Paradox Saga: Rising Sun

Saiko Almost Killed Me

On a normal day, you wouldn’t expect your bestfriend carry an axe and run at you like a psycho murderer.

I ran away as Fritz chased me with his axe – ready to strike me in the head anytime.

“What, Shiro? You cannot run forever, can you?” Fritz said as her pace started to get faster.

“Why are you running at me with that sharp axe?!” I screamed at her as I ran.

“Well, if you can’t summon your weapon yourself, then I’ll make you do it,” she said and was starting to keep up with the distance between us.

“YAMEROOOOOO!!! (STOPPPPPP!!!)” I screamed as she came nearer me.

Before I knew it, Fritz pounced on me. Her axe would’ve stabbed my neck if my staff didn’t appear on my hand. Maybe it was sheer instinct or something else but my staff appeared in my hand – a long bronze-gold colored pole with a green orb sticking at the end. I pulled my staff just in time as Fritz’s axe was on its way to my throat.

Fritz stood up. “Well, there you have it.”

A message appeared in front of me. “You can now access your Inventory”

“Maybe next time, you can try a more proper and safer approach, Fritz,” I said at her – my face red in anger. “Or perhaps, you really wanted to hit me with that thing.”

“Sorry, Shiro,” she replied. “I wasn’t supposed to hit you. Actually…” she held the axe firmly and prepared to strike her hand.

I shouted as she forced the axe’s sharp curve down her hand. I thought it would slice her hand in two until the axe disappeared.

“This is just a very brittle weapon, Shiro. By forcing your mana to something, you can actually destroy a common weapon like this,” she said as the axe crumbled to destruction.

“Don’t scare me like that again, okay?” I shouted.

“I can’t promise…but look at the bright side: You can now access your Inventory,” she said enthusiastically as if bringing an axe down my throat isn’t a bad idea.

“Well…”

I can also notice it. In my mind, I can see some stuff swirling inside a mystical void. A bottle of green liquid, a colorless stone and some balls of web – the ones that I used a few days ago along with my staff to save myself from almost falling to my death. I tried to grasp the potion inside my mind and instantly, I can feel something in my hand. There was the potion in front of me – my hand holding it.

“So, I just need to imagine it and it will come to me?” I asked.

“Basically, it would, Shiro. However, summoning your Inventory requires focus– ”

“Like this?” I said.

The Inventory screen was now appearing in front of me – a square display showing my items and equipment.

“Unbelievable,” Nami said. “That’s actually amazing, Shiro.”

I swiped down the screen. “It feels so simple, though,” I said as I took a look at the items. Webstring Ball, the name under the ball of silk-like thing said.

“Hmm…” I uttered and exited the screen. I looked down at the green liquid that was inside my potion. “Analysis,” I chanted and the item’s description immediately flashed.

As what I guessed, it was the Arachno-Immunity Potion. It was the loot that I obtained from defeating the giant armored black widow back in the Anaphora from a few days ago.

“I didn’t know you still haven’t drunk that,” Nami said. “You can drink that now.”

“How does it taste?” I asked.

“Not that bad. Tastes nothing better than an old sandwich in your locker,” Nami said.

I gazed at her with a look that seemed to say, That ain’t assuring. However, I looked down at my potion. Surely, it would be a waste if I didn’t drink this. I went inside a monster-infested portal, summoned fireballs, avoided flying spitballs and venom and fought an eight-legged freak. I’m a hundred-percent sure I’d be able to take this. Compared to my experience on the Anaphor, this hopefully would be an easier task.

I uncapped the cork from the bottle. The bad smell of rotting eggs and moldy cookies suddenly went through my nose. My eyes were trying not to tear up as I picked up enough courage and gulped down the entire potion.

Of course, it didn’t taste as good as how it smelled. I don’t even know how the potion can give me some immunity to arachnids and stuff. As the potion’s contents slid down my throat, the taste reminded me of expired medicine, not that I’ve tasted one, though. By the way it tastes, it could poison me before the arachnids can.

“Are you sure that’s a potion that could give me immunity? It tastes even worse than spoiled ramen,” I asked.

Thyme handed me a cup of juice. “Sorry, Shiro. That’s really how potions from monsters frequently taste. It’s often partly composed of a portion from their body,” she said.

“Well, remind me about that again before you let me taste something as tormenting as that,” I said and drank the cup of juice.

They nodded a yes. I gave Thyme the cup back again. “Thanks,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” she replied.

“So, Shiro, since you’ve managed to get your Inventory out, you can pull out your weapon, right?” Fritz asked.

“Yeah…and what does that mean?”

“That means you can start training today. You can begin with this,” she said and walked to the side. A small pink slime was now jumping up and down to my direction.

“That’s a Common Slime, Shiro. It’s the most basic of all the monsters in this world. You can actually use Status to check why,” Saiko said.

I followed what she said. I used Status and the monster’s name, along with its HP and MP bar floated up above it.

Common Slime [Lvl.1]

HP: 30/30

MP:10/10

“Is that really a monster?” I asked and looked at the slime jumping up and down like a jelly. “It looks so cute.”

“Well, looks can be deceiving, Shiro,” Fritz said and looked at me mischievously. I remembered how she hid her appearance as a pretty boy using some magic.

I looked at the slime. How can this be dangerous? I can’t even call it a monster. All I wanna do right now was to cuddle the little thing.

The slime kept on advancing towards me - jumping up and down in a fluffy way. However, I looked at the tracks it made. Something was wrong. As it jumped, the floor seemed to smoke.

"Oh, and by the way, Shiro. Slimes are often acidic in nature," Saiko warned.