Ch. 9

Clang! Thud! With a burst, the mob blew into a million shards. Stretching, I turned around to go back to the entrance. And froze. Standing in front of me stood a group of twenty players. Red players. Drawing my sword and jumping back in one move, I went into a fighting stance.

"Well well, what have we here?" the man in the front said.

"A front line clearer with dueling experience. I suggest you scram." I replied.

"Ohh, I have heard that one many a time. But they never seem to PROVE IT!" with a shout, the man drew his sword and charged. CLANG! I countered, severing his arm. Jumping back, he looked at me with new eyes.

"So maybe you do know what you are doing. Still I doubt you could face twenty people. ATTACK!" he shouted. The men around him started forward. But I was faster. Dodging between them, I sprinted past them. Spinning, I used a three-piece combo on the man in the back of the group, killing him. I killed two others before they even realized what was happening. As they charged in an attempt to surround me with overwhelming numbers, I jumped high, right over their heads. I killed another man before they began to surround me again. This was repeated twice more before they pulled back. Standing in a fighting stance, I twirled my sword, preparing it for the next sword skill. Then the mobs attacked. This is what I had been counting on.

"Surrender or die!" I yelled. Several men ran to me and dropped their swords. The rest fought until they were killed by the mobs. As they mobs attacked the men around me, I jumped over their heads and killed them. Turning around to the men on their knees, I said to get a TP crystal ready. Nodding, they all took one out.

"DIE YOU!" The leader screamed. He charged. Unprepared, I was slow to respond. Shit. If that blow landed, I would die. Suddenly, a white and red blur flew from my left side, blocking the sword with theirs. However, he recovered, at attacked, the girl who had jumped in was thrown back from the force of the hits. However, I also had recovered. Jumping in, we crossed swords twice, three times. Then in a gamble, the leader used a move that would kill me, but left him exposed. It paid off. Understanding the situation in the blink of an eye, I activated my final skill. My arm accelerated several hundred times, slicing through the man's chest in an instant. As the skill ended, I skidded to stop some twenty meters past the man. However, there was no man there. Instead a million shards floated upwards.

"What the hell was that."

Turning around, I saw Akira with a look of disbelief. The defeated men also had this look.

"What do you mean?"

"At the last moment… your sword… it almost looked like it teleported, but the light effect was there." she said quietly. I glanced at the men on the ground.

"You all, TP to the first floor dungeon." With a nod, they all TPed away.

"A unique skill, 'Bullet Speed'." I said.

"W-What does it do?"

"Makes the skill currently activated go several hundred times faster than normal."

"O-Ok. Well..uh..sorry I got in your way."

"You didn't, in fact, you saved my life. As I had no skill currently activated, my unique skill wouldn't have worked."

"Ohh. Then I guess you owe me favor then."

"Uhh, ya I guess"

"Ok! Go on a date with me."

"W-W-WHAT!" I exclaimed. I felt my cheeks get warm.

"I, well, what… SHIT!" Akira shrieked. She turned as though to run, but before she could I nabbed her.

"Calm down. And as to your request… yes." Akira instantly turned a very deep shade of red.

"Uh-h-h-h… t-thanks." With that, I grabbed her hand and started for the exit.

Author's Note: Sorry for missing yesterday's chapter, I got hit with a headache. I will try to make it up to you all this weekend. (Stories take so long to write, and then they are so short. What is with that?! xD)