Kousei P.O.V
I gulped as I felt the gaze of the newcomer settle on me. "Hmm, yes, I would enjoy ripping you to shreds"
Akiba's health was starting to fall, drastically.
"Akiba-" I tried to say but he threw a glare over his shoulder, letting me see the blood leaking from his eyes. "Stay back!"
"Your a brave one arent you?" The person in the armor said with a hint of amusement. "Oh, now I see, you are just an NPC"
I glanced at his HP bar.
[247/625]
I paled when I realized he was taking so much damage.
"He's not an NPC!" Tsubaki yelled before she suddenly was slammed back against the back wall of the room.
"Quiet, foolish girl, he was generated by the system, therefore he is an NPC," The knight said, voice catching a bit of a superior tone. "Then again, you are just an honorary gamer, what would you know?"
Tsubaki groaned as she got up. "Bastard"
Watari suddenly got swatted to the side like a fly and in his place was a large black broad sword. Now Akiba was on the floor, health below 100 and my friends weren't much better.
"Now, I will finally have a worthy opponent..." The knight trailed off as they stared at me. There was only a small bit of space between us now. "Y-you are only level 7? When did you get this power?"
"T-this morning" I stammered.
"Well, you are advancing fast," THe knight said with a sigh. "Sadly I must kill you"
I took a hesitant step back. "W-why?"
"It's nothing personal, but I do need that to active godhood. I do not wish to change my Class so I must kill another of my Class to earn the right to get higher power" The Knight said with a sad tone. "Sorry newbie, but I have my reasons"
I closed my eyes and expected the sword to come down on me., but I felt a whoosh of wind instead. Even though my eyes were closed, I could see this box.
[{Companion Guide title} activated]
I opened my eyes and Akiba was right between me and a sword.
[Limits broken, activating Try Hard Mode]
Try hard mode?
Akiba became bathed in red light.
"I see, it has the title Companion Guide" The Knight muttered.
"I...am...not...an IT!" Akiba grunted as he pushed back.
But the Knight didn't even falter.
"Deactivate System Boost Spells," The knight said in a level voice and then Akiba began to make some progress in pushing them back.
"I have 20 seconds to kick your ass!" Akiba yelled as he whipped his staff back and spun it over his shoulder to try a sideswipe, which was deflected, but the knight took a step back.
"Interesting, you seem to be balancing your body quite well for an NPC, if I hadn't known any better, I would assume you were a gamer," The knight said before trying a simple swipe to decapitate him.
And it worked, blood sprayed everywhere.
Tsubaki screamed, Watari fainted and I felt woozy before I barfed.
The knight wiped their bloody blade on the limp body on the floor. "Shame, that most things die instantly after losing their head."
They stepped over the body which began to give off some strange blue particles. "Now, I'm sorry it has come to this but it seems you all must die after seeing this"
The next thing I knew, Akiba sat up, head fully reformed and he looked pissed. He flung his body backward, and rammed his feet into the helmet of the knight, before locking his knees around their helmet and launching himself over their body, landing in front of me while the knight clattered to his feet.
"What about infinite health don't you understand?" Akiba asked as he poked his blood-soaked clothes. "If I can't quick change out of these and get a new set, I'm sending you the bill to get me a new one"
The knight rose to their feet slowly. "My Companion Guide wasn't good as you when they were your level. What are you exactly?"
Akiba's glow shut off. "I'm a system admin placed into a real body, so I know a thing or two"
The knight gave a nod. "In that case, if you tell me if there are any other gamers and their location, I shall let you all live"
Akiba paused. "Why should I do that?"
Now the knight sounded smug. "As you can tell, I had been holding back with all of you. I didn't have to approach you to kill all of you effortlessly"
"You try to attack Kousei again, my title will activate"
"I know exactly of the backlash of it activating though, you can only let it activate a few times considering you don't have any food here to regenerate health"
Suddenly Akiba doubled over and spat out blood. It looked like at least a gallon.
"W-what did you do you do to him?!" Tsubaki demanded as she tried to stand
"Nothing, it is simply the backlash of his title. When I had discovered it, I thought it was the most broken thing ever, until I learned of the side effect" The Knight muttered
I quickly checked Akiba's status page, only paying attention to the top half.
[Name: Akiba Gengyo
Class: N/A
Title: Companion Guide(If the summoner that summoned this companion becomes in danger, they enter a killer mode, where they are indestructible and their damage is quadrupled for 30 seconds to save their summoner)
Level: 15
EXP to Level Up: 25/200
HP: 50/625
MP: 500/1000
All Stats cut by 50% as a side effect of the title {Companion Guide}]
"Everything about him is cut in half, including his HP and MP for an hour, besides the bars that regenerate," The knight said sadly. "That is how I lost my own {Companion Guide}"
Akiba grunted before weakly picking up his staff. "I don't give a fuck...I won't let you touch them any more than you already have"
"Akiba, just tell me and I will spare them. I will leave as soon as I have the information I require"
[Blood Lust Detected!]
Akiba was once again enveloped in a red aura.
"It is triggered now when I think of harming your summoner, interesting" The knight muttered. "Nevertheless, save yourself the pain and suffering, along with the lives of your party being lost."
"T-the closest player is the strongest one in the system," He said softly. "He resides in New York and is a son of Poseidon"
"Hmm, I would have considered it if he was closer, any others?"
"A-according to the system, out of the total 100 players selected, from my last check on the system, you are ranked 56th in terms of strength."
"Hmm, that is a problem, I assume the rest are either already reached god rank, or in space, to deep underground"
"Y-yeah...if you know how to access the time travel feature there are a few options but each one is dangerous"
"The most dangerous?"
"Naruto, every single one gets deadlier than the last."
"Next"
"One that is within the naruto timeline...as it stands they have a cheaper version of the Gamer power and started as a baby"
The Knight pondered on it for a moment before giving a curt nod. "Thank you...I do hope you survive." With that, the knight vanished in a puff of air.
Akiba began to cry. "I- I'm sorry...I'm too weak for this job"
"It's fine," A newly awakened Watari said as he walked over and patted his back, clearly avoiding the bloodstains. "You were the only one that could do anything."
[Congratulations! You have survived an encounter with player {Osaki Riku}]
[All members of your party gained a small bit of {Osaki Riku} EXP!]
[350 EXP was given to every member of your party!]
350?!
"W-who was that?" I asked as I began to rise to my feet and try to process what happened.
"You saw" Akiba muttered with his head down. "Another gamer. Level 89, and has one of the most OP skill sets I have ever seen"
"89?!" I exclaimed. "How long have they been playing-"
"Everyone has been playing for years! At least in my time, for you, it's probably centuries!" Akiba yelled as he banged his head into the ground. "There was never meant to be another player in this blasted game! The system was overworked in the beginning but now, even though there are drastically fewer players, the surviving ones are all super powerful!"
My mouth felt really dry right now.
"Why didn't you tell us any of this? How did Kousei become a gamer then if no more were meant to be created?" Tsubaki demanded.
"It's against regulations to tell you guys any of this within being triggered" Akiba muttered as he rubbed his torso. "I don't know...but if it was within his destiny to become a gamer, he would have become one a long time ago...in fact, long enough that Kaori Miyazono might have had a chance to live"
"Why does this thing have so many stupid rules?!" I yelled, my patience finally snapping. "This is all so dumb! Are there any other stupid fucking rules we should know about?!"
"If you want to add more than one person to your party that is romantically interested in you, you either have to remove that interest or activate harem mode" Akiba muttered before laughing and stopping. He was now wincing, seemingly hurting in his upper body.
"Weak joke and bad timing..." Watari muttered before chuckling lightly. "But, it's funny how hard you just tried to fix the mood."
Not much laughter went around while we waited for Akiba to heal enough to stand.
Suddenly he opened his status page and spent his Perk Point. The way our perk list works is that it has a large list that it randomly picks from until we unlock the perk tree, which requires us to pick perks that are within the same 'branch', that way perks that tickle our fancy are more likely to show up.
His recovery speed doubled, and soon he was perfectly healed.
I glanced at my status.
[Name: Kousei Arima
Class: The Gamer
Title: The Human Metronome(Boosts all Music related things by 50%)
Level: 10
EXP to Level Up: 25/100
HP: 100/100
MP: 625/625
STR: 10
STA: 10
DEX: 20
AGI: 15
INT: 25
WIS: 25
LUK: 10
Bonuses: Prodigy, Talent For Music
Perks: Musical Talent, Refill me!
Description: Kousei Arima was forced to learn the piano by his mother from a young age, and he did so happily because when he won prizes his mother was happy. However, she wanted him to complete her failed dream as she was sick. When she succumbed to her sickness Kousei was unable to hear the music he made anymore and became more drawn in, and stopped playing the piano as much. However, Kaori Miyazono fixed that, also dying after Kousei began to play his music once more.
Attribute points: 16
Perk Points: 0]
Hmm, pour 5 points into INT and WIS, then split the last six between each of my main physical stats.
[Name: Kousei Arima
Class: The Gamer
Title: The Human Metronome(Boosts all Music related things by 50%)
Level: 10
EXP to Level Up: 25/100
HP: 120/120
MP: 900/900
STR: 12
STA: 10
DEX: 22
AGI: 17
INT: 30
WIS: 30
LUK: 10
Bonuses: Prodigy, Talent For Music
Perks: Musical Talent, Refill me!
Description: Kousei Arima was forced to learn the piano by his mother from a young age, and he did so happily because when he won prizes his mother was happy. However, she wanted him to complete her failed dream as she was sick. When she succumbed to her sickness Kousei was unable to hear the music he made anymore and became more drawn in, and stopped playing the piano as much. However, Kaori Miyazono fixed that, also dying after Kousei began to play his music once more.
Attribute points: 0
Perk Points: 0]
Nice.
I quickly scanned over my friends, who should gave gained 3 levels from that like I just did.
[Name: Tsubaki Sawabe
Class: N/A
Title: Star Softball Player(Boosts DEX, STR, and AGI stat by 5% when doing something related to sports)
Level: 13
EXP to Level Up: 25/100
HP: 484/484
MP: 300/300
STR: 22(+5%)
STA: 22
DEX: 20(+5%)
AGI: 22(+5%)
INT: 20
WIS: 10
LUK: 20
Bonuses: Athletic, determined.
Perks: School Star
Description: Tsubaki Sawabe is a girl that met and supported her friend Kousei Arima when they were young. While Kousei lacks the physical requirements to be much, Tsubaki has always been athletic and constantly took care of him while they were little. More recently she has learned some things about herself as she pushed herself to pass tests to stay near her friend who might be heading to a distant country for school.
Attribute points: 0
Perk Points: 0]
[Name: Watari Ryota
Class: N/A
Title: Star Soccer Player(Boosts STR, and AGI stat by 10% when doing something related to sports)
Level: 14
EXP to Level Up: 25/100
HP: 900/900
MP: 200/200
STR: 30(+10%)
STA: 30
DEX: 30
AGI: 20(+10%)
INT: 20
WIS: 12
LUK: 20
Bonuses: Athletic, Lady Killer.
Perks: School Star
Description: Watari Ryota is another friend in the main friend group, who had also been around since the beginning. Although he may be a hotshot around his school, in the musical industry several girls are throwing themselves at his friend, Kousei Arima, and he is happy for his friend. However since a certain girl pretended to like him to get closer to Kousei, his ego is a bit frayed.
Attribute points: 0
Perk Points: 0]
[Name: Akiba Gengyo
Class: N/A
Title: Companion Guide(If the summoner that summoned this companion becomes in danger, they enter a killer mode, where they are indestructible and their damage is quadrupled for 30 seconds to save their summoner)
Level: 16
EXP to Level Up: 125/200
HP: 625/625
MP: 1000/1000
STR: 25
STA: 25
DEX: 20
AGI: 25
INT: 25
WIS: 25
LUK: 15
Bonuses: Protector, Clever Boy
Perks: Magic Born, Refill me!
Description: Akiba Gengyo is a protective party member summoned by Kousei Arima. He is set to do his duty and believes that he lacks any free will to make his own decisions, so he acts the way he does as a way of defiance to his programming. Though he has yet to realize he truly is alive, from the second he was formed. He lacks any choice in his job until his summoner cannot be protected by him.
Attribute points: 0
Perk Points: 0]
Wait...once he hit level 15, his required EXP doubled. That's... a bit late don't you think?
"Wait, so when should get a perk point?" Watari asked. "You already got your hands on your third, so ours should be soon right?"
"Level 15 is considered an accomplishment. Every time our required EXP goes up we get a perk point." Akiba explained. "Anyway, we all have something to discuss"
"What would that be?" Tsubaki asked as she closed her status.
"Class, Kousei is the only one that gets the gamer class between us. But we all have various options."
"So what does the gamer class give him?"
"Ability to become and kill gods, the gamer class is like a ramped-up version of the jack of trades"
I blinked a few times. "That's cool"
"Very"
"So what classes are there and what do they do?" Tsubaki asked.
"Classes are basically like titles but they determine your weak spots and strengths." He explained. "The Medic, Chief, Warrior, Knight, Dragoon, Archer, Mage, Elemental, Necromancer, Summoner, Berserker, Dark Knight, Enchanter, Cleric, Assassin, Ninja, Dancer, Bard, Beast Tamer, and Blue Mage"
"That's...a lot" Tsubaki muttered.
"Cheif and Medic aren't exactly needed as long as one of us has magic that can heal and one of us can cook," Akiba said with a shrug.
"I see...what is the difference between Knight and Warrior?" Watari asked.
"Knight obeys the law and stuff not to mention they normally wear armor and gain a boost when they are protecting someone. Warriors just fight fight fight. But they do have high stat growth and have some of the best gear" Akiba explained. "I'm taking Dragoon, which is a subclass of warriors. Long story short, we got bulk and high attack with speed, with capability for magic mixed in with slightly longer weapons. Not to mention I may kill or ride dragons"
"What is a blue mage?" Tsubaki asked.
"A blue mage is a jack of all trades, they basically do anything and everything, but not as well as some other class that specializes in that field. Not to mention with them being blue mages they can pick up abilities from opponents"
"Really?!" Tsubaki seemed excited about that one.
[For using your brain for fucking once, you have gained 1+ WIS]
I opened a private message thing with Akiba. Don't how, I just did it without knowing how.
Me: CAN YOU READ MY MIND?
Akiba blinked a few times before responding.
Akiba Gengyo: Lol, idiot. No. The system tells me whenever you get a notification, what it's for, and it lets me alter it to make it 'easier' to understand. It wants to make sure the point gets across so it lets me do that shiz.
"So, I'm thinking of blue mage" Tsubaki announced.
"Knight all the way for me!"
"Dragoon, I said this"
So half of us is physical and the other half is magical. Well, Akiba is half and half.
"So Tsubaki, best to work on leveling out your stats but work on your magical side more, while Watari you gotta work on your physical stats, but you might need mana to use certain techniques" Akiba muttered.
"So...I just got to be magic?" I asked.
"Basically...I do know the actual locations of the legendary weapons mentioned in the description of your piano" Akiba. "Keytar of the Mystic Void. It's located in a dungeon that no one ever bothers beating because all the music-related things in it are annoying to anyone that isn't used to it"
"Keytar?" I asked. I never played one, but a Keytar is just a Piano but as a Guitar, right? "That might be a lot more mobile than my current weapon"
"It would be," Akiba said with a nod. "You more than definitely have the required amount of mastery over the piano to play it, the only problem is it is a god-tier weapon. As it stands, rare weapons are a stretch for us to have and use to their full potential. Legendary is much more difficult and god is impossible."
I paled. "What level do we have to be?"
"Well, now that we picked classes, you actually have the lowest requirements. At best maybe level 40 will let you use it and begin to understand it. Until then, you might have to awkwardly hold the Piano board as you run around to be more mobile."
I pictured that, running for my life, trying to scream as several bats ran after me. "Wait! Quests!"
[Daily quests- N/A
Rare Quests- N/A
Request Quests- N/A
Long Term Quests- {I will fight death for you}]
I clicked on it to get the whole overview.
[You have been offered a passage to reunite with the girl you love!
Quest requirements: Clear the Dungeon of beginning
Reach at least level 5 before entering
Gain a weapon or solid fighting style
Reward: Ability to enter the Dungeon of memories
Failure: The most painful death you can imagine, and then some]
"Can we enter the Dungeon of Begining?" I asked.
"We have to find it" Akiba muttered. "Not to mention the difficulty will be ramped up considering that we are higher level than five but yeah. We might find something of interest there. Speaking of things of interest-"
He pulled out a stereotypical wooden staff, with a little leaf sticking off. "The Witch's Staff, she left it behind when she was getting honey for her spell, she planned to get it soon but I bonked her on the head."
He tossed it to Tsubaki. "So, there."
"Thank you...do you got any spells for me?"
"I did find two books actually" Akiba pulled out two slightly shiny books. "One is for forest magic while the other is beginner necromancy"
"I...does forest magic have healing?" Tsubaki asked, clearly avoiding the topic of necromancy
"No healing is a subclass under Forest, Water, and Earth" Akiba explained. "If you learn the basics of mana and pick up some first aid, you might be able to overlap the two abilities and forge your own healing magic without having to find the book"
"Yeah, I think I'll do that," She said with a shudder. "Forest magic doesn't seem like something that I could work with too well, not to mention Necromancy sounds awful to use. I don't think I'd be able to look at anyone the same"
Akiba was sweating because as she was saying that, he didn't hesitate to absorb the books. "I...am in some deep shit"
Tsubaki didn't notice, "So should we sell those or something?"
"W-what? No... I was just going to put these in...storage...until we might need them!" Akiba lied. It worked, as we can't see his lie checks and he must have gotten lucky... or he has a high-level lying skill.
"So what can you do with forest magic?" Watari asked.
"Oh, call animals, track things without the tracking/hunting skill, manipulate plants, and minor healing. I'm talking like fixing a cut healing. Oh...and find edible foods in the forest"
"That sounds handy...who wants cooking?" I asked.
Watari instantly looked at Tsubaki, who smacked him.
"What, because I'm a woman I have to have the cooking skill? How sexist is that?!" She demanded.
Akiba raised a hand. "I'll take cooking."
"What?" I asked.
"Unexpected" Watari muttered as he rubbed his head.
"Well if I want to be an efficient tank/DPS then I should have extra food on hand, and I rather be the one making it if I depend on it," Akiba said with a shrug.
"Fair enough," Tsubaki said with a nod. "So...who are we going to tell about this?"
"What do you mean, tell about this?" I asked. "Wouldnt it be safer to just keep it between us unless we need to tell others?"
"I mean, a team of 4 isn't bad but it isn't exactly good." Watari offered. "Especially when we are all weak compared to the others, there is safety in numbers. Chances are if we have enough people we can overwhelm stronger opponents"
"The noobs are right," Akiba said with a nod. "Surely you have a few more friends we can use for this."
I felt the blood drain from my face. I could count the other friends I had on one hand. "I have...three more that could be useful?"
Seto was a definite no, I figure the only people involved should be in my age group...minus Akiba...does he count as some age based on his body or does he count as a day old?
"Wait...three...Emi...Takeshi...you wouldn't try to add Seto...Nagi?" Watari muttered to himself as he connected all of the dots. "Nagi is younger than us! Surely you aren't thinking about including her right?"
"I mean...she got spirit and energy that might be good to have" I weakly offered.
"Great so our final team is looking like one man on the edge of his sanity, a man that couldn't and still can't do anything but piano, your average playboy, the girl next door that will beat the shit out of you, Music playing Tsundere, protective older brother, and the loli of the anime" Akiba groaned. "Oh, right, how could I forget, the dead chick too!"
"How do you know all of that?" I asked.
He knocked his knuckles against my skull. "I was in here for a little while...plus I checked all your social media...you need to get out more."
I felt my face flush. "I have to get my skill back with the piano so I spend time inside doing that!"
"Now you have a skill, you physically can't forget...Piano is likely going to be the highest skill you are ever going to have."
"He got you there," Watari said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, sorry Kousei but he does," Tsubaki said with a shrug.
"Anyway...we should split up," Akiba said. "You two work on locating the dungeon and work on the skills you need to have on the way. Kousei and I will be working on our skills and trying to get these people to join us."
I nodded. "It sounds like the best course of action"
So we parted ways, ditching school just this once.
The second we were out of earshot, Akiba gripped my shoulder. "I partly lied, we are going to spar a bit to gain you some levels. Can't have our leader being the weakest. However, I doubt you'll be able to pass my level today, seeing as I am your guardian and I do not plan to lose this job after a single day"
"Sounds like a plan," I said as we kept walking.
"Where are we going to spar?"
He grinned. "Well, ID Create: Opposite Void!"
Suddenly a black hole opened under us, and I tried to yell, but the black hole sucked in the air and the sound. I was yanked into the portal, able to see Akiba's crazed grin as he jumped after me.