring whatever she dropped. Her breathing changed.

  [Your relationship with Liru had increased to friendly, associate level 5, and very interested + sexually interested.]

  Liru turned around, blushing heavily, and kissed him. The passion prepared to explode into something heavy when a voice from the front room interrupted the mood.

  “Sis, I’m back,” Harumi said.

  “Ow! Watch it, Ruri,” Alice snapped.

  “Nya, why’d you drag me along?” Neko said.

  “You were arguing with your sister,” Alice said.

  Clyde and Liru jumped away from each other in haste, nearly knocking over organized boxes. The door to the main house opened.

  “I brought some help,” Harumi said. Liru smiled at her sister.

  “Nyaa, you brought me for labor?” Neko pouted.

  Everyone laughed at the catgirl’s expense. Alice anime-dove into her Clyde. While taking in his life mate’s sweet scent, he made a mental note to access his weekly ID store. With the amount of money he earned, surely he could afford some of the more obscure items. Well, maybe not the trillion, even quadrillion dollar RNG troll items that made little sense to exist. Hell, even Venus’s bra was among the selection at one point. If the system is nature, then she’s scary.

  He briefly pictured a girl with bubblegum-pink hair sticking her tongue out at him for some reason… The image instantly faded the moment he put a thought to it.

  Alice snuggled against him.

  “Let’s go to the cake shop after this. And I get to treat you.”

  She said that low, indicating the cute demand for a date. As if Clyde would ever turn down the beautiful young woman. Her glistening pink-eyed gaze made him smirk, but with everyone suddenly taking interest in their private conversation, he decided not to tease Alice. At least this once.

  “Sure thing, but I get the vanilla crème cheesecake.”

  Clyde cleared his throat and spoke aloud.

  “Let’s finish this up. By the way, did anyone start the loli’s homework.”

  He looked right at Harumi with a grin. She laughed. Alice grimaced.

  “How long should I keep her on the ceiling,” Alice said in a dispassionate voice, sparking laughter from Clyde.

  “The brat’s trying to prove that she’s a great teacher,” Clyde said, “but if this is how she’s going to do things, well, let’s just say Naoko is winning. And we’ll be making that public tonight.”

  “Nya, she’ll most likely cry and whine, then finally take back the assignm
ents,” Neko said.

  **

  Somewhere…

  The red-cloaked being watched the Stone Maidens make final preparations and hotel reservations for their departure to Lot City this winter. He had been at last relieved of his spying duties and paid handsomely.

  It would sure be a shame if the Stone decided to leave the city. But duty relief is duty relief. Back to the Pixy Kingdom he went. Hopefully the queen stopped with that war nonsense. Their duties were to ensure the success of the Stone, not pick fights with the Fairy Kingdom. Especially with a lack of men.

  He lost count at the number of times he almost lost his dignity. Handsome looks always carried a price to pay, he supposed. Meh, he had pixy blood—blood potent with powerful magic. Some would call his looks superficial, but he disagreed.

  The red-cloaked being worked pretty damn hard to get to his position and gain so much power. Taking jobs arranged by Queens and other powerful people was more of a paid hobby to him.

  But, before pixy, he was still an entity. Both, but still an entity. And he could not wait to gain enough recognition to shove into Mortem’s face like a pie. That made him chuckle. Maybe he’d finally get Selkie into bed.

  As if that’d ever happen. The woman teased but was simply impossible to get. He sighed.

  Freedom, freedom. He made the Jump. The Stone Maidens were led by someone with the authority to command him.

  Bickering women. He wondered if the Viper Maidens were the same. The man shuddered.

  Episode 51 (Part 2)

  Clyde’s house…

  Airi gulped as she checked the adventurer rankings. Clyde had jumped to rank B, number two. Such fast climbing—the young woman wasn’t ready to tell him that she secretly signed him up. She spread rumors far and wide about Team Stone’s leader joining the rankings. That motivated a ton of gifted to joined too. So much new talent, all thanks to him.

  Airi sighed. She originally hoped to support Harumi in getting Clyde all to herself. So how in the logic-failing world, did she find herself liking him too? Sure, she gave him her virginity, but that couldn’t mean much, right? He did well in looks, but anyone could look good. Airi didn’t care much about appearances—prettier men may end up with shitty personalities. The only relationship she had, lasted for less than a week. She could still feel the sting of the harmful words and the shove to the ground. That man walked off. Good riddance. The young woman didn’t concern herself with such things afterward, except finding the answers to life’s mysteries.

  She fought hard to snag the number one spot. But in truth…she didn’t care about it. If she did, Clyde would’ve failed to convince her to stay. She glanced at the laptop then sunk her face into her pillow. Being a part of a harem…felt so weird. She’d have to gain his attention, which meant being assertive. She liked him, so that wasn’t a problem.

  Just…what would Clyde think when he found out that Airi signed him up out of impulse. Ugh! Rank B, number one was looking for him now, hoping to sabotage Clyde. Airi would give that slut a nice surprise. Unexpected appearance by Rank S, number one. Well, it’s not like she’d magically find the young man, anyway. His barrier kept away even the lowest, newbies of rank F.

  Airi shut her laptop and rose from her bed. She frowned at Natalia upon opening her door. The kid was asleep in the middle of the hallway with two Loli Saga mangas on her stomach.

  “Very cute kid when she’s asleep and not pestering everyone.”

  She picked Natalia up and carried her all the way to her room. Tucking the munchkin in gave Airi fond memories of a past life. She still contacted her mother on a weekly basis, got along fine. But…she’d never return to that town. If she did, the woman would kill him…An uncle who viciously beat his teenage niece and her mother, deserved nothing short of death. But his position as mayor got him out of the eyes of justice… Justice was shit and unreliable. Sadistic fucks got away with anything.

  Airi inhaled and exhaled. All of that was in the past, years ago. Besides, Airi traded away her humanity. She had no right to criticize the beings she left behind. She’d continue to look forward, stay strong, and uncover the mysteries of her world.

  As she passed a bathroom, she peeked inside to see Fuyoko washing Naoko’s hair in the giant tub, motherly smile on her face. To think that heartless woman could…

  Airi watched her twenty-four-seven, even while asleep with a spell that only someone of her caliber could master. And even though Fuyoko acted different from the rumors, Airi would not trust her. Oh no, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to do that. Anyone who’d willingly make it their life mission to go to the Vault was crazy, insane. Fuyoko would hurt anyone in the household if it meant getting closer to her goal. Airi just wanted one reason to one-shot her to the void and ease the tension…

  “Walking the path of the shadow will lead you to misery, tears, and injury, nya.”

  Airi turned to Ako. The purple-haired woman nodded once at the samurai catgirl before striding past her.

  “No idea what you’re talking about, cat,” Airi said, though she failed at hiding the small smile.

  Airi wondered when it would be a good time to tell Clyde about the dungeon she found. Stars shined through her eyes. Chests and treasure—four floors of goodness. She wondered what kind of baddie guarded it.

  **

  Temple of Aunder…

  “Dire, it’s time to come clean,” Aunder said.

  The kid cheerfully finished the last of her bacon turnover. The man had to admit that the nation’s prized breakfast item was delicious. The cheese and bacon combo stuffed in a crispy coating worked wonders for the palette. He half-frowned when Dire dipped it in something called mayonnaise. Not the best way to appreciate food in his opinion. “Do you hear me, brat—what’s your true motive. I can see the soul within, a woman with secrets.”

  Dire shrugged.

  “I can become my true form for an hour, but it would be best if I didn’t. My power will be felt around the nation. They may come after me again.”

  “You’re worried about people coming after you with me around?” Aunder said.

  “Hmm, well, you have a point,” Dire said. “There isn’t a single soul that could beat you.” She laughed. “From here on, I’m your student, Sensei.”

  “What?” Aunder said.

  “As my master and teacher, you must teach me how to be as strong as you,” Dire replied. “I want to be honorable too.”

  “I told you, I no longer have honor,” Aunder said then sighed. “I’ve…killed an entire planet of non-fighters. And I refuse to revive them until the gods release me from this game. A man who involves the innocent in his disputes can—”

  “It’s the fault of the stupid Watchers,” Dire said then folded her arms. “And while I’m still mad at you for doing that—that doesn’t mean you can’t teach honor.” She placed her hands on tiny hips. “Besides, why not let those people live and find a better hostage?”

  “What do you mean?” Aunder said.

  Dire pointed at Aunder.

  “You have dishonored me—so if you want to make it up. Atone, you must do the right thing.”

  Aunder gave the little girl a suspicious look then nodded. He never thought about atonement. The concept sounded…alien to him. After all, the man only knew honor and battle for his entire life.

  “Explain, girl.”

  Dire gave him a cat-like smirk.

  “The gods don’t care about the planet you’re holding hostage,” Dire said. “So, surprise them. Revive them and replace the hostage with a high-profile god. Surely, you’ve got the power to take one into custody. I certainly do.”

  “You do?” Aunder said then shook his head. “Yeah, yeah, sure you do kid. If you expect me to believe that, then try not to get captured by our enemies.”

  “They caught me while sleeping,” Dire continued, without missing a beat. “First, one of them cut off my access to essence and magic. The other injected me with some sleeping serum to make sure I didn’t wake u
p. In other words, even they knew the threat and didn’t underestimate me.”

  Aunder nodded, taking in her unintentional slipup. What kind of power did this young silver-haired girl hold? He stood up. A maiden took his empty plate. There was pleading in her eyes. A hope that the man changed his mind about disbanding them. A hope for him to stay.

  They were adults and many minds to pick from. They’d be fine.

  “Let us retreat to my room,” Aunder said. “You will show me this true form of yours. That is, if you wish to truly become my student.”

  Princess Dire’s face lit up.

  “Yes sensei. Will you restore that planet?”

  Aunder stared into glistening red eyes and sighed.

  “Fine, whatever, but you’d better have the god in mind.”

  “Okay,” the brat said cheerfully.

  Aunder shook his head. Why…was he taking care of this kid? Why not leave her with the maidens and move on? He had no time for babysitting.

  Dire closed and locked the door.

  “Make it quick,” Aunder said. “I need to speak privately with a maiden before our departure.”

  “Sure, sure,” Dire said, her cheerfulness still not fazed. If Aunder…wasn’t so protective of her, he’d be creeped out by the kid. Or maybe not. He had no thoughts of them except that they were snot-nosed runts.

  His mind reeled when Princess Dire glowed. Her height increased to roughly five feet six or seven. Her breasts went from nothing to massive. Her long dress became very short.

  This woman was a beauty… The Princess Dire. And her power was enormous. Tremendous. Pushing against his own. She was a monster.