Book Two – Chapter Three – Part One – Sewers and a Duel

Walking through the streets, the two friends passed by wagons filled with goods and supplies pulled by a few horses. Two armed guards flanked both sides, protecting it. Momo mentioned that maybe those materials were for the upcoming tournament and mentoring program, and Servi nodded in agreement.

“So, what now? I glanced at a clock, and it’s not too late. We could probably get a few hours in the sewers.”

“Oh man, I said we were gonna talk about that during lunch, right? Sorry, but I forgot. I’ll just blame it on the food. It was too good, and I got distracted.”

Servi smiled and nodded. “I’m to blame too since I forgot about it as well. Ah, the food was certainly delicious.”

“If you wanna go to the sewers for a bit, I don’t mind.”

“Then let’s go. Might as well work off the food we ate. Let’s go get our equipment,” Momo nodded, and the two traveled back to Warden, where they were met with a massive crowd forming in front of the door. It started at the stairs and went all the way down the street before turning to the left. After a quick estimate, Servi guessed over a hundred people were waiting in line.

Servi asked a nearby man, and he explained his reason. "I ain't gonna be the only one without a teacher, so I'm lining up beforehand. I reckon everyone else thought the same thing. If you want to wait, you'd best get to the back of the line."

“Wait, so all of these people are Rank 10s?! Isn’t that too many?” Momo muttered when they entered the lobby. The first thing she saw was the receptionists' faces, which were filled with dread. No doubt they would soon be swarmed by hundreds or even thousands of Warden members.

“I wonder how they’re going to assign mentees to the mentors? I imagine it wouldn’t be one-to-one. Maybe more like five or six to one,” Servi put her hand on the railing and began ascending the stairs with Momo. All the while, they were forced to one side to make room for those coming down. It was way more than usual for this time of day. No doubt the announcement had spurred the heart of many a Warden member.

Their thoughts probably went something like this: if they were willing to do this much for the Rank 10s, then I need to do what I can as well. It was a pretty sly tactic, but good luck trying to get anyone at Warden who’s in a leadership position to admit it. They realized they could turn this whole attack around and fuel the flames in the hearts of those who had lost track of what Warden is supposed to be about.

After brushing through overcrowded stairs to reach the third floor, Servi walked to her room while Momo braced herself to continue on.  Her goal was on the fourth floor. Thanks to Itarr's gifts and powers,  it was possible to put on an entirely new outfit in the time it took her to snap her fingers. The casual set of clothes she wore disappeared in a small red light, leaving her naked for just a moment that was too small to even be calculated. Her mind didn’t even have time to react to the air touching her bare body. In its place was an oh-so-familiar set of leather armor complete with a green cloak. She tapped her shield once and checked its sheath for her sword.

After doing one final check for pouches, she made her way back down the stairs. What should’ve taken her a few seconds at most took well over three minutes as she bashed elbow to elbow with those trying to ascend to the higher floors.

You know, if it was me, I would jump down over the railing. It’s not like it’ll kill you. Servi's beloved Goddess said.

“Oh, trust me, I was thinking about it. But then how could I explain that to Momo?”

Sorry.

“Come on, Itarr, there’s nothing to apologize about,” Servi said to herself as she finally found a seat. She told Momo she’d be waiting at the bottom of the stairs, like always. So after sitting her rump down on a bench, Servi glanced at the congregation of newcomers. During the past month since her arrival, she’d enjoyed watching the other members come and go. Speaking of which, people watching was the best way to pass the time while Servi waited for Momo to come down.

A thing that caught Servi's eyes was the variety of combinations when it came to a Singi's hair and tail. Multicolored Singi, like those with white hair and black tails, red hair with blue tails, and yellow hair with green tails, seemed to be the most common. Monocolored Singi, like Momo, was uncommon at best and rare at worst.

But speaking of uncommon, Kobolds were by far the rarest. Having a mismatch of skin, fur, and scales, not to mention the alligator-like faces and tails, they were intimidating to look at. This, unfortunately, meant that they faced the most hardships when compared to other Demi-Humans. Servi thought it was sad when Momo told her that. Judging people and giving them a hard time just because of how they looked genuinely pissed her off.

Ever since Servi's first two nightly strolls, crime and slavery beatings had decreased. It wasn’t entirely gone, but it had dropped to a low enough level that Servi was satisfied. There were rumors going around the noble district saying that the only reason the city was attacked was of the treatment of slaves and not the slavery markets themselves.

But that wasn’t the only reason she stopped doing her nightly walks. The amount of security at night increased tenfold. Once it went past 9:00 pm, there would be a guard on almost every street. And even though Servi could hold her own, she didn’t want to risk doing anything that might end up hurting her or Momo.

Look over there, behind the red Koena. Isn’t that Nimea? Itarr asked.

“It is. Ha! He’s getting chewed out.” Servi enjoyed the sight of Claire yelling at the shitty Earth Elf. He probably took on too many quests and didn’t complete them. Her mouth moved nearly a meter a second, and her red ponytail bounced from left to right when she shook her head in anger.  He stared at the ground in embarrassment while clenching his fists.

He deserves this. Is he on your list of targets to kill?

“He is. But he’s at the bottom, below Fisher. Honestly, it’s just those two right now. And Arty, I guess. But he’s just really annoying and hasn’t tried to actually hurt us.”

I see. Hey, Momo's coming down.

Servi glanced back at the stairs and stood up. Now that her partner was here, it was time to leave and go to the sewers, which could be found behind the Warden building.

And so they did just that. Coming up on the base inside, Servi and Momo hoped and prayed that Arty wouldn’t be here.

Their devout thoughts went unanswered because Arty was there.  He was always there. It was like he worked every day without rest.

The base itself wasn’t that detailed. A few stalls had some goods and weapons for sale in case someone needed some cheap gear. A few beds and medics were standing by in case anyone had gotten hurt. And two or three guards were on standby all the time. The chances of a monster coming up to the base were small, but they were big enough they required constant attention. The air was dark and musty, and the only light came from the torches attached to the walls.

Everyone who worked in the base belonged to Warden, and they were being paid to be here.

Arty was a fellow Rank 10 member who Servi and Momo first met a month ago. He was the one who told them about D-Levels – the recommended Rank to take on a monster—but that was just something he made up. A few weeks ago, Momo asked Claire if that was real, and she just laughed.

“Of course, it isn’t. Each monster is unique in its own way. Sometimes you’ll find a rat that could take on five or six Rank 9s, and other times there’ll be reports of a tsuaki, a lightning boar, that died to a Rank 10. Really, the only way to determine how dangerous a monster is is to use logic. A dragon would be a dangerous foe, so one would expect it to be a tough battle, no? A roach? Most people would expect them to die easily and be a good training partner for those starting out. Remember, the world isn’t fair, and sometimes things change. It’s very possible you’ll find a roach that not even a Rank 1 could kill, but the chances of that are minor. Smaller than me finding ten million dupla in my purse. Haha…..” explained Claire with a bit of a terrible joke at the end. Well, it wasn’t a joke as much as a revelation on Claire's current financial state. Servi and Momo nervously chuckled.

"The murders are back again,” Arty pathetically said. He had his spear gripped behind his head with both hands.  Servi and Momo sighed. Every time they came down here, he said something insulting. It wasn’t their fault the boy in the rusty armor died. He was the one who tried to assault Momo after he failed to kill that rat. Servi knocked him out and left him to fend for himself. She did rob him in the process, but that was beside the point.

At the end of the day, it was the boy's own lack of ability and strength that led him to his death.

“Shut up, man. I’m getting tired of hearing that. Need I remind you that you had a chance to run in after we left, and you didn’t. You had to call first and wait for backup. If you were that worried, you should’ve run in,” said Servi in response. Momo usually didn’t do anything when these two met.

Anger flashed across Arty’s face, and he spat on the ground, much to the annoyance of a guard who held a wet mop and a bucket of water.

“Stop spitting everywhere, and end the shitty rivalry already,” said the annoyed cleaner. “Every day, we gotta listen to you act big and tough. Get over it already. He knew that joining Warden meant he might die anyway.”

“No. Yerue was my friend, and his murderer is right in front of me. You’re so lucky we’re both Warden members,” he growled as he stared daggers at Servi.

“Look, if you wanna fight me, then I'll fight. But I’m not the one who’s gonna start it. There’s a tournament in a month for Rank 10 members. I assume you heard about that and the mentor program?” Servi asked as she leaned against a wall and crossed her arms.

“I have. Why?”

“I’m entering it. And so is Momo. Maybe you can put your dupla where your mouth is and enter it. Then we’ll see that your bark is way worse than the bite,” Servi shrugged her shoulders and smugly grinned.

Arty hated that.

“Fine! I’ll enter it and win! I’ll show you! Leeroy, we’re training tomorrow!” he pointed his weapon at the guy with the mop. The metal armor he wore nosily clanked.

“Fine. As long as you stop spitting in the damn base. I’m the one who’s gotta clean it up!”

Servi and Momo turned away and went for the door that entered the sewers proper. The little base was nothing more than a stop-gap. Once inside, Momo timidly spoke to Servi.

“Are you sure that was a good idea? I’m getting tired of him too, but…”

“It is. I’m sorry if what I did upset you, but I can’t stand being called a murder anymore.” Even if I am one… Servi knew what she did was grim, and her way of killing was far more gruesome than what her enemies did. But Servi was in too far deep. If she didn’t keep telling herself she was right, it felt like something horrible would happen. Itarr was right there with her, and she kept reassuring Servi she did the correct thing.  It was necessary to take lives to save lives.

Momo shook her head and put up her hands. “I’m not upset or anything. I wished I had the courage to do what you just did. When it comes to people like him, I freeze up.”

“It’s hard, but sometimes all you can do is try your best to ignore them. Arty's just looking for attention. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that anymore. Seriously, I’m sorry if this causes any trouble in the future,” Servi solemnly said.

“If there is trouble, we’ll handle it together, right?” Momo spoke to her trusted friend as the stinky, flowing sewer water rushed by them.  By now, she was used to the smell.

“Right!” Servi eagerly replied.

The way the sewers were laid out was quite simple. Two cement paths, both going down and running parallel to the walls, were separated by a filth-filled river full of waste and trash. At predetermined locations, there were bridges that one could use to cross to the other side. Grated vents were overhead, allowing light to filter down. Unfortunately, the clouds had chosen to come out and play, and little light trickled in. But that didn’t mean it was dark. Torches lined the walls. Unfortunately, while they provided some illumination, it wasn’t that much.

That was why most Rank 10s didn’t come down when it was raining or late at night. The darkness was perfect for such animals like giant rats and giant roaches. It wasn’t uncommon to hear about a young lad brimming with the overconfidence to prove himself being discovered dead the following morning.

As a whole, adventuring was risky by default, and it required a leveled head and a calm demeanor. Even a tiny goblin, thought to be the lowest of the low of those considered to be humanoid monsters, could kill a Rank 5 member if they were overconfident. In these times, it paid to not be in over one’s head and to always expect the worst but hope for the best. That was a partial reason why Servi’s ring was filled with such random items and corpses. One time, she had to hide under the bodies of monstrous bees and pretended to be injured. Ever since then, she took the opportunity to absorb almost every corpse she could.

After walking in a straight line for about fifteen minutes and refusing to take any turns to not get lost, Servi saw something out of the corner of her vision. Due to her absorbing so many souls, her eyesight gradually became better. If compared to when Servi first arrived in Canary over a month ago, it was like a misty veil had been lifted from her eyes.

Drawing her sword from her shield, she took up a stance and carefully walked forward. Her silver sword, slightly dented and scratched by attacks, was strategically held in her right hand, resting on the top of her shield. She didn’t know if the stance motions she followed even had a name, but that was what her skill told her to do. It was the perfect shield stance made up of all of the souls currently in her ring. The shield itself was held a bit out but also close to her body.  It was held in a grip that allowed her to quickly reposition it if she needed to. Like with her bow stance, Servi's shield stance was bound to change as she absorbed more souls.

After seeing her friend go into a defensive stance, Servi silently pulled her sword from its sheath and held up her other hand. Her mouth was moving, but she wasn’t saying anything.

This was known as pre-casting. To use a skill, one would have to chant an incantation, words of strength that allowed people to borrow the Gods’ powers. By preparing a base-level chant, all she had to do was fill in the element and the skill name.

When she told Servi about it, she figured the easiest way to describe it would be to explain it as a document with two blank lines. After filling in the element and skill name, the form-- skill-- would be ready to turn in-- used.

It was something Momo had discovered by herself a few days ago. Once she excitedly told Claire, the Elf told Momo she was surprised Momo found it out herself. While pre-casting wasn't groundbreaking, most members usually didn't figure it out for themselves until they were Rank 7 or 6. Regardless, she became a bit more confident in herself.

The plan that Servi and Momo had been following thus far was the following: Servi would take point and be the tank while Momo would support from a distance and attack when she could. Right now, she waited for Servi to start her attack. Once her friend used Decoy, a skill that forced monsters to notice and attack her, Momo would analyze the battle and determine how best to attack. If it looked dangerous, she would use Magic Missile to deal some damage. If it looked clear, she would use Lurk, a skill that distorted a monster’s five senses, then rush in to provide support.

The rushing water from the river to their left helped to mask their footsteps as they lightly walked towards the enemy in their sight. Momo squinted her eyes and vaguely made out a rat-like shape gnawing at something. Getting a bit closer, Servi activated Decoy and ran in while clanging the hilt of her sword against her shield.

The rat, doubly aggroed by noise and skill, turned its body to face the intruders who dared to interrupt dinner time. Its face and snout, glistening crimson with the blood of its prey, snarled and bared its teeth.

“A red rat? Haven’t seen one of those before,” Servi said as she used Decoy again. Momo didn’t know Servi could use skills without speaking, so Servi had to be creative when it came to fights. Whenever Servi did recite a chant, the ability connected to it failed to activate. She learned this a month or so ago when she first tried to use Protection. Nimea, the Earth Elf jackass, laughed like crazy. To overcome the hurdle and disguise her unique ability, Servi would chant the technique like normal but would use the skill by thinking it. It was the perfect cover for someone like her.

Servi wondered if her inability to use skills the way they were intended and Skill Items were connected.

As if being guided by some unknown force, the rat violently launched itself at a breakneck pace towards the lone girl with a shield. In Momo's eyes, the red beast was hauling ass. From Servi's viewpoint, the monster was moving slower than thick honey dripping from a sticky spoon. She didn’t even need to use Soul Essence of Primal Combat to fight her foe, but she used it anyways.

The familiar images appeared in her eyes and mind, and she followed them to a tee.

Let’s see… It's gonna ram into me, so I need to do this... Planting her feet in the right spot, Servi stomped and took a stance.

She held her shield tightly with her left arm and braced herself. The snarling face of the rat spewed, splattered, and scattered drops of crimson everywhere, and it threw its whole body into the shield.  Servi took it head-on and held her ground.

Having blocked it, she jabbed over the shield with her sword, briskly making contact with one of the rat’s eyes. Reeling from the attack, the rat stepped back before charging forward. Servi waited until the last minute to dodge to the right and permitted the rat soar to pass her. Once its locked eyes with Momo's obscured form, the rat shook its head and immediately stopped. The effects of Lurk were working, and the rat didn’t know if Momo was real or a phantom.

The rat shook its head and faced Servi, which meant it left its back open to attack. And, also due to Lurk, the beast couldn’t hear the footsteps of Servi’s closest friend. Letting loose the Magic Missile that she had finished chanting, Momo followed behind it and ran to the right. Her tail pointed straight behind her as she closed the distance. She was very close to the wall. The moment the colorless arrow struck red gold on the rat’s left flank, it turned left and swiped at the air with its claws.  Momo sped down to its right and jabbed her thin sword in its furry neck. She faced a bit of resistance but managed to stab it deep enough to where crimson covered three-quarters of the blade when she pulled it out. Then she retreated and ran towards Servi, who rushed forward. Standing in front of her friend, Servi had her shield at the ready to block another attack if it came.

Suffering from the eye slash, the neck wound, the excruciating pain from the Magic Missile, and the hazy effects of Lurk and Decoy, the rat’s mind was assaulted by a whole host of different and conflicting commands as its bloodshot eyes darted from wall to wall to floor to ceiling.

Should the rat run away and survive? No, Decoy prevented that. An odd feeling told it that the girl in front of it must die. What about charging in? No, that won’t work either. Its fear prevented it from doing that. What if the girl with the cat ears tried to stab its  throat again? It couldn't spare a thought because its life faded fast.

The paradoxical thoughts running through its mind were why Decoy was so convenient. It affected monsters’ thoughts and wit, clouding them with smoke and conflicting commands.

The beast was losing blood, and only half the recommended amount of air it breathed in made to its lungs. That one attack damaged its windpipe. Its sight became blurry, with light turning to darkness.

Its strength slowly disappeared as the beast slightly wavered. Yes, the rat's death was near, and its one regret was that it wouldn’t see its kin again. Emotions like love and hatred, mourning and acceptance, family and friends were all too common, even within monsters. And for the rat that collapsed, it had all of those feelings locked inside its heart.

It howled as the last embers of its life faded. The memories of its life passed by like someone dropping a stack of photos, and a moment later, it closed its bloodshot eyes for the last time.

A red soul floated up from its corpse and went straight towards the girl with the shield.