Lena's laugh rang out. "Tonight, you die. Ahahaha!"
Lumi wasted no words and launched his spell. "Light Shower!"
Pocket immediately dodged to the side to avoid Light Shower, but an Energy Bolt was now aiming directly to hit him. He went into Dark Sight to dodge, which he did, but a hidden weapon HazyNova threw forced Pocket to reveal himself, and the charging ToraX nearly impaled him, leaving a deep wound on his side.
With a final, frustrated roar, Pocket raced to Lumi, intending to take the fragile mage hostage. Lumi closed his eyes and shook his head. "Foolish"
As soon as the blade made its way to Lumi's neck, Lumi was no longer in the same spot. Pocket immediately blindly dodged, anticipating a spell from the mage who just teleported away.
A Light Shower passed through him, bringing him to his knees. Lena danced forward with a manic grin, placing her wand on his forehead. "Okay die now!" And she directly used Energy Bolt inside his head.
[XP +1103]
HazyNova and Ryan gained a level.
A moment passed.
Then another.
The battlefield fell eerily silent, broken only by the faint hiss of the wind and the wet collapse of Pocket's body hitting the grass. Smoke curled gently from the assassin's temple where Lena's Energy Bolt had struck.
There was gore.
Actual gore.
It wasn't censored by the game. It wasn't pixelated, it wasn't despawned. The guy's head was blown up. This wasn't the same as fighting some monsters, like a Snail, Mushroom, Golem, or even a Boar. That was a human. Dead.
Lena stood over Pocket's body. Her wand was still raised and her breathing casual. A wide, giddy grin stretched across her face. "Did you see that? I last hit him! Wasn't I cool? He died like this!" She mimicked the motion with her wand and laughed again.
A grin slowly expanded on her face as she whispered out. "Death so beautiful…"
Ryan slowly lowered his sword. "Lena…"
"So beautiful…" Her face flushed.
"Lena." Lumi spoke as he moved to her.
"Yeah?" she chirped, spinning to face him with triumph.
Lumi moved closer, gently brushing against Lena's shoulder. "You did well!"
He acted quick, he needed to. It was fine if others thought she was a bit off but this was different. He didn't want her to get the reputation of an insane murderer. "Great combat skills!"
He blatantly diverted the topic, finding an excuse to talk to her alone, "Let me show you some special skills you can use, can you come off to the side with me?"
Lena beamed and gave a mock salute. "Yessir, commander Lumi!" she chirped with a wink.
Lumi led her away, glancing once over his shoulder at the others, who were actively trying to ignore it all.
Everything.
From the situation, to what Lena said. The fact that there were brain and bone fragments everywhere. The fact they witnessed an execution.
Ryan gave him a slow nod, unreadable. Nova had sat down with a pained grunt, clutching his side, expression grim. ToraX seemed the least uncomfortable but still looked around awkwardly in silence.
When Lumi had Lena sufficiently away, he noticed her position. She had one arm wrapped around her middle, still giggling under her breath. She spun to face him, wide eyed, flushed with excitement. "Sooo? Wasn't I awesome? He never even stood a chance! Did you see the way his head exploded? Damn that was… hehe~ "
"Lena." Lumi's voice was soft but firm. "Please don't say that."
She blinked at him. Her smile faltered for half a second. "Hey… what's wrong?"
"You were incredible." he said, and meant it. "You were fast, you were smart, and we needed you right there. But I need to talk to you about the last part."
She tilted her head. "What part? Did I not close off the right escape routes? Was getting close at the end dangerous? I just figured I had enough HP and could teleport away in time if I needed. Aren't mages kinda OP because of teleport?"
Lumi shook his head. "Lena, there was gore. Now, I myself don't mind, but you should keep in mind how normal people would act."
She looked down. "I was just excited."
"I know." He reached for her hands. "And you're allowed to be excited. I love that about you. You feel things so much. But not everyone is going to understand it like I do. If you act like that around others, people who don't know you… they're going to think you're a monster."
Lena's brows furrowed, and for a second she looked like she might cry. "But I am dangerous.
That's the point."
"You are," Lumi said softly. "But you're also kind. And smart. And gentle. And you, you're not the monster they might see if you grin after someone's skull explodes. Lena, that's gore. People who aren't used to that are in shock, horror, throwing up, it's traumatic. For you to make light of it so casually…"
He brushed his thumb across her knuckles. "You can be you with me. Always. But when others are watching… maybe just pull it back a little, yeah?"
She didn't say anything for a moment. Just stared down at their joined hands. Then, finally, she nodded. "Okay," she whispered. "I'll try."
Lumi smiled. "That's all I ask."
She peeked up at him. "You really think I was cool?"
He chuckled. "Lena, you were terrifying. In the best way."
Her smile returned, quieter now. Warmer. "Okay. I can be… less… casual about death."
…
HazyNova staggered, till he was forced to sit, but relief shone in his eyes. "You came!" he whispered, addressing the others.
Ryan gave his shoulder a firm clap. "I'd never leave a friend to fight alone."
ToraX nodded. "Absolutely. Not even a question."
"..." An awkward silence rang out. Everyone did their best to avoid looking in the direction of Pocket… what's left of him.
"Why…" HazyNova started, breaking the silence, "Why is it… like that?" After no one answered, he continued. "The… blood and… the brains…"
"I don't know?" ToraX answered, awkwardly. It was disgusting. It was revolting. It made his stomach churn. He could deal with it, but he'd rather not. "Can we turn that off in the settings?"
"I'm looking…?" Ryan replied, scrolling through the options.
"I don't see anything." HazyNova stated, plainly.
"Me neither." ToraX echoed.
"That's so strange." Ryan added, "I mean, it really is. I know this game is all realism, and it is impressive, but darn! That was… a bit much. Did the devs really expect us to deal with that every time we kill a human enemy?"
"Yeah…" HazyNova murmured, his voice still shaky. "It felt too real. Like I swear I can smell it."
"You can. I certainly smell it." Ryan muttered, flicking through another menu. "No option to tone it down, not even under 'Advanced Immersion Filters.' You'd think 'less gore' would be a toggle or something."
The three of them sat in silence for a moment. Eventually two sets of footsteps made their way over.
"Hey." ToraX replied first, since he was familiar with Lumi and Lena.
"Hey Lena-" Ryan was about to ask, but a glare from Lumi cut him short. "Uhhh.."
Lena gave him a small smile and a wave. "Don't worry about it. I'd rather not talk about it, is that okay?"
"Yep." Ryan nodded.
Lumi internally sighed.
This. He remembered this.When players progress to the stage where they start killing humanoid npcs, there was a lot of outrage about it online.
They just need a distraction. But first…
Lumi approached the body in silence, and began systematically looting it. Once he was done, nobody questioned it. Silence rang out, allowing him to speak.
"Guys." Lumi called out. "I know the visuals were really realistic. I don't think anyone wants to dwell on it. Want to get out of here and go to the golem temple?"
"Yes." HazyNova was the first to reply, extremely quickly.
"Sure." ToraX nodded, making his way over.
Ryan nodded, eyeing the body one last time before resolutely walking away from it and to the group.
"And don't worry," Lumi added. "I'm not stealing loot. Just gathering it since it was a bit problematic. I'll give it to HazyNova, I'm definitely not keeping a single bit of it."
"Right." HazyNova nodded, still a bit off.
Eventually they got to the golem temple, where Lumi once again led the group to sneak past the Stone Golems and to the Dark Stone Golems. They may have already destroyed nearly a thousand, but there were at least that much more of the Dark Stone variety, not to mention the others.
"Lumi!" Ryan called out, "Wow! You guys have been grinding these? They look strong!"
"They aren't that strong." ToraX replied, adding his perspective. "They don't have that much force behind their swings. It's just the weight of the stone. If you can lift it, you can easily block it."
"I can't lift that." Ryan replied, plainly.
ToraX let out a small grin. "Neither can I."