Sitting against a faraway tree, we waited until night came, then approached the village walls.
It wasn’t that hard to bypass the walls, with them being barely at Hambara’s height.
On the other side, we dropped into a narrow alley between two houses before exiting into the main street.
With it being late into the night, the street had no pedestrians; we managed to reach the central plaza unnoticed and safely.
“Put this on, kid,” Hambara whispered to Somani from an alley close to the plaza. He put on the cloth mask, then climbed after Hambara onto a house’s rooftop.
We quietly jumped from roof to roof, heading towards the general direction of the head’s house.
Peeking from atop a roof, we saw the office with the guards still stationed at its entrance; it was two buildings away.
“Let’s go through this one last time, kid. This class stone is unmovable because of its connection to a ley line, so you’ll have to get up close and touch it for the System to grant you a class. When that happens, ignore the prompt. You’ll accept it once you've met the class requirements. Clear?”
Somani nodded.
“Now, here’s what’s going to happen. I’ll delay the legionnaires while you steal the basement’s keys from the head’s room. Once you touch the stone, out and no looking back. I’ll be meeting you back at Cervita’s southern gate. Understood?”
Somani’s heart started beating faster, but he still nodded.
Hambara nodded back before giving Somani a small smile while ruffling his hair.
"If you find yourself in trouble, run. We can get you another stone, so don't risk it.”
Hambara dropped to the ground by dangling from the rooftop; he then made his way towards the legionnaires.
Somani and I looked on with tense anticipation as Hambara reached the central fountain, then stood facing the legionnaires.
Upon drawing his sword, the legionnaires immediately drew theirs, and then…
Swish!
Hambara made a horizontal slash that I could barely follow, then a blue energy wave shot out.
The wave travelled the distance towards the legionnaires in the blink of an eye, and…
Boov!
We didn’t wait to see the aftermath; that was our cue to leave.
Somani jumped onto the next rooftop, then the next, until the head’s one was in front of us.
One final jump, and Somani hit the roof with a creak of wood that was overshadowed by the sounds of fighting going on down below. Now and then, a blue light shone—Hambara’s Mana slash.
Somani started walking toward the balcony. He quickly scaled the distance there, but then…
Boom!
The explosion shook the house, making Somani slip and slide along the roof’s slant.
He tried to hold onto anything, but only ended up tumbling before falling towards the house’s back alley and…
I took control of Somani’s flesh, his entire being, and shoved upward, slowing down his descent a bit.
Poof.
The landing wasn’t as painless as I had intended, but still, we ended up with no injuries, only a groan.
And it was then that I saw them: the butler and the head escaping from the back door.
They looked shocked to see us, but the butler was faster on his feet and quickly drew his sword.
Jack of Lots, Master of None, Lv. ??
Identify has reached Lv. 5
I didn’t have time to celebrate the level up. Taking control of Somani’s being through biomancy, I shoved him to the right just before a sword tip hit the ground where he had been huddled.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
‘Somani!’
There was no need for me to shove him again; the kid somersaulted before rising with a jump and then drawing his sword just in time to deflect a blow.
The butler was ruthless, never stopping his attacks, while Somani’s passable swordsmanship barely kept him alive; he took glancing blows that left cuts in his armour.
I wasn’t standing still, and managed through [Hive Mind] to do a first: create three simultaneous bone arrows.
Skill Granted, [Multicasting].
[Multicasting]: …
Again, I ignored the prompt and shot the arrow with a swivel as I had hidden them from the butler’s sight by creating them behind Somani.
The man’s eyes opened widely. He evaded an arrow and deflected the second with his sword, but the third hit the butler’s sword shoulder, making him drop it.
Somani didn’t waste this opportunity and slashed at the man’s chest. Although he evaded at the last second, he still got a shallow, but wide cut.
‘Thanks, Grandpa!’
‘You're welcome, kid.’
The man made a frontal kick, which Somani evaded by jumping back, but it was a feint, and the man quickly got his sword back.
Somani drew sharp breaths from the fast exchange as the man stepped a few paces back, standing next to the head.
“Biomancer,” The head spat while the butler now had a dark expression on his face.
‘Somani, converse. Buy me some time.’
“Ah… yes, and I’ll kill you if you don’t all—“
The butler lowered himself to the ground. Picking a fist-sized stone, he threw it towards Somani.
The man was a perfect shot, managing to hit Somani on the head, denting his helmet and felling him to the ground.
‘Grrrrandpaaa, staaars… beautifuuul,’ Somani slurred.
‘Get up, kid!’
The Blood Bomb I was creating almost imploded due to me losing 2BP and dropping to 1.5 BP; still, that was more than enough to finish it.
The butler impaled Somani through his heart, making the kid somewhat return to his senses.
As he aimed for his head next, I positioned the sneaky Blood Bomb behind the butler, and…
Somehow, the man noticed it. Swivelling on his heels, he alshed at it, cutting it in half.
Boov!
Still, the Blood Bomb exploded in his face, throwing his dead body against a wall.
“B-Bell,” the head stuttered before running back inside his home
Wasn’t his name Hann?
I didn’t have time to think more about this inconsistency. Taking control of Somani’s blood, I kept it running while his heart spewed blood in a last attempt at keeping his body alive.
This is going to be hard.
Usually, I mended a tissue by comparing it to its counterpart. So if a left arm was hurt, I observed the right arm and replicated its structure, but here… organs were way harder to mend and needed more attention and time, time that I didn’t have.
‘Grandpa, the stars… they feel so close.’
Somani raised his hand shakily, as if reaching for something.
‘Somani! I’m healing you, so stop moving!’
I tried to think of a way out of this problem, but then…
The butler moved.
His face was melted: skin sagging down, eyeball a slimy white substance, muscles torn, and bones showing and blackened.
I observed him as he somehow reached for his sword and started to slowly crawl towards me.
I now had two gullets atop my neck: The impaled heart and the slowly inching, half-dead butler.
Thankfully, Somani’s brain had regenerated, so I again had 4BP at my disposal.
I put the 1BP into keeping the blood running, 2BP into trying to salvage Somani’s heart, and 1BP into creating a bone arrow to end the butler’s misery, but… that wasn’t enough.
Somani’s heart was now barely beating, and the hastily made heart-mending tissue had lots of problems and inconsistencies.
I’m… I’m going to lose Somani.
This thought hurt; it hurt way too much, more than any other pain. It wasn’t the thought of losing a good host, maybe my last perfect unity host, no; it was something else.
Somani… I had grown to like the kid more than just a host. He was obedient, silent, and curious, just like me. Our goals aligned, and our wills were both strong, unbreakable. But alas…
No! I refuse!
It was then that I remembered a prompt, one that I had haughtily ignored.
Skill granted, [Heal]?
Would you like to acquire the skill [Heal]?
Yes!
The skill’s instincts were quickly imbued into my mind. I wasn’t granted the understanding on how the body worked, but now I knew that I could imitate it better and faster than before.
The tiny stretchy strings forming the heart; I reconnected them. The tiny vessels feeding the heart; I remade them. The membraneous tissue, the electric tissue, the… I recreated them all. I had to stop focusing on creating the bone arrow and managed to get another 1BP by pushing Somani’s brain. Now, we were in dangerous territory.
4BP into heart reconstruction, while the left one went to keep the blood flowing.
You have killed Bell (Jack of Lots, Master of None), Lv. 55.
Finally, after what felt like the same length as my life, I managed to mend the wound.
Somani coughed up blood; I expelled the spilt blood inside his innards through his mouth. I then gave him more blood.
‘How are you feeling, kid?’
‘I’m… I feel weak and thirsty… hungry, too.’
‘Excellent! Feeling anything means you’re alive. Now, go and get us a class!’
Somani reached for his sword before weakly raising himself off the ground.
He glanced at the butler and started retching. Thankfully, his stomach was empty.
‘Hurry up, kid!’
The explosions from Hambara’s fight were still going on, but now, they were fewer and further away—their fight was reaching its end.
It was dark inside the head’s house, so Somani had to rely on my input for directions. Slowly but surely, we reached a room on the second floor. The door wasn’t locked, and there was no one inside. The second room yielded the same result, but the third…
“Please! Leave me alone! I’ll give you anything,” the head shouted from behind a door. His room’s door was locked, and with Somani still being weak, I had to create a bone spear to force it open.
Boov!
Wood splinters flew everywhere. Inside, the head was huddled next to his bed; a shaking hand was holding a knife.
I took control of Somani and spoke.
“Tell us where the basements’ keys are or die.”
I gave him my ultimatum.
The old man didn’t answer my question; instead, he started crying.
I quickly reached him and raised his face with the tip of my sword. It had two streams running down it, while snot was smeared everywhere. The man had his eyes shut tight.
“Look here, old man. I don’t have time, so if you don’t tell me where the keys are in the next three seconds, your head will be severed from your body.”
“3.”
“2.”
“Tuey kime,” the old man mummbled incoherently.
“Speak clearly!” I shouted.
The explosions had now fully stopped.
“They’ll kill me! T-the legionaires.”
I kicked the old man in his stomach, making him heave for breath.
“Either they kill you, or I take my time in killing you—a painful death.”
“P~huff~ocket.”
I reached into the man’s pocket and found a key chain. I ran towards the stairs, but ended up with a violent cough halfway there. I persevered, knowing that I might lose Somani if the legionnaires came.
Opening a wooden lid, I tried to descend a ladder, but with my tiredness and haste, I stumbled all the way to the ground.
I broke the upper bone in my arm, but didn’t stop. The basement was a square room with a metal safe in its midst; it was buried in the ground, and for some reason, I couldn’t see the inside of the safe, no, not just the safe. The entirety of this room had escaped my senses.
Trying the first key… it didn’t work.
The second one… also didn’t work.
Why does he have so many keys?!
The third, fourth, and finally the fifth; it worked.
Click.
The lid was heavy, and with my menial strength, I couldn’t pry it open. I created a bone shaft and inserted it inside the safe’s square handle, then I put all my weight on it.
“Ahhh!” With a roar of strength that sounded weak with a kid’s voice, I opened the safe.
Inside, a Mana stone a thousand times the size of the one found inside the usual Arcane Cubes greeted me. The stone shone green and looked like it extended from the ground—this was just its tip.
I admired it for a second: Its pure green colour that shone faintly, the mana swirling inside of it like a living creature. It was one of the most beautiful things I had seen.
Touching it… It was too smooth.
Class Stone detected…
Would you like to see your class options?
I was really tempted to say yes, to see what the System would offer me, but I knew that would be a bad choice, a terrible one.
I quickly ascended the ladder, with me taking control of Somai’s limbs to lessen the burden on his heart and muscles.
But as I peeked my head outside the basement and as my spherical vision wasn’t encompassed by the basement walls, I…
The leginnaires!
Only one was left. He looked way different from the first time I saw him, with his armour dented and cut, revealing bleeding wounds underneath.
I jumped, then ran towards the back door, but the legionnaire was faster and as I was about to pass the front door…
Our eyes met. His black, cold, and deadly. Mine, blue, tired, but defiant.