I wasn't sure where I was.
I was laying down, my eyes staring up at the ceiling. At least I think it's a ceiling. My vision was so blurry that it was hard to tell what anything was. Just a bright blur. Bright? Was there some sort of large candle on the ceiling?
The ground that I'm laying on: what material is it made of? It's smooth but hard and cold. I can feel it with my fingers... is this marble? Quartz? Limestone? I'm wasn't sure. I don't know what marble even feels like to begin with.
Am I dead?
I heard footsteps. My ears seemed to be working. But why was my eyesight still so blurry?
Each step I heard was followed by an echo. Just how big in this room?
I couldn't move anything. Just my fingers. I couldn't talk either. I just laid there, staring straight up at the ceiling.
After a few more steps, the walking stops. I saw a blurry, black figure lean over me. I couldn't see their eyes, mouths or much of anything. Even their body shape was unknown to me. Just a blurry black blob, looking down at me.
I looked at what I think is their head. I can't see their eyes but whoever it is, they're looking straight at me.
More footsteps. This time there were a lot of them. I couldn't count them all.
Just like the first one, more black figures appeared around my line of blurry vision. Their heads came from all sides as if they were forming a circle around me. I don't know how many of them there are but I can barely see the ceiling now. Just a crowd of black figures who I can't even seen properly. But the one thing I did know was that all of them were staring down at me.
"Is she dying?" Said a woman's voice.
They were all silent for a moment until-
"NAAAAHHHH! She'll be fine!" This time it was a man's voice.
I blinked twice. Excuse me?
Another woman's voice replied, "You're being surprisingly nonchalant about this. It's very concerning."
"I mean so are you."
"EVERYONE!" A different woman's voice yelled from a distance, "HAVE A LOOK AT THIS!"
All the shadowy figures staring down at me turned away to look at whoever had just called them.
"I... I found my old deck of playing cards!"
I blinked thrice. Excuse me?
"Seriously? You found that here?! That's so random."
"I know right! It even still has my signature on it. Anyone wanna play?"
The black blurry figures began moving away.
"Sure but can we please NOT play Snap?"
"I second that."
"Oh come on, we have to play Snap. It's a must."
"I would rather not have my arm ripped off again."
"But that's the best part."
"What about poker?"
"NOO! You girls sweat too much when you play that game, it gets smelly!"
There were too many voices to keep track off, however, all of them were female besides that one man's voice.
They had all walked away... all except for one. There was one, still staring down at me as everything began fading to black.
...
-I-I-I-I-
…
The first thing that my mind took notice of was a sound. Everything was still black in my eyes.
It was soft at first but then it grew more clearer and clearer.
Was that...clinkering? Clankering? Clanking? Not sure if those are even words that even exist. I can't seem to find the right word to describe it. It sounded like armour but the metal parts of the armour was constantly colliding and hitting each other. It wasn't loud though. Whatever it was, it must be pretty small.
As the sound grew more clear, I soon realised that wherever the sound is coming from, it must be directly next to my ear.
I felt something touching my cheek. It was shaking.
At that moment, I opened my eyes to see the night sky.
Judging from the lighting of my vision, there was fire nearby and I was most likely laying on a mat.
That clanking. That tiny sound of clanking. I could still hear it loud and clear.
I looked to what I think is my left.
It's Alfred. Standing right next to my head, with both his tiny hands pressing gently against my cheek. Oh yeah that's right. Alfred did have a healing skill didn't he? A small healing spell that only worked when he had both hands on my cheek.
His hand was trembling. Not just his hands actually. His whole body was trembling. Shivering. His entire body was shaking and as a result, the armour he was wearing and especially his metal helmet kept making small clanking noises. Was he cold? Judging from the background behind him and the rubbery ground, this was most likley the same mushroom desert we crossed beforehand to get to the blue mountain. Nights here could get pretty cold.
No wait... I don't think he's cold at all...is he...was Alfred... crying? Is this how Alfred cries? I've never seen him cry before. I assumed he wasn't capable of it since he doesn't have a voice... or even a face to make tears to begin with. But now that I thought about it, Alfred has displayed to show a variety of emotions in the past so it wouldn't make sense if he wasn't capable of sadness. I guess this is how my knight expresses "crying".
It's more accurate to say that he was crying. As soon as Alfred saw that I was awake, he instantly stopped "crying" and went euphoric. He jumped up and down before he hugged my cheek.
I laughed softly as I rose my arm and hugged Alfred with my fingers, pushing him gently against my cheek. I felt him nuzzle his small helmet against my hand.
Aww, I almost forgot how chubby small Alfred was...
Wait a minute... Alfred is small now? It finally occurred to me that Alfred was now back in his tiny, chibi form instead of his grown up form.
I looked behind Alfred and saw nothing except the dark form of the giant mushrooms that littered the rubbery dessert and the light of the campfire that was behind my back. Wait no, there was something else. I saw... an outline. It was transparent so I see right through it but it didn't seem like glass. It was like some sort of barrier and it had the edges of a cube. Why am I in a cube?
With my fingers still hugging Alfred, I turned my head to face my right side and almost jumped in shocked to see someone looking right at me.
It wasn't the Reaper, the Samurai or Lily although I did see all three of them in the background.
The Samurai and the Reaper were sitting on the rubber sand, legs crossed and in the middle of eating although they seemed to stop when they saw me. Lily was also laying down like me but nearby the Samurai and was already awake. All three of them had bandages wrapped around their necks... so did I actually.
The person right next to me, he was kneeling down besides me and wore a mage's robe that was silver, a similar colour pallet to Alfred's armour. He wore a helmet and similar to Alfred, if you looked into his helmet, there was no face. Just a dark void.
He wore leather gloves and in his hand was a staff. A long metal staff. The main body of the staff looked as if two long, thin metal poles had been bent to swirl around each other like a spiral.
At the top of his staff, was a cube. A floating cube. It was silver and transparent so you could see right through it, similar to the giant cube that everyone was inside of. The cube slowly spun around as it floated right above the head of his staff.
He waved at me. I waved back.
The memories slowly all came back to me.
...
-I-I-I-I-
…
I couldn't properly process what or who had appeared right before me. But there was only one thing was going through my mind back then.
I couldn't raise my arm anymore so I weakly looked in Lily's direction.
"S-save her please... please..."
...
-I-I-I-I-
…
My second knight.
"Hello." I stuttered, "Nice to meet you."
"..." He said greetings. Like Alfred, he too didn't have a voice.
I must've summoned him right before passing out. Seeing that Lily and I are still alive he must be... a healer.
"Thank you...T-thank you so much."
He nodded.
But wait a minute, that doesn't make sense. Why is he big? He's basically the same size as Alfred when he first went through his evolution, if not, a tiny bit shorter.
Did he start off like this? But didn't Alfred start off small so why-
As if predicting my confusion, my second knight told me that I have Alfred to thank for that. I turned back to see the tiny Alfred putting his hands on his hips, proudly puffing his chest up high as he told me the story of what happened.
...
-I-I-I-I-
…
When he came into existence, the first thing the small healer knight saw were my eyes. He looked at me with a peculiar look, tilting his head curiously.
However, almost a second later he immediately recoiled in pure horror to see blood trailing down my neck.
He flinched again upon seeing the Reaper's wide, bewildered gaze.
He began shaking. Trembling at the sight of this overwhelming situation.
He then flinched again upon hearing a sword being stabbed into the ground nearby him.
He looked up and saw Alfred, leaning his damaged body against his great-sword which was now stabbed into the ground. Bits of metals were still falling off him.
The tiny healer and Alfred both stared at each other in silence.
The Reaper didn't know what they were saying but I could vaguely listen:
'You can save her... you can save all of them.'
Alfred weakly extended his hand to the tiny healer. My second knight reached out his arm and touched the tip of Alfred's finger.
They both began glowing, engulfed by a silver light.
Iron Switch.
...
-I-I-I-I-
…
A new skill Alfred had unlocked.
"Iron Switch" which gave Alfred the ability to switch the amount power he had with another one of my knights. So while he devolved back into his tiny form, the same form he was in when he was first born, my second knight evolved into the state that Alfred was previously in. In terms of skills, my second knight automatically unlocked the same amount of skills that Alfred had before.
The skill he was using right now was called:
...
Cubic Bedding:
Summons a barrier field. All 'allies' inside this field will gradually heal over time for a duration of 6 hours. CD: 1 day
...
I rubbed my first knight's tiny helmet, "Well done Alfred. Thank you."
I then turned back to face my second knight.
He had his hand on his chest where a human would usually have their heart and bowed his head towards me.
If you will... can you please give me a name? He asked.
A name? Oh yeah, that's right. I have to be the one who names them. I assumed Alfred had told him about it beforehand. I wouldn't be surprise if Alfred was bragging about it to his new, nameless brother.
A name...
I gave it some time to think. Something told me that I might have to get used to this nerve wracking moment of thinking of a name. My second knight waited patiently.
One name eventually came to mind. After thinking about it twice, then thrice... I said:
"Cleric... Sir Cleric. My second knight."
Small white words spelling out "Sir Cleric" appeared right above his head before disappearing again.
"My second knight, Sir Cleric. Let's both continue to help others."
Cleric rose his head, saying he was honoured to finally meet me.
Alfred crossed his tiny arms. My name is cooler, said Alfred. I chuckled.
"Cleric. A wonderful name." Said the Samurai as she stood up to greet us, "Well then, in that case, allow me to formally express my gratitude."
The Samurai proceeded to kneel down in front of me and Cleric.
This was certainly unexpected. Even Alfred seemed shocked.
"Sir Cleric, Sir Alfred and Summoner..." She bowed her head towards all three of us, "I thank you all for saving Lily's life. We are forever in your debt."
Cleric and Alfred instinctively bowed back to her, as if imitating her. Usually I'm awkward around people expressing their thanks, especially something that's this direct. But this time, I couldn't help but fell... guilty. Incredibly guilty. "I don't think we deserve your thanks, Samurai."
The Samurai rose her head but she didn't seem surprised by my comment.
"After all, we're probably the ones who are responsible for that attack... You thought about it as well, right Reaper?" I said as I looked straight at her, "the timing between our visit and the assassins' attack... it can't be a coincidence right? They must've followed us."
"Mmm." She hummed before she grabbed a few things and threw them towards Cleric. My knight caught it and promptly gave it to me. It was a small canteen of water along with a sack of cloth. When I unwrapped it, I saw half a load of bread along with some meat that they must've hunted and cooked tonight.
Upon seeing it, my body must've finally discovered how hungry and thirsty I was. It was like my hands had a mind of it's own as I started eating almost automatically. I managed to muffle a short "thank you" between my chews.
"It really hurts when I swallow," I commented, grasping my neck, "Is it the same for you guys?"
"Yep! I mean we all got stabbed in the neck so this pain of swallowing should've been the least of our problems." Yukari chuckled, "yet here we are."
That's right. Before the Reaper and the Samurai arrived, the assassins had utterly defeated us. The memory of me failing to protect Lily was beginning to flood back in. It just occurred to me... that this was my first time versing human opponents. I thought I had finally gotten stronger but that fight had proven that I am still very weak. I still have many ways to go before I can face opponents like that again.
As I ate and drank, the Reaper explained her theory, "My guess is that they must've spotted us with Alfred when we went through that one town. I should've been more discrete about Alfred's appearance so that was my fault."
True, one of our stops to travel to the blue mountain was a city. It would make sense that the assassins just so happen to be there at the time and Alfred did stand out a bit especially since he was travelling with two fakes. To be honest, I should've been more careful about it too but I guess the possibility of being followed never occurred to both of us. We are fakes after all. Most humans usually don't want anything to do with us fakes. Unless you're someone who is actively hunting us, of course.
"But that still doesn't explain how they found our final destination, especially within one day. Did they somehow follow us through using your shadow portals?"
"Unlikely," The Reaper replied, "but they were assassins. It's more likely that they used a skill to track down where my portals lead to...and then used some method of fast travel to get there..."
That did seem like the likely story.
I turned to look at the Samurai, "That's most likely what happened... So if anything, we're the ones who need to be apologising to you for endangering your lives and comprising your home."
Regardless of knowing that, she simply smiled back at me, "The Reaper has already expressed her apologies before but I will gladly repeat myself. Do not apologies for something like that. You pursued me in with the genuine intention of finding more support your community. I have nothing but respect for that."
I truly wondered... whether or not that would've been her same answer if Lily had actually died. If Lily and I had died... would the Reaper and the Samurai turn on each other? Fortunately that's not what happened so it was a bit pointless to contemplate a hypothetical like that.
As the Samurai went back to sit down with the Reaper, I turned to looked at the second Lily fake amongst us, seeing her alive and well, filled me with endless relief, "How are you doing Lily?"
"Great! It's all thanks to Cleric!" Lily said with her usual cheerful tone although it seemed to hurt her neck just from speaking that loudly so she promptly lowered her voice, "I know Sensei already said so but thank you. I honestly don't know how to thank you guys."
"Honestly, I really don't think you owe us anything." I admitted.
In response, Lily let out a small chuckle while expressing a smile. A smile very similar to the one that the Samurai always has on her face. At that exact moment, Lily seemed very mature which was a rare sight... although she immediately broke that mature expression when she remembered-
"By the way! I gotta say, I never knew Alfred had a such AN ADORABLE FORM!" She almost squealed, "You should've see it Summoner. Alfred literally wouldn't let go of you, even when it was time to eat. He was shaking none-stop and making that tiny clanking noise all day. IT WAS very cute!"
I looked over at Alfred who currently had his arms crossed and his head turned in the other direction, clearly embarrassed.
Both Lily and I chuckled. The reason why there was a lot of chuckling was because no one wanted to laugh out loudly since that would greatly hurt our necks. Even the Reaper was restraining herself it seemed. I hadn't heard her maniacal laugh since we first met the Samurai.
We continued our dinner in peace, not bothered by anything, not even a single monster appeared.
The Samurai assisted Lily with her food and drinks.
Cleric and I discussed light topics like our recovery.
Tiny Alfred was challenging the Reaper with his tiny sword although for the first time in my life, I saw the Reaper reject the duel.
"It really was a miracle that you two remained alive until Cleric's summoning," The Reaper commented, "A dagger to the neck is usually an instant death."
It was ironic hearing this from the same person who also got stabbed in the neck but still managed to travel half the mountain and was still more worried about me than herself.
"I unlocked a new skill called Desperate Reach. It allowed-"
"SAME!" Lily cried out resulting in her neck hurting again.
The Samurai politely reminded her to be wary of her injury.
Lily giggled embarrassingly before stating, "It lets you live a bit longer when you're about to die right? I got the same skill. I also got a bunch of other skills that decreased the damage I took from that dagger. Like 'Endurance' and even the 'Regeneration' passive skill which is a skill I've always wanted since everyone seems to have it. Still hurt like hell but it allowed me to get in my last words, hahaha. Perks of choosing a tank skill tree I gues-" She stopped herself and started thinking about what she just said. Everyone else knew exactly what she was thinking.
I continued, "Yes, that's also the skill I got. The description is very vague which is to be expected but it seems "remaining alive for slightly longer" was long enough to save us both."
"To say that was fortunate would be more than just an understatement." The Samurai commented, "skill trees really do seem to give us what we need at the exact moment."
"Well... not all the time." The Reaper added as if remembering something.
To explain what happened at the time in simple terms: Cleric used all his healing skills so that everyone was no longer on the verge of dying. From there, our "regeneration" passive skills did the rest. Of course, Cleric continued to use his healing skills as soon as his cooldowns were down. Thanks to Cleric, Lily and I were able to be healed enough so that the Samurai and the Reaper could carry us safely away from the blue mountain and travelled to the rubber mushroom desert, using Yukari's-
"Wait..." I looked over at the Samurai and Lily, "you must've used Yukari's portals to get here... does that mean you two already-"
The Samurai just smiled as she revealed a small bandaged wrapped around her wrist under her sleeve. It was the same for Lily although instead of a smile, she just shivered in horror. Lily pointed at the Reaper with an annoyed finger, "She almost gave me a heart attack, you know! Randomly asking for our blood with the creepiest smile I had ever seen on her face. I really thought we were getting backstabbed- Oww my neck..."
In order to be "accepted" by Yukari's shadow portals, you have to 'donate' a bit of your blood to her. The only exception to that rule seemed to be Alfred and Cleric, probably because they were my summons.
The Reaper laid back on the rubbery sand, using her hands like a pillow, acting completely ignorant of Lily's pointed finger.
Lily gave her a brief "grrrr" which everyone found really amusing and adorable.
"I'm still older than you!" Lily reminded the Reaper for what seemed like the tenth time.
The conversation moved again to other, more light topics. Light topics such as the strange rubbery desert, the mushroom meerkats that the reaper had hunted for food, the people of Fake Town, contemplating whether skill trees are sentient or not, and of course, the purpose of life and why we're alive. You know, the usual light hearted topics we always discussed.
I had probably eaten enough servings for two people. As painful as it was to swallow, that didn't do much to stop my hunger. I must've been asleep for a while but I may have eaten too much. Alfred also ate a lot... for his size, that is.
Then it was time to sleep.
Alfred, Lily and Cleric were already deep into their dreams at this point. Cleric wanted to sleep while sitting right up just in case he needed to get up quickly since they were in the middle of nowhere. Even though I tried to tell that it would be fine, he remained adamant to do so. Hence I decided to sleep sitting up right as well. Cleric told me to lay down but I told him I would only lay down if he did.
As a result, we both ended up resting with our backs against each other while I held the slumbering Alfred on my lap.
It had been a while since I last held tiny Alfred in my arms while we slept. Cleric fell asleep soon after that. He must've been really tired. I myself was close to drifting off when-
"Hey Samurai?" The Reaper called gently.
"Yes?"
"The assassin who attacked us... he was a general, wasn't he?"
I turned my head in order to face the Samurai and the Reaper since I didn't really see a reason why I should pretend to be asleep. They didn't seem to mind either.
However, I made the decision to just listen and not speak. They were both staring deep into the fire as they spoke.
"Only a General would have the bravery to wake up a B-rank monster just to distract us." Said the Reaper.
"And you would be correct in assuming so," The Samurai confirmed, "... General Zebak: The Unknown Killer... heard of him?"
"No I haven't."
"It would be strange if you did know..." Said the Samurai, "Most people don't even know he even exist and he intends to keep it that way..."
"and how is it that you know about him?"
"Reasons..."
"..." The Reaper briefly looked up from the fire and stared at the Samurai who was still looking down at the fire, "You should've killed them when you had the chance. Both the General and his three followers."
Those assassins were still alive? Knowing Yukari, she most likely would've killed them which means the Samurai must've stopped her from doing so.
"No. That would not have been wise."
"You've already killed two in the past. What's the difference?"
"The difference is that this is General Zebak. Besides, I feel fortunate enough that I don't already have a bounty on my head for that past incident."
"Why is General Zebak different?"
"Because he's a former student of the Original Hero Zeno: The Silent Assassin. The only student that Zeno directly taught and trained himself."
Now that was a name that the Reaper and I did not expect to hear in this conversation.
It's weird how the more stronger I grew, the more I realised just how powerful the heroes were. Now that I think about it, the original Hero Yukari also had a student who eventually became a General. To think even the student could become that powerful.
"Killing Zebak would surely incur his wrath. Zeno is not someone you want to anger. Same goes for all the other heroes. Even you should know that, Reaper." With her katana resting gently against her front shoulder, she looked up from the fire and straight at the Reaper who was still looking down at the fire.
Finally, Yukari rose both her hands defensively, "Okay... Fair enough."
The Reaper then grabbed a small mushroom that was on the ground and chucked it at my head, making me jolt a bit.
"Go to sleep, kid."
"Ok, ok." I chuckled before closing my eyes.
The Reaper laid back and rested on her arms while the Samurai looked up to admire the night sky.
...
-I-I-I-I-
…
Waking up, our necks still hurt a lot.
Right as the early sun was beginning to wake up, Cleric re-used all the healing skills that were no longer on cool down. He had one other AOE heal skills and several single target heal skills. The Samurai, Reaper, Alfred and I each got one before we all swiftly agreed that Lily should take rest of the single target heals since her Regeneration Passive skill was the lowest level among all of us.
Ever since resetting my skill tree, I had experienced so many things for the first time. One of which is being "healed". I never had a healer tend to my wounds before. Even if I could afford it, I doubt there would be any human healers willing to waste their skills on a mere fake. Technically Alfred had that one small heal skill but with Cleric, you could physically feel the relief flowing through your veins when his skills are first activated.
Cleric kneeled down in front of the tiny Alfred and extended his hand, offering to "switch" until his skill cool downs reset. Apparently they had already tried to "loophole" the heal skills similar to what Lily did with the Samurai in their past. Weirdly enough, it didn't work. Either that's another inconsistency of skill trees or the resetting of all cooldowns was apart of Lily's reset skill that just wasn't included in the text. Either way, it didn't work. We would've been in top shape if it did work.
To Cleric's confusion, Alfred crossed his arms and refused Cleric's hand.
Cleric titled his head while Alfred stubbornly turned his head the other way.
Surely you would want your power, that you rightfully earned, to be returned back to you, right? At least that's what Cleric had assumed although i was able to easily pick up why Alfred refused as I watched my first knight jump up and down on the rubbery "sand" of the desert.
It seemed I wasn't the only one who missed tiny Alfred. Alfred had also missed being a "child" and wanted to enjoy his small freedom more.
Cleric just stared as he watched Alfred cling onto my leg.
I sighed and picked him up, "Alfred... I know you miss this, I do too... but Cleric has barely had a turn. You already got to sleep like this so let him have a go, please? You can always switch later one right?"
"We might encounter some monsters on the way so you're better off switching for now anyway." The Reaper chimed in.
"He definitely deserves it." The Samurai added.
Alfred lowered his shoulders, his arms drooping over my fingers. Ok... he finally said.
After putting him back on the ground, he walked over to Cleric and poked the healer's finger.
They both began glowing. We all watched with mild interest as Cleric grew smaller and Alfred grew larger.
The glowing stopped once the switch was completed. Alfred was back to his usual larger form while Cleric... oh my goodness, Cleric. I felt my eyes widening slightly as I looked down on him.
He was adorable.
He pretty much looked exactly the same as before except for his size but his robe... his robe was smaller, yes, but it was now too big for him. Due to his oversized sleeves, I could no longer see his arms or hands. In fact, I couldn't even see his feet and part of his robe dragged across the ground as he walked. He even had to be careful with his steps since it could result in his tripping over.
The oversize natured of his attire was oddly adorable.
Although I immediately stopped thinking about that when Cleric looked up at me. He rose his arms towards me, revealing his small leather gloves as his sleeves fell back. His hands... they were trembling. In fact his entire tiny body started shaking similar to what Alfred was doing when I first woke up yesterday.
"Poor child," said the Samurai, "he must still be shaken by the previous ordeal."
"Fair enough," said the Reaper, "kid gets brought into this world for the first time in his life and the very first thing he sees is his mother on death's doorstep. By far the worst first impression you could ever give a kid."
I hadn't thought about that. Of course, he would've been horrified beyond all beliefs and yet despite that, he still stepped up to save us.
"I'm so sorry." I really am a foolish person.
I knelt down and reach for him with my hands. Cleric took a step forward but tripped on his own robe. I was there though so he fell gently into my hand. i stood up and brought him closer to my face as he laid down on my palm. I covered him with my second hand like a blanket and he snuggled himself under it.
With that... he fell asleep. This... was probably the first time he actually managed to get some proper sleep. I should've forced him to sleep properly last night, that was my fault. At least he's able to sleep nicely now.
...
-I-I-I-I-
…
"By the way," I said as we walked forward with Cleric still sleeping in my hand, I looked over at the Samurai and Lily, "Where are you two going after this?"
"Ah, Lily and I were thinking that it may be best to stay Fake Town for the time being." The Samurai replied.
"Oh I see. Well I wish you all the best of luck on your trav- wait what?" I gave them a 'since when' type of look.
"Why do you think they've been following us, miss Summoner?" The Reaper chuckled.
I had assumed they just so happen to be going in the same direction.
"But are you sure?" I asked, "Lily already told us about your past. Neither the Reaper or I can guarantee the people of Fake Town won't do the same if a similar situation like that ever arises."
Not to mention, the awkward timing. To think we requested them to join our community right before an assassin attack that would render them homeless. It was as if the Reaper and I were taking advantage of their unfortunate predicament. Well... technically I was the one who destroyed their home. But even if their home was still standing, they would still have to move since their location had now been discovered.
"I appreciate the honesty," The Samurai said firstly, "but it has been a long time since then. After discussing it with Lily, I've decided to give it another go and besides... things will be very different."
"Different? How so?"
"Well for starters... I won't be the one in charge this time, will I."
We all turned our heads to look at the Reaper who was just whistling while she walked in front of the group. That is a good point. You could argue that the main downfall of the Samurai's previous community was due to having not enough "pillars' for the people to depend on. They really only had one, the Samurai, and as soon as that one pillar was believed to be dead, the whole community collapsed. However, this time...
"You two might as well be ordinary citizens." The Reaper joked.
I looked straight at the Reaper's back, "Right..."
...
-I-I-I-I-
…
We stopped. Not because we wanted to take break but because monsters were standing in our way.
Evolved Mushroom Meerkats. C-rank.
Their name said "evolved" but really, they just looked like the regular mushroom meerkats but bigger with sharp claws and mushrooms on their back that puffed out poisonous gas.
Usually you don't come across these monsters... not unless you go hunting in this area that is.
Seeing that I still had Cleric in my hands, Alfred took the initiative and stepped forward while equipping his large silver great sword.
Also taking a step forward was the Reaper. She spun her wooden weapon with her hands before it swiftly became her signature shadow scythe which she softly rested on her shoulder, "This shouldn't take long."
"I too would like to stretch my arms for a bit." The Samurai stepped forward.
Lily and I watched the three of them standing side by side almost as if we were in awe. I looked down at my hands. Cleric was still sleeping peacefully in my hand. I brought him a bit closer to my chest and held him a bit tighter.
Alfred and the Reaper both sprinted forward while the Samurai walked down the middle, her katana still resting against her shoulder where it always seemed to be resting.
With both arms and his weapon glowing, Alfred swung his sword at a meerkat that had lunged at him. It got sliced in two. There was another that jumped around the same time as the first but dodged the swing and managed to scratch his helmet. Their claws did nothing against his armour. Alfred grabbed the scratching creature on his head and smashed it on the ground. The poison didn't affect him.
Three monsters were already drowning in the impaling spikes of Yukari's jacket. Three more jumped at her but got no where close to her without getting sliced and absorbed by her shadows. Her jacket transformed into a large cloak with a hood, shielding her from the poison.
It was a wonder how Cleric was able to sleep through all of this.
The Samurai kept walking until she was facing the rest of the horde. She reached for the handle of the her sword and pulled it slightly, exposing only a few centimetres of the blade. The Samurai slid her katana back into its sheath with a gentle click. Streams of thunder shot out from her weapon and within seconds... the rest of the monster horde was dead. Before any of them could even go near her. There were a few others in the distance, however, after seeing what just happened, they all ran away.
After a moment of silence, everyone turned and looked at the Samurai with straight faces. Lily stared clapping loudly.
To be honest, she could've easily wiped out the entire horde herself. So why did Alfred and the Reaper bother? Well... they were in the room as well when Lily told us about the Samurai's past and the downfall of her community. The story probably stuck with them like it did with me.
The Samurai breathed in before breathing out, feeling refresh as she turned to face the group, "Alright... shall we get going now?"
The Reaper blinked twice before asking, "You call that stretching?"
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-I-I-I-I-
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"Hey Samurai?"
"Yes Reaper."
"Can I see what your entire katana looks like? So far, I've only seen a few centimetres of it."
"Unfortunately, I cannot show you that."
"Why not?"
"Because I do not want to hurt you."
...
-I-I-I-I-
…
We were almost at the end of this mushroom desert according to the Reaper.
A few minutes more and we'll reach the shadow portal that'll take us out of this place and onto the next.
We continued chatting on our travels. Just when I was beginning to notice that Lily wasn't talking as much as she usually does, she stopped walking.
Everyone turned back to look at her. It didn't seem like anything serious or terrible. On the contrary, I had never seen so much determination in her expression before.
"I've been thinking," Lily started.
With those three words, all of us pretty much knew exactly what she was about to say but we allowed her to tell us anyway.
"I've decided...that I want to be a healer. For good this time. No more switching after that..." Lily declared, "I gave up on healer before because I never learned any major skills and I always believed that the only way to support Sensei was to become a strong fighter like her. If I had been as strong as Sensei back then, that community would've had another person to depend on. Sensei would not have had to pushed herself so hard... but after seeing Cleric save my life and the Summoner and heal everyone's wounds... It become a huge source of inspiration for me. I... I want to be able to save others like that too."
The Samurai spent no energy surprising a smile while Alfred and I gave a thumbs up.
The Reaper on the other hand, crossed her arms with a raised eyebrow, "Are you sure? You do realise the only reason why you survived that dagger to the neck is because you just so happen to be using a tank skill tree. Even with that in mind, are you sure?"
Lily paused for a moment, swallowed some air and said, "I'm sure."
"You would dead if you had chosen a healer before this. Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"You'll face many roadblocks. Most people don't learn any new skills in years. Are you still sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Even if it might mean you won't be able to fight alongside your sensei?"
"..." That one probably got Lily thinking a bit more, but even so, "I'm sure! I'll only get in her way and I don't think I was ever cut out for fighting anyways...and besides... she'll have you guys."
We looked at each other. That was a very good point. But at the strength level that the Reaper and I were at now, we would probably just get in her way in a fight against real threats. We certainly would have to get stronger to match her level.
"The one thing Sensei can't do is heal. So I'll gladly take that role and suport everyone from the back."
The Samurai chuckled, "Oh Lily, there are countless of things besides healing that I cannot do."
The Reaper took one more glance at Lily's expression before her face formed a large grin, "Alright!... I for one have no more objections, what about you guys?"
Everyone shook their heads. We all agreed that if Lily stuck to her word than this was going to be a huge step for her.
"Well in that case, I'll... be switching now then."
"Go ahead. See you on the other side."
Lily nodded with a bit of excitement in her eyes before looking up, Universal Rest!"
A large white ball emerged from inside Lily's heart and engulfed her completely. Alfred and I stared in awe. It was our first time seeing something like this. Interestingly, it looked quite similar to the glass ball thing that reset my skill tree at the church.
This one was much smaller though and hovered slightly above the ground while slowly spinning around.
We only watched the ball spin for about less than a minute before the ball shrunk down and retreated back into Lily's heart.
Lily looked exactly the same wearing the exact same clothes.
She opened her eyes and stared right at us with a tired yet satisfied face. Judging from her expression, it looked like she had been in there for hours from her perspective. She rose her arm and a long wooden stick appeared in his hand, "Aright!... I'm now a Sage!"
Alfred loudly clapped for her while the Samurai's smile grew even larger.
The Reaper patted Lily4339 on the shoulder, "Glad to have you onboard, Sage."
Sage giggled, proud that she had finally made this decision. It seemed that this previous dilemma of hers had been secretly plaguing her mind ever since she woke up.
"With that said Sage, if I ever see you using that resetting skill again, trust me, your skill tree won't be the only thing having a reset, that is all I'll say." The Reaper concluded with a dangerous smile, her grip still firmly placed on the Sage's shoulder.
The Sage just laughed nervously as her inner spine shivered in fear. The Samurai and I just chuckled.
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-I-I-I-I-
…
There it was. A giant mushroom, two times the size of regular trees. There was nothing unusual or conspicuous about it. It looked just like all the others around the area. Except for one small detail. It's shadow was slightly darker than others.
"I'll be removing all portals that connect the Blue mountain to Fake Town, along with some others just to be safe. We wouldn't want those assassins to follow us." The Reaper stated, "Hence I need to be the last one to go in so just wait for me when you get to the other side."
We all nodded.
"Well, as the humans like to say... ladies first." Yukari gestured towards the Samurai and the Sage.
The Samurai bowed her head slightly before stepping above the shadow. After a pause, she began sinking into the shadow until she was completely gone.
The Sage cheerfully jumped into the shadow, expecting to go straight in. But instead she just landed on the shadow and awkwardly laughed as she began sinking slowly into it. "Well that was anti-climatic."
Alfred and I were about to go next when the Reaper stopped us by grabbing my shoulder.
"We've caught quite the rare fish, haven't we?" The Reaper began, "Even rarer than you. No offence."
"None taken." It's rare enough to find a fake who has reseted their skill tree, let alone, one who was that powerful. To say we were lucky would be an understatement. If you think about it on a surface level, we've technically already achieved our goal in getting enough people to protect the people of fake town.
However... the story about the downfall of the Samurai's previous community. I'm sure Alfred, Yukari and I all learned the same lesson from that story.
"Let's not take this as an excuse to sit back and relax... alright?"
Alfred and I nodded. We shouldn't rely on the Samurai for everything, otherwise, the same thing may happen to Fake Town before we know it.
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-I-I-I-I-
…
"Oh by the way, I almost forgot. Back when we were attacked, the Reaper and I defeated a B-rank monster and it dropped a weapon coffer." The Samurai abruptly said out of nowhere.
Lily, Alfred and I froze in our steps. In perfect unison, all three of us turned our heads to give her a "I'm sorry, what" type of look.
"Here!" She pulled out a small light blue box that had fish patterns around it and part of the outline seemed to be glowing as if it had it's own aura, "Amazing, is it not?"
It really does say something when the Samurai seemed more excited about the weapon coffer than the actual defeat of a B-rank creature. To be fair, weapon coffers have a incredibly low chance of dropping so I understood her excitement.
I looked at the Reaper. It seemed she didn't like the Samurai's phrasing.
"Well... she killed it. I didn't do anything." The Reaper said bluntly.
The Samurai disagreed, "That's not true, you also contributed to that battle."
The word 'contributed' told me everything to be honest. It was even more insane to imagine after we found out that she had to take out Levi after taking out a general with a knife jabbed in her throat. She must have some ridiculous endurance skills or something. Her stats must be equally insane.
"Well as amazing as this is, I do not have any need for it," The Samurai continued, "and since the only person who helped me vanquish the beast refuses to accept this, I would like to give it to you, Summoner. Consider it as my thanks for saving Lily's life, although I am sure this is not even close to repaying my debt to you."
Oh it most certainly does in my opinion. By tenfold in fact. Weapon coffers are small boxes, only known to be dropped by powerful monsters. When opened by a person, the weapon coffer will transform your starter wooden weapon into a specialised weapon that's based on the defeated monster and the person's primary weapon. In terms of market price, this small item could probably buy Fake Town at least 6 months worth of supplies since they are incredibly rare.
If the item only gave a single, seperate weapon that could be lost, broken or stolen, it wouldn't be as special. But what makes them so valuable is that it connects to your skill tree and becomes your starter weapon with infinite uses, meaning that it remains as a permanent power up for whoever consume the item.
"Are you sure you don't want it Reaper?" I asked.
"Don't need it."
Maybe she felt like she didn't deserve it. If so, I didn't think the Reaper was the type of person to have that kind of pride. Or perhaps she's simply content with her current weapon.
As for me...
I gave myself a bit of time to think before saying, "Thank you Samurai... But I think it would wiser if you gave this to the Sage."
"Huh? Wait, m-me?" I probably said the last thing Lily expected me to say.
"And why is that?" The Samurai asked.
"While I will admit that I am in dire need of a better weapon, this would only be benefit me," I explained, "however, since Lily is now a healer. Giving this to her would be significantly more beneficial for not only all of us here, but for everyone else back at fake town. Wouldn't you guys agree?"
Everyone glanced at each other. I spotted the Reaper slowly nodding to herself in agreement.
"Besides," I added, "in an indirect sort of way, giving this to the Sage would be a better gift to us more than anything."
"Hmm... If that is what you truly wish for, then I have no objections," Said the Samurai, "What do you think, Sage?"
"Well... if you put it like that, I almost feel like it would be rude NOT to accept haha," Lily scratched her head as she spoke, judging from her expression, she seemed to like the idea but would obviously feel guilty about accepting, "but are you SUREE?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"But are you REALLY sure?"
"If you can promise that you'll continue to improve yourself as a healer than it would be in my best interest that you take it... Please." I figured saying 'please' might make her feel less bad about it.
The Samurai extended her arm towards the Sage with the weapon coffer in hand. The Sage looked at everyone as if expecting someone to reject the idea at the last second.
"Come on kid, we can all tell you really want it, just take the damn thing." The Reaper said bluntly.
"EXCUSE ME! I'M OLDER THAN YOU!" Sage pouted.
"Are you taking it or not?" The Reaper crossed her arms, "I mean we could always just sell it-"
"Alright! Alright! I'll take it!" She said as she softly grasped the small box item, "T-thank you, everyone."
After getting one last glance of approval from everyone, the Sage admired the pretty box before slowly opening its lid.
She felt a breath of air blow past her face before the box began dissolving into blue particles.
Her starter weapon, a long wooden stick, appeared in her hand automatically as the particles from the box began expanding and wrapping around the staff.
Within moments, all traces of wood were completely gone. Replaced by this light blue scale-like material with a leviathan's head attached to the top of the staff. Coincidentally, it matched the light blue colour of her attire.
We all stared in awe.
Seemingly out of instincts, Sage lifted her new weapon before tapping the ground with it. Upon doing so, the eyes of the leviathan's head began glowing and a small pocket of air around Lily's whole body seemed to change.
A fish. An air fish with blue skin and a transparent body appeared within that air pocket. Then three more, each wearing a different colour, faded into existence and began 'swimming' around the Sage.
Amazed, Sage spun around as she watched the four fish swirl around her as if there was a mini ocean around her. Apparently she even learned a few new skills, all of which were themed after the Blue Mountain. It was a weapon that would forever serve as a memory of that place.
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-I-I-I-I-
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I have to say. When the Reaper and I went on this trip, I couldn't imagine we would come back with three new faces. Wait...well, technically they aren't new "faces", it's probably more accurate to say new members.
Anyways, you could probably imagine everyone's reaction when they saw us return with not one but two fakes. Both wearing an outfit that didn't belong to the original hero Lily.
"Welcome home everyr- OOH! H-hi, nice to you meet you!"
All it took was a few gasps and suddenly the entire village had gathered to greet the newcomers. The other Lily fakes in particular were ecstatic.
They were immediately taken aback when the Samurai bowed politely to them which was followed by an equally polite, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you all. I am a Samurai. The Reaper has told me many things about all of you."
Similar to Alfred, some neutrals awkwardly bowed back when first seeing it.
"Hey Reaper, you should talk like her more-OWW!" One of the Jack fakes joked which rightfully earned a jab from her.
"HELLO EVERYONE!" The Sage exclaimed a bit louder than she intended. She went to shake everyone's hand although her own hands were noticeably trembling. She was excited but clearly nervous. She probably didn't expect to be greeted by the entire village all at once.
Jokingly, they ignored the Reaper and faced me, saying, "Good job Summoner! We knew we could count on you- OWW!"
Of course, Lily3209, one of my 'roommates', was the first to notice who was sleeping peacefully in my hand, "AWWWW! IS THAT YOU'RE NEW KNIGHT?!"
This brought more attention to it and a few female fakes crowded around me, all wanting to see the tiny healer. Coincidentally, Cleric woke up and was understandably taken aback by all the amount of new eyes that were watching him. Regardless, he rose his tiny arm and waved his over sized sleeve, melting everyone's hearts. A lot of them suddenly had the urge to pet him, with his permission of course.
"WELCOME!"
"Good to see you again Alfred, how was the trip?"
"Oh I've never had air fish before, how do they taste?"
"Nice to meet you all!"
"Sorry our living conditions don't offer much but you are more than welcomed here."
"Whoa, your clothes are really cool!"
"IS THAT A KATANA?! CAN I TOUCH IT!?"
"Guys! Don't be rude, please."
"Hello!"
"How many Lily fakes do we have now?"
"We should celebrate this occasion right?"
"You just really want to eat a lot, don't you?"
In the midst of all these introductions, Eve9654, the one who weaves all of our clothes, was the first to point out, "WHY DO ALL OF YOU HAVE BANDAGES AROUND YOUR NECKS?!"
All four of us flinched, we had completely forgotten about that.
"Ah, about that..."
...
-I-I-I-I-
…
After telling her what happened, she was unexpectedly sympathetic. Rather than lecturing us like we thought she was going to do, she hugged us, saying she was glad we made it through somehow and that was a situation no one could have predicted. Although when I tried telling her about the Reaper recklessly challenging the Samurai to a fight, Yukari gave me her classic dangerous smile.
Naturally, Fake Town being Fake Town, they just had to celebrate the three newcomers. They all jokingly called it a "world record" for the Reaper since the standard for her is usually coming home with one to zero people.
A big fire was lit, food was shared and banter and teases was thrown everywhere, mainly at the Reaper.
While everyone was busy chatting and eating, the Samurai and the Sage were approached by Eve9654.
"So you two existed back then during the fakes hunts, huh?"
The Samurai and the Sage stopped eating to pay closer attention.
"Yeah, we did... you too?" It had been a while since they had met a fake who lived during those times.
"Yep... We've got a few fakes here who were from that time as well."
"How did you survive?" Asked the Sage.
"Through sheer luck and the skin of our teeth... although if the hunts had lasted any longer than they did, I would be long dead." Eve admitted.
"It is fortunate that the fake hunts ended as abruptly as it did," The Samurai commented, "shame it did not stop the people from lynching fakes themselves."
"Indeed... Do you two have any idea why the army stopped the hunts as abruptly as they did? "Eve asked.
The Samurai made no comment while the Sage shrugged and said, "Who knows... maybe we were just lucky."
"Yeah, maybe..."
There was brief pause in the conversation where all three of them seemed to be thinking about different things.
"The Reaper told me your story, hope you don't mind, she tends to forget her manners." Said Eve.
"I do not mind at all. Nothing about it was meant to be a secret in the first place." The Samurai assured with a warm smile.
"This village... used to have someone like you, Samurai."
"Oh?" This was the first time the Samurai was hearing something like this, "Is that so?"
"Well, your personalities were vastly different but she was a strong leader like you. And just like you, our village depended very heavily on her."
"The Librarian? A Yukari fake who wore wooden glasses?"
Eve looked slightly shocked that the Samurai already knew, "Yes. Did the Reaper already tell you about her?"
"Not much. But she did ask whether I've met her in the past."
"Ah... I see..." Eve looked at the ground in silence, thinking deeply about something with a distant look in her eyes.
"Is she... alive?"
"No."
"... I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Eve's distant look swiftly turned into a smile, "the Librarian was the one who originally built this community. She was the pillar that held everyone together. She's the only person who the Reaper ever referred to as her sister. We depended on her for almost everything... so naturally... when she passed away, our community was close to collapsing all together."
Out of respect, they both remained silent. They both knew too well about that sort of thing. The Sage had seen it happened before her very eyes. .
Eve concluded by saying, "I guess... the point I'm trying to make is... I don't think we're that different compared to your previous community. I know the Reaper may or may not have roped you into staying and yes, we did throw this huge celebration for you but... please don't feel constricted to this place. If... at any point in the future, you two wish to leave for whatever reason...go ahead... Don't get me wrong, we really do appreciate you two staying here from the bottom of our hearts but... Please don't feel obligated to risk your life for us if that makes sense."
The Sage instinctively looked at the Samurai to see what she thought about Eve's words. The Samurai was silent for a moment with a straight unreadable expression on her countenance. Her katana rested silently against her front shoulder.
Unexpectedly, the Samurai began breaking into a series of warm, soft, friendly chuckles. Eve rose a eyebrow while the Sage just seemed confused yet curious.
"With all due respect, Eve, I cannot help but...disagree with the few things you have just said."
Eve's eyes slightly opened a bit wider than usual while the Sage laughed.
The Samurai turned her head to look at everything around her.
She looked at the huts, at the fire, at the small farm, at the food stall, at the beautiful view of the lake.
She looked at everyone celebrating, at the Reaper who was drilling fist into the neutrals who kept teasing her, at Alfred who was awkwardly eating while wishing he could use his tiny fork and spoon, at the Scout who was shyly hiding himself on one of the roofs of the houses, and at me as I discussed with other Aria fakes.
She looked at Yukari5901 who was boasting about how one of her crops had grown by a single sprout, at Baron4598 who was paying close attention to the air fish he was eating, at Elizabeth1129 who kept speculating with others about how exactly do humans go fishing and at their clothes which were all hand made by Eve9654.
The Samurai took it all in and smiled at the peaceful sight, "Something tells me... I will be sticking with you guys for a very, very long time."
The night was still young as the celebration continued. They kept going until they could no longer stand up properly and just like that...
The Samurai and the Sage had joined Fake Town.
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Step after step she took into that forest. The deep, misty forest. So misty that you could barely see what was in front of you except for the tall, silhouettes of the trees.
Her walking stride was calm and peaceful, as if she was taking a stroll in a park. In her hands, we're two wooden cups filled with warm, honey water.
Her foot stepped into water. Flowing water. It was a shallow, rocky river that reached up to her ankles. The river kept extending to the left and to the right until it disappeared into the mist.
She placed the cups down on the grass and bent down. She ran her hand through the water, before drinking from it.
The water was fresh. Clean. Perfect for drinking.
Almost instantly, the mist wrapped around her and within seconds, she was in front of a completely different location.
Trees, all lined up perfectly to form some sort of fence or wall. In the middle of this wall of trees was a opening that lead through a huge hallway made of trees. Mist blocked her from seeing what was at the end.
Without question, she began walking through that opening until eventually she found herself in a wide open square-shaped clearing with thick mist surrounding the perimeter of the area like a fence. There was no mist or fog inside this area.
The grass was shiny with water droplets on them that glistened like diamonds.
Surrounded by a circular river in the centre of the area was a small hill.
She looked up at who was sitting comfortably on that hill, "Did you know... that all the meat and water that comes out of your forest has a very subtle, distinct, taste to it... a taste you can't find anywhere else...It's so faint that it's barely noticeable but if I had describe it... it taste like... a signature, almost."
Standing on that hill was a creature which had the head of a dear and six arms.
Viridescent: Watcher of the Forest
The Samurai chuckled gently as she entered Viridescent's lair with a relaxed posture, "I assumed you were some sort of descendant...but it really is you. To think you're still alive after all this time."
"..."
She bowed before taking a seat next to the B-ranked monster. The creature bowed back.
"My apologies, I would have brought tea but I do not have the proper ingredients at the moment yet. I will be sure to bring some next time. Here." She extended one cup to the monster who humbly accepted it with one of it's six arms.
"I heard you lost to General Enri. I even saw a picture of her holding your head."
"..."
"Did you even fight her seriously?"
It nodded.
"And did you really loss?"
It paused for a moment...before nodding its head.
"I see. Well I heard she is quite strong even amoung the other Generals."
"..."
They both drank in calm silence.
"For the longest time... I never thought I would ever be able to taste your signature again. So you can imagine my shock when the Reaper and the Summoner come to visit me, offering food that was taken directly from your forest."
"..."
"I was also told that you accepted the Reaper's challenge, not once, but twice. You were never the type of person who would willingly interact with strangers, let alone fight them... why the change of heart?"
"..." She received no answer.
They both sat there, finishing their drink while listening to the soothing sound of the flowing river.
"I have to say, I am quite impressed. I already knew you could manipulate this place, but I had no idea the entire forest itself was moveable. The previous location you picked is now a desert, did you know that?"
"..."
The Samurai chuckled, letting out a relaxed sigh as she finished gulping down the last part of her drink. The deer creature finished its drink as well.
"Well... I just came to briefly say my greetings and confirm my suspicions. I will be staying at Fake Town from now on. There are many things to get done and people I still need to meet, so I will get going for now. Although I will be sure to visit again if you do not mind."
Viridescent nodded as it rose its middle left arm.
A cloud of mist wrapped around the Samurai.
Within seconds, she was outside the misty forest.
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End Chapter.
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A/N This was meant to be a tiny, short chapter. I should just stop saying that from now on XDD, I literally started writing this chapter with the words "heal, talk, then go home" and ah... well you can already see what happened.
I know I said I was going to go back to the previous chapters, fix a lot of typos and makes changes but stuff in life got in the way again and while I am on holiday, I will be going on a 12 day trip soon where I won't be able to write or make any changes at all. So that might take a while but when I do, I'll be sure to add a A/N in the next chapter, letting you all know about the changes and the "additional scenes" i plan to add to the previous chapters. (or in the next chapter after that, who knows).
Anyways, that's all I got to say. I think this story has official passed over 100k words and I feel like the story just started XD. Just want to say, if you are reading this, thank you so much for reading this far and I look forward for the future chapters to come. :DD
ALSO HAPPY NEW YEARS! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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