The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #8 a LitRPG (ATS)

by Alvin Atwater

  “None,” Ashard said simply.

  “Then we’ll be giving you up,” Natalia said.

  “That would work if she wasn’t enraged,” Tear said.

  “Just fucking great,” Clyde snapped, glaring furiously at Ashard. “You run away from home to here and we get to pay for your cowardness. Millions of lives.”

  “I’m…sorry,” Ashard said. “You’re right. I’m just a coward. I didn’t think of the consequences of my actions.”

  Clyde sighed.

  “If we make it out of this, you will be working for me. No negotiations.” He looked at Airi who have smiled at him nonstop this entire time. “It’s been a long day, so you can’t blame me for forgetting. But…I’m unsure if that will be enough—I’m still untrained with it.”

  She shrugged.

  “I think we’re way past the regretting point here. It’s either do or die.”

  Clyde nodded.

  “Fuck it, let’s do it. We’re not going down without a fight.”

  “Listen, I can—” Selkie tried to say, but was cut off by the group bickering right over her.

  Abruptly, Clyde felt a vicious presence enter his city with enough pressure to rattle the bones of his body. This…just couldn’t be happening. The fairy queen felt so much stronger than what he predicted. No wonder why she and Amaterasu had the same threat level.

  [EXTREME WARNING! IF YOU DO NOT DO SOMETHING, LOT CITY WILL PERISH.]

  “Why the fuck is your mother going so far?” Clyde snarled.

  “An adverse reaction to the Supreme’s influence,” Ashard replied, his voice just not feeling it. “Her element drastically clashes with—”

  “Tear, Jump us somewhere near her,” Clyde said, holding back his extreme desire to choke the shit out of the fairy prince. So many lives, including theirs—played with like toys. The young man could relate, being entertainment for the Watchers.

  Tear nodded.

  [Tear activated—]

  [Tear’s magic has been cancelled by the pressure of the fairy queen.]

  [Tear activated—]

  “I…can’t,” Tear said right as the city began to shake. The sky shifted from a brilliant night to a fiery red. The exclaims of students and civilians in the area became prominent. Some of them even looked toward Team Stone as if for the answers to unspoken questions. “Her pressure is too much.”

  Just then, a feminine voice roared through the sky.

  “ASHARD YOUR DISOBEDIENCE HAS COST THE LIVES OF THIS CITY! YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO KNEEL TO YOUR QUEEN.”

  Selkie sighed.

  “I let this go on long enough, now stop ignoring me.”

  She walked over to Clyde, grabbed the back of his shirt, and suddenly they were downtown and right in front of the fairy queen herself. A woman with glowing long blonde hair and butterfly wings, looked as if she charged some kind of attack.

  Selkie walked over to her and bitched-slapped her with little effort. And just like that, the incredibly attractive woman fell into a heap of unconsciousness.

  “You do realize that it’s my job to deal with things like this,” the green-haired entity said, “but noooo. Let’s just not ask the entity for help. I thought we were friends.”

  Clyde finally allowed his eyes to stop widening.

  “Why the fuck did you let us panic like that? Clyde said. “Never mind, that’s not important. I’m sorry. And thanks for saving our lives.”

  Selkie smiled.

  “You’re welcome. You know, you’re the one who should be thanked.” She pulled Clyde into a hug. “You stopped Amaterasu from killing us and probably saved the lives of these people countless times while I was away.”

  She let him go and eyed the fairy queen.

  “The fairy man was wrong. The Supreme’s influence had nothing to do with this,” Selkie said. “She’s under a spell. In fact, she’s been under this for some time now.”

  Tear and the others appeared and were shocked at the sight. Even Noona was in the party, most likely ready to help fight anyway she could.

  “And here I was beating myself up for not training Sazuki and Undine enough,” Tear said.

  They all gathered around the unconscious fairy. Selkie knelt to her.

  “It’d be a lot easier if she had a husband to channel power through,” the entity said. “No spells would touch her and the Supreme’s influence...hmm…would probably be limited.”

  “Spell?” Ashard said.

  “Your momma’s been under a spell, boy,” Noona said in her cowgirl persona. Ashard gave her a flat glare before turning back to his mother.

  Selkie shook her head.

  “I’ll have to take her into custody. Clyde…just keep a heads up that my masters may consider putting that marriage burden on you. Then you’ll be responsible for the entire fairy kingdom.”

  “And Ashard would become your fairy-step son,” Dark said then laughed, until Harumi whacked him on the head with a solid fist.

  “Ow! Sorry!” He moaned.

  Clyde shook his head.

  “Yeah, no, fuck that.”

  “It’s just a friendly warning,” Selkie said softly. “You could always find a male fairy, entity, or a minor deity to marry her instead but that will be very difficult. I say you’ve got about four months before they decide. And you’re as good as pickings, even if you’re already married.”

  Selkie inspected the fairy queen again. “It will take a few minutes to explain this, so you guys go on ahead.”

  She vanished, along with the blonde woman.

  When Clyde and the others Jumped back to the academy, Seth dove behind them.

  “You guys are assholes for leaving me!”

  “We’re not going to babysit you,” Kitome snapped. “You got yourself into this, now get yourself out.”

  Maya and Nuri walked toward him, grinning evilly.

  “We’ll take good care of him,” Nuri said.

  “Tell the helicopter pilot to start the engines,” Maya said, wiping away a little drool from her lip.

  “Yes maam!” Nuri cheered, hurrying to comply to her master’s orders.

  “Tear, hurry, Jump me home,” Seth pleaded.

  “Do I look like your servant?” Tear said then walked away. “Insolent humans.”

  Clyde and the others joined her, some shaking their heads. And as Seth took off toward an approaching city bus, everyone wrapped up the festival cleanup, exhausted.

  When Clyde was alone, tossing a garbage bag into the dumpster, Noona approached him.

  “Congrats on winning the contest,” she said. “I hereby reward you with an invite, say, Friday?”

  Clyde smiled. He had to push for this one.

  “Friday it is.”

  Volume 8 Epilogue

  Julius’s house…

  Julius gazed at the naked woman who slept peacefully in his bed. The thrill of being free from the Viper made him smile. He and Momo may have had a little too much to drink… While she was beautiful, the woman wasn’t his type. She lacked breasts. Not that he minded the previous night. Or the night before when she somehow convinced him to drink again, they argued, made out and had wild sex. A lot. He chuckled. She was definitely frustrated beforehand.

  Julius just hoped they didn’t wake the kid. While his moderately sized home in the nation of Alon blocked sound quite well, that didn’t stop the bed from squeaking.

  Julius actually let others live with him. Why didn’t he just ditch them? This was sure to bite the man in the ass.

  Wanted by both Fuyoko and the Viper. Why did this shit happen to him? Should he return to adventuring? At least then, the man could improve his reputation throughout the adventurer community. Well, with what little of it remained.

  “This is what I get,” he said.

  “You shouldn’t dwell in the past.” The white-haired woman sat up and laid on his shoulders, as if they were a couple. Somehow... Julius actually didn’t mind. His instinctive, but self-preserving selfishness didn’t ma
ke him react. “I will do the same. From now and on, I’m just Momo, not of the Venus sisters.”

  Julius sighed.

  “You’re stronger than me.”

  Momo shook her head.

  “Don’t sell yourself short.”

  “Don’t lecture me,” Julius said, laughing.

  Little did they know, Dire relayed their coordinates to her master. She’d let the two play house for a little while longer, but only because it was adorable. She felt bad about doing this, they looked so good together, but orders were orders. And she would never disobey Aunder. The man who saved her from death’s hands.

  She’d follow him forever. The Forgotten Party was what he formed. And whether the others wanted it to or not, they would stay together.

  **

  A Night in Lot City…

  The relaxing waters of a luxurious tub running…

  The muffled sound of a young man tied up, tape on his mouth, and naked in the tub…

  Maya walked into the bathroom, dressed in just a towel. She smiled at Seth. Clasping her hands together, almost as if praying, the woman chanted, “Itadakimasu,” before diving into the bath with him.

  A reunion was formed that night…

  **

  Clyde’s house…

  Saturday. Week 2. Month 2. Year 1. Season: Autumn.

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

  Something felt soft atop of Clyde. He gulped upon opening his eyes to see Tear smiling slyly at him. In fact, she was also underneath the covers. The feeling of skin meant nakedness. Chika and Alice were still asleep. In fact, judging by the low lighting provided by the window, the only people possibly up were Yuki and her subordinates.

  Clyde’s boxers were pulled away and soon the amazing feeling of being inside Tear took over. He held her ass as the ride gently rocked, the succubus’s breathing seemingly filled his ears. And they passionately kissed, exchanging a heart to heart that made the young man happy to be alive. He even treated himself to a feel-up on soft, large breasts.

  One intense climax later, the duo found themselves smiling at the glares of Alice and Chika. Beneath the covers, his manhood rapidly re-erected itself, causing the succubus to smirk. She pulled it back into herself, although if the other women suspected the undercover activity, they didn’t say anything.

  “Don’t mind me,” Tear said to them. “Just a woman spending time with her lover.”

  She laid forward, closing her eyes, but beneath, rode. Alice sighed, then got up. Seconds later, Clyde heard the sound of running bathwater. On the other hand, Chika simply turned to the side and fell back asleep. The young man and the succubus looked at each other, laughing.

  That afternoon, Clyde took Tear to see a movie, lunch, and then they went to see Dark and his party off.

  “Duel m—”

  Myriad interrupted Dark with the whack of a paper fan.

  “Sheesh, you’re making me seem as abusive as those tsundere girls you keep reading about in the mangas. No one wants to watch your stupid card game. We have to go.”

  Selkie gave Clyde and Tear an apologetic smile, then she hugged the young man.

  “It was great seeing all of you again. But there is one more thing you should know. The Viper’s name is Aunder and while on the move, he’s caused a lot of trouble. Even the head of the Watchers is nervous about him. He’s killed a lot of entities, tracking their long-distant jumps. So the Watchers restricted that from us, which is why we took the train. Clyde, you cannot simply stay in this city—I don’t care what Pippy told you. This is your home territory, but you must see the world. Gain the trust and assurance of the people. Did you know, Aunder’s doing that. Ironically, it’s not intentional. He’s planning something huge, according to my master’s sources.” She sighed. “I know they’ve made it harder by forcing you to attend the academy. The Viper was supposed to be a professor, but he refuses to follow any rules.”

  “Thanks for the head’s up,” Clyde said. “But…you’re not breaking any for telling me this, right?”

  “No,” Selkie said. “My master is the one who urged me to tell you. She’s kind of a fangirl.” The green-haired woman whispered, almost conspiratorially, “I was supposed to show you how entity women are in the bedroom.”

  Clyde wiped away the nosebleed that he hoped Tear didn’t see.

  “I thought you were joking about that.”

  Selkie winked.

  “Maybe next time.” She giggled.

  “By the way, nice bitch-slap,” Clyde said. “And again, thanks for saving our lives.”

  “Of course,” Selkie said.

  “You won’t get in trouble for it?” Tear said.

  “Quite the contrary,” Selkie said, smiling. “My master commended me. The usual, no Stone, no games bologna. The Watchers tried to promote me to Supreme Administrator, but I managed to avoid answering. I…want to keep traveling. There’s a quest for Dark and I want to see it through.” She placed her hand on Clyde’s shoulder. “Satovia’s a big world with many people to meet and things to see. And hey, maybe we’ll meet again at some random tavern in the northern nations. Who knows?” She eyed Tear. “Let him experience the Monster Kingdoms too.”

  “Certainly,” Tear said.

  “Until we meet again.” Selkie gave a short bow then turned to leave.

  “You three stay safe,” Clyde said. She gave a backward wave, just like they did in the animes. The young man chuckled.

  As he walked with Tear, the young man mentally skimmed through his objectives.

  One: complete the finals and take number one for himself. Two: travel. Three: special training. Four: take Yuki and Ruri on a date to at last complete his quest. He had to do that before reaching level one hundred.

  After thinking about what Tear said that morning, Clyde made his decision. There was no particular order, anyway.

  The first thing he did was buy Melody a ring, online of course. He didn’t want the succubus to catch onto that. Rushed delivery from a local store. Nice.

  [Quest completed. - buy Melody a ring or something that symbolizes your proposal .]

  If the quest didn’t state for him to specifically buy the item, the young man would’ve crafted it. But for Tear, he did so in his head using the emergency ring of magic, gems and jewels, and other crafting materials.

  [Talent. Main character stuff. Soul crafting multiplier. Would you like to invest 50% of your MP into the ring?]

  Clyde selected yes and fought through the brief moment of dizziness to at last finish Tear’s ring.

  [You have successfully crafted the complicated item, **Ring of Satovia’s Dance** . Item class: *Unknown *]

  Holy shit. Clyde decided before he traveled anywhere, he was going to upgrade all of his equipment through crafting. Maybe with decent gear, he wouldn’t have to rely on the power at all. At least until the training commenced.

  At this point, his level served as a skill notification system. He’d have to remedy that, put his stats to use. He sure did at the festival, blowing the students out of the water, not that it was a fair competition. He wasn’t exactly human.

  Clyde stopped and pulled Tear into a kiss that she didn’t expect. This awarded him with one of the greatest sights he’d ever seen: the succubus’s flustered face.

  Presenting a ring that looked as if it was made from pure diamond, he asked the question. He would’ve gotten on his knees if he hadn’t done his research on demon culture. And of course asked Yuki questions.

  They were only a block from his house at this point with few people and traffic.

  “Are you…are you sure you’d have a Supreme Demon lord candidate,” she said, eyes glistening. “Will you take the risk with me?”

  “You are worth the risk and more,” Clyde said truthfully. And he wasn’t worried. With the threat of the Viper on the horizon, the young man knew he always had to be prepared to fight.

  Tear melted into his follow-up kiss as he slipped the ring onto her finger. The
prompts auto-delayed themselves, but…he could not deny the surge of strength that flooded through him.

  “Tear, I want you to live with me.”

  The succubus hugged him.

  “As your fiancée, that goes without saying,” she said. “But there is one more requirement to fully engage to a succubus.”

  Tear Jumped them right into the master bedroom of Clyde’s house. And no one was around.

  “Love-making is the soul of the ring.”

  Clyde’s stat sheet. You may skip past it.

  Name: Clyde.

  Level: 99

  Type: Main character/ Stone. Mystic.

  HP: 300% (+110%)

  MP: 300% (+80%)

  Ki: 100%

  Attack: 164 (+16)

  Defense: 166 (+16)

  Speed: 206

  Luck: 196

  Will: 202

  Intellect: 338

  Form: 1/1.

  Special: Tier 1 skill: Omen’s Desolation. [Does almighty, spiritual, and sound damage. Chance to cause hopelessness and despair. Triple, super-severe damage against entities, deities, spirits, and darkness-type enemies.]

  Special Abilities:

  Flash Step: Briefly move at the speed of light. A high, speed stat will increase the critical chance of any attack combined with this ability.

  Acrobatics: able to run and jump swiftly. Can leap from building to building.

  *Mystic senses: whether in or out of battle, you will be connected to nature and its spirits. Unknown benefits. Ability to sense abnormalities.

  *Skill Fusion - legendary special ability - combine skills and see what happens. You could unleash death on your foes! [Can be very draining to your MP. Use seldomly.]

  Jump: You can warp to area you’ve been to or picture in your mind. You can also open and close portals, but not create them. You can also warp with a party.