Free Web NovelChapter 226: Chapter 225 - Close Call
Point-of-View: Adelmira Hartley
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Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!
"Come on, you asshole! Pick up, for fuck’s sake!" I snapped in desperation, as I leapt behind a boulder to evade...right before the boulder was destroyed to smithereens.
A few minutes ago, Neo had dropped me off at a mountain range in who knows where...and now, I was currently running for my life, away from the Terra Dragon Deity, Geod.
Before he left, Neo said that this Deity has historically been neutral towards humans, and while he did cause a number of casualties during the Monster hunting, it was still less than a lot of the others.
And with all that in mind, I was pretty optimistic as I approached him. And after I got his attention, I tried to convince him to train me, and, uh...he was really insulted by that. He then told me to get lost. I tried persuading him a bit harder...but that only pissed him off even more.
As a last resort, I opted for begging...and wow, he REALLY didn’t take kindly to that. So, yeah, he’s now trying to kill me, after saying something along the lines of wanting to crush this pest...aka, me.
Naturally, I ran away and have been trying to call Neo to come get me the hell out of here, but he’s not picking up! Damn it, you stupid asshole, I’m gonna die at this rate!
As I scrambled to get away from an incoming wave of earth spikes, I formed a water funnel around my right index finger and swung it across towards the Dragon, activating my Piercing Water Beam technique.
It struck his face and left a shallow horizontal cut across it, just beneath his eyes. He let out a slight growl as he paused and touched at the cut, snarling as he felt the blood trickling out.
That was just a tiny nick, my attack probably barely even hurt him...but, uh, it for sure pissed him off even further, he looks downright furious.
"You insolent human...! Enough, I am done with this...die," He stated venomously, as a massive wave of earth rose up and shot towards me, my eyes widening in alarm.
There’s no way in hell I’m dodging that...shit, this is it, I’m gonna die here. Buried under a ton of earth, after being sent to convince this insane beast to train me...who the fuck thought this was a good idea, huh!?
Here it comes...!
My eyes were shut tight, my body trembling in dread as I waited for it to hit me, I could feel tears of despair starting to well up-...huh? Uh...what’s happening?
I tentatively opened my right eye, before opening both eyes and looking around in bemusement. I’m...back at the campsite. I’m...I’m alive.
Fenris and Aurora are still here, looking at me in surprise. They probably weren’t expecting to see me again so soon...I took a couple of deep breaths to stop trembling and calm down, my body sweating profusely thanks to that terrifyingly near-death experience.
"That was a close one, good thing I showed up when I did," Came Neo’s voice from behind me, as I collapsed onto my knees in shock and relief.
"Huh? What happened? Hey, Miraliz, are you okay?" Frowned X, as I heard her jogging over.
"You...," I muttered weakly to Neo, as I scooted around to face him.
"Hm? Did you say something?" He responded uncertainly.
"You...you goddamn fucking asshole!" I exclaimed furiously, as I shot up and slammed my head onto his midsection, eliciting a sharp wheeze from him as he stumbled back.
"That was uncalled for...," He gasped, as he rubbed the spot where I’d headbutted him.
"I almost died, damn it! I must have called you, like, twenty times!" I snapped indignantly, fuming with anger. frёewebηovel.cѳm
"Twenty-seven times, to be prec-..."
"I’m sorry, you did what? You should’ve known you’d only get a call if it was an emergency, what the hell is wrong with you!?" X stomped over to him with an enraged look on her face.
"U-uh, totally valid concerns, let’s talk about it later, after you’ve all calmed-...uh-oh," Muttered Neo, as he began to open a portal before X swiftly activated her Nullification and shut it down.
"Oh, hell, no, you’re not leaving that easily," She remarked with an icy glare.
"Look, I just went to the bathroom for a bit, and I left my phone in my room. Plus it was on vibrate, so I didn’t see the missed calls literally seconds before I went over there and brought her back," He defended himself while backing away from her, as she continued to approach him threateningly.
"Maybe I’ll slice your dick off, that way you can’t piss anymore and this won’t be a problem again!" She suggested, as she took out a hidden dagger.
"U-uh, that’s not how it works. Also, please don’t. And maybe put away the dagger," He responded warily.
"Why don’t you make me?"
"Hey, um, could you hold off on that until after he drops us off by some Deities?" Spoke up Aurora wryly.
"Yeah, and try not to kill him. Otherwise, the others are gonna be left stranded," Added Fenris, as the two of them approached X and held her back.
"Tch...fine, whatever," She relented, as she put away her dagger.
"There we go, just calm d-...woah!" Exclaimed Neo in alarm, as she swung a kick at his balls, just barely missing.
"Crap, I missed," She muttered with an annoyed look.
"Uh, Aurora, Fenris, come on, let’s get going!" Declared Neo immediately, opening a portal as X shut off her Nullification, dropping the two of them through it, before turning to me and adding as he jumped through another portal, "Sorry about what happened, and we’ll look for another Deity for you to train with! But only if that’s what you want, of course!"
"If you ask me, I think you better not risk it," Frowned X, as she walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder with a look of concern, "Are you okay? You didn’t get injured?"
"No, the Deity didn’t come after me seriously till the end, he was just sort of half-assedly trying to kill me," I shook my head.
"Glad to hear it. Well, it’s your decision to make on whether you want to give this another try or not, but...if you ask me, I’d feel a lot better if you stayed put," She sighed wearily, looking relieved.
"Thanks, that means a lot," I smiled, as I lightly bumped my shoulder against her, "But, you know what? I think I’ll risk it...I don’t want to face another experience like that one, but at the same time...I don’t want to be the only Outlier who doesn’t get any stronger, you know?"
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Point-of-View: Neo Cronje
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That was way too close! She was so pissed, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her that pissed before, not even after I dropped her in the middle of the freaking ocean!
"Not your finest moment back there, Category 0," Smirked Aurora, patting my shoulder.
"Shut up..."
"Where are we? An apartment?" Inquired Fenris, looking around as his nose twitched, "Smells like you, is this your place?"
"Yeah, it is. Also, don’t talk about how I smell, it’s kinda creepy. I’m gonna stay away from the campsite for the foreseeable future, if I can help it. Alright, then...which of the two of you wants to go next?" I asked them.
"Which Deities do you have lined up for us?" Responded Aurora curiously.
"Also, didn’t you say before that Harmony only picked Deities that weren’t aggressive towards humans? Adelmira looked pretty pale, like she’d been about to be killed," Added Fenris with narrowed eyes.
"I also said that there aren’t many such Deities to begin with. Geod, the Terra Dragon Deity, did cause a handful of human casualties during the Monster hunting, but he’s also been known for generally being neutral towards humans. Maybe what happened with you guys and Vapora has changed some of the Deities’ outlook towards humans," I suggested with a sigh.
"Yeah, well, that couldn’t be helped. Anyway, are there any more Elemental Deities for us to confront?" Asked Aurora impatiently.
"Actually...no. We haven’t located most of them, and of the ones that we have, we’ve already sent the others to the ones that aren’t aggressive towards humans. I hope the fact that none of them have called me means that it went well for them.
The other Deities we’ve located are Ifrit, a Pyro Deity but not one of the main Elemental Deities, Sylph, an Aero Deity of a similar situation, Gargoyle, a Terra Deity of the same and...this one’s the one I think will suit you best Fenris, the Werewolf Deity, Fenrir," I informed them.
"Wait, what!? I mean, I was named after him, but when I was living with my old pack, I was informed that he was just a myth," He responded in surprise.
"Huh? No, he’s very much real. And he’s not the only Deity worshipped by Demi-Humans...there’s also the Elf Deity Gemini," I explained.
"Oh, are there Vampire and Witch Deities too?" Inquired Aurora in fascination.
"No, not that I know of," I shook my head, before adding, "Well, anyway...have you guys decided on which Deity you want to go with?"
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