AN: Ah, now the longest chapter to date has come. (They keep getting
longer, I think it's a curse. o.O) Anyway, I present Chapter 7, now with
200% more Aoshi goodness! Please read and review!
.hack//dimensions
Chapter 7: Dungeon
Kakera was the first to speak after the others had left. "Umm," she said, looking at the ground. "What do you want to do now?"
"Do you want to try your hand at some more battles in this area?" asked Aoshi in a calm voice. Kakera looked at up him for only a moment, as her face was very red. Aoshi appeared to have recovered from their awkward moment earlier, and appeared eager only to continue playing. 'Well,' the heavy blade thought to herself. 'I guess I can only hope for that one moment to see him blush. I mean, we've only known each other for two days, so what should I expect of him?'
"Sure," replied Kakera, her face becoming a little less red as she continued to speak. "I need to catch up in level with Rai and Tobira, and of course I eventually need to catch up with you."
"Heh, well, it shouldn't take you too long to catch up with the other guys. However, it may take more time to catch up with me." He smiled playfully and started walking behind Kakera. "However, I don't know how long any of that could take if you just sit there on the ground."
"Hey!" yelled the heavy blade indignantly. "I'm only sitting here cause I lost a lot of hp when that monster attacked me."
"But you'll gain it all back as you walk around you know."
"Huh? I...." Kakera glanced around a moment, and then jumped up. "Fine, then let's take a walk and find some monsters to battle!"
"Now that's more like it," commented Aoshi in a cheery voice. "Come on, we can head over there." The blademaster pointed to a small stone fort in the distance. A few brown poles stuck out of the ground around it, holding bright yellow and red flags that were blowing in the virtual wind.
"What's that?" asked Kakera, obviously confused.
"That my friend is the entrance to the dungeon. After seeing you handle that moth, I think that you're ready to handle a harder situation."
"How is fighting monsters in a fort a harder situation?"
"That fort has multiple levels that head deeper and deeper underground. Each level has chambers containing treasure chests and monster portals. Those chambers with monster portals lock when you go in, and you cannot leave unless you defeat the creatures, unlike where you can try to run away in the field. The other thing is to get out, you either have to get to the end and get the treasure, walk all the way through the dungeon again, or use an item called a sprite ocarina to transport yourself out."
"Jeez, is there anything else?"
"There will be a statue at the end, called the Gott statue, which has a great and rare treasure. There may also be a boss, an extremely high leveled monster, which guards the treasure. Now, are you ready for the challenge?"
Kakera thought about it a moment, and then nodded. "Hey, what have I got to lose?"
"Well, only the experience you've gained, but we'll save before we go in so there will be no chance that you will lose that level you gained earlier."
"Alright," said Kakera. The two looked in their menus for a moment to save their games, then began walking towards the dungeon entrance.
The two walked most of the way in silence, the only sounds in the area the background music and the pattering of their feet. Aoshi walked slightly ahead of Kakera, and the heavy blade kept her eyes on Aoshi's feet trotting forward.
'What do you really think of me Aoshi,' she thought. 'I thought I had you figured out, but then that gaze.... Were you just proud of me, or was it really something more? And what do I think of you? I mean, I think that you're really cute and all, and you have a great personality, and you're heroic, and... Ah!' Kakera shook her head vigorously to clear her thoughts. 'This is not the time or the place to think about it. Aoshi is here; I should talk to him and play the game.'
"Um, Aoshi?" Kakera asked, her voice no louder than a whisper.
"Yeah?" replied Aoshi, looking back and slowing his steps so he could walk next to the heavy blade.
"Um..." 'I gotta think of something to say!' she thought. 'Not about that, but I want to know more about him.'
"Why did you start playing 'The World' anyway?" she finally asked.
"Well I had heard a lot about the game before I actually started playing. It sounded great, a place where you could fight monsters, meet people. I guess I just started doing it to make new friends. What about you?"
"Uh, well, a friend of mine found about it and told me to join. I wasn't sure if I wanted to play at first, but I love it now." Kakera dropped her gaze from Aoshi and blushed a bit.
"I'm glad you like it," replied Aoshi, simply smiling. Kakera's face became redder as she walked, and her mind began to race.
'Gotta get a hold of myself,' she thought. 'But at least this is the most coherent conversation I've ever had with Aoshi!'
"Here we are," said the blademaster, startling Kakera out of her thoughts. The pair stopped and looked at the fort in front of them. The cold grey stone building seemed out of place in the huge rolling fields, and the idea of what lay below sent a slight chill down Kakera's spine. Dangerous situations may seem like nothing when she was Jenny, but she realized that as Kakera she was much weaker and likely to have to be saved instead of doing the saving.
"Are you ready to head down?" asked Aoshi. He had taken his sword from its sheath on his back, and the metal glowed in the sun. Kakera noticed the thin lines that came across each side of his blade glowed a deep golden color in the light, causing her eyes to focus on the blade instead of Aoshi. 'Those lines must help him in battle,' she thought. 'If an enemy only focuses on the blade instead of all the movements of a person, then they would surely be at a disadvantage!'
"Kakera?" asked Aoshi, waving his hand in front of her face. "Do you want to go down?"
"Uh, yeah," said Kakera very quickly. She unsheathed her own blade and lifted it over her shoulder so she could carry it easily. "Let's go!"
Aoshi nodded and started running towards the entrance of the fort. Kakera followed shortly behind him. The entrance was easily 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide, no light coming out from the inside. Aoshi ran in, and Kakera gulped a moment before following.
They stepped into a plain hall, the stone grey walls from the outside continuing on, the floor a dark grey stone covered with scattered dirt.
"There is never anything in the first hall," commented the blademaster. The next one may have monsters. You ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," muttered the slightly frightened heavy blade.
"Don't be so worried!" said Aoshi, patting her on the head. "These monsters will be about the same level as the ones outside."
"But the one I fought outside almost killed me!" cried Kakera indignantly.
"You forget two things. First, you have gained a level since you fought that monster, which means you have more of an advantage than you think. Second, you have me in your party now to back you up if need be. Don't worry; I won't let anything happen to you."
"Thanks Aoshi." Kakera's face turned red again, but this time she did not hide her face, and gazed at Aoshi. The blademaster had a slight smile on his face, but did not seem to notice her blushing. 'Either that or he doesn't mind it," thought Kakera.
"Let's go!" cried Aoshi, and he ran into the next room.
"Aoshi, wait!" yelled Kakera as he followed him. The heavy blade ran in, straight into Aoshi, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Ow," she muttered, but was shushed by Aoshi. Kakera looked up to see Aoshi gazing intently at the spinning portal ahead. His deep green eyes reflected the glowing portal, and Kakera followed her gaze to it spinning in the center of the room. Kakera didn't understand why he was staring at it so intently, until she noticed something wrong with it.
The usual yellow monster portal was still yellow, yet through it were small lines, like ripped stitches. In them Kakera could see many 1's and 0's, which must represent the data of the portal.
"Are those what boss portals look like?" whispered Kakera after she had lifted herself up.
"Not at all," replied Aoshi, his voice showing only the slightest bit of alarm. "Boss portals should be the same as any other monster portal, the only difference .being that they are in the final hall of the dungeon. But, this can't be the final hall, as I have been in this one numerous times and it is three stories deep. I think..." Aoshi shuddered, turning his gaze away from the portal and towards Kakera.
"I think that the virus from a few years ago has returned."
Kakera shook her head in confusion. "What virus? Aoshi, what the hell are you talking about?"
"A few years ago there was a virus in the system of the World that caused players to fall into a deep coma for weeks and months on end. It is rumored that some of those in comas were still in the World, or at least their personalities were as characters. But that should have been fixed long ago. They stopped expansion of the game to other areas because of it."
"Comas..." whispered Kakera in alarm. "Aoshi, we have to get out of here!"
"Right," he replied, turning towards the entrance they had come through. The blademaster had stopped in his tracks, for the entrance was gone, and there was no sign that it had ever existed. He quickly looked about the other entrances to the room, but they were all gone as well. "Shit," he muttered.
"What about those sprite ocarinas you mentioned earlier?" said Kakera, obviously frightened. If the virus caused humans to go into comas in the real world, who knew what it would do to her since she was a robot.
"Right." Aoshi put his hand into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out two light brown ocarinas and threw one to Kakera. "Just hold it up and it should work." Kakera nodded and they held them up.
Nothing happened.
"Shit!" yelled Aoshi. "Even if this is a boss battle, even a sprite ocarina should work. Whatever virus is in that portal has infected the entire dungeon."
"Can't we just turn off our terminals to get out of the area?" asked Kakera.
Aoshi simply shook his head. "There is a small chance that the virus could infect us only by doing that. There is only one option." Aoshi held his sword out in front of him. "We'll have to fight!"
"But Aoshi, are you sure? Can't we just turn off the console...?"
"Even if it didn't infect us it could spread to the rest of the areas of the World, and who knows what could happen then? Who knows what its first victims might be!" Aoshi turned his deep green eyes towards Kakera, showing determination with a hint of fright. "This is my world, and I will fight to protect it!"
"Aoshi..."
'He knows that this virus may take him down,' thought Kakera. 'But he is willing to sacrifice himself to save the other people who are playing the game. Don't I take the same chance every day when I help in the real world? This may be a different dimension, but I'm still the same person, and I should help.'
"I'll help you too Aoshi," said Kakera assertively. "If you're going to risk your life to save others then I will too."
Aoshi looked at her with worried eyes, but eventually nodded consent. "Alright, but if anything happens and I'm defeated, don't stay. Turn off the console if need be, just get out of here any way you can!"
"If I can still fight, then I will stay."
Aoshi sighed at her statement, but nodded. "I understand. Just try not to get hurt, okay?"
Kakera smiled, trying to bring some light into this gloomy situation. "I'll do my best."
The blademaster did not take a backwards glance, but started running towards the corrupted monster gate. It suddenly started spinning faster until a large monster stood in its place. The monster was three times the height of Aoshi, and appeared to be some type of ogre being. It's heavily armored body showed no sign of flesh except at the joints of the armor. Its face was covered with a large helmet, the grates covering its face. The strangest thing about it was its coloring. It was a mix of green, pink, white, red, brown, and blue. The color appeared to be some kind of liquid on its body, the colors constantly changing and corrupting it.
Aoshi continued running, but did so around the creature, obviously examining it for a weakness. Kakera glanced at the health gauge of the creature and gasped in surprise.
"The hp of the creature is gibberish," she said. "It's only a mix of a ton of different symbols."
"It's completely corrupt," responded Aoshi. "We'll have to take it down the best we can."
With that, Aoshi jumped up from behind the ogre and sliced it at the joint at its arm and shoulder. The ogre cried out a small roar, and groped out at Aoshi with one of its large hands. The agile blademaster jumped out the way, right onto the creature's head. It hit itself in the head as Aoshi jumped off of it right as the hand came out towards him again.
Meanwhile, Kakera shivered slightly from the sideline. Aoshi looked completely at ease in the battle, but the heavy blade was worried. 'This monster may appear stupid, but with that hp, it'll just take time before it takes a hit at Aoshi.' 'But maybe I can help remedy that situation by getting in there myself.' With that, Kakera lifted her blade and ran towards the beast. As it was still preoccupied with Aoshi, it did not notice the heavy blade slice its flesh between its leg and foot. It cried out and turned towards her, thus leaving Aoshi with time to attack.
"Time to try something else," the blademaster whispered, and pointed his hand at his blade. Black swirling energy started swirling about his sword, echoing moans through the room. "Nightmare Banisher!" Aoshi yelled as he jumped up and landed the blade in the monster's shoulder joint. The creature grunted, but continued to try to fight the two warriors.
'That must have been one of Aoshi's abilities,' thought Kakera. 'If that can't bring the monster down at all, then what can?' She pondered this for a moment as she moved out of the way of the creature's foot. "Aha!"
"Aoshi!" she cried across the room. "We both need to try abilities against it!"
"How would that help any?" asked the blademaster.
"If its data is corrupted, then it might not be able to handle the data of two simultaneous complicated attacks."
"It's worth a try," agreed Aoshi. "Alright, you take the back, I'll take the front. You have an attack ready?"
"I think I have something I can use," answered Kakera as she scrolled through her abilities list, one eye still on the ogre.
"Alright, on the count of three then we will bring on the onslaught of attacks." Aoshi ran from the side of the beast to the front of it. Kakera meanwhile ran behind it. The ogre brought its arm upon Aoshi as he stopped, and the blademaster had to hold his blade up to stop the attack. Sweat began to pour down his face as he tried to hold up the blade, as the monster refused to let up.
"Aoshi!" cried Kakera, completely concerned.
"Damn it! Just charge your attack!"
"But...."
"I can try and charge it while he's doing it. Just do it! It's our only chance!"
Kakera nodded reluctantly and held her blade in front of her. She concentrated, and bright orange flames suddenly appeared about the blade. She glanced over and saw that Aoshi's blade was becoming dark as night once again.
"Now!" screamed Aoshi as he dropped the blade and rolled out of the way of the fist. He raised his blade again and started running towards the right arm, while Kakera ran to the left.
"Nightmare Banisher!" cried the blademaster.
"Flame Tempest!" cried the heavy blade.
The two attacks hit at the same time, and the ogre roared loudly. As the two jumped off the creature and landed on one side of the room, the creature seemed to bulge. Suddenly, the virus bits broke off, disappearing into tiny bits of data, and were soon gone from sight. The ogre now stood there in its natural dark blue coloring, and also broke into bits of data. In less that a minute, there was no sign there had ever been such a diseased creature in this room.
"We did it..." whispered Kakera, too stunned to move.
"It's gone," sighed Aoshi.
The two stared at each other, as silence echoed through the room. Then, they burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, we could've died!" laughed the blademaster.
"But we didn't!" shrieked the tired heavy blade. The two jumped around in joy until they ended up in each others arms. There they stopped and gazed at each other.
Kakera had known that Aoshi was handsome from a distance, but here he was the most beautiful person she had ever seen in her life. He glowed with affection for her, as she did for him. Aoshi held an expression of total love, his eyes beaming and lips slightly a quiver.
"Kakera..." he whispered.
Their intimate moment was ended by a twinkling sound from above their heads. The two looked up to see the Exp. Gained signs, but there were glowing yellows above their heads as well.
"Level Up," said Aoshi, looking over his head.
"3 Levels Up," said Kakera in a shocked voice.
"Well, it was a strong monster."
"Heehee, it must have been if it took that long to defeat."
"Well if we meet one again it will be easier."
"Oh Aoshi! Don't say things like that!" laughed Kakera as she broke away from him.
"Hey," replied Aoshi, smiling. "It's always a possibility. I think that's enough for tonight though. I don't want to see what the rest of this dungeon holds. Let's get out of here."
"Yeah, let's." Kakera reached out and took Aoshi's hand, and they smiled at each other as they walked out of the now reappeared doorway and out into the field.
.hack//dimensions
Chapter 7: Dungeon
Kakera was the first to speak after the others had left. "Umm," she said, looking at the ground. "What do you want to do now?"
"Do you want to try your hand at some more battles in this area?" asked Aoshi in a calm voice. Kakera looked at up him for only a moment, as her face was very red. Aoshi appeared to have recovered from their awkward moment earlier, and appeared eager only to continue playing. 'Well,' the heavy blade thought to herself. 'I guess I can only hope for that one moment to see him blush. I mean, we've only known each other for two days, so what should I expect of him?'
"Sure," replied Kakera, her face becoming a little less red as she continued to speak. "I need to catch up in level with Rai and Tobira, and of course I eventually need to catch up with you."
"Heh, well, it shouldn't take you too long to catch up with the other guys. However, it may take more time to catch up with me." He smiled playfully and started walking behind Kakera. "However, I don't know how long any of that could take if you just sit there on the ground."
"Hey!" yelled the heavy blade indignantly. "I'm only sitting here cause I lost a lot of hp when that monster attacked me."
"But you'll gain it all back as you walk around you know."
"Huh? I...." Kakera glanced around a moment, and then jumped up. "Fine, then let's take a walk and find some monsters to battle!"
"Now that's more like it," commented Aoshi in a cheery voice. "Come on, we can head over there." The blademaster pointed to a small stone fort in the distance. A few brown poles stuck out of the ground around it, holding bright yellow and red flags that were blowing in the virtual wind.
"What's that?" asked Kakera, obviously confused.
"That my friend is the entrance to the dungeon. After seeing you handle that moth, I think that you're ready to handle a harder situation."
"How is fighting monsters in a fort a harder situation?"
"That fort has multiple levels that head deeper and deeper underground. Each level has chambers containing treasure chests and monster portals. Those chambers with monster portals lock when you go in, and you cannot leave unless you defeat the creatures, unlike where you can try to run away in the field. The other thing is to get out, you either have to get to the end and get the treasure, walk all the way through the dungeon again, or use an item called a sprite ocarina to transport yourself out."
"Jeez, is there anything else?"
"There will be a statue at the end, called the Gott statue, which has a great and rare treasure. There may also be a boss, an extremely high leveled monster, which guards the treasure. Now, are you ready for the challenge?"
Kakera thought about it a moment, and then nodded. "Hey, what have I got to lose?"
"Well, only the experience you've gained, but we'll save before we go in so there will be no chance that you will lose that level you gained earlier."
"Alright," said Kakera. The two looked in their menus for a moment to save their games, then began walking towards the dungeon entrance.
The two walked most of the way in silence, the only sounds in the area the background music and the pattering of their feet. Aoshi walked slightly ahead of Kakera, and the heavy blade kept her eyes on Aoshi's feet trotting forward.
'What do you really think of me Aoshi,' she thought. 'I thought I had you figured out, but then that gaze.... Were you just proud of me, or was it really something more? And what do I think of you? I mean, I think that you're really cute and all, and you have a great personality, and you're heroic, and... Ah!' Kakera shook her head vigorously to clear her thoughts. 'This is not the time or the place to think about it. Aoshi is here; I should talk to him and play the game.'
"Um, Aoshi?" Kakera asked, her voice no louder than a whisper.
"Yeah?" replied Aoshi, looking back and slowing his steps so he could walk next to the heavy blade.
"Um..." 'I gotta think of something to say!' she thought. 'Not about that, but I want to know more about him.'
"Why did you start playing 'The World' anyway?" she finally asked.
"Well I had heard a lot about the game before I actually started playing. It sounded great, a place where you could fight monsters, meet people. I guess I just started doing it to make new friends. What about you?"
"Uh, well, a friend of mine found about it and told me to join. I wasn't sure if I wanted to play at first, but I love it now." Kakera dropped her gaze from Aoshi and blushed a bit.
"I'm glad you like it," replied Aoshi, simply smiling. Kakera's face became redder as she walked, and her mind began to race.
'Gotta get a hold of myself,' she thought. 'But at least this is the most coherent conversation I've ever had with Aoshi!'
"Here we are," said the blademaster, startling Kakera out of her thoughts. The pair stopped and looked at the fort in front of them. The cold grey stone building seemed out of place in the huge rolling fields, and the idea of what lay below sent a slight chill down Kakera's spine. Dangerous situations may seem like nothing when she was Jenny, but she realized that as Kakera she was much weaker and likely to have to be saved instead of doing the saving.
"Are you ready to head down?" asked Aoshi. He had taken his sword from its sheath on his back, and the metal glowed in the sun. Kakera noticed the thin lines that came across each side of his blade glowed a deep golden color in the light, causing her eyes to focus on the blade instead of Aoshi. 'Those lines must help him in battle,' she thought. 'If an enemy only focuses on the blade instead of all the movements of a person, then they would surely be at a disadvantage!'
"Kakera?" asked Aoshi, waving his hand in front of her face. "Do you want to go down?"
"Uh, yeah," said Kakera very quickly. She unsheathed her own blade and lifted it over her shoulder so she could carry it easily. "Let's go!"
Aoshi nodded and started running towards the entrance of the fort. Kakera followed shortly behind him. The entrance was easily 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide, no light coming out from the inside. Aoshi ran in, and Kakera gulped a moment before following.
They stepped into a plain hall, the stone grey walls from the outside continuing on, the floor a dark grey stone covered with scattered dirt.
"There is never anything in the first hall," commented the blademaster. The next one may have monsters. You ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," muttered the slightly frightened heavy blade.
"Don't be so worried!" said Aoshi, patting her on the head. "These monsters will be about the same level as the ones outside."
"But the one I fought outside almost killed me!" cried Kakera indignantly.
"You forget two things. First, you have gained a level since you fought that monster, which means you have more of an advantage than you think. Second, you have me in your party now to back you up if need be. Don't worry; I won't let anything happen to you."
"Thanks Aoshi." Kakera's face turned red again, but this time she did not hide her face, and gazed at Aoshi. The blademaster had a slight smile on his face, but did not seem to notice her blushing. 'Either that or he doesn't mind it," thought Kakera.
"Let's go!" cried Aoshi, and he ran into the next room.
"Aoshi, wait!" yelled Kakera as he followed him. The heavy blade ran in, straight into Aoshi, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Ow," she muttered, but was shushed by Aoshi. Kakera looked up to see Aoshi gazing intently at the spinning portal ahead. His deep green eyes reflected the glowing portal, and Kakera followed her gaze to it spinning in the center of the room. Kakera didn't understand why he was staring at it so intently, until she noticed something wrong with it.
The usual yellow monster portal was still yellow, yet through it were small lines, like ripped stitches. In them Kakera could see many 1's and 0's, which must represent the data of the portal.
"Are those what boss portals look like?" whispered Kakera after she had lifted herself up.
"Not at all," replied Aoshi, his voice showing only the slightest bit of alarm. "Boss portals should be the same as any other monster portal, the only difference .being that they are in the final hall of the dungeon. But, this can't be the final hall, as I have been in this one numerous times and it is three stories deep. I think..." Aoshi shuddered, turning his gaze away from the portal and towards Kakera.
"I think that the virus from a few years ago has returned."
Kakera shook her head in confusion. "What virus? Aoshi, what the hell are you talking about?"
"A few years ago there was a virus in the system of the World that caused players to fall into a deep coma for weeks and months on end. It is rumored that some of those in comas were still in the World, or at least their personalities were as characters. But that should have been fixed long ago. They stopped expansion of the game to other areas because of it."
"Comas..." whispered Kakera in alarm. "Aoshi, we have to get out of here!"
"Right," he replied, turning towards the entrance they had come through. The blademaster had stopped in his tracks, for the entrance was gone, and there was no sign that it had ever existed. He quickly looked about the other entrances to the room, but they were all gone as well. "Shit," he muttered.
"What about those sprite ocarinas you mentioned earlier?" said Kakera, obviously frightened. If the virus caused humans to go into comas in the real world, who knew what it would do to her since she was a robot.
"Right." Aoshi put his hand into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out two light brown ocarinas and threw one to Kakera. "Just hold it up and it should work." Kakera nodded and they held them up.
Nothing happened.
"Shit!" yelled Aoshi. "Even if this is a boss battle, even a sprite ocarina should work. Whatever virus is in that portal has infected the entire dungeon."
"Can't we just turn off our terminals to get out of the area?" asked Kakera.
Aoshi simply shook his head. "There is a small chance that the virus could infect us only by doing that. There is only one option." Aoshi held his sword out in front of him. "We'll have to fight!"
"But Aoshi, are you sure? Can't we just turn off the console...?"
"Even if it didn't infect us it could spread to the rest of the areas of the World, and who knows what could happen then? Who knows what its first victims might be!" Aoshi turned his deep green eyes towards Kakera, showing determination with a hint of fright. "This is my world, and I will fight to protect it!"
"Aoshi..."
'He knows that this virus may take him down,' thought Kakera. 'But he is willing to sacrifice himself to save the other people who are playing the game. Don't I take the same chance every day when I help in the real world? This may be a different dimension, but I'm still the same person, and I should help.'
"I'll help you too Aoshi," said Kakera assertively. "If you're going to risk your life to save others then I will too."
Aoshi looked at her with worried eyes, but eventually nodded consent. "Alright, but if anything happens and I'm defeated, don't stay. Turn off the console if need be, just get out of here any way you can!"
"If I can still fight, then I will stay."
Aoshi sighed at her statement, but nodded. "I understand. Just try not to get hurt, okay?"
Kakera smiled, trying to bring some light into this gloomy situation. "I'll do my best."
The blademaster did not take a backwards glance, but started running towards the corrupted monster gate. It suddenly started spinning faster until a large monster stood in its place. The monster was three times the height of Aoshi, and appeared to be some type of ogre being. It's heavily armored body showed no sign of flesh except at the joints of the armor. Its face was covered with a large helmet, the grates covering its face. The strangest thing about it was its coloring. It was a mix of green, pink, white, red, brown, and blue. The color appeared to be some kind of liquid on its body, the colors constantly changing and corrupting it.
Aoshi continued running, but did so around the creature, obviously examining it for a weakness. Kakera glanced at the health gauge of the creature and gasped in surprise.
"The hp of the creature is gibberish," she said. "It's only a mix of a ton of different symbols."
"It's completely corrupt," responded Aoshi. "We'll have to take it down the best we can."
With that, Aoshi jumped up from behind the ogre and sliced it at the joint at its arm and shoulder. The ogre cried out a small roar, and groped out at Aoshi with one of its large hands. The agile blademaster jumped out the way, right onto the creature's head. It hit itself in the head as Aoshi jumped off of it right as the hand came out towards him again.
Meanwhile, Kakera shivered slightly from the sideline. Aoshi looked completely at ease in the battle, but the heavy blade was worried. 'This monster may appear stupid, but with that hp, it'll just take time before it takes a hit at Aoshi.' 'But maybe I can help remedy that situation by getting in there myself.' With that, Kakera lifted her blade and ran towards the beast. As it was still preoccupied with Aoshi, it did not notice the heavy blade slice its flesh between its leg and foot. It cried out and turned towards her, thus leaving Aoshi with time to attack.
"Time to try something else," the blademaster whispered, and pointed his hand at his blade. Black swirling energy started swirling about his sword, echoing moans through the room. "Nightmare Banisher!" Aoshi yelled as he jumped up and landed the blade in the monster's shoulder joint. The creature grunted, but continued to try to fight the two warriors.
'That must have been one of Aoshi's abilities,' thought Kakera. 'If that can't bring the monster down at all, then what can?' She pondered this for a moment as she moved out of the way of the creature's foot. "Aha!"
"Aoshi!" she cried across the room. "We both need to try abilities against it!"
"How would that help any?" asked the blademaster.
"If its data is corrupted, then it might not be able to handle the data of two simultaneous complicated attacks."
"It's worth a try," agreed Aoshi. "Alright, you take the back, I'll take the front. You have an attack ready?"
"I think I have something I can use," answered Kakera as she scrolled through her abilities list, one eye still on the ogre.
"Alright, on the count of three then we will bring on the onslaught of attacks." Aoshi ran from the side of the beast to the front of it. Kakera meanwhile ran behind it. The ogre brought its arm upon Aoshi as he stopped, and the blademaster had to hold his blade up to stop the attack. Sweat began to pour down his face as he tried to hold up the blade, as the monster refused to let up.
"Aoshi!" cried Kakera, completely concerned.
"Damn it! Just charge your attack!"
"But...."
"I can try and charge it while he's doing it. Just do it! It's our only chance!"
Kakera nodded reluctantly and held her blade in front of her. She concentrated, and bright orange flames suddenly appeared about the blade. She glanced over and saw that Aoshi's blade was becoming dark as night once again.
"Now!" screamed Aoshi as he dropped the blade and rolled out of the way of the fist. He raised his blade again and started running towards the right arm, while Kakera ran to the left.
"Nightmare Banisher!" cried the blademaster.
"Flame Tempest!" cried the heavy blade.
The two attacks hit at the same time, and the ogre roared loudly. As the two jumped off the creature and landed on one side of the room, the creature seemed to bulge. Suddenly, the virus bits broke off, disappearing into tiny bits of data, and were soon gone from sight. The ogre now stood there in its natural dark blue coloring, and also broke into bits of data. In less that a minute, there was no sign there had ever been such a diseased creature in this room.
"We did it..." whispered Kakera, too stunned to move.
"It's gone," sighed Aoshi.
The two stared at each other, as silence echoed through the room. Then, they burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, we could've died!" laughed the blademaster.
"But we didn't!" shrieked the tired heavy blade. The two jumped around in joy until they ended up in each others arms. There they stopped and gazed at each other.
Kakera had known that Aoshi was handsome from a distance, but here he was the most beautiful person she had ever seen in her life. He glowed with affection for her, as she did for him. Aoshi held an expression of total love, his eyes beaming and lips slightly a quiver.
"Kakera..." he whispered.
Their intimate moment was ended by a twinkling sound from above their heads. The two looked up to see the Exp. Gained signs, but there were glowing yellows above their heads as well.
"Level Up," said Aoshi, looking over his head.
"3 Levels Up," said Kakera in a shocked voice.
"Well, it was a strong monster."
"Heehee, it must have been if it took that long to defeat."
"Well if we meet one again it will be easier."
"Oh Aoshi! Don't say things like that!" laughed Kakera as she broke away from him.
"Hey," replied Aoshi, smiling. "It's always a possibility. I think that's enough for tonight though. I don't want to see what the rest of this dungeon holds. Let's get out of here."
"Yeah, let's." Kakera reached out and took Aoshi's hand, and they smiled at each other as they walked out of the now reappeared doorway and out into the field.