“Good Morning Players and Non-Players, in todays News it has been confirmed that the Seventh Ranked Hero Weapon, holder of the Katana Hero Weapon, is working under the Demon Lord Lucifer. The Katana Hero Weapon is now one of the Dungeon’s most wanted. In other news, the fifth floor town Suiteki has been burnt to the ground, Faction Leaders are looking into the matter as we speak, the only information they have acquired is the town losing its defences by a lone player that cowardly attacked the Town Guard Captain, there have been numerous casualties and the town is unable to rebuild from its current state.”

“Sir Udon” Huh? That damn morning announcement bull crap again

“What is it Umi?” I woke up to see a petrified and mortified Umi hovering over my body

“Umi?” I rubbed my eyes trying to completely wake

“Papa Udon, Jot and the others” Huh? Vnaa was next to Umi clenching the sand I was lying on

“Wait…what did that morning announcement say!” Something about a fire on the fifth floor! Numerous casualties!

“Master Udon” I turned to see Miko lying on the wolf fur in disbelief

“H-how!?” How could an entire town just get set on fire! The monsters on that floor were basically all water based, it couldn’t have been them!

“Hero Udon, were there people you cared for on that floor?” Serena came over, she was calm and collected, she wasn’t with us on the fifth floor, it was understandable she wouldn’t be feeling the disbelief the rest of us are

“Hero Udon?” Was there anyone I cared for on that floor, Jot and the others did help us, but, they were more acquaintances than friends

“We need to go and see if they are safe”

*Cough cough

“Miko, you need to rest” Miko tried to roll of the wolf fur and stand up, I forcefully put her back down

“You need to rest, if they are already dead than there’s nothing we can do about it, besides, I have a feeling this was no an accidental fire” A fire on Neptunes floor, with no fire type monsters, seems pretty suspicious

“What do you mean?” Umi asked me looking confused

“This must have been Neptune or that overgrown squid, they knew we had been staying with Jot while we were on that floor…” I stopped mid way through my sentence, a feeling of dread and guilt completely took me over. Did I get someone else killed again? Was this my fault? Setting the town on fire just to kill the ones that helped me, its, its my fault!?

“Papa Udon?” Vnaa looked at me concerned

“I need some air” I quickly got up and ran out the cave, I felt ready to vomit, I could feel the goosebumps all over my body and the numbness of guilt that I hadn’t felt since my sister, was coming back, it felt like an intense migraine, my vision went all blurry

*Blargh

I managed to make it out of the cave just in time, I vomited just to the left of the entrance, I fell to my knees, my eyes wide open and shaking

“I-I killed them! This is my fault! Not again! Not again!” I punched the rocky wall, my fists split open and I broke some of my fingers

*Gradual Healing Mastery-8/10

*Low Pain Nullifier-3/10

“That doesn’t numb the pain!” I shouted out, the Low Pain Nullifier helped with the physical pain, but that was it, I still felt sick and disgusting.

“This is worse than the guilt I felt when I killed those Demi-Human Bulls” I rolled over and sat down, leaning against the cave wall, I buried the vomit with the sand, I could still taste it in my mouth, my forehead was drenched in sweat and I felt exhausted.

“Sir Udon, are you ok?”

“Huh!?” Umi startled me coming out of the cave

“Sir Udon, you don’t look very good” Umi knelt next to me

“I-I’m fine, its nothing”

“No! It’s not nothing, Sir Udon, I have been patient with you for long enough! You need to tell me what is going on so I can help you!” What the? Where did that come from

“I understand I am just your familiar, but, as your familiar I need to help you in anyway that I can” I looked at Umi with a blank face, do I really look that pitiful

“It’s nothing Umi, drop it” I turned back to the ground and wiped my mouth

“I overheard you just before, k-killing someone, it’s not always so easy is it” …Damn it!

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I only pushed them into a hole, what happened to them after that wasn’t my fault” That’s what I had been telling myself when I woke up from the nightmares I had of killing them, I saw the true version of myself in those nightmares, the true evil, disgusting monster I am

“I have memories of killing people, people I had never met before, memories of killing baby monsters and animals, when I see those memories, I always say to myself, it’s them or me” Umi sat down and leaned against the rocky wall next to me, I didn’t realise Umi struggled with those types of memories

“The world we live in Sir Udon, it’s a dangerous one, survival of the fittest I think I’ve heard you say once or twice” How good is this girls hearing!?

“Umi, I-I, its my fault that the town was set on fire” I finally caved, she might understand what I was feeling, she had memories of killing people and felt the guilt of it, but it wasn’t her, it was the Ancient Siren that killed those people and creatures.

“I don’t think that’s the way to look at the situation Sir Udon, Jot told us he might be in danger for even helping us, he also explained that to Claudia and Aria, I don’t believe any of them would blame you for the fire” Umi was actually quite the sweet and understanding girl once you got past her weird Rival and small sexual comments

“T-thank you Umi, do you mind if I have some time by myself” I turned to Umi and gave her a faint smile, it did help talking to her about it, but I still felt guilty

“Of course Sir Udon, I’ll go see how Rival Miko is doing” Umi got up and headed back into the cave.

“You pitiful, disgusting human being! To think I granted you power to destroy your enemies! You just sit and drown in your own pitiful sorrow! You are one of the weakest creatures I have ever met!”

That damn dark voice was back! Was it my subconscious talking to me, it was never like this back on earth. Is it a curse?

“Arrrr! I know ok! I know!” I shouted out, I know I’m weak! Of course I know that! The one and only reason I was brought this world was to kill The Evil 8, and I feel guilty about some acquaintances getting killed because they were stupid enough to help me out…

I sat there for what seemed to be hours, the strange thing was I didn’t shed a single tear, not a single one, am I that horrible that I can’t even feel bad for those who were killed because of me.

“Master Udon, I brought you some dinner” Miko appeared around the corner, it was almost completely dark now

“Should you be walking around” I turned my head up to Miko

“I’ve got enough strength to walk around the cave slowly now, don’t worry”

“Why did you end up getting so hurt?” It was a bad wound to her stomach, but she seemed more injured then she should have been

“The Trident pierced my core, that’s why my mana was leaking out of me and I was losing strength quickly” Miko sat the stew of Pygmy Brocket Deer next to me.

“Pierced your core? Shouldn’t it be stronger?” I had no strength to think about what I was blurting out

“Still rude even after all this time away from me” Miko giggled sitting next to me

“All this time? It’s been a couple of days” She made it sound like we hadn’t seen each other in years

“I know, Umi told me how you wouldn’t even sleep as you made your way up here. It does make me happy that you came to my rescue, but I still don’t like you putting yourself in danger because of me” Miko pinched my arm

“Ow” What was that for!?

“You should unlock that night vision skill Master Udon, you’ll be able to see the night sky better” Night Vision skill? Thats right, I somehow met the conditions yesterday.

Night Vision [Locked] ▼

-Night Vision: Special Condition Common Skill, 10 SP Required: Spend 7 days in total camping-Grants the user the ability to see in the dark.

“Camping?” Had I camped at all in this world…thats stupid, camping must mean sleeping outside, not the tent and other modern day inventions I was used to back on earth.

“Skill unlocked-Night Vision (C)”

*Night Vision Mastery-1/10

“Whoa” I looked up to the night sky, the stars or what ever they were, shined as bright as the sun, the blue, purple and pink colours made the entire sky feel like I was in space, it was incredible

“Its beautiful isn’t it Master Udon, I used to look at the night sky all the time when I was a child” I could tell Miko was staring at me, I didn’t care, I had never seen such a beautiful night sky in my life, I was taken away, this is incredible

“Master Udon, I want to ask you a question” Miko said sounding scared

“Huh? What is it?” I turned back to her, she was fiddling with her thumbs

“Why didn’t you tell us that you had gained the Ghost Seed Hero Weapon” …Damn it!

“How do you…”

*Smack

“Master Udon!?” I smacked my forehead with my palm, of course she’d know, it would be under my stats

“Hahah” I could only laugh at myself for being so stupid

“Master Udon?” Miko said softly confused

“It’s nothing” I said smiling at her

“I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh, you have a nice laugh, I’d like to hear it more” Miko said giggling to herself. I laughed, I did didn’t I, I hadn’t laughed in years, even though it was at myself, it was still a laugh

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Miko wasn’t going to drop it, might as well tell her, it wasn’t like I completely felt that way anymore.

“It was because I didn’t trust any of you”

“I thought that would be the reason, do you trust us now?” Miko’s smile turned to a frown

“I don’t not trust you, it’s hard for me to trust anyone, that’s all” All this guilt had been eating away at me for the entire day, I couldn’t stop talking, what is going on.

“I see, a step closer though”

“Huh?” I turned back to the night sky, what did that mean

“It’s nothing Master Udon, just forget I said it”

“Ok” We both sat there and looked at the beautiful night sky for the rest of the night, when I woke up I was inside the cave, Miko was back on her bed of furs, did someone carry me in?

“Are we already to set out?” I asked Serena and Umi, Miko was strong enough to walk around the cave, with Vnaa by her side they should be able to defend themselves if anything comes into the cave

“All set Sir Udon”

“Ready over here too” Umi and Serena nodded to me, Serena still didn’t have a weapon so she borrowed Miko’s dagger, those two seemed to know each other though, and not like they were friends, I didn’t push the issue because I wanted to get revenge on that overgrown squid, but I was going to ask when I came back. Umi had her Sea Trident and had raised her Mastery to 3/10 when she went and hunted some monsters while I was unconscious

“All right, lets head out, Vnaa take care of Miko” I ruffled Vnaa’s hair and made my way out of the cave with Umi and Serena in tow

“Be carful Papa Udon, you too Umi and Serena” Vnaa waved her hand high in the air, she did look upset though

“Please be safe!” Miko called out standing next to Vnaa

“We’ll be back, don’t worry Rival Miko and Vnaa” Umi replied

“I wish I was strong enough, why am I so useless”

“Don’t say that Vnaa, Master Udon is making sure you protect all our stuff, I also need you to protect me” I heard the muffled voices of Vnaa and Miko as I walked further away from the cave and towards the forest.

“I’m coming for you, karma will make sure to get you, you overgrown squid”