Chapter 33

"I won't yield so easily. *Blast!*"

"*Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!* *Thud*"

The monster before us has just been defeated. For the past twenty minutes Martin, Vert and I have been clearing this dungeon. So far with the help of Vert it's not to bad.

"congratulations, you've reached a moderately high level for a beginner in such a short period of time." Vert praises Martin in all his glory. And she is right about one thing, he's higher level than I thought he would be by the end of this session.

Martin bows at Vert then throws his staff down. Once it touches the floor it dematerializes into nothing at all.

I regain my composure from the last fight and stand among my companions of battle. Vert's avatar squints her eyes to try to see what's down the rest of this hallway. We're in a dungeon after all, torches don't stay lit forever.

"Hold on…" Reaching into my pocket, I pull out a flare. After igniting said flare it's thrown down the hallway. With this new light we can see for a decent amount of distance.

She smiles and nods at me before turning around to see what lies at the other end.

So far nothing seems to catch our sight. We begin walking to the other side in hopes that this dungeon is about over.

Even as we're walking no new enemies are coming by to attack us. This is certainly weird for an MMORPG. With no more danger in sight I sheath my blade and holster my revolver.

Sigh, when Vert drags me into to dungeons it always turns out poorly for me in the end. Hopefully this time I can at least find items that I'm looking for.

"So Martin, how are you enjoying the town so far?" Vert asks Martin out of the blue.

"It's… been interesting to say the least. I still have to get accustom to a few minor priorities, but overall I enjoy it very much."

Both Vert and I smile at Martin's statement. I've lived here all my life and whenever a new person moves here all they say is "I hate this place, there's nothing to do."

Martin doesn't see it in that way though. If anything, he sees it as a new opportunity. I'm not sure how I came to that conclusion though, it just sort of happened.

Vert's ears perk up at the sound of something. I can't hear anything, and neither can Martin. That means Vert's perception skill is at a very high level.

"Keep your guard up… something is coming."

Looking a little further down the overly long hallway I can't seem to make out anything in particular. My flare's light doesn't extend far enough to see anything.

"Wait…"

Now I can see what was alerting Vert. From what I can make out it's a golden wolf that's also glowing. More noticeably it's right eye is scarred shut and its left eye is completely red.

A wolf in a dungeon doesn't seem very likely to happen. And seeing a lone wolf is even weirder since they hunt in packs.

"I'll go check it out." I don't want to play hero but sometimes it's called for.

Slowly walking up to the wolf, all I have is my sword in hand. Every second I inch a little bit closer to the strange beast hoping not to startle it. Meanwhile Vert and Martin look at me worryingly.

Suddenly the wolf goes from sitting down to a battle stance in four legged terms. It lets off a growl meaning it wants to do business.

"Grrr! Bark!"

The wolf jumps at me, I don't react quick enough so he lands straight on me. Although I don't feel pain. Instead I feel as if I'm taken to another realm.

My eyes open to find myself in an area I don't remember being in. I'm on the ground if you could call it that. The reason being the whole world I'm in right now is a white ethereal plane where only I exist.

There's fog on the ground as well, as well as a castle in the background. So I was wrong about being the only thing here.

Picking myself off the ground I dust myself off quickly. I do have to keep my appearance looking good after all. Now's not the time for boasting though.

I don't even remember how I got here. All I know is that I woke up here and that's it.

"Jeez it's cold here. I hope I didn't bite into a York Peppermint Patty."

No use in standing around anymore, might as well explore a little while I'm at it. The usual routine is putting one foot in front of the other.

This time I'm going to go slow just in case this is some sort of trap area and I'll die if I go too fast and miss a pit or something. Point is, just have to keep walking.

My own ears perk up after I take a few steps forward. For some reason I can sense someone else's presence in this place. It feels… familiar in a way.

Looking behind me all I'm greeted with is something that's truly terrifying. It's a figure who stands about a foot taller than me, has the skin you'd see under mummy's bandages, is clad in armor, and only his right eye is lit red.

The armor it wears is a gold decorative armor that reminds me of a centurion. The helmet has a Mohawk as well as two spikes going off the sides. The color of the armor is gold on most parts but is severely rotting in most having cracks on the shield and other various parts.

I don't like the looks of this thing one bit. Gripping the hilt of my sword more tightly than I usually do, I get into my normal battle stance.

The skeletal centurion does the same and gets into a battle stance of its own.

"Hyia!"

My feet jump off the ground and my sword draws far behind me. After being in the air for a second I descend to the ground and swing my sword along with the jump strike.

"*Bong!*"

My sword hits his shield staggering me once I am able to stand on the ground again. The centurion launches a counter attack of his own and hits me back with his shield knocking me to the ground again.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage."

"You may be destined to become the hero of Gamindusti… but your current power would disgrace the proud crimson of the hero's blade you wield."

My face tenses up a little at hearing that. Also… what does it mean about me becoming a hero of Gamindustri? Sure that's what the place we play in is called, but I'm nowhere near skilled enough to even be considered a potential hero.

I look the centurion in the eye the best I can.

"What do you mean hero? What do you mean the sword I wield? It's nothing special is it?"

This earns a confused look on its face from my question. Just what is he planning for me?

"All in due time… for now though, there are more pressing issues."

"You must use your courage to seek power… and find it you must. Only then will you become the hero for whom this world despairs."

I don't like the sound of this. Me being a hero doesn't fit the picture. I'm just a nobody who managed to befriend some really great people. I'm no hero that's for sure.

Maybe I should just listen to what he says. You never know, video games can give good life advice sometimes.

"If you do find true courage, and you wish to save Gamindustri from the horrors it now faces…"

Horrors? I haven't noticed anything that could be considered horrifying that someone would need a generic hero to take it down.

"Then you will be worthy to receive the secrets that I hold!"

A warrior lost to the ages is bound to know secrets. But now I have more questions than answers. For instance… how in the name of hell am I a hero?

Oh wait, its raising up its sword, so it's more sword technique secrets. Dang it, I wanted some forbidden knowledge that only I would have.

A screen pops up in front of me. It's not unusual for a screen to pop up but this time it takes me by surprise a little.

'Hero's Shade wishes to teach you Ending Blow. Do you accept?'

I'll click yes just to see if this really benefits me in the end. I mean, what have I got to lose here?

"Enemies that are filled with energy will quickly recover and attack again even when stunned by a powerful strike. The Ending Blow is a secret technique you can use on stunned enemies to end their breath before they spring back into action."

"When an enemy lies collapsed on the ground stunned, leap high into the air and deliver a final strike. Now try it on me!"

Both the centurion and I draw our blades back and then release them forward to cross swords. I don't know why I did that… it just looks cool.

My character jumps to my side a few times to catch the Hero's shade off guard. Hopefully this simple trick will work on a seasoned warrior that I have no chance against.

I jump up and perform the same jump attack that I attempted before. This time it goes with it and is knocked to the ground from the force I put behind the blow.

After wards I hop back a little to give myself some distance between me and it. Crouching down then releasing the force built up in my legs to jump as high as I can, I turn my sword to where the blade faces downwards this time.

Letting gravity handle the rest, my blade drives straight into the chest of the ancient centurion that calls itself the hero's shade.

Immediately I draw my blade from its body and do a backflip to get away from my newly killed target.

Not to my surprise it stands back up as if it were unscathed by the attack. I assumed it wouldn't be that easy to kill.

"Hmm. That was a pinpoint strike. Never overlook your opportunity to finish your opponents. The first skill, the Ending Blow, has been passed on!"

A new screen comes up and shows the text 'you have learned the first hidden skill. The Ending Blow!'

"There are still six hidden skills for you to learn. They are only for one who carries the blood of the hero."

"Grow powerful. Test your courage. And the rest of the skills will be revealed when the time comes. Never forget to protect the ones you care about, and use your courage to do so."

I still can't gain a grasp on anything that's going on. What's this about courage and being the hero that this world needs? As I said, I'm no hero.

"Wait! I still have questions to ask!"

"Until next time…"

The Hero's Shade vanishes into thin air. Then my eyes open up once more to where I was before I went to the ethereal plane.

Vert's sitting right by my unconscious body looking really worried. Was I really knocked out for that long? I'll be sure to ask her.

"Jack! You're ok!"

"Glad to see you awake my friend."

"Ugh… what happened?"

"That wolf jumped on you and you it disappeared afterwards. You were also unconscious from that point on." Vert gives me the shortest explanation possible.

I don't know if Vert knows anything about that. Maybe it's just a minigame that developers give to random people to keep them entertained. That's what I'm going with for now at least.

"While I was unconscious, I met an NPC called the Hero's shade. Do you know anything about it?"

Vert ponders for a moment to truly think about my question. If she's thinking this hard about it, that means she may have an idea at least.

"So her suspicions were true…" Vert gives a whisper that is barely able to be heard. Since I'm so close to her I can hear it and still be confused.

I scratch my head in confusion to Vert while I'm still lying on the ground from the wolf attack. She does nothing but looks at me and smiles.

"It's nothing dear…"

Martin walks up a little closer and taps Vert on the shoulder.

"Pardon me Vert, but lunchtime will begin shortly. We can't stay here for much longer."

Vert sighs in disappointment that she can't play much longer. Being the gamer that she is I can understand where she's coming from.

"Oh very well. Jack, it's time to log off."

All I can manage is a sigh before I do the same as my two friends here. And with that, our online journey halts for the day.

Once I look at the people around me, I'm greeted by a friend that I've hardly gotten to know yet. That friend being Uni, the little sister of Noire herself an tsundere jr.

"Oh hey, what's up?"

Uni closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before speaking.

"I… um… I was wondering… would you like to go shoot with me after school today?"

Well this is an unexpected turn of events. Usually Uni never speaks to me. I always assumed it was because I talk with some of the others more often than her. Now this is an opportunity to hang out and get to know her better.

I think this is a sign from above to hang out with her.

"Ok, I'll be glad to." I smile at her the best I can.

Uni closes her eyes and smiles at me with my response. I tell she's happy that I'm coming to her place to fire some guns. But before I can do that, we need to attend lunch first.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter more than the other ones. I can't tell if my writing style is boring or not. Could I get some feedback to assist me in writing better chapters? If so, thank you.

Until then, see you in the next update.