#grabbing her output and manipulating it? like he Does Not Know How To Do That

[having-a-hyperfixate]

The other thing that’s just. Utterly wild. Conrad has no idea that Plants are sentient. NO IDEA. That comment of his about how they lack souls? Yeah WHAT WAS EVEN THAT???? (Because I’m gonna make the probably safe assumption that like in the manga they actually ARE sentient beings, even if its different from the way humans and Independents are. Their minds work differently, they’re basically aliens, its fine.) Which can only mean that either Knives never saw fit to tell him, or that Knives also has no idea. And given all of this with the bodies, I. am inclined to think Knives doesn’t realize. Which is absolutely wild, considering we know he at the very least heard them scream during the Last Run. How... How did he NEVER try to communicate with them? I just. Dude.

Man, there are a lot of great (and very true) posts about how Knives doesn’t see his fellow plants as individuals, but this was the moment I really first had that gut-punch realization. I’m sure there are no rituals for laying a plant to rest, but it’s incredibly fucked up to take a corpse, writhing in pain, and string it up for your own motivation. Your own selfish purposes. The afterlife is something fairly present in the Trigun universe, and this soul surely isn’t at peace

[limitlessgojo]

Blood Bound: Red Strings of Fate (Ch 7)

Warnings: Action, Coarse Language, Fighting, Descriptions of Blood

Previous Chapter: Speed of Sound

Next Chapter: Red Strings of Fate

Tags: Soulmates AU, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Fem!Reader

Taglist: @lessie-oxj @rizzo-nero @whoreuc @fkngkumiko @isl3t @gojoussunglasses @onepotatostand-blog @s-t-f-u-b-i-t-c-h @sunaswife

Notes: If you want to be tagged for every update, please mention it in the comments below ty <3

Double Update today, because these two chapters go hand in hand. It didn't feel right to upload one without the other.

Chapter 7: Bird of Flame

You faced Todo off in a clearing. Everyone else was at the far side watching. “Just run away if it gets too much.” You worriedly said to Miwa and Mai pushing them back.

“It’s okay, I’ll hold off any attacks.” Noritoshi assured you. You beamed up at him, “Thanks senpai.”

“Someone’s being awfully friendly today.” Momo half coughed and half murmured out. Noritoshi just gave her the side eye.

As per your style of fighting, you stayed still if you did not know of your opponent’s cursed technique.

“I won’t immobilise you this time since we are sparring.” You called out to Todo. “Fine with me!”

You could hold out your protective space warping around you for several hours. You just had to make sure it was activated in the space around you.

Todo didn’t hesitate to start off with punches and kicks. Nothing moved you of course. 5 minutes passed with him getting nowhere. Is that all he has?

You narrowed your eyes, but lifted a hand to push him back into a tree. You manipulated its branches such that they were all pointing to him. He was about to hit them until he clapped his hands and suddenly, you were there.

Your eyes widened, barely having time to brace yourself as you guarded for impact. You hit the branches hard. “Shit.” Looks like you might have to use your extended techniques against him.

He was in front of you in a split second and you quickly moved to dodge. You tried to maneuver your way around him, but it was hard to pinpoint the exact origin of the hits as he kept swapping your positions before landing a hit.

Sometimes, when you brace for a hit, he doesn’t swap your positions. How annoying!!! Of course your spacial barrier is still active and taking the hits for you, but it does have its limits.

Moving at mach speed in a short distant range won’t help you too much as it’s better for transport rather than combat.

You breathed out low and slow, before channeling your concentration into your 6th sense. Spatial awareness. Faster and faster, you started bracing for his hits and pushing him back.

And when he was unprepared you lashed out with your hidden twin blade only for him to dodge it. You can’t deny that the 2nd year's have more experience than you in battle. And Todo's specialty is obviously close combat.

You had both blades out now quickly slashing at him dangerously. He avoids it and the slashes cut all the way to the trees behind him.

You gave in, sheathing your blades and turning around to recuperate but he was faster as he finally caught you by the arm. “I got you!”

You grinned. Who got who?

With one hand, you straightened 4 fingers out towards Todo and folded your thumb into your palm. “Extension cursed technique, focus range: Niflheim”. Your applied cursed technique slows down the movement of molecules in an enclosed area, forcing items to freeze.

A layer of ice covered Todo’s entire body. The branches that binded around him were also covered with ice, stretching behind him in an ice pillar.

You quickly released your hand from his hold and slowly breathed to the sky, releasing an icy smokey breath. You turned around with a slow smile. “Checkmate”

He struggled against the ice but, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. That is way under 0 degrees celsius. You might lose a limb or 2 Todo senpai.”

He sighed, “I g-g-guh-give!” He could barely utter the words as his teeth chattered. You gently focused on raising the temperature, melting the ice off of Todo first. You couldn’t do it too fast or else he would combust.

As soon as he was free you reached out and applied your reversed cursed technique on him, healing the cold in his body. “Thank you so much for the match! It’s been a while since I felt that much fun in battle!” You excitedly said.

“Good game. As expected of my little sister, you’re very strong.” Todo patted your head. You stared, “Excuse me, whose little sister??”

“You should have buried him y/n!” Momo exclaimed. “Hear hear.” Mai chanted. Mechamaru just said, “I almost got buried by her once. She should have done the same with him.” You just laughed, “It’s okay, I’m satisfied with this.”

You turned to Noritoshi and he walked up to you and Todo went back. At this distance, the others couldn’t hear your conversation. “That was incredible.” He had a very proud smile on his face. “I hope you take our fight seriously as well. That’s all I ask of you.” He whispered.

“Of course I will senpai. But like with Todo senpai, I won’t use immobilisation techniques so we can spar properly okay?”

“Okay” he patted your shoulder and gave it a small squeeze before moving backwards. ‘Kamo clan, blood manipulation. They can manipulate their blood freely.’ you thought to yourself.

Your eyes zeroed in on his bow and arrows. The smell of blood was always on him, but you bet he had blood on those arrows. “Begin!”

He launched arrows at you only for you to stop them. Projectiles were the worst thing he could do. You frowned as you turned the arrows on him and sent them back. He dodged and shot more.

What on earth? This was so ineffective against yo-

He suddenly came from the side and punched you. Diversionary tactics dummy, you didn’t think about it.

You got pushed back from the force but stood your ground. He was insanely fast for a human. He is currently faster than Todo and any of the male cousins whom you’ve fought with.

It was a jarring experience. “Flowing Red Scale” He moved backwards, one eye wide open with a red blood x mark on it.

Your brain went into overdrive in a hurry to connect the dots while you defended against him. Blood. Red blood cells. Oxygen. He’s increasing his physical abilities.

You quickly lashed out with a double kick only for him to bring out a blood bag. “Blood manipulation: Crimson binding”. Blood strands wrapped around you and caged you in.

But you froze them and easily broke it in the process. You hurried to try and bring him down with mixed martial arts, not wanting to hurt him too much.

Sparring with him actually felt like a dance. You dodged and had an instinct as to where the next move would come from, and he was the same. Barely any hits landed on each other for a while.

Ah right, you promised to go hard on him. You put two hands out in a V shape, with palms facing him. Noritoshi’s eyes widened at the familiar hand signs. It’s the very first one you showed him.

“Tatsumaki” A huge horizontal cyclone hit him and forced him back. “Enhanced Gravity: Output level 4%”

“Aarghhh” Noritoshi groaned as he was forced to the ground. You didn’t notice his hands moving.

“Convergence! Piercing blood” a sudden fast stream of blood shot out and grazed your cheek. It would have been worse had you not moved your head aside. Noritoshi’s eyes widened as blood poured from the wound.

You quickly made tree branches hold his hands apart and forced him back onto the ground. You pointed both your twin blades at his head. “I give!”

You released your technique and knelt down. “Are you oka-”

“Are you okay? I hit your face!” He exclaimed in worry, hand hovering just over your cheek. You stared at him in amusement. “It’s a serious matter!!” he insisted.

You covered your face with one hand, then wiped off the blood to reveal a flawless cheek. He gaped, “Reverse cursed technique. I see. Good fight” He wheezed out.

"You actually hit through my defenses in battle. That was amazing Noritoshi senpai." You whispered in amazement. There was something different about the blood he manipulated.

His bond to it was far stronger than your hold over his blood. So if you tried manipulating his blood, it's a low chance that you could get it to attack him.

You can manipulate anything and everything, even at molecular levels to some extent. But you can't produce what's not there. There seems to be a limit to your manipulation over certain items.

"I still lost. Thank you for the match." He said.

You held his hand for the first time as you pulled him up, when suddenly a searing pain hit the inside of your wrist.

"Ouch!" You exclaimed while Noritoshi winced as well. You both pulled back your sleeves to see a large bird surrounded by flames just below the inner wrist on your right hand. Noritoshi had the exact same symbol, but it was in the inner wrist on his left hand.

You quickly pulled over both your sleeves to cover the markings, “Just say we both got wounds, let’s keep this a secret.” You pulled back and acted on purpose, “Good fight. You almost got me there.”

He naturally followed your lead, but there was a brightness to his eyes that told of something else. “.... Yeah you got me. I’ll do my best to catch up to you next time we spar.”

“What happened?” Utahime ran towards the both of you upon seeing you both flinch forward. “No, Utahime sensei we just got some scrapes that stung badly, nothing too bad.”

“I see. I have a first aid kit on hand, feel free to use it if you need to.” She said, and pushed you two back to where everyone else was.

You both stayed at the back watching the other students ask to spar with each other. Noritoshi quietly tugged at your sleeve, hidden from view with his own large and wide sleeves.

You tugged back twice on his sleeve and grabbed his hand to squeeze it. His hands were rough and calloused from fighting, but also had a tenderness and warmth from the way they tried to hold onto yours.

Both your marks flashed with heat when your hands touched. Noritoshi turned to you with all the world's curiosity in his face.

But you pulled back and put some distance between the two of you so it wouldn't look too obvious. "That binding technique that you did earlier was cool. Is it possible for you to manipulate the blood even after I freeze it solid?" You asked to try and divert the attention.

"Actually I haven't tried yet. But I should be able to as the main composition is still my blood." He admitted.

The remaining time left on the field was spent mostly on the others working on their cursed techniques against each other, and with you engaging in tactical discussion with the other students.

You all bid each other goodbye and went your separate ways. Except… Noritoshi mouthed "library" after he waved you off.

You lifted your eyebrows silently in agreement and walked back with the rest of the 1st year's.

Blood Bound: Table of Contents

[notalwaysthevillian]

My Whirlpool of a Life

Ships: Kaminari/OC

Word Count: ~2.k

I will not be doing a tag list for this fic.

Masterlist

Chapter 3: First Day of Class

My eyes fluttered open the next morning, meeting an unfamiliar ceiling. It took a minute before I remembered that I was in my dorm.

At UA!

My chest felt bubbly as I got up and started getting ready for the day. The shower was nice, the perfect amount of water pressure alleviating the nerves I was feeling.

Once I was all dressed, I twirled in the mirror. A lot of my shirts were babydoll tops in different styles, but all of them were quite flowy. I knew that would be a problem for combat, should I be caught in civilian clothes, so they were all long enough to tuck into my dark skinny jeans.

Feeling ready, I slid on my black and blue sneakers before heading down to the common area for breakfast.

A few of the others were down there already. Iida seemed as though he’d already finished eating, and was packing up his bag. Todoroki was sitting at the table, plate in front of him. Midoriya was chatting with Iida as he ate; something about a Reciproburst.

Tsu seemed much better, munching on her breakfast at the opposite end of the table. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down with her.

“Uraraka said you weren’t feeling so good yesterday. I hope you’re doing better now?” I gave her a smile. “If you need any medication for anything I probably have it.”

“No, I’m all better now. But thank you!”

“Okay! Just let me know if you ever do. Us girls have to stick together.”

Tsu nodded and I finally saw a big smile. “We do. There’s way less of us than boys in the class.”

“Oh, Nami! I’ve been meaning to ask you about your quirk.” Midoriya sat down next to me. He glanced between the two of us. “Oh, sorry, if I’m interrupting I can ask later!”

“I think we’re good?”

“Yes, we’re good. I’m gonna go find Ochaco.”

Tsu literally hopped off down the hall. Midoriya laughed a little at the expression on my face. “You’ll get used to some of the stranger things we do.”

“Yeah, it’ll take a bit of getting used to for sure.”

“So your quirk! How does it work?”

I went into the same explanation I’d given the girls. Midoriya was frantically writing, so I slowed down a little so he could get it all.

“Thank you! I’m sure the more I see the more I’ll understand.” He flipped his notebook shut. “I have notes on basically everyone in the class, and after training I write down anything new that I noticed.”

“Really? That’s so smart, it helps you get a leg up on everyone else.”

He flushed red. “Uh-huh. Not everyone gets that, so when I start rambling about techniques and stuff they usually tune me out.”

“I’d love to look over your notes sometime. It could really help me catch up a little easier with the rest of the class.”

Midoriya’s face brightened. “Anytime! Just let me know.”

“Midoriya, are you flirting with my girlfriend?” An arm fell across my shoulders. I turned to see Kaminari smiling at me, still looking a little sleepy. “Morning, beautiful.”

“I wasn’t flirting!”

Midoriya’s face was bright red. I couldn’t help but giggle at how panicked he looked. “Deku, he’s just teasing.”

“Relax, Midoriya.”

The green-haired boy took off, leaving me and Kaminari sitting at the table. I could hear the rest of the class slowly filtering down for breakfast.

“Are you going to finish that?” Kaminari pointed to my plate, before stealing the rest of my bacon and popping it in his mouth.

“Hey!”

He grinned, giving me a peck on the cheek. “We’re dating now, we share.”

“Now that I know you’re a food stealer I’ll just make double in the mornings.” I stuck my tongue out at him.

“You two are so cute!” Hagakure said, her gloves floating into the kitchen.

Jirou followed, making a face at us. “You’ve been together for less than a day. It’s sickeningly sweet.”

Kaminari made a face back. “Just making up for all that time that we didn’t know each other.”

“Awww!!!”

The rest of the morning passed by in a blur, and before I knew it we were on the five minute walk over to the main school building.

“Nervous?” Kaminari asked.

“No.”

“You’re lying.” He squeezed my hand. “Your grip gets stronger the closer we get.”

I relaxed my hand, feeling myself blush. “Sorry. It’s just…new school and all. What if I’m not good enough for the hero course?”

“No way, you’ll do great!”

“Do you even know what my quirk is?”

Kaminari opened his mouth for a second, before closing it again. “No.”

“I can manipulate water. It’s not the coolest thing in the world, but it’s useful.”

Midoriya appeared next to me. “Are you kidding? I have tons of ideas of how you could utilize that in combat!”

Todoroki turned around. “If it’s anything like how my ice or fire works, I could give you some tips.”

I blinked, not used to the attention. “You guys are so nice, thank you. The Pussycats are nice too, but usually I’m left on my own to train because they get busy.”

“You train with the Pussycats?”

Midoriya stared at Kaminari for a second. “She’s related to the boy who lives with them.”

“OH, RIGHT!”

We entered the building, some of us laughing at Kaminari’s reaction. He winked at me, rubbing a thumb across the back of my hand. “You’ll do just fine here, I know you will.”

The bell rang and everyone sped to their seats. I noticed there was an open desk behind Momo. As soon as I sat down, the door opened and Mr. Aizawa walked in, looking as exhausted as ever.

“Alright. The main focus of the summer is going to be getting your provisional hero licenses. This will allow you to act as the pros do, but only in an emergency. Any other unauthorized use of your quirks could get it taken away, so don’t do anything to cause it to be removed.”

The class broke into murmurs, silenced by a mere look from Aizawa.

“To prepare yourselves, today you’ll be working on creating something new.”

The door opened, revealing Cementoss, Midnight, and Ectoplasm.

“You’ll be creating two new moves.”

“I don’t even have regular moves.” I mumbled, earning a pat on the head from Momo.

Mina, Sero, Kirishima, and Kaminari looked ecstatic. “A test is boring school stuff, but this is hero work!”

Ectoplasm stepped forward. “An ultimate move is something that will ensure you win against your opponent.”

“It’s something so unique to your person, and your quirk, that no one would be able to copy it.” Cementoss added. “You must lean into your strengths.”

Midnight flicked her hair over her shoulder, and I could swear I saw Mineta drooling. “Most of us pro heroes have an ultimate move. Those who don’t are fools. Now, hurry up and change into your costumes, and meet us in Gym Gamma.”

I raised my hand, speaking once Mr. Aizawa had nodded at me. “My costume isn’t here yet.”

“Just put on your gym clothes.”

The class moved, everyone else putting on their costumes while I threw on gym clothes. I was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Mina must’ve seen the look on my face. “Don’t worry about it! I’m sure your costume will be here soon. You’ll have to show me your sketches, I wanna see how amazing you’ll look.”

“Thanks, Mina!”

We walked to Gym Gamma together, as most of the boys had raced on ahead. Deku was walking with Ochaco, the two of them talking about something I couldn’t hear.

“They’d be cute together.” I nodded over to the pair.

Mina looked over. “Oh, they so would! And I think she likes him.”

As we entered the gym, Midnight pulled me aside. I could hear Cementoss and Aizawa explaining why the gym was made.

“I know you’re pretty new to this, so we’re going to have you show us what you can do first. But not in front of everyone else, they’ll all be doing their own thing and working with Ectoplasm and Cementoss, okay dear?”

A breath of relief fell from my lips. “I thought I was going to have to move straight into an ultimate move.”

“Oh, you will.” Aizawa said as he walked up. The rest of the class had taken off to go work on their moves. “But we want to see how you handle yourself. The Pussycats said that you usually helped out with forest fires, but they’d been working on your combat abilities. You’ll be sparring me.”

“But if you’re trying to see what I can do, shouldn't I spar with someone else? Don’t you erase quirks?”

He sighed. “I won’t be using my quirk against you, just my own combat abilities.”

“That makes more SENSE!” I rolled out of the way as he whipped his scarf at me.

Guess we’re starting now.

Aizawa didn’t let up, coming after me again. I grabbed the water in the room, throwing it in front of me as a shield. As the scarf hit the water, I wrapped it around, using the momentum to leap over him. The water caught me as I landed, becoming an extension of my mind and body, just like the Pussycats taught me.

“Good, you can block. Now show me an attack.”

“I don’t want to hurt -”

The scarf came at me again, wrapping around my leg as I dodged too slowly. I forced water between the fabric and my leg, before expanding it so I could escape.

“You might have to hurt a villain!” Aizawa called out, continuing his own attacks. “If you hesitate, you’re dead.”

The image of my parents at the morgue filled my brain. My ears popped as I whipped a stream of water at him.

There was a loud CRACK, and he was thrown backwards. As he glanced up at me, I saw a welt across his cheek.

“Good.” He rubbed his face. “I have an idea of what you can do. Today’s not about combat, so get to work on your special moves. Midnight will help you.”

He walked toward the rest of the students, observing what they were doing.

“That was impressive.” Midnight put a hand on my shoulder. “He’s quick, it’s hard to land a hit on him.”

“Usually I use that move to help chop down dead trees.” I explained, moving the water around with my hands and demonstrating more of a blade than a whip. “I tweaked it a little so I wouldn’t cut him in half.”

“Heroes often have to adjust their power output to not kill the villains. That’s a sign of a good hero.” She gave me a smile. “Now, I’ve got a few ideas for special moves for you. Can you bounce off the water? Or launch yourself up in any way?”

“I can try.”

“Let’s work on that first.”

It took the rest of the class period for me to figure out just how much pressure to put under my feet to spring myself up, without sending me to the ceiling or not high enough.

“Good work today! Learning a new technique can be difficult but you’ve tried your hardest.”

The praise made me blush. “Thanks! I just hope I can nail this down quickly.”

“I have complete faith in you.”

Kaminari came running over as soon as the bell rang. “Your quirk is amazing, Dew Drop!”

“Dew Drop?”

“Oh, I know you didn’t want me to call you - well, you know. So I came up with a different pet name.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “If you don’t like it I can -”

“No, I love it!” I interlocked our fingers, pecking him on the cheek. “It’s cute.”

“You can just call me Babe if you want.”

The look in his eyes told me that he would be okay with that, but I could tell that he wanted a cutesy nickname too. Even if he wouldn’t say it out loud.

“Mmmm, I think I prefer Lightning Bug. As long as it’s okay with you.”

The smile on his face seemed to light up the room. “It’s perfect.”

[blackcloverdatabase]

English Translation of Novel 2: Chapter 3 – The Special Assault Squad Sprints Onward (Part 2 of 2)

Here’s the second half of Magna’s and Luck’s dungeon adventure! While the last chapter featured them taking care of some bandits pretending to be ghosts, this chapter’s enemy is much more formidable.

--- The Special Assault Squad Sprints Onward (Part 2) ---

“…….Alright. So, just to be clear, you guys are dungeon plunderers, and you created those monsters to chase us away…… am I right?”

“……Yes.”

They answered Magna’s and Luck’s questions as they sat on the dungeon floor, all beaten to a pulp and tied up together with a rope.

“You’re too quiet!!”

“Y-yes! We’re sorry!!”

Currently, they were in a chamber close to the treasure room. The dungeon plunderers used the route Morgan made to trespass into the dungeon and constructed their base here. However, when they were about to get ready to carry the treasure out, Luck and Magna entered the dungeon, so they created those monsters to chase them out.

Incidentally, when Morgan heard that they used the route she created to trespass, she said awkwardly,

“A ha ha…… I’m going to go search for the golem that took my grimoire.”

And escaped. However, she’ll get devoured by this dungeon if she tries to escape, so she’ll probably be back soon.

“Hmm, so those monsters were made using manipulation magic on the bones and armor here…….”

“A ha ha! That’s just what I thought. Still, don’t you think you’ll get cursed for doing that?”

Luck said with a cold smile as he looked at the ancient remains of the deceased and the full-body armor that lay piled up high in the corner of the room. Dungeons are often filed with the remains of people who tried to capture it in the past, as well as the remains of the things they wore. The dungeon plunders used those to make their skeletons and dullahans.

“And then you used voice amplification magic to make your voices monster-like, and you used smoke magic to make a ghostly atmosphere…..Damn, it’s like you’re putting on a play! What are you, some sort of monster circus!?”

“………”

“……..I don’t hear you laughing!”

“A ha ha……. Ah ha ha… A ha ha ha ha!”

Leaving such a hellish exchange of words aside, there were nine dungeon plunderers in total. Each of them had magic that would be considered “strange”, which they combined into a combo spell that created those monsters. They were also the reason that Luck couldn’t use his mana sensing abilities. One of the plunderers had Jamming Magic, which renders the use of mana perception useless while he’s nearby. However, mana perception is usable if you’re far enough away, so it’s still possible to grasp their whereabouts and launch an attack against them.

“You all kicked up such a mess…… but you’re just a bunch of old farts playing around with some bones and armor…….? Damn it all……”

“A ha ha! Now you know why I had such a bored look on my face earlier, right?”

They thought those monsters were something unknown, something that shouldn’t be here. They imagined all sorts of wild possibilities, but when they opened the lid, they saw that their enemy was the same old thugs they usually deal with. They put in so much work and time into this, but all they felt was empty disappointment.

“So? Where’s the treasure you stole? You’ve already carried it out of the treasure room, right?”

“N-no! You’re wrong! We haven’t even entered the treasure room yet!”

The plunderers shook their heads desperately in response to Magna’s menacing questions.

“W-we certainly tried to! But the door was locked…… plus, whenever we tried to get close, that thing kept getting in the way……”

“……That thing?”

“Magna-san! Luck-san!”

The one approaching them was none other than a very frazzled Morgan.

“I-it’s this thing! Anytime you approach the entrance to the treasure room, this thing attacks you!”

“…….Huh?”

They all stared at her, completely stunned. Then, they looked behind her…….

And they understood.

“I-I found the golem that stole my grimoire! Also…….”

The plunderers weren’t staring at Morgan……

“It’s totally chasing me right now!!”

[Magic power signal confirmed]

…… but rather at the black, two-meter tall, skeleton-like golem that was behind her.

“Morgan, duck!!”

The second Magna understood what was going on, Magna prepared a ball of fire in his hand. Luck, too, prepared a ball of lightning.

“Ah!? I-if you attack it……!”

Morgan tried to say something, but when she saw what they were doing, she immediately ducked her head. Luck and Magna aimed at the black skeleton, and,

“Flame Magic: Exploding Fireball”

“Lightning Magic: Thunderclap Crumbling Orb”

The balls of fire and lightning the two fired flew over Morgan’s head and landed a direct hit on the skeleton. Its enormous body spun in the air as it was blown away, and its skull crashed into the wall.

“Got ‘em!”

Since Morgan was close by, they held back. However, their timing was perfect, and they definitely hit one of its vital spots. No matter who their opponent may be, nobody could come out of that unscathed. At least, that’s what Luck and Magna thought.

“……You can’t……”

For some reason, Morgan looked at them with tears in her eyes.

“…….You can’t just attack this golem so recklessly!”

“……Huh?”

The two of them questioned, but then,

[Magic attack received. Commencing analysis.]

Pulling its head out of the stone wall, the skeleton spoke with an eerily shrill voice.

[Analysis complete. Lightning and Flame magic. Estimated output: 40%. Storing pain in memory.]

Its eyes began to glow with a silver light as it held both its arms forward. Then,

[Returning the pain. Flame Magic: Exploding Fireball. Lightning Magic: Thunderclap Crumbling Orb]

It fired two balls of magic with a thunderous roar – one made of lightning and another made of fire. Those balls of magic were exactly the same as the attacks Magna and Luck fired at it just moments ago.

“HUUUUUUH!?”

This time, Magna made no attempt to hide the fear in his voice as he ran out of the room to dodge the attack. Luck grabbed Morgan and escaped along with Magna.

“W-Wooaaaaaah!!”

“Gaaaah! Wait! The rope! Can’t you at least untie the rope!?”

Because the plunderers were still tied up, the room became incredibly chaotic, but there was no helping it. None of them were hit by the attack, so they probably won’t die. Probably.

Besides, the moment Magna and the others escaped from the room, the skeleton started chasing after them with its silver glowing eyes locked on them, and it seemed like it was going to catch up at any second. It was definitely targeting Magna’s group.

“What’s up with that thing, Morgan!? Why can it use the same magic as us!?”

He asked Morgan, who was behind him, as they were running away. She looked absolutely terrified as she answered,

“I-I’m sorry! I tried to tell you, but that golem……. It can return any attack it receives perfectly!”

Her voice trembled as tears pooled in her eyes. This must have been the fear she felt when her grimoire was stolen from her.

“Sniffle…… Moreover, once its hit by a spell, it creates antibodies and becomes immune to it, so if you try to hit it with the same attack you used before, it won’t have any effect…… Even if you put more magic power into your attack, it will create more antibodies and gain immunity in an instant……. Sniffle, and I tried attacking it, too, so…….”

Captain Yami said he fought somebody with copy magic in the cave at Nean. However, with each attack launched against this enemy, that attack will no longer be effective. This enemy’s magic is even more formidable than copy magic. In other words, their foe might be stronger than the one Captain Yami fought……

“I-I’m sorry *Hic* I just wanted to scout the area and then come back straight away, but I accidentally ran into that golem, and…… sniffle. And it followed me all the way here……”

“Seriously……?

Magna muttered as his voice shook, not hearing Morgan’s apology all too well. They were planning to enter the treasure room, so they would have to fight this skeleton at some point, anyway. However, after just battling those guys and their fake monsters, they weren’t at full power in terms of physical strength nor mana. He ate some medicinal herbs and was able to rest for a bit, but, right now, he can only output about 60-70% of his usual strength.

“If I fight that thing in this state, then……”

Magna looked back at the skeleton that was in vigorous pursuit,

“…….Then, I’ll definitely level up, without a doubt!”

He shouted with glee as he trembled with excitement.

“Huh!? What!? Level up!?”

‘How can he say that in a time like this……!’ Morgan thought. Luck seemed just as excited as Magna as he said,

“A ha ha! You’re right! Let’s take our frustration with those fake monsters out on this guy and make quick work of him!

He turned toward Morgan with excitement.

“So, Morgan-chan! Guide us to a room with plenty of space! Any room will be fine, just find one where we can have a death match with this guy!”

“And once you guide us there, run away! We’ll meet up with you after beating him!”

“B-but! I think we should all run away together…….!!”

“Also, stop crying over every little thing.”

Magna gave her a wry smile, as if he just couldn’t ignore her any longer.

“You’re wasting your time doing that. Use the physical strength and time you’d spend crying to think of a way to get us out of this mess. Unlike us, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, so it’d be a shame not to use it.”

“………..!”

……Certainly. Every time Morgan has been faced with a problem, she would freeze up, agonize over it, cry, and wait for somebody to save her. Conquering dungeons was the only thing she was confident enough about to not rely on anyone, but with just one slipup, she started depending on Magna and Luck for everything, just as she does for everything else.

……However,

“……S-sniffle.”

After blowing her nose one last time, she steeled her resolve and glared at the skeleton.

“……Let’s keep going straight.”

‘There are things that even I can do.’

“Going straight will lead us to the treasure hall, but there’s a large room right before it. That’s probably the sturdiest area in the dungeon, so you should be able to rampage as much as you want.”

There are people willing to give her a role. In that case,

“Also, let me fight, too! I promise I won’t get in your way! I’ll support you from a distance and watch for any weak points!”

She won’t cry or wait for someone to save her. She’ll look for something she can do, and she’ll do her best to fulfill it. If she doesn’t do this, she’ll remain a crybaby forever.

“……Okay!”

He wasn’t sure where this came from, but Magna grinned and said,

“If that’s what you say, then do it! We’ll devour you if you get in our way, though!”

“Yes sir!”

And so, they made their way toward the chamber before the treasure room.

 “Lightning Magic: Thunderclap Crumbling Orb”

After entering the chamber and confirming that Morgan ran toward a corner of the room, Luck turned around and fired a ball of lighting magic. It landed a direct hit against the skeleton, but this time, the skeleton didn’t even pause as it got ready to launch balls of fire and lightning of its own.

“A ha ha! Amazing! Attacks really don’t work on you a second time!”

Luck smiled as he parried both attacks. Magna, too, smiled defiantly as he said,

“Yeah…… And even if we infuse more magic power into the attack, it will quickly generate antibodies against that attack, right?”

However, there was a bit of sweat mixed into that defiant smile of his.

“I was being all assertive earlier, but ……What should we do to beat this guy?”

The same attack with the same level of power won’t reach him twice. However, even if you put more power into your attack, it will quickly create antibodies against it, making that attack ineffective as well. Then, does that mean no attack exists that can hit him twice?

“Amazing! That means I’d be able to fight against it for the rest of my life! I want one for the base!”  

For a combat enthusiast, such a trait seems to be a great feature.

“Well, jokes aside….. There’s no way that it can create antibodies for every attack. If we attack it so much that its whole body falls apart, there will be nothing left to make antibodies.”

“Saying that is easy enough, but……”

Magna studied the skeleton as he dodged its attacks. He wasn’t sure what it was made of, but whatever it was, it was quite hard. In addition, its whole body was covered in barrier-like magic. Destroying it won’t be easy.

“Well, it won’t be easy, but if we use our combo magic…….. and we attack it while it has a gap in its defenses…….. then I think we could break it, probably.”

“Probably!?”

Magna couldn’t help but sputter, but Luck was a genius when it came to battle. His analysis may be completely groundless, but Magna believed in Luck’s intuition.

“Yeah, but to do that, I think we should inflict a little more damage on him first.”

“…… Heh heh. Then, in the end, we’re gonna bulldoze our way through, huh?”

Neither of them were sure if they even had enough magic power left to do this, but……

“…….That’s just our style!”

“Right!”

After that short exchange, they looked at each other with a grin. To convey their intent to each other, that was all they needed.

“Alright! Our counterattack begins now, you skeleton bastard!!”

He bellowed as if to psyche himself up, holding a bat of fire in his hand as he activated his “Grand Slam” spell. No discussions were necessary. The two knew exactly how they should move.

“Lightning Creation Magic: Thunder God's Boots!”

The moment Luck shouted out his attack, lightning shaped like boots gathered around his legs. Using the thrust generated by those boots, he weaved between each attack the skeleton fired as he closed in on him.

“A ha ha ha! Let’s see what you can do against this!”

He took advantage of his momentum to give the skeleton a dropkick right on its face.

[Magic attack received. Commencing analysis.]

Luck’s attack blew it away, making its body bounce against the floor, but the skeleton repeated the same phrase it said earlier and stood back up, getting ready to fire another attack. However, at that point……

“Like hell I’ll let you!”

Magna had already circled behind it.

“Eat this!”

With a full swing, he used his Grand Slam attack, which struck the back of the skeleton’s head and caused the skeleton to spin around before crashing into the ground, leaving large cracks on the floor.

[Magic attack received. Commencing ana-

“And~ here~ we~………Go!!”

Even so, the skeleton attempted to stand up, but Luck kicked it into the air. As its body spun through the air, Luck struck it once more with a thunderous punch. He landed one final hit, launching it into the air as its body creaked.

[Magic-ic-ic attack re-received. Comm-Commencing ana-analy……]

“Magna! Now!”

“Fire Restraining Magic: Flame Rope Solid Binding Formation”

At Luck’s signal, Magna threw a fireball at the skeleton. When it landed, it turned into a rope of flame, and, in the blink of an eye, it restrained the skeleton’s body. The two coordinated their attacks perfectly, both aiming for the skeleton flying through the air.

[R-R-Returning the p-pain.]

“!!”

The skeleton cut apart the flaming rope, reoriented itself in the air, and aimed both its arms toward Magna and Luck. Generated in the palms of each of its hands were balls of lightning and flame. They were too close to dodge it. They had no way to guard themselves. Even if they unleash their combo magic, they’ll be a little too slow.

‘This is bad,’ they both realized, but at that moment,

‘R-return my grimoire right noooooooooooooow!”

Morgan threw a stone covered in her coating magic at the skeleton’s side. At some point during the battle, even though she was shivering with fear, she used her magic to support them. The stone was not strong enough to damage the skeleton. However, it did change the angle of its arm just a bit.

“……..Great job, Morgan!”

It was enough to buy them some time.

“Flame-Lightning Explosive Cannon!!!”

They shot a blast of fire and lightning at point-blank range, which smashed into the skeleton’s body, and, with a violent flash, blew its body apart.

“Eeeek!!”

The whole room shook violently, blowing Morgan away. If this room wasn’t so sturdy, the shockwaves of their attack would have certainly caused the wall and ceiling to collapse. Even though it was just a single attack, it was that powerful. If this doesn’t defeat that skeleton, then they’ll truly be screwed.

……But just as they were starting to feel relieved,

[…… Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma- Magic, Magic, Magic attack re-re-received. Comm-Commencing an-analy……]

“!!”

Though half its skull was charred black, it moved with a clatter. As they looked more closely, they realized that its bones that had been scattered by that attack were beginning to gather around the skull.

“S-seriously!? He can regenerate just like those fake monsters could!?”

“A ha ha! Hmmm, looks like it. But, I think that it will stop functioning after one more shot.”

“Why are you saying that so casually!? One more attack, you say……. I’m already all out of juice!”

At best, they only had enough mana between the two of them to fire one more attack. Plus, every magic attack in their arsenal has already been used. Even if their enemy is on the verge of death, they no longer had an attack that would work!

Magna was beginning to panic, but,

“A ha ha! What are you saying, Magna?”

Luck sounded carefree as he placed his hand on Magna’s shoulder.

“……We still have one more combo magic spell, isn’t that right?”

He said ominously as he increased the force of his grip.

“……Hey! HEY! What are you planning, you bastard!?”

“A ha ha ha! Combo magic, of course! A spell that we perfected even before the Flame-Lightning Explosive Cannon!”

“No, I wouldn’t call that combo magic! And I’m the only one who loses out from using-KYAAH!”

As Luck held Magna’s shoulder firmly, he gradually sent an electric shock throughout Magna’s whole body, all while he had a dangerous look in his eyes and a grin on his face.

“Electric Magna Typhoon!!!”

“WHY MEEEEEEEE!!?”

As he rotated with tremendous momentum, Magna crashed into the skull.

 “U-um…… Magna-san. Are you sure it’s okay for you to start moving again?”

“……Yeah.”

Magna responded to Morgan’s words of concern with a slow nod. With the way his face was colored, it looked as if he could vomit at any second.

“……Electric Magna Typhoon……. Well, if you’re spinning that fast, maybe “tornado” would be a better way to describe it?”

Incidentally, Luck had been muttering things to himself for some time as he stood next to Magna, quietly enough for Magna not to hear him. Even if he picks a fight with him now, they were both too exhausted to battle.  

Anyway, after defeating the skeleton, they returned to the dungeon plunderers’ basecamp and ate all the medicinal plants they could find. While they were at it, they checked to see if the plunderers were all still alive, and after a short break – which, unfortunately, did not cure Magna’s motion sickness after having used their secret technique – they made their way to the treasure room for the second time.

“So, Morgan, is the key to the treasure room really hidden somewhere in this thing’s body?”

Magna asked as she examined the skull of the skeleton they just fought. The second they arrived, she picked up the skeleton and started messing with it, but…….

“Yes. This type of golem stores important items and items it stole from its opponents in a magic space it keeps inside of its body. The switch used to eject items from that space should be somewhere……. Ah, here it is!”

As she said this, Morgan pressed the skull’s mandible with her pinky finger, and,

Clatter clatter clatter

The skeleton spit out countless relics from its mouth, ranging from clothing, weapons, equipment, accessories, and more. In the blink of an eye, the pile of relics was as high as Magna’s knees.

“A ha ha! Amazing…… But, we have to search for the key to the treasure room in all this?”

“Seriously, how many intruders has this skeleton killed?”

Luck and Magna wearily muttered to themselves while they sifted through the articles left behind by the deceased. Morgan casually replied as she returned to messing with the skull.

“But, when you think about how long this dungeon has been around, you could say that the number of people this skeleton has killed isn’t that many. There are several other golems here, so maybe they took turns standing guard. Like, if it runs out of magic power, then another golem replaces it. But, if that’s true, then it should have something like a magic power supply port…….. ah, here it is!”

After confirming that the supply port was in its mouth, Morgan held the skull out toward Magna to show him.

“If you pour magic power into here, then that should restore the skeleton’s functionality. Please give this to somebody in the Magic Appraisal Division. Of course, since its been damaged to this degree, I don’t know how much functionality will actually return, but……”

“……..”

Magna didn’t take the skull. Instead, he stared at Morgan, stunned. Though Luck continued to sift through the relics, he, too, stared at her in admiration.  

“W-what is it? D-don’t tell me, once we’re finished with this dungeon, you’re going to tear all my skin off my body!?”

“No, we won’t……. anyway….”

Magna took the skull and said as if it were only obvious,

“Why don’t you join the Magic Knights?”

“……………Huh?”

In response to such sudden words, this time, it was Morgan who stared with stunned silence.

“Now that your siblings have grown up, there’s nothing left for you to do, right? Then, you should join the Magic Knights. You know so much about dungeons and golems, so I bet you’d be able to help out a lot.”

“A ha ha! I bet she would! If we’re with Morgan, then we can have fun capturing even the most dangerous dungeons! This year’s entrance exam already happened, but you should take the Magic Knights Entrance Exam next year!”

“Huh? Um, no……. I mean…… that’s just…….”

Hearing even Luck tell her this, she got absolutely flustered as she replied,

“There’s no way I’d be able to join……. I’m a peasant, and I’m too pessimistic……..”

…….Not just that.

She’s already…….

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a peasant or not. I told you earlier, didn’t I? I’m a peasant, too, and there’s a peasant even crazier than me in the Magic Knights! Hell, our Captain’s a foreigner! He won’t care about something like that!”

“A ha ha! You’re talking as if it’s already decided that she’s going to join the Black Bulls!”

“Well, is she’s gonna enter any squad, it would be the Black Bulls, right? Actually, we can probably get you in if we push for you hard enough!

As if to intercept Morgan’s pessimistic thoughts, Magna and Luck continued talking light-heartedly.

“Me and Luck can drill all that pessimism and good-for-nothing attitude right out of you! Our Captain’s also scary as hell, so even if you don’t want him to, you can rest assured that he’ll cure you of that!”

“And when he harasses you, Noelle-chan will step in to help you! She’s good at looking after others.”

“And there’s another girl on our team, Vanessa. I bet she would dote on-

Then, Magna and Luck realized it. As she listened to them speak so happily, she had a sad smile on her face. Then, tears began to pour down her face.

“……Jeez, why are you crying now? Now’s not really the time for that, is it?”

“……Huh? No……… Eh heh heh. Sniffle. It sounds like joining the Magic Knights would have been really fun…….”

She smiled at Luck and Magna as she wiped away her tears.

“We’re telling you. I bet you’ll totally pass the entrance exam, so-

“Sniffle, i-it’s not that.”

Morgan interrupted Luck as she wiped away the tears from her face,

“I’m already…….”

“……Oh?”

Just when Morgan was about to tell them something, Magna saw something sparkle near his hand.

“……Huh? Hey! Is this the key to the treasure room!?”

What he found was a key ornamented with a gaudy design. Magna picked it up and showed it to Morgan,

“……Ah.”

But her eyes fell toward a piece of paper that was fluttering in the wind.

“Ah…….Ahh, ahhh!”

Then she jumped back up and shouted with joy from the bottom of her heart.

“T-this is it! This is what I was looking for! This drawing!”

It was a portrait of a family with many children. It wasn’t drawn particularly well, but it was a warm piece that clearly conveyed how close the family was.

“…….Wait, huh? I thought you were looking for your grimoire?”

Magna asked her, completely befuddled. She hugged the drawing close to her as she cried.

“I kept this sandwiched in the pages of my grimoire……. Ah, I’m so glad it’s not torn! This was drawn by my older brother when my dad was still alive, so I’ve cherished it all this time!”

“……I see.”

Seeing this warm display, Luck nodded. Morgan’s reaction seemed a little over-exaggerated at first, but given her circumstances, it was no wonder that she would be so moved.

“So, where’s your grimoire, I wonder?”

Luck was about to continue fishing through the pile of relics, but,

“!!”

He found something else, a frilled top. It was exactly the same as the one Morgan was wearing.

These were the articles of the deceased - the articles of those who have been killed by the golem. If her things are here, then……

“……I don’t have a grimoire anymore.”

Tightly grasping the drawing in her hands, she smiled sadly at the two once more.

“After all, I’m…… already dead.”

“No no. This isn’t the time for crappy jokes…….”

Magna laughed at Morgan’s abrupt declaration, but,

“…………”

Morgan’s body slowly began turning transparent before their eyes.

“What……. The hell? What the hell!? You……. Why are you disappearing on us!? Hey!?”

“I don’t really understand it, either…… I think, since I don’t have any regrets left, I can finally move on to the afterlife……. I guess? This is the first time this has ever happened to me, so I don’t really know, but I feel sleepy, and I feel my mana leaving my body, so……”

She said nonchalantly, and then silently lowered her head.

“Um, I’m sorry for deceiving you. If I told you ‘Hello, I’m a ghost. Please help me achieve peace,’ I figured you wouldn’t believe me.”

“You’re a ghost? How...…….?”

Magna whispered, causing Morgan to make a troubled expression.

“…….Honestly, I don’t really understand how I became this way, either.”

She gazed at her own transparent body and smiled sadly.

“I know for a fact that I was killed by that golem. The moment I died, I thought……. I want to look at this drawing one last time. I felt this so strongly that my coating magic covered my own body……. After that, although my body was dead, I had successfully coated my consciousness…… and I became like this.”

“Is that even-

Magna was going to ask if that was even possible, but he did not finish. After all, her body, which was steadily losing both its magical power and its presence, was all the evidence he needed. She said that her coating magic covers objects with her mana. If she coated her own soul with her magic, and used her mana to make it take the form of her body, then it was possible…….

“No way. No way! You’re lying! Even if you managed to do all that, wouldn’t you have gone straight back to your family!?  Why were you wandering around in such a dangerous place like this!?”

Magna blew up, but Morgan’s sad smile remained unchanging.

“I tried leaving here countless times, but I’m borrowing such a huge amount of mana from this dungeon that I’ve essentially become a part of it……. Whenever I tried to leave, I began to disappear.”

“…….H-Huh!? Don’t screw with me!! You should’ve just used your fighting spirit! If you pour in enough fighting spirit……. You might be able to get out! The Black Bulls’ employment conditions are pretty lax! Nobody’s going to care if you’re a ghost!”

Magna was fully aware that what he was saying was ridiculous. However, he didn’t want to admit it. He thought that the girl before him would become one of them. He didn’t want to admit that she was dead.

“Eh heh heh, sorry…….. it’s a bit too late for fighting spirit now. Now that my body is like this, it will be impossible for me to take your employment exam……. or see my family.”

She watched as her hands continued to fade away before returning her gaze to the drawing of her family.

“……That’s why, at least, I wanted to see this drawing.”

“……!!”

Magna reflexively reached for her waist and held her close. He could still feel her there as he held her. The girl named Morgan was still there, and yet……!!

“Umm….. this might be weird to hear from me, but cheer up! It’s my fault that I died, so…… I’ve already accepted my fate. I knew this would happen someday. I even worked hard so that this could happen someday.”

She smiled as she said this, but then, with a lowered gaze, she continued,

“…….But, still……”

Tears began to stream down her face.

“I would have loved to join the Magic Knights. If I was with you two, eh heh heh, I bet it would have been so much fun…….”

“……….”

Luck clenched his fists tightly, and Magna bit his lip, trying to endure the pain he was feeling. This was too sudden. Too cruel.

“……If I joined the Magic Knights, would even someone like me have been useful?”

“…….Yeah. Absolutely. You would’ve helped us out a lot.”

Luck was looking up as he replied, his replies short. He felt that he shouldn’t try to cram in too many words since she was going to disappear soon.

“Thank you……. Sorry, I’m getting really sleepy.”

The moment she said this, her presence began to diminish sharply. It was time to say goodbye.

“Well then, umm…… I’m not sure what would be a good thing to say, but, Magna-san, Luck-san, thank you for all you did for someone like me. I’m really-

“Hey!!”

Magna shouted, interrupting her final words. Then, he held up the key to the treasure room.

“…… We promise we won’t let what you left us go to waste.”

He removed his sunglasses and wiped his eyes. After doing so, he looked Morgan straight in the eyes,

“We’ll definitely use this!”

with his usual grin on his face.

“That’s why I’m telling you, there’s no reason to cry or be so pessimistic ……You’ve already helped us out a ton!”

“……Eh heh heh. Thank you!”

In response to his usual clumsy way of trying to look after her, a bashful smile bloomed on her face.

“……….”

And then she disappeared without a trace.

 “……Well then, let’s open it.”

“Yeah.”

After she disappeared, the two stood still in a daze for some time. Then, they started sifting through the articles of the deceased once more. They folded her clothes and placed the drawing she had been looking for on top. When everything was over, they planned to go the village of Seitan and return her belongings to her family. Once they finished sifting through everything, they wordlessly made their way to the door leading to the treasure room.

This was all to fulfill their long-held desire. They were going to dig through those treasures and find something that might help heal Asta’s arms. That was their mission.

“A ha ha…… you okay, Magna? You can cry a little more if you want, you know?”

Luck said teasingly as he patted Magna’s shoulder. He was partly messing with Magna as he usually does, but he was partly sincere, too. It was shocking enough for Luck that Morgan was dead, but Magna’s heart was more human than his. There was no way that he would be able to accept such a sudden farewell, but……

“……We don’t have time for that.”

Magna responded to Luck’s concern by forcefully returning Luck’s shoulder pat.

“We’ll use what she left behind to help Asta. That’s the best farewell gift we can give her.”

“……Yeah.”

Being useful to someone - He honestly wasn’t sure if she was always that worried about being useful. Perhaps that line of thought emerged because she was faced with death and what she had done while she was alive. However, she certainly left behind something useful to them. He wasn’t sure if they would find something that would cure Asta’s arms. However, there had to be something in that treasure room that would prove useful to somebody. Even that skeleton’s skull that she left behind should be useful to their researchers.

Therefore, the best memorial service they could offer her was to add “meaning” to her death. To give her death meaning, there were things they needed to do. He didn’t have time to cry.

“Alright! Then, let’s fire up our fighting spirits and carry out all this treasure!”

He yelled loudly to dispel his current feelings. He put the key in the lock and threw open the door to the treasure room.

“!!”

The first thing that caught his attention was the dazzling glow of all the silver and gold treasures piled in the room, and there were just as many magic tools as there were treasures. Also,

[Magic power signal confirmed]

Inside the treasure room was another black skeleton, the same kind as the one they just defeated. In fact, there were ten of them, all saying the exact same phrase, all turning toward Magna and Luck at the exact same time.

“……….”

Magna slowly closed the door.

‘…….Come to think of it, Morgan did say that there might be other skeletons around.’

However, to think there would be so many of them, and they’re all here……

“Luck, how much mana have you recovered?”

“Hmmm……five…… no, I’d say I’m at about four percent.”

“……Me too.”

This wasn’t a question of leveling up anymore. There was no way they would be able to take on that many opponents in their current condition.

“……Then, we’ll have to do it.”

“……Right.”

This was impossible - not without surpassing their limits, that is.

“You say that, but…… A ha ha! You’re totally scared, aren’t you, Magna?”

“…….Who’re you calling scared?”

Luck covered his whole body with lightning while Magna laid his Grand Slam against his shoulder.

Even Morgan, as clumsy as she was, did her best and landed a blow against that skeleton. She surpassed the limits of life and death itself and guided them. That means, even they should……

“I’m shaking from excitement.”

After saying this, he threw open the door,

“Wait for us, Astaaaaaaaaaa!”

And the special assault squad sprinted onward into the treasure room.

--- The Special Assault Squad Sprints Onward: The End ---

I have to admit I’m generally not a fan of “oh, that character was dead the whole time” twists, but it works for a chapter featuring Magna and Luck. Magna’s one of the most emotional members of the cast, and Luck’s one of those types who understands conceptually that something is sad but doesn’t fully feel it. Seeing the two of them come to terms with her death and Luck trying to be considerate of Magna’s feelings makes for a good exploration of their characters, I think.

Anyway, this completes novel 2. The next chapter I will translate is from the first novel, and it features Yami and Magna teaching at a magic academy. And Fuegoleon’s actually awake for this one!

[faulty-writes]

Can I get a Shoto x reader where the two are on a mission something happened so it goes south, and to save the mission the reader does something stupid and reckless. Shoto realizes he loves her and is scared to lose her so he confesses his feelings to her.

[Requests: OPEN]

[Hm, sounds interesting. I know how much you love Shoto so hopefully, I did a good job. I hope you enjoy!] 

As a hero, it was wise to keep your guard up, even when you thought you were at an advantage. Your world could fall apart at the next moment. Much like your mission had, it seemed simple at first. A stakeout mission, something involving new drugs. You had gotten assigned to do the mission with Shoto Todoroki, a classmate and a well-trained hero in your eyes. 

You weren’t sure how it happened, everything was quiet at first and then chaos erupted. Apparently, someone had spotted you and opened fire, with bullets flying everywhere you had ended up getting separated from Shoto. It didn’t help that more and more villains appeared. Part of you wondered if this was planned if the villains knew ahead of time about your mission and were just hiding in the shadows until they made their move. 

You knew that Shoto could hold his own, but you quickly found that it was going to be near impossible to escape without an opening and despite your best intentions, you had decided to use your quirk. Against your better judgment, you knew if you overexerted your quirk that it would result in internal damage to your person. But at that panicked moment, you could care less. 

Your quirk was similar to energy manipulation and you willed all your strength into it. You remember Shoto calling out your name as your eyes rolled to the back of your head and you let out a powerful wave of energy. Knocking everything down, the ground had split and cracked beneath you. The villains cried out as they were sent flying and your scream echoed before you fell to your knees unconscious. 

When you opened your eyes again, the sound of a heart monitor filled the air. “Hm?” you groaned and turned your head, staring at the lines going across that screen before trying to remember what happened. Your body gave a dull ache and your head pulsed with pain, you felt extremely tired but that was the result of overusing your quirk. You output so much energy, that your own was sacrificed along with it. 

You turned your head back, staring at the ceiling a moment before you heard a knock on the door. You jumped in your bed, the heart monitor beeps growing rapidly before you calmed down. “Uh come in?” you said as your attention turned to the door and Shoto walked in. In his hands, you noticed a bag and his gaze was cold as he looked at you. “Shoto?” you said and he nodded before approaching you. 

“I got you something, I know you must be hungry,” he said as he handed you the bag and you curiously peeked inside to see a cup of soup and a piece of bread. Shoto pulled up a seat and you closed the bag before placing it to the side. “I’m happy to see at least one of us isn’t injured.” you joked with a laugh, but it faded as soon as you saw Shoto’s angry expression. “You were reckless and using your quirk like that put you in more danger than those bullets,” he said, his tone cold and you frowned. Given, he was right but still, he didn’t have to be so blunt. 

You crossed your arms. “I was trying to save us …” you said, which was true but that didn’t seem to lessen Shoto’s anger. “You put yourself in the hospital for my sake ...why would you do that …” his expression softened and you felt a lump form in your throat. “I ...I mean ...I care about you Shoto, why else would I have done what I did?” you replied and he shook his head. “You don’t understand,” he said and you looked at him confused. 

“Don’t understand what?” you asked and Shoto took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I was worried ...when I realized what you were doing for the first time since I was a child, I felt afraid.” his voice cracked softly as he spoke and you felt your heart sink, “W-What do you mean afraid, because of me?” you questioned and Shoto kept quiet a moment, his eyes directed to his lap. His hands curled as they rested on his thighs and he looked to be thinking about something. 

“I …” he paused and looked back at you. “I have come to realize ...I have feelings for you, y/n and to know I almost lost you, it caused that fear,” he confessed and your heart skipped a beat, you could feel the blood begin to rush to your cheeks. “I ...did I hear you correctly?” Shoto looked annoyed because of your question, but he nodded. “I love you,” he said as he reached over to grab your hands. 

You gasped, noticing how warm his hands felt against your own. Your heart was racing in your chest, your lips were parted though you weren't sure what to say. “Please, do not do something like that again. I don’t like fearing the idea of losing someone, especially the one I love,” he said as he reached up with one hand to brush a piece of your hair back, your cheeks were still colored red. 

“I ...I didn’t know you ...loved me,” you said and Shoto nodded. “I have for quite some time it seems, but I did not realize it until I carried you in my arms. Finding myself praying that you would open your eyes again, that you were alright.” your blush deepened and you glanced away, so he had carried you too? God, you made a mess of yourself and the mission altogether. “I ...thank you Shoto, but I …” you were quickly silenced when you felt his finger press to your lips. 

“You do not have to tell me you love me as well, I am willing to wait,” he said before he removed his finger and reached over you to get that bag, unfolding it once more. “Here …” he took out the cup of soup, “You need to eat.” he insisted as he handed you the soup and spoon. You let out a sigh and opened the lid, inhaling the sweet aroma. “Is something wrong?” Shoto asked as he leaned close, his arms laying on your bed. 

“Just …I didn’t realize how you felt, I’m sorry I ...I was reckless Shoto. I didn’t mean to scare you.” your voice as a little above a whisper but Shoto smiled. “You are safe for now, that’s all I care about. Please eat.” he repeated, “I’ll be here for you until you get released and perhaps after I …” he paused and you swore a soft blush painted his cheeks. “Perhaps I could take you on a date?” 

[postedbygaslight]

You’ll Be the One to Turn - Part 40: The Resistance

...

Rose came to in the common room of the Falcon where she’d strapped in before the final descent began. She didn’t know exactly when she’d passed out, but it was probably when the ship jerked into a flat spin, because she couldn’t remember anything after that.

The interior of the ship was a sparking mess, and smoke was coiling out from the instrument panels near the cockpit. Whatever Ben had done bringing the ship in for a landing, it had grounded them for awhile. And right now was the worst possible time for that.

She looked around for Finn. She remembered he’d come back up from the turret, but she’d blacked out around that point. Scanning about for a second, she found him, sitting on the floor across the room, blinking awake himself.

“You okay?” she said, and he lazily turned his head toward her.

“I think?” he said, sitting forward and coughing.

The smoke was starting to be a concern, and Rose wondered if there might be a fire. She unlatched her safety harness and stumbled to her feet, crossing to the smoking panel to assess the damage.

It was about as bad as she thought. The circuits for the flight sequence had all blown. It was an easy enough fix— she knew for a fact Chewie had plenty of spares— but resetting them and making sure the program would run the thrust properly would take hours. Rose checked the datapad she’d linked to her terminal back on Vedic III and pulled up the geothermal monitor for the vent beneath them.

It wasn’t good.

“All right, let’s get moving,” Rey said, coming back from the cockpit. “How much time do we have?”

“Forty minutes?” Rose responded. “Less?”

Rey’s face didn’t betray any despair or shock, but there was something in her calm, resolute demeanor that seemed to slip a little, Rose thought.

“No time to waste, then,” she said, her voice softer, more distant. She started to turn toward the ramp controls, but Rose stopped her.

“Rey, wait,” she said. Something had been troubling her. “Ben. He said he can make the beam fire. How does he know he can do it?”

“The crystal in his saber is cracked,” Rey answered, still distracted.

“That... would give him some insight,” Rose said. “Sorry, just—“

She stopped short. Just then, Ben came from the cockpit and put his hand lightly on Rey’s back. They didn’t say anything to each other, but they exchanged a look that seemed so charged with meaning that it made Rose forget to breathe for a second. Then, without a word, Ben headed to the ramp controls, hit the release, and exited the ship.

“How bad is it?” Rey said, crossing to the panel.

Rose shook her head, snapping back to the moment. Finn had gotten up, and the six or seven others— volunteers from the base who knew how dangerous this was going to be— were now milling about, checking equipment and starting to make their way out to the hangar. Finn joined them by the panel, standing a few paces back, shifting nervously.

“Pretty bad. Six hours. Seven.”

Rey peered in at the smoky mess.

“Which means Chewie would say three hours,” she said, laughing softly. “And it would take five. But we’d have something fail mid-flight that’d need an emergency fix.”

She stepped back from the panel, sighed, and looked at each of them.

“Thank you for being here. It’s— this isn’t going to be easy.”

“Never thought for a second it would be,” Finn said, clapping a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him, glanced over her shoulder, and started down the corridor toward the ramp.

“Finn,” Rose said once Rey was gone, “We really might not make it this time.”

He didn’t say anything. He gave her that look— the look of concern and understanding that communicated just how much he cared, and how much he felt responsible. She sniffed to keep herself from crying and grabbed his jacket with both hands.

“I love you. You know that, right?”

“I love you, too,” he said, and he was so earnest and sheepish that she thought she might literally die. “And I’m sorry I haven’t said it until now.”

She did actually cry this time, and pulled him down, and kissed him like it was the last time.

***

The sky was on fire, and Poe Dameron was rocketing through the thick of a dogfight, screeches of pursuing TIE fighters trailing behind him.

“Black Five to Black Leader,” the comm squawked at him, “The target is crawling with enemy craft. I’ve done one orbit, and I’m not sure how I’m still around to be saying this.”

“Black Five,” Poe responded, looking ahead of him to the looming orb, its dull gray durasteel contrasting sharply with the glimmering crystal of the massive lens, “there’s not really such a thing as enemy craft right now. Assume everything is hostile to everything else.”

Poe already had his throttle all the way open, but he needed more speed. Time was ticking away, and he still didn’t know how much he was going to have to hit the lens with the ion bombardment.

“BB-8, gimme some more juice, buddy.”

The droid objected with a rough screed of beeps and scratching sounds.

“Look, I know, I know. Just gimme a little more. We’re running out of time here.”

BB-8’s interface popped up on the main terminal screen, and Poe watched as the remarkable little droid somehow overclocked the thruster output another six percent.

“Atta boy, buddy, atta boy,” Poe said, a huge grin on his face. He punched the boosters and braced himself as the emitter station came hurtling toward him so fast he barely had time to throttle back and pull up. The X-Wing bottomed out to hover distance just above the broad curve of the station’s outer housing, and Poe throttled forward again, bending around the outer edge of the station toward the lens.

Coming up over the top of the orb, Poe could see the whole spread of the battle against the vast green-blue mass of Naboo. To say that there was any such thing as a First Order fleet anymore was complete nonsense. Of the twenty or so Star Destroyers that had been arranged in blockade around the emitter station, only three remained, and one of those had taken heavy fire and was listing badly toward the planet below. The battle was still raging, and at this point it seemed more like an exercise in tortured principle was playing out than any actual strategy. By this time tomorrow, there wouldn’t be a First Order.

But there also might not be a Taris. Or a Naboo. And that meant there was work left to be done.

Poe sped over the last part of the curvature of the sphere and made a sharp dive into the housing interior. The lens was crystalline and almost transparent. Once Poe entered the housing everything seemed to go ghostly quiet.

“All right, BB-8, this is it,” Poe said as he skirted the inner wall of the housing, rushing toward the surface of the lens. “Keep an eye on those readings. I’m gonna try to keep going until it’s done.”

BB-8 responded with a few apprehensive chirps, but Poe was already locked in, his jaw set, and his eyes piercing as he pulled back on the rudder and opened the throttle all the way, sending the X-Wing screaming around the outer edge of the lens. He brought the nose down slightly, tilting just enough to keep just above hover distance and started firing the ion beams.

If Poe had been the sort to have any tendency toward vertigo, the maneuver he was performing would have been fuel for nightmares. The world was tilted and dipping in and out of view, and Poe was on the outer edge of a centrifuge, spinning frantically and at tremendous speed. He was scoring confirmed impact after confirmed impact, and it was bizarre to watch the red bolts come blasting out of his cannons without some attendant explosion or other indication of damage. The lens just glittered and streamed beneath his ship, and he kept pulling the trigger.

“How we looking, buddy?”

BB-8 shot back a string of beeps and clicks.

“Four percent? After two passes? Are you sure?”

The droid confirmed. Poe did some quick math in his head. It would never work. The weapon would fire well before he’d be done.

“Okay, BB-8, listen up. I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing. But you have got to find a way to get me more ionization per blast.”

BB-8 replied skeptically, but Poe just shook his head.

“No way, little guy,” Poe said. “This is the plan. No time for anything else. Get me more charge per shot.”

And Poe pushed the throttle harder, and pulled the trigger faster, barreling just above the cold glimmer of promised annihilation.

***

The hangar bay looked just like a hundred others Finn had been in during his life. Only this one was littered with the bodies of stormtroopers and First Order officers, and the Falcon had left a long, jagged scorch mark along the length of the black mirrored floor as it crashed and skidded to a stop. The ship itself had seen better days. It had long smoky burns streaked across its gray-white surface where it was overheated during atmospheric entry, and parts were dangling and clattering off its frame.

It was probably a miracle any of them survived at all. Though, to be fair, Finn was hardly an expert. He was, however, an expert in First Order military protocol, and this hangar had been assaulted with devilish precision. Whoever this hunter was, she knew her business, and she was going to give them all cause for panic before the end.

Ben Solo was standing by the blast doors that led to the interior of the tower. The kyber heart— the giant crystal Ben was here to manipulate into completing its firing sequence— was housed in a focusing chamber somewhere beneath them. The blast doors, which had been closed by whatever unfortunate officer had been commander of this block, had been blown open by some particularly vicious ordnance, and looked like they’d been peeled back with a tin opener.

“What should we expect?” Finn asked, coming up to stand beside him.

“Missiles. Sonic devices. She has some customized battle droids. Mostly close range melee. Flamethrowers. I’d guess, with a group, she’ll use gas.”

“Or toxins,” Finn added.

“Yeah.”

“Kind of makes me wish I had my helmet.”

“You’re not alone there,” Ben said, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “But we’re better off without them.”

“Can I ask you something? Before everything goes to Hell and we don’t know up from down?”

Ben tilted his head toward Finn, but kept looking through the gap in the blast doors.

“Why didn’t you kill me? In the forest.”

“Wasn’t trying to kill you. I was making a point.”

“Which was?”

“That I didn’t have to,” Ben said, turning back toward the small group mustering near the boarding ramp of the Falcon. “Turns out, not such a bad call.”

Then Ben turned to him and looked him in the eyes. His gaze was like magnetic ore, and his dark eyes burned with the same intensity Finn remembered seeing on Starkiller, what seemed like a lifetime ago.

“Listen,” he said, his face grim and resolute, “this hunter is smart. She’s going to see I’m wounded and she’s going to attack me first. She’ll probably keep attacking me. To get Rey to do something stupid. You told me you’d do anything for her. You meant that. When the time comes, you’ll keep her safe, right? No matter what’s happening with me.”

“What about the crystal? We need you alive.”

“I’m not worried about dying. When the hunter attacked last time, she went after Rey to draw me in. This time it’ll be the reverse. I need you to make sure she’s not missing a threat because she’s worried about me.”

Finn had to pause a moment to gather himself. Here was a man who possessed powers beyond anything Finn could imagine— a man Finn knew to have been cruel and callous and unfeeling— and he was asking for help. To protect someone he loved.

“You know, this may not be the time to say it,” he said, “but I had you all wrong.”

Ben’s expression didn’t change. Neither did his intensity.

“No, you didn’t,” he said, and went to join the others.

Finn stayed standing near the destroyed blast doors, and felt the cold air seeping from within. And somewhere, down in the depths below, that cold hid a burning center, roiling with reasonless bloodlust.

[casualarsonist]

Watch_Dogs 2 review (PC)

I do play other games, you know. 

I’m mid-way through a bunch of games, and finished others but just haven’t gotten my thoughts together about them. It’s just really easy for me to speak my mind about Ubisoft games, because there’s so damn many of them, I’ve played so damn many of them, and their features are all iterative, rather than innovative, so there’s always an established base for me to speak from. In saying that, my review of the first Watch Dogs was one of impressed incredulity - it’s a really decent game. If it was the only open-world game that Ubisoft had released, it would have been lauded. Its use of the digital hacker trope as a gameplay tool to manipulate the city’s infrastructure in real time, as well as to peer into the private lives of each citizen, and the lengths it went to construct a vast series of interpersonal interactions amongst the NPCs resulted in a believable and interesting gameworld, and some genuinely thrilling cat-and-mouse car chases through the city streets. Unfortunately it was at the tip of spear during an infamous period of graphical downgrading when Ubisoft would naively stir hype with technically unfeasible pre-release gameplay footage, and then inevitably get hit with backlash when the actual released version of the game was necessarily downgraded in terms of its looks in order. 

I say ‘downgraded’ rather than ‘it looked worse’, because Watch Dogs has never looked ‘bad’. It’s not as swanky as the pre-release footage, but it still looks great, and it boggles my fucking mind when I try to consider how enslaved to the shareholders the people making the marketing decisions must be, how out-of-touch they’d have to be to fail to predict the backlash, or how dishonest they are if the backlash is some kind of considered collateral as long as the pre-orders rack up. In any case, the announcement of Watch Dogs 2 received a not-undue amount of skepticism in return. Given how deceitful the marketing of the first game was, I was shocked that there was much interest at all. But Ubisoft smartly chose a bold new style to contrast the drab and morose look of the previous game, and this strange, quirky, fun-looking experience did the trick and sparked interest. Instead of the Windy City, we were treated to sun-kissed San Francisco. Instead of the gruff, grumbly ‘brown-haired white male protagonist #375’ (I can’t recall his name), we had a collective of young, crazy, wise-cracking hackers. The foundation of the original Watch Dogs was solid enough for this to be enough of a change, and so it was that Watch Dogs 2 was released to a reasonable amount of praise. 

For all intents and purposes, it’s much the same game, but it fits an era of Ubisoft releases I’m going to refer to as ‘Newbisoft’: that is, the era in which Ubi seemed to finally get that its output was repetitive shit, and started making the barest effort to disguise it. The collectibles have been scaled down and replaced with places of interest that one can photograph to accrue experience points. The ‘experience points’ have been replaced with ‘followers’ - ostensibly reflecting the rise of your hacker collective as you complete missions and tasks. Other busywork activities such as pointless races are still there, as are Assassin’s Creed’s loot chests in the form of money bags lying in protected areas patrolled by gang members or security forces, but in putting them within an area that one must sneak into, seeking them out feels more like a mission than it does mindless filler. The amount of cash needed to purchase the various weapons and vehicles is generally quite high, and this feeds a desire in the player to want to engage in this cash-grabbing - you’re not getting six useless reales at a time - so it’s less irritating in this way. But if you stop to think about it too long, it’s unmistakably the same old bag of tricks. 

As for the game itself? Well...it’s okay. As an open-world Ubisoft game, it’s fine. It’s far too long, and if you’re anything like me and put off the story missions for fear of finishing the game and missing loads of content, you’ll quickly find out that the side missions aren’t actually side missions, but rather a near-endless series of tasks that you’re required to repeat four or five times before each matter is resolved. This pads out the play time by a dozen hours at least, and by the time you’ve finished the majority of them you might feel rather sick of the experience as a whole. Gameplay-wise it’s again similar to the first, although there seems to be a greater focus on gunplay than on setting and activating traps. This undermines the few unique elements of the series as a whole, as it’s simply more enjoyable to walk into an area and shoot anything that moves than it is to try and knock people out one at a time, only to have them wake up a few minutes later and shoot you in the back. Also, I, for one, didn’t mind the general seriousness of the first game. It gave the narrative a sort of singular focus that I felt impelled me onwards. Was it melodramatic? Yeah. Did I have a clue what was happening? Not really. But it contextualised the player’s exploration of the gritty ghetto areas, and construction sights, and grimy backalleys of Chicago, and resulted in a very evocative experience. Meanwhile, Watch Dogs 2 is all sun-shine and rainbows. Everything is in technicolour. All the characters are upbeat and exaggerated, and while I won’t fault the acting (except for the main character, who, amongst a band colourful of misfits, proves time and time again to be the most annoying and bland member), it feels like there are no stakes and no genuine repercussions for their actions. Their foggy mission-statement of dismantling the establishment and ending the reign of privacy-invading corporations is vague, and directly contradicted by the player’s actions in game as you peek into the secret lives of every single NPC you come across, or steal from their bank accounts, or hijack their cars, or run them down as they chat with friends. The characters are, by and large, as virtuous as can be, but in the course of completing your missions, the collateral damage is enormous. Watch Dogs 2 is a game that has crafted a story and characters that are at odds with the central conceit of the gameplay. This was not a problem with the first game, whose tale of rage-fueled vigilante justice was not opposed by the player’s in-game actions. 

That’s not to say that it doesn’t get anything right, of course. As mentioned, the acting is generally great - the character of Josh, a brilliant hacker with Asperger’s, is particularly charming and well-performed. It also carries on the previous game’s commitment to crafting a believable world with hundreds of nuanced, varied, and entertaining interactions between the NPCs that populate the city. I’m going to go ahead and say that Ubisoft’s efforts with the Watch Dogs series are about on-par with Rockstar in terms of creating a believable world filled with interesting characters. Every single NPC has a story. Every single area of the world is filled with incredibly detailed locations. At one point I came across a group of people who were trying and failing to take a photo of themselves with a self-timing camera. I stood in front of them and aimed a selfie at all of us and they stopped what they were doing and started laughing - the woman who was so desperate to have their photo work threw her hands up and grumbled. These people weren’t planted anywhere particular - they were just standing in an innocuous place by the seaside. The moment stood out to me amongst the thousands of other people you see around, but I could’ve put a hundred hours into the game and missed them. Other people will swear at you for taking photos of them, or play up to the camera, but this one particular group lost in this massive city had this one specific reaction, and I’m still not sure where it was something uniquely programmed, or whether it was just a particularly smooth example of the established systems working together in surprising harmony. 

The ability to interact with the city’s infrastructure only adds to the feeling of immersion. There’s plenty of joy to be found standing on a street corner during a rain shower and triggering the traffic lights, or causing cars to come to sharp stops or careen off the road. I found myself relying far less on the Watch Dogs ways of escaping danger though - blowing steam vents used to fill me with delight, but I found myself just hiding in alleyways far more often this time. The enemy AI is much more intelligent, no doubt, but the low-rise buildings of San Francisco offer less places to hide from helicopters, who quickly become the bane of your existence, and force you into long getaway chases from one end of the map to the other. 

The online aspects of the game are back, and are still entertaining. Drop-in co-op modes are accessible, if a little underwhelming in terms of what they ask of you, and the Bounty Hunter mode that can sometimes trigger automatically if you or another human player has been wanted for long enough will send you fleeing from the law AND trying to outwit other players as they race around trying to blow the shit out of you. It’s an arseload of fun seeing what lengths other players will go to in order to escape - at one point I dove off a bridge after a player, plunging into the water below behind him, and as he slowly swam away I hijacked a fishing trawler and ran him down. The nature of the game’s systems allow for abject chaos, and this is never clearer than when indulging it with other players. However, this too suffers from feeling somewhat less satisfying than that of the previous game, particularly when it comes to the ‘hacking invasion’ mode. As with the car chases, the lack of verticality and relative sparsity of pedestrians mean that there are few places for a person to hide, so in a mode that requires you to blend in with your surroundings, the most effective tactic is often just to put as much space between you and the other player. Standing in groups of people rarely works because there are rarely groups of people to stand with. Finding a spot to crouch and using the cameras to spot the other person rarely works because there often isn’t a spot to crouch that isn’t exposed. Once again, the brighter, happier change of scenery has transformed the game for the worse. 

And I think that cuts to the core of the issues with the Watch Dogs 2 - the changes are predominantly tonal, but the issues with the first game weren’t. Ubisoft fucked up because they pulled a bait-and-switch on the public, and because they milked their formula dry and sold it to an exhausted audience, not because the game wasn’t silly enough. Newbisoft’s Watch Dogs 2 is only new in spirit, and the changes they’ve made are, as always, iterative rather than innovative. It’s also one of the most unnecessarily draining games I’ve ever played in terms of the computing power required to run it to any reasonable standard. I had to rebuild my entire computer just to get it to run higher than 40fps. There’s no need for that, especially not for a game that is, to some extent, a glorified Saints Row. It could be a case of some rose-tinted hindsight, but I'd personally recommend the first game over this one, in terms of raw mood and action. It’s not perfect at all, but it’s darker and grittier and I think that kind of tone is better served by the gameplay. However, that’s not to say that this isn’t worth a play. If you’ve never played a Watch Dogs game before, then maybe this is the better place to start? It’s fun...at least for the first dozen hours, before it gets tedious. But then, can’t you say the same for nearly everything Ubisoft has ever released?

7.5 civilians killed out of 10