I have a general idea of what scenes I want to hit in this story. When I finish the Aincrad arc I might take a few weeks to go through all of "Duality" and see what I can condense or edit to make it more presentable. It'd be interesting if I end up seeing a notable change between the early chapters and later on.
I've said this before, but this fic is primarily an exercise and experiment in just writing. While I try to do what I can in terms of consistency, my planning basically consists of "what things do I want to hit in this chapter?".
"Talk about being given a bone. Upgraded armor from the outpost, and now at the start of a new quest line we're already given our choice of new weapons? I love this game," Klein chuckled, opening the doors to the road.
"Which raises the question, how bad is the combat going to be?" Harry asked, shielding his eyes from the afternoon sunlight.
"Think we might be able to upgrade our armor more if we're going to be the in mines? Speaking of that, should bring a light source?" Dale held the door open for the rest of us, smiling a little at how I was the only one that didn't need to duck underneath his outstretched arm.
"Follow up question, will we still be facing goblins or will there be other monsters in there as well?" I asked, racing to the door first.
"We'll ask around before heading in then. Speaking of which, did you guys want to take care of that stuff today or put it off for tomorrow and just enjoy the city?" Whatever response was going to follow Klein's question was stopped by the rows upon rows of armor and weaponry.
"I don't know whether I should be impressed or concerned," I whispered, taking in the essential warehouse.
"Hi, how can I help you?" A young girl greeted us, a few pieces of parchment clipped between two pieces of wood in her hands.
"We were sent here by Miss Mitsui. She told us to ask for somebody named "Ferghus"," Harry stepped forward, the noirette focusing all her attention on him.
"Ferghus? One moment, please." She disappeared behind a rack of bucklers, her footsteps drowned out by the sound of light conversation resonating around the warhouse.
A beast of a man stepped out, his arms as thick as my head. "I was told you were looking fer me?" His voice was fairly gruff, a rasp to it that seemed to have been acquired through a lifetime of some inhalation.
"Miss Mitsui said that you could help outfit us with new weapons. We're going to be helping around the area over the next couple days." The beast of a man scratched his chin, looking over each of us.
"Two weapons each. A primary weapon and a back up. You can grab a shield instead of a backup weapon if yer' so inclined. If ye know what 'ju want already, jus' let me know and I'll go grab a selection fer ya. If not, go ahead and take a look around." The man crossed his arms, a small window appearing in my vision stating "quest progress!"
"Hey, wait, that means we can freely spec into whatever we want!" Klein clenched his fists, a wide grin on his face. "I hope they have a katana! That'd be awesome!"
I tuned their conversation out, materializing my sheathed «Short Sword». It was true that having an upgrade would markedly improve my output, but I wasn't ready to part with the last "physical" remnant of my long time friend. "Is it possible to melt down items and use them for other things?".
Ferghus harrumphed before he spoke, massaging his throat. "We 'kin turn most equipment back into ingots, yes, and put that into whatever you want,"
"What do you have in the way of single edged, one handed swords with a hilt suitable for hand and a half?" I asked, deciding to simply hold onto it for the time being.
"Fourth row on the right. Second section back. Don't cut yerself." I thanked the gruff man. Behind me, Klein, Choryu, Dynamm, and Dale stepped up to Ferghus, stating the types of weapons they were looking for.
I made my way over to the described area, stopping from time to time to admire all the equipment. The vast majority were set for those at level ten or above, being made from a steel and with a uniform design.
The weapon I had in mind was similar to a machete; a rounded tip suitable for stabbing, a weighted edge that could deliver strong slashes, a low balance point for ease of maneuverability, and a single edge so I could half sword if necessary. I wouldn't mind a double sided sword, as now that I had gauntlets I could still perform the maneuver safely, but having the single side would mean there would be more inherent momentum in my slashes.
Unfortunately for me, the «Steel Kopis» that met my desires was a level ten item, but it didn't stop me from grabbing one. Towards the back was another variation of the design called an «Iron Dao», curving inward outward instead of inward like the kopis. Each of the racked blades had a length of fine cloth hanging from the hilt. It looked ceremonial in a sense, which made a small amount of sense considering that they were only level five. I picked the weapon up, realizing that in order to make the most of my new equipment I would need to change my weapon skill to «One Handed Curved Blade».
"Those are some nice looking swords, Asasaki." Klein was holding a curved cleaver with an upturned cross guard on the flat side and what seemed to be a straight katana, though I had a suspicion that it was actually something else.
"The Dao is just to hold me over for the time being. I can't use the Kopis yet, not for another two levels. By the way, how do I change a skill to something else?" I opened up my menu, allowing him to see it.
"Just open up to your skills, select the one you want to work with, choose Forget and then choose the skill you want to replace that slot with."
I did as he said, making a quiet pained sound when I removed the skill. I had managed to get it up to level 18 and felt bad starting back from level one. "I vote we don't check out the mines too much today or tomorrow. I'd like to get used to my new skills first."
"Don't worry. Enough of us are going to change our weapon skill that we decided we should all spend some time getting used to the new «Pre-Motions»." Harry led the group of Issin and Kunimittz back towards us, the former holding a warhammer and rectangular tower shield that seemed to be of a high quality while the latter two held a spear and additional pole arm.
"These are the weapons ye want?" Ferghus asked when we all gathered. A prompt appeared in front of me, listing the two items I had chosen. This being a game, I wondered whether we would find better equipment from monsters or if this would be the highest quality we would get for the time being.
"Take care of yer weapons, and they'll take care a' ya. We have smiths in the north that work under our banner. If ye' show them these, you'll get a discount on any work needed." Another pop up appeared, this one detailed that we acquired an MTG Emblem. "Now scamper. I've got inventory to complete.
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The trek down the mountainside created the same amount of awe as the trip up, in not more so due to the pace we set. The city (perhaps town) of «Tolbana» had tall towers on the outermost edges, matching the the giant walls that protected them from invasion. As you progressed farther into the center, the buildings slowly became smaller and smaller, stopping at single story constructs at the northern edge where plumes of smoke rose.
"Mitsui said there was a breach in the mines to the east, right? It looks like that's actually within the city walls." Being within a safe zone, those in our group that had made the change over to two handed weaponry had left their weapons stored away in their inventory, the only other method of transporting the large weapons being to hold them.
"We might as well take a peek into there later today then." Klein pointed towards the other mountain peak, grinning gleefully at the falchion model he had ended up chosen for his level five weapon. "We should find an empty lot somewhere though to get used to our weapons first. Mine definitely has a different feel to it."
I knew without a doubt that I would need to change my fighting style with these new swords. They weren't as short as the starter one, and the way the momentum carried was vastly different on top of a new set of abilities I would need to familiarize myself with.
"Should we spend some time just exploring then? If somebody finds a place we can practice in, they can send us all a message." I lit up at Harry's suggestion. While exploring as a group held its merits, I had a far better time exploring at my own pace.
"We can make notes of any interesting places we find, too!" Issin chipped in, showing enough external joy for both himself and Dale.
"Alright, alright! I know when I'm outnumbered. If we don't find anything in say, three or four hours, we'll meet up back here, okay? Keep an eye out for places to sleep or any interesting stores or quests." Klein tapped my shoulder as I started to leave, the other six forming their own groups. "Do you mind exploring with me, Asasaki? I feel like you'll have good luck finding stuff."
"If you want. I'll mostly be sight seeing though. The residential district is supposed to be around the center of the city where all the trade is. I imagine we can find some simple stuff to take care of there." I hopped down the last few steps of the side path, referencing the surroundings to my map interface.
It was surprising to me that the map data for this zone still needed to be completed. Klein explained that if we could find the right NPC, it would be possible to get the rest of the information either for free or by helping them out as had been done in Town of Beginnings.
"I can only imagine the kind of coding making this game required. And there's supposed to be ninety-nine other floors." I twirled slowly as I walked, taking in the architecture. "How much research must have been done to gather the references used for these models." I motioned at all the buildings made from digital stone and brick. "I'd love to see all the concept art that must be tucked away somewhere."
"I wanted to say you having an artsy side is kind of surprising, but then I remembered that you make cosplay." Klein was following behind me, having let me lead the way. The first «One Handed Curved Blade» user of our group had unequipped most of his armor, myself having only removed my headpiece.
"You can only see so much sand, rocks, and mountains before you go crazy. Anything that isn't that becomes amazing after a time." I hung a left at a Y junction, leading us closer the center of the town. "Should we be looking for anything or just explore?" While I was fine with either option, as the leader of our group I wanted his opinion.
"Honestly? I don't really care. It'd be nice to find stuff, but like you said the other day, we're basically on vacation. We might as well enjoy ourselves where we can." Klein gave me a smile, one I couldn't help return.
"I want to find the tailors around here. See what they have in the way of clothing. What I have works for now, but I'd love something other than a single light blue shirt and dark brown pants. Maybe something dark green or navy blue if we're going to be in caves." I pulled Klein to the side, noticing a single horse drawn cart coming up the road.
"Doesn't the city feel kind of dead to you?" The hustle and bustle that I expected from a place like this didn't exist. There was some chatter on the wind, and all the smoke stacks from the various buildings hinted at the population, but the streets themselves only contained the two of us and the occasional NPC sitting on a bench or stairwell.
"I guess this area isn't meant to have NPC's around. They're probably all at the market. It's kind of strange though, considering that «Town of Beginnings» had so many NPC's wandering around." Klein slapped my shoulder with the back of his hand, directing my attention to a building. "Hey, look! Sweets!"
I followed his finger, giving a hum. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get some. Maybe we can get some map information from the owner." I let the scuffled man lead the way, twitching at the soft change in music.
"Welcome to Aria's Bakery!" A young woman with her hair in a high ponytail greeted us, a cheerful smile on her face. There was a falseness to her expression that disturbed me greatly.
"They have dried fruits here, too!" Klein's proclamation drew my attention. At the end of the counter, atop a few shelves of covered items, were single pieces of food meant to label what was underneath.
"This one looks familiar," I said, tapping at a «Golden Papaya». It had no health restoring properties, but it was listed as being incredibly sweet and flavorful. I moved down the shelves, examining each item and debating on the merits of picking something for myself. "Done already?" Klein had purchased a handful of items, sending all but one into his inventory.
"I just bought one of each." He bit into a dried and salted strip of yellow fruit, a bag in his other hand.
"Where'd you get all the cor from?" I backed out of the store, relocating my map screen into the palm of my hand. The NPC had been kind enough to tell us where a few key buildings the process of hearing about it in detail, the general location and outline of the described area would appear on our map. Klein and I speculated that the full details would only appear when we went there in person or found somebody else who already had the map.
"From all the fighting I did with everybody before we met you." I groaned quietly, a surge of annoyance spiking at how he spoke without swallowing completely. "Honestly, if I wasn't in a party with so many people I'd probably be a higher level than you right now."
"I feel like that's a challenge, and I'm not sure if I want to participate in that." The closer we got to the markets, the more NPC's we saw. The majority of them were simply walking from point a to point b, their features becoming unrecognizable after several feet.
"Eh. It's not really a challenge. Though if you want to make it a contest between the two of us on who gets the most kills everytime we go out, I wouldn't mind that. We'll just need to set the drops to share evenly instead of by effort when we do that." I let out a huff of air, hearing Klein go through another piece.
"Shouldn't you be rationing those? Even if we can raise enough cor fast enough, being frugal wouldn't hurt." I eyed the offending piece of fruit, slowly turning my gaze to the man himself.
"Has anyone ever told you you're a mother hen?" Klein asked, affronted.
"A handful of times. And that's the exact reason I never drink with friends, because I usually end up the designated driver."
My companion snorted, dematerializing the rest of the snack away. "You must be the life at parties."
"I was that set the limits. When people started getting out of hand, I was the one who policed them. The higher ups loved me for it, those below me begrudgingly appreciated it." I set a marker for the plaza for reference, set approximately in the center of the city. "This is the place." A handful of large roads connected to this place, and along the edges stalls and carpets of numerous NPC run stores were set up. At our location, the roads seemed to lead directly to the walls.
"You know, when she called this place a "market" a flea market wasn't what I had in mind. " Klein had a point in regards to expectations. Stalls I could accept, carpets less so. It was nice to look at though. The fabrics used for shade and protection from the hard floor meshed together neatly, their hard tones contrasting the white and grey of the streets.
A flash of green floating over someone's head caught my attention. "Looks like we aren't the only players here," I said, nodding at their direction.
"I think I recognize him." Klein broke into a jog, calling out a name. From my distance I couldn't make out the initial conversation, and one side was much more excited about the meeting than the other.
"I didn't think you'd be here so soon, Klein." The other male's voice was deeper than I expected from his face. Perhaps in the later stages of his teen years at most. If I had to be honest, he looked like he belonged in a shojo manga.
"Yeah, we never would have gotten out of that forest as soon as we did if it wasn't for our little developer friend." Klein reached an arm behind me, pulling me forward. "She's had real life training in combat, and a lot of what she knows translates into the game."
I stifled the groan that wanted to come out. "Hi there. My name is Asasaki. I'm sorry for any trouble my Little Brother may have caused you. I'll be sure to bring up any transgressions with our Boss when we get out." I bowed deeply, hiding my smirk at the specific terms I used.
"Oi, oi! She doesn't mean that, really! She's just kidding, Kirito, a shameless prankster."
I smiled serenely when I straightened my back, wondering how "Kirito" would be handling my joke. "If you don't mind sharing, how did the two of you meet?"
"Klein forced himself on me during the first day, He wouldn't leave me alone until I showed him around and taught him how to fight in this world." I brought a hand to my mouth in mock surprise, making sure my eyes didn't portray my mirth. The black haired bishie seemed fairly concerned at what I was insinuating, but whether he believed it to be a joke or truth he was still playing along.
"Oh, my! Forcing yourself on teenagers, Little Brother? I try not to pry into the affairs of those in our Family, but if this is the sort of behavior you're performing during your off time, perhaps we should have a private chat?" I turned my whole body to face Klein, the scuffled man waving his hands frantically in denial.
I let out a snort and shook my head. "I'm only joking. We're not actually Yakuza. I'm a former American military personnel. Don't ask for the story, I'm not willing to tell. Thank you for helping the Ronin out. You ended up saving a lot of lives with that." I offered my hand out, Kirito hesitantly accepting it.
"Ugh, you're horrible Asasaki." Klein dragged a hand down his face. I couldn't resist gently hip checking him.
"You just make it too easy, Klein. You can't honestly deny that you look like a bandit or gang member." While my face held a joking smile, I was internally screaming at our height difference. To me, the impact of my words and behavior was lessened by the fact that I had to look up so steeply.
"Anyways! Appearances aside, Little Miss Developer, do you know where we can get the rest of the map information for this place? We don't mind exploring on our own, but it'd be nice to have that information for everybody else." I took a step back, watching their interaction with interest. As per norm, Klein was friendly, a little overbearingly so compared to Kirito's reserved behavior.
A trade window broke me out of my reverie. "Oh, thank you, Kirito." I accepted the offer for the completed map of «Tolbana», marvelling at the network of roads that weaved in and out of the four main paths in the cardinal directions.
"Like I was saying, if you want to get the best experience, you should head north into the Labyrinth. Take it slow and bring a lot of potions, and don't be afraid to back out or rest in the «Safe Zones» on every few floors. We're pretty much the only people in the city right now so make sure you have your map on auto-complete for future trips." In my head I attached the label of Tour Guide to Kirito, appreciating the knowledge he had of this game.
"How'd you get in here anyway? The guys and I had to cross a plain filled with goblins riding wolves." Klein folded his arms, staring down at the younger swordsman with curiosity.
"Wait, that was you!? I was wondering who was crazy enough to kite all those monsters." Kirito looked between the two of us, eyes wide. "They were all on the other side of the river. I took the road directly from «Horunka» to here. I didn't even come across a single mob."
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Tour Guide. I'll make sure to list you under special thanks when I have a chance to put out the next patch." I curtseyed, hands spreading an imaginary skirt. "And no, that's another joke Klein and his merry band of knights," executing a shout of indignation, I corrected myself, "sorry, Samurai! -are pushing on me. I suppose being called a developer would be better than being a beta tester though. At least that way I could claim innocence of just doing my job instead of running away." I brought a finger to my chin, humming.
"And what's wrong with being a beta tester?" I heard Kirito ask, his voice level. Beside me Klein shuffled nervously.
"Nothing, at least on my end. But I imagine that a lot of people aren't too happy with them. I understand that this is a death game ruled by numbers, and that resources are kind of scare, but you would think there would be a group of testers that would have banded together and made a school of some sort to catch everybody up to speed." I waved a hand lazily towards Klein. "I mean, there is that guide to the first floor by that "Argo" fellow, but a simple book doesn't do much for combat. You need to actually go through the motions and get used to having somebody else try to kill you. Theoretical can only do so much."
"I see." I took in the gazes of Klein and Kirito, connecting the dots of the latter's knowledge of this world. I tapped Kirito on the forehead, recognizing the similarities between his behavior and one of my younger cousins.
"Don't worry about it too much, Kirito. Beta tester or not, so long as we all help each other out, does it really matter what we do in our private time? We're all still trapped here, as wonderful as this world may be." I spread my hands above me in a stretch, drawing on the single semester of Theatre I took back in high school to emphasize my words.
"She may be blunt, but she's right. When it comes down to it, we gotta stick together. We can't get out of here all by ourselves, whether that means scouting ahead or carrying the noobs!" I grunted when Klein pulled me in beside him, debating on whether or not I should punch him in the stomach.
Kirito smiled weakly at us, raising a hand. "I need to get going. There's monsters on the way to the labyrinth and I don't want to get caught outside when it gets dark. Be safe, okay? And message me if you have any questions."
The two of us waved at the retreating swordsman, a few seconds passing in silence before either of us spoke. "So is that the cute girl you've been messaging late at night?" I asked, leaning towards Klein.
"W-what?!"
"Before you go to bed you spend a couple minutes tapping away at your interface. I assumed it was a conversation based on the waiting you did before typing again." I walked over to the fountain in the northeast corner of central patch of grass, sitting so my back was to the "sun".
"You noticed that?"
"I'm a light sleeper, even if I fall asleep easily. Your arms rustled the hay fairly often." The sound was somewhat annoying for the first few minutes it woke me up, though by the last few days we stayed in the outpost hearing the tapping of his fingers was comforting to me, a sign that at least one person in my group was alive.
"Sorry about that. But I was sending progress reports to Kirito. Sometimes I'd ask him for advice on things. That's actually how I found out about the skill slots." I grunted at Klein's explanation.
"How does it feel, knowing a little tyke is better at the game than you?" I asked, kicking my legs.
"Considering that little tyke is the one that taught me how to survive here, not that bad. Shame that he's so bad at socialising though." I nodded at his response, visually tracking an NPC walk down the road.
"Should we use this place as the meeting area?" I asked, making a copy of my map data for «Tolbana».
"That sounds good. What do you want to do in the meantime? We still have at least an hour or so before we're supposed to gather."
"I wouldn't mind getting used to my new «Sword Skills». It's not like there's a clearing I can use." I gestured at the grass between the lone tree and the fountain and drew my sword. "Looks like you get to teach me some more stuff, Scruffles." I resting the blade on my shoulder, making sure that its angle didn't match the required «Pre-Motion» I'd seen Klein used for a dash attack.
"Sure thing, Little Miss. Now, there are five basic skills that you should have unlocked…"
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"You were right about the light source. They have a few torches set up in the main corridors, but none where they suspect the breaches to be." After meeting in the central plaza, Choryu, Issin, and Dale led us to an inn, the eight of us pulling together a few tables for our conversation. Like myself, Harry had kept nearly all his gear equipped, the only missing pieces were his headpiece, shield, and arm guards.
"We should take a look at the smiths around here. They might have lantern shields." I waved my loaf of bread around, tearing off another piece. "They're basically giant gauntlets with a shield attached so you can still use your hand to hold stuff. Like say a lantern."
"Would it really be worthwhile to try and use those?" At my urging, Issin was trying another type of tea. This one I had found during my wanderings back in «Town of Beginnings». There was a hint of mint to it, a sweet smell rising from its water.
"Maybe not. We'll essentially be having to bench someone though. My fighting style won't let me be able to use a lantern in tandem, so I'm out," I responded.
"We've already made the switch to our two handed weapons. I don't think we'll be able to hold something and still use them." Dale folded his hands, looking at Issin and Kunimittz.
"I guess I could hold a lantern. But that'd mean either Harry or Dynamm would have to drop their shield for the time being or to try and use that shield type Asasaki was talking about." Klein scratched his head. "We don't need to worry about it for now though, not since we'll be sticking to the maintained areas."
"Oh right. We met up with a beta tester. He said that training in the labyrinth tower would be the most efficient in terms of experience. We should think about going in there a few times to level up. Maybe we could gather cor from the monsters in the mines and in the field up north and stock up on potions before we head in." I scrolled back up the "themes" option for my interface, selecting the design that would put a rectangular chain border around all of my windows.
"Mm. It might be a good idea to do that. Most of our items aren't useful until we hit level ten, and having higher levels would make the quests here easier." A round of agreement met Harry's response.
"Did everybody take some time to read through the «Pre-Motion» requirements for their new abilities?" Klein washed down the last of his breath with a chug of water, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.
"Our new «Polearm» skills seemed to be based around crowd control with a small mix of offensive skills." Kunimittz moved his screen around, revealing it to the other side of the table. "Should make our formations safer. Either the two of us or one of us alone can help keep monsters under wraps."
"So I guess we go look through the markets then for those shields? We have only an hour or two before it gets dark, but since we'll be inside anyway maybe we can stay out later?" I played with the straps on my left vambrace, wondering why I seemed to be the only one who had decorated material.
"Sounds like a plan. Let's have a good hunt, guys!" I couldn't help but raise my fist at Klein's proclamation, the others joining in after a moment.
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I shot forward with a «Reaver», impaling the level 8 «Rock Golem» on my sword. The skill would normally send you past your target, the coding behind the attack dealing damage without colliding with them, but intense focus on your mark as well as subtle motions could change it into a stab. Using normal attacks against these monsters had very little effect. Only «Sword Skills» could hit them hard enough for any effort to be worthwhile.
"Joints!" I called out. As we were still in the lit region, Harry and Klein decided that it would be okay for us to break off into groups after learning from returning "miners" that the only monsters that spawned in the eastern tunnels were slow, hulking rock creatures from which they got their materials from. I had been paired up with Choryu, the group believing that I would be able to teach him a few things about the "Assassin" class. Unfortunately the info we had didn't specify that the monsters were walking damage soakers, and I had been forced to give my partner a crash course in attacking vitals.
Mr. Trendy stepped around our target, clambering up it and unleashing an «Illusory Bite» enhanced slash. Some experimentation revealed that the majority of «Dagger» skills could be used as enhancements instead of mere system controlled attacks though another skill called «Ophidian Benediction».
The method to do so required moving the user's free hand to their side with their fingers slightly cupped, their knuckles pointed at the ground. From there, any one skill whose «Pre-Motion» had been recognized would be saved to the blade for three seconds, unleashing any damage it would have dealt normally on top of the normal attack. We weren't sure why there was an ability that let «Dagger» users do such a thing, but the two of us suspected there would be skills or weapons in the future that would combine wonderfully with the skill.
I kicked off the golem with my left foot, hopping back and moving my sword to my hip, unleashing a «Parting Clouds», the «One Handed Curved Blade» variant of Slant. Like all abilities from the «Curved Blade» line, it was shorter than «One Handed Sword» skills by a meter or so, dealt variable damage depending on the distance it connected, and had notably less duration in both the attack time and the «Post Motion».
While my Strength stat wasn't particularly high, my reaction time and ability to have my attacks deflect anything the Golem tried allowed us to take each monster (around six feet in height) without any damage on our end. Attacks that clashed didn't result in health being taken from the defending side, so long as the attack used to counter was either equal in strength or diverted the attack. What mattered was that the end product did not result in the two attacks struggling against each other for supremacy.
The punch from the animated collection of earth crashed into the ground beside me. Were it not for the numerous wooden support beams that ran through the tunnel, I would have been paranoid at the possibilities of a cave in, though with how high the halls were I wasn't sure if any rock falls would be unclimbable.. Regardless, it was something I needed to bring up with the group.
"Hraah!" Choryu swung his «Iron Dagger» down in another «Illusory Bite», a line of silver shooting out and sheering off the offending limb. Between his Strength stat and the low base damage from the dagger, it took at least two hits to break off the limbs. Being the defender in our two man unit, I was unable to launch any offensive attacks, the range of my abilities and the «Post Motion» preventing me from connecting at the shoulders.
This was our third time facing off against a «Rock Golem». The first time nearly ended in total failure for myself, but a full retreat and downing two potions allowed us to try again. I fired off another upward «Parting Clouds», this one from my left. A thrust from Choryu followed up, the lightish red of «Hidden Tail» breaking through the last section of the physical binding for the golem's right shoulder. From there it was a simple matter of alternating who was attacking. With its lack of arms and constant change in gathered aggression, the construct was unable to retaliate.
I flicked my sword to the side, bringing up my interface. "Twenty percent already." I sighed and closed out of my windows, making note of the two «Copper Ore» I had received. "How's your weapon durability?"
"Only about 10% is gone. I bet yours is so low because you're canceling the attacks. Even if you're not taking damage, the weapon must be." Choryu moved to my side, swinging his weapon through various drills I had taught him back in the forest.
"I wonder if doing the quests in this game requires you to be in a party. I can't imagine how hard it must be to fight your way through here all by yourself." I tugged my companion to the side, enveloping us in shadows. While the «Rock Golems» seemed to detect enemies based on tremors, practicing stealth never hurt.
"What are we waiting for?" He whispered, crouching against me.
"I want to see if it has a scouting program coded in or if they're just stationary." The beast didn't move much. At most it would shuffle around from time to time, taking a few steps in either direction before teetering around to face the other way.
"When it turns around again, we'll strike. Stay in its blind spot, I'll keep its attention." When the golem took a few shambling steps back into the darkness, I shot out, unleashing «Harvest», the curved sword variant of «Horizontal». The yellow of my attack copied itself from my blade onto the torso of the «Rock Golem». In the time it took for it to turn all the way around, I was able to unleash «Pierce the Sun» at its head. The system moved me into a rising strike from a crouching position and was one of three thrust abilities the curved blade was able to use at my level.
Choryu bought me time to create some distance during my «Post Motion» with a rapid series of «Fad Edge», a horizontal attack with short range that could be chambered into itself multiple times. With the change in aggro, the «Rock Golem» faltered, long enough for me to execute a «Reaver».
"Head!" I yelled, hopping into a backwards roll to avoid the responding kick. Choryu slipped off to the side, leaving me to engage the beast in a series of exchanges. Every strike dealt less than 5%, even with the system assisting me..
When I noticed the «Dagger» user reach the creature's head, I ran in and worked my way down its leg with «Pierce the Sun», «Twilt Horizon», and «Summon the Moon», leaping back up to around its upper thigh with «Sparrow in Flight». The creature's health bar began plummeting rapidly, Choryu unleashing a flurry of blows.
I pulled myself up on an outcropping, lightly kicking off its body and bringing the vertical attack «Lumbar Desecration» down its torso. The two of us backed off, balancing our attacks to ensure that I was the only one holding aggression for any attack. In time our efforts shattered the creature, Choryu catching his fall from its head with both hands.
"Nice work. It looks like the lit area ends here. We should head back." I held my fist out for Choryu to bump, my smile increasing slightly when he tapped it. We were the first back at the junction, and I took the time to practice my «Pre-Motions» using my «Short Sword». Being a weapon of a different class, the motions didn't recognize, allowing me to move into each motion without unleashing any skills.
The sound of footsteps pulled my attention to the rightmost path, Klein and Dynamm greeting us. "You guys get forced back?" Klein asked, his sheathed blade resting across his shoulders.
"If we went any farther we would've gone past the explored areas. Maybe we could have gone farther in, but I doubt even Asasaki would be that good at spotting things." Choryu sheathed his dagger, smiling at me with a wide grin on his face.
"She probably would've just patched in some torches." I snapped my fingers at Dynamm's remark, the statement bringing back the image of the support beams.
"We should be careful when we go farther in. At least with my method of defending against attacks, it's entirely possibly we'll have to deal with falling rocks against «Rock Golems»."
"Yeah, we noticed that too." Klein dematerialized his weapon, crossing his arms. "Dynamm and me had to keep swapping out for tanking. I was able to block most of the hits, but even then I'd get knocked back a bit. I ended up having to chug a potion to keep going. And let me tell you, the ones around here are disgusting." The potions back from the forest has a sweet taste to them, and went down smoothly like a milkshake. From the way Klein was describing it, the potions from around these parts (listed as «Basic Potion» compared to the «Herbal Tincture» from Hilde) were gooey and kind of clumped together. Going down your mouth was nothing but pure saturation of bitterness.
Several minutes passed by, Choryu and I working on our patterns while Dynamm and Klein rested. I looked over from my motions, modifying my pattern to include an upward block to mimic a wave when Dale and Kunimittz appeared. "Welcome back, guys. How many did you kill?" Above their heads I watched their health bars slowly inch back up from the yellow.
"Six. Our path had a dead end. Two «Rock Golems» respawned on our way back," Kunimittz responded. I couldn't keep the click from escaping my mouth. Klein had lorded the fact that he and Dynamm had managed to kill five of the monsters.
"The potions from here," Dale trailed off, his face falling. "They're not that great."
"I know, right?! It's like whoever made them just had the general idea of how to make potions and cobbled together the closest plants they could find from a handbook!" Klein raised his arms as he spoke, his face contorting with every syllable.
"See, Choryu and I wouldn't know how the potions from here taste because we didn't get hit," I said, humming to hide my laughter.
"Didn't you take two potions though, Asasaki?"
"You're ruining the joke, Choryu!" I whirled around to face the «Dagger» user, pointing my sword at him.
"Don't worry, Little Miss. One day you'll be Queen of the Ninjas." My other hand twitched at Kunimittz's quip.
"I'm older than you!" I yelled, eyes widening in disbelief.
"But you're still shorter than us by a huge margin" Klein took advantage of my shock, wrapping an arm across my shoulders and rubbing his knuckles against my head.
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I shifted my weight from my right foot to my left, staring down the path the last two members of our group had taken. It had been a good twenty minutes since Dale and Kunimittz had rejoined us. The six of us had all taken some kind of stance of nervousness, be it shuffling around, inspecting our equipment, or constantly looking at the hall in the case of Klein and myself.
"I'm going to check on them." Klein stood up, brandishing his sword. "It's been way too long. Even if their path is the one that extends the farthest, they should've been back by now."
"Don't think you're going alone, Klein. If something's holding them up, you're going to need all of us." I moved to his left, telling Kunimittz and Dynamm to join up with my party. The four of us would have the quickest speed when we inevitably found our wayward duo. Klein and Dale could snag the initial attention while my party would be able to support Harry and Issin, breaking off to deal with whatever issues they were facing once we arrived.
"Be smart, be safe, and don't be a hero. We're rescuing two people, there's no need to make it more. Klein, Dynamm, Dale. Take point. Choryu, take the right side and flank what they control if it's safe. I'll take the left. Kuni, support where you can." I opened up my quick access bar, moving the screen to my lower left. Even if I didn't end up taking damage, having access to my potions and restoratives was a good precaution.
"Er, right." There was a silence that lasted a few seconds after my statement, Klein's gaze lingering on me longer than necessary. "You heard the lady. Let's go."
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The path Harry and Issin had taken was eerily quiet. No sounds of metal on stone, no rumbling, or screams or shouts. Nothing. Only our footfalls echoed through the halls, paranoia turning the seconds that passed into hours.
"I see something," Klein whispered, holding a hand up. Up ahead a colossal golem stood guard, its head only a few yards from touching the ceiling. If it raises it arms so that they were parallel to the ground, it could bend its elbows and still touch the ceiling.
At its feet were a duo of golems that seemed both slimmer and yet bulkier than the normal golems. Where the standard «Rock Golem» was a hodgepodge of columns and boulders, these bipedal constructs looked as if they were wearing suits of plate armor chiseled from stone.
"They're on the other side," Dale murmured, his map visible in the palm of his hand.
"Got a plan, Lady Asasaki?"
I hummed at Kunimittz' question, slowly shifting from side to side to get a better view. "If they're not moving, they must be overlooking something. Harry and Issin aren't moving, right?" At Dale's response, I motioned for everybody to gather. "Kuni. I want you to use some long range abilities. We need to drag the attention of the big one away. Dynamm, Dale. Work together to block or deflect any attacks. Choryu, Klein. We need to slip around it once the big one's attention has been gathered. I'll grab the attention of the two small fry. They should be slow enough that I can handle the two of them by myself. Figure out what's going on with Harry and Issin, then send them to help Choryu and me deal with the knights while Klein heads back to help against the big one."
I downed a potion for paralysis reduction. Whether through my own fault or through an attack, I didn't want to succumb to any kind of stun. "Hopefully they don't respawn. If they do, we'll work on keeping their attention while you guys chip away at the giant. Don't be afraid to call out a retreat. We may have new weapons, but that thing is still a hulking behemoth of stone."
I walked to the side of the wall, motioning for Klein and Choryu to follow me. Our shield user and both of our two handers made their way forward in a triangle formation, waiting to see when the creature would respond. With a jerk, the beast started stepping, its torso slowly turning to face them. "Move!" The words lurched from my lips, my body shooting forward with the single intent of providing a distraction for Klein and Choryu to investigate what was wrong.
The sounds of clattering rocks sprinkled all around, Kunimittz' guttural yell bolstering me forward. I crouched forward, still sprinting forward, my hands flared out at equal angles to the ground. When I felt a mental click, I surged forward, soaring towards the «Mountain Golem Sentinel» with the leaping uppercut «Sparrow in Flight».
The health bar of the armored beast barely budged. If I had to hazard a guess, it was a mere 2%, but my strike seemed to inflict a small stun on the creature. The other construct turned its attention towards Klein and Choryu, suffering a left-right «Harvest» and «Reaver» in quick succession.
The distance covered by the dash served me well, allowing me enough time to recover from the «Post Motion» before the two sentries attacked me. The duo attacked in tandem, advancing forward with alternating punches to turn me into paste. I humored their efforts for a few steps, reversing a back step and lunging forward with «Pierce the Sun», a golden line connecting the gap between my dao and the spartan esque helmet of the golem.
When the delay ended, I braced myself on the construct's right shoulder with my left hand, twisting my body to vault behind it. Upon landing I flared my sword behind my back, the tang parallel with my spine. A hefty 8% had been chipped away with that attack, and I filed the information away as a vulnerable point.
"Asasaki! We're leaving! Not enough resources!" Klein's voice dimly reached my ears, the song of battle propelling me through every dodge and side step.
"Go! I'll hold them off!" I cried back. I dashed up the right arm of the same golem I damaged earlier, slashing the edge of my sword against its head before reversing my momentum into a single spinning leap that carried me behind the other sentry, a right left «Parting Clouds» slashing down its helm.
The «Acrobatics» skill served me well in multiple ways. Occasionally the double digit level of the skill would cause me to falter at the start of a dodge, resulting in a flubbed landing that took me an extra moment to recover from. In my youth I had been fairly active, my friends constantly egging me to race them through various obstacles they had determined ahead of time. I had enough experience from those races, knowledge that allowed me to dance on these pitifully slow opponents.
"Just think of it as a painful game of dodgeball!" I told myself, rolling through the legs of the golems once they fixed their facing. My torso twisted with each «Twilt Horizon», the red wound of my horizontal stab glowing more and more vibrantly with every successive strike. "And out-" I tucked into a ball, rolling back in front of my target before swinging around its leg. 'We go!"
The other golem had just fired off its attack. I would have approximately two seconds before its other arm, primed to snipe me in my run, would fall. I lifted my blade up, its hilt fully resting on my shoulder. When my right foot hit the ground, I unleashed the sword skill, the thin orange line driving me past the leg of «Basalm, Seneschal of the Mountain».
"Don't mind me! Just dodging giant hunks of rock from the goddamn mouth of Lythos himself!" I leapt to the side, dodging a falling stalactite that had no right to exist in this hallway. The trio I had assigned to the position of forward had done their jobs well, keeping the titan incarnate facing towards them.
"You're telling us?! The damn thing won't let us get anywhere near it!" Dynamm turned to run with me, being the one chosen to stay behind until I arrived. "Every attempt-"
"If you can talk you're not running fast enough!" I shouted, modifying my stance to propel farther. Even when the earth stopped shaking I didn't stop running, slowing down enough that if something happened with Dynamm I could assist him.
Eventually the start of the fork came into view, Klein conversing with Harry and Issin. I huffed, reducing my pace to a jog. Behind me, Dynamm was wheezing, making it the rest of the way to the group before bracing himself on his knees.
"Come on, Dynamm. I've said this before. Crouching like that only ruins your recovery time." I reached around him, lifting his hands above his head. "Deep breaths. I'd rather have you do a cool down, but right now I don't think that's possible."
"Thanks for the save, Ninja Princess. Heard all about how you took charge from Klein." I took a deep breath, choosing to ignore Issin's newest nickname for me.
"I can't believe that appeared this early. This game's balance is completely messed up. A random AoE attack from the ceiling that has no indicator aside from moving its hands to punch the roof, tremors within two meters of its feet every time it takes a step, and random firing boulders from its body?" Kunimittz shook his head. "If it wasn't so stupid it stopped being funny I'd pin this on the GM's trying to punish Asasaki for buffing her agility stat to stupid levels. That or she's a walking bad luck charm."
I stiffened at that last bit, forcing my arms to relax while I guided Dynamm back to a stable breathing pattern.
"I think we triggered an event somehow. The walls were shaking from time to time as we walked through that pathway. I don't know if there was a trap we activated, if it was kill count based, or just the wrong place at the wrong time." Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Their targeting range only extends a certain distance from the big one though, and only whichever direction he's facing. Issin and I were able to figure that much, at least. If we stepped forward, the sentinels would start advancing towards us. Stepped back, and they returned to their post about five meters away from the Seneschal. That's why we couldn't leave. And it turns out that in a dungeon you can only talk with those in your party. We got notifications that our message weren't able to go through."
"Helmets are the weak points for those sentinels, by the way. I think I must have hit whatever counted for their eyes. One of my thrust skills chipped around 8% of its health off." I patted Dynamm on the back before raising my hands above my head, cracking my spine while I basked in the lingering adrenaline rush.
"Fat load of good that'll do the rest of us though. We're not as athletic as you, Asasaki. But thanks for the info." Klein smiled, garning a simple hum from me in response.
"All in favor of heading back to the inn? I've had enough of this cave for one day." Issin groaned, massaging his neck with a hand.
"Sounds good. We'll talk more about this in the morning. That was way too much excitement for our first day here." Klein lead the way out of the mines, the NPC's stationed at the entrance greeting us stiffly when we passed.
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"Asasaki, are you awake?"
"Mmmrm?" I groaned, my eyes slowly opening. Choryu and I had decided to share a room together, finding the cost to rent a room individually to be too expensive for our earnings from the day.
"Sorry. I can't sleep. I keep thinking about that fight today."
I breathed deeply in response, calling forth my interface with a half hearted swipe. Inside a room that was recognized as a place to sleep, it was possible to fully dismiss all your windows through a series of presses via the «Options» menu. Bringing it back was as simple as summoning your interface normally, and until a designated time arrived, dismissing your menu wouldn't bring back the entirety of your interface until you stepped outside the room.
"How do you do it?"
"M'gonna have to be more specific," I mumbled, pushing myself into a sitting position.
"When we saw those giant golems, how were you able to charge in like that?" In the darkness, I could only make out the outline of Choryu's form, the former office worker staring up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head.
"I've been in combat enough times to not care." I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I would need to wake myself up more in anticipation of a serious conversation. "But for somebody who's not as used to the rush of combat, the fear of what might happen if you didn't respond quickly is a good motivator." I took a breath, laying back down and mirroring the position I assumed Choryu was in.
"If I didn't take charge of the situation, Klein would probably have been fine on his own. He would've organized us into about the same formation, might not have assigned us the way I did, or might not have been as cautious as I was advising us on the way there, but he would have brought us there nonetheless." I closed my eyes, replaying the scene in my mind.
"But I doubted he would have been as commanding. I doubt he would have been as precise in issuing commands. That's why I wasn't so restrictive in my plan. I have a general idea of what we're each good at, so based off that I assigned us to certain things. Dale, Dynamm, and Kunimittz can help protect each other against any attacks while still dishing out damage. Klein, you, and I are fairly quick on our feet, and between Klein and I we can hold the attention of any monsters long enough for the others to figure out what happened." I moved onto my side, facing Choryu's bed.
"I moved the way I did because I was confident in what I had done. That the roles I had assigned would be carried out as best as they could be. I didn't need to worry about failure because Klein's group is so tightly knit that if anybody faltered, the others would pick up the slack. How could I even entertain the thought of messing up my role of keeping attention if that's what I need to compare myself to?" I closed my eyes, a smile finding its way onto my face.
"I said it back in the forest, and I'll say it again. If you can't believe in yourself, believe in the ones that believe in you. It's not just yourself you're fighting for. You're fighting for those around you. The people you're spending every day with. The ones who have your back as much as you have theirs." I shifted, waiting for a response. When none came, I slowed my breathing, ready to fall back asleep.
"You're amazing, Asasaki," his voice whispered.
"But I'm still human. Never forget that." I took a deep breath, letting myself go into the embrace of sleep.
Next chapter should be out July 29-30th.