Chrome's eyes slowly opened and he slid out of his bed, his bare feet thudding softly on the wooden floor. He gazed around his bedroom and smiled a little as he stood up and equipped everything he needed to. As he stepped out into the hallway there was a knock on the front door. He strode across the house and opened the door to find a familiar male figure on the other side.
His green eyes peered into Chrome's home and his blue ponytail fluttered about in the wind. He was dressed in a pair of grey slacks and a long-sleeved black shirt. His armour consisted of a hardened leather breastplate with matching arm bracers and boots. Hanging from his left hip was a long dagger in its sheath. Above his avatar was a name that read Kotetsu.
"Man, it's been a while since I've been on huh?" Tatsuya's avatar asked as Chrome invited him inside.
"Over a week," Chrome replied.
"Yeah that sounds about right. Your new gauntlets and spaulder look cool," Kotetsu said.
"Thanks, I got them made for me."
Kotetsu took a quick look around the house before sitting down on the three-seater couch that Chrome had placed in the lounge room. Chrome himself sat in one of the armchairs.
"Man, this sure beats hanging around at inns. All this must have cost a fair bit, I mean this floor is almost halfway up Aincrad," Kotetsu commented, spreading out on the couch.
"It cost over half the money I'd saved up. I'm almost broke now after getting a new sword as well," Chrome explained. Kotetsu raised an eyebrow at the mention of a new weapon and Chrome got to his feet, drawing the Amethyst Edge.
"Now that my good sir, is a nice sword," Kotetsu said with a nod of approval. There was another knock at the door and Chrome sheathed his sword. "That would be our teacher I believe." The two walked to the door and Chrome opened it to reveal Arcadia standing on the other side.
"Good afternoon children," Arcadia said, entering the house. The three entered the lounge room with Arcadia sitting on the long couch with Kotetsu. "This is a nice place."
"Thanks. So tell us more about this rumour you heard," Chrome said, looking at Arcadia. The older woman nodded and began to talk.
"I checked my source again before logging in and apparently the rumour has been confirmed by at least two parties so there's a good chance it's legit. From what I've heard it seems to be a wolf type enemy with three goblin types assisting it," Arcadia explained.
"So four enemies in total… do you think we can really do this with just three of us?" Kotetsu asked, rubbing his chin.
"Apparently if you can split the enemies up they're not overly difficult to beat. So if I handle two of the goblins, you handle one and Chrome keeps the wolf busy we should be able to pull it off."
"Sure… give me the main one," Chrome commented.
"Well you are the highest level out of the three of us," Arcadia said. Chrome shrugged and leaned back into his chair.
"So where exactly does the group spawn?" Kotetsu asked.
"It's a cave-like dungeon on floor nine. A suitable home for such monsters I suppose. Well enough chit-chat, shall we get going before the rumour spreads more and the area is flooded with people?" Arcadia asked, getting to her feet. Chrome and Kotetsu both nodded and the former invited the other two into a party.
The group left Chrome's house and made their way to the teleport gate plaza. From there they went all the way down to floor nine and eventually arrived at the entrance to the cave dungeon.
"Man, that took forever," Kotetsu groaned, leaning against the mountain the cave led into.
"Still a ways to go yet. Being on floor nine though, this dungeon shouldn't be too deep," Chrome said, drawing his sword and walking inside. Kotetsu and Arcadia drew their weapons and followed along behind.
The monsters in the cave were no challenge for the party as they made their way to the deepest section of the cave. As they arrived at the massive stone door to the boss chamber, Chrome and his allies stopped, their weapons ready. Leaning against the door was a figure dressed in a full set of hardened leather armour, a purple cape hanging from his neck. His arms were folded over his chest and a katana hung from his hip. Chrome looked over him quickly but he was unable to see the DGamer mark.
"Yo, why're you just standing there?" Kotetsu called out, walking towards the figure.
"For the same reason you would be had you all arrived before me," the swordsman replied in a level voice. His sapphire eyes opened and we stood up straight.
"What do you mean?" Arcadia asked, putting her axe on her back.
"I'm going to guess you can't enter the room without a party of at least four people," Chrome said, looking over at the stranger.
"That would be a correct guess," he replied.
"So you've just been standing around here waiting for three people to arrive?" Kotetsu asked, raising an eyebrow. The swordsman nodded. "Wow… you clearly have nothing better to do with your time," Kotetsu said with a grin.
"Say what you will, would you be willing to allow me to join you? You can call me Vakross," the caped swordsman said, brushing long purple hair from his eyes.
"Well we're not getting in if we don't so I can't see a problem with it," Chrome replied.
"I take it whoever kills the boss gets the drop?" Vakross asked. Chrome nodded as he sent him a party invite. "That's fair enough. I joined your party so I'll take on one of the goblins to begin with, that should be fair."
"Right. Kotetsu, you and Arcadia handle the other two while I keep the wolf busy then," Chrome instructed, placing his hand on the stone door. There was a few seconds of delay before it opened. The four players proceeded in and the door closed behind them.
The scene that greeted them was not what they had expected. They had gone from narrow, stone corridors to a large circular cavern with a floor covered by sand. Random patches of grass and foliage could be seen growing around the cavern. The roof was wide open, allowing a view of the clear sky as the afternoon sun shone in. A small campfire was burning in the centre of the area with three small, green creatures sitting around it. Behind them lay a massive black shape, its chest slowly rising and falling.
The three goblins spotted the newcomers almost immediately and jumped to their feet, screaming in some incomprehensible language and brandishing pitchforks. Their cries caused the wolf to awaken, standing up on only its hind legs, easily being several metres tall. Chrome's eyes widened and he blink a few times, staring at the massive creature that was called The Black Fury. Its four HP bars came into view and it let out a mighty roar.
"Yeah so, you have fun with that!" Kotetsu called far too eagerly in Chrome's opinion as he charged towards one of the Cavern Gobs. Arcadia gave Chrome a tap on the shoulder as she brandished her axe and ran at another. Vakross strode past Chrome, drawing his katana and twirling it around in his hand.
"Such supportive allies," the blue haired young man said.
"Bunch of traitors more like," Chrome muttered as he ran towards the wolf. There was a hiss as he drew the Amethyst Edge. "Bring it on your overgrown fur ball!" Chrome roared, leaping into the air.
Arcadia's axe caught the sunlight as it tore through the air, smashing into the Cavern Gob. The smaller creature staggered back for a moment, a good chunk of one of its two HP bars depleted. Arcadia and the monster exchanged blows a few times, bringing her HP down to almost half. A thrust attack from the goblin caused her to drop into the yellow. "Tough little critter, aren't you?" she said, jumping back. The Cavern Gob only had a little over a quarter of its second gauge left, Arcadia knew this next attack would finish it.
The green monster leapt into the air with a psychotic squeal and Arcadia grinned. She pulled her axe back, holding it out to her side. The whole weapon began to glow green as her Full Smash skill began to trigger. She swung her axe with all her strength and the large weapon smashed into the small monster. There was a second where nothing happened and then the Cavern Gob was thrown into the wall of the area and shattered into pixels. "Alright, time to help Chrome," Arcadia said as she claimed her rewards.
Kotetsu was crouched low with his heavy, black bladed dagger held high as the Cavern Gob circled him. He could hear it sniggering every now and then as it hopped between its small legs. As the monster came close, the blade of Kotetsu's dagger went purple and flicked out, his Viper Bite attack striking home. The goblin hissed and tried to run but Kotetsu quickly followed up with a flurry of quick and precise blows, each one eating away at his opponent's HP gauges.
"You're nothing!" Kotetsu called out, dragging the heavy blade of his dagger across the goblin's body. The bright stream of data opened up from the attack bled out pixels as the dagger user rammed his weapon into the open wound, ending the Cavern Gob's life. "Heh, I've still got it," Kotetsu said with a grin, running towards The Black Fury.
"You think you've got a chance against me? That's cute," Vakross remarked as his opponent sped towards him, pitchfork in hand. Vakross took the attack head on, his HP going down slightly before he followed up with a fast, upwards slash. Having caught the Cavern Gob off guard, the attack took off almost half its first gauge. A quick double slash depleted that gauge and a powerful arc took away almost half of the second. The goblin launched several last ditch attacks that depleted a decent amount of Vakross' HP but a final combo from the swordsman ended the fight.
"Weak," he said, turning and heading for the wolf.
Although he'd thought that he would weaken The Black Fury a good amount before his allies came to assist him, the reality for Chrome had been quite different. He had spent most of the fight so far dodging and blocking the boss' attacks while only managing to launch a few counterattacks.
Chrome panted as he leapt back now, almost half of his HP gone and the durability of his shield reduced significantly. He tightened his grip on his sword and charged forth. He raised his arm, a swipe from The Black Fury glancing off his shield. Two loud roars resounded through the cavern as Chrome drove his sword blade into the wolf's thigh. He pulled it out and quickly turned his sword around, holding it backwards as the blade went golden.
Arcadia quickly scanned the situation, there was no way Chrome would have enough time for his attack to trigger. The Black Fury was already preparing to attack. "Cover him!" the axe-wielding woman yelled, leaping into the air and striking the monster's upper arm.
"Roger that!" Kotetsu called, his high speed stat enabling him to reach The Black Fury swiftly and unleash a barrage of quick strikes upon its leg. Vakross moved without a word, getting around behind the boss and bringing his sword down, severing the end of its tail. There was a loud roar that echoed through the cavern and then Chrome attacked.
"Raising Burst!" he yelled out, leaping up The Black Fury, delivering a powerful blow with each jump. A series of long gashes opened along the body of the boss, data spewing from them as Chrome leapt from the beast's chest and came face-to-face with it. "Bite me," Chrome said as his final attack began. He spun his sword around above his head several times before driving it down between the eyes of his opponent.
As Chrome pulled the sword free, he fell to the sand with a heavy thud, watching as the last of the boss' HP fell away and the creature exploded. The repeated attacks from Chrome's allies as he scaled The Black Fury's body had been enough to cause his skill to finish it off. He glanced up at his HP gauge, it was just over a quarter now, not too bad he thought to himself.
Arcadia, Kotetsu and Vakross approached Chrome after receiving their shares of the spoils. "Get anything good for killing it?" Kotetsu asked. Chrome nodded, bringing up his menu.
"Problem is, it's not something I use though," he said, making a screen of his inventory public. Arcadia's eyes went wide and he could have sworn he saw her drool a little when she saw the name Axe of Fury. A small smirk came across the sword and shield user's face. "I'll trade it to you when we get out of here."
"Well thanks for letting me join you guys, that fight was fun," Vakross said, heading for the cavern door.
"Hey, do you mind if I add you to my friends? I wouldn't mind going on a quest with you again sometime," Chrome called out. Vakross gave a thumbs up, taking out a teleport crystal with his other hand as he left the cavern. As Chrome looked away, he vanished.
"Well let's get back to your place, I need a rest," Kotetsu groaned, ambling towards the door. Chrome nodded agreement and the three exited the cavern.
"Teleport, Lindas!" they all called, holding their teleport crystals high.