Dysfunctional - An Assassin's Guide to Reincarnating in Another World Chapter 31 - 30 - Road To Goldway(Part 2)

Chapter 31 - 30 - Road To Goldway(Part 2)

My mind went blank for a fraction of a second, unable to process what was going on. The instant that I ca to my senses, I pulled away and stood up in a rush, before stumbling back.

"What's the matter?" Inquired Gela innocently, before licking her lips with a seductive smirk.

"Wh-why did you-!?"

"Is there a problem? She said she didn't mind, you know."

"M-maybe so, but I mind!"

"That's so cruel, after I gave you my first kiss, too," She fake-cried, before smiling mischievously, "Oh, I get it. You would have preferred it if the cat got your tongue instead of ! Heh...get it?"

My initial nervousness boiled into frustration with the ill-tid, and unoriginal, pun.

"Enough. Just shut up," I snarled, unintentionally entering Bloodlust Mode without suppressing my anger, causing her to flinch a bit.

"Hehe...okay, maybe I got a bit carried away. I couldn't resist though, you two have the best reactions."

"I'm...going to go guard the camp from below," Muttered Persia, standing up and averting her gaze.

"H-hey, wait a sec-," I began.

"What?" She snapped with a fierce glare.

"Uh...nothing, never mind," I replied, slightly taken aback.

We argued and fought all the ti, but I had never heard her use that tone of voice before.

"...that was awkward," Quipped Gela, as Persia dropped down and posted herself on top of one of the carts.

"That's enough out of you," I growled.

"Heh, I get chills when you act all harsh."

I decided to just ignore her.

My mind was a ss right now, I need ti to let everything that just happened sink in. Right now, I couldn't care less about keeping watch over the camp.

By the ti I finished processing everything, our shift had ended and I had been awake for over four hours. I just couldn't fall asleep right now. Only one thing was on my mind, all I wanted to do was to make up with Persia, but...I wasn't sure how to go about it.

Whenever we usually argued, things just sort of...go back to normal as soon as the argunt ends.

But this reaction was completely new to . It had completely caught off guard, and I had no idea how to go about fixing this. I guess she must have felt awkward and uncomfortable thanks to Gela, and that must have irritated her till she snapped.

That seed to be the only logical explanation, at least as far as I could think of.

If that's the case, it's not that big a deal, so hopefully things would just return to normal tomorrow.

...

...

Tomorrow ca and went.

...

...

So did the next day.

...

...

Before I knew it, it was the fourth day of the journey, and Persia had been totally avoiding since that night. I had tried approaching her a few tis, but she just kept averting her gaze or walking away.

And with each ignore, my mood began to get worse and worse, as my motivation and energy dropped too. We were running into fairly powerful monsters now, which included Ogres, bigger, stronger and slightly faster versions of Hobgoblins, Devilbats, which were human-sized bats with supersonic screeches, and Lizardn, which were large, agile humanoid reptiles.

However, I just couldn't get into fighting them. In my current mood, I simply had no interest.

"Ugh, there's a lot of negativity in front of . So, what's up with you? Your expression makes even Fuo's grim face seem like a pleasant smile, and that's pretty much her only personality trait!" Remarked Misen, spinning his spear absent-mindedly.

"Want to fire an arrow up your ass?" Replied Fuo, with an icy glare.

"Keep talking and I'll kill you," I threatened him irritably.

"Now I'm curious about what's got you in such a foul mood, you're a lot more irritable than usua- woah!"

I interrupted him by flinging a poison needle at him, which he just barely managed to dodge. So close...

"A-are you crazy!? That would have killed in an instant if it so much as scratched !"

"Tch...I missed."

That shut him up for a while.

"Hey, stay alert back there! We're close to the halfway point, aning we'll soon be closer to Goldway than to the Rustlands. The monsters we encounter will keep getting tougher!" Warned Instructor Trocuelo.

My state of mind right now was overwhelmingly negative, but I just couldn't bring myself to care.

I had never been through a prolonged period where I was continuously in a bad mood for multiple days before, at least not like this. I've been mad plenty of tis before, but this wasn't anger....I wasn't really sure how to describe this feeling.

I just felt...hopeless.

Our shift soon ended, and I hopped down and began to head into the gift cart. As Persia walked past , I glanced at her, but she averted her gaze.

I felt the negative aura around grow a bit.

With a sigh, I entered the cart and lay down on a crate, staring up at the ceiling as the carts began to move again. My thoughts were a ss right now.

What is even going on?

That kiss wasn't actually my fault, so isn't she kinda overreacting? And why was she avoiding anyway? Did I do sothing wrong that I was unaware of?

...I couldn't think of a single thing.

Each ti she avoided , I felt like I was slowly deflating on the inside, like a leaky balloon. Why was this hurting so much...I just can't understand it!

I guess soone who had been killing people for a good portion of his existence really wasn't cut out for dealing with normal teenage problems in a normal teenage way.

Fine then. If she doesn't want to talk to , I'm not going to bother trying anymore!

As soon as I thought that, I felt my chest tighten. I didn't want this to continue. I wanted to talk to her.

No, I need to stop thinking like that!

I bit down on my lip and took a deep breath. Have so pride...it's not the end of the world!

Damn it...why is this affecting so much!?

Suddenly, water splashed down on my face, and I shot up in surprise.

"You okay? You had a really pained expression."

"Damn it, don't startle like that, Az," I sighed, although that had definitely helped calm down a bit.

My face dried instantly as he snapped his fingers, the water disappearing.

"Don't shorten my- well, never mind that. You've been acting pretty strange over the last couple of days. Did sothing happen?"

Wow, even he had noticed? It's not like I had tried especially hard to hide it or whatever, but still.

For a second, I considered talking to him about it. But I quickly decided against it, I didn't want to make a big deal out of this or drag anyone else into my problems.

Besides...Persia was right above us, so she might hear.

"No, I'm fine. And it's not like I'm the only one acting strange, you're not one to usually start a conversation."

"Yeah, that's true. But the gloomy vibe you're giving off is getting worse and worse. Whatever's going on, it'll be hard for you to stay rational if this keeps up for much longer."

Yeah, I already know that.

I'm pretty pathetic. I was this emotionally distraught over soone avoiding ? Even during my three years of torture, I never felt this despaired...I never felt all these conflicting emotions.

Deep down, I knew why...

Back then, I'd never had anything to lose besides my own life, and I hardly even valued that. But now, it felt like I was in danger of losing sothing really precious...and it was pure agony.

I didn't know how I was supposed to deal with it, so for now...I decided not to, and ended up entering a sort of incomplete version of Bloodlust Mode, just suppressing my emotions without imrsing myself in bloodlust. It's not like my problems were gone though, just buried.

Like covering a slate with a white sheet instead of wiping it clean.

I basically concluded that since I'm not emotionally equipped to deal with love trouble, I'll just avoid dealing with it, at least for now. Pretty pathetic, I know. But feeling this cornered was sothing that was completely unprecedented for .

...

...

The day ended before I knew it, and we set up camp.

The shifts and groups for night watch were the sa as the first night, so keeping watch had been pretty awkward over the last two nights.

I perched myself on a high spot as usual, while Persia stationed herself further away. Gela followed , much to my annoyance. After what had happened on the first night, I had shut her up with bloodlust-fueled glares each ti she tried to talk to over the past couple of nights. So hopefully, she wouldn't try to say anything tonigh-.

"Hey, just so you know, I didn't kiss you solely because I wanted to ss with you two, though it certainly played a part. I'm not the romantic type, but...I can confidently say that I'm very attracted to you, especially after our fight in the Brawl of Glory."

Guess I had been too optimistic. Whatever, she won't keep talking if I just ignore-.

"Hey, I am curious about one thing....how was the kiss?"

"..."

"Boo! You're no fun at all."

"..."

"You're giving off a weird vibe. It's like that murderous state of yours but without the murder. It feels...blank. What, did your girlfriend ignoring you for the last three days break you? How cute, you're sulkin- woah!"

That's enough out of you.

Without so much as glancing at her, I shut her up by entering full-on Bloodlust Mode, directing all my murderous intent at her and slashing my dagger at her face, leaving a scratch under her eye.

"Shut. Up. Or the next cut with kill you. It'd be pretty stupid to antagonize right now...especially for you."

"Wh-whatever you say," She replied with a nervous smile, a bead of sweat rolling down her face.

Whatever...I just wanted these two hours to pass by quickly so that I could go to sleep already. Sleep was my one escape right now.

Hmm wait a second, what was that?

Was soone nearby?

No...it's more than one person. Let's see, I count...eight people.

I could sense their bloodlust coming from inside a cave a few ters from the camp. Had they already been there when we'd arrived here? How the hell did I not notice till now? Was I that distracted by my own negative thoughts?

Looks like Gela hadn't noticed...guess she couldn't sense bloodlust unless it was directed at her. Persia didn't seem to have noticed either...oh, right, she dulls her nose using Mana because the heightened sense of sll is too overwhelming.

"Where are you going?" Asked Gela, as I stood up.

"...bathroom break."

I jumped down and weighed my options. Those people in the cave were definitely hostile, their bloodlust made that clear.

Should I take soone with ?

No...this might be just the opportunity I needed to let off so steam. I walked across the camp and then slunk into the shadows and crept towards the cave. I could sense that one of the eight was by the entrance of the cave, probably keeping watch.

In that case...

I scaled up and across the rocky surface until I was right above the entrance. He was about...a ter inside the entrance, and judging by his position and the direction the moonlight was coming from, he was keeping watch on our camp while hiding in the shadow. The other seven were all between forty to fifty ters further in.

I was starting to feel...excited.

It's been a while since I've done this. It's been a while since I've hunted human targets...

I entered Bloodlust Mode and silently swooped into the entrance of the cave and flung a poison needle at the person keeping watch before he could react. As his lifeless body began to drop, I caught it before it could hit the ground and make any noise, and then lowered it down slowly.

I quickly scanned the corpse. A man in a fully white robe and hood, and a ring with a curved X-shaped symbol.

It gave off a very cult-like vibe.

I silently began charging a lightning blast inside my left wrist and headed into the cave, walking along the shadows, until I neared the remaining seven.

They had a Light Crystal between them, illuminating the area they were sitting in a dim glow.

They were all wearing the sa creepy white robe.

I was outnumbered, but this cave was quite narrow, so only two or three of them could attack at the sa ti without hurting each other.

In that case...there's no need for to hide anymore. I drew my short-sword and walked out of the shadows.

"Wha- how did you get in here!?"

"One of the targets!"

"What happened to the one who was by the entrance!?"

How interesting...

"Targets? I'm afraid you're the ones who are the targets here. Oh, and I killed your friend," I replied with a bloodthirsty smile.

One of them launched a fireball at , as I activated Lightning Boost and evaded it effortlessly, before dashing forward and swinging my sword above his shoulders. The blade cut into and across the side of his neck, slicing it off cleanly.

As his head dropped to the ground and rolled away, blood pouring out of the stump, a sense of deep, familiar satisfaction washed over .

I've killed people in many different ways, but nothing beats a swift, clean decapitation.

It's been way too long since I cut soone's head off. Even with my emotions suppressed, I couldn't stop a wide, murderous grin from breaking out across my face.

A water-lightning combo blast ca shooting from behind the falling corpse, I quickly grabbed the headless body before it dropped and used it as a at shield. I got a bit electrocuted, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

I let go of the body, and shot forward past it, slicing off the Lightning Magic user's head and flinging a throwing knife at the Water Magic user's heart, both dropping dead in an instant.

"Heh...haha...hahahaha!" I began laughing ecstatically, as pure euphoria took over .

This is...exactly what I needed!

Four more to go.

Spikes suddenly shot out from the ground beneath , and as I evaded it, a few rocks ca flying at . I twisted my body to avoid them, as one of them grazed past my side.

Damn it, my outfit!

A wind-enhanced fireball ca blazing towards , I was unable to fully avoid it, my back getting scorched. Two Earth Magic users, a Fire Magic user, and a Wind Magic user.

They weren't that powerful, but I didn't have enough room to evade simultaneous attacks.

Oh, well.

I'd have liked to decapitate at least one more of them, but whatever. They flinched in confusion as I sliced off my left hand, a bright, electric glow emanating from the bloody stump, as I grinned nacingly.

This...was going to be the most powerful lightning blast I've ever fired so far.

"Hahahaha, ti for you to die! Take this, Lightning Incineration Canon, Hands-Free Version! "

The recoil nearly knocked off my feet, and the instant that I fired the blast, everything in my line of sight was nothing but a bright, electrifying, blue glow.

Woah...that was a lot more powerful that I had expected.

The blast had been so big that the cave was a bit less narrow now. And I had to admit...saying my attack na out loud had been kinda satisfying.

Though, I'd still be embarrassed if anyone heard .

As I reattached my left hand, I noticed sothing slightly stir in front of .

No way, did one of them actually survive that blast?

Heh...how amusing.

I walked over to have a closer look.

He was half-buried in rubble, and his body was less than intact. He was sohow still alive though, conscious too. I began to raise my sword, and then stopped. Wait, I should probably try and get a little bit of information out of this guy.

Whew, in all the excitent, I had completely forgotten about that.

It was one of the Earth Magic users, he must have raised a wall of earth in front of him when I fired, along with using his partners as shields. That was the only way he could have survived, the other three had been completely disintegrated, not a trace of their bodies remained.

Still, this guy may have avoided death, but his right arm, right leg and a chunk of his right torso were gone, plus his face was scorched too. His heart was still beating, but he'll probably die soon.

"Heh...that sure was fun. Now then, let's make this simple. You're probably going to suffer and die slowly if you're left alone, so I'll tell you what, answer my questions and I'll kill you painlessly, just like I did with all your friends."

"Who...are you? The...targets were...supposed to be just...Student Adventurers."

"I'm the one asking the questions here. And FYI, I am a student, in fact I'm just a first year. So...who sent you? You don't look like thieves or bandits. Are you part of so cult or sothing?"

"Impossible...a re student...from the lowly Rustlands...singlehandedly defeated us? We were told...that we all have...A-Rank level abilities...so how...?"

"So, you're gonna ignore my questions, huh? Well, in that case...you know, torture really isn't my thing, but I definitely know how to do it if necessary," I remarked, slowly crushing one of his fingernails and stabbing the cracked pieces of it into the skin, while streaming a thin line of lightning into one of his eyeballs, slowly boiling it from the inside.

"Ahhhhhhh, damn it...! How is this...possible? Succeeding in this job would have finally...let us move up in...the ranks. And yet...Ahhhhhhh!!!" He scread, as his eye turned red and exploded.

Ugh...gross.

Yup, torturing really isn't my style, after all.

He wasn't answering my questions, but I was still getting so information from him.

"I think I'm starting to get the picture. Your little group was sent to assassinate us by soone...no, I doubt it was an individual, you said sothing about moving up in the ranks, and given that you were all wearing the sa cult-y outfit, I'm guessing...you're part of so creepy-ass organization."

"How...dare you-!"

"And not to burst your bubble, but none of your abilities were even close to being A-Ranked. Honestly, I'd barely put you at C-rank, and that's being generous. Tell ...before tonight, have any of you ever actually fought a real Adventurer? I'm guessing not."

"..."

His silence answered my question, as did the look of realization on his face. Ti to twist the figurative knife.

"Heh, how sad...your organization used you all as sacrificial pawns to...test our strength, maybe? They wanted to know what they were up against. And so, with the promise of moving up in the ranks as motivation, and the lie about how powerful your abilities are in order to boost your confidence and prevent any resistance, they convinced you pawns to embark on a perfectly avoidable suicide mission. So, knowing all that, that you were nothing more than disposable trash to your superiors...are you still going to protect your organization and avoid answering my questions?"

"..."

"..."

"...we were sent by...the Magic Research...Group. You see...we have always been allied and supported by...Platinberg and Goldway. But...the new king of Goldway...wants to cut ties with us. The higher ups...don't want that, since...Goldway is important to the organization...though I don't know...why. So...they plan to pressure the king...till he gives in. Ruining the upcoming alliance...with the Rustlands...is just one...of the many ways they plan to do so. That's...all I know. Please...kill ."

His expression was now showing a lot more pain.

I guess his body must have gotten briefly numbed when my lightning blast took off most of his right side, and now that the numbness was fading, he was starting to really feel the pain. Well, he'd given plenty of information, so I'll keep up my end of the bargain.

"I appreciate your cooperation," I stated, slashing off his head swiftly.

I stood up, sheathing my sword and exhaling contentedly. That...had been aweso.

And so nostalgic.

My ears suddenly twitched as I heard footsteps approaching the cave. I didn't sense any hostility, so it was probably soone from the camp. Well, my lightning attack had probably been pretty loud, and this cave was no more than eighty ters away from where we had set up camp.

"Is soone in there!? Show yourself!" I heard Instructor Trocuelo yell cautiously from the entrance of the cave.

"It's just , Kuro!" I yelled back.

I made my way to the entrance, where nearly all the others were peering in.

"What happened in here?"

"I sensed people hiding here, so I snuck in and took them out. Don't worry, I got plenty of information before I killed the last one," I replied, before quickly relaying the information I'd learnt.

Everyone listened in silence as I explained.

"Hmm...this is pretty problematic. If what you say is true, we'll probably be running into an ambush or two within the next three days," Surmised Instructor Trocuelo, frowning.

"Ugh, this is the worst. Let's just turn around and go ho, I don't want to have to deal with this crap," Groaned Instructor Uensh, scratching at so mosquito bites around the gills on her neck.

"I have to say, it was rather foolish to co in here by yourself. You would have probably been killed if they had been stronger," Remarked Fuo.

"Too bad they weren't," Mumbled Misen.

"I'm not that easy to kill, you know. And I regret nothing, this was a really therapeutic experience for ," I replied with a satisfied shrug, "Well actually, I do have one small regret...I wish I had been able to avoid getting my outfit all torn up."

As I exited the cave, I noticed the representatives nervously peeking out from the carriage.

"Did sothing happen?" Inquired the worried-looking prince.

"Nothing to be concerned about, your highness. There was a small issue, but it's been dealt with, there's nothing to worry about at all," Assured Instructor Trocuelo.

"Wow, lying to royalty...that might be considered light treason," I quipped under my breath, just loud enough for the instructor to hear.

After a long, long dry spell...killing eight people in one go had significantly improved my mood.

"We can't exactly tell them that we're in danger of being attacked by a dangerous cult," He quietly replied through gritted teeth.

"Well, anyway...there's still over an hour left for my shift, you all should probably get so more shut eye," I suggested.

Five minutes later, everyone had gone?back to sleep in the tents and carts. I changed out of my damaged battle outfit and sighed. I only had one set of this outfit left now. I should probably save it, I'll wear one of the new outfits I bought instead.

I wore a black tank top and put on a sleeveless black hoodie over it. Only the top part of my battle gear had gotten damaged, so I kept on the arm guards and trousers.

Hey, this was really comfortable. And it looked kinda cool too. Then again, anything in black looked good to .

I erged from the gift cart after finishing changing, and headed for the high spot I had posted myself at earlier. Gela was unfortunately still up there, but it was still the best available spot to keep watch over from.

I had regained so motivation.

I doubted that anything would happen again tonight, but you could never be too careful. I walked past Persia, and before I could stop myself, my eyes shifted across to glance at her. To my surprise, she t my gaze. For the first ti in a couple of days, our eyes t.

And as soon as they did, I felt my heart begin to race and my body heat up. Before either of us could start to say sothing, I averted my gaze and kept walking, unable to stop myself.

...wait, what am I doing? That had been a perfect chance to talk to her!

What was that I felt just now? Is this...guilt? But why, I hadn't done anything wrong!

...no, I already knew why. It was that kiss.

With this guilt looming over , it felt wrong to even think about telling her how I feel, or even face her. And since I had been the one to avert my gaze this ti, I had just made it even harder for us to talk to each other.

I internally groaned in despair and climbed up, sitting down as I reached the top.

"I can't believe I missed an opportunity to see you in your murderous state, you should have taken with you," Greeted Gela, with a pout.

"And why would I have done that, Featherhead? You're literally the reason I needed to blow off so steam in the first place," I growled, flicking a small spark of lightning at her face, which she narrowly dodged.

"Wow, your mood has seriously improved. You actually replied. I was expecting another slash," She remarked, pointing at the cut I'd left under her eye.

"Yeah, well...I do like to kill," I shrugged, "Now stop talking to , I may be in a better mood, but you're still pretty irritating."

"You're being dramatic, both you and her. I was just trying to make things a bit awkward because I was bored and thought it'd be funny, I didn't expect to cause such a rift, especially since you two are usually so close. Well, I don't mind apologizing if that'll make you feel better, but I won't an it. I don't particularly care what happens between you two, after all. Though this does make it easier for to make a move on you now," She winked seductively, coming closer.

"No thanks, I'm good," I replied in exasperation, pushing her face away.

"Aw, why not? Not to brag or anything, but I'd say I'm fairly attractive," She inquired with a smirk.

"Sure, your appearance is fine...but on the inside, you're just creepy and annoying," I responded bluntly.

"Hehe, keep talking like that to and I'll only end up wanting you more. I am still a girl, I feel sexual attraction and have...certain desires...," She whispered slowly.

"Cool, well find soone else...I'm not interested."

"You're not fun at all, it won't kill you to play along a bit, you know," She finally backed off, sticking her tongue out at .

A bit of peace and quiet at last.

The remainder of my shift was uneventful, as was the rest of the night.

The next morning, we took so ti to discuss a change of tactics, as monsters were no longer the main threat we needed to watch out for.

"We'll be passing by a lot of overhead caves as we keep heading forward, and those are ideal spots to set up ambushes, there's every chance that we'll get dropped down on from above. And don't let yourself forget that monsters are still very much a threat, we'll only keep running into stronger and stronger types as we keep going. So, any suggestions on how we can improve our formation?" Inquired Instructor Trocuelo.

"Yeah...let's reverse the current formation and head back ho," Suggested Instructor Uensh, yawning.

"..."

"..."

"...any real suggestions?"

"What about sending a scout ahead?" I chid in, "I can use Lightning Boost to go ahead, check for enemies, and take them out if I find any."

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea. There are three of us here who can use that technique, so we can take turns at being the scout."

"Hey, wait! Why am I being dragged into this too?" Protested Misen with a look of dismay.

"Well, duh. You're the fastest person here, after all...what, are you scared?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

The job of a scout cos with an important responsibility, screw it up and everyone could die. Of course, the scout themselves were in the most danger.

I was pretty sure that Misen wasn't in the least bit afraid of running into any enemies, he just didn't want to be saddled with any responsibility. But I was the only one who knew that, everyone else would just assu he was being cowardly and fearing for his own life, so...he wouldn't protest too much.

"Is there so kind of problem?" Inquired one of the representatives, coming over to where we were all having this small eting.

Misen flinched and quickly wiped off the unhappy look on his face. Oh, that must be his father.

"Not at all, sir. We were simply discussing additional tactics we could use since we'll be running into more powerful monsters soon," Replied Instructor Trocuelo reassuringly.

A few minutes later, we continued to move, as I activated my Lightning Boost at x2.5 and ran ahead.

I cleared my mind and entered Bloodlust Mode, sharpening my senses and keeping a sharp eye out for any bloodlust around . After about five kiloters with no sign of any enemies, I stopped and waited for the group to catch up to . A few Lizardn ca slinking out from behind so rocks as I waited.

They were pretty vicious fighters, and could also spit out powerful acid, but their attacks were wild and easy to predict, so I had no trouble.

Well, I suppose you couldn't expect too much more from unintelligent monsters. As I took them out, the carts caught up to .

"Good work. Run into any trouble?" Asked Instructor Trocuelo.

"Nope, all clear so far."

"Alright then, I'll switch with you-."

"Nah, I can keep going for a while longer," I replied, before charging ahead again.

I can work on my Lightning Boost while I'm at this. Also, I don't want to miss out on any potential killing opportunities.

As I charged forward, eagerly hoping to run into so enemies, I would soon find out...be careful what you wish for...

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