Chapter 2 Prologue (2) - A Story

"These people—our people—they lived in a forest. The Fantastic Forest, you know it. And 'Fantastic Forest' wasn't just any name for it, no. Know it—the name was well-deserved, very well-deserved. Ancient, full of riches, wondrous, prosperous. Why, didn't that suffice for it to be called in this dignified manner? For it to be called Fantastic, with a big capital 'f'? Of course it did, but to make it even more fantastical… it was the forest where everything began!"

This young man and the two kids often did that: Sitting together around a good meal, be it at home or here, and listened to fantastic stories being told and taught. This routine never grew redundant on the children. They loved it. Time and time again, for as long as they could remember, that same legendary story had been counted to them. And they believed it all.

As the story was recounted to them yet again, for the nth time, the two kids both swore a silent oath to never, ever grow bored of the ancient tales, so much their young minds believed in and were fascinated by such stories. It was tradition. They'd sworn to that before, so they did today.

"And that tribe of… our ancestors, hm… well, they dwelled in the heart of it. In the heart of their fantastical forest. And there, they lived. Live, sure. They enthusiastically worked by the daytime, bathing within the sun as they worked the earth, and they merrily danced by nighttime, rejoicing under the moon as they all rested together." There the young man paused. His face became stern. "Peace. There was peace," he nodded as if he saw the peace he talked about with his eyes.

"One night, peace was no more." To these words, his impassible facade silently crumbled. It was replaced by one of anger, and trepidation. His acting worked well. The boy began to rock his head with quick, little moves, frowning and smiling in nervous expectation, and the girl gasped, motionless. They waited for that part. "You heard it—peace was no more. The peaceful tribe? It'd gotten itself enemies. That peaceful time? It was now a time of battle. … Dun, dun, dun… monsters attacked! Showed up by the dark, and attacked the poor tribe—

"It was a long time ago—Tribe's warriors fell in battle—Monsters are mean things. A very long time ago, and the children cried—Monsters are real mean things, aren't they. It was a terrible event, a terrible experience. The village had never seen such a thing (as war), but now they were forced to see it. Never been acquainted with such an ill, yes sir, never. ...Now they were."

A second ago, as his breath was held tight, the boy thought it was a good thing to interrupt the young storyteller and yelled that he, as opposed to the other children, didn't cry and would never. He was just ignored. Right now, he thought it was a good thing to interrupt again: "Bu—butt—but some survived! Right, right?!" and he stuttered all the way.

The young man chuckled. "I'm getting to that part! Some survived."

"I… knew it! …Heard that?!" The boy frantically turned to the girl. "Our ancestors... they made it out alive!" At these words, the girl's two round eyes grew even bigger, she blinked twice, still very much in awe.

That terrible event marked this people's time. Monsters were real, real, real nasty little mean things. "But… boo!" cried the storyteller, before the two children jolted, half-afraid. "Human beings... they were even nastier than 'em! Hahaha!"

The boy echoed the young man, "E-Even nastier than the monsters!?" and the young silent lady, who also sat at around the table, did shake her head with disapproval but ultimately said nothing. Some of the words her fiancé spoke weren't very… orthodox and appropriate, but wasn't it all just a fairy tale?

The young man laughed, and the story went on. That tribe of people was in dire need of help. And remember, the forest, it's fantastical, right? Why is it again? Because everything began there. That forest was the Divine Spirits' land. So the people respectfully went, got on their knees, and bowed their heads, asking for the Divine Spirits' guidance and aid.

A monster had its claws, its fangs, and its tough skin. The tribe had none of that. All they had was their patience and persistence. In both fighting back and asking for help.

So the fight went on. A day passed, then it was a week, and then a month. The humans, our ancestors, they were on the verge of extinction. The boy interrupted the young man to ask a question. What's extinction mean? It means they were gonna disappear, in a real mean way.

"Ah!" cried the boy.

"No, but at last, the tribe was gifted with strength." They were now much stronger, he said, so they fought back. "But monsters weren't quite givin' up yet!"

The two children got all excited at once. Just in the same fashion as moments ago, they turned to each other as they were stirred with excitement. They clasped their hands together and thrust their eyes back to the storyteller. Their eyes were filled with shining stars; they loved that story.

"—Ahem!" the young man loudly cleared his throat. "And remember, kids: this story's for…?"

"Real!" "It's for real!"

He laughed, "You got it… And only real stories are worth being scared about… But you know that too! Ha-ha!"

Then again, at the exact same time: "Won't never be scared!" "We're not scared, sir!"

Oh, but they will be scared. They were in for a nasty surprise, this time about. They just didn't know it yet. They failed to know it. They failed to know me. A nasty surprise. Be it those two tiny kids sitting there who were barely contained in their place, that silent, passive lady sitting nearer them, or that young man, who theatrically went about making his loud sounds of clearing his throat again—his voice took a grave and stern tone. I, the monster, would go and massacre everyone... but they, unfortunately or not, failed to know that.

"'Getting under my skin, humans… Irritating me…'" growled the young man, playfully continuing, "growled a monster!" As it was, the two kids were already super-excited, but they showed no limit. Their giggles of excitement grew even shriller and wilder. That part of their Ancient Tale was their favorite. The monsters were the most frightening, dreadful, and severe of all things. The two kids loved it.

According to that young man's tale, after the ancestors were gifted with power—the Divine Forest Spirits offered them support—they fiercely took a good grip on the ill of their forest. Those were the monsters. Right by the roots they seized their ill: it was expeditious, at last, they swiftly did away with the monsters' threat.

Everything wasn't over yet, however. Before the monsters were thoroughly defeated, one spoke. 'You're seriously getting under my skin, humans… Irritating me…' It spoke and it announced, wait for it… the monster's vengeance!

"A monster in particular was real angry about it all as you can imagine, kids. That's because they're mean things, the monsters, remember? So what did the monster say anyway—or rather, sorry, what did it growl, hmm? …Any guesses? …Heh~ Cat got your tongue, then?"

The children were speechless. Though they certainly knew the following of their favorite fairy tale, they knew to keep their mouths shut, for once. They didn't tell the story; the storyteller did. So they quietly waited for him to continue.

"—And the monster growled, 'I shall get revenge for this!'" In unison, the two children jumped. Slowly shaking their heads, no, they wouldn't 'never be scared,' would they? "And it growled again, even more fiercely, 'Humans… I will crush you! You shall pay for this! My will shall not die with me!'"

The boy jumped out of his chair, stood up, and yelled in a frenzy, "Me! I! Question! Wh—what—what's the mean-mon-meanster's will, sir?!"

The young man winced, shook his head, then grinned, showing his range of teeth. "It is to… eat… you… all… up!—what'd you think?" He had a feral look on his face, his eyes were as if bloodshot. But he was only teasing, of course.

And the boy fell back in his place, now he was afraid, 'cause that was a real story, right…? Theatrically, and with even grander movements, the young man went on with his story… he wouldn't want to lose his momentum, after all. His audience was so immersed in the story. The two kids listened so attentively, just as if they saw every part of the story unfolding right in front of them. For that matter, even I, at this moment, still from within my cup of water, was totally immersed in the tale.

And the monster went on addressing the ancestors: 'Have me if you want! But you will not have my will. After me, my vengeance will come. Oh, greedy creatures! Like your greed, 'it' will come from within you and your ranks!'

…Ring!

❮ Confirmed. Creation — Materializing a body 'from within you'—

❮ Failure to proceed — Identifying and defining of the particle 'from within you' — Answer: from within humans — Retrying: Materializing a body 'from within humans'

❮ … Failure to proceed: Requirements for the creation of 'human-based' life not found — Shortage of requisite materials.

❮ Creation — Looking for alternatives… ❯

The monster went on: 'Like the greediness that has led us to that—' Oh! But the boy got questions to ask, so the story was briefly interrupted. "'ll come from you? What's it mean for once?!" Apparently, the two kids wouldn't just be walked through that second, heavy part of their favorite tale. "What does it mean, sir?" The girl asked too, agreeing with her sibling.

"You kids ask questions?" said the young man. "But to be honest… I dunno! Not important! How dare you interrupt the storytelling!"

Their hands dropped, but they would still interrupt the storytelling. The boy protested this was an important part of the story. He and his little sister therefore turned to one another, reflecting on that part. The sister spoke first. A nonsensical conversation between these two little things unfolded.

"If it's from you, mm, it could be one of two things!"

❮ Creation — Looking for alternatives… ❯

"Oh!"

"The heart or lungs!"

❮ Confirmed. Creation — Materializing a 'Heart or lungs'—Failure to proceed. The particle 'Heart or lungs' is not a valid statement. Object 'Heart or lungs' does not constitute a sustainable being by itself.

❮ — Looking for alternatives… ❯

"Oh…! No, dummy! It's gotta be the brains if it's within then! Brains' stronger than the rest after all!"

❮ Confirmed. Materializing a— Failure to proceed. Does not constitute a sustainable being by itself. ❯

"Don't call me a dummy! It could be a nose, too!"

The two kids theorized a lot about me in their heated debate. A heart? No. Lungs? No. Well, then brains? 'Brains' stronger!' said the boy… so it must be the brains, right? Can't be that either. When they proposed it to be a nose, it failed to 'proceed' again. ❮ —Failure to proceed. ❯

"Nose's no part 'from within'! Dummy, y'know you are."

"I say nose!"

And finally…

"No," finished the kid. A fresh glass of milk had just been brought to the table by a prompt waiter; it was placed in front of the boy. The child drew his arm, snatched it up, and poured the liquid down his throat. Then the young man spoke. "Shall I continue the story then?" But the boy's eyes lit up, and he continued his analysis of the 'monster's will' in a hurry. "Way I see it, when I drink, I pee! Water comes out!"

❮ Looking for alternatives… ❯

Oh?

"And papa says if you don't drink water—oh and doc says in the body there's plenty of water! So if you don't drink it you become dead: it's gotta be pee, uh, water, then." He paused as he found it.

❮ 'Water.' 'From within you.' Confirmed. Creation — Materializing a body of water—

❮ Creation — Looking for alternatives … 1 alternative(s) found: Due to the nearby Item(s) 'Teacup Highly Concentrated in Mana x1' and 'Seeds of Power x999' materializing a body of water sustained by a sufficiently high concentration of magical energy efficiently possible. ❯

And then, after a succession of 'Failure to proceed this', 'Failure to proceed that', I finally began to glow. I told you I was from the witch's cauldron. For whatever reason, I arose from it. I was served at a certain table. To customers. Well, the witch's cauldron full of elixir started to glow while I started to take shape. In this fantasy world, it's what they call a unique monster. Or an anomaly monster. But I digress.

With my sudden appearance, I immediately obtained two skills; I was rather slime-like. ❮ Creation — The (Passive) Skill [Jelly-like Shapelessness] has been acquired! — The (Passive) Skill [Resistant Body] has been acquired! ❯ Somehow, I did resemble a certain blue slime everyone liked.

Those two skills anyway, they were only marking the beginning of it all.

Right. And the boy paused after he found the solution to his problem. And the kid's sister seemed to agree with him; it must be water. The boy had just downed his entire glass of milk like an old drunkard would his beer, and forcefully slammed it onto the table with a burp. "Oughta be it! Right, sir!"

"I dunno!" the young man curtly said, shrugging his shoulders. "But on to the story…" he continued.

The children weren't so put off by the storytelling anymore… that was a problem! The young man's theatrics weren't the best. As he couldn't lose to the two kids, he took it upon himself to be even more dramatic and deep, let's say, in the telling of the Ancient Tale. The children needed to be scared, at least. And so the monster, as well as the story, went on

The monster went on: 'Greed has led us to our predicament, humans! Like the greediness that has led us to that (and the young man growled), it—my vengeance—will come from you';

❮ Confirmed. Creation — Quantifying of the particle 'Greed' required—