Book One – Chapter Two – Part One – Two Battles And A New Start

The big bee buzzed and clacked the sword-like antennae.  ‘Brothers, we did it. The foul Human who caused the destruction is dead. Let us return ho—’ the buzzing continued, but the two antennae on top were gone.

The bee made a fatal mistake, but it could not be blamed. Under normal circumstances, the prey would be dead. After all, nothing could live without their heart. It was impossible, and it was an ironclad rule of the world. Even the animals and bugs and monsters knew that. But those rules would not apply to the Human, who was currently impaled, and who should be dead.

But how could this girl move?! Her entrails were on the ground in a pool of blood! The shock and pain alone should have been enough to kill her, let alone the blood loss. So, how did she survive? It was simple: immortality. It need not matter if her head was destroyed or cut off. It would grow back instantly. The same thing would happen if it was an arm or a hand that was torn off. The instant it was sliced off, it would be back again.

It didn’t even matter if she burned in the pits of hell or if her body was cut up in thousands of thousands of pieces. She would be alive, and her body would be repaired. The smooth skin with nary a scar or cut would always be there. Even now, the three freshly made stab wounds had finished healing.  The intestines that dropped to the ground regenerated the moment they left their assigned spot in her body. It was as if time itself was rewinding. It would not allow Servi to die.

Defying all logic in the world, Servi, who felt her insides shift and jiggle to accommodate her new organs, grabbed hold of the antennae of the bee who was closest to her. It would, of course, be the biggest bee: the one who led the others. With great force, she ripped off the sword-like antennae, and blood oozed from the empty spots on its head.

It buzzed with much anger and pain, but it couldn’t get away. In its own fit of fury and rage when it spotted Servi, the bees had forgotten one simple thing. Their stinger could be used multiple times.

By a cruel twist of luck, the hunters were now the hunted, and they had nowhere to go.

“AAAHHHHHHH!!!” Servi cried out as she turned the antennae around and violently stabbed them down into the bee. They retaliated by swinging their antennae in return.

It was a violent, all-out, brutal war between the four. Blood and body parts sprayed all over and dyed the ground in even more crimson. In a haze of confusion and bloodlust, the violent slashes of their sword-like antennae did more damage to friend than foe.

“DIE DIE DIE DIE!” Servi shouted as she stabbed. After a few dozen downward slices, the big bee lost its life. Next, the second bee did. Finally, the same fate befell the third one.

And just like that, Servi managed to kill a living thing for the first time.

Good job, Servi. Itarr tried to say something, anything, and that was the best she came up with.

Servi collapsed to the ground, still with three giant sword-like stingers suck in her body.

“….I’m so tired…..” she quietly said as she closed her eyes.

That is impossible, but I chalk it up to being stressed out. After all, not even immortality can calm a mind. But enough about that, look at the bodies.

Servi opened her eyes and looked at the three corpses. They were shining red. A moment later, three tiny red balls floated up from their dead bodies.

That is a soul. Itarr said.

Three red lights appeared. They slowly floated towards Servi's glowing ring and disappeared inside of it.

Then it happened.

A shock of pain and electricity ran throughout her body. It wasn’t enough to hurt, but it was still enough for her to wince.

Congratulations, you’ve just used Absorption to take their souls. You have grown stronger and faster. Not to mention that you absorbed their Skill Energy as well. What you just felt was the sensation of your body changing to adjust to its newfound strength.

“I’m stronger now? And what is Skill Energy? I thought you lost your memories?” Servi asked with a bit more force and anger in her voice than she wanted. How did Itarr know all this? Servi thought that she had lost her memory.

I know what you are thinking, and no, I did not lie to you. After you absorbed those souls, a small part of my memory unlocked, and I could remember more about my abilities. I believe that the more you use my power, the more I remember. If I recall correctly, you use Skill Energy to use skills.

“If you get you’re getting your memories back by me absorbing souls, then do you want me to go around killing everything?”

Only if that is what you want. I will not reprimand you for any actions you choose. All of my power is now yours, and I am here to help you.

“….” Servi stopped talking and focused on another task. Mainly, the three sword-like stingers stuck in her body. She needed to get them off. She brought the sword-like antennae up to her eyes and looked at them. The organic weapons were starting to shatter and chip, probably due to the repeated slashing. The fat and blood covering the sharp bits didn't help either, dulling the blade.

“Here goes nothing!” she yelled out as she stabbed the foreign entities in her stomach. Her already dulled sword-antenna broke on the third swing, so she resorted to punching it. That didn’t work, so she picked up a nearby rock, but that also failed her.

She was almost out of options, but a single idea popped into her head.

Just as she was about to try something, Itarr spoke to her. It was only then that Servi realized that the weird fluctuations between a masculine and feminine tone that Itarr took while they were trapped disappeared. The words were being spoken with a voice that sounded younger than Servi, and the style of speaking Itarr used felt far more casual than when they were trapped in the prison seal.

Might I suggest you try to use the ring? If you can absorb the prison seal, you should be able to absorb the corpses.

“I was actually just thinking of that. Let me try it.”

Imagining that the bees' corpses were getting smaller, Servi soon found the weird feeling of something sticking out of her body gone, and when she touched her chest and stomach, any traces of being impaled were no longer there. The three human-sized bees disappeared, but Servi could still feel them close by. They were stored in her ring, and she discovered that she could use Absorption to store and remove items at will. It wasn’t just limited to the abstract prison cell-like seal.

If you want, I suggest that you take an antenna. I believe I felt a group of people coming this way.

“I would, but their antennae are likely damaged from the fight.”

Do it.  A broken sword can still take a life. Also, take out all three of those corpses. I have a plan to catch them by surprise if it turns out they have evil intentions.

Servi listened to the plan and smiled while following Itarr's instructions.

“Damn those monsters for slaughtering our brothers. How dare they! Men! Spread out and find those damn insects. And keep an eye out on the whore thief with one hand! She is to be sentenced to death for the crime of theft!” a man in silver armor that had a gold flower etched in it yelled out as he thrusted his sword to the sky. The four guards all around him all yelled together in a display of unison.

They were at the sight of a most gruesome battle. Skin, meat, fur, swords, guts, brains, eyes, and different organs, not to mention a literal ton of blood, blanketed around in a wide area. The smell was terrible, and all of the men present fought back the urge to vomit.

It must have been one hell of a battle, the guard with the silver armor thought. His name was Arnold, and he was a lieutenant in the city guard.  He wasn't born there, but he felt the need to protect it from both monsters and thieves alike.  Underneath his silver helmet was a head full of blond hair. His green eyes were something exotic that attracted promiscuous women, which led to Arnold's status as a bachelor. If the day ended with a 'y,' it was assured Arnold would have a different woman by his side when he woke up the next day.

I swear I will kill that bitch when I find her.

“Alright, listen up! Donny and Joqu, you’re with me. Ben and Lafe, you’re by yourselves. Spread out and search!”

“Yes, sir!” the four said at the same time. Donny and Joqu went with Arnold to follow the blood trail. The other two scattered and searched for the insects around the forest. All of the men were native to the area, and this place was even more familiar to them than their own house. There was no chance they would get lost.

Now, Arnold truly believed with all of his heart that this would be simple. Just follow the blood trail, help any men still alive, kill the bugs and the thief. Easy and simple. Especially for a member of Warden, like himself. While average, he was able to achieve Rank 7 in the organization. While that didn’t mean he was super strong, he also wasn’t weak. That was three ranks above Rank 10, which was the beginner Rank.

He only stopped because he wanted to focus on the city guard and not Warden.

Being blessed by a Minor God of Dark, Arnold had a small assortment of Dark Skills at his disposal. When he joined Warden, he had acquired enough Potential to add two more skills to his collection. Fire Wall was by far his most used ability. It could attack and defend at the same time while only requiring the user to reach Rank 9.

In a sense, Arnold was the strongest out of the group of five. He had skills for every occasion, armor enchanted with defensive enhancements, and a sword that was as sharp as ever. Donny and Joqu were no slouches, however. They never joined Warden, but they had both trained since they were young. Of the four that came with him, only Arnold was blessed. And only Donny and Arnold knew skills. Donny and Joqu wanted to join Warden, but due to family reasons, they couldn’t.

It didn't hurt to mention that Arnold felt good. Just earlier today, he was able to inflict terror on those dirty Demi-Humans. Arnold especially liked torturing the two Singi twins. He smiled to himself as he remembered the anguish-fueled cries that the girl screamed out. The way his sword against the back of the girl produced a wave of excitement. He needed more of it.

Thinking back more, Arnold remembered, with fond eyes, the 'fun' game he played with her.

The devil in the silver and gold armor especially loved the sound the girl made when he opened his hand and gripped that twitching ear. She begged and begged for him to let go, and he did like she asked. After she breathed a sigh of relief, Arnold violently grabbed the ear once again and began pulling, but he stopped when it was about to be sundered from its flesh. The two repeated this sadistic game over and over until the terrified and exhausted girl lost consciousness.

Spitting on her, Arnold drew his sword and pulled the ear once more. This time, stretching it out so that his blade slid smoothly and cut it off. He pocketed the ear.

All the while this was going on, the girl’s brother was chained against the wall nearby. His throat, run ragged by the constant yelling, only produced guttural sounds, and he struggled to breathe. All he could do was watch. Arnold casually walked over to the boy and removed his chains. The brother slumped to the ground, and Arnold left, locking the cell door as he went.

He kept the ear in the pocket of his trousers. Called it his good luck charm, he said.

After getting lost in his memories, the voice of his comrade brought Arnold back to reality.

“Sir, I hear something up ahead,” Donny said as he held up an armored hand. Both Arnold and Joqu strained their ears to the limit, and they eventually heard it. It was a woman calling out for help!

“Men, on the double!” without waiting for a response, Arnold ran towards the voice. Danny and Joqu followed close behind. Footsteps filled the air with noise, as the sound of leaves and branches being trampled provided the background racket. From the sound alone, one could easily guess that a group of people was racing throughout the forest. They might have grown up in this area, but subtly was not their strong point.

Soon, they reached the source of the sound. It was a girl covered in blood. Three corpses were stacked lazily on top of her, and red crimson continued to pour from wounds. Two arms and hands were struggling to push the bodies off.

“AHHHH!! HELP!!” the girl cried out. “…It hurts to breathe!!!"

From the injuries she sustained, how is this shitty criminal still alive? Wait, you fool, look.  She has two hands, so clearly, this isn’t our girl. I've never seen her before, though. She's probably new to the area.  Still, as a soldier of the City of Canary, I have to do my best to save her.

“Donny! Joqu!” All Arnold had to do was shout their names, and they knew what to do.

The two men instantly rushed to the girl and threw the corpses off as Arnold prepared a healing skill. Like Fire Wall, it also required the user to be Rank 9.

“…..help….m.e…” the woman meekly said. She struggled to gather the strength to speak.

Donny and Joqu finished moving the three corpses when Arnold ran up and kneeled down.

“Joqu, search around. That thief might be close by.” Joqu nodded and jogged away.

“...!” the injured woman’s eyes stared closely at the silver and gold armor Arnold was wearing.

Arnold put a hand to the woman’s hand and started chanting. Energy flowed from Arnold into the woman. This was the healing skill Remedium. It didn’t require direct contact, and one could certainly use it from afar, but the closer the distance between user and patient, the better it worked.

Soon, the woman’s erratic breathing was replaced by something calm and serene. It was as if the pain was never there.

“Hey! Stay with me. Donny, use Create Water to wash away the blood. Hey, can you hear me?”

“….Yes, I can hear you. Thank you for saving me,” the woman said. Her red eyes, as bright and fierce as fire, continued to stare at Arnold's armor. Under his helmet, his face was as red as a tomato. Her black hair was soiled with a few dashes of crimson, yet it did little to corrupt her beauty.

“Good. Can you tell me how this happened?”

“A woman with one hand attacked me as I was walking. It was like she had total control of these beasts, and she ordered them to attack me. But before they did, she killed them and pushed me to the ground. Then she stacked the corpses on me.”

“That bitch. What way did she go?” The woman with red eyes lifted her arm and pointed in a random direction. Just as she did, Donny came back over with some water and poured it over the woman's stomach. She flinched at the coldness as the water washed away the blood. But it still wasn’t enough. Blood practically covered her entire body.

“Ahh, can you help me get up?” the woman leaned up, shocking both Donny and Arnold as she held an arm out. Arnold just stared at it. Her skin, covered in the blood of those animals, stood motionless.

“Of course, but I suggest you lay back down. You mi—”

“I want to get up. I can’t stand this blood,” she interrupted him.

“My apologies,” he said as he took hold of her hand and pulled her up. Blood dripped down her chest and onto her stomach, dirtying it again.

Stilling holding her by the hand, Arnold spoke. “Once we get back to the city, you can wash away that blood. Donny, Joqu, we’re heading back!” Arnold let go of the woman’s hand and turned his back to her, looking for his friend, Joqu. It was time they went back to the city. They had lost some good men today in the fight against those bees, and it was far too dark to search for the thief. Neither Arnold nor Donny knew any skills to light up the area.

“Be right there, sir!” Joqu hollered back. Arnold turned back around, and he felt a prick in his throat. He slowly brought a hand to his throat and felt something sharp. It was a sword-like antenna. Blood poured from the wound and dripped down. The attack was silent, and Donny didn't even hear it.

Arnold then moved his eyes to the woman he had saved, who still had her arm stretched out. At first, it was empty, but her ring on her finger flashed red, and another sword-like antenna appeared in her grasp. Arnold was so frozen in shock that he could not move.  However, the girl wasn't immobilized. She was fueled by hatred and anger. With a flash, she stuck out her arm, stabbing her savior in the throat.

This time, however, she didn’t let go of the weapon. She instead pulled it out and stabbed it in again, over and over and over. Crimson swam down his neck, coating the front of his armor in a red mess. The strength in his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto his back.  The impact of falling alerted Donny, and he turned around.  The sight he saw was far too frightening, and he dropped his sword and collapsed to the ground.

“……a demon…..” that was the only thing he could say out loud while trembling with fear. A person covered in blood, holding a bloody weapon, who had a smile, was standing over a dead body. And she was looking directly at him.