MA: 109. Bloody Nostalgia And A Warning

Red’s presence was made known in the form of brilliant flashes of red light.

Her blade glided through trees and vegetation. The leaves of shrubs and the petals of giant eighteen-leaved clovers tumbled seconds after her blade sliced past, as though the world needed time to process it had been cut.

Trees slid out of place, screeching as they tumbled along the forest floor. The red-adorned figure bounced from the trunk of trees that were still falling and then beheaded a pair of fleeing Spiked Boars in a single strike.

She had only cut the head of one. Yet, the second Spiked Boar beside it had also lost its head.

“Heh. [Tempered Strike]’s not damned bad!”

Precisely. If one was looking closely at her blade, they would have seen a crimson apparition of the blade for a fraction of a second. It appeared thirty centimeters from where the blade currently was, effectively extending her knife.

This was how she was able to kill the second Spiked Boar.

She then clawed a handful of bloodied dirt from beneath the Spiked Boar, and her eyes darted to somewhere within the forest. At once, she propelled herself in that direction, whilst her eyes glowed with a faint red.

Then–

“Another!”

She stabbed her knife into a hollow log. A horrific squeal came from within. Shortly afterwards, blood oozed from its cracks. She had secured yet another Spiked Boar kill.

“[Scent Recognition] and [Tracker] make this way too easy! Oh hey! I can see their tracks through the leaves! Rockie! Snow! Don’t fall behind too far, or you’re not gonna be able to keep up with my kill count!”

And once again, she leapt in the direction of the nearest Spiked Boar. While the Spiked Boar were her primary targets, the Screaming Porcupine, Maddened Ox, and the Razor Chicken were valid targets who were slaughtered along the way.

[Scent Recognition] was a Passive Skill that allowed her to identify the scent of any creature as long as she had inhaled their scent before. This allowed her to identify the number of prey present, as well as determine their distance, albeit vaguely.

[Tracker] on the other hand, highlighted tracks automatically, but only if those tracks belonged to the target she was after. Animal tracks for example had a red outline, and these could be seen through the foliage.

It was a major quality of life. She did not know how the mysterious Blessing of the Nexus knew these belonged to the Spiked Boars, but she wasn’t complaining. If it worked, then why question it?

However, Red was not so naive to understand that this wasn’t grounded in biology.

That said, she hunted another pair of Spiked Boars and lunged for the next kill.

“She’s so fast!” Snow exclaimed as Rockie followed Red’s tracks with surprising speed. “Stop here Rockie. Perfect. Three Paw! Another two! Your paw, please.”

“Bwa!”

An umbral sphere formed beneath the carcasses. The darkness was akin to looking into a lightless well, and Snow could almost hear water dripping from within the shadow. A dark paw emerged and produced shadowy claws, each easily over fifteen centimeters long.

They clumsily removed the barbs along the Spiked Boars before Rockie could haul them onto its back. The last thing they wanted was Snow to accidentally become impaled by the thorns. These were kept aside in a makeshift pouch, which hung along the side of Rockie.

As for the carcasses…

“Three Paw? I need your help again. I’m sorry. You must’ve been eager to head back into your domain of shadows~” Snow made a delighted hum as she heaved the Spiked Boar from Rockie’s front arms.

She struggled to stack it amongst the growing pile on its back.

“Thirty-two so far. I’m impressed you can even carry that much. You ok, Rockie? Need some ‘Juice’?”

‘Juice’ was a code word for Healing. Merely mentioning Healing magic in public was enough to draw suspicion. Even if they were alone, she did not wish to risk revealing herself.

“Brrrr~!” Rockie’s head rocked with childish glee.

“Eh? You’re surprised that I’m even able to hold a Spiked Boar in the first place?”

Yes. Rockie was acutely aware of how heavy a single Spiked Boar was. Each weighed approximately seventy-two kilograms. It was impressive for Snow to even be able to carry this weight, even if it was for a moment. She did not seem fatigued by it. If anything, Snow was comfortable.

Rockie was a Rock Bug, through and through. Or a Forge Bug. But they were no more intelligent than their close relatives in the evolutionary tree. However, it was able to show that it was capable of comprehending discrepancies.

Basically, it knew well that Snow – despite everything they knew – should not be able to carry this much. And it was not because of physiological limitations.

Her stats did not reflect this level of strength either.

“… You’re less like a pet, and closer to…” Silence. Snow trailed off. The following words hung on the tip of her tongue, but she refused to utter them.

However, this silence was comforting for Rockie. It felt like Snow was silently acknowledging it, though Rockie didn’t seem to understand why. Its head tilted left and right as it pushed on, happy as can be.

“… Never mind. I would be feeding my ego if I made such bold claims. I still find it strange how Red ended up befriending you… Then again…”

Suddenly, Snow began fiddling with her hair. A rare blush crept across her cheeks.

“… She has that effect on people.”

“Bwa!?”

“No, not because she’s strong.”

“Brrr?”

“Maybe. It could be because she glows. But…”

What is it that makes me feel this way towards Red?

There was a myriad of answers. But just one couldn’t satisfy her at all, and choosing too many made her feel childish.

The sensation sealed in her chest had to be locked away until she found the key to understanding why Red was so–

“Pesky Spiked Boars. Heh. Wait till I get a firearm. Pew. Bang. There wouldn’t be a single one of you left.”

Snow’s eyes had been closed for a short while.

And when they opened, she was greeted by a mountain of carcasses. Sitting upon the pile of easily fifty more Spikes Boars, Screaming Porcupines, and monsters was Red cleaning her blade with the hem of her coat.

The way they fluttered in the wind resembled the petals of a flower. The crimson coat, and her hair created the image of a rose. And the thorns of the Spiked Boars only reinforced the imagery of a thorny rose.

It brought back foul memories of the Forest of Everlasting Memories.

Yet beneath that disgust, as the blood streamed towards Rockie’s legs, there was an element of nostalgia.

“Woohoo~! [Antagonize] gets them roaring~! Too bad I can’t gain Nemesis Stacks from weaklings.”

Red’s knife cut through her apparel. Strands of cloth then began weaving together like living veins. This was the effect of Red’s [Blood Absorption] Passive Skill, which used the blood of her enemies to repair her clothes.

“Are you sure you’re not an Honored One?”

“I’m the Legend One. Honored One sounds like I’m below someone else. It’s just my clothes. Really convenient. You look off.”

Red hopped down from the mountain and thrust her face close to Snow’s.

“I do?” Snow blinked. “Eh? Well…”

“Ohhh! I get it!”

“Huh?”

Red pulled her coat and exposed her collarbone. She took a seat in front of Snow and happily offered her neck.

“It’s been a while, right?”

“… It’s not that… But…”

Snow’s instincts were beginning to overwhelm her. A crimson light appeared in her pupils, and her fangs elongated until they became blade-like. Red’s offering had nothing to do with her sudden hunger.

It was the imagery behind her…

… It made her irrationally emotional. Disturbed. Hungry.

“Well? Don’t keep me waiting!”

“Then, hold still.”

She breathed warm air onto Red’s nape and lurched forward to take a bite.

However, a distant shriek caused her to jolt forward and tackle Red instead.

“W-What the–!?”

“Sorry! I’m sorry! I’m–!”

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLPPPP!” A voice ripped through the forest.

The ground began to shake. The tremors were light. Red could barely perceive them through Rockie’s shell. But it quickly intensified, and she recognized the sound as the march of dozens of… no.

If it were dozens, then the forest would not have been shaking as though an earthquake was taking place.

The tremors were far too chaotic to be mere quakes.

“Oh crap… Shit…”

“Isn’t it getting closer? Snow, wanna get off me? Actually… Stay like that. Heh. Smothered in pillows–”

“It’s not heading our way. It’s heading towards the meeting place! It’s…”

A look of dread filled Snow’s eyes. Had the tremors been coming towards them, then she would not have been so worried.

Before Snow could call out, another voice shouted with a terrified roar:

“MOSNTER TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN! GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

“… Who… which moron…?” Snow grit her teeth. “… Tch… Utter scum…”