Yusuke glared balefully at his opponent. His grip tightened on the sword he held.
"You're holding it wrong," Hiei griped from behind him.
Yusuke turned one brown eye towards the fire-demon. "Who the fuck cares?" he hissed. "This whole thing is just shit!"
Angrily, he swung his sword towards his opponent. There was a satisfying squish sound and then a musical chime rang out. Yusuke's opponent burst into a shower of light before vanishing.
"Congratulations," Hiei drawled, his voice as dry as the Australian outback. "You killed your first slime."
Yusuke turned to fix him with a sour glare. "This game is stupid," he complained. "Why can't I just use my fists?"
"Because that's against the rules," Hiei informed him. He stood with his arms crossed, a smug air radiating off him like a dark cloud of smoke. Sheathed at his hip was a traditional katana, a virtual copy of the sword he used in real life.
This game was right up Hiei's alley. It was no wonder that he'd taken to it like a duck to water when Kuwabara had talked him into trying the demo version.
They were now playing the final version, the one that had just been released for the public. This was Yusuke's first time playing the game. He wasn't particularly impressed with it so far. The virtual reality system it ran on was a novel experience but the gameplay didn't appeal to Yusuke. He didn't much care for swords.
Swords was what this game was all about. Each player chose a weapon, which had to be some kind of sword, when they started the game. To Yusuke's disappointment, custom avatars hadn't been allowed. Each player's in-game appearance was identical to their real-world appearance in almost every way.
So Hiei still looked like his short, grouchy self.
Thankfully for the sake of Yusuke's pride, he wasn't the only beginner amongst their little group. Kurama had also been talked into trying out the game. Kuwabara had taken him off somewhere for his own tutorial. Yusuke was glad of that, especially once he'd learned just how difficult this game was. It was bad enough that he looked like an idiot in front of Hiei. But looking like an idiot in front of Kuwabara and Kurama as well would be too much for his manly pride to take. Particularly if Kurama picked things up quickly, which he probably would, the bastard.
Yusuke heard the tell-tale slop-slop-slop of another slime approaching through the grass from behind him. He turned to face the newcomer.
It was small and green, with two beady yellow eyes and a round, gaping mouth. It left a slimy trail of flattened grass behind it as it hopped towards Yusuke and Hiei.
Yusuke could have just stomped on it but that wasn't in the game's rules. He'd already tried it. The slime had remained flat like a pancake for about 5 seconds before popping up again to resume it's 'attack'.
It couldn't hurt him, not really. Yusuke was still on level 1 but the slimes were meant to be used as practice for new players. This was a safe place where they could work on their techniques and learn the rules of the game without fear of penalties.
Hiei was speaking again but Yusuke ignored him. He swung his sword at the slime, catching it in mid-jump. He sliced it clean in two, both halves glittering before vanishing.
The EXP gained from his kill was negligible. If he spent all day here he might be able to reach level 2 but that was unlikely. His patience wouldn't hold out for that long.
"You're hopeless," Hiei sighed. "How do you expect to kill anything decent with such sloppy swordsmanship?"
"Look, I'm just here for the girls in skimpy costumes," Yusuke said. "You guys can do all the fighting for once."
He shoved his sword back into it's sheath. It slid in with a satisfying clunk. The battle stats that had been interposed over Yusuke's vision vanished. Now that he'd sheathed his weapon, the slimes would not attack him. Hiei had informed him that most low-level enemies worked in the same manner but the higher level monsters would attack whether you were holding a weapon or not.
"Let's go find Kuwabara and Kurama," he said. He was curious to see just how well Kurama was doing under Kuwabara's tutelage.
Hiei nodded and turned, starting to make his way further into the meadow. The virtual sun shone down on them, warming Yusuke's skin. He was surprised to realise that he was sweating, though none of this was supposed to be real.
Hiei looked unaffected by the heat, his black clothes still dry. His cloak was gone. He wore black linen pants and a loose black sleeveless shirt in it's place. Yusuke suspected that if a cloak had been one of the clothing options, Hiei would have taken it.
Yusuke wore comfortable pants like Hiei's, though his were dark green in colour. Over those he wore a shirt and vest. The sword was a heavy weight on his hip. It felt as though it might drag him down. He was very much unaccustomed to it.
Hiei looked totally comfortable though, as if he were perfectly at home in this alien world. Had he taken to it naturally or had that come with time? He and Kuwabara had been playing this game for two months already.
Luckily for Yusuke and the other beginners logging on today, the demo participants' stats had all been cleared with the official launch of the game. They had to start from the beginning, just like everyone else. But everything they had learned already would give them a huge advantage.
Hiei seemed to know exactly where he was going. He weaved around other players, some alone and some clumped together in small groups.
Yusuke deliberately stepped on a stray slime, pressing it down flat into the grass with his boot before continuing. It made a satisfying squishing sound. Those things were bloody annoying.
Through some telepathic link or a game mechanic Yusuke wasn't aware of, Hiei led him to where Kuwabara and Kurama were practicing. They walked into a copse of trees and located them in a small clearing.
Instead of fighting slimes, Kurama was attacking glowing green spiders that dropped out of the canopy to flail at him with long, spindly legs. Kurama spun gracefully in the middle of the clearing, looking as though he were dancing, not fighting.
Yusuke stopped at the edge of the clearing to admire Kurama. He'd chosen a traditional Chinese outfit like the ones he'd preferred during the Dark Tournament. The flowing garment didn't hamper him in any way. His long red hair was tied back into a ponytail. His sword was an elegant rapier, which seemed to suit him.
The clearing looked magical as the spiders transformed into glittering squares, gravity briefly taking hold of them before they faded. Kurama was surrounded by those beautiful sparks of death. The chiming noise, faint since Yusuke wasn't involved in the fighting, was one long, sweet, continuous note.
Yusuke was jealous. It wasn't fair. How could Kurama take to this so easily? This was his first time playing. He'd always said that he preferred strategy games to fighting games. Was Kuwabara that good a teacher?
Kuwabara stood on the other side of the clearing, looking impressed. His clothes resembled Yusuke's, though he didn't wear a vest. Instead, his shirt was tucked loosely into his pants. His sword was slung across his back. It was massive and too heavy to carry on his hip. He had to use both hands to wield it.
The last spider vanished and Kurama lowered his sword. He looked to Kuwabara, his expression expectant.
Kuwabara clapped enthusiastically. "You've got it," he said. "That was brilliant."
"I went up a level, too," Kurama said, looking pleased with himself.
"What level are you?" Yusuke asked curiously.
Kurama graced him with a welcoming smile as he sheathed his thin blade. "Three," he said.
"Fuck. I'm still at one," Yusuke grumbled.
"We should party up," Kuwabara suggested. "If someone makes a kill, then we all get a portion of the EXP."
Hiei looked like he was about to be sick. "No," he said. "I prefer to play alone."
"That's stupid," Kuwabara objected. "You'll go up levels faster in the beginning but eventually you'll need to join a party. There are some enemies that are too dangerous to fight alone. You know that."
Kurama had tilted his head in Kuwabara's direction, his face pensive. Yusuke could just imagine his brain soaking up the new information, keeping it for later use. Or later exploitation. Just how valuable would Kurama's clever, strategic mind be for them? Though this was a fighting game, Yusuke was sure that Kurama could fox out the loopholes to give them an advantage.
Hiei scoffed at Kuwabara's words, sticking his nose up in the air. "I don't need any help," he said. "And I'm sick of babysitting." He turned and strode purposefully back into the trees.
"Yeah, just wait until you get to the Unearthly Grounds," Kuwabara muttered to his retreating back. "I bet you don't last two seconds."
"He'll be back," Yusuke said with confidence.
"Yes. He does show up when he's needed," Kurama agreed. "But, in the meantime, we should work on our own levels."
"How'd you do?" Kuwabara asked Yusuke. He joined Kurama in the clearing. The shade provided by the trees cooled the air of the clearing. Yusuke leaned against a tree trunk, feeling the bark dig into his back.
"Not that great," he admitted sheepishly.
"It's only your first day," Kurama said encouragingly. "You are unfamiliar with the use of a sword as well. I'm sure you'll pick it up soon."
"Yeah. We'll stick to the low-level areas for now," Kuwabara said. "I'm still on level 1 as well."
"Do you know of a suitable dungeon?" Kurama asked him.
"There's one in the meadow but I think everyone will be going there," Kuwabara said. "We're not going to find anything good there. But there's another called the 'Rabbit Hole'. It's a small dungeon but there's some good loot there. The tricky part is getting there. The enemies in the dungeon are low-level but some of the enemies in the surrounding field have special properties that make them hard to beat if you don't know what you're doing."
"I wonder if that is where Hiei went," Kurama said.
"Sounds like a good place to start," Yusuke said. Hopefully there wouldn't bee too many other players around to witness his dismal swordsmanship.
"How do we form a party?" Kurama asked.
A moment later, a window popped up in the corner of Yusuke's vision. "Player Kuwabara has sent a party request. Accept / Reject?"
Yusuke was about to ask how to accept the request when he saw Kurama raise his finger in the air. Yusuke tried to do the same thing, placing his fingertip over the word 'Accept'. There was a low ping and the window vanished. Immediately after, he saw Kuwabara's and Kurama's health bars appear beneath his own. Kuwabara was, as he'd said earlier, still on level 1 with full health. Kurama's health had dipped by a small percentage but he was on level 3. Yusuke's own bar mirrored Kuwabara's.
"All done," Kuwabara said in satisfaction.
Kuwabara led the way, clearly chuffed to be the one in charge for once. Kurama followed, steps light and eager. His eyes roved around them, drinking in the scenery. Occasionally he would reach out to touch a leaf or branch. Yusuke walked behind him, his hand resting on his sword hilt and his ears trained for any sound. He would only hear what the game wanted him to hear, however. At the moment that was the rustling of leaves and the twitter of bird song. Sometimes he would catch a sort of scrabbling noise from up in the canopy. He guessed that was the spiders, but they seemed to be obeying the same rules as the slimes did. They wouldn't attack unless someone in the party drew their weapon.
They broke from the trees and back into the meadow. Kuwabara began walking in the direction of the portal, the glowing blue structure clearly visible even from this distance.
"We've got to go back to town," he explained to Kurama and Yusuke. "The Rabbit Hole isn't in this field."
It felt to Yusuke as though they were heading out on another mission for Koenma. He hoped that this one would go better than Spirit World's jobs usually did.