Point-of-View: Persia Gerit

  During: Shuffle Arc

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  The next morning, we continued heading out around 7 AM, after having some breakfast. We still had plenty of canned food, but decided to save those just in case something went wrong, so instead, we found some berries and a couple of rabbits, which we skinned and roasted. I'd gotten used to catching and eating wild animals during the time I spent wandering after I escaped from the Goldway slave traders, though those were mostly lizards. They were pretty yummy though. Oh, and when I'd walked back from Goldway with Fuo and Az, we mostly ate bats……I was in a miserable mood the whole time, so I never bothered suggesting lizards.

  Anyway, that's not important, back to the present……if we go back at the same pace we got here at, then we should be back home sometime between 2 and 3 PM. This Quest was awful, I think I might prefer that time in the Goblin maze over the past day or so.

  I think it was fair to say that everyone here wanted to get this over with. Seriously, who thought that shuffling up the groups was a good idea? I mean, really……our class is far from the most tight-knit batch of students, everyone generally stuck to interacting with the members of their own group, seeing members of different groups having a normal conversation was rare.

  The interactions between groups mainly consisted of Group A making condescending remarks at us, Gela bothering Kuro, and……that was about it.

  We didn't have any trouble dealing with the monsters on the way back, the first four or five hours went pretty smoothly.

  "I think we should be getting back soon, we're about an hour away from the swamp," Remarked Key, the others perking up as she said that.

  "Oh, good……finally……," I began, before trailing off as I got a whiff of Mana from around us.

  I quickly stopped dulling my nose and focused……several people had us surrounded, they were skulking amongst the bushes and trees, closing in on us slowly. We were in a narrow path, so it was the ideal spot to stage an ambush, probably a group of bandits……

  "Is something wrong?" Asked Key with a look of slight concern.

  "Yeah, we're surrounded, and they're nearing us……act like nothing's wrong, we'll counter right as they're about to attack. I'll give the signal, nothing fancy, I'll just yell out 'now' or something," I whispered in reply.

  Key nodded and relayed it to the others, they stiffened slightly in fear but nodded slightly in agreement.

  They were getting closer and closer, they were now close enough for us to notice them even without my nose……aaand……

  "Now!" I exclaimed, extending out my metal claws as the bandits surrounding us got within twenty meters of us.

  They didn't jump out at us though, and instead flung some objects at us. As they landed on the ground by our feet, they exploded into thick clouds of smoke. Smoke bombs……? No, this is……I felt drowsy and dizzy……this is sleeping gas!

  I quickly fired off blasts of wind from my hands to blow the smoke away, but it was too late, I had already inhaled too much of it, my head was feeling foggy and hazy……the others were on the ground, knocked out by the gas.

  Th-this is bad……I'm just about barely able to stay standing right now, I definitely can't use Propulsion with any semblance of control in this state. The bandits were now emerging from behind the trees and bushes. There were a lot of them, more than twenty.

  They all had weapons, which were aimed at me. They began chattering and laughing menacingly. I felt my heart began to beat faster, as a sense of hopelessness began shrouding me.

  "Looks like one managed to stay standing."

  "No matter, she's barely conscious."

  "Heh, we hit the jackpot here, there's three girls in this group!"

  "What should we do with the boys, kill them?"

  "Why not, it's not like we can have any fun with them, hah!"

  "True, but we could probably use them as slaves, to do some of our heavy lifting."

  "Let's take our time- gahhh!"

  That last one began approaching me with a lick of his lips, before I panicked and fired a blast of wind at him from my mouth. Stay away from me……!

  I hadn't felt this weak and hopeless in a long time, I was barely hanging on to my consciousness right now, my body and mind were screaming at me to just give in and pass out……but if I do that, I……I don't even want to imagine what might happen.

  "Tch, you bitch-!"

  "Don't injure her, playthings aren't any fun if they're already broken before you even get to start!"

  "Fair enough, boss."

  "Restrain her, tie up the others after that."

  I felt a sheer sense of desperation as they pulled out some chains and metal shackles, flashes of my days in the slave trading ring began replaying in my head, as they surrounded me with the chains in hand.

  My breathing turned ragged and panicked, my mind slowly starting to turn red as they closed in on me. No, I don't……I don't want this, please, not again……I have too much to lose to let myself get captured like this……I don't want to go through this again.

  I……I don't want to die. I want to see Kuro, I want to go home! But how……? Wait, I know……I just……I just need to kill them all. In that moment, my mind went completely red, and I……I……

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  Point-of-View: Third-Person

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  "What is this?"

  "I think it's a Retractable Anima, but……"

  "She seems more like a monster than a person right now……"

  Jet-black fur sprouted all over her body, her teeth extending into fangs, her eyes growing sharper, as she got down on all fours with an intimidating growl, her gloves breaking as her nails grew into claws, the Black Steel claws of her gloves breaking off and falling to the ground. She let out a vicious roar, blasting wind out of her mouth, sending two of the bandits flying back.

  One crashed against a tree and broke his neck, the other got impaled through the chest by a jagged branch of a fallen tree trunk.

  "K-kill her now, it's not worth the risk to- argh!" One of the bandits began, before being interrupted by his throat being clawed out of his neck and his torso was torn open, his guts spilling out onto the ground.

  "Shit, kill her quickly!"

  "The bitch is too fast, we can't hit- garhhhhh!" Exclaimed another bandit.

  She closed in on him and he began to spring back but he was far too slow. She grabbed his jaw and pulled, ripping off the lower half of his mouth, before slamming it onto the top of his head, piercing his skull with his own teeth.

  She then sprang off him and sprinted across as several arrows and Elemental attacks were fired at her, instead blasting into the corpse as she effortlessly dodged the attacks. On all fours, she shot across the bandits at full speed, giving them no time to react.

  Her claws slashed, scratched, gouged and pierced their bodies, ripping open their guts, tearing off their body parts, creating a river of blood and gore amidst a cacophony of excruciating screams of pain.

  Some tried to escape, but she had no intention of letting them do so. The only thought on her mind……was to kill them all.

  There were just three left.

  She sprang at one, ripping off his arms from the shoulders onwards as he swung two blades at her in desperation, before springing up over his shoulders, grabbing his head and twisting violently, ripping it off of his shoulders.

  She then let out a furious roar and flung the head at one of the two remaining bandits, breaking his ribs and he coughed out blood. She then shot towards him, grabbed his legs and pulled outwards as hard as she could, ripping him in two before he could even cry out in pain.

  One left……

  She suddenly stiffened and collapsed onto one knee, the transformation nearly at its limit……it wouldn't be long before she reverts back to her normal state.

  "D-die, you m-monster!" Yelled the last remaining bandit, swinging his metal hammer down at her head from behind.

  Right before it could smash into her head, she regained her bearings and caught the hammer with a single hand, crushing and breaking it with an enraged growl.

  "N-no, stay away-!"

  The man's cries meant nothing to her, she just needed to kill him. No, she wanted to kill him. She swung her claws across at his right, slashing his forearm off. She repeated the dose on the other side, slashing his left forearm off.

  "Please, I-I'll give y-you everything I have, my money- arghhhhh!" He screamed, as she interrupted him by tearing his jaw open and ripping out his tongue.

  She then drove her claws at his torso, piercing through it and rupturing one of his kidneys, before swinging her embedded claws up to open up his abdomen and chest, blood flooding out of his body. She viciously drove her hand into his body, violently pulled out his intestines and dealt a kick onto his chest, shattering his ribs, his bones piercing his lungs. He collapsed backwards, his back against a tree, blood pouring out of his mouth.

  Before he could die of blood loss, she slammed her fists against his face repeatedly, smashing it flat against the thick tree trunk, and nearly breaking the tree down as well.

  She felt her body stiffen again and stumbled back with a pained growl, as the fur began to recede, her limbs, claws and fangs also returning to normal……

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  Point-of-View: Persia Gerit

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  H-huh……? What just……I let out a choked gasp and immediately dulled my nose as much as possible, the smell of blood overwhelming my senses.

  Ughh, my head hurts……

  I began reaching up to rub my head, before stopping with a slight gasp as I caught a glimpse of my hands……they were coated and dripping with blood. I looked around, my eyes widening as I took in the sight around me……the bandits were all dead, their bodies were brutally torn apart, puddles of blood and their guts all over the place.

  Wait, what about the others……oh, it looks like they're okay. They were restrained using chains, off to the side of the carnage. I walked over to them, my legs wobbly and shaky, and my breathing and heartbeat refusing to calm down.

  I broke off the chains with compressed blasts of wind and threw them away, slumping against a tree weakly as I waited for them to regain consciousness. Try as I might, I couldn't stop trembling. I-I just want to go home already……

  It was only a matter of minutes that passed before the others woke up, but it felt like an eternity. They were droopy-eyed and drowsy, but at least they're awake.

  "What happened……woah……," Key started with a groggy groan, before her eyes widened as she saw all the blood and guts scattered throughout the area.

  I explained as briefly as I could, not that there was much to say……whatever happened after my mind went red was a complete blur, I don't remember anything, though it was pretty obvious what had happened.

  "So, we were almost……," Trailed off one of the guys shakily.

  "That could have been really bad," Said the other guy, exhaling slowly.

  "L-let's go back, there m-might be more bandits around," Stuttered blondie nervously.

  "Yeah, that's a good idea, let's go," Agreed Key, standing up with a slight wobble.

  After I washed my hands to get rid of the blood as much as possible, we headed back. We moved as fast as we could in our drowsy states, using barriers to slow down the monsters we ran into so that we could keep moving.

  Even though we were only running into weak monsters, none of us felt like fighting anymore, we just wanted to get back home as soon as possible. Emotionally speaking, I was running on fumes right now.

  By the time the walls of the Rustlands came into view, it had gotten pretty late and I was mentally exhausted. We went through the gates and walked in, letting out a sigh of relief as they closed behind us after we entered.

  I felt like I was in a daze as we began walking back, unable to shake the unsettling feeling shrouding my mind and body, I felt drowsy and heavy……I hate this feeling.

  My ears then twitched as I heard footsteps approaching, along with a familiar scent. Before I knew what I was doing, my body was already moving on its own……

  "Hey, welcome-," He began, before I interrupted him with a hug.

  I wrapped my arms around Kuro tightly, burying my face in his chest, almost like I was trying to overwrite all the unpleasant feelings by melting into him and taking in his scent. It didn't quite work that well, but……I did feel a bit better now.

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  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.