AN: Still accepting OC's and remember, they may end up dying. And always, Read and Review! We like that! Also note that we have enough teenagers, please submit 18+ now!
I apologize for the wait, life hit us hard. We had to move, I lost a computer etc however updates will be often now.
Some character ages will be upped to 18+ to fit our story correctly, if you don't want your characters age changed please inform us now.
A large black wolf yelped and fell back on its hind quarters. Kazuma smiled as he pulled his hand back, having punched the wolf in its nose. "Fucking sneeze on me.." He shook his hand out at his side as if to get the snot from the wolf off. The wolf snarled at Kazuma as he brought his hand up to check it out, making sure it was clean. He smirked and snickered back at the wolf as he charged after it. The wolf came at him and they clashed, teeth against fist, as Kazuma punched the wolf again. It didnt take long for the wolf to regain its composure and went for Kazuma in a black, snarling frenzy. Kazuma backed up to avoid its claw, pivoting slightly to his left. The wolf took noticed and snapped its jaw, making contact with Kazumas right thigh. Kazuma clenched his teeth and knocked the wolf from his flesh with a swift back hand, then turned to kick the wolf hard in the ribs with his left foot. The wolf whimpered and fell to its side. Not wasting any time, Kazuma closed the distance between himself and the wolf for the killing blow. Kazuma fell to his knees as he reached for the wolf's head and twisted it fiercely. A sharp pop would end the wolf's life. Kazuma stood up as he looked down at the shards, the remainder of the dead wolf.
A triumphant grin spread across his face as he advanced to the fourth level. He shuffled his feet as he walked the previously made path to the next town. He raised his arms to stretch, stopping in the middle of the path momentarily. Bursting from the wooded area to his left, a male in red was being chased by a lizard like man. Kazuma stood and watched a moment as the man had turned to face his opponent and used two hands to slash at the lizard with his sword. The man missed by a long shot and turned to run again, then spotted Kazuma. The man appeared to just run right past him, the lizard hot on his trail, till he pivoted straight at Kazuma. Watching as a random player and a lizard man ran straight for him, Kazuma braced himself for impact.
"Hit it and switch!" The man ran passed Kazuma, then around to the treeline.
Kazuma reared up and punched the lizard man in his gut, then ducked out. "Switch!"
Coming up behind the lizard, the stranger pulled his sword back and stabbed it into the Lizards hard scaly skin. The sword didn't go in far enough to cause real damage as it was too blunt. Still a starter weapon. Kazuma came back to the front, preparing for a high kick, his boot connected with the lizard mans jaw, forcing it to stumble back a great deal. The man took his sword from the lizards back and moved to stand at the side of Kazuma. The man looked at Kazuma and gave him a bright, toothy smile.
"Great kick. Names, Mithos." The smiling man looked back to the lizard man again. "Got a plan, or are we still winging it?"
Kazuma looked to Mithos. "Thanks. Kazuma. Charge him, and I will get his flank."
Kazuma stepped to the side as Mithos charged directly at the lizard man. The lizard prepared itself and charged back. Kazuma followed the line of the trees and as Mithos sword connected with the lizards, he flanked him on the left. Kazuma used his right arm to loop around the lizards arm and shoved him hard into the ground, pinning him down. Mithos used both hands and raised his sword to stab it down hard into the lizard mans spine. Both men smirked as the lizard turned into shards and disappeared.
Kazuma sighed as he stood up and dusted his hands off on his pants. He glanced at the man named Mithos, shooting him a quick glare. "Not one to mind EXP or money, but the next time you drag a mob stronger than us towards me, I'll beat you to a bloody pulp."
Mithos looked at Kazuma with a sly smile. "Sorry. Kazuma, was it?" he asked at first but didn't wait for an answer. "I got in over my head, I didn't expect it to follow me all the way back to the road."
Kazuma smirked as he turned his back to Mithos and started walking along the path once again. He shoved both hands into his pockets just before he looked over his shoulder. "Mithos, where are you headed?" He asked curiously. He had spent the better part of a day by himself already. He didn't feel like hunting alone anymore, the mobs were much stronger than in beta. He figured it was because of the increased amount of players than in beta. With a million copies sold at launch there was going to be some changes within the games structure to support that amount of players.
Mithos had begun to walk the opposite way until Kazuma spoke up. Mithos came to a stop before he turned around and began to walk towards Kazuma. "Well, I was headed back to town. Though, I suppose, I could use a partner to hunt with for a little while. We did take on that lizard man pretty easy." A grin spread across his lips.
Kazuma brought his right hand up before he extended two fingers doing the motions to open up his menu. He clicked on the buttons required to invite Mithos to his party "If you don't mind, I have to run to the next town to pick up a few armor pieces from the shops. Then, we can head to the Lizard men if you can find them again."
Mithos gave Kazuma a nod as he closed the small distance between them to walk along side him. They didnt seem to have much to say to one another, so both kept quiet. It was only a couple days after they had all found out about this new life they were forced to adapt to, and some people even committed suicide to keep away from the danger.
Two Day Time Skip
Kazuma lunged toward the lizard man, ducking low, then came up to grab the lizard's arm. Kazuma twisted the lizard mans arm then brought his right hand up to wrap around the back of the lizards neck and pull the lizard down towards his knee, shoving his knee into the lizards gut. He shoved the lizard down at the ground towards Mithos, "SWITCH!"
Mithos was ready and waiting, both hands clutching the hilt of his blackened, two handed lizard came stumbling toward him, using its hands to keep from hitting the ground. Mithos lifted his sword in an arch, triggering an ability; the sword began to glow blue. With one quick fluid motion he brought his sword down slicing clean through the lizardman. "These guys are starting to get too easy.. Probably time to move on"
Mithos looked to Kazuma, a small half smile played on his lips. Kazuma nodded to Mithos as he adjusted his new set of arm guard he picked up in town. Kazuma had picked up a set of steel arm guards to assist in his unarmed style of fighting, with them he was able to block sharp objects without taking any damage. He had also bought a couple of throwing knife,s he had yet to test out. Mithos, on the other hand, had bought an ungodly large, blackened two handed sword, which he was now leaning on. Kazuma shook his head. He was never going to understand the fascination that people held for those weapons. He preferred to be agile over weighted down, even so his strikes still carried weight in them. Albeit not as hard as a two handed sword would hit but with more time to develop his unarmed fighting style, he would be throwing down with the best of fighters.
Kazuma stood back up and stretched his arms out as far as he could above him. "How about we get out of here?"
Mithos' smile broadened as he straightened himself. He spun the sword on its tip against the ground then picked it up to mockingly dust it off. "Lets go!"
Kazuma and Mithos made their way from the lizard men in the forest to walk on the long path toward the second city where they had come from. They always seemed to walk in silence after a fight, neither one wanting to commend one another, but both knew they made a great team. Kazuma walked with his hands shoved in his pockets and Mithos with his hands resting on the back of his head. As the men neared the town a group of 5 people they had never met moved to block their path. Both men stopped as the group slowly closed the distance between them. The group consisted of two women with longswords, a man with an axe, and two men with a sword and shield as their weapon choice. They all seemed to wield their weapons at the ready and a smug look on their faces.
Kazuma and Mithos looked at each other then studied the group in front of them. "Red names" They both said this to each other, but to themselves as well. They looked at one another and gave a nod, Mithos' mouth twisted into a malicious grin. A reason to test another's strengths.
"So, you're going to pay a toll before you enter our town." The man in front smirked and raised his axe to rest on his shoulder. The four behind him smirking and keeping their weapons at the ready.
Kazuma and Mithos looked at one another, a resounding "no" coming from them both.
The man with the axe pulled it out to the ready and headed straight toward them. Kazuma automatically charged for him. The man brought his axe down and Kazuma lifted his left arm to block. The axe came down on his arm guard, causing a metallic screeching sound, and when the axe was deflected, Kazuma brought his fist up to connect hard with the mans jaw.
"Switch!" Kazuma said the word before he even took his hand from the mans face.
Mithos raced in after him, and as the man stumbled back, plunged his sword into the mans stomach. Kazuma had pivoted out and was already racing towards another. One of the men with the swords was quickly upon him, a female flanking him at his left. After Mithos took out the main man, he was quickly met by the other female, with the second male, flanking his right. The group had backed the men up to be pinned next to one another. Kazuma and Mithos looked at each other over their shoulders as the group circled them. The men watched the group carefully, gauging their actions, and anticipating their attacks.
The group charged them all at once, and as the swords came up, Kazuma and Mithos ducked and pivoted out of the way, forcing the group to stumble slightly with acceled strength and force pushed into their attack. The men smirked and headed in for their own attack. Both men charged together at a single opponent. Giving each other a smirk, Mithos lifted his sword high with both hands as Kazuma lowered his body to go in at the gut. Both men pivoted at the last second, leaving their original target in bewilderment. Mithos sliced high at the one of the women, resulting in a loud scream as she burst into pieces. Kazuma dodged around the second mans shield and grabbed for his sword arm, twisting it back. He forced the man hard into the ground, and reached down to snap his neck, causing another array of crystal like shards.
The last of the group stood with their backs against each other as the men gained their composure an watched the two. The woman was petrified, it was written all over her face. She hadnt thought this through, or she trusted her group way too much. The man against her had the fear of death written all over his face. They both raised their swords. Neither of them seemed ready to die, but neither wanted to plea for their life. Kazuma and Mithos moved around the couple in between them to stand shoulder to shoulder with each other. Mithos put the point of his sword to the ground and leaned on it, casually. Kazuma shoved his hands into his pocket and both men stared at the pair. The pair watched the men, fearful, keeping their swords up and out in front of them. It was clear they had no skill to wield their weapons.
Kazuma and Mithos looked at each other, their demeanor was relaxed. The pair felt they were too relaxed, which caused their paranoia to heighten. Kazuma smirked and shifted his weight as a broad smile curved Mithos' lips. To the pair, the men seemed to enjoy killing more than they should, but the men inwardly hated what had just happened. They weren't killers of people, but fictional creatures that never had a soul to start with.
Mithos lifted his sword to rest on his shoulder, and leaned to the side, putting all his weight on his left foot. "So.. You can run, or you can die"
"I would love to watch you turn into splinters." Kazuma licked his bottom lip and shrugged slightly.
The men looked at each other, shrugged and smirked, looking back to the pair in front of them. Kazuma still had his hands shoved deep into his pockets and he took a small step toward the pair. Mithos leaned to his other side with a small smile. The pair took a couple large steps backwards, their weapons still held up in front of them. As Mithos brought his sword down the pair ran the opposite direction, and up the path, leading away from the town. The men laughed as they watched the pair run from them and turned to go back into the town.
It wasn't until they reached the second town did reality strike home. They had both just murdered people, albeit red names, it was still the fact that they had even been forced to kill which kept both men silent. Their names still white due to the fact that the ones they killed were red. Maybe they should have warned them? Both Kazuma and Mithos were around the same level, which was at the moment 10th level. They couldn't have been more than 6th or 7th level, seeing as they dispatched them pretty easy.
Kazuma looked toward Mithos, the pain of taking a life evident in his eyes. "Isn't this suppose to be about clearing the game?" He asked to Mithos.
Mithos could only nod, but the fact remained they had attacked them. In a way it was self defense but at least they allowed two of them to live "Maybe the two we let go will change there ways?" He asked somewhat hopeful.
Kazuma nodded and quickly changed the subject. "So I heard there was changes in how guilds work. How about we locate a information broker. I'm curious as to what the changes were since beta." With that Mithos would nod and follow behind Kazuma in there search for information.
With the information broker.
Kazuma entered what seemed to be a small building. A simple counter and some maps spread out ontop of the counter. "Hello?" He called out only to see the information broker appear from the back room. " I need information on the new guild system."
The information broker let a creepy grin curve upon his lips as he heard Kazuma. "That'll cost ya a pretty penny." The man said watching as Kazuma transferred some col to his account. He would give a simple nod of his head before he jumped up onto the counter and sat down. Staring at both Kazuma and Mithos "Now you two listen up and listen good. The new Guild system and PVP system go hand in hand. Guilds will be able to fight over territory that give benefits. All I've heard was that each territory is different aside from a revenue of taxes from the cities near by. Now, what do you think will happen once guilds start discovering the territory system?"
Kazuma was the first to speak up "War..." the word causing himself to cringe. "That explains the sudden increase in the amount of players. If there were only 10,000 players in the world, War wouldn't be possible. Not to an extent a person like Kayaba would want to witness." He said as he looked towards Mithos earning a nod. Kazuma looked back at the broker "Any idea on what possible benefits these territories will give?" Kazuma asked a valid question. There had to be a good reason for Kazuma to put his neck out there.
The broker paused momentarily, and scratched at his beard. " I heard profession benefits are possible, enabling, for example, Blacksmiths to craft Epic quality gear and weapons much easier." Now this would definitely be a reason for most guilds to go after territory. "Second possibility is weapon and armor sets, Special potions, or even combat familiar's. I've also heard that possible stat boosts or even attack boosts against floor bosses were a possibility." The broker shrugged his shoulder before he disappeared to the back of the room. Kazuma waited for what seemed to be a couple minutes before the broker came back out to the front of the room. The broker scratched his chin before he spoke up once more. "There was.. one other thing. Only one territory will hold the bonus. From what I hear, once every six months the territory will yield a single resurrection potion. Though, what the requirements of bringing someone back are, I do not know. It could be a 10 second after death situation after all. But that is all the information I hold on that subject. Good luck, Player."
Kazuma stopped for a second having taken note to being called Player. His eyes shot up and the broker was gone a frown curved upon Kazuma's lips. He shifted his weight onto his left leg before he gave a shake of his head. "Let's get out of here." he told Mithos and with that they both left the building.
Both of them were reaching the level limit of the floor, it wouldn't be too long before they would have to start scouting for the floor boss. Kazuma sighed as he took note of that fact. With the increased strength of mobs, he wasn't really wanting to think about how strong floor bosses were. In beta they had a handful of 30 people to take on Illfang the Kobold. But for some reason he figured they were going to need many more than that. Also it seemed that no one was catching on to the fact that monsters were much stronger and faster.
"Brother...?" A girls voice called out through the crowd the similar voice stunning Kazuma. Kazuma slowly turned to look at where the voice came from.
"No.. please.. no.." Kazuma said in a light voice, confusing Mithos momentarily. Mithos watched as Kazuma came face to face with an almost identical image of himself, aside from the fact she was far more feminine than himself. Her long black hair reaching to the middle of her back with tanned skin, her brown eyes stared directly at her older brother just before she bolted towards him. She wrapped both arms around her brother and squeezed him tight. Kazuma simply stood there, tears falling from his eyes. It was the last person he wanted stuck in this world, and then it hit him. He broke the hug from his sister and kept both arms on her shoulders. "Keiko.. How.. Why.. why on earth are you here?! I never gave you your copy!" He shouted, obvious that he was angry but concerned at the same time.
Keiko winced some as her brother yelled at her. Standing up at her full five foot, six inchs, she dreaded to tell her brother why she was here. She brought up both her hands fiddling with her fingers as she kept her eyes downcast towards the ground. "I... Well... when me and mom got to your house.. she almost tore off your nervegear until I stopped her.. She hadn't been aware of the warnings yet." She said in a soft voice almost wanting to cry. "I found the copy you bought me.. So i hid it from mom... and... here I am.. I missed you!" She shouted as she wrapped her arms around her brother once more.
Kazuma listened to her story trying hard not to slap her for her foolishness. Instead when she wrapped him into a hug once again he simply wrapped his arms around her. Tears falling from his eyes still as he remained quiet. Mithos, on the other hand, sat uncomfortably in the background at the family reunion. Mithos shuffled from side to side, looking around then back at the siblings. He hadnt had much of a family, so, no one here to worry about, except himself. He didnt understand Kazumas tears, but he understood how he could be so angry at his little sister coming here. This world was not fit for this sort of thing. Having to worry about someone you so deeply cared about would hinder your way of thinking and the things it would take to beat this game.
Ten minutes would pass before Kazuma stood straight up, looking at his sister as if he was inspecting her equipment. "Your an idiot." He said in a low tone before he turned to Mithos. "Either way, let's get out of here." He said as he brought up his right arm then waved it down to open his menu and invite his sister to the party. Turns out she was around level 7 already. There was no use in yelling at his sister now, she had plunged herself into the fray for him. So he now had his new motivation to do whatever he could to beat the game. He would keep her safe no matter what he had to do, resolving his motivation.
As the trio began walking, they were stopped short at the edge of the building. A firey, red haired woman slammed hard into Mithos, pushing her back into a sprawling heap on the concrete ground. The three looked down at her baffled, as she looked up at them.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" The woman was screaming in anger, her face red, but not from being mad, more embarrassment. "Dont you ever look where you're going! What the fuck!" She scrambled to stand and pushed her hair back from her face. She glared at Mithos as she dusted herself off.
Mithos stared at her, his face becoming angered at the way she spoke to him. "If Im not mistaking, honey, you're the one that ran into me, if you would notice, it was your ass on the ground. Not mine." He gave her a sort of, nonchalant look, which seemed to piss her off even more.
"My ass is on the ground because you put it there! Watch where the fuck you walk, asshole!" She began to walk passed, him only to be stopped by his shoulder.
As he shoved his shoulder into hers, she was forcefully moved back and slightly to the side. "You dont run your mouth to me, woman."
"Names, Shizunei, not Woman. You would do well to learn it." She glared at Mithos and stepped close to him. "And, 'honey'," She mocked his word back to him "I will run my mouth at who ever the fuck I want." Her voice was low, but full of ice as she glared into his eyes.
Mithos didnt come off as the type to hit a girl, but his fist was balled and he was ready to launch. Kazuma shifted slightly, seeing his hunting partner getting ready to hit a fairly small woman. She hardly looked like she could take care of herself. If Mithos punched her, she deserved it. She was running her mouth pretty hard, and if this girl ran her mouth to him, he would have already slapped her. Having thought about that, Kazuma stayed back and leaned on his sisters shoulder, watching these firey red heads go at it with words.
The two were in each other faces yelling about who hit who, and why the other should apologize. When Shizunei pushed Mithos, his hand came up to connect with her face. Kazuma knew he put hardly any of his force into it, but the woman held her mouth, staring at Mithos. Kazuma and Keiko stared at Mithos then at Shizunei. They couldnt decide on whether or not this was a good thing, or a bad thing. They wanted them to stop screaming in each others faces, but didnt want her to end up punched in the mouth, either.
Instantly feeling bad, Mithos moved to her and reached out to take her hand off her mouth. "I, uh.." He didnt want to apologize, but he didnt mean to hit her. He just couldnt handle anyone being in his face, though he wasnt backing down, either.
She shook her head at him as she lowered her hand from her lip and pulled it into her mouth, seemingly biting on her bottom lip. "dont apologize for something you absolutely meant to do. Even if it was something to be regretted. You wanted to hit me, so you did." She sucked her bottom lip back into her mouth as she stared at Mithos.
Mithos took a step back from her, and scratched the back of his head. So, it was wrong to hit her, but even more wrong to apologize for something he should not have done to begin with? Kazuma moved to stand by Mithos, and gave him a swift pat on his back and a hidden smile, meant only for Mithos to see. Keiko went to look at Shizunei's lip, there was no visible mark, but for some reason she could feel the pain of being hit.
"It hurts?" Keiko asked Shizunei. Shizunei nodded, not wanting to take her lip from her mouth. Keiko turned to the men, who seemed to be cheering at hitting the woman. "She can feel the pain of your punch, Mithos. Brother, I thought we couldnt feel pain."
The men stopped the cheering, and their smiles disappeared instantly. Keiko and Shizunei both stared at the men as they approached them. Mithos took a hold of Shizuneis jaw and forced it open, looking at her lip. There was no physical marks of any kind, though in the real world, there would be bleeding and swelling. Shizunei swatted his hand away and the men looked at each other. Kazuma couldnt recall any pain from anything, though the only thing that managed to hit him was a wolf. He could remember getting momentarily pissed off, and slapping the wolf, even cringing as it bit him, but it never really clicked as to why he had reacted that way. Now it did. He did feel something, just never could see it.
Kazuma and Mithos looked at one another and recalled slaughtering the players. This really hit hard. They could feel them killing them, every thing. It was no wonder the woman screamed the way she did. It wasnt from being turned into shards, but really feeling the pain of being sliced by Mithos' sword. Kazuma shoved his hands in his pockets. All three looked to him, as though he was supposed to have the answer to all of this. No, Kazuma was just like any of them, he just knew how to get certain information, and he was, of course, a beta tester. But the changes now were so drastic, he didnt know what was still true to the beta and not.
Kazuma waved his arm to pull up his menu and invited Shizunei to his group. Level 8. There were four of them now. This would increase their chances of survival. The last few hours have been nothing but learning and more complication for all of them. Pain could be felt, a sister joined the game and two of them had slaughtered three other players. The game got increasingly harder, and they all wondered if anything was still the same as it was in beta. The names of the mobs, maybe? Kazuma began walking, quickly followed by his sister, who cought up to link her arm with his. Shizunei and Mithos followed on the rear, then split to walk alongside the siblings, Mithos next to Kazuma, and Shizunei with Keiko.
Kazuma led the group to the other side of town, where they hadnt been. The mobs in this range, were too easy for them now, so it was time to do some searching to find the floor boss. The ladies of the group were a couple levels below, so they decided, that while they search, they would level the girls, so that by the time they found the boss, they could just go right through it.
Kazuma and Mithos sat back as the girls went at a lizardman. Shizunei ducked low with her dagger and came up under the lizard's arm to plunge her dagger into its neck. As she held the lizardman at her will, Keiko came from behind and shoved her sword into its back. Both girls watched as the lizard turned into shards and disappeared. This kill would gain them their tenth level, to put them even with the men. They girls cheered and jumped as they made their way back to the men. Kazuma cheered for his sister, and Mithos nodded and smiled at them both. Shizunei rolled her eyes at them, and they all made their way back to town for a bite to eat at the smallest diner on the corner.
A week later
A server wide announcement had been made for all 10th level or above players to attend a meeting. He and his team had spent a good week searching various dungeons for the floor boss, yet they had not even managed to find the location. All of them were 13th level from fighting in the dungeons below. They sat at the meeting as the highest level group, while a couple of other players stood in the center, talking. It seemed the announcement was meant to help in finding, and defeating, the floor boss. Someone had managed to find the entrance, but there was no way that only the few they had could take out the Kobold.
Kazuma had stood up and to speak, letting it be known that he was beta tester, and that as far as he could tell, these mobs were already a great deal harder than the rest. He had also told them of how pain could be felt, now, when it wasnt in the beta version. There were too many differences in this game, now that they were all stuck, and that they all needed to be sure they could fight this boss efficiently.
It seemed that a lot of them didn't believe him, or there were just too few that did believe him. Only a few were beta testers, and even they hadn't caught onto the difference. The others that weren't didn't know there was a difference, or just simply didn't care. Too many of them where kids with a big head, thinking they were better than others, but they would soon find out. If they didn't get on the right track now, their death was eminent in later levels.
Now that he had said what he had too, it was obvious that the forth coming battle was going to be brutal. Back in beta they didn't have to worry about pain, but it seemed Kayaba Akihiko was dealing them a cruel hand. The pain threshold was lowered so that they could feel every hit, even making Kazuma fear this upcoming battle. Let's be honest, who wouldn't fear a towering Kobold who could cut you in half in just mere seconds?
"If you refuse to listen to me about the boss, at least those of you that have experienced pain can at least prove half my point? The changes in the game are drastic and we should assume that nothing we already know about the boss is even true. Hell, lets just assume that its a completely different boss altogether."
Still more than half the group of them refused to believe him, maybe it was the prospect of things being much harder. Either way this battle was going to be a brutal smack in the face, if they survived. So Kazuma resigned himself allowing them to believe what they wanted, he had at least warned them ahead of time. With his hands placed together and his chin rested against them, his piercing brown eyes simply watched the rest of the meeting. Once the meeting was over he and his group had calmly left the meeting area, Shizunei already began to voice her rage.
"Why didn't you try harder to warn them?" Shizunei fumed toward Kazuma, with the belief that there could have been more to say.
"What did you expect me to do Shizunei? I warned them twice, received little to no response from barely half the group. Those who won't listen will die, those who do stand a chance. This is just how this world is going to be, if you can't deal with that go resign yourself to a tavern for the rest of the game." Shizunei was a valuable asset to his company, and an all around good hearted person, but she had an attitude, and Kazuma wasnt one to put up with it.
"I expected you to at least give a god damned example!"Shizunei's fists and teeth were clenched, but she wouldnt dare hit Kazuma. She growled and stomped off in the opposite direction, she needed to hit something.
Mithos and Keiko watched as she stomped off and then turned to Kazuma. "She has a point.." Mithos spoke up first with a shrug. "Give the non-believers a reason to believe and it changes a lot of things."
The men eyed each other for a short moment and Kazuma shrugged. "Theres nothing I can do about it now." Kazuma exhaled slowly and walked away in the direction of Shizunei, but instead of following her out of town, he would stop off at the guild registry. It was time he made a guild for the small group and proceed in recruiting. Kazuma was confident the lot of them would move on and if enough came out of this boss fight, there could be some potential members.
Kazuma spoke with a man about getting a guild, filled out the proper paperwork and handed over his coins. By the time it was done, Kazuma was carrying a maker next to his name and the guild title of Cestus Dei. He sent out his invite to the girls and Mithos and left from the broker to rejoin Mithos and his sister. A smirk curved the corner of his lips as Shizunei's invite had gone through, but she didn't show up with the others.
"So, whats it mean?" Mithos looked over his guild title and back at Kazuma.
Kazuma looked over at Mithos with a small smile. "It means "The brass knuckles of God". I thought it was fitting nice our God of this world is an overpowered asshole. And like the Cestus back in the gladiator days, they wore spiked knuckles and beat the hell out of each other." He looked down at his fists with a smile. "I think I may pick up on that."
Mithos laughed and nodded. "Seems pretty fitting. I like it."
Both men smiled to each other, and Kazuma sighed. "Lets go find Shizunei. We need to rest up to be ready for this fight tomorrow. I got a feeling its not going to be an easy win."
Kazuma waved his hand to pull up his map to locate Shizunei. She was playing with lizardmen who couldnt touch her. Kazuma smirked and pointed out to Mithos and Keiko where she was and the new guild set off to get their last member. Kazuma signaled Mithos and Keiko to stand down as he moved to Shizuneis side. She was light on her feet and seemed to be moving faster and more fluid with her dagger. He was hoping that she would pick up duel, or get a shield, but Shizunei always talked about how much they burdened her. He watched her stab a lizard in the throat and as she smirked to him when it was done, her smiled to her and beckoned her to join him.
"Still think you should have hit someone." Her voice was light, seemingly happy. Shizunei couldnt hold a grudge against Kazuma, and he knew that as well as she did.
Kazuma smiled. "So does Mithos." He shrugged and passed it off. "Come on. We need to sleep. We dont need any of us tired or lacking for tomorrows fight."
Shizunei nodded to him and put her dagger in her sheath and followed close next to Kazuma. The group made their way back to town and got a nice warm bed for the night at Kazuma's request. It was said that sleep in a bed was better than camping out in the woods or in a meadow. Sleep was sleep, but to gain the most out of it, you needed a bed. Shizunei wasnt particular to this, but it seemed that there were 2 beds per room, and if they split their money, they could all save.
The next morning
Kazuma woke the next morning with his sister still sleeping in the bed on the other side of the room. He let her sleep and made his way to Mithos and Shizuneis room, who had thrown a huge fit about even sleeping in the same room with Mithos. Kazuma had some odd feeling they were good for each other, but Mithos sort of needed to be more of a man if he was going to tame that woman. When Kazuma lifted his hand to knock, Shizunei was already opening the door.
"Never again! I will sleep with your sister next time!" Shizunei stormed from the room and out into the foyer to pay her part.
Kazuma turned from the woman and walked into the room to find Mithos still getting dressed. "Whats her problem?"
"She didnt like that I sleep naked, and she doesnt like my snoring." Mithos laughed and shook his head as he continued to dress.
"You know, I think maybe I shoudnt have left you two together." Kazuma was laughing with Mithos for the moment and then turned serious. It was one more hour before the boss fight. He was just hoping that Shiz had gotten enough sleep.
"Trust me, she slept." Mithos looked at Kazuma when he finished putting on his shoes and moved to his side. "Shes peaceful when shes sleeping." Mithos smiled "I think I like her better that way." He cocked an eyebrow as he spoke and followed Kazuma out of the room.
Both men met Shizunei out in the foyer to pay their room fee and talk about the fight. Kazuma wanted his sister to stay out of it, and Shizunei said they needed her. Mithos agreed with Shizunei on the fact that Keiko had a shield and sword. Their argument went on for about 20 mins before Kazuma huffed and stomped off to get his sister from bed.
"We need every valuable player we have, and Keiko isnt bad with her sword." Shizunei cocked her hip out and crossed her arms as Kazuma ignored her sentence. She rolled her eyes when he disappeared and looked over to Mithos.
"Hey, I agree with you." The man put his hands up in a defensive manner and took a step back from the woman. "Hes just worried about her. He doesnt want her to get hurt, or potentially die." Mithos leaned against the wall, propping his foot up against it under his own butt.
"I wont let her die if I can help it."
"None of us are going to willingly let her die, Shiz, but some things are just unpreventable." She sighed and looked to the ground.
The two remained silent until Kazuma and Keiko came back into the foyer. They had wasted a half an hour and needed to get to the meeting place. The newly formed guild walked out, the girls in back and men taking the lead. It seemed to be the way they always walked when going to the next fighting place, or somewhere of importance, or potential danger. Of course, Keiko followed her brother, forcing Shizunei behind Mithos.
When they arrived, it was clear who was attempting to take over this fight. Some halfwit who knew nothing of what was to come. He was big, a barbaric type of man, younger, it would appear, and swing a giant battle axe. As the group had fully come together, Kazuma kept his small guild back, away from the ones who had decided to run into the fight first. Kazuma did all the talking, and the small group that had decided to listen to him stuck to his side like glue. Others kept to theirselves of circled around the axe wielding barbarian.
They all lined up to go in and, of course, let the barbarian open the door. He charged in screaming, clearly letting the kobold know he was there, and Kazuma was slow to follow. Others followed the man on his toes, while some had followed hesitantly. The new guild saw different things as they looked just barely inside the door, but they all felt the same way. Caution, hesitation, and pure fear from over half of the group that was heading in. It was their turn to enter the door, the small group following Kazuma, who lead them all with determination.
