Technically didn't meet my personal goal of 8k words per chapter, but it felt like a natural ending and I didn't want to mess with it.
Like every peaceful morning, I wasn't fully awake until I found my knees moving to and from my face, the protest of my muscles dimming with each pulse. As far as I could tell, Klein never visited me over the night. If he did try, then I had ended up in far too deep a sleep to have noticed his efforts.
Maybe I should have created a party with him so he could have entered.
I rolled onto my stomach and pushed myself onto my feet, moving through the motions of equipping clothing I had designated for my morning runs while I headed down to the cafe. Though I no longer woke up the rest of my companions at the ripe time of 5:30 in the morning, they had still taken the up the practice of group exercises. I would have joined them when they started around half an hour later than me, but my pace was too fast for them and it wouldn't have helped anyone.
"One day we'll be able to keep up with you, Asasaki," Klein remarked when I joined them at breakfast.
"When you do, just know that I won't stop making you guys run." I smirked at the playful groan Issin gave. "You might be able to do it in here, but this is still virtual reality. Everybody needs to keep the habit up so that when we get out of here we can have an easier time recovering. Your minds will be used to the work and so all you'll need to worry about is recovery."
"So you keep telling us." Issin grinned. "See, what's she's saying between the lines is that she's trying to building her own personal harem of strapping young lads. Sure, we might not end up involved with her, but we'll be eye candy she can call on at any time."
I let his theorizing go for a moment without comment, letting everybody digest it. "The only thing I'll refute is the harem part. Everything else I will willingly stand guilty for. God knows people don't exercise as much as they should," I stated, quietly laughing alongside my companions.
"So you're not going to be joining us today, right?" Klein asked, showing me the message I sent him yesterday regarding the kids I was helping.
"I'd feel wrong if I didn't help those kids like I promised." I thanked the NPC when they brought out my food, savoring every bite of the ham steak and eggs.
"I see." Klein crossed his arms and stared at his food. "Hopefully we can send a message while we're in the swamp. I know the zones have been acting up for us."
"So why doesn't Asasaki just stay in our party?" Issin questioned.
"I promised the other group that they'd get all my share, but they'd give me the rare materials in return. Can't exactly give them the experience or Cor if I'm not set up that way."
"There's also the question of whether or not the party system will even work that far." Harry turned his screen around and pointed at the two sections we'd each be in today. "I know we can use it between floors in the labyrinth and in the same area, but if we're in two separate zones who know if it'll dissolve on its own."
I nodded in agreement. "If you really miss me that badly Issin, I can always team up with you next time we head out," I teased.
"See, and this is why we should appreciate Asasaki." The fisherman grinned and pointed at me with both index fingers. "She knows how to take care of us!"
"Just make sure you or those kids don't do anything stupid, alright? I know you can handle yourself, but I don't know if you're good enough to take down a monster while keeping a bunch of newbies safe." Klein gave me a sideways look, swirling the 'alcoholic' liquid in his cup. This early in the day, we didn't need to worry about censoring term 'newbie' was one of those things that shouldn't be problematic but general use often meant it was an insult instead.
"I'm going to stock back up on supplies before I head out," I mentioned after finishing my meal. "What I have now should be fine, but I'm sure I'm going to end up needing extras."
"We'll let you know what to expect once we get things figured out. Try and make the quest go by fast, okay?" Harry looked up from his guide book, right hand still typing away at his interface. "You're an important part of our composition. None of us can match up with the fluid control and damage you provide."
"I'll do what I can. Be safe, alright?" I waved with both hands as I backed towards the door, meeting Klein's gaze before exiting. It felt wrong leaving without resolving whatever problem the others had with my actions. The entire time I sat beside him, Klein looked like he wanted to take me aside and talk with me, but since I had instilled into them the importance of making sure you had enough time in the day to accomplish everything, I could also tell he was warring against the expectation that whatever he wanted to talk to me about would take much longer than either of had at the moment.
#I'll be at the north gate. Shake me awake if I look like I'm sleeping.#
Message sent to Keita, I made my way to the NPC markets, replenishing my supplies of healing and restorative potions. While there wasn't a limit to how many items you could carry in the traditional sense, you were still gated by how much weight you could carry. For me, on top of my armor and the weapons I carried, that meant I could safely bring along twelve potions alongside eight preventatives for poison and paralysis.
I nestled into the stone bench underneath the simple wood and cotton awning, folding my head guard up to act as a pillow. After a few minutes of relative silence, I pulled open my interface and accessed the «Skills» portion, looking over a few that had caught my eye. A small blip in the lower right of my vision broke my concentration.
#Remember a few weeks ago when I said you weren't ready to lead a group?#
#It was more because you forgot to give orders to the rest of us.#
#I know you've been a leader before back in the real world, but most people aren't able to live up to your expectations.#
#Just keep that in mind if you end up taking control of that group, alright?#
I shook my head at the cheering kaomoji Klein sent, wondering if he memorized them or managed to have some on access through some function I never discovered. I wouldn't have put it past the man do put in that much effort for his emoticons.
"You wake up really early, you know that Miss AsasakI?"
"Habits from reality," I told the eldest of the five. I swung my legs onto the floor, suppressing the desire for the honorific to be dropped. "We're going to be taking it kind of slow today. Yesterday we went over the specifics of what each of you should do. Today, we're going to be putting that into practice. After each battle, I want to discuss what you think you did right and what you think you need to improve on." I stood, looking each of them in the eye. "Keita, you'll be in charge of making sure everybody's safe. I'll start you guys off slowly; one monster at first and then increasing the amount every so often."
The children of the Fukasawa Computer Club sounded their understanding, their cheerful expressions reminding me of the first time I introduced myself to my assigned group of campers for a summer camp.
Our journey back into the «Forsaken Forest» was uneventful. Were it not the material collection quest we were on, I would have strongly suggested that we head into the Tower instead, regardless of the rumors floating around about players starting to steal away monsters.
"You guys wait here," I told them. "I'll go catch something for us." Hunting for the roaming wolves was no different than tracking down goblins back in the «Wandering Woods». The markings weren't as easy, but once I began readily recognizing the sign my job became significantly more easier.
"Perfect." I dropped down from the tree and slashed at one of the wolves, dodging the twin attacks amidst my assault. Five hits from my Armor Splitter and the quadruped dematerialized, its sibling chasing me back to the clearing I left the teens in. "Sachi, take it!" I dove into a roll, rising up behind Sasamaru. For the purposes of these exercises there were essentially on their own. I would only step in if absolutely necessary.
The girl stepped forward and jabbed with her spear, a look of intense concentration on her face. The tip of her spear plunged into the wolf, driving it back a few inches. "Ducker, Tetsuo!" At the staff user's command, the two boys rushed up and took over, forcing the aggro onto them. With my teachings from yesterday, the five of them worked at the monster, alternating to keep the wolf switching between them while Ducker and Keita took advantage of whatever opening they could.
With every attempt I went over their performance, praising their ability to grasp the 'switch' mechanic. "Next run you guys are going to deal with two. Keita, how would you direct your team?" I had asked him about it before, but I wanted to see if anything would change after the advice I had given.
"Sasamaru, Sachi, and Ducker would be on one while Tetsuo and I take care of the other. With their output, they should be able to cover each other even without a shield user. In the future we need think about getting somebody into heavy armor. I know mobility's important for damage dealers, but if we don't have another tank to work around we'll have to be more cautious about our engagements."
"Good. While I go get some more wolves, take another look at all the abilities you have available to you right now. Keep working on memorizing your pre-motions as well as how long each post-motion is. At these lower levels and floors, just knowing how to use your weapons and abilities is fine, but eventually we'll reach a point where you need to know how to transition between everything smoothly. The faster you get to that point, the better."
As far as group fighting went, they performed better than my initial expectations. There were issues of course; Sachi always flinched whenever the target made a move for her, Sasamaru overextended nearly all of his normal strikes, and Keita had trouble coordinating his attacks with Tetsuo and would constantly get in the way of the shield user's attempts to block. It wasn't worth my time to harp on them about in great detail though. They were all things I had brought up before and would only be fixed by time and experience.
"Once we get you guys your armor, what would you say to messing around in the Tower? The monsters there are humanoid and so are a bit easier to deal with but hit harder and have more hp." I held out a potion for Ducker to take, the blonde having suffered a few hits the previous attempt.
"Whatever you think we can handle, Miss Asasaki." Keita moved shoulder to shoulder with Tetsuo and Sasamaru, the three boys standing proud in the face of their accomplishments. "Our lives are in your hands."
The corner of my mouth twitched, reflexively held there in a one sided smile to try and hide the slip. "A bit of a reversal for that from this point on. I want you guys to go on the hunt. I'll keep extra monsters off you guys. Eventually I'll wean you onto three, but for now all of you just need more combat experience." I gave the other girl in our group a meaningful look. "Whenever you're ready, I'll follow behind." I rested my hands on the pommels of my two swords, smiling reassuringly at the teens.
Keita looked at his group, putting on a forced grin. "How about we go…" The teen spun around and pointed in a random direction. "That way!" It was incidentally the direction that I had been going in to pull monsters. Whether we found any or not wasn't entirely my concern.
"By the way, Miss Asasaki. Why do you use two swords?" Sasamaru asked, moving back to gesture at my weapons.
"Mostly because my normal attack rate is a lot faster than using sword skills, even if they're not as strong individually," I told the green garbed spear user. "The way I fight is also better suited for individual strikes. The post-motion that you suffer from as a result of using abilities is a bit too long for my tastes. Even if I wanted to use Sword Skills, I couldn't. Not with my setup. When you have two weapons equipped the system prevents you from using weapon based abilities."
I smirked. "Don't think about trying to pull the same thing though. You'd need years of basic training with just a single weapon and then from there you'd need even longer training to apply the same techniques to your off hand, and then use them at the same time. I suppose it helps that I'm ambidextrous, though not by much."
"Wait, you don't use any sword skills?" Ducked slipped away from his conversation with Sachi, his eyes wide.
"I do. But when I'm by myself I don't really touch them unless I have a very clear opening. It's not worth it in my opinion to leave myself vulnerable, even if it is for less than a second or less. I'm used to fighting in real life where every moment matters. I know that abilities can deal almost double the damage of normal attacks, but it's that concept of 'I'm going to be stuck in this position and nobody can help me' that makes me instinctively dismiss it as worthless."
The two fell silent, occasionally staring at me. "Don't think about it too much. Just keep working on your basic for now. Eventually you'll find the style that fits you." I smiled to myself, placing the sound of buzzing.
Let's see how they handle this.
"Does anybody else hear that?" Tetsuo stopped and looked around, his face scrunched up in confusion.
"Hear what?" Sachi chimed.
Keita look back at his companions, utter confusion on his face. "Something wrong?"
"There's a weird sound coming from up ahead." Tetsuo gestured with his sword, bringing his shield up into a defensive position.
"Alright guys, Form up. Single target pattern." I obediently followed Keita's command, taking my place on the left side of our pentagonal formation behind Sachi. From farther down the path we would have taken, a flying insect the size of a large wolf shot towards us, leaves billowing in its wake.
"Tetsuo!" Keita called, his voice cracking.
The teen moved into a defensive stance, calling for someone to assist him. Sasamaru stepped up and added his own strength to Tetsuo's frame, digging his feet into the ground in anticipation of the impact. The stinger of the «Raging Hornet» slammed against Tetsuo's round shield, the two pushed back but still able to maintain their footing.
"Sachi, Ducker!" The younger two ran out, driving their weapons along the lower portion of the wasp's body.
"Aim for the base of the stinger or its wings! Those were weak spots on previous iterations!" I tapped my fingers along the hilt of my kopis. I was sure that the kids would be fine, but that didn't stop the worry.
Keita took over Tetsuo's spot, swinging his staff down with the blue shine of «Orbital Displacement». The insect collapsed to the ground, spasming while yellow arcs danced along its body. Without a word, Sasamaru maneuvered around his allies and drove his spear into its abdomen, a neon red trailing through the air. "Keep it pinned down!" Keita yelled, stabbing down at the creature's wings.
The group fell upon the beast with reckless abandon. Truthfully, they resembled a group of ruffians beating a defenceless victim more than trained fighters dismantling a target. Not that I would tell them that. As far as they knew, they had just safely taken down something far above their level. "You guys get anything good?" I asked, moving behind Sachi. The girl jolted away when I spoke, interposing Tetsuo between us.
"Just some «Gossamer Wing Fragments». What are those for?" Keita asked, finger poised over his interface.
"Weapon upgrades, specific kinds of cloth armor, and possibly some potions. I'm honestly not sure. It sounds familiar, but I can't recall from where." I pulled open my quest log, reading over the information. "We've still got a lot of materials to collect." The ^Lupine Extermination quest was as much a kill quest as it was material collection. The biggest item was something that dropped nearly every kill, with the rest of the drops randomly occurring. "Also, keep in mind that I'm still going to need the items for myself. If something ends up happening and I have to do it on my own, I don't mind, but it'd be nice to get this done while we're all together."
"Of course. It's the least we can do." The other four followed up on Ducker's cheerful smile, Sachi's and Keita's slightly more reserved.
Over the course of the next few hours, Keita continued leading his friends against the creatures we came across. Often times the monsters would come to us, but on occasion we stumbled upon plant based creatures. I was sorely tempted to take them out as fast as possible, but the knowledge that there my group were severely less experienced than me kept me from acting.
"At this rate, we might be done with the quest by nightfall," I commented, biting into my sandwich. Like yesterday, the safe zone located partway between the entrance to the forest and the Tower was occupied by numerous groups of varying levels and equipment.
Based solely on the way they carried themselves as well as the few snippets of conversation, the players here wanted to try and get better in this world but weren't sure of themselves, sticking to the safer monsters instead of diving into the tower and facing the humanoids within.
I moved knees underneath me, staring off into the distance. "Might be able to get it done sooner if I go off and do my own thing, but I don't know what kind of dangers you guys would get in to." I waved my hand in anticipation of their rebuttals. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that things can go very wrong very fast. The monsters around here have that large detection radius so even if I'm a more notable target they might still end focusing you."
"Would that be beneficial for you, Miss Asasaki? I'm sure you have other things you'd like to take care of." Keita smiled softly, his expression more substantial than most he gave towards me.
I hummed, looking over them critically. If they had survived up to this point it was safe to assume they at least knew the minimum of survival. My helping them just bolstered theirs odds. That or they travelled in a large group and avoided serious combat. It would explain why Keita was directing them so heavily yesterday. "I think I've taught you guys what I could. If you end up having any questions alter, just refer to your guide books or message me, alright?"
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I stared at my screen forlornly. A few hours ago Klein had informed me that aside from the tiny settlement all the relevant areas were under the same effects of a dungeon, and that they wouldn't be able to maintain contact with me until they either finished the quest or I met up with them. Everything required of them at this point in time seemed to be a kill quest with a minor amount of plant based material collection.
Kirito and Asuna were also unable to be reached, the system giving me a 'this player is unable to be reached' whenever I tried sending them something. I would have messaged Argo, but it felt strange to me trying to converse with her. I didn't think I could do something like that without naturally bringing up questions that she'd extort me for.
"At least I got plenty of materials today." While not quite every minute, the sheer number of wolves I went through allowed me to claim a sizable amount of fangs and claws. The ingredients would be enough to last me around half a dozen upgrade attempts if I decided to continue pursuing accuracy and sharpness. Durability would be nice where I could afford it, but I didn't mind going out of my way to repair my equipment. Were I able to, I would have maintained my equipment on my own. As with most things game related, Harry had to explain to me that most games didn't want their players to become jack of all trades. Being forced to specialise allowed an economy to form where every style was desired for something.
"God I'm such an old lady." I swung my legs up and laid down on the stone bench of the western amphitheatre. As far as I could tell, nobody else had come up here since the meeting for the first floor boos. If they had, they stuck to the established paths that had been taken by the participants, clear foot paths scattered among the dust.
I seriously need to consider picking up a skill I can do when I'm bored. Just lazing about or practicing my martial skills isn't going to cut it anymore.
I turned over onto my stomach. Word on the street was that the front lines had moved up another floor. This time the setting was something based around a forest. The main city seemed to have been built and grown directly into a massive tree. Alongside the rush of exploration that occurred to earn some easy cor from Argo, there was a surge of players who were rushing to officially established a guild.
Essentially an enhanced version of a party, Argo's Guide suggested that a guild was privy to a shared storage for all members to use and that while partied with fellow members you also received a small stat buff. In exchange you had to give up a portion of the gold you earned for upkeep purposes, but the vast majority of what was taken ended up being saved into said bank.
Common talk among players that had accepted we were stuck in this world talked about how eventually you could purchase a building for yourself in any of the towns. As nice as it sounded, I wasn't sure how to feel about the idea that I'd be the only female in my group if we ever purchased something for ourselves.
"Maybe that's what I should do while they're all fighting evil monsters. Network. Find and talk to people to work for us. Get some more estrogen into the group" I chuckled. "Yup. That sounds like something I'd do. Go around helping people while I'm not needed and get into the graces of everybody to create a mutually beneficial relationship." I sat back up and stared at the city. Being set in the medieval ages, there was a very natural rustic look to the place. Stone buildings that reached for the sky like blooming crops, streets aglow with torchlight like the roads of an airport, all while shadowed figures traveled the cobblestone roads.
I feel like being stupid.
I sprung onto my feet and stretched, putting my helmet back on after making sure my weapons were still at my sides. "Sorry, Klein. But I'm bored, and nobody's around to entertain me. Besides, it's not like anything around here can really hurt me." I flicked the point on my forearm where a wolf had clamped on, its teeth having done marginal amounts of damage. "I know how to maintain my health, I know the forest pretty well thanks to helping out those kids, and my skills are at a high enough level where I can two or three shot things if I really try."
I headed down the mountainside, a small amount of pep coloring my steps. In truth I was actually fairly hesitant to head back out alone, but if something went wrong I could always abuse my stats and make a dead run to the safe zone or the fields. It would be a nice change of pace to work under the cover of darkness again.
Aside from having to perform at 110% to notice anything that seemed out of place, night operations were wonderful for focusing the mind. In the daytime, there was so much activity going on that you naturally felt obligated to behave at the same level of energy that you were surrounded by. At night, the silence and the darkness made you feel like you were the owner of your own little world. That there was nothing but you and the stars for miles on end. And if at any point in time if you ever got lonely, all you needed to do was call out and somebody would enter the small space of solace you created.
I paused at the edge of the northern gate. If I stepped through, I would willingly expose myself to the enhanced dangers. There were of course people who preferred hunting at night, but that was as a group and their main reasoning was because they didn't need to worry about fighting for resources like the lower level players had to when Keita let me run wild.
I had to remind myself that my numbers were high enough that combined with my honed abilities, there would be very little if anything that could possibly pose a threat. "What would Klein say if he saw me now." I took a few breaths before answering. "Probably 'make sure you bring somebody along', before going back to bed." I snorted.
"I swear, that guy takes forever to fully wake up." I took another breath and stepped forward, not letting my brain a moment to put up any protests. Quietly I walked, the sounds of my footfalls creating a beat for the symphony of the wind and crickets chirping their melodies.
With the trees masking any sounds that might possibly come out of the forest, it was easy to believe that I was truly alone. "I'm sure I'll run across a group of lucky idiots that think night operations are the best." I smiled to myself and walked into the forest, instinctively slowing my pace to reduce the amount of noise I was making.
At some point I'd stop caring about the noise in favor of killing whatever I came across, but for now I'd do my utmost best to maintain the facade that I was still in the real world performing an important operation.
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I kicked off a tree and drove my knee into the wolf's back, sending it into the ground. No longer obligated to aide others, I was able to hunt down whatever I wanted. The only constant among all my targets were a neon pink indicator instead of the whitish pink of the day time. The speed of their attacks was increased as well, all in all leading to very enjoyable fights. While not quite the heart pounding fights I had with the rock golems or the creatures of the second floor, I still found myself grinning madly with every dodge and attack.
Another twirl and flowing triple strike ended the last remaining wolf, its shattering body calling forth a screen notifying me of the cor and experience I had acquired. "I should have claimed some of my items from those kids." I stretched my arms out, let out soft groans of pleasure. "Would have made this trip a lot easier."
But nooo. Instead I had to promise them I'd spend another day helping them out.
Alas for me I had to essentially do the entire quest on my own. Not that I was complaining much. Having external things that were out of my control meant I didn't need to focus on the internal issues that were begging for attention. It was stupid of me to put them off, but it wasn't as if I had a pressing need to take care of them.
I continued my trek through the forest, looping around trees in order to make sure that I wasn't missing any monsters that decided hiding would be the best option for the evening. More than once I had managed to 'sneak' up on a monster, quietly ending it before it had a chance to respond. It was surprising, but made a small amount of sense considering how close it was to midnight, The bigger surprise was the fact that there didn't seem to be any nocturnal monsters such as giant rats or owls. Perhaps those would be on the higher floors.
I paused at another clearing, taking deep breaths of the cool, biting air.
2349. I should considering heading back.
I slowly fell onto my back, letting the silence wash over me. During my search for targets I had come across groups of players squaring off against monsters, taking no shame in stealing away one or two if they didn't seem capable of handling them safely. The angry yells weren't entirely unexpected, but I'd rather that they be safe over risking their life for a bit of extra xp.
"Time to keep moving." I rolled backwards onto my feet, taking a moment to stretch my upper body once more. "New plan. I head back once I level up." I was rather close to hitting 17. Over the past three hours I'd slain enough things to cover some eight for ten percent, needing only another five percent more.
The remained of my journey went completely unmolested. Where once there was a den of activity, there was now an utter void of movement. Even the natural noise seemed to have stopped. At 0000 on the dot a tremendous howl ruptured the silence. The background music which had since become white noise for me began playing an energetic percussion heavy song, the anthem slowly rising in volume.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by." I grinned and shot off, constantly referencing my mini-map in relation to the origin of the sound. Soon the din of combat reached my ears, the familiar ringing of sword skills and metal tearing into flesh and bone guiding me towards their creators.
"Unit B, swap in after the next round of Sword Skills! Units C and D, continue luring it around the field!"
"Ho?" I licked my upper teeth reflexively. In the large clearing around the size of the safe zone, a large wolf easily the size of a humvee bounded after a group of six people garbed in themed, tight familiar clothing reminiscent of stagehand uniforms. The remaining six armed with melee weapons were dressed much in the same way. With a start I realized that these were the very same players I had been stealing monsters from. I continued watching to get a general sense of their plan and the wolf's attack pattern before joining in on the fight, slipping in the small space between the attacks of their two front lines."
"Who is this?!" One of the cosplaying ninja shouted, halting mid stride.
"Ignore her! Continue fighting the beast!"
My heart sang with joy. I didn't yet have an eye for gauging output, but I could make a good enough approximation of how much damage I could deal without causing an Off Tank to occur. A shame though that I wasn't able to see an exact number of our damage. If I knew the output of each of the four groups, I could weave abilities and normal attacks so that I could keep up a continuous stream without having to fall back and wait for another someone to exceed my output.
"Woman!" A commanding voice rose over the war cries. "If you get the last hit, take what you please, but leave the armor to us!"
"And why should I do that?" I taunted, rotating my swords around in my hands as I waited for another call of 'switch'.
"That armor is important for our work. We will not have this chance again for some time!" I hummed in response to the lead ninja, eying the laminar pieces of metal armor attached to his clothing in several places.
"But isn't there twelve of you?" I questioned, preparing myself to charge back in. "Statistically speaking, I only have around a seven or eight percent chance of landing that blow."
"This is true. But we would appreciate it nonetheless. If you need convincing, we will be willing to compensate you for the item."
"We'll see. If there's something about it that I like, I might end up keeping it. Guess that just means all twelve of you need to be on top of your game then, doesn't it." I charged in alongside 'Unit B', pulling my blade along behind me as I scored a blood red line into the wolf's side. "For what it's worth, I really hope you guys get it. I'm just pleased I get to fight something this big that isn't humanoid. Really lets me just relax and unwind," I told him when we next had a moment.
"We thank you." The false ninja bowed his head marginally, his sword still aimed at the hound. A thin mist of ice began spreading out from «Managarmr, Envoy of the Eclipse». "Special strike, fall back!" He yelled.
Scattered throughout the pall of crystalline water, snow blue light flashed intermittently. The cloud grew to around ten feet before the entire thing suddenly morphed into a block of ice, the sound of shattered glass ringing out before the ovular sheet disappeared in a flurry of shards. "Taro, time it!" A voice utter their response, ascending numbers barely audible. "Switch!" The leader called out, leading the charge.
I took a quick breath and leapt onto the wolf's back, slashing into its back with each step. As I near its head I threw myself into a tight aerial somersault, impaling my weapons into the back of its head as I landed. The creature reared onto its hind legs and howled, the cloud of ice forming once again.
"Thirty seconds! Health at 80%!"
I flung myself off Managarmr, tucking into a roll and landing beside a familiar player garbed in a dark green outfit. "That short a cool down on a freeze?" The ice shattered, the lone armored ninja calling for Unit A to stay back while the ranged units built up more aggro. "What are you guys trying to get from this thing, anyway?" I asked.
"We need not tell you anything, bōryokuda."
"Are you still mad about that?" I snorted, jogging slowly to keep pace with the movement of the wolf. "I told you before, it was nothing personal. I had a prior engagement with the info broker. That you happened to be pushing a hard bargain at the time was just incidental."
Kotoru grunted and repositioned, ending the conversation there.
"They sure are a friendly bunch," I whispered to myself. When the head called out for the next group to engage in combat, I ran alongside them, keeping only my «Armor Splitter» equipped. The leader of the ninja let out a torrent of light, forcing the attention of the wolf onto him and allowing us free reign on the beast's body. I hacked away at its leg over and over, turning the red line into a deep, angry maroon. Another howl summoned forth a wall of flat topped icicles, knocking the four of us back.
A pair of arms slipped under my shoulders and pulled me back, the voice of one of the other ninja calling out commands in place of their leader. "Restore your health, Miss. We shall cover for you." I grunted in thanks, hands moving to pull out a restorative without conscious input.
The damage wasn't as severe as I initially feared. The potions I had on me could restore around a tenth or fifteenth of my health over the course of a minute, with a two minute cooldown between each use. If I absolutely had to, I could take around ten more of those attacks without having to consider running away. Healing potions did nothing for status effects though.
"Unit B, to me!" I tossed the now empty bottle into my inventory, jogging over to the trio. "Speak quickly. What did you attack?" When we all responded with legs, the shinobi huffed. "When next we engage, do the same. We must find the condition for that attack."
"Hey, drink this," I said, ignoring the sound of spontaneous freezing. "Might help with the 'Delay' effect." I held out a bottle of yellow liquid for each of the others. "It'll take a while to kick in, but that's two ice different moves already and we're not even halfway done."
"Thank you. If you are able, let us talk when this is over." The man pulled back his shoulders and stepped forward. "Unit A, fall back! Unit C, Sword Skills! Unit B, «Reaver» when they land!" The elder moved his blade beside his head, only releasing the charged skill when a salvo of lights smashed into Managarmr's head.
I ran after the three ninja, hopping into a jump stop to accurately perform «Sparrow in Flight». As i fell my sword flashed green, «Twilt Horizon» snaking out thrice before I landed. From there I chained together blade skills and martial art strikes, making my way to the wolf's rear leg before continuing my assault. In the corner of my eye I noticed powder blue lights flashed among all the places I struck. In the next instant I found myself tumbling through the air, the combined post-motions preventing me from moving.
"Woman! What is your condition!?" Another human roar was released, waves of jagged orange and yellow being sent into the air.
"Post motion, don't mind me!" I called out, processing my condition.
Sword's missing. Delay and Stun applied. Is it damage? Surrounded by all sides?
I watched the timer for the «Stun» effect agonizingly tick down, held in place until the invisible post-motion ran out. A full ten seconds of inactivity, the debuff was something that could occur randomly alongside Delay whenever significant damage was taken.
I need to hang back and watch.
When the movement impediment disappeared, I rolled onto my feet and picked up my weapon, hand flicking out to summon another potion. In the allure of combat, I never took the time to notice the four health bars above its head. "Oi! Boss man! What the hell is this thing?" I yelled, swapping my focus between the rate that health was lost and the positioning of the other units.
"Hidden Boss," He responded. "Our clan discovered the method to call forth the creature in the first week. It was a well kept secret that only we were privy to." The man's head jerked towards the ranged units at the other end of the clearing. "Unit C and D, abilities!"
Without hesitation the six ranged units fired out a myriad of lights. "Hey, can I have a name? It's getting kind of strange constantly referring to you in my mind as 'the armored ninja'."
"You may call me Shen. Unit A, fall back! Taro, status!"
"Frost AoE consistently activates every thirty seconds! Heath bars declining at alternating three and four percent!" The man let loose another needle, hands deftly tapping at his interface and calling forth another bandolier of the projectiles.
"Continue whittling it down! Pot after each rotation if needed! Unit B, forward!"
For what felt like hours we continually swapped out, testing the conditions of Managarmr's special moves until we figured out the limits. At some point we accidentally engaged as one from the front, receiving a conical breath of frost for our troubles. When the ranged units ran out of ammunition, Shen and Taro wordlessly modified their roles, the latter effortlessly directing the seven remaining fighters around the field in a beautious symphony of attacks. It was only when the sky above us began shifting towards lighter shades of blue that the wolf was finally beaten, dematerializing as it gracefully collapsed to the ground, appearing much like a fading spectre.
I grinned and spun in place, falling to the ground in pure bliss. The ability to adapt to the changes of battle had impressed me greatly. Even more so when the two leaders of the melee units began take over each other's roles without fail.
"What items did you acquire, Demon-Nin?"
I lazily looked over at Shen, belatedly realizing that he was doing his utmost best to cosplay as his namesake. "Three «Pelt of the Lunar Wolf», several «Fang of the Demonic Envoy», a handful of «Chilled Canid Meat», and one «Cloak of the Frostborn»." I made a noise of appreciation, sitting up as I looked over the stats.
"We would like to trade you for that last item," he spoke immediately.
"Any particular reason why?" I questioned, marveling at the maximum amount of upgrades.
"That item is part of a set. We are collecting it. Most assuredly it is required for a hidden quest somewhere in the upper floors."
"How about a deal?" I offered, smiling wryly at the prone bodies of the five other fighters. "I hold onto this thing as well as any other equipment I get. In exchange, I help you guys out and then once we get all the items for the set I trade them over." It screwed them over immensely, but I enjoyed working with them. It was extremely reminiscent of the squads I had back in reality. Klein and the others did what they could, but compared to the teamwork these twelve displayed it felt more akin to a highly organized mob than a disciplined unit.
Shen let out a long and silent sigh, maintaining his gaze with me for several drawn out seconds. "Very well. We already have the «Gloves of the Frostborn». Through we were able to claim a full set back in the beta, it is unknown if the beast will drop repeat equipment. Add us to your friends list. We shall contact you when the beast will next spawn."
I swiped open my interface, tapping the relevant places. "Might be asking for a lot, but do you mind sharing how you know this thing appears?"
"I suppose there is no harm in telling you." Shen motioned for me to follow after him as he assisted his men to their feet. "The creature is one of several who will only show when a floor above them is cleared. When that first condition is met, you must then kill over a thousand monsters of the same type before the next day. This number is shared amongst all players hunting on the same floor, and it will show itself at midnight within sight of the player that slays the final creature."
The dark blue and purple themed shinobi grinned behind his facemask. "This is why we of the Fūma clan are the only ones to have discovered it. All other fighters were driven to go higher and higher, to explore what this world has to offer. We stayed behind and explored what others looked over. Nine floors were cleared in the month we were given. Five times we defeated Managarmr. Our final attempt before the end of the month was against Teotihuacan, Empress of the Arachnids. We failed, but when we next face her it shall be with success."
I snorted and winked at the two ninja I met back on the second floor when I sent them the requests. "A shame I'm already with a group. If I wasn't I'd be highly tempted to try and join you."
"And which group is that, Miss Asasaki?" Shen asked kindly.
I tried to hide my flinch with a pained smile, internally screaming at the amount of respect I could hear in the prefix. "They call themselves Fūrinkazan. Samurai in training. Hence the whole 'you wish we were Iga nin'." I motioned towards Kotaru (who I had mistakenly thought Kotoru) and Isuke. "Sorry for any trouble that might have arose from that."
"The fault lies with me. In this new world I must be more forceful with my men. Regardless of our class or standing, we must all stand together, lest we fall against the forces that wish upon us doom."
For such a clichéd line, Shen delivered it incredibly tastefully. The image shattered when he turned to discipline two of his men, perhaps children, who found it tasteful to sing praises towards their leader.
"Miss Asasaki, will you be fine from here? My men and I must make our way back to «Town of Beginnings» and train on the creatures on the third floor as well as officialize our clan, though after your assistance we would not mind escorting you back to «Tolbana»."
"I'll be fine." I instinctively gave a small bow. "I'm pretty sure there's a group of teens who are going to meet up with me for material collection purposes in the forest. I might as well head to the nearby safe zone and catch a few winks before then."
"You are an incredibly strong woman, Miss Asasaki." He returned the bow, his fellow nin repeating the gesture a beat later. "I pray that we meet again."
"Until then, Shen." At my words the twelve multi-colored shinobi darted off. "Haa?" I looked around the clearing, my mind having trouble processing the speed at which they disappeared. "That was «Sprint», wasn't it?" I asked myself, recognizing their stances from the small preview I had of the skill.
Slowly I erupted in full body laughter, realizing that at the very least I came out of this experience with a group I would not mind hanging out with. "I can't wait to tell Klein about this." The laughter returned once more, the sound carrying me through the woods. "He's going to get a kick of out of this. Ninja vs Samurai." I shook my head and took a seat in the empty safe zone, composing a message to inform Keita of my location.
I'm actually a little excited from this point. It's all mostly my own path instead of working alongside canon.
Next chapter should be up October 6-7.