...

I was only awakened from my stumper by the voice of that detestable middle aged man…

“Guard the perimeter with your lives, this is an [Order]! Ryo, which bag did you pack the potions in?!?!” yelled the middle aged man.

I took a brief look around and it seems I somehow spaced out through the remains of the battle. From the looks of things, the orc general and the archer have been defeated, and thankfully no one else seems to have died somehow. Though the middle aged man appears to have taken quite a few new injuries.

“It is in the big bag on the left” replied Ryo then headed to the front to take up guarding the perimeter along with the rest.

The middle aged man walked up to the bag and began to forage through it looking for the potions. His condition seemed to be pretty serious.

He was standing about 2 meters in distance facing away from me...that...that evil magician...the one who took away Kuina…

My eyes became sharper and my body began to redden up. If I had any thoughts of taking a step back, with the activation of [Berserk] they were now gone, along with most of my sanity as anger overflowed, all that remained was hatred! The only reason I barely remained sane is due to my high [MNT] stat.

Due to overcoming a large mental hurdle: +1 MNT

My body began to slightly emit white smoke as my [Stamina] began to fall sharply to almost nothing and the [Ancient Mithril Dagger] appeared in my hands. If there is any reason I remain unnoticed, it is due to my [Blend Stealth].

Soon, the middle aged man found the potion he was looking for, and like a predator who just found his prey a small opening was created. And in that small opening I closed the distance with [Charge]. When I closed the distance short enough I unleashed [Meteor Rush]!

At that point my speed transcended beyond any normal possibilities, this was not only from the combined speed of [Charge] and [Meteor Rush]. Due to the gift Kuina left me [Runner: Accelerate]. All my skills that increase speed were improved.

[CP][Runner: Accelerate] Level N/A

Increase speed of all skills by 20% + 1% for every level in your non-combat class + 0.5% for every point of [SPD]

With that, my skills like [Charge] and [Meteor Rush] improved by 21%. As I accelerated, huge pressure was put on my body far more than any roller coaster I have ever felt.

Due to overcoming a your limits in speed: +1 AGI

And as I got close enough, I let out a [Thrust] aiming right at the weak point shown by [All-Observing-Eyes][Overload] in the back of his neck! If the middle aged man was not focused on the potion or was a speed based type, my efforts would most likely be fruitless. But the situation was in my favor as the dagger reached his skin.

At that point my [Penetrate] skill activated. This skill helps lower the defense of the opposing target. While humans unlike monsters have weak skin, that is only relative. The middle aged man is so high level, despite him not even being a [VIT] build, his [VIT] stat most likely is higher than all my combat stats combined! This is also why I spent all my remaining free points into [STR] as every little bit counts.

Due to overcoming a large hurdle: +1 STR

As I barely penetrate through his skin and reach blood, my [Impale] skill activates. And the force I exert increases by a huge margin! That is the power of the [Impale] skill, if you get a solid hit in, and reach blood, it significantly increases your attack power. But regardless of hit or miss, if [Impale] is used, your body is frozen up for half a second.

Now that I have reached his softer insides, and with help of [Impale], my dagger quickly shreds through!

[Critical Hit] You have dealt 291 damage to the [Bruno Razer]!

And just like that…

he died...

Level up!

Sentient Creature: +1 in all unlocked attributes +1 free attribute +20 HP +10 Stamina +10 Mental

Beastkin: +2 STR +2 VIT +1 AGI

Catkin: +2 AGI +1 DEX

Level up!

Sentient Creature: +1 in all unlocked attributes +1 free attribute +20 HP +10 Stamina +10 Mental

Beastkin: +2 STR +2 VIT +1 AGI

Catkin: +2 AGI +1 DEX

Level up!

Sentient Creature: +1 in all unlocked attributes +1 free attribute +20 HP +10 Stamina +10 Mental

Beastkin: +2 STR +2 VIT +1 AGI

Catkin: +2 AGI +1 DEX

You have acquired a new skill [RA][Hearing Sense] Level 1

Non-Combat class has been unlocked!

Level up!

Sentient Creature: +1 in all unlocked attributes +1 free attribute +20 HP +10 Stamina +10 Mental

Beastkin: +2 STR +2 VIT +1 AGI

Catkin: +2 AGI +1 DEX

Level up!

Sentient Creature: +1 in all unlocked attributes +1 free attribute +20 HP +10 Stamina +10 Mental

Beastkin: +2 STR +2 VIT +1 AGI

Catkin: +2 AGI +1 DEX

You have taken 345 damage. You are critically injured!

I force deactivated my [All-Observing-Eyes], and stood there. I could not move even an inch. Not only did the [Impale] freeze me up for half a second, the consequence of [Meteor Rush] is being unable to move for half a minute!

And thus I was locked in a prison of my own mind! As the reality of what just happened began to catch up to me…

A very terrifying reality that I could never have imagined…

While I have already killed monsters in the past…

The emotions of killing a person… killing the evil mind magician that has been tormenting me… getting revenge for Kuina… all those emotions… were not there…

What I felt was… emptiness… complete emptiness…

This emptiness was far different then the emptiness of revenge or the like… this odd emptiness… felt… mechanical in nature. It did not feel like I killed a person or an enemy, it felt more like an automatic can opener opening a can. Like a scripted process… Absolute emptiness… devoid of anything and everything...

And this terrified me.

I have not met any god when I reincarnated, I do not know anything about myself… Other then becoming a Catkin...was I somehow altered down to my psychology? Am I even Shiro or just a being who happens to have Shiro’s memories?

These thoughts flooded my head and in this cage of my mind, that 30 seconds felt like an eternity…

Once the 30 seconds passed, I was finally able to free myself and began to move...but my body was shacking and my insides were melting…

* bleh *

I threw up blood and extreme pain overtook me.

You have taken 20 damage from internal bleeding.

Due to overcoming a huge strain on your body: +1 VIT

I quickly grabbed the [Health Potion] that the middle aged man dropped and chugged it down like my life depended on it! Because it kind of did!

The potion did not heal my injuries automatically, but was thankfully able to offset the damage of the DOT from the critical injury to an extent. Just in case, I grabbed another potion and chugged it down. I then put all my free points into [VIT]. I also took off the middle aged man’s mantle which gave +10 [VIT]. I would have taken other gear but they were way too big for me to equip, not to mention some of the gear had restrictions.

After maybe 2 minutes, despite still being in tons of pain...I was able to stabilize myself more or less.

I then turned around and saw all the beastkin staring blankly at me with wide open eyes and gapping mouths.

I got my act together and decided to explain the situation. While things seem calm around now, there most likely are more of those orcs around. There is no way those 5 would have been able to injure that middle aged man to that extent, not to mention some of the arrows in his body do not match the crossbow. So we need to get our act together and move quickly!

“I’ll make this brief, my [Slave Collar] was defective and with this we are now all free!” I emphasize with an exited voice.

Then I look around for their reactions in expectations...but, so far most of them continue staring blankly without making any noise…

“YOU RETARD!” Ryo suddenly shouted.

“Eh?” said I stunned in surprise.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?” Ryo continued to yell.

“What do you mean what have I done? I got rid of the despicable man who has been imprisoning us and now we are free!” I retorted.

“Free? You retard! Who asked you to free us in the first place?!?! In this world there is no room for beastkin! The humans who rule this continent hate us! Unless we are under humans, there is no future for us! Bruno may have not been the best of guys, but he treated us fairly and did not abuse us for no reason like many others do, and now with your retarded “freedom”, you have doomed us all! Because not only do we have no place to go, once the humans learn that we killed our master, we will all be killed!” he roared in fury.

“Eh? Eh!?!? But…but...he used us as bait! So many of us died because of him! Kuina died because of him!” I responded the best I could caught completely off guard by the revelation.

“Kuina? Hah! You are the one to talk retard! You think I don’t know? I received reports from Kuina about your little “excursions”, on how you put yourself and her in danger facing off monsters and almost getting both of you killed! Weren’t you using Kuina’s high level and experience to help level yourself?” Ryo pressed on with a sarcastic and accusatory grin.

I wasn’t using Kuina...was I? Sure I wanted to level up... but it was a mutual benefit was it not? And deep down all I wanted was… * sniff * ...

“That is not true! I never put her in danger and leveling ourself was the only way to survive! I wanted to be friends!” I bellowed in a desperate anger.

“Friends? Survive by getting a few measly levels? Are you being serious retard? If anything, I’d argue it was your fault Kuina died in the first place! Last I checked the one who forced her into leveling up was you, and got her the [Runner] job. If not for that job, there was no way she would have made it in time to block that attack with her body! The one who killed Kuina was you retard! And now, with your retarded antics you want to get us all killed?!?!” he shouted.

Eh?!?!

Suddenly with that realization...doubt and guilt began to spread in my mind as I began to feel helpless…

Due to being taken aback by the revelation, for the first time since the conversation, I took my eyes off Ryo and onto the other beastkin in hopes of maybe someone providing me something...anything...but all I could see was hostility in their eyes…

Inwardly, I begin loathing myself for my foolishness as guilt begins to overtake me.

“...”

Seeing I had nothing to rebuke him, he turned around towards the other beastkin.

“Let’s go everyone! There might still be monsters around so we better get out of here as fast as we can. Grab all the supplies you can carry that won’t slow us down too much” he announced as he began walking towards the supplies.

“Oh retard, one last piece of advise from your senior. I suggest leaving this country and heading south east. We are next to the border so the walk should only be a few days at best. You are probably not going to make it...but it is your only choice at this point...Because when push comes to shove, we are going to blame Bruno’s death on you and there will be no place in this country for you as you get hunted down. Good luck retard, you’ll need it!” he informed as he began packing the supplies that fell out of the bag, when Bruno searched through them.

I took another look around at the other beastkin who already started taking heed of Ryo’s order while at same time glaring at me with disdain.

“What are you waiting for! Scram retard!” screamed one of the other dogkin while the others agreed in murmurs.

Feeling completely dejected and helpless...I took one last look at what remained of Kuina… ”I’m sorry...” I lightly muttered as tears began to fall uncontrollably from my cheeks, and just like that I slowly trotted towards the south east all alone…

…