OBSYDIA - Black Out | NIJISANJI EN

POV Mari

The holidays have passed, and we held another meeting to decide on whether to make another push on the fifth floor while we still have the time. After much deliberation, the vote was slightly leaning towards launching another expedition. Not everyone is comfortable with that decision.

"Juliana: I don't like this idea, not one bit. Even if we can take on the mid tier monsters without much difficulty, I feel that you'll rush in deeper while riding on the victory high. This should have acted as our safety margin, but now we will be a single step away from a catastrophic shitstorm."

"Mari: I know that much as well. That's why we are only skimming the outskirts of the new areas without pushing towards the high danger zones. If we so much as glimpse anything too dangerous, we will run back to safety. You have to consider that half of us will be getting busy working on other projects after these few months. Anna's group will have to be away for a while, that also includes the other fresh graduates. Kate and myself are going to be moving between here and the new facility. The number of combat expeditions for the sisterhood will also skyrocket. This may be our last chance to make a profitable push and collect samples from this dungeon for the foreseeable future."

"Juliana: I can't wait for that time to come. Getting some stress-free assignments after a long time would be a nice change of pace. ...Remember that when shit hits the fan, my top priority is to drag your ass out of there alive. Be it willingly, or while screaming and kicking."

"Mari: It won't come to that."

I do my level best to not sound spiteful as my stomach bubbles in a mixture of feelings that are hard to describe. The fact of the matter is that we can never be 100% certain about what will happen down there and my reassurance sounds nothing more than hollow boasting of a useless supervisor. Just like the people that resulted in her dire situation all those years ago.

"We stay together, move in, kill a new monster, collect samples and come back."

After sending me another helpless look and a regret filled shake of the head, she leaves me alone to do my inventory check. Losing at least one piece of equipment each time we explore the swamp floor has made the inventory management all the more necessary.

'Now I feel even more uneasy about this expedition. It wouldn't have been that bad if we all could traverse that horrid mud infested environment with the same ease that Hana and Tai demonstrate.'

Unfortunately, the rest of us can only do our best and walk around the muddy pits that are indistinguishable under a layer of vegetation and pungent water from the more solid ground.

"This floor is inflicting on us mental damage rather than physical harm."

... .. .

"Valentine: I know that I sound paranoid, but are you SURE that there aren't any mushroom monsters around here? I see those things crawling practically everywhere."

"Mari: None of us has seen anything but the non-monster mushrooms."

"Juliana: Relax, the two of us have the best perception out of everyone here. If there is anything sneaking up on us, then we will be the first to notice."

"Valentine: I'll relax when I'm back in bed, sipping juice and eating chips. Until then I'm watching my steps and preparing to scream bloody murder as soon as I see a fungal abomination rising from the ground."

To my greatest shame, I have persuaded an additional safety element to join us under the promise of the best protection that we can offer. His specialty of being able to fight stronger opponents by quickly recognising and exploiting their weaknesses could prove critical in making sure that we get back home safe and sound.

As we move past the 1 km mark Kate takes the most forward position and is frequently scanning the area by abusing her skills. It is mana draining and headache inducing, but in exchange, we avoid a great deal of the explosive ambushes and preserve our fighting strength for the coming confrontation that we expect.

Moving past the three kilometre mark has finally yielded us some new discoveries. Some pleasant and some very disturbing.

"Yumi: I hate this fucking swamp! Even a damn puddle can attack us!"

"Anna: Good thing that nothing exploded and sprayed us with this puddle of ...acid?"

Half of us keep watch for the sporadic frog attacks and the other half huddle around a small puddle covered by a strange plant.

"Valentine: I think that it's some sort of an alien flytrap, but for much bigger game than insects. See those feelers reaching down? They seem to absorb the digested material while also holding it down. You can say that it's a natural hazard that will likely increase the further we go."

"Kate: We have a few more glass jars for collecting samples. Why don't we take a short break and see if it can eat through our containers?"

We take shelter on rotting logs and shake off most of the mud caked to our clothes. Yumi gets a new pair of boots and pants, as we all take a minute to examine the damage done to the old pair.

'It started to break down everything synthetic in mere seconds. Even the metal clamps seem to have had their surface slightly damaged or is that only the coating being removed?'

This mysterious plant has to be examined in greater detail, so we comb the surrounding area for similar acid puddles to harvest. Both fortunately and not, it appears that they are very rare around this part of the wetlands. Scouring a 200 m circle netted us only three more samples.

"Yumi: At least we can rest easy knowing that the water sent flying by an exploding gummy bear is not that likely to be melting our faces off."

"Tai: In other words, we will be replying heavily on Kate to predict where those things might show up."

"Kate: That would be problematic, as I'm already getting a migraine from prolonged skill use. It would be safer to start making a U turn and head back out instead of taking a two hour long rest here and pushing our luck more than we have to."

"Mari: I agree, we don't have to push any further. There are already sufficient samples gathered."

Following a 20 minutes break, we begin making the wide turn to map out more of the unexplored area. However, we quickly run into a problem of sorts.

"Valentine: YES!! Jackpot! A new fruit tree!"

I look closely at the 100 m wide patch of foul water surrounding a miniature island with a single tree. There are too much debris and vegetation floating to make out any possible footing or danger.

"Oh. Last time there were swarms of insectoid monsters around such a secluded tree. ...Snakes in the water?"

I don't perceive anything lurking underwater and neither does anyone else. Throwing available nearby debris into the water didn't stir anything up, but we've also sent a couple of arrows and bullets into it to try hitting any hidden monsters. Seeing that nothing reacts to our prodding we turn to Kate for her precognition skills.

"Kate: ...I honestly don't know. Either there is nothing, or it's too deeply hidden for me to notice. I AM absolutely certain that there is no boss monster anywhere near us, but anything other than that I'm not sure."

"Hana: I can cover that distance in six seconds going full speed. I doubt that anything would be fast enough to react, and I can maneuver a bit if necessary."

"Mari: Let me triple check that there are no obvious traps."

I aim my arrow at the hanging fruit, thinking that perhaps the tree or the fruit itself is a camouflaged monster. My arrow hits with perfect accuracy, separating the fruit and striking the tree. ... Nothing changes in our surroundings as the fruit falls to the ground and into the water.

"Hana: I'll try to keep a bigger gap between myself and the water's surface."

"Juliana: We'll be ready to shoot anything that pops out."

We focus on the immediate area under Hana as she runs over the water, ready to intercept any would-be ambushers. There were a few splashes as she propelled forward with all her might, but the expected attack didn't happen.

'Nothing at all? That is too strange to be true.'

Crack. Rumble!

"Anna: Tch! Ambush from behind! Eyes peeled 360°!"

We watch as some sort of tree-plant, armoured and armed humanoids emerge from the ground and trees. Almost at the same time as I fully lay eyes on one, arrows and bullets hit them all over, sending sparks and splinters flying.

"Hana: I don't see anything on this side!"

"Juliana: Well. I don't think that we are dealing any damage."

"Kate: They have both armour and regeneration. This will require our heavy hitters pummeling them into the ground."

The three monsters take our ranged attacks like it's nothing, either shrugging them off or regenerating the exposed parts that get damaged. For the time being, I stop wasting my arrows and spend a portion of my mana on the best buff skills that I can use to help everyone in battle.

I survey the surroundings while the rest make their own preparations to engage in melee combat. There appears to be no new threats showing up anywhere around us and Hana confirmed that there aren't any further away. The biggest unknown remains the horribly murky pool of stale water.

"Mari: Hana, stay put for the moment! It appears that the two of us don't have sufficient firepower to cover your retreat on our own!"

"Juliana: Even the AP rounds are merely leaving scratches on their armour. I should have brought the anti-material rifle too. Mari, stay put and keep an eye on the surroundings while I flank those things and tear them open like tin cans with my shotgun."

I keep watch for any hidden foes, ready to overcharge my arrow close to its breaking point just so that I could provide better support. Every few seconds I can't help it but throw a glance at the confrontation, drawn by the sounds of struggle.

The fighting is much more even than I could have expected.

The monsters don't seem to have blind spots and are more proficient in handling weapons than us. Worse still, they are acting like a well-oiled machine, seamlessly attacking us and defending each other. I catch glimpses of our side taking serious damage and withdrawing to apply healing potions. On the other side, they seem to easily regenerate any damage we inflict with ease.

"Anna: They will tire us out! We need to get rid of them one at a time!"

"Meiko: Leave it to me! I'll charge in and drag one of them away from the others!"

"Valentine: They are functioning like plants! Drawing mana to regenerate from the earth they stand on! Send it flying upwards and cut it up in midair! Burn it if you can!"

My choice to bring him along has proven to be correct, as their weaknesses has been easily noticed. Now we just need to work out how to safely separate them.

"Anna: Ready to launch your strongest attacks to pin them down! Kate, keep the sword one busy. Meiko, Yumi, Risa kick the hammer wielding one out of here on my mark!"

I provide additional suppressive fire, keeping the monsters on the defence while everyone renews group buffs and charges their strongest attack skills to weaken and separate the challenging opponents.

"Valentine: Tch. I knew that you got too used to overpowering your opponents with brute force. They clearly have better teamwork and weapons proficiency than your group."

'Indeed. They aren't that strong but much more combat proficient instead. Additionally, they operate like untiring war machines with uncanny precision.'

While under fire from two directions, they still manage to launch counter-attacks and keep on inflicting injuries on our team. We can't pin them down completely, and they continuously disrupt our attempts at mustering a combined all out attack.

"Anna: Fucking hell! We'll have to rush them while taking damage! On three, hit hard and hold your ground! .. .. .. CHARGE!"

I put my best into interfering with their movements, aiming at their hands to divert the attacks and legs to root them in place. A moment later, our battering ram hits hard and Meiko literary throws herself on the monster, sending them both tumbling to the side for her team to pounce on it.

The rest of us hold the other two monsters at bay, halting their attempts to regroup. Kate and Anna accumulate injuries every second, as they commit to not moving a step back until the other monster is slain.

"AACH!!" SPLASH!! "SHIT!" SPLASH, splash... .

There's a cry of pain from behind me and as I turn my head I see Valentine jumping into the water. It takes me half a second to recognise that Hana was the one screaming out in pain and that the water is violently churning. Splotches of red appear on the water promoting me to immediately sound the alarm and try to jump in myself.

"Juliana: Don't you fucking dare Mari! Tai! Switch out and fish them out! Kill faster!"

I had concentrated all of my attention on the battle in front of me, abandoning my duty to watch the surroundings. I have no idea about what had happened behind my back and what to do right now.

"Tai: I can't see shit out here! Get me the rope!"

Rummaging through the luggage, I find a clumping rope and throw one end to Tai once she surfaces. At this point the water has become mud, lowering visibility to total zero and making Tai search by relying solely on touch.

I curse myself for neither knowing if there are multiple monsters in the water nor the location where Hana went under. Tensing my body, I get ready to pull the rope as soon as I feel anything amiss.

Each jerk of the rope is sending false alarm signals into my brain that something went wrong and I should pull. Each splash of water draws my attention and flails my nerves as nothing changes again and again. No signs of anyone in the water are visible anywhere.

I start shaking from the stress. Memories of the worst day of my life dominate my thoughts, making me dizzy. This is the second longest minute in my life.

Sayuri - Mikazuki

POV Valentine

'Hell. I've seen better fighting techniques in movies. Most of them seem to only know how to gang up on weaker monsters and gloat about their superior power.'

I feel that the trip was worth it just by seeing these arrogant women being taken down by a notch. They will win in the end, that much became obvious when they bulldozed forward and cut off one of the monsters. The old-fashioned divide and conquer strategy will work this time around without a hitch.

Not wanting to be too vocal in my reproach about their shitty fight and unable to see any more weaknesses from this distance, I turn to the isolated observer behind me to give a subtle smirk. That particular idiot is in fact crossing the water gap without giving any fucking notice to anyone. With her eyes glued to the bloody battle on our side and radiating a desire to join the fray, it is apparent that she wants to show off.

Caution and common sense be damned.

Lo and behold, before I can curse out loud at her for doing stupid things, a tooth filled snout snaps around her foot and pulls her underwater.

I recall videos that I watched not long ago and come to a momentary conclusion that she is dead meat. The only escape from that predator will be in many bite sized chunks. Very dead chunks.

The second thought that crosses my mind is that I will stop watching anime in the evenings, because I am almost certain that I hadn't intended to move from my spot. I sure as hell didn't intend on jumping into the water to catch such an eldritch abomination of a fish.

'Perhaps it is their anime world influencing me? You usually have to at least like the female character to take a stupid risk for her. Haa... I really should move to another planet as soon as possible, otherwise I'll become corrupted by their world's influence.'

Closing my eyes before I hit the water, I partially disconnect from my body. My mechanical mind estimates that around 7% of my spirit form is active, just enough to hypercharge all of my essential skills and to give logical instructions based on the data collected.

I dive and scan the area with my skills like a sonar, looking for ingredients to harvest and process. Luckily there are very few pings, with one massive ingredient in close proximity with a smaller one plainly standing out from the rest. It isn't stationary either, and I have zero swimming skills to draw upon. The best I can do is to adjust my angle and intercept it.

'Huh. Feels like piloting a fragile robot with a short lifespan.'

I follow the instructions and kick at the appropriate moment and angle. A surge of pain almost washed over me, but that part of my brain got temporary turned off. With mechanical movements, I force my muscles to obey and bring down my knives on the target, or as close to it as I can manage with all the forces battering my body.

I question some of the instructions that I must follow, noticing that I'm supposed to damage my own body to save myself. Very fortunately, the accompanying pain from doing so is missing, and I simply do as I tell myself to without being bothered by internal factors.

'Well...shit. This will leave a mark if I get it instantly healed in the hot springs. This soul damage situation sure is a huge inconvenience.'

Flailing my limbs around has finally separated us from its hold and I put my everything into getting out fast. The damn half processed ingredient doesn't exactly make my job easy, but I lack the oxygen supply to finish butchering it right now. I will be gutting it for good, once I make sure that my body doesn't give up on me in the process. Then I'll turn it into a stew.

Making use of my sonar I either evade, or use its movements to push myself forward and finally breach the surface. On one hand I get my much needed oxygen, on the other I find my body less responsive once it's fully out of the water. An insistent alarm is also ringing, telling me that I should administer first aid on myself and the stupid meat bag in my grip before either of us expires.

There are scarce few seconds left until I'm back to my normal operating parameters, and the flood of sensations are bound to wreck havoc on that poor sap. Too much interference to activate the barely tested partial spirit mode once again. Making the most of my time and abilities, I deliver mana infused punches to her chest in an effort to clear her breathing apparatus of foreign contaminants.

It is surprising how applicable cooking skills can be if you convince yourself hard enough that everything is an ingredient.

`Blah! Hha!

"Valentine: Oh... don't you fucker shut down on me!"

Aaand the floodgates of pain and other unpleasant feelings physically smash me into the ground. I don't even want to look at how badly I've damaged my own body. My only concern is to reach into my special pocket with the best potion, that is hopefully intact, and heal up.

'FUCK! Stupid zippers! Open up!'

My hands took a few hits and aren't functioning all that good, plus the layers of shit clogging up the zippers make it easier to rip everything to shit instead of prying open the zippers. There is noise of a battle behind me, but dulling the pain takes precedence over any other consideration.

A dozen damn long seconds later I gulp down my specially designed potion. It tastes like shit, or to be more specific, it completely kills every taste bud and burns everything it touches to ash. Regardless of anything else, the toxic concoction has taken my mind off the old suffering and provided enough respite for me to do something about the idiot.

"Valentine: Hey, just try to black out, and everything will be ok. Here, this should help."

I put the cleanest piece of my shirt between her teeth and pour another special bottle over her injuries. After spasming and grunting for a few seconds she goes quiet. Alive and knocked out. The perfect state for someone that looks to have stepped on a fucking landmine in the middle of a densely packed minefield.

"Welcome to the losers club, population you and me."

Not minding any potential danger behind me, I douse her injuries with a normal potion and finally release a sigh of relief. Sitting back on my ass and looking at the winding down battle, I wonder to myself if I should just pack up and leave.

These people aren't true dungeon delves, but then again, I'm too weak to deal even with them. 'Perhaps investing time in that annoying magic crafter would be a better option than following these noobs into more danger. Yeah... magic items would noticeably make me stronger if I use them while in my glitched mode.'