I had time and enough words today so I decided to post this second chapter of the story. Thank you Marty the Martian for editing what I wrote and thank you readers for taking the time to read this chapter.

The NPC liked the sound of a stronger opponent, but first she wanted Inataro to help upgrade her weapon. Even though it might not be needed for the battle, she figured it would be wise. After that she walked over to the town job board and asked him to undertake a small quest slaying Ten Shadow Hornets.

It was not easy for Inataro to work out why she wanted to this quest, but she smiled broadly when he agreed to go. The adventurous side trip was surprisingly fun to do when Kat and Ghost weren't around to take charge and when it was over, they eventually found their mark; a level fifteen beast. It was a four legged monster with no eyes and razor sharp, rabbit like teeth.

The NPC lined herself up and attacked, slicing at the monster's nose; her increased skills and upgraded weapon resulted in a heavy drop in the creatures health. The monster instantly retaliated by snapping its jaws at the NPC, who did a little retaliating of her own by slashed her knife at it.

Inataro could clearly see where the upgrades were helping her, for she would never have dealt so much damage to the monster without them. For the final blow, she pulled her weapon back and jabbed the monster right in the eye, making it explode into sparkling pixels. A screen appeared showing the items and Experience Points the NPC had received for defeating the Level Fifteen beast, and Inataro could not stop himself from applauding her for the achievement.

"Thank you for all your help" the NPC smiled "If it's okay with you, I'm gonna come over there and give you a great big hug."

Inataro blushed at the thought of a hug from her and although he liked the idea, a gigantic roar suddenly sounded out and spoiled the moment.

Not only was the new monsters arrival bad timing, but if it attacked Inataro and the NPC they could be wiped out because it was a very high level beast.

Opening his wings, Inataro took to the air and ascended so he could see exactly what it was he was dealing with. He soon found out he was dealing with a milky Jade coloured beast with no eyes, but large fangs and with a level so high, its numbers were red to indicate extreme danger.

If Inataro could move his body in real life, he would have hit his fist against the linoleum table top in his father's work room. He was an advocate of games having tough monsters, because it made the whole thing interesting and challenging. But only if they were in a dungeon where a player could choose to go; not in the open world where newbies could get attacked and killed without warning.

In the glare of the sun, Inataro could barely see the shadow with a blade grasped in both hands moving inevitably towards him. Without warning, he was slashed right across the chest leaving a bad wound but fortunately it didn't hurt much.

Inataro hovered as he unsheath his Katana and swung it around in the air. But his swings weren't as versatile or on par with the skills of the other swordsman and he failed to make contact with the attacker.

His enemy swordsman was having much greater luck though as Inataro was slashed three more times across the chest by his opponent's blade. The attackers move left him exposed and Inataro felt very happy to take the advantage and slash him twice across the shoulders.

The spinning move brought Inataro around into the right position to repeat the attack with even greater precision and power.

"How dare you!" The player screamed at Inataro, who was only defending himself.

"How dare I?" Inataro gasped "What did you think was going to happen when you sneaked up and slashed at me?"

"Shuddup!" the attacker yelled before striking back with a whirlwind combo that hit Inataro so hard, he almost fell into unconsciousness.

Inataro plummeted towards the ground like a meteor, unable to open his wings and fly until at last, he finally regained full consciousness and took to the air once more. To his complete surprise, when Inataro had control again he noticed the attacking player had vanished, along with the NPC he had been training. So with nothing more to be done, he cursed under his breath and flew back down to the ground.

Suddenly and without warning, some unseen person shot a fireball at the dangerous red beast lurking nearby. The monster made the usual move of retaliation by attacking the nearest player, who was unfortunately Inataro himself.

The creature dealt Inataro several heavy blows causing his health to take a dive and so like any player would in his position, he quickly used a potion to heal himself. A player can always decide for themselves whether to fight or running away, and with this kind of creature Inataro would normally make a hasty retreat. But this time he wanted to try; he wanted to push himself and get stronger.

He shot a fireball into the creatures' forehead making it rear back in pain as it raised one foot and gave a mournful groan. Then he moved quickly from side to side while swapping his blade from hand to hand, trying to confuse the dangerous monster. He then struck at the precise moment when the beast opened its mouth and tried to bite him. He managed to hit the beast, cleaving into its nostrils and then jumping back so the beast would fail in its attack.

Inataro was very pleased he was doing so extraordinarily well against a beast that had probably defeated countless numbers of players in the past.

But his pride proved to be his downfall when the beast put its head down and charged low at him, throwing Inataro upwards a few feet in the air before he fell back down.