I got many reviews last time telling me I erred regarding how Martial Arts worked in SAO canon. Since I haven't finished reading the light novels that is completely possible. However, for this story I'm going to stick with the terms I've already established. While many players can have Martial Arts in this story, there's more than one quest for it and each quest to obtain it offers a different variety of Martial Arts.
CHAPTER 5 TO BE A WARRIOR
"Here we are, Floor Three." Shampoo told her group when they got to the next floor of Aincrad, roughly another month after the second floor had opened.
"Only two months into the game and just now the third level is available. At this rate we're going to be here for years." Ukyo thought out loud.
"I don't think this rate will continue." Nabiki mused. "As the players get used to being in this game and more reassured in their own skills, finding and defeating the bosses will get easier. Once players get the hang of it, the natural progression should speed up."
"Careful, there might be some enemies around, waiting for us." Akane warned as they walked into the plaza.
"But keep talking, if we're silent it's only going to make others think we've got something to hide." Shampoo added, keeping her eyes and ears open.
The time their group, the unofficial Nerima Wrecking Crew Guild, had spent on the second floor of Aincrad had been a time of much stealth for them. Thanks to their link with Klein, they had learned that Kibao and PoH had managed to stir up a lot of discord among the players and make the beta testers, now solely known as Beaters in a derogatory context, the target of their unrest.
Beaters were described in various ways over the month. Some said they were secret pawns of Kayaba put into the game to ensure no one could ever beat it thus keeping them trapped forever. Others said they knew cheat codes and were using them to get ahead of the others leaving the rest behind to do things the hard way.
Whatever they were saying about the Beaters, there were two things going in their favor. The first was that as far as the group knew, only Shampoo and Kirito had truly been outed. The other Beaters were still protected by anonymity. The second, probably a result of the first, was that not that many players were really reacting to anti-Beater messages.
For the most part, few people actually cared enough to do anything to the Beaters. After all, two thousand players had already died in the game, so not many people really wanted to increase the death toll just to get some kind of sense of superiority over the Beaters, who they couldn't even find in the first place. So the overall concession was that while there was little love for the Beaters, the majority of players didn't hate them either.
But there was no way to know how many actual haters there were, people who did get caught up in Kibao's and PoH's persuasions, so the group had to play it safe for the time being. Nabiki had theorized that those two players would have been counting on seeing them at the second boss fight so they avoided it. And once the fight was over, those same players would know that Shampoo and Kirito couldn't enter Floor Three without coming to this exact town, making them easy to find. So Nabiki had them wait a week to give more players a chance to get ahead of them and make the anti-Beater players lose their resolve to wait them out. And of course use that week to raise their levels some more for an inevitable attempted PK-ing.
The town they were in was called Marthur, and didn't look any different than the other villages so far, except for the fact there were a lot of NPCs walking around and even haggling with NPC merchants, making the town look crowded, and difficult to immediately spot players in. The group immediately tensed, until they saw some cursors this was actually a good hiding spot for potential threats.
"Amazing, we finally get so used to the cursors over people's heads and health bars around their chests that we barely notice them anymore, and here he actually need to look for them." Shampoo whispered to herself.
"Where should we go first?" Tofu asked.
"First we get out of the village as quickly as possible." Shampoo ordered.
"What? You've gone on about how some people might want to kill us here, and you want to leave the Safe Zone?" Akane asked, confounded by the lack of rationality to the Amazon's words.
"Yes." Shampoo said simply. "I can see a gate out of here. Let's go, and weapons ready but not drawn just yet."
Still confused, the group nonetheless followed the Chinese girl in an effort to see what she was intending. And they were forced to keep pace with her, which was normal but directed, like someone on a casual stroll with a specific destination in mind rather than someone in a hurry. Not only that, she actually had them make a couple of turns onto other streets before getting to the gate she saw, clearly an attempt to lose anyone who might be following them.
Activating the gate, the group left the platform the village was on and were out in the field of Floor Three, where there was no safety other than their own skills. Unlike Floor Two, where almost all the terrain was mountainous, Floor Three was more like Floor One, an open meadow with occasional hills scattered trees and bushes with pocket forests and rivers around. One of the differences between this and Floor One, while not truly a noticeable difference, is this floor didn't have paths or roads from one village to the next, forcing players to find their own ways around.
Shampoo checked a compass she had in her pocket, purchased at an earlier occasion. Nifty little tool if you lacked current map data. "This way." She said before running like she now wanted to get somewhere in a hurry.
The field wasn't empty, ahead of them were creatures that looked an awful lot like komodo dragons but with rhino horns and spikes along their backs. The creatures, called Diredrakes, saw them and rushed at them like a pack, and fortunately by now none of them were afraid of animals in Aincrad anymore. Even Tofu who didn't like to fight wasn't afraid of the beasts they had encountered in the past month. He just didn't like being in danger.
Weapons drawn, the group made no effort to avoid the reptiles, taking the opportunity to get more experience and maybe some items. Ukyo and Akane went in front this time, with their battle axe and sword, and slashed. Ukyo decapitated the first Diredrake and Akane cut off one of the claws of the second. Ukyo's died but Akane's did not.
"Switch!" Akane said when more Diredrakes came at them.
Ranma and Kasumi went forward as Akane and Ukyo pulled back, the first armed with nothing and the second armed with a curved sword she got on the second floor. Both attacked separate monsters, and while the Diredrakes didn't have any armor, their HP was clearly higher than other animals, right up there with bears and bulls. This fight would not be over quickly unless they used lethal moves.
Shampoo, Nabiki, and Tofu were asking as perimeter here, trying to keep other creatures from getting involved. The other Diredrakes were trying to surround them, cut off any escape, but they weren't attacking. "C'mon, tell me I have one left." Nabiki said to herself as she quickly looked through her inventory.
Ranma slugged one of the reptiles in the face, feeling comfortable with the familiar attack method. It wasn't too strong, his Martial Art skill only giving his strength a +5 boost when in use at his level, but it felt good doing. Unfortunately, the Diredrake spun in place and knocked him off his feet with its tail.
Kasumi charged up a sword skill, making her blade turn orange, then unleashed it. She immediately made a dash that covered four meters and swung her sword at both monsters, hitting them in an arc sweep. The Diredrakes fell, quickly losing HP but they weren't dead right away. Acting quickly, Ranma straightened his fingers and charged a Martial Art skill while Kasumi charged a basic sword skill and the two struck for finishing attacks. The Diredrakes died almost immediately.
"Great job sis!" Akane praised, impressed by seeing Kasumi fight so effectively.
"Thanks, but we should get out of here instead of more fighting." Kasumi offered, helping Ranma get back on his feet.
"Yes! Got one left!" Nabiki said, tapped the screen and getting something to materialize in her hand. It appeared to be a grey ball the size of a golf ball. She threw it on the ground and a small cloud of smoke appeared that spread out covering the ground two inches above it with a ten meter diameter around her. All Diredrakes touched by the smoke turned to stone.
"Remember this only works for ten seconds!" Nabiki loudly pointed out, moving to get out of the center of the field. "If you want to keep fighting, then let's move to a place where we aren't surrounded!"
Not wanting to waste one of Nabiki's very expensive smoke bombs and thus earn her wrath, Ranma knew from experience what Nabiki did when she blamed someone for wasted money, the group moved to get into a more strategic position on the other side of the field. The effects of the bomb soon wore off and the Diredrakes returned to normal.
Everyone got ready for the fight to resume, yet the Diredrakes completely ignored them.
"Umm... Nabiki, did your smokebomb do this?" Kasumi asked.
The mercenary shook her head. "I don't think so. It was just supposed to freeze field monsters for ten seconds, there shouldn't be any other effects."
"We must be out of their notice-zone." Shampoo commented.
"Notice-zone?" Akane repeated.
Shampoo nodded. "Yes, all field monsters in all games have one, though I don't know the official term for it. I just call it a notice-zone. Anyway, field monsters only attack if you're within a specific distance range from them. If you're outside it, they don't even notice you. We must be too far away from them for any of them to respond to any programming regarding us."
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but if we don't have to keep fighting I think we should just continue on." Ukyo suggested.
"How much Col was earned from the fight?" Nabiki asked.
"If you want more Col, go earn it yourself." The okonomiyaki chef insisted.
Nabiki tensed, and her hand itched to grab her sword, but she sighed and relented. "I can wait. Right now I want to get to the next town first. Then I can go get more money."
Night came and everyone was asleep in the latest inn they could find and afford. Close to midnight, Shampoo crept out of the room and out of the inn, fully clothed and armed. Without looking back or pausing she got out of the village and back into the field of Floor Three, pausing only to check her current map and compass.
"It should be south from here by half a kilometer in the forest. I better hurry."
Running, Shampoo made it to the forest and went in, using her recently acquired night vision skill to make getting around easier. A glow in the distance was visible to her, and she went up to it.
There was a large clearing in the forests center, unseen from outside and making the forest ring-shaped from a birds eye view. In that forest was a Shinto shrine atop a small hill. Lanterns were lit in the shrine and voices could be heard, Shampoo ignored that and climbed the stairs.
She was stopped at the top by a man who looked rather imposing, like one wrong word would make him rip her head off. "Forum 8374." She said confidently. The man silently nodded and let her pass. 'Glad I wrote down the code and everything for tonight.' She told herself as she went in.
The shrine wasn't by any means as big as a village. In fact it was only as big as a real-life Shinto shrine, though this one was incredibly crowded. There were hundreds of gathered players, all seated and standing close together in an attempt to get some room.
These were the beta testers, the Beaters. All of them still in the game, gathered in one place.
Before the game went public, the beta testers had agreed to get together in the game at a specific time and place. The place was here, and the time was midnight exactly seven days after Floor Three was opened, presumably more than enough time for every one of them to arrive. Of course this was planned before anyone knew what SAO was going to become once public, but it was still possible to make the meeting, as long as the beta tester remembered the code to get in.
Shampoo saw an open spot beneath a sakura tree, one of many, with a cloaked person leaning against it. This person saw her, their face visible under the hood but not clear, and waved to Shampoo before gesturing for her to come. Confused, she went to it before someone else took it.
"I had a feeling I'd see you around sooner or later." This person, clearly a girl, said when Shampoo got under the tree.
"Who are you?"
This person pulled back their hood, showing a girl around Shampoo's age who had brown hair that had a slight green tint to it and red eyes. Her most noticeable feature were dark tan whisker marks on her cheeks, like they were painted on. Her brown cloak hid her attire, but gloves and black boots were visible.
"You wouldn't know me, but I've seen you around Nerima back in the real world. I was a student back in Furinkan, so I've seen you around occasionally. I'm surprised you were a beta tester too." She said kindly. "Here in SAO, my name is Argo. What's yours?"
"I went with my real name. I doubt anyone who doesn't know me would believe it was my real name here." Shampoo said. "So did you know Airen?"
"Ranma? No, not directly, but I heard a lot about him from Nabiki."
"They're both in this game if you want to see either." Shampoo mentioned.
Argo lifted an eyebrow. "Hmm... maybe Nabiki. I did some info gathering for her IRL, so it might be to both our benefits if I can get back in contact with her."
"To be honest, I'm a little surprised this meeting is still taking place." Shampoo said, looking over the crowd. "And it doesn't look like all thousand of us are here."
"No, From what I've determined, of the thousand beta testers, only eight hundred actually joined in the official public launch. And since then three hundred died so at most five hundred players are here. Noobs weren't the only casualties in the Red Month." Argo said.
"Red Month?"
"My personal term for the first month of this game, when two thousand of us died on Floor One. Hoping it catches on."
Atop the shrine roof there came into view a man dressed in a purple cloak, hood pulled back to show an adult face old enough to be Shampoo's father, with short black hair and a small goatee. He was holding a lantern in one hand so all eyes were drawn to him when he showed up. "Alright everyone, hello my fellow ex-beta testers. I'm glad you all remembered the time and place for this meeting. I assume most of you are here mainly to see if this meeting was still going to take place, given how the game has obviously changed since we first tested it."
"My name is Clink, and in case you don't remember, it was my idea that this meeting take place here, the Sakura Shrine. Unfortunately, the beta player Diabel who set up the timing was killed so he couldn't be here." The man continued.
Shampoo tightened her lips, not sure how she was supposed to feel. While Diabel hadn't impressed her, she at least respected his motives and intentions. If he was still alive, he'd probably be the one talking now.
"Back when we were just testing this game, we all bonded in a way, playing this game and chatting about it in our private forum." Clink continued. "We naturally got curious and hopeful for the chance to see some fellow beta testers in person, but we had no way of verifying who was a beta beforehand. And thus we established this meeting, at midnight at the Sakura Shrine on Floor Three exactly seven days after the floor was open to all players. That would have given everyone more than enough time to make it here. But of course, we planned this to include the ability to log out."
Some murmurs were said throughout the crowd.
"Anyway, since we're here, there are some things we need to discuss." Clink added, silencing the crowd. "First off, as I'm sure many of you are aware, details of the game have changed since we tested the game. That is of course to be expected, it would be strange if nothing was changed. The problem is it's affecting the lives of both ourselves and other players. Most beta player deaths were because of an over-dependence on information from the beta trial, and an inability to adjust to the changes. The farther we get in the game, the less reliable our prior experience will be then it already is, until eventually we reach the floor that none of us have gotten to. Has anyone here been to Floor Five in the beta test?"
Some players raised their hands, Shampoo was not one of them. Argo however was, mildly impressing the Chinese girl.
"Alright, has anyone been to Floor Six?" Clink asked, and some hands went down but not all. "Floor Seven?" A couple more hands went down, including Argo's. "Did anyone make it to Floor Ten or higher?" At this point roughly two dozen hands were still up. "Alright, so it's clear we're not in any immediate danger of running out of information. Does anyone have anything they wish to tell us about the future floors?"
There was one guy that raised his hand and stood up.
"Hi everyone, I'm Wolfine, and there was one quest that granted a longsword that can drain life. I wouldn't recommend using it, since the Blood Sword cuts your stats in half. Almost got me killed in a fight back in the beta test before I knew what was causing it." Wolfine said and sat down while everyone discussed the potential of the weapon itself.
"What good would such a weapon be?" Shampoo asked Argo.
"I don't know, but there's bound to be an upside. It would be counterproductive to give a reward that can only hurt the winner."
Another player spoke up. "I remember this one pit on Floor Five that worked like a teleport gate back to Floor One if you fell into it. I wouldn't recommend testing it here though."
The majority of players agreed it wasn't worth testing.
A few other things were mentioned, such as an outdoor hot spring on Floor Four, a zombie-filled cemetery on Floor Five, and a dragon's lair on Floor Six. Shampoo had nothing to mention but she listened carefully.
"Alright, well, I think this has been productive, but before we end this meeting, there's one more thing that needs to be covered." Clink said when the suggestions died down. "For those of you unaware, ever since the first boss was defeated, more players have been speaking out against us. At first, it was only a couple who accused us of hording resources and secretly being in league with Kayaba, but soon it became player-killing, with some players making it very clear they're hunting us down specifically."
"I heard quite a few innocent players have been killed in the process." Argo whispered to Shampoo. "It's become just like a witch hunt, once you're accused you're as gone as dead unless you can fight back."
"I know two potential threats, do you know more?" Shampoo asked.
"For a price I'll give you my collected list of players to be wary of. For a fellow beta tester, and considering the nature of the information, I'll give you a discount."
'Nabiki was definitely friends with this girl in real life.' Shampoo noted, rolling her eyes. "How much?"
"Everyone be on alert for any players with orange or red cursors." Clink continued. "And unfortunately, because of this threat, we probably won't be able to have another meeting like this again, to ensure our enemies don't find us together in one spot at a later time."
Most of the players nodded, already anticipating that.
"Alright, I think we can call it a night. Best of luck in the game everyone." Clink finished.
The next day Shampoo led her group to one of the smaller towns on Floor Three, one called Sumcast. The platform it was on was covered mostly in forest, making the buildings more scattered compared to previous safe zones and gave the feeling of still being out in the fields. In a way, it reminded Shampoo a lot of her home back in China.
Of all the buildings, one in particular stood out, a large wooden one shaped like a pagoda with a stone obelisk on either end.
"So what's so important about this place?" Nabiki asked.
"This is where we can take the quest to become an official guild." Shampoo answered.
"How do you know?" Kasumi asked. "You kept saying it wasn't in the beta test, so who told you it would be here?"
"It wasn't in the beta test, but there was a notice for it here when I played. Mostly just a bulletin that told anyone who came by, and I double-checked it with the others on the forum. I admit I could be mistaken, but this is the best place to start." She looked around and pointed to a white tower seen over some trees like an obelisk. "Let's try there. I got a good feeling about it."
They went to the tower, and at the base there was a kiosk-like stand much like the ones everywhere in village markets. At it there was a cloaked person wearing a hood and a mask, resembling Kayaba a bit in his first-day appearance, although this one was human size and colored grey. Not only that, eyes were visible and the mask was rather plain and beige-colored. Nonetheless, the gang was initially hesitant to approach.
"Is that him? That guy who made this game?" Akane asked.
"I highly doubt it. There's no cursor, and it would be too easy to get rid of him here then." Nabiki commented.
Ukyo nodded. "Yeah, besides, why would he be in the game anyway? I get the feeling he's watching us from the outside, like we're just some characters to him."
"Even so, I don't see either of you going up to this guy." Akane pointed out.
Kasumi surprised them by being the one to go up. "Hello." She said to the NPC, a safe way to invoke a response from one.
"Hello, and welcome to Guild Registration. Would you like to create an official guild?" It asked.
"Yes."
"Very well. Select your choice of guild type. A list of quests will be offered to you to complete in order to become a registered guild." The NPC responded. In front of Kasumi appeared three screens, each featuring a different icon. The first displayed a sword and shield, the second displayed a compass, and the third displayed a treasure chest.
Kasumi turned to the others. "Shampoo, can you tell me what these mean?"
Shampoo went up to the oldest girl in the group and looked at them carefully. The rest came up too, wanting to see for themselves. "I'm not sure, but my best guess is they implicate what type of quest we wish to accept to become a guild."
"So there's more than one quest for it, so players don't all do the same thing." Nabiki summarized, seeing the wisdom in it. This way players wouldn't have to take turns forming guilds, or be told how to succeed by the experienced players.
"He said what type of guild we wanted to be. Is there more than one type?" Kasumi asked.
"I'm not sure. I guess some guilds would specialize in different skills or purposes. If that's the case, I'd say one of these is meant for combat and another for treasure hunting. But I have no idea what the compass means." Shampoo noted.
"Should we click it and find out?" Ranma asked.
Kasumi shrugged. "Let's try it. I'm sure it will allow us to choose otherwise if we wish." She tapped the screen with the compass, which expanded a bit and changed. The word 'Exploration' appeared at the top with three bullet points underneath.
"An exploration guild?" Tofu read out loud.
"Now that sounds like our type. It's what we've been doing all this time." Ukyo said enthusiastically.
"We have 'Find a missing cat'..." Kasumi started.
Ranma stiffened. "No cats please."
Kasumi nodded out of consideration. "There's also 'Get rid of an infestation', and 'Catch the fugitive'."
"How is getting rid of an infestation tied into exploration?" Tofu asked.
"Let's find out." Kasumi said, then tapped that sentence. The screen changed to say 'Accept quest?' to which she tapped yes for. "This should be interesting. Maybe it's like that fight we had with the lizards the other day, except we have to find them first."
"Don't we at least get a clue on where to look?" Ranma asked.
"Yeah, right here." Kasumi answered as the screen changed again to text. "There's a farm located in the north, infested by terrible vermin that never stop coming. Find the farm, find the vermin nest, eliminate the nest, and complete before sundown. If successful, you will have a guild and a grand prize. Do you still wish to accept?"
"Sounds good to me." Ranma said.
"Shouldn't be too bad." Tofu added.
Kasumi clicked the yes button again and the screen disappeared. "Then let's go north."
The northern region of Floor Three was mostly open fields with strips of forests instead of true forests and occasional hills. It was quite scenic, but they weren't here for the view.
"See any farms?" Ranma asked.
"Not yet. I wish my detection skill was better." Shampoo answered.
"Maybe we should split up into groups, cover more ground that way." Akane suggested.
Kasumi smiled. "Good thinking Akane, and whoever finds it messages the others and gives them the map of the area." Akane nodded to that, having thought the same thing.
"We have seven here so I'm thinking two groups of two and one group of three." Nabiki offered. "I'll go with Shampoo, Akane can go with Ukyo, and Ranma, Tofu, and Kasumi will make the third group."
"Is there a reason for that particular set-up?" Ukyo asked.
Nabiki shrugged. "Nope, but it works doesn't it?"
No one saw any reason to argue.
Ranma, Tofu, and Kasumi continued forward directly north while Akane and Ukyo went northwest and Nabiki and Shampoo went northeast.
"So, tell me, what was your reason for getting me alone with you?" Shampoo asked when the others were out of listening range. She knew that Nabiki's set-up wasn't purely random.
"Honestly, I just want to know about that meeting you went to last night."
Shampoo lightly frowned. "You followed me?"
"Only as far as I could get. There were a lot of people there, was it some kind of pre-set Beater meeting?"
Shampoo didn't know whether to be impressed with the middle Tendo's devuctive skills or worried about potential lack of privacy. "Yes, before the official launch the meeting was set up, but of course we originally intended it to just like an in-person forum. Last night was more about discussing survival."
"Naturally." Nabiki replied with a nod. "So why didn't you tell us about it?"
"Think of it as a matter of security." Shampoo claimed, throwing off the mercenary. "If someone was alerted to non-beta testers being there, then it would have compromised any ability I may have in getting information or partnerships, which will help our group later on. This was definitely for the best, since one of the players there knows you."
Nabiki arched an eyebrow. "Really? Who?"
"They called themselves Argo. She had short brown hair with a green tint to it and red eyes."
"I think I'll have to see them. It's likely they customized their appearance by now to be less recognizable. I'm assuming she said she goes to Furinkan?" Nabiki asked.
Shampoo nodded. "Yeah, and I can message her if you want to see her."
"Later. Let's focus on the quest since we only have until sundown to find the place."
After walking a bit more, Nabiki just stopped, then yelled rather loudly as she fell to her knees. "I've been hit!"
"What?" Shampoo asked then checked Nabiki. She immediately saw the problem, a throwing knife was embedded in her back, making her HP drop at a steady rate, not fast but definitely not slow either. "Brace yourself." She said as she grabbed the handle then pulled it out, making Nabiki yell more but the damage to her health stopped.
Nabiki grit her teeth and punched the ground, trying to ignore the pain. "Dammit, who threw that?"
Shampoo took a defensive stance, mace out and facing the direction the knife came from. "You have a Healing Crystal?"
"Yeah." Nabiki said, already pulling out out.
"Get it, you're going to need it." Shampoo stated just as a small group of people that were hooded and cloaked came out from behind trees, looking like they were enjoying making these girls nervous. There were five of them, their faces hard to see but each had a weapon in their hands. One had a dagger, one a straight sword, one a cleaver, one a battleaxe, and the last one had a small scythe.
"Well, well, what do we have here, a couple of Beaters ripe for the slaughter?" One of them asked, in a voice that was fading in and out from outright insanity to fearful clarity. Nabiki kept her hand near her greatsword, while activating the Crystal. It healed her and repaired the durability of her damaged wolf pelt.
"What makes you think we're Beaters?" Shampoo asked, hoping for a good explanation, and to get out of a fight. While Nabiki was better than she had been the first day in Aincrad, Shampoo still had a hard time thinking of her as a fighter.
"Simple, I saw you with your little friend back at that shrine with the secret meeting, and quite frankly, I'm just plain sick of your kind stinking up the game."
Shampoo narrowed her eyes. 'Someone found out about the beta meeting, and since we outnumber them they must have decided rather than attack us all at once to take note of the betas and track us down later. But how did they find out the meeting time and location? Did someone tell them?'
Nabiki stood beside the Chinese girl, sword in both hands. "What a bunch of cowards, ganging up to fight two girls."
"Your attempts to make us stop aren't going to work bitch. We don't care about how we win, only if we win." A man in a mask said.
'That voice...' Shampoo thought. "You're the one who tried to fight me back at the first boss. PoH."
"Wow, you're smarter than I gave you credit for." He sarcastically replied.
"Stronger too. Want me to prove it again?" She said in a threatening manner.
"Go ahead, this time we'll all fight you." One of the other members, this one unrecognizeable, stated.
"You go head and get the purple-haired chick, I want the wolf." A different one said.
"I thought you looked familiar. Still got your shorts in a wad Mr. I-wish-I-had-been-a-beta?" Nabiki taunted.
"It's Kibao and don't forget it." The spiked-haired boy hissed, his grip on his straight sword tightening. "Considering what we're going to do to you wolf-bitch, I'm glad I never got to be one of you Beaters."
"The name's Nabiki don't you forget it." She proclaimed bravely. 'I'm not a Beater, but nothing I say will matter to these guys anyway. Best to just not fight what they think and instead fight them.'
"Is that it?" Kasumi asked, pointing ahead.
Tofu looked ahead. "I'm not sure, but it looks like a farm and it's the only one we've seen so those are good odds."
"Good thing you don't need your glasses to see that far eh Doc?" Ranma teased. An interesting thing about the NerveGear was that because it worked directly with the brain, the efficiency of the eyes did not matter, so anyone who needed glasses in real life had perfect vision in the game because the signals of the game went directly to the visual part of the brain. So unless the brain itself was damaged, no player in Aincrad had any physical defects, thus Tofu had spent this entire time without glasses.
"Yeah, but I don't see anything that looks like a problem to fix." He responded.
"We'll have to take a closer look." Kasumi said, taking out her sword and shield.
Following her example, Tofu took out his own shield and sword, but saw Ranma was unarmed. "Ranma, don't you want your weapons out?"
The pigtailed boy shook his head. "No, I'm planning on using Martial Arts every chance I can. I want to get good enough that I never need a weapon."
"Ranma, remember what Kasumi told you. This game is called Sword Art Online, not Martial Art Online. I think martial arts is only going to help you so much."
"Why have it in the game if it's not going to help?" Ranma replied.
"I'm not saying it won't, but I am suggesting it might not be as effective here as you remember it being in the real world. Just don't expect too much of it in a game focused on sword skills." Tofu clarified. Ranma nodded but stayed unarmed, and Tofu suspected that his words didn't really have the effect he was intending. "I better message the others saying we found the place." He stopped for a moment to do exactly that, while Kasumi and Ranma still went ahead for a closer look.
The farm was simple, a small piece of land that was probably twice the size of the land the Tendo estate had been on, with a wooden fence surrounding it. There were two buildings by the western side, one clearly a one-story residence roughly the size of the Tendo house itself, at least from what Kasumi and Ranma could see, and the other a shed of a sort. The ground was overgrown with grass and weeds, making it look really unkempt, abandoned if you will despite the good quality of the building itself.
"I hear something." Ranma whispered.
"Me too. Something small." Kasumi whispered back. She then saw the grass move a bit. "There's something."
No sooner did she say that did something lunge out at her like a pouncing beast. Her sword already out, Kasumi slashed at it before it could get close, and she cleaved it in one hit. Whatever it was dispersed almost too soon to be identified.
"That must be part of what we have to get rid of." Kasumi said, ready for more to appear.
Another one pounced, and this time it was heading for Ranma. He cocked a fist to charge up a Martial Art skill, then lashed out to punch it. The threat got hit then flew back a bit before dispersing in the air, but a moment before it did the two got a look at what it had been.
"That looked like a bug. And a big one at that." Kasumi noted. "We must have to clear out a bug infestation."
"Umm... guys?" Tofu said, coming up to them. "I messaged the others, and Akane said she's on her way, but Nabiki hasn't responded yet."
Kasumi got worried, but more rustling was heard along with some audible angry hissing. "We may have to wait on that. We might have a fight on our hands ourselves."
"What? You can't just abandon your sister." Tofu said, just as a lot more of these bugs started to fly into sight, first hovering above the grass as if to threaten the players.
The insects were huge, for insects easily. They looked like bugs big enough to prey on the spiders that preyed on birds. Appearance-wise, they were probably most similar to cockroaches mixed with dragonflies. Above each of them appeared the name 'Poxroach', and then all of a sudden the swarm attacked all at once, which forced Kasumi to slash, Ranma to punch, and Tofu to dodge.
"If we don't know where she is we can't help her. And we haven't gotten any death alerts yet so she's still alive." Kasumi said, slashing with her sword and blocking with her shield. "I don't like it, but right now we need to deal with the situation at hand."
One of the Poxroaches managed to grab Ranma's right forearm and chomp down on him, biting almost nothing like how an insect would. If anything it was more like a cat biting, a pain Ranma was certainly not fond off. The pigtailed martial artist yelled in pain and grabbed the pest, ripping it off his arm and held the squirming arthropod. He tightened his hold on the roach until he felt a snap, causing its HP to drop rapidly then it died. Once gone, he checked his arm and saw a red wound that was still hurting him. But the fight was continuing and he couldn't afford to let the wound distract him.
Tofu joined in the fight once the roaches started attacking him directly. Luckily it was around the time he killed four that the rest of the swarm pulled back and flew off into the house. Tofu saw a screen telling him he had leveled up and was now a Level 10 player.
"Wow, I forgot how close I was to leveling up." He said modestly.
"It can't be this easy." Kasumi said to herself. "There's no quest-over screen yet so we're not done here, and it's getting late."
"Kasumi, Doc," Ranma said, holding his wounded arm. "I'm having a hard time moving my arm."
The two older members of the trio looked at his wound, seeing the skin around the wound turning red too, like it was spreading. A quick look at Ranma's Health Bar told them it was dropping at a very slow rate, like one point every ten seconds, and there was an icon by his name. Two in fact, a skull and a hand, each in separate boxes.
"Ranma, I think that insect might have somehow infected you." Kasumi surmounted. "The damage is like an infection more than anything else."
"I hope this works." Tofu said, checking his inventory for his medical supplies, then he pulled out a bottle of medicine and gave it to Ranma. He drank it, and his skin returned to normal color with his HP increasing. "It seems these roaches do a different type of attack compared to the other creatures we've seen, maybe not a lot of it by themselves but it adds up if they attack in a group. And if they can affect your mobility then that only makes it easier for them to finish you off."
"So this fight might eat up our medical supplies if we're careless." Kasumi thought out loud. "Tofu, message Akane again, tell her that if she can, stock up on them before coming to us. And try Nabiki again too."
The doctor nodded and went to work following the order, while Ranma flexed his arm to ensure his mobility was back. "Still itches, but it doesn't hurt anymore."
"They went in the house, the nest must be there. If we destroy it, we might complete the quest." Kasumi thought out loud. "No point in waiting, let's check it out."
Ranma nodded, and Tofu saw no reason in arguing. With caution, the three went to the building, keeping their eyes and ears open for any other insects standing guard. Sensing none, Ranma opened the door.
The interior was not quite as good as the exterior. On the walls there were lots of spiderwebs and holes, with peeling paint and what looked like maggots the size of small snakes crawling around. Most noticeable however were a pair of human skeletons on the ground wearing torn clothes, clearly decorations in the game meant to make it look like people who had lived here were killed by the infestation.
"Well there's nothing subtle about that." Ranma complained, pointing to the skeletons.
"It's just a scare tactic Ranma. They weren't real people, just think of them as rocks." Tofu advised.
"I'm not scared of skeletons."
"I recall otherwise." The doctor noted.
"I was surprised, not scared." Ranma defended.
"Boys, the insects are the real concern here." Kasumi reminded them.
Once all three stepped inside the door closed. On reflex, Tofu tried to open it, but it was locked. "We can't get out?"
"Some places in the game are probably like that." Ranma said, then turned to Kasumi. "Remember that cave on Floor Two?"
The oldest Tendo daughter nodded. "How could I forget?"
Ranma had referred to a time when the group had wandered into a cave to escape a surprise attack from some demonic bees, and a boulder had cut off any attempt at leaving the way they came in, so they had to find a new way out in pitch blackness. It only took them an hour to do so, and once out they all got boosts to their Night Vision skill.
Some buzzing was heard, and something else that was best described as a series of hissing clicks. But no one could see anything.
"We'll have to look around, but considering the damage they can inflict, I wouldn't recommend splitting up to do it." Kasumi advised. "An enemy that can make it harder for you to move should not be faced alone. Tofu, get the medical supplies ready for me and Ranma."
"I can fight too you know." The doctor claimed.
Ranma and Kasumi just looked at him briefly before looking at each other, silently communicating. In two months, they could not recall a single instance where Tofu actually volunteered to be in a fight. He had to be pushed in some way to be involved, and if he wasn't he stayed in the back. Maybe there was one or two instances where this wasn't the case, but by now, they were just too used to having to tell Tofu what to do in battles or quests, if he was even there at all.
Ranma looked back to the doctor. "You want to for once?"
"Well, I can't say I'm thrilled about it, but if I don't the insects might start targeting me too and putting you in danger if I can't heal you Ranma. Unless Kasumi can get to us both."
"I'll try, but I'm going to be busy fighting too. Anyway Tofu, since you can't leave the building, just try to be helpful however you can." Kasumi told him.
Tofu felt a little bothered by that order. While it was clearly intended to be encouraging, it actually came across as a bit dismissive. Like Kasumi was essentially saying 'Just stay out of my way'. But Tofu refused to believe that was what she meant, so he ignored his irritation and resolved to be supportive of this fight, even if he didn't like it.
"I'm hearing some kind of humming this way." Ranma said, heading to a hall. On the wall was a crawling maggot the size of a slug, which he quickly squashed with his fist. He stopped by a door. "It's coming from in here. Ready?"
Kasumi, with sword and shield ready, was more than ready herself. Tofu took out his short sword and tried to tell himself the threat was just a bunch of bugs. "Ranma get your sword ready. We want to get this done and over with quickly."
Ranma took out his sword, since as everyone knows, you don't refuse Kasumi's requests. Then he opened the door.
Right away there were two bugs the size of large dogs clinging to the walls above a descending set of stairs, and they looked like a cross between cockroach and spider. Text above them said 'Guard Poxroach', and both hissed loudly at the sight of the three players. They opened their mouths and the insides glowed bright yellow.
Acting quickly Kasumi got in front of the others and raised her shield, just before two bursts of fire hit it, saving them all. The force of the attack was strong and Kasumi nearly lost her footing, but luckily she had learned more in the past two months than just foraging and battle attacks. She had also learned to stand up to attacks too.
Keeping her footing firm, Kasumi pressed back against the fire, and was glad it only lasted a few seconds. Once it stopped, she jumped forward and swung her sword at them both before they could ready another attack. The Guard Poxroaches fell to the stairs but they weren't dead, their mouths were just damaged so they couldn't use another breath attack right away. Acting quickly, the eldest Tendo daughter went to the right side of the stairs and jabbed her sword into the side of one bug, with the end of the sword coming out and jabbing into the side of the other. This way she killed them together with one attack.
Ranma and Tofu stood there, stunned by this display of swordswomanship. Then Ranma grinned. "I'd never thought I'd say this, but damn Kasumi you kick ass!"
The former housekeeper blushed at the praise and put her hair back in place. "Thank you Ranma. Now let's get the rest while I still have this adrenalin rush."
The stairs went down into a basement for the house, which all three went to, but it was really dark down there. Tofu pulled a lantern out of his inventory and lit it so they could see. Once there was a lightsource, the sound of insects scurrying away could be faintly heard in the darkness.
Suddenly there was a heavy thud, one that shook the floor and nearly made the three players fall off their feet. The light showed that there was something big hiding in the shadows, something they couldn't completely see. What they could see showed it was a large bug that looked vaguely like a cross between a cockroach and a praying mantis, yet somehow seemed to have a humanoid insect face that looked feminine. Above it were the words 'Queen Poxroach' and two health bars.
"This must be a mini-boss." Tofu said to himself.
"Whatever it is, it's going down." Ranma thought, getting a better hold on his sword.
All three players got an envelop icon at the top of their vision accompanied by a ping sound, telling them they had a message. But each of them ignored it, preferring to focus on the fight at hand first then check the message out.
Ranma went right for the giant bug, with Kasumi following him and Tofu following Kasumi. The Queen Poxroach roared and from the shadows emerged a wall of flying poxroaches acting as a wall. All three players slashed with their swords, and the bugs didn't put up any fight. But the holes created by the dead ones were quickly filling up with reinforcements.
"Wait, the queen's doing something!" Tofu warned, having looked on the other side and saw the queen's mouth glowing for a moment. "She's preparing an attack."
After the warning, the wall of bugs parted, revealing the Queen Poxroach ready to attack much like the Guard Poxroaches had before. Only this time Kasumi wasn't willing to risk blocking it. All three got out of the way, letting the giant bug attack, the attack itself looking like a hot green laser rather than a flame breath, that hit the wall of the basement but did no damage to it, as it was an immortal object. While the attack lasted, for about three seconds, the room was brightly lit allowing them to see the mini-boss completely, and the light lasted for another three seconds.
"Guys, there's a cluster of eggs behind the queen." Tofu warned as the light faded and the wall of poxroaches returned to shield the queen. "I get the feeling destroying them is part of the fight."
"Tofu, we'll try to make it attack again. When there's an opening, get in there and crush those eggs." Kasumi ordered.
The doctor nodded and stood back to the side, fending off some of the closer bugs while keeping an eye out for any change in pattern. Ranma and Kasumi hacked and slashed at the center of the wall, and fortunately they made a hole that actually allowed Ranma to get in a quick stab at the queen. The queen roared and thrashed in place for a moment, but nothing except a small drop in its health meter changed about the situation.
'The wall isn't replenishing itself as much.' Tofu noted, observing the action. 'Obviously the source of the bugs isn't infinite, so they should wear it down.' Fighting the poxroaches, he too killed enough to let a hole big enough for him to see through, but he couldn't attack the queen. He saw one of the eggs behind her shatter and dissolve, then the health meter refill. 'Those eggs, they're spare health points.' The queen then laid a new egg. 'And they're replaceable? This is a boss that's designed to keep going, so the way to defeat it is to damage it before it can recover.'
Tofu was by no means the bravest person in the world, real or virtual. But he was observant and a careful strategist, hence why he was so skilled back in his old profession. Even with a little information, he could deduce a problem and reach an effective solution, or at least direct others to someone or something that would be more effective than himself. Such a talent would have been very helpful to the group, had he gotten over his fear of the game long enough to put it to proper use.
Tofu hadn't been in a real fight in years, his martial arts having diminished greatly to where he only used it to stay in shape. He had been considered quite talented before Ranma showed up in Nerima, but the bar had been low with most people only knowing Akane and Kuno at that time. And while Ranma at the time had been impressed by the doctor's skills, at the time Ranma was nowhere near as strong as he was now. If Ranma was as skilled that first week in Nerima as he was before the game started, Tofu would have never been able to sneak up on him.
To put it simply, Tofu was once at the top but he let himself fall to the bottom. In real life, that didn't matter to him, being the best had never been a matter of life and death. But in Aincrad, it was such a matter, and he knew it.
"Ready Tofu?" Kasumi asked, snapping him back to attention. He saw the wall of poxroaches pull back and the Queen Poxroach ready another attack that Ranma and Kasumi would dodge.
Taking the moment, Tofu went in before anything could stop him, and went right for the eggs, the only thing on his mind going for the easy yet necessary target. This at least he could do. With his sword out he slashed at the eggs, even stomping on some others to destroy as many as possible. The queen had yet to notice, and he was glad for that.
After the queen's attack, the wall of bugs didn't return to shield her. Instead she rushed out at Ranma and Kasumi like a scuttling bug, the size of a tank of course. Caught by surprise, the two players couldn't avoid in and took the hit, falling to the floor and losing a third of their health in the one hit.
Tofu gasped at the ironic scene of a bug stepping on a person, and was glad that the queen had no follow-up attack, just returned to her prior position with her back turned to him and laid another egg. One he quickly destroyed. 'It must be programmed to be blind to what's behind it. I can kill it as long as I stay in the blind spot.' Tofu told himself, tightening the grip on his sword. 'Finally, a chance to prove what I can do for a change.'
The envelop icon pinged again with a 2 beside it, telling him he had two messages now, but at that moment Tofu couldn't be distracted. He readied a sword skill, and performed his strongest move, one that resulted in an X-shape battle wound. The queen roared and thrashed, but still did not turn around to fight back.
Seeing that Tofu was doing his part, Ranma and Kasumi, back on their feet, were determined to keep the queen from changing tactics.
"Hey, did you hear something?" Ranma asked.
"Just a bunch of buzzing. Why?" Kasumi asked, working on the reformed but smaller wall of poxroaches.
Ranma joined her, getting in a few hits on the queen too. "Must have been my imagination."
The last remnants of the wall of bugs went down, and the queen was left vulnerable, and down to one health bar now. With the wall gone, the queen started fighting back with its claws. Kasumi blocked with her shield and Ranma snuck in to deliver a counterblow. Once they got this pattern set, with Tofu attacking from behind, the queen stood no chance.
The giant bug in no time lost all health and shattered like other destroyed monsters in the game. All three players breathed a sigh of relief, then a screen showed up before them. First was the standard victory screen that told them how much XP and Col they had won, along with Kasumi's including a Final Attack Prize item attached, but there was a second screen after this one.
'Congratulations, you completed the Guild Registration Quest. You can now create an official recognized guild with your choice of name and symbol. Create now or later?' The screen offered two buttons to push, saying 'Now' and 'Later'.
Kasumi tapped the 'Later' button, making the screen minimize and move to the bottom right of her vision. "We should do this when everyone's here."
"Right now let's see what these messages are." Tofu said, pulling up a menu screen to check on the messages they couldn't check earlier. "Huh, both are from Nabiki." He tapped the first one, and it simply said 'SOS'. "That's not a good sign." He then tapped the second one, and it said 'SOS' again.
"Nabiki's in trouble guys." The doctor told his partners.
"You should worry about yourself first." A strange voice warned them.
Everyone turned and saw a newcomer at the base of the stairs, brandishing a weapon that looked like a meat cleaver. He looked like a high school student and to Ranma he looked vaguely like Mikado Sanzenin, only a little shorter and his hair spiked. His cursor was orange, meaning he had attacked another player within the past few days.
"Who are you?" Kasumi asked.
"There's no point in telling you my name. Just tell me, do you know any Beaters?" He asked, tapping his cleaver.
Ranma frowned. "You're one of those anti-Beater players."
"What gave me away?" The newcomer said sarcastically. "We followed two Beaters to this farm, so if you want to live, you being here better be pure coincidence." He added in a threatening way.
'Nabiki and Shampoo must have run into a group of these guys.' Tofu noted. 'They called for help, but no one responded, so they ran and found this farm to get shelter, or maybe they tracked us to here. Either way, this group followed.'
Kasumi, with an uncharacteristic frown, held her sword and shield up. "Even if it is coincidence, I refuse to condone murder."
"Murder? This isn't murder. It's not our fault that the Nervegear is programmed to kill people. Any death is the fault of the technology and the game creator, not us. This isn't murder, this is just part of the game." The newcomer stated.
"Not murder? That's like saying it's the gun not the shooter that kills someone." Tofu countered.
"Nothing you say is going to change my mind, so stop bothering. You want to die, or you want to stay down here and let my guild finish off the Beaters upstairs?" The newcomer asked.
Rather than answer, Kasumi darted forward and slammed the cleaver-wielder with her shield, knocking him against the wall and making him drop his weapon. When she backed away, she cut his legs, not severing them or severely hurting his HP but the pain made him lose the ability to stand for a bit. "Ranma, Tofu,-"
"We know." Tofu said, cutting her off.
They went upstairs and as soon as they opened the door they heard all the noise that couldn't pass through the walls before. There was a full-scale battle in the main floor of the house, and glances told them that the rest of their group was there too, fighting some strangers including the men who tried to kill Shampoo after the fight against Illfang.
Ranma's eyes went right to Akane, who was on the floor with her health bar in the yellow and a muscular man standing over her with a battleaxe, looking ready to crush her. Enraged, he pulled back his right fist to charge up a martial art skill quickly, and dashed at the enemy, hitting him in the face and knocking him out.
"Ranma!" Akane said, happy to see him.
"The Beaters got more back-up!" PoH shouted. "Get them all!"
PoH's group, which not counting him now consisted of two people still standing, instead pulled back. They had originally had the number advantage, even when Akane and Ukyo did respond to Nabiki's SOS, and they were aiming to kill whereas the others were just trying to defend themselves. But now the number advantage was gone.
"PoH, maybe we should retreat and get them later." Kibao suggested.
PoH frowned. "We have a great chance now."
All the players that came from Nerima, with various weapons and levels of health, stood up and got close to each other, presenting a united front against their would-be killers. No words or threats needed to be said, their stance said it all for them, the player killers would not win this fight easily.
"You want them that badly, you get them. I'm out." The member with the small scythe said before leaving. With the quest over, the door could now open from the inside. After hesitating for a bit, Kibao left too, leaving PoH alone with an ally on the floor and one in the basement.
PoH looked at the seven before him, closed his eyes, and sheathed his dagger. "It appears I'm outmatched this time. But mark my words Chinese girl and she-wolf, I don't forget a face. Soon all of Aincrad will know you are Beaters, and you will be marked and ostracized. It's only a matter of time before someone kills you or leaves you to die, whether or not I'll be there to see it happen."
He turned to leave, but was stopped.
"Take your cronies with you." Shampoo ordered.
He turned back to her. "Why? You plan to live here?"
"No, but if you leave them here, we will not be responsible for their fate." Shampoo claimed.
PoH looked to think it over, then shrugged. "That's not my concern." He then headed out.
"Some guy, huh?" Ukyo commented dryly.
"Let's take him out." Shampoo said, referencing the passed-out guy on the floor. She and Akane picked him up and dumped him outside.
"There's someone downstairs we should get rid of too." Tofu added to the girls.
Nabiki looked to Ranma, Kasumi, and Tofu. "Where were you guys when I was calling for you?"
"We were busy in our own fight here. And we completed the quest." Kasumi said, and looked out the window to see the sun dipping into the horizon. "Just in time too."
"Good, then we're officially a guild now." Shampoo stated, dusting off her hands.
"Once we name it and everything." Kasumi pointed out, pulling up the screen she minimized earlier. "You know, I was thinking, maybe Nerima Wrecking Crew isn't very fitting for our name. How about Aincrad Wrecking Crew?"
"Aincrad Wrecking Crew?" Akane repeated.
Shampoo nodded. "I like it. We're not in Nerima anymore after all. This name would be so much more fitting."
With no one objecting Kasumi typed it in and everyone got a message asking them to confirm joining. Once they did, the group that had been together since day one of the game was now an official guild.
"Now let's see what this is." Kasumi pulled up her Final Attack Prize to see what she had won for defeating the Queen Poxroach. What appeared in her hand was a piece of paper that said 'Deed' on it. "Oh my. Everyone, I think this entire place now belongs to us."
"You mean the house?" Ranma asked.
"The house, the farmland, the shed, pretty much everything within the fenced area." Kasumi said, looking over the details then smiling. "We have a home. We finally have a place to call home while we're here."
"Great, we can stop paying for inns now." Nabiki mentioned, making everyone laugh.