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Chapter 117: The System Summits
🕑 Added 2023-03-23 16:23:24 +0000 UTCAuthor's Note: Apologies for no chapter yesterday, I was overly tired and busy with some things. I will try to get another chapter out today! Hope everyone is doing well and is looking forward to the weekend! Cheers.
“Then. Where did you get this particular information?” Natto asked pointedly, licking her fingers of the scraps from her meal.
“Pardon?” Uta replied.
“Please, you do not wish to believe I am ignorant enough to not know you are a combat construct and are not privileged to this information? This is information only a Rank F Information or Administrative Construct would know. And I only have it available because the ape happened to gain a Forerunner Title in the last quest. So, again, I ask you where did you obtain this information from,” Natto reiterated.
Uta looked down nervously, her body language hesitant as she seemed to think over the question.
“Then,” Natto suddenly said, “If you wish not to give such information. We are done here.”
Uta raised her hand and voice in objection.
“Wait! I- We..”
“Yes?” Natto pressed, crossing her legs on the edge of the bed she was eating on.
Gritting her teeth Uta explained.
“My Master…. My Master had another friend within the tutorial when they were brought here. A woman named… Haru. She was a Priest at the beginning, and during her time progressing she eventually became invaluable to the group, as she was to my Master,” she explained, the clenching of her hands around her leather pants squeaking slightly, “On her rank up, she received an Information Construct. Through the construct we learned quite the amount of information to progress us through the quests avoiding pitfalls and allowing the core group to optimize their skills and stats. But she was taken. A crazy man named Kohoo.”
Natto, flinched from the mention of the name, her memories of the events at the outpost flashing in her mind. Her subconscious hate for the man that caused Drake such grief burning like a rekindled ember in the back of her mind.
But she stayed silent, allowing Uta to continue her explanation.
“The man was just a regular member of the initial group, and seemed relatively useful. But once Haru changed classes and became more and more important to the group, he swiftly changed. He suddenly became more attached to her, even obsessed. And one day while we were surrounded by Kobolds, he took her from the back lines. We desperately searched for her for days but we couldn’t find a trace of her or Kohoo,” Uta recalled, taking a moment for a breath, “Then after we had taking the outpost we currently reside in, the morning after we found a body at the gate. Battered, bruised, and mutilated. It was obvious who it was and what.. What they had done to her…”
Gasps came from Claire and Chelsea from the side of the tent. Claire struggling to keep her composure as she felt the violation of what Haru had most likely gone through.
“I see. So from her construct you obtained information about the World and System Summit. But of what else do you know?” Natto asked.
“Is that not enough?” Uta replied.
“It is not. For you are missing a large part of what leads up to those said summits. And if you do not understand the process the end result is pointless,” Natto said with a wave of her hand, “Is your Master prepared to fall in line in the truest sense?”
Uta frowned.
“What is your meaning…”
“I am telling you that if your master will not bend the knee, all of this is pointless in the first place. There can only be one King,” Natto said, her face turning to a scowl, “And it will be my Master.”
As if in tune with the outside, the tent lit up in brilliant white, the sound of thunder reverberating through the tent.
“What was that?! What’s going on out there!” Chelsea shrieked, turning to the entrance.
“We have to go see. Miss Natto we will be right back!” Claire called back over her shoulder, Natto nodding briefly as she kept her eyes on Uta.
Both the girls exited the tent leaving Uta and Natto in a staring match until Natto sighed.
“It would seem that we are at odds then. Whether your master decides to fall in line willingly or has to be forced it does not matter. He can not compete with Shot,” she mused.
“Th-that is not true!” Uta snapped, pulling her blade from her back, rushing forward and holding it to Natto’s neck.
Natto remained still, unperturbed, a sneer on her face as she looked back at the slightly quivering body of Uta.
“It is. And you should be glad, for he will take on everything our new home will have to bear in the coming years. Do you think your Master can compete with Primordials? Does he have what it takes to slog through the blood and dirt that is required to take the second planet? What of the system, the other universes, the tournament of ranks? Shot may be a fool, but he is a pragmatic and intelligent one when required. And most of all he is a tenacious asshole,” Natto smiled.
Uta clicked her tongue, cursing under her breath. A moment later vanishing into a wisp of inky shadow.
Left alone, Natto touched her neck gingerly.
“I do hope this does not scar….”
—----------------
“Shot! Shot! Damn it he’s out cold…” Bjorn chuckled.
Drake’s group quickly surrounded Bjorn and Drake. Their faces filled with concern.
“Here love, let me see him. Ahhh what a bloody mess, does he have to always go wildin’ about like this?” Jacqueline scoffed, placing her hands over his chest, a faint glow of white exuding from them.
“Well hot damn Miss, that sounds like some genuine concern there,” Hudson laughed, kneeling down next to Drake, “Pup’s got balls that’s a sure thing. Putting the Number one on his ass”
“I’m still standing bro,” Bjorn countered.
“Eh we all know you woulda lost, don’t be such an idjit,” Hudson fired back.
Bjorn scoffed, shaking his head.
“Are all the people around this guy like this?” he chuckled wryly, looking down at Drake.
“I happen to be quite normal, sir,” Amir piped up standing behind Hudson.
“I would like to say I am also part of the normal club,” Tom added, but the turning of the groups heads to give him confused looks forced him to cough, “Ok, relatively normal?”
A light chuckle sounded from the group but was quickly deafened by the shouts coming from the other group.
“What is the meaning of this?! What is he talking about Sir Bear?! Why would he want to kill you?” Shigure roared, his face frowning deeply as he inched his hand towards his sword.
“Whoa whoa whoa,” Bjorn said trying to pacify Shigure, “It’s not like that Shigure.”
“Then what is it! Explain!”
Bjorn scratched his beard thinking over how to respond.
“It’s a long story. And I can’t tell you the full story… You’ll just have to trust me bro. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Of course I need to be concerned! What he just displayed, he could have clearly killed you! What is going on, and why can you not explain it!” Shigure shouted back.
“Because I won’t!” Bjorn roared, suddenly snapping, “Enough badgering.”
Shigure recoiled from the shout, but he stood his ground.
“I need to understand if he is a threat to the people under our care,” he said evenly this time, his head cooled slightly from Bjorn’s shout, “If he is capable of fighting beyond even you, what is stopping him from turning on the rest of us at any time?”
“Mr. Shot would never do something like that!” Harley interjected.
“Yes, my Lord would never feeleth the need to slaughter the weak and defenseless. Quite the contrary, he wouldeth give them safe harbor instead,” Theodore added.
“How am I supposed to believe something like that from his followers!” Shigure asked, “I am responsible for the safety of everyone within these walls. How am I supposed to guarantee that while he is still breathing!”
The air chilled in that moment.
“Are you saying you want to kill him?” Bjorn asked.
“N-no… I just need a guarantee that he will not turn against us!” Shigure asked again desperately, “I do not wish to lose anyone else!”
“How about the fact that he hasn’t done it already?” Bjorn said evenly.
“That does not mean he will not do it later!” Shigure shouted back.
“Th-then… How about a contract?” Drake said, raising himself from the ground shakily, “Thank you Jacqueline, I didn’t know you cared like that,” he said smiling.
“Fuck you,” she spat, turning her head away.
Giving a quick laugh, then patting Bjorn’s shoulder, “It’s alright man, honestly I’d be more concerned if he didn’t get this uptight. It’s kind of his thing.”
“Contract?” Shigure asked, his posture relaxing slightly.
“Yeah sure, we can just make a mutual agreement for the remainder of the tutorial. No killing each other. If we do, mutual destruction. Sounds cool right? We’ll be like two superpowers pointing nukes at each other,” Drake grinned behind his mask.
“That joke is in bad taste bro,” Bjorn said, a slight grin replacing his previously scowling face.
Drake waved him off.
“Well Shigure? How about it?” Drake asked.
“How do I know this is not a trick of some kind?” Shigure countered.
“Wow, ever the to the books stickler huh. Because everyone in my group, well besides Bear here, have one with me already,” Drake answered casually as he rolled his arm, wincing slightly from the fatigue.
“What are the details of these said contracts?”
“Basically I can't hurt them, and they can hurt me, even kill me and I can’t do a damned thing about it,” Drake replied, moving his mask to the side of his head.
“Are you a fool? Why would you do such a thing!? It’s absurd!” Shigure shouted.
“That’s rude… and maybe, but only when it suits me, and it just happened to when I needed to force myself to trust those around me. Just like you I have some problems with trusting others. So what’s the word, yes or no?”
Shigure looked to the rest of Drake’s group, scanning their faces.
“Is this true?” Shigure asked.
Nods came from the other side, no one denying what Drake had said.
Shigure did not fully relax but gave a huff of air as he sighed.
“How would we go about doing this contract?” Shigure finally asked, conceding his suspicion enough to go further, the fact he was now against a fully awake Drake and a still able Bjorn not having any influence on him.
None at all.
“Great. Sherry!!!!” Drake shouted.
A somewhat short, side bobcut black haired girl with broken glasses stepped forward from their group.
“Is it lunchtime yet…?” she asked.
Drake sighed, shaking his head.
“You just had breakfast! Double portions!” Drake chuckled.
“Yeah but we skipped second breakfast…” she grumbled.
“Susmaryosep, I have the female Pippin,” Drake said exacerbated, “Fine more food when you do this ok?”
Sherry gave a very lazy double thumbs up only the very corners of her mouth curling upwards then going back to their even position, “Nice, sounds good dude.”
Drake walked forward, his head beginning to hurt for who knows what. But he quickly shook himself from it, directing his focus to Shigure.
“Then let's get started,” Drake said, extending his hand.
Not fully clear of his suspicion Shigure pensively extended his hand to meet Drake’s.
Drake wasted no time though, snatching Shigure’s hand in his, tightening his grip so the teen couldn’t run away.
Seeing them grip hands, Sherry began chanting.
“Infallible Mistress of Truth and Law. Be my witness in the writing of this tying of destiny. Form Creation. Of Truth and Law.”
The spell began with a bright light, ending with the dimming of the blinding light around Drake and Shigure.
Would you like to form a Contract with Shigure Kenzo?
- Details of this contract are as follows.
- You may not harm the contractor in bona fide in any form.
- You may not retaliate in any form to the contractor.
- The Parties of the Contract will receive lethal retribution for killing the other party.
- The Recipient will be required to maintain the contract for the full duration of the tutorial, under penalty of death.
“And there we go! That’s not so bad is it?” Drake said, giving a soft chuckle.
Comments
JOHNNYBOY 117
Still some lunatics left from Jokers group right.
Kohoo has been dead for a hot minute.
JOHNNYBOY 117
I really feel for shigure given what happened to his friend/girlfriend to be but damn if he's becoming really unlikable with his attitude towards Drake. He wants to kill drake for no reason other than his insecurities. And please I hope the next couple chapters have us see them deal with rather graphically the animals who did that to Haru. Cause that's what they're behaving like, they get a little power and all of a sudden reason and logic go away to make room for base instincts and only base instincts.
