Sorry for the delay again. I was dealing with IRL things. But here we are! 

 Right now, I’m sitting on a rock, washing my hands, and reflecting a little on life, you know? I mean, you would too, right? After doing something like that.

 “Sigh… I wanna crawl into a hole.”

 Fau?

 Kasumi looks at me curiously. I mean, wouldn’t anyone think like that too? Because, you need to be gentle, not forceful.

 “Let’s not think about it. It’s better for my mentality.”

 <Did you defeat it?>

 I hear Sentina’s voice in my mind, but can’t see her.

 “How’re you talking to me?”

 <By the little one.>

 Fau!

 <I mean, Kasumi. So? What happened?>

 “Nothing.” I’m not talking. “How exactly do I tame her?”

 <You already shaved a lot of her HP and MP. Much more than necessary, actually. Only 10 HP. Wow.>

 “So?”

 <Just put your hand on her head, giving a name and mana to her. With the amount of HP she has, it won’t be a problem. Usually it isn’t like this ok?>

 I do as she says, getting up, and reaching the She-Viper. When I look at her face, my left eye starts to twitch. Why? Because she has a happy expression, and is smiling. Do I kill it? I ponder a bit.

 <I recommend you to haste things a bit.>

 “Why? Does it have a problem?”

<Since you didn’t came back to the city in these three days…>

 “I stayed out for three days?!”

 <Uh, you did. Since the She-Viper only has 4 days of life. Literally.>

 She does have a point, since the Viper is too young. Come to think of it, I need to take the Necrotic sack. With scan activated, I check where the venom sack is located, and it won’t have any problem for me to take it off of the Viper.

 Luckily, it does have four Venom Sacks, and they’re all located at the Serpent-like head. Taking the broken blade, which does have at least a bit of edge, I cut the viper-like head where the sacks are located. If this was a serpent or cobra, it would be on the upper and lower jaws of it.

 <Will you bury that too?>

 “No. It’s for the requester.”

 All venom sacks were, surprisingly, intact.

 “Kasumi, store these please. I’ll need it for the quest.”

 <Do it faster. Your HP is falling!>

 And just as she said that…

 ◙ SKILL ROT RESISTANCE HAS LEVELED UP 3X! ◙

 “Wow! Lvl 4? So? Why haste things a bit?”

 <Oh! Right. Since you didn’t return to the city, they sent a message to the Emperor for help. And they will sent your companions.>

 “Hunh. Imagine their faces when they see that it doesn’t have any treats anymore. Hehehe!”

 <You’re making an evil face.>

 Of course I would! I mean, they’re a bunch of idiots who are being deceived by the Emperor, in thinking they’re heroes! Who wouldn’t?

 “Anyway. Let’s just tame this thing.”

 I put my hand on the She-Viper head, and focused. It’s a strange feeling. It’s like an electric discharge, to be honest. Like energy is coming off of my hand, and going through her body. So this is mana? Didn’t notice until now.

 “A name. A name. How about… Amara?”

 When I look at her, she reminds me of the amaryllis plant, so I just changed it a bit. Hm?

 <Looks like it worked. Try to make her smaller.>

 I do as Sentina says, and start to focus on the [Shapeshifting] skill. So can I use it too? That’s kinda strange.

 <You’re only able to use it, if she’s unconscious. Oh, and also, she’ll lose her status too.>

 “Why?”

 <Because of you level.>

 Well, she has a point. If I’m only level 5, and have a super strong monster, that wouldn’t make any sense. A strong monster that obeys a weakling? That sounds stupid.

 When I look at Amara, she’s now the size of a scarf. Really small, if compared to her original size.

 “Kasumi, in my shadow. Also, can you take her too?”

 Fau.

 She sounds dejected. Might be because she wanted to go to the city with me? Sorry.

 Reluctantly, she grabs Amara on her mouth and jumps at my shadow. I breathe a sigh of tiredness, and start to walk out of the forest. Sentina nowhere to be heard.

---

 Walking by the fields, some farmers wave at me. I wave it back, even spotting the farmer I helped before. As I approach the gates, I can already see them. The so-called ‘Heroes’.

 There’s only 8 of them. Looks like not everyone is a hero. I mean, false hero. Seeing them, I take a peek at their status. All of them are above mine. Not surprisingly, since I have the Status Condition. But to be more than 1K in less than what? A week?

 The ‘Heroes’ are Takahashi Hideo, Nakamura Yuji, Aoki Raiden, Suzuki Mari, Watanabe Naomi, Yamada Nara, Hayashi Tatsuo, and Hiroto Yuki.

 Their highest Level classes, though, are very interesting. Slasher, Monk, Swordsman, Samurai, Priestess, Archer, Necromancer, and Time Mage. Hiroto is the most surprising. All of them respectively.

 “Scythe, fists, longsword, katana like blade, healer, bow, a dead riser, and a time manipulator. Not bad.”

 Those are their weapons. I feel bad for Suzuki-san, since she really likes the Katana. Her blade is a saber too. I remember seeing some katanas in some shops, but they were really pricey. 25 Gold coins, and they’re casting.

 “A katana needs to be forged, never cast aside. They’re not durable enough.”

 Actually, they can be casted… But the ones in this world… Yeah, they’re not that good. Their weapons are good enough, and so are their equipment as well. All made off of monster leather. But if I compare them to the Odyssey Outfit… The Outfit is better. Like, really better. But they're depending more on the equipment than on their own abilities.

 As I walked, they noticed me. And just as I was passing them… A scythe was right at my neck.

 “Nah-ah. The heroes are passing, and you dare not to bow?”

 Of course Takahashi would try to be superior. It’s all written on his face. ‘I’m a hero. I’m your superior.’

 I only duck and pass through the scythe without batting an eye. Unfortunately for me, Takahashi wouldn’t give up so easily.

 “On your knees!”

 I look backwards a bit, seeing him sweeping his scythe right at my legs height. That’s dangerous. I jump, twisting around, and avoiding the scythe shaft part.

 Irritated, now he tries to slash at me chest height.

 I remember one of the many things one instructor said to me once. He said that when fighting a polearm weapon user, you advance, instead of retreating. It is dangerous, but it’s more effective.

 So, I advance towards Takahashi, grabbing the scythe shaft, and open my left hand wide, giving him a palm strike on his chest. He gets even more irritated, but the strike is only enough to make him fall.

 “Guh!”

 Nonetheless, he felt it. I release the scythe, and turn around.

 “Wait you bastard!”

 “Enough!”

 When Takahashi was about to keep up this stupid thing, someone intervened. Looking at the person, what I saw was a burly man, wearing a jet-black chestpiece, with also black clothes right below that. He easily surpassed 2 meters. With his gray hair, stern look, and the scar on his two eyes, made him quite imposing.

 “We are going to the forest to deal with a monster. Do you understand?”

 His stern look was… Really scary. Hm? Is this [Intimidation]? No. It’s… [Killing Intent]? Knowing that takes all the fear off of it. Hm?

 ◙ SKILL FEAR RESISTANCE IS NOW LVL 5! ◙

 Oh, it did Leveled Up when I saw the Tigrass when I was about to enter the pit. Wait, it’s 5 now? Wow. Watching that scene, of Takahashi trembling while being looked down, was laughable. But I was holding it in. I didn’t want to make this guy, who was one of the Nobles of the Empire, pissed.

 “You.” And, he called me. “Do you have any information on the monster you failed to slay?”

 He didn’t even deactivate his [Killing Intent].

 “Hmmm… It traveled to the deepest part of the forest. Looks like it wanted to deal with his little rival, the Tigrass.”

 “I see. Very well.”

 “Wait.” I called him, and boy, he’s really pissed. “Can you deliver something to the emperor for me? It’s just that I’m all pooped when I escaped the Tigrass.”

 “What is it?”

 Will he do it?! “This.” I gave him the pouch with coins. “I wanted to give it back, since he was so kind to me.”

 “Hmph! If you know that, next time, send Your Imperial Highness a present.”

 He took the pouch with money with a lot of force. Guess he doesn’t like to be an errand boy. Was I a bastard for asking him? Finishing that up, I walk inside the city, while feeling the daggers on my back from Takahashi.

---

 Reaching the Adventurer’s Guild, I completed the quest, and even sold the Taracs Spider carcass. What surprised me, though, was that the carcass was in a pretty good condition. I didn’t get a platinum coin from it, but 50 gold was more than enough from it.

 “Guess I need to go to that store again.”

 Growl~!

 “Nope. I’m eating first.”

 My stomach growled so loud, that it just made me walk to 12 different stalls. Meat skewers, soup, bread, fruits, and what you know, fried potatoes! They’re not perfect, but good enough.

 When I asked the owner of the stall, he just said that his family got the recipe from a hero. Heroes that came to this world, would you do a favor of stopping making these recipes appear? Why not use such an opportunity to make new recipes with things from this world?!

 It’s something that makes me angry. Why? Think about it. All Isekai stories, no matter what, have that trope of bringing food to this world, or the common rice problem. I mean, I miss rice, but it’s not like I would scream or cause a riot because of it.

 Go around the world, eat the food that the world has. Make a new recipe, don’t bring recipes from our world to this one! The world is big! Go face it!

 Reaching the Alchemist’s Lair, I enter it with a tired expression. Just eating, and walking made me quite sleepy. I instantly look at the Odyssey Outfit.

 “Not buying you yet. I’ll be practicing my skills, and making my new equipment.”

 With the 50 Gold I’ve received from the Taracs carcass and the 50 from the Venom Sacks, I would have enough to buy it, sure, but I need other weapons. Also, I don’t want to depend on the equipment. 

 “So, you’re back. I was getting worried, since you stayed out for more than two days.”

 The Little Fairy asked with a glint in her eyes.

 “Sure. Kasumi, you can come out now.”

 “Hm? Kasumi?”

 With my order, and the lady’s surprise, Kasumi came out, and with her, the Venom Sacks. The lady’s eyes almost came out of her sockets upon seeing Kasumi.

 “This… A…”

 She was looking like a fish, opening and closing her mouth over and over. Kasumi left the sacks on the counter, and jumped towards me, and was now back at the position from before. At my shoulder.

 “A Darkness Spirit-Fox. It’s been 100 years since I saw one. Ah!”

 She just spilled her age. Don’t laugh, Kenji. DO NOT LAUGH!

 “A-Anyway. These are in perfect condition. Do you have any materials from it? I can use them.”

 “Unfortunately not. I just want to rest now, can you finish it up?”

 “Of course. I’ll give you the Outfit.”

 “No. I’ll take it later.”

 “What?”

 She’s surprised again, but it’s true. The Outfit is very good, but if I buy it right now, I’ll depend too much on it. I want to have the Outfit, when I lose the Status Condition, since when I got there, I’m sure that I’ll be able to deal with my problems.

 “I’ll take it later. Otherwise I’ll be too dependent on it.”

 “Hm! That’s true. You’re not a crazy junkie at least.”

 “Ouch.”

 “Fufu. Anyway, I’ll give you the reward.”

 She goes to the back of the shop, and brings back a small pouch. I can hear the loud jiggling of coins.

 “Here. I put up a bonus okay? About 25 more coins.”

 “Right.” I count it, and sure, it does have 75 gold coins. “Thanks. And bye.”

 She waves to me, and I drop the pouch in my shadow. She gets surprised when the pouch sinks on the shadow. I just walk to the Inn from before, after! Buying some skewers for Kasumi, else she would eat my ear.

 Falling on the bed, while Kasumi was on the table of the room, eating the skewers happily.

 “Sigh… I’m beat. Speaking of-”

 (Aaaaah! Where am I!?)

 “Took you long enough.”

 I was about to talk about Amara, but she answered fast.

 (Master? Is that you? Where am I?)

 “Right now, you’re inside my shadow. Wait. How are you talking to me?”

 (Uhm… Don’t know.)

 <When you tame a monster, you can talk with it by telepathy.> Sentina spoke out of nowhere.

 “Would you please stop appearing out of nowhere?! It’s creepy.” 

 <I’m sorry. I was going back to the Bastion, since Ayduin wanted to interrogate me again.>

 “Bye bye.” I didn’t want to keep her here.

 <Bye.>

 “Anyway-”

 (If I was tamed by the master, that means I’ll feel that sensation again? Marvelous!)

 “I’m gonna tear you to pieces if you mention that again.”

 (Ah, okay.)

 She just got silenced easily. Better than hearing those kinds of words.

 “Anyway, come out already.” When I waved my hand, she came out. Right above me. She was still small, the size of a normal serpent. “Now, let’s see your status.”

- STATUS -

 “Explain the Titles, please?”

 (Oh! It’s because the master took my first time, and since I’m no longer at the forest, and  you, master, tamed me, I’m one of your possessions!)

 “… I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear anything.”

 FAU!

 (Gah!)

 Finishing her food, Kasumi jumped on me, and brushed Amara off. They’ll get along soon.

 (You! I'm master’s possession! Get off!)

 “Now, let’s see you, Kasumi.”

 While the two were bickering, I checked Kasumi’s status.

- STATUS -

 Am I even useful… here?”

 (You! AH! Master is having an existential crisis!)

 Fauuuu!

 I’m basically useless in this situation. Sure, I do have Technomagic, but even Amara, who has her status locked, is much stronger than me. I feel small.

 (Master! Hang on!)

 “Can I cry now? I think I’ll cry.”

 Fauuuuu!

 “I’ll go to sleep. Yeah. It’s better.”

 So I just took the two that were bickering off of my chest, and turned to the wall, falling asleep rather quickly.

---

 While Kenji was resting without much of a problem, his classmates that entered the forest, just finished the ‘Plant Monster’ that was sighted there.

 They just defeated a Rose Reaper. A monster with a humanoid body, scythe in place of its hands, and a red rose in it’s head. And since they defeated the monster, a parade was being made.

 On the dark alleys of the capital, a man, with his back curved over was watching. He was bald, with red eyes, Mako-like shark teeth, sharp claws, and talons. He was watching from the alleys, with his eyes focused on the heroes.

 “No one looks delicious.”

 His voice was hoarse, and he had a scrawny physique. He was using a black trench coat, with a red shirt below it. There wasn’t much for him to see, so he just turned around, and walked more inside the dark alleys.

 Upon the night arriving, a knight was patrolling the area of the parade. What exactly was he searching for?

 “Maaa~n. A full tankard in a warm tavern was the plan, but no~. Some of the townsfolk saw something strange lurking in the dark alleys of the capital earlier. What could it be? Of course it would be some kind of thug.”

 His path was exactly on the alleys close to where the parade happened earlier that day. But alas, the knight wasn't very happy with the situation.

 “Sigh… Wherever you are, can you come out already? I want to get drunk fast.”

 The knight looked around, but found nothing.

 “Uuurgh… What is this smell?”

 But then, he felt a foul smell. He looked around with a torch in his left hand, looking at something unbelievable.

 “Hhhhhungrrry!!!”

 “What the?”

 The knight was speechless to the scene right in front of him. A scrawny man, devouring a woman. He had opened her stomach, eating her flesh and everything that had on her.

 “Teresa?”

 The thing, heard that, and turned around. His red eyes glowing in the dark alleys. With the torch on his left hand, the knight grabbed the sword with his right. But when he turned back to looking at the thing, it disappeared.

 “What?”

 Dread and fear consumed the man, as he looked frantically around. He approached the woman, a ‘Courtesan’, that he got very close to. She had a terrorized expression before dying.

 “Tch! Show yourself! You coward!”

 The knight shouted, probably in an attempt of attracting attention for himself, and his knight companions to come and help him face whatever this thing was.

 “Wait.” That’s when he realized who he was trying to fight. “Red eyes. Sharp teeth. Scrawny appearance. No. The Vulture?”

 “I hate when they call me that.”

 The man looked up, finding the thing, The Vulture, right above him. Before he could even act to stab or use his torch to hit it, the thing grabbed him, pulling the knight up. He tore off his armor, which protected his neck and chest, and bit him on the neck, while his claws tore at his chest. In a matter of seconds, the knight was no longer moving.

 “Grrrr! Not good enough. Boss said that I could do whatever I wanted, if I could discover something of advantage for him. Not enough things.”

 He tossed the knight’s body onto the woman, and jumped higher, reaching the top of a tower. He looked around, searching for more prey. He found some children trying to get out of their homes.

 “Hehehe! Children taste the best. Urrrrrgghh! I wish I could eat them.”

 The Vulture wanted to attack its prey, but if he did so, he would be discovered soon enough. So letting his prey pass, he searched for his main objective.

 In a matter of seconds, he reached the foot of the bastion, where the knights dorm was. He was at the window, watching a woman signing some documents.

 “Did you have some fun, Ady?”

 “Hah! I wished I could have a good meal.”

 For the looks of it, the two knew each other.

 The woman was wearing a one piece dress, made in a way that instead of giving charm or alluring, it was easy to move in. She had a metal protection right above her hips, and a chest piece made out of a white metal. Her hair was white, not because of her age, apparently. And her eyes were also of a crimson red color.

 “Why now? The deal was scheduled for next week, when the blood moon arises.”

 “Urgh! Don’t ask me that! I just came because of orders.”

 “What are those orders?”

 “Do you have any test subjects? Specifically, from another world.”

 “I see.” She stopped signing, stretching her arms, and cracking her body. “I do have. Plenty, in fact.”

 “He wants at least two. Looks like he found something about the bodies in some book.”

 “Hmmm… I understand. I’ll be sending a couple. They will arrive at the LOM next week.”

 “Good. Now, here.”

 The Vulture then gave her a bundle of papers. She grabbed it, and started to skip through it. She nodded, and with an ‘I see’, she put the papers in the drawer, and took a small sphere from it.

 “There’s not much about the ones the emperor has chosen. But, there’s one, that upon arriving, had a strange Unique Skill, and a Status Condition.”

 “Unique skill? What exactly is it?”

 “According to the Emperor, it was… Technomagic.”

 “Good. Where is him?”

 “We do not know. But he’s an adventurer. You may find him going there. According to some knights that were patrolling, he also has a Darkness Fox-Spirit with him.”

 “Ohohoho~h. Interesting. I’ll be having a double meal.”

 “Do not let your guard down. According to some knights, even having a status condition, he was strong enough to support Colonel Gregory’s pressure. I’m actually impressed by that.”

 “The Sword of War? His pressure?”

 “Indeed.”

 The two looked surprised about that.

 Colonel Gregory Alden. His house was famous for their strong spirit, spartan style training, and specifically, their Bloodline Skills. The Sword of War. A Title granted to the strongest of the Alden family, and to those who have a strong presence on the battlefield.

 Gregory was known by his stern look, and strong Killing Intent. Of course, if compared to the Title the Tigrass had, Fear-Bringer, it wasn’t much. If they’d known that about Kenji, they would understand, but since they didn’t know…

 “Whatever! I won’t kill him, but I’ll take a piece of his body.”

 “Do as you please. But do it so, when he is not in the city. Do not make me repeat that.”

 “Alright. Since I need to watch some people, put some of them in their places, and deal with debts, I’m gonna deal with the boy soon.”

 “Yes.”

 As soon as the woman finished her speech, the Vulture disappeared.

 “Disgusting as ever.”

  She returned to her table, where she kept signing the remaining of the papers.

 The following days, some people mysteriously disappeared, some were found dead, businesses were destroyed, and businesses were permanently closed. With a drawing of the culprit, people started to take care of themselves, since they knew very well who this unknown agent was, and why it was destroying people’s lives.