Change: New World

An Unexpected Gain

The one eyed monsters rushed at us with a surprising amount of speed. The weaponless one directly ran straight towards Cher, as if it instinctively knew which one of us was weaker.

“Cher, raise the shield up!” I shouted just as an orb of water shot out from besides me. It was Hina, she had used water magic to hit the floor in front of the Cyclops wielding the club. Its forward momentum, followed by the unexpected loss of traction caused by the water, created a perfect opening for me as the monster slipped and fell over.

As if adding insult to injury, Cielle fired of an almost pin point accurate shot towards the Cyclops’ open eye. It wailed dramatically, gripping its eye as it blinked away the forming tears.

In that same instant, I was already besides Cher. I could have honestly attacked it at this point, but I allowed the Cyclops to slip through, merely as an opportunity to showcase the danger involved in this type of hunt to Cher.

The Cyclops reared its tree-trunk like arm back before it rocketed forward, directly aiming at Cher’s upper body. Cher reacted just in time guarding with the makeshift shield. Although due to taking the attack head on, a splintering sound resounded in the air just before the shield broke into two and Cher was sent flying. She stopped just as her back crashed against a plaster wall.

Using this opportunity, I quickly moved my blade, cutting off the Cyclops’ extended arm with a bit of resistance. This time around, instead of using [Dissect], I used my own strength. As expected, the resistance my swing met was greater than usual. [Dissect] was the type of skill that increased the proportionate slashing attack as well as increased the opportunity to sever things.

While I could still manage the same basic motions and end result without relying on the skill, in the end, it made things a lot easier.

As I thought this over, I simultaneously heard the screeching roar from the one eyed monster, just as I shot a quick glance back at Cielle. The attack shaved off a majority of her health,leaving her with almost 1/5th of her total hp. Luckily, before I even had the chance to call out, a floating blob with a blue hue, flew through the air and directly entered Cher’s still parted lips.

One thing Cielle noticed when experimenting with her unusual skill, was that direct contact increased its effects. Be it [Blue Gemini] or [Dark Gemini], if the substance somehow managed to get inside you, then you're either in for bliss or in for a world of hurt.

I made a slight nod, as I focused back on the Cyclops in front of me. I quickly lobbed off one of its legs just as it reared a fist my way. Just as it was about to topple over, I used this chance to cut of its remaining arm, using the force of its downward acceleration to assist my swing.

In no time flat, it dropped to the floor with a heavy thud, sending bits of broken gravel rattling with it.

Just for good measure, I lobbed off the remaining leg, causing its continuous wail to heighten to a new extreme.

At almost the exact same time I finished, the girls had also handled the remaining Cyclops. They had continually thrown a barrage of magic based attacks at their prey while it laid prone to the ground. It didn’t even get the chance to stand back up under the fire of spells. In the end, apparently Cielle was the one to deal the finishing blow, sending a stream of [Dark Gemini] guzzling down its throat, much in the same way she had healed Cher.

With their own respective Cyclops handled, the two girls turned their attention to mine. The weaponless Cyclops was still wriggling on the floor, much like a worm. Its constant movements sent a splatter of blood everywhere, forcing me to pin it to the ground with a direct stab to its shoulder.

“Uwaa…. Hide’s methods are just as cruel as always…” An unexpectedly rude comment flowed out from Hina’s mouth. Following behind, Cielle unconsciously nodded besides her.

“Cher, can you stand up?” I ignored the two and looked over at Cher. Her health had been brought back to almost the max, so there were no visible wounds left on her body. Although that may be the case, the person herself looked pretty pitiful. Her eyes were bloodshot, tears clearly evident, while her face and much of her skin took on a pale complexion. The close brush of death had served well in giving her a taste of death.

As if the two other girls noticed my intentions, they began to chirp up.

“Wow.... he really used it again… that sort of cruel technique…” Hina commented while shivering, most likely briefly remembering when I allowed a monster to almost half kill her.

Cielle likewise reacted the same way, while not saying anything, but only grasping at her own shoulders as she shivered.

Again, I ignored the two, and called out to Cher again. This time she reacted, hastily getting up while she held the broken shield in both her hands. Her breathing was rough, uneven, as if the adrenaline from earlier still flowed through her veins. I waved for her to come closer, which she acquiesced, after a bit of trepidity.

As she neared me, I pulled out one of my spare daggers from my back pocket. “Here, deal the finishing blow.”

The Cyclops had about 10% of its health left. While it may take a while for Cher to kill it, what with the huge level difference, and lack of basic attack from Cher, she should be able to do fine, as long as she aimed at the weak points.

Receiving the dagger with shaking hands, she gulped tersely as she approached. As if reading my intentions, she walked over so that she stood directly next to its head. Seeing Cher’s current actions, and the weapon she wielded, the Cyclops reacted violently, trying to wiggle its powerless body around in a vain attempt to escape. I got annoyed, so I lightly knicked at an important vein that buldged out besides its neck. The blood flowed freely, causing the Cyclops to lapse into silence as it almost choked on its own pool of blood.

“Aim for the eye,” I called out. “Thanks to the cut I gave it, if you don’t hurry, it might die before you can kill it.”

Hearing my words snapped Cher out of the trance like state she had entered just as the Cyclops had began resisting. She looked at me briefly before turning back her attention towards the body. While gripping the dagger with both hands, she knelt down and stabbed at the base of its eye. It squealed (more gurgled), before Cher did it again. She did it numerous times, her breathing getting shakier and shakier with each successive stab.

The Cyclops died a while ago, but Cher kept stabbing. After a while though, she seemingly lost strength in her arms, as she toppled backwards with a heavy sigh.

Seeing this, I turned back around to Cielle and Hina, just as I removed the end of my long sword from the dead Cyclops’ shoulder. I lightly called back towards the other two, and asked, “Did anything drop?”

After a brief look, they all wearily shook their heads, although Cielle could be seen dragging a club that was almost double her size over to me.

“...Can Hide use this….” She asked, as she made a strained face before dropping the club at my feet.

While I never explicitly told Cielle what my skill was, she already had the vague presumption that it somehow involved weapons, or items in general. I didn’t particularly mind though, sometime, in occasion, her knowing about my skill was useful.

“Let’s see…” I lightly spoke just as I bent down to pick up the weapon.

It was surprisingly heavy, but with my current strength, it was manageable enough. One end of the club, presumably the handle, was thinner, and wrapped in a rough leather that chafed the skin. As it traveled down, the width of the weapon widened, until ultimately it ended at a blunt end. The majority of the weapon was seemingly made out of an unknown wood. It was thicker and much more dense than regular wood.

I briefly pondered what type of tree from the “other world” this type of material came from.

Swinging the club around took an incredible toll on my arms, and after a few swings I was already pretty tired. While currently, the weapon was too heavy and unuseable, with [Equip]’s effects in play, that situation might just change.

And to activate [Equip], I first had to use [identify].

With that in mind, I briefly screamed the skill’s name in my head, and following that, a new blue information panel exposed itself.