The giant was about to try and attack Yamada as she latched onto their arm, so she quickly pressed the barrels of her guns against their elbow, pulling the trigger without hesitation. Different from the pacifying bullets that she shot at the gunmen from downstairs at, these were the opposite. They were bullets made to cause pain. And as this pain coursed through the giant’s body, stunning them momentarily, Yamada was able to pull herself up and climb onto their shoulders.

  With quick, fluid movements, she sat on the giant’s shoulders and tightened her legs around their neck, placing the barrels of her gun against the sides of their head. After the pacifying bullets passed through their head, Yamada could feel them buckle and fall to the ground. As they did, she held up their body a bit to hide behind it as she recovered her sight. There were probably others here, and she couldn’t risk being shot at while not being able to see.

  However, Yamada could soon feel the scent of smoke brush past her; the cloaked figures were moving past her and taking care of what they could while Yamada was unable to do so. Just as they had cleared out most of the flats as well as the floors above this one, they should be able to deal with most, if not all remaining, opponents.

  Slowly but surely, Yamada’s sight properly returned to her, and she managed to get a proper look at the man in front of her. He was different to the other grunts that she had faced before. For one, he wasn’t wearing the assault gear. Instead, he was wearing a well-fitted, tailored suit. He clearly stood above the others.

  Yamada got up from behind the unconscious man, looking down the hallway to get a grasp of the situation. This space was a bit different from the other floors; it was a large open room for the most part, as all the flats had clearly been torn out. Besides the pillars keeping the building up, there was only a single room here, in the dead center of the space, while numerous grunts were spread out through the space surrounding that walled-off room.

  Four of the five cloaked figures were keeping those grunts busy, quickly taking them down one after another, while another was standing by next to Yamada to keep watch while they recovered. However, seeing that she was fine, the last of the figures quickly got moving as well, joining the fray.

  Now that she was fine, and all of those grunts were distracted, this was a pretty good moment for Yamada. She looked around the room, marking each of the individuals that she would need to hit, holding her handguns forward. As the demon held her breath to steady her aim, she started rapidly pulling the triggers of her guns, skillfully shooting through the heads of all the grunts that she had noticed from here. And without exception, no matter how heavily armored, and no matter how actively dangerous, they all fell to the ground unconscious. The cloaked figures quickly started tying them up, and Yamada stood up satisfied.

  She swiftly made her way to the door of that single room on this floor. Though it was unclear exactly what kind, there seemed to be a barrier placed onto the entrance, so they wouldn’t be able to just force their way in all that easily. But that wasn’t really an issue; Yamada knew the weakness of those sorts of barriers.

  She walked a few steps to the side, aiming straight at the wall. The magic circle in front of her gun’s barrel increased in size, and as the gunwoman pulled the trigger and the bullet passed through the magic circle, an explosion shot forward that ripped apart the wall itself.

  The weakness of those barriers was simple; they usually only protected the door. The walls were neglected.

  With a smile on her face, Yamada stepped through the newly created entrance. Without even looking at them, she shot through the heads of the two guards stationed inside the room itself, and then quickly walked up to the person on the other side of the room. It was an older woman, using some kind of enchanting skill on a green, uneven gemstone. From the description Yamada was given, this was the last of Gaia’s fragments.

  Not hesitating, Yamada reached out to grab the fragment, but the woman in front of her anxiously pressed her hands onto it. It looked like she was saying something, but she had a fabric mask covering her mouth and nose, so Yamada wasn’t able to lip-read. So, instead of resorting to some kind of charades, Yamada held her gun into the face of the woman, hoping that this would be enough to convince her to pull her hands away.

  But … to Yamada’s surprise, that wasn’t the case at all. With pure panic in her eyes, the woman kept the fragment covered. She was scared; absolutely terrified. But not of Yamada. She was scared of what would happen if the fragment was taken from her. And while Yamada was empathetic of that, she was here for a simple reason; to recover the fragment.

  And so, with a simple pull of the trigger, the older woman was painlessly pacified. Yamada even caught her before she hit the ground, so that she wouldn’t injure herself because of the fall, carefully placing her down in a safe position.

  Yamada grabbed the fragment; someone had drawn enchantments onto its surface, seemingly trying to harvest the energy properly. With a slight frown, Yamada looked at the nearest of the five that accompanied her here, quickly signing over to them.

  “Take a scan of the whole—” Before she was able to finish, Yamada’s intuition told her to get back, but before she was able to physically react, something came flying through the hole that she created in the wall. It was one of the cloaked figures, unconscious and almost disfigured. Their arms were twisted around, and their bones were broken; blood was gushing out from under the black mask they were wearing. Yamada stared out from beyond the hole, watching as the giant from earlier stepped through. An ugly energy was enveloping him, and the veins on his neck, face, and hands were bulging as though they were about to pop.

  The expression on his face was telling Yamada one thing; this guy had a berserker-type class, and was in the middle of a “rage.” Whether it was automatically triggered by being thrown unconscious, or whether it was activated manually after he woke up earlier than expected, didn’t really matter. Fact was that he was dangerous, and clearly too much for the cloaked figures to handle. They were skilled, but they were better at infiltration than direct combat. That’s what Yamada was here for.

  The giant was yelling something, but the way he spoke and the way his jaw was clenched made it impossible for Yamada to read his lips. Nor did she really think he had anything productive to say in the first place.

  As the giant came running at Yamada, she jumped up into the air, very easily dodging over the massive figure. Her feet pressed onto the ceiling, and she kicked herself down. On her way back to the ground, Yamada caught the back of the giant’s collar, using her momentum and sheer physical strength to drag him backward. If he had continued that way, he would have crushed that enchanter lady.

  This wasn’t enough to topple the giant over, of course, but it was enough to stop him in his tracks and ensure that he would follow her back out of the room where collateral damage was more … acceptable. There were still a lot of things in that room that they needed to take a look at to figure out what the actual plan was here.

  Clutching the fragment tightly in her hand, Yamada aimed the handgun at the giant berserker.

  Chantora looked at the young man in front of him, raising his brow. “So you want to increase your dexterity? Ain’tcha a summoner?”

  “Yeah, but one of my base stats is dexterity because of how some of my skills work. I’ve been able to increase my dexterity by 0.03 already, but I was wondering if you had any tips,” Ryan explained, and the chef looked at him surprised.

  “0.03 in yer first couple weeks? That ain’t bad at all, why’d you need my help?”

  “Because 0.03 isn’t good enough.” The reply was blunt, but it was the truth. Apparently, with the symbiote’s help, Ryan’s physical stats would increase at a faster rate anyway, but he still had to do whatever he could to improve faster. If there were guys running around that were actively in the process of exploiting spirits and making people hate and fear them, then that wasn’t something Ryan would let happen.

  But no matter what was going on, Runar probably wouldn’t let him take on an important role in all this unless he could pull his own weight, just like today. Ryan wanted to be there to rescue Gaia’s last fragment, but all he could do was sit here and wait while stuffing his mouth with noodle soup.

  “What’re you in such a hurry for? Just take it easy. I didn’t do much to help increase my dexterity, just everyday cookin’ work. I was a chef at a large restaurant when I awakened, and just by doing what I did every day, my dexterity started ta go up,” Chantora explained simply. That was how most expertise classes treated things like stat increases. For the most part, they already spent most of their day doing whatever they awakened for, so they didn’t really have a lot of time to spend specifically on training. They would just start operating at a higher level while working the same amount of hours. They just got more done at a higher quality.

  As he was thinking about how to respond, Ryan noticed his uncle’s gaze. His expression was stinging painfully, and a nervous lump formed in Ryan’s throat. Trying to clear it out, Ryan took the bowl, which only had broth left in it now, and held it to his lips, quickly drinking the rest of the soup left inside.

  Ryan pulled the large bowl away from his mouth, letting out a loud, satisfied breath. As he wiped his mouth with the napkin next to him, he looked at the chef. “I just need to increase my dexterity somehow. My hobby is model building, and I can’t afford to keep buying dozens of new ones, no matter how much I want to.”

  Hesitantly, Chantora cupped his chin with one of his hands. “My dexterity always improved the most when I’ve had the chance to do somethin’ new.”

  “Something new, huh … ?” Ryan muttered, before an idea popped into his mind. “Do you need a part-timer here?”

  Chantora scoffed, shaking his head immediately. “No, thanks. Nothin’ against you, but I do very well on my own,” he replied, and Ryan let out a slight sigh, before the aktorione suggested something else, “But what I could do is give ya some recipes to try out. Might not hurt anyway if yer as big an eater as ya seem to be.”

  “… I guess that would probably work. What do you think?” Ryan asked, looking over at his uncle.

  Runar thought about it for a second. “It’s not a bad idea, at least. There’s plenty of stuff you can do to increase your dexterity. Cooking should be a pretty good one for you right now.”

  While Runar was saying so, Chantora was sorting through a few things under the counter, looking for something. He quickly made his way to the small room in the back, and a moment later came back out holding a small booklet, holding it over to Ryan with a smile. “Here ya go, I’ve got some of my favorites in here. Some should be above your skill level, but just do what ya think you might be able to. See it as a thanks for that big tip last time.”

  “Are you sure? Don’t you need that?” Runar asked, a bit concerned about Ryan taking away something that sounded as precious as a recipe book written by this man himself. But Chantora quickly shook his head.

  “I ain’t been in need of physical recipes in a decade.”

  “Oh! Do you have the Cookbook skill?” Ryan asked curiously, and Chantora looked back surprised.

  “That’s the one … ya know your stuff, huh?”

  “I guess so.” Feeling a bit awkward to have it pointed out, Ryan started flipping through the handwritten recipes in the book. “So why do you have this, then? If you don’t need physical recipes?”

  “Hm? Oh, I made that for a friend, but he didn’t end up needing it,” Chantora briefly replied, clearly wanting to move on from that topic. He took Ryan’s bowl from him, though Runar was still in the middle of eating. Ryan had eaten pretty fast. “If ye’re struggling, come by and feel free ta ask for some tips. Though … I’ve been thinkin’ about movin’ somewhere else. This part of town ain’t really sitting right with me.”

  “Really? How so?” Runar asked curiously.

  “Well, you can see how my restaurant looks in this place. I got a good deal on it when I bought it, but it’s too much stress dealin’ with pompous, stuck-up people all day, every day. All they come here for is to ‘experience the food of the lower class,’ and it pisses me off,” Chantora explained bluntly, and Runar couldn’t help himself but laugh a bit.

  “Yeah, I can see how that’d happen here,” Runar said, grabbing his wallet. He pulled out a business card for Café Runic, then handed it to him. “I own a café in Oldtown. I can introduce you to some people if you want to settle over there.”

  Chantora smiled as he grabbed the business card. “Thanks. I’ll give ya a holler after I think it through a bit. But for now—”

  The chef’s sentence was soon interrupted by the deafening sound of what seemed to be some kind of explosion. When they looked outside, a large cloud of dust poured out into the street. With a bad feeling creeping up on them, Runar and Ryan rushed outside. They looked out of the alley that the restaurant was in, noticing a massive shadow cast on the buildings. Though they clearly hoped it to be something unrelated, before they knew it, the figure of Yamada was thrown through the air, shooting at the source of that shadow.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Berserker (2)

  As the dust settled and the initial shock was gone, the sound of the battle was drowned out by the panic of the people around. People flooded away as fast as they could, and it didn’t take long before the emergency sirens went off either.

  “Warning! Warning! A rampaging Villain has been spotted in the vicinity! Evacuate Immediately!” The sound blasted into Ryan’s ears, only adding onto the already noisy environment. He didn’t know what was going on, but that was Yamada just now, right? What was happening?

  However, Ryan didn’t have to wait long to have that questioned answered. From around the corner, a living mountain pushed itself forward, digging its hands into the corners of the nearby buildings for support.

  Whatever that was, there was no way it was a person … right? But it definitely felt like one, despite how it looked. Stone covered its whole body, and the only thing hinting at a person was half the face that was still uncovered. Bulging veins that looked like metal pipes climbing up a building covered the dozen-meter-tall being. This felt far too familiar, and Ryan’s suspicion was quickly supported by the thin green strands that floated off that thing’s body, like spider threads on a windy day.

  But while that was the case … the Light of Guidance wasn’t pointing Ryan at that rampaging titan, but rather at Yamada, who was recovering in the middle of the road. “Yamada got the fragment, so I—”

  Runar interrupted his nephew instantly, “No! Leave, now! Take Liam and get as far away as you can!”

  “But I—”

  “Ryan.”

  As the two locked eyes for a moment, frustration flooded into Ryan’s body. All these people running away, scared for their lives. He never wanted to get into Heroics, but he couldn’t just stand here and do nothing, right? But … how the hell was Ryan supposed to fight something like that? He didn’t even awaken a physical class, or one actually meant for combat at all. Sure, Maximus was with him, but that didn’t mean anything either. Maximus wasn’t strong enough to take something like … something like that.

  “Go, and take Liam. I’ll try to send the fragment to you, but just get out of here for now. Yamada and I can take care of this,” Runar assured. As the Rune Mage turned and ran toward the commotion, Ryan turned back to the restaurant that had already been mostly abandoned, his teeth grinding against each other. There were only two people left in there. Liam, who was hiding under the counter, his head between his legs, and Chantora, who was trying to get him out so they could all get to safety.

  The bottle of artificial blood was spilled on the ground next to Liam, seeping into his clothes. Ryan squatted down next to him, grabbing the boy’s arm. “Get up! We need to go!”

  Liam was shaking. He was just trying to keep his hands pressed against his ears. “I-I can’t, I … don’t make me go … Please, please don’t …”

  The knot in Ryan’s throat returned, but he had to push through it. “If we don’t go, we can get hurt. Really, really hurt.”

  Liam glanced up at Ryan, his eyes filled with tears. He wanted to talk, but couldn’t get any words out. With a slight sigh, Ryan pushed his hands under the boy’s legs and tightly held on to his shoulders. “You’re a king, aren’t you? Then act like it, and listen to this knight of yours!”

  Ryan jumped up, surprised at just how light Liam was. Sure, he was just a kid, but this was ridiculous. He was just so … thin. “Hold on to me, we don’t have the leisure of comfort right now. Chantora, are you—”

  “Just get movin’ and don’t worry about me! I can handle myself, just get out of here!” the chef exclaimed, practically pushing Ryan and Liam out of the restaurant. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ryan did as told and rushed outside. Most people were gone from the streets by now. Ryan had to get down to the street level somehow; being up here wasn’t safe at all. If that titan and Yamada were up here, they probably left quite a lot of destruction in their path. So the stairway they took earlier was out of question.

  Ryan pushed himself forward as Liam’s thin arms wrapped around his neck to support himself. He turned around the corner, running into a nearby alley. He remembered there being another stairway in this direction. But right as he entered the alley, the foot of the titan pressed down on the other side; the ground shook like this was an earthquake.

  “R-Ryan, I—”

  “It’s fine, I got you,” Ryan reassured Liam, smiling down at him. His legs felt like giving out right now too, but he couldn’t let that happen. He turned around and continued running. “Just close your eyes and don’t focus on what’s happening.”

  Liam nervously closed his eyes, pressing his head against Ryan’s chest. “I … I’m scared …”