Skill Forge: Broken Extra Character

Jett finally and slowly crawled out of the rubble that was meant to be his grave. Every part of his body hurt like crazy. He lay on the ground, thoroughly checking his injuries. "Argh, that really hurt. My arm's dislocated, and I've got a pretty deep wound in my abdomen."

The sounds of battle echoed in the distance, but luckily for him, no one was nearby. "A terrorist attack at a time like this? Who could they be? I don't remember reading anything about this in the book." He looked around and saw that everyone was holding their own. With their aid, the adventurers steadily subjugated the attackers one by one.

"First thing's first," he muttered, activating a skill.

[Regeneration A]

[Able to heal all physical injuries no matter how severe; cannot reattach severed limbs.]

"That's more like it." Jett watched as his wounds and dislocation slowly healed without any pain.

Feeling well enough to join the battle, he stood up. "My number one priority should be finding Freya."

[Tactical Mirage]

"Three on my right and one behind me. A four-man squad? No one's watching. I can go all out." He rushed towards them with the sword he had from the last quest, moving as though he had eyes everywhere.

He quickly stopped and blocked the first attacker from behind. "Don't get cocky just because I'm a kid."

"Keh keh keh, cocky you say? Well, you should never leave your back exposed!" the leader, who seemed to be in charge, yelled as they all closed in from different directions.

"Who said it's exposed?" A smirk appeared on Jett's face.

"What's so funny? Wait… Hold on…" The leader of the squad sensed something was amiss. "Wait, fall back!" He tried to warn his men as he stopped mid-attack and guarded himself.

"Too late," Jett stated with a deadly calm.

{Hell Fire}

Before they knew what was happening, they were engulfed in flames, their screams of pain the only thing left. The only person to survive was the squad leader, though barely; part of his right arm and face were rendered useless by the flames.

"Argh… I underestimated you, kid. But I'll kill you this time for sure." He still managed to hold his dagger with one arm.

Jett was amused that he missed one target. "Oh? Someone survived that? You must be skilled. Well then, why don't you try to kill me." He taunted him.

"I'm not that dumb. You just burned three men to a crisp without remorse. You don't seem to be an ordinary kid."

[Purple Mist C]

[Creates a miasma to reduce area visibility while slowly poisoning the target.]

The man hid well, unaffected by the mist, waiting patiently for an opportunity to strike. "You're my prey now."

"Pretty handy skill you've got there. It's actually worth taking," Jett yelled, pretending not to know his enemy's location. 'You're like a sitting duck as long as you're inside my mirage,' he thought proudly.

He finally saw an opening and went on the offensive. "Don't let your guard down, brat."

"How do you fall for the same trick twice?" Jett blocked his attack, his sword coated in aura.

"Wait, is that…?" the man asked, shocked by what he was seeing.

"Aura? Why, of course it is." Jett gave him a wicked smile. "It's time to end this." With that, he cut off the man's arms, rendering him useless in battle.

"Ahhhhhhh!" The man screamed in agony, lying on the ground bleeding. "I can't believe I lost to a snot-nosed kid. Go on, kill me."

"C'mon, what do you take me for? I still need some info from you," Jett admitted, musing aloud.

The squad leader broke into laughter. "Hahaha, you really are just a kid, thinking I'll tell you anything."

"We'll see," Jett smirked at him.

[Condition has been met]

[Forced Contract S]

[Usage 1/3 per day]

[Contract Terms]

-Target will answer all the user's questions regardless of how confidential they are]

"That's more like it." Jett squatted to get a better look at the man's face. "Who are you guys and what is your motive here?"

"We are the Order of the Crimson Hound. We aim to resurrect our master, the Crimson Lord, Zet. This is only a distraction; our main objective is the Priestess of Light," the man replied as though possessed.

'I think I've heard that somewhere before,' Jett pondered, trying to remember where but couldn't. "What do you need her for?" he asked a follow-up question.

"We need the blood of one who is loved by holiness to break the seal. But we also plan on ending her life once we succeed."

"Where is she now?" Jett asked, biting his lip as he realized Freya's vulnerability.

"I don't know. We were just ordered to cause chaos while she got abducted."

"What else can you tell me?" Jett pressed on.

"Once the preparations are made, Lagai will—" Before he could finish, an arrow pierced his neck, killing him instantly.

"Hmph, that's for betraying the Crimson Hounds, you useless fool. Couldn't even finish off a child?" The culprit, a shady-looking man wielding a bow and arrow, spoke with disdain.

Jett was in utter confusion. 'Lagai? I heard Lagai, right? But why? What's so special about Lagai?' Filled with rage for not being able to find out more because of the archer, he said, "You're going to pay for that." His tone took a dreadful turn.

"Really, kid? How?" the archer taunted from afar.

Jett immediately lunged towards him, but the archer dodged. Jett got some injuries and

wasn't sure how he got them. Brushing it off as dumb luck, he tried again, but the outcome was the same.

[Wind Steps B]

[Move with the wind while also masking you attacks in it with a 40% increase in agility]

"It's mine now," Jett yelled as he copied the skill, attacking again with his combined speed and power, surpassing that of the archer.

"How? How can you use that skill?" the archer yelled in shock.

"That's for me to know and you to never speak of again." Jett struck down the archer with all his might.

"Damn it, I forgot to keep him alive to get more information. I really lost my cool back there," he reflected, frustration evident in his voice.

*****

Ray, Evelina, Asher, and Seraphina were able to take down the remaining enemies, but Freya and her abductor were long gone. Ray took a deep breath to calm down, then remembered something.

"Evelina, the arrow you shot, was a tracking arrow, right?" he inquired, facing the direction they followed.

"Yeah, I can find them as long as they're within my range," she explained.

"Then in that case, Seraphina will track her by scent. They couldn't have gone far, and Asher will go with her. You guys chase them; we're right behind you. We just need to make sure Jett is okay. Do not engage; I have a feeling they don't plan on harming her." Ray pulled himself together just in time to form a solution.

"Sounds like a plan," Asher agreed before turning to Evelina. "Try not to slow him down and please be careful."

"What do you take me for? I'm always careful," Evelina pouted out of annoyance at Asher's advice.

"Yeah, sure, just don't jinx it," Seraphina added. "Come on, Asher, let's go first," she said, running in the abductor's direction, followed closely by Asher.

Ray and Evelina went on to search for Jett. "Jett! Where are you? Jett!!" they yelled, but got no response. They searched everywhere but couldn't find him. "Where is he?

I can't find him anywhere."

"Are you even sure he went this way?" Evelina asked as they searched aimlessly around the rubble.

Ray pondered on what to do next. "Hold on, I'm still thinking."

"Don't tell me he really didn't make it," Evelina shivered, fearing the worst.

"Who didn't make it?" Jett appeared behind her.

Evelina screamed as she ran to take cover behind Ray. "Ahhhh Ray, Ray, I just saw a ghost."

"Who, me?" Jett stood in front of them, confused and unscathed.

"Jett? Is that you?" Ray asked, also not convinced.

Jett looked around. "Umm, I think so. Is there supposed to be two of me?" He wondered why they were both spooked.

"Freya said you were in trouble, that you took the full blast of the explosion earlier and still got buried in the rubble." Ray looked at Jett from top to bottom, purely surprised. "How are you not hurt!?"

"Oh, right," Jett replied, realizing he originally had a deep wound around his stomach area.

Ray was all kinds of confused at this point, and Jett's nonchalant attitude only made it worse. "Oh right? Don't act like it's not a big deal. How did you even survive the blast?"

"We'll talk about that later. What's going on?" Jett looked away, trying to avoid the question.

"I'm not sure, but I think this attack was orchestrated just to get Freya," Ray voiced his thoughts on the matter.

"Freya? Where is she anyways?" Jett acted as though he was oblivious to the situation.

"Since you're alright, you can help us rescue her, no matter how small your battle prowess might be," Ray patted Jett on the shoulder as a form of assurance before calling on Evelina. "Evelina, you're up."

"Aye aye, captain," was her childish response with a salute before running ahead of them, followed by Ray.

'It really does hurt that he thinks I'm just that weak,' Jett thought to himself, half weeping, before joining them.

*****

"We lost a lot of good men just for this one girl? I ought to crack her skull right now." A heavily built man clad in the same dark cloak as the others ranted as he threw a wooden chair against the wall, shattering it instantly.

"Calm yourself; we need her alive for our plans to be achieved," a voice spoke from within the shadows.

"At least she's being compliant and not causing us any trouble," another added.

Freya sat helpless in their midst, chained to an iron pillar, not uttering a word, with only despair in her expression as her blood was slowly being sucked out by magic.

"But will this be enough? She is the Priestess of Light, after all, and also one of the Divine Lords," another asked, pointing at the chain they used to restrain her.

"It's more than enough," the voice from the shadows replied with horrifying laughter. "The revival of the master is upon us."

*

*

*

Why didn't she try to fight back or escape? ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌

Well I hope you all like this chapter