<Belaces thoughts>
From sunset till the dead of night this youngling didn’t want to stop a fightin’, but something aint right about this lad. He’s all a panicky for some reason not wanting to take a breather, despite all the warm-ups me and Raymos put him through. I will say though he got moves and being a fast learner doesn’t hurt either. If it weren’t for his jobs an’ unusual choice o’ weapons he’d make a dandy ranged fighter. His moves are all erratic though and when it comes to the whip unless under intense pressure his instincts don’t take over makin’ him lose his grip an’ timing. I do declare, although he lacked ability in the whip his hand to hand countering be impeccable. Raymos won the first combat round, but every other round thereafter was either a tie or his utter lost. All the sparin’ got me thinking that the boy aint as young as he look, but I can’t tell with the cloth covering’s on his head. However, I don’t be judging or nothin’, but from the lads’ status I can tell he wasn’t proper trained in fighting on his lonesome and being as short as he is tells me something must’ve happened. I wonder if this boy was abandoned or pushed out early from his quad, but it aint my business to ask. I’m too old to get into someone else’s life when they might not want my help.
……
<Tokito>
‘Why is this old lady staring at me like I’m a lost puppy? I think I’m getting the hang of how to fight if somebody gets close to me, but I can’t be so terrible that she has to peer at me in such a way.’ halfway through waving farewells to everyone I catch sight of Belace looking fixedly up and down my body.
‘Um, Calamity does she have a problem with me or am I imagining that Belace is staring at me weirdly?’
‘Well Tokito, during the whole sparing practice you kept fixing your turban to keep your face hidden, scarcely talked to anyone when corrected, and while not engaging in physical combat kept 5 feet of distance from everybody …. Not staring at you like you’re an abandoned puppy that dislikes people would be stranger. The CCC group is leaving now, so there is no need to strain yourself with being vigilante about her.’ Calamity says unconcerned.
Unable to concentrate, uncomfortable by Belaces glances I watch until all the members of the CCC group are out of sight before entering my shelter worn out from the nonstop clashes and warm-up.
…….
<3rd POV>
“So, did you find out anything about him boss?” Raymos asked as he looked back at the direction of the Quabet.
“Other than the fact he be a bit too young an’ most o’ his skill be magical and creation based, not that I could see, no.” Belace replied bemused on why Raymos would ask her such a question. After a pause she did remember seeing something odd. “Raymos, do Quabets paint their nails? In the little wrangling we did with his hand holding my whip his nails were all black with spots of color and stars glittering on ‘em.”
Raymos unable to digest what Belace said couldn’t answer, but Lila did.
“From what intelligence I gathered, Quabets create functional items or camouflage themselves in the name of surviving and protecting their quads. Painting their nails is an unnecessary activity that wouldn’t help them in any given situation.” Lila explained straight face.
Raymos, tapping his nose, pondering on why he didn’t notice the quabets nail color before, asked, “Could it be an exile marking?”
“No, all different types of exile markings can be found on the arms, face, and chest area. He had none on his arms or chest and although most of his face is covered you could still discern the tattoo as it would be around the eyebrows and nose of which we’ve seen plenty.” Lila replied in further explanation. “However, this information is irrelevant for our current task at hand. Raymos you had plenty of time to ask the quabet about himself. How can we gain his trust if you don’t get to know him? Do you even want the bonus?”
Raymos annoyed with Lila was about to rebuke but was stopped by Belace.
Hands on hips Belace questions Raymos and Lila “Whoa, what do you mean by that young lassie? What you talking about gainin’ trust and earning a bonus? Did ya’ll neglect to tell me something or are ya’ll doing a dirty deed without my permission?!” Belace inquires agitated at finding a conspiracy brewing in her group.
Lila and Raymos didn’t know what to say as they originally intended to let their leader find out after they obtained the bonus. They knew she wouldn’t like how they would be deceiving someone just for money, but Lila and Raymos have their reasons for taking the commission.
Not getting any answers from Raymos and Lila, Belace looks to Gilbert and Stozo their temporary partner. Gilbert clamped up though in spite of the menacing glare he was getting, but Stozo none the wiser answered cheekily to Belaces inquiry.
“The chief offered a bonus of 20 platinum coins if we find out where or how the Quabet obtained an item bag seen within his possession. Honestly, I think it’s a foolish endeavor and that she should just buy the bag and be done with it, but I rather get the bonus than say that to her. Although I doubt any of us will actually get anywhere with how your pixie teammate ruined our chances to gain even an inkling of trust.” Stozo finished as they reached the camp.
Belace appalled at what her teammates plans, stormed off in the direction of chief Sila’s tent.
…….
<Tokito>
After the group was no longer visible, I let a miffed Alaula out of my chaos space and entered my shelter to sleep for what was left of the night.
Entering the door of my home from finishing school I’m greeted by mom who’s typing at her computer on the other side of the living room.
“Aloha mai ʻoe e kaʻu keiki .How was school today? What did you learn? Did you make any friends? How -”
“Mom slow down! School was fine!” I look around the room as I put my bag down and didn’t see dad anywhere. “Where’s dad? Is he still at work?”
“Ae sweetie, your Father is working late so when he gets his paycheck we’ll have enough for our trip to ***. Remember we’ll be picking you up from school after we leave the bank” I don’t know why but I ran hugging my mother’s back as she sat in her chair surprised by my actions. Not being able to stand up from her seat she patted my arm and started talking in a low voice to me. “He aha ka hewa? Tokito let go otherwise how am I to move on.” I didn’t open my arms though afraid she would disappear. Mom trying to soothe my shaking fears, kept saying my name, but the octave of her voice changed as she repeated it. “Tokito, Tokito, Tok-”
“-ito, -kito, Tokito! WAKE UP! We’ve encountered a grave situation! This is no time to sleep!”
I awaken to Calamity’s many voices still tired from midnight’s bout. Yawning I sit up rubbing my eyes open only to find the cavern walls were no longer the same. The air was shrouded in a grey mist letting only indescribable objects into view.
What the heck happened?!
Using mana sight I pierced through the dank fog to unveil a clearer picture of where I was. All around was a darker less colorful version of the jungle I had left not but a few days ago. Where the hardened brown earth cave used to be, groves of towering dead trees webbed with creeping wiggling red shard vines now took place. The vast ground overgrown with sharp wine grass pointed to where I lay. Neither grass nor the ghastly screaming trees were near me, but I could feel the wrongness of everything trying to overtake me.
“Where is everyone Calamity? Where are we? Wha-” I pleaded scared out of my wits.
“Shush Tokito! It appears a dungeon formed during the time you slept. You were inside the cavern as the dungeon shaped causing you to be dragged inside in the process. Except for Berry who stayed outside, ele’ele and Alaula should be here as well; since you haven’t received any notifications of your tamed dying they should be safe. As long as have your link you can just call them to your side, but there are more pressing matters.” Calamity said this as its eye looked around wearily.
Trying to calm my fraying nerves I stand up glad I didn’t change out of my clothes before sleeping. Taking hold of my mere I tread silently through the orchid of black trees listening, but all within earshot are wails and screams from unseen places.
‘Calamity, how did a freaking dungeon form around me?!’ I asked passing cobwebs, hacking away any shard vines in my path.
‘I’m not sure Tokito. Your chaos absorption was active albeit the consumption of energy low. Your chaos emission is significantly higher than your absorption rate, but the amount of chaos not absorbed shouldn’t cause a dungeon to form.” Calamity’s mouth open and closes as if to blink up an answer to my question. “There are prerequisites to erecting a dungeon, but none of the essential conditions should be present…..’ Calamity mutters in displeasure.
I halted, hearing shuffling from the tree tops. Instinctively I watched for anything that could drop on me, but didn’t see anything and continued walking. Gradually the grove of trees thinned and pacing myself, walked into a glade, moving towards a boulder located in the middle still hearing the shuffling behind me now quickening. The sound advanced, in a blink, I swiveled around colliding my mere into a giant spider smashing it against the rock. The spider now visible arose, it was the size of a grizzly bear its body white, the hair on its legs sharp enough to split a grown man in half, and its red blood shot eyes stared icily with a promise of a slow death if caught.
Where’d the h*ll this giant spider come from?!
Not thinking, I hastily rolled back out of its legs range, getting to my feet used [Fire Breath] before it could react. Burn buggy burn! Losing breath I stop, but doubting the spider died from that blow I stayed as far as I could. Smoke rose obscuring the spider giving me no way to see what damage I did. Suddenly large webs shot from the smoke aimed for where I stood. I dodged at the last second only for my mere to get shot out my hand stuck to a tree in the distance. Not wanting to use my Rambo or any of my newly acquired weaponry yet, I fisted my hands entering a crouch stance running in zigzags to evade incoming webs.
Damn it! I can’t fight close to this bug without being torn to shreds and running for my mere would be suicide! The minute I turn my back it would shoot me down! What can I do to get out of this?!
The smoke dissipating exposed a half singed spider supporting itself on the rock as two of its right legs of its eight were too burned to stand on.
Ha! At least I partially crippled it, now would be the best time to analyze it.
[Analyze]
[Inviso Spinner – An arachnid monster condensed from small amounts of chaos and mana. This monster can be commonly found in forest or grottos dense with chaos. It would cloak its appearance to ambush prey discharging heavy cobwebs to entangle their victim. They prefer to cause their prey to experience intense bouts of fear bit by bit by dicing them with their bladed legs before consuming as it enriches their flavor.
Lv 54
Hp 224/300, Atk + 132, Def 52/75, Agl 167/229, Mag 112/115, lck +5
Skills: Iron web, concealment shroud, acid discharge, ?????
Weakness: Lightning, wind]
< 3rd pov>
“You got to be kidding me?! I don’t own skills that hit its weaknesses! I’ll just have to keep hitting it with ranged skills until it dies.” Toktito says as he runs in circles breathing out [fire breath].
The spider didn’t linger by the rock to get hit but vaulted sky high, evading in the nick of time as flames brushed against its feet. Soaring, the spinner spat acid at Tokito only for the projectile to freeze from Tokito changing to using [Ice breath] and plummeted. Falling, the spider spat three large webbing as Tokito raced to it with a frozen rusty machete, but missed each shot as Tokito would alternate between dashing and using [fire shot] to burn holes in the webs to pass through. Tokito almost face to face with the spider used [earth spike] only to find the skill not casting.
“Sh*t! Why is my earth spike not working?!” Tokito frantic speeds up as his plan to stab the bug from below and above wouldn’t work now.
Clashing the spiders’ bladed legs as it crashed down the frozen machete chipped, but the spiders’ legs became numb. Seeing its legs freezing over the spider snapped hurling Tokito off before it completely froze.
Tokito flipping in the air couldn’t dodge as the spider spewed webs at him catching him mid flight. Falling he landed onto the sharp grass causing Tokito to suffer incredible pain as he felt a million needles drill into his back.
Ding! [You have suffered 40 points of damage! You will continue to suffer 7 points of damage until you remove the dark needle grass]
In pain from being pressed into the sharp grass by the heavy webbing Tokito screamed silently swinging his machete wildly to break free. It was only when the spider was a few steps from being right on top that Tokito truly felt fear. He breathes in to exhale another fire breath but seeing what he was about to do the spider swiftly pushed its bladed hair appendage under Tokitos jaw.
Is this it?! Is this how I die?!
Staring into the spiders many eyes Tokito thought it was the end as the spider fangs suspended over his jugular, but something black whizzed by hitting the side of the spiders head.
“Maaaaasteeeeerrrr!” Ele ele cries flying by as it used [dark volt] trying to shove the spider away. The spider’s lapse of attention was enough time for Tokito to release his [Fire Breath] at close range killing the spider once and for all.
Burning it backed away, “GHAaaaaauuuuu!” the spider screamed its death cry then poof. Where the spider once stood now in its place a bottle of liquid, a silk ball, and blade shards sits.
What the freaking h*ll is going on with this poofing b*llsh*t?! You know what I just can’t get a break can I?!
Tokito still on the needle like grass gradually untangles himself from the heavy webbing with ele’eles help.
<Tokito POV>
Ding! [You leveled up!]
Ding! [Scavenger leveled ^2, Tamer leveled ^2, Artisan level up]
Ding! [You are now qualified to upgrade Tamer to a new job!]
Ding! [When killing enemies equipping daggers will gain more stats!]
Ding! [Fire breath level up ^2, Ice breath level up]
Status: Hp 121/170, Atk +128, Def + 94, Agl 112/137, Mag 202/340, Lck +387]
“Gah, f*cking d*mmit! That freaking smarts!” I grouch in pain as I get to my feet, shake off any remaining grass, and retrieve two low grade potions from my chaos space.
In between drinking the potions, unsticking my mere, and picking up the fallen materials I asked Ele’ele what it has seen and gone through thus far.
Hearing my question ele’ele begins its long rant, “Its been really weird master. One minute I’m sleeping near you warming by the fire then when I open my eyes I found myself in a tree with other crupingeas! However, they didn’t like me at all and even tried to hurt me! They were so mean when I didn’t even do anything to them, so I flew away as fast as I could. Once I got far away from their nest they left me alone, so I tried scoping out the place, but I couldn’t see as the fog got really thick for some reason. Anyway with no way to see and my senses being blocked by all the miasmic chaos I couldn’t use our link to find you, so I had to ask for help-” Ele’ele stopped as someone else interrupted.
Clap, clap, clap, “Hello my tall crossbreed. Did you miss me?” said a horrid voice I never wanted to hear again speaking behind me.
Kneeling over the items, not turning around I gave ele’ele the (you didn’t look), but seeing it glancing away guiltily confirmed my horrible theory was correct.
Subtly I clench my fist, stand up from my squatting, and with lightning speed swung around lowering my fist to hit the jerks face.
Payback *sshole.
However, not only did this jerk block my punch but he embraces my hand intertwining our fingers together holding me tightly.
“Oh, is that anyway to show gratitude to your savoir? The least you could do is greeting me kindly since I came all the way here,” Amahte says as he wraps his arm around my waist pulling me closer to him. Bodies fully pressed together now forced by his strength I stared angrily down at the *assholes almost nonexistent face knowing better that to spit at his sun bleached mango textured head would get me nowhere.
Oh, I’m going to enjoy bashing this guy in the face when I get a chance too. Hey! Watch where you put those hands you haʻaheo ma luna o ka moekolohe!
Shivers ran down my spine as pure hate and disgust took over my entire being. “Get off!” I said venom clearly evident in my voice. I raise my other hand to slap him but he lets me go and backs off.
“Come young crossbreed, there is no need to be so heated. Where does this hostility stem from? Hmm?” Amahte questions amused at my anger. “Well it doesn’t matter how you feel about me. I would be more concerned about your other tamed. This dungeon isn’t a place where your tamed can stay for long without grievous…... affects” He says no longer looking amused.
Hearing him out I lowered my raised hand wondering how he even came to be here.
Wait a minute! Did this *sshole do this?! Wait, No. He wants me to wish up kids, so it wouldn’t make any sense to kill me by dungeon. Then how did my cavern shelter turn into a scary haunted movie scene?!
Mulling over how this could have started I wondered how the douche bag even found ele’ele and me.
Ok, Ask questions first…. then punch him later!
Glaring at Amahte I asked, “How did you find me?”
Amahte clasping his hands behind his back asked back, “What are you willing to do to find out?” leaning towards me his eyes smiling all the while.
…..Nope! Not talking to you anymore!
Aloha mai ʻoe e kaʻu keiki = Greetings my son
He aha ka hewa = what’s wrong
haʻaheo ma luna o ka moekolohe = arragont over sexed b*stard
