NOVEL NEXT 64 – Twice the Fluffiness
Esther woke up. With bloodshot eyes, she quickly looked around. Instead of the distorted mansion or garden, she found herself back in the school.
But the object in her hands—the katana that she stabbed Hayan with made her question whether this was reality or not. She ran her hand along the cold blade. It was black in color with several dim white dots; almost like the starry night sky. It was made of the same material as the weird orb that put Esther to sleep.
[Requiem to your Fears turn Sharp]
[Who is it that’s scared?
The girl doused in familial blood.
What is it that’s feared?
On her face, eyes flaming cold.
Cutting power is proportionate to Esther’s guilt.
Temporarily removes all trauma for fifteen seconds once every forty-eight hours.
Disallows the use of other weapons.
Breakable only by certain individuals.
For Blasphemous is the Swordsmaster that cheated Death; the Remnant Soul of the Heavenly King of Nightmare resents her.]
Esther stared blankly at the blue screen. She pinched her cheeks. Ow. The screen was still there. Coupled with the fact that the geometry was normal, and there were other people here, Esther blindly guessed that she was back in reality.
And she was right.
She looked to her side and saw Nowa hugging her arm. As soon as she touched her head, Nowa opened her eyes and blinked.
“Had a nice sleep?”
Nowa shook her head. “No… It’s scawwyy…”
“I’m sure it was.” Esther grimaced. If her nightmare was anything to go by, what Nowa experienced must’ve been terrible.
Esther picked Nowa up and hugged her tight. Staying like that for a few minutes, she stood up and walked out of the classroom.
The hallway was full of sleeping terrorists, but Esther didn’t care about that. She kept on walking, and walking, and walking, until she reached the exit.
As soon as she stepped out of the building, several spears were pointed right at her neck. Before she could even do anything, a commandeering voice rang out. “Don’t. Not a terrorist.”
The spears were uniformly pointed away from her. Only now did Esther realize what was happening. And as soon as she did, someone walked up to her.
“How many died?”
That someone was the same guard that she’d knocked away, and she was absolutely fuming.
Esther gulped. “No children dead. I killed some terrorists, though. And everyone’s sleeping…”
“Sleeping?”
She sighed. Explaining everything to her would be a hassle. “Neutralized. Just go in before they wake up. I swear on the name of this town’s Mercenary Guildmaster.”
The guard captain exchanged looks with her colleagues and then rushed into the school.
Esther stepped away, pushing through the curious crowd and making her way back home. The last thing she needed right now was people swarming her and asking her questions.
When she arrived home, she thoroughly checked Nowa’s body again. Good, no injuries. Sighing in relief, she put the child in bed and got outside.
Truth be told, she was still a bit shaken from what she’d experienced, but she had to stay strong for Nowa! And what’s a better way to get stronger than ranking up?
[Progression Quest completed. Would you like to receive the reward(s)?]
Yes.
[1-star → 2-star
All stats cap increased by 25]
Esther looked at her own body. She couldn’t feel anything different. Yet, she was sure that she was a bit stronger now. “How anti-climatic. I was expecting something g—”
[Evolution available.]
What!? Esther narrowed her eyes. Was this what Status meant when it said “more mystical evolutions”?
[Choose one of the following:
{Gumiho}
{Nogitsune}
{Inari-kitsune}]
“Huh… I heard this somewhere…” Esther could remember the Assassin of the Hero’s party telling her about Japanese mythology. But Esther at that time didn’t care. All she managed to remember were the names.
Guess I’ll hit up the library and f—
[Please make a choice in 10 seconds. Otherwise, a random evolution will be picked.]
WHAT THE FUCK!? Was something fucking with her? She didn’t know, and she didn’t want to stay still for ten seconds and test the validity of Status’ words.
Uhhh... Fuck— I’ll choose what sounds the coolest!
“Nogitsune!”
[Affirmative. Evolving in 30 seconds. The evolution process can take upward of weeks.
Please stay in a safe location.]
Esther widened her eyes in surprise. Shit! Won’t you even give me time!? Countless locations ran through her head, but only two remained after she filtered out most of them; her room or the Heat Shelter.
Of course I’ll pick the Heat Shelter! It was simply too convenient! Almost as if the Guildmaster had known that this would happen.
But this was no time to speculate. Esther rushed out of the house. She didn’t even bother with the door and instead crashed through the window. She yanked the door of the Heat Shelter open, rolled into the Shelter, and closed it.
As soon as she heard a clicking sound indicating that the door was locked, the countdown ended.
[Evolving…]
From her feet, Causality shaped like petals appeared. They covered Esther’s body like a cocoon, reducing her vision and consciousness to total darkness.