Meisters

Chapter 4: Team

[OFFLINE]

After the man left, I copied the whole guide and printed it out. The rest of the night I was studying the guide, hungrily reading it over and over again so I could remember every little detail. I have to be prepared to go inside of the game tomorrow. I want to learn his name. Who was he? He certainly was one of those who camped outside of the store to get this game since he is very high levelled by the look of his gear, the more art craft on the armor, the higher level on the meister. His were all in black, a very skillfully sown long leather jacket with belts hugging his hips. A black shirt with grey chains wrapped around his chest and black pants. He had black army boots has a grey metal piece covering the toes. By the judge of the guide, he was very much very skilled player and had been playing this game for a very long time.

There is no doubt that I will see him again. He obviously has to play a lot and I'm determined to find him and thank him properly for saving me. If he didn't show up, then my character would have been deleted.

Friday came and I walk through the corridors still reading the guide. Today I'm going to find some Kishins and I'm going to start build up my skill tree. I have the right settings I want for my character. The first thing I will do is head over to the newbie area where the weak Kishins are.

"Maka!" Instead of turning around and waiting for Tsubaki, I slow down my pace and keep walking with my eyes glued to the guide. "Wait up!" She yells again and runs up to me. "Why didn't you wait for me?" Tsubaki's eyes wander to the bunt of paper I'm reading. "What is that?" She leans over my shoulder and reads it. "Wait! This is the guide to Meisters! Why do you have it?" Tsubaki gasps loudly. "Have you bought the game?!"

I shake my head and put the guide into my backpack. "No. My parents thought I needed something to lighten up with and mama sent it to me. So I tried it out and quite frankly I liked it." Even though I didn't do much inside of the game. All I really did was get lost in it and got saved by that man in black. I wonder who he really is. His eyes were so red and his hair so white. How did he even get those teeth? I don't think I saw any teeth like that in the character selection menu.

"Yes!" Tsubaki jump up into the air with joy. "Then we can all play together! As soon as you have done track you are going straight home and we are going to play! Black*Star and I can help you with the basics and we can become a dream team!"

The man in black had recommended me to find a team to play with. I wonder why. The guide had also recommended me to find a team to play with but it never gave me a reason. All it said was "you won't be safe as an alone meister." What will I be in danger off? More Kishins like the ones I met yesterday?

I nod and give Tsubaki a large smile. "Yeah. I would love to." I clutch my bag close to me. "I will text you when I get home." I wave toward Tsubaki and walks inside of the changing room.

Surprisingly, track took so much longer than it usually did. Usually I'm focused and the time just flew away, but now, my mind wanders. All I can think of is Meisters and the mysterious savior of mine. He had a scary appearance, but he was very nice toward me. He saved me and even used a revival crystal on me and by the judge of the guide, those are expensive. I wonder why he used one on me. With just a few more seconds and I would have been teleported back to the town, but instead he spent one on me and helped me get back to town. He did awfully lot for me just so I could get back to town. He said I helped him get what he wanted. Was he talking about the Kishins, the one that could delete a character if they ate you? Why would he want something from them? He said it was an event but what could the possibly have dropped?

I couldn't stop thinking about him. He mysteriously came to my rescue and quickly disappeared with a teleport crystal. He moved so mysteriously and even his face and personality is mysterious. I like it. If I don't find an answer immediately, I'm going to search for one. I never give up on a challenge and the man in black is definitely a good challenge.

Track ended and without even changing into my ordinary clothes, I grab my bag and run home toward my apartment. As I run I send a text to Tsubaki that I'm on my way home and asking her where I'm supposed to meet her and Black*Star.

As I slam the front door shut and locks it behind me, my phone buzzes and it is Tsubaki. "Great! Log in. Me and Black*Star will find you inside of the Death City. I bet you haven't travelled into a different one."

Immediately I reply. "Yes. I'm in Death City. My name is Maka inside of the game." I put my phone away and start my laptop. While my laptop starts I change into my pajama and lays down on the bed. I put my Rift Head Gear and start the game.

[ONLINE]

I let out a loud scream as I found myself falling through the familiar pipe. The pipe decays into glowing blue sand and I hit the ground again, this time, I didn't hit my butt. I manage to still stand on my two feet even if it was hard to regain my balance from the fall.

I look up in the sky and I see other players fall from the sky, the difference is they made a front flip before they skillfully lands on their feet. That's very cool.

"Maka!" I hear my name being called and I turn around to find a woman with long raven hair running up to me. She throws her arms around me and hugs me tightly. "Oh you look so cute in your outfit!" She pulls away from me and looks me up and down. Surprisingly, Tsubaki doesn't look like me. She isn't wearing a green skirt or a vest. She is wearing something else entirely. Her beautiful raven hair is let down from her usual ponytail and on her head she wears a silver band with a jewel on her forehead. She wears a long blue― almost grey looking dress with strings which show off her even bigger chest! Her dress stops at her feet and on her back I see a magic staff. So she is building herself to be a wizard.

"I thought you got the game yesterday." I state.

Tsubaki nods. "I did." She moves aside and there stands Black*Star. I think. "Black*Star helped me level so I could start building my character into a support character."

Black*Star looks different somehow. His hair is still blue but not in the usual spikes of him. His hair is quite long and goes down to his jaw. It is combed backwards and he is wearing a white tank top along with blue pants. Around his neck is a white scarf and in a holster on his hip is a katana.

"Hey!" Black*Star says and raises his hand. "I thought you would use a different name. This is an online game after all."

I raise my eyebrow. "Huh? Change my name? The game asked my name and I gave my name."

Tsubaki giggles while she covers her mouth. "Maka, you are supposed to protect your identity. In videogames you are someone else entirely. You aren't supposed to talk about real life. That is an unspoken rule in the world of gaming."

Now when she says it, I see above Tsubaki's head it says "Camellia" and above Black*Star's head it says… "Black*Star."

"Then how come Black*Star has his real name?"

Black*Star snorts. "Because I'm a god! Everybody has to know my name! I'm this game's god after all!" He laughs loudly.

Oh boy. What did I get myself into? Am I really supposed to play alongside Black*Star? He is just so… so… Obnoxious! His god attitude and his… damn loud mouth! How am I supposed to learn how to play with him with me? He will be so self-absorbed it is ridiculous.

"Oh!" Tsubaki says and quickly get her menu up. A screen appears in front of her and a few clicks later, two screens appear in front of me.

"Friend request by Camellia" and "Party invite from Camellia."

I raise my eyebrow and Tsubaki smiles wide. "Go ahead and accept them."

Slowly I nod and accept both of them before I get another friend request from Black*Star. Hesitantly I accepted his friend request. In the top left corner I could see my HP bar along with my MP bar. Underneath mine is Tsubaki's― I mean Camellia's and Black*Star's.

"Let's go and hunt. We will help you get started on your skill tree. We need to boost you up before we can move on to harder Kishins." Camellia says and grabs my hand. "There is a great newbie place just outside of the city. Come one!" Camellia drags me out of Death City while Black*Star walks proudly beside us. I have a feeling this is going to be a long day of gaming.

I was right.

"Maka! You can't run away from the Kishin!" Camellia yells at me while I run with a Kishin chasing me. It's very cute but with its pointy teeth and hideous eyes, it is not cute anymore. "Turn around and hit it with your sword! You don't have to worry! I can heal you!"

I don't follow Camellia's advice. I breathe heavily and fast while I keep running. "How am I supposed to fight it?!" I had read the guide on how to fight monsters, but now when I'm about to put my skills to the test, I'm failing for the first time. "It isn't easy attacking something that is attacking me!" I yell frighten while I hear the small stubs claw-like branches scratches the ground.

Camellia sighs loudly while she shakes her head.

"YAHOO!" Black*Star hollers and jumps in front of the Kishin and kills it quickly with a slash of his ninja sword. He stands tall and rests his sword on his shoulder. "Another kill for the might Black*Star!"

"Black*Star." Camellia sighs. "That was supposed to be Maka's kill. We are trying to help her learn the basics. Remember?"

"Oh Right!" He points his nose up in the air. "I knew it. I just wanted her to see a god in action."

Riiiiight. That was exactly what he wanted to do. Not. Damn show off.

"Try to take the next one." Camellia says and points toward another tree-like Kishin. "It is a level one monster. It is an easy one. You won't die even if it hits you twenty times. Take your time and try to kill it on your own this time." Camellia narrows her eyes and looks at Black*Star. Even though she has a very mean look on her eyes, she smiles sweetly toward him. "And this time, let Maka have try to kill it."

The Kishin notices me and starts to wobble toward me. I grip my sword in both of my hands. It almost feels like I will break the handle.

"When it gives you an opening, swing your sword at it." Camellia says from behind me.

The Kishin comes closer to me and I take a deep breath. My heart is racing in my chest and my palms are sweaty. This is just a game. I shouldn't be this nervous and afraid. The Kishin do look very real. I can almost smell the leaves on the Kishin's branches.

The Kishin let out a little pitiful growl and it leaps toward me. Quickly I step aside from the Kishin's way it gives a cute horrified look as it falls on the ground beside me. I swing my sword at it repeatedly before the Kishin's HP turns to zero. The Kishin turns into the blue glowing sand before it disappears entirely. Left behind by the Kishin is a small chest. My experience bar starts filling up with the experience I got from killing the Kishin. I open the chest and at the bottom is a little gold along with a little bright red healing crystal.

From behind me I hear Camellia applauding. I grab my things from the chest and put it in my inventory.

I smile wide toward Camellia and jumps on the spot in joy. "I did it."

Camellia smiles wide. "Yeah, now do it again. When you get better at fighting we can move on to harder monster and we can really starts buffing up your skills."

Camellia is right. As soon as I got confident killing Kishins, I had already levelled up to level three and received three skill points. Black*Star and Camellia offered to help me put them into my skill tree but I was more than happy to do it myself. I used my own head and calculated what the certain skills and abilities would do to my character. The first step into making my character into what I want Maka to be is by putting my skill points at Strength and Defense. Who knew I would follow the man in black's advice at first, then again, I did follow all his advices.

We ended up going to tougher areas where the Kishins were beyond my level. I was the main soldier while Black*Star was my back-up if I needed the help. Camellia was always ready to heal me repeatedly every time I got hit. By hunting Kishins this way, my level was raising sky high and I quickly turned better and better with the help of my teammates.

Playing with Camellia and Black*Star wasn't so bad.