Ch 80 – Unexpected Meeting
"Hey, did you guys hear? There are rumors spreading around that Lute managed to defeat a D Rank dungeon all on his own!"
"Yeah, he's really getting quite strong now, huh? I heard he was quite young, only 19 years old, yet he can defeat a D Rank dungeon all on his own. Sigh, what was I doing back then when I was that young? I was drinking and eating food, wasting all of my hard-earned money for hookers."
"Sigh, I really want to be envious towards Lute, but you just can't help but respect the kid. He's nice, kind, helpful, he's a saint I tell you!"
As the adventurers inside the Adventurer's Guild chattered with one another, many were talking about Lute who left quite a dent in their lives. Soloing a dungeon is quite an absurd notion for most adventurers considering the danger that each dungeon holds, having companions who do certain roles will massively help in the survivability aspect, not only for dungeons but general adventuring, wandering around the wild brings danger, perhaps more danger compared to dungeons. But somebody so young like Lute soloing a dungeon was just unbelievable, it shows how strong he was compared to other adventurers, others were already considering he was a C Rank adventurer and only D Rank in name considering he hasn't killed a C Rank monster yet.
In this world, there are roles each adventurer can have. The general roles are fighter, tank, ranger, mage, and healer.
Each class specializes in certain roles, and Lute can show he can deal with perhaps five adventurers on his own of the same rank which was quite a feat to hold.
But without anyone noticing due to everyone talking with each other, a certain masked man entered the guild.
The person had a tall stature, wearing a black cloak that covers most of their body along with a white shirt and black pants. A pair of black boots also covered both of the person's feet. And the most distinct features were the person's neck long black hair, eerie black eyes, and an iconic featureless white mask that only holds two eye holes and nothing else. One can see that this person was not that friendly and the adventurers who were in the person's way instinctively knew that, once they sense the person, they instantly parted ways from the cold aura exuding from the person's body.
"How-" Katheryne the guild assistant said, but her words cut off as she turned her face to make eye contact with the new person who appeared in front of her. The apathetic, eerie black eyes that met with hers made a chill crawl up her spine.
"How… may I help you, sir?" Katheryne said after a short pause, she was able to easily gather her composure in mere seconds which was a feat considering how scary the person in front of her was.
"I would like to join the Adventurer's Guild," the person said, their voice clearly showing a man was behind the mask, it was not deep nor light, just right in the middle. Katheryne was also not able to determine the man's age, but she estimated that the man should be not that old.
'Calm down, Katheryne. You've dealt with people like this already. But it's strange, he doesn't seem to be a criminal, but the pressure he exudes will cause one to be stricken in fear. Wait, why am I thinking about that? It's not my business to snoop around people's past.' Katheyne thought to herself and mindlessly grabbed a card below the counter.
"Please sign your name here, your…" Katheryne said, the process was already memorized by her down to the letter and said what the man needed to sign.
As Katheryne watches the man silently sign the card, she can't help but analyze him like she always does to other adventurers.
'Hmm? He's also wearing black gloves to cover his hands? And his skin, it's white, like untainted snow.' Katheryne thought, glancing at the only visible land of skin on the man's body which was the area around his head and neck not covered by anything, though it wouldn't be visible if he were to put the hood of his cloak over his head.
"Oh, you're done already," Katheryne said as she grabbed the pen and card from the man.
'Kira? That's a pretty weird name. And as I expected, he's a fighter.' Katheryne thought while mindlessly finalizing the last details of the card and giving it back to the man now known as Kira.
"Thank you for joining the Adventurer's Guild, Kira-san," Katheryne said while grabbing the gold coin that was already propped on the counter right in front of her.
Nodding his head, Kira turned around and left the guild without another word, his fading silhouette plaguing Katheryne's mind as she can't help but wonder what his face was like behind that mask.
'Hmm, finding an Orc would take a bit of time if I don't forcefully make it come to me.' Kira thought, his eerie black irises darting around the forest around him, a forest infested with monsters from the wild where one can meet danger daily.
Yes, Kira was indeed Freidrich Braun. After manipulating his body structure and soul, nobody would be able to know he was Lute unless they use magical means, over the past week, Braun has managed to further his understanding of magic that he already holds an assortment of self-made spells, one spell being quite special which used all of his mana for a huge power boost.
One can only wonder why he made a new identity, a double identity if you will, but a strange scene soon occurred as two eyes interlocked. One was violet while the other was abyssal black.
"R-run away!" a young man with neck long black hair, violet eyes, lightly tanned skin, and wearing a long-sleeved tunic white shirt, black pants, along with a white cloak could be seen running towards Kira. The sound of rapid thuds on the ground also entered Kira's ears as he silently stood still. For the "fated" meeting between two certain individuals happened out of nowhere.
"Tch! Run away won't cha'!" Lute shouted, grabbing Kira by the shoulders, he tried to pull him away but to no avail as if he has just tried to pull a chunk of iron.
"Sigh, I guess you want to fight those orcs," Lute sighed, his body hastily turning around while he pointed his wooden staff at the horde of orcs running towards them.
"So you're a fighter?" Lute asked while tightening his grip over his staff.
"Yes," Kira mutters, his calm black eyes remaining nonchalant while a weird white material suddenly appeared from his gloved right hand to form a white blade out of nowhere that almost touches the ground.
"Woah! Where did that sword come from!" Lute asked.
"Focus," Kira said, his body crouching down to the ground while the group of orcs appeared in front of them.
"Yes, boss!" Lute shouts, the tip of his wooden staff glowing white and mana funneled towards the tip.
"[Haste], [Strength], [Resistance], [Regeneration]!" Lute instantly casted four spells in one go, each being one-word chants which shows his absurd mastery over magic.
"Die," Kira mutters, his body suddenly disappearing with a whooshing sound and he instantly appeared right in front of the leading orc, the sound of his blade cutting through flesh was then heard as the body of the orc in front of him was diced into fine cubes within a split second.
"Nice one! [Blood Empowerment]!" Lute shouts, the blood all around Kira was then absorbed into his body and made his body stronger.
Soon, the duo started an onslaught on the poor orcs. Each one was able to kill a C Rank Monster in one to two strikes each, showing that they were well above average C Rank adventurers at this point.
"Shit! An Alpha Orc!" Lute shouts as their eyes instantly darted to the ginormous Orc in the distance.
Alpha and Boss monsters are basically the same, just with different names. Boss monsters are for monsters residing inside dungeons, while Alpha monsters are for monsters that reside in the outside world.
With a swish, Kira suddenly appears right beside Lute and grabbed him by the shoulder.
Without speaking, both Lute and Kira pointed their weapons at the Alpha Orc.
"[Mana Arrow Barrage]" Lute shouts, tens of mana arrows suddenly appear beside him while Kira darts forward like a bullet, he directly appeared right in front of the Alpha Orc and swung his snow-white sword forward, leaving behind a shadowy blur.
But his sharp sword only managed to make a shallow cut due to the Alpha Orc's tough defense, and the wound could already be seen slowly healing.
Though that wasn't a problem as Kira hastily turns his body to the left, the barrage of mana arrows then hits the shallow but large wound he created on the Alpha Orc's chest and watches it pierce through like a rain of arrows that never ends.
The previously shallow wound turned into a deep hole which Kira didn't waste, he hastily pierces his snow-white sword through it and swung it upwards, his sharp sword then went from the chest to the tip of the Alpha Orc's head, killing it in one swing.
"Holy shit! We actually killed an Alpha Orc so fast!" Lute shouts as he leans back on a tree, the last spell he cast took a toll on his mana reserves while Kira also did the same, his chest could be seen heaving up and down and taking in deep breaths through the mask.
"You sure you can breathe through that thing? I'm already having a hard time breathing here with no mask!" Lute said, a waterfall of sweat could be seen dripping down his forehead while Kira only nods his head in response.
"So you're the silent type, huh?" Lute said, he then walks forward right beside Kira and took out a glass vial from a sack that dangles by his waist holding a green liquid.
"You want it? I call it an Energy Potion, it makes the one who drinks it regain back their stamina." Lute stretch his hand out and gave the potion to Kira but Kira remained silent.
"Oh yeah, I forgot that I'm the one who created this thing and nobody else sells it on the market, but don't worry, I promise you that it's safe to drink," Lute said as Kira took it and turned his body around, silently drinking it without allowing Lute to see even the smallest hint of his face.
Turning his body back around, Kira gave the vial back to Lute as he nods his head.
"Now, it's time for the next big question? Would this corpse sell?" Lute said, walking forwards towards the pool of blood and mincemeat, stopping right in front of the corpse of the Alpha Orc.
"It's pointless, its body is already too damaged for any value. But we can chop off its head, well what remains of it, and make ourselves C Rank adventurers," Kira said out of nowhere, appearing right beside Lute which made him jump up slightly from shock.
"Hey! Don't scare me like that!" Lute said, shaking his head as he looks at the head of the Alpha Orc in front of him which was split into two from Kira's killing blow from before.
"Well, can you cut it- Oh, thank you," Lute was about to ask if Kira can cut the head of the Alpha Orc but by the time he turned his head towards Kira, he can already see the two divided segments of the orc head, one in each of his gloved hand.
"Wait, where is your sword anyway?" Lute asked while taking his own head, his eyes went to dart around the area but no sword could be seen.
"Inside," Kira responds, pointing at his right forearm.
"Inside? You mean you have a secret compartment inside your right forearm?! That's so cool!" Lute shouts. But unbeknownst to any outside observer, their first meeting is the start of a long tale of lies and deceit.
AN: This is 2040 words, you're welcome.
"THE FUCK?!" Traversing the Infinite Realities muttered in shock, unable to believe the same similar situation appear once more that happened in Volume 2 for IR, Cheater Meets Cheaters.
"How can this be? The same multiple personalities? The same each personality has different bodies kind of bullcrap?! What the fuck am I reading! I-It can't be! Don't tell me-"
Yes, yes, Reader-kun. It's indeed the lingering ghost of Rintarou Okabe, Hououin Kyouma, Mister K, Kira, Kaleido! They have been with me, plaguing my mind like the wails of the damned!
"Why did you drop us, Author-san?"
"Did you hate me, Author-san?"
"Did you get bored with us, Author-san?"
The voices just don't stop talking! That was until... I realized what they wanted. I finally got it! They want new bodies, new hosts to play and act with in this grand theatrical play of words! To bring joy to the masses, ahahahahaha! I FINALLY KNOW IT! I KNOW IT! AHAHAHAHAHA
And that was the lingering spirit of AM One Shots, kukuku, it's all according to keikaku. And this is also not just for my wishful fantasies, it's basically his Paranoia EX creating back up plans left and right whenever he gets the chance.
Writing is making me insane, so send me some powerstones.
(July 7, 2022 – 225th day of writing)