Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 345 CANDIDACY

Sitting down at a secluded booth, Aleska became a little nervous. Her Haki reeked of excitement though. 

“Let me guess, you want to be a Plainswalker as well?” I asked.

“I do,” she said simply. “My friends think I’m an idiot.” 

“I don’t. It sounds exciting, Eleska,” I said.

“And how do you know my name?” She asked.

“I have many tricks,” I said. “I am Weston Woon. It is good to meet you. So, interested in becoming my healer?”

“Why would a Battle-mage or Trickster or whatever need a healer?” She asked. 

“So you do have a healing skill?” I asked. 

“Perhaps,” she said, sipping her drink. Most didn’t up and share their skills. Knowing Job titles was fine, but that was all. Levels, Jobs, and skills were sacred.

“Fair enough.” I leaned back. Sipping my whiskey. Most of it had gone right to my head so I was struggling to stay sober. “My role as a Plainswalker would be tank. We would need a group of 5 or 6. I would prefer level 0s and 1s.” And all women. 

“Why’s that?” 

“Because it is good to start from scratch,” I said. “I have my own funding to outfit what we would need.”

“When would you want to start?” She asked. Her Love Gauge ticked up again, and her Haki leaked an adventurous heart.

“A week maybe,” I decided on. 

“A week?” She asked, her eyes widening. 

“Yep. I would sign up the group in a couple of days. You don’t need all the teammates to get a group started. And a week is how long it takes for all the official documentation.” 

“That’s still…a little soon. What about training? What about working on formations and-”

“All can be done in the dungeon-er Plain,” I said. “I doubt it would take long to find more people interested. I have 1 in mind already so we would need 2 or 3 more.”

“And who is this other person?” Aleska asked.

“Secret,” I said. “I haven’t confirmed with her yet.” Aleska’s Love Gauge dropped then raised then dropped slightly. Like she was jealous, then wanted me more, then became jealous again. I really wanted this skill but it didn’t appear I would make someone new fall in love with me in time. 

“So what do you say?” I asked.

“I would need to see your skills,” she said, back to business mode. 

“Of course. As I would need to see yours,” I said. Looking down to her hoodie covered chest.

“What are you? A pervert?” She asked. Her gauge dipping slightly. She was perhaps at 15 percent. 

“Very much so,” I said without shame. I was feeling the full effects of the Chikyugi, and the alcohol. “I am a man, you are a woman. Why pretend to be something I am not? As part of my party I would keep it appropriate if you weren’t interested. But we both know you are.” I had always found confidence was the best way to approach women. It appeared to work here as well. She blushed and her gauge went up slightly. I smiled wider, enjoying the game. 

“How about we share-” I stopped talking as I heard a loud bellow. I had heard the sound once before at a mall when 2 orcs got into it. A mix between a bear’s roar and hog’s squeal it cut through the sound of the club, drawing everyone’s eyes. I turned out of the booth to see a group of 5 orcs facing off against a group of beastkin. 

The orcs were 6 to 7 feet tall, with a really big one at the back, he was much taller than the front orcs. Gray, black, and dark purple skin, they had tusks pointing up from their lower jaws. Chubbier than most men they didn’t have much hair, but their faces were about the same as humans. 

The beastkin were a mix of different breeds. A leopard in front with black spots in his skin and a mane of black fur that went down the back of his head like a mullet. A wolfman, another leopard, and 2 rabbitkin at the back. The groups were yelling at one another as they faced off. 

Annoyed by the display I couldn’t help but change my attitude. All my life I had been warned not to mess with beastkin and orcs. They had higher physical stats than humans. But with my World Lasting Physique I had a much higher level than a level 1. With a shrug I got up and made my way over to them. 

Aleska cursed and came after me.

“What are you doing?” She hissed. 

“Having some fun,” I said. “Come on.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her along. As we got closer I heard their fight. 

“Oh, you think you’re mister big man now?” An orc growled at the leopard. “I piss on your ancestors.” That was a pretty big insult for beastkin. They practically worshiped their ancestors. 

“I didn’t say that,” the leopard grumbled. “I simply said you can’t do that sort of thing.”

“What kind of man are you? He said piss on your ancestor.” Another orc blabbered, trying to start a fight. Spittle shooting out of his mouth as he spoke. “This is our territory.” I realized what was going on then. Most of the kids under 18 usually formed their own gangs. Even the humans had their own. From what the orcs were wearing I guessed they were part of the Hog’s Head. Which was a rather large group. Most of the beastkin had a crescent moon stitched into their clothes, so they were part of the Howl’s. 

Gangs sort of phased out after you got a Job, just because people were adults and could travel for once. But these groups were stuck in the mindset of territories and group mentality for some reason. 

“Who gives a shit,” the leopard growled. “If you want to fight, then let’s fight. But don’t give me any orcshit about-” Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. One of the orcs bellowed again and ran for him. The leopard cursed and moved quickly to intercept him. Faster than the orc, he was not stronger. 

The leopardkin punched the big man in the gut, but the orc absorbed the blow. Grabbing the leopardkin with a meaty paw by the neck, his other hand balled into a fist and aimed to hit him on the head. I sent my Conqueror’s Haki out in a large wave. Though Handicapped it was still strong. People froze, including the orc. I was sure I could knock someone out if I focused it, but for now this was what I wanted. 

I stepped forward. My Haki pulling back slightly, it reacted with everyone’s spiritual energy, keeping them on edge as all eyes went to me. 

“Woah,” I said, reading it. A God World specific quest, I was actually surprised one formed. I looked around and the largest orc glowed red for a moment. I used Journeyman Eye on him. 

“Well-” I said but the huge orc roared. I guessed he got the same quest I did. Pushing through his fellows I met him head on. Jumping up I hit the tall man in the face and shot a Tremor into him. Focusing it, the big orc’s jawbone barely broke, but did break. Orc’s had much thicker bones so I wasn’t surprised it took all I had. 

His head was thrown back with the blow as his jaw hung limp. I kicked him in the chest, sending a much larger wave into him. Thrown back, the other orcs went for me and I brought out my true skills. Focusing Nen into my fist I shot it out at one, knocking him back. Then another grabbed my leg and I sent a Tremor through it, breaking his fingers. 

We were a mess of fists, nails, teeth, and flesh as I brought more and more strength out. Testing my skills it was simple, but I didn’t want to show too much. When the Ares Candidate attacked me again I punched him over and over in the face until both of his tusks were chipped and broken. 

His dark purple face black now, he finally let me go and dropped to the ground. With that I got a few notifications. 

My skin glowed slightly as I leveled up. Notifying people around me. “Fuck,” I grumbled, but received more notifications. 

I turned to Aleska, her gauge was much higher than before, but not full. I scanned the room and noticed the culprit behind the beastkin. A Rabbitkin girl with white/black fur and dark skin practically had hearts in her eyes while staring at me. I had heard the beastkin were attracted to strength, but this was my first time seeing it. But there it was clear as day. The pink Love Gauge had gone all the way up for the stranger. 

“What’s your number?” I asked Aleska.

“What? Huh?” She asked, the orcs groaning behind me.

“I need to go. What’s your number? I’ll give you a call about the Plainswalker group.”

“Uh right,” she said, shaking herself. Her Love Gauge peeked at perhaps 3/4ths full. But I knew it was easy to make it drop down. Taking a pen from her pocket she wrote her house phone number on my hand. I nodded and walked through the crowd. Giving the Rabbitkin girl a wink she blushed as I walked away. Most would have trouble beating 1 orc, let alone a group of them.

When I was outside I headed down the street. My buddies could get home without me. As I walked I considered the stats on my screen. I really wanted to put my 10 new stats into Luck. But with World Lasting Physique I could make myself stronger in other worlds. So I decided to stick to those stats for now. My body bulking up slightly I studied my skills. 

Whistling as I headed home I summoned Hancock. 

“Finally,” she grumbled. Wearing her tight pajamas she matched my steps as we walked. “I’ve been waiting like an hour.”

“Why not Force Summon?” I asked. 

“Eh, I knew you would call when you were ready,” she said. “I’m rather enjoying this world.”

“Me too,” I admitted. “Got a new skill on my main screen.” I used Love Gauge on her. Normally the heart at the top of the gauge was gray, then turned pink. Hancock’s was so pale it was almost white. I guessed there were many levels of love. She was way up there. 

“Me too,” she admitted. “It’s called Jealous Rage.”

“I saw that,” I said. “What was your Job again?” I asked. 

“I am a Minerva Candidate, whatever that is,” she said. 

I barked a laugh. “What a …coincidence. And all you had to do was make someone jealous for your quest?”

“Yep, practically ended before it started.”

“My god, aren’t we a pair,” I said. 

“Why? What did you get?” I explained it to her, walking her through my night. “What does this mean? This candidate thing?”

“My guess? There are a lot of candidates out there. And we will have to fight it out for supremacy.” 

“How do we do that?” Hancock asked, not worried at all. 

“No idea, but I’m sure we will have to get a lot stronger,” I said. “So, get a hotel and have a bunch of sex for now?”

“Yes, please,” Hancock said, taking my hand. “Then tomorrow you can meet my parents, and we can look for other Plainswalkers, then leave.”

“Yeah, sucks, but we will have to go. I definitely want to come back here though. I have this skill that lets me read minds. And I never knew you craved me to take your ass so much.”

“I-I don’t,” she said shyly. “This body might have become turned on when you talked about beating up the orcs.”

“Let’s make it a reality then. I think there is a sex shop up the way. Maybe we should stock our Capsule Home with a bunch of outfits and sex toys,” I said.

“I…would like that very much, husband,” Hancock admitted and we walked on, hand in hand. We made it a few paces before we both stopped in our tracks. Turning around we locked eyes with the rabbitkin girl from the club. 

“Uh hi,” she squeaked, waving her hand. “You um sure acted pretty strong in there. I know this is out of the blue, but I could really use some help.” 

“What kind of help?” I asked. She explained and it wasn’t long until a new quest popped up.