Fate’s eyes slanted as he glared at Jacob, sporting a false grin, but ecstatic at finally being able to kill something. He had been brought into this world against his will, tortured and scorned by those who birthed him, and thrown away like a piece of trash.

His life had been occupied by an aimless training regiment that he fulfilled with no other intention than to survive. Every time he had faced someone stronger than him, he had cowered. The only defeat he had was against his psychotic little brother, and even that ended up with him in chains and then running away…

He had nothing to vent his anger on, no way to overcome the monsters that towered above him in the hierarchy of the vicious manor. But now…

-Now, I have a chance! It’s not having marks carved into my back by my murderous mother, it’s not having your little brother poison you and be immune to consequences when he’s lost, and best of all...It’s not f***ing Jacob!!!~

He thought back to Liza’s commentary on the yellow potion…

…

A while before Liza had introduced Fate to the contents of the emerald potion, she had hit him with a stunning revelation regarding the 

Liza: “My lord, given the contents of this container, it seems highly unlikely that what you will be fighting will be of the human variety...and even if it was, it definitely wouldn’t be of Lord Jacob’s status.”

Fate’s expression froze as he shakily turned his head towards a nearby corridor…

-I wonder... how fast would I have to be in order to run out of here and find the exit before...Jacob gives me my first introduction to being mauled by magical, rabid beasts…?

Liza: “No, my lord, your opponent is not something nightmarish, however, it can be your end if you underestimate it…”

Fate slowly turned his gaze back to Liza, watching as she turned the vial over in her hands while studying it with a keen interest before looking at him with the confident smile she had shown when she had first pulled out the yellow and purple potion.

Liza: “This is a paralyzing potion, specifically, it is one that is used by hunters on beasts.”

Fate nervously stared at the glass container that was filled with lemon, yellow potion. If this was for a beast, and since this was provided by Jacob, wouldn’t whatever he’d have to face would still be deadly, right? With this fear, in addition to several others, on his mind, he couldn’t see how Liza could possibly seem confident.

Liza: “With the quality of this potion, the beast can’t be of a very high grade, much less be comparable to a monster.”

Fate now found himself cocking an eyebrow at Liza, though his eyes remained nervous. In some fantasy worlds there were a plethora of monsters of all shapes and sizes, and most humans who survived would cultivate the monsters that they could and grow strong enough to compete with the monsters who were higher up on the food chain.

-She must be talking about something...like a beast-type monster...After all, it isn’t like regular animals could survive when there are things like orcs, right?

Fate: “But...I thought that every creature in this world...would be considered a monster…?”

This time, it was her turn to look questioningly at him…

Liza: “My lord...have you truly no idea of the…”

Her eyes suddenly widened, as a look of guilt replaced her questioning gaze, as she clasped both hands together…

Liza: “I’m sorry...my lord. This servant has spoken out of turn, please, forgive me.”

Fate shakily nodded his head, though he didn’t truly find it offensive that she had forgotten his circumstances for a moment, at least, given the situation. Liza cleared her throat before continuing to speak…

Liza: “This servant shall give you a summary, and, though I would like to discuss the topic my lord at length, we simply don’t have the time. Beasts are simply animals, creatures like sheep, cows, boars, and bears, and aren’t as naturally inclined to growth as monsters are. Thus, low-level humans prefer to raise and consume these creatures, as they pose a significantly lower danger than a monster would.”

-Ok...so beasts are just regular animals, after all…? Also, that was the short version?!

Liza: “Whereas monsters are creatures whose beings are closely intertwined with mana and the system by which this world is balanced. These monsters are thus able to grow stronger exponentially faster by killing others of their kind...along with humans.”

-Yep...definitely a fantasy world…

Liza seemed to snap out of a trance at this point, showing Fate the yellow potion, once again, with her confident smile.

Liza: “Regardless, the important thing for you to know, is that your opponent will not be undefeatable, and though given your constitution you may struggle, if you use this correctly, you can win!~”

…

At the time, Fate still worried that maybe she didn’t understand the true strengths of beasts and monsters, about the differences between them. After all, Jacob didn’t seem to be keen on restraining himself in his previous interactions with Fate. But after drinking the emerald potion...

-Even when I apparently tried to blow him up...I didn’t die, he didn’t kill me! Even if I don’t know why, he still provided me a means to defend myself and…

Fate glared at Jacob, while shoving the potions back in his pocket, keeping his hand in his pocket as if he was relaxed, but making sure to have his fingers locked around the yellow potion for when the time came.

-It’s not a monster...I just have to keep alert and I can do this!

Jacob: “Young master, it seems that you have no objections? And you seem to have quite the confidence...however shallow it may be…”

Jacob’s chilling voice made Fate want to take a step back, but he forced himself to remain still and kept smiling, as he didn’t want to show his weakness…

-I’ve got the potions, but I still have to kill it...I just hope that my degraded stats don’t drag me to my second death…

Suddenly, he noticed that Jacob had disappeared from in front of him! He quickly found that he had appeared right next to Liza, and was now conversing with her, much to Fate’s annoyance…

He wasn’t able to hear anything that they said, but Fate was shocked by how casually she seemed to be interacting with Jacob. Soon, though, Fate lost sight of Jacob again, only to feel a tap on his shoulder, causing him to draw his dagger and attempt to slash at his backside!

However, the attack was promptly stopped, as the dagger was firmly gripped between a pair of tight fingers, which lifted the dagger out of Fate’s grip, and cast it into the thicket! Fate stumbled backwards, his false grin now gone, as his eyes locked with Jacob’s piercing, icy glare, which froze Fate’s whole body, rendering him unable to move...

Jacob: “Young master, I would greatly appreciate it...if you didn’t attempt to harm this humble servant…”

He extended his fingers outward, pointing towards the thicket…

Jacob: “Now, I do believe that you have a certain item to retrieve, so I would not dare to keep you here. Oh, and once you find the path, meet me in the clearing…”

-What...path? The hell is he…!

Jacob leaned down with his cold eyes, which now appeared as rapidly approaching daggers to Fate…

Jacob: “I would suggest that you make haste, for your assignment here tonight will begin soon...so it’s best that you not be late. Now, go…”

Fate suddenly felt the chill that was constraining him, release, as he quickly began to dash into the thicket, pushing through the various branches as he began to fade into the shadows…

However, once he had vanished from sight, Jacob’s sadistic grin returned and he soon disappeared, as he then followed Fate into the darkness of the trees, leaving behind a visibly worried Liza…

...

Sorry, it looks like I'm only getting one chapter done today. I suddenly got a case of writer's block, but didn't want to just to leave you guys hanging on the day that's all about leaving people hanging and bad pranks...So, I guess my April Fool's joke is that I only made on chapter. Again, sorry, dudes. 

[Chapters completed this week: 2/7]