Kirito asked Amelia Grace, “Are you ok?”
Amelia responded, “Yeah, the body possession process paralyzes the user for a bit. Just carry me, and I’ll take a breather.”
Kirito flipped open his inventory. All his supplies were there, including the improved poison spikes. Taking a second, he dipped several mason jars into the algae, collecting samples for Asuna, Kline, and Lisbeth. If there was a way to blend the algae to other metals to create poison weapons, he wanted to pioneer it.
Kirito rearmed his black sword and combat boots before throwing Amelia’s body over his shoulder. With a running leap, he hopped back down the boulder trail to the edge of the swamp.
Amelia had recovered her full movement ability in about 5 minutes. They reached a sandy arena, an off-branch that Kirito had missed on his way into the swamp. Kirito let Amelia down, and they stretched for a bit.
Suddenly, ghouls appeared on the far edge of the arena clearing. There were fourteen ghouls coming towards them from the far side. Kirito swung to the entrance, and almost bit his tongue. Six more had risen from the swamp and blocked the boulder trail out of the swamp.
Kirito quickly armed his two swords. “I really don’t want to fight these creeps; I’ll advance on one group, and the other side will rush and kill you and overwhelm me. Tell me, can you stick close while I fight?”
Amelia Grace glared, “Uh-uh! I have a better plan. Just defend me, and I will resolve this. Can I trust you?” Before Kirito responded in either agreement or disagreement, Amelia threw a needle out towards the ghouls. Amelia dropped to the sandy ground.
Kirito dropped to a knee so he could check Amelia’s symptoms. Her body registered as paralyzed, and she was unresponsive to his touch. Before he could check her body further, a moaning roar caught his attention.
The mob of ghouls was rushing towards him. He braced himself; there would be no repeat of the ‘Moonlit Black Cats guild disaster’. He lopped off the arms of the first ghoul to reach him, and stabbed another monster through on each blade. Pulling his blades free, he counted his frontal enemies at nine monsters.
Wait, what? Kirito double-checked his mental math. Fourteen with three stabbed was eleven, not eight. Wait— only eight now?
Then he saw the solution. He witnessed a ghoul suddenly swipe its claws out against the rest of the frontal assault group. The group turned towards their fallen comrade, but only saw another ghoul. Their programming prevented them from tagging one of their own as a traitor; it never occurred before. With Amelia Grace’s possession power, she could turn the enemy into a puppet assassin.
Kirito watched in fascination. The ghoul rebel, possessed by Amelia, pointed behind Kirito in jerky movements. Spinning around, Kirito realized he had his own fight to worry about. The six ghouls guarding the exit had joined the fray, just as he had feared. He launched himself into their midst. Before they could figure out what to do, four were bursting into sprays of blue shards, with a fifth covered in red slash marks; Kirito had stabbed two blades into the skull of the last ghoul monster. As the last two baddies disintegrated into data shards, Kirito turned to check on Amelia.
Amelia was fighting two ghouls, forcing them to turn about in circles. The third and last monster was almost on top of her unconscious body, aiming its slobbering maw for her face. Amelia was unable to see this development, with her back turned, and her clawing hands otherwise occupied.
Kirito was too far away for his sword moves. Struggling with his throwing knives satchel, he watched Amelia’s body in horror.
The maw of the ghoul reached down. The jaw closed on Amelia’s neck. There was a blinding flash and the ghoul was still hunched over her body. An icon flashed above her unconscious body: Immortal Object.
Before the ghoul could try again, a poisonous stake was jutting out of its slobbering mouth. It stood, jerking its limbs as Kirito marched over and decapitated it. In a second swing, he brought the sword down on Amelia to the same result: a flash of light and the Immortal Object icon. He marched over to the ghoul possessed by Amelia and jabbed it through the gut.
“Ow, Kirito. What’s the matter?”
Kirito whirled on Amelia, leaving the ghoul body to disappear. He yelled, “You’re Immortal? When were you going to tell me?”
Amelia flinched, but her body was still paralyzed. She whimpered, “Only during the possession period. Some smart monsters realized they could still pick me up, even when I am Immortal. After I release the body, or the host body is killed, I return, lose the invincibility, and stay paralyzed for a while. That window allows monsters to kill me.” Some digital tears had rolled down. “I didn’t know how to tell you. That’s how I got so deep in the swamp. Now, I’m tired; I’m thirsty and hungry; I wanna see my daddy.”
Kirito felt bad for blowing up at a child AI character. He lowered himself and patted Amelia’s cheek. He apologized, “I’m sorry I yelled. I thought I’d lost you. C’mon, let’s get you home.” He lifted her petite body into his arms. “One more question: Where is your home?”
When they had cleared Malady Swamp’s borders, Kirito set her down feet-first. On the dirt trail through the woods, the two simply talked about the woods, Kirito’s feats, and Amelia’s misadventures.
Arriving at the cabin, Amelia stepped onto the log porch and turned to face Kirito. Smiling, she said, “Thank you for escorting me home. Also thanks for being honest about my daddy, Sir Kirito.”
Kirito nodded, “Happy to help. Listen, do you want me to come and visit? I think my friends would like to meet someone like you.”
“No, I’m mostly a loner. I don’t do well with anybody, but my dad.” She stopped and sniffled. Looking up, something caught her eye. “Hey, Kirito, can I have one last thing? That necklace is special, and I would like it to remember my daddy … and you.”
Kirito nodded, and took the necklace off his neck. He handed it to Amelia Grace, who clasped it to her chest. She leaned in, and kissed Kirito’s cheek. Waving good-bye, she slipped inside the log cabin.
Kirito turned away from the cabin. He was about to start back into Village Seventy-One when an Award Notification appeared. It read, ‘Quest Complete! +XP 10,000. +Gold 500. New Skill Received! Skill powers below…’
&*&
Possessive Lunge
• Can only be used in dungeons or city limits
• When activated, USER becomes paralyzed and Immortal Object. When deactivated, USER remains paralyzed for 15 seconds.
• If used on AI character-monster or human-USER gains access to body movement and any weapons or inventory. Inventory can be dropped or exchanged to others.
• If used on Humans-green, orange or red players-USER gains access to body movement, all unlocked skills, and all inventory. Inventory can be adjusted, but NEITHER sold nor discarded. Upon leaving body, original player will gain control, with complete awareness of all events.
• During possession, original player can communicate via type messages. USER vocal responses are altered to their voice.
• There are two tier upgrades with hidden requirements to unlock: ‘Dark Takeover’ and ‘Split Spirits’.
• To activate:
1. Enter town or dungeon.
2. Equip sword, dagger or throwing knives.
3. Tap skill to enchant weapon.
4. Attack target and hit with neck/ head-shot.
Kirito mulled over what to do next…
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