Chapter 3 - Snakes Demise
"A Kingdoms Leader can be changed through either the individual stepping down or through the slaying of the Ruler. As such assassination can be a viable method to change Leaders with the person dealing the Last Hit gaining that position." ~ Seven Kingdoms Online: Ruler and Change
Nearby to Seido, about a 10 minute full speed flight, there was something called The Labyrinth. It was a large underground tunnel system that interweaved itself and allowed players to reach higher-level mobs that would normally require one to travel even further than The Labyrinth. It was on such a time where Kirito was flying past this that he found a most peculiar sight. A single person was attempting to solo the large amount of mobs they had pulled, their Sword Skills flashing in varying colors of purple and blue, each swing almost an overly powered hit that was not required to kill such mobs. But despite that the person was good, their body was naturally flexible enabling them to move with quick dashes and strong hits, their slices could almost be akin to jackhammer swings and each Sword Skill was being used in conjunction; like that person knew the bug that a large majority of Beta Testers had used.
Yet as he watched the person over extended themselves, fatigue having quickly caught up to them; and immediately Kirito dashed forward, his sword singing arches of destruction that cut through critical points of multiple mobs at the same time leaving nothing but sounds of shattering glass and a view of blue crystals flying off into the sky. He caught the person as they fell down and it was only then that he could see their features properly in the dim lit Labyrinth. His eyes widened when he realized in his arms was a female player on the verge of unconsciousness.
She had a slim build with milky white skin that had a tint of purple in them. She had long, lustrous and gorgeous purplish jet-black hair, her half lidded eyes showed crimson red eyes. She was wearing what looked like black half-armor, which covered her chest and bulged a little in certain areas, a bluebottle violent blouse and a windswept dress of the same colour beneath the armor. A thin black sheath was hanging from her waist whilst her black sword lay in her hand. Kirito sighed as he carried her out, holding her close to his chest. He watched in fascination as the scenery got lighter around them; in this Virtual world there was no such thing as absolute darkness, there would always be some sort of ambient light that came from the ground or from the walls.
When he came out the night sky had already stretched far above him, twinkling through the treetops like far away lights untouchable by human hands. He placed the girl gently down against a tree, ignoring the slight shivers she had at the lost of warmth. Not soon after her head touched the wood her eyes snapped open, they blazed for a second before sputtering out into a defeated look, she turned her head to the side with a far away gaze; almost like she was expecting him to do something. He promptly ignored her and began to look through his inventory, scrolling to check if he had any spare Mats or Col to give; and indeed he did. Quickly pressing something a pop up window appeared in front of the girl, he watched over the top of his holographic screen as she turned her head slowly, almost fearfully, and stared at the screen. Her eyes widened before snapping up to meet his, disbelief colored like the red in her eyes.
"Accept it. You look like you have been fighting for a few days straight." Kirito said, leaning back against his own tree, "When was the last time you slept?"
"Few days ago." The murmured, not moving to accept the screen nor dismiss it, "Why did you save me? I will not pay you back." Her voice was laced with suspicion, her anger rekindling.
He noted her suspicious laced words and carefully crafted an answer.
"You were about to die." He said, crossing his arms, "You pushed yourself too hard and got swarmed and I don't need your payment."
"Does it matter?" she asked quietly with hair falling down around her, "We're all going to die here anyway."
"We might make it out." He said with conviction.
"No ones coming to save us, don't give me false hope." She whispered, slumping even further down.
"Why do we need saving?" he asked, "We are gamers aren't we? If anyone can clear this game it is us."
"We're never getting out! Stop giving me false hope!" she suddenly looked up and screamed at him, "There is no hope so leave! Leave me alone!"
Kirito jerked back as the silence over took them in waves leaving nothing but a tense silence between them. He cancelled the trade window, the soft tinkling of a closing window all that could be heard asides from the chirping of insects in the night forest. Somehow no mobs came stumbling after them with their hate red cursors. He materialized the items and Col needed: a few Lizard Hide, Bread, Water Flask and even Black Iron Ore. She did not even look up at the items that appeared in a swirl of bright blue particles.
"Here." He said, dropping them into her lap; her stiff jaw and locked neck indicated she was not even going to look at him, "Don't stay up too late. There is an inn in Rabirinsu as well as the first boss clear meeting; come if you want." He said before walking off. Taking note of the name that had appeared over her head. Yuuki.
He sighed as he left her, his eyes scanning the trees for mobs. Very quickly he reached Rabirinsu himself. The town itself whilst being made of houses of wood and paper were created in such a way that they themselves resembled a labyrinth. Large spirals of houses created multitudes of alley ways that could send people crazy and lost, the method that a majority of players used to get in and out was using a Sword Skill and dashing quickly up the wall before perching on it and running off. Kirito did the same. That evening, after he had taken a short nap and restocked all the necessaries, Kirito quickly escaped the weird structure of this town and entered the forest around it the next day just as the first ray of lights peaked over the horizon.
His flight hadn't taken very long and now he was at the very skirts of the [Seido] Kingdom border of that moment fighting off hordes of level 25 monsters. He was currently level 20 having jumped from eight levels in two weeks. That was pretty solid at the moment according to Argo. He sighed at the thought of that girl. She had managed to win the elections by a landslide, entirely crushing her political oppositions and swaying over the general mass relatively quickly. As he had expected she was hardly allowed outside the city to grind by herself and instead had an assortment of 'body guards' who deemed themselves worthy of her grace. Whenever Kirito had tried to get close to say a few words they had quickly shoved him away before Argo could notice.
He had decided down the path of silence for the sake of peace, it would not look well if Argo lost her bodyguards within the matter of a few weeks; thus he had kept his mouth shut. But they had been PMing each other regularly quickly sending messages to each other in the late nights and soon he found himself sleeping quite happily after those talks. He had found out more about the strange mysterious girl, along with a few titbits of information that ended up draining his pockets of his hard earnings. However today he was acting upon one of those pieces of information. It was rumored that currently along the edges of [Seido] a strange field boss could be seen. It was hinted to drop a powerful item and seemed to be drawing the clearer's into a search for it. So therefore Kirito was now here, scanning through the thick tree leaves whilst also leaving a wide girth of dead monsters shattering into the wind.
The field boss was rumoured to be a giant serpent, one akin to the legend of great sea snakes that could destroy islands whole. It was said that it specialised in Wind Magic with spells reaching at least level 20. From glimpses reported by people the average range it seemed to be in was level 25 to level 35, easily a whole five levels above most players.
He sighed as he leaned against a tree, his balance helping to keep him steady whilst a long drop spanned out underneath him. The sound of his sigh rang through the forest like a toiling bell, unnerving against the silence. Kirito shook his head before jumping to another tree branch; then another. His wings fluttering behind him as they helped him with his speed and agility, even for other players from the Kingdom of [Seido] watching Kirito would have been near impossible. As he flew he noted the individual specks of sunlight, the light morning dew that left water bubbles of all sizes littered around the leaves like a beautiful dust layer. The cool air striking against his body, more so as he went fast. Yet it was at this moment that he felt free, it felt like this wasn't a death game, rather it was a privileged life that he could live in. As he ran forward he suddenly twisted, his sword flashing around him in a circle as it cleanly decapitated a random mob in half, the shattering sound behind him and the reward pop up in front of him entirely ignored. Suddenly the sound of weapons striking one another alongside with the screams of desperate cries cut through the forest like a knife through wet paper.
He bounced off a tree before flying straight above the roof of leaves above him, his vision turning dark before suddenly exploding in a dazzling white. Before his eyes the widening sea of green spread out like water, the sparkling of leaves seem to be replicated from the sparkles of sunlight on water. Branches stood out like sore thumbs, yet gave the scene an almost surreal image, the white clouds above him dimming down the harsh light a little. Yet what really caused him concern was the strange mob that seemed to be surrounded by small specks in the distance. The beast looked like a giant serpent, entirely green in color and as he got closer he saw the layers upon layers of scales that surrounded it. It had piercing crimson red eyes that screamed anger and a long tongue that slashed out at the air whilst it roared. It disappeared into the forest once more and Kirito watched helpless as it suddenly bursted forth from underneath a person who was swallowed whole. The death sound of shattering glass ringing through the sky. Above its rearing head and snapped jaws was the name Flying Apophis along with three green circles slowly spinning on its back.
Unlike in other previous RPGs around the world which had static green rectangular bars near a mobs name, however in [Seven Kingdoms Online] a mobs health is represented by a large green circle which slowly spins behind it, as damage is dealt the outer circles will dim down first, slowly turning into yellow before hitting red. Once it shatters the mob will follow up after quickly. Unlike players, mobs have the capability to use magic and as such also have a smaller blue circle circulating their back underneath their green circle; once depleted most mobs are incapable of restoring their magic.
Looking at the field bosses health Kirito noted that the group had reduced the three circles down to two, entirely removing one bar at the cost of one life. He blasted himself forth using his wings and closed the gap within a minute. He pushed a person away just as the Flying Apophis rushed at them, its maw closing so closely that he could feel the wind whipping around them, sending them flying. Kirito manage to stop himself from twirling too far away, his blade flashing in the light before he lunged forward, his sword cutting into the bosses scales easily and leaving a nice amount of damage. He twirled away before summoning his second sword.
It was not unheard for players from [Seido] to duel wield considering they had specific Sword Skills for it and unique dueling techniques. However to do so put a greater strain upon the mental capacity of a player and required a higher skill capacity. Yet amongst all the players there Kirito was the only one with duel swords out. His weapons flashed in colours of red, green and blue as he flew around the mobs head, even landing on it at times to unleash a barrage of damage. However very quickly his secondary blade shattered leaving only his black blade from beta in his hands. Thinking quickly he jumped back, opening his item list and equipped another; just in time to dodge the bosses sudden dash for him.
"Who are you?" a person shouted out, their voice nearly drowned out by the roaring wind around them.
"It doesn't matter Soul Min!" another voice screamed, "Just kill this damn thing! Talk later!"
Kirito looked at the boy who had questioned him. He was average in height and rather thin, he had a messy mope of black hair alongside with long bangs covering his eyes which were a sharp blue. He was dressed in leather combat armour with black wings fluttering behind him to keep him afloat. His sword looked like it had seen better days, those edges were worn down. He watched as they rushed back into the fray, with him closely behind careful as the bosses second health slowly disappeared before shattering. It let out a enraged scream just as an orange glow shattered against its back and chopped off the last of its health. The scales suddenly glowed as though it was being heated, pieces flaking off like molten rock that set the trees ablaze where it touched. The skeleton of the boss visible as the flesh turned transparent. It looked like the boss was going supernova.
"Get back!" Kirito yelled over the wind, however his cry came too late.
The outer-shell of the boss exploded in all directions sending super heated scales like projectiles that ripped through anyone who hadn't fled. He watched as one person's life hit zero, watched as their [Final Stand] mode was killed by another flying piece before they could even reach him. Kirito watched in shock and horror as it suddenly snapped its head around, devouring another member whole before letting out an ear piercing screech that blasted all players away. It slunk into the trees, leaving fire burning like an obvious tell tale whilst other people tried to fly away screaming. He watched as one persons wings expired, watched as he fell like a rock just as the Flying Apophis snatched him into its maw before disappearing into the trees once more. Then he saw it, the red glow underneath a forest surface of green turning towards him before advancing at alarming speeds.
He launched himself up, swinging his blades around and activating Blade Whirl. It was another Sword Skill he had made in his Grimoire that consisted of him twisting his body and swinging his swords around at great speeds, it was mainly an agility based attack that was further boosted with his wings activated. As the field boss burst forth from the treetops Kirito spun towards it, the momentum from the spin allowing to easily dodge the snapping mouth despite its ginormous head as he sliced down at it whilst he passed. His black wings were humming out behind him as he cut a blow into the house sized monster head. His eyes flickered to the health bar and saw to his great amazement a large chunk of it disappearing; the monster must have sacrificed defence for offence.
The Beta Tester quickly dashed forward, lunging to the side when the Flying Apophis let loose a torrent of wind rushing forth from its mouth. As he passed by the large red eyes of the monster, those black dilated pupils staring at him, he swung his swords as they glowed a black and red colour, cutting it and making the monster go blind in one eye. He quickly flipped over the head, stabbing his left sword into it as he went leaving a large amount of damage from the piercing attack. His right blade came up with a swing of green leaving another red slice that exposed the crisscrossing of white lines under the very real looking skin. The beast shrieked as it went blind, the status appearing near its health circle on its back. Kirito flew back, swinging the black sword in his right hand behind him as he got ready to use one of the Martial Art skills of the [Seido] Kingdom under [Dueling].
Its name was Blades Beckoning and had the special effect of drawing the user to the blade as they held out their hand to it. He felt the immediate tug of the low level blade imbedded on the monsters head and immediately compacted his body and wings to allow the free fall down, he spun as he did so dodging the lashing body of the boss monster. Just before he hit into the Flying Apophis head he unfurled his wings from his back and used it to make him spin an entire circle; his black blade flashed out in an arch and cut firmly into the monsters neck depleting the last of the field bosses health and causing it to glow bright white before exploding into a shatter of blue polygons. The congratulations screen popped up before him along side the loot he had gotten from it. He sighed as his wings helped him flutter back to the treetops, the fire had disappeared along with the monsters death and he saw the party that had attempted to fight it standing there. They looked at him with a mixture of awe and fear, eyes questioning to what he had done.
"How did you do that?" one asked, they were huddled down against the trees, Kirito waited as his vision disappeared through the treetops, his eyes adjusting to the gloom underneath those roof of leaves. They were spread out across the branches, each hanging tightly with whitened knuckles to the branches. He looked around and counted ten, four had died while he was there but how many more had perished before he had arrived? If only he had been faster, stronger, better.
"You were in the Beta Test." it wasn't a question, it was a statement made by their leader. If Kirito remembered correctly there was a current hatred brewing against Beta Testers.
"Yes I was." Kirito replied, his voice even and smooth as he looked impassively at the remaining survivors.
"I hope you take no offense in this, I am grateful that you have saved the lives of myself and my comrades, but we will not linger around you more than necessary." Soul Min said, "We have no yearn to associate with you or your kind."
Kirito simply nodded, his wings extending out behind him as he suddenly burst into the air with a large amount of speed that sent trees and winds flapping away in the wind. He was not a social person and their obvious distaste towards him made the yearn to stay negligible.
As he flew he opened up his inventory to look at the new [Last Hit Bonus] item. It was a leaf shaped sword crafted from the blackest of materials at a length of five feet, along the blade itself there were many grooves that all linked towards a singular gem in the hilt. The grip was made of golden metal with grooves for his fingers and imbedded with strange snake designs that showed a giant serpent devouring the sun. The name of the blade Bane of Apophis. The stats on this weapon were indefinitely high enough for him to use in conjunction alongside his current Beta sword. It also had a special effect that intrigued him a lot.
[This Sword is forged from the very teeth of Apophis, a great serpent who is destined to devour the Sun at the end of times. As such this item has the capability of sundering through armour (passive) and applying a powerful poison based on per hit (active).]
Kirito grinned as he equipped the sword, the blade fit perfectly into his hands with a nice weight that allowed him to play to the style he was use to. This would make the perfect complimentary blade in his left hand. He quickly Pm'ed Argo to inform her that he would be attending the Boss Meeting.
They have to clear this boss before they are allowed to move on into the World Stage. Beta Tester or not he would help this world return to their families.