Lav’s eyes shook as he sat before Dollman, who peered into the boy’s eyes curiously.
“I… I don’t know.”
Dollman’s eyes fell a little, and he let out an understanding drone as Stician stood attentively by his side as always.
“I figured as much. Anyway, what is it that you would like to learn from one such as I? Ask away, and I will do my best to answer.”
“I want to learn how to fight so that I can help Big Sis!” Lav said with a determined frown, and this made Dollman’s eyes narrow further.
He looked the boy over and asked for his hand.
Lav gave the old man his right hand, and Dollman slowly traced the lines on the palm of his hand.
“You too seek strength, and while I know of the paths available to Humans, KVL and all others alike, you… are different. Where are you from?”
“I… I'm not sure. All I can remember before managing to escape is a place of white walls that were often dirtied by the blood of me and many other kids. They tore us open, did all sorts of things to our insides and put us back together before feeding us nasty things. All I knew were screams and pain… that’s why I ran away.” Lav trembled as he recalled.
Dollman gently squeezed the boy’s hand, and for the first time since Lav had awoken in the bunker, the old man smiled.
“Then I suppose it's fate that you found your caring big sister because she, like you, is different.”
“We’re different?”
“Yes. She has the body of a KVL but possesses the soul of a hero and you… You are something quite extraordinary yourself. I can feel a deep and dormant power in every one of your cells, coursing potently through your blood. Mmm… do you mind if I take a sample?”
“Will it hurt?” Lav winced, and Dollman responded by gently rubbing the boy’s inner palm with his thumb.
“You won’t feel a thing.”
Lav hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Stician then pulled out one of the many arrows in the quiver that hung by her waist and promptly tapped Lav’s index finger with the tip, drawing blood.
The boy frowned as he watched a small bead of blood leave his finger.
Dollman then took the bead with his own index finger, which he unceremoniously licked.
“I will need some time to properly analyse the sample, but, in the meantime, I think I know how best you will be able to assist your big sister.”
“How?” Lav asked with widened eyes.
“Mumu is clearly a close-range fighter, meaning the best way to support her will be to compliment her skills, and we just so happen to have a long-range fighter with us. Right, Stician?”
The Archer looked the boy over.
Her eyes narrowed, making Lac lower his gaze a little, but she eventually shrugged.
“I will teach him what I know.”
“Try to show a little more enthusiasm.” Dollman shook his head.
Stician ignored him and walked towards the exit.
“Follow.”
Lav glanced at Dollman, who nodded with a sigh.
The boy then stumbled onto his feet and followed Stician out of the bunker as the dark of moonless night hung.
From atop the hill where the exit was, he beheld the terrible war that was being fought as bullets shot across the air and distant bombs thundered.
Lav wondered why the people in the trenches were fighting.
He wondered why people fought at all.
“A KVL is fast and strong by nature, so, as to not slow her down, I’ll need you to be fast and crafty.”
Lav followed her down the hill and the two walked towards one of the nearby pillboxes where a unit of soldiers were canned in.
“Freeze— oh, good evening, Madam Stician.” One of the soldiers said after sticking his gun out of the little bunker.
“Yes. Do you have anything you need help with? I just so happen to have some free time.”
The soldier lowered his gun and thought for a moment.
“I heard another KVL was spotted near Camp Crestfall. Can’t say what she’s doing over there, so could you make sure she doesn’t cause our boys any more trouble—”
“She won’t.” Stician asserted flatly.
“Oh. Do you have the same master?”
“No.”
“I… I see. Well, in that case, could you perhaps deal with the one to the west, by the bridge or will be another support run?” The soldier asked as if expecting to be disappointed.
“A support run sounds like a good place to start. What do you need?”
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“We lost contact with some of our boys in the forest east of here. Word has it that another KVL, and while I know you won’t help eliminate her, could you check if our boys are okay?”
“Alright. We’ll bring back their tags if they aren’t.”
“That’s more than we could ask for. thank you in advance.”
Stician nodded before leading Lav east.
“Run.” She said, but this made the boy tilt his head in confusion.
“Sorry?”
“Run to the forest. If I get there before you, I’ll break one of your fingers.”
Lav’s eyes immediately widened, but after taking a quick breath, he jogged ahead.
.
..
Meanwhile, in the trenches not too far northeast, Mumu kept her head low and her exe in hand.
Her boots dug deep into the mud, but since she was significantly more dextrous than a normal person, it didn’t hamper her mobility.
Captain Kettle had made his men aware that she was there, so they allowed her to pass whenever they crossed paths in the entangled web-like network of the trenches.
Her goal was to get as close to the cultist camp as possible and wait for the incoming aerial bombardment that she’d heard was coming with her sharp ears.
And so, after finding a hole in the mud, she sat and waited as the sun steadily rose.
Her heart painfully thumped in her chest as she sat near the edge of the unoccupied zone.
Kettle hadn’t given her a map or any other details, meaning that she’d have to strategize as she attacked.
On average, most soldiers had an Actuality Level of one and this meant that most of them had 100HP and were vulnerable to MAL damage, meaning that she would need around three well placed strikes for each soldier.
She took a deep breath and squeezed her axe as the sounds of high-flying jets filled the air.
What followed was a bone-shattering series of explosions that came from further north.
Mumu didn’t even wait for the bombs to stop dropping, climbing out of the trench and dashing as fast as she could across the UOZ.
Her new legs allowed her to dash just far away from each explosion, that she was unaffected and her eyes caught the bombs long before they dropped.
It was reckless.
Stupid, even.
But it was the last thing the Cultists expected, and so she charged forth.
The Cultist Camp was a series of tents that were on the northern edge of the UOZ, and the reason why none of the bombs were blowing it to bits was because something kept jumping into the air and cutting apart the missiles long before they reached the ground.
That something was a KVL.
A few of the camp’s guards spotted Mumu as she arrived, but before any of them could raise their guns, Mumu cleaved them apart, hacking off their limbs and chopping off their heads.
She then ran into the camp proper, taking advantage of the fact that her target was distracted by the falling missiles.
She went from tent to tent, killing soldier after soldier until all of them were dead, leaving her target who now stood in the centre of the camp after the bombs stopped falling.
She, like Mumu, brandished a Great Axe, only it had a golden glow along its single edge.
She had also realized what Mumu had done and so waited, resting her weight on her axe.
Mumu emerged from the last of the tents, revealing herself to her target, Cratia who, like all KVL, looked like a dark elf only she had no hair at all, not even on her brow.
She, however, was barely dressed. Her body was lined with dirty bandages that did little to hide the innumerable scars and markings on her skin.
She glared at Mumu through bloodshot eyes and her face was plastered with runes that were cut deeply into her skin.
“Another… another one of Dollman’s playthings?” She convulsed whenever she spoke, her cracked mouth bled with every word, and her face was without expression, even in agony.
Mumu, who had just killed several people, finally took a breath and looked her opponent over.
- Name: Cratia
- Title: Servant of the Miasmal Serpent [MAL debuff reduces an additional 5% HP]
- Race: Kuva?ai
- Age: ??
- Gender: Female
- Class: Heavy
- Affiliation: Cultist
- Actuality Level: 5
Attributes
- Health Points (HP): 186/186
- Realstone Shards: 1
- Damage Reduction (DR): 1%
- Affinity: (PHY)
Combat Statistics
- Physical Damage (PHY): 35
- Fire Damage (FIR): 0
- Frost Damage (FRO): 0
- Divine Damage (DIV): 35
- Malignant Damage (MAL): 0
- Unarmed Damage (PHY): 19
- Total (not counting debuffs): 70
Skills:
Equipment:
Cratia was a glass canon.
That’s what Mumu deduced, and this fight would be won by whoever got the first hit.
“Can you… Can you not speak?” Cratia flinched, messily wiping the blood that dripped from the side of her mouth.
“I can, but it’s a waste of time since you’re not going to listen to anything I say.” Mumu squeezed her axe’s handle as Cratia curiously tilted her head.
“That’s not t-true. I will listen to everything you have to say after I remove your arms and ask who sent you here.”
“Thought as much.”
Silence followed as the two KVL stood ten paces away from each other.
Cratia didn’t move.
She was waiting for Mumu to act first.
Mumu knew this but also knew that standing and waiting wouldn’t get her anywhere, so she dashed forward and swung her axe wide, expecting Cratia to dash backwards, but the KVL blocked the attack with the long handle of her own axe.
This allowed the sisters to gauge how strong their opponent was and it was clear that, thanks to Mumu’s metallic limbs, she had the advantage when it came to raw strength.
Cratia dashed away and awaited Mumu’s next move.
Mumu let out a grunt before dashing forward and swinging her axe again, and predictably, Cratia dashed backwards, but since Mumu wasn’t planning on hitting her with her axe anyway, she continued forward and kicked her sister in the gut, sending her stumbling backward.
Mumu kept the pressure up by swinging wide again, forcing Cratia to block, but this left her open to getting punched in the face, with her nose being immediately broken.
- Name: Cratia
- Health Points (HP): 170/186
“DIE!” Cratia headbutted Mumu, making her recoil with pain.
- Name: Mumu
- Health Points (HP): 131/150
The crazed KVL then straddled her sister and motioned to slam the blade of her axe onto Mumu’s neck.
Mumu blocked with her axe’s handle and, while she should have been able to easily push Cratia away, the rogue KVL’s eyes suddenly flashed gold as she used a skill which, consequently revealed it to Mumu.
- Name: Cratia
Skills:
This temporarily brought her total PHY damage up to 53 and made it harder to block.
“Any last words, sister? Perhaps you’ll cry out for your master in you final moment!” Cratia hissed as her axe got closer to Mumu’s neck.
Mumu gnashed her teeth and used her legs to thrust her hips upwards, momentarily destabilizing Cratia, who fell forward.
Mumu then pushed her off and swung down onto Cratia’s left arm before she could crawl away.
- Name: Cratia
- Health Points (HP): 110/186
Strangely enough, Cratia didn’t cry out in pain.
She didn’t make a sound even as Mumu hacked off her other arm, which she had tried to use to grab her axe.
- Name: Cratia
- Health Points (HP): 78/186
Mumu then walked up to her head, looked into Cratia’s widened eyes and hacked her head off, something that would kill her, regardless of how much damage was actually done.
[Congratulations on beating a Level 5 enemy!]
[You Have Levelled Up!]
[You have gained 1 Realstone Shard!]
[You have acquired Saintguard’s Axe!]
[You have acquired Reflections of a Hero!]