Chapter 1: It’s a Small World for Us Gamers
Chapter 1: It’s a Small World for Us Gamers
“All right! Got it! We crushed this one, bro!”
The macho beastman on my screen struck a celebratory pose. With his appearance and brash manner of speaking, you’d never guess he was actually a she.
I’m not dense, I swear! It was pretty much an act of God! I thought to myself, looking at the macho-beast Akira on-screen.
“Nice job, Akira!”
After Unlimited World’s cutoff time, we decided to mess around in Eternal Fantasy. Lately, we’d been having so much fun with UW that we hadn’t even bothered playing EF. Today, however, there happened to be a limited-time event in EF, so it was the perfect time to hang out. The event was pretty ridiculous, requiring players to collect seven balls scattered all across the world in order to have their wishes granted.
Akira had just finished off a giant fish monster that swallowed one of the balls. The ball popped out of the monster’s corpse, bringing us to Akira’s aforementioned pose.
“Woo! Let’s get to the next one, Ren!”
“All right. The next one is...” Before I could finish, another player appeared on the beach.
Nope, not happening. That ball is ours, buddy.
Or so I’d normally say, except this player happened to be an acquaintance of ours. Her name was Snow, fitting of her icy-blue hair.
“Ooh, hey! It’s Ren and Akira! I haven’t seen you guys in a while!” This message popped up in my chat log, accompanied by Snow waving her hand excitedly.
“Whoa! Hi, Snow!”
“Heya, Snow! How have you been?”
Akira and I waved back.
“Peachy! Just kinda bored, you know? Without you two around, I don’t have any worthy opponents.”
Despite her cute appearance, Snow was actually a PvP addict; she loved beating up other players at every opportunity. In fact, she was famous in the PvP community. EF includes team battles, so we often used to team up with Snow and fight other players together. She was incredibly skilled, so these were great opportunities for me to try out new tricks. If a trick worked on Snow, then it’d probably work on just about anyone.
“Aw, sorry. We’ve been really busy.”
“You two-timing me with another game or something?”
“Well, something like that,” Akira said.
“Huh. Is the PvP fun? Do you think I’d like it?”
“It is, but the game isn’t released to the public yet. It’s called Unlimited World.”
Snow’s avatar stepped back with a little gasp. “No way! Did you two get into Yosei Academy?!”
It was my turn to be surprised. “What?! How do you know about it?!”
“Umm, I’m a student there!”
“Whoa!”
“Seriously?!” Akira and I were shocked. To be fair, though, Yosei Academy was pretty much paradise for gaming addicts like us. It was only natural some of our friends would be there too. I mean, even Yano was an EF player.
The gaming world sure is small, huh? Still, I’m surprised someone so close to us turned out to be another Yosei student.
“Are you two first-years? I’m Yukino Yamamura, a third-year student! Come find me in class 3-C.” Well, that would explain her character’s name—“yuki” translates to “snow,” after all.
She’s really a girl, huh? Yet another surprise. I’ve always figured she was a dude.
“I’m Ren Takashiro, class 1-E!”
“Class 1-E here too! I’m Akira Aoyagi.”
“What?! Akira, you’re a girl?! I had no idea!”
So, she had Yukino fooled too. Maybe I’m not so dense after all!
“Heh. Ren had the same reaction.”
“Oh, so I’m not the only dummy here! What a relief.”
Hah! We really are on the same wavelength.
“Why don’t we get together in UW, then? Ooh, are you two in a guild yet? If not, I could invite you to mine!”
“Actually, we made our own.”
“Aw, well, that makes sense. You pooled your Merit Points, right? It must be really nice to build up your own guild from scratch.”
“We didn’t have any MEP, actually. We used a Guild Establishment Permit.”
“Whoa! It’s not every day you see a newbie with one of those. Did a high-level friend trade it to you?”
“Nope. Four of us partied up at level thirty and got it ourselves.”
“Wait, what?! How did you manage that?!”
“Well, y’see...” I told her all about how we got the permit.
“Whew! Y’know, I heard a symbologist took the competitive mission’s MVP spot this year. But who would’ve thought it’d be Ren himself?! It totally makes sense, though. That’s just how the Emperor of the Underpowered rolls, right?! We should totally duel in UW! You in?!”
“Hahaha, sure. If you’re gentle.”
“No can do, sorry. If I try to be gentle with you, you’ll knock me out of the park.”
“Gosh, I’d love to see you two battle!” Akira wiggled around excitedly.
“Geez, Akira. Now that I know you’re a girl, your big, furry avatar gives me the creeps.” Akira was, after all, a frighteningly burly beastman; it was like interacting with one of those powerful anime guys who’re super in touch with their feminine sides.
“It’s kinda weird, right?”
“What?! Not you too, Ren! Fine. I’m just gonna act like a real rough guy’s guy, then! That work for you, bros?”
The Ren and Snow avatars nodded in unison.
“Anyway, guys, let’s get back to the event!” I said.
With Snow in tow, we decided to resume searching for balls. Before long, we were ready to call it a night, but not before promising to meet up in UW the next day.
◆◆◆
“Three... Two... One... Go!”
After the countdown, four hands each slammed a sheet of paper onto the wooden table I had crafted. Why, you ask? Well, after school, Akira, Yano, Maeda, and I had gone to our guild house and gathered in the second-floor living area. We then began a competition to decide our guild emblem, which would be displayed on our status screens. Now that everyone had put forth their entries, it was time to pick the winning design. We examined everyone’s drawings one by one.
“Ren drew... a light bulb?” said Akira, tilting her head.
“Why a light bulb?” asked Yano.
“You need a spark of inspiration before you can redefine the meta! It’s an idea given form!”
And I’m a crappy artist, so this was the best thing I could draw!
By the way, we decided on “Hell’s Crafters” for our guild name. I think I would’ve liked the “Redefinition Brigade” or the “Underpowered Empire” more, but when I proposed those names, the girls all said they were too boring. So, taking into account how hell-bent I was on redefining metas as well as my penchant for crafting, I came up with this one.
I think it’s a pretty decent name, if I do say so myself.
“Hmm. I’m not sure anyone will really get it if it’s just a light bulb.”
“Eh, you have a point. I’m not that great at art anyway. What did you draw, Akira?”
“I thought you’d never ask. Take a look at this! It’s a buff demon!” Her drawing depicted a dude with horns striking a pose and flexing.
Wow... Akira really likes her beefcakes.
The art itself was nice, but I couldn’t imagine a less appropriate guild symbol. Meta-redefinition required wit and experimentation, but this one made it seem as though we’d bust through our struggles with brute force, like brainless meatheads.
“It’s, uh... kinda gross.”
“Aww, I thought it was cool. What about yours, Kotomi?”
“Huh? Oh, um... you don’t have to look at mine.”
“Let’s take a look.”
Uhh... Welp, I can see why she didn’t want to show it.
Maeda had drawn... something. Whatever it was, it was pretty darn strange. It was also tiny, as if she wasn’t very confident in it. People who can’t draw well typically make very tiny drawings so their art doesn’t stand out.
It’s got a weirdly powerful aura. I’d better not get too close.
“Wooow, Kotomi,” Yano said. “It’s very... unique?”
“Wh-Why do you even want to look at it?!” Maeda cried, her face flushed. “Let’s move on to Yuuna’s already!”
“’Kay, here goes nothin’. I tried to make her look kinda sly and crafty. Whaddya think?”
“Ooh, nice!”
“Wow! It’s really, really good!”
It was a cutesy drawing of a demon sticking her tongue out and grinning as if she were happily outfoxing her enemy. Her expression was charming, but it was also just annoying enough to get on our victims’ nerves.
Yano really is a good artist, huh?
“Sick! I say we go with Yano’s!” I said.
“I agree,” added Maeda.
“It’s a shame my macho demon didn’t win, but I have no objections!”
“Oh? Hey, I won! Awesome!” Yano beamed.
“I didn’t know you were such a good artist, Yano.”
“Come to think of it, Yuuna, didn’t you win an art competition in middle school?”
“Aw, I just doodled that thing in class. My teacher liked it so much that she entered it into the comp for me.”
“That’s so cool! Did you take lessons or something?”
“Nope. My family doesn’t have that kind of money. I just drew whatever, really. Honestly, it’s kinda embarrassing to get all this praise at once.”
She doesn’t seem to realize it, but she’s a natural-born genius. People can have all sorts of hidden talents, huh?
As a matter of fact, the table we were gathered at had been decorated by Yano. At first, it was just a plain old wooden table. After I made it, she said it was too plain and took it upon herself to paint it with a flower pattern. She wanted to decorate the rest of the guild house, too.
Luckily, plenty of shops sold art supplies, and I could craft them as well. I couldn’t help but marvel at the incredible craftsmanship available in this game.
We had all gone shopping at the guild market for a while, and our purchases combined with my crafts had resulted in some pretty basic furniture for our house. Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to buy or create any of the expensive stuff, so our setup was basic in every sense of the word... But Yano’s painting skills could potentially bring it all to life.
People will often pay good money for quality, so I’m excited to see just how much we can milk this.
“All right. I’ll take this over to the GAO,” I said, standing up.
The Guild Administration Office is where all the guild-related procedures are handled. It’s located in the guild shop market, and the woman who helps us out is named Reimi.
Well, this is just one of my responsibilities as guild master, I guess.
“All right. Thanks, Takashiro!” Yano handed over her emblem sketch.
“Good luck,” added Maeda.
“I’ll take the guild shop application, too.”
The first floor of any guild house can be converted into a shop-slash-atelier. Ever since we’d shelled out for the basic atelier set, we’d been penniless. As it turns out, it’s not exactly sustainable to sell off half of your materials and use the other half for furniture. A shop, on the other hand, would help us prosper with a steady, secure stream of income!
As a symbologist, my MP—that is, my money power—was a precious resource. I needed to keep up my weapon-wasting attacks, after all. My strength in battle was directly dependent upon my economic strength. I couldn’t be a miser, but I couldn’t be a pauper, either.
“Money management is just another part of the battle, y’know?” I mused aloud. “But wow, it’ll be a long walk there and back.”
“Why don’t I go with you, Ren?”
“You wanna come, Akira? Does that mean you’re gonna help me experiment afterward?”
“Huh? Experiment? Uhh... Do you mean letting the same enemy hit me over and over again for days on end?”
“It’ll be fiiine! We’ll just do a quick confirmation run today.”
“Erm, I can’t remember a single time when ‘quick’ actually meant ‘quick’ coming from you.” Akira eyed me doubtfully.
“Aw, c’mon! Are these the eyes of a liar?”
“Hmm? Your eyes are all sparkly right now. It’s like they’re telling me you’re gonna take up all my free time even if you don’t mean to.”
“Haha, very funny! Let’s just get going, ol’ buddy ol’ pal.”
“Fine, fine. I’m coming!”
“Good luck!” Yano said. “I’ll just be here drawing.”
“I-I’ll do my best to help you, Yuuna,” piped Maeda.
“Ooh! All right, Kotomi, let’s do something about that art problem of yours. I’ll teach you everything I know!”
“If you want to fix this problem, your teaching methods will practically have to be Spartan,” Maeda replied bitterly.
“Ahaha, hey now, there’s no need to go that far.”
“Well, I would love to learn the basics.”
“Nice! Let’s get to it!”
“We’re off, then!” I shouted, waving at the two of them. “Hey, Draco, wanna go for a walk?”
“Chirp chirp chirp!” At my call, Draco flew down from a hammock in a corner of the room. He landed straight onto the top of my head, clearly ready to go.
With that, Akira, Draco, and I left the guild house.
◆◆◆
After we finished up the guild paperwork, Akira and I headed to a forest in the continent of Mishr to begin our experimentation.
“Reeen! Do you want me to just stand here? No attacking or anything?”
“Yeah, perfect, perfect! Just like that, please!” I waved to her from afar.
While Akira was engaged with her enemy, she stood there guarding without fighting back. Her foe was a level 31 monster, the Bandit Wolf. It was the perfect level for our purposes.
Thanks to Akira’s talent loadout, her AP (Arts Points) naturally replenished over time. She could then use the free AP to dance and heal herself. As a result, she could take a beating from this monster all day without dying, making her my ideal partner for these sorts of trials.
Even if I were to try to experiment on my own, my real damage came from my ultimate move and my arts. Not only would it be a waste of money to break my own weapon every time, but if I used my 1-HP drama cannon, this simple errand would turn into a very cumbersome task. I would lose money and EXP when I inevitably died.
Honestly, I really needed to get some useful talents so I could grind on regular mobs. However, my next Merit Point purchase had already been planned out, so acquiring talents would have to take a back seat for a while.
Man, I can’t wait for the next test! I want my MEP, and I want it now!
I had never been so excited for a test before; my own enthusiasm surprised me.
“So, what now?”
“Take a look at this! It’s time to try out our new weapon, baby!” I pulled out a long, thin, cylindrical item and proudly held it up in the air.
“What is it? It looks like a flute.”
“Nope, it’s a Blowgun! The long-awaited second hidden weapon is finally within my grasp!”
Blowgun (OEX)
Type: Hidden Weapon
Level: 25
Might: 5
AP gain: 10
Effect: Only usable when the talent Knifer is equipped. Allows the user to perform the art Shadow Dart.
Due to the OEX distinction, hidden weapons can’t be traded to others; a player can also only hold one of each OEX item. Therefore, the only way to get something like this is through crafting.Thanks to the passive boosts from the atelier in our guild house, I was finally able to unlock this little treasure.
My inner craftsman always demanded I craft something the moment I unlocked it; at the same time, my addiction to experimentation always demanded I experiment with something the moment I crafted it!
Now I’m on fire! Let’s get started!
“Ooh! Is it good?”
“I have no idea! This is my first time using it. Here goes nothin’!”
“Okay!”
I pointed the tip of the Blowgun at the Bandit Wolf and blew as hard as I could. A tiny steel dart whistled through the air... then fell to the ground in a pathetic arc.
“Uhh...”
“It didn’t make it. Maybe it’s not supposed to be used at such a long range?”
“Maybe. I’ll try getting closer.”
“You lose darts even if they don’t hit the target, huh?”
She was completely right; the fallen dart began to disappear. I would’ve preferred to pick it up instead of letting it go to waste; “once and done” is a tough rule for people with empty pockets.
We’re really hurting for money, too... Ah, well. This time, I’ll try shooting from 15 to 20 feet away.
“Here comes another!”
I sent a second dart bursting out of the Blowgun.
Ren attacked!
But the Bandit Wolf evaded!
The log displayed my failure.
So, you think you can evade my attacks, huh?!
I fired off ten more darts, but nearly all of them missed. The eleventh one successfully hit him, but the damage was pathetic.
“Looks like a dud to me,” Akira muttered.
“Seems like it.”
“Hit rate depends on your DEX, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
The success of a physical attack is calculated based on the attacker’s dexterity and the defender’s agility. Even compared to the Bandit Wolf—an enemy with a similar level to mine—my DEX was just way too low. It wasn’t really surprising, though. Symbologists have the worst base DEX out of all classes, and I hadn’t put any points into it at all. For a VIT tank like myself, hitting an enemy with a shot from a Blowgun was just too much.
That means we’ve ruled out regular use of the Blowgun. I figured this might happen, but you can never be too sure.
“All right. Let’s try it with an art, then.”
“Okie doke.”
Just like the Canesword’s Quickdraw, the Blowgun has its own skill: Shadow Dart.
Shadow Dart (AP: 0)
Hidden Weapon Art
<Effect> Fires a single dart from the enemy’s blind spot. Hits once. Usable only once per battle. Extra effect rate and potency increase as HP decreases. Ignores defense. Cannot be evaded.
Looks like this one gets stronger as you lose HP, too.
Instead of boosting damage, however, HP loss makes its secondary effect more useful. It also can’t be evaded, so it looks like this is my only option when it comes to using the Blowgun.
“Right now, I have... normal darts, poison darts, and sleep darts.”
“Maybe if you use Shadow Dart at low health, the DoT from poison or the sleep duration will increase?”
“Probably. Let’s see just how much it can do.”
This time, I would try using Shadow Dart. For the sake of comparison, I started off with a poison dart at full HP.
“Here we go!”
Ren activated Shadow Dart!
25 damage dealt to the Bandit Wolf!
The Bandit Wolf is now poisoned.
Ooh, it worked.
The wolf hadn’t seen the dart—and neither had I.
So that’s how Shadow Dart works. You can’t avoid what you can’t see.
I watched the wolf for a while. Every two or three seconds, it took five more damage. It didn’t appear on the log, but I could see how much he was taking from the white numbers popping up above his head.
The Bandit Wolf has recovered from poison.
Wow, already? It barely lasted 30 seconds.
“So it does five damage every three seconds for a total of thirty seconds, huh?”
“Looks like it. But without more data, we can’t be too sure.”
“Yep, there it is. Your lust for endless testing is showing.”
“Well, I would like to move to the next variable. Don’t worry, we’ll just do this one twenty times.”
“Wouldn’t two or three times be good enough?”
“Come on, Akira. We may as well take advantage of this opportunity, riiight?”
“Ugh... How can you be so excited about this? Okay, I’ll go ahead and finish this one off.”
Hidden weapon skills are only usable once per battle, so I wouldn’t be able to attack again until this guy died.
“Go ahead, please.”
“All right, time to blow off some steam! Have a taste of my ultimate move!”
Akira unleashed an upward slash on the poor dog. The slash was accompanied by a crescent moon effect as the enemy was launched into the air. Akira used the momentum to leap up high.
“Aerial Crescent!”
The following strike was a downward slash, accompanied by another crescent moon effect. As she slammed the Bandit Wolf against the ground, it roared in pain and disappeared. Akira dropped to the ground with a somersault, ending her dance with a flourish.
Akira’s Aerial Crescent is a combination of Hawk Strike and Crescent Slash. She launches her enemy into the air, then jumps up and strikes it down. Not only is it powerful, but it’s also very stylish with its acrobatics and visual effects. Additionally, because of the leap, her midair attack most likely won’t be interrupted by other enemies.
“Aww yeah! I love this attack. It’s so refreshing!” Akira was clearly satisfied.
Yeah, I could see that skill being popular. But like, who cares about that? What really matters is... I got one heck of a view! Short skirt plus high jump equals a real heavenly sight!
Without verbalizing my excitement, I continued the experiment. Maybe I’d fill her in on it once we were all done.
Man, even a simple test can turn into top-tier entertainment!
After a few repetitions, we noticed that the poison sometimes only lasted ten seconds. Other times, the poison didn’t take effect at all; it appeared to have about a 50% chance of working. It appeared that the maximum effect was five damage every three seconds over a total of 30 seconds. Considering it wasn’t even guaranteed damage, this seemed kinda lame.
We repeated the tests with the sleep dart, and the maximum duration was 30 seconds of sleep. Once again, though, this wasn’t guaranteed.
“Well, my Canesword was weak at full HP, too.”
“Wanna try it with less, then?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it!”
“Okay! Aerial Crescent!”
Looks like Akira’s having fun using her ultimate. Even more fun for me since I’m watching from below. Ahh, I am truly blessed!
“All right. Time to lower my HP.”
I cast Enervating Circle at max range, emptying my MP bar. Then I activated Turnover, reducing my HP to 1. This would put Shadow Dart at its maximum potential.
Annnd... fire!
Ren activated Shadow Dart!
25 damage dealt to the Bandit Wolf!
The Bandit Wolf is now poisoned.
So far, so good.
“Ooh, the DoT is higher this time!”
Wow, now it’s dealing 50 damage every three seconds! That’s an improvement.
I was hoping to see how long the effect would last, but the poison damage actually killed the Bandit Wolf before 30 seconds went by.
We repeated the process twenty times, killing the target every single time.
“Looks like bringing down your HP was the key, huh?”
“Yeah! This could be really useful!”
For someone with very few attack options like myself, this was a great addition to my repertoire, but the once-per-battle limitation on hidden weapon arts was still an issue. If I were to use Shadow Dart during combat, I wouldn’t be able to use Quickdraw in the same battle.
It sure would be nice if each individual art could be used once per battle. Obviously things would never be that easy, though.
If I wanted to use both skills, I would need to forge the weapon for the second skill after I use the first one. For example, I could put an enemy to sleep and then finish him off with Dead End—in order to do that, I would have to use Shadow Dart, forge a Canesword, and then activate Dead End. If the Blowgun and the Canesword were both in my inventory when I used Shadow Dart, I wouldn’t be able to use Dead End for the rest of the battle.
Anyway, let’s try Shadow Dart with low HP and the sleep dart this time!
“Huh. Looks like this one increases the sleep duration to three minutes. Oh, please kill him, if you don’t mind.”
“Aerial Crescent!”
Man, I could watch her do this forever.
While I enjoyed the show, I opened Dead End’s menu from the Skill Chain list. Right now, Dead End was the active ultimate, combining Turnover, Final Strike, and Quickdraw. The one and only drama cannon was our key to unleashing ridiculous damage, but I decided to alter the combination a little bit. I tweaked the combo to Turnover, Final Strike, and Shadow Dart.
Combination complete! The resulting ultimate move is... Soul Spear. Ooh, nice.
“All right, lastly, I’ll activate the fully chained ultimate.”
“Okay! I’ll pull the next one.”
Akira smacked a newly spawned Bandit Wolf with a shockwave from Skyfall, wounding it. Baited by her attack, the wolf ran toward her. Skyfall really was a convenient weapon.
Time for my ultimate! We can’t test this one too many times, since the whole weapon-breaking thing is bad for my wallet. I have to make this one count!
“Ready when you are, Ren!”
“Okay! Here comes my new ultimate: Soul Spear!”
Psheeeew!
Instead of a simple dart, a purple ray of light shot out from the tip of the Blowgun.
Oooooh! This one’s really cool!
The ray of light moved at incredible speed, zigzagging through the air until it pierced through the Bandit Wolf and dissipated.
Ren activated Soul Spear!
251 damage dealt to the Bandit Wolf!
The Bandit Wolf is now poisoned.
That’s nowhere near as much damage as Dead End... But now the poison deals 80 damage with each tick!
It was far too much for the poor wolf, which keeled over soon after. Due to the effect of Final Strike, the Blowgun in my hand disappeared.
Now I’m one step closer to bankruptcy...
“Oooh! That was really flashy! It was pretty, too!” Akira cried, her eyes aglitter.
“Did you see the way it twisted and turned through the air?!”
With that speed and those complex movements, I guess it’s like a guided missile? Or maybe it’s more of a homing laser. Either way, I should think of it as a surefire way to poison the enemy or put it to sleep. Oh! If it works like that, then maybe it has surprising synergy with Dead End? The biggest problem with Dead End is actually getting the chance to use it, after all.
Hmm... I’ve gotta see more of Soul Spear’s homing effect! But to do that, I’ll need an enemy that’ll actually run from it! Generic mobs are out of the question, then.
“Akira, let’s go to the Arena!”
The Arena is a facility in some cities where players can rent out a space for PvP battles, training, or fighting specific monsters. You don’t get EXP, but it’s useful if you want to, say, study a specific type of monster.
The Arena is also great for players who like fighting. We’d been there before for some casual PvP battles. Arena battles aren’t recorded in your wins-and-losses record, so it’s a nice place to kick back and have fun. Think of it like practice mode in a fighting game.
“Yeah, sure. What are we gonna do there?”
“I want to know just how far Soul Spear will chase a target. I’ll shoot you with it, and then you just have to run as fast as you can.”
“I see. Okay, I’m game!”
“Oh, one more thing.”
“Hm?”
“When you use Aerial Crescent, I can see your underwear. Be careful with that.”
“Wha—?! Th-Then why didn’t you say anything?! You weirdo! I don’t want you getting an eyeful and then telling me about it later!” Akira’s face was beet-red.
“Ah, well, y’know... I just kinda forgot.”
“Liar! A bad liar, too! Ugh!”
Thus, we changed locations to continue our trials.
◆◆◆
Once we arrived at the Arena, we went back to testing Soul Spear. While we were experimenting outdoors, Draco had slept under a tree—but now he was flying high inside the Arena, happily chirping away.
We were in an instanced room, so there was nobody else around. This let us stand pretty far away from each other, maybe a hundred feet or so. A normal shot or Shadow Dart from the Blowgun could hardly travel 25 feet, but I figured Soul Spear—which was more of a laser than a dart—could hit its target from this distance.
“All right, here comes! Run as fast as you can!”
“Okay! I’m ready!” Akira grinned and waved.
Here we go...
“Ultimate move: Soul Spear!”
Psheeeew!
The moment I blew into the Blowgun, a purple light flew out from the tip.
Man, this is still so cool.
It seemed as though the ray would easily travel a hundred feet.
Akira started to run away from me at an angle, putting as much distance between herself and the Blowgun as possible. The spear of light traced a complex pattern as it approached her.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! It’s coming at me really fast!”
Even though she was running at top speed, the laser was rapidly gaining on her; it would hit her any second now.
Looking good so far!
As the laser closed in, however, Akira changed tactics.
“Hawk Strike!”
This art sends the user leaping into the air while she slashes with her weapon. Akira used Hawk Strike to jump over the approaching laser, successfully dodging it. As you might expect, these sorts of arts are often used for last-minute evasions.
“Ooh! Nice!”
“You won’t hit me that easily!”
She always had quick reflexes, making her great at action games. That was just another reason she made such a perfect experimentation partner.
I’m so grateful for you, Akira.
But it didn’t take long for the laser to curve back around and zoom at her once more.
“Huh...? Aaah!”
This time, Akira started running straight toward me. She swung Skyfall behind her, releasing the weapon’s shockwaves. When the laser reached the shockwaves, it bolted around them, avoiding them completely.
Ooh! So it avoids obstacles, too? Very cool.
The laser began to lag behind a bit because it had diverted so far from its linear path. Akira used that opportunity to dash fiercely toward me.
Hey! She’s trying to bring it to me!
As soon as I realized her intentions, I started to move away.
“Waaait! You’re getting in on this, too!” She sounded like she was enjoying herself.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that someone with her speedy reaction time would try to lead the laser to me. Normally, I could probably just Quickdraw the enemy with my Canesword as they approached... but I already had a Canesword in my inventory, so now that I’d used Soul Spear, the Canesword couldn’t be used for any hidden weapon arts.
In a real fight, I should open up with Soul Spear and craft a Canesword immediately after. Yep, I’ll keep that in mind.
While I was thinking, Akira was gaining on me.
I was running as fast as I could, but there was a hefty AGI difference between us, so she was obviously much faster.
She’s gonna catch me at this rate! All right, I’ll just have to slow her down!
I stopped running just long enough to cast Enervating Circle. Using about 80% of my MP, I cast it around Akira.
Enervating Circle slows enemies down and lowers their AGI, so this would allow the laser to catch up with her!
Akira tried to run out of the circle, but she was too slow, and the laser was hot on her heels. The distance between them closed as the laser approached the edge of the circle. Then it... curved and changed direction again!
Huh? Why?! The circle isn’t even an obstacle!
After that, the laser just flew in circles around my spell without even attempting to get to Akira.
Is it really treating the Enervating Circle as an obstacle? I wonder if it’s tracing circles because it’s trying to avoid my spell. Looks like it won’t hit her until she leaves the circle, then.
“Here I come!”
While I was staring at the laser, Akira took the opportunity to move. From inside the circle, she once again activated Hawk Strike and flew into the air, then landed square in front of me.
That was fast!
She wasted no time in clinging onto me.
“Gah! Let me go!”
“Hehehe! How lucky are you to get a hug from such a cutie?”
Well, yes, your body is nice and soft and... Oh no!
Pew!
The laser struck both of us at the same time. I quickly succumbed to intense drowsiness and lost consciousness. It was a sleep dart, after all.
A short while later, I opened my eyes.
“Mngh?!”
This might be obvious considering our positions when the laser hit us, but I awoke cradled in Akira’s arms. The sensation of her skin pressed against mine was amazingly realistic—much more than you might expect from a video game.
Man, they added some real pointless features. But wow, her face is right in front of me... I never realized how beautiful she is.
I glanced downward and was treated to an eyeful of her impressive cleavage, thanks to the sword dancer’s incredibly revealing gear.
Oh, yowza. Now THIS is a view!
I decided to appreciate her lovely form until she woke up.
A little while later...
“Hey, Ren? How long are you gonna stare at me?”
“Whoa! Uh, you were awake?!”
“I just woke up. It didn’t bug me too much at first, but I seriously can’t take this anymore.”
“Sorry, sorry, my bad! Hahaha!”
“Geez...”
We pulled away from each other and stood up.
“Chirp chirp!”
Draco descended from above and landed on my head.
“Ooh, I see another line’s showing up on his tail.”
“Huh. Maybe he’s almost ready to learn his next skill?”
After our search of Almishr’s Burial Ground, we learned that a pet dragon’s growth can be monitored by the amount of lines on the underside of its tail. Pets grow through regular feeding and experiencing things with their master.
“You’d better learn something useful, buddy!”
“Chirp chirp!”
“So, what’s next? Do we have more tests to do?”
“No, I think we have enough data by now. I’m getting really low on money and mats, so I’d rather not use my ultimate anymore.”
Still, I’d love to do more when my wallet’s a bit fatter. We really need a proper source of income soon... I’d better make our guild shop popular so we can reap those profits.
“Guess we’re done for today, then. Now it’s my turn! Let’s go somewhere pretty!”
Time to humor the sightseeing maniac. Well, that’s fine. Relationships are give and take, after all.
After taking a nice stroll together, we returned to our guild house.
“Hey, you two!” said Yano with a wave. “You have a visitor!”
“Huh? Really?” I had no idea who it could be.
“Who is it?” Akira asked, cocking her head.
Standing in our second-floor living space was an unfamiliar girl. She was pretty and had a fierce, dignified aura around her. Her hair, blue as the sea, was tied up in a ponytail. The light-blue name indicated that she was a real player.
Yukino Yamamura (3-C)
Level 199 Magic Knight
Guild: Mystic Arts (Guild Master)
Whoa, we know her! This is our first time seeing her face, though. Dang, she’s level 199, too! Meanwhile, I’m still only level 30! Plus, she’s the master of some guild...
“Oh, Yukino, it’s you! Good to see ya!”
“Yay! Nice to meet you! Did you come here just to hang out?”
“Hi, Ren! Hi Akira!” she said with a smirk. “I know we haven’t met in this game yet, but I wanted to come and bring you your invites.”
“Invites? To what?”
“You said we could duel, remember? Well, we’re hosting a tournament tomorrow, so I brought you your invitations!”