Lassus Animus - Part 3

John felt a bit guilty about leaving in such a hurry, especially with Moira and Kim seeming so concerned. But there would be time enough for guilt later, when training wasn't such a priority.

"Practicing swordsmanship almost sounds like a nice break, though..." John blinked, surprised by his own train of thought. He hadn't realized just how much the dungeons were beginning to blur together until then. "But we can practice while we're traveling, or after we reach the front lines and can't waste resources on dungeons. Getting sloppy with my form isn't as important as getting back to the level cap."

The others were already waiting for him when he got back home. No surprise there; he was running behind, thanks in part to Julianna. Turning away the kittens was hard; he could tell the constant absences around the house were starting to wear on them. He ruffled as many hairs and kissed as many foreheads as he could on the way out the door, but it didn't feel like enough, either to his children or his own heart.

"It is a good opportunity to ease them into your absence," Sophia comforted him solemnly, her long legs slowing to match his pace as they headed for the training arena. "You may not be able to return as often when we join the war efforts, or to linger any longer than this."

"I know, but I still wish I could give them more than an hour's time over the course of... what are we at now? The end of day three?" John grumbled. "Minus the times we called it early, that's about all they've gotten. I'm all for them learning to be self-reliant, but this feels a bit abrupt."

"They're almost fully grown. It's good for them to get used to being a little more independent, yeah?" Lerianna said, shrugging. "Might not be the happiest thing, but I'm with Sophia. Weaning them off the need for attention is a good thing. They're already getting more used to doing their own thing."

"I know, I know." John shrugged in resignation. "Maybe I'm just too used to everyone showing up fully-grown. Never had to actually raise any of you from childhood, or deal with anything like this."

Even as John said it, he knew it wasn't exactly true. Lunaya may not have been a child, but he'd ripped her away from what she apparently saw as a happy life with her family. And that wasn't even touching on somehow leaving her mute...

"Anyway, let's focus on the here and now. Everyone ready?" John asked, glancing around as everyone formed a circle in the center of the empty arena.

"Ready, Father!"

"Locked and loaded."

"At your service, Master."

"Warmed up and ready to go!"

"Alright, we're up into the thirties, so things are gonna start to get more serious by the time we finish. Nothing like the last batch, but don't get reckless," John said. With that warning delivered, a single button push was all that it took to lock in the dungeon settings and begin to bend reality around them.

Endless rows of azure and violet rippled into being around them. Long-stemmed crystals jutted up from the ground as far as the eye could see, like replicas of real plants that had been carved from absurdly large gemstones, forming a prairie of sorts. In the distance, lone trees rose up, their trunks, branches, and leaves all seemingly constructed from the same material. They even moved like actual plants; as the five of them surveyed their surroundings, the long, crystalline reeds bent and swayed around them, rather than resisting and snapping when pressed.

"Oh, my. This is fascinating." Orria's notebook was in her hand in an instant. The sound of graphite scratching against paper filled the silent dungeon around them as she hastily sketched out a remarkable replica of a particularly intricate rosebud. "They're actually alive! They feel so different from most of the flora in your dungeons. I think I can manipulate them, but it might take me a moment to make sure I handle them properly."

"Huh. Any of this worth harvesting?" Lerianna asked, giving an appreciative whistle as she leaned down to inspect one of the alien plants. "I mean, might make some neat decorations, if nothing else."

"Unless it comes as a reward from a dead enemy or finishing the dungeon, nothing ever sticks around," John advised, eyes already torn away from the bizarre plant life. He wasn't much for flowers, but even he could admit she had a point; the strange vegetation really was breathtaking. The crystal they were formed from was partially transparent and shifted through all the hues of the rainbow as they swayed to and fro.

"Shame," Lerianna said with a quiet grunt and a disappointed shrug.

"I might be able to recreate something like it. When I have the mana to spare, that is," Orria said calmly, her eyes not leaving the plant in front of her until she finished the final strokes of her sketch.

"Let's not lose focus," John warned. His eyes scanned the horizon, checking for any movement in the distance. "This is a dungeon, and we shouldn't waste time admiring a few plants that are just gonna disappear."

"Time spent on learning about new plants is never wasted," Orria huffed, walking up to John and pouting.

"I- yeah, you know what, that was a bit harsh." John smiled despite his impatience and leaned in to give Orria a tender kiss that melted her pout away in an instant. "You got what you need?"

"Set and ready," Orria confirmed, tapping the cover of her sketch pad. "Don't worry, John. I'll go all out, make up for lost time. I'm pretty worked up now anyway; it's not every day I get to see a whole new kind of life, you know!"

"I believe there is another kind of life we should be focusing on," Sophia warned. John's mood and head both turned immediately, eyes locking into the shake of tall grasses across the way. A creature with gray skin that may well have been made out of dirt rose, its skin shimmering in hues of purple from the array of crystals embedded in its own skin. Crystalier Forager lit up above its head as John locked his gaze onto it.

"We stood around, so it looks like the dungeon is coming to us," John said quietly. "Alright, lock in, everybody."

"Lock what in, Master?"

"I- never mind," John stammered out. "Focus up and don't get distracted!"

"Of course, Master."

---

Once the momentary fascination with their surroundings passed, the group quickly got into a rhythm. With Sophia and Lerianna taking point, even the thick hide of the crystalline beasts was hardly a challenge to break through. Shishun's lightning magic was less effective, partially absorbed by the crystals embedded in the creatures' bodies, but her throwing knives and the rare physical strike she delivered were as effective as ever.

Orria spent the first dungeon acclimating herself, but by the time they were making strides into the second, she seemed to have figured out whatever was so unique to the plant life present in these crystaliers' natural habitats. Crystal thorns sliced their foes open effortlessly as gorgeously intricate roses swarmed over their bodies, and thick vines resounded like glass when they were woven to intercept or ensnare enemies.

So the levels rained in one after the other, almost every dungeon completion giving that satisfying little 'ping' that indicated he was one step closer to his former glory. With no need to justify himself as he had with Julianna, the deftness with which his allies were handling the foes allowed John to ease off the throttle a bit. The reprieve from constantly having to keep up also gave him a chance to watch his own form. Admittedly, he had a hard time seeing what was so obvious to the others, especially when so few enemies ever made it to him.

"It's not like I'm getting a bunch of glancing blows or anything," John thought, annoyance briefly breaking through as he carved apart one of the creatures. He stared at it while it disappeared, losing himself for a moment as his eyes wandered along the violet blood now staining his blade. *"Same damage on every strike, and I don't feel like I'm having to put more effort into it. What exactly is the-"

-312 HP!
-119 HP! [Bleed Effect]

Searing heat erupted in John's abdomen. His eyes widened as the pain set in, snapping to the culprit immediately. One of the crystaliers had charged at him, ramming its crystal-bearing right hand directly into his stomach. The otherworldly material punched right through his armor and then into his navel, causing a spray of blood to erupt for a moment, right up until the creature withdrew its limb and Gamer's Body sealed up the wound.

Sloppy or not, John's retaliatory strikes eviscerated the creature in a moment, though the damage had already been done. By the time John recovered from the shock of the sudden attack and the lingering pain, he was already surrounded by the others. Lerianna and Shishun looked on, doing a poor job of concealing their thoughts, while Orria tended to his wound directly. Sophia stayed more restrained than the others in her reaction, though her eyes lingered on the fresh hole in his suit.

"Well, fuck, the repair bill on this one is gonna be more than usual," John grumbled dramatically, trying to lighten the mood. He gave Orria a few more moments, then gently pushed her away with one hand while the other made a dismissive gesture. "It's fine, it's fine. You're worrying too much for nothing! My health can hold up to way worse than that, and I still have some mana left. I could heal myself if I was actually worried about it."

"Hey, you were worried about me getting my stomach blown open, don't sass us for checking in when it happens to you!" Lerianna half-shouted, eye twitching in irritation. "See if I act concerned for you again, huh…"

"Hey, your lower half looked like it was hanging on by a thread, and you don't stitch yourself back together. Plus, all those status effects?" John gave a slight grunt at the memory. "When my organs start failing, you can worry all you want. But this is nothing; I took more damage from the mini-boss two dungeons ago than this little shit."

"Yes, but that was due to the storm of crystals it unleashed," Sophia said quietly. Her eyes were intense, but she wasn't meeting John's gaze. Rather, she seemed to be inspecting every other part of him. "None of us were able to fully dodge it, even at our full strength. This one simply charged at you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Stupid mistake, thinking too much about my sword work, not enough about my surroundings," John admitted. "I won't let it happen again. Believe me, I don't make a habit of getting hurt just for fun. The fact that the hole heals up on its own doesn't mean I don't feel it getting made!"

"So it seems," Sophia said evenly, turning away from John and toward the field of battle once more. The scant few enemies left that they had ignored in favor of coming to John's side were still rapidly approaching. "Let us finish this, then!"

"Wait, there are still a lot of them left. I just got hit once, why did everybody stop to...?"

John's eyes dropped to the ground, traveling along the crimson spread that now covered a decent part of the ground, as well as his enemy's arm and chest.

"That's- that's a lot of blood. Isn't it? That seems like more than it should be. Did I lose all that? No, the wound was only open for..."

John **** his mind and concentration back onto the battlefield. He didn't need to get lost in his head again, and the thoughts were uncomfortable enough that he didn't relish the idea of lingering on them anyway. His fingers tightened on the grip of his sword, grounding himself in the tang of cold steel and warm leather against his skin.

---

"Pretty decent haul on that one. Enough materials to give Aclysia a little boost," John noted as he scrolled through the dungeon completion message and the level ups. "Alright, up another level for the next one. Everybody ready, or does anyone need anything before we-"

"We will call an end to our training here, for today," Sophia called out abruptly. "We will break for the remainder of the night." The interruption alone startled John enough to render him silent, but when he realized who was speaking, John couldn't hide the bewilderment he was feeling.

"Uh, sorry, did I miss something?" John asked. He focused on Sophia, but he caught the way that Lerianna started to tense up out of the corner of his vision. "We still have almost three hours left. It's not time to stop yet."

"You are not feeling well, Father," Sophia said. This time her voice was quieter, but it was no less firm, and there was little of her usual deference in the way she was composing herself. "Your reactions are slowed, your feet nearly tangle themselves together as we move. Your performance is... concerning."

"I just Reincarnated," John objected. "I know I'm a bit slow, but I said I wouldn't get distracted again, and I didn't!"

"It is not that you are slow," Sophia warned, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Her shoulders rotated and her wings flexed restlessly, as if trying to shake off some of the tension in her body. "I have seen you hold entire conversations while you dueled with a half-dozen creatures at once, yet today, you missed an enemy's approach until it had already impaled you."

"It was one mistake," John grumbled.

"One that we were not able to protect you from, yes." Sophia's eyes quivered, clinging desperately to her resolve against every fiber of her being.

"What exactly are you saying?" John's voice took on an edge despite his better judgment. Sophia finally flinched, turning her head away as John's expression started to twist into a glare.

"She's saying if we weren't covering you, it would've happened more, dumbass." Lerianna entered the disagreement despite her own obvious unease with the situation. "If it was just one mistake, whatever. You were right earlier; I got caught out against those annoying laser pointers too. But that was just part of a fight, not standing around, letting some little fucker run me through. Shishun and Sophia have been covering you all night."

"You have been winding up in a rather unusual amount of danger tonight, John," Orria added quietly. "I've been doing my best to protect you as well, though it's a bit harder to watch over you with these unfamiliar plants."

"Why didn't you tell me I was holding everyone back, then?" John muffled his annoyance as best as he could, though the irrational feeling of being surrounded and attacked from all sides now made it difficult not to respond defensively.

"It is not a burden to protect you. That is our duty. But part of protecting one's Master is to be aware when they are placing themselves at risk unnecessarily."

John blinked a few times, feet dragging across the floor of the training area as he pivoted to face Shishun. If hearing Sophia's words had startled John, hearing Shishun left him stunned. Her interjection had jarred him enough to shake free the lingering indignation he felt, yet the pink-haired lamia still shriveled when his eyes landed upon her.

"I- I am not so sure about forbidding you from continuing!" Shishun hastily added, the end of her tail swishing back and forth erratically. "If you order me to, I will train by your side until we are both slain, Master. But, ah, it would be a failure of my duties if I did not warn you of the possibility."

"Um, yeah. Yeah, okay," John mumbled, not sure how else he could respond. "Sorry, I- I don't know, I think I let Julianna's words get to me earlier. You're just trying to look out for me, I know that."

"Her arrival at the manor did not go well?" The relief in Sophia's voice was palpable, the whole room breathing a unified sigh of relief despite the negative implications.

"We just had some friction in the group, the way the training was handled. Nothing unexpected, considering she's practically a stranger at this point." John didn't elaborate further, not wanting to make the others worry even more about him. "But I guess I'm still on edge. You're right, a little break would do me some good. We can head home and I'll pick things up with Aclysia and the others in a few hours. It'll give me a chance to play some with the kittens, anyway."

"Yes, I believe they would appreciate that," Sophia agreed, nodding slightly as she turned for the door.

"Better to keep them from going too stir-crazy," Lerianna agreed as she fell in behind the taller woman.

John frowned at the comments, but didn't feel like pressing the issue. Together, the five of them left the training building behind and headed for home at an easygoing pace that didn't quite match the strained silence falling between them.

---

The hours passed more slowly than John would've liked. He thought that the kittens would keep his mind occupied, but he only felt restless, even when actively playing around with them outside. It was an unusual feeling for him, one he distinctly didn't like, but one that he couldn't quite manage to shut out. The midnight hour came as a relief from that unusual anxiety, though it came with a fresh apprehension of its own, one that he found creeping up on him as Aclysia and the Nekos joined him outside.

"Don't get stuck in your own head about this. Just train like you always have. Just keep swinging."

Repeating those words over and over in his mind worked well enough, at least for a while. Having his sword back in his hand made the feeling easier to handle too, giving him a physical outlet for the stress he could feel pooling inside of him. That and cleaving apart a few more of the crystal beasts, of course. John knew that the feeling of satisfaction he got from each kill was petty. The creatures weren't to blame for whatever weakness he'd been showing that the others had seen. But it felt good to be back at it, to tear through the foes again, to prove that it was a simple misjudgment, that he could still handle himself as well as ever. All he had to do was keep swinging.

That mantra, along with his conviction, faltered just a few hours in. The mini-boss, a strange crab-like creature with pincers made of the same crystal material as its shell, had burrowed up in the center of their loose grouping. It swiped once at Vallya, but quickly sensed the futility of its efforts when Vallya effortlessly glided out of reach. At that point its focus turned to John.

The creature's claw snapped shut, and the oversized foe thrust it forward. The larger segment of each claw narrowed to a vicious point, which it happily stabbed toward the Gamer, intending to skewer him. The creature was almost embarrassingly slow compared to the lesser crystalline animals; despite how high they had raised the level, John's pace felt almost leisurely as he raised his sword to deflect the hit, already envisioning in his mind the following strike to sever the creature's arm for its mistake.

But it was John himself that was redirected. The creature's strength was better than its speed, but it was his own carelessness that displaced John in the end. His left foot slid out from under him as the weight of the hit transferred onto his body, and the inability to maintain his balance immediately gave physics their due. John's remaining leg was lifted off the ground, all the momentum of the strike transferring to him, launching him across the crystal-laden landscape.

A sound like glass shattering repeated countless times as John was battered through countless crystal plants and fixtures. He was durable enough that he didn't take damage, but it still wasn't pleasant to be used like a wrecking ball to tear apart the scenery. The shock of it all disoriented him so badly that it took Elemental Infusion to bring himself to a stop.

"What the fuck? I've never lost my footing like that before, no matter how hard I got hit," John thought as he righted himself. "Did I slip? Was my foot not down? Something else...?"

The fact that he blocked the attack may have kept his body safe, but his pride had taken a mortal wound. The Nekos were looking on in shock, the battle all but forgotten. Aclysia and Vallya glanced his way too, but had enough presence of mind to keep the creature engaged. John's face twisted into a snarl as the wind around him began to swell and swirl in a dangerous pattern.

"Fine. Who needs footing anyway?!"

Getting up to speed within a hundred yards was easier said than done when it only took a few seconds to travel, but John managed it, albeit barely. At the last moment, with just a few yards left to cover, he activated his Wind Shear ability and felt as if he had teleported. The remaining distance passed in a blink, even to his enhanced senses, and his sword barely grazed the creature's shell.

627 DMG! [Glancing Blow]
627 DMG!

The blow was a fraction of the damage it should have been, but with the damage the others had already done, it was enough to cripple the creature. A massive fissure burst open on its shell, and the torrent of pink and blue flames that Vallya tossed into the breach were enough to finish the job.

Before the alerts had even begun to pour in, John was surrounded. Aclysia and Vallya hurried over once they were certain the danger had passed, while Maera and Mithra were already pawing at his sleeves, looking up at him with, of all things, awe.

"Wow! Myaster moved so fast! Can you teach Myaera to do that?!" Maera howled, shaking his left arm excitedly.

"So cool. Didn't even get hurt. You're getting strong," Mithra cooed more softly.

Neither of them had the same look of awareness or concern that Vallya had. The kitsune's words of worry were easy to dismiss, but difficult to assuage. Vallya had always been sharp, and the piercing pink glimmer of her irises made it clear she wasn't buying his excuses. The most troubling reaction came from Aclysia. As the last dungeon faded away and John started up a new one, summoning forth a new field of crystal vegetation unblemished by his unexpected tumbles, she fell in beside John. She looked curious more than anything, and her eyes lingered along John's wrist and forearm.

"Creator John, are you attempting a new style of combat?" Aclysia asked bluntly.

"A new style where I get tossed through the environment? Not really, but maybe I should give it a shot," John jested. The sarcasm fell flat, Aclysia only tilting her head in response.

"I was referring to your grip," Aclysia noted, pointing to John's fingers where they were tightly wrapped around his blade. "You told me not to hold it so closely to the pommel, and your fingers are in a different place than you usually hold. I was curious if there was something I could learn from it."

John hesitated, feeling almost **** to shift his gaze downward. Keeping Aclysia's eyes, he flexed his fingers, loosening the muscles a bit to shake loose the numbness of his white-knuckled grip. The guard of his blade, which usually rested against the circle of his thumb and forefinger, was a full two inches above it, his hand nearly at the midpoint of the grip. His thumb had slipped away from the rest of his clenched hand, resting vertically along the tang, leaving the pressure and angle of his hold stilted and awkward.

"N-no, I..." John didn't miss the twitch of Vallya's ears, nor the slight shift in her gait as they paced their way through the arrival zone of the dungeon. Whatever excuse he could give, Aclysia would certainly believe, and the Nekos would probably forget regardless, but trying to deceive the fox-eared woman seemed futile. "I was too annoyed to notice my grip had shifted. Keep going as you are, unless you think of a new technique on your own."

"Understood. Thank you, Creator John."

John watched Vallya for a moment, expecting her to whirl on him, to accuse him of being unsuited to continue. That was part of why he had so hastily begun the next dungeon. One rest was acceptable... losing much more than that in a single day, and he might as well have called off the marathon, or so he felt.

But she didn't. Her tails swayed slowly behind her, and the pacing of her steps returned to normal. Perhaps something still hung in the air, but she was far more skilled at hiding away her own thoughts than John ever had been.

"As long as she doesn't bring it up, it's fine. All that matters is that we keep making the most of this time," John told himself, eyes alert as motion picked up further into the prairie, more of the crystal-embedded wildlife springing into action.