The Anime Trope System Page 21

  [Kitome activated Lovey-lovey heart spiral.]

  [Dark activated Black bolt crash.]

  [Alice activated Raid crushing beam]

  The combined power hit like a freight train, driving the demon to a stony wall.

  [Boss HP has dropped to 100%]

  "Are you kidding me," Clyde barked. "How is he not dead?"

  [Your party has entered a boss fight, phase 2!]

  Mist poured from Zeth’s mouth like a smoky fountain. The demon laughed and laughed, then he began to convulse.

  "Oh fuck no, let’s not stand there and watch him transform," Clyde said too late.

  The demon leapt high into the air. Large bat-like wings spouted from his back. He grew at least ten feet tall, several feet wide, rippling with enough muscle to put even intergalactic bodybuilders to shame. His face grew more lizard-like, his head a blue alligator, teeth now large fangs. Mist oozed off him. It reminded Clyde of the fog flow from an industrial-sized freezer.

  [Zeth has activated Mist Beast Form.]

  [Zeth used Demon Protect! Unaffected by Alice’s spells.]

  "Well fuck, there goes my plan," Clyde said.

  "That glow…sorry Clyde," Alice said. "He’s been learning to counter me for years. Guess he found it."

  "To think I resort to this for mere humans," Zeth said in a deep voice that sounded like grinded wood. "I grow tired of this."

  [Your MP: 23%]

  Clyde sighed.

  "We’ve made it this far. Let’s finish this shit."

  "Indeed," Toru said.

  Seth raised his bat. Kitome nodded. Harumi gave Clyde a brief, warm smile

  Zeth roared, then inhaled deeply. That intake of air bothered the young man a lot.

  "Move people!" Clyde bellowed.

  [Zeth activated Shadow fire.]

  The group dove! The bluish white fire splashed into a wall, turning it to purple haze and ashes.

  [Zeth activated Flash swipe.]

  Before anyone could react, giant multiple streaks of light appeared from nowhere as Zeth thrusted forward a claw. The bright white razor-like lines were at least fifteen feet long.

  Clyde didn’t have to tell the party to run this time, but it did them no good. A burst of intense pain bombarded his side.

  The young man collapsed.

  [Your HP has dropped to 5% Your heart protection has prevented multiple status effects.]

  Everyone else looked like shit, struggling with mass pain, hardly able to move.

  [Alice attempted to activate a spell. Zeth’s Flash swipe’s mass lingering Area of Effect/AOE has cancelled it.]

  [Warning! Your party is in danger of being wiped!]

  No…So… Close, Clyde thought. He forced himself to his feet, though not without stumbling. The pain in his side spread cross entire body. Zeth landed in front of him, laughing. It sounded dark, guttural.

  "Did you really think that you stood a chance to begin with?"

  He smacked Clyde to the ground.

  [Your HP has dropped to 2%]

  Clyde laughed. Zeth roared.

  "You find something funny, human."

  He stormed over to the young man and lifted him. The young man dropped his sword.

  [Alice attempts to activate multiple spells but is still inflicted with mute.]

  She rushed Zeth but a surprise long blue tail sent the demoness flying.

  "Do any of you know who I am?" Zeth barked. "I’m the leader of the Hidden Lotus. Left Eye of the great demon lord of this city. What did you expect?"

  Clyde sighed as he slowly pulled the dagger from his sheath. With one impossibly quick movement, he plunged it into Zeth’s eye with all the strength he could muster.

  Zeth screamed in utter agony as he dropped Clyde, covering his eye with large claws.

  [Boss HP has dropped to 60% Critical! ATTACK ONCE MORE!]

  [Talent activated: main character stuff. Finishing Aura!]

  "Give it all you got!" Clyde ordered as he picked up his blade. He plunged it into Zeth’s throat with a good Deep Slash. And as a team, everyone invoked whatever skill or attack they could muster. Even Toru and Seth risked close range engagement to finish off the Mist Beast.

  [Zeth’s HP has dropped to 0%]

  Zeth let out a final wheeze as he fell. Clyde thought he’d turn back to his humanoid shape, but surprisingly didn’t. He loomed over the demon.

  "You may be strong, but we didn’t come here to lose to the first boss."

  Alice caught the young man in a hug. The young woman’s healing magic was already flowing through the air without so much as a motion of her hand.

  "I’ve got one more thing to do," Clyde said as he released her.

  He walked to the giant orb of raw power and called to it. Not with words, but feelings. He wasn’t sure how he did it.

  The orb flowed into him like a stream of mist, eagerly allowing the young man to engulf it, to become one with it.

  [Battle completed. Victory! Reward: 30,000 EXP and $5000.]

  [You have reached levels 23, 24, and 25. Stats increased! You have learned Spirit shield! You have learned Quick Mediation!]

  [Congratulations, you have absorbed your first line of power! Your reputation has increased to level 2.]

  [Let it be known that absorbing an Omen’s sphere has flushed you with unknown benefits. Remember, you are the only being capable of learning all elements. The orb has increased the levels of some of your skills by 1. You have learned the special ability, Acrobatics.]

  [The number of Omen’s orbs you’ve absorbed will be added to your stat page. The power will continue to flow through you for an eternity.]

  [Warning: absorbing too many could change you from human to something else. Keep that in mind.]

  [You have found Zeth’s Book of Mist. Item class: mysterious. Item added to your inventory.]

  Clyde was overwhelmed, but also too tired to give a shit, even about the large amount of money earned. Even Neko seemed to sense his exhaustion. After checking on the others, she led them out of the dungeon.

  Clyde didn’t want to admit it but pulsing through his veins was a new strength. He wasn’t sure if he could even control it.

  Episode 11 (Part 1): Ambient Spirit

  Monday. Week 2. Year 1.

  [Your hostile detection has reached level 4. Only one more left.]

  [Your relationship with Toru and Kitome has changed to Friend.]

  [Your relationship with Neko has changed to Very Curious.]

  Clyde sighed at the delayed prompts before dismissing them. The sound of the rain thumping against the window and the roof helped sooth his sore muscles a little. Funny, he should’ve felt worse than this, considering the fact that he almost died. Maybe today was a good day to take a break from the grind.

  Despite his body’s protests, he still rose up to handle morning matters. Nothing beat brushing your teeth in the shower. The alarm virtually demanded him at the school. The prior night felt like it went on for years.

  He watched the news for a few minutes while enjoying a breakfast of eggs, waffles, and bacon. A little less healthy than normal, but the constant fighting and running and nearly dying does something to man’s metabolism, Clyde thought. He set the few dishes in the dishwasher before taking off. Luckily the rain stopped, giving way to a breezy and cloudy day.

  Harumi met up with the young man as he stepped outside and off they went, traversing the wet sidewalks. They walked silently at first, abandoning the usual conversation. Clyde could see from the corner of his eyes, the young woman stealing glances at him. Not even halfway through the walk, he had to ask.

  "Are you well, Harumi?"

  She flushed, nodding a bit too quickly.

  "I’m fine."

  He shrugged.

  "Without you, we probably would’ve died at least ten times over." He looked at her. "Thank you for being there for us. A healer is a thankless job that you didn’t ask for."

  Harumi seemed caught off guard for a second but composed
herself. Clyde noticed that instead of wearing her hair straight down like usual, it was wavy.

  "That hairstyle looks good on you," he said.

  "Thank you," she said, still blushing.

  Clyde felt like he shouldn’t do that—these were the words of a harem main character, but Harumi really did look good with the hair style. Why was someone like her single anyway? Clyde didn’t answer that question. Because anime tropes, that’s why. Still, he didn’t like the tension in the air.

  "If you’ve got something say, Harumi, don’t hold back," he said. "What’s bothering you? We’re friends. Talk to me."

  He forced himself to not think about the impossible relationship system that sped-grinded his way into the pink-haired girl’s friendship circle.

  "Well…about that glowing orb yesterday," Harumi said. "You simply breathed it in. Did it do anything weird to you? Your ambient spirit feels different?"

  She placed a hand on Clyde’s forehead, gazing at him with a healer’s eye, in front of everyone, right as they were reaching the school gates.

  "Get a room," Seth said as he approached the duo.

  Clyde let out a sigh.

  "What’s up, Seth?"

  He gave the young man a handshake.

  "Exhaustion," Seth said. "Kept having nightmares about mutant girls eating me."

  Clyde chuckled.

  "Seems to me like you and Toru enjoyed that sort of thing," Harumi quipped, driving a blush from Seth.

  "No way dude, not me," he said, denying too eagerly. Harumi and Clyde gave him a suspicious look before allowing him to relax.

  "Hi Clyde." Chika seemed to appear out of thin air, anime-diving into the young man’s arms. The intoxicating, enchanting smell of soap and perfume hugged his nose before Harumi barged in between the two. The stare down made Clyde a bit uncomfortable. It was funny and adorable, but the fact that the system still somehow held him by the balls, even when he outsmarted it, didn’t bode well. Then again, this was probably not the system’s doing. The girls did this of their own free will.

  "Alright, enough of that," Toru said, beating Clyde to the words. Kitome strolled at his side. "Good morning everyone."

  "Hi guys," Kitome said. Clyde saw her brother, Yasuke, continue forward without turning to the group. "Anyone else felt like skipping classes?"

  "I did," Seth said, "but since I paid and all, you know."

  "Not like the academy’s going to let us get away with hooky anyway," Chika said, a tiny stroke of disapproval in her voice. With grades like hers, Clyde wasn’t surprised. Now if only she could get along with the professor.

  "Could you not stand in front of the gate like this," someone said. "It’s a violation of school policy."

  A slender girl with long black hair and grey eyes folded her arms, impatience spreading about her like an aura.

  "Sorry, President," Seth said, giving her an easy smile. It had no effect on the young woman.

  Clyde analyzed her just for the hell of it.

  Sazuki.

  Level: 19.

  Type: strong willed. Student council president.

  Relationship: neutral.

  HP: 100%

  MP: 100%

  As the group walked past her, the young man caught a showdown of glares between Harumi and Sazuki.

  Sazuki harrumphed anime-girl style. Harumi flushed with indignation then stuck her nose up as she passed the student council president.

  "Why do you two act like you don’t get along," Seth said, shaking his head. "That stupid fight is long over with. Didn’t the professors force you to make up?"

  Harumi didn’t answer, just looked straight ahead as if she didn’t hear him. Clyde was curious—Harumi had a rival?

  "What happened?" he whispered to Seth.

  "Long story dude," Seth replied, "but when Harumi’s old friend was here, they were hyper-competitive over everything. When her friend moved away, it died, and along with their somewhat friendship. And of course, a falling-out eventually happened and now here we are today. Wasn’t even Harumi’s fault, but the president could never get over her pride. She also has a soft spot for Harumi…a bit too much of a soft spot, if you know what I mean."

  Clyde’s eyes widened a little.

  "You mean…les—"

  "No, you dreamer, but she often asks about Harumi’s well-being when she’s not around. It’s pretty damn irritating when you’re trying to escape her stupid onslaught."

  Clyde chuckled. His smiled died when Maki caught sight of them. Seth’s blush hit full tomato mode.

  "Oh, hi Ma—Maki," Seth said.

  Clyde held the popular girl in an unreadable gaze, which seemed to invoke a flash of rage from her. This pleased him.

  Your superficial charm has no effect on me, he thought.

  Volume 1 Epilogue....

  Unknown City….

  "I see," someone said. "So, he’s progressing. And you expect me to wait for his power signature?"

  Mortem shrugged at the figure.

  "Rules are rules, I don’t make them. And no matter how powerful you are, it’s meaningless if you don’t impress those who watch."

  The figure swallowed his twelfth beer then smacked the mug on the table.

  "Hey pretty lady," he said to the waitress. "One more. Make it extra-large." He winked at her. She sighed, cheeks red, then hurried to comply to the man’s order. "I need you to stop beating around the bush on me, fairy-boy. Why do I have to spend so much time in this goddess-forsaken dimension? Point out his location, I’ll kill him quickly then we’ll be done with it. Done with this pointless game."

  Mortem shook his head.

  "Don’t argue with the messenger, drunk. It’s the stone-viper game. And you are the Viper. Start acting like it! Hell, you can kill any and everything in this city and no one could stop you."

  The waitress came back with the man’s mug. He patted her ass with a drunken tip of one hundred dollars. Seeing the money, the woman simply smiled then left him to his beer.

  "The only thing good about this world is its drink."

  He gave Mortem a smug, drunken, goofy grin that always annoyed him, then chugged the entire drink. His whispered to the entity, "if I wanted to, I can play my cards right and have her in my bed by noon." He chuckled at Morten’s blank stare. "You seriously need to get laid, Mortem."

  The entity’s eyes widened, unable to react to how the esper-human treated him. Regardless of being a resident of THAT world, he was still inferior. Yet…Mortem just couldn’t hate the guy. He wanted to rip his insides to shreds but agreed that a nice drink to drown away the world’s problems couldn’t go wrong.

  "It’s about time I get to moving," the Viper said, rising to his feet. He stumbled over three pretty serving girls, flipping skirts quickly enough for them not to notice.

  He allowed himself a brief glimpse of his stats page.

  Name: Aunder.

  Level: ???

  Type: Antagonist/ Viper. Esper.

  HP: ???%

  MP: Infinite.

  Spirit Sign: Legendary soul.

  He pushed away the prompt, already bored. Why couldn’t he have powers based on beer? Beer made the world go ‘round. It was a man’s best friend.

  "What are you up, drunk?" Mortem said. "I need something to report before I go."

  "I guess to go kill some guys," Aunder said.

  "Really? Can I really tell them the games have begun?"

  "I’m just fucking with you shorty—I’m going to get laid."

  "Oh come on!" Mortem said. "You’re the most feared man on your home world. The Soul Taker, they call you. And now given the chance to kill at will, you don’t?"

  "You misunderstand the killings of my home world," Aunder said. "Typical ignorance of an outsider. I’m from a warrior race. A warrior race of Espers on a planet of horrors. Coming here is a tiny vacation. Yet…" He glared at Mortem intensely as if seeing right through him. A look that made the entity freeze. "Do not test me, bat boy. Unlike you, I will be n
o one’s puppet." He turned to walk the streets, black cloak fluttering in the wind. "Refusing to give direction—very well. It’s time I went on a journey. Every clue I sense, I’ll follow. And those three others, I’ll kill them too and their guides."

  Mortem’s eyes widened.

  "You’re unbelievable—you arrogant." He paused. "Clyde, if you sense this one too early, I can only hope you’re smart enough to run. You’ll need to become more than just the Stone. You’ll need to become equals in the eyes of the Soul Taker."

  This has been volume one of The Stone vs. The Viper. The episodes will remain in order.

  The next story arc is underway. Part one of episode 11 was just a taste of it.

  Clyde’s story, his character development, his background, his fears and dislikes—you’ll learn them. Same applies to the friends he attracted….

  Fate is a mysterious string.