First of all, thank you for your patience. As I mentioned on my Tumblr, I really needed to take a bit of a break a few days after the last chapter went up due to some real-life issues. Everything should be fine now, but I will be slowing down this story from its twice-a-month schedule. Going twice-a-month is too much for me to keep up in this state, and going once-a-month will be much too slow, so… let's go for once every three weeks and see how things go from there. Depending on how it goes we'll adjust the schedule accordingly.
Second of all, for the second year in a row… I admit I did not plan for this, I admit this was not scheduled like this or anything for this purpose… but considering what day of the year it is: happy birthday, Shirokane Rinko!
Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party, nor do I, in any way, shape, or form, intend to pretend that I do.
"There is a beginner manual in your inventory that should answer most of your questions," Amber Moon began, and Rinko took the opportunity to look through her items. True to Moon's words, Rinko saw the manual that the more experienced player was talking about. Before Rinko could open the manual and start reading its contents, however, Moon's voice was blasting through Rinko's headphones again.
"But you are not a beginner when it comes to games, so a lot of what that manual has to say is likely to be redundant. You have already shown that you know how to move around and activate your skills in a combat situation, after all. If there is anything more specific you want to know about, I will do my best to answer them."
After thanking Moon for their willingness to support her, Rinko took her time reading through the manual despite the veteran player's warning. Sure enough, Rinko quickly learned that Moon was right: the majority of the manual was written to help the absolute beginners get started in the game. At this point, Rinko did not think studying how to use a healing potion or open her menu would be very helpful.
There was one thing the manual told Rinko that quickly caught her eye, however.
"Moon-san? Can you tell me more about the avatar's colors?" Rinko asked, moving the manual to the side of her screen so it would not obstruct her view of the rest of the world, "It does not help Silver Kite very well."
"Yes, the manual only helps players whose avatars are red, blue, green, yellow, or purple. Fortunately for me, Amber Moon falls under the yellow category. Unfortunately for you, Silver Kite falls outside any of the five I just mentioned," Amber Moon explained, and Rinko, despite knowing that Moon would not be able to see her, bobbed her head in understanding, "Studying the strengths and weaknesses of the other colors will not help you understand Silver Kite, but it is still imperative you do so. It will give you an advantage over them should you be forced to engage an avatar of that color in battle, giving you the knowledge of their weaknesses while yours are not as obvious."
Rinko voiced her understanding, realizing that Moon had a point in that regard. At the same time, Rinko couldn't help but notice that Moon chose to ignore the fact that Moon had dragged Rinko into a fight with an avatar of a well-explained color only minutes ago.
"I will start with yellow-colored avatars. As a yellow-colored avatar myself, I know the most about them," Moon explained, motioning towards their avatar as the words reached Rinko's ears, "Yellow-colored avatars are well-known for their strength in indirect attacks, mainly in the forms of illusions. Therefore, the general player views us as nothing more than a supportive archetype, but that does not mean that we cannot attack other players."
"The two most common offensive colors here in Lilac Blaze are red and blue," Moon continued without skipping a beat, "Red avatars pride themselves in their ability to attack from long-range, further than any other color can. Blue avatars, on the other hand, are strong in close-range battles."
"Purple, being in the middle of red and blue in the color spectrum, have strengths in both close-range and long-range battles, making them particularly annoying to deal with," Moon paused for a moment, Rinko assuming to catch their breath, before they picked up where they left off, "Thankfully for every other color, purple-colored avatars pay for their high offensive levels with nonexistent defensive capabilities. Even a newly-created avatar can deal a significant amount of damage to the most defensively-built, high-leveled purple-colored avatars."
"And finally, we have the green-colored avatars, who have effectively nonexistent offensive firepower in exchange for durability and survivability. Dealing a significant amount of damage to these avatars is a challenge in and of itself," Moon finished their explanation with a soft-but-still-audible grunt. The game's voice changer doing little to prevent Rinko from hearing the disdain and annoyance in Moon's voice.
Rinko made a quick mental note to not talk about or bring up green-colored avatars around Moon in the foreseeable future.
"Then there are two more colors, or lack thereof in one case depending on one's definition of what it means to be a color: black and white," Moon wrapped up their explanation with a soft sigh, "There are not that many avatars of either color, but from what I have seen… white colors seem to be focused on cleansing debuffs and healing their allies. Black colors, on the other hand, are high-speed agility-based avatars, either increasing their own speed or decreasing their opponent's."
"I should also probably say that while these rules hold in place, for the most part, it does not mean that an avatar is landlocked in only one fighting style," Moon warned Rinko, though based on the shift in Moon's tone Rinko wondered who Moon was actually directing this warning at, "It is not uncommon to see players try a different fighting style to branch out and try to gain an advantage. Do not be surprised to see a red-colored avatar move in close or a blue-colored avatar trying to attack from far away. As a matter of fact, for yellow, green, and white-colored avatars we are forced to do this because our strengths do not lie in offensive skills, to begin with."
"What about Silver Kite?" Rinko asked after taking in all the knowledge Moon had just dumped on her. When she didn't receive a response right away, Rinko tried to elaborate, "I mean… I understand learning about the other colors is important… but shouldn't I also learn about myself?"
"To be perfectly honest with you, there is a reason why you are unable to find your avatar's color in the manual," Moon began her explanation after a momentary pause, a pause Rinko assumed was used to think of the right words to say, "Silver Kite… your existence in this game is a unique one."
"W-What do you mean, Moon-san?" Rinko blurted out as soon as she processed what Moon had just told her. Swallowing back the fear that creeped up out of her throat, Rinko pushed herself to voice her biggest concern, "Does that mean I am… bad?"
"No, nothing like that; quite the opposite, actually," Moon replied immediately after Rinko asked her the question. Before Rinko could ask Moon what the more experienced player meant, the answer was already given to her, "Silver Kite is one of only a handful of other avatars who are metal-colored."
"…Excuse me?"
"Instead of being a color whose entire features are pre-determined by the game, metal-colored avatars like Silver Kite will have their properties determined based on the metal they are based on," Moon explained in a much gentler tone, having picked up on Rinko's fears and choosing to reassure the newer player. After taking a small pause, Moon picked up where they left off, "In other words, knowing what silver's properties are will be what determines how well you can use this character."
"So all I need is to memorize silver's properties…" Rinko repeated what she had just been told, more to make sure that she had heard Moon correctly. Unfortunately for Rinko, she was speaking just a little too loud for her words to only reach her eyes.
"That is correct. I have already pulled up the information on silver's properties in advance," Moon's voice blasting through Rinko's headset almost caused the keyboardist to scream in surprise. Rinko managed to keep her voice from leaving her throat and, as she scrambled up from the floor, Rinko was extremely grateful that Lilac Blaze did not have a video call function.
"Silver… Silver… this says that the metal is very ductile and malleable, with very high values for both thermal and electrical conductivity… that might be a problem," Moon muttered as Rinko went through her chemistry notes to make sure she understood the terms Moon used. This turned to be an unnecessary precaution on Rinko's side as Moon talked again soon after.
"You have a resistance to piercing, slashing, and any heat-based attacks," Moon explained, and Rinko, despite knowing that Moon would not be able to see her, bopped her head in understanding, "But this comes at the cost of high vulnerability to electricity; I do not know how much this game adjusts the vulnerability based on the real-world properties of the metal, but if it does then you might be even weaker to electricity than Copper Wolf."
"That does not sound too bad," Rinko began, wondering what Moon was so worried about. Based on what she had been told, Rinko knew that Kite had three different strengths and only one notable weakness, "All I need to do… is avoid fighting those who attack with electricity, right?"
"Although that will not be as simple as you might think," Moon's warning voice surprised Rinko enough for Rinko to fall silent immediately after, "The resistance to heat you receive for being a silver-based avatar should be significant, but unfortunately for you, there are not that many avatars who incorporate heat in their attacks, to begin with."
Rinko found herself agreeing to what Moon was telling her, but not only because Rinko agreed with the veteran player. Moon's words held a level of familiarity to Rinko, like Rinko had heard those words from a close friend of hers when she started playing Neo Fantasy Online all those years ago, "A strong advantage is meaningless if it is never relevant?"
"Indeed. And to add fuel to the fire, there are a lot of high-level players in this game who use electricity in their attacks. You will not be able to avoid fighting at least a few of them if you continue to play this game," Moon finished their explanation, and Rinko understood what Moon was trying to say. Then, almost as if Moon had read Rinko's mind, Moon spoke again.
"To prepare yourself for the enemies who use electricity, there is a good training ground for you to practice. You will not be able to increase your durability to electricity, but you might learn a way to counter electricity-based attacks and defeat those who use them."
'That is what Moon-san said, but… I'm not so sure anymore…'
Rinko could not help but let out the breath she did not even know she was holding. Based on what Amber Moon had told her, Rinko had obediently followed the directions given to her. Silver Kite was currently standing in front of the dungeon that Amber Moon had pointed out. The only problem left for Rinko to overcome was to take that final step.
It had been three days since Rinko received these instructions from the more experienced player. It had also been three days since Rinko managed to log in and play this game. After a humiliating defeat in a competition against Tamade Chiyu's Raise a Suilen, Yukina had challenged the producer to another round to try and get her revenge. The vocalist's selfish desire to win forced the rest of Roselia to keep up with Yukina's strict and inhumane practice schedule. It was all Rinko could do to not succumb to her exhaustion after only the second day; by the end of the third, she could barely feel her fingertips.
'If what Moon-san said was right, Kite-san will receive more damage from electricity…' Rinko thought to herself as she recalled Moon's words. Rinko trusted Moon to tell the truth, and it was with this mindset that Rinko was steeling herself to enter the abandoned power plant, 'It's not just enough to know that I will take more damage from electricity… I need to know exactly how much extra damage I take from electricity.'
Hoping that Silver Kite would forgive her for the torment that Rinko was about to subject her in-game avatar to, Rinko directed Kite to move its mechanical body and step past the threshold.
The shift in scenery was immediate. The desert-like, rocky wasteland Rinko had found herself in a split second ago morphed and faded away. In its place, Rinko saw concrete walls rise on either side of Silver Kite. These walls did not stop until Rinko could barely see the top anymore, after which steel beams jotted out of the concrete in a slight arc to connect the two opposing walls.
A careful eye allowed Rinko the chance to see that in between the steel beams were glass panes. These windows would probably have been a nice contrast to the concrete and metal around her, but not a single window was in one piece. Decades of being abandoned had coated what little was left of the glass windows in a thick layer of dirt and grime.
The windows were not the only things around the player that was covered by a thick layer. In Rinko's fascination with the walls and the building itself, she almost missed the various machinery that faded into existence around her. Rinko wasn't well-versed in her knowledge of electricity or power plants, but there was one thing she was sure of: she would have been much more interested in the machines if they were not covered in a thick layer of rust.
"That is enough sightseeing, Shirokane Rinko," Rinko told herself, shaking her head the moment she realized she was losing focus on her original objective. Tearing her gaze away from the walls and machines, Rinko instead scanned her surroundings. This was the place Amber Moon had told her about, which meant the thing that Rinko was looking for would not be very far away, "Just find it… and learn what I need to know… and get out… should be simple enough. Deep breaths, Rinko, you can do it. You have Silver Kite-san… here with you to help you."
Of course, what Rinko forgot to remember was that there was more than one way to initiate a fight. Rinko soon learned of her mistake when the creature she had entered this dungeon to fight appeared before her.
A wyvern crawled out from behind one of the broken generators, looking at its surroundings in an almost curious manner. All pretense of innocence disappeared the moment the creature made eye contact with Silver Kite; the wyvern's eyes narrowed before it opened its mouth and let out a bloodcurdling scream.
"All right, Kite-san…" Rinko muttered to herself under her breath, trying to psych herself up as she prepared to lunge at her target. Now that the giant reptile knew of Rinko's presence, Rinko knew that she could only rely on one mode of action: a direct fight.
And that was the moment Rinko realized she had made a second mistake within the span of two minutes.
Instead of charging at Silver Kite and striking at the metal-colored avatar with its talons, the wyvern screamed again before opening its mouth wide. This curious attack pattern caught Rinko by surprise, giving the wyvern the opening it needed to charge up its attack.
The wyvern's fangs sparked in electricity before glowing a dark-purple hue, and Rinko knew that she would not be able to react in time. The wyvern then lunged forward and aimed to drill its fangs deep in Silver Kite's right shoulder.
In response, Rinko's instincts screamed at the girl to at least attempt the dodge. But right when Rinko's fingers reached for her keyboard to move, she forced herself to stop.
'No. I should not… I am sorry, Kite-san…' Rinko scolded herself, biting her lower lip to hold back the sound that threatened to escape from her throat. Rinko used her right hand to grab her left wrist and keep herself from touching the keyboard. Only when her hands were half a meter away from her computer did Rinko allow a different thought to enter her mind, 'Now… how much will Kite-san hurt after this?'
A lot. Not as much as she had feared it would hurt, but a single attack from the wyvern shaved off nearly a third of Silver Kite's health.
"Not good! Um… Dark Sight, go!" Rinko called out the moment her right ring finger pressed down on the corresponding key. Much to Rinko's relief, Silver Kite's features faded into its surroundings, allowing Rinko to avoid being detected by the creature that has hit her once already. This momentary safety net bought Rinko the crucial seconds she needed to regain her composure and attempt to figure out a strategy.
'I cannot attack while Dark Sight is active, I cannot rely on Dark Sight all the time as it can be on cooldown when I need it the most…' Rinko thought to herself, raking her brain to think of a way out of the mess she was in. It only took her three seconds to decide on a plan of action, but even Rinko was not completely sure of how well it would go… and then the memory of her best friend's smiling face erased any doubts Rinko still had, 'Well… as Ako-chan always said: go big or go home. Watch me, Ako-chan!'
Against her better judgment, Rinko clicked on the key she used to activate the Dark Sight skill to deactivate it. Rinko knew that Silver Kite would be vulnerable to attacks from the wyvern again and, sure enough, the creature did not take long to sense Rinko's avatar.
The wyvern was already charging up its fangs for another bite-based electrical attack by the time Rinko found the skill she wanted to use.
"Kite-san… let's go! Tornado Spin!"
The moment Rinko's finger left the skill's associated key, she already knew the battle was over. Silver Kite unsheathed the two daggers in the hidden compartments of its arms, held one in both of its hands, and bend its knees. A bright cyan aura flared from Kite's shoulders, flowing down its arms and out through the blades of the daggers.
Rinko barely registered the shock and fear in the wyvern's eyes before Kite pushed off the ground and darted to the wyvern like a bullet. When Kite had closed about half the distance to the wyvern, the metal-colored avatar began to twist and spin in the air. By the time Silver Kite was about to make contact with the wyvern, Rinko could barely recognize her avatar through the cyclone of cyan energy.
And then Silver Kite took advantage of the momentum of its revolution to unleash a flurry of slashes at the poor creature. Three, six, nine hits. The damage might have been small each time, but with each revolution, the damage kept piling on.
As soon as the attack started, it was also almost finished. Silver Kite gracefully landed behind the wyvern, who collapsed only a split second later. Rinko didn't even have time to see the amount of damage she dealt to the defeated creature; the creature had already lost consciousness before Rinko and Kite had the chance to turn around.
"I can't believe… that worked…" Rinko breathed out, slumping down in her chair as she stared at the screen. Her eyes saw the victory window pop up to tell Rinko of her rewards, but her brain did not register this whatsoever. Despite beating this electricity-using enemy in what was effectively a single attack, Rinko knew that she could not relax just yet, "Even right then… there were at least two downsides to Tornado Spin…"
"You are almost correct: there are actually three risks to using a skill like Tornado Spin in that situation, But good job getting out of that on your own; my presence here as a back-up in case things went poorly was just us being overly cautious in the end," a familiar voice told Rinko before Amber Moon materialized to Silver Kite's left side. After exchanging greetings with Rinko and offering the newer player a health potion, Amber Moon spoke again, "As for what you can be doing next…"
And that will be all for today! Yeah, let's not go too overboard right after coming back from a short break where I didn't write regularly. As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, I will be pushing the update schedule down to only once every three weeks; this means that the next chapter will (hopefully) go up on the 7th of November.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!