Surrounded (3)
1466 Words
“Now why don't you be a good girl and run into our arms in no time?”
Tyrone asks Perrina in a condescending way.
“N-no! I'm not gonna be sullied by the likes of you! Never!”
“Look, you've never been kissed or hugged by any other man in Vetev, in Wadifil Prefecture, or in the entire kingdom for that matter! You can always choose us, remember? The fact still remains: Once you go bla–”
“N-not a chance! I'll decide the man I'll have and hold for the rest of my life! And that man is not you! Or the other four!”
“Look, would you settle for this... malnourished-looking adventurer engaging in unprotected hand holding with you?”
There goes that joke again. This time, it's said in the most mean-spirited way possible.
I naturally snap back at Tyrone and his posse.
“Don't you call me malnourished! As an adventurer, I always try my best to keep myself in tip-top shape. Yes, I may look thin... but that's because I trained my muscles to be slim enough to deliver both power and speed!”
“Oh ho... you're the one to talk. Now let's see how your muscles go against ours!”
The five intimidating men flex out their big muscles – their biceps, in particular – in an equally intimidating way.
There's no escape, right? I and Perrina have to do battle with them.
“Now then, boys... CHARGE!”
Tyrone's crew members all charge at once, but...
“No, no, NO! Not like that! You shouldn't all charge at once!”
Heimdall Maveep replies...
“B-But... Tyrone, you explicitly said 'charge', so we did everything to the letter.”
“Haven't you read the fine print earlier? When I say 'charge'... I say 'charge individually, like we're dancing'”.
“Oh. OH. We forgot. Sorry.”
Whatever. They've just exposed their fighting strategies to us.
Perrina can only say as she brings out her Rod of Decimation...
“I-if they pelted us with fire, I'll pelt fire back at them! Simple as that!”
The Rod of Decimation is a weapon exclusive to offensive spell-casters. It reduces the casting time of all offensive spells and increases their damage by 200%, and also increases the user's intelligence and dexterity.
She casts her initial salvo.
“Destruction of nature, gather in flames! Apairo!”
Several fireballs manifest from her rod and approach the five at blistering speeds.
Obviously, they're all hit.
“AAAGH! How dare you harm us, cutie? That adventurer really did brainwash you, didn't he?”
Tyrone then shifts his tone to a more ominous voice.
“So then... if that's your answer to our offers of courtship... then we'll have no other choice.”
With their sneering looks, they all look ready to assail my fair client.
“CHAAAAAAARGE!”
This time, each of the five men charge individually, not all at once.
We both take this as an opportunity to pick them off one by one.
The first to charge is Ragnarr Grandscream.
With his war cry, he attempts to inflict wounds on me with his axe.
My answer?
“Produ Molavyakal Bokkendo!”
I conjure a wooden stick with a hilt, made from a specific wood species named molavel. It's one of the most durable hardwoods ever.
“Ahahaha! So you're making up a weapon that can be easily chopped by this overly sharp axe?”
“Not if I can help it.”
As he swings his deadly steel towards me, I duck underneath, and then lash his body multiple times with several feint strikes.
“Noooooo! Not my nether regions!”
Good; he's now down and out.
Tyrone announces...
“This is just the beginning, puny adventurer! Now it's your turn, Heimdall!”
“Understood, homes!”
The guy named Heimdall is a spell-caster, judging from the rod he wields.
I let Perrina take the offensive.
“These subzero blades will chill your blood! Geloice!”
Ice blades come out of his rod, and Perrina immediately responds by casting Geloice, too.
The opposing ice blades meet and then collide against each other, neutralizing the spells.
With barely a second to think...
“Ground trembling, foes stuttering! Yanigroud!”
As Perrina strikes her rod to the ground, a small earthquake manifests right below the five opponents.
The shaking preemptively stops their planned charging attacks.
Tyrone rants.
“Hey! That's not fair! Bah, whatever. If you're indeed asking for unfairness, you two shall taste it! Right now! Ready, boys?”
After briefly nodding, the five flail their arms in a coordinated way, and then they all bring out fireballs that are structurally different from those found in the Apairo spell.
“Mortar Tomahawk!”
Oh, great. These are the same magical mortar fireballs that almost got us earlier.
We both run for our lives as the five continue lobbing their fireballs at us in hot pursuit.
“Heisbilis.”
“Heisbilis.”
I cast two instances of the same hastening spell.
One on myself, and one on her.
This makes our jobs of dodging their fireballs much easier.
Tyrone angrily says...
“Grr! Why can't be you just hit by our fireballs even though we five are opening fire at you?!”
I quip...
“Ain't that obvious, gooks? You all definitely did not see this coming.”
Perrina has a quip of her own.
“C-conversely, we can easily shoot you all.”
She then prepares her own counterattack.
“Ravaging winds, turn into the quickest ammunition! Hawingkaze!”
From her Rod of Decimation, innumerable tiny bullets of invisible wind are fired at supersonic speeds.
These wind bullets, predictably enough, hit all five with sheer brutality.
However, those five just don't quit, as they're definitely not knocked out.
They're pretty implacable, huh?
Well, this next trick will make them shut up for good.
I reach for my satchel and bring out a bottle each of vinegar and soy sauce, as well as an empty bottle.
Perrina is curious at what I'll be doing.
“Wait, what are you doing with that vinegar and soy sauce?”
“Creating an explosive.”
After I quickly mix equal amounts of the two condiments inside the empty bottle, I then enchant the vinegar and soy sauce mix with a magic scroll.
Specifically, the Mitashin scroll.
Unlike chanted Mitashin spells, Mitashin scrolls generate random effects when they enchant the items they target, because they are not made for specific objects.
It's a crap-shoot, alright; but I hope for the best.
I lob the bottle containing the enchanted mixture at the five, and...
KABOOM!
A huge explosion knocks them all down temporarily.
As they all gradually rise from their knockdown, Tyrone declares...
“Don't think this is over yet, nettlesome adventurer! And Perrina, you'll be sure to never go back to your supposed 'Mr. Right' once we all love you in our best way possible!”
They then all retreat hastily as Perrina sticks out her tongue as an act of rude disgust.
“We should be safe for now. Any place where we can take shelter in?”
“Ah, yes, Walter. Beyond this weald, there's an abandoned wooden shack that can withstand the elements.”
“Thanks. We can head there pronto.”
“Sure. I want to help you as much as you want to help me.”
After a slow but sure walk that lasts for roughly thirty minutes...
We're finally out of Gok'hnwaigh Weald and into Domagoso Prairie.
And indeed, there's a wooden shack that can be easily seen from a distance.
Since there are no dangerous monsters prowling these fields, we have a relaxing time approaching the shack.
“We're home.”
We say that as we open the door and enter the interior, despite the fact that no one is here.
It's our way of paying respects to whomever formerly owned this.
This shack is a treasure trove.
Old rags and carpets, stacks of wooden boxes, some bricks, pieces of scrap wood that can be turned into furniture by some enterprising carpenter, unused pewter silverware, and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff dominate our views.
I'm sure I can grab some of these things and put them in my satchel for later use.
As we both take a rest by leaning against one of the shack's pillars, she asks me...
“W-Walter, I'm curious as to what happened to your girlfriend's chest after she ate a lot in that restaurant.”
Meanwhile, in another undisclosed location...
Some guy just freed his friends with his own wits. He then declares...
“You think you'll go far by pretending to be us? You'll all taste the slammer for good!”
- Writer
