/*Author's notes
Warning, three characters are appearing from the manga that aren't in the anime (as of 12th feb 2014 at least) and this chapter kind of assumes you know them. Sorry about that.
I should have mentioned earlier that the group are currently Second Years in the University they got in to (since Azusa (a first year) is there.)
This fan fiction is derived from 'K-ON! Continued!" so characters (OC and from the Manga) from there may return.
I now have a cover photo! The desserts were from a cruise around Europe (I had the swiss roll, though I think they called it a Mercedes for some reason…)
To think I had this chapter for almost a month before publishing it… Sorry 'bout that.
Also, this chapter uploaded without any new lines. And NO ONE TOLD ME... A quick message would get me to sort it out! Doesn't any one care? *Angry face*
*/
/*Disclaimer
I do not own the following songs:
Hall of Fame by The Script
I do not own the following games
Borderlands (1&2)
I took some ideas from their weapon manufacturers, most notably Tediore.
*/
"It's underground!" shouted Elizabeth. She fired a few arrows, destroying the remaining aerial bugs that annoyed them. "Be careful." Behind her, the archers hid in the cover between the buildings on the look out.
Zack stood his ground in the open, waiting for the enemy. There was a rumble beneath his feet and before he could react, the worm burst out the ground, sending him into the air. One health bar left beside the boss' name, "The Mother."
"Zack!" the Archer called out and readied her bow. Taking advantage, she sent a full Burst shot at the creature, all the arrows striking the head of the boss and the word 'critical' popped up forty nine times.
Zack twisted in the air, slightly damaged but mostly unharmed. He aimed his spear downwards. "Diving Strike!" The Mother was retreating back to the safety of the earth but Zack sent the spear into the creature, creating a shockwave that blew Elizabeth to the side. Before she could recover, the boss had already fled and they anticipated the next attack.
Suddenly, the tentacles were back, striking at unaware archers and restricting them. The feelers aimed at the arms of their targets, preventing them from attacking. Before Zack could try and help, The Mother was attacking, knocking him to the side.
Mio felt a surge of hopelessness again, just like the time she failed against the Toblin. Elizabeth fired, aiming at the boss.
No, I'll do this, Mio thought. Her will resolved, she cast the Burst ability, causing more damage to the boss. As it disappeared, she turned around to free her allies, letting her Burst buff help cut them loose from the tentacles. Some of her comrades had died but she told them to stand in the open. The buildings were preventing the team from helping each other.
Another grumble beneath their feet, Elizabeth darted to the side, avoiding the boss itself. It seemed to find the girl a bigger threat now. "Pierce!" and Zack stabbed his spear into the side of the creature. It's health dropped to yellow, half way. "We're almost there, keep it up!" As the worm dived back into the ground, the back end of it, its tail, flicked upwards. Chunks of earth were sent into the air and the archers panicked, running around to avoid the falling debris. Then, the tentacles were back, restricting movement as the soil landed on them.
"This is ridiculous!" shouted one of the archers before he died.
"Burst!" and she smashed some of the bits of earth before they hit her allies. Before she could shoot at the tentacles, the boss grumbled beneath her and before she knew it, she was launched into the air.
"Elizabeth!" shouted Zack and jumped after her. In mid air, he caught the surprised girl. "Come on, don't go dying on me." Awkwardly, he pulled out a potion and put it to her mouth. She blushed but didn't resist.
Down below, the rest of the archers were decimated, sucked into the ground by tentacles and the raging 'Mother'. It had already hidden before Zack could counter attack so he changed his fall. To protect the girl in his arms, he threw her to the side onto the roof of a building before he hit the ground.
"Zack!" she called out as he stood back up, ready.
"Stay on the building, it's safe there. Watch out for tentacles!" Elizabeth nodded, standing in fighting position on the roof. She drank another health potion just in case as the fall had damaged her. Then, Zack jumped to the side. He raised his spear into the air with both hands. "Sunder!" he cried, slamming it into the ground just as the boss was approaching.
"Burst!" Mio mimicked, raining arrows down. The boss dropped into red. As it dived, the tail end struck Zack, knocking him down. He rolled, avoiding the falling earth and tentacles that tried to grab at him. The worm, faster, angrier than before, lunged at the fallen warrior. Elizabeth was running before she realised it, diving off the building towards her comrade and drawing seven arrows at once.
"Burst!" she screamed, sending all the arrows into the head of the creature. With an explosion, the boss burst into hundreds of gleaming stars, dead. She landed, falling to the floor out of breath.
"Elizabeth, are you okay?" cried out Zack, taking out a health potion and feeding it to her. She took it from him instead before the bottle met her lips.
Mio looked at her mana. "Zero per cent huh?" she commented as her avatar gulped down the liquid in hearty gulps.
A message appeared before her. "Congratulations! You have claimed a territory!"
"It still amazes me," said Tainaka standing on the 'ring.' Giitar and the mage stood on the hill and gazed at the capital city. This time, the stairs up to the city was completely filled as players marched up and down to and from the capital. Some carried massive backpacks of wares; others were armed to the teeth. The pair joined the crowd heading up.
Inside was even more stuffed as many of the players in the MMO had set up shop. Ritsu's and Yui's screens was filed with text, shouting over on top of each other in order to be heard, each claiming to be cheaper than the last. Soon, the pair made it to the square where some music met their ears.
"Oh, that's new," commented Ritsu about the sounds. At the centre were some musicians by the fountain. They were doing a cover of 'Hall of Fame' by 'The Script.' The three girls were really good and Ritsu was particularly attracted to the drummer, sharing some kind of synergy. They were even taking in money as they busked, people throwing money into the guitar case of the guitarist and singer of the band.
"It's Akira!" shouted Yui, running up to the front. "Ritsu, look! It's Akira! And Ayame and Sachi!" The band didn't stop playing but they sent a message.
"What are you guys doing here? And it's Rosalie!" They noticed a slight mistake in Akira's singing and realised she was singing live somehow. They waited patiently, waiting for the song to finish and applauded politely when it ended. Before they could get a chance to talk, requests were sent at the band and the two girls were pushed away by the crowd.
"Thank you Elizabeth for your hard work today." The veteran nodded at the member of the party. "I would like to formally invite you into our guild, the Lion Hearts." Mio paused, thinking about it. Elizabeth waited for her orders, hoping she would say yes.
"Sorry, but I have some friends that I need to be with. Maybe next time?" She had no idea what a guild was but she would rather be with her friends. Mio couldn't wait to tell her story to the others. She ran it through her head, deciding to skip out the part where Zack had intimately fed her a potion.
"But you won't get any of the territory bonuses!" replied one of the mages, the healer.
Mio, "What do they do?"
"Basically a lot of money, some free stuff and cheaper shopping in this area." Elizabeth didn't particularly enjoy the territory very much. It was a wasteland filled with bugs and worms. What was not to like? she thought sarcastically.
"No thanks. I levelled up a lot though and I had a lot of fun." Elizabeth bowed with grace. "Thank you for having me."
Zack stepped forwards. "Then you can have some of my share of the loot. You did save the day after all."
"You'll do well, kid," said the Veteran as Mio looked at the money she had just received. It was much more than she could accept but Zack kept blocking her request to return it. "If you ever want to come back, we'll be waiting." Suddenly, Mio was bombarded with friend requests. Without thinking, she accepted them all, not wanting to appear rude.
"By the way, did you get anything from finishing off that boss before?" asked Zack.
Mio checked her inventory and was faintly surprised. "Yes, an egg."
Everyone gasped. "Wow, that's amazing!" Elizabeth's confused face had them explain she was going to get a pet. Surprised once more, the raven-haired girl thought about the idea of having a pet.
"It won't be a bug or worm, will it?" asked Mio. She had had enough of them.
"It's fairly random, but probably not. Good luck raising it. You'll need an incubator for it though." As they explained the pet mechanics, Zack was talking to Elizabeth. "What colour is the egg?"
"White with some spots." He shook his head, asking whether there was a star on it. "Yes, a silver one."
He smiled. "That's a very rare egg then. Keep it safe." With that, he leaned in and gave Elizabeth a kiss in the cheek. She didn't react for a few moments, save for blushing a deep, deep red.
"See you later then," he said and left.
The Prince soldiered through the land, slowly taking out monsters as she made her way towards the capital. The swampy land she was in didn't help as the slimes and strange plant like creatures snared and slowed her down. As a Guard, her offensive abilities were un-invested so her standard attacks were taking a long time to kill a monster. She kept her resolve though, taking little damage whilst she smashed her sword down onto the monsters.
"Hey, need a hand?" said a voice, calling Mugi. She glanced backwards to see a tall, blonde man staring at her. "You've been there for twenty minutes. That's enough time for monsters to spawn again." The Prince didn't reply as Mugi received a party message. Glad for a friend, she accepted.
"Cool!" he shouted and pulled out a sniper rifle. "By the way, don't touch the lines my gun shoots, you'll shock yourself." And he pulled the trigger, the bullet piercing several monsters at once. Mugi could see the trail the bullet had left and it cackled with electricity.
"An electric gun?" she asked, using her Roar skill and attracting the monsters back to her.
"Yeah," he replied. "Level thirty Zeus manufactured Bolt action sniper rifle." There was a lot of pride in his voice and he fired again gaining a lot of criticals on the monsters. Before long, they cleared the area. The lines faded, letting Mugi approach and thank her rescuer. "No problem. You aren't a solo player though, what are you doing out here by yourself?" Mugi explained that she was heading to the capital to meet up with her friends. "You've got a long way to go, I'll help you out."
"No, no, I can't ask that from someone I just met!" He smiled back though.
"I'll just have to ask for compensation instead then." The Prince showed no reaction and neither did Mugi. "I'm joking. Just trying to loosen the mood, you know? My name is Jon, yours?"
"Prince Triton."
He paused. "Aren't you a girl though? Why does your avatar have a guy's name then?"
"Well," she began. "I was naming her after my keyboard but my keyboard is very masculine."
"Seems legit," he replied, not believing what he was saying. "Well, shall we hurry on then?"
As they walked, Mugi queried about his gun. "Oh this? I got is as a present from a friend who doesn't use guns." Mugi inquired about the name so he explained the manufacturers of the game. "Most weapons are made by a brand or player. The ones made by manufacturers are usually rare drops but you can by them from certain places. Anyway, the manufacturer called 'Zeus' made this gun and they make great magic weapons. A gun is a bit rare for them though. The Zeus bit is what caused that electric line." He sent an image of the weapon card to the Prince and she read it. "It saps my mana but I think it's worth it, especially as I'm not a mage."
"You're so lucky, I only have the set iron equipment."
He stopped in his tracks. "Wait, isn't that the stuff you get from the level ten gift box?" She nodded and his mouth hung open. "How have you survived for this long? Equipment is one of the most important aspects of this game!" It wasn't. Skill point allocation was much more important than equipment. He checked her level. Sixteen was much too high for level ten equipment. "Right, we're going shopping in the next town."
"Forestree village," Mugi read out as they entered, wondering who came up with such lame names.
"Sugoi!" The entire settlement was raised above the marshy ground in the trees. They climbed the ladders onto the wooden platform paths the people walked upon and they headed towards the nearest shop.
"This territory is currently owned by Desire/Disgust and they don't sell very good equipment…"
"I want this one!"
"Are you even listening?" He sighed and looked at the armour she was looking at. "Heavy plate, good. Made by Disgust, has a chance of causing blind to attackers. It's level thirty so it'll last." That was why it was so shiny and stood out from the rest of the equipment. Smiling, Mugi purchased it with the money she had just received from the monsters they just beat before.
"Thank you, Jon-san."
He flushed red. "No, no, it's fine. Just happy to help out a charming lady as yourself." His avatar thought otherwise since the Prince hadn't said a word since they met.
"Great, a mute," Jon's avatar thought.
Mugi equipped the armour and stood there shining, her armour sparkling even in the dim light inside the building. "What next?" she asked.
"A nice shield or sword would be good. That armour will probably last you past level thirty." They headed off, finding a good weapons shop. As Mugi fawned over the range of items, Jon patiently waited, occasionally dissuading the girl from buying useless things like a boomerang.
"What about this sword?" cried out Mugi, testing out something that she just picked up. Jon checked it out.
"It's made by Django who are pretty decent. They tend to be more flashy than useful though."
"What about this sword?" eyes sparkling.
"That's a Vopal, they make the best swords. Some of them can be thrown."
"How about this one? What does the ability do?"
She's like a child in a candy store, thought Jon and sighed. "Yeah, another Vopal sword. The ability, Return, summons the sword back to the user when thrown which can be pretty useful. It's a trait that most Vopal weapons have."
"I'll take it!" cried out Mugi.
"Think it through first."
"Oh," paused Mugi. "I don't have enough money." Even though it was a low level weapon, it cost fifteen thousand gold. "One moment." She messaged her friends. Suddenly, they each sent her the money, fifteen thousand each.
"Wow," said Jon. "You must have some great friends." He noted how quickly they each responded. "With that much money, you could buy the best weapon in the shop!" She couldn't, but Mugi toyed with the idea.
"But there is still other stuff I want to buy."
"It's better to buys one really good thing than lots of little things. Else, you'll end up replacing them all sooner than you think."
Eventually, Mugi bought an even more powerful Vopal sword, the throwing niche winning it over the other weapons. However, she didn't have enough money for anything else so they left hurriedly.
"To the capital!" Mugi cried, sweetly.
"Akira, what are you doing here?" shouted Yui, if she could shout via a text based message. She did so by sending it all in capitals.
"It's Rosalie, damn it! And turn off your caps lock."
"Neh, Rosalie," said Ritsu, "What are you guys doing here?"
They began introducing themselves. "My name is Yoshida," cried the Blonde, bashing her drums giving out a good solo. "My role is the healer but don't let my Fighter Monk skills catch you off guard!"
"Sacchan, at your service," said the bassist, copying her friend and pulled out a deep solo. "Sniping from long range with my gun."
"My name is Rosalie, the Ravager of our party," Rosalie finished the group. "Together, we are
"Gang of Girls!"
Yui applauded. "Ritsu, we need to come up with a cool pose like that too!" She began air guitar-ing. "I am a ninja, ready to rock your world for I am Giitar and much cuter than Rosalie!"
"What," the opposing guitarist shouted back. Ritsu left the two alone, staying out of the argument and began a meaningful conversation with the other two.
"Where did you get your instruments?"
Ayame, "We had them made for us. A GM, a game master, helped us out and got them from the tenth floor for us."
"We want instruments too," replied Ritsu.
"I have no idea how to play though," said Tainaka. "I'm a Mage, not an entertainer."
"Unfortunately, we find ourselves in that position," replied Rosalie. She gave a charming smile that clashed with the tough look Akira normally had. "Just go with the flow, and our masters play for us." Of course, Ritsu would have been shocked at the smile on Akira's face but Tainaka had never met Rosalie's player.
"That's not how you do it!" Yoshida cried over her comrade. "Bishi, Bashi and Boshi, that's whatcha you gotta do. Everything With Passion!" She demonstrated, the crazy drumming, smashing everything at full blast with a face of pure bliss. "Yargh!" It would take a skilled liar to say there was a beat in the noise; all of the avatars in the square covered their ears.
"Thank goodness the players can't hear that," replied Tainaka. "Otherwise, Yoshida, your master would disown you."
Tainaka paused, looking at the bassist and trying to judge her personality. She said nothing.
"That's boring," she commented. "Is she a mute?"
"That's a horrible thing to say!" cut in Rosalie. "She has feelings, just like we do."
"We have someone like her in our group too. She's called Prince Triton."
"That's a lovely name but it still isn't very nice to call people mutes just because they choose not to talk."
"That's right Tainaka!" Giitar pounced onto the mage, pulling her to the ground. "We must send our feelings to our handsome Prince and share our love together!"
"What is your avatar doing?" asked Akira, causing the conversation to pause uncertainly.
"Oh, Giitar always does that. Look, Giitar, go get Rosalie!" Like a puppy after a thrown stick, she bounded onto the guitarist with a massive hug. Tainaka, glad to be free, watched them all get along.
"Oh yeah, we need some help," she asked, catching their attention.
/*Author's notes
That felt long-winded to me. I'm going to cheer myself up with a bar scene then some fighting next chapter. It was difficult choosing names and personalities for the 'Gang of Girls.'
For some reason, each of the group had 15,000 gold to give to Mugi… I'm going to pretend that they had that legitimately and not due to some plot hole.
If you have played Borderlands 2 (Aged 18 game btw) then yes I have copied the idea of differing brands of equipment and items; in particular, as stated before in the disclaimers, the Vopal swords' copying Tediore in the form of returning to the owner. (If you haven't played, to reload a Tediore gun, you throw it at the enemy and it explodes like a grenade before returning to your hand fully loaded.)
Right, after this I'm going to stop putting in filler and get on with the tower.
*/
"That was amazing!" shouted Giitar, hugging onto their leader after her territorial battle story against worms and bugs. "I wish I had been there. It sounded really fun!"
"It wasn't. I almost got raped by those worms." She recalled how the healer was sucked into the ground before dying. "Not a fun thought." Giitar didn't seem disturbed by it and kept bouncing up and down.
"So Azu-nyan, what happened to you? You didn't even get off that mountain you spawned at."
Matador Tequila. She swirled the liquid in her glass. "I got lost." She drank.
"That reminds me of the time you ran into a pit," pointed out Tainaka. She put an arm around the little fighter, taking a swig from the pint in her hands. "That's so noob like."
"Yeah Azu-nyan." Giitar went onto her other side and put her arm around the girl. The cat girl was beginning to get uncomfortable as both the Mage and the Thief leaned on her. "You should really watch were you're going."
Azu-nyan, "Anyway, what are you going to do about that egg?" Elizabeth looked at the corner where an egg sat inside an incubator. She knew the girl was changing the subject but the potential pet was a concern for her.
"A bar really isn't the best place to raise a pet."
"Depends what kind of pet it is," replied Giitar, letting go of the cat girl (she sighed). "If it's a goblin it will feel right at home here!"
They heard a toilet flush in the background and Prince Triton appeared back in the room.
"Pri~ince!" she cooed. "You missed the entirety of Elizabeth's story with all the bugs and worms and death!" The guard managed to stop her face going green. "I'll tell you all about it on the way home." The Prince left right then, stepping out into the Internet.
"Aw…" but the Ninja chased after her out the door.
"Right, I'm off too," stated Tainaka. "Thanks for the drinks waiter." He nodded back, clearing up the table. Azu-nyan finished her drink, letting the waiter take the cocktail glass away.
"We're all different levels now," she pointed out. "That's going to be really annoying."
Elizabeth smiled. "I was lucky to go on that raid. I almost died several times though."
"I'm surprised you didn't. From what I could tell, you were under levelled."
"I was, wasn't I?" She dwelled on the thought, wondering why only she and Zack survived. "Well, the veteran died saving Zack so that's why he died but it doesn't explain why everyone else did."
"I heard something interesting today." Azu-nyan leaned on the table towards the leader. "Something about mutes being weaker." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at her inquisitively but she shook her head. "That's all I got. By the way, just because someone can talk doesn't mean they aren't a mute. It's something to do with sentient things." The girl got up to leave, thanking the waiter. "Makes me wonder about our Prince. Good night, Elizabeth."
The Archer noted something. "I think that's the most she's said in one go." The lights went out as Mio turned off her computer for the night.