All on one swift move, she launched into the air and Jumped.
**
Somewhere…
Aunder chuckled.
“So that’s where the Falcon is hiding?”
Dire nodded.
“It’s not a precise location, I don’t think Olivia trusted me very much. Why give a kid valuable information when she doesn’t need it. She wasn’t sure, but marked it as one of three locations. After seeing a report on the news today about a supernatural fight and someone claiming to witness a man with crazy gray light surrounding him in the shape of some kind of bird, I just knew it. Well, it’s only a possibility, Sensei.”
Aunder stared at her flatly.
“Since you still want to play these games, I’m assigning this task to you. Go kill the Falcon.” He held up a finger at the silver-haired girl’s protest. “Hmm, actually… if he’s a worthy fighter, come back here and let me know. That is, if you live.”
Dire pouted.
“Really sensei. You’re sending me on a mission where your precious student could die?”
Aunder chugged the rest of his beer while gazing out the window of the hotel room.
“I’m drunk. Do you want your precious teacher to go out in that condition?”
Dire let out a sigh and stood.
“You just want to bring in women so you could do pervy things. Pervert!”
Aunder laughed.
“Maybe. I don’t expect for a snot-nosed brat to understand that. Now get moving. I want him dealt with tonight. If you do well, then you’ll be one step closer to graduation.”
“Fine, but you’ll…have to do pervy things to me—”
“Don’t say things like that when in your child form,” Aunder said. “It’s fucking weird. Do not bring dishonor to me, brat.” He turned. “Let’s see you put my training to use.”
“I’ll make you look at me, sensei. I won’t be a one-time fling,” Dire hurried off.
Aunder sighed.
“Well, to the hotel bar I go. That lonely serving woman should be getting off in a few.” He chuckled. They’d already made arrangements to drink together at her place. He’d spend the night. There’s nothing like waking up with a soft voice and beautiful face smiling at you , Aunder thought.
**
In the skies…
Sol frowned as he rode the back of a giant yellow dragon. Hellfire. How did he let this woman convince him to go with her? She was presumably about to set up a trap at the center of Ring City to lure the Stone.
Honestly, he doubted the other man would still be in the nation after today’s demonstration. His warning left no loopholes to be found.
Yet Risa Soulless seemed certain of his general location.
“It’s cold as shit out here,” Sol said. “Hellfire, couldn’t we do this tomorrow, preferably in the afternoon?”
“Oh shut up, mortal ,” Risa said via telepathy. “I told you I’d do something for you as a sign of goodwill. Now sit back and enjoy the show. Afterwards, you’re giving me the details of the group. Unless I’m lucky enough to get who I’m searching for to show up. Maybe I’ll barbeque you for withholding information from an elder dragon. ”
“Your threats don’t faze me, lizard,” Sol said.
“Dragon, you pathetic primate,” Risa snapped.
Sol rolled his eyes.
“We could’ve saved time by jumping.”
An enormous, unsettling and deep, chuckle rumbled through the air.
“You’ve got a front-row seat to the art show of a real dragon . Be grateful, mortal.”
Sol sighed.
Just what did he get himself into?
Episode 54 (Part 4)
Lot City, Yaponiya…
Backstreet…
Asu unbinded herself from the magic of the man called Etsuji, surprising the hell out of him. The ex-assassin fell to a knee. He tried to move, but…well, who could after being exposed to a chemical that deactivated the ability to control most muscles. She could smell is sweat in the air, a product of fear. This man hadn’t known such a thing for years.
“You must be confused.” She laughed. “What? Do you think, I, a lich who survived for hundreds of years would be put down by a retired black magic user? You really have gotten full of yourself. Really, you see purple flames and automatically assumed you’ve got the drop on me.” She shook her head. “My beloved master, who is far greater than you would ever be, would not have trusted me as Head Stone Maiden if I could be easily taken down by a WELP.” Asu sighed. “Thanks for the ride and the information. I released a poisonous gas in your hideout that will drain the magic from everyone in there. They will never be wizards again. Isn’t that hilarious?” The lich laughed and smacked the terrified man’s back. “I’m so glad Naomi wasn’t home. You’d probably stupidly go too far and hurt that poor girl. Or she would’ve killed you.” She chuckled. “That girl has a background spicier than yours.”
Asu allowed her grin to drop. “The old me would’ve turned you into a decent test subject. No need to kill when live bodies are great for science. But lucky for you…lucky depending on the perspective, I’m no longer like that.”
“How?” Etsuji said. “Before you kill me, at least let me know how you survived.”
“Easy,” Asu said. “I sensed your approached three miles away and set the trap. Then hopped into your magic. You killed one of my magic bugs. Poor fellow released just enough purple flame to complete the illusion. Is it not amazing? Wonderful? You want to applaud me, do you not? Ooh, sorry there buddy.” She grinned. “That paralyzing effect isn’t going away anytime soon.”
Asu knelt next to the kneeling man, smiling. “Now, as payment for troubling me today, I shall be eating every memory of your time as a wizard, your ability to use magic, and as a bonus, your ability to…get an erection. Be thankful that I’m sparing you.”
“No—don’t—”
“Now now, we don’t need any of that,” Asu said as she placed her hand on the man’s forehead. “After all, you were hellbent on killing me without mercy. Asking classified information to my bug. Of course it couldn’t reply, it’s a friggin bug. Are you stupid or something. Oh wait, you were caught by the illusion. Am I not brilliant or what?” She laughed in his face. “Oh sorry. Let’s get to memory eating! Yah!”
[Asu activated Void tier skill: Modified Memory Eater.]
“Mmm, your memory tastes awful,” Asu said as the man dropped into unconsciousness. She plunged a syringe, filled with the paralyzing antidote, into the man’s leg. “Welp, goodbye. I certainly don’t want to be here when that horny futa shows up. I think the directions I gave her were too good. I wonder what possessed me to put super aphrodisiacs into her drink.” She shrugged. “Ta-ta!”
[Asu activated Jump.]
**
Etsuji awoke to see a beautiful woman smiling down at him, but it wasn’t his wife. What happened? Did he go out drinking? His head felt like someone beat it with a giant club.
He tried to sit up, but the woman pinned him to the ground with just a single hand… What strength.
“You shouldn’t sit up,” she said, “not right now. You were attacked. Rest a minute more, give your brain some time to piece itself together.”
“I guess that’s why my head feels like shit,” Etsuji said. “Thanks for looking out for me.”
The woman smiled.
“You shouldn’t thank me. I didn’t do anything. Yet.”
“No need to be modest…” his voice died.
Something was off. The woman had a…strange look in her eyes. Her breathing seemed sexual and he would’ve thought she was attempting to seduce him, except… He took one look downward and saw the Tower of Fucking Babel. It had to be at least four feet! Holy shit!
The woman grinned and grabbed him.
“Oh fuck no, we’re not about to do this!” Etsuji snarled.
“Oh yes we are. All night. I’m pent up and need it badly,” the not-woman said, laughing.
E
tsuji strained against her strength as she attempted to turn him over.
“The only reason why I waited was so that everything will be nice and warm—and you’ll be making the noises to turn me on further,” the futa said, laughing. She drooled as she slowly gained the upper hand.
An instinct or something made the man kick backward, kick in the groin, and then the face. As the futa doubled over, Etsuji made a run for it. Something clouded his memory….no…it was gone.
But now wasn’t the time to dick around… He shook his head at the worst possible pun for the moment.
**
Evening…
Ring City, Terravon…
Outside Clyde’s House…
Yuki wasn’t quite done setting up the ingredients for the hotpot due to the interruption of Neko and Ruri, so Clyde put on some sweat clothes to train outside. There was nothing like high-intensity training before dinner, although some people would argue against it. All bodies were different.
Clyde started with a few basic forms before diving into the most intense. He added magic and Ki to the mix to increase intensity. The thought of the Falcon flashed through his head, but it no longer brought his blood to a boil. While he fought within the leveling system, it only made sense for a higher level “player” to give him a run for his money.
There were a few things that worried him. He was way past level one hundred five, yet the system didn’t grant him the Summon Prophet skill as it promised. Something like that could be useful later down the line.
He checked the Ki skills in learning mode. Area sense and basic ward.
[You have started learning Basic Ki ward level 1. Requirement: Radiance 4. Strength: 2. Desire 1.]
Desire… Another Ming Ki component. She’d unlock him both of these skills in one go. He’d prioritize her time the next day and would avoid the pull of the others. Fuck that wasn’t going to be easy. But… A simple call for a date should be fine. Hell, maybe he’d accept her proposal.
He chuckled, thinking about that day. Sure, Maki ruined it, but the humor still didn’t fall off him.
Clyde’s phone abruptly rang. Ming. He quickly answered.
“We’re in serious trouble!” she said, voice frantic.
“Alright, I’m coming back in,” Clyde said. So much for the hotpot , he thought as he hurried inside.
The others awaited him in the boardroom fully dressed, weapons equipped, expressions grim. Even the noncombatants and trainees were present: Liru, Hinako, Tetra, Maki, Sophia, Sazuki and Kiko. Then there was the guest: the orange-haired dragon girl.
“We have serious threats on the way,” Ming said. “One man riding a yellow dragon and the other, an angry giant white dragon. They’re going to turn Ring City to Ashes.”
“The white dragon’s my sister,” Kimiko said. “I told you everything I know, so let me go to her.”
“I don’t—”
“Let her go, Tear,” Clyde said. “She’s not Soulless, so not our concern.” He eyed the dragon. “Can you calm your sister down? You don’t seem like someone who’d allow the torch to drop to a city of innocent people.”
“My sister would never do that,” Kimiko said, glaring at him.
“Do you know anything about the other dragon?” Clyde asked. The girl shook her head. A man on a dragon. Just, what the hell was going on with this world.
“They’re after us specifically,” Ming said. “We’ll have to move quickly or they’ll destroy this house. We’ve got maybe twenty minutes left now.”
“You heard the woman, let’s go or we’ll lose our shit,” Clyde said.
“Clyde, we’re not seriously about to try to fight a dragon,” Ruri said. “And if it's an elder dragon, we may as well just kill ourselves.”
“The possibility of it being an elder dragon is high,” Tetra said. “New generation dragons rarely cause trouble. They blend in with the modern day just fine. I mean, look at Kimiko.”
“Great,” Alice said sarcastically. “We’ve got Granny Nuclear wanting to stretch her lungs for old times’ sake.”
“I never said anything about fighting,” Clyde said, “but we don’t want them burning down our shit. Sure, I have insurance on the house, but that’s beside the point.”
When everyone was outside and accounted for, Tear Jumped them to the outskirts of the city.
“Her sister’s midflight, but she’s changed course to follow us,” Tear said.
“Damn that’s fast,” Matsume said.
“So…” Hinako began, “can you hurry and take us non-fighters to safety. If this is a real dragon, you know, the kind I’m picturing in my head, then I’d rather not be caught in the crossfire.”
“Take them to Lot City,” Clyde said.
“Good idea,” Melody said.
Tear nodded and did just that. Two minutes later, she was back.
“Now, we need a plan,” the succubus said. “Clyde, any good ideas?”
The Team Stone leader closed his eyes, drawing on all four hundred two points of intellect. There were two known threats approaching Ring City. A man riding a dragon and Kimiko’s sister. One situation should be auto-resolved, but the other, not so much.
“Ming, if we left, what would become of the city?” Clyde asked.
“Everyone would be burned alive,” Ming said softly. The eyes of the entire team widened.
“Well isn’t this fucking brilliant,” the young man said sarcastically. Then his eyes widened. “Wait a fucking minute, I’m being a selfish prick.”
He looked at Melody.
“What?” she said.
“We seriously can’t let millions of people die,” Clyde said. “So, power up to the max. I don’t give a damn about your father right now.” He glanced at Harumi. “Your Wonder Wand enables you to target from much longer distances. I want you as far away from the fight as possible and guarded. Toru, Seth. That’s on you.”
“Clyde—”
“This is not up for debate,” Clyde said, interrupting Harumi. “You’re now responsible for two lives.” He turned to Alice. “You’ve done it twice so far…so little. One against the thing that attacked Natalia and the second time against the Abyss. If you can do it, your transformation could tip this all the way in our favor.”
“I will try,” Alice said, “but I can’t make promises.”
“Don’t push yourself too far,” Clyde said. “If you can’t fight a dragon, you can’t fight a dragon. I’m not certain I can, with Stone Mode charging.” He motioned for Melody to get on with her transformation. “I doubt your father is going to drop everything and warp to this dimension—no one’s that fast.”
Melody nodded, took a breath and exhaled.
Her eyes changed from gray to glowing red. Glowing crimson wings burst from her back in a fantastical display of beauty. The three fiery pink orbs of unknown power took residence in the air around the young goddess, orbiting like the moon. The shapes took their true forms seconds later. A star or maybe the sun, a sword, and lastly, the rose. The enormous amount of aura from the last time she used this form returned. The beautiful girl had good control of it now, the heat and wind contained.
The aura still exerted quite the pressure—Clyde even found it harder to stay standing. This is what they needed.
[The dark goddess has awakened]
[Melody’s goddess blood switched from dormant to active.]
[Melody is unaffected by magic.]
Knowing the personality change, Clyde decided to humor her. He could not wait to see the cute blush after this whole thing was over.
“Your lady,” he said with a short bow.
Melody still blushed.
“Don’t do that.” She walked over to the young man and rested her head on his chest. “I’ve gained full control over my powers, practiced a lot.” She looked into his eyes. “Even if I slip, I will always be me.” She kissed him.
Airi cleared her throat.
“You’re cute and all, trust me I hate to interrupt this moment, but.
” She walked over to Clyde and poked him on the forehead. “You can’t ignore me any longer.”
The Super Druid raised her hand. “I’m not sure how effective this will be without Stone Mode.” She smiled smugly. “But I did enjoy having you inside of me.”
Before the young man could quip, Airi initiated her skill.
[Airi activated High Chant- Magician’s last spell.]
[Airi invoked Nature’s call]
Like before, trees erupted from the ground, towering meters into the air. Grass and flowers sprouted, covering at least a football field’s length or two around them. Good thing they were at the very edge of the city without witnesses.
The familiar excess of white aura blasted from the super druid.
[All nature stats, attributes and elements, and abilities have been increased by 100%. If you were married to Airi, it would be significantly more.]
[Your Wiseman’s Calm has evolved to God of Wisdom Mode while in the Forest of Airi.]
Clyde took that cue to invoke Wiseman’s Calm.
[Airi has forcefully shifted you to God of Wisdom Mode.]
Clyde became one with nature, a transformation which exceeded Wiseman’s Calm by a league. And like before, he became nature and could shape, twist, create, and command it. He also felt Airi, her heartbeat, breathing, and the enormous reserve of power within. That reminded him that she wasn’t just a druid nor fully human.
His green eyes now glowed. Along with that came a hair color change, a shifting from black to white.
In addition to gaining an increase in power, the young man could now telepathically communicate with both Airi and Ming, his prophet. A prompt revealed important information about the form.
10.The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #10 a LitRPG (ATS) Page 17