———Jeff———

  <3: 01 pm>

  “So you don’t know what happened after that?” Malk asked, even though I made myself pretty clear already.

  “Of course not. I’m probably a dead man if I actually try to stick around.” I’m not stupid, I know that I shouldn’t jump into a pit of burning inferno. “I doubt either of them are gonna say anything if we confront them about it in the group chat.”

  “Feels like weird things have been happening more often as of te…” He muttered. Yeah, what happened on Sunday was weird, creepy, and a bit overwhelming for my liking. “By the way, Qyunda, can you now tell me what you’ve been doing yesterday?”

  “No.” She ftly said. Is this because we didn’t tell her what our group did? Group of four doing something secretive on a Sunday… Hm, are there other groups of four to think about?

  “It was worth a try…” Malk muttered before resuming eating his meal.

  “Seems like some of you have run into some trouble we don’t know about.” Jeyst commented, and yeah, that’s kinda what happened. I don’t know if finding a secret base is ‘trouble’ when we don't run into any setbacks. “No wonder I felt like something odd was happening. Care to share?”

  ““No.”” Both Malk and Qyunda simultaneously said. Seems like we’re going nowhere with admitting to things. It does feel cool to have a secret, even if it doesn’t really provide any benefits.

  “Probably best to drop it, Jeyst. It’s clear some of us are having fun adventures without others.” Wers chimed in, his long lizard-like tail tapping the table as if impatient. “Meanwhile I doubt the rest even got to do anything nearly as interesting. Not that it’s surprising, there’s only so much to go around in this small peaceful town.”

  “...I know we all say it, but this town isn’t really that small, it’s probably closer to a city than anything.” Jeyst said. It’s probably because there is more infrastructure around than a few years back. More job opportunities and pces to go around, so things feel more lively.

  “T-That is true, but I feel like the atmosphere here still felt rather… humble, I suppose.” Seni chimed in, her voice rather quiet, as if trying to not sound like she is overstepping something.

  “Hmm… Well. I don’t care that much about the state of this pce as long as we’re all fine and well. Big or small, all that matters is that we're all lively and healthy.” Malk said. Always the one to give a speech worthy of a leader. Kenni and Emmie also do it sometimes, but those two always felt just a tinge too insincere or sinister. “Anyway, Karra is probably done with her grand adventure. She should come back tomorrow, so hopefully we don’t try to extract information out of each other when we get a big juicy scoop tomorrow.”

  “When did we become noisy journalists anyway?” I sarcastically said. “How about we just py nice and don’t intrude on other people’s space?”

  “When did you become so considerate?” Qyunda remarked. Hey, what was that about?

  “Alright, let’s not talk about something crazy anymore. We have plenty of time for that. Let’s just be quiet and eat, unless you got somewhere to be. Maybe go fight a giant monster or something.” Jeyst said in jest. Yeah, I don’t think any of us are going to be doing that.

  …

  “...So. Guess no one here has any pns?” I asked just to lift the silence. I thought maybe I would jinx things up if I even think about it. Looks like that’s not the case.

  “Not really. Some people were talking about hosting a small soccer competition, but I don’t think it’s all that thrilling.” Malk is the first to answer. Really? It has been a while since students came about and organized fun events.

  “We kinda… Uh. Have a bit too much in terms of advantage, to put it lightly.” Qyunda chimed in. Is the ‘over twice as strong’ still applied? “It wouldn’t really be fun for them, and even if it’s just the two of us we’ll probably do a clean sweep.”

  “...So that’s why people were bitching during lunch time.” Jeyst suddenly spoke up. “What the heck did you say to them to stop them from bugging you?”

  “Nothing worth mentioning.” Qyunda replied. How many times is a phrase like that gonna be said?

  “U-Um. I have to go now. See you all ter.” Seni said before walking off. Well that was quite quick. No idea what that was about.

  “...Why are there so many weird sightings in that pce?” Wers muttered out loud while looking at his phone. Care to share with us?

  ———Lerim———

  <3: 32 pm>

  *Ssh* *Csh* *Parry*

  “For crying out loud STOP TARGETING ME!” Just how much more bullshit am I gonna have to deal with at this rate. Just had to go into a dungeon and I just had to be seen as easy picking. What an absolutely terrible start to the week. I should’ve known Monday was bad news.

  *Lunge* *Parry*

  And whatever the hell this thing is, it sure isn’t merciful. Some sort of humanoid… thing, completely cd in iron. Is this some sort of assassin robot? Last I checked, they can barely move on two legs with manual control.

  *Parry* *Csh*

  It would expin why it just starts attacking me and nothing else. Even the most cold-hearted killer would’ve emoted a little bit.

  Still, why does such an advanced robot exist, and why is it targeting me of all people? Don’t freaking tell me it’s because of the monster outbreak and basement! What did I ever do to deserve this!?

  I have to end this quickly before more assaints can come towards me. Who really knows if there is anywhere safe for me at this point.

  *Csh*

  Ugh! Why is this thing so agile and heavy? Is there seriously no one under that metal pting?

  At least in terms of power and speed we are about equal. So unfortunately I can’t go easy on it and subdue it if I wanted to. Is killing seriously the only option? I sure as hell hope there is no one inside, but it’s hard to believe.

  There’s a sign of mana in there. That kind of reading doesn’t exist for non-living things usually. There is a possibility that this thing is powered at least partially by mana which is why it can match me. I need to quickly defeat it to get the answer I want!

  *Push* *Kick* *Leap*

  I overpowered the sword lock and kicked it in the chest, making it momentarily lose footing and gave me enough time to jump away. Thankfully this boss room is pretty damn spacious. I have plenty of room to work with here.

  *Sizz*

  “[Inferno Ring]!” I shouted out the name of the attack, engulfing the area surrounding it with fmes. Overbearing heat that no living being should be able to easily overcome.

  *Dash* *Parry*

  “Tch.” I clicked my tongue after parrying the incoming attack. So it’s not fazed by that at all? Seems like I need to use a method a bit more… lethal.

  *Dash* *Shine* *Slice*

  Allocating a lot of mana into the next attack, I aimed at the right shoulder, sshing away and cutting the right arm clean off its body.

  *Grab* *Swing* *Throw* *Crash*

  I then grabbed it by the left arm and swung it around for a bit before throwing it right into the nearby wall.

  I saw it clearly. That thing is a bonafide man-made machine. Wires and sparks of electricity. In that case, I don’t need to hold ba-

  *Bang*

  “U-Ugh!” My left arm! A gunshot? But from where? That thing doesn’t have anything resembling a gun, be it on its body or… “...Shit.”

  Even more of these faceless dolls appeared, some having slightly different designs and weapons attached to them. That is hel dirty.

  *Bang* *Evade*

  Not gonna let myself get hit another time! I got careless and let my guard down at the wrong moment, so the bullet pierced through me like that.

  Damn it! That was a mistake that should’ve never been made. At this point I can’t even fight properly. The wound on my left arm is too much.

  *Bang* *Evade*

  Some of them have some sort of attachment that works like a high-powered sniper rifle. Even if I tried to take that attack head-on it would still have dealt a lot of damage to me. I need to avoid it at all costs and get the hell out of here!

  I can barely move due to the pain. That damn bullet rips right through my arm. I feel like if I even run then my arm would snap off…

  “You just cannot catch a break, can you?” Suddenly a voice rang out as the movement of these robots suddenly stopped. “I thought something like this would happen eventually, but isn’t this a bit too hasty?”

  *Slice* *Ssh* *Chop*

  One second, all the robots were aiming to kill me. The next second, they are all piles of junk on the ground. Their mechanical parts falling off, creating a mess of gears and wires. All of them destroyed so easily you’d think they were made with the flimsiest of materials.

  “I was contempting dragging it out a bit for the sake of dramatics, but a human life is more important than a fleeting moment of glory.” She calmly expined. “Hmph. It looks like they have one more ace up their sleeve.”

  *Bang* *Swat*

  Before I could even begin to process what was happening, a loud sound comparable to cannon fire rang out in my ears. I can see Wiina swatting something away, hitting the robot ying against the wall, piercing its chest.

  A robot much bigger than others, with a bde for its arms, and a hole at the tip of it to shoot out big bullets. So some sort of gunbde? Whatever it is. This is not something to be trifled with.

  “Stand back and watch. You could use a nice rest.” She said as she casually walked towards it.

  *Bang* *Slice* *Bang* *Swat*

  She ran towards it comfortably, slicing through the bullets coming in high speed, either slicing it away with her hand or just swatting it away into the wall. How do you even ssh through bullets with just your hand?

  *Grab* *Crush*

  She walked over to it and grabbed it by its left shoulder, crushing it with only her own hand.

  *Ssh*

  Using the severed arm as a weapon, she cut off its right arm, leaving it without any weapon outside of its bded legs.

  *Swing* *Evade*

  It tried to swing its leg at her, but it was too slow and she easily dodged it.

  *Grab* *Throw*

  She grabbed it by the leg and tossed it into the air.

  *Leap* *Kick* *Stomp* *Crash*

  She jumped up after it and kicked it further into the air before suddenly moving up towards the ceiling and stomping it down back into the ground.

  “Hmph.” She sneered at it once she nded back on the ground. Then grabbing it by the head with its body seeming to lose all of its function. Staring at it right in its non-existent eye. How does that thing even see anyway? I can’t make out any features on it. “Found you.”

  I felt a chill down my spine as she said that. I know full well it wasn’t directed at me, but whoever that was, it is clear that they will not be having a good time. Is she talking about the person who sent these things after her?

  “Alright then.” She said while dropping the robot back to the ground, walking over to me still clutching my left arm so it won’t bleed out too much.

  *Shine*

  “Ah. Thank you.” Her healing spell closes up the wound quickly.

  “Take care. Those guys shouldn’t bother you anymore.” She said, sounding carefree.

  And then, she slowly disappeared like she was never there… What in the world do I do with all of these busted up robots? Can’t you help me a little more and deal with those!? Hello!?