in TRAUM_a — the group met in a training zone Nova had scouted: a
natural arena formed by a ground collapse, surrounded by skin-trees
that created an organic and grotesque amphitheater.
Nova clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention.
— Right. We have twenty-four hours before the class quests
officially unlock. That gives us time to see how we function
together. Because frankly, yesterday was a mess.
She looked at Vincent. No judgment. Just a statement.
— We have a healer who charges without thinking. A support who has
to manage everything alone. Two DPS who have never worked together.
And... — she looked at Emet — ...a scavenger whose abilities we
know nothing about.
Emet lazily raised his hand.
— I can tank.
Silence.
Vincent blinked behind his mask.
— You can WHAT?
— Tank. — Emet stood up with feline suppleness. — It's my
role. Tank. I generate aggro, I soak, I deflect.
It's literally what I do.
Nova nodded slowly.
— Show us.
Emet stepped into the center of the arena. VoodUwU, still smiling,
raised her staff.
— VoodUwU is going to summon a big baddie for Emet-kun ~ ?
She whispered an incantation, and a dozen leeches erupted from her
staff, burrowing into the spongy ground. The earth convulsed, heaved,
and a reanimated Scolopter emerged — eyes empty, glowing with a red
light, controlled.
[Reanimated Luminescent Scolopter — Lvl. 12]
[HP: 2800 / 2800]
[Under control of VoodUwU_Kawa?]
The creature turned toward Emet, mandibles clicking.
Emet smiled. Then he raised both hands above his head. And he
clapped.
The sound echoed like a thunderclap. Not loud. Authoritative. As
if the air itself bent to this command.
—
[Technique activated: Scavenger's Call]
[Effect: Taunt — All
targets within a 15m radius]
[Duration: 8 seconds] [Aggro generated:
+500%]
The Scolopter shrieked, pivoted toward Emet, and charged.
Emet didn't move. He stood there, barefoot, smiling, arms at his
sides. The Scolopter struck — a massive mandible snap aimed at the
torso.
Emet raised his left arm.
Deflection. Not a block or a parry. A deflection. His forearm
slid against the mandible, redirecting the force of the blow to the
side. The mandible smashed into empty air, carving a furrow in the
ground.
[Technique activated: Necrotic Flux]
[Effect: Perfect Deflection —
No damage received]
[Counter-effect: Enemy off-balance — 2 sec]
The Scolopter stumbled. Emet took a step forward, still smiling,
and raised his right arm. Then he slapped the Scolopter. Open-handed, nonchalant, almost insulting.
The sound cracked like a whip, and the Scolopter's head snapped
violently to the side.
[Technique activated: Necrotic Humiliation]
[Damage: 180] [Effect:
Stun — 3 seconds]
[Aggro generated: +800%]
[Debuff applied: Blind
Rage — Accuracy -40%]
The Scolopter froze, trembling, then roared — a cry of pure
animal rage. Emet crossed his arms, his smile widening.
— Come on. Put some heart into it, for fuck’s sake.
[Technique activated: Verbal Provocation]
[Aggro generated: +300%]
[Debuff applied: Fury — Damage +20%, Defense -30%]
The Scolopter charged again, striking with blind frenzy. Emet
deflected. Dodged. Blocked with his forearm. Slipped to the side.
Never a wasted movement. Never a superfluous effort. Every strike
from the Scolopter missed, or was redirected, or hit thin air.
And between every dodge, Emet spoke.
— You hit like you’re afraid it might actually work. —
Slap. — You look angry. Shame there’s nothing behind it.
— Deflection. — Is this supposed to be dangerous?
Every insult generated additional aggro. Every slap applied a
stun. The Scolopter literally could do nothing else but strike Emet —
again and again — without ever truly touching him.
Vincent watched, mouth agape behind his mask. Fuck. He... he's
playing with it. He's controlling it completely.
Nova whispered, analyzing every movement.
— Taunt by clapping. Stun by slapping. Debuff by insulting.
Constant passive aggro generation. And zero damage taken because he
deflects everything. It's... it's pure tanking. Pure technique.
Melo smiled, admiring.
— He turns the enemy into a directed punching bag. It's
brilliant.
VoodUwU applauded, her kawaii smile intact.
— Emet-kun is too strong ~ ?
Emet, in the center of the arena, delivered one last monumental
slap to the Scolopter.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
[Reanimated Luminescent Scolopter: 2800 → 2420 HP]
[Stun: 5
seconds]
Then he turned back to the group, not even out of breath.
— There. Questions?
Vincent clenched his fists. He knocked me down in three hits
yesterday. And now he's showing me he can tank better than I can.
That he can control an enemy without even hurting it. Fuck.
[Psyché: 53% → 51%]
Melo placed a soothing hand on Vincent's shoulder.
— Hey. Breathe. This is a good thing. It means you can focus on
pure DPS. Let Emet handle the aggro.
Vincent inhaled, long and slow.
Nova clapped her hands.
— Right. Now that we know Emet can tank, we are reorganizing.
Emet in the front, he handles the aggro. Vincent and I as DPS, we hit
what Emet controls. VoodUwU as support with her DoTs and rezzes. Melo
as global support.
She looked at Vincent.
— You and I are going to work together. Duo DPS. If we
synchronize well, we can tear through anything.
Vincent nodded slowly.
— OK. How do we do it?
— We practice. Now.
The next two hours were brutal. Nova let nothing slide. Every
poorly synchronized movement, every hesitation, every sub-optimal
attack angle — she corrected everything, her voice sharp and
precise.
— No. You’re hitting too early. Wait for me to position my
shadow, then you charge. — Move back. You’re blocking my line of
fire. — Use [Targeted Fracture] on the joints, not on the shell.
I’ll take care of the shell with Light.
At first, it was chaos. Vincent would charge when Nova was
retreating. Nova would fire when Vincent was blocking the target.
Their timings were completely out of sync. But bit by bit, something
emerged. A rhythm.
Nova used [Phantom Stride] to teleport behind the enemy. Vincent
charged head-on with [Savage Rush]. Nova struck the enemy's shadowed
areas with her rapier in Light mode — guaranteed critical hits.
Vincent lacerated the illuminated areas with his claws — Nova
switched to Shadow mode and struck those same areas for doubled
criticals. They no longer spoke. They reacted.
Nova raised her fire blunderbuss. Vincent understood instantly:
Get back, area explosion. He leaped backward. Nova fired.
[Runic Blunderbuss — FIRE]
[BOOM] [Area Damage: 340]
[Effect:
Burn — 15/sec for 10 sec]
The enemy staggered, on fire. Vincent charged immediately, claws
extended, aiming for the joints exposed by the flames.
[Targeted Fracture: Critical]
[-480 HP]
Nova switched to Shadow mode, her rapier becoming black as coal,
and struck the areas illuminated by the flames.
[Shadow Rapier — Strike on illuminated zone]
[Elemental
Critical]
[-520 HP]
The enemy collapsed. Melo applauded from the edge of the arena.
— There! That’s it! You’re in sync!
Nova wiped her blade, a micro-smile at the corner of her lips.
— Not bad, Vincent. You learn fast.
Vincent felt something warm in his chest. Recognition. She
recognizes me.
[Psyche: 51% → 53%]
Emet, still sitting on his rock, called out:
— Nice combo. But you’re breathing like an asthmatic, Pup.
You’re tense. Your shoulders are locked.
Vincent turned toward him, irritated.
— So what?
— So you’re wasting energy. And Psyche.
Emet
stood up and approached.
— Mental tension costs Psyche. If you
want to save up, you have to learn to breathe properly.
Vincent stared at him, suspicious.
— Since when do you care about my Psyche?
— Since you’re in
my group and if you crack, we all die.
Emet sat cross-legged in
front of him.
— Sit down. I’ll show you.
Vincent hesitated. I don't want to learn from him. I don't want to
owe him anything. But Melo nodded gently, encouragingly. Vincent sat
down. Emet placed a hand on his own stomach.
— Breathe from here. Not from the chest. The stomach. Inhale
slowly — four counts. Hold — four counts. Exhale — six counts.
Hold — two counts. Repeat.
Vincent tried. Inhale. One... two... three... four. Hold. One...
two... three... four. Exhale. One... two... three... four... five...
six. Hold. One... two. Something loosened in his chest.
[Technique discovered: Controlled Breathing]
[Effect: -25% Psyché
consumption in combat]
[Effect: +10% Psyché Regeneration out of
combat]
[Psyché: 53% → 54%]
Vincent blinked. It... it works. Emet smiled — not his Chad
smile, but something more sincere.
— There. Keep doing that during fights. It’ll help you.
Vincent nodded slowly. I still hate him. But... damn, he knows
what he’s doing.
[Relationship with Emet: Hostile → Suspicious]
[Respect: +15]
Melo took advantage of the break to distribute dishes to everyone
— except Emet, obviously.
— Right, he said, taking out his pots. Everyone eats. No
exceptions.
VoodUwU clapped her hands.
— Yaaay ~ Melo-kun's cooking ?
Nova simply nodded, accepting her bowl. Vincent ate without
arguing. The dish was excellent, as always.
[Item Consumed: Fortifying Stew]
[+20% Psyché (5 hours)]
[+15 HP
Stock]
[Psyché: 54% → 58%]
Then Melo turned to Vincent, his expression serious.
— Vincent. We need to talk.
Vincent looked up.
— About what?
—
About your Psyché. You can’t depend on me forever. If I die, if
I’m separated from you, if we get split during a dungeon... you’ll
have no one to stabilize you.
Vincent felt something freeze in his stomach.
— What are you suggesting?
— That you learn the basics of
cooking. Just the basics. Simple dishes that maintain and raise
Psyché. That way, you can manage yourself in an emergency.
Vincent wanted to protest. I’m a DPS. I eat hearts. I’m not a
goddamn cook. But he met Melo's gaze — worried, determined,
protective.
— ...OK. Let's cook.
Melo spent the next hour teaching him three basic recipes:
- Soothing Broth: Creeper Meat + Spiral Herbs + Filtered
Water. Effect: +15% Psyché, 3 hours.
- Simple Stew: Meat + Blue Mushrooms + Salt. Effect:
+10% Psyché + +10 HP Stock, 2 hours.
- Mental Infusion: Herbs + Sleep Spores + Hot Water.
Effect: +10% Psyché degradation resistance, 4 hours.
Vincent followed the instructions meticulously, as if he were
learning a combat technique.
[Skill acquired: Cooking (Beginner)]
[Recipes unlocked: 3]
Melo tasted Vincent's first broth and nodded.
— It’s good. Not perfect, but functional. It’ll save your
life if you’re alone.
Vincent felt something warm in his chest. He’s preparing me to
survive without him. Because he knows it could happen.
[Psyché: 58% → 59%]
Meanwhile, VoodUwU was practicing on her own. She had summoned
four reanimated Scolopters and was practicing a new technique:
Hematic Possession. Her leeches no longer just drained. They
controlled. She raised her staff, whispered an incantation, and a
massive leech — twice the size of the others — shot out, sinking
into the neck of a Scolopter.
The Scolopter convulsed. Then its movements changed. It no longer
moved autonomously. It moved with VoodUwU. When she raised her hand,
it raised a leg. When she pointed, it charged.
[Technique observed: Hematic Possession — Advanced Branch]
[Effect: Direct control of a target — Duration: As long as the
leech remains active]
[Cost: 200 Mana (sacrificed as HP via Blood
Conversion)]
Nova whistled, impressed.
— She can control enemies directly. It’s... it’s pure crowd
control.
Vincent watched, fascinated in spite of himself.