Hardcore OP-ness

Chapter 20: Curiosity Killed the Cat-Girl

As quickly as it had appeared, Michael's severed head vanished again into his first bag-slot before anyone else in the bar was able to see anything. Lily screamed "What the hell was that!?"

However, Elina just calmly looked into his eyes and said "I won't ask how you managed to die seven times, or about why you carry your corpses around with you. What I want to know more than anything, is the method that you're using to store these items. Is it a spell, or some kind of innate divine ability? I don't see any rings or necklaces, so it can't be a magical item's effect."

It wasn't as if extra-dimensional storage was impossible, so there were obviously convenient devices and techniques which could produce a similar effect. Unfortunately, the amount of mana required was unreasonably large, and anyone who was that powerful, could find a much more efficient way to achieve a similar result.

Michael snickered for a few seconds, then casually answered "Ah, yeah, it's something like that, kinda? I guess you could just think of me as a unique existence in this world. It's not like I can't die; for fuck's sake, I've already died eleven times in the past few days... Well, at least it hasn't been boring, heh."

The Enchantress stood up off the ground and managed to calm down a bit, before sitting back down in her chair. Elina had a quizzical expression on her freckled face, as she smiled and asked "Then... doesn't that mean you're a newborn God?"

Hearing that ridiculous question, the Human told her "Nah, I've been alive for twenty three years already... but I've only been in this particular world for a few days. Hmmm~, maybe I shouldn't be telling this kinda shit to every random person I meet? Well, I've never been very good at keeping secrets... or making money. Speaking of which, I don't suppose that this place will let me pay in crocodiles?"

Lily sighed, but Elina started laughing out loud, as her bright red name suddenly turned yellow, indicating that she was no longer hostile towards him. She said "No, I'm afraid they charge a steep price of ten coppers per night at this inn. Unfortunately, that's only if you're Human... for our kind, they charge five silvers."

After that, the Enchantress chimed in: "Yea, we weren't really trying to rob you, ya know? I was just gonna... 'Charm' you a bit, and have you rent a room for us. Otherwise, we'll have to camp outside the village... which would be more dangerous than staying in the wilderness. I mean, look around; half the people in here are actually just waiting for their 'prey' to leave."

Michael frowned, and grumbled "Guess that even in this world, Humans are still racist bigots. Well, it's not like the other races are any better, right? Heh-heh, anyway, you could have just asked me... Although, if I had turned out to be like those other assholes, I probably wouldn't have agreed without a ludicrous bribe, or perhaps I would have even tried to get some sexual benefits out of the deal."

Lily had a shocked expression, as her name turned yellow, and then she turned to the unconscious member of their party, who was still laying on the floor. She asked Michael "Hmmm, if you're willing to rent the room for us, we'll pay for it, and obviously let you stay there as well. Can you help us carry this idiot upstairs though? He's pretty damn heavy..."

However, before she even finished speaking, he got up, walked over to Richard, knelt down, and the moment his hand made contact with the man's armor, the whole person vanished into thin air: causing both of the girls to be slightly surprised. Then he turned to them and said "Okay, I'll bring him back out once we get there. Let's go, I'm exhausted and I really wanna take a bath."

The two women glanced at each-other, before following after the strange Human. Unbeknownst to them, a message-screen appeared before Michael: "New Quest: Three Cat-Tribe adventurers have requested your assistance in renting a room at 'The Roasted Maize' for the night. Be wary though; they aren't as simple as they appear, and just by associating with them, you have already placed a target upon yourself. Upon accepting this quest, the extra-dimensional prison will be unavailable for eight hours: You will have thirty minutes before all prisoners are forcefully ejected. Reward: Two silver coins, and fifty experience."

He scowled, while muttering "Damn it, I'm way too tired for this shit... Sigh, but I can't turn it down either. Besides, if I manage to complete it, I'll immediately level-up. Ugh, the only problem is 'that' one... She's definitely gonna fuck things up. Oh well, I'll deal with it somehow." as he nonchalantly received ten copper coins from Elina, and placed it on the bartop, near the stairs to the second floor.

An elderly Human woman, who had the title of 'Innkeeper' received the payment while sneering at the two cat-girls. She coldly told him "Room-Seven; 'you' can go up... but those little kittens will have to pay ten silvers each."

Michael glared at her, before channeling mana into his voice and whispering "You might not care about your own decrepit, worthless life, but if you try to extort me again, I'll shove a rank-G mana-core down your throat... Here I'll let you pick, do you wanna turn into a worm or a cockroach? Hehehe~, I think you're more a rat." She was only a rankless, level-zero, so 'Intimidation' was extremely effective against her.

When the cat-girls heard his threat, even if they didn't receive a debuff, they still felt terrified. Even if it was a crime worse than murder, forcing someone to mutate that way wasn't that uncommon, and it wasn't very difficult if there was a large power difference between the two people.

Just saying something like that to a Human in Carrabelle City was punishable by death. That was how xenophobic the various races were, and the reason why it was so rare for anyone to take the risk of evolving outside of their own Clan.

As the three of them walked up the stairs, a group of five rank-F, level-six patrons near the center of the room began whispering to each-other. All of them were wearing inconspicuous brown robes, and were all men of different races: an Orc, a Dwarf, a Hobgoblin, an Ogre, and a Human.

At first glance, they were merely an odd group of Monks or perhaps Earth-Mages, but to anyone with an 'Identification' ability that was under level-ten, they wouldn't have been able to see their titles, races, and especially their classes. That was because they were each wearing a magical necklace, which had the appearance as if it was cheaply made out of chicken or rabbit bones.

The huge, extremely muscular, eight-foot tall Ogre-man, with dark-brown skin, and dozens of horns instead of hair muttered "I can feel the Goddess of Light's power waning... It's time to begin."

Immediately, all five of them pulled out a small glass vial of glowing crimson liquid, and began using it to inscribe a pentagram onto the wooden table. Then they continued to quietly draw various other symbols, while chanting in their minds "Goddess of Darkness, hear our prayers, grant unto us your blessing and deliver onto them your divine retribution!"

Their bodies began rapidly aging, as all the candles and lanterns in the bar grew dim. Pitch-black fumes were slowly escaping from their mouths, and the other patrons began losing consciousness without even having the chance to realize what was happening.

The old innkeeper, and the other unranked staff members, didn't just pass-out... All of the flesh and clothing on their bodies began to erode, and when they were nothing but pure-white bones, their races changed from 'Human' to 'Rank-G Skeleton.'