Clash in Dplrus Canyon
"Monster delivery in the Dplrus Forest canyon. 'They brought monsters—could these guys be tied to the black curtain?' I thought calmly as I grabbed one mercenary by the handshake and punched his vital point, knocking him out cold."
Bulletproof...? He seemed to be wearing something like that, but with [Metal Skin] + [Recycle] maintaining my [Metal Mimic Exoskeleton], I was confident I could shatter most armor. My stats were staring right at 100 across the board—they weren't that weak. If it came to good old-fashioned fisticuffs, I welcomed it. Swinging swords like in some fantasy tale was what I actually struggled with.
'...Come to think of it, this is my first time fighting someone on my level, isn't it?' I tossed aside the gun and drew my sword as a mercenary charged. I smacked the blade away with the back of my hand. Whether I put too much force into it or my hand was just too sturdy, half the sword shattered with a sharp crack!.
Watch the strength control, I thought, stomping my left foot wide and driving a fist into his gut. As I pushed the power in like I was shoving it deep, there was a whoosh! of air and a thud!—he flew back, slamming into the iron bars and collapsing. That felt straight out of a kung fu flick. I shook out my hand, stomped again to scoop up the fallen submachine gun, and aimed it.
The mercenaries were already scrambling. The moment they realized bullets weren't piercing me, they pulled out weapons with longer barrels. Anti-adventurer gear or something? Protect my head—then bang! a shot slammed into my chest.
"Mana-sensing rounds! They can pierce tank armor with raw firepower alone!" The words felt clipped, but it was a gun enhanced for mana shields with boosted physical power. Unfortunately for them, it didn't penetrate me—the bullet burrowed in, stretching a long trail behind my back. Part of my body elongated with it until the momentum faded, snapping back elastically and flinging the round right back.
Thud! The heavy slug embedded itself in the cave wall.
"Wha... what the hell? His body stretched like rubber..."
"It actually stretched?!"
I flopped my arm like a noodle and whipped it like a lash. The technique I'd picked up watching [Hands Collector] was proving damn useful. My rubbery, elongating arm snagged the collar of a mercenary hefting a massive gun and yanked him toward me. I followed up with a metal-skin-reinforced headbutt to his crown, folding his trajectory straight into the ground face-first, then snapped my waist straight.
'[Recycle] really is a great skill...' The only downsides were no recycling natural materials and it being limited to my possessions. But rubber and metal mimics? Infinite supply—no issue there.
My arm stretched like a snake, skin turning steel-hard, bullets bouncing off harmlessly. The mercenaries cursed me as a monster bastard and started hurling grenades. I calmly shot them mid-air, detonating them before they reached me. Amid the boom! and billowing smoke, I charged, slamming a kick into one's gut.
Mid-leap, I used the kicked mercenary as a springboard for another jump, spinning in the air to smash a roundhouse into another's temple. This actually works. Boosted physical stats and constant calm from [Clear Mind] made it possible. It was just aping the goofy martial arts from Chinese movies, but pulling it off for real gave me this indescribably weird thrill.
While I methodically neutralized them without killing, dialing back my strength, Po'runga was crawling walls and ceilings like an Alien xenomorph, snatching them with her tail or snapping necks mercilessly.
"We just needed like five live ones anyway, right?"
"What was it... all limbs intact? Drop your weapons and surrender."
Clang, clang—the monsters trapped in our crates went berserk, excited by the noise.
I didn't know about the Empire... but these guys all claimed to be mercenaries. That meant they were probably just following orders. As Po'runga and I stayed vigilant for more, sudden applause echoed, swallowing the groans filling the cave.
At the sound, the downed mercenaries let out terrified eeks!, trembling and thrashing wildly despite their pain, trying to rise.
"Now that's more like it. We're the type who'll do anything for pay."
A man in black combat gear and a dragon mask flipped his mask up.
"All we had to do was snag one fancy human like you, and even without limbs, we'd eat for life... too bad. Should I kill you? Nah, probably not. Tsk..."
He said it so casually, like killing me was no big deal. He seemed confident in his skills—unlike the others, no gun in sight. I measured the distance, pondering my move carefully, when he struck first.
Guns scattered around flew into the air, triggers pulling themselves as bullets rained on me. In the split second I crossed my arms to shield my eyes, I spotted the thick pile bunker on his arm and gasped.
"C-grade at least?"
Faster than I could grab, the bunker's blade tip leveled at my belly. Steam hissed, followed by a boom! as it launched. I blocked the crushing thrust with both hands gripping my metal mimic [chamber pot].
He didn't flinch at the sudden pot, reaching for his belt to spray acid. I whipped out a level 2 wet tissue summon—wet towel—to intercept; it melted on contact.
"You a magician or what?!"
I hucked a level 4 ethanol spray at the stunned bastard and cast [Fireball], igniting it from inside. Flames roared up. He reflexively leaped back.
I figured he panicked at the mere burning spray can—but then his hand dipped to his waist. I triggered [Friend☆ship] and seized it.
"Gah—!"
Vision flipped in an instant. The moment I grabbed his hand, he'd countered with a guided throw, slamming me down. A red-mana blade hovered at my neck as Po'runga charged—he halted her.
"Tch, all kinds of weird shit. No wonder humans fetch top dollar."
He backed off like he saw through my next move, grumbling. I desperately reached for my memorize spellbook, but only half hung torn from my belt. He smirked at my panic, like I was some green rookie.
His hand held the other half of my spellbook.
"Carrying something so obvious—worthless."
He drew a pistol and shot a downed subordinate's head.
"You crazy fuck!"
Po'runga lunged—not at him, but the downed merc. I cast a skill on her, grabbing her hand to stop her. That's when the dragon-masked man pulled a remote and hit a button. Heads swelled and boom!—exploded in purple toxic smoke.
"Goddamn, you embedded bombs in your own guys' skulls?!"
"Mercs live on trust. If they spill secrets, it's a loss for the org. Useless if they fuck up. Hell, I'm the one stuck cleaning up—owe me an apology."
Even his own men treated like disposables? I scowled alongside furious Po'runga. He shrugged—advance pay covered it, fewer heads to split meant more for him. His alien vibe clashed hard with Trust Union.
"Don't worry, they won't die. Bit mangled, but plenty of girls into ruined faces, right?"
His laugh at the encroaching poison gas cut short. The hand I'd grabbed boomed! in a secondary blast. Clutching his mangled fist, he raged about my freak skills, then yelled in frustration as the gas cleared around me, scratching his head.
"Driving me nuts! Whatever. Catch you later if fate wills it. 'Anything for money'? By your face, you'd say fuck off—but yeah."
The job: transport goods via gate. First, big monsters; second, no biggie. He shot our locks off. Three crates total. As the first cargo lumbered out, he activated the gate and bolted inside.
"Dealing with Empire scum? You goblin-dicked fucks!"
Po'runga lost it completely, hurling a knife with murder in her eyes—but he shot back, "Filthy whore, go birth a goblin!" pocketed the knife, and vanished through the gate.
One merc escaped; the rest slaughtered by their own boss. We could piece together more from traces... but first, Po'runga and I swallowed hard, staring up at the emerging monster.
"Groooar..."
...I could talk to animals with druid powers now, but those bloodshot eyes drooling madness, baring fangs—no way conversation worked. We backed away cautiously, but the massive beast followed: eagle head, lion body, roaring as it spread wings and charged through the cave.
"Lower body's lion...! It's a griffon, human! Snap out of it!"
"...Should've hit the hot springs first."