I woke up in the morning, feeling refreshed and ready for a day of running around a massive city looking for something to do. Roka followed me around, smiling about last night.
“Thanks for that, master!” She smiled.
I simply nodded, smiling inside. I spotted a building not too far away. It looked intriguing, so I walked in. Inside, it was really dusty. It looked abandoned.
I walked up the stairs taking two at a time. There were a few rooms at the top. But what intrigued me was the room at the end. The doorway looked different from all the others. I walked in, Roka hot on my trail. There were cobwebs on the corners, but what was really interesting was a bookcase. It was pushed to the back, and had many classic books like How to Isekai.
I took How to Isekai off the shelf and opened it. Suddenly, the bookcase started moving. It shifted to the right, revealing a secret room.
“Master, what is in that room?”
“I don’t know, Roka. Now quiet down. We don't know what's down here."
“Yes, master.” She replied. We walked in to the room. This room wasn’t dusty at all. It had all the latest tech. In fact, it looked like someone had been in here just an hour or two ago. In fact, there was a half-drunk cup of tea on the desk, still steaming.
I walked over to the corner, where I saw a map. It led to the middle of nowhere, but it looked intriguing.
“Let’s go, Roka. We’ve got adventuring to do.”
“Yes, master.”
So off we went. We started heading north, and came upon a mountain. We went around, and I saw something in the distance. A cave, dark and tall. It was probably a dungeon.
“Master, I see something.”
I looked around to where she was pointing. She was pointing at the cave I just saw.
I placed my face in my palm and pulled Roka towards the cave.
We entered the cave. As we headed in, we heard noises from inside. For some reason, this cave was weirder than the rest. I headed further in, while Roka investigated the rocks.
I took another step, and the ledge I was on broke.
“AGH!!” I screamed, aghast, as I fell into the void. Roka followed me in, because she just be like that sometimes.
I dropped into damp water, Roka following. She landed on her legs.
I started looking around, and I saw something red. Then it disappeared. I realized they were eyes. I ducked back as a tentacle swung at me. Suddenly, a huge octopus-like creature emerged from the shadows. This was easy, though. All I had to do was murder this... thing. I took out Kuroiha and fused my death ki with it. With one pierce, I ended its life. Except I didn’t. Where I had split the skin, new skin started to form. The octopus was splitting in two. Two new octopi formed in front of my eyes. I pierced them both, and they split again. Now there were four.
“What do we do, Roka?”
“I don’t know, I don’t have anything to fight these octopusses."
I glanced over at her. "Octopai. It's Octopai. Not octopusses."
"Fight now, proper grammar later!" Roka returned to attacking the octopai. But my gaze wasn’t on her. It was on a big bottle about the size of a leg on the corner of the room. I dashed there and idiotically drank it without checking what it was. But for some reason, I knew it was going to help me out. When I drank all of it, I felt different. Stronger.
I put the potion back in my pocket and punched the octopus. It got blown into pieces again, but this time, it didn’t respawn. I did the same to the other octopi, and eventually we were alone.
Roka just stared. “What was that, master?” She questioned. I pretended as if i didn't hear her, and walked over to the corpses.
I went to try and use death ki, but then I noticed my hand was still grasping the book How to Isekai. I tried to drop it, but it appeared to be stuck to my hand. With a sigh, I stowed my sword away and reached down.
I used Death Ki on the octopus, and acquired the ability.
The octopus' ability seemed to be that they could duplicate and damaged or severed bodily matter.
New Skill Acquired: Hydra Body (Passive)
The user will instantaneously heal from any severe limb damage.
"Interesting, an ability that will allow me to heal from massive damage like the loss of a limb! This could prove to be extremely useful. Hey Roka, can you go look at that bookshelf for me?" I asked.
"..."
"Roka?" I questioned again. No response. I sighed and turned, expecting to see Roka standing there, but instead, she is on her knees, staring up at a dark form standing in front of her.
"Roka!!" I rushed over to her, quickly using my Cure skill to heal any minor injuries.
Error: No injuries to heal.
What?!? No injuries? There's no way that's possible, considering her current state. I looked down and into Roka's eyes. And all I saw was pure terror, the likes of which I'd personally never seen. I gritted my teeth and stood up, sword and How To Isekai in my hands.
"You fucking bastard. Look what you did to my subordinate. I'll make you pay for this, you fucker," I growled as I slowly walked towards the beast.
"Yao Qing lives," the shadow spoke, seemingly straight into my brain. "I couldn't allow anyone else to hear this information. Consider it a gift from his lordship Hades, sir Huang. And good luck. You'll need it," the creature continued.
The shadow disappeared, and I fell to my knees.
Yao Qing... alive? But... I saw her die... T-there's no way she can still be alive... Unless... She's somewhere in this tower, like me...
I collapsed to the floor and everything slowly turned dark.
