Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, escort missions in games are almost always very annoying--mainly because of faulty AI or badly designed Paths--but in real life, with people who absolutely follow your orders--they aren’t that bad.”

When we leave the room, I am surprised to find out that the floor has changed from the illuminated paved stone, to normal rocks.

It’s so dark.

But fortunately, there are several shining stone pillars located every few meters or so along the passage, so even though it is dark and eerie--we can see well enough to walk.

The stone pillars are around waist height on Liza and I. Since the brightest part of the light only really illuminates the ground, the ceiling is pitch-dark in comparison--it’s a little unpleasant.

Of course, the Labyrinth was probably designed this way to induce as much anxiety as possible--such an evil Demon-like thing to do.

“Tama, if you see anything in the passage ahead, tell me, but keep your voice low. Pochi, if you hear or smell anything strange, tell me. Liza, please be weary of the back--but don’t focus all of your attention to the rear and be late to follow us.”

“““Yes!”””

They all responded enthusiastically, and while I’m still a bit uneasy, that response helps calm me.

>>Skill: Leadership Acquired.

>>Skill: Organization Acquired.

The red coloured dots that indicate enemies appear on my radar, but they are a fair distance in front of us.

“I can smell blood from the the other side of the passage.” Pochi spoke quietly, her petite nose crinkling as she sniffed.

It’s a straight line from where we are standing, but it’s still around five hundred meters away.

I tell Pochi that she did a good job, while stroking her head. This treatment is how you would praise a pet, but her tail begins to wave around madly--she seems very happy.

I have to remember not to treat them like pets--Though Pochi enjoys having her head rubbed, so I should do that more.

I wonder if Tama and Liza like it too?

I will have to find a reason to try later.

Slowly walking closer, I investigate the enemy using my Map. It is level twenty, and doesn’t seem to have any special abilities. From the look of it, it’s main methods of attack would probably be ramming and biting, and there only seems to be one of them in the next room.

Stopping, I quickly look over the girls and take note of their current Stats and Abilities, and since they also have a bar showing how much Experience they have, I make a plan.

This feels like a game.

Unfortunately, the Experience value is show as a percentage instead of a concrete number--but it’s still really convenient when gaining levels. Since I can’t see the Experience of any of the other people on the Map, I wonder if it is restricted to people I recognize as part members, or could there also be other restrictions.

I start walking again and when I arrive at the door to the room, I can see the light leaking out.

With a soft word, I instruct the three Beastkin girls to wait, and peek around the edge of the opening and into the room. The insect-shaped enemy isn’t paying much attention to its surroundings as it single-mindedly rips and tears into something, quickly downing the gooey red mess.

I wait until the chewing sounds stop, then I set the gun to three and shoot the insect. The single, silent, shot blows straight through joint of one of its hind legs. The broken part falls to the ground and the insect staggers with an ear-piercing shriek. I’m not going to give the huge cricket any room for a counter attack, so I rapidly fire five or six shots into its head and chest.

--Killing Monsters in real life is strangely exhilarating--

“Amazing.”

“Amazing.”

“Mister--are you a Mage?”

Tama and Pochi just seem excited as they stare intently, and innocently at me with expressions of astonishment--Liza has a question.

“This is a Magic Weapon. Don’t tell anyone about it though!” I hold the gun out and speak with a smile as I warn them.

Pochi and Liza nod with serious expressions on their faces, but Tama said “Aye!”, while looking incredibly happy. I think I will be giving her another warning once we make it out of the Labyrinth.

The chains between their collars are getting in the way, Tama’s hands are full just holding it up enough not to trip, she and Pochi have placed their daggers through their rope ‘belt’s.

Hmm.

Oh, that’s right, I can probably cut it with the Gun.

I call Liza over and ask her to pull the chain horizontally between her hands, then I shoot it with the Magic Gun. Since I’m so close, I don’t miss and the chain is neatly shot through, breaking with a clinking sound.

Seeing that it worked as I planned, I did the same with Tama and Pochi. They were probably scared, because their ears were pressed down against their hair, their tails tucked between their thighs--but even if they were terrified, they didn’t even move a millimeter.

Both to calm them down, and because I found that I enjoyed it, I gently stroked their soft hair with each hand. They both cheered up very quickly, huge smiles crossing their faces as they pushed into my hand. Pochi’s tail waved from side to side, and Tama’s stood upright with the tip thrashing left to right.

After patting them for a while, I put the chain in my bag and gave it to Pochi. She happily accepted it.

When I turned back to the Cricket, I saw Liza watching with a pleased look in her eyes--she quickly looked away when her gaze met mine, quickly returning to a rather neutral look--She was quite attractive when she smiled, her Demi-Human parts increased her beauty, adding an alien aspect to her.

Since the foot that had been cut off the cricket was around two meters long, I decided to make an impromptu spear out of it. I quickly placed one skill point into the Weapon Creation skill, as knowledge flooded my head, I felt that I didn’t need to put more points in for this weapon.

The sharp end of the foot seems a little loose, so I take a piece of wood and leather strap from storage, fixing it in place. It looks like I made a splint, which I had to do once when I was with a group of friends in the bush and one of them broke an arm, we had to splint it before heading back.

Using a knife, I strip most of the large, sharp, teeth like protrusions along the main shaft. Since strange green fluids are oozing from the cut part at the ‘base’, I wrap the used cloths, from the treatment of the girl’s wounds, around it.

Turning to give the spear to Liza, I see that she is currently cutting into where the cricket’s head joins its body, doing something.

Is she hungry?

“Liza, it’s likely that if you eat that meat, it will give you a stomachache.”

Liza blushes at my words, looking embarrassed, “Y-You’re mistaken--since it’s a Monster, it should have a Magic Core inside it, so I’m retrieving it--”

“Oh, sorry.”

My apology makes Liza look even more flustered, “N-No need to apologize to someone like me--” She quickly turns and cuts with a little more vigor however.

Magic Core?

Interesting.

>>Title: Insect Slayer Acquired.