Chapter 2: Are exploits considered cheating?
~ SPECIAL DUNGEON: The Palace of Filth ~
~Floor 02/Room 04~
Naruko's arm shut out and caught her weapon on its return trip from beheading a rat. Setting it on her shoulder she looked around and saw the other two glaring at her. The one on the right had 5HP remaining while the one to her left only had two because it managed to dodge her last attack, unlike his third friend. She could still hear the fly buzzing around the ceiling and she damn well knew the roach was running somewhere in the background.
'Dammit, my back still hurts from that surprise Tackle.' she taught before hearing the rapid scattering of legs behind her. Quickly turning around she slashes and missed the head but managed to cut off the antennas. It didn't kill the creature it made the insect stop in its tracks as it became stunned.
Taking the opportunity immediately the pony-tailed blonde rose her foot and proceeded to repeatedly stomp the monster's head. After five solid stomps, she felt the satisfying crunch and wetness of the roach head caving in as it died. Yet she could not rest as Beni warned her of an incoming attack for the back. Instinct took over as she spun her behind her for an upwards slash. This time the move landed perfectly by cutting one of the rats' skull in half and thus ending its life.
During this, she managed to see the fly reading its acid. Taking advantage that the system didn't vanish the dead bodies until the encounter was finished she continued the rotation of the weapon until it was stabbed the roach body. Then pole vaulted with the scythe into a forward spin and launch the Boomerang Scythe with the roach's corpse still attached. As the weapon sailed through the air the whiskered girl easily landed in a roll before springing back to her feet.
She turned around but the last rat got her by surprise as it had already jumped at her. Instinctively her left arm rose to back the attack which ended up with that arm getting acquainted with a set of teeth. The bite hurt a lot but she grit through it and mentally called out for one of her Rusty Kunaies. The jagged and deformed weapon materialized in her hand which she quickly plunged into the rat's neck. The animal let go as it made a gurgling sound but before it could escape the blonde twisted the knife and cut her away out of the neck. The blood spur and wet whimper were ignored for dismissing the knife to catch the returning scythe missus the roach.
Looking around she couldn't pinpoint where the buzzing was no matter where she looked around. Worst was that in the last room she learned that in battle Scan only worked when she could see the enemy. She cursed inwardly and choose to climb on top piles of trash to get a better viewpoint. Thankfully video game logic worked its magic and turned the structure as solid as a boulder on flat ground. Once on top Naruko looked around and found the fly at the far north end of the room carrying something. The bug was also speeding towards her before it threw the item at her.
The object sailed through the air until it flipped and its content was flung at her. Turns out it was a knife drawer that with very sharp kitchen knives. The orange kunoichi's eyes widened greatly before hastily activating the Whirlwind of Doom to hopefully stop or deflect the projectiles. She managed to block nearly all of them but one managed to get through. That one knife that passed through her defense embedded itself into her neck. The shock of such a thing happening was too much for her to keep hold of her weapon. As the scythe escaped her hand she fell on her knees and coughed.
[Warning! Bleeding status has been afflicted.]
'Is... is… is that… blood? My…my… blood?' the orange kunoichi thought in distress upon seeing the coughed blood hit her hands. Tears started blurring her vision as she felt the blood already pooling in her mouth. That hot searing pain was like one that she had never felt before. Then she could hear herself gurgling the blood but could not understand how or why the floor was getting so close. She could barely even hear the thud her body made once it hit the ground.
'Its… so… wet and… cold…' was all she could think of as her vision started going black. One peek at her HP bar was all she needed to now as it announced she only had one miserable point left. Her eyes burned with tears as she felt that familiar cold hands grabbing at her. 'No… please…' she begged as she was becoming numb and-
"CURAGA!"
+2500HP
And just like that, her entire world came back, pain and all. Frantically she saw Benihime's hands glowing before the Navi dove to her neck. Next, she felt two little feet on it that were pushing alongside the knife. Before she could ask, she heard and felt the blade slide out along a river of her blood. That was accompanied by the sound of her inventory screen opening.
[Coagulant used! Bleeding status has been cured.]
"What the?" Naruko questioned as she got to her knees. She stared in awe at herself as that horrible pain fled her body like it was nothing. Sure, right now she was covered in her blood, her face was probably a mess and had a wicked crick on her neck but she wasn't dead. She was about to thank the little creature when she noticed the fly about throw acid on both of them. Thinking fast she grabbed the bloody knife and threw it with all her might.
The projectile flew through the air at a speed the only a trained eye would have been able to follow. The winged bug had no such training so it could do nothing to stop or dodge the incoming attack. Therefore, the knife plunged itself into its head and shot it back just as the acid was released. Said acid flew upwards in a stream before it rained down all over the monster's body which ended up killing it.
[Congratulations! You won!]
[You've gained 08XP]
[Loot: 01 insect antennas, 01 pair of insect wings, 03 rat tails and 008 copper coins]
[You've leveled UP!]
Naruko Uzumaki [Lv2] ~Trickster Queen~
Job: Novice
XP: 0/165
HP: 50 + 15 = 65
MP: 1,305 + 66 = 1,371
ATK: 010 + 1 = 011
DEF: 007 + 1 = 008
AGI: 002 + 1 = 003
VIT: 001 + 1 = 002
INT: 002 + 1 = 003
SPR: 251 + 6 = 257
PER: 002 + 1 = 003
Attribute Points: 0000 + 10 = 0010
[You've learned First Aid]
Lv1 White Magic: First Aid [Lv1]
XP: 0/100
MP Cost: 5MP
Description – A restorative spell that any starting adventurer should know.
Restores 25HP
[Through continued practice you have learned the art of Knife Throwing.]
Passive Skill: Knife Throwing [Lv1]
XP: 0/100
Description – An art that can be both thrilling to watch and a death sentence for the target. Circus performers use it to entertain while a shinobi master it to silently eliminate their opponents and targets. (Works for all small projectile weapons)
+10% accuracy in throwing knives.
Normally Naruko would have whooped at getting her first level up and two new skills. Yet she couldn't because she was still looking her little savior. Said savior was slowly floating down to the blood-stained floor while panting in exhausting. Not wanting the fairy to get dirtied the whiskered youth hastily cleaned her right hand with the back of her pants and caught the slow floating girl.
"Thank you, my lady."
"No… thank you, Beni… you saved my life." the whiskered blonde said with reverence in her voice. The tiered red-head could only chuckle lightly at that and the unshed tears on her mistress's eyes.
"When I *pant* was created the first thing I learned was *pant* "You must help Uzumaki Naruko." and that's what I did." Benihime panted out to her mistress and added with a caring honest smile. "I want to help you, Naruko-sama."
Smiling as well the adventurer raised her fairy and kissed the wing girl's forehead.
"Thank you, Beni-chan and by the way, you can just call me Naruko or Naru. No need to use the same among friends. By the way, was that white magic you used to save me?"
"Okay, Naruko-chan and yes. *pant* Thought in my haste I ended up using *pant* the most advanced version of the spell." the Navi commented with a slight blush from the affection she was shown. "I'm lucky that I was given the ability Saving Grace *pant* that lets me use any restoration spell to heal an ally *pant* once every 72 hours no matter the MP. Please *pant* try to be careful because I won't be able to do that again for a while."
"Yeah, you don't have to tell me that." the preteen chuckled in response. "I escaped death twice already and don't want to tempt it with a third. The Shinigami might think I'm flirting with him."
"That would be preferable." the fairy nodded while trying to catch her breath. "Also using such an advance spell *pant* when your level is too low for it has left *pant* me extremely tired. *pant* I won't be able to fly for a while."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Not unless you know how to transfer mana to someone else."
Hearing that Naruko started thinking about that possibility. Normally in her RPGs, one could restore MP through items like ethers or magic water. Regretfully she had nether in her inventory now and sure her friend wasn't in danger but dammit she wanted to repay for the save if only a little. Then she remembered one of the classes she was paying attention to. That particular class had been on the famous kunoichi medic Tsunade Senju. Most of the technicality flew over her head but Naruko could remember Iruka-sensei saying that the medic had created a lot of medical techniques that are still used today. One of those techniques was indeed one that transfers chakra from one person to another.
It had something to do with covering your hands in chakra until the palms were coated in it. Then slowly and with a great deal of care, you would make the chakra enter the other person's body at a sedated pace. It was a very slow pace process that could easily take hours if one wanted to full refill another person. However, quick bursts were possible and used to save people already suffering from extreme chakra exhaustion. She also remembered that the people doing that transfer were masters of control over their chakra.
'And my control is pretty much nonexistence giving I have so much chakra.' the girl thought as she looked at her friend. 'Still, a want to do something for her! If only I knew how to focus my chakra. Wait a minute… focus… focus… I remember something about that but… Dammit, you stupid brain! I know you only have three points of intelligence but FOCUS!'
The moment she screamed at herself something finally clicked in her mind. It was a small memory of Iruka-sensei trying to teach Kiba and her about chakra control. It was something about making a leaf remain in place by sticking to your forehead with your chakra. From what she remembered the leaf acted as a focal point of the chakra.
'Maybe I can adapt that to this? Would it work if instead of thinking "stick" I think "transfer" the chakra would flow into Beni-chan?' the girl started analyzing 'Well I've only had this Gamer Soul for nearly two hours a most but it's enough to notice that it makes things happen when I think of them. It would explain a lot better how my weapons are unbreakable for the most part.'
[Due to extensive, analytical and critical think on a subject your INT has increased by 1.]
Looking at that massaged pop up made her eye twitch. She couldn't say why but it felt like the system had just insulted her with that. In spite of that, she returned her focus on her companion and started gathering energy on her hands. Every quickly her hands started glowing with a light blue that looked like blue flames lazily dancing to their rhythm. Benihime noticed this and was about to ask what was happening when Naruko thought 'Transfer!'
A quick flash of light.
[Benihime's MP was restored by 150MP!]
[Through your desire to help others you have learned M-Pathy!]
Lv1 White Magic: M-Pathy
MP Cost: 150 + 5MP per second of continues use
Description – A spell created by mages and healers to help transfer MP to a friend in need. Transfers a burst of your MP to another person on the initial use and in a gradual stream if the caster wishes the spell to remain active.
"Heh, guess I do now," Naruko smirked victoriously as her fairy stop panting. The little creature then started floating again. The redhead then, as if to test out her new stamina, did a few pirouettes if the air.
"So, it would seem," Benihime commented with a grin of her own. "Shall we continue?" she asked with rejuvenated vigor. Naruko almost agrees right then and there before she stopped.
"Wait a minute," she announced with a frown. "I just realized. The first floor had ten rooms and this floor is probably the same, correct?"
"That is correct, yes." the Navi answered with a confused look. "But I do not understand what are you asking?"
"It just that… I mean all of these rooms look like a giant living room plus a lot of garbage. I can understand that much. What I don't understand is how are there five more rooms on each floor when the real building only has ten apartments in total between the two floors?"
"Video game swear level." was the only answer kimono wearer gave with a small shrug. It took a few seconds for it to click in the ponytail girl's brain. When it did, she facepalmed.
"Oh… Okay yeah, that explains it." she commented while shaking her head "I forgot that things are always larger in video games."
X ~ X ~ X ~X ~ X ~ X ~ X~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~X ~ X ~ X ~ X~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~X ~ X ~ X ~ X~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ ~ X ~ X ~X ~ X ~ X ~ X~ X ~
(45 hour later)
~Floor 02/Room 08~
[Objective destroyed]
[90/100 garbage piles destroyed]
[Reward: 02 copper whetstone |Upgrade item|]
"Whetstone? Upgrade item? Okay, I got to see what are those!" the gamer asked and gave a quick look at the item's description. Once she read the information the girl could only grin in satisfaction. She had been wondering why the system had given her weapon a level but no XP bar. Turns out she required these whetstones to level them up to their true potential.
"Naruko-chan, before you go and upgrade your weapon…" the Navi stopped that adventurer "I would like to inform you that the rarity of the weapon dictates what is the max amount of times it can be upgraded. A common-rarity like the one you have right can only reach Lv20. On the other hand, a Rare weapon could reach Lv40. Each rarity rank gives it 20 extra levels to upgrade."
"Okay, got it. Since there exist five rarity categories that means that if I get an Epic weapon the max level would be 100. That means I would need 99 bronze whetstones to max it out, right?"
"Sorry but no." the little redheaded shook her head. "An Epic weapon would indeed reach Lv100 but you would need 800 bronze whetstones to do so."
…
…
…
"What?" the gamer with a tone so flat some people would think the sun revolved around it. The fairy chuckled lightly at that inflection and summoned another screen. This screen was slightly different as it had… something that was the shape of a human but for the life of her Naruko couldn't make out any distinguishing features. She just couldn't make out a face, eyes, mouth, hair, or even if it had skin!
"I believe this will explain it better," Benihime said and clicked that screen. Not a moment later the image started moving with sound just like a Tv. She noted that she couldn't tell the gender or accent of the voice either.
[Video Start!]
[Is this thing on? What? … Yes, I can see the red light. … Oh! Dammit, let's start over!]
[Static]
[Hello dear {insert player name here}! If you're hearing this that means you have found one of the upgrade items and want to upgrade your weapon but your Navi stopped you after explaining how many whetstones you need. Well, there is a good reason behind it! And that reason is that I'm not that good with numbers! So, all I did when adding the upgrade mechanic to the system I thought:
"Hmm, what is the easiest way for me to implement it? Oh, I know! Let's make the rarities starting from Rare and cost double their max level or something like that!" After that brilliant idea I just took a calculator and went: (#1) Rare = MaxLevel x2; (#2) Super-rare = MaxLv x4; (#4) Legendary = MaxLv x6; and (#5) Epic = MaxLv x8!
Sure, by the time I finished my brilliant mathematics that no way, shape, or form can be wrong an Epic cost 800BW but that's what the silver and gold versions are for! And this is in no way a copout because I can't do real math and formulas. Heck, even if it was you couldn't do anything about it because this is my game and I am GOD HERE! MUAHAHAHAAHA!
…
…
I shouldn't have said that last part… Oh well, I'll cut it out in post.]
[Video End!]
After the video ended there was a pregnant pause as Naruko glared through her goggles (she had yet to take them off once during this whole dungeon) at the screen. It continued long enough that Benihime thought she had offended her mistress in some way. She was about to ask for forgiveness when the whiskered blonde raised two fingers.
"Okay two things, Beni-chan." the girl started "One: your creator is a lazy idiot. Two: I think I hate him for that last comment." In response to that, the fairy gave a small nervous and embarrassed chuckle.
"I didn't know my creator for long. But in that short amount of time, I learned they were… unique sometimes." she replied with a sweet-drop on her head.
"Another word for mental-case if you were to ask me." the preteen commented before taking out the whetstones. "Wait a minute? WHERE'S MY SCYTHE?!" she screamed at finally realizing that she hadn't seen her weapon since the knife going into her throat. The blonde looked frantically for the equipment but couldn't find it. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder and fund her companion.
"Anything you equip stays on unless you remove it." explained the sentient instruction manual. "Just do as you've always done and called it back as you do inside of battle."
Nodding at the information the Uzumaki called out to her scythe. Sure enough, it re-materialized in her left hand as if it had always been there. She gave a small smirk in triumph at the small victory against the laws of physics before looking at the whetstones in her right hand. For a moment she thought about how she was going to make the upgrade but as soon that question came a screen appeared before her.
[Do you wish to level up {Rusty Scythe (Lv1)}? WARNING: The whetstone(s) used will be consumed in the process]
[Whetstones available: 02 bronze whetstones]
[Whetstones selected: 000 (+/-)]
[Do you accept? YES/NO]
After reading that message and selecting both of the whetstones she had just acquired the gamer clicked to approve. Once that was done the whetstones disappeared before her scythe was covered in bright light. The coat of light only lasted for a few moments before it was gone. Then new screen materialized saying:
[Rusty Scythe LvUp. ATK has increased by 2 and Poison of Rust increased +0.5%]
[Rusty Scythe LvUp. ATK has increased by 2 and Poison of Rust increased +0.5%]
[Rusty Scythe now Lv3. Now when equip it gives +9ATK. Poison of Rust now raises the chance of Poison status 2% per hit.]
Naruko whistled at feeling and seeing the effects of her strength reaching 15. After that, she went to her status screen and used those 10 attribute points her level up had given her. When the distribution was done that stats raised became:
HP: 70
DEF: 010
AGI: 005
VIT: 004
INT: 006
PER: 005
'Huh, will you look at that. My HP raises 5 points for every 2 attribute points that get added to it. That's helpfully to know.' the girl though while smirking. At this point, any other person would be flying high on the "I'm invincible!" train. Thankfully the latest brush with death still fresh in her mind made sure to cement in her how easy it would be for all of this to turn sideways and end with her as monster chow.
'I need to be more careful and learned how to dodge. I can't repeat another incident like that or rely on Benihime to always save me in a pinch.' she rationalized and looked at her companion who was examining the upgraded equipment. The gamer smiled lightly as she thought 'After all, that Saving Grace of hers can only be used once every three days and it leaves her vulnerable afterward. Safety nets are good and all but recklessness is just asking for trouble.'
[Due to thoughtful analysis of your mortality and the consequences of your actions your INT has increased by 1 point!]
Naruko felt the anger veins start throbbing along with her twitching eye at the message. Now she was extra sure the system was making fun of her! Still, it mattered not since it was at least giving her something useful alongside the insults. Anyway, since all the monsters in this room were dead, her natural HP and MP regeneration had restored everything to max during this whole upgrade episode and she had destroyed the last piles of garbage in this room there was nothing else to do in this location but leave.
Therefore she 'shelved' her weapon back into the hammer-space that was her inventory and gave a nod at her companion that was leaving. With that, they went to the door leading to the next room. Once the door was open and they entered the room they noticed a difference in the place's set up immediately. In the other rooms, all the trash was thrown about with nary a thought of where it landed and the mountains of trash were always in random locations.
Here however all the trash had been pushed to the sides of the room while leaving the center almost spotless if not for the dirt, grime, and layers of dust. If they were to guess the girls would say it looked like an arena that was ready for opponents to fight to the death.
[WARNING! SPECIAL EVENT ABOUT TO BE ENCOUNTERED!]
As the system started yelling that out the door slammed shut behind them. The girls quickly turned to look just in time to see barbed iron bars raised in front of the door. Next, sets of chains crisscross themselves over the bars. Finally, a lock in the form of a sadistically grinning skull laughed itself into the center for the door good measure.
"I think someone is trying to tell us something," Naruko announced flatly.
"You think? What could that possibly be? That skull looks so friendly." Benihime added just as flat.
Then they heard the door on the other side of the room open. Neither was ready for the massive creature that entered the room. The creature was least ten feet tall at its full height and from shoulder to shoulder looked to be half that. Not to mention each of its four biceps looked to almost twice the size of Naruko's head. It didn't help that each footfall of the creature sent small tremors across the room.
Naruto gulped in slight worry and quickly activated Scan. Then focus it completely on the monster to find out anything about a thing.
Giant Roach Soldier Lv3 ~Miniboss~
HP: 375
MP: 25
ATK 025
DEF 015
SPD 002
INT 008
Description – Through the regular exposure to chakra this creature has undergone a radical transformation even among chakra mutations. This roach has become more humanoid in its physic but its head remained that of a normal cockroach though enlarge because of its massive size. Like other roach soldiers, it can stand on its hind legs which leaves the other four free to attack. Good news: its running speed has been reduced greatly. Bad news: the four freed legs have evolved into arms with hands. Worst News: it somehow found a rusty broadsword for each hand.
Techniques: Bulk-Up, Double Cross-Slash, Ground Pound and Earth Style: Earth Shaker
Sure enough, the creature had four identically huge swords in each of its hands. Then its mandibles started moving once it noticed her presence in the room. The clacking sound they made almost felt like to sharp pieces of metal scrapping one another.
"Slayer!" the roach screeched at her.
"You/It can talk?!" both girls asked in surprise at the grave voice coming out of the insect. Somehow, they could tell it was glaring at them for that remark as it stopped in the center on the arena.
"Slayer! You have become much smaller than when I saw you last!" the roach laughed(?). It was hard to tell when the thing didn't have facial expressions though the short human female's eye still twitches at the insult to her height. "Many of my brethren have fallen to you in your path of destruction! But today I will end you!" it declared as it pointed one of its swords at her. "Then once I bring your head to the empress, I will avenge my kind and finally let the fallen rest in peace!"
~ Special Event has been encountered ~
[Mandatory Quest: A soldier's fight for revenge]
[Description – You see them walking around the floor, walls, or ceiling of your house and think they are nothing but pests. You hunt, trap, and kill them by the thousands without a second of thought or hesitation. Well now one of them is ready to fight back and it's coming for your head!
Mission: Kill the enemy!
Reward #1: Insect Shoulder Guard |Rare| {Right Arm}
Reward #2: Skill Book: Entomology
Reward #3: Box of Insect-Killer (Combat Item: Can of Insect-killer x12)
Failure to complete this quest will result in the death of the player.]
"At least the rewards are nice, right?" Benihime nervously chuckled. Sure, during this trip both females had learned that the monster seemed to completely ignore her existence even when she was right in front of them. That still didn't help the fact that even children were giants to her so this monster's height was like a child fighting a tail beast. Goods news though, she learned that fear was an emotion that was available to her. Her creator was so nice for doing that! Naruko, on the other hand, glared at the enemy through her green goggles.
"Sure, the new armor is nice but I have no idea what that book is about." the pony-tailed girl answered and summoned her weapon. Then she gave it a small twirler before resting it on her right shoulder with the blade pointing up and slightly lowered her stance while putting her left arm forward. It wasn't much of a battle stance but she had become comfortable at using this as her initial position for a fight. "Either way, we're not getting out unless he goes down."
As if that last sentence was the proverbial ring of the bell the Miniboss screeched and it raised his leg. A small screen appeared signaling that the enemy was using Earth Style: Earth Shaker. Hence, she readies herself to dodge in any direction away from any earth being sent her way. Once the stomp happened, she had expected a straight wave of ground moving towards her. Instead, the entire floor started staking with such force that she simply couldn't hold her balance and fell on her knees. No matter how much she tried she couldn't get up with all of the shakings. Gritting her teeth, the blonde looked at the giant roach coil its legs before it jumped high in the air.
Eyes widening and noticing that the magnitude of the shaking was reduced the blonde rolled out of the way as fast as she could. That, however, didn't stop the massive shock wave generated when the 10ft insect crashed onto the ground. Poor Naruko was sent flying into one of the walls. The system said she lost only 10HP but her back certainly beg to differ as she fell back onto the ground.
"What's wrong slayer!? Can't fight now that you can't tower over us!?" the roach soldier taunted as it turned its head to her direction. The blonde glared at her opponent before she got up and gripped her scythe with both hands in a defensive stance. The girl didn't have a chance to reply as the creature's swords started glowing with chakra before its rights arms slashed at the air. This created visible twin trails on the air.
Already imagining what was going to happen the gamer bolted away as the other set of cuts appeared and the attack fired. The Double Cross-Slash traveled at an incredible speed as it tore threw the floor like a hot knife through butter. To the frustration of the creature, Naruko's quick thinking made it so that the attack was nowhere near her by the time it hit the wall. The giant roach turned to its target and won a Kunai to the face for its trouble.
The rusty knife bounced harmlessly off its shell but it was enough to annoy it. The knife was also useful in distracted enough that it didn't see the buzzing scythe until the last minute. It managed to move its head just enough to evade the main attack but the scythe did achieve in cutting one of its massive antennas.
As the creature screeched in pain Naruko looked for a place to hide. Not finding anything because of how all the trash was pushed to the side she ran to the farthest corner of the room way from the monster. Once there she crouches down and opens her inventory. Then she took out five empty crystal bottles, five rags, a bottle of cheap liquor, and a pack of matches. She had managed to gets these items as a reward from destroying the piles of garbage.
After catching her scythe on its return trip, she vanished it back into its "scabbard". She quickly opened that liquor bottle and started pouring it in the bottles. Once the bottles were filled, she placed that rags in them to suck in the alcohol. After that, she started to try and light the matches. Regretfully, like for every person ever, that was in a hurry the sticks didn't want to work.
"Come on you stupid things! Light up already! AHA!" they scream of victory was short-lived however she saw a new message.
[The enemy has used Bulk Up! The enemy has increased its ATK by 5 points and DEF by 4 points!]
With creature's attack power now twice her own and defensive capabilities four points over her strength Naruko knew she was in trouble. Thus, she quickly lights up all five rags and got the message signally the creation of five Molotov cocktail. Not even bothering to ask why they were called that instead of firebombs she picked one up and threw them at the insect.
The bottle flew through the roomed but the monster saw them in their travel. In one single stroke, it cut the bottle before it could reach him. To bad for it that set ablaze the liquor as it slashed all over the monster's body. In seconds the giant roach was set on fire which made the creature start going in a frenzy as it lost the initial 25HP.
"Nice! You caused it to get Burned!" Benihime cheered/informed the fire bomber. Seeing the continuous damage ticking away at the miniboss' HP bar Naruko launched two more bottles at the monster. Each one hit for a combined -50HP and the blonde was about to throw the last two when it happened again.
[Enemy used Earth Style: Earth Shaker!]
This time the shaking was even stronger than before. Consequently, the goggle-wearing preteen lost her footing far faster. Bad news: when she fell to the floor, she had let go of both explosive bottles. Worst news: both shattered on top of her and also made her lose 50HP.
"Oh no Naruko-chan! You're burned!" the fairy exclaimed trying to put out the fire with her wings. Regretfully her little wings couldn't do much as the blonde rolled in the ground trying to put out the fire. Then she saw the girls HP start to drop dangerously from the status effect "Naruko-chan! Use First-Aid NOW!"
The gamer followed that order and hastily casts it twice on herself. The -2HP still kept happening with every small ember bursting out of her body. At the very least her life wasn't close ending again!
'I nearly died when I was six and now, I've nearly died twice in the last 2 hours!' the burn victim internally growled. 'I'm starting to think death really has a crush on me.' she added as she got up.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" the miniboss' shouted as the sound reverberated around the room with such force that it trembled slightly.
[The enemy has used Bulk Up (Stage II)! The enemy has increased its ATK by 10 points and DEF by 8 points!]
Naruko inwardly cursed violently when that text showed up. Next, she was forced to dodge another Double Cross-Slash. However, this time attack was almost twice as big and faster. She escaped the largest part of the attack but the following explosion sends a few pieces of trash at her. The didn't do many thanks in part to new healing spell abuse but it was annoying seeing the numbers -1HP in conjunction with the -2HP from Burn appearing everywhere.
"Beni-chan! How much can you carry?" She questioned while jumping away from another Ground Pound. This time she was ready for that shock wave and she used the force to get some distance away from the enraged monster. The wind was faster than she expected but by stabbing the scythe in the ground it helps lower the speed for an easier landing.
"So long as you can carry it so I can. Why?" Benihime answered floating close to her companion. The fairy could tell the goggle wearer had a surprised expression. "What? All of my stats are a direct copied from yours," she added with a shrug. Then her eyes widened when she spotted the monster's next move. "Watch out!"
The jumping quadruple downward stab was new but the fairy's warning for them to dodge the four swords. However, both females moved in opposite directions which separated them. Like all other monsters before the miniboss, it ignored the pixel winged creature in favor of the kunoichi in training.
"Look for water, please!" the pony-tailed girl screamed while trying her damnedest to evade every sword slash thrown at her. "I can't keep *jump to the right* using *tries to redirect stab with her scythe and gets her shoulder cut badly* FIRST-AID!" Naruko yelled while healing the latest hit.
One quick look at her HP told her that even with the heal she was still at 47HP. Then that trice damn Burn affliction just kept eating away at them 2pts at a time. She was lucky that her way of only healing outside of items had such low MP cost. Even with the constant healing, she was doing her MP hadn't even passed the 1,200 marks. If her math was right, she could essentially keep healing and wait for a chance but…
"You're annoying maggot!" the enraged insect screamed at having missed another attack. Its mandibles clicked similar to a human scrapping their teeth. Naruko looked at his HP and could only groan. Even with the thing burning it was still well in the 160~150HP range. After dodging once more the enemy yelled in utter fury.
[The enemy has used Bulk Up (Stage III)! The enemy has increased its ATK by 20 points and DEF by 16 points!]
'AND THEN THERE'S THAT!' she roared within her mind. Unbeknownst to her while she dodged more violent attacks, she started gaining Anger points. 'Seriously!? This is supposed to be a level 1 dungeon and I'm already fighting a monster with four times the amount of attack I have!'
"DIE!" the roach screamed as it once more tried to shake the earth. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of another shakedown Naruko threw her scythe straight at the creature's head. The weapon went flying and nailed him in the head. Even though the attack itself only did miserable 1 point it was enough to unbalance the monster. Hence it tipped backward and crashed on its back.
[The enemy has been knocked down! Enemy's DEF has been halved!]
She was about to scream in victory over that last message when she felt water rain all over her. Looking up she noticed Benihime was pouring a bottle of water over her. Immediately another screen told her that Burn had been cured. The fairy at least had the decency of looking embarrassed for just slashing her like that. Naruko just gave a thumbs-up as a sign of thank you when the redhead stopped.
"Glad to see you can survive without me." the redhead joked.
"Haha, say that after you trying dodge four swords." the blonde snarked with a small smile dusting her lips. Then her face became serious as she saw that roach trying to get up. "Now, how to kill this guy?"
"Will this work?" the Navi's voice was heard behind a box. The gamer raised an eyebrow at that before she recognized the box.
"Hey, that's my box of fireworks! I thought the ANBU had confiscated it last time?"
"I found it by the grand piano next to the washing machine and the wall turkey."
"Why would- Never mind, give me that."
With that, she grabbed the box from the fairy. Took out the matches, lit them on, threw them in the box, and finally flung the box of fireworks at the roach. The poor insect had finally managed to sit when the box landed on its lap. It exploded before he had any time to react.
Naruko and Benihime bore witness at a beautiful display of colors and sound. For Benihime it was special given that this was the first time she had ever seen such a view. Naruko on the other hand, couldn't stop grinning as she saw the monster's HP drop 5 points at a time with each new explosion. It was regretful that by the end the giant still had 50 points remaining.
"Wow… That was so pretty!"
"True. Too bad it didn't kill him."
True to the girl's word and like the HP bar had announced, the giant insect was still alive. However, what they saw was a shell of its formal self. Everywhere they looked on there were cracks, gashes, and burns on its exoskeleton. The roach also seemed to have lost its lower arms give the half smoldering stumps where they used to be. Naruko smirked grew a few levels when she also noticed that two remaining swords were just dented hilts with shattered pieces of what used to be swords.
"Do you *pant* do you *pant* Do you thinking *pant* that is enough *pant* to kill me?!" the roach soldier roared. Yet being on its knees and after a scan showed its stats in the single digits beside its HP the intimidation did not work.
"Beni-chan, you said your stats are the same as mine so you're as strong as me, right?" Naruko asked while readying her scythe straight behind. Then she moved the blade to its side so it would be parallel to the ground.
"Yes, why?"
"Then when I say to pull you pull!"
With that, the Uzumaki burst into a run at the monster with the fairy flying close behind. The injured enemy tried to do the Double Cross-Slash but it only came out as a single unstable attack. Seeing this Naruko slide-kick below the move that couldn't even reach the ground. She felt the wind pass by her harmlessly and using the moment she still had jumped out of the slide. The giant bug tried to cut her in midair but didn't take into account the reduced length of its weapon. Hence it completely missed the kunoichi in training while at the same time the overextended arm also made the perfect bridge for her.
Not wanting to pass up such an invitation she landed on the closed first and ran up the arm. That roach was too slow in moving his other hand to stop her. By the time it was close she jumped and slashed with her weapon. The scythe cut through the air and with a sickening wet sound it stabbed the creature's neck which stunned it as it screeched in pain. Naruko then placed her feet on the creature's chest and started pulling at the weapon.
"BENIHIME! HELP ME PULL NOW!" she ordered and understanding what the girl meant the fairy grabbed her jumpsuit. Not a moment later both girls pulled with every ounce of strength they had. In mere seconds the already weakened shell around the neck gave to the combined strength of the females. Then with one final tug, the rusted edge exploded out of the creature's neck in a gruesome display that bathed the small females in a green vial.
Thankfully Naruko managed to control the momentum to turn it into a spin that helped her safely land on the floor. She didn't even have to turn to see the creature bleed out since the victory screen appeared in all its glory.
[Congratulations! You've won!]
[You've gained 30XP]
[Loot: 01 Broken insect mandible |Rare|, 01 Seed of life |Super-Rare| and 50 copper coins]
[Mandatory Quest: A soldier's fight for revenge (Completed)]
[Reward #1: Insect Shoulder Guard |Rare| {Right Arm}
Reward #2: Skill Book: Entomology
Reward #3: Box of Insect-Killer (Combat Item: Can of Insect-killer x12)]
Naruko whistled at the massive haul for one enemy that wasn't a boss-type but she guessed that was thanks in part to the special event happening. Then again that bug had been hell to fight with its multiple arms and constantly increasing stats. But that just showed her how much she needed to train if she wanted to survive her powers and the outside world. Still, right now she wanted to check what treasure she got. Plus, it would let her natural regeneration heal the damage she still had from the fight.
The first thing she looked was that rare mandible which turned out to be just monster parts. Later she could probably use it for crafting or just sell it. Next was the seed of life and it turns out that if she eats it her HP would raise either as low as 3 points or as high as 6 points. Not thinking twice, she popped it into her mouth, munched it, and swallowed. The effect was immediate and she got lucky as it raised her life by 5points.
Next, the pony-tailed blonde looked at the first reward from the special event. Seeing it made her grin like a madwoman especially when it said it was possible to wear the shoulder guard over her jumpsuit. The equipment screen was quickly opened the new armor was attached to her right arm.
{Equipment}
Insect Shoulder Guard |Rare| {Right Arm}
Description – A shoulder guard created from the carapace of an insect mutated by chakra. It's not pretty to look by any measure of the word but it gets the job done. It can be attached to clothing with the Full Body requirements.
+10 DEF
-25 Style
Once the new items as placed and the screen closed a blue flame-like light appeared in her shoulder and across her cress. Just as fast as it came it dissipated and left the new piece of armor in its place. Both girls looked at the equipment and their faces twisted in slight disgust. The shoulder guard jutted a couple of inches from her shoulder and like the description mention, that thing was not something you would like to be seen wearing. It looked as if you ripped off the cockroach shell, didn't bother in polishing it, poke old belts through it to hold it in place, and called it a day.
"I hope that the shop has something more appealing," Naruko commented with a sour look on her face.
"It probably does. So, why don't you finish this dungeon? The faster you finish this the faster we can take a bath." the fairy said while shaking off some of the vile that fell on her.
"And don't forget that we finally get to eat." the blonde added as her stomach practically roared in agreement. Benihime looked at the kunoichi's stomach and then at the kunoichi herself with great surprise. "What? You didn't give me a chance to make breakfast because of how dirty this place was. About the only this in my stomach are herbs and that seed."
After that Naruko examined the Entomology skill book and a message appeared. The information explained that: 1) once used the book would be destroyed; 2) it would give her a skill of the same name that made it so that any damage done to insect type monster would have a 5% increase, and 3) the more insect type monsters she killed the more XP that skill got. Shrugging "why not" she accepted to use that book which shattered like glass and the pieces went straight into her. She didn't feel any pain from that instead it felt like she suddenly knew just the right way to attack any type of insect. At least that was the easiest way for her to describe the feeling of learning a new skill through this method.
Accepting the weirdness for a quick of her Gamer Soul she continued by opening the box Insect-Killer. Exactly as the description informed the box contained 12 cans of the insect repellent. The description noted that it only worked against insects and that each can was used completely in one massive spray that could hit up to four enemies at a time. At the same time, the repellent would hit for 150HP which meant that with the Entomology skill it would hit for 175HP. That made the Uzumaki almost cry thinking about how easy the previous fight would have been if she had found even one of these cans in the garbage.
Because of that, she vowed to use every last one on the boss if she could. Difficulty or challenge be damn, she was going to kill that monster by shoving each can down its throat and get out of this stinking place. With that done she went to destroy the remaining piles of garbage. To her surprise destroying the five piles she managed to get four lighters and a roll of duct tape. Seeing these items made her blink before her she felt a calling. She called out one can of repellent, a lighter, and the duct tape. Then she felt her hands moved on their own and when she was done a screen appeared.
Combat Item: Insect Fire-Bomb x04
-250HP to insects (Affected by Entomology)
50% chance to cause Burn status
Description – A homemade bomb using a can of insect repellent, a lighter, some duct tape, and imagination! It might look like a lighter taped to a can but all you have to do is throw it and see those damn bug light up like a forest fire. The explosion can hit up to six enemies.
"That… doesn't seem fair." Benihime commented after reading the description over her mistress's shoulder. She was about to suggest not using such a strong item so early in their adventure when she saw the Uzumaki's face. From this day to her last the fairy would swear she saw the visage of death chanting like a fangirl for the utter mayhem that whiskered grin promised. "Huh… Naruko-chan?"
"Just stay behind me and nothing bad will happened to you." the whiskered female practically singed while checking her bars.
Naruko Uzumaki [Lv2] ~Trickster Queen~ (No Sense of Smell)
XP: 64 / 165
HP: 75 / 75
MP: 1,371 / 1,371
Seeing she didn't need any healing and this room was clean she considered herself ready for the boss. Hence, she walked to the door leading to the final room and touched it. Instantly a text box showed itself to her with a warning that indeed she was about to enter the boss room and there was no going back once she entered. That was something she already knew and/or guessed would happen. Therefore, she opened the door and passed the threshold into a layer of the beast.
The first thing she noticed was that lights had dimmed somewhat and the floor was wet with something sticky. Yet even with the reduced light both females could see rows upon rows of eggs from floor to ceiling. Each one was pulsating with a new roach ready to come into the world. Then at the very end of the room, she saw her target laying more eggs. One quick Scan told her everything she needed to know about it.
Empress of the Roaches [Lv5] ~Dungeon Boss~
HP: 1150
MP: 50
ATK 022
DEF 012
SPD 008
INT 010
Description – A genetic oddity even among monsters of its kind. Only a few species of monsters have queens that produce offspring to propagate the colony yet this particular female roach evolved into this role. This even though her species are not known as having an established hierarchy. This one however as been exposed to enough chakra to become as smart as a normal human. Warning: The empress rules all and will call her subjects to help her.
Techniques: Egg-laying, Call for reinforcements, Body Slam, and Crunch.
The huge budging creature noticed the human and clicked its mandible imitating a growl. Unlike the soldier she still crawled on all six legs yet somehow, she still felt more intimidating than the previews monster.
"Human…" the empress started with hate in her voice "You dare to come into MY CHAMBER-"
That was about as far as she got before her world became fire as she was engulfed in four massive explosions. The flames from the detonations feed off each other and speared the fire all over the insect's body. Then as the roach empress screeched in pain and thrash about, she inevitably smashed its body against the walls filled to the brim with her eggs. The eggs that were not splattered by the monster's body became fuel for the fire. In a mere second the room because of an inferno where the only sounds louder then the cracking on flames were the pained yells of the mother and her unborn children being consumed by the fire.
"Okay… This feels wrong." Benihime commented as she saw the fire trying to cover everything. "You didn't even give her a chance to finish!"
"Yeah… I thought taking advantage of the long villain monologue trope would have given me an edge in the fight." Naruko answered with a bothered disbelief tone in her voice. "I wasn't expecting to be sent to hell that fast for it."
Then moments later, when the flames receded enough that they could see into the tunnel of the inferno they noticed the empress. She was still alive if one could call it that with how much damage she had taken. Like the miniboss before her, now there were cracks all over its charred black and smoking body. They could also see parts were the shell had melted, fallen off or was flaking off. The mother of roach kind was also shaking in pain with her head twitching erratically. They also noticed the telltale embers sporadically appearing and disappearing around the smoldering shell that told them the empress was suffering from the Burn status.
"My… children… my… home… my skin… my… body…" the girls heard the insect repeat those words again and again as it crawled through the inferno. For her part, Naruko thought it would make a very good scene in one of those later night tv horror movies. Then the gamer and fairy felt the roach look at them and they could just fell a madness fill blood lust take over the creature. "I'll… I'll… KILL YOU!"
The shout was the only signal they got before the monster started a mad dash towards them. Thinking fast Naruko ran to the side and evaded the impromptu tackle from the insect. The monster was too far gone in its rage to bother with stopping so it smashed into the entrance door. To the Uzumaki's surprise, the door didn't even budge from the impact. Instead, the monster was stunned and the blonde took that opportunity to summon her weapon. Then she ran until she was behind the create which is when she launched the weapon below the creature.
The weapon once more spun like a buzz saw and cut the insect's stomach without mercy. Disgustingly enough this made eggs fall onto the ground as the monster roared in pain. The roar actually "saved" it from death as it made the scythe miss the head. However, the job was done nonetheless as that last attack inflicted Bleeding onto the boss on top of the burning. At that point, Naruko realized that the fight was over and decided to wait for the last points of HP to run out.
The roach empress thought differently and tried to trample the whiskered youth. Regretfully the bug, too weak from the burning and blood loss, couldn't control its body well enough to not step of the new eggs. All it took was one wrong move and the creature slipped onto the ground. There it took its final breath among the broken and burning remains of its children.
[Congratulations! You've won!]
[You've gain 45XP]
[Loot: 99 insect eggshells |common|, Mandible Blades |Legendary| (Dual Swords), Chakra crystal (medium) |Super-Rare| and 75 copper coins]
[Special Quest: Clean the castle!]
[Hidden Objective: Experience your first special event (Completed)]
[Rewards: 100XP, 150 Gold coins, The Fun-Size Forge |Epic| and Skill Book: Blacksmith (Beginner)
Hidden Reward: Unlocks Costume option in the equipment menu]
[You've leveled UP!]
Naruko Uzumaki [Lv3] ~Trickster Queen~
Job: Novice
XP: 44/264
HP: 75 + 16 = 91
MP: 1,371 + 73 = 1,444
ATK: 015 + 1 = 016
DEF: 020 + 1 = 21
AGI: 005 + 1 = 006
VIT: 004 + 1 = 005
INT: 006 + 1 = 007
SPR: 257 + 6 = 263
PER: 005 + 1 = 006
Attribute Points: 0000 + 10 = 0010
"You know… As good as the loot is… I kind of feel bad about how that thing died." Naruko commented during the victory time. She had meant to finish the fight as quickly as possible to get out of the dungeon but… she could only feel petty for how she killed the boss. 'Guess that means I'm still human?' she thought to herself as her fairy companion nodded in agreement with her last statement.
"Yeah, it wasn't a fair fight but I'm sure something like this has happened to you before when playing a game. Sometimes the boss is weaker than everything you have faced before or you found a trick that makes the fight easy."
"Yeah, in a game or two." the gamer responded while remembering taking out the Yellow Devil in Mega Man with the Pause-Lighting trick. That brought back a smile to her face and she added: "At least now we get to take a bath and eat!"
With that, the dungeon commenced its disintegration into pixels and signaled the return to the real world.
~ SPECIAL DUNGEON: The Palace of Filth ~
COMPLETED!
X ~ X ~ X ~X ~ X ~ X ~ X~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~X ~ X ~ X ~ X~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~X ~ X ~ X ~ X~ X ~ X ~ X ~ X ~ ~ X ~ X ~X ~ X ~ X ~ X~ X ~
Grammar Update: 08/17/2019
Math Update: 01/19/2020
Update: 04/22/2020
Grammar