Soul Art Online

- Kuroka -

"N-no….please forgive me. I won't do that ever again." She looked at the guy begging her feet.

Two others beside him were too scared to even speak.

He was a level 8 Villager while the other two were level 7. They had followed her while she went out to hunt.

She could smell the scent of alcohol from them even from this distance, although it was getting replaced by the scent of blood every second.

Just outside the village, she sensed someone approach her and quickly placed a trap for them.

She was still only level 6 while even their weakest member was higher than her in level. Even their equipment was better than hers but she noticed that they were obviously amateurs. It was evident that they had lost their sense in their drunken state and were intending to assault her.

Too bad they were no match for her experience. She had survived in the Underworld when she was a child. Taking care of these types of people was nothing for her.

Although, it did take her all her paralytic powder to bring them down.

She had spent everything to prepare to hunt bigger prey but had to use it on them.

For people like them, she had no mercy.

"Plea-se I will do anything. Money. Yes. I have gold. Here." He threw out gold from inventory at her feet which was followed by equipment and other things.

She eyed them and raised an eyebrow.

Well, who was she to deny such a harvest.

She was already short on money as it is.

Without another word, she stored everything in her inventory.

The game only had a small chance to drop the equipment of the players when they died or were killed but she suddenly found out that there were no limitations on this kind of thing. A loophole? Then again, it was understandable. After all, she didn't rob them. They offered the items themselves.

His followers looked at her keeping everything in her inventory and the guy himself smiled, thinking he was forgiven.

She let him think so while she looked at the other two, drawing her newly gained dagger and slightly narrowing her eyes.

"W-we have gold too. Yess. Take it. But please let us go." The two followers begged and brought out their own gold and laid it in front of her.

She took everything and kept it into her inventory and looked at them once again and then in a flash, she stabbed the eye of one of the followers.

A few stabs in his eyes and he was down.

The other two looked at her in horror.

"No…..I already gave you everything I had. You said you would let me go…." The other follower shouted.

"I said so? When? I am sure I would have remembered making such a promise. Why is it that I don't recall something like that?" She replied before slashing both their necks.

There was no way she was going to leave them alive after what they were planning.

_________________________________x____________________________________

"Yes. We can make a custom order for you at that price." The owner of the shop told her. "Unfortunately I am busy with other orders so I can only let my apprentice work on it. Are you okay with that?"

Apprentice?

She raised her eyebrow.

"I would like to meet your apprentice first."

"Hmm….that's tricky. You see, my apprentice is a bit of a wimp, always staying holed up in the workshop and never going out, but I am sure I can work it out. I will arrange a meeting. The Blacksmith Class Advancement is going to need a test and a Custom Order of this scale is just the thing we need."

The man told her to wait and went behind the door at the back of his shop and into his workshop.

She was pretty sure she heard a scream from a girl or something and her hand instinctively went to her new dagger, preparing to defend herself from any sudden attacks.

"Get in." The shopkeeper's voice came from within.

She hesitated a moment but remembered that the village was a safe zone and she wouldn't be hurt inside so she resheathed her dagger and went ahead.

Inside the workshop, the shopkeeper was standing and behind him was a face she didn't expect to see here.

Dressed in clothes which wouldn't look off on a girl, the blonde haired kid who was obviously a boy stared at her.

"Aren't you that Dhampir from Rias Gremory's peerage, Shirone's friend?"

The boy's eyes widened at her words.

"Y-y-you know Buchou?" He asked hesitantly.

"You could say that. I do keep tabs on her. After all, my cute sister is a part of her peerage."

"Your sister?"

"Ah….you call her Koneko."

"Koneko-chan's sister? But isn't she…." His eyes widened as he hid behind the shopkeeper again. "Hiiiiiiiiiiii don't eat meeeeeeeeeeeee!"

….

….

….

….

"Huh?"

- Venelana Gremory -

She watched as Arthas hacked down another goblin with his sword before trampling on the skull of the beast, crushing it completely.

Goblin Slayer.

As the name suggested, it was a class which excelled in killing Goblins.

She didn't even realise that there could be a profession solely to kill Goblins. Then again, there was a profession to kill pests so how was this any different?

From a technical standpoint, the Goblin Slayer Class was a mixture of a Squire, Hunter and a Thief. It was a hybrid Class of sorts, or at least that's what Shiroe had said.

With it, Arthas could use bows, swords, daggers and traps, all the while covered in plate armour like a Knight. Its stat gains were lower than a Knight's but not by much but the sheer diversity of skills it offered more than made up for it.

Then again, he never had any problem with stats, being the highest levelled one in the team.

What she was worried about was his anger at the Goblins.

How much of it was due to his new Class and how much is due to that day.

Shiroe had noticed it too but hadn't realised the severity of the situation clearly. In fact, he himself was struggling to cope up with everything.

Arthas is a very kind boy with a great sense of justice.

She had seen it on the first day itself when she had met him the first time.

He could leave whenever he wanted and could do so easily but he fought to protect her honour, even when he was scared of killing for the first time.

Perhaps he himself doesn't realise it but it was the main reason which attracted her to make a team with him.

Now though, this very thing was becoming an unnecessary burden for him.

It was especially so when everyone was trapped in this….game, where the limits of their mental fortitude were tested every day. One could easily forget the difference between reality and fiction here.

It was very easy for someone to channel their repressed fears and frustrations into hating something. Such kind of hate can slowly change people, make them more cruel, more vicious and self centred.

The dungeon with the goblins appears to have had a very deep effect on him.

Her words did help him calm down but she knew that he was not completely alright.

He had stayed awake the whole night on the day they had completed the quest.

Even now, after almost one week had passed, he still had trouble sleeping sometimes. There were dark circles under his eyes even now.

She didn't want him to break down due to this.

Over the last few months, she had come to appreciate and even cherish his companionship and she didn't want to see anything bad happen to him.

They cleared out the outskirts of the goblin establishment.

It was their quest this time.

They had to completely clear out the whole Goblin establishment near Llyne and bring an end to this menace.

"I will check out the buildings." Arthas said as he slowly went in and threw a smoke pouch inside one of the huts to smoke out anyone who was hiding there.

What they were not expecting was a coughing sound….a human.

Arthas looked at Shiroe and then at her and nodded.

They quickly took positions behind his back, ready to attack anyone at a moment's notice while Arthas prepared himself and kicked the door of the hut open in one kick.

The door flew off its hinges and the scene behind was revealed.

It was a scene reminding them of the day of the quest.

Naked women with swollen bellies, laying on the ground with lifeless looking eyes.

This time however they were truly dead and gone.

Parts of their bodies were eaten up, the stench of the dead filling the whole place as soon as the door was opened.

Arthas froze for a moment and she quickly went beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"....hmm. Yes….yes, I am alright." He shook his head and went ahead to check other rooms while they checked the house for any loot.

For the rest of the day, Arthas looked a bit lost in his thoughts whenever they were not hunting.

They returned back to the town by the time the sun was setting.

Shiroe separated and went ahead to order new equipment.

He was nearing the level cap for the Scholar Class.

She herself was near the level cap for her Class but her equipment was already better than most so they had decided to save more and get her something better after she got a T4 Class.

They got cleaned up after reaching their home, taking turns to bathe.

Unlike other days however, she saw that he was still lost in his thoughts.

Even the sight of her in a wet towel which would normally make him flustered didn't make him break out of his reverie. Sigh.

They had a simple meal and Arthas went ahead to work on his Scribe Class.

Although she was planning to talk to him, she decided to do it later. Calligraphy did help Arthas relax so she decided to let him take his time and retired to bed herself.

Today's quest was long and exhausting and she needed her rest too.

It was late at night when she was awakened from her sleep.

She walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water and noticed that the light in the hall was still bright.

Opening the door, she saw Arthas sitting on the chair, staring blankly in space.

"Arthas?"

He was shaken awake by her voice and looked at her for a moment before speaking. "Yes?"

"Are you alright?" She asked, walking towards him.

She noticed that his eyes were red and the dark circles under his eyes were more prominent. She took a seat beside him quietly, waiting for him to speak.

There were a few minutes of quiet before he spoke.

"I….see their faces every time I try to close my eyes." He spoke after some time. "Those women….they turn from happy living people to the corpses we saw during the day."

He took a deep breath.

"And on top of those corpses, I see the goblins, laughing, sneering and playing around with them….even in death."

He hesitated for a moment. "But the worst part is when I see real people in the same situation. Mother, my relatives….you, the faces of those women change and I wake up everytime I try to sleep. I….haven't been able to sleep properly in days."

She pulled him in for a hug and lightly caressed his hair.

He didn't reject it either, wrapping his arms around her.

After a few minutes, she separated from him and held his hand.

He looked at her confused.

"Come with me." With just those words, she pulled him along to her room. "I have been feeling a bit lonely sleeping alone all this time. Accompany me."

"Huh?" Despite his state, he looked surprised but she didn't give him any chance to deny as she pulled him into the bed and hugged the boy close to her chest.

He looked totally caught off guard at the sudden development but a moment later he let out a breath and returned her hug, closing his eyes.

"Good boy." She caressed his hair lightly for a few minutes as she felt his breath become even and then he drifted off to sleep.