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Author's Note: Hello guys, Thienlibra here and welcome to another chapter of The Grim. Without further adieu, sit back, relax, and enjooooooooy
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After a day of walking non-stop, the sight of the ruined town had finally disappeared behind our back
And that means that we're officially lost, with no way to navigate ourselves between the thick snow-covered wood
Not that the others know it of course. They were following me blindly the whole time
Every time I turned around and asked them if they know where we are going, the reply will be along the line of 'I don't know, but since Boss had decided to walk there, you must have a reason to do so. As such, it would only be right for us to follow you'
Seeing their eyes full of trust like that, my stomachs knotted together and I seems to lost the will to admit to them that we, in fact, are lost. A part of me knows that it wouldn't benefits me in the long-term, but fuck it, it will come when it comes
And now I'm pondering what we should do next
It's still Winter and we're already out of food, with nowhere to go, and nothing to hunt. This is a nightmare for me who was a glutton at heart, how am I supposed to endure this? I want food! Food!
Speaking about food, we haven't eaten anything from yesterday due to our sudden departure from the village. Couple that with the temperature around us and the walking, a human would have been tired out at this point.
But that wasn't the case since we are Grimm, that means our metabolism are more resilient compare to humans. If we are lucky we might survive until the end of the year, the time where animals will come back to the surface from their hibernation and once again become our prey
Might
With that said, there's only one thing we can do
We have to move out of Atlas
And that will leave us with four choices: Vale, Vacuo, Mistral and Menagerie. Those are places with the highest human (or half-human) populations and density. Places like that would likely would naturally contain food, and it would also make it easier for us to blend in
Since we've all unlocked our human form, passing the gates won't be a problem. And assuming if they required an ID to enter, Alistair's illusions will take care of that.
With that settled, let's decide which of them should we choose to travel to-
Ding!
A sound that I haven't heard in a long time rang in my head at the same time a blue window appeared in front of me
'Tutorial' has been completed!
It's time for you to make your own journey into this world!
Choose your next location:
1. Vacuo: [Beneath the Ruins]
2. Vale: [Wolf in Sheep's Clothing]
3. Mistral: [Legacy Of The Ancients]
4. Menagerie: [In Old Blood We Shall Pay]
5.?????: [?????]
Huh, so I guess that by choosing one location, we will enter ourselves into a separate campaign. I don't know if this is mandatory or not, and if this is a campaign, there must be some sort of reward, right?
Being the perfectly reasonable man that I am, I ignored the screen completely and dismissed it, causing it to fade away. Since there's no countdown, I can just open it later after I've made my decision
"Right, guys. Let's just camp here for today" The others nodded and stopped by a nearby cliff
It's not like we need to rest or anything, each of us has the stamina to run for several hours straight at regular speed without breaking a sweat. The thing is, I need time to make preparation (read: delaying the inevitable) for when they will find out that I have no clue where we're going
Since we don't carry anything with us, it's pretty easy to settle down. Murdoch climbed up into nearby tree, acting as our scout, while Alistair sat on a nearby rock
As for me, I simply settled with relaxing under the tree which Murdoch is on, but not before putting down my luggage
The luggage, in this case, is Helen
The Helen, the 16 year old Helen whose body I'd unintentionally assaulted with my tongue
Is it just me or is there the sound of police siren in the distance?
Anyway, she soon fainted after her orgasm (how can a slime have an orgasm anyway?) and I had to carry her on my back since this morning. What a bother, at least she's light
The aforementioned girl twitched as I laid her down against the hard surface of the oak tree. Her breathing was still, but she seems to be muttering something
I leaned in closer to see what she's saying
At the same time Helen's eyes fluttered open
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The first thing Helen see when she opened her eyes was his face
Her Lord was inches just from hers, close enough for her to noticed he wasn't breathing, not at all. Reaching out further with her sense, she noticed something
His heart isn't beating
At this distance she started to notice a lot more about him, such as his skin, too pale even when compared to Grimm's standard, his eyes, which have crimson irises, and 2 small, almost unnoticeable canine grew out from the side of his mouth
Her Lord is a resurrected corpse
Is he an undead type of Grimm? There are several of those species which she'd encountered that, after killing them, if you don't dispose of their corpse in a certain amount of time, they will be resurrected as mindless beast who craved for the livings, be it animals, humans or their own kin
What did humans call them again? Oh yes, it's zombies, ghouls, vampires and a varieties of other names
Her lord still has his consciousness, that means he isn't a zombie. He doesn't have the smell of corpses, so the ghoul option is out, too. In conclusion, he is a vampire, a deduction that proves to be right as she caught scent of blood on him. Not your regular blood, more like, how should she say this...tainted?
"Uhm, Helen. You okay there? You seems to be spacing out a little"
That pulled her out of her thought. Helen looked back at him, with a questioning glance
"Yes, I'm fine, my Lord. I didn't remember falling asleep on our way here though"
Her Lord averted his eyes, as though being nervous about something. A sliver of his tongue came out as he licked his dry lips
Somehow, that action made her feel really weird, uncomfortable. Helen unconsciously closed her legs together, an action that her Lord noticed
"Did you remember what happened yesterday?”
And just like that, memories come rushing in. Memories of him holding her in his hands. Memories of her struggling against his grip as her Lord moved his tongue inside of her. Memories of her screaming out in pleasure before blacking out
"Yes, my Lord. I remembered every single detail of it"
Her Lord entered a violent coughing fit, making her leaned over and pat him on the back. After several moments he finally regained his calm exterior and continued speaking, albeit with some difficulties
"I see. Well, I just want you to know that I'm sorry about what I did to you, I was simply curious about what a slime would taste like and acted without thinking, even without your consent. I understand that you are probably feeling furious right now, and I won't be surprised if you want to leave the pack"
She tilted her head in confusion
"And why, pray tell, should I leave the pack, my Lord?"
"Uhm, because I technically raped you?"
"Okay?"
Helen doesn't see as that big if a deal. Her Lord clearly has no idea about the anatomy of a slime, so he shouldn't have to suffer the consequences. A plus note is that he only used his tongue, so it isn't a very serious business
She doesn't understand why he was so concerned about this. In the world of Grimm, might is right, one chooses their mate, and that same mate doesn't have a choice unless they can fight them back. If you are raped, that's your own fault for being weak. That'd always been natural for the strong to dominate the weak, a lesson that'd been ingrained into them since birth
In this case, it was because she didn't react in time and liquify herself to get away. It's her fault, so why was the Lord saying sorry?
Seeing that she still didn't understand, her Lord tried a different approach
"And the fact that you're just 16, does that anger you that I was the one took your first time?”
Uhm...No she's not, she's 160 years old. And as she already said, might was right in the Grimm world, so it's not his fault
"I think I'd rather my first time be you than anyone, my Lord"
That made her Lord entered another round of choking, which again, she leaned over and patted his back. This time it took him a lot longer to recover
Is an undead capable of coughing?
"You don't have to lie about that"
"I assure you, everything I speak is as true as my heart"
She placed her hand above her chest, where her heart is (or where it's supposed to be given that she don't have one, being a slime and all)
Her Lord looked at her for several moments, before sighing
"Look like there's no convincing you otherwise. Maybe you'll understand when you're older..."
He turned to her to her with a curious look
"What's the legal age of consent for Grimm anyway?"
Huh?
"What's a legal age of consent?"
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...Jesus fucking Christ
Either Helen doesn't know about it, or the Grimm are truly a fucked up species
And given what I'd learned, I'm more inclined to the former since I don't want to believe that the latter is true
A society without a legal age of consent, and where the word 'consent' probably doesn't exist. It would be a paradise for pedophile, and a nightmare to children
Nope, Helen is just naive, that's all. She's only 16 after all, hahahaha
Deciding that I want to forget about this as soon as possible, I told Helen to rest while walking to the others to check on what they're doing
The cracking sound of fire nearby caught my attention. Walking around the rock, I saw Alistair staring at the fire, a faraway look in her eyes
"Hey" I greeted as I sat down next to her. In response, her two tails lifted up, leaving some space for me. As I lied down, the two fluffy tails wrapped around me, creating a comfortable and warm blanket
She finally turned to me, a smile on her face. It was a sad smile, one that was instantly replaced with cheerfulness as she spoke to me
"Boss, I've prepared the fire just as you said"
Alistair's new class job, [Fire Elementalist] allows her to create and manipulate flames around her as she pleased, which is quite similar to that of the Fall Maiden's ability.
That'd sound OP in theory, but remember that this is the real world. Fire types are often specialize in dealing wide-area damage and afterburn to kill others. That means there's a chance that she could seriously injure her teammate if Alistair's not careful
Of course that worry may not be warranted, as the fox Grimm seems to be aware of it's dangers and limited her use on it, but it's still best to be careful
"Good, I would expect nothing less of you"
"You flattered me"
A silence descended upon us, I'm not sure what I should say next. Suddenly, Alistair wrapped her arms around my chest and hugged me
So surprised was I that I didn't do anything aside from looking down at her
"It's been 2 year since we've been stranded on this place" She said, her face still buried in my chest "Everyday, I've been counting, praying for our parents to find us and bring us back home. Everyday, we were disappointed"
My eyes widen. I haven't considered the fact that aside from me, the pair of Grimm whom I've adopted when at the cave has been wandering around the frozen wasteland that is Atlas for several months before, scavenging for food, all the while getting shunned by others
They're supposed to be the Prince/Princess of their country, but was instead teleported to this unknown land for no reason and forced to survive inside it. All this time, I was their only friend. How lonely and frustrating it must have been for them
Now I'm feeling a bit guilty about considering to kill the pair when I first met them, but the circumstances justifies it, and I don't regret thinking about that one bit
...Well, maybe a little, just a little....
"I'm starting to think they don't care about us, that they're the one who threw us to this place" I winced "In their eyes, we are probably failures who could not even stand up to the title of the Deadly Sins"
Her shoulder started shaking
"Are we really that useless?"
A few drop of tears rolled down her cheeks. Alistair sniffled and tried to hide it, but to no avail
Oh no, she's crying...
What should I do? I've never learned how to deal with a crying girl before
Dad, why didn't you teach this to me? Where are you when I need you the most?!
Deciding to go with my instinct, I wrapped one hand around her, while lifting the other up and pat her head
Alistair's ears twitched, but she didn't show any reaction aside from that
"No, you are not useless, Alistair, each of you have your own uses to me in different ways" I said, still patting her head "I don't see a reason why your parents would consider you as a failure. You're smart, strong, and probably one of the cutest female Grimm I've met"
She twitched at the last sentence
I smiled, mentally praying that I was doing this right. The last thing I wanted right now is for her to slap me like how my mom slap my father for one of his perverted jokes
On second thought, I'm not so sure about asking him for advice about woman anymore
We stayed in this position for several minutes until Alistair stop sniffling. She finally pulled up, revealing her tear-stained face. I stopped patting her head and wiped away a tear on her eye
"I'm sorry for that shameful display of weakness earlier, please forgive me" She said with her head lowered
Girl, given your circumstances, you have all the right in the world to cry. It's a miracle that you managed to hold it in for so long
I lifted her chin up so she can see me
"It's okay, Weakness is a sin. But then again, we're all sinners, aren't we?"
"Your Sin is Envy. You feel inferior to others, insecure in your own abilities. So obsessive were you with your pursuit of perfection that you didn't realize nobody is perfect. To be perfect is to be devoid of all flaws and defects, leaving you to be the best at everything. That's what you want right, to achieve this flawless state?"
"Yes, and I see nothing wrong with it"
"Of course, because there's nothing wrong with perfection itself, since it's devoid of all flaws after all. What I'm trying to say is..."
Alistair looked at me curiously
'You better not mess this up, me' I mentally took a deep breath
"There's no point chasing after other's perfect when you are perfect the way you are"
Cha cha real smooth, buddy. Your National Cliched Award is in the mail!
Her eyes widened for a split moment as she turned away, her shoulders started shaking
Don't tell me I make her cry again....
"Thank you, my Lord. I'm grateful for your kind words"
[Alistair] loyalty toward you has been increased!
[Murdoch] loyalty toward you has been increased!
I looked up to see the hound Grimm staring down at us from his position on top of the tree. He grinned and signaled for me to join him
I looked back at Alistair who is still facing her back to me and sighed
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You know, I never pay that much attention to Murdoch despite him being a part of my pack. The guy just seems so.... I don't know, happy?
He always have that cheerful lucky-go attitude and seems overly optimistic, up to the point when I'd doubt his words of being the Sin of Wrath
But then again, it's the nice one whose wrath is the most terrible
"So, what's up, bro?"
"Bro?" He looked at me with confusion, and I cursed myself for the slip
"Uh, you see, 'bro' here stands short for brother, but it also have a different meaning . When us men call each other that, it means they'd recognized you as a close friend of them"
His eyes widened like a puppy
"Does that means...you considered me to be your friend?"
"Uh, yes?"
"Does that mean I can call you big bro, too?"
"I don't see any reason for you not to"
He apparently like that, judging from his ear-splitting grin
"I certainly like calling you that than Boss, it sounds kinda uptight, really"
This man here gets it. My evaluation of the Baskerville just went up as I found him to be more likable than I thought
"Haha, sure you do"
Again, the silence enveloped us just like with Alistair. But this time it's a comfortable one
"Hey big bro"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you"
"For what, Murdoch?"
"For everything"
I laughed "Yeah right, as if I'd believe that"
You won't be thankful anymore when you discovered how I have no clue about where we're going
Even as I dismissed his gratefulness, Murdoch still stare at me with that smile on his face. Chuckling, I turned to him
"Rest, I'll take the shift tonight. Tomorrow will be a long journey, I think, so you better be prepared"
Tomorrow I'll admit the truth to them. Even if they're mad at me, at least all of them would be well-rested to continue on their journey without me
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Fuck. This. Shit
Salem has had enough of it
The random pedestrians crossing the road sweat-dropped at the woman who's repeatedly banging her fist into the pavement
It's been a week since she came here and still, the woman hadn't found her son.
If only Ozpin were here right now so she could hear his squeal of agony as she castrated him for no other reason than to lessen her stress. But he weren't and that's the reason why she's being so frustrated
If it wasn't for fear of her son, Salem would have kill this entire village already. Damn them and their fucking Vodka
[Hello Salem, having a good day, I see]
The concerned voice of a friend when you're in trouble would make most people feel relieved, but this does not exactly apply to our Grimm queen
[Envy, you have 5 seconds to say what you want to say before I turn you into mince meat through my power of telekinesis]
[Alright alright! Jeez, calm down. I have bad news and good news, which do you want to hear first?]
[Does it really matter? I'm going to hear both of them anyway]
[Good new it is then. Wait, just let me grab my earmuffs] The sound of something being squeezed sounded out from the other side [Alright, I've located your son]
Not longer did he say that did Envy flinched from the sheer volume of Salem's ecstatic scream. His eardrums would have bursted has it not been for the earmuffs
[OH MY GOD WHERE IS HE!?]
[See, that's the bad news. He along with my daughter and others are heading straight toward the Atlas Huntsman Association's headquarter]
[HE WHAT!?]
Again he flinched from the volume
[PRIDE, CALM THE FUCK DOWN!]
This managed to quiet Salem, causing her to think about it calmly
Her son is heading toward what could possibly be the most dangerous place for Grimm on Atlas, and there's a high chance of him not being aware of it
That means he'll be killed on sight. The thought of her son's lifeless corpse laying at the feet of those filthy humans....
Salem feel a peculiar emotion rising inside her gut. It has been a long time since she'd felt like this. Pure, primal rage, all threatening to burst out at this very moment
She has to reach there before him and slaughter those humans
After several moments of silence, Salem continued speaking
[Is it possible to get there before them?]
[The camp is exactly 2,300 Km away from here, even if you were to travel at max speed it would still take you at least 8 hours to get there using normal means]
[Can't I just use (Gate) to go there?]
[How many time do I have to tell you. (Gate) only have an infinite range when it cones to the Underworld. In this world it is reduced to 500Km and can only be applied to (Marked Territory), which Atlas isn't] Envy replied exasperatedly
[Fine then, I'll go there using (Fly)]
[Wait, Pride. Are you out of your mind? you'll get yourself exposed!]
[How many fucks does it sounds like I'm giving?]
Envy instantly shut up as he heard the coldness in her voice
[....Zero]
[Precisely, now then...]
Walking into a valley, Salem's black robe was replaced by a set of crimson armor, held in her hand is a sinister-looking steel lance
"It's time for a genocide"
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Author's Note: After the abomination that is last chapter, I decided to give you guys a chapter full of character development and a little bit of world building as repayment, hope you guys enjoyed it
Also, where do you think our protagonist should go next? Comment above to let me know your opinions. The option with the most votes will win (I'd personally recommend you to choose Menagerie, but that's just my opinion)
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