Parallel Vol. 1
Chapter 12: The Cub -_-

Kashi woke to the stillness of the Naman forest. The first thing he noted was that his health had increased to half its original. It was more than enough though; he sat up and noticed the little cub little ways from him. It seemed to be asleep, unable to continue its vigil over him.

‘How long was I out?’ Kashi wondered as he stood up and brushed himself off. “Have a good life.” He gave the little cub a cursory wave then turned away, heading back in the direction of Fladnag’s home.

Halfway to his destination, a series of sharp short barks echoed behind him, increasing in intensity and volume. “No way,” he whispered, looking over his shoulder. Just as he feared, the black ball of fur came bounding down the path, barking at the top of its little lungs.

It missed its footing and tumbled down, rolling down the slope and stopped at Kashi’s feet.

“Are you okay?” Kashi sighed, kneeling down to inspect his stalker. He reached out a hand to examine the wolf, but it rejected his gesture, jumping back with fangs bared at him. He smiled wistfully at its reaction. “You hate me huh?” It replied with a low growl from the pits of its stomach.

Kashi withdrew his hand, stood up and resumed his trek. He noticed from the corner of his eye that the wolf relaxed and followed closely behind. How long did it plan to follow him for?

The duo made it to Fladnag’s home, the tension no less thick than their first meeting.

“I see you made it back alive,” Fladnag greeted when they entered his home.

“I did.” There was no joy in Kashi’s voice, and the wizard picked up on it.

“So, tell me. How did it feel to slay a beast that could not fight back in front of its child.”

Kashi’s face showed shock, which slowly twisted into unbridled anger. “You knew?!”

“Of course I did child.” Fladnag chuckled, but his eyes shared none of his humor. “That beast was a level sixty by the ranking standards. From the beginning, there was only one way for one such as you to slay it.”

“Why? Why force me to do something so despicable?”

“I did not force you to do anything.” The wizard’s gaze was cold and hard. “Your quest for power simply required you to crush an innocent life that did you no wrong. Do not forget you fired your arrow when you could have walked away.”

“I had no choice. It was the task you gave to me.” The harshness left his voice, replaced by deep regret.

“Oh, but there was a choice. You could have walked away. Of course, if you did, you would have had to give up on me granting you the power you seek.”

“What’s the lesson I’m supposed to learn here old man?” Kashi asked, losing all pretense of politeness in his frustration.

“You were forced to take a life today, one that will haunt you. In the future, in your bid for power, it is undeniable that you would be forced to take many more lives.”

“Then what do you ask of me? That I quit here? That is impossible I’m afraid. With or

without your help or not, I will get stronger.”

“Good. You would not be worth much if this level of sacrifice froze your feet.”

“What?”

“You will undoubtedly seek power and claim lives. However, I shall provide you with a purpose for that power which you seek. To accept it is your choice, but I shall speak no further until you decide.” Fladnag conjured a table with a teapot and two cups on it and a chair opposite him.

“You already know my answer.” Kashi took a seat on the chair and accepted the cup of tea offered to him.

Fladnag smiled and sipped from his cup. “Good. You mentioned wanting to atone for the sins of your people?”

“Yes, yes I did.”

“I will have you do exactly that.”

The daeben looked up from his tea, confused by the statement. “Sorry I do not follow you.

How am I supposed to do that?”

“You shall be charged with restoring the continent to its former beauty. I trust you can handle that.”

“W-wait a second. Restore the continent to its former glory you say. How exactly is someone like me supposed to do that?”

“By doing that which is in your blood. Conquer the continent and unite it under your banner.” Fladnag’s tone had gone dark, revealing his seriousness. This was no joke; he meant for Kashi to do exactly what he said.

“This makes no sense. You said yourself you hated bloodshed. To do what you ask of me would require large amounts of it.”

Fladnag’s sigh was akin to one a teacher would have when repeating the same lesson to a student for the umpteenth time. “I said I detest meaningless bloodshed.” He waved his hand and one of the many papers on the floor rose up and hovered over to him. “In a world such as ours, it is inevitable that blood must be spilled to enforce one’s ideals. The question you must ask yourself is this: “Is your reason for cutting down your target one you can defend proudly in the next life.” If not, then it truly is meaningless.”

“Are you saying it’s alright to kill as long as one has a good reason?” Kashi asked, disgusted and frightened by the wizard’s words.

“Does it matter one way or another? Everyone has his own goals and destiny. If one has to cut down an innocent being to save their family, what makes him any more guilty than the soldier who kills for his country?”

“They are not the sa-”

“Do not be naive!” Fladnag thundered, and for a second his aura suffocated Kashi, but he relaxed instantly. “Man is not so powerful that he can pick who lives and who dies. Sometimes, for there to be peace, there must first be war. For those in this world to truly ‘Live no Evil’, then someone must sacrifice himself and Live on Evil!”

“W-why are you telling me all this?”

He visibly calmed, collecting himself as he continued, “You possess extraordinary willpower which you displayed in your three-week training. Your hunger for power is great, but you also possess a heart kinder than anyone. But, even so, you are willing to crush your own conscience if it means carrying out what must be done. There is none more suitable for the role. Your quest for power will make you the strongest, and set you on the path of conquest. While uniting the land, your kindness will unite the people under you, and though you may be forced to sacrifice many lives for your cause, you will not falter.”

“You expect too much of me,” Kashi whispered, staring at the tea. His cup had lost its warmth, and the murky brown liquid reflected the turmoil in his heart.

“What’s this? Are you afraid of the challenge?”

The little wolf who till then had kept silent and watched the exchange, barked ferociously at Kashi as if daring him to give up.

“Heh.” Kashi chuckled, then punched himself hard in the face, knocking him over. His teacup floated above him, saved from crashing to pieces. “I’ll take on that challenge,” he said, picking himself up off the floor, a confident grin on his face.

“Good.” Fladnag smiled, and this time there was a twinkle in his eyes. “Then I have one final task for you.”

“What is it this time? I will face whatever you throw at me.”

“I see you’ve regained your confidence. Good good. But do not fret. This task is an easy one.”

“Yes?”

Fladnag pointed at the little cub. “Raise the cub to adulthood, then return to me.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Kashi nodded. “Raise the cu... Wait, what?!” He pointed at the beast in question, disbelief, and terror in his voice. “How do you expect me to raise that?! I’ve never even owned a goldfish, let alone a monster that so clearly wants to kill me!”

“Hohoho, she does, doesn’t she? It would do you well to be careful.”

“If you know how dangerous she... wait she? How do you know it’s a she?” Kashi glanced at the wolf. Nope, no way of knowing.

“It is an easy task for one such as I, as you will soon learn. So, do you wish to undertake this quest?” He poured a fresh cup of tea and handed it to the daeben.

New Quest: A Mother’s Love

With its last dying breath, the Direwolf entrusted her cub into your care. Now, Fladnag has requested you raise the cub to adulthood before returning to him.

Difficulty: E

Requirements:

Earn the Direwolf’s trust before it is slain.

Cub must survive the destruction of the cove.

Sighing, Kashi accepted the quest. “How long until she reaches adulthood?” he asked, sipping the delicious tea.

“Twelve weeks.”

“Wha-ugh!” He nearly choked on his tea and fought for air, pounding his chest to free up his airspace. A few coughs later, he finally calmed down and regained his composure.

“Did you say twelve weeks?”

“Yes, I did.”

“And in this time, I am to raise her?”

“Yes.”

“She will follow me everywhere?”

“Yes.”

“Even into dungeons?”

“Especially those.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Kashi sighed, staring at the little beast. With that little thing in the state it was, he could not even hunt foxes, let alone anything of a higher level. And he was to be stuck like that for twelve weeks? That was basically an entire month worth of play real-time.

By the time, he was done, all the players who had started with him would have skyrocketed past him in terms of level. Even those who began now would still hold a great advantage over him. To make things worse, it was the right time for guilds to start forming. For someone who was to be tasked with conquering the continent, he sure was starting quite late.

“Are you dissatisfied? Do you wish to quit?” Fladnag asked, mocking in his voice.

“Of course not, old man. Just watch me; I’ll be back on your doorstep with a magnificent wolf in twelve weeks.”

“Good, I like your confidence. Here, for your troubles so far.” He pulled out a gold coin and tossed it to the elf who caught it with mixed feelings.

Kashi was quite overjoyed because it was money, and money is always a good thing. But the coin reminded him of their first meeting.

“Nokonokonoko,” the voice laughed. “Choose quickly boy. Head or tails?”

“Tails! Tails!” The coin continued its descent picking up speed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Kashi fell to his knees in defeat and closed his eyes as the coin fell on him. “...”

“Who are you praying to?” the voice asked.

Kashi opened his eyes and saw the coin had stopped just above him, heads down. I’m alive. Felt my soul leave my body for a second there. Life had never felt so good, and

Kashi laughed like he never had. To think death could be so scary.

The door to the tree-house opened and out stepped an old man in grey robes and a

wooden stick. He was chocolate-skinned with the bushiest, longest and whitest beard

Kashi had ever seen.

“Fififififi, you chose correctly, but I’m sorry to tell you.. YOU SHALL NO-” An arrow whizzed by him, scratching his cheek. “Now what was that for?”

Kashi chuckled as he remembered how he had considered the old wizard to be bat-shit crazy when they first met. He still did, but now he thought Fladnag was a wise, powerful, crazy old man with too much time on his hands. He had learned a lot from him. Whether it be Razznik, or the lessons from slaying the wolf.

As he said goodbye to the wizard and made his way through the forest, he could not help but feel that somewhere along the line, this had already become much more than a game. Those crazy Genaco guys. To create a game with emotions as much as these...

It had been two days since Kashi entered the Naman forest where he was expected to perish. So when the adventurers saw him coming out of the forest unscathed, they all ran to him, clamoring to get their questions answered.

“What went on in there!”

“How did you get out alive!”

“Was it a secret quest? How do you activate it.”

For the most part, Kashi ignored them until he heard. “Yo, check out this little wolf. How much exp do you think we can get from it.”

The adventurer drew his sword and made to strike the wolf, but an arrow stabbed right into his arm, draining all but five percent of his health. With a cry, he jumped back and stared in fright at the daeben who had fired the arrow.

“Do not lay your hands on her,” Kashi ordered. His little stunt caused the users to back away, afraid they might be next. Bow in hand, he returned to the Training Centre, ignoring the snide comments around him.

“Welcome back, Kashi-kun,” Serti greeted upon his return. As usual, the three residents sat around one of several tables drinking and chatting. If Kashi had not met other residents, he might have thought they were land-locked like regular NPC.

“It is truly good to be back,” Kashi said, reverting to his formal speech.

“Ha. You owe me five gold Yugo. Told you he would make it back alive.” He chuckled, evidently pleased at Kashi’s success.

“I see you brought a friend,” Bert spoke up. “Come, little one. Do not be afraid.”

Kashi watched, shocked and impressed as the little wolf came out from hiding under a chair and walked over to Bert. She sniffed his outstretched arm, then jumped onto his lap and curled into a ball. She fell into a much-needed sleep soon after.

“Now that the little one’s asleep, tell us about your adventure.”

“It would be my honor,” Kashi said. “This is what happened after I left...”

Restricted Sector

Building 5

Sub-level 7

Dangerous Personnel Prison.

Akari walked through the narrow corridor ignoring the screams and yells from the inmates around him, locked in force-field generated cages. His only purpose for coming down to this degenerate area was for one person. The only true success in the Rebirth Project: The inmate of cell 47.

Unlike the other prison cells, cell 47 was not contained with just a forcefield. No, he was far too dangerous for that. Heaped on top of the field were several layers of airtight reinforced steel. The five gate cell was reserved especially for this prisoner.

“Open it.”

Akari watched as the gears turned, lock after lock released, and each layer of steel was peeled away, leaving only the field, which also dissipated. Cell 47 was kept in perpetual darkness, but they came on when he walked into the room.

On the wall of the cell, was a man wrapped in a straightjacket, tied to an iron support, which in turn was pinned to the wall. His mouth had been covered with a muzzle, and his eyes hidden with a face mask. His nutrients came from a series of needles that led into the wall, and he was heavily sedated whenever they needed to change his clothes.

Akari ripped off the muzzle then tore off the eye mask.

“Hello, Taiga. You want to play a game?”

Underneath a crop of dirty silver wavy hair, a pair of yellow eyes glared at Akari. His fang-like teeth curled up into a toothy grin. “Who do I have to kill?!”

“Whomever you please...”

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