A Gamer's Guide 196 (Patreon)
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With an unwilling but submitted Nazzo on top of my shoulder, I head down into the hull. I wouldâve been more wary of a possible ambush if I hadnât been able to smell exactly what was going on down there. Going by the scents of metal and weapons, I was dealing with seven guards, two civilians, one mage, and⊠a human. Yeah, a human.
And youâd think this would explain the whole familiar scent deal, but it actually doesnât. The familiar scent is up in the captainâs cabin, where I would have liked to go if I hadnât been given clear and obvious orders. Instead, Iâm heading down here to do away with a few loose ends.
The guards are waiting in an ambush, so before I head down, I set down Nazzo and tell him to wait in the staircase while I handle it.
His brows scrunch up. âWasnât I supposed to come along?â
Humming, I shrug my shoulders. âWell, yeah, but I think Iâd prefer to know that you were safe than have you in the way. Just scream if someone comes at you, okay?â
Hesitant but trusting, he nods. âUm, okay.â
âGreat. Iâll be right back!â
Coda probably sent him with me to act as a lookout and to ensure I left a few of them alive enough to be used as hostages, but with a human down here, I donât think I want him put in harmâs way. Humans can be very frightening fighters, after allâI, if anyone, should know. If Coda knew what I know about humans, Iâm sure heâd agree with my decision.
After only a bit of moving down, I emerge into the hull, which isnât quite as freezing as they usually are. No, unlike the artificially cooled hull of the Frisky Lady, this one is almost room temperature. It feels weird. Also unlike the hull Iâm used to, this one isnât used to store food and grain, but rather appears to be mainly taken up by a row of cells on each side, making for a total of six, though only one is occupied. Since the hull is rather small, itâs a bit crowded, with three guards protecting the wizard, two more at the front, and a pair of turnkeys huddling behind the wizard. A fun ensemble, all things considered.
Either way, as soon as I enter into it, a pair of halberds stab into my stomach and chest. To pay the guards back, I reach out and rip out their carotid arteries. Blood sprays, and Iâm once again covered in RED. Two down, five left. Not counting theâ
<Stop.>
âŠWizard. I turn to him.
<Stop broken.>
Ah, thatâs a pretty good facial expression. His robes are pretty nice, though, so Iâd like to loot them afterwards. Once I bear the floor, theyâre sure to sell forâ
I shake my head.
âŠOnce I bring them back to Taintshore, Iâll be sure to get at least a few dozen yills for it, which I can then trade for various goods and services. Yeah, thatâs it.
Anyhow, my strategy is simple and the same one Iâve used for over two years now.
I go for the wizard.
Dropping on all fours, I dash across the floor, scurrying between legs and hastily stabbing halberds before emerging at the wizard. He tries to shoot some kind of spell at me, but Iâm not really interested in sticking around here for too long. If the strongest fighter on this ship happens to be protecting the captain, Iâll need to finish up here quickly so I can in order to assist Coda.
So, I leap up and grab the wizardâs throat, smashing him onto the deck as soon as I have him. He gasps and his eyes go wide and beady, so I knock his skull against the hardwood a few more times. The wood is of very good quality, so with only a bit of effort, his brains soon go splat all across the floor. I was able to avoid getting most of his clothes bloody, so they should still sell fine.
âAâAAAAAAHHH!â one of the guards screams, willingly throwing himself at me, halberd raised and eyes wide. It was almost too easy to reach out and let him impale himself onto my raised arm. That leaves me with only a few guards left.
Since Iâve taken a bit of damage, I do away with one of them by biting clean through their neck, my improved tooth skill easily shearing through skin, sinew and bone like itâs nothing. Crunch crunch crunch, swallow, and the wounds I took heal for the most part. For the sake of on-the-go snacking, I bite off one of the arms, carrying it in one hand as I dispatch the final three soldiers, taking a bite of the arm whenever I let them get a hit in. In the end, itâs just me and the turnkeys. Hrm. Should I let them live? Is it worth the effort? I kind of just want to do away with them to spare myself a mild headache, but then Coda might scold me againâŠ
Turning towards the stairs I came down, I shout, âHey, Nazzo! Coastâs clear!â
While Nazzo warily descends the stairs, I tie up the two turnkeys with a spool of intestine I found in one of the guards, only pausing to swipe one of their key bundles. Once Nazzo arrives in the doorway, I lead them to him where he stands frozen stiff. I hand the end of the goblin-gut rope to him. âHere,â I say, nudging the mostly emptied small intestine to him. âHold this while I finish up some business.â
Eyes still wide, he takes the rope, probably mainly by instinct, jerking back a little as the rope makes a squishing sound in his gloved fist. He should be able to handle them, though, so I turn back towards the cells.
Letâs see, sniff sniff sniff⊠Ah, here we go. I stop outside the furthermost cell.
In there, I find a middle-aged black man looking up at me, hands and feet chained together, clad in clothes so tattered you can easily see his thin, bony frame. Did they never feed this guy? Or maybe they donât know what humans eat?
Before I have time to figure out the answers to these pressing questions, he suddenly stands up, legs shaking like overcooked spaghetti as he takes one, two steps towards me. His face is awash with relief. âOh, oh, my God, I canât believe that Iâd be rescued by another real personâŠâ Heavy tears streak down his scarred and sunken-in face. âTell me, did Sail send you? Please, we have to get out of here beforeââ
And now heâs close enough to see my face. Sure, Iâm drenched in blood, but itâs still clear that he recognizes my features, not that I have any idea who he is.
âNo fucking way,â he breathes. He stumbles a step back. âHowâhow are you alive? Youâyou murderer! How are you alive?! You should be dead! Why the hell are youââ
âWhy are you in there?â I ask.
His face twists in confusion. âWhat are youâŠ?â A tiny shake of the head. âYou donât even know who I am? Why are youâŠ?â With my silence as an incentive, he straightens his back. âIâm Grief. Lieutenant of the Africa Server. As for why Iâm hereâŠâ His face twists into a snarl. âI can only imagine how much you relate to my position. Except, unlike me, you werenât falsely accused. Not to mention that your crime was actually killing a king, rather than attempting to.â
âYou tried to kill a king?â
âNo!â he says. âI didnât! But oh, no, of course, they wouldnât believe the human. Never mind that I didnât even know that little greenskin was supposed to be the king of Acheron. I just happened to be nearby, and that was proof enough to arrest me, stick me on a high-speed ship across the tar sea to be put on trial at the royal court, and treat me like dirt. What a fucking joke. And the server leadership didnât even try to protect meâme! A lieutenant! What a sickââ
âWhat level are you?â
â...Pardon?â
âWhat level are you?â
His lips shape themselves into a frown of confusion more so than suspicion. âIâm level ninety-seven. How so?â
Ah, thatâs good. Iâm level one hundred and two.
I unlock the cell, step inside, and place my hand against his bare arm.
<[Touch of Reversed Concussion Resistance (Lv.8)]>
<[Touch of Reversed Organ Failure Resistance (Lv.8)]>
<[Touch of Reversed Stroke Resistance (Lv.8)]>
<[Touch of Reversed Internal Damage Resistance (Lv.8)]>
<[Touch of Reversed Bleeding Resistance (Lv.8)]>
<You have learned:
Touch of Reversed Resistance Lv.9>
Ooh, nice! That oneâs been a long time coming.
âWhâwhat the hell did youâ?!â I look up from my status message to watch him falter, stumble and collapse back onto the bench he was sitting on. Heâs still alive after that? Impressive. So this is the strength of a level ninety challenger?
Blood trickles down his ears, and his eyes, and then his nose and mouth. He touches a hand to the trail of blood running down his nose, then pulls it back to gawk open-mouthed at his bloodied fingers. âWhat? WhatâŠ?â His face twitches in weird, inhuman ways, like a corpse being shocked with electrical pulses. Twitch, twitch. The left side of his face falls and his eyes widen, bigger and bigger. âWhat did youââ
He tries to stand up, fists balled to attack me, but instead, he falls face-first, collapsing to the floor in a mess of immobile limbs. âI donât⊠What happened? What did you do to me? What is happening?â Squatting down, I watch him from up close as he tries to push himself to his feet with trembling arms, a trail of bloody saliva connecting his lower lip to the dirty floor. His legs shake and shiver and his breathing suddenly hitches. âI canât⊠why canât I feel myâŠâ And then he falls again, a raggedy puppet dropped. Limp like a corpse, but still alive. âI canât⊠Why⊠WhereâŠ?â
Itâs almost starting to be a bit pathetic, so after a bit more of watching him writhe on the floor in painless horror, I stab my hand through his chest, only hearing him mutter a final little, âMommyâŠâ before heâs properly gone.
<Human Lv.93 Defeated.>
<The Administrators do not endorse
the killing of fellow challengers.>
<Repeated killing of fellow challengers
will result in penalization.>
Oh? Interesting. AnyhowâŠ
I look down at the body below me. Itâd be kind of a shame to leave him like thisâŠ
Just for the sake of it, I slice off one of his arms. It tastes the same as goblin, which doesnât surprise me. The lack of nutrition did, unfortunately, leave the flesh rather lean, which isnât very tasty.
Out in the hull, I find Nazzo, anxiously tapping his foot while still holding the rope to the turnkeys. His eyes light up at seeing me. âOh, Kitty! Will you take these agaiââ
Striding past him, I head up the stairs. âCome on Nazzo,â I say to him. âWe donât want the others to wait for us too long, right?â