"Remember green is bad and black is gold,"
They hoisted the barrels onto their shoulders, both looking at their green-haired head,
"...,"
who was not with them at the moment.
"... so, there's this one thing that I started doing that she always reacts to...,"
"Yelvi Seraki...,"
A phrase that pulled a duo out of their recalled memories and successfully caught Madam Velena's attention as she motioned them away. Gionne and Ripha hauled off the barrels leaving the room to their impromptu made superiors.
"... I didn't know you had that mouth on you. How bad is it?"
Mrs. Karina revealed faint streaks of rotting black clashing against her calm, vein-like, green energy. She twirled her dark hand between them, taking in the sensation that this foreign destructive color brought.
"How many are they?"
She observed her hand once more, before in a flash, rejuvenating her diseased arm into smooth, pearly white wafting away the immediately released black spores from existence,
"... mostly copycat troops but there's one testing the herbs on the students and another has the nephew of a famous mister who took a very famous room amongst us...,"
"... more like infamous...,"
"..."
"... so, is there a hint of re-education in the air? some 'nice' things to set them straight?"
Gionne coughed while they were nearing earshot, slightly amusing Velena,
"We shall discuss further, the pharaoh approaches,"
She mockingly bowed towards the faith held door, excusing herself to see if the available materials could be fashioned to serve a not-so-secret plan,
... ah, yes, there was you...?
... !
... How...?
...
The messages appearing today have been quite a number, almost like when I was back home. I hope it continues to be so, it's somewhat delightful.
Also, there's this,
[Nature Energy: F]
and this...
[Pathway: F
An energy channel.]
Immediately a memory came to mind, it was on a particular morning where he,
"He smells like a Goldricht's sty,"
had a gamble generously fail him. And now speaking of gambles, another had come to mind. Akin to the greatest friend that he had, one strength that helped him survive one too many bloody fields that he was thrown into by his many indifferent superiors. He beamed as he struck specific points on his face changing into a random face that he had conjured up in mind. His repeated practices had enabled him to realize each and every point that can be triggered to turn to any face that he thought of in mere seconds. That was how much he relied on this very skill.
Finally with a quick identity thought off, his healthy new green hair happily bobbed as he strode forth to bolster his newly acquired skills with the continuous stretches of abominable plantations before him; One man's poison had become his meat or however they say it.
"!"
A slight rustle in the bushes triggered a characteristic effect of the immediate flora surrounding him; a low-frequency hum that was soothing and gentle to the ears, its tune was laid out in beautiful, distinct changes that could almost,
[In preservation of user, The First Law of The ----- Print has been activated annulling the prevailing mental attack successfully.]
end him? He picked out a member of the red hollowed flute-holed flower group and did what any normal person did, he ate it. It had become muscle memory at this point, that and the wait for the beautiful notification messages that congratulated him for his noble deeds shortly afterwards as so,
[Congratulations! The twenty-fifth plant, Devil's...]
He paused, and dodged.
And dodged.
And dodged.
And dodged.
If he had not caught that whiff of rot, he would have become victim to what might genuinely had spelled his doom. His eyes followed the trail of spiky attacks until they finally met. Propped up silently in the trees right above where he was, was a green mass, its dome to its very upper appendages supporting it was full to the brim with unblinking eyes, red and orange slitted in all their ghastly beauty while its lower half stretching down to its very many other supporters, just rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth that could make fine work of flesh and bone in a breath.
And what's more was that this ghastly being surely depicted a capable level of intelligence. From the mental attack trap to sizing up its prey with those set of attacks that it launched earlier and worst, grasping the lethality of silence.
I can't even believe how long it has been watching me, might have even revealed itself like some power trip move.
... genuinely scary.
"... hello?"
"Hello" the zooming projectile said, as it sung through the wind, across his cheek and right by him. Strained and huffing, he thanked the incorporeal forms that he had been stuffing himself with for if it were not for them, this would have been his final resting place. Clearly seeing that the monstrosity had no intentions of striking a conversation or just had a backward way of doing it, he could only do the next best thing, r...
... ace against his adversary who had already caught on to his one and only scheme. Park rolled under a final malice-filled advance before he booked for it. He had to call on all the experiences that he had ever accumulated in his entire lifetime up to this very moment to at best even escape with his limbs still intact. His instincts once more did their usual, deafeningly screaming at him as series of launched shots took pieces of his flesh moving onwards to shred innocent foliage that stood in their path.
Ding!
Of course, as they blitzed past, the tiny scraps of leaves in the air settled well at home within Park's guts. Good thing no notification popped up.
"!"
Park watched his pursuer effortlessly gain its speed as it hovered above him wanting to block his current path. He rapidly dug his foot into the soil launching off into another direction, an anticipated move that a blur had seen through and shortly after casting him into the pitch dark via a cloud of purple.
He stumbled to a halt; his arms still braced for impact.
[...]
[A new discovery!]
Hmm...?
He peeked at the white screen through the crack between his arms. The wispy texts resumed,
[Resident of ??? has been recorded!
As your Second Puzzle Piece is severely underdeveloped to access ???'s information, access to all including Resident of ???'s real name has been strictly restrained. Please increase the Piece's rank.]
[...]
[Congratulations!]
[You have been exposed to a Potent form of Nature energy! As it has been deemed to be far beyond the user's energy rank, a safeguard measure has been set in place to prevent the massive energy from ravaging the user's poorly made pathways.]
[Recommendations to gain access to dormant energy --> Understand the Pathway skill.]
[...]
A short silence ensued as he stared at the three dots.
He was happy.
He had become stronger.
"... Alright... let's see our situation,"
Activate First Law.
[...]
?
[Partial activation has changed status to full activation.]
Partial? What do you...?
As the dark limbo melded itself into reality, the immediate sight almost made our poor boy jump out of his skin. He was just inches away from the tiny sea of orange and red, as the creature had already realized somewhat that Park was able to break through its attack.
He looked at his limbs, the four out of the many tentacles that held him up, playfully chewing him like he was some life-sized toy.
He had the first Puzzle Piece and the Print to thank for it. Speaking of which,
Ding!
"... ahem! c... could you stop...,"
"...,"
They both turned to their left. Man, and Beast. They picked up on the rustling as the mysterious individual got closer.
"Let's see where my piss...,"
The gun was already cocked and absently fired as the monster shifted its gaze back to its little trapped fly. Confirming its success, it recalled its tentacle back home and right after kicked things into speed. The Resident had played enough now.
It only had one more thing remaining then finally be done for the day.
Park looked on defeated, as his attacker tilted its head back revealing an abyss of sharp, jagged blades and without hesitation go for his head.