I have a perfectly logical and well thought out explanation.
It's all the Shield's fault!
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Little Wing It
Volume 3
In A Virtual Reality Without My VisiPhone!
Chapter 4
Trap Adventure Portable
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I
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I wonder what Ursula wanted to say to Kara.
Just before we warped to our ship, I spotted our lady boss moving to approach my partner. I'd ask but we've already been transported.
So, VR, huh?
I gotta admit, I'm kinda excited. It's just one of those things that gets your blood pumping, isn't it?
Although looking around the other people in the ship, I guess not.
Yut was understandable, as he had absolutely no idea what VR was or what it might mean. So I can't blame for not knowing what to expect.
Red looked like she didn't particularly care. Well, it's not like I care what she thinks.
And Lumia, well...
"You could at least pretend that this isn't totally beneath you, you know."
Lumia huffed in response.
"I came to take part in a joint investigation. Not... this."
"Hey, don't blame us. If the boss wants to go off investigating on his own, we can't do much but wait for him to get back. And as long as we're waiting, we might as well take care of the work he left us, am I right?"
"I suppose so..."
There we go, some motivation to get this done!
Honestly, with Kara not with us, I'm gonna have to do all the nagging, aren't I?
"You don't exactly sound enthusiastic about it, lady."
Red remarked, fiddling with her palette absentmindedly.
Lumia gave her a pointed look in return.
"I'm here on official business, and I will follow Kraz's orders while I am. Enthusiasm is not a factor."
"All business, all the time. You must be a blast at parties."
"A Guardian is expected to remain professional."
Geez, this isn't the first time we've gone on a mission together. Doesn't this girl ever give the act a rest?
Aw, whatever. Dealing with a Guardian is exhausting enough as is, and Lumia sure doesn't make it any easier.
Red didn't reply any further after that. Unbelievably, she's been relatively quiet for a while now.
Is it because Kara's not here?
Come to think of it, she's unexpectedly become quite close with my partner. That's surprising for a few reasons.
Kara's not a very social person, and Red isn't exactly easy to get along with. I don't think they have good compatibility.
And then I find them having a drink at the cafe! Without me! And the way they were talking, you'd think they were old friends or something.
Did something happen without me knowing?
For some reason, that makes me really annoyed.
"What's the nasty look for, blondie?"
Nevermind, she's still insufferable even without Kara.
I must have been subconsciously glaring at her. Well, I don't regret it.
Yut didn't say much the entire short trip. Soon enough, we reached the place where we can try out the simulation.
The proceedings went without much fuss, and once we were set up, the battle simulation began.
'Populating Terrain Mesh. Please stand by'
The system droned out, and the area washed away and was replaced by a lush forest.
It was surreal. Everything looked exactly like it would in real life. In fact, if you didn't pay a closer look, you'd think it was real life.
Quite frankly, it was amazing.
"Woah, so this is virtual reality. It feels like we're right in the middle of a forest."
I whistled out, turning my head to get a closer look at the surroundings.
"I don't sense the trees but I can see them. I don't see the enemies but I can sense them? I don't like it, what is this place?"
Yut was completely baffled. I guess his mystical senses aren't gonna do him any good here. It's basically the opposite of nature.
Even though it's a forest.
Well, I suppose it's up to me to explain to him!
"We're not really here. I imagine that's gonna take a bit of getting used to. Especially for you, Yut!"
His face didn't change in the slightest.
I already explained it, why do you still have that confused expression?
Sigh, I guess the best thing to do is to just let him experience it for himself.
"Think our Guardian friend's gonna lighten up any time soon?"
"My mood is light enough, thank you."
Red whispered to me, but Lumia clearly heard it, immediately rebutting her.
Knowing Red, she probably spoke loud enough for Lumia to hear on purpose. That grin on her face confirms it.
"I treat my assignments equally. I'm more than ready to undertake this one."
Your lips say ready, but your eyes say 'get me out of here'. You're not fooling anybody.
Sigh.
Yut's looking pretty uneasy too. As much as it pains me to rely on Red, looks like me and her are gonna have to pick up the slack.
As if on timing, the system started beeping.
"Huh. Looks like it's starting. I'm actually quite nervous!"
"It's a simulation. There's nothing to fear here."
I was about to say something in response to Lumia's party pooper answer but I was cut off when a blue square appeared on my vision.
It's sort of like a text window in games. How cool is that?
Let's see what it says.
'VR Manual'
'Introduction'
'This is a battle training simulation in which you can receive real fighting experience through virtual reality (VR) simulation. You will not be injured by the attacks from creatures that appear in the simulation, but if you sustain a certain amount of damage, you will be deemed unready for the training and the simulation will be terminated.'
Now that this textbox mentioned it, there was a health bar on the top left corner of my vision. There were three other health bars for my party members too.
This is so amazing! I could feel the adrenaline rising up!
'Features'
'The simulation assigns points for each creature you defeat. The total number of points you and your party members have accumulated when you reach the final goal will be your final assessment for the training simulation.'
'Bonus Round'
'A bonus round is a special challenge that may become available as you progress through the simulation. Defeating a certain amount of creatures within a set time limit will open the way to a bonus round where you will have the chance to greatly increase your score by defeating the creatures within. A successful bonus round is key to achieving a high score.'
Once I've read that last message, the window was replaced by another one, titled 'Score Card'.
Booma Group: 5 points
Go Booma Group: 10 points
Savage Wolf Group: 20 points
Rappy Polec Group: 30 points
Bill de Vear: 40 points
???: 120 points
Woah, what's with the unknown enemy? A boss? With that amount of points it yields, it's gotta be at least a mid-boss.
The window disappeared soon after that, and after a few seconds, the system beeped again. Looks like the others have finished reading the instructions.
A points system, huh? This should be fun! Heehee, I feel bad for Kara. He's missing out!
"Load Complete. Launching Simulation..."
"Complete the VR 'Forest' simulation!"
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II
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"Looks like the switches are color coded. Huh."
As soon as went a considerable distance from the starting line, we ran into a wall.
A literal wall.
Of lasers.
Isn't it cool?
At first, it didn't seem much of a wall. It was like those laser walls Kara and I ran into in the relic site, but these weren't as tall as those.
In fact, they only reached up to about my shoulders, so figured we could just jump over or something.
Nope.
It was literally an impassable wall. Even the area above without lasers repelled us like there was something solid stopping us from going over.
The strange thing is that when I tried firing a Tech at it, the attack just went through.
Well, let's just chalk it up to VR weirdness. We've already had the text boxes, let's let them have their Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence.
Of course, once said color-coded switches were hit, the respective laser fences disappeared.
And so, we've made it past our first obstacle!
Immediately after we passed the area, a pack of canine-type monsters, aptly named Savage Wolves, materialized and pounced at us.
This is nuts! No matter how you look at it, this really feels like a game!
Yut wasted no time, letting out a battle cry and charging the wolves. I understand that he's enthusiastic about training but I really wish he'd stop plunging headfirst into the enemy.
Fortunately, it seems like my worries were unnecessary as Yut immediately dispatched one of the wolves, stabbing it with his spear and throwing it at a nearby boulder. The fallen wolf dematerialized in a flash.
Well, don't leave us out!
I summoned a new saber, one that was a newer model than the one I was using to practice with before. I also summoned Kara's old handgun that he gave to me for my birthday.
That's right, Kara may not be here physically but he'll be with us in spirit!
"Alright, let's... hey!"
Before I even had a chance to use my weapons, Lumia and Red disappeared from my side and instantly dispatched some wolves.
And then Yut came back and easily took care of the remaining one.
What's the big idea?! I didn't even get the chance to move!
Before I could voice out my complaints though, a short jingle sounded and a small bar appeared on my vision:
Savage Wolf Group defeated! 20 points awarded!
I focused my attention on the top right corner of my vision, and found a small text labeled Points. Beneath it was the number 20.
Huh. So the points were awarded after a wave of same-type enemies were defeated. That means we had to completely clear out the monsters if we wanted a high rating.
"Good work. Let's move on."
"Hey! Who died, err, got injured and made you leader?!"
Bit harsh on Kara but I needed to get my point across! And what are Red and Yut doing? Don't just nod and do what she says! Last I checked, I was second-in-command!
Wasn't I?
Nonetheless, I got ignored so I had no choice but to run after them. Ugh, so annoying.
For the next wave, we were intercepted by a group of Boomas. Bipedal... er, things. They had large mouths, a horn, and lanky arms. They were ew, for lack of a better word.
"Okay, here's the plan... Oh, not again! Hey!"
And the three of them were off, Yut brute forcing his way through the midst of enemies, and Red blitzing around and quickly dispatching them.
And Lumia was, huh, I was wondering why there weren't any Techs being fired. The Guardian girl was using a dagger, it seemed. Looks like I'm not the only one trying out different fighting styles.
That's great and all but who's manning the rear?! She was a Force! That was her job! I was the Vanguard, I was the one who was supposed to be adjusting to a party member's absence!
Ah, enough!
I summoned my staff and began chanting a little bit aggressively.
"Blast them away! [Rafoie]!"
The explosion did indeed blast away the remaining Boomas, defeating the ones still running around and awarding 5 points to our total.
We were now at 25.
Immediately, the next wave appeared, consisting of the Boomas' meaner cousin, Go Boomas. And behind us came another pack of Savage Wolves.
They're not putting us through Easy Mode, huh?
And as expected, Yut rushed the ones in front of us. Sigh.
I switched back to Kara's favorite weapon combo and started firing at the wolves, deterring their attempt to pounce at us from behind.
Lumia took that as a sign that the wolves were handled, and switched to her own staff. After a short chant, she fired focused beams of light at the Go Boomas that were surrounding Yut.
Red took the Savage Wolves, weaving together a series of graceful slashes against the canines. Ugh, such a showoff.
Okay, lessee, how did Kara do this again?
I set the saber to overdrive and activated a photon art.
"[Infinite Storm]!"
With the powerful combo, I was able to defeat three of the wolves almost simultaneously, while Red took care of the remaining ones.
The 20 points were added to our total, and another 10 points accumulated, meaning that Yut and Lumia managed to defeat all the Go Boomas.
"Hey, what's with that fighting style? You trying to replace Kara or something?"
Red asked. What happened to your nicknaming? Stop acting so familiar with my partner!
"It's called branching out! I'm sure even you know what that means!"
"Of course I do. Unlike you, I'm not an idiot."
"Grrr, if you're so talented and smart, o Crimson Hunter, then why aren't you doing it?"
"Eh. I'm much more comfortable with this thing. I happen to like efficiency, you know?"
"That's what branching out's for, you nimrod!"
"What's with the attitude? Sheesh, fine. There, happy?"
Red dismissed her beloved double saber and summoned a pair of twin sabers in its place. Unlike the ones Kara used, however, Red's were pure metal. Didn't she use these momentarily back at Inhelt?
"Look who's not copying Kara. He used twin sabers too, you hypocrite!"
"Hypocrite?! I've had these longer than I've known you! Ugh, whatever. How about a deal?"
"What do you mean?"
"I won't use my double saber as long as you keep your staff benched."
Hey, wait a second, this seems rigged! This little midget's far more experienced than me! I'm the only one who'll suffer!
I was about to deny the deal when Red suddenly scoffed and grinned condescendingly.
"Of courses, that's only if you're not chicken enough to refuse."
"Who's chicken?! Fine, I'll show you!"
"Deal, bye!"
"Huh? H-hey! You set me up!"
Argh, why did I do that?! I really should start keeping my emotions in check. If Kara was here, I'd have received a reprimanding for sure!
I looked at the saber in my hand. Thinking carefully, I could just ignore what just happened and use my staff.
But who knows if Red'll let me live that down. Ugh, fine. Unless I absolutely have to, I'm sticking with the Kara special.
We went on ahead, beating a few more waves and disabling some laser fences. I started thinking to myself that this VR thing was easier than I first imagined it would be. Tee-hee, or maybe I'm just that good?
The next area we arrived to, though, was quite positively...
Well, trapped.
"The heck?"
Laser fences surrounded the entire path, forming some sort of a maze, with the disabling switches behind different colored blockers.
And that wasn't all, there were some sort of mechanism that was a spinning laser on the ground. Oh and seems like there were some levitating bombs dotting the area.
"Think they made enough traps?"
"The movements are timed. And the bombs seem to be activated by contact. They should be easy enough to avoid."
Lumia oh-so helpfully stated, not looking particularly fazed by the absolutely rigged minefield.
"Then what are we waiting for? C'mon!"
"H-hey, Yut, wait!"
Yut waited for no one and ran forwards without a care in the world, forcing us to chase him.
He didn't get far.
His foot grazed one of the spinning lasers and he flashed blue. And then my vision flashed blue as well.
Wuh? Weren't we over there?
Looking at Yut's health bar, he didn't seem to suffer any damage from the contact. But all of us were teleported back to the start of the area.
Great, my teammates aren't listening to me and the system was preaching teamwork at us.
Regardless, I needed to do something about Yut's behavior.
"That's why I said wait! We need to do this together!"
Yut grumbled something in response, but I wasn't able to pick up on it. Come to think of it, he hasn't been very talkative since this entire thing started. He just had this dissatisfied face even as we fought some monsters.
Thankfully, Lumia seemed to agree with me, giving a nod of, well, agreement. Red seems to be onboard with it as well, even though it didn't look like she liked it very much.
Well, what do you want me to do?
"See, we need to go carefully! Like Little Miss Waber over here said, the movements are timed! So we just wait and... There!"
I passed the first obstacle and hit the switch, and the matching fence powered down, which happened to be the one nearest to us.
Unfortunately, it didn't do anything about the teleporting laser blades of doom.
"And then we..."
Before I could finish, I miscalculated and my foot was caught by one of said laser blades.
"Um. Oops."
Lumia just sighed, and Red looked like she wanted to laugh. Which she did.
Ugh, this is so embarrassing...
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III
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"Emilia, 9 o' clock!"
"W-wait, which way is-! Gah!"
I felt a sting on my left before I could understand what Lumia wanted to say. We may not be receiving actual damage but it still gives us quite a bit of a jolt when we do get hit.
I saw my health bar go down a bit. That's not bad and all but mine was already at half! Lumia was far better off, Yut wasn't far behind, and Red was practically full! Guess her small figure does come in handy.
Oh, and I should explain how that happened. It wasn't monsters that dealt us this damage. It was turrets. Yeah.
Halfway through the laser obstacle course, turrets popped up from the ground and started shooting lasers at us. I'd be amazed if I wasn't so busy dodging pot shots left and right!
And if that wasn't enough, dodging those lasers also caused us to trigger many of those floating bombs. Which also caused us to get hit by those rotating lasers.
So we were sent back to start. Over and over.
I know this is training, a decent one at that, but did they have to put in so many traps?! Just because they can't kill us, doesn't mean they have to try so hard!
Finally, we made it through. But not without losing a little bit of our sanity every time we had to do the course from the start.
"And I thought we'd never get past. C'mon, boltie, you gotta do better than that."
"Ah, shut up! If you just took out those turrets like I told you to then we wouldn't have been hit so much!"
"Now where's the fun in that?"
I can't believe this. I know I'm partly to blame for getting trapped so much, but if she just used her speed to bust up the turrets then everything would have been peachy!
Ugh. Why'd I have to get stuck with these people? Yut wasn't listening, no matter what I say, and just charges through. And Red was actually making our jobs harder than they have to be!
Is this what Kara feels like whenever we're acting up? I made a resolve to behave better in the future.
"I understand the urge to enjoy the challenge, but this is training. If you have the ability to make it easier for your team, then you have the responsibility to do so."
"If you weren't such a stick in the mud then maybe I would have. And you can use techs. Why push it on me?"
"A stick in the... hmph. Your agility far outstrips ours. The traps afforded us no time to stop and fire a tech."
"Sounds like an excuse to me. But fine, fine, whatever."
Hmmm, they both have valid points but Lumia seems to out-logic Red here. We really couldn't gather the time to use techs.
And I feel like Red was just trying to get a rise out of Lumia here. She's not fooling anybody anymore. Thankfully, her serious act came in handy and she didn't fall for it.
But I wonder if Red can someday get a reaction out of Lumia. That'd be a sight.
Any further arguments were cut off when the next wave appeared. But unlike before, it wasn't a group of monsters.
This time, there was only one enemy.
It was huge, easily twice our height. It had a big upper body, and it had huge arms. A Bill de Vear.
To the surprise of absolutely no-one, Yut went straight for the large creature. Red came next, brandishing her peculiar twin sabers.
"Go. I will take the rear."
Finally! Lumia's adjusting! She must have noticed I've been using Kara's weapon choice the past few battles.
That's right! You're taking my spot in this party! Not Kara's!
"[Deband]!"
Lumia chanted out, and a small chill entered my body as the Tech's energy washed over me.
Deband was an ice-type tech that raises our defense. The counterpart was the fire-type Shifta, which raises attack.
The Bil de Vear, betraying its huge stature leapt up to dodge Yut's thrust, gaining quite a bit of height.
Red took advantage, rendezvousing in midair and attacked with her sabers. The Bil de Vear didn't seem to mind much, though, and reared back its fist.
Red crossed her sabers to block, and was launched back to the ground. Red's health bar dropped a little more compared from the turrets' attacks. Better not risk getting a direct hit from those powerful arms, even with Deband on.
As soon as the Bil de Vear landed, Yut was already on it, attacking with alternating thrusts and slashes, forcing the large creature on the defensive.
It managed to get in a few hits on Yut, but he was completely unfazed, even as his health bar decreased with every hit. It was completely focused on Yut.
Perfect! I released the charged shot I was holding and blasted the monster, stunning it long enough for Yut to score a strong hit.
"[Grants]!"
A beam of light struck down from above, staggering the reeling creature. I took the chance to get close, swiping at its knees to bring it down.
I had the lowest attack power with our current setup, so this was a much better use of the saber. Pretty smart, if I do say so myself!
In a way, even if it's just a simulation, I feel bad for it. As soon as Yut got it defending, it was pretty much overwhelmed.
A pair of blades sprouted from its chest, without a the blood you'd usually associate with such an occurrence. Red leapt away as the giant creature fell down, vanishing instantly.
'Bill de Vear defeated! 40 points awarded!'
That was a lot of points for one enemy! Granted, it was much stronger, but still! The traps were much more of a deterrent!
"This isn't right..."
What was that? Was that Yut? What was he muttering about?
I turned around to see him with a conflicted face, like he's dissatisfied with something. Was he hungry?
"Wazzat? You say something, Yut?"
"This isn't right! None of this is right! I don't feel anything when I bring down an enemy! No pain, no fear! None of it's real!"
Woah, this dude has issues. Was it because it's a simulation, we aren't technically in danger?
But ignoring that, it still feels the same as fighting in real life. We still move our bodies. We still spend energy. It still requires the same amount of strength to cut or throw a certain enemy.
All that's different is that we don't get hurt. Is that what he's upset about?
Ah, now I remember back when we were in Neudaiz. He was up on Kara's case about touching death. Said it'd make him stronger. I don't get it, to be honest.
Sigh. What do I say to him then? He's like this because we lost to the man in black, Shizuru Shu. I know at least that much.
"I want to face real pain! I want to face real danger!"
This pain-seeker attitude of his is gonna get him in deep trouble someday. More so than his usual recklessness.
"You never know, it might get better further in. Might be monsters bigger than the one we just fought, who knows? Maybe even giant monsters!"
"Giant monsters?! What are we waiting for then?! We aren't getting any tougher standing here! I haven't liked this place from the start!"
"H-hey, where are you going!? Wait, we need to stick together! Argh!"
Maybe that was the wrong thing to say? Oh, brother. Yut's become a real pain to deal with. I'm gonna double down on that resolve to make Kara's job easier.
"He'll be fine. This is all a simulation, remember?"
"Simulation or not, I don't like the idea of him fending for himself."
"I don't see the problem. If he dies, he dies."
...
What?
I felt anger boiling up within me. If he dies, he dies? What the heck kind of thinking was that?
Lumia just stared back at my glare with a face that screams 'was it something I said?'. Cut the crap. Even Red's expression changed.
"If he dies, he dies, huh? Wow. Your bedside manner sure could use some work."
If I wasn't so angry, I'd probably have been appalled by my choice of words back there. But I got my point across.
Lumia's eyes widened in shock, as if she just now realized what she said that ticked me off.
"I... I didn't mean... You're taking it the wrong way."
"Whatever. Can we just go find Yut, please? Red, let's go."
"Uh... roger."
I ignored the look of... sadness? Regret? Whatever it was that reflected on Lumia's eyes as I turned my back on her.
She didn't apologize then.
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IV
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After we cleared the area with traps, we came across a moderately large clearing. The system seemed to be initiating something, as a small beeping sound could be heard as soon as we set foot in said clearing.
'Bonus Round initializing'
Oh! So this is the bonus round the instruction manual was talking about!
"Hey, guys. I think something's starting."
One by one, groups of enemies appeared throughout the area, ranging from Savage Wolves, Boomas, Go Boomas, and Bil de Vears. All enemies that we've beaten before, only this time, it was all at once.
Well, you lose, you snooze! Or was it the other way around? Eh, it doesn't matter!
We split up to take on different groups, with Yut, you guessed it, heading for the Bil de Vears. Lumia targeted the Boomas, and Red went for the Go ones, leaving me to fend for the wolves. Quite literally.
I used the handgun to break them up a bit. I don't think a saber will let me win a one to many fight!
And so the fight began. But even with the numerical disadvantage, we still managed to stay in control of the simulation.
The Bil de Vears, even with their size, were unable to catch Yut long enough to use their superior brawn on him. Lumia blasted the Boomas with her techs, and Red honestly didn't experience a drop-off in efficiency by switching to twin sabers.
And as for me...
"[Infinite Storm]!"
That may be the only saber Photon Art I knew, but it was highly effective against groups! Not to brag, but I think I'm getting good with this thing!
The Savage Wolves fell one after another, not standing a chance against the serious me. If it was a few weeks ago, I probably would have been in trouble!
I still prefer techs, though, but this isn't so bad!
Our points total went up and up as we took down more enemies, and then...
"Huh? That an enemy?"
We were approached by beige colored, penguin-like bird... things? I think the manual called them Rappy Polecs or something. Well, they certainly didn't look like the normal yellow Rappy. They were still cute, though!
But whatever they were here for, it certainly wasn't for a picnic. One of the things reared back and shot a ball of light at me before I could react to it.
"Ow!"
My health bar dropped significantly enough that I had to use Resta for recovery. Red didn't say anything about using the staff for healing!
But why me, specifically?! Yut was closer, for crying out loud!
In the end, despite being more slippery than the previous enemies, we still managed to clear the wave, although not without a little heartache.
I get that it's just a simulation, but you can't deny that they were cute! Even though one of them basically sucker punched me...
Once the last Rappy Polec fell, the system let out a little jingle.
'Bonus Round completed!'
"Huh. I knew I had it in me!"
"Chill out, boltie. That wasn't even a warm-up!"
"Ah, let me have my fun, would ya?"
Red had a point, though. I know it's the first level, but couldn't they have put in tougher enemies? She didn't look like she broke a sweat, and Yut still looked discontent. I hoped he wouldn't run away again.
And Lumia, well, I'd rather not think about her for now. But she did clear out a number of them so... good, I guess...
So what happens now that we've cleared the Bonus Round? Extra points? Because we still received the same points we would have had we defeated those enemies normally.
As if to answer my question, the system materialized what seemed like a glowing... warp portal?
"Do we use that? Your call, boltie."
"I don't see any other way forward. And it's not like we're gonna get hurt anyway!"
I'm a little surprised Red's asking me what to do, but maybe she's just seen how awesome I was and decided to let me take charge! Ha!
Like the leader I am, I touched the portal thingie and was immediately transported to a different clearing. This one was surrounded by trees on all sides.
"Aw, it wasn't a trap..."
"So that's why! Ugh."
I guess it was a foolish dream that Red would behave. But you didn't have to act so disappointed! I know it's a simulation but that's just disturbing!
I shook my head in exasperation before continuing on. Seems like we were all teleported when I touched that thing. Guess she didn't think about all of us being trapped at once.
Now I'm slightly wishing that it was indeed a trap. Is that horrible of me?
My thoughts were interrupted when more Rappies appeared. But these were different. They were orange and had drills for beaks. Sand Rappies, I think they were called!
As if on cue, they all spun their drill beaks and flew at us, catching us by surprise.
Some of them grazed us, and holy Booma! Our health bars dropped a lot more than I was comfortable with! These things were dangerous!
Yut charged, as usual, and met one of the Rappies mid-flight. Sparks flew as spear collided with drill, and Yut broke the stalemate by flinging his spear, sending the bird flying a different direction.
He then switched to his bow and finished off the dazed Rappy. Huh. So he's switching it up too, I guess.
"[Grants]!"
Lumia used her seemingly favorite tech and blasted the approaching Rappies.
Something caught my attention, and I turned around and blasted a Rappy with the handgun. Heh! You're not catching me with sneak attacks!
I followed up with a slash and then finished it off with a thrust.
'Sand Rappy group defeated! 120 points awarded!'
120 points! My eyes bulged out a bit when the textbar appeared. So these were the ???'s in the Score Card!
"These are worth some major points!"
No time for celebrations yet, though. More Rappies appeared. Well, more points for us! As long as we're careful, were breaking whatever records there are!
Yut's looking a little better, but he's still far from the boisterous bruiser he was when we were on missions. Is not feeling pain really that bad of a thing?
The points piled up, and soon we were out of the clearing when another portal thing appeared.
"Whew. That was a rush. Better than the earlier enemies, wouldn't you say, jungle boy?"
"... it's still not enough. I still haven't had enough pain! This isn't making me stronger!"
"Geez, you seriously need a chill pill."
"He really does, doesn't he?"
I sighed. I didn't even realize that I agreed with Red on something. Yut's just an accident waiting to happen. I wonder if Kara could have snapped him out of this.
Lumia's been strangely quiet, too. She wasn't the most talkative person, but she'd still chime in from time to time, or so I think. But she wasn't saying anything aside from tech chants.
Had I gone too far? I know she didn't mean what she said, from how she reacted when I got angry. But can you blame me?
You don't just say 'if he dies, he dies'! That's like, the number one rule of a party! We're all in this together!
"Hey. I think this is another trapped area."
Red called out from in front. I guess I fell behind during my pondering. I took a look at what Red was pointing to.
And sure enough, it was another laser-lover's paradise area. And if that wasn't enough, the maze seemed to be even more complicated. And there were even monsters this time.
"Oh, brother..."
"Heh. Don't blow a fuse. I'll handle the turrets."
Thank you.
ooo000ooo
V
ooo000ooo
I stand by my opinion that the traps were much more of a challenge than the monsters.
"Hey, Red! Hit that switch over there, wouldja!?"
"Little busy here! These turrets won't stop coming back!"
I watched Red lithely dodge through numerous laser beams, before thrashing one of the turrets with a one-two slash.
Meanwhile, I was trapped between a wall of lasers. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and hit a switch I shouldn't have.
"I'm on it!"
Lumia shouted out and triggered the correct switch, releasing me from the trap. She then jumped away from a bomb she triggered.
I managed to cool down from my earlier outburst, so I shot her a grateful look. No point fighting over ourselves when we could be finishing this simulation!
"Thanks!"
I turned around to see Red disable another turret, lessening the amount of laser beams flying through the air.
I welcomed it wholeheartedly. There were so many beams everywhere that it was ridiculous! I had to keep a constant stream of Resta at one point and that's not a plan I'm comfortable with!
"Alright, let's- huh!?"
We were suddenly transported back to the start of the area.
"Okay, who triggered that?!"
"Wasn't me."
"It was not me as well."
Red and Lumia denied, looking believable enough. I'd suspect Red first but I could see even she was starting to run out of patience.
Then that leaves...
"Tsk."
"Don't 'tsk' me! If you weren't rushing all those enemies then we wouldn't be having such a hard time!"
Yut didn't seem to be in the mood to listen, and ran off again. He was able to dodge the warp lasers well enough, but when he starts wrestling with the monsters, he's bound to slip up.
The good thing is that the puzzles we've already solved don't reset when we get sent back, but it's still a huge pain! Not to mention the turrets and guns that respawn over time!
And to think I was excited by all this when we started!
Without anything else we could do, we started taking on the maze again. And after what seemed like an eternity of lasers, bombs, enemies, and warps...
"Oh holy light! Finally!"
We stepped into the clearing that followed, finally rid of the insanity maze.
And there in front of us, was a completely unrepentant Yut.
Before I could give him a piece of my mind, though, the next wave appeared.
"Here we go again! This is much more like it, don't you think, boltie?"
"Yeah. And what's with the boltie? What happened to bolthead and blondie?"
"Figured I'd mix it up a little."
Red swatted away a pouncing Savage Wolf, and stabbed another with her other saber. She leapt away as Boomas attacked her with Diga techs.
Lumia stood at the back, battering away any monsters that sneaked up on us with Damgrants, Megid, and her own Diga.
Beams of light, balls of darkness, and boulders rained down on a charging Bil de Vear.
"So, what's the deal with the gun? Wasn't that Kara's?"
"He gave it to me for my birthday. Can you believe it? Who gives a girl a gun for her birthday?"
I blasted a Go Booma that was charging a tech at me, and dodged from another pouncing wolf.
I returned fire with my saber, making use of my footwork to sidestep the wolves' attacks and hitting back, like Kara taught me.
"You seem to like it, though."
"Well, it's not bad. It's actually pretty useful!"
It was the truth. What it lacks in power, it makes up for in reliability. It hasn't failed me so far.
A Grants hit and blinded a Bil de Vear that was leaping at a parrying Yut, allowing him to finish it off with a well places thrust.
I can't help but think that Yut really is getting stronger. His mentality about it may not be the healthiest, but his motivation certainly isn't lacking.
"Soo... how're things with you two?"
"Huh? Well, okay, I think? He's still pretty mean, but he's toned down on the name-calling so... pretty good, I guess!"
I unleashed a barrage of shots on an approaching Booma, stunning it long enough for Lumia to finish it with a Megid.
"He treats me sometimes, and oh, he lets me stay in his room more often. I guess he stopped resisting cuz it hasn't stopped me before anyway!"
"You stay in his room?"
"Yeah! Chelsea's not a bad roommate, but she's too busy all the time. One time, she was training to be a tea coodrinator, even!"
"I see, I see. Well, I learned much more than I was hoping for..."
Red had a light tinge on her cheeks as she spoke, looking thoroughly caught off-guard. That's never happened before. Weird.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I thought you two were just partners... To think that you've already been sleeping together. I feel like I've lost a battle of some sorts today."
And then suddenly, suddenly, my thoughts rushed back to me. And it all came crashing down.
What the heck was I saying?! Of course she'll arrive at that conclusion!
"Y-y-you've got it all wrong! We haven't been s-sleeping together! I just stay in his room to eat snacks and take naps!"
"While playing romantic music?"
"No! My stars, no! Ugh, why would you even think that!?"
I tried beating back the blood rushing to my face and regain my composure. The enemies may have already been almost wiped out, but getting flustered in the middle of a battle isn't something you should do!
This is awful. I really need to think over my words before saying them. What even came over me?
"So, you two aren't... y'know, dating?"
"Sigh. We aren't, okay? We're close, but not like that. He's almost like an older brother, actually."
"Ah. So, he's fair game then?"
"Yea- wait, WHAT?!"
I must have been going crazy. Did Red really imply what I think she's implying? No, it's gotta be a joke! Yeah, knowing her, she's probably just messing with me!
See, her face confirms it anyway...
Oh no! She's blushing!
"Y-you! W-w-wha... Are you serious?!"
"Well... Pfft! Ahahaha, of course not!"
I knew it! This little brat!
"You should have seen the look on your face! You looked like like an angry tomato!"
"I did not! You insufferable little-!"
"Oh man, that was priceless. So you're not a couple, but you totally like him, don't you?"
"I don't! How many times do I have to tell you!?"
"Whatever you say, tomato girl."
"Don't call me that!"
The enemies were all defeated, so I took the chance to catch my breath and calm my rushing heart.
I can't believe I completely fell for her tricks... How do you even fake-blush, anyway?
And why can't she get the idea that I like Kara out of her head? Sure, our interactions are weird for just partners, but...
I need to be mindful of how I act. Maybe I'm being too familiar...
'VR 'Forest' Simulation Complete!'
Ah, now that I've collected my thoughts, it looked like the way forward led to a completely different place. I think we needed to complete two simulations.
I looked back at my partymates. Red was still grinning, the brat. Lumia looked stoic, as always, and Yut... still looked dissatisfied, but at least he's taking a moment to catch his breath.
'Final Score: 1000 points! Rank: S!'
Heh. Now that's what I'm talking about!