I breathe heavily, my eyes flickering to my health bar. I’m shocked to discover how much HP I have left, around half of my health bar. “Hyap!” Accompanied by a grunt, a pickaxe flies towards my head. I flip backwards, avoiding the attack by a hair's breadth. “You don’t deserve it!” The dwarf hisses at me, similarly breathing heavily, standing between me and a bright red gemstone.
“Your dialogue options are shockingly limited compared to the NPCs in Romgard…” I state bluntly, my blade glowing red as I channel my ki into it, “I assume that’s because you’re not even an important NPC. You’re just a mini-boss,” I throw my sword at the dwarf like it’s a dart, catching him off-guard. The blade arcs towards the dwarf’s stomach, but he brings his pickaxe down to guard himself. I smile, “Gotcha,” I whisper, a golden thread of Rapunzel’s hair connecting my hand to the blade suddenly glows red, and with an infusion of my mana the sword changes direction mid flight and impales the head of the dwarf.
“You…bastards…will never wake, Snow, White…” he gurgles out the same dull line of dialogue the last four dwarves have reported, and then dissolves into blue shards.
[Mini-Boss {Grumpy the Dwarf} defeated! +7,800 EXP!]
[Level up!]
“Didn’t even have any good loot,” I murmur unsatisfactorily, walking past where the dwarf stood and taking the gemstone. I figured out I could use Rapunzel’s hair like a fishing rod during my fight with the 3rd floor’s boss monster. With Yuto, me, and every other guild leader there it was a cake-walk. Ever since then, we’ve been grinding through the 4th floor. It’s been a fetch quest, essentially, something my tracking skill has come in great assistance with. They mini-bosses give decent EXP, even if they don’t have any loot besides the gems. I open my inventory, checking the new gemstone, and then open my player profile.
[‘Glistening Ruby’ – 5th gemstone needed to awaken Aurora from the cursed sleep the dwarves have put her in! The ruby sparkles with an unknown magic hidden deep within it…]
[Player Profile: {Kazesoku}
Class: Bounty Hunter
Titles: Gilgamesh, Cain
Lv. 23 - 967/45,000 EXP
HP: 746/1565
ST: 412/1500
MP: 215/1035
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 19
Constitution: 8
Intelligence: 8
Presence: 9
Skills: LOCKED, Tracking (C), Swordsmanship (D), Mana Infusion (D), Arcane Knowledge (E), Sharpshooter (E), Acting (E), Evasiveness (Passive), Weapons Improvisor (Passive)]
My stats are looking alright. I’m still not at a point where I could kill Phantasia…But Yuto and I have started sparring recently. And I give him a run for his money, even if I can’t beat him. Regardless, I report back to Bai-ko, who promised me she had something big as a reward if I could find this dwarf.
Stolen novel; please report.
[{Kazesoku}: Got the dwarf. He was guarding the glistening ruby.]
[{Bai-ko Ne~ko}: Gg! U know u didnt have to kill him, we only needed u to find him for us *^*]
[{Kazesoku}: Mhm, well you said that about the last dwarf too, and when I sent you to location you asked me to guide the raid party because apparently the entrance was too well hidden. So, forgive me for taking the initiative.]
[{Bai-ko Ne~ko}: Idk wat ur talking about (￣ε￣；)]
[{Kazesoku}: What’s my reward for this one? Can I tp to you?}
[{Bai-ko Ne~ko}: Yah! Feel free! *w*]
= = = = = =
The world comes back into focus around me, the crystalline blue shards it dissolved into during teleportation coming back together as the small hub-area of the 4th floor. A small village, with no more than 20 wooden houses, and in the center was a stone church. Most of the people on this floor were NPCs, our first taste of real NPCs in this game as opposed to the limited beginner ones from the first floor. “Welcome back, Mr. Hero,” Bai-ko calls out to me sarcastically, smirking as she does so. I tsk, reaching into my inventory and pulling out the gemstone for her.
I toss it to her, “Stop calling me that,” I mumble, looking away from her in shame. Even though I wasn’t looking at her, with the Sharpshooter skill assisting my throw, the gem falls perfectly into her hand. She, and the six people around her, make up the entire force of players on the floor. Well, excluding me. The game only let 8 people up, to match the 7 dwarves and Snow White. In a way, a blessing in disguise, since it ensured Thanatos couldn’t meddle with us on this floor.
“Why? I think it’s plenty accurate!” Yuto reassures me, wrapping his arm around my head in a show of brotherly affection. I had been worried he might be in lower spirits since he lost a life, but if anything he’s been happier.
“...I didn’t kill her,” I respond while batting his hand off me.
“But you got us information,” Bai-ko retaliates, shivering in pleasure at the idea of more information for her greedy mind. “That’s more important.”
“But, don’t get us wrong,” Gondolin speaks up, sitting on a nearby rock while sharpening a battleaxe, “It would’ve been amazing if you did kill her.”
I recognize his presence, and everybody else’s. Gondolin, me, Yuto, Bai-ko, Christopher, Hong-hu, and two other players whose names I still haven’t bothered to learn. “What’s the occasion? Why’s everybody here? I only got one of the gemstones, not even the last one.”
“Because, we’re having a meeting,” Bai-ko patiently explains, “And we’re deciding what to do.”
“Oh?” I raise an eyebrow, “About what?”
Bai-ko chuckles, taking pleasure in being the most knowledgeable person in the room, “About the fact that…well, can I talk to you alone?” She gestures to the church with her head, not actually asking me but rather demanding I come with her. I oblige, and follow behind her.
We enter the stone building, a rather quaint area of the floor. One painted glass mural of Aurora serves as a window above the altar, and on the altar Aurora is sleeping in a small coffin. In the coffin are 7 empty sockets, one for each gemstone, 4 of which are filled with gems of different colors. The church is empty save for us, the wooden pews quiet and unoccupied. Bai-ko slowly approaches Sleeping Beauty, Aurora, and places the ruby in one of the remaining sockets. It clasps into place.
“What?” I ask, crossing my arms.
“Could you…Unblock Phantasia?” She makes a bold request immediately, but I can see why she had to make it away from the others. I sigh, thinking back on the monster who leads Thanatos. As soon as I separated from her, I blocked her as a friend, but didn’t remove her. She can’t teleport to me, and I can’t see her messages to me, but in theory we are still friends through the system.
“...What’s my reward for the gemstone first?”
“Isn’t doing the right thing it’s own reward?” She asks gingerly, turning back to me. Seeing that I remain stone faced, she approaches me slowly, whispering, “How about getting to stay as Aoi instead of being outed as Kazesoku? That’s a compelling reward, no?” Her eyes glitter dangerously at those words, but I know they’re an empty threat. It’s just as beneficial for her to keep me on her side as it is for me to keep my identity a secret.
“Bai-ko,” I say her name sternly.
“Alright, alright, sorry. Can’t a girl have a little fun?” She asks with a pout, turning away from her while stretching her arms, “Your reward isn’t anything huge, honestly. It’s just that we found somebody who responded to your bluebird quote.”
Not anything huge? I can’t stop myself from grinning, it could be Sukine, Haruhi, or Haruno, but regardless of who it is I’d finally get to meet up with somebody from real life! “That’s amazing!! Why, who, where?!” I call out happily, energy in my voice that I didn’t even know I had.
But Bai-ko turns around with an almost apologetic grin, “Ah, well…The thing is, the person who responded to it…We suspect them to be a member of Thanatos. So…Would you mind investigating them for us?”
