Chapter 3: Infodump on the Final Battle!

Now that we could feast upon Golden Bunnies, leveling Kokoru didn’t seem as daunting.

Today, we would officially learn all about the final battle. The meeting was going to be held in the palace chapel, same as the draft meet.

Each guild was to bring their candidates, so Kokoru tagged along. With Akira and I as representatives, that made three of us.

Kokoru was level 65 now. Selphie was 70, so he hadn’t quite caught up yet. As long as we kept grinding together, he’d eventually surpass her. After all, he had the Princess’ Skull Ring, which increased his leveling speed threefold.

“Hmm... Nice. We’re not losing out in levels, that’s for sure.”

I scoped out the other guilds’ NPCs as we made our way to the venue, but there weren’t many who had gotten to level 60 yet.

At this point, Selphie was probably on top. No surprise there, since she had been level 62 at the draft—the highest of all the NPCs.

That girl had so much talent and potential. It was a shame to see that she’d already succumbed to one very bad influence.

No matter how promising a rookie was, the team they ended up with could make or break their career.

Akira turned to Kokoru. “We’ve got this! I know we can win!”

“Aww, bawk, my level’s just for show. I don't think I’ve got a chance, bawk.”

I patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, bro. Golden Sweets will work as long as you’ve got the level for it. You’ve gotta go into this with supreme confidence. Like, ‘I’m more than the man I used to be!’ A good bluff is vital.”

“Bawk? Is that true?”

“Yeah, it’s absolutely essential! Talk the talk, bud! We’ll have to fix that attitude of yours before the event.”

“I guess you should try doing what Ren says for now. He’ll probably make it up to you if things get bad. That okay?”

“Yep, leave it to me! We’ll figure out how this battle royale works today, so we’d better start working on a strategy while we’re racking up levels.”

Eventually, we spotted some Birdmen hanging out in a group, talking. Among them was Peater, who looked to be somewhat of a leader.

He’s the one Fountain of Knowledge picked, right?

Right now, he was level 68. He’d started off at 55, so he had made a fair bit of progress.

“Yo, Peater! I see things are going well for you, too!” I said, prompting him to turn our way.

He opened his eyes in surprise. “Kokoru, you’re level sixty-five now?!”

The other Birdmen were even lower, so at this point, Kokoru had the second-highest level among them. By the time the main event rolled around, he would probably be number one, even if he wasn’t the strongest.

“Impossible! Cowardly Kokoru, of all people?”

“I can’t believe this. His level’s higher than mine!”

The guys who had once bullied Kokoru were now flabbergasted.

“Heheheh!” Akira let out a delighted cackle; she was even more excited about it than Kokoru and I were. “You can’t win against Kokoru now! If you try to bully him ever again, he’ll beat you up instead!” She whipped a pointer finger in their direction.

Man, the last time she saw them, she was really mad.

Still, I liked this side of her too.

“What?!”

“That drumstick, of all people?!”

Kokoru hid behind me to avoid their glares.

“Don’t be scared, man. You’ve grown a lot.”

Level-wise, at least! Not stat-wise!

With his skill, he could at least hold his own in a fight. I couldn’t help but wish he would swell up with pride and declare, “I’m not the guy I was before. I’m Super Kokoru, bawk!”

Oh well. I’ll just make him say it during the main event.

Hopefully, that would scare the opposition into not touching him; in reality, Kokoru was still kind of a weakling.

To attack, he needed to use his skill to summon allies. We needed to make his enemies want to steer clear of him.

Fortunately, enemies couldn’t see his stats, so he’d be fine as long as they didn’t gun for him. In order for him to survive the battle royale, he needed to put up a good bluff.

“Stop right there. If you want a fight, save it for the main event.” Peater stopped the other Birdmen, then returned his gaze to Kokoru. “You’ve done well to raise your level with such incredible speed. I’m honestly shocked.”

“Bawk, I didn't do nothin’. It’s all thanks to Ren and his guild, bawk.”

It really sucked that all he could do during grinding was stand and watch. On the flip side, that meant Akabane wouldn’t see our trump card.

Kokoru was also making us loads of money in the guild shop, so he was more than useful enough for me.

“Haha, I can’t wait for the main event. I won’t let my guard down either, so continue to hone your strength until then.”

“Bawk. Do I even have strength to hone?"

Kokoru’s style meant relying on the strength of others in the first place. In all likelihood, that was the only way he could hope to win.

“We’re both excited for it, trust me. See you then, Peater.”

“Right. As a fellow Birdman, I must thank you for how well you’ve raised Kokoru.”

“The main event is coming up soon. By that time, Kokoru’s level is gonna shoot above even yours.”

“I look forward to it. It seems Kokoru has found real success under your guardianship.”

“Well, we'll measure that success in the final battle.”

“Right.”

We ended the conversation there and entered the chapel.

The place was lined with long tables and pews. Again, there was a big empty area, like some sort of crop circle.

But this time, there were two people within: one underwear-clad, iron-masked pervert and one poor, pink-masked girl.

Everyone who laid eyes on the two of them likely thought the same thing: How could this happen?!

We wasted no time in sitting next to Yukino and Homura toward the edge.

Yukino greeted us right away. “Hey, guys! You’re doing surprisingly well. You’ve gotten the most level gains out of anyone, yeah? That’s awesome!”

Upon seeing Kokoru’s current level, she praised our efforts. She had no idea that despite his level growth, only two of Kokoru’s stats had risen even a little.

Under effects of the Princess’ Skull Ring, his only leveling gains had been 1 VIT and the corresponding HP increase.

The other stats’ growth rates were all below 3, so with the ring, they ended up under 1 and rounded down to 0.

“Heyo, Yukino. Yeah, we’ve been putting in work.”

As I answered, I suddenly remembered to look around for Alfred, who had started at level 1 like Kokoru.

Oh, he was up front. Level 53, huh? Progress was going well on their end, too. Unlike Kokoru, he was pretty much the embodiment of a late bloomer. Your traditional, up-and-coming hero, basically. I was interested in how strong he had become.

Incidentally, Yukino’s NPC was a Wolfman named Mikott Corpul. She had started at level 58 with plenty of skills. Probably the most popular warrior-type candidate.

She and Akabane’s NPC, Selphie, had shared the spotlight at the draft.

Now her level was... Ooh, 73! Probably the highest of all NPCs now. She was a favorite to take the win for sure.

Meanwhile, Homura’s guild had a merchant NPC named Bruno, who’d started at around level 7 or 8. Really felt like they lost the draft on that one. At the moment, though, his level was 42.

“I’m amazed you leveled up that much despite all the good spots being taken. You don’t have a private dungeon, do you?” Homura asked us.

“Nope. We used Sky Fissures.”

“Huh. I heard all the guilds without dungeons are vying for them, and the competition to get to them is super stiff.”

“Yeah, but we’ve got a good airship and a good pilot, so we’re free to take them whenever we like.”

“Hmm. You’ve put a lot of effort into this.”

“Got a problem with that?”

“A big problem! All the best spots are taken, so we can’t farm rare monsters! And that means we can't collect items! I don’t care about this event at all. I wish it would just end.”

“Hah! Sore loser. You’re just sulky because you know you’re gonna lose. You’ve always been like that.”

“Excuse me?! Don't get all uppity just because you got lucky and pulled a good NPC! This stuff’s all luck-based. You get a good pull, you win. No skill involved! Yet here you are acting all tough. You stupid musclebrain! You can’t even think for yourself!”

“Naaah. You just think that because your brain has such crappy specs. Take a page from Ren’s book. His weak-looking, little chicken guy might actually stand a chance now!”

“C’mon, girls. We won’t know until the event,” I said, prompting a grin from Yukino.

“Heh, you’re pretty confident. Going for first place, are you?”

“Of course! If we win, that’ll be the most delectable serving of giant-killing you’ve ever seen! How can I not go for first?”

“Make sure you crush Yukino’s candidate first, then. I for one would love to see it. In fact, if you do, I’ll give you another Peregrine Stone.”

“Ooh.”

“Is this bribery? Damn you, item addict!”

“Shut up, musclehead! I’m over here playing 4D chess since I had bad luck!”

These two truly never change.

This was everyday banter for them, so I wasn’t gonna butt in.

“Hello, everyone! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to come here today.”

Ooh! There’s Princess Lieliz!

You could never tell what was gonna come out of her mouth. I was preoccupied with the thought that this supposed beauty didn’t seem like much of a beauty anymore.

Maybe that was partly because I was so used to being with Akira. Having such a gorgeous girl at my side made all the other ladies look much less attractive.

When I glanced at Akira next to me, she met my gaze and smiled.

Aww, she’s always so cute.

“What’s wrong? You're blushiiing.” She poked my cheek, something I was subjected to often.

“Cut it out!”

Then, Princess Lieliz looked out into the crowd of players and cocked her head in confusion. She was looking at the crop-circle-like hole in the center, where the two masked pervs sat.

“Well, that is unusual. You two there must be cater-cousins of some sort. Are those masks the hip, new trend?”

“Of course!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Akabane's brother and Selphie stood right up and responded with vigor.

I was painfully aware of why Akabane herself hadn’t come here.

“My. Maybe I should try it on.”

“Don’t do it, Princess! Perish the thought, I beg of you!”

Whew, Anita put the brakes on that. Thank you.

It was even scarier because I knew the princess would actually do it.

“Well, carrying on... You are gathered here to learn the details of the final battle in the guild competitive mission. Dun’s the mouse, okay?”

That means “be quiet and listen,” right? I hope?

“You’ve all been raising your hero candidates, yes? A hail of my gratitude upon you! To conclude your mission, next weekend we will be hosting a battle royale that pits the heroes against one another. Get in a festive mood and have some fun with it!”

Yep. That’s in line with Ms. Nakada’s leak. But what are the rules?

“Now, you may be wondering what this battle royale might entail. Worry not, as I will explain the details. Anita?”

“Here, Your Highness.”

Anita handed Lieliz a little poster-board-looking thing.

“And... Here!”

She turned the board to face us, revealing an illustration of countless airships in the sky.

Hm? No way...

“That’s right—it will be an airship battle!”

Ohoho! This sounds exciting! It’ll be my first time doing one of those!

The representatives of other guilds reacted with similar interest.

“We’ll be erecting a wide barrier around the skies near Telluna to create a battlefield, where you can all duke it out! Each guild will be loaned an airship, but you’re also allowed to bring in airships that you’ve procured yourselves. The choice is up to you, but you can only bring one ship.”

I see, I see.

Then we were at an advantage! This meant we could use the Redefined Peachy Thunder. We'd rule the battlefield with our monstrous speed!

But we didn't have any offensive parts attached, so that was a minor issue. Either way, though, I was excited.

“Kotomi’s gonna love this.”

“Yeah! Sounds fun.”

“Telluna has a tight grip on airship manufacturing, bawk. This is the only place you could ever do something like this.”

Oh, yeah, true! Might as well do something we can only do here.

“Also, each guild can only field up to six members of their fighting force, NPC included. However, you’re able to switch out non-NPC fighters at will and without limit. Additionally, there will be a level limit while you’re on the battlefield; each guild member will be capped at the level of their hero candidate.”

Ooh! Yeah, I can see that. Otherwise, someone like Yukino or Homura could just dominate the battle with their ridiculous specs, instead of leveling their NPC.

Limiting the fighters’ levels to those of their NPCs would give the NPC the optimal opportunity to show off their growth.

“Furthermore, victory will be based on each guild’s kill score. Defeating a player from another guild yields one point, while defeating an NPC yields five points. You can revive endlessly whenever you fall, but deaths will be subtracted from your total score. After one hour has passed, the four guilds with the most points will progress to the finals, which will be held on a specialized battlefield. The rules for that will be determined in a discussion with the finalists.”

Huh, okay. So it’s all about the kill score.

The rules for the finals would be decided on the spot, so there wasn’t much point in thinking hard on it now. For now, the priority was to make it there.

“Finally, the guild that makes it to the end can choose from these fabulous prizes!”

Princess Lieliz flipped another board.

There, a catalog of rewards was displayed: a guild-exclusive personal island in the Lagoon, a guild-wide Breath of Ares, three items of your choice, or a guild-wide +20 level boost.

Dang! A chance to get our very own island!

“Guild-wide” in this case meant the effect applied to each member of the guild.

Getting Breath of Ares on every single guild member without using up talent slots would be very powerful. Breath of Ares was a coveted talent that a lot of people already had.

Applying it with this method would free up the talent slot for something else. Essentially, picking that reward was like getting a freebie.

Receiving three items potentially meant outfitting members with super-strong weapons or armor, too.

A second Skyfall would definitely be neat.

Finally, a guild-wide level boost of 20 would probably save a ton of grinding time for high-level players, since they had much higher EXP requirements. That was more attractive for third-years than for first-years like us.

“Heheheh! Nice, they know what the people want! But I want more than just three items!” Homura seemed the most excited.

“Hmph. You won’t be getting it, anyway. Might as well give up now!”

“I dunno. This time, the fight’s not all hand-to-hand combat.”

Princess Lieliz continued, “Now we shall bewray another new plot that will make you all alike bewitched! Take it away, miss!”

Suddenly, Ms. Nakada appeared out of nowhere.

Oh? What brings her here?

“Hello, hello! I’m Ms. Nakada, teacher for class 1-E. I’ll be the announcer for the airship battle, but apart from that, the school has an announcement to make. This battle royale will also serve as the testing ground for a new mechanic we’re trying out. If it doesn’t pose any issues, we plan to implement it permanently.”

A new mechanic? What’s it gonna be?

“Now, what is it, you might ask? It is... parental supervision! We’re making it so your parents can log in and watch the battle royale, too!”

Parental supervision?! Well, this is a school. I guess they would have stuff like this. I bet my parents would be happy to watch. I think Dad said he had a hand in this game, too.

My old man was a developer, after all.

“P-Parental supervision?! But...”

Akira had gone white as a sheet.

◆◇◆

When the meeting ended, we returned to our guildhouse. We then explained to Maeda and Yano the gist of the battle royale.

“Huh. Parental supervision and airship battles, eh? Only at this school. I think my siblings would be a lot more interested than my parents, though.”

“Maybe you should ask if they can come. Airship battles, though? That’s where I can show off my mad skills! Can we use Peachy Thunder?”

“Yep, they said we could. That’s convenient for us. We’ve got our airship redefined, and our level restriction is whatever we can get Kokoru up to. Level-wise, he’s sure to be at the top of all the NPCs the day of.”

Though I’d like to prep his skill and do some combat simulations while we still can.

Especially since we hadn’t done any airship battles yet.

“It’s not convenient for me!” Akira cried.

She seemed really shaken by the idea of her parents coming to watch.

“What’s wrong? It sounds fun. It’ll be like a virtual track and field day, or something.”

“Not that. The problem is the whole parental supervision thing! I’ve told you a few times that my family’s really strict. If they see me wearing this outfit, they might pull me out of school!”

Oh, yeah. The sword dancer gear.

It seemed normal to me since I was so used to seeing it, but yeah, it did show a lot of skin.

Her class’ gear caused most players to steer clear of it, making it a pretty uncommon choice.

Akira had gradually gotten used to it too, even going to class in it once in a while. I’d stopped noticing it myself, but she was right. Strict parents with high expectations of their daughter would be absolutely shocked when they saw her wearing that.

Short skirt, visible armpits, and very pronounced cleavage. Thinking back on it again, mmm, that was good stuff. But I couldn’t say that when her parents were watching.

Both her normal gear and Angelic Charm were ridiculously revealing.

“Guess you gotta wear the normal uniform, then.”

She’d at least look normal in that case.

“But that’s too weak. I’d have to play with a restriction at our big battle royale.”

“Well, it is the level one gear. It’s just for show anyway.”

“Isn’t there any real gear out there that’s less revealing?”

“Hmm. We'd have to check the info brokers or Homura’s museum. Otherwise, I’m not sure.”

We could try to switch her class for a while, but Wings of Rebirth cost 800 Merit Points, and we were bone-dry. Had to count that one out.

“Yeah, I guess. Ughhh, this sucks.”

“Well, we’ve been leveling up really fast so far; might as well try to look for new gear along the way. If we can’t find any, we’ll have to go with the school uniform. I guess you could also use Vanishing Flip to get around it with invisibility, or I could hide you with circle magic.”

“Yep... Those are pretty much our only options.”

“The main event is next weekend, so we have nine days. Let’s keep our focus on leveling for now, and once we’re caught up, we’ll think about that new gear. Then, we’ll prep Kokoru’s skill at the very end.”

We were already doing a little bit of testing on his skill along the way. At the very least, we knew that he could recruit normal mobs with ease. It just cost money every single time.

The number of monsters he could keep in stock increased by one every twenty levels, so at level 65 now, he had four available. Though he could only ever have one monster out at once.

He could only recruit monsters up to his level, so the best course of action was to raise his level as much as possible, then find monsters close to his level immediately before the battle.

It depended on how much we could raise his level. Maybe 100 would be a good goal?

“We’re not planning to go out grinding today, right? Mind if I take a little break? I’m kinda tired,” Akira said with a sigh.

“Yeah, sure. Good work today. See you tomorrow!”

“Good work out there, Akki.”

“Good night, Akira.”

“Cheer up, bawk.”

“Yeah. Good night, everyone.” With a sad smile on her face, Akira logged out.

Man. Is her family situation that bad?

If she stayed like that, she wouldn't be able to enjoy the main event at all, no matter how much we prepared. As her best friend, I had to do something about this!

“Okay! I’m heading off to Homura’s museum!” I declared.

Maeda and Yano immediately piped up.

“You’re going to find her new gear? I’ll go, too.”

“Me too! We’ve gotta help her!”

Kokoru was quick to join in. “I’m going too, bawk! Let’s do it for her, bawk!”

“Chirp chirp! Me too!”

Aww, my friends are so nice.

In games and in life, you’ve gotta have friends.

“Awesome. Let’s get going!”

We left the guildhouse and went on our merry way to Homura’s museum.