Milo had a lot to think about, even in the midst of battle. He had so kindly let Eva borrow the Prototype while he was using his prosthetic. It had grown stronger thanks to the soul shards he had consumed. He was now sitting on a whopping forty. A Carapace Scavenger swung its pincer at Milo, who smacked it back with his prosthetic just enough to keep it from grabbing him.
The Carapace Scavenger then thrashed and tossed itself, attempting to throw something off its back. It was too late, Eva had already gotten to its weak point. It seized and grew still, crumbling down to the ground.
Milo looked around, making sure no other Nightmare Creatures were coming to third party, and luckily, none did. With the coast clear, Milo turned back to the dead scavenger. Since the Prototype was so inefficient for its incompletion, Milo had to use his prosthetic.
Approaching the body, he willed his prosthetic into a pointed pick, he hit the shell until it cracked, then the rest was easy pickings.
He took the soul shard and tossed it to Eva, who caught it and put it in one of the three satchels she had on hand. Milo himself only had one sizeable one for anything Eva couldn't care. Along with a special item he hung on to.
With the fight settled, the two continued on. Eva took dried meat out of her satchel and handed one to Milo. Milo took it
"If you think about it, we're actually doing better than the two protagonists right now." Milo commented.
"Well, that'll change very soon, you see Sunny is about to grab a very powerful item anytime in the next coming days."
"Right, Weaver's blood. Well it isn't surprising he's one of the two epigones, who's the other?"
"The girl who was at the bottom of the survivability list because she was blind."
"She's the student of same demon? What is it with this demon and choosing the most innocent looking epigones?"
"Well, to be fair, Weaver was also the master of lies. So deceit is kind of their thing."
"I see..."
The two had reached their destination, a coral mountain that allowed them to get a good vantage point. According to Eva, the two had to look for a giant barrow of ash surrounding an island with a giant tree.
As the two climbed, Milo looked down. He had never considered it, but he was rather high up. One slip up, one mistake, and he more than likely died.
'Gosh, I just wonder how Eva feels.'
She wasn't used to this world. She hadn't trained her entire life for this, she had only trained for four weeks. She didn't grow up used to swinging a sword or taking intense obstacle courses in school as the norm, how to boil water.
She had grown up learning things like art or science, which while still in school, were optional afterschool courses in favor of things like combat class or wilderness survival.
Which led Milo to question just where did her motivation to change the story come from? Was it out of love for the characters? She had been given an objective but what that objective is she hasn't told him. It doesn't seem to be to prevent this world from going to shit or to alter the course of the story, so what is it?
Milo dismissed his rampaging thoughts with a shake of his head, he can learn all that later. He reached the top of the mountain and looked outward. The expanse of the labyrinth sprawled outward for nearly three-fourth's of the what Milo could see.
Then came a sudden dip of what seemed to be ash, in the far distance, the make up of an island and tree could be seen. Milo turned to Eva.
"That ashy place you were talking about is out there."
Eva hadn't acknowledged him, so Milo turned to see what she was looking at. To their left, barely noticeable, was a statue of some sort, Milo couldn't make out the details, but it seemed to be holding a weapon and missing its head.
Milo tapped Eva on the shoulder, who suddenly snapped out of her train of thought. Her face was one of both surprise and concern
"What does that mean?" Milo asked
Eva contemplated something. "It means we're ahead of schedule"
"Which is a bad thing?"
"Good and bad. Good because we have time to assimilate into the place we're going to. Bad because we'll have to deal with how shitty it'll be without those two there. Actually... it'll still be shitty with them there, but less shitty."
"I see, do you mind explaining why."
"Well, the landlord there is absolutely horrible, and living in the Hoovervilles down below isn't exactly any better."
Milo looked at her puzzled.
"What the hell is a Hooverville?"
"What do you mean what's a Hooverville? Oh that's right, North America is gone here... do you know what the Great Depression is?"
"Vaguely, I heard it mentioned in some shady article blog about how the emergence of a monopoly Memory market might cause another Great Depression, whatever that means."
"Basically, it was a time when the world went into a great depression, lots of lost jobs and starving people. In the United States, the president at the time was Herbert Hoover, who did very little to combat the depression. It was so bad that people began to make homes out of cardboard, and since Hoover was the president at the time, they got called Hoovervilles."
"So basically its either live in cardboard houses or deal with a terrible landlord?"
"Those are both under exaggerations, but yeah. The landlord is also a tyrant, and the cardboard houses have the occasional Nightmare Creature attack."
"Wow, what rousing options."
"I know right, and this is before the war happens."
"I'm sorry, before the what happens?"
"I'll tell you when its relevant. For now lets get a move on."
Milo watched Eva descend with a minor headache reaching his brain.
'Gosh.. what the hell have I gotten myself into.'
Milo joined the descent as well. Maybe all the big talk about changing the course of the story should be dropped. None of this sounded worth it.
***
Milo was not exactly what some would call cocky, no matter his advantages against his opponent, whether it be experience or physicality, he always went in thinking he would lose. It was never a bad thing to overestimate an opponent, the worst thing you could do is go in way overprepared.
That had changed, he had gotten comfortable. He wasn't as terrified about going against the Carapace Scavengers. So it was time to face the next level, right?
Perhaps that was why his left arm was split in half down the middle, reaching all the way to his elbow. It was all because he did the one thing he shouldn't have, gotten comfortable. The hulking monster that was the Carapace Centurion, as Eva had told him, retracted its scythe.
Part of Milo's flesh flew to the ground, the two halves of his arm flopping as he staggered back. This really was a bad idea, he talked the talked, and he couldn't walk the walk.
'Why is it always my damn arm! Couldn't you just take a finger or something asshole!'
Milo stared at the ghastly sight of his arm. It hurt, it was almost as bad as when he felt his arm get torn apart in the Nightmare Creature's jaws.
'Fuck! Why now!'
Why was his body tensing up, it was just fine against the Sea Serpent, was this some sort of PTSD? Was he nervous at the recreation of losing his arm?
'Move! You useless body!'
The Carapace Centurion's bone scythe sliced through the air, nearly cutting Milo in two before he finally managed to move again. Milo dropped to his knees, his prosthetic pushing him back up with haste.
'Eva, should be done by now, right?'
Milo summoned the Prototype into his arm. The prosthetic changed, a thruster appeared on the back. Milo couldn't move? Well too damn bad, he would just have to make it move.
He poised the Prototype to pierce, and his thruster did the moving for him, dragging his body against the muddy ground as he flew forward. The monster sliced down the middle, attempting to split his body in half. Milo used the thruster to dodge.
Then came the first hit, then the next, then the other. He struck relentlessly, the speed and power of the thruster allowed the Prototype to slice through the shell, into the centurion.
He didn't stop. He dodged narrowly, sliced the damn crab open as many times as he could count. Azure blood wouldn't stop flowing, his armor covered it in. His blade was covered in it as well, until it dove deep into the skull of the Carapace Centurion.
[You have slain an Awakened Monster, Carapace Centurion]
[You have received a Memory: Azure Bastard Sword]
Milo nearly collapsed to the ground, but he had to go check on Eva. Stumbling over to the other side of the mound they would call home when night came, he came across quite a brutal sight.
The Carapace Centurion had been battered and bent in. The shell caving to Eva's punches, just barely however. Milo moved into assist her.
"Eva!"
He threw the Prototype into the air, and Eva caught it. Milo allowed his prosthetic to turn into a fashionable pick. He stuck at the crab's legs while Eva continued its assault at its head and torso. The two of them were enough to bring it down, the Prototype making a clean cut down the middle of the centurion's head.
Only then did Milo allow himself to collapse to the ground, his chest rising and falling with each breath.
"You said you can heal me from nearly anything right?"
Eva looked over and inspected Milo's wound. Her expression was hidden under a bone mask.
"Gosh that looks painful." Eva murmured while walking over.
She supported him over her shoulder.
"Lets get you to a safe spot, I'll grab the leftover shards."
"You better. I didn't kill that bastard for just sport. I also got a weapon for you."
[You have lost a Memory: Azure Bastard Sword]
"Wow, it means so much to me. I can't help but fall for you." Eva said sarcastically.
Before Milo could rebuttal, Eva cut him off. "I'll put it to good use, don't worry."
Milo merely grunted in acknowledgement. His arm was healing by the second as Milo was within Eva's grasp. It was slow, only some of the bleeding had slowed. It was a miracle Milo hadn't died actually.
'I really thought of resorting to that... I'm never talking big again.'