Hollow Shadows Ch. 12

Kohr

Kohr looked at Kirito with a smile as the duel ended. Kohr deactivated the virtual room and the training center. He turned towards the door to see Chelsea and Volkatz standing in the doorway.

"How long have you two been standing there?"

"Long enough, Kohr. Long enough."

"Dibs on next round with Kirito."

"Volkatz, you can't beat him. He's way out of your league."

"I think the fact that I've beaten you to a standstill as well qualifies me as sparring material for the famed black swordsman."

"I don't think that you-"

"It's ok Kohr. I'd be happy to spar with him."

"Hm. He's your problem now."

Kohr moved out of the way as Volkatz ran past him, hammer in hand and a grin on his face. Kohr walked over to the door and sent the duel rules to Kirito. He exited the room and brushed past Chelsea who had been watching them for a while, specifically Kohr. As Kohr walked past he turned around to see that her gaze had followed him.

"Is there something I can help you with, Chelsea?"

"Uhhhh no! No. Nothing at all. I'm perfectly fine thank you. I was just looking at your muscles- I mean your skills- I mean nothing. I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

Kohr watched as the flustered girl rushed past him into the room he had designed for her and shut the door. He grinned as he realized that she was close to falling for him. Or so he hoped. He still couldn't get to far from the mission at hand. Laughing Coffin could easily have tracked them to their location, and just as easily infiltrated the fortress. Kohr sat down at the console to resolve this problem. After pressing a couple buttons, the walls and hallways in the mansion began to shift and change; making it seem more and more like a labyrinth than a bunch of halls. Several of the hallways led to dead ends with death traps at the end of them. Others led back to the entrance of the mansion. While only one path led to the chamber he was sitting in. No one could ever get past his death traps. Kohr sat back and watched the halls change after every minute. And to think that he had done all this. It astounded even himself. Kohr looked up at the monitors and caught a glimpse a dark robe outside one of his hiding places for special materials. One of his rarest material sites in fact. But just as quickly as the figure appeared, it was gone. Kohr looked at the site suspiciously, and decided, against his better judgement, that he would investigate the anomaly. He picked up his sword, equipped his best armor; a set of red, black, and gold armor labeled Rogue Shadow, and headed out for the entrance. He figured that the group wouldn't miss him for too long. As he walked through the empty halls, he remembered how boring his life was before he met Kirito, who seemed to add a little spice of life whenever he tried to converse with him. However, he couldn't forget Volkatz. As much as he didn't like him, he was one of his best friends, who had been there since third grade. His thoughts soon drifted to Chelsea as he exited the building. The doors sealed shut behind him as he wandered off along the edge of the pit, towards a small teleport crystal. It wasn't too far, and when he reached it, it took him to the place he wanted: the top of the void. Kohr continued on towards the dungeon inside of the mountain, where his hidden stash lay. As he walked, he kept thinking about Chelsea, and he was practically in love with her. There was no denying it. He was truly in love with her. She was smart, strong, athletic, and unlike Kohr, she seemed so secure. He thought about the way she flips her hair when she gets flustered, and how she can change someone's mood in an instant. How her gear shows off her curves, and how she wields her rapier with more skill than he could imagine. These thoughts buried Kohr in his mind, that he didn't see the figure standing right behind him. It grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him to the ground. Kohr looked up in shock as the member of laughing coffin pulled out a small dagger, and jabbed it into his arm he pulled out another dagger, and stabbed it into his other arm, and pulled out two more for his legs. While they didn't do much damage, they had to of been laced with paralysis poison or something, because after they were in his limbs, Kohr couldn't move an inch. He looked up to see three more members of Laughing Coffin appear from the trees. The all pulled out small axe-like hatchets and began hacking away at Kohr. His legs, his arms, his neck, his body, everything. The whole time they were doing this, they were laughing, maniacally, possibly at how stupid Kohr was for not paying attention, but most likely because they had found an easy victim. Kohr's health was being depleted like a rock falling off a cliff. Kohr squirmed and squirmed, trying to escape, each attempt bringing him closer to freedom and at the same time closer to death. He finally managed to break off one of the daggers in his arm, and quickly knocked a side one of the axe wielders, while the other three axe wielders continued hacking at Kohr as he stood up. Kohr punched one of the men in the face, knocking him on his back, and then punching the other two so hard in the gut, they doubled over like they were about to be sick. He pulled the other two daggers out of his right leg and left arm, huffing and puffing from his near death experience. His health was at less than 500 points. That was over 98% of his health gone. Kohr dashed over a rock begin to find cover, and kept running from the death guild. They followed after him in quick pursuit, always on his heels and never giving him time to rest. They were getting closer and closer. Closer. Closer. Closer. And suddenly, Kohr tripped. Of all the stupid, retarded, and dumbest things to do! He tripped! Kohr got to his feet and turned around and with what strength he had left, and pulled out his sword. Unfortunately, it wasn't much strength, because the weight of the sword caused his knees to buckle and fall to the ground again.

"Well... The warrior decides to face his fears like a man. What a pity he won't be able to see the looks on his friends faces when they find out that he's dead. Hahahahaha!"

"You have no idea who you're dealing with."

Kohr noticed the lack of strength even in his voice. He was practically gasping for breath in between words.

"Really? Well that's ok. We'll have plenty time to figure it out when we slaughter your friends. First the black swordsman. Next that weakling smithy, and finally, that cute little girl who f#%ked with our plans in the first place!"

"Don't you dare lay a finger on her! Do you hear me?!"

"Oh yeah. We hear you. We're just ignoring you."

"You... Heartless... Mindless... Gutless... Motherf#%kers!"

"What the hell?"

Kohr's mind lit up with the desire to protect his friends, a fire that burned brighter than a nuclear explosion, and jumped up out of pure hatred and rage. He bashed the hilt of his sword into the face of the nearest LC member and sent him reeling backwards. It didn't do much in the way of damage, but it definitely got his point across.

"What the hell has gotten into you?"

"You know boys. It's ok to feel fear. Because now you know who your god is. And he's right here! And he's fresh out of mercy."

Kohr brought his sword up to his shoulder thrust it with all his might through the first LC member in front of him, dragging it though his body and slicing though the member behind him. Kohr easily dodged a panicked attack from the third member and cut off his arms leaving him defenseless. He turned around and jabbed his sword into the ground and summoned up three different Named Monsters. All three were about the same level as Kohr, meaning it would only take them less than a few seconds to finish the members of LC. He turned around and began to walk away, when he heard the player whose arms were cut off cry out to Kohr.

"Please! If you spare my life, I'll tell you where PoH can be found! I know he wants you dead and I know you want revenge! Please! Let me live!"

"Hmmmm… Alright. Tell me where he's hiding and I'll let you go."

"Thank you! He's hiding out in a base cave not too far from here. It's on the map under a secret entrance, but when you get there, there isn't an entrance. Do you know where?"

"Yes I do. Thank you for your cooperation. Now in vengeance for all of the innocent people you killed, die."

Kohr signaled for the NM to take him out. Kohr turned and left as the monster finished his dirty work. Kohr pulled out a healing potion and healed himself of all damage, restoring his strength and stamina. He started walking back, when felt a pair of extra eyes staring at him from behind a bush to his right. He turned and pounced on the player, drawing his sword in the process. He quickly realized his mistake and sheathed it as fast as he could when he realize the person he jumped on was none other than Chelsea.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Chelsea! I didn't mean to jump you!"

"You know Kohr that was pretty reckless of you."

"What?"

"Going off on your own like that. Now that laughing coffin is after us we should travel in groups."

"Oh right. Yeah."

"You know that was pretty brave of you. Sticking up for us like that. For me specifically. I really admire that in a guy."

"Oh. Y-you really think so?"

"Yeah. I also would admire it if you knew when to stop being so stupid!"

Chelsea stood up and slapped Kohr in the face. He looked at her for a moment too stunned to speak when she suddenly wrapped him up in a hug. He stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do.

"Well? Are you going to hug me back or what you idiot?!"

"Oh! Right."

"God. You always ruin every moment Kohr. That's kind of what I like about you. You're so funny when you don't know how to react. You act like a list puppy sometimes."

"You... Like... Me?"

"Yeah... A little. But don't let it go to your head."

Chelsea turned away from Kohr and started walking away. Kohr could swear that there was a bit of a mischievous skip to her walk. When they arrived back at the fortress, Kohr knew that he was going to have a fun time explaining all of this to Volkatz and Kirito. There goes nothing.

(Author's Note)

So as I begin the finale of this arc, I wanted a couple more chances to develop the relationship between Chelsea and Kohr, and in the last 4 upcoming chapters, a chance to develop Volkatz as a character and a little more of the fortress Kohr "created". Lastly, I have attached two more extras I have written. I hope you enjoy them!

How did you-? Muffin button.

Volkatz looked at Kohr in awe and wonder. Kohr licked his lips.

"Mmmmmm. Smells like their almost done,"

Volkatz looked as though he were about slug Kohr in the gut.

"Are you using my forge to bake a motherf**king MUFFIN?!"

"Yep."

Volkatz's look was priceless. He was about ready to kill Kohr himself, before stopped and a look of complete and utter confusion covered his countenance.

"Where did you GET that muffin?"

"The muffin button in your shop."

"But I don't have a muffin button."

"Huh. Then where did I get this muffin?"

"That's what I'm asking you!"

"Then that means... I got it from...…..."

"...yes?"

"Muffin button."

"GODDAMMIT KOHR!"

Kohr was walking along a path in the Hollow Area, when he reached a clearing in the forest. In the middle of the clearing, sat a stone tablet. That's not suspicious at all. Kohr walked into the center of the clearing, and a boss appeared, to protect the stone tablet. Its name was unknown, as well as its stats and level. But Kohr wasn't concerned. He whipped out his sword, and stabbed it into the ground, cleaving the ground like it was butter. A skeletal hand grasped at the edge of the chasm, and pulled itself up. It clattered its teeth together, and several more skeletal hands grabbed the edge. Nine more skeletons clawed their way to the Hollow Area, and ripped off a rib as a sword. While they weren't the most effective warriors in terms of strategy, their sheer strength and defense were overwhelming. Kohr charged the beast in front while the other skeletons attacked from all sides. I slashed with my sword, and took out a decent chunk of the monster's health. Kohr swung his sword behind him, and his sword began to glow bright, vibrant white.

Kohr activated his ultimate skill, and began the motions. The boss' health ran down so far, by the time Kohr was done, he didn't even need the skeletons. Kohr stood back and watched the skeletons annihilate the Unknown Boss. After he was dead, an item appeared in his inventory. Kohr laughed when he looked at the name. He equipped it and pushed the button. And that was when a muffin appeared in his hands.

"So there I was, surrounded by Orc Generals-"

"They were boars."

"-and there were forty of them-"

"There were four."

"-and I was almost in the red zone of my health-"

"He was in the green the whole time."

"-and I jumped up in the air-"

"He ran away screaming."

"-and landed one sword blow and killed them all!"

"I jumped in and saved him."

"Isn't that right, Volkatz?!"

"No, Noah. You fucked up."

"SEE?! It's all true..."

"What the fuck are you on, Noah?! AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY-"

"Muffin Button."

"GOD DAMMIT NOAH!"

Volkatz was in a bit of a pinch. He was running out of time for the quest, and he had to defeat a boss, but he couldn't even reach the boss yet. That's when a dark shadow with a huge sword leapt out of nowhere. It landed in the center of the monster mob, dealing an AoE skill against all of the monsters, killing them in one hit. Kohr turned to look at Volkatz, and smiled.

"Hey Volkatz!"

"How did you-"

"Muffin Button."

"God...dammit...Noah."

"Well, shall I help you?"

"No."

"Alrighty then! Let's go!"

"Do you ever listen to me?"

"Nope!"

"Damn you..."

Kohr and Volkatz continued travelling towards a dungeon boss room, and when they reached it, Kohr pushed open the doors and walked in. The boss appeared in no time, and Kohr wasted no time in activating his ultimate skill, and almost killing the boss in one hit. Kohr grabbed the boss in his arms and yelled-

"Full Nelson!"

"Noah! Stop trying to be Goku?"

"What's Goku? Some kind of food?"

"Dammit Noah!"

"Just kill him already."

"I'll hurt you."

"Whatever."

"Fine! Not my problem anyways."

Volkatz slammed his hammer into Kohr and the monster, killing the monter and Kohr.

"What the fuck?! Did I just kill him?!"

"Nope."

"How the hell did you get behind me?"

"Muffin Button."

"GOD DAMMIT NOAH!"

Dinner at Brusque Works

After Kohr literally buried him in a mountain of materials, which hurt like hell on a side note, Volkatz reluctantly invited them all to dinner. Kirito generously accepted his offer, and Kohr just smiled at Volkatz with a crazy countenance. Volkatz shivered at the look, but went into the back room to change from his forge gear to his casual looks, as well as to go upstairs and set up his dining table for guests. Volkatz always kept the upstairs clean for guests, even if his own room was a complete tornado. Volkatz walked up the steps with Kirito and Kohr following behind him.

Thanks to the two of them, Volkatz was able to prepare dinner much faster, and within ten minutes dinner was ready. As they all dug into the food, it was Kohr who started the dinner conversation.

"So-"

"No."

"I'm sorry, what was that, Volkatz?"

"I said no. We are not having another Senior dinner party."

"What the hell, Volkatz?! I haven't said anything yet!"

"I will not have you fuck up my house. Let alone my dining room."

"Umm... Volkatz, can I interject?"

"What is it Kirito?"

"What am I missing here?"

"Ok, so when Noah and I were in high school back in America-"

"NO VOLKATZ! We are not going through the story in front of Kirito!"

"Bitch this is my house, and these are my rules. Shut the fuck up. Anyway, as I was saying-"

"Luke! Last chance! I. Said. NO!"

"You cannot tell me what I can and can't do in my own house! Any way Kirito, Noah and I were seniors in high school when we went to dinner with the other seniors of our class."

"That's it! I'm not listening to you anymore!"

Kohr grabbed a handful of food from the table and threw it at Volkatz. Volkatz retaliated in kind with his drink. In less than two seconds, it turned into an all-out food fight between the two.

Kohr picked up a long piece of bread, and held it like his two handed sword. Volkatz picked up a long carving knife and pointed it at Kohr. Volkatz rushed Kohr and swung his carving knife at the loaf of bread. Kohr rolled out of his way and picked up a serving platter and deflected another blow from the knife. Using the breadstick, Kohr knocked the knife out of Volkatz's hand. Volkatz fled to the other side of the table and picked up a handful of candies and began throwing them at him one by one, slowly advancing on him all the while, until he was able to kick the bread from his hand and tackle him to the ground. Kohr bashed the platter over Volkatz's head and launched him over Kohr's head. Volkatz slammed his head against the wall, getting up groggily as Kohr began throwing whole plates of food at him. Volkatz darted from side to side, dodging most of the food. Right when he was directly in front of Kohr, Kohr brought his hand up and signaled a pause. Volkatz lowered his hands, as Kohr swung his other hand to Volkatz's face with a pie. Kohr started laughing maniacally and started rolling on the floor, as Volkatz's face became red with fury. Volkatz grabbed another pie off of the table and smashed it against Kohr's face.

Now it was Volkatz's turn to laugh maniacally, as Kohr now looked like a mall Santa with all of the whipped cream on his face. Kohr and Volkatz heard a small snicker come from the corner of the room, which escalated to a giggle, and then to all out laughter. The two looked over to find Kirito clutching his gut as he had tears rolling down his cheeks from laughing so hard, and he was wheezing as he could barely catch his breath. Volkatz and Kohr looked at the table to see one last pie, and they grinned knowing what to do with it. Kohr blocked the door as Volkatz picked up the pie and slowly walked toward Kirito, who was totally oblivious to what was happening. The last Kirito saw was a silver pie plate accelerating towards his face before whipped cream pasted the front of his face.