He Who Fights with Monsters (He Who Fights with Monsters, #1)

by Shirtaloon

I WENT TO A MAGICAL ALTERNATE UNIVERSE AND ALL I GOT WAS VAST COSMIC POWER.

“Except for that old order of assassins,”

“Is it alright just to have an acolyte?” Jason asked. “What if I’m really good at hiding how evil I am?” “It is unusual,” Gabrielle said, “but my lady directed me specifically to be here today.”

“What? Shut up. Russell, record this idiot’s essences so we can get him out of here.”

Hard work is easier to get through if you find a way to enjoy it.”

“I’m not sure how my translation ability will handle the term ‘kung-fu movies,’ but we have these stories in my world. About learning to fight. You always start with what seems weird and pointless, but ends up being the most important of fundamentals. There’s usually a life lesson in there somewhere as well.”

Wax on, wax off.

“It’s easy to moralise when you aren’t even an adventurer yet,” Farrah told him, pointing her finger. “You don’t understand the price of what we do. I want to see how you feel a year from now. How many monsters will you have killed with those powers of yours? How many people? Your abilities are all about slow, horrible death.”

“When you’re just a face in the crowd, then you can hold an ideal without being required to live up to it. But here, my decisions can be life and death. My principles are being put to the test, and I’m forced to confront what it means when they bend, or even break. Like anyone, I liked to think of myself as someone who would stand tall under the pressure. Now I’m really under it, standing up is harder than I thought. I have my own values, from my own world. They’re the only thing I was able to bring with me. And sometimes, most times, it feels like this world wants to eradicate them. But if I let it, then what do I become?”

bridge across which someone can be drawn.”

“In my family’s academy,”

Drink

there were two kinds of outworlders?” “I do,” Gabriel said. “The ones that die immediately, and the ones that survive and thrive.” “Jason is definitely the die immediately type,” Rufus said, “but he survives and thrives anyway.” “That is odd,” Gabriel said. “Sounds like trouble.”

“The book. From under the lake.”

“This is the place. We found the place.”

Bound in thick leather, embossed into the front of the book were the images of two scythes crossed over a skull.

Item: [Way of the Reaper: Five Forms I] (iron rank, legendary)

“I know kung fueeeaaauuugh…”

Ok, Po. Now go be a Dragon Warrior. Don't forget the Secret Ingredient soup.

“I don’t think being numb to it all makes you strong,” Jason said. “Strong is accepting the choices you make and owning up to the consequences.”

crafted with gratitude, in hope it would be of the greatest use in the moment of greatest need. It was forged with passion and expertise to be a reliable companion,

“I’m an affliction specialist,”

In training. not quite a specialist yet.

Just do what you normally do to people.” “What do I normally do to people?” “Confuse them until they want to punch you in the face.”

“Actually, Mr Asano, I’ve been looking for you for some time.” “Well, it isn’t my fault,” Jason said. “I had no idea she was your wife, so you can’t blame me.” “What?” Clive asked. “I’m not married.”

“Why does Rufus always take the longest to get ready?” Gary asked. “He doesn’t even have hair. I’m ready, I’m pretty much all hair.”

“Did you wax your head?” Gary asked Rufus. “No,” Rufus said. “I did not wax my head.”

Clive, I’m an outworlder.

And now Clive's hooked...

raconteur,

“And I find people in your position,” Jason countered, “tend to confuse respect with obedience. Would you rather I come in here acting the way I think you want me to act?” He gestured to himself. “What you see is what you get. Do you think dishonesty is more respectful than the truth?”

“I didn’t say worship,” Clive said. “I said venerate. There’s a difference.”

At the bottom, instead of breaching some underground burrow, the hole ended with a floor of large, neatly fitted bricks of green stone. “Is that a weird thing to find at the bottom of a hole we randomly dug?” Jason asked. “Everything around here seems kind of weird to me, so I can’t judge all that well. This seems like it might be extra weird, though.” “This is definitely extra weird,” Humphrey said. “Any ideas, Clive?” “None,” Clive said. “Anything that deep around here should be filled with water. I get the feeling it isn’t, though.” “We have to check it out, right?” Humphrey asked. “You mean the secret underground building we found?” Jason asked. “Of course we have to check it out.”

“Maybe it wasn’t built under a swamp,” Jason said. “If the same people who built this also built the big aqueduct, then they might have made this place when there was no delta. Before the aqueduct, the river would have spilled into Sky River Gorge, right?”

“It had to be the site of some massive undertaking,” Clive said. “No one builds all this for temporary occupation.”

“That mouth of yours is going to get the cream kicked out of you someday,” Clive said. “Been there, done that,” Jason said. “You can live your life avoiding consequences or accepting them. I tried the first way in my old world, and I’m trying the other here.” “And how’s that working out?” “It feels good,” Jason said. “Wouldn’t recommend it without healing magic, though.

Jason looked at Clive, who had burned himself out to contribute. He looked at Humphrey, who had given up escape to be the shield between the monster and his companions. “I don’t know what kind of person deserves friends like this,” Jason muttered to himself, “but I’m pretty sure it’s not me.” A blue-grey light lit up from within Jason, just as it had from Humphrey. Jason looked at the glow shining from underneath his skin.

“Clear eyes, full hearts,” Jason said.

“You said you don’t know where your martial art comes from, right?” Clive asked Jason. “That’s right,” Jason said. “My friends know, but they’re keeping it secret for now. Something to do with a contract they took before I met them.”

“Jason,” Rufus said. “You’ve come a long way from the confused, half-naked man we met in a basement in a cannibal’s cage.” “You say that like we weren’t in cages too,” Gary interjected.

Then those who knew the dead adventurer shared stories as the mood shifted from mourning to a celebration of life.

kerfuffle

“Be… because you’ve killed me?”

Did she say or do something that would make Jason suspect she isn't a decent person and would tell on him to one of the bad guys? If so, that should have been included in this story. Otherwise I don't understand why he's going to such lengths to threaten her.

“For the Rumpy-Pumpy Good Time Ointment,” Jory said. “I’m definitely renaming it Togetherness Jelly.”

He was disappointed he wouldn’t get to see the inside of the astral space, though. “One of these days,” he consoled himself.

“She's trouble,” Clive said, his exasperation coming through loud and clear. “Using an old Magic Society storehouse for our makeshift cell may not have been the best idea. The resourceful little minx almost broke out of the binding circle using random magic supplies. That shouldn't even be possible. It's all random, leftover trash.” “You said she’s resourceful,” Jason said. “I caught her decoding a barrier-ritual with half of a magic wand and a broken device for assessing the freshness of fish!”

The MacGyver of magic

an unwillingness to waste a second life on caution and worry.

“She died as well as any of us could ask. Comrades behind her, enemies in front of her and friends beside her.”

“I would hold off unless you have a goal beyond yelling at her,” Jason said. “Don’t muddy the waters unless muddy water is useful to you.”

Leave the muddying waters to Jason anyway.

“I think it’s past time I added an astral magic specialist to my team.”

He'll be wanting Jason's friend, Clive then.