“Do you want to join me?” I asked as he yawned.
“As long as you make it as fast as possible, yeah. I’d like to explore some more of this place.”
I let out a sigh and turned to face the grazlitaurs. When I did, I found one of the closest monsters staring right at me. None of them even did so much as make a move, though. They ate, drank, and sat around.
I knelt next to Scar and mostly hid inside the tall grass with only my head still visible. They quickly returned to grazing and drinking water, forgetting all about me after several seconds passed. I got up again and picked the nastiest rock I had, pulled my hand back, and threw it at the closest grazlitaur. It struck the monster straight on the head, rocking it backward.
“Hah! What a shot!” Scar laughed. “You want me to join in?”
I nodded as the monster reared up on its legs and snorted blood.
“You’d sit it out after promising to join in?”
“Why not? It doesn’t look… so dangerous.”
“The hell you talking about? Just look at those legs!”
Scar got to his feet and moved away from me as the lone grazlitaur stormed right at me, thrashing its head around. Well, to say “storm” was an overstatement, as only several seconds into its mad rush, the beast slowed down to a trot and missed me without any real effort on my part.
I drew the nodachi back over my head and plunged it down against the monster’s backside, hitting the tailbone. The sword bounced off harmlessly and went wide without even touching the skin. It sure had a decent shield.
A shot resounded from my left, but it wasn’t nearly as deafening as the anti-tank gun. That thing devastated both the landscape and our ears, but this bullet didn’t. The projectile struck the grazlitaur’s head, but floated there for a second and then bounced off into the grass. The grazlitaur’s shield held even after a shot to the head.
I sighed and pulled the gladius out. Unless the shield was gone, we wouldn’t be doing shit damage. The grazlitaur swung its stubby tail at me. I blocked it, holding my swords crossed together, and stabbed the gladius at its back leg.
<< SPIKE >>
The gladius bounced off again, but the shield shimmered slightly. I brought the gladius down again at its hind leg and swirled around, bringing the nodachi up in a diagonal slash. It bounced off into the air and just over my shoulder. I threw the gladius up and used the nodachi to cause some heavy damage.
<< SLASH >>
The sword came crashing down and struck its neck. A thick red line appeared along its tough skin and was followed by a gush of blood. The grazlitaur let out a bellow and started to thrash its body around, swinging its tail and snapping its teeth.
A second boom resounded from the tree line and struck the head again. The shield held for a brief moment, but I used the momentum and stabbed the gladius upwards at its neck. It cracked, and the bullet passed through the shield, embedding itself into its skull. The grazlitaur stood there motionless for three long seconds as if deliberating what to do next.
My nodachi cut into the neck from below as the gladius came flying down again, hitting the weak point two times in quick succession. The monster staggered and dropped on its side. I stepped back, unsure if it was dead or not, as the creature hadn’t turned to ash, and more blood was pooling beneath it.
“You little shit! Why didn’t you help out?” I cursed at Scar.
“You didn’t need my help. Why would I put a drain on your Enma pool by wasting power?”
I frowned. “You’re right, but this thing sure had a decent shield.”
“It did. It was stronger than the elites. It’s a sad thing the monster doesn’t have a weapon to fight with. It’s as useless as a turd when it comes to combat.”
“Smart-ass. Tell me why it isn’t turning to ash.”
“This place has a much denser concentration of ether, Viktor. You should have felt that, right?”
I nodded. “So? You want to tell me this isn’t a spiritual body like the kobolds?”
“Exactly. These are real monsters.”
I cursed under my breath as Mark came running up to us.
“That was pretty easy.” He laughed. “What’s the sour face about?”
I turned around to stare at him and bared my teeth. “This little bastard didn’t want to help, so I’m a bit pissed. And it’s not going to turn to ash, so we’ll probably need to carve it up to see if it dropped any kind of crystal!”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
I let out a deep sigh and pulled the butcher’s knife out from my pouch, then brought up the quest window and reread the description. It was just as I remembered. I would need to cut up a whole carcass if I wanted the butcher job. Great.
I stopped just before stabbing the knife down and looked over at Mark. “You want to go first?”
He frowned. “Hell no! You do it first since I don’t want to cut myself up trying to do… whatever you’re about to do now.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. He sure was such a strange one sometimes. First, he wasn’t afraid of facing the boss with a spear in hand, but now he was afraid of cutting up a dead monster.
I pulled the knife back up and slammed it into its neck. To my surprise, blood didn’t gush out as I thought it would. It just pooled below the grazlitaur. I made a deep gash and pulled the knife all the way around the neck and then down to its tailbone. Next, I slid my blade down the legs and pulled the skin clean; all the while the rest of the herd watched. None of them even came near me, but neither did they run.
The knife was as sharp as a razor and just slid cleanly through the tendons, the flesh, and the skin. One thing that didn’t make any sense was how tough the hide was and the ease with which I cut through it with an ordinary kitchen knife, but then again, this world and everything around it didn’t make much sense either.
I made sure not to rip the skin and dropped it in a heap, then proceeded to cut the head, legs, and tail off, leaving most of the body in one chunk. The meat beneath was beautiful and red. I could already imagine it wafting that heavenly smell as it cooked over a grill or firepit.
Mark and Scar sat close by and stared at me intently as I busied myself with cutting the rib cage open. From there on out it was just a blur of motions and cuts. Before I knew it, I had three piles of… produce. One was the skin, the second was the bones, and lastly the meat. Now the problem remained of how to get the stuff back to the inn.
“You want to carry them bit by bit? This stuff will spoil by the time we’re done,” Mark commented as he saw me standing there, glaring at the meat.
“I don’t know. Could this stuff fit in the pouch? That head is as large as my whole chest.”
“I’ll help.” He chuckled and walked over to me, took the pouch, and opened it. Luckily, the pouch was wide enough for all the bones and pieces of meat to go inside. Once I dropped the knife, I heard a double chime.
Notification:
QUEST COMPLETED:
Butcher Level 1
REWARDS FOR QUEST COMPLETION:
1. +20 Physical Attack, +50 Health
2. Butchery skill
Quest Received:: Butcher Level 2
DESCRIPTION: Butcher 20 Monsters.
COMPLETION: 1/20
Notification:
ITEM RECEIVED:
NAME: Enma Crystal Rank 2
QUANTITY: 2
DESCRIPTION: Very highly concentrated source of raw Enma.
“Damn,” I whispered. “We need to do all the job quests as fast as possible!”
“Huh? Why? We don’t need six—errm, seven butchers,” Mark protested.
“The damn quest gave me plus twenty to attack and plus fifty to health. And I got two higher-ranked Enma crystals as well.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh!”
“That’s kind of good.” Mark chuckled. “Hell, I want to do the next one!”
“Scar? You going to help with the second?”
He shrugged and got up, almos
t looking bored about it all. “Yeah, sure. I think you’ll have an easier time if he uses his spear. It’s great for penetrating shields.”
I frowned. “And you never bothered to tell me about the difference?”
“You never asked.”
I gritted my teeth and let out a deep breath, then turned toward the second grazlitaur, picked up another rock, and threw it at the beast.
After killing the second grazlitaur, Mark finally realized he hadn’t taken the quest at the noticeboard, so I ended up butchering the second one as well. It took me about ten minutes instead of the thirty minutes it had taken the first time. The pouches were very heavy and hard to move around with despite most of the burden being placed on the pocket dimension.
Donald and Rita stood outside, arguing when we got back. Finding it rude to stop them, I waited for a minute to see what they were on about.
“You can’t mistreat flour the way you do, you oaf! We’re limited with flour until we can get more from our world!” Rita yelled and poked his chest with her index finger.
“I’ll use it to make some pita bread! Why are you being such a witch?”
I wanted to chuckle, but I thought better of it and instead put my hand on Rita’s shoulder.
“Miss Rita? Will you be in charge of the meat?”
“Oh, Viktor. Yes, I will. Why?”
“We caught two animals and cut them up nicely. I just wanted to know who will be taking care of it, is all.”
Donald winked at me, but Rita caught it.
“You! Don’t think you’re off the hook just yet!”
He put up his hands in defense and took a step back. “Don’t you have anything better to do, woman? Go cut up the meat or something so I can be of some use.”
“Don’t go anywhere, Donald. We got two skins I’d like you to work on.”
He nodded and crossed his arms. “See? I’m not useless.”
“Pfft! Remains to be seen what kind of hideous thing you’ll make with it.”
Rita turned around and waltzed off to the kitchen area. Mark and I followed her back in, then helped her clean the counters before we stacked the parts of meat one atop the other.
“You got enough room in the freezers? Though they’re not working, but… wait a minute.”
“Huh? What are you up to?” Mark asked as I walked up to the freezer.
I placed my hand on top and closed my eyes, infusing Enma into the bulky white box. It immediately started working again, as in giving off cold, but it only lasted for several seconds. I frowned.
“Just imagine if we could fix the electricity problem with Enma or crystals,” I whispered.
Mark put his hands on the freezer and tapped it with his fingers. “Why not stick a crystal somewhere and activate it?”
I narrowed my eyes on the freezer and then opened it. “Or just put it inside? Maybe that could work as well?”
He didn’t reply, as he had no idea about the principles behind it, but still nodded half-absently.
“Worst that can happen is nothing, right?”
I pulled two crystals from the pouch and placed them inside, gathered some Enma inside the freezer, and moved it toward the crystals. They cracked slightly and started trickling power into the boxy construct.
“Scar? How long do you think they can last?”
“At the rate they’re releasing Enma and once it’s cold enough—a week?”
“You’re serious?”
He nodded.
“But this isn’t electricity, this is using Enma to cool the air. And you have no way to control how cold it gets.”
“Still better than nothing, isn’t it?”
“Just don’t get cocky or something, Viktor. You’re not as smart as you think you are.”
The wolf walked out slowly, flexing his hind legs for some strange reason. Mark saw the same thing and turned to look me in the eyes. I just shrugged, having no idea how to explain it. Scar was… a wolf. It didn’t have to make sense.
“Anyway, Mark, can you tell Rita, Donald, and Sarah about the job thing? I’ll go talk to the girls and tell them as well.”
“Yeah, sure. I can use something to get my mind off what Scar just did.”
Chapter Five
I walked out and right toward the noticeboard, then accepted all the quests. A sound coming from the balcony drew my attention just as I was about to check the quest requirements. I looked up and saw Lana and Melina drinking.
Lana glanced at me for the slightest moment, and our eyes met. She had a smile on her face, which boded well. At least I hoped so.
“You want to come up?”
I looked down at my body, which was mostly covered in blood. “Let me take a bath first, and I’ll join you in a minute.”
“How?” Melina called as she peeked out over the balcony railing.
“I’m going to wash off in the stream.”
She shrugged and pulled her head back, disappearing from sight. “Don’t make us wait too long. It could be considered rude!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “I’d rather not see either of you all day, but who cares, right?”
I walked over to the bathhouse and grabbed a bathrobe, soap, and a towel before I made my way to the stream. I wasn’t looking forward to getting into the water, but I was covered with blood from head to toe.
I gathered my clothes in a heap and jumped into the stream. It was so cold that I felt as if I were about to turn into an icicle. Breathing heavily, I focused and infused some Enma into my body, releasing it steadily through my skin. The heavy, choking sensation turned into a mild prickling, and I didn’t feel as cold anymore, though I was far from comfortable.
I grabbed the soap and rinsed off quickly, then dipped my head to wash my hair. I caught a sparkle somewhere at the bottom of the stream purely by accident, and dove down the eight yards or so, only to come face-to-face with a shiny round gem. No, it wasn’t a gem. It was a sort of mineral, I was sure of it. My hand reached for the mineral, and the bright light suddenly became slightly duller.
A weak chime rang in my mind, startling me as I held my breath.
Notification:
ITEM RECEIVED:
NAME: Shilien Ore Rank 1
QUANTITY: 1
DESCRIPTION: Ore used in production of weapons and armor.
Mining went up to one out of ten as the piece of ore disappeared into my backpack. The spot still shimmered, so I picked another piece of ore up and then another one. After the third time, the light disappeared and the spot lost all the feeling of power radiating from it.
I looked around and found one more. The pieces coming from that second ore spot were identical to the first ones. A total of six gathered ores later, and I was ready to get out of the cold water, and not a second too soon.
Scar waited for me on the bank, lying on his side. I was surprised to see him there but didn’t say anything about it. I climbed out, dried off, and put the robe on. He still didn’t say anything even when I was done. He was starting to get on my nerves. I spoke first.
“What?”
“What do you mean by what?” he replied, his voice neutral.
“What do you want?”
“Me? Nothing much. Maybe a juicy bone or something. I think you tend to forget that I’m a living being too.”
“Pfft!” I snorted. “A living being? You’re a soul living off my Enma reserves. How can you be a living… anything, really? You’re a parasite at best.”
“You don’t have to hurt my feelings, you know.”
My right eyebrow rose in confusion. “The hell you on about?”
“Nothing, forget it. You take me for granted, Viktor. Remember that.”
He got up and ran off toward the barrier, then disappeared through it.
“Strange bugger. What’s up with him today?”
I forgot all about the ores as I made my way back to the inn. Sarah was sunbathing outside in only her underwear, and the baby lay on a blanket next to her in the shade, snoring
softly. Mark sat nearby, taking a nap as well.
I didn’t bother them and walked toward the main entrance, then up the stairs and into our bedroom. The girls were still sitting there, drinking. I pulled on some socks and changed the bathrobe for one of my yukatas and slippers.
“I’m so not looking forward to this,” I whispered to myself as I stood next to the bed and looked out onto the balcony. “Maybe that’s why I ran earlier? Shit, what a damn thing to do, huh?”
I took in a deep breath and let it out as I walked out onto the balcony. I stopped next to Melina and shoved her toward the center of the chair. She scowled as I took her spot and then pulled her back into my embrace.
“What happened earlier? Why were you so bloody?” Melina asked as she looked back over her shoulder.
I put my arms around her waist and gave her the warmest smile I could muster. I far from felt like smiles, but it wouldn’t do to break the mood right now.
“There are these monsters called grazlitaurs. They’re just outside the boundary near the stream. We killed two and butchered them.”
Lana glanced at us but then looked away. She didn’t get up angrily or say anything, and that was good. Sure, this might be an asshole move, but she needed to know Melina and I were a thing. Showing any kind of feelings in this already shitty situation could cost me both of the women.
“How hard were they to kill?” Lana asked, to my surprise.
She didn’t look at me, but her voice sounded reasonably normal from what I could hear. Normal for someone knowing they were going to die in seven days.
“They’ve got a tougher shield than the elites back on the outside world, but they’re not dangerous. Imagine fighting cows. You can die, but it’s pretty hard to.”
“Do you want us to prepare a feast using the meat?” Melina asked.
“Nah, let Rita handle it. She looked excited when we stacked the meat on the counters.”
“Wait, what? It will spoil,” Lana said as she turned around to meet my gaze.
“I infused the freezer with Enma, so it’s not going to spoil, though it could break if it gets too cold.”
Crafting Death: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 2) Page 4