Chapter 42: Out And About
Katsuya sat on the chair beside his unconscious mother who was only alive due to a breathing machine. Neither his mother or his sister's condition had gotten any better. From the doctors examination and tests, they came to a conclusion that they wouldn't be awakening anytime soon. There was also a high chance it would never happen. This didn't crush Katsuya's hopes though, he still had faith.
"One day, I know you guys will wake up. You just have to." he murmured.
A single tear ran down his cheek before his hand quickly wiped it away.
"If only I was there. Maybe there was a chance it could've been me instead of you two."
His regret weighed down on him. That was when he began remembering a burning hatred which was engraved in the depths of his soul. A hatred for monsters, all monsters.
'Again, I hear that voice. A voice in the back of my mind, repeating.'
The constant phrase "Kill all creatures of the abyss."
'I know what the abyss is but, I still haven't got answers about what this voice is.'
A sudden ringing from his pocket had snapped him out of his train of thought.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
{Caller: Jill}
{Answer/Decline}
He held his phone to his ear as a female voice spoke loudly from it.
"Where are you?! Me and the other are here, waiting on you."
"Sorry, I lost track of time. Has George and his group arrived as well?"
Jill let out a disappointed sigh, before replying.
"Yeah, why wouldn't he? He is the one who invited us to this dungeon raid."
"Right. Anyway, I'll head over now."
"Okay, don't keep us waiting."
"Alright, bye."
After hanging up, Katsuya grabbed his bag from the chair, glancing over to his mom, looking at her one more time before he left.
'Looks like this is goodbye for now. I'll be sure to visit you guys again.
___________________
After leaving the hospital, Katsuya arrived in front of the dungeon in less than 1 minute.
"I'm here."
Jill nearly jumped at the sudden voice coming from behind.
"What the… How did you get here so fast?"
"Oh, that. I just happened to be nearby."
A terrible lie.
"What? That's a joke, right? There's no stores or buildings anywhere close."
An orange bearded man walked up and wrapped his arm around Katsuya, Joyfully and obnoxiously.
"Ayy, Katsuya! It's been a minute, kid. How have you been?"
The man was none other than George.
"Well, I've been doing alright, I guess." Katsuya replied.
"That's Good to hear. I've been wondering how you've been holding up after falling down into the depth of that dungeon. Must've been traumatizing for a C-ranker like you."
George and everyone else for that matter was under the impression that Katsuya was still C-rank as he had not told anyone about being promoted to Gold-rank.
"It didn't traumatize me as much as you would think. If I'm being honest, I kind of enjoyed the experience." said Katsuya.
A concerned look ran across George's face.
"You enjoyed it? Are you okay? Mentaly okay?"
That was when Katsuya realized the misunderstanding as he had forgotten to explain.
"Ah, I didn't mean it like that. I didn't enjoy the experience, itself, but, it did help me face some of my fears."
'It also opened my eyes to certain knowledge.'
A sharp breath of relief left George's mouth, in response to hearing the explanation.
"That's good to hear. For a second I thought falling down that hole had messed you up, mentaly."
"No need to worry. I'm all fine, mentally, that is."
Jill's voice called out to them from the dungeons entrance.
"Are we still going in or what? We're all waiting."
"Oh, sorry, young lady. We'll be there in a minute." George apologized.
He then turned back to Katsuya, patting him on the shoulder.
"Come on, let's go. Try not to fall into another hole in there."
A Joke that was funny, yet, it made Katsuya feel unnerved.
'Aha, funny, but, what if that actually happens? I would survive but, It would be a pain to find my way out again.' he thought to himself.
He followed behind as everyone walked through the entrance. One final thought ran through his mind.
'Even though I have bad luck, that probably won't happen. There just has to be a normal situation every once in a while.'
Area after area after area, the two teams easily handled any monster/ monsters they came across. Now, both teams were in combat with groups of 'Dire Wolves'
From the last time Katsuya went on a dungeon raid with Jill, she wasn't all that strong when it came to fighting monsters. But as he observed from the back where he wouldn't have to fight, he saw that she handled her opponents with ease, sending simple fire spells their way.
'With this, I'd say she's probably on the level of an A-ranker. Skill-wise, that is.'
His gaze followed the other members movements as they fought, as well.
'Amir, Umar, Casey and Hector. Just by watching them, I can tell their level of top-tier A-rankers. At this rate, I can get them to the level of Gold-ranker in less than six months. Probably sooner.'
One of the wolves had gone un-seen and was slowly walking up from behind the other. It's mouth opened wide, showing it's deadly teeth. Then, with a sudden movement, it jumped forward, aiming for Jill's neck. By time she turned around, the creature's teeth were seconds away.
Without wasting a second, Katsuya sprinted forward.
"Watch out!"
Swoosh.
A simple swing of his fist had torn the wolf apart, splattering it's blood across the floor.
Splat.
"That was close." said Katsuya.
"...Yeah...thanks…" Jill replied, still surprised.
'That..would've hurt.' she thought to herself.
Amir lifted his sword then, swung it downwards, slicing the last wolf's head of.
Fwsh.
Swip.
He then looked around, scanning the area, seeing no sign of any more monsters, other than the dead ones.
"I think that's all."
"Looks like it." George replied.
"I can sense the boss room somewhere up ahead." said Jill.
Everyone shifted their attention up ahead, down a long hallway which was lit up by small crystals on the walls.
'We're almost there already? I guess this raid will be finished sooner than I expected.' Katsuya thought to himself.
George stepped forward, making his way down the hallway.
"Alright, let's get going." he said.
Everyone else followed, shortly after.
Minutes passed as the walking continued.
'Ever since we've come this far, I've had a feeling that my bad luck was going to somehow mess things up. But so far, it looks like this raid is going smoothly. Nice. 'He thought to himself.
One blink, then, everyone from Jill to Gerorge was nowhere to be seen. It was only himself, in the dimly-lit hallway.
'Nevermind, I spoke too soon….'
[Warning: Enemy Nearby]
[Warning: Enemy has activated 'Silence Barrier']
He turned his head and stared at the area behind him.
'...Looks like I'm being hunted.'
A pair of purple gleaming eyes were visible from the darker part of the way.
There was only one type of creature known for stealth this advanced. A creature that took out it's prey one by one. A creature that loved to go take out stronger opponents first. These monsters were called 'Phantom Assasins' otherwise known as 'Rippers'
'It really is a blessing...that it went for me first, that is. If it went for any of the others, I most likely wouldn't have been able to save them.'
Time passed and a figure revealed itself, slowly crawling from the darkness then standing up. It's posture was severely hunch and it wore a smile, showing off its stunning razor teeth.
{Ripper: Hp: 5,781 | Int: 159 | Atk: 312 | Speed: 244 | Endurance: 1,132 }
Chink.
Instantly, sword-shape claws grew from its hands.
"You must be in a hurry to die. OKay, show me what you got." said Katsuya.
The Ripper grunted in anger, as if it were able to understand the words from his sentence.
[ Enemy has activated 'Double Speed']
A sudden movement and the monster crouched down then leaped forward.
Swoosh.
All of its claws slashed the area in front of Katsuya then stayed still.
Nothing happened. Katsuya scratched the back of his head, confused by what that even was or what its purpose was.
'Was that supposed to do something?'
[Enemy Has Activated 'Shockwave']
Moments after, a loud ear-deafening screech filled the hallway as a deadly wind had sent Katsuya crashing against a wall. The sudden attack had made KAtsuya flinch and tightly shut his eyes.
Crack.
'Am I dead?'
When he opened them, his body had become stuck in the wall.
{Hp: 2,839, 495/2,839, 495}
'Oh wait, I forgot, a monster this weak can't even hurt me.'
Effortlessly, he freed himself from the wall and glared at the Ripper which was crouched down, ready the jump forward.
Katsuya sighed then spoke.
"You look like you're looking forward to this fight. But, I really don't have time for this, sorry…"
Before another second passed, Katsuya slid over to the monster side.
"....goodbye."
A purple stream of light followed the daggers movement as it slashed the creature's neck, removing it's head.
Swip.
Thump.
Its body fell to the ground while a blue river of blood squirted from its neck.
[Enemys Skill 'Silence Barrier' has deactivated ]
"Now, to get back to the group."
Fwsh.
As soon as she turned around, he was just barely able to see a creature rushing toward him. He quickly jumped to the side, just barely avoiding the figure.
'In a dungeon like this, what could move that fast?'
As soon as his eyes spotted what it was, he wasn't all that surprised but still questioned the rare occurrence.
"Another Ripper?"
When one of these types of monster dies, they release a scent which only monsters of its kind can smell, drawing each of them to the body.
'It's fast. I only barely dodged it's attack. This monster by itself is no problem to me but, it's not alone.'
Katsuya's gaze slightly looked to the side, making out the many other Rippers that stood behind. Although it was pretty much impossible for monsters in a dungeon of this level to kill him, it was still possible that a few of the creatures had a skill that would cause harm to him.
___________________
Jill glanced over to the side, only to see Katsuya was missing. Her walking came to a stop as she stood in confusion. Noticing her, the rest of the team stopped as well.
"What's wrong?" Amir asked.
"Where's Katsuya?"
Everyone turned their heads, left and right, looking for a sign of him but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Don't tell me he wandered off." said Jill in disappointment.
"Seems that way." George replied.
As if their words had summoned him, Katsuya walked out of the shadows. Right off the back, everyone noticed a major difference. His clothes were torn and had blue liquid splattered on them.
"Sorry, I'm back."
"What happened?! Are you okay?! And what is all that stuff you're covered in?!" Jill shouted in worry.
"I'm alright. A couple of weak monsters snuck up on me."
"Weak monsters? Look like they did some heavy damage to you." said George.
"Nah, I'm really okay. I just need to change clothes real quick."
Katsuya took off his bag and unzipped it, pulling out a new shirt and pants. His eyes met the rest of the groups as they stared at each other in silence.
"So, are you going to keep staring? Or can I change in peace?"
Jill's face reddened in embarrassment as she quickly turned around.
"R-Right. Sorry."
The other turned around as well, giving him privacy, all while apologizing.
"My bad."
"Sorry, man."
"Oof, apologies."
Only 2 seconds had passed and Katsuya had already finished changing.
"Alright, I'm finished."
The 2 teams turned to look at him and were surprised. He looked so clean, it was as if he had taken a shower. He wore a soft black hoodie and grey sweat-pants. But, one thing impressed Jill, even if she wouldn't say it out loud.
'Wow. I never realized how smooth his skin was until now.'
Katsuya's eyes met with hers and her face instantly reddened. Right-away, Jill turned to face the opposite direction.
'What was that about?' Katsuya thought to himself.
"You ready to keep going, kid?" Geroge asked.
"Yeah, let's go go."
___________________
(Location: Beach of Pryoras)
After a night full of non-stop swimming, Hades had finally reached land.
As he stepped foot on the hot sand of the beach, he caught the eye of many citizens.
"What? Where did he come from?"
"Did he just come out of the water?"
"Oh my gosh. He looks scary."
Hades let out a breath of exhaustion as he kept walking forward.
'That was tiring, more so than I expected. It took longer too. But, I'm finally here. Now, to find a resting place.'
As he approached a street, he crossed the road without even looking. Drivers slammed on their brakes, honking at the escaped prisoner.
A man rolled down his car window and stuck his head out, to yell at the idiot.
"Damn idiot! You wanna fight or something?!"
Hades stopped then shot a mean, evil stare at him. The man instantly found himself in a state of fear.
"Oh...nevermind."
He stuck his head back inside the car and quickly rolled up his window and watched as the man wearing a prison uniform walked away.
'That man...he looked like he could destroy an entire city with just his stare. If looks could kill, I'd be dead.'
Eventually, the escaped prisoner's footsteps lead himself to the front door of a clothing store.
'Guess I can't wander around looking like this.'
As soon as he walked in, he caught the eye of all who were there, including every employee.
'Damn, people have staring problems.'
Hades walked over to a rack and picked up a coat, a hat and a pair of pants. One of the male employees who was working at the store walked over, confronting Hades
"Sir, I know this may be rude of me to ask but, do you really have money to pay?"
"No, I don't." Hades calmly replied.
"Well, them. I'm going to have to ask you to leave, sir."
Instead of getting upset, or even getting bothered at all, Hades ever so slightly then looked into the employees eyes. At the same time, his own eye greatly shined as he spoke as if he had command over the workers body.
"Step out the way. You're going to let me leave without pay."
The employee's eyes looked dule, as if he was no-more than a vessel, not having a will of his own. In a slow and weak monor, he agreed.
['Manipulate' has been activated]
"Of..course, sir."
Hades then walked past him, murmuring his thanks.
"I appreciate it."
As he left the store, the worker snapped back to his senses and the dull look disappeared from his eyes. All rain of confusion filled his body as he stood there, noticing the man he was just talking to was nowhere to be seen.
"Huh? ...Wasn't I just talking to someone?"
In an alleyway, away from sight and people, Hades changed into his new clothes. He adjusted his hat then looked down at a device, the size of a pill which he held in his palm.
"Now, I just need someone to put this on."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone