Heart of Akasha
A/N: Thank you for your review, merendinoemiliano.
Chapter 9: Isekai
{You have reached your destination [135-32-1412-qlj-hjykk].}
"Huh?"
It took a bit for Ji-Han to remember where he was. That had to do with the fact that he just right now had been meditating. It wasn't the first time he had been interrupted from the Meditation and thus it hadn't been the first time he had forgotten where he was or what he was doing. That was the nature of the skill Meditation, after all.
As for the reason why he was meditating? When he had stood up that day and went to the training room, Naofumi had practically banned them from the tournament. With only five hours left until arrival, he had wanted Ji-Han to concentrate on leveling up his Night Eye instead.
Since the level of the enemies got higher the further they went, he didn't want them to use up all their MP fighting against all the small-fries only to meet a boss with ridiculous VIT like the Guard Armor. Even though they already had made it to Round 7 the day before!
Unfortunately, he couldn't really argue against that logic. They had to preserve their MP before they went onto the world. Who knew how strong the enemies there were?
Which reminded him, didn't the robotic-sounding message said something about that? Didn't it say that they finally reached the new world?
Ji-Han stood up from sitting cross-legged, the Gamer's Body preventing his legs from falling asleep, and quickly went towards the bridge.
"Took you long enough", declared Naofumi, sitting on a chair on the lower deck.
"You know how I get when my meditation is interrupted", Ji-Han defended himself. "How does it look?"
"Since the time starts as soon as we look, I haven't done so yet", Naofumi explained. "We also have to decide whether or not to scan the world."
"Zelretch did warn us that scanning the world might get someone's attention", Ji-Han reminded himself of the reason for their caution. "And for our first world, I think we should listen to him."
Naofumi nodded in agreement and turned towards the console. Some typing later and then they broke out of the dimensional sea and came to look upon a planet. It was similar looking to the earth that Ji-Han knew, only with the land and sea shifted around, making it impossible to find any of the continents of his home world.
"Without scanning we can't really tell anything about this world", mused Ji-Han. "Do we have to jump in blind?"
"Most likely", confirmed Naofumi as he stood up from his seat. "Ready to go?"
"I'll get the teleporters running." Huh, the password was still "MERLIN". He really should change it around at some point. Now that he thought about it, couldn't he write the password on a piece of paper and put it in his inventory and no one would be able to get it? A thought for later.
"Alright, we're good to go."
"[Beam me down]!" "[Beam me down]!" "[Smear, gle, gle, smear]!"
Ji-Han had just enough time to wonder if Shua was even able to get out on his own if he couldn't talk in normal words, before the green light of the teleportation took his vision.
Luckily Shua had not been left behind on the ship, as Ji-Han could tell once the green light had faded and they found themselves in some kind of forest area. The trees, fern and exotic flowers made it look like a tropical jungle, only that they were standing on a large road of earth and grass that you wouldn't find in uncharted jungle areas. Was this natural or artificial?
"We have not changed appearance", noted Naofumi. "That means that in this world both humans and Pokémon are not out of place."
"…you don't think we might have already found Shua's homeworld?" Ji-Han mused as he stepped out of the undergrowth onto the road and Naofumi shrugged.
"If this world called out to you because Shua was in your party, it could be", he exclaimed. "We should find out more once we found the inhabitants of this world."
"Alright. The let's go… that way." Ji-Han turned to the right. There wasn't any clue as to where to go so they might as well pick out a direction at random.
Or at last, that was the plan, but suddenly dark portals appeared around them, revealing six Heartless, Ji-Han had never seen before.
The first two were some kind of greenish slug the size of a pig called {Houseless} with an upright first half and the Heartless-Emblem on their houseless back, as well two large cartoonish eyeballs on top of their stalks. But those were just decorations, as his [Observe] informed him. The real eyes were the glowing yellow dots on the "chest"-area.
The other four Heartless were [Dire Plant]s, flowers with four leaves on the ground, a green hexagonal face with yellow border and below the yellow eyes a zigzagging line as mouth that was sometimes open and sometimes wasn't. It had four petals of pink color with white border that were arranged in a cross-like formation and around its stem a golden ring. The stem itself was thin above this ring, but widened into a plump drop-like structure below, with the black and red Heartless-Emblem at the front of it.
The plants were just small-fry around level 5 that couldn't even move. The slugs, however….
{Houseless Lv20
Status: Unaffected
HP: 200/200
MP: 150/150
Type: Emblem-Heartless
Elemental Alignment: Poison
Elemental Resistances: Fight (0.25), Poison (0), Shell (0.5)
These Heartless in the shape of a slug like to slide on slime trails.
The two large eyes on top of their heads are just decorations,
their real eyes are the yellow dots below them.
STR: 20 VIT: 17 DEX: 12
INT: 38 WIS: 27 LUK: 28}
"Be careful", Ji-Han called out to his comrades. "The slugs got Poison! And resistance to Fight."
"Smear!" Shua spoke up in agreement as the plants all shot a hand-sized wooden sphere at them, two towards him and towards Ji-Han, while one of the slugs slid forward and the other gathered an orb of a sickly green liquid between its eye-stalks.
"[Air Strike Shield]!" Naofumi summoned in-between them and the Heartless, while his party members made sure to just sit back and watch what these guys would do.
The first slug slid past the shield, while the second threw forth the orb of green liquid, flinging it harmlessly against the transparent shield where it soon disappeared. The wooden spheres, however, did not. Instead they bounced off the surface of the shield like a beam of light off a mirror, if slower and went back towards the Heartless. One Dire Plant got hit with its own attack, while two others got his with attacks from other Dire Plants, the same with the Houseless on the back.
For the slug it was just a minor inconvenience of 13 HP, but the Dire Plants seemed extremely weak to their own attack as they instantly evaporated when they got hit. Not that Ji-Han could appreciate it as the other slug had reached him and suddenly literally jumped at him.
"[Guard]!" Ji-Han activated quickly, stopping the Heartless from tackling him. The only problem was that now the Heartless was literally hanging from his Keyblade like a wet slimy towel, moving its stalks towards him.
"Eww! Get off! [Power Strike]!" Ji-Han swung the Keyblade assisted with a Power Strike, flinging the slug away from him. The actual attack did no damage, as the Heartless had moved in synch with the Keyblade. But once it was forced to stop by hitting a tree, now that was a different matter.
{HP: 188/200}
Meanwhile the other slug had decided to forgo ranged attacks and slid towards them with trice the speed of its brethren, leaving behind a trail of green slime and Ji-Han quickly [Dodge Roll]ed out of the way. But it stopped before reaching him and Shua used a series of Scratch-attacks on it.
That was, when Ji-Han noticed a wooden sphere originating from the last surviving Dire Plant coming towards him. Luckily those projectiles were not that fast and thus he could activate "[Guard]" in time to fling the projectile right back at its owner, eliminating it. {+7 EXP}
Now, that left the two Houseless.
"[Shield Prison]!" Naofumi captured the one further away while it was preparing to shoot a glop at them. Meanwhile the closer one jumped towards Shua but luckily it was slow enough that he saw it coming and got out of the way. Instead Ji-Han used the opportunity where its attention was at his partner, to attack it himself. The slug now turned to face him, allowing Shua to attack its back instead while Ji-Han still continued, if more cautiously.
"Ji-Han, slug on five!"
As soon as he heard Naofumi's warning, Ji-Han turned around and jumped back as he did so. That was so he would be able to keep both, the original enemy and the newcomer in his field of vision. Ignoring either one of them would just result in getting hit by an attack, something he had learned in the training room the hard way. In this case, the second one did make its way towards him, but it was so slow and so far away, that the first one was the one who attacked him first, aiming for him before jumping at him.
But since Ji-Han saw that coming, he could easily side-step and just attack the Heartless once it missed him. {+450 EXP}
And that was… wait, didn't that thing just gave them way more EXP than any of the other Heartless so far?!
"[Air Strike Shield]!"
SPLASH!
Ji-Han turned to look behind him, where he had heard the sound of something wet hitting a solid surface. The wet thing in question was a green sticky blob, while the solid surface was the transparent shield now directly in front of him, having blocked the attack of the Heartless just in time.
"Don't space out!" Naofumi admonished Ji-Han who apologized sheepishly, as he ran around the shield to get to the Heartless. Which proved to be the Houseless the Hero of the Shield had previously imprisoned and, with being the only target left, stood no chance against Ji-Han and Shua's combined attacks. {+450 EXP}
"So that were our first enemies in this world", summarized Ji-Han afterwards. "Plants and slugs. Were any of those in Traverse Town?"
Naofumi shook his head.
"The only Heartless I have encountered outside the city areas and the streets of the rural area are Shadows", he elaborated. "I don't know if that is because there were not enough people living in other places or if Traverse Town is special in that regard."
So they still didn't know if they were close to civilization or not. They could only continue along the path and hope to meet someone.
But for now they had loot to look through!
"Oh, Shua, could you please go to the place the Dire Plants where and see if they dropped anything?" He asked the Pokémon as he took a look upon the thing that the second Houseless had dropped. "[Observe]."
{[Slug Mucus (25ml) - Rank: Super]
Base-Value: 25 000 Munny
A test tube with the mucus of a slug.
Increases natural regeneration of skin cells and is used in medicine.
Using it raw on the skin increases HP-regeneration by 0.1 HP
for 5 minutes for every ml Slug Mucus used.}
"A healing item?!" Shouted Ji-Han surprised. Even if it wasn't the best one, only able to heal a total of… 12 HP over a duration of 5 minutes, the thought that he could actually farm healing items… with how only boss monsters had given them out previously, he never expected that.
"Do you want this one?" Ji-Han asked Naofumi who thought about it.
"Yes", he finally answered. "This is just too few to be of use to you but if we are lucky, I can unlock a healing shield from this.
Right, there was that possibility, too!
He gave Naofumi the vial who uncorked it and let the liquid inside drip into the green jewel of his shield, until it unlocked a new one, giving Ji-Han back the rest: 10 ml.
"It actually is a healing shield. 0.1 Percent of the MAX-HP. Per second."
Wow, that was way better! Using it on its own only worked each minute and only for 5 of them. And they wouldn't run out of mucus with the shield.
"But it only works for me."
Ji-Han cursed. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. But at last that would allow Naofumi to regenerate HP incredibly fast between fights. That should come in useful once they actually met enemies able to harm him.
"Smeargle, smear!" Shua came back enthusiastically from the scavenging, carrying… a flower pot?
The flowers dropped flower pots. That… made sense… but would people even buy those? At last the Leon Shop should… not that it mattered for the moment.
Ji-Han gave Naofumi the flower pot, who absorbed it into the shield. The Hero of the Shield studied the unlocked features before telling his party members:
"I got a shield that allows me to shoot out seeds after storing them. It might be useful as a distraction."
"So, giving you any seeds we find, got it", acknowledged Ji-Han. With that they had done everything they needed to do and so had no reason to stall any longer. Maybe they could finally meet a person to give them some clues as to what they were supposed to do.
But for now the only thing they met were more Heartless.
{Creeper Plant Lv20
Status: Unaffected
HP: 200/200
MP: 100/100
Type: Emblem-Heartless
Elemental Alignment: Wood, Leaf
Elemental Resistances: Water (0.75), Leaf (0.5)
A flower-like Heartless.
It's rooted in one place, but staying far away isn't enough,
since it can spit seeds and attack from below with its sharp roots.
STR: 39 VIT: 22 DEX: 0
INT: 39 WIS: 27 LUK: 20}
The four-legged, or rather four-rooted version of the Dire Plant. It had a black round face with spikes in a "plus"-like fashion. The ones horizontal were yellow, the ones vertical orange. And behind each spike were a large petal of the inverted color of the spike, a yellow petal behind an orange spike and an orange petal behind a yellow spike. And while it also had a ring around its stem like the Dire Plant, the ones of the Creeper Plant was black, which the body below taking on a darker shade of green. Unlike its lower version it also fired three wooden projectiles at once in a fan-like fashion, summoned vines to whip around the sides of its body and wooden stakes rising from the ground wherever it pleased – generally below one of the companions. If it hadn't been for the description from Observe, Ji-Han and Shua would definitively had been hit. Naofumi actually did get hit, but he was Naofumi.
{Awake Instinct Lv15
Status: Unaffected
HP: 170/170
MP: 85/85
Type: Pureblood-Heartless.
Elemental Alignment: None, Data
Elemental Resistances: Fight (0.5), Darkness (0), Mystic (0.25)
A Heartless that emerges from the darkness within digital data.
Like its normal counterpart, it can make itself untouchable for a short time.
STR: 20 VIT: 24 DEX: 30
INT: 18 WIS: 23 LUK: 18}
Those guys resembled the Shadows in its general shape, but instead of a solid black mass, they were made out of multiple pixel-like blocks in the colors black, gray, white and dull shades of orange and violet. And those pixels did not always come together into a perfect shape, but left quite a lot of gaps within them. Only the yellow eyes were the same. But like its counterpart it was able to flatten itself on the ground and attack with scratches. But additionally it was able to morph its head to add a mouth with sharp triangles on its edges, which it used to bite.
These guys dropped Data Fragments which according to [Observe], which had leveled up from all the usage, were:
{[Data Fragment (Small) - Rank: Inferior]
Base-Value: 1 000 Munny
A small physical fragment of garbage data
with no connection to any program.}
So far they had gotten two of a small size and two of medium size. And since there was no clear purpose of those, Ji-Han guessed they crafting ingredients, similar to the Lucid Shards. So they fed one of the smaller ones to Naofumi.
But the most important thing that the new enemies gave them was EXP. Defeating a Creeper Plant or Awake Instinct got Ji-Han 350 EXP each. A lot compared to Traverse Town. Enough that with the EXP gained from finishing the Armor Cup, he was now level 10.
And suddenly his stats went weird. Instead of the expected 550 Max-HP, he got 790 and instead of the expected 275 MP, he suddenly had 370. And his MP-regeneration doubled. That had been such a large jump, he had been completely baffled. Naofumi had suggested that all 10 levels of his got a better bonus and Ji-Han was inclined to agree. But they would see more once he leveled up again.
For now they had different problems.
{Bug Bite Lv27
Status: Unaffected
HP: 500/500
MP: 200/200
Type: Emblem-Heartless.
Elemental Alignment: None, Shell, Sound
Elemental Resistances: Lightning (0.9), Wood (0.75), Leaf (0.25)
A Heartless in the shape of a stag beetle.
It can vibrate its wings fast enough to create shockwaves.
STR: 63 VIT: 59 DEX: 56
INT: 25 WIS: 23 LUK: 29}
Namely two level 30 stag beetles of human size and dark green color with the black Heartless-Emblem in-between their pincers, accompanied by a single level 5 immobile Dire Plant.
"What the heck is up with this game balance?!" Ji-Han shouted as he used [Dodge Roll] to duck under the charge of one of the beetles that cut down the trees behind him. The second beetle was currently biting down at Naofumi's Shield while the Hero of the Shield was doing his best to push the enemy back.
"Smear!" Exclaimed Shua as he attacked the Bug Bite with Naofumi with a Power Strike, only to deal only 9 damage. Damn it, no Fight-weakness, a VIT nearly as high as the Guard Armor from the Armor Cup and there were two of them.
"Shua", he called out through the voice chat as he turned to look at the Heartless that had passed him. "Try and copy one of their attacks. Don't worry about MP right now!" He had hoped that Shua could add an elemental attack but they needed power and they needed it now!
Ji-Han studied the big Heartless as it turned around to face him again, flying towards him fast. But not as fast as when he had been charging at him. So the charge had been a special skill. But even without that it had still 56 DEX, too fast for Ji-Han to run away.
"[Guard]! Ugh!" {-66}
Additionally, as Ji-Han found out the hard way, trying to block something as long as the pincers with something as thin as his Keyblade, was not working well. In fact, if he hadn't had the Gamer's Body, he was pretty sure, that would have cut off both of his arms.
Seeing how defense didn't work, he attacked.
"[Power Strike]!
Yet even that did only 14 HP-damage, not that much more than Shua.
{-66}
PING!
{[Physical Endurance]'s Level has risen by 1.}
And the Heartless bit down again. If Ji-Han continued to stay there, he would become bug food!
"[High Jump]!"
High Jump was the skill that Ji-Han had gotten when his Keyblade Mastery had reached level 32. It made him more resistant to fall damage and, like the name suggested, jump higher. Not by much considering how it was still at level 2, but enough that when the Heartless bit down on him again, it missed him. Instead Ji-Han landed on top of its head. He didn't stay there, because even though trying to rodeo the bug might sound cool, he didn't want to do it when the ride was supposedly able to create shockwaves with its wings.
So, instead he continued to jump and, while still in mid-air, called out to Naofumi through their voice chat:
"Prison me!"
Then his right foot touched the ground and he used [Dodge Roll] to prevent himself from landing badly and stumbling.
"[Shield Prison]!" Naofumi activated at his position on his request. Unfortunately, that made him miss how his enemy started vibrating with its wings and create the shockwave that Ji-Han had been so wary of, hitting him as well as Shua.
"Gle!"
Ji-Han apologized in his mind and hoped that the Guard Armor would protect the Pokémon from the worst of it. But he couldn't spare to think about someone else for the moment.
"[Status Window]!" He summoned and as fast as he could, put all 17 of his left points into STR. Then he closed the Status Window and opened the [Inventory], but did nothing with it. Instead he ignored it for now and stood patiently within the confinements.
Heartless had the troublesome feature that the walls of the prison didn't really keep them in or out and while the Bug Bite-Heartless was large, it wasn't too large to fit. Thus the Shield Prison would be pretty useless against them.
If he wanted to be protected that is.
"[Power Strike]!" Ji-Han activated as soon as the Bug Bite warped into the Shield Prison, before it even could orientate itself. Unfortunately he couldn't tell how much the damage had increased, as the Observe-panel had closed when the Heartless had gone out of his field of vision, but he also didn't want to reopen it as he didn't want to waste one second to lay the pain onto the Heartless.
"[Power Strike]!" He used again, at the same moment that the Bug Bite bit at him. {-66} But when the bug wanted to do it again, Ji-Han activated [High Jump].
The Gamer hit the ceiling of the Shield Prison with his back {-4}, but that was a lot more preferable to the pincers. And this time Ji-Han stayed on the back of the Heartless. After all, this close he would get his by the shockwave no matter where he was. But he still did not try to ride the Bug Bite, preferring to hit him with [Power Strike] after [Power Strike].
But the Heartless soon moved, throwing off the human on its back. But it still had trouble maneuvering inside this small space.
Unfortunately, that was the moment that the time for the Shield Prison had run out and now both were free again. Which the Bug Bite instantly used to turn around and charge at Ji-Han. And at this distance, he could not avoid it. {-100}
Ji-Han fought through the pain and, while {-4} getting rammed {-4} through a couple of trees {-4}, activated [Power Strike] again. Then the Heartless stopped and Ji-Han flew a bit further, before being stopped by another tree. {-9}
Then the Heartless unfolded its wings and Ji-Han, who was just picking himself up, could not stop it from creating a shockwave. But he still could use Guard.
Now one could wonder how he could hope to block a freaking sound wave with a stick, when he couldn't block the pincers. However, Guard had a special effect that made it so that as long as Ji-Han could hit the attack with the Keyblade, it would be stopped, even if it was made of fire or water. Or sound. Thanks to that blocking a large sound wave was actually easier for him to block than a single thin pincer. As long as he got the timing right. Luckily for him, the attack was so powerful it sent the trees and the earth beneath it flying away, allowing Ji-Han to tell where the shockwave was.
"[Guard]!" He activated, slamming his Keyblade against the incoming wave and not only blocked it successfully, but send all of it flying in the opposite direction – towards the Bug Bite.
"[Observe]!" He activated as he ran forwards with the wave, just in time to see how the HP of the Heartless went from {114} to {88}.
The Heartless was too stunned to do anything, allowing Ji-Han to attack it with another [Power Strike].
{Critical!}
{+875 EXP}
And that was that with that enemy. Finally. Unfortunately, for all the boss-like power it had, it didn't count as a boss, meaning, he didn't get any Potions or Munny out of it. But at last it dropped something. A large square piece of… bug shell? Why was there a bug shell in the perfect shape of a square?
But Ji-Han had no time to waste on that, he had to check up on Shua and Naofumi.
Thus he quickly put the bug shell in the inventory he had opened earlier in case he needed to use a Recovery Potion in his battle against the Bug Bite and ran back the way that the Heartless had pushed him. Soon he came upon his two party members, hiding behind Naofumi's shield while he stood against a shockwave of the other Bug Bite.
"[Observe]!" He activated. Huh, so 385 HP left.
"Finally back?" Naofumi greeted him without looking away from the enemy. "Any tips on how to beat him?"
"I just put all of my points into STR", Ji-Han replied. "And Guard works well against the shockwave. But I still lost a lot of HP in the process."
"How many attacks would you definitively survive?"
"Disregarding surprise CRITs, four charges or five bites. Never got hit with the shockwave."
"Then I won't let you get hit more than twice!"
Ji-Han acknowledged his declaration and ran forward, the Heartless meeting his charge with one of its own, only as attack.
"[Air Strike Shield]!"
Naofumi summoned his transparent shield directly in front of the Heartless, letting it ram against it while Ji-Han skipped around it and attacked the stopped Big Bite with a [Power Strike]. He then quickly got back behind the shield, which blocked a bite attack. The Heartless was now crawling around the shield and Ji-Han took steps back.
"[Thousand Feet Charge]!" Naofumi was now activating, running forward and crushing the Heartless between his centipede shield and the Air Strike Shield. The Bug Bite did notice him and even turned around, now trying to bite his head off with its pincers. Unfortunately for it, Naofumi had enough HP to spare the few that it actually managed to take off. And its attention being on the shield hero, suited them just fine.
"[Power Strike]! [Power Strike]! [Power Strike]!"
Ji-Han managed to get three hits in until the Air Strike Shield vanished, freeing the Big Bite from its temporary confinement. Which now was going again after Ji-Han. The Gamer quickly used a [Dodge Roll] to get out of the way and behind Naofumi, but because the Heartless was currently not charging at him, it was easily able to turn around and come after him that way. Naofumi tried to get in its way, but it was too fast and managed to outmaneuver the Hero of the Shield.
"Dodge!" Naofumi told thus his companion who, not being able to see behind him, had to trust him blindly, using yet another [Dodge Roll] right after the first one ended, thus avoiding the sharp pincers clashing together behind him.
"Continue!" Naofumi urged and Ji-Han followed his instructions, again and again avoiding the attack of the Heartless. "Jump!"
Ji-Han activated [High Jump] and got into the air, but it had been too late. The Bug Bite's Charge hit him directly at the back of his knee and dragged him with it. {-102} And because Ji-Han had its back towards it, he couldn't even attack it while it did so, helpless until it stopped, sending him flying forward again, luckily this time along the open path and not against a tree.
But Ji-Han couldn't relax yet as it now came after him with its normal, yet still high speed. So he quickly picked himself up and turned around to face the enemy. Who was already there!
"[Dodge Roll]!" Ji-Han activated the first thing coming to his mind, only to realize that this was exactly what he had done the previous time.
"[High Jump]!" To avoid the same outcome, he instantly jumped after his first Dodge Roll, looking back to see where the enemy was. But he couldn't see him. And when Ji-Han tried to look back to the front, he noticed that with his intention of looking back, he made himself turn around during his jump – and landed backwards on the back of the Bug Bite. In a rodeo-position. Something he had all the time tried to avoid. And even backwards!
Knowing he wouldn't be able to stay on it, he instantly used the time it was still carrying him and not trying to get him off, to hit it with another [Power Strike].
Now it tried to throw him off and, since Ji-Han hadn't tried to get a grip, succeeded.
"[Shield Prison]!"
Luckily Naofumi was once again in range and captured Ji-Han in the sphere of shields before the Heartless could punish Ji-Han for riding on it, no matter how involuntarily.
Ji-Han stood up within the confinements, once again readying himself by opening the inventory. Then the enemy appeared and Ji-Han instantly used a [Power Strike] on it. {+875 EXP} To his surprise, that had been enough to kill it, this time without dropping anything.
"You can let me out, Naofumi-Hyung", he thus spoke through the voice chat. "It's finished."
The Shield Prison vanished and Ji-Han made his way towards Shua and the Hero of the Shield whose shield in question changed to take on a green slimy look.
"That could have gone better", noted Ji-Han, before he opened his [Status Window].
{Name: Han, Ji-Han
Class: The Gamer
Title: none
Level: Lv10
Status: Unaffected
HP: 386/790
MP: 101/370
STR: 44 (39+3+2) ← (+0) →
VIT: 24 (22+2) ← (+0) →
DEX: 18 (16+2) ← (+0) →
INT: 19 (19-2+2) ← (+0) →
WIS: 27 (25+2) ← (+0) →
LUK: 15 (13+2) ← (+0) →
Points: 0
Munny: 390 517}
"Results: I am down to half of my HP and a third of my MP", the Gamer continued. "I need to hit them with… five? Ten? Power Strikes depending on how lucky I get. And I used up all of my points to raise my STR to even get that much. Oh, and one of them dropped this: [Inventory]!"
Ji-Han took out the bug shell, but Naofumi told him to keep it for the moment until they could cut it down to size.
"My HP is going to be full again soon", he continued. "The problem is Shua. He copied the shockwave and while it is slightly stronger than a Power Strike, it also costs 25 MP and hits allies as shown with the Dire Plant." Oh, right, there had been a flower there, too, hadn't it? "It also doesn't increase the rate of criticals, making it worse against the Bug Bites than the Power Strike."
Damn, that was a bust.
"He also used up nearly all of his MP against the Bug Bite. If we go up against them again, you could die."
That really wasn't good.
"Should we retreat for now?" Ji-Han asked, only for a scream to cut through the forest. A scream of panic, belonging to a young girl.
Ji-Han stared at his companions in shock, before cursing and running towards the origin of the sound. Please let them be not too late! And please don't let there be any Bug Bites!
"Alright, that's enough, leave us alone!" He then heard the same voice. And, seeing as the person in question was even able to talk back to the aggressor, it meant that that one wasn't a homicidal monster like a Heartless. Ji-Han felt so relieved, but he still went to see what was going on. There were so many manga and webtoons were the main character rescued the damsel in distress right as the bandits wanted to get physical, he'd rather not be too late.
Luckily what he saw wasn't looking like it would escalate into that. In fact, it wasn't like any hold-up he had ever seen before.
There were only two bandits in question. The first was a literal piece of golden shit with two thin arms and metal rings around its fingers, as well as a row of teeth going all around it body, making it separate from the lower body every time it talked, revealing a red inside with a long and a wide red tongue which was hanging out at the front all the time. The second was a pink humanoid mouse looking like an old and worn stuffed animal with a left eye looking like it got punched and a row of teeth full of gaps. The level 4 mouse with the name of [Chuumon] was also hanging around the tip of the level 11 shit monster called [Sukamon].
And Ji-Han knew these two to be "bandits", not because of their repulsive appearance, but because the golden piece of shit was sitting on a branch holding a pink piece of shit up in the air threatening while it looked towards two other people surrounded by other pink pieces of shit.
Those two were the human girl that Ji-Han had heard previously and a plant monster coming up to her waist. The girl had light brown eyes and light brown hair coming down in two wavy strands at the sides of her face. All the rest of it was hidden by the large pink cowboy-hat. Though her red dress was reminding Ji-Han more of the indigenous peoples of the Americas with the fringes on the bottom and the blanket-like scarf around her neck, also with fringes. The brown belt around her wait not so much. Other than that she also wore light brown leather gloves with buckles and white shoes with Leather straps, as well as pink socks. Additionally, she was carrying a brown bag on her right side.
[Chosen of Sincerity
Lv1 Tachikawa, Mimi]
The green plant monster was standing on its two trunk-like legs and though the flat arms with purple claws at the ends reached down to the ground, they did nothing to support the round body with a dinosaur-like tail or the also round yet double-sized head with large marble-like green eyes, thin and wide mouth with crocodile teeth and the exotic pink flower on top of its head.
[Partner of Sincerity
Lv12 Palmon]
That was also something a bit curious, the human being a Chosen with a level of 1 and the plant monster having a higher level than even the Sukamon, who was now threatening the two:
"If you don't want to get covered in poop, you'll give us all your stuff!"
PING!
{A quest has been created.}
{Quest Alert
Repulsive Duo: Maybe they just Need a Hug
Being bombarded with excrements is no way to treat a lady, but it is still not enough to warrant death.
Protect Mimi and Palmon from Sukamon and Chuumon without killing them.
Bonus Objective:
1: Do not let Mimi get hit once.
2: Do not let Palmon get hit once.
Completion Award: +1 000 EXP
Increased reputation with Mimi and Palmon.
Bonus Award:
1: +500 EXP.
Increased reputation with Mimi.
2: +500 EXP.
Increased reputation with Palmon.
Completion Failure: +500 EXP.
Decreased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.}
This was a lot less serious than he had expected. But even without someone's life on the line, there was no reason for him not to help out. Thus he accepted the quest and walked closer while calling out:
"Am I interrupting something?"
All four turned to face him, surprised at his sudden appearance.
"What's with that phrase? Are you trying to act cool?"
Ji-Han flinched. The one who had asked that question was no one else that Naofumi who had joined him while he had been spacing out looking at the quest alert.
"No, no, no", the Gamer quickly denied. "I just had to say something to get their attention, right?"
"You got their attention, now what?"
"Now… isn't it there turn to say something?"
"Adults!" Mimi exclaimed in delight as she ran towards them. "You have no idea how glad I am to see that there are adults here! Listen, there are all these monsters attacking us, there is no decent food, I haven't bathed or changed clothes in ages! I am so glad I can finally go home!"
"And why would you think that?" Naofumi interrupted the girl, stunning her. "From your little speech I get that you have never met any adult after coming to this place. So why do you instantly assume the first adults you meet can suddenly solve all of your problems? Did it ever cross your mind that maybe we are the ones at fault for them?!"
"What my comrade is trying to say", Ji-Han quickly spoke to reassure the overwhelmed girl and the plant monster who had during Naofumi's talk positioned itself in front of Mimi, its left arm held out in front of her protectively, "is that we are new here, too and need to find out what's going on, too."
"Oi, don't ignore us!" "Ignore us!" Sukamon and Chuumon shouted annoyed and the former threw the poop in his hand towards them.
"[Guard]!" Shouted Ji-Han and not only blocked the gross Projectile, he also threw it back towards the surprised duo, hitting Sukamon directly in the face and knocking them off the branch, with even Sukamon's lower part.
A 'Thud' was hurt as the two monsters hit the ground, seeing stars.
"As he was saying", Naofumi continued for him, ignoring what just happened, "can you tell us anything about where we are?"
"Ugh", voiced Chuumon, getting back its bearings. "How dare you-"
"[Shield Prison]."
"Uah! Let us out, let us out!"
"Now regarding my question…" Naofumi continued to ignore the two monsters rampaging inside his sphere of shields. Mimi and Ji-Han just stared at the shield hero incredulous, while Shua let out a "Smeargle" in an admiring tone of voice.
"You are here on File Island", Palmon explained. "Or at last I think we are. We landed here after Devimon attacked us."
"Devimon?" Repeated Naofumi and Palmon elaborated:
"Devimon is the strongest, most evil Digimon there is. He attacked us in our sleep and then send us flying in all directions."
"…does that mean there are more of you?"
"Right", declared Mimi, "we have to find the others! Let's go!"
"Wait a moment", Naofumi stopped her as he asked Palmon: "Does the term 'keyhole' tell you anything?"
"Keyhole?" The plant monster, or rather Digimon, repeated. "You mean that thing that people put keys in?"
"No. What about the center of File Island?"
"There is a tall mountain in the center of File Island. Why?"
"If we do not find the keyhole, this place is going to be destroyed", Naofumi elaborated. "And the keyhole is at the most important location, like the center of the island."
"I think Devimon already destroyed File Island", noted Palmon. "At last he split it in many pieces."
"The destruction I am talking about is a lot more… final… wait. I am just guessing, but the mountain you talked about is on a different piece of File Island, isn't it?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Because anything else would have been too easy."
"It looks like we'll have to put the pieces of File Island back together first", realized Ji-Han.
"Or get back to the ship, scan the place and then get back down where we want", interjected Naofumi. "Unless you don't want to scan the world because of what we discussed earlier, there is no reason for us to stay here any longer."
"Are you going to leave us alone after hearing we've been attacked?" Exclaimed Mimi. "What kind of selfish person are you?!"
"Argh! Finally free! You are so going to get it!" Before Naofumi could answer, the Shield Prison had vanished and Sukamon started throwing poop in revenge.
"[Air Strike Shield]."
But they had no chance of touching Naofumi, who summoned his transparent shield and not only pushed back the projectiles, but also directed the shield towards the two Digimon, hitting them with the full front and throwing them backwards.
Then Naofumi turned his attention back towards Mimi.
"I don't care if I am selfish", he told her coldly. "We have better things to do than baby-sit a couple of brats."
"Maybe we do", acknowledged Ji-Han. "But I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she got hurt because I left her like that."
Naofumi studied Ji-Han.
"Is this about Akari?" He asked and the Gamer flinched.
"Maybe…"
"Do what you want. You are the one who wants to save the world."
PING!
{A quest has been created.}
{Quest Alert
Chosen in Distress: Destined of the Digiworld
Even Chosen Ones need help from time to time. Especially if they are children with no idea what they are supposed to do.
Gather the seven Chosen Ones send to the digital world and protect them from Devimon and his henchmen until they have found out the purpose of their summoning.
Bonus Objective:
Do not kill any Digimon except Devimon.
Completion Award: +5 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.
Decreased reputation with Devimon.
Bonus Award:
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.
Completion Failure: +1000 EXP to you and every party member not from the world.
Decreased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.}
And now he got a quest to make it official, so he quickly accepted it.
"Hey", Palmon called out. "Did anybody see where Sukamon and Chuumon went?"
"Why do you care?" Inquired Naofumi. "Weren't they just bothering you?"
"No, I think Palmon has a point", interjected Ji-Han. "I've got a quest to protect Mimi-Yang and Palmon from these two and it hasn't completed yet."
"Exactly", agreed Mimi, before noticing what the Gamer had actually said. "Wait. What does that even mean?!"
"We'll tell you if it becomes important", Naofumi cut off any explanation Ji-Han would have given. "Weren't you going to look for your comrades?"
"Right, everybody, follow me!" With that Mimi took charge, stunning the others.
"Well, it's not like we have any clues", reasoned Ji-Han as he went to follow her. "Might as well continue just going in a random direction."
"Ah!" Cried Mimi suddenly out, alerting the others. There, from behind a tree Sukamon had grabbed ahold of her bag, pulling it towards him.
"Let go!" She told him as she was pulling back, not wanting to give up on it. Ji-Han was already moving, when suddenly all around them Heartless appeared: Three Awake Instincts, two Creeper Plants and five Dire Plants.
"[Thousand Feet Charge]", Naofumi intoned at the same moment Ji-Han called out to get the girl. They had both realized that Mimi as a normal human would be easy prey for the Heartless. So it was important for them that Naofumi put himself in between her and any danger.
Unfortunately, while he could easily defend her from the Heartless, there was still the matter of Sukamon currently clinging to her bag. Normally Naofumi would have used Air Strike Shield to separate the two, but it was still on cooldown after he had used in on the Digimon earlier. And Shield Prison would just confine Mimi, Sukamon and Chuumon to the same space because of how close they were to each other.
That was why he did something he had never done since meeting Ji-Han: He threw a punch.
Without being able to react, Naofumi's fist hit the small Chuumon straight in its… everywhere really, considering how small Chuumon was. And Naofumi had been running with Thousand Feet Charge active. Even with his STR being literal crap, the Digimon couldn't ignore something coming at him with that velocity. He was literally flying off Sukamon while screaming, alerting his buddy and distracting him at the same time. That allowed the Hero of the Shield to grab ahold of Mimi in an embrace with his left arm and pull her back. And, thanks to Sukamon being distracted by Chuumon's sudden absence, loosening the grip on the bag, making the Digimon let go of it at the same time. All the while Naofumi's back produced a shield for Mimi just as well as any real one.
"[Shield Prison]!"
And then it was easy to capture the overwhelmed Sukamon and Chuumon, allowing them to concentrate on the Heartless.
"Mimi!" Palmon shouted in panic as she made her way over to her partner, while Ji-Han and Shua left the protection of the human to the shield hero and went to cull the enemies' numbers. Shua to a Dire Plant, as he was easily able to kill one of those even without the use of MP and Ji-Han to an Awake Instinct, as they were the only mobile enemies.
Ji-Han stroke at first Awake Instinct twice in succession, but then hit only air the third time. Not because the Heartless had avoided the attack, but because it had evaporated already, dropping a Data Fragment. Ji-Han had completely forgotten he had increased his STR, allowing him to take down an Awake Instinct with one hit less. {+350 EXP}
Unfortunately for him, that moment of distraction made him get hit multiple times, when the Dire and Creeper Plants started firing their seeds, throwing him to the ground. {-28} {-1} {-1} {-28}
PING!
{[Physical Endurance]'s Level has risen by 1.}
That was nice, but he still would prefer not getting hit.
On the other hand, to their luck the wide spread array of seeds the Creeper Plants used, made them hit two Dire Plants, eliminating them instantly, while Shua took care of a third. {+7 EXP}
Picking himself and the Data Fragment up from the ground, Ji-Han got down instantly again, this time with a [Dodge Roll] to avoid a bite-attack from an Awake Instinct. And then he continued further, not turning around to face the Heartless going after him. Getting hit with the all the attacks made him remember, that there were a bunch of enemies around that would hit you if you sat still. Instead he went towards the Creeper Plant that was already in the direction he was facing.
Using [Dodge Roll] as he felt the earth being disturbed below the feet, he avoided the wooden spikes coming from some Creeper Plant, maybe the one in front of him, maybe another one, he reached his target and with two quick hits, eliminated it. {+350 EXP}
Then he continued to the first new enemy he saw, another Creeper Plant.
…maybe getting rid of the grounded Creeper Plants first would have been the better idea. Unlike the Awake Instincts, they couldn't avoid his attacks. {+350 EXP} No matter, that was the last of them. {+7 EXP} And another Dire Plant gone thanks to Shua.
"[Poison Ivy]!" Huh? Who? Oh, that was Palmon, grabbing an Awake Instinct with her to Vines elongated claws and throwing him against the last Dire Plant. Which did not kill the latter, but another Scratch-Attack from Shua did, making it leave behind a flower pot the size of an inch. {+7 EXP}
That left two Awake Instincts. One near Shua and the second now directly in his face.
Ji-Han stumbled back to avoid the Scratch-Attack of the Heartless, before stomping on the earth to get back his footing and reverse his direction, now leaning towards the offender, his Keyblade in hand. Two strikes later and the Heartless was done for. {+750 EXP}
"[Poison Ivy]!" "Smeargle!"
Meanwhile the two Mons were giving the last Awake Instinct a bad time. Even if they could…
"[Observe]"
…only do 15 damage a time tops. Still, not wanting to waste more time, Ji-Han went to support them. {+350 EXP}
"Smear!" Shua's triumphant shout was now filling the clearing. Did something good happen?
"What kind of Digimon were those?" Interrupted Mimi his train of thoughts, before he could continue. "They didn't even gave Palmon the chance to introduce them!"
"I don't actually know what kind of Digimon those were either", declared Palmon.
Ji-Han went to explain the concept of Heartless, only for an "[Air Strike Shield]" and a scream to interrupt him, followed by a Sukamon and Chuumon flying into their midst.
"Do you think you can make all this trouble and then just run away?" Naofumi asked, walking towards the two menacingly.
"We're sorry, we're sorry", they apologized, prostrating themselves on the ground.
Ji-Han sighed. Damn, there were so many things happening.
"What do you plan on doing with them?" Ji-Han asked the shield hero. "It's not like they have anything to give. Oh, and please don't kill them. I fail the quest if you do."
"No promises."
"Please don't kill us!" Sukamon spoke up. "We'll be good!"
"Be good!" Repeated Chuumon.
"Then you'll leave us alone?" Mimi asked, only for Palmon to stop her:
"Wait! First tell us if you have seen any other humans around here?"
"Humans?"
"People who look like her", Palmon clarified, pointing towards her partner.
"Come to think of it…" Chuumon spoke and Sukamon remembered, too:
"Oh, yeah, I forgot! We saw something falling into the old ruins with a Tentomon."
"If he's with a Tentomon, than that must be Koushirou-kun!" Mimi exclaimed happily. "Can you bring us to him?!"
"We could…" Sukamon began.
"…but what would we get out of it?" Chuumon finished.
Unamused Naofumi changed his shield to- holy shit, what was that?! That looked like the mouth of a monster worm, with a circular row of sharp teeth.
"If you bring us to the ruins, I won't shove this into your faces", he declared, making the two panic.
"We'll take you!" "Take you!" They promised and went to go, only for Naofumi to stop them.
"Not so fast", he decided, making them freeze. "Ji-Han, Shua, get the drop items."
"Right", Ji-Han acknowledged and put the flower pot in his inventory.
"Where do these things even come from", wondered Palmon, "I have never seen Digimon leave behind anything."
"That's because those are Heartless", Ji-Han explained, before frowning. "No, wait, the fact that they leave things behind is because I am the Gamer. It turns me into a video game character."
"Video game character?" Mimi repeated. "What does that mean? Do you level up?!"
"That's just one of the features", Ji-Han confirmed. "But coming back to the Heartless, those guys are creatures of darkness, twisted emotions or hearts who attack people to kill and make them just like them. Their main goal is the Heart of the World. If they reach that, they are able to devour the whole world. That's why we are looking for the Keyhole, the only access point to the Heart of the World and close it permanently."
"So you are on a mission to save the world?" Mimi asked and Ji-Han nodded.
"You aren't?" He inquired, looking at her title [Chosen of Sincerity].
"No", she denied vehemently. "I just want to go home!"
"Are you guys finished?" Naofumi asked impatiently. "Because we are."
"Right", acknowledged Ji-Han as he went to follow his teammates and the duo of Digimons who lead them towards a cliff.
"Right over there", Sukamon told them, pointing towards the other side, separated from their not by a great chasm, but a large river… no, wait, he could see the end of the cliff. That was actually a small island, separated by a stretch of sea. He had just confused it for a river because the flow of water was so fast.
"How are we supposed to get over there?!" Mimi exclaimed but Naofumi had already thought of a solution.
"How far can you stretch your Poison Ivy and how much can you carry with it?" He asked the Digimon, who answered positively to his idea:
"If it is one at a time, then I should be able to carry everyone", it said and used [Poison Ivy] to extend her vines and grab ahold of a tree on the other side. "Climb aboard, Mimi!"
"No, I should go first", interrupted Ji-Han. "Just in case Heartless appear there. Then Shua, then Mimi-Yang, then Naofumi-Hyung." Sukamon and Chuumon wouldn't be of any use further so he decided to let them stay here. "Oh, and take off the Guard Armor, Shua. That might be too heavy for Palmon."
"Smear!" Shua acknowledged and did as he was told.
"You can take that off?!" Exclaimed Mimi in surprise as Ji-Han put the item in his inventory.
"Of course he can take it off", he told her. "It's armor."
"I didn't realize Digimon could have detachable body parts", she mused.
"Oh, he's not a Digimon either. He's a Pokémon. Note how he can only say specific things?"
"Smeargle, smeargle, smear."
"See? Only able to say their species name is one of the tell-tale signs of Pokémon. Not that there aren't Pokémon who can speak normally, but those are rarer."
"My condolences", Palmon told Shua who just shrugged.
"Can we go now?" Naofumi urged and they went over to the other side one after another, until it was Naofumi's turn.
"You can go now", he told Sukamon and Chuumon. "Don't do anything that makes me want to kill you, got it?"
"Got it!" "Got it!" They quickly agreed and just as quickly vanished into the forest on their side.
PING!
{You have completed the quest
[Repulsive Duo: Maybe they just Need a Hug].
Completion Award: +1 000 EXP
Increased reputation with Mimi and Palmon.
Bonus Award for
[Do not let Mimi get hit once.]:
+500 EXP.
Increased reputation with Mimi.
Bonus Award for
[Do not let Palmon get hit once.]:
+500 EXP.
Increased reputation with Palmon.}
Oh, right, that had still been open. In the end thanks to Naofumi that one had been easy to complete. Not that Sukamon and Chuumon had actually been dangerous. More disgusting thanks to them throwing their shit around.
Ji-Han watched as Naofumi came back with Palmon. Speaking of…
"Should we add the others to the party?" He asked the Hero of the Shield. "That way we can extend the voice chat, drops and EXP."
"Adding Mimi would just decrease the EXP you get with only miniscule gain for her and none for us", he explained. "Adding Palmon would give us more item drops but also reduce your EXP. You have to decide it if is worth it."
"We are unlikely to level up from small fries either way", Ji-Han noted. "And that way we won't miss out on rare items. Palmon, [Party Invite]."
"What are you… oh? What's this? World Salvation Party?"
"…I need to change that name… if you accept then enemies you defeat have a chance of dropping an item. You will also be able to see your status by saying 'Status Window', skills by saying 'Skills' and perks by saying 'Perks'. And we can talk to each other wherever we are. Though I really only want that because of the objects the Heartless leave behind."
"Sure", agreed Palmon.
{[Palmon] has joined your party [World Salvation Party].}
Good. Now going to the others…
"Is this a temple?" Ji-Han mused as he took a look upon the building in front of him. It was like a wall of five stone blocks, the three in the middle having an entrance-like hole in them. Left of those was a stairway leading to the upper levels. Which consisted of a second level with six entrance blocks in some distance, a third level with three entrance-blocks even further away and than a fourth with a single one, masoned directly into rock.
"Does it matter?" Naofumi countered Ji-Han's question and looked towards the loose rectangular stones lying around. "All that matters is that we have found the ruins."
"Yeah", agreed Mimi. "Let's hope that giant custard was telling the truth."
"Only one way to find out", Palmon pointed out and ran with Mimi into the ruins.
"Don't get too far ahead", Ji-Han called out. "New places have a higher chance of Heartless appearing."
But they were already inside and so he made sure to hurry up and follow them.
To his joy, there was actually another kid inside. They would have had a lot more difficulties finding him if Koushirou would have decided to wander around. But here he was:
[Chosen of Knowledge
Lv3 Izumi, Koushirou]
Koushirou was a young and really short boy, barely reaching above Mimi's chin and even that only because his short brown-red hair was so spiky. Also large for his body were the thick eyebrows of the same color and his feet in the gray and purple shoes with a yellow lightning bolt on the sides. Other than those he also wore green socks, short yellow gloves, an orange shirt with white buttons and rolled-up sleeves, as well as olive shorts. The boy was currently sitting on the ground, his back towards them. The tipping noises as well as the cable made Ji-Han realize, he was doing something on a laptop.
Looking him over the shoulder was a bug called Tentomon.
[Partner of Knowledge
Lv13 Tentomon]
Tentomon looked remotely like a ladybug with large green compound eyes and two backwards-directed antenna resembling kelp leaves. Only that the black dots on its back were not just dots but literal rocks-like spheres sticking out of its shell and the mandibles and six legs were supported with , robotic looking fibers. Also, only the last two of the legs themselves were legs with stone-like claws or toes. The middle legs were actually human hands with robotic fingers while the first two were huge and ended in single, just as large claws.
"Ah, Mimi-han", Tentomon greeted the girl, who responded with a happy "Tentomon!"
"You guys are safe", Palmon exclaimed. "I knew we would meet up eventually!"
"Oh, you guys won't belief what happened", Mimi spoke excitedly, "but… what is Koushirou-kun doing?"
"No idea", Tentomon responded, before noticing Ji-Han and his comrades. "Who are they?"
"Ah, these are people we met after we got separated", Mimi explained. "They are apparently on a mission to save the world!"
"Hello, Tentomon", Ji-Han greeted. "I am Han Ji-Han. These are Iwatani Naofumi and Shua."
"Smeargle", responded the Pokémon while Naofumi was ignoring the introduction and instead focusing on Koushirou.
"Is that guy really playing video games at a time like this?" He voiced in disbelief.
"He isn't really playing…" denied Mimi. "I think? I don't actually know a lot about computers. Hey, Koushirou-kun!"
"Oh, Mimi-san." The boy looked up from his laptop towards her.
"What are you doing right now", she asked curiously.
"If I analyze these characters, I may figure out what's happening to this island", he explained.
"These are the same characters from the ones in the factory…" Added Tentomon. "Where I evolved for the first time."
"So…" Wondered Mimi. "How long will I have to wait?"
"Please wait a bit, if I analyze this data, it'll end up helping you in the end as well, Mimi-san."
"Will figuring it out get us home?"
"That's what I am trying to figure out."
Mimi was skeptical.
"I don't know. Let's just look for everyone else", she told Koushirou.
"I am busy right now, so let's search for them later…" The boy responded before trailing off, redirecting his attention back to his computer.
"…What's up with his priorities?" Ji-Han exclaimed flabbergasted. Even if he wasn't playing video games, he was still completely ignoring his friends, the one who was there and the ones who were still separated from him after they got attacked by that guy called Devimon. Getting everyone back together should really be the most important thing. As in life and death important. Getting safety in numbers, as well as finding out if everyone was still alright, shouldn't that be the highest priority?!
Apparently Naofumi thought so as well, as he moved past Ji-Han with a "let me", transforming his shield into… he hadn't seen that one yet. It was made out of wood and was more like a rectangular block than an actual shield with a small cylindrical tube over the back of Naofumi's hand.
"[Seed Cannon]." Naofumi called out and some form of projectile shot out of the tube in the direction it was facing: Towards Koushirou's head.
With the THUD, the projectile impacted, making the boy's head tip forward.
"Ou", he exclaimed, his concentration broken. "Who…"
"If I were an enemy, you would now be dead", Naofumi declared as Koushirou turned to look behind and their eyes met. "Now stop wasting time and get going."
"I am not wasting time!" the boy refuted. "I am doing important research-" THUD! "Ou!"
Naofumi had shot another projectile at him, a Bullet Seed as Ji-Han could now tell.
"You can do your research when it's not bothering other people", the Hero of the Shield continued. "Like when you made sure all your friends are actually still alive at this point."
Koushirou just stared at him.
"…Who are you?"
Ah, it seemed like he had finally realized he had no idea who that person was.
"Iwatani Naofumi", the shield hero introduced himself. "And those are Han Ji-Han and Shua. Any other questions?!"
Koushirou stared at them for a moment dumbfounded, before he responded in a series of questions and musings:
"Humans? I thought we were the only ones! Or are they actually human-shaped Digimon? Their names don't end with 'mon'. But so does the name of the monster. A nickname?"
"We are two humans and one Pokémon", Naofumi interrupted his tangent with annoyance. "Anything else?"
"If you are humans, how did you get here?" Koushirou continued. "Did you get washed away like us? Or are you native? Can you read these-" THUD! "Ou!"
"I told you to ignore the research", Naofumi spoke irritated. "If you continue to waste my time, I'll charge you an annoyance fee."
"But I don't have any money-" THUD! "Ou!"
"Isn't that child abuse?" Mimi asked Ji-Han regarding Naofumi's harassing the boy, but the Gamer could only shrug.
"I don't think he cares", Ji-Han responded. In the first place… "[Observe]!"
{Name: Izumi, Koushirou
Class: none
Title: Chosen of Knowledge
Level: Lv3 (77.12%)
Gender: male
Age: 10
Status: Unaffected
Elemental Resistances: Data (0.5)
HP: 160/200
MP: 100/100
STR: 5 VIT: 5 DEX: 7
INT: 17 WIS: 12 LUK: 10}
Huh. So it did reduce his HP after all, if only 10 for each hit. That made him wonder how much HP the disciplinary measures of his teachers would have taken. Unfortunately he had been a good student in the four days after getting his power, so he had no way how to compare them. Still…
"…don't overdo it", he warned his comrade. "It would be bad if he got killed later because you got too enthusiastic here."
GROWL!
"Can we go now?!" Whined Mimi. "I am hungry!"
"Maybe we should stop for a short meal", Ji-Han conceded. "It's been some time since we had a meal, too."
"You have food?!" Exclaimed Mimi loudly into his ear, making the Gamer flinch. "Why did you never say anything?! I haven't had anything to eat in ages!"
"Calm down!" Ji-Han told her. "I've only really got some Buttered Toast prepared and we've got no tools to cook something else."
"I don't care", declared Mimi. "I am so hungry I would eat anything. Though I wouldn't say no to a pancake or hamburger."
Ji-Han chuckled.
"Yeah, sorry, but that's not on the table. [Inventory]."
He opened his inventory and took out some Buttered Toast, resulting in a cry of joy from the girl. Koushirou on the other hand, wasn't as enthusiastic.
"Then while you eat, I can…"
"You are going to eat, too", Naofumi interrupted him sternly. "And afterwards we'll instantly leave this place and look for your friends, got it?"
Naofumi left no room for arguments and thus Koushirou went over to Ji-Han to get himself some food. Followed shortly by Shua, after the Pokémon had went around the room to pick up the Bullet Seeds Naofumi had used up. Such a good boy. Meanwhile the Tentomon and Palmon had come towards him for food, too, making him thoughtful.
"Do you guys eat raw meat?" He asked them. "Shua here has no problem with that, even if cooked stuff tastes better for him. But since we only have so much of food fit for human consumption, it is better to keep that for humans."
"Then I'll go outside for photosynthesis", Palmon declared in a tone of voice that made it impossible to tell if it was disappointed or not.
"Then we should all go outside", interjected Naofumi as he took a bottle of water from Ji-Han. "It would be bad if you got attacked by Heartless while on your own."
"Heartless?" Inquired Koushirou, before quickly biting into his toast as Naofumi's gaze rested upon him again. Though this time the Hero of the Shield decided the question was justified, if annoying.
"I am not going to explain it again every time we meet another one of your friends, so I'll keep it short", he spoke. "They are cartoonish-looking creatures that attack people to increase their numbers. We are on a mission to stop them."
"They sound bad", noted Mimi. "Seconds!"
Ji-Han pulled out another Buttered Toast, as well as some raw Oumukade Meat for Shua.
"I would like some of that, too", Tentomon piped up and Ji-Han delivered. Meanwhile Koushirou had finished eating his toast and was now staring confused at Ji-Han.
"Where do you even get the food from?" He asked. "I don't see any bags with you."
"I've got a hammer-space inventory", Ji-Han answered as he took out another Buttered Toast for Koushirou and Oumukade Flesh for Shua. "Don't ask me how it works."
"Can I get some water, too?" Palmon interrupted and Ji-Han gave it some.
"This is so convenient", exclaimed Mimi. "Seconds." Huh, she was pretty fast. But as he gave her another piece of toast, an all too familiar noise reached his ear, followed by dark portals around them.
"Heartless!" Ji-Han shouted and summoned his Keyblade at the same time that Naofumi positioned himself in front of the two children. "Get ready to fight!" Wait. Where those three Red Nocturnes?
Of the five Heartless that appeared, three were indeed Red Nocturnes, having the classical Black Magician in red-look. The other two were levitating Heartless shaped like gears with yellow orbs as eyes on top of a copper foundation, with the Heartless-symbol in the center. And while the teeth on the outside moved, the eyes and emblem stayed stationary. And an [Observe] revealed:
{Turnaround Lv25
Status: Unaffected
HP: 260/260
MP: 150/150
Type: Emblem-Heartless.
Elemental Alignment: Metal
Elemental Resistances: Fight (0.75), Metal (0.5), Darkness (0.5)
A Heartless in the shape of a gear. It attacks only
by moving its body, but has a high mobility to make up for it.
STR: 40 VIT: 46 DEX: 42
INT: 29 WIS: 28 LUK: 35}
"The gears are called Turnaround and have physical stats in the 40s", Ji-Han quickly relayed the important information. "They also resist Fight and Metal. As for the Red Nocturnes… they are around level 20." So the same level as the ones in the first round of the tournament. "They use Fire and are resistant to Fire and Lightning." The latter part wasn't anything new for Naofumi and Shua, but he had still added it because of the Digimon. Especially Palmon as a plant might be weak to them.
"Then I'll take on the gears", declared Tentomon. "[Super Shocker]!"
So the bug uses lightning. But it only took 1 HP.
"That's not working", he told the Digimon as he ran towards a Red Nocturne. "Stay back for now! [High Jump]!" Ji-Han jumped into the air and stroke at the Heartless, eliminating it in the process {+416 EXP}. Damn, his high STR really showed itself against enemies he had already fought before.
"[Air Strike Shield]!" Activated Naofumi, blocking a tackling attack from one of the gears that would have otherwise hit the Gamer.
"Thanks", spoke Ji-Han as he landed and instantly used [Dodge Roll] to escape from a fireball shot by the third Red Nocturne. The second had already been destroyed by one of Shua's Power Strikes. {+416 EXP} That left one Red Nocturne and the two Turnarounds.
"Shua, deal with the Nocturne but conserve your MP", Ji-Han shouted out commands. "Naofumi, Tentomon, Palmon, keep the aggro of one of the Turnarounds. I'll deal with that one after I've finished with this one."
Currently he was the only one of them with the attack power necessary to harm the Heartless with high VIT. But taking care of two new enemies at once would be too dangerous. Luckily they had already reduced the numbers enough that they could split up the enemies. And so Ji-Han stood in front of one Turnaround, observing what it would do. According to the Observe it would only attack close-range but had a high mobility to make up for that. Which meant that it was probably better to wait for it to commit to an attack as otherwise it might just dance around his attack and strike him from behind instead.
Soon enough the Turnaround moved. However, the movement wasn't linear but circular. Lightning-fast it went to the left side and an in an arc and Ji-Han was just barely able to [Dodge Roll] out of the way before it hit his left shoulder. Unfortunately, the gear continued its circle until it got back to its starting place, where Ji-Han had accidentally dodged to. {-54}
Pain went through his right shoulder as Ji-Han was flung away. But staying down would be dangerous and so he pushed through the pain and stood up, his eyes once again focused on his enemy. The gear swung back and forth idly, seemingly in no hurry to attack again. But Ji-Han kept on the defensive. He still didn't know what else the Turnaround could do. And after a while the Heartless went back on the offensive, shooting towards him.
"[Guard]!" But since it was only using a straight line, Ji-Han could easily block the incoming enemy and knock him back. Now Ji-Han went to attack, striking at the gear with a flurry of blows. Each attack took away over 50 HP, reducing its life fast. But Ji-Han got too greedy and at the fifth hit, the Turnaround got over its shock and spun rapidly around its axis, enlarging its outer ring in the process. The unprepared Ji-Han not only got his attack blocked, but also hit directly in the chest and flung backwards. {-63}
Damn! That guy had only 24 HP left!
Ji-Han stood up again quickly and jumped towards the enemy, ending it with his next strike. Meanwhile Shua had also finished with the Red Nocturne, earning them {+433 EXP} und {+416 EXP} respectively. That left them with one last Turnaround who was currently kept busy by Naofumi, Tentomon and Palmon. Though when the latter tried to use its [Poison Ivy] on it, it spun around and entangled the vines. Which meant that since unlike Tentomon's attack, the vines were a physical part of Palmon's body, the Digimon was dragged with them.
"Palmon!" Mimi cried out in panic as the plant was first drawn towards the Heartless and then spun around it like a toy. When the Turnaround finally stopped, the Digimon was falling to the ground dizzily, the vines retracting.
But while the Heartless was distracted by the plant, Ji-Han used the opportunity to jump at it and attack. Two hits he got in, before the Heartless turned its attention towards him. But as its HP had been reduced to 59, Ji-Han attacked once more, hoping to finish it off. Unfortunately, that had not been enough: {HP: 1/259}.
Ji-Han cursed as the Heartless started to spin and stumbled back in a hurry, hoping to get out of range in time.
"Super Shocker!" Luckily he was not alone and while Tentomon could not damage the monster by much, in this case the enemy was so low on health that a single attack was all it took, making it evaporate. Though they didn't get any EXP thanks to the fact that Tentomon wasn't one of their party members yet.
"Good work, everybody", he told them. "Now, Tentomon, [Party Invite]."
"What is this?" Wondered Tentomon.
"That makes it so that Heartless you defeat have a chance of dropping stuff", explained Ji-Han and Tentomon accepted in a "why not"-kind of manner.
{[Tentomon] has joined your party [World Salvation Party].}
"Smeargle, smear", Shua then said, moving his tail to and away from his mouth.
"You want more to eat?" Ji-Han guessed and Shua nodded, so Ji-Han gave him another piece of Oumukade Meat.
"Me, too!" Mimi called out and Tentomon also wanted more. Koushirou also got a second Buttered Toast.
"Can I have a bit of that water?" Palmon also asked and Ji-Han gave it a bottle, which it soon shared with the others. But that wasn't enough so he took out a second bottle.
"We'll have to find a fresh water source, soon", mused Ji-Han as he looked at the {9} near the picture of the water bottle in his inventory. And maybe he should cook some more. Even if it wasn't always tasty, if he combined his successful attempts with his failures, they should be edible. But since he had no portable kitchen, that plan had to be put on hold for now.
"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Mimi inquired curiously. "I haven't seen you eat anything at all."
"Oh, I don't need to eat", he explained. "It's part of me being a video game character."
"What do you mean with video game character?" Koushirou asked. "Are you saying you aren't real?"
"No", refuted Ji-Han, "it just means that my abilities resemble those you generally find on a video game character."
"I have never heard of a human with abilities like that", Koushirou continued. "Did you get them here on File Island?"
Ji-Han hesitated, wondering how much he should tell them. Zelretch had implemented the transformation-feature to avoid overwhelming people with the concept of other worlds. But considering how big his abilities differed from those of a normal human, it would be hard to keep that a secret without spinning some complicated lies. And they've already seen the Heartless. He being from another world shouldn't be that surprising.
"I've got them from my homeworld before it got destroyed by the Heartless", he thus explained.
"Homeworld?" Repeated Mimi. "You are an alien?!"
Ji-Han chuckled.
"Something like that", he confirmed.
"Oh, does that mean you have an UFO?" She continued enthusiastically and he nodded again.
"I do have a spaceship. But not everyone needs one. The Heartless, for example, can travel between worlds without one."
"I want to see it", Mimi begged but Naofumi stopped the conversation there.
"If you are finished with eating, then let's not waste any more time and go look for the others", he decided. "We don't have time to waste."
Begrudgingly the children dropped the matter and made to pack their things – which was really just giving Ji-Han the empty water bottles and Koushirou going back to get his laptop.
"Heartless!" Naofumi suddenly called out, stopping the young boy by grabbing him on his shoulder. Everyone look around alarmed, yet they couldn't see anything. But Ji-Han was sure that Naofumi wouldn't say something like that without a reason.
"Where are they?" He thus asked. "Did they turn invisible?"
"Something tripped my alarm", the Hero of the Shield explained. "An enemy appeared within a radius of 20 meters. But I can't tell where."
Ji-Han looked around the place. 20 meters… that should still be within his line of sight, before the trees. And since he couldn't see anything there that meant that they either actually were invisible or…
He turned around to the ruins.
"Inside?" He voiced and not a moment too early as a horse jumped through the entrance, landing in the middle of the plaza and turned around to face them.
Which was when Ji-Han realized that it wasn't a horse, but a centaur that was standing in front of them. Its body was colored orange with solid purple plates added to the front of its body, on its flank and at the sides of its knees, or rather a bit lower than the knees. It wore a helmet resembling those of Greek warriors just completely made out of gray metal and completely closed off, except for a T-shaped hole in the front. Through this hole they could see one single glowing red eye in the center. Other than that it also had a metal pipes sticking out of its back, a metal shoulder guard on its left shoulder and an anklet with a cut-off chain on its left wrist. And the hands as well as half of the lower arm were also of a sickly grey color, with the right arm having some form of power cords partly sticking out of it.
[Guardian of the Temple
Lv51 Centarumon]
"…Kill… the intruders."
Yeah, sounded like an enemy alright.
PING!
{A quest has been created.}
{Quest Alert
Mind-Controlling Black Gear: The Sagittarius
Once an honorable guard, Centarumon has turned into a mockery of its former self, killing everyone that comes close.
Protect the DigiDestined without killing Centarumon.
Bonus Objective:
Free Centarumon from the influence of the Black Gear.
Completion Award: +2 000 EXP.
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.
Decreased reputation with Devimon.
Bonus Award:
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member.
Decreased reputation with Devimon.
Completion Failure: +500 EXP to you and every party member.
Decreased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.}
"Be careful", Ji-Han called out as he accepted the mission. That guy's mind-controlled. Don't kill it!"
"Is it a black gear?" Asked Koushirou. "If we destroy the black gear, the Digimon returns to normal!"
"It is", confirmed Ji-Han, "though I can't see it right now…"
"If I had my computer I could easily scan for it", the boy told him, making Ji-Han formulate a plan inside his head.
"Okay", he decided. "Koushirou and Shua, you go get the laptop. We'll cover you!"
The Centarumon, however, wouldn't let them do as they pleased without a fight. Metal slabs grew out of its right hand, forming the shape of a cannon with gaps, which it pointed towards them while light gathered inside it.
"[Solar Beam]!" The Digimon activated and a beam of light shot towards them.
"[Air Strike Shield]", Naofumi countered as he rushed in front of the party, to protect them after the aforementioned shield vanished. Only for the shield to get destroyed in an instant. The surprised Naofumi had just enough time to raise his actual shield and then the beam hit him and pushed him backwards into the group of party members, throwing them down like bowling pins. Yet Naofumi's journey did not stop until he hit something that used to be a wall and the beam exploded.
"Naofumi-Hyung!" Ji-Han called out as the resulting smoke took away his view of his party member. But he had no time to worry about others, as the Digimon started to charge his cannon for a second time.
Ji-Han cursed and hurried to pick himself up.
"Everybody, scatter!" He shouted as he moved towards the enemy. He wasn't fast enough to prevent it from firing again, so he used [Guard] to block the attack.
Only for the attack to shoot past him, at a defenseless Mimi, who only got saved in time by Palmon grabbing her with a [Poison Ivy]. That was when both Palmon and Tentomon started to glow and the Digimons started to speak:
"Palmon evolves to…" "Tentomon evolves to…"
And then they transformed instantly into larger, bulkier figures.
"…Togemon!" "…Kabuterimon!"
[Partner of Sincerity
Lv42 Togemon]
[Partner of Knowledge
Lv43 Kabuterimon]
…That was some seriously convenient timing for an evolution. They really needed these levels to fight against the likes of Centarumon. They were still not at the exact level, but this was still way better than before. As for the Digimon themselves…
Togemon looked like a cactus with two legs with round feet, two arms ending in boxing gloves and some kind of orange hair on top that resembled the beginning of a single blossom. As mouth and eyes it had literally holes carved into its body that only showed a darkness behind them.
Kabuterimon had completely changed its color scheme from red to blue. It was also standing more upright than in its posture and was a lot more menacing-looking in general. Its legs looked like bird claws and its four arms like blue skeletal structures, the four wings were long and had a blue spine and over its head, hiding its eyes completely, it wore something resembling a helmet with a giant sharp horn. The only part that was visible was still its mouth, which was made up out of four individual mouth parts each having three white sharp teeth, the lower jaw at the bottom, the upper jaw fused to the helmet and two fleshy structures to its sides.
"Let's do this!" Kabuterimon spoke and… hugged himself? No, it was more like he put his four arms with closed fists in front of his upper body to guard it. But that was only the beginning. Now in front of his mouth a sphere of electricity appeared. It had a white core, a bluish transparent mantle and pinkish lightning arching over its outside.
"[Mega Blaster]!" The beetle activated and the sphere of electricity shot forward.
"[Chikuchiku Bang Bang]!" At the same time Togemon had crossed its arms and then brought them backwards, pushing out its chest, flinging a bunch of needles towards the same target: Centarumon.
The Digimon didn't even have time to react as it got hit by the two attacks, only able to scream in pain. And then a black circular object was flying out of its back, dispersing after a while.
PING!
{You have completed the quest
[Mind-Controlling Black Gear: The Sagittarius].
Completion Award: +2 000 EXP.
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.
Decreased reputation with Devimon.
Bonus Award for
[Free Centarumon from the influence of the Black Gear.]:
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member.
Decreased reputation with Devimon.}
That was it?! That had been a lot easier than expected. Even with the evolving of the Digimons, he hadn't expected it to be over in literally one shot. Speaking of the MVPs of this battle, to Ji-Han's surprise the evolution wasn't permanent and the Digimon transferred back to their previous state. So for Digimon an "Evolution" was just a super-powered mode.
"Could you always do that?" Naofumi, who had finally managed to pick himself up, asked Palmon.
"Yes", answered Palmon, "but it takes a lot of energy so we don't do it if it isn't necessary."
"So you need to eat more then?" Ji-Han asked and Tentomon nodded.
"But we're okay for now."
"…What… have I been doing here?" That was Centarumon
"Looks like he's back to normal!" Mimi declared happily, redirecting its attention towards him.
"That thing you are holding…" Centarumon focus never left Mimi's bag as he picked himself up. "There is something I want to show you. Come this way." With that he made his way back into the ruins, without waiting for them.
"Is he really expecting us to follow him just like that?" Asked Naofumi bewildered and Ji-Han shrugged.
"We got rid of the brainwashing, so things should be good right now", he reasoned. "Though I wonder what is so special about that bag…"
"I think he's more focused on device on it", noted Koushirou, making the Gamer look again.
"What is that?" He asked confused. The closest thing he could compare it to was… a watch, maybe? It was of white color, the size of a fist and had a shape of a rectangle whose edges had been pushed in. And in the centre was a square screen that was currently shut off inside a circle. It had one round button of blue color left to the screen and two oval ones of the same color to its right. Lastly, on the upper left of the side was something that resembled a retracted antenna.
"We still don't know what this is", Koushirou explained. "But maybe Centarumon does."
"I don't think we'll lose anything if we follow him", Ji-Han declared.
"It's your call", Naofumi noted and with that they followed Centarumon into the ruins. The Digimon had waited for them in the entrance room and was now guiding them along pathways, until they reached a certain room. The room itself wasn't that big and it was made even smaller that thanks to the fact that halfway there was a staircase in between two short walls, leading up to a higher area with a stone relief of the same thing that Mimi had hanging from her bag.
"This is the holy device, the 'Digivice'", explained Centarumon. "I have been protecting these ruins."
"The holy device…" Repeated Koushirou in awe, taking out his own digivice.
"…the Digivice?" Now Mimi spoke up in a question and Centarumon continued:
"It brings light to this world and drives out the darkness. That is the holy Digivice of legend."
"That sounds like something one could use to describe the Keyblade", Ji-Han noted, to which Naofumi had to add, that many holy objects given to heroes had that description.
"I don't really understand", voiced Mimi, "but you are saying it's a good thing to have, right?"
"It means you are some kind of Chosen Ones", Ji-Han told them.
"Chosen One?" Repeated Mimi aghast. "For what? Saving the world?"
"That's the most common reason", agreed Naofumi.
"Is that the reason why Devimon attacked us?" Wondered Koushirou and Ji-Han nodded.
"Considering that the Digivice is supposed to repel the darkness and the enemy is called 'Devimon', I think that is likely."
"That's so stupid", declared Mimi. "I don't know anything about saving the world! I just want to go home!"
"Unfortunately the Chosen Ones never get to choose", the Hero of the Shield spoke bitterly. "So you better… an enemy!" Naofumi trailed off in the middle of his sentence as his internal alarm system got triggered. "Centarumon, are there any more Digimon within the ruins?"
"No, I should be the only one."
"A Heartless then? But why did it not appear in this room?" With weapon drawn, Ji-Han looked anxiously towards the only entrance.
"It could be someone else getting attacked by Heartless", reasoned Naofumi, which made Ji-Han curse.
"Then we can't really wait here for it", he declared but the decision was taken from them, as a big lion man walked into the room. The muscular humanoid was naked except for his black trousers, fist cuffs around his left knuckles, three belts tied around his left wrist, as well as a necklace made up out of red stones hidden mostly by his impressive yellow mane. Furthermore he had the blue sheath of a short sword strapped lengthwise at his girdle. Another interesting feature where his ears which were not round like usual for a lion but pointy like that of a donkey or horse, which the left having a golden piercing.
[King of Beasts
Lv? Leomon]
"Kill… the children!" He chanted like in a daze, proving himself to be the enemy.
PING!
{A quest has been created.}
{Quest Alert
Mind-Controlling Black Gear: The King of Beasts
Once a defender of justice, Leomon has been turned into Devimon's puppet to kill the chosen children.
Protect the DigiDestined without killing Leomon.
Bonus Objective:
Free Leomon from the influence of the Black Gear.
Completion Award: +2 000 EXP.
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.
Decreased reputation with Devimon.
Bonus Award:
+2 000 EXP to you and every party member.
Decreased reputation with Devimon.
Completion Failure: +500 EXP to you and every party member.
Decreased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.}
"Okay", said Ji-Han as he accepted the quest. "Here we go again! He's stronger than Centarumon, so you better evolve from the start!"
"Wait", interrupted Koushirou. "It 'brings light to this world and drives out the darkness'… Mimi, the Digivice!"
The boy took out the Digivice and held it towards Leomon. Mimi was first confused, but as Koushirou's Digivice started to glow and the glow seemed to bring Leomon physical pain, she copied him. Now with double the pain, the Digimon had decided to call it quits and run away. That was it.
PING!
{You have completed the quest
[Mind-Controlling Black Gear: The King of Beasts].
Completion Award: +2 000 EXP.
Increased reputation with all Digi-Destined and their allies.
Decreased reputation with Devimon.}
Wow, that was some easy EXP. It had been even easier than with Centarumon. That light really drove away the darkness, like they said.
"Do you think this works against Heartless, too?" Ji-Han asked Naofumi jokingly, only for his expression to become somber again as he remembered another person capable of creating such blinding light.
"Heartless are creatures of darkness, so it is possible", answered the Hero of the Shield to his earlier question. "But so far it looks like it can only drive the affected away."
"It still would be useful against the Bug Bites", Ji-Han declared. He really didn't want to fight those until he got stronger. Those guys were way too dangerous for his current level.
"We can try it out the next time we meet Heartless", Naofumi told him. "For now, if there isn't anything else, we should get back to our objective and meet up with the other children. If Devimon hadn't send his goons after them before, he'll do so now that he failed here."
"Really?!" Shouted Mimi. "Then we have to hurry and get to them!"
"Centarumon", Ji-Han addressed the Digimon. "Have you seen any other humans besides us?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"I haven't seen anyone else when I got send to this part of the island", Koushirou reported. "I think we'll have to travel to the other parts to find them."
"We had to travel over the ocean to get here, too", remembered Mimi. "But I don't think Palmon will be able to reach all of them."
"Can't Kabuterimon fly us there?" Ji-Han inquired and Koushirou pondered about that.
"Maybe if it was just me, Mimi and Palmon", he surmised. "Maybe Shua, too. But I don't think all of us will be able to fit on top of him. But I do actually have an idea! Please follow me!"
With some help from Centarumon, Koushirou lead them to the entrance room, where they had first seen him. There was a large black gear stuck two-thirds into the ground that Ji-Han had ignored so far.
"I believe this makes the islands separate from each other", he explained. "I believe that if we can reverse the rotation of the gear, we should be able to reverse the flow of the island."
"Any idea how to do that?" Inquired Ji-Han, making Koushirou hesitate.
"I belief the inscriptions on the wall would tell us how to do that", he then revealed. "But I can't read them yet…"
"Don't bother", interrupted Naofumi. "We don't even know for sure if there is anything like that written there. We'll just have Ji-Han strike at it and if that doesn't work, go for our spaceship."
"I want to see the spaceship", Mimi instantly proclaimed while Koushirou frowned.
"But just hitting something doesn't make it work… generally."
"Don't worry", Ji-Han told him. "I've got a Keyblade. I get doors to open and close by knocking on them with it. We've got a better chance than anyone else trying the physical approach."
With that he moved to the gear and knocked on it. And lo and behold, the gear stopped turning, before turning in the other direction.
"I can't belief that worked", Koushirou exclaimed aghast and Ji-Han shrugged.
"It's the Keyblade, after all", he said as if it explained everything, which, in his defense, to him at last did.
Then all their attention was taken by a card that came flying out of the gap between gear and ground, fluttering from side to side until it rested on the ground in front of the gear. Curiously, Ji-Han went over to it and picked it up.
It was a bit longer than the usual playing cards he knew and made up out of different shades of brown. There was a dark brown edge with nearly white ornaments in the shape of triangles at the edges and the inside was made up out of a brown lighter than the edge but darker than the corners with symbols and scribbles in a brown between the corners and the background, most prominent a David star with a circle inside, that once again contained something, in this case something that resembled an ornamented flower. Outside of the David star were multiple rings where only the parts above and below the David star fit on the card.
Ji-Han turned the card around and got surprised. The other side had the same kind of edge and background than the first, but there was a black taint on it, like someone had dropped a bunch of black paint into the center and watched as it went irregularly into all directions, covering the card. Only that there was nothing to scratch off from it. Just what was this card?
"[Observe]!"
{[Nameless Class Card: Nameless Sword - Rank: Secret]
Base-Value: 200 000 Munny
A card created to capture part of the powers of a Heroic Spirit
but failed to connect to a specific Heroic Spirit,
only managing to imprint the idea of "sword".
It breaks apart after using it once.}
"Heroic Spirit?" Exclaimed Ji-Han out loud. "Just what is that supposed to be?"
"Can I see that?" Asked Naofumi and Ji-Han handed the card over to him. "Holy Grail War, the card game? Who the heck came up with that idea?!"
"Holy Grail War?" Repeated Ji-Han confused and Naofumi sighed.
"There is this anime I've watched", he explained. "In that magicians summoned heroes from the past, so-called Heroic Spirits, to fight for the Holy Grail to have their wish granted. I never would thought there would be real cards of that. Even if this one seems to be a failure."
"That's a pity", mused Ji-Han. "I would have liked to call forth a hero from the past." And it certainly didn't help that the item was one-time-use only.
"Why don't you try to fix it the way you fixed the island?" Koushirou inquired but Naofumi was skeptical.
"Can you fix something that has never worked in the first place?" He asked and Ji-Han shrugged.
"It says in the description that it 'failed to connect'. So I should be able to open a connection with the Keyblade."
"Do what you want", Naofumi told him. "But if this ends up dragging us into a Holy Grail War, I am leaving the party."
"How would that happen?" Ji-Han asked. "There is only a card and no Holy Grail around, right?"
Naofumi snorted.
"You don't have much experience with your Keyblade, right? Who knows what will happen?"
"Good point", conceded Ji-Han. "Let's wait until we are in a safe spot before we do that. For now we'll focus on finding the other guys. Let's go!"
A/N:
Hi, guys and gals.
And here is the first other world: Digimon Adventure. This world was chosen for a multitude of reasons. It was a franchise with travels into another world, chosen ones and a battle between light and dark, just like Kingdom Hearts. Only that the Digimon are a lot stronger than Ji-Han at this point, making him more of a nuisance than a threat against the locals. In fact, being able to close the Keyhole is literally the only reason this world has decided to call for him. But he still has to prove his character before it dares to bare the keyhole to him. So it's quite literally a trial run, where his presence doesn't affect big things. (Unless you count not having Sukamon and Chuumon being brainwashed into being good guys.)
Lastly, we've got the Nameless Class Cards. With the help of the Keyblade they would be able to connect to a specific person in the Throne of Heroes, taking the role of the summon gems from Kingdom Hearts, able to summon this person for a specific action. The summon cards can be separated into two categories: combat and utility. The combat ones just give Ji-Han another way to damage enemies or prevent damage. The utility ones are the more interesting ones as their ability to be useful outside of combat means that they also effect the plot. I actually had to scratch out one card from my list because it would have been too useful, solving more problems than were good for the story.
Gashadokuro Amanojaku
