2X2 Swords by Kirito'sDarkRepulser
A/N: I must also make a disclaimer to Ninja Gaiden which I will be using a bit in this chapter.
A/N #2: Thanks for all the support but I NEED more reviews. Thanks again for all the support anyway
This is anything which needs to be emphasised
Thisis the name of an item or equipment
This is either change of setting, the name of a skill or the name of a monster
This is the naming of anything not mentioned above except players.
Stats Update
Ryuken: Level 26: 5000HP 21 STR, 21 AGI, 6 DEF, 6 VIT
Chapter 9: Way of the Ninja
Where we left off last time
Forest of Darkness, Floor 9
Ryuken POV (I'm doing a lot of these aren't I? XD)
"Hey Ryuken-kun, would you like to gain a weapon which has the same ability of getting stronger as you get stronger?"
It seemed unrealistic that Kayaba would give me an even bigger advantage, but what could I lose even if I don't gain the item? Nothing can go wrong considering my level unless he decides to draw monsters from another floor…
I had no idea how wrong I was…
I awoke in the Forest of Darkness, a place where everything is lethal and everything is trying to kill everything. I find myself cursing Kayaba yet again because it is always his stupid offers that lead me to doing insane things. Beside the point, the Forest of Darkness is also a labyrinth.
I've been in hiding here for quite a long time, gradually getting used to the layout of the forest. I visit the main town once every few nights to gather info from Argo, the only one who knows where I am all the time. She thinks I'm insane, but I guess I would too if it wasn't for the fact that if I didn't, I'd need to sleep in town which was even worse than sleeping in a labyrinth after considering my reputation.
According to Argo, there were mixed responses to my departure from the leading group into a soloist who could probably take out a party of front-liners if he tried hard enough. Most were happy that I'd left but a vast minority also mourned for me. Not that I was dead, but if you're never seeing them again, they are sort of dead to you.
I'd also received very interesting information yesterday night from Argo. She said that a party had been wondering around in the forest and happened to stumble across the boss room. When they opened it though, they found out that the room was empty and the scouting was a failure.
After lots of pestering and spending lots of 'hard-earned money' as Argo had said, she also obtained information that there had been a screen saying that the boss was elsewhere.
Anyways, that's a summary all the things I've done for a while as well as the reason why I am here now.
Right now, something seemed wrong. I'm sure I've been here many times before. I even marked that tree with my sword. But this wasn't how I remembered the labyrinth to be. Something has changed.
Out in the distance, I saw a tiny flickering light. But this is the Forest of Darkness, there should be no light. That meant that something was happening there and I needed to check it out. My instincts fought against that decision but I couldn't help it.
I sprinted towards the light, using a new skill I recently decided to invest a bit in at the same time, Acrobatics which turned out to be pretty useful in battle as well. I swung from tree to tree, jumping across, through and over things, finally reaching the entrance of what looked like a village. The village is on fire.
I knew that this meant trouble. It always did. Kayaba probably wanted me to solo this. I drew my blades and silently sneaked inside the village gates.
Somewhere, I heard the sound of battle and quickly used my ears to reach the location. I marvelled at the sight. One ninja against a mounted spearman and a suit of armour which wielded a Two-Handed Long-Sword. It was easy to tell the ninja is losing. There is only one thing I can do.
I am SO going to regret this.
I jumped off the roof and headed straight for the spearman.
I am consumed by a white aura.
I slash both my blades outwards, forming an X.
I land on the other side of the spearman.
Soaring Phoenix.
A/N: For those of you who have played Ninja Gaiden, this is the technique Flying Swallow except with 2 swords.
Instead of shattering, the spearman implodes and leaves behind a red sphere of energy. The ninja and the suit of armour both begin summoning energy to their blades, going for the final showdown.
My gut instinct told me the ninja would lose, so there is only one solution. I just hoped it worked.
The charged, releasing all of the built up tension and energy within their weapons.
"Switch" I yelled at the ninja, hoping that the AI would understand the command.
Crimson aura clashed with sapphire aura.
An explosion.
Both blades are bodies are flung back by the force, but the suit of armour seemed to have suffered less damage.
That is alright though because that is more than enough of a decent switching opportunity.
I leapt in, unleashing Starburst Stream, followed by Savage Fulcrum and Howling Octave.
The suit of armour seemed to flinch for a split second, but instantly recovered and knocked me aside. My HP bar instantly dropped to red.
Luckily, the ninja had already recovered and currently held a blazing sphere of inferno between is palms.
He fired.
It hit.
The suit of armour shattered and disappeared.
"Thanks for your help…"
"Ryuken"
"Ryuken. I'm Ryu Hayabusa, I believe you do not have a reason to be here despite your presence here right now. Please wait for me to finish my work before I attend to you."
He then summoned a load of water from the lake nearby and dumped all of it onto the village, putting the fire out. He fainted after that.
Time Skip: 2 Days Later
I must admit, I'm definitely not the best caretaker in the world, but somehow I managed to make sure Ryu didn't die. All that I did was give him the occasional potion even though NPCs can't exactly die.
By the end of the 2nd night, Ryu finally woke up with a jolt.
"How many survivors?"
"Roughly 10"
Ryu was silenced, as if he was thinking about whether that was good or bad. Personally, I thought that was very un-NPC like.
"How long have I been out?"
"Close to fifty hours. I don't know what food to give you so I assumed that potions would do."
"It's okay. But how can I repay you?"
"What do you mean, I simply helped a person in need."
"No, you don't understand. That… fiend. He is only one of the many leaders, there are many more, any one of them could have attacked, even if they were low in the ranks. Your presence deterred them. Even though you aren't extremely strong considering your weapon of choice, you seem to have a fighting style which no one in this world is used to and they are smart enough to know only to enter battle when they know what's in their opponent's arsenal."
I was slightly shocked by his explanations.
"So… that guy wasn't the strongest one?"
"No, not far based on rankings, but way off based on ability."
A shiver instantly travelled up my spine. Way off. Exactly how strong were these people?
"Besides the point, we need to slay all the fiends in the area and rebuild the clan. Will you help?"
This NPC was definitely giving me a quest.
"Sure"
"Okay, to help, we will need to train you so that you are strong enough to fight off the fiends."
I am now sure of it. No quest ever trained you beforehand. So Ryu isn't a normal NPC, he seems to be able to think for himself. But he isn't a player either, nor a GM because if he was either of those, I should be able to see the cursor showing his status as well as his HP bar. I then remembered something important that I needed to ask.
"Um… you know about this world from my perspective right?"
"You mean that this is the floating castle Aincrad? Yes"
"No, well yes, but that to me, this is inside a game called Sword Art Online yes?"
"Mmhmm"
"But there isn't any magic in Sword Art Online"
"Ah, that wasn't magic. That was ninpo."
Ninpo? What on earth is that?
"What's ninpo?"
"Ninpo can also be used in what you call reality if you train yourself to that extent but it is believed that human life is too short in order to do that. It involves gathering up your own spiritual energy and using it to control the elements"
"So like the characters in Naruto?"
He didn't understand. Then I realised, this NPC is too human to be an NPC. As if Kayaba Akihiko designed this NPC to be a player. So I asked.
"Um… Hayabusa-san, ignore my rudeness, but what type of program are you?"
"An NPC who has developed self-awareness?"
"An NPC who has developed self-awareness? Please explain."
"I'm probably more of a player than an NPC. After all, I also have emotions as well as what you call a Level and Sword Skills."
That just confused me even more.
"So, please ignore my rudeness yet again, but what level are you?"
"Um… 200"
I was stumped. Why on earth would Kayaba create an NPC who is level 200?
"So… what do you plan on teaching me?"
"1. How to fight PROPERLY
2. Ninpo
3. If I approve of your strength after training, you will also receive an extra weapon."
He opened a menu which NO NPC should be able to do and requested a duel with me.
"I need to know how good you are before I start training you to not teach you things which are either too easy or too hard."
I looked at the duel conditions:
Time Limit: None
Duel Mode: First Attack
Participants: Ryuken (Player), Ryu Hayabusa (NPC)
Do you accept?
I pressed yes, and the countdown began.
10 minutes later
Blade of Dragon Scales
In an instant, my opponent was behind me and I had lost the duel. Of those 9 minutes, 8 of them were spent trying to defend against his relentless attacks. It didn't matter that it was 2 swords against one, his swordsmanship was far superior. Not only that, but he strategically put distance between us while using shuriken to keep me at bay by performing an impossible manoeuvre.
"I'm impressed."
What?
"Considering your gear, you actually fight quite well."
I looked at my gear:
Black Cloak of Midnight
2 Anneal Blades
Leather Shirt
Leather Pants
Black Leather Sandals
Black Shirt
Black Shorts
Pretty much all of it is what I've been using since the first floor boss battle.
"But you need a better weapon than that…"
And so I received 2 new weapons of the same description: Extra Stat Boosts:
Shinobi Katana +0
Long Sword / One Hand
Range: Short/Medium
Type: Slash/Stab
Attack: 50
Durability: 200
Weight: 50
Required Level: 25
Required Strength: 20
Strength +10
Agility +10
Attack Speed +5
Source: Unknown
"I am supposed to give you a quest called Quest for the Dragon Sword after training you assuming I approve of your strength. If you complete the quest, though no one has, you will receive another quest called Dragon' Sword's Awakening there is a rumour that you will obtain the True Dragon Sword which is said to be unrivalled in strength if you compete the 2nd quest."
I smiled. Maybe going into exile wasn't such a bad thing after all. With that thought in mind, the training began.
A/N: I ended up not explaining the preview because that will be explained in the next chapter
A/N #2: Sorry for those readers who think I'm making my protagonist too powerful.
A/N #3: Do me a favour, tell me how I'm going by clicking the review button
Until next time,
Kirito'sDarkRepulser