Beta by Small Nerd on SufficientVelocity Forum
Extra Bosses: Witch Hunters #1
A few months before Akko enrolled in Luna Nova
Cognitive Shibuya
Akko yawned as she walked through the cognitive realm. Shadows in this area were total weaklings at this point. If she wasn't collecting special items and treasuries, she would never even think of returning to this area.
Thankfully her boredom was interrupted when noises of battle entered her ears. Confused, she went off to investigate.
When she arrived at the source, she was greeted by a scene of carnage. Dissolving bodies of dead Shadows littered the red city blocks, and their murderer seemingly a powerful Shadow in the form of a long haired knight in green bronze armor.
"... Who goes there… ?" the Shadow turned from his latest victim, glaring at Akko with his saverage red eyes as he pointed his spear. "You… Witch, are you going to offer me a great challenge?"
"Ah…" Akko frowned. "Can I just leave and pretend I never met you…?"
The knight twirled his weapon, enraged by her answer. "You dare leave my sight? Die, coward!"
"When did I- I don't even…!" Akko frowned with bewilderment, at the sudden jump in logic. "Fine! If you wouldn't leave me alone then bring it!" she drew the bat, assuming a battle stance.
"Do not bore me girl, it did say a Witch is a great challenge!" the Shadow charged as the Persona user braced herself.
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"Aurgh…!"
The tip of the broken spear was sent flying through the air. Akko smacked her bat over his face. The blow was enough to send him tumbling to his knees.
"Hah… hah…!" she panted as sweat rolling down her face. "Had enough yet!?"
The red aura of the Shadow vanished. The knight stumbled back to his feet, gasping for air just like her.
"... What… what was I doing?" the red in his eyes were gone too. "Milady, did you free me from this bloodlust?"
Akko was confused. "... Huh? What is really going on here?!"
The knight eyed his broken weapon and looked at Akko again. "Ah… It would seem I was tricked…" he muttered under his breath before bowing apologetically. "Forgive me, it seems there's a misunderstanding… I am Tam Lin, the great hero of the fairy folk. Milady, please forgive me for my shameful display… "
"You are right, Aradia! He is Tam Lin!" Akko muttered to herself.
"I was definitely tricked… My sense of duty was corrupted into rampant bloodlust… However, the skillful battle with you has restored me to my senses…" he bowed again. "For that, I must thank you, milady."
"Well… no problem." Akko pulled away her bat. "It was actually pretty fun! Not as hard as sparring with my senpais, but you are still really good. Almost got me a few times..."
"Your words are kind… here," he offered her both pieces of his broken spear, "my gratitude and apology… Perhaps the fates will allow us to meet again, hopefully next time we will start off as allies, where I could serve as a proper knight..."
With that, he vanished in a blue flash.
Akko looked at the weapon and shrugged. "Well I could fix it… but I still wouldn't use spears…" she scratched her head, pondering what to do with her ever increasing pile of weapons.
A few months before Akko enrolled in Luna Nova
Cognitive Nagoya
When it came to Cognitive Nagoya, Akko only came here for one reason…
Food.
There was an area in this realm that serve food. Aradia hypothesized it could be generated by the hearts of some hardcore chefs, a form of distortion that was harmless.
Akko tried to find the owner of the distortion… but she was unsuccessful because the owner never showed up to her once. Nevertheless, this surely was one of the only few places in the Cognitive worlds where one could interact with Shadows safely.
A gigantic Japanese style pub- an Izakaya, constructed of aged wood. Steam carrying the aroma of traditional Japanese cooking immediate invaded the nostrils of anyone entering. It was pretty hot in here, but never uncomfortable. The atmosphere was always welcoming… she knew her dad would love a drink after work here if he could ever come over.
She entered the Izakaya distortion and was immediately greeted by a Shadow, a pretty woman covered in fur with cat traits. She was dressed in the classic waiter's kimono with a handkerchief tied over her forehead.
"Irasshaimase, nyaa!" the Nekomata greeted, her split tail wiggling happily. "The usual, human nyaa?"
"Yep!" Akko cheered and followed her to one of the seats.
Despite having no idea of the owner, she knew one thing. They had to be a cat lover. This entire place was run by an army of Nekomatas and nothing else. The beast women worked diligently serving anyone that entered their restaurant. It was kind of surreal seeing the usually hostile Shadows dropped all violent behavior and simply enjoy the delicious cooking right next to her.
Humanoid cats serving food… where had she heard of this before?
"Two serving of chawanmushi please!" she ordered.
Of all the cooking she ate here, the egg custard bowls were her favorite. Well, all the food here tasted just as good, if not better than what she could get in the real Nagoya. Maybe because these were the idealized version of the chief's dream?
It didn't take long for the Nekomata to serve her order. Akko couldn't wait, her mouth watered at the sight of those golden cups. "Itadakimasu-"
Suddenly a shockwave interrupted, causing her to drop her spoon.
"Oh no! This is terrible, nyaa!" A panicking Nekomata ran in, her face terrified. "We are under attack, nyaa!"
Confusion spread in the room. Akko covered her bowls first and went to investigate. "What's going on?"
"Human…" The nekomata was on the edge of tears. "Please save us, nyaa! The great Neko Shogun has gone mad, nyaaaaaa!"
"N-Neko Shogun?"
"H-He is our land lord and our security, nyaa!" the cat woman continued to cry. "But he suddenly went mad! He's going to tear this place apart, nyaaaaa! An army is here!"
Panic spread amongst the cat workers. They were weaklings suited only for cooking, they definitely would not stand a chance in a fight even with their numbers. They turned to look at Akko and their customer Shadows, teary eyes begging for salvation.
"Well, not on my watch!" Akko proudly declared. "I will deal with him and his army, leave it to us!I won't let such a delicious place be destroyed!"
The Nekomatas eagerly nodded. "If you save us, all your meals from now on are free forever, nyaa!"
"But you guys don't even charge money to begin with…"
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Akko existed the Izakaya, transformed and ready to go. The door behind her slammed shut as the Nekomatas barricaded themselves.
When she heard the name "Neko Shogun", as in "Cat General", she expecting some muscular monster cat in samurai armor or something.
Well, he was in armor alright…
The Shadow that the Nekomatas were so scared of was… adorable. Barely reaching her hips, he was a cartoonish cat in Japanese armor and carrying a metal fan. Akko almost couldn't take him seriously... until she registered the three flaming tigers he was leading.
"Nyaa!" Neko Shogun growled in a gruff tone (still too cute for Akko to take him seriously). His body burning in red aura while his eyes glared with bloodlust. "I caught wind of a Witch! She's you, isn't it!?"
"Maybe, what would you do if I was?!"
"I will not allow a Witch to exist in my land!" Neko Shogun roared (well, mewed...). "Any that have connection with a Witch shall be erased too! Nyaa!"
"I want to pet you because you are so cute, but wow, aren't you a mean cat!" Akko assume a battle stand. "I won't let you destroy this place! Bring it!"
"Tear her apart! Nyaa! My Gdons! Make an example out of her for other Witches! Nyaaa!"
The fire tigers roared as rainbow energy enveloped them, their ability increased by Neko Shogun's support spell.
"Oh that's really bad…" Akko frowned as she summoned Silky, who immediately started launching ice spells.
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The battle continued for a while and Akko was losing.
She was out numbered, and dealing with the Gdons while Neko Shogun was in the back buffing and healing them made it completely unfair.
"Nyaa! Give up!" The cat grinned maliciously, letting out a war yowl. "Now this is the end, DIE-"
Just as the tigers were going to overwhelm Akko and Silky, icebergs exploded right under the beasts, knocking them down.
"What?! Nyaa-"
A blade of emerald gale slammed into the cat general, knocking him down in a wave of agony.
"Huh?!" Akko gasped, shocked at the sudden help.
The Izakaya was opened again. Right at the entrance were a few powerful looking Shadows, which Akko quickly recognized as her fellow customers from earlier.
"Go, child," one of the Shadows, a floating goddess with a fan covering her face, chuckled. "This is your chance, defeat this annoyance for everyone here!"
"Nyaa, w-why are you helping this Witch-" Neko Shogun asked in a rage, but was silenced by another wind spell to the guts.
"Oh, I care for her not," the goddess said as she fanned herself, "but since she seeks to protect this wonderful restaurant, something I, Ame-no-Uzume, treasure dearly too, I suppose I will aid her out of respect."
The goddess and her fellow Shadows attacked Neko Shogun again. Pops echoed through the air as his support spells were destroyed. Elemental attacks bombarded him, preventing him from getting up.
"Everyone…" Akko nodded and leap for the kill, "This is the end, Neko Shogun! Take this! Tatsumi style Mad Assault!"
The last thing Neko Shogun saw before darkness was Akko's bat a millimeter before his face…
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"I am so sorry, nyaa… nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~"
With his sanity restored, the cat general apologized to everyone remorsefully. Akko decided his punishment was to remove his helmet and let her pet him until she was satisfied.
"It's fine, you said you were affected by something right?" Akko continued to scratch while she ate. "Just be more careful next time, alright?"
"I understand… Nyaaaaaaa~" Neko Shogun moaned again. "I, Neko Shogun, swear on my honour. Should we meet again, I shall serve you, Atsuko-dono, to the best of my ability in order to atone for my crime! Nyaaaaaaaa~"
Akko chuckled. "Okay, but just let me pet you a little longer~"
"Also, please accept this gift, Nyaa~"
The Shadow handed her a Naginata with a cat paw for a tip.
A deep sigh. "Add it to the pile please…"
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Witch Hunters:
Tam Lin (Sun)
Repel: Electric
Null: Bless
Resistance: Gun
Weakness: Curse
Skills: Vicious Strike, Phys Boost, Counterstrike, Tarukaja, *Charge, *Blade of Fury, *Apt Pupil
Profile: A faerie knight from Scotland. As a member of the Seelie Court, he is charged with protecting Carterhaugh. He was originally a child from the area, but after his kidnapping by the faeries at age nine, he took up their ways.
*Expert mode only. In expert mode, when under 15% HP and isn't defeated ASAP, he will game over the player with a Charge + Blade of Fury combo.
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Neko Shogun (Star)
Null: Bless
Resistance: Fire, Ice, Electric
Weakness: Wind
Skills: Diarama, Media, *Auto-Matarukaja, *Auto-Marakukaja, *Auto-Masukukaja, *Heat Riser, *Life Drain-KIWAMI
Profile: A prophetic taoist god, originally known as Mao Shogun. Due to a linguistic error involving the Chinese word for "cat," his name was changed to Neko Shogun.
*Hard Mode or above only. In Expert Mode, if he isn't defeated with in 30 turns. He will use Life Drain-KIWAMI and inflict 1000 damage to the player. Guaranteeing game over.
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Enemy Shadows:
Gdon (Sun)
Drain: Fire
Weakness: Ice
Skills: Double Fangs, Apt Pupil
Profile: The tiger mount of the goddess Durga, of Hindu mythology. Durga was born to defeat the Asura Mahisha, and Gdon was granted to her to help complete the task.
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Ame-no-Uzume (Aeon)
Null: Wind, Bless
Weakness: Fire
Skills: Dekunda, Dekaja, Invigorate 1, Garula
Profile: The goddess of entertainment in Japanese lore. She governs many sacred dances. Famous for the episode of her provocative dance used to lure out Amaterasu, who had barricaded herself inside a cave. Later, she became Sarutahiko's wife.
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AuthorNCS: Once again, special thanks to Small Nerd on SV for stepping up to be the extra beta. With his help, hopefully I can pump out a lot of side contents for this story~
Nagoya... cat... Chawanmushi... references are references.