Chapter 4

"Seriously…?" I noticed my jaw hanging open as I stared at the small, cloaked girl sitting across from me sitting across from me. I clamped it shut and continued. "Are you sure it's the Area Boss? How can you tell?"

"Well, we couldn't be totally sure," Nezumi said, cracking a smile. "But its name had the word 'boss' written in front of it. When we saw that, we figured there was a solid chance it was the boss."

I rolled my eyes and picked up my glass of water, but when I remembered that Nezumi had just drunk from it a second ago I placed it back down and hoped my avatar wasn't simulating embarrassment with a blush effect. "So, the Assault Team finally found the Area Boss… If they beat it, that will unlock the next area, right?"

"Bingo. And then we'll be one step closer ta endin' this nightmare."

"That's great. But that doesn't explain why you wanted to meet me here. So…?"

"Isn't it obvious, kiddo?"

"Obvious…?" I looked at Nezumi, who stared back, unblinking, with a careless, whiskered smirk, until it finally dawned on me. "Oh, no. Nope. No way. Not a chance. Forget it."

"I figured you'd say that," Nezumi said, shrugging. "But we need you, Nanashi."

"Need me? Me specifically? Why?"

"Well, not you, specifically. Don't get too full o' yerself."

I growled and waited for her to continue.

"Lemme ask ya somethin', kiddo. Do you know how many players make up a full raid party?"

"Not a clue."

"Then I'll fill ya in. A raid party is made up of eight full parties. Regular parties can have up ta six players in 'em. That's forty eight people in total. Out of a potential forty eight people, do ya know how many we managed ta gather for the boss battle?"

"How many?" I asked flatly.

"Twelve, including me."

"…Seriously?"

"It's bad, Nanashi. At this point we're not askin' for seasoned warriors. We need all the help we can get."

"But at that rate…even if I were to join, what difference would it make? That's barely more than a third of a full raid party."

"That's true, but our levels are all way higher than they need ta be for this area. I'm pretty sure we can pull this off as is. Even so, just one more fighter could be the difference between a win and a loss."

"Even though you say that…" I clenched my fist and stared down at the wooden tabletop. The textures looked so realistic now that I actually took the time to examine them. I found myself wondering if I could actually identify the type of tree it was made from if I were some sort of tabletop connoisseur. I spent a few more moments pondering about whether or not there was such a thing as a tabletop connoisseur. When I'd decided there probably wasn't, finishing the thought with a hopeful "but you never know," I realized that Nezumi wasn't going to leave until I gave her a straight answer. She had been sitting there, waiting patiently for me to finish my sentence, not budging a centimeter. "I'm sorry, Nezumi. But there's no way I could do it."

"Just…think about it, OK? I'll be in town fer a few days. Let me know if ya change yer—"

"Trust me, I won't."

Now it was Nezumi's turn to avoid eye contact. She turned away from me and looked down at the floor. Her brown hood and long, curly bangs cast a shadow over her eyes, making it hard to read her expression. She was quiet for a full minute before standing up and shoving the table away. Her chair scraped across the floor in punctuation.

"OK," she muttered. "In that case, goodbye, Nanashi. Y'know, in case this winds up bein' the last time I ever see you."

My gaze dropped to the floor. I couldn't bring myself to say anything to her. She spun on her heel, her cloak nearly slapping me in the face, and left the inn without another word, letting the doors slam against the wall as she vanished into the sunlight.

I felt the shame solidify in my chest and rise until I was practically choking on it. That was a dirty move, I whined to myself. She was right—there was a chance she would die if she went to fight the Area Boss. It was scary to think about, but it didn't change anything. What good could I do if I joined them? I'd just be getting in the way.

It's better if I stay behind, I told myself. Better for everyone…

It was a little early in the day to sleep, but I was still exhausted from hunting Death Spots all last night. Plus, I didn't really feel like doing anything else today. I stood up and slinked over to the staircase, glancing one last time at the half-empty glass of water on the table before dragging myself to the second floor. I pushed through the canvas flap to my room and dropped myself on the bed. My eyes were only closed for a second or two before I lost consciousness.

. . .

"Of all the unnecessary features for an MMO to have…" I groaned as grumbling sound effects blared from my stomach. The actual sensation of hunger wasn't really all that bad—easy enough to ignore and even sleep through, especially since I knew it was only virtual and my real body was being taken care of in a hospital. It was the sound that I couldn't ignore. Why did it have to be so loud?

It was about one o'clock when I slithered out from under the covers and sauntered downstairs. I figured if I had to be awake, I might as well get myself some virtual Vitamin D, too, and headed outside. I made my way toward the center of town and sat on a bench near the fountain, then opened my inventory and produced a roll of black bread and the tiny jar of cream Nezumi had given me less than a week ago. It felt like a lot had happened since then. Compared to my usual routine, a lot had happened.

I smothered the roll until it was completely covered and was stuffing the whole thing into my mouth when a familiar voice sounded over my shoulder.

"Nanashi!"

"Bleghugh!?" I coughed, sputtering bits of bread onto the ground. The crumbs bounced once before losing all of their color and exploding into polygonal shards.

"Oops… Sorry!" Himeko hopped over the back of the bench and plopped down beside me. "What're you doing?"

"Oh, nothing…" I said, staring down in mourning at the place where half of my meager meal had met its untimely demise.

"Isn't it a little late for lunch?" Himeko asked, tilting her head. "Did you just get out of bed? Lazy bum!"

"Give me a break. I'm still tired from our Death Spots adventure. Besides, what have you been up to all day?"

"I've been grinding for EXP out in the fields where the kobolds live, but I'm taking a break right now."

"Grinding, huh?" I said, taking a bite out of my roll. "Trying to level up for another battle with Death Spots?"

"Nope. Guess again."

"Uhm… You want to be a really high level so you can show off?"

"No." Himeko elbowed me in the side. "One more try."

"I got nothin'. Sorry."

"Really? You mean she hasn't talked to you yet?"

"'She'? Who are you talking about?"

"There's an info broker in town rounding up people to fight the Area Boss. You really didn't know? I thought you'd be the first person she asked."

"Well, I—"

"Anyway, that's why I've been practicing like crazy all day. I'm pretty strong—but you already know that. Still, I want to get even stronger while I have the time. Can't be too careful, right? Nanashi, you have to find the info broker and tell her you're joining the fight! We really need your help. What was her name again? Megumi? No… Negi? Nope. That's just weird… What was it…?"

"Nezumi."

"Yeah, that's it! Wait—so you do know her?"

"Yeah… I know her."

"Great!" Himeko clapped her hands and smiled ear to ear. "Now all you have to do is message her! So hurry up and do it, already."

"Right. The thing is…" I started picking my bread apart and tossing the pieces onto the ground, watching them explode in silence for a few moments. Then, I let the roll rest in my lap, staring down at it.

"The thing is what?" Himeko asked, jabbing my shoulder with her tiny finger.

I drew in a sharp breath and squeezed my eyes shut. "I'm not going."

"Huh?" Himeko stared up at me in disbelief, her eyes wide and head tilted, like she wasn't certain she'd heard me correctly. Then, she let her head hang. "Oh…" A moment passed and she looked up at me again, smiling. "Don't worry, I get it," she said, her voice so sweet and understanding it made me sick to my stomach. "Fighting regular monsters is one thing, but Area Bosses are probably pretty scary, right?"

"Right…" I balled my hands into fists and twisted in my seat, turning my whole body away from her. I couldn't even bring myself to look in her cardinal direction, much less look her in the face.

"Don't worry about it, Nanashi." Himeko stood up, patting my shoulder. "Leave this one to us, OK?"

"Yeah… OK."

Himeko walked off, probably heading back to the field for more training. As soon as she was out of sight, I let my roll of cream-covered black bread fall to the ground and watched it shatter. I clenched my fists so tightly my whole body began to tremble.

What's your excuse this time? a voice screamed in my head. I had no excuse. There was no way to justify sitting on the sidelines while a little girl, twelve years old at best, went to fight the battle that I couldn't. Even so, there was just no way…

I picked myself up off the bench and went for a walk around Tent City, trying to take my mind off of it—off of everything, really. I browsed the shops, looking at different pieces of armor and weapons. They were pretty pricey. If I hadn't given away just about all of my Col to Hiro I could've bought whatever I wanted. Not that I needed any of it, though. All of these items were monster drops, and none of their stats compared to my Annealed Blade or Coat of Midnight—neither of which I deserved. I felt another pang of guilt as I tore myself away from the vendors. I knew my gear would be better off in someone else's hands.

I spent hours roaming around town, looking at every shop and food stall to see if they were selling anything other than bread. They weren't, of course.

After I finished perusing the food stalls I went to Fort Reclamation, the castle-like building at the north end of Tent City, and hung around until I'd memorized all of the guards' dialogue. They said things like "did you know this building is made entirely of cedar?" and "I wish more interesting things would happen around here," and, most importantly, "no lollygagging."

I went back to the inn, marched up to my room, and fell onto my bed, but I couldn't sleep. Not for a lack of trying, though. I tossed and turned for hours, begging my brain to turn off, but it wouldn't. All I could see when I closed my eyes was Nezumi and Himeko standing beneath some giant monster. The thing would lift its enormous weapon—sometimes it was a sword, sometimes an axe, other times it just used its claws—and it would swing it down, hitting both of the girls in just one blow. They screamed, but the sound was cut off abruptly when the monster's weapon hit them and their bodies shattered like glass sculptures. Finally, I drifted off to sleep. But I was woken up what felt like just a minute later by a nightmare with the same content as my waking thoughts.

I pushed the covers off and sat up. My avatar was sweating all over and my hands were trembling as if the system wanted me to be sure I'd had a nightmare. I pushed my hair out of my face and drew in a long, unsteady breath, held it in for a few moments, and let it out shakily. I sat there in silence for just a minute, according to the clock in the upper right corner of my vision, but it felt like an eternity. Then, finally, I opened my menu and sent a message to Nezumi with just two words.

"I'm in."

. . .

This looks like the place. Clad once again in my Coat of Midnight with my Annealed Blade hanging from my right shoulder, I found myself in the village ruins between the Old Miner's house and Death Spots's Cave.

"Before ya can go takin' on any bosses," Nezumi had said to me, "yer gonna need ta level up a bit more."

My level was eight now, which meant that all that time Himeko and I spent fighting Death Spots had only gotten me four levels.

"It doesn't sound like a lot," Nezumi told me. "But four levels in just one night is more than anyone else could manage. That's why I think ya should use that Deathspot fella or whatever his name is as yer main source fer grindin' EXP. But not yet…"

There was about a week between now and the boss raid. If I spent that whole week fighting Death Spots by myself, Nezumi assured me that I'd be more than strong enough to help in the battle against the first Area Boss. But I wasn't ready for that just yet. Before I could take on a Named Monster on my own, Nezumi suggested that I reach at least level ten first. And she'd suggested a way to get it done fast.

I found a building, mostly intact, that matched Nezumi's description. I peered through what was left of the door frame and spotted a brown chest at the back of the building's only room. I drew my Annealed Blade and entered the building, making my way toward the chest. I moved slowly, deliberately, counting each step.

"Any second, now…" I was halfway across the room and still nothing.

I got within arm's reach of the chest and reached out toward it.

"Ryaaagh!" The sound came from above me. I turned around and looked up to see the snarling, canid face of a Lesser Kobold, as well as seven of his friends.

"The chest is boobytrapped," Nezumi had told me. "Once ya cross a certain threshold in the room, a buncha kobold'll spawn."

It happened just as Nezumi had warned me, and it still scared the crap out of me. I took a few hurried steps backward and tripped over the chest, falling flat on my rear. Looking into the kobolds' glowing red eyes it seemed as if they knew that I'd fallen. Could their programming have allowed them to know something like that? Either way, they dropped from the walls and dashed toward me. I rolled backward, kicking one of them in the jaw as I did, and sprang to my feet. I gritted my teeth and squeezed my sword's leather-wrapped grip.

The kobold that I'd kicked shook its head and rubbed its snout. It roared at me, and its eyes seemed to glow a little redder.

I smiled and snickered, pretending I wasn't afraid. Sure, the kick had actually been an accident—the lucky result of a spastic, panicked attempt to get away from the monster. But it didn't know that.

The Lesser Kobold leaped toward me, aiming for my head with its crude axe. I brushed the blow aside and kicked the little beast in the chest. The thing shook its head again and howled, and it started foaming at the mouth. It turned its head to either side and barked at its comrades. Then, all eight of them closed in on me at once—walking right into my trap.

As soon as they were all in range, I used Horizontal, blasting them backward almost two meters. I screamed as I vaulted over the treasure chest and leaped, grunting as I drove the point of my sword into the chest of the kobold on the far left, watching its last sliver of HP vanish. I growled as I flung the blade over my head and slammed it into the gut of the kobold immediately to my right. Six were left. Two of them came toward me. I cut them down in turn, then swung to my right to deflect a blow from another. I swung my Annealed blade in a broad arc from right to left, killing that one and the next that had been winding up for an attack. I blocked an overhead swing from another and pushed his axe away, then drove my sword into its belly. It exploded, and the last kobold glared at me through the cloud of polygonal shards that had once been its friend. It howled, enraged, and leaped into the air, somersaulting. It aimed straight for the crown of my skull. I queued up Slant and leaped into the air, splitting its gut diagonally from hip to shoulder. Red particles spewed from the wound and flew through the air. As I landed on my feet on the far side of the room I heard the sound of the kobold's body falling in a heap somewhere behind me before bursting into a million pieces.

I returned my Annealed Blade to its scabbard on my back. Then, my knees buckled and I doubled over, panting. It felt like I hadn't been breathing during the entire fight as I gasped for air, sweat trickling down my cheek.

Finally, I steadied myself and stood up. "Great," I groaned. "Eight hundred more rounds of that and I should make it to level ten."

I strode over to the chest at the back of the room and tapped the lock. It swung open and a window appeared before me reading "100 Col."

"Figures…" All of that had been for a measly one hundred Col? It seemed unfair at first, but when I thought about it it made sense. It was still early in the game, and even though I had to face eight of them, those kobolds' levels were probably around six or seven. Killing eight low-level mobs wasn't really worth a huge reward. Not in Legacy, or any other RPG for that matter. But still, I couldn't help but be frustrated. In a normal RPG, my life wasn't on the line. The reward in this case didn't feel like it was worth the risk. But it didn't matter. The chest wasn't why I was here.

Normally, if you kill a mob it takes a while for it to respawn. In Legacy, the spawn rate could be anywhere from five minutes to an hour depending on the circumstances. The kobold in the ruined village took a long time to respawn, which was probably to balance the area's difficulty as well as prevent players from grinding too much EXP at any given time and raising their levels too quickly. This spot was a special case, though.

I left the ruined building, but as soon as I was outside I turned on my heel and stepped back through the doorway. The chest at the back of the room was cracked open, indicating that its contents hadn't reset. Its brown color told me that its contents would never reset for me. However…

As soon as I was within reach of the chest, a growl from above me signalled the arrival of eight more kobold.

"So Nezumi's info was right," I noted, drawing my sword. The chest, once opened, would never refresh its contents. Once you'd gotten the one hundred Col it offered, that was it. But the kobold that guarded the chest were set to spawn every time you got near it, which meant I could farm them for EXP for as long as I liked. And I did just that for the next six hours.

For the first four hours each runthrough went about as well as the first. I triggered the trap, and even though I was expecting them, the kobold freaked me out every time. I waited for all eight of them to get within reach and uttered a silent "thank you" to the powers that be each time I pulled it off without taking damage. When they were in range, I hit them with Horizontal, leaving just a sliver of their HP left, then finished them off as quickly as I could.

By then, my One-handed skill had gone up a bit. It was sitting at about sixty eight, and because of that, I was able to deal just enough damage to kill all eight kobold with one attack if I timed it right. And that's when it started to get fun.

When I first arrived at the building that Nezumi told me about, the one that had a trap which summoned eight kobold all at once and could be triggered an infinite number of times, I was timid. I peaked my head in first, then tiptoed to the trigger spot, and fought desperately. Now I walked in like I owned the place, strutting across the room with my Annealed Blade resting across my shoulders. When the kobold snarled and growled and dropped down from the walls I turned around lazily before readying my sword. I even yawned once.

I killed them over and over again, baiting them close with a taunting gesture and then smiling gleefully as my glowing blue blade cut through each one of them in turn and they exploded, one after another. After a while I thought I could see something different in their glowing red eyes. It looked like resentment, but it was probably just my imagination. I found myself wondering if the system made a new set of kobold with slightly different parameters each time I beat them or if it was endlessly recycling the same bits of code. I wondered if they could remember me. If they remembered each defeat they suffered at my hands. I hoped they could.

For the first time since I'd logged into this game I felt good. I felt like a player instead of a prisoner. I forgot that I was doing this because I had to and just enjoyed making these kobold feel my wrath, as if through killing them I could tell this whole lousy game that it couldn't beat me anymore. That I'd become too strong. For a time, I allowed myself to feel powerful. To believe that maybe, just maybe, I really could be a hero.

I farmed the kobold like that for about two hours before breaking for dinner—if you want to call bread and cream dinner—then went back to it for another few hours before setting up my tent. I lay down, folded my hands beneath my head, and smiled as I stared up at the canvas roof. I opened my menu to check my progress. I hadn't even reached level nine yet, but I was close. Another day or two like this and I'd be level ten.

The next morning I ate another roll of black bread and got back to grinding. A few hours and I broke for lunch, then got back to it. Later, dinner, then back to farming the kobold for a few hours before bed. Rinse and repeat. I went through this process over and over for three days, and by the time I was done I had run out of the cream Nezumi gave me. But I'd reached level ten, and it was time to move on.

I packed up my tent and moved it to my inventory, then set off for Death Spots's cave. Getting through the ruins was easy this time. Whenever a large group of kobold surrounded me I smote them with Horizontal. Individuals that felt brave would jump at me and I'd swat them away with my Annealed Blade. By the time they managed to group up again Horizontal's cooldown was already up. I walked with my back straight and didn't stop at all on my way to the cave. I didn't have to. The kobold were just inconveniences now. They posed no threat at all. Again, I felt powerful. Invincible, even.

Then, I stepped into the black, gaping abyss that was the mouth of Death Spots's cave and all of those good feelings disappeared as quickly and thoroughly as the light did.

I started breathing a little faster. It felt like there was less oxygen in here than last time, but that couldn't be possible. The cave was virtual. The only oxygen I needed was the stuff my body was sucking down back in the real world. Nonetheless, it was getting harder to breathe. It felt colder, too.

"…What the hell am I doing!?"

I slumped against the cave wall and dropped to the ground. I crossed my arms over my chest and held myself as though that might keep my heart from beating out of my ribcage. The last time I was here, Himeko told me that my laid-back attitude had helped her relax. But was I only able to act that way because I had someone there with me?

"You're pathetic…" I told myself since no one else was here to say it. "You…a hero?" I couldn't believe that I'd allowed myself to think I was anything more than a worthless coward. I had only been brave enough to face this place the first time because I'd had a twelve-year-old girl here to protect me. I laughed at that last part, but despite the jovial sound I could feel something hot in the corners of my eyes threatening to spill over. I buried my face in my knees and held my breath until the feeling passed, then, I pushed myself up off the cave floor and turned toward the exit. I was stupid to think that I could have done this in the first place.

Just one more step, I told myself. One step into the light where it's safe. But…

My feet wouldn't move.

I stood there in silence for a long while, my eyes closed, just listening to the sound of my own breathing. Eventually, the short, strained breaths stabilized. I clenched my fists and opened my eyes again.

"No," I told myself, or, rather, that version of me that was afraid. The me who wanted to go home and hide under the covers. The voice inside that told me I couldn't do it. "I can do this."

Even if it was just me, why shouldn't I be able to do this? I'd already fought this NM countless times. I knew its attack patterns like the back of my hand, and I was stronger than I was the last time I was here.

I swiped my hand in the air to call up the menu and flipped through my inventory. Plenty of potions. I navigated to the status page. My gear was in good shape. Then, I clicked on the skills page.

"Oh?"

My One-handed skill had gone up a bit more and was sitting right between eighty two and eighty three. And when I looked up at the top right corner of the window I noticed I'd acquired a few more skill points—enough to unlock a new Sword Skill.

I pressed a few buttons and closed my menu, then set off down the long, dark, winding corridor. At many points along the way I wanted to turn back. But I thought of Nezumi and Himeko going up against the Area Boss alone. I remembered my nightmares. I remembered why I was here, and I pushed myself to keep going. When I reached the end of the corridor and stood at the entrance to Death Spots's room I drew in a long breath and held it for a while. Then, I released it and summoned every ounce of courage I had and marched into the room.

I stopped about ten meters away from the giant kobold. "Hey!" I screamed. Death Spots was already rising to his feet. His cursor, which had once been a dark red, was faded, looking almost pink now. The monster roared and sound wave effects blurred my vision. I stayed where I was and drew my Annealed Blade from its scabbard.

As Death Spots charged I pulled my blade back by my right shoulder and waited. As soon as he started his swing I let the Sword Skill loose and flew past him with Rage Spike, cutting his right flank as I passed him. We were both stuck in a post-motion delay, but I got out of mine just a little bit faster and hit his other side with Horizontal.

Death Spots's sword glowed and he used a single-hit downward vertical Sword Skill. I stepped to the side and used Slant, and the force sent him reeling back.

I noticed that, even though I was the only one fighting, I'd taken out a good bit of his first HP bar already. I smiled as I readied myself for Death Spots's next attack, wondering what I had been so worried about before.

The spotted kobold swung diagonally downward. I cancelled the action with Horizontal and the two of us were frozen for a second.

"Tch…"

With me stuck in the post-motion delay after cancelling Death Spots's skill and no one backing me up there was no way to capitalize on the opening.

I dodged a few of Death Spots's attacks, throwing in a few swings here and there when I got the opportunity, but I couldn't find any openings to use Sword Skills. It was too risky. When I did use them it was only to cancel one from Death Spots.

Since I was restricted to regular attacks, the fight seemed to be dragging on. Nonetheless, Death Spots's first HP bar was drained after about twenty minutes. The last time I fought this thing it took that same amount of time to get this far with two people. It was cold, hard proof that I had gotten stronger, and it made me happy. But this next part was where it was going to get tricky.

With his first HP bar gone and his second one having turned yellow Death Spots howled and his eyes glowed red, signalling the second phase of the battle. The kobold bared its fangs and growled. I recognized this as the start of his five-hit combo. There was no way I could afford to let that combo land, so I cancelled the first hit with Horizontal. The recoil left us both frozen for a moment, and we recovered at the same time. Death Spots started attacking again as soon as he was free, leaving me no time to land any hits of my own.

I dodged him for a while, backing up out of his reach and looking for openings, but none came. He started his five-part Sword Skill again and I cancelled it with Horizontal. Then, we were back at it. It went like this for a full fifteen minutes, and I never managed to land a single hit. His attacks were relentless, barely giving me room to breathe, much less counterattack. I knew it couldn't continue like this. I had to find a way to deal some damage or this whole thing would be pointless.

"Maybe I could…"

I didn't have time to form the whole idea in my head before Death Spots started his combo again. I wasn't thinking straight. I couldn't have, because it all happened so fast. This time, instead of cancelling his first diagonal hit with Horizontal, I stepped to the left and ducked my head under his sword, dodging the first swing. I thought I had time to get in a hit before his next attack came. I thought wrong.

The last time Death Spots hit me with this combo I had been fast enough to get my guard up, but I wasn't so lucky this time. Death Spots swiped at my right side with his claws and scratched out nearly a quarter of my HP. The next swing was a horizontal sweep with his sword, and it took out a full third of my HP. Another swipe from his claws took another quarter and sent me flying backward nearly three meters. I hit the ground hard and sprawled out on the cave floor. I heard my Annealed Blade clatter to the ground somewhere behind Death Spots. The huge, spotted kobold closed the distance between us with his sword raised high above his head. I looked at the pathetic sliver of red in the top left corner of my vision that represented my life force in this world.

"NO!" I screamed, and I shrivelled up, covering my head with my hands.

I waited for a few seconds. I didn't feel Death Spots's sword make contact. Am I dead already and I didn't feel it? I wondered. I opened my left eye just a crack. Nope. Still alive. My HP bar was still there, blinking desperately.

I moved my arm away from my face and peered up at Death Spots. The kobold was staring straight ahead as if I wasn't there. Its glowing red eyes had returned to normal—as had its HP bar. Death Spots turned around and went back to the center of the room, curled up into a ball, and started to snore.

"What…?" I said, incredulous.

I waited several minutes to be sure Death Spots wasn't coming back to finish the job before pushing myself up to a sitting position and pulling a health potion out of my belt pouch.

"What the hell happened?" I asked myself again as I sipped, my hands shaking and spilling some of the potion into my lap. The liquid caused a stain texture to appear on my pant leg, but it vanished just a second later.

I noticed that the space around me had become cramped. I could swear the chamber was bigger than this… Then, once my senses had fully returned, I realized I wasn't in the chamber anymore. The fourth hit in Death Spots's combo, the one that nearly took the last of my HP, sent me flying so far that I'd rolled into the corridor leading to the boss room. Death Spots's programming must prevent him from leaving the room, so when he reached the edge his status reset and he went back to his idle state as though nothing had happened. In other words, I wasted almost forty minutes and nearly died for nothing.

I finished the potion and tossed the bottle aside, then let myself fall onto my back and stared at the cavern ceiling. For the umpteenth time that day I considered throwing in the towel and heading home. But I knew I couldn't do that. If I didn't participate in the first Area Boss raid, then there was a chance that Nezumi and Himeko would die. If I died here, that could still happen. But if their deaths were going to be my fault one way or the other, then I knew I'd rather die trying to make a difference then sit back and let it happen. Even so, I couldn't think of any way to beat this thing on my own. I wondered if I could go back to Tent City and find some help, but that was out. Everyone was either levelling up on their own or doing what I really wanted to be doing right now: hiding in their rooms. I sat thinking for a long time, but each train of thought stopped at the same station. I was on my own.

"In that case," I said, pushing myself up off the ground. "All I can do is try."

It would be fine, I told myself. As long as I didn't do anything stupid like that last time I could, at the very least, fight this thing without dying. I could get through the first phase no problem, then defend through the second phase, looking for weaknesses, and bail if things looked bad.

I walked into Death Spots's chamber and picked up my sword, then approached the kobold. "Well," I said as it stood up and brandished its weapon. "I'm not afraid of you anymore. What now?"

Death Spots roared in response and the fight was back on. It started the same way it always did. I hit the creature with Rage Spike, flying past him as he charged, and then the battle went on as normal.

I spent the next few hours grinding through his first phase, waiting and watching during the second, and leaving the chamber when I felt overwhelmed. Over and over and over we fought, going through the same motions again and again.

I broke for lunch, sitting at the end of the corridor and glaring resentfully at the mangy bastard, snoring so peacefully at the center of his chamber. I thought hard as I chewed the crummy black bread. But no matter what I just couldn't figure it out. There was no way I could move fast enough to hit him with a skill after he finished his—

"!" I choked on my bread as something finally dawned on me. How could I have been so stupid? The solution was so simple that I had already tried it once. In fact, I've been doing it the whole time.

I wrapped the rest of my bread in the paper it came in and stuffed it into my inventory, then jumped to my feet and ran into the chamber, still chewing my last bite.

As Death Spots stood up, roared, pointed his weapon at me, charged, yadda yadda, I went through my usual routine, too, shooting past his initial downward swing with Rage Spike and turning to hit him in the back with Horizontal. The only two big hits I was able to land on him so far during his first phase while fighting solo.

I watched the spotted kobold carefully until he held his sword above him in a familiar stance. Normally, this was the attack that I'd cancel with Slant, but this time would be a little different. This time I took a step toward Death Spots while activating Slant. As his blade travelled downward I leaped up and to my right, slashing underneath his arm while his sword passed harmlessly just over my head.

Death Spots screamed. His snout scrunched up and he winced, and his HP loss was way higher than I expected. On a human body, there's a pressure point just beneath the arm. I wondered if hitting that point awarded me a critical hit or something, but I didn't have time to dwell on it.

Death Spots recovered quickly. He swung at me once from my left to my right. I knew the next swing was coming from the other side, so I used Rage Spike to blow past him, clearing his attack and landing a hit to his flank in the process.

As I turned to face him again I allowed a smirk to cross my lips. I couldn't believe I'd overlooked such an obvious solution. If I didn't have time to hit him after his attack was over, I just had to attack at the same time.

The brutish kobold swung at me again and I circled around him, following the trajectory of his blade, and hit him with Horizontal. I kept this up, carefully timing my Sword Skills while repositioning myself just outside his reach, and just like that the first of Death Spots's two HP bars was gone.

Here comes the hard part, I said to myself as I lowered my stance. Death Spots howled and levelled his burning red gaze at me. He started up his signature five-hit combo. I knew it well enough by now, but I dodged it this time, stepping backward with each swing. Better safe than sorry.

There…then there… I noted.

I backed up further, dodging a few of his normal attacks as Death Spots thrashed harmlessly at the air in front of me. His combo was ready again and I kept backing up, watching closely.

Then there and then…there, and, finally…

I moved back further and further, evading his attacks until I felt the cold stone of the cavern wall against my back. Death Spots started up his five-hit combination attack. He was about to use his strongest technique while I was standing with nowhere left to retreat…and I grinned like a madman.

First was a diagonal, downward swing from the left side. I ducked and stepped to my left, and the giant sword passed over my head. Next was a horizontal slash from his claws. The attack would come from my right. The thing was that Death Spots was a lot taller than I was, so I only had to bend forward a little bit to avoid the attack. So I did just that, bending low—and queuing up a Horizontal Sword Skill. As Death Spots's claws passed over my neck, my Annealed Blade found its mark, tearing into the kobold's waist. The monster winced in pain, and the blow seemed to slow him down a little. The next two attacks were a swing from his sword followed by a claw swipe, both horizontal, so I stayed low and let them pass harmlessly. Lastly was a huge, vertical, downward swing. As the sword came hurtling down toward me I rolled to the left. The giant blade crashed into the stone just centimeters away from me. From my kneeling position I activated Slant and leaped off the ground, this time aiming for Death Spots's head. And I found my mark, no problem, hitting the giant canid square in the jaw.

Death Spots stumbled backward, leaning on his sword and holding his head in his massive paw. It was another critical hit. His recoil bought me enough time to recover from my Sword Skill, and by the time he tried to attack I had already queued up Rage Spike. I shot under his arm, cut his flank, and flew well past him.

I turned nonchalantly to face Death Spots and he definitely looked pissed. But I didn't care. I'd figured his game out, and I'd changed the rules. He made a mad dash across the room and tried his five-hit skill again. It was sooner than I expected, but my skills had already cooled down as well. I dodged each hit and responded in between with my own three-part combo, shooting past him at the end again with Rage Spike.

I had always heard that sword-fighting and martial arts in general had a lot in common with dancing. That didn't make sense to me until now. In this deadly waltz, Death Spots had been leading me up to this point. He'd nearly gotten the better of me so many times because I had been missing the steps. But now I knew the response to each one of his movements. I had seen his dance so many times before that I had committed it to memory, and in doing so had come up with my own dance to match its tempo. And, just like that, I found the rhythm of Sword Art: Legacy.

Death Spots could no longer keep up. The spotted kobold roared in defiance from the other side of the room. He still had a bit of HP left and he told me without words that he wasn't ready to give up. He leaped backward—an action that I recognized as the start of his charge attack.

I glared back at the monster and broke into a sprint, heading straight for him. "Come on!" I challenged him.

Death Spots began to charge, and as he got closer I slung my blade over my right shoulder. Even though my sword was behind me, I could still see the bright red glow of the Sword Skill in my peripheral vision. We were about two meters apart when Death Spots lashed out with his claws, but he missed me completely as I leaped high into the air. I flew over him and somersaulted, and I drove the edge of my blade deep into the top of that disgustingly-familiar canid skull with my new Sword Skill: Sonic Leap.

I landed softly, my Coat of Midnight flapping defiantly as it fell to my ankles, and turned to see if Death Spots had any more in him. He didn't. I thought I could sense the disbelief in the monster's form as Death Spots stood still for a few moments before a blinding white light consumed him and he burst into countless polygonal shards.

"Huh," I mused, looking at the Annealed Blade in my hands. Obviously, I'd never used that Sword Skill, Sonic Leap, before now. After all, I only unlocked it a few hours ago. Even so, it felt familiar somehow…

. . .

"A-ha!" Nezumi's nasally laugh echoed throughout the tavern portion of the inn back in Tent City. "I knew ya had it in ya, kiddo!"

"Would you keep it down?" I pleaded, lowering my head. "People are staring."

"And they should! I mean, we got ourselves a genuine, bona fide badass over here!"

"I should have let that thing kill me…"

"I mean really—I knew ya were gonna beat it. Wouldn'ta told ya ta farm it if I thought otherwise. But, man, I never figured you'd turn a Named Monster into your b—"

"Ahem!" I coughed loudly as every eye in the tavern turned in my direction. "It wasn't like that. You're exaggerating."

"Am I? But the way you told the story, that mangy ol' mutt didn't stand a chance! Nya-haha!"

"I regret everything I told you. Please stop." My cheeks—no, my entire face was red at this point. Nezumi had been shouting non-stop for everyone at the inn to hear about the last four days I'd spent fighting Death Spots as though I'd just returned from some epic quest. The way she was telling it, I might as well have just killed a dragon. She made it sound like an incredible, unbelievable tale of heroism and valor. And, wouldn't you know, no one was buying it. There were some appraising looks, sure, and a few gasps of awe. But most of the people around me just gave me angry stares. I think I even heard someone say "what a showoff." Except I hadn't said a word about it. Not to them, anyway. Not to anyone except…

"Yer just bein' modest," Nezumi cooed. "Hey, everyone—three cheers for the hero Nanashi!"

Not my name! I screamed in my head. Why'd you go and give them that!?

I swiped my hand downward, whacking it on the table in the process, opened a trade window, and punched Nezumi's name into the recipient box. "How much?" I asked.

"Pardon?" Nezumi sang, batting her eyelashes.

"How much is it gonna take to shut you up? I made a lot this past week, you know."

"Aha, so he can be taught." Nezumi leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the table. "Tell ya what, kiddo. I'll do ya this solid on the house. On account of yer gallant heroics 'n' all. But let this be a lesson, y'hear? Don't go spoutin' precious info. Not ta anyone."

"Least of all to you…" I thought I said that in my head, but when I realized I'd said it out loud I looked up at Nezumi to make sure I hadn't offended her.

"Now yer gettin' it!" she said with a whiskered, ear-to-ear grin. Evidently, I had not offended her. She looked pleased—ecstatic, even—as though I'd just complimented her. "Now, down ta business. So, how'd ya do? How many levels did ya get outta the deal?"

"Nice try."

"Nya-ha!" Nezumi made a show of wiping a fake tear from the corner of her eye. "They grow up so fast… But, seriously. If ya don't wanna tell me, it's all good. Just know that if ya do, it's between us."

"…You sure?"

"Hey, now, kiddo," she said with a serious look in her eye. "All info's fair game. I'll sell anything. But I never lie. If I did I'd lose credibility with my clientele, y'know? So as long as there's an agreement made beforehand, yer secrets are safe with me. Ya dig?"

"Alright. I needed you to tell me if it was high enough, anyway."

I opened my menu and set it to be visible to others, then pushed it across the table for Nezumi to examine.

"Whoa…"

"'Whoa…?' 'Whoa' good or…?"

"Yeah, this'll do just fine, kiddo. Hmm…" Nezumi swiped her fingers upward, scrolling through my status page. "One-handed skill's comin' along nicely, too."

"Hey!" I set my window back to "private" and swatted it away. "Don't go looking through my stats!"

"Why not?" she asked innocently. "I don't see the harm, seein' as we're friends 'n' all."

"Even so, I'd rather you didn't do that without asking."

"Eh, fair enough. Ya got good instincts, kiddo. In this world, yer stats are yer life. It's like someone catalogued all yer strengths and weaknesses and put 'em in a nice little list. Anybody got their hands on that, they'd know just how ta kill ya."

All I could do was stare at Nezumi, jaw agape, eyes wide, completely dumbfounded.

"Anywho!" she said, stifling a yawn. "Ya did good, kiddo. Better go get some sleep. The raid's tomorrow."

"Yeah… Got it. You be sure to rest up, too, OK?"

"No arguments there." Nezumi waved as if to shoo me away. "Now get outta here. Get some rest. Yer gonna need it. I've got some last minute details ta sort out 'fore I hit the hay myself."

"Yeah, alright. Don't overdo it, OK?"

I left the table and headed upstairs to my room. I dropped myself on the bed, but I didn't bother closing my eyes. I opened my menu and started sifting through my items and skills. Not like I'd be able to get any sleep, anyway.

. . .