CLA.S.S NEUTRAL: Stranger Is Coming

Funny Marathon. Archdemon. Wise Mentor with a Fly Agaric on his Head.

"Why are you so angry with me?" I asked, feeling offended.

"Let me rip your heart out and throw it into the Hellish Abyss. Then you'll have to run and look for it. I wonder what you'd feel at that moment." The Lord smiled.

I have to admit, he is good at explanations: he doesn't want to die either.

"Run!" Reena shouted.

"What about you?"

"Run away or I'll bite you!"

There was nothing to do, so I rushed forward. Reena ran after me. One of the monsters threw a lump of magma towards us, and I could feel its heat, but the fox just waved it away with her tail, baring her fangs in pain.

She's strong. But she won't be able to kill the Lord—despite the fact that there are only question marks in the game message instead of specifying her level.

The hound ran alongside, and it tried to plunge its jaws in Reena's neck, but the fox was faster and managed to avoid it.

I didn't think that the hound was truly ninety levels stronger than me, and so I threw a stone at it, hitting its leg.

I didn't deal it any damage, but I distracted the beast for a few seconds. This was enough for Reena to attack. The hellish creature twitched and died from a bite to the neck as the little fox's teeth went through its armored plate, though it seemed impossible.

We kept running again. I had to convince myself that I shouldn't waste my time with loot. One hundred and fifth level creatures meant an incredibly valuable prey for me, but I had no time to ponder; we had to get out of here as quickly as possible, or we would die.

Reena and I continued to run. Just when I thought we were safe, three imps emerged from among the trees before us. Their levels were from the ninety-eighth to one hundred and tenth.

"Screw it! Siernackh!" Reena yelled.

I couldn't make out the second word, but huge spikes emerged nearby, the length of several feet, and they plunged into all the imps, killing them instantly. I was angry again because I couldn't take any of the valuable loot.

Reena spat out blood that immediately turned into water and disappeared into the ground. She seemed to be exhausted. In a few minutes, we came out of the cursed forest and rested briefly.

The achievement 'Marathon Runner' had used a lot of my HP again. It made me angry. This achievement does more harm than good! Maybe the developers just want to annoy me. Although I'm probably not cool enough for them to pay any particular attention to. They didn't even move when the sc.u.mbags bullied me and Nary. So, the developers seem to want to annoy everyone.

"Ha-ha! We ran away!" Reena's muzzle expressed something like a smile! It was very unexpected. She rejoiced sincerely. She didn't finish her sentence, though—the archdemon's magma sword struck her, throwing her a few feet away.

The magma giant from the Hellish Abyss appeared just as two other giants emerged from behind us. We were encircled.

"I am pleased to see fear." The Lord smiled. "I feel it, too."

"Well, it's not my fear." I smiled cheekily and looked at the demon with all the arrogance I could muster. "You're confusing your own fear with someone else's... I suppose you're just a very lousy Lord! Very mediocre. I think, maybe you're nothing more than a very fat imp!"

"I-I-I-m-m-p!" the demon roared. "I'll take your guts and decorate trees just like you people do during your Christmas holidays!"

"But that doesn't change the fact that you're nothing more than an overfed imp." I smirked.

The demon was growing angrier with every word out of my mouth.

"How dare you, miserable jerk, compare me with these half-demon bastards!"

"You called me a pathetic jerk." I tried to seem careless, though I froze with fear. "Don't compare me with others, measly demon."

"M-m-m!" The archdemon seemed to choke with my arrogance. "You sound like you can do something, but you can't bluff me. I've lived for millennia, and I've seen so much that you, mortal, couldn't even dream of."

"You're wrong again. You have no idea about our technologies and imagination. I've read a lot of books, watched a lot of movies, and I know a lot of information and have seen millions of images of different creatures."

The demon looked into my eyes, apparently trying to find a lie, but I knew I wasn't lying.

"I am a Neutral. The only one in this world, and therefore I can't be compared with others."

"Are you kidding?" the demon was surprised, and I felt an echo of fear in his voice. "You're too young and haven't had time to learn so much, and I don't know how you are different from others."

"Didn't it occur to you that we could be the same age?"

He seems to believe my bluff, so it's better to keep up the good work.

"I have lived thousands of lives and millions of years, I've visited many worlds and seen things. Too incredible for you."

I stared into the demon's eyes and he looked away. Wow, I'm just feeling my own power.

But seeing demons from afar differed greatly from being a few feet away from them, feeling their power and force. So, I tried to hide my fear and look confident.

"Why did you run if you could kill us?" The cunning and quick-witted demon squinted.

"I like adventures." I grinned, crossing my arms. "I have done it before many times and have gotten bored with it," I got out deftly. "What do you say, horny?"

"You can't escape this time!" the demon bellowed and tried to get me with the sword.

"Horned fool!" I threw a stone at the shrewd bastard and hit his right eye.

I almost went deaf from his roar; his black eye turned red, and I thought he was going to shoot a laser at me, but I was wrong.

"I'm going to crush you!"

"You'll have to catch me, first!" I yelled, looking at the demon's HP indicator. It was strange; his HP hadn't decreased. Why is he so angry then?

I knew I wouldn't be able to defeat him, and I had to run, but I couldn't leave Reena. I wasn't afraid of a bad reputation with the Forest Keeper. I just felt sorry for her. The demon's sword whistled near my head, and a drop of magma burned through my jacket and onto my shoulder, making me howl in pain.

"Oh, damned horny, I wish that the scientists carried out their experiments on you!"

"Who are these scientists? I've never heard about this race!"

"They're great," I replied, grabbing the fox and running away.

The Abyss creatures were slow, but I wasn't particularly nimble either. Several times I almost slipped, but I managed to stay on my feet. Perhaps the demons didn't want to run too far from the Lord's heart, fearing that we might be a decoy to distract them. So, we ran, and 'Marathon Runner' ate into my HP. But there were no demons around.

"Where?" the fox grunted, gingerly bending her broken paw.

The demon had crippled Reena with just one blow, though both of them were high-level creatures. I think I'd more than likely be sent straight to the respawn point after a single flick from the demon.

"Don't be scared. We are safe." I tried my best to calm Reena down.

"No, we've already fallen into their trap."

The grinning demon, whose eye was still red, appeared before us. The ground beneath his feet began to crack, and scarlet blood oozed out.

"You're not running away from me, you, immortal weakling."

I guess he's right. Anyway, I'll survive the respawn somehow, but Reena needs to be protected. I can't let her die at all costs, so I'll protect her."

"Give me time," the fox croaked.

"Listen, horny, why are you following us?" I asked the simplest question, and the Lord of the Blood Legion froze.

"Indeed," the demon replied after a pause. "I suppose I should let you go? Perhaps, though, I'll offer you another option." He smirked. "How about I tear you into pieces and then… your head will fly to the north, your legs will go south, and…"

"Anyway, horny, what have we done to you?"

"You are dangerous because of your pure souls," he explained. "Too dangerous, and so you need to be killed."

"What about making a deal?"

"Oh, I'd love that," the archdemon cheered and rubbed his hands. "You leave me the fox and your soul, and I'll kill you quickly. How does that sound?"

"It's a tempting offer, but I don't like it."

"Then leave me the fox and your soul, and I'll let you go. This an ideal option."

The demons love souls and contracts so much, they can be easily fooled. I'm sure if there's a professional lawyer playing Rainea, he's put the demons in their place a couple of times. I guess I should also try.

"Not bad, but I have an even better option for you. According to article three hundred eighty-six of the Galactic Code, with the corrections of Gandalf the Grey made in thirteen thousand one hundred forty-seventh year from the Khein's coming to Riviya, and in agreement with Joseph Stalin, a man can't give his soul to horned demons," I told the Lord, hoping he wouldn't see through all the nonsense. He seemed to be at a loss trying to figure it out, and I won the time Reena needed.

"I don't care about your codes; I'll destroy you in any case."

"Hold on, please!"

I didn't know what Reena wanted to do, but we didn't have time to finish. The demon sword thinned and pierced through my leg, plunging into the ground. I was in terrible pain, I dropped Reena, and the demon laughed triumphantly.

Then a white flash blinded me, and I found myself back in my home. It was morning, so I was at the respawn point again, and I have failed everything because I couldn't save Reena.

Ohhh. I grabbed my leg and rocked back. I was still wounded despite my respawn. How is that even possible? My wound had been treated with some ointment and bandaged. So, everything was all right.

"Oh, you've got up! That's great!" The silvan entered the room. His growth had changed again; he was now a head shorter than me. I wonder how he does it and why?

"Well, your method proved highly effective. I mean the bony creatures. They don't respawn when we separate the bones. You and Reena ran into trouble, I see. The Lord of the Blood Legion is in our forest. That's incredible."

"Reena…"

"Don't worry. She's all right. I mean she feels pretty well," the silvan replied. "She'll be limping for a couple weeks and spitting blood a bit, but she'll be okay. The Lord, though. You cheated him! It's great! Reena told me so much about it. I saw her happy for the first time. It's very difficult to fool the Lord. How did you manage it?"

"I told him the truth."

"That's incredible." The old man scratched his moss-covered hair and beard.

"I mean that my words were true—except for the code and some other nonsense," I explained. "After reading a book, you can live many lives at once, and you can imagine plenty of different creatures, as well as see other worlds.

"So, there's no need to be transferred into these worlds. You should use only your imagination and consciousness." I was sincere. I happened to be in Rainea this way. "Although, I am indeed a person who has visited many other worlds."

"You're an unusual stranger. That much is for sure. So, Reena was right, and you need to be taught."

"What do you want to teach me?"

"Everything. Taking into account that you know so little and can apply even less," the silvan replied. "Well, I mean, you know much, but most of your knowledge can't be applied in this world. So, you'll listen to me and learn to become stronger and smarter."

"Okay, just give me a break first." I sighed and took out the growth elixir with the letter from Nary.