Redefining the META at VRMMO Academy 4
“Where should we land, bawk?”
“Good question.” Suddenly, something caught my eye. “Oh, wow!”
Three airships were moving together like a fleet. They flew in a triangular formation, linked together by Assault Anchors.
“Guess that's one way to use Assault Anchors.”
That reminds me of the Battle of Red Cliffs, when Cao Cao chained his ships together.
By chaining the three ships together with anchors, they increased overall security. Should enemies come, the other two ships could focus their fire to help counterattack. Guildies could also travel between ships with ease, making them able to focus their manpower and get an advantage in numbers. That was the ideal pattern for a three-guild alliance.
I see, I see. Keep your friends close like that, and no matter the situation, you can always maintain an advantage.
There were alliances like ours and Homura’s, where you just promised not to kill each other. Then there were alliances like this, where these three ships could essentially take shifts. Either way worked, really. No matter what method you used, it was all about getting in the top four guilds.
“Those three ships probably have a ton of people.”
“Do we plan to rush them? Wouldn’t we be severely outnumbered?”
“If we just charged straight in, yeah. But if we can position ourselves just right, I’d say we can maximize our chances of success.”
The three-ship fleet was currently in the middle of shooting at an enemy to their right. As such, the crew’s eyes were on starboard, and everyone was gathered on the rightmost ship.
By contrast, the left and frontmost ships were shorthanded.
This might be the perfect opportunity!
“Okay, Kokoru. Let me and Akabane down on the left ship. You go ahead and launch a Blizzard from the Frost Eagle at ’em!”
“You got it, bawk! Let’s go, Frost Eagle!”
While the Frost Eagle flew toward our destination, I checked my menu screen. I decided to swap Dead End out for Vermilion Wing. Now, my readily available ultimates were Descending Azure Dragon and Vermilion Wing. I still had AP, so I could use either one.
“Here we are. Off we go, Akabane!”
“Yes, sir!”
We landed on the shorthanded ship to the port side.
“Right here!” I headed for the Assault Anchor’s launch platform on the edge of the ship and climbed on top of the anchor. “Watch my back so I don’t get attacked from behind! You too, Kokoru!”
“Right!”
“Yepper, bawk!” Kokoru shouted from overhead.
One of the guildies showed up on deck.
“Here to fight, are ya?!”
Huh? Wait a second...
“Oh, if it isn’t Lady Nozomi! And hey to you too, Takashiro!”
Kataoka?! Darn it, this is his guild’s ship?!
“Oh, uh, heeey. This is where you’ve been the whole time?”
“Yeah, well. As an underling, I’m stuck here watching the ship. All the upperclassmen are over there having fun.” He pointed at the rightmost ship.
They were in the heat of battle, with plenty of players tossing out cannon fire, magic, bows, and other myriad long-range attacks at approaching foes. But they couldn’t just leave the ship vacant, so they’d left Kataoka alone here. Dumping guard duty on the underling, in other words. Fountain of Knowledge was a very large-scale guild, so they had naturally developed a pecking order.
“So, what are you here for? I’m supposed to alert them if enemies come.”
“My, Kataoka. Are you saying I am your enemy?” Akabane asked him with a cold glare.
When she had the upper hand like this, you could really feel the spoiled rich girl vibes coming off of her.
“No, not at all! Order me around as you please! If you need any points, just knock me right off the ship! That’s still one point for you!”
This guy was really irredeemable. There was no room for anything in his mind except serving his Hime-chan. Right now, he was handing her points on a silver platter.
“Shall we?”
“No!” I cried. “No way! That’s cheating!”
“Is it? If we consider my popularity to be our weapon, I believe we’re fighting fair and square.”
“It’s not even your popularity; it’s just Hime-chan power. But either way, it’s a hard no! Kataoka, if you sound the alarm, they’re all gonna start coming back, right?”
“Probs. It lets them know we’ve got enemies aboard, after all. They’re running out of opponents, so there’s not much reason for everyone to stay there.”
“Cool. Sound the alarm!”
“Are you sure? We’ll be surrounded. It may end with us being blown away, and we won’t get many points in the process.”
“We’ve just gotta get as many points as we can before we die. Leave it to me!”
“If you say so.”
“Go do the thing, man!”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m goin’!”
Kataoka retreated into the wheelhouse. Before long, there was a loud noise as a ball of smoke was launched into the air.
Recognizing the signal, all the players on starboard turned their attention to this ship. About half of them ran up the Assault Anchor that connected these two ships, heading this way.
“Now’s our chance! Final Strike! Enervating Circle!”
The typical ultimate pre-prep rite. Truly an art form!
Preparations were complete. I then headed to the right, joining the group atop the Assault Anchor.
“Kokoru! Pick up Akabane and fly alongside me!” I ordered him.
By the time I was about halfway down the Assault Anchor, about seven or eight players had boarded it.
Woohoo! All my targets are lined up and ready for me!
I squatted down and turned, assuming the Quickdraw pose. Then, my entire body was enveloped in bright-red flames. They took the form of a bird, making me a living statue of Suzaku.
“Ultimate move: Vermilion Wiiing!”
Finally, I charged!
“Waaargh!”
“Bwuh?!”
The flaming bird soared along the anchor’s chain, prompting many simultaneous cries. My Vermilion Wing had sent every other player on the chain flying. On a straight line like this, there was nowhere to escape! It was the ideal situation for a forward charge that damaged enemies as you went, such as Vermilion Wing!
This was just why I’d had Kataoka bring people over.
Whether you’re Cao Cao or a gamer, chaining ships together is a no-no!
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
Battle Point total for Hell’s Crafters is currently 9.
Your rank is 17 / 48.
I cheered. “Woo! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!”
“I see, so you made him gather a line of targets! There’s no escape on the anchor, after all!”
“Well, they could’ve gotten away if they went up, but it’s kinda hard to think of that on the spot. Even if they’d guarded and survived, they would’ve been pushed off.”
“That ultimate certainly works well on this terrain.”
“That was awesome, bawk! We shot way up in rank!”
“Yeah. Let’s try it on somebody else!”
Seeing my technique once would let people plan around it, but if we found people who hadn’t seen it before, we ought to be able to bag more. There were plenty of enemies around. It was time to go hunting.
“Awesome. On to the next one!” I jumped on the back of the approaching Frost Eagle. Then, I received some unexpected log messages.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
Battle Point total for Hell’s Crafters is currently 14.
Your rank is 13 / 48.
“Ooh! Akira and the others must be getting some kills! Our strategy must be working!”
“Seems like it.”
“Wow, bawk! We might make the top four after all!” Kokoru yelled in excitement.
“We'll see about that!” came a voice from above.
“Huh?!”
Oh, yeah. Kataoka’s NPC can fly!
“Bawk! It’s Peater!”
I grinned. “Heyo! There you are!”
“You’ve done it now. But at the very least, you are a worthy opponent. Allow me to return the favor!”
“Heh. How convenient for the top Birdman to make his appearance. Hope you’re ready to bow down to Kokoru when he takes your spot!”
“Bagawk?! Ren, what are you talking about, bawk?!”
“Hah! I’ll believe that when I see it!” Peater smirked fearlessly and readied his favored weapon, a spear.
“Go on, Kokoru! Show him your true strength!”
In order for Kokoru to experience success, he had to defeat Peater in a one-on-one fight. I decided to watch over their battle.
“I-I can't, Ren! I can’t even—”
“Yes, you can! You’ve grown plenty by now, so test your skills! Your family’s watching, remember? Show ’em what you’ve got!”
“But, Ren... I don’t have any confidence, bawk!”
“Battles aren’t just about stats. Even the weak can use their brains and come out on top in the end! Right now, you have one trick up your sleeve! You should know what that is!”
“Right now, bawk?”
Kokoru was a smart guy. He had talent as a merchant, and a merchant couldn't have a dull mind. Though he may have been at a statistical disadvantage, he should’ve known what tactics he had available to him.
I mean, he could also cheat by summoning the Deadly King. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he did. This was an important moment to instill confidence in him, after all.
“Let’s get off so they can do their thing,” I told Akabane.
We both jumped off of the Frost Eagle’s back.
“Peater, we'll be watching! Fight to your heart’s content!”
“Very well! Kokoru, show me how far you’ve come!” Peater flapped his wings powerfully, rushing at Kokoru through the air.
“Baaawk?!” Kokoru steered the Frost Eagle away, dodging the first spear blow.
That was fast! Maybe they have some bird telepathy going on?
“You won’t escape!”
Thus, the midair chase began.
Peater charged and stabbed with his spear, while Kokoru dodged and kept his distance, attempting to attack with the Frost Eagle’s ice breath.
Although Peater moved much more fluidly, Kokoru was still managing to fight back.
I watched their dance, arms crossed and cheering him on in my mind. You can do it, Kokoru!
He didn't necessarily have to win here; when it came to points, we could get them ourselves. But he needed self-confidence!
You’ve got this, buddy!
I couldn’t just force him to gain confidence, after all. He had to find it himself!
“This is a surprise. You shied away from a one-on-one fight with Snow earlier,” Akabane commented.
“It depends on the time and the place. Right now, I’d say he needs this.”
“If anyone tries to get in their way, we can stop them.”
“Of course.”
Akabane seemed to understand the importance of this fight.
The battle between Kokoru and Peater raged on with no end in sight.
“I see your weakness!” Peater shouted unexpectedly, charging right through the Frost Eagle’s ice breath.
He ignored the damage and thrust his spear toward the eagle.
“Ultimate move: Lightning Torpedo!”
Spinning around his thrust-out spear, Peater charged forward with incredible speed! His spear was enveloped in a pale-blue glow. It was as if a powerful bolt of lightning was striking from the side. This high-speed, rotating spear charge was made possible only by Peater’s ability to fly.
Turned into a spectacular bolt of lightning, Peater struck the Frost Eagle in the torso.
“Caaaw!”
It cried out in pain.
“Oh, no! The Frost Eagle’s going down!”
Its HP bar fell all the way down to zero. Kokoru was still safe, but without the Frost Eagle, he couldn’t fly!
“Hmph! Because your eagle stopped to use its breath weapon, I knew just when to strike.”
“Lose the battle, win the war!” I shouted.
The fallen Frost Eagle began to flicker and fade away. As a result, Kokoru was left hanging in the air.
“Baaawk?!”
He flapped his wings helplessly. Kokoru was just barely able to correct his course as a result, barely clinging to the Assault Anchor.
“Nice! Hang in there!”
“You fool. You’re wide open! It won't be long before you fall!”
Peater’s spear sped toward Kokoru as he tried desperately to hang on! He was going to get knocked off at this rate!
Just then...
Crash!
“Mrngh?!”
Before Kokoru could be knocked off the anchor, Peater was blown away by a giant metal fist!
I was so proud of my boy. “Good job!”
Kokoru had already called his next monster—a huge, living suit of armor. This gaudy orange creature was a level 79 monster called Infernal Armor. Now Kokoru had four more merc-monsters at his disposal.
However, the fact that he hadn’t called upon the Deadly King yet meant that he was still using his head. If he was panicking, he would be more likely to rely on his ace.
“Pull me up, bawk!”
The Infernal Armor obeyed Kokoru's order and lifted him up from the Assault Anchor. It wasn’t as powerful as the Deadly King, but this Infernal Armor synergized well with Kokoru. Naturally, I had been the one to recommend it. Why, you might ask?
“Okay... Now! Assemble, bawk!”
The Infernal Armor lightly bowed, then dismantled itself, its separate pieces floating in the air.
Clink, cling, clang!
Then, with a bunch of cool metallic sounds, each part covered Kokoru’s body! His body shape didn’t quite match up, but fortunately, the parts reshaped themselves to fit him.
Now, Kokoru’s round body was covered in full armor!
Fullmetal Kokoru was complete!
“Baaawk! All suited up!”
The Infernal Armor was able to use a special skill, Armor Possession, which allowed allied monsters to wear it. Kokoru had made the monster use it on him. Ordering it to activate this ability cost AP on Kokoru’s end, but he had more than enough built up from fighting.
When his allied monsters gained AP, a portion of it would be given to Kokoru’s. In short, he had used the Frost Eagle to build up the necessary AP to use Armor Possession.
From the outset, this had been his goal.
Armor Possession meant that all damage would go to the Infernal Armor instead of him, leaving him unhurt until the Armor died. It was a perfect ability for a low-HP, low-defense guy like Kokoru.
“My, so all he needed was armor. I see!”
“Yep!”
“Hmm. So you’re wearing an armored monster. Interesting!”
Peater righted himself and once again attacked with his spear. Fullmetal Kokoru did the same with his own spear now. It was a weapon he had kept in his inventory. The two of them clashed, trading blows.
Peater attacked.
Dealt 72 damage to Infernal Armor!
Infernal Armor attacked.
Dealt 91 damage to Peater!
When it came to a single hit, we seemed to come out on top. Perhaps that was because we had higher defenses? Either way, it was good!
Incidentally, in the above logs, Fullmetal Kokoru had been treated as Infernal Armor. That was the beauty of this combination. Normally, Kokoru’s Cowardice trait meant he could never deal damage, but Fullmetal Kokoru was an Infernal Armor, as far as the game was concerned.
As long as he used Armor Possession, even his stats were those of an Infernal Armor, so Cowardice wasn’t applied.
Being turned into Infernal Armor could be taken as either a huge downgrade to the level of a crappy mob monster, or a dramatic upgrade to the level of the Infernal Armor, depending on who wore it.
In Kokoru’s case, he was definitely the latter. Not only was he fighting without showing off his endless weaknesses, but he even got to avoid Cowardice.
“Well, then. Fireball!” From a faraway point, Peater unleashed his magic.
Oh, wow. I remember! At the draft, it said he was a magic knight.
As Kokoru couldn’t fly, all he could do was stand on the Assault Anchor and wait for the attack. If Peater attacked from afar, he could only evade while keeping careful attention on his footing. Then, while Kokoru was occupied by that, Peater charged again!
Peater attacked.
Dealt 76 damage to Infernal Armor!
This time, Kokoru couldn't smack him back! He couldn't keep on taking hits like this.
“This is bad! It’s too one-sided!”
Peater had around 70% HP, while Fullmetal Kokoru was about 20%. Our boy was already at a terrain disadvantage. Worse yet, Peater was akin to a hero among the Birdmen, and he was a seasoned warrior.
The difference in their battle experience may have been too great; Kokoru was hardly used to fighting, after all.
“It’s okay. This isn’t the end!”
“But... No, you’re right. He really did his best. I see Kokoru in a new light now.”
“Nah, that’s not what I mean.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“He can still win this!”
If I were Kokoru, this probably would’ve done the same thing up until now. But the way to turn the tables was still in Kokoru’s hands... err, wings? Did he realize it himself, though?
C’mon, man! I know you can figure it out!
“You’ve done well for yourself. But now, you fall! Lightning Torpedo!”
Once again, Peater activated his finisher ultimate. The potentially fatal blow spiraled toward Kokoru.
“Purge, bawk!”
At the last second, Kokoru removed his Armor Possession.
“What on earth?!” Akabane gasped in surprise.
If Fullmetal Kokoru took the blow, then only the Infernal Armor would suffer the hit. But if he took the blow himself, he was sure to die and give up five points.
Akabane’s reaction was deserved, but I couldn’t help but give him a round of applause.
“Nice one! Atta boy!”
This was just what I wanted him to do. Kokoru knows what’s up!
“Armor Possession, bawk!”
Yes, yes, yes!
This time, the armor didn’t attach itself to Kokoru—but Peater instead!
Clink, cling, clang!
Now, Peater had been turned into a Fullmetal mech.
“Nraaagh?!” He screamed as he lost his balance and started wobbling in the air.
Akabane finally realized what was going on. “Oh, I see! Now that he’s wearing armor...”
“Yep! Thanks to the Armor Possession, he’s now an Infernal Armor!”
That meant Peater’s ability to fly was gone. If you wanted to spin it as in-game lore, you could say the armor was just too heavy for his wings to lift.
Either way, the idea was that if it could remove Kokoru's Cowardice trait, then it ought to do the same with Peater’s ability to fly.
Now that he was just a hunk of metal hanging in the air...
“Aaaaah!”
Fullmetal Peater dropped like a stone.
It was probably the first time he’d fallen since he had learned to fly. No doubt this was a terrifying experience.
As he disappeared from sight, a system log came up.
You have defeated an enemy NPC.
Hell’s Crafters has gained 5 Battle Points.
Battle Point total for Hell’s Crafters is currently 19.
Your rank is 10 / 48.
That had been the perfect battle strategy for this environment. I had to praise Kokoru for being so resourceful.
You’re a real man now, buddy!
“Bawk?! I did it? I... won?” he muttered, bewildered. “I’m so used to being useless... I can’t believe I beat Peater!”
I gave him a hearty pat on the back. “Good work, man! What did I tell you? You got this!”
I was feeling pretty smug myself! After all, Kokoru had just done the giant-killing thing, but against Peater! Nobody back at the draft could’ve expected this wild turn of events. It was truly satisfying to see weaklings use their brains to conquer the strong! This was true drama! Oh, how fulfilled I was!
“Thanks for the hint, bawk! That really was a dirty move; this is the only place I could’ve pulled it off.”
“Hey, that’s perfectly fine. The battle’s over, and you’re the winner! Besides, there’s nothing dirty about using the situation to your advantage. That’s called skill! Either way, you defeated Peater. You’ve got what it takes. Believe in yourself!”
“Bawk! Thanks! I’m so glad you guys picked me!”
“Same here, bro. Now I can brag to everyone about how I raised you. Anyway, let’s get back to racking up points!”
“Yeah, bawk! Okay!”
“But be a little more stingy, all right? If you keep using up your monsters, we’ll run out too fast.”
“Gotcha, bawk!”
Two of his six monsters had already been consumed. If possible, I wanted to preserve all four of the others until the finals, especially the Deadly King. He’d blow everyone away!
“But how will we travel?” Nozomi asked. “The Frost Eagle died. Do we have another?”
“Nope.”
“Oh, yeah. Baaawk!”
“Huh?! Then what are we going to do?”
I shrugged. “We jump off, die, and respawn on the Peachy Thunder.”
“I suppose we could, but we’ll lose all of the points we gathered!”
“That’s all right. It’ll dock us seven points, but we still have a net gain when you factor in all the points we farmed here.”
I had grabbed eight, while Kokoru had earned us five. That made for thirteen, so even if we lost seven, we would come out ahead by six.
“It just feels like such a waste.”
“Nah, it’s fine. We got something more important than points.”
After all, Kokoru’s newfound confidence was priceless!
“True enough. Very well. Shall we make the leap?”
“Yeah. But first, I’ll have them stop for a sec. Otherwise, we might get blown off the ship by nitro the moment we respawn.”
“That’d be awful, bawk.”
“Let me send a message real quick.”
As I was trying to send a message to Akira, something suddenly zipped past us.
Fwoom!
It was a fireball.
Oh! A magic attack!
“They’re aiming for us!”
Akabane was correct. Magic and arrows were flying at us from both sides.
The players we had defeated before had respawned and were now attacking us again. But this time, they were using long-range attacks so that they wouldn’t need to get on the anchor and fall victim to my Vermilion Wing again.
An obvious countermeasure, perhaps.
Once you’d been outdone by a creative strategy once, you would devise a countermeasure and use your own creative strategy to outdo them. Eternal, mutually assured improvement was the essence of PvP combat.
Baseball, soccer, and other sports were similar.
“Heh! Well, while we’re at it, we might as well grab a point or two before we die!”
“A sound plan!”
“Bawk!”
Thus, we attempted to launch a suicide attack on the gang to our left. But then...
Claaang!
An Assault Anchor smashed into the leftmost ship.
The intrusive ship suddenly began accelerating with incredible speed, charging straight toward the one it had anchored!
Its hull was a blinding pink all over. On the bow was a shiny, dangerous-looking drill. It was our very own JS Peachy Thunder!
The JS Peachy Thunder gouged out a hole in the hull of the ship as it whizzed past. That was the nitro, in all its glorious speed.
Thanks to the connection granted by the anchor, it came to a sudden halt once it got far enough away. The momentum as it passed by became centrifugal force when it was pulled by the anchor, allowing our airship to spin around and once again target the other ship with its drill.
Although it had successfully changed course, its current vector took them away from its mark.
But then, the nitro went off again!
Vrooom!
The outward-pointing vector was erased with brute force by the nitro. Now, our ship was back on track!
It tore another hole in the leftmost ship, then turned and charged once more!
“Dang! Maeda steers like a pro!”
Each nitro canceled the rigidity of the ship’s motion, leading to a beautiful Golden Drill combo. Its sheer mobility was even more terrifying than I had expected!
After the fourth consecutive drill attack, the target ship was completely destroyed, falling down and spewing smoke.
“Ooh. They sank the whole ship! Wow!”
Kataoka’s in there, isn’t he? Poor guy!
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell's Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell's Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell's Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell's Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
You have defeated an enemy player.
Hell's Crafters has gained 1 Battle Point.
Battle Point total for Hell’s Crafters is currently 24.
Your rank is 7 / 48.
“They're doing good work up there!”
“Awesome job, Kotomi. Bawk!”
There was just one problem: because the leftmost ship had been sunk, the three of us had lost the support of the anchor. We clung desperately to it as it hung from the rightmost ship.
Thankfully, after felling the enemy ship, the JS Peachy Thunder came our way.
“Heeey, Ren! Nozomi! Kokoru!” From the deck of the ship, Akira waved to us in her school uniform.
Oh, so they’re coming to rescue us!
“Heeey! Over here, over heeere! We’re saved!”
Lucky us! We get to go back to our ship without losing points!
Once we had regrouped, we continued to farm points. Along the way, Homura’s guild appeared again, so we actually fought to help her out this time.
We were so into it that we didn’t even notice the time passing, and before we knew it, the battle royale was over.
In the end, we were in second place.
Awesome! We made it to the final round!