We hunt monsters 14, p.46
We Hunt Monsters 14, page 46
“Out of line?” Bob asked, his voice sounding highly indignant. “He subverted System rules and attacked my charge without provocation! Keith was lucky to get out of there alive!”
“While I do think there was some luck involved in the fight, I believe you owe your charge the credit he is due. Even with all his disadvantages and the loss of his Artificial Mind, he still found a way to bluff Number 12 into complacence. He must already have suspected that that blast wouldn’t be strong enough to take Number 12 down. He also knew that he needed to bring it low enough for his Doomfire Titan’s Rampage to be able to inflict its volatile damage at close range.
“Discovering Number 12’s lack of pain sense was a crucial part of this, as was suffering enough personal damage to bring his respective stats high enough for that final blow to work. Even boosted by a factor of 50, his Strength would not have been enough to end it in a single blow had he not suffered as he had at Number 12’s hands. Not with Number 12’s chain already embedded in his shoulder.
“Keeping him talking got him to drop his guard, and while he didn’t suffer the full effects of the Fallout damage exuded by his armor, that, in combination with the gained stat points, was enough to put an end to the battle with a single well-placed blow.”
“So, you were watching the entire time,” Keith said, his voice flat.
“No, I was only made aware of the situation a moment before my arrival,” Number 7 said, tapping her temple. “The information was uploaded into my mind as I was stepping through a portal.”
“Man, she is one freaky broad, bro. She gives me the willies,” Tac said, giving a mental shudder.
That she was. Number 7 had seen his entire strategy in apparently a second. The revelation that Number 12 knew everything about him might have been Keith’s undoing, if not for the overconfidence shown by the inquisitor. He knew about all of Keith’s items and abilities, so he should have known that Doomfire Titan’s Rampage could be activated if his total health was below five percent.
Of course, he also knew about everything else. So, how to hide a skill in plain sight? It was shockingly easy. All Keith had had to do was throw out a whole bunch of distractions and pretend to slip up before unleashing all the pent-up energy from Titan’s Shelled Destruction. Even without the warning, he believed there was a solid chance Number 12 lived through it, so he decided to let it slip at the last second.
If the inquisitor died, he would win regardless, and if he didn’t…Well, he had no healing skills left, and he’d just used his trump card. The inquisitor was so focused on Keith’s seeming failure to finish him off that he didn’t even notice how he’d been careful to take hits that he likely could have avoided, nor did he retreat several miles to regroup and come up with a new strategy like he usually did. He didn’t notice that Keith allowed himself to be speared by a chain in a non-lethal area of his non-dominant arm or how he stashed all his weapons and kept him talking as he used the armor’s final effect.
The Fallout damage Number 12 had suffered was minimal, but that was never the point. He just wanted to whittle him down enough so that his final blow, thrown at fifty times his usual Strength, would be enough to finish the inquisitor. When he’d first stepped in here, he’d had a boosted Strength stat just over 31,000. If he multiplied that by fifty, he would be close to 1.6 million points of damage in a single punch. After his gains, he was just shy of 50,000 points, bringing his total damage up to nearly two-and-a-half million in a massive increase.
Given Number 12’s insane armor, it wouldn’t have been enough, even at point-blank range. Any skill buildup would have given him away, so this had been his only option. Fallout damage was supposed to sap the victim of 10% of their total health every second. It should have meant Number 12’s death the instant he was inside his sphere of influence. Instead, his health had been sapped by less than a tenth of that. Still, conversing with him for roughly five seconds had brought his remaining health from around half a million to just under 400,000, and that final blow had been enough to tear through the remainder of his health.
It had been a huge gamble, but seeing as it was a clean strike with no impervious-to-damage chains getting in the way, the risk had been a calculated one that had paid off.
“Well, yeah, I knew that,” Bob huffed, crossing his arms. “But he was lucky in the sense that none of the Imperial Ten showed up instead of Number 12.”
Keith raised an eyebrow.
“I suppose you are correct,” Number 7 said. “While this knowledge is generally considered forbidden, considering your circumstances, I suppose knowing a bit more about how the inquisitorial hierarchy functions would be okay. While I will not say how many of us there are, suffice it to say that not all inquisitors are created equal, something I’m sure you’ve gleaned by your peek at my own status. Inquisitors forfeit their names when they join our ranks and are instead assigned a number. The higher the number, the greater their power. Generally, this is measured in smaller increments, but this is only true until you reach the single digits.
“The difference in power between Number 10 and Number 9 is vast, and each of us is subsequently more powerful than the one below. As you can see, I am Number 7, and depending on how you look at it, I am either the eighth strongest inquisitor in the world, or the eighth weakest in the Imperial Ten. I should also warn you that while there are an Imperial Ten, the top five, Numbers 4 through 0, put all the rest of us to shame.”
“I appreciate all the information,” Keith said with a frown. “But judging by the way you’re speaking, it’s almost as though you’re expecting what happened with Number 12 to happen again.”
Number 7 sighed, a sad frown touching her lips.
“The inquisitors, like any organization, have those with different temperaments and goals. Yes, we work for the System, but for the most part, we may act independently so long as we can find probable cause. If the System truly believed Number 12 was in the wrong, he’d never have been able to attack you in the first place, regardless of whether you had a means of defending yourself or not. I cannot pretend to speak for the System, I only interpret its rules as best I can, and while I cannot see any faults, others clearly do.”
“Can you please elaborate?” Keith asked. “There’s already enough on my plate without me having to worry about a System inquisitor falling down on my head out of nowhere for some half-cocked reason for doing so and being allowed to get away with it.”
“Keith, you are the first mortal in history to kill a Spirit. Doing so once is scary enough, but to do so twice is downright terrifying. We may be immune to the effects of true death so long as we are bound, but there are those among our number who believe the System may just give you a way to do so if it believes you’d earned that right or that it might simply be entertaining to do so. Shake up our ranks and make us doubt everything we have come to believe.
“You are currently holding in your possession more World Items than any single continent has held collectively at any point in our long history. Some of our number believe that you have grown too powerful and must be removed from the world before you cause any further damage. The proof of what you’ve done is clear to see. In just a few short years, you’ve unified all of Humania, Beastland, the Fourliance, and the Sunlit Isles. You’ve ended decades-long curses, changed the power dynamic between humans and monsters, killed four titan beasts and forced the System to change the way the world worked on more than one occasion, such as the addition of Assault Bosses. Do you understand what that means?
“You effectively have the majority of the world under your thumb. That’s not the kind of power inquisitors take kindly to, and when you start talking about hunting down World Bosses and collecting items, it’s bound to ruffle some feathers. Additionally, Monstros has long been considered the most unassailable continent on the planet. If you were to somehow conquer that as well, you could – and mind you, this is only a remote possibility – shed your mortality completely.”
Keith frowned at that. What Number 7 was saying was all true, but he’d never really thought about it that way. He couldn't care less about taking over the world. All he needed was money and resources to beat the quest handed to him by The Trickster.
“What do you mean, shed my mortality?”
“I mean that if there are enough people who believe in your unassailable power and invulnerability, it’s possible for you to become the first mortal to ascend to the level of the Spirits. What that would mean for the world, even I do not know, but if I had to guess, it would mean that you would be able to remain in the mortal realm while retaining your immortal body. Something like that could break the world itself.”
“Wouldn’t the System put a stop to that?” Keith asked. “I mean, it does want to keep this world intact and fair.”
“As I said, we do not know,” Number 7 said. “Now, enough of that and back to the matter at hand. You are correct that it is your right to claim Number 12’s chains for yourself. Considering that it would be unwise for you to take them, I propose a trade. I will grant you a Trait making you impervious to System Lockout by inquisitors. I realize this isn’t the monetary reward you’re looking for, but it will give you a fighting chance when you inevitably come across more of my kind looking for an excuse to bring you in.”
“So, you’re telling me the best you can do is prevent them from locking me down?” Keith asked. “I already managed that mostly on my own, thanks to Domain Zone. This hardly seems like a fair trade.”
“Number 12 may have been limited to physical attacks by Domain Zone’s influence, but I can assure you that anyone in the Imperial Ten will have at least some System Access, even inside your pocket world. But you are correct in stating that Domain Zone could act as a counter to you losing your own abilities if activated in time. Very well. I will grant you one more item that will prevent your World Boss Core from burning out when used and will allow your smiths to work on it to craft you a new World Item. Does that seem like a fair trade?”
“Yes,” Bob said immediately, jumping in before Keith could say anything to the contrary.
Number 7 didn’t react, waiting for Keith’s agreement before extending her hand.
“Then consider this trade to be done and witnessed by the System.”
You have gained the Trait: System Cord. Your access to the System, including all skills, stats, inventory, items, and so on cannot be revoked, even by the authority of a System Inquisitor.
World Core Reclaimer has been added to your inventory.
Note: You will no longer be allowed to purposefully hunt World Bosses on any continent other than Monstros. If you should stumble upon one by accident, you may alert your guild, but you will not be allowed personal intervention.
“Well, poop,” Bob muttered as the final notification popped up. “I mean, I was totally expecting that to happen, but I was hoping it wouldn’t.”
“That concludes our business here, Keith the Unconquerable,” Number 7 said as she rose, the chains taken from Number 12’s body, which was slowly disintegrating to dust. “One final word of caution before I depart. Each inquisitor’s abilities are unique to them. Keep that in mind if you should cross paths with another of my kind. Additionally, look for a number. It will alert you as to whom you are up against.”
As she spoke, Number 7 pulled the top of her chest wrapping down a bit on the left side, revealing a number stamped there, made up of swirling runes and symbols. She held there for a moment longer, then stepped backward through a forming portal and vanished, leaving Keith and Bob alone with the remains of the disintegrating corpse of the inquisitor.
69
“Wow, that is a lot to dump on a guy all in one go,” Tac said as Keith sat on the ground, not having bothered to move from the area where Number 12 had confronted him.
“Things just keep getting more and more complicated,” Keith sighed, rubbing his temples. “Bob, in terms of power, where do inquisitors stack up against Spirits?”
“Well, that would depend on the inquisitor or Spirit in question,” Bob said. “But generally speaking, Spirits are stronger as they’re usually immortal. But if you’re talking about a Spirit whose soul has been forced into their Anchor, I’d say they’re on equal footing for the most part, so long as the inquisitors can maintain System Access. If not, Spirits would definitely be stronger, as inquisitors won’t be swinging around World Items.”
“For the most part?” Keith asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, the Imperial Ten tend to fall outside that scale of power, especially the top five. There are also the oldest Spirits, the Spirits of Light and Darkness, as well as the Elemental ones. But, enough about that. Don’t we have a continent to save?”
“I think I’m going to take five,” Keith said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
“What about everything going on around us?” Bob asked.
“Everyone’s already working on it,” Keith said, keeping his eyes closed. “There’s nothing for me to do but wait.”
“You can pop back to Monstros while everyone’s working here,” Bob suggested. “Check in on everyone.”
“In five,” Keith said, taking another deep breath and promptly ignoring the monkey as he tried to fall into a meditative state.
It wasn’t the easiest thing, considering everything that had just happened. He never thought he’d come up against an inquisitor. It hadn’t even crossed his mind. He was always careful in how he handled himself and never did something expressly forbidden by the System. He didn’t go around randomly killing Level 1s or derailing the quests of weaklings on Humania. He’d only dealt with the strong, and as such, had never received a warning for his actions.
For an inquisitor to show up unannounced and attack him like that was honestly a bit worrying, especially considering how close he was to reaching his goal. Keith was only a single World Monster away from regaining all he had lost, and now another major wrench was being thrown into the works.
He almost felt like calling The Trickster out. The problem was that he was still alive, having managed to defeat the man in single combat, but only just barely. What would he do if one of the Imperial Ten showed up? If they were that much stronger than Number 12 and would have access to a bunch of skills and spells, Keith didn’t know if he could squeak out a win. The one thing he had going for him was that not every inquisitor knew everything at all times. That much was obvious from what Number 7 said about having only just received information on him as she’d been arriving.
Still, he had to assume that any inquisitor who came after him would know his tactics, skills, and items. Despite how he’d played that against Number 12, he suspected the next challenger wouldn’t be so easily dissuaded.
Worse, there was nothing he could do to boost his own defenses. Number 12 had struck through his armor as though it weren’t even there. It was why his armor had kept functioning with zero issues throughout. It was a mental space, but damaged equipment should have stopped working, even if it would start up again once he returned to the real world. And although Number 7 told him that every inquisitor had different abilities, he believed that they all shared at least a few in common. Armor piercing had to be one of them, though Keith was quite certain that the inability to feel pain was either unique to Number 12 or had only been adopted by a few of the less smart in the inquisitor ranks. As horrible as pain was, it kept him sharp, and any true warrior wouldn’t want their pain sense removed.
Finally giving up on meditation, Keith opened his status to view the change he’d gone through thanks to that battle.
Status (Abbreviated)
Name: Keith the Unconquerable Hunter
Race: Avatar Primordial Hunter
Class: Primordial Soul Hunter
Level: 93
XP: 412,900/17,100,000 (Reduced from 19,000,000)
HP: 2,233,610/2,233,610
STA: 860,810/860,810
Strength - 49,833 (Base 26,888)
Vitality - 223,361 (Boosted 4,175 + (Base 73,062 X3)
Endurance - 86,081 (Base 71,416)
Agility - 40,334 (Base 26,569)
Wisdom - 29,849 (Base 21,174)
Luck - 28,379 (Base 22,244)
There really was a huge difference in his stats from the last time he’d viewed them. His health was now in the realm of some Section Bosses thanks to the boost from his Title. His stats had basically tripled where Strength and Agility were concerned, while having increased far more for Wisdom and Luck.
“Bob, is another inquisitor going to pop out in the next five minutes to attack me while I’m recovering?” Keith asked.
“Highly doubtful,” Bob replied. “I doubt they could, even if they wanted to. The appearance of one inquisitor basically locks a space down, preventing any others from taking up their ‘case,’ so to speak, for a period of twenty-four to seventy-two hours. Number 7 was only able to show up under direct System orders. Others who want to just come of their own free will will have to wait. Also, I doubt you’ll be seeing any for a little while.”
“Why’s that?” Keith asked, leaning back and staring up into the night sky.
“Because they need a reason to show up,” Bob said. “They can’t just pop out of nowhere and try to kill you. They need to state what you’ve done wrong, and only then can they attack. Otherwise, it would be inquisitors running the world, not mortals.”
“Well, at least I’ve got that going for me,” Keith sighed. “So, until I do something they can interpret as a violation of the System’s rules, I’m safe.”
“Safe from them anyway,” Bob replied. “You’ll still have to contend with everything else we come up against.”
“Right,” Keith sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Let’s get this Reclaimer to Farah, then head back to Monstros for a few hours as you suggested. I could use something to eat, and I think I’d like to start working on my next batch of Elixirs.”
“Yeah, given all that’s happened, I think that’s a good idea,” Bob replied. “Maybe also take the time and see if you can help Melkin with that seal. Who knows, there might be something useful behind there.”
