by Nikita Thorn
He suddenly recalled something vital. Even with the extra health on the charm, he would not have been able to survive the damage intended for Lieutenant Kato. At the very last second before the absorbed damage got applied back, Captain Tsukuda had done something. Now that he remembered the situation, he was starting to have an idea what it had been.
Seiki’s heartbeat quickened as he pulled up his skills menu.
Focused Strike [Seiki – Level 16]: Strike the enemy with added damage from an energy burst at the point of contact, dealing 458-504 damage. Ability modification: none. Enhancement: none.
Variation – Reflection: allows the user to turn damage of up to 20% of the user's maximum health received within the last 2 seconds into additional output damage. 45-second lockout.
He almost let out a cry, and when he looked up, Ippei was grinning. “I was waiting to see when you’d notice.”
Seiki read the description again several times, trying to figure out its application. Focused Strike had no lockout time, and, out of combinations with Slide, Seiki had always used it as a filler ability: something to do if he had energy to spare and when other more meaningful abilities were on lockout.
He did some quick calculations and his eyes widened. “My Focused Strike can be over 50% stronger every 45 seconds?” He nearly choked on that thought. That would be nearly a thousand points in damage, something he only used to be able to do when performing his biggest combination.
“As long as you’re taking that much damage in the last few seconds,” said Ippei.
Seiki found himself grinning. “I probably will be.”
This would reward risky trades, which was something he had been taught all his life to avoid. Lately, in a world where there were no permanent consequences, however, he had been doing more and more of it, and he had to admit it was exciting.
Slowly, Seiki considered the implications. This new variation would not work with abilities that negated damage, like Parry or his Crimsonfire Tekko, or self-inflicted damage, like his Blood Rush trade. This meant he would need to be thinking about strategically taking damage to maximize his output.
The two-second window would allow him time to rack up damage to be used, just about long enough to be useful against sustained damage. For some reason his first thought leapt to an obake’s Life Drain. The last two seconds, when the Drain effect was strongest as he closed the distance, would also allow his counterstrike to be stronger as well. He wondered if it also worked with damage taken from poisons and various curses, although he had a feeling it would not.
The lockout was just about long enough to make him plan carefully, but still short enough not to be saved for emergencies. And with this added condition, Seiki realized he had to rethink his whole toolkit.
“This changes everything… again,” he said.
Ippei nodded. “Maybe including your stat priorities.”
Seiki puzzled over it for a second, before understanding his friend was right. He had never focused much on building up his health pool, and had always prioritized energy, since it allowed him to play faster, but now, any added maximum health would also mean more damage he could absorb and convert into offensive power.
“Just keep trying it out until it feels right,” said Ippei. “And it’s probably time to really get friendly with your Field Officer and get that training dummy.”
Seiki nodded as he thought about it some more. The variation was not limited to its offensive use. As Captain Tsukuda had demonstrated, it could be used simply to reduce the damage he was taking, as long as he had enough time and energy for a Focused Strike to release it off somewhere. Closing his eyes, he tried to recall what exactly the captain had done, but he only remembered grabbing energy for the move. The rest had felt perfectly natural, as if he had been able to redirect incoming damage and let it leak out through his palm.
Seiki’s eyes snapped open. “Okay, still, the variation alone wouldn’t have allowed me to survive the amount of damage.”
Ippei’s widening grin told Seiki where to look for the answer. Inspecting the samurai’s skills menu, he found an additional line under Ippei’s fourth ability.
Brace [Ippei – Level 15]: halves the damage the user takes in the next 2 seconds as long as the amount does not exceed 150% of the user’s maximum health. 1-minute lockout.
Variation – Contact Brace: allows the user to halve the damage taken in the next 2 seconds by both themselves and a target they are in physical contact with as long as the amount does not exceed 180% of their combined maximum health. The applicable amount is then shared in equal percentages between the user and the target. 4-minute lockout. Any subsequent usage of Brace before the lockout period expires extends the lockout by 1 minute.
“Oh, that was the main reason,” said Seiki. His twenty percent damage reduction was nothing compared to the samurai’s ability to simply negate half the total amount.
Brace had always been somewhat of a personal ability, but now this meant it could directly benefit an ally.
“What if I throw the Protection shield on you, then run sixty feet…”
Ippei laughed. “Then run back sixty feet in three seconds so I can split half the damage?”
“Right, that won’t work,” said Seiki with a chuckle.
“But you know what the best thing about it is?”
Seiki shook his head.
Ippei’s eyes lit up in delight. “It doesn’t say friendly target.”
Seiki thought for a moment before his jaw dropped. In a tight situation, Ippei could potentially grab hold of an enemy and transfer a good percentage of incoming damage onto them. That probably explained the long lockout time as well as penalty for rapid subsequent use. “It’s a… pseudo shield and a pseudo… Life Steal?”
Ippei laughed. “Probably. And I know exactly what Free Slot I need now.”
Mairin laughed. “All right, before you get too carried away with being overpowered, shouldn’t you try to hide your weapons or something when the guy comes? We still have work to do.”
Footsteps, heavier than Chamberlain Giichi’s, were once again approaching, and Mairin transformed back into a fox and pressed herself flat against the wall slightly further away where the lamplight did not quite reach.
Seiki and Ippei exchanged glances. The cell was bare, and there was nowhere to hide their weapons and no time to store them in their inventory, so they moved back into the shadows. Seiki stood up and put his back against the cell wall, using his arm to block the Hikari on his side from view.
The footsteps grew louder, accompanied by sounds of clanking metal that made Seiki wonder if the man was holding the largest keychain in the world. A Palace Guard [Level 35 Elite] appeared in front of the cell, and as he turned toward them, Seiki noticed two pairs of metal manacles hanging on the man’s belt.
“That’s not standard procedure when releasing prisoners,” said Ippei, cautiously eyeing the chains.
“I received extra orders,” said the man curtly as he picked out a key and inserted it into the door. “Now come out quietly and don’t even try to—”
The moment the lock clicked, Seiki burst into a Slide, slamming into the door with as much speed as he could gain. The door swung wide open, crashing into the Palace Guard, who let out an angry yell. Grabbing more energy, Seiki struck the door again with a bare-handed Focused Strike, letting it swing against the guard once more before he could regain his balance.
Something down the corridor gave a loud hiss, and Mairin cried. “Hold your breath!”
The round paper parcel hit the floor next to the stumbling guard. Yellow smoke exploded from it.
Seiki caught a whiff of a sickly acidic smell, but holding his breath did not seem enough to ward off the effect. He felt as if he had been splashed by icy water wherever his skin had come into contact with the smoke, and the cold started spreading from outward into his body.
You are affected by Kurochie Debilitating Powder. 16% toward com
plete paralysis.
68% toward complete paralysis.
Startled by how fast the poison was acting, Seiki reached back to grab hold of Ippei’s arm, before bursting into another Slide down the hallway, dragging the samurai out of the vicinity of the smoke.
“Slide ends now,” Seiki warned his friend to allow him to prepare for the sudden loss of momentum. Ippei stumbled a bit, but caught his balance, and they continued to run after the kitsune.
Mairin was already bounding down the hallway. Seiki could feel her Spirit Mend filling up his resources, but his health was still full, and unlike Cleanse, the ability could not clear poisons. Remembering something, he activated Blood Rush, letting the extra energy flush through him, but that did nothing for the cold either.
Luckily, as soon as they were out of its range of five feet or so, the effect automatically lifted, and the numbing cold receded. Behind them, something hit the floor with a loud thud, most likely the guard, who had succumbed to the paralyzing effect. The man started yelling for reinforcements, and a second later Seiki could hear distant footsteps from the other end of the corridor.
“Second door on the left.” Mairin reminded herself. The instruction turned out to be necessary after all, as there were two on both sides, and Seiki had no idea why the design would be as such, except to make the escape a little more complicated.
The skeleton key worked. The lock gave a satisfying clack, and the kitsune pushed the door open, letting through remarkably bright sunlight. The footsteps were growing closer, but a second later they were through the door, and Mairin slammed it shut and locked it again.
They found themselves in a tiny unknown courtyard, paved with stone tiles and closed in with white walls on all sides. On one of them was a wooden gate, which was already left wide open. In a corner was a persimmon tree, which looked as if it had sprouted by accident and people had simply let it grow. Under the fruit-filled branches was a Palace delivery horse cart similar to one Seiki remembered having ridden in once a very long time ago, except that this one had a roof frame fitted with faded gray cloth for cover. The Cart Driver [Level Unknown], a middle-aged man, was helping himself to one of the juicy orange-colored fruits. His face from the nose up was hidden under the shadow of a large straw hat.
At the commotion, he looked up and threw his snack to the side. “Quick!” The driver waved to them, pointing toward the cart where the entry flap had already been left open.
Seiki would very much like to see where the Palace Prison was actually located, but there was no time to get his bearings. From the other side of the door were now muffled shouts and clinking of metal as the Palace Guards presumably searched for the correct key. Mairin, in fox form, was already halfway across the courtyard toward the cart, and Seiki and Ippei quickly ran after her.
The rickety cart wobbled under their weight as they scrambled in, and the driver whipped the horse into action even before Ippei could properly pull the cloth flap down. The cart veered sharply, throwing them off balance as it made a sharp right around the courtyard gate. Seiki thought he heard the Palace Guards’ shouts as they made it through the door, but the voices were soon drowned out by the overall commotion of wheels on gravel and the jovial laughter of passing servants. After a while, the driver slowed their pace, most likely to blend in with the rest of the traffic going through the Palace.
The cart was empty, save for a small pile of rags in the corner, and smelled strongly of dirt and fresh produce, but with ample room for them to sit comfortably. Mairin stayed in her fox form and poked her head out the back of the cart to observe.
Seiki could still not imagine the route they were taking. At some point they must have passed close to the Palace Kitchen again, as Seiki caught a brief mouthwatering whiff of something freshly fried.
“I’m going to spend so many Tokens on time-limited Festival food right now,” Mairin announced. “That was a bit intense.”
Seiki was inclined to agree. As the tension of the events was starting to wear off, exhaustion was creeping up on him. “Maybe… I’ll go do some easy South City quest after this,” he said with a chuckle, at that point deciding that after the Festival was over he was going to spend the whole weekend sleeping.
“It’s safe to look out now,” said the cart driver. “The Palace dogs won’t follow us out into the public.”
They lifted the cover flap and peered out. The cart was now back at the front of the Servants’ Quarters, where they had started the quest earlier. Third-Rank Official Chiba was, perhaps not surprisingly, no longer there. The cart continued down the courtyard and turned left once more, down a tiny path beside one of the storage buildings Seiki had never been before. There was a side door, painted in the same color as the wall, which the driver had to unlock.
They found themselves on a small road in North City, and, to Seiki’s surprise, they were still instanced. Two turns later down an unfamiliar path, the driver finally stopped in an empty alley.
Seiki noticed, as the driver lifted the cloth flap to tell them they had reached their destination, that under the man’s crudely woven straw cloak, he was wearing a Shinshioka army uniform.
Mairin leapt down, transformed back into a human girl and cocked her head as she studied the man. “So, are you part of the network?”
The man gave a casual smile and shrug. “I’m just a simple cart driver, ojo-san. You all stay out of trouble now.”
Ippei grinned. “If all cart drivers are like you, Captain, Shinshioka is the safest city in the world.”
Seiki glimpsed a metal badge on the man’s uniform, which his friend obviously recognized.
The unnamed Captain smiled. “Doing my part in keeping Shinshioka safe, Unit Chief, from the demons and from herself.”
They all thanked him as he hopped back onto his cart and drove away. It was not difficult to find their bearings now, and the instance boundary turned out to be right at the end of the alley where it connected to one of the North City’s main streets. Seiki breathed a sigh of relief as they were once again enveloped by the sights and sounds and ignorant crowds of the Pacchi Festival.
“Well, do we agree we need a small break now? That was definitely no party quest,” said Ippei, as he checked his watch and told them it had taken nearly three hours. “Although I can’t really complain anymore.”
“No,” Seiki agreed. “Thanks, Captain Tsukuda,” he said quietly, somehow feeling strangely guilty. He then thought of something and turned to his friend. “By the way, do you happen to have any of those sake drinking boxes on you?”
Ippei, surprisingly, did, and Seiki borrowed two. “I’ll be right back. Pigeon me when you’re ready. I’ll make my way to the Society in a bit to finish the quest.”
That was met with mild questioning looks from his friends, and Seiki was not sure how to explain, and so he added with a laugh, as he started making his way toward Trade Street. “Don’t worry. I won’t get ambushed by the Kano Castle.”
“And you just jinxed it right there.” Mairin shook her head in amusement.
Luckily, Seiki’s journey toward the West Gate proved to be nowhere near that perilous, and the subsequent ride toward Muraki Fort on the northward road was as equally uneventful.
The Fort was less crowded than usual, and people dedicated enough to War runs had already done it right after the weekly reset the day before. Everyone else had apparently decided to maximize their time in the Festival event, leaving Muraki Fort nearly deserted. The NPC guards gave Seiki a nod as he rode through.
Seiki dismounted and made his way across the middle courtyard to the Command Hall.
Lieutenant Kato was sitting alone, reviewing what appeared to be hand-drawn military maps. The man looked up from his task. His face had the usual exhausted look, but his eyes were bloodshot like a man who had not slept and was somehow determined not to sleep again.
“Hi, Lieutenant,” said Seiki. “Thought I’d find you here.”
He had no way
of reentering the Inner Palace, and the lieutenant had been missing from the Barracks in the Soldier’s Quarters since the beginning of the Festival.
The man gave Seiki a solemn nod, his eyes on him, but said nothing else.
“It wasn’t your fault,” said Seiki quietly.
Lieutenant Kato continued to look at him, and whether it was his own imagination or not, Seiki had a feeling the statement was acknowledged for what it really meant. The young lieutenant, however, said nothing and heaved a long sigh. “I still can’t give you War Orders, Seiki. Come back in two days,” he said, as was his duty to do while in Muraki Fort.
“I’m not here for that, Lieutenant.” Seiki placed two wooden cups on the writing table, and filled both with sake he had just bought from a specialty stall on the way.
Then he retrieved the black Yomotsu Incense and placed it on the desk. “I have no idea if this is going to work, or if I can give it to you. Allegedly you can have one last conversation with the dead. I was going to use it for something else, but I think you need it more than I do right now.”
The lieutenant still had his eyes fixed on him, and Seiki had no idea if the man could comprehend what he had just said, but that did not matter.
“Here’s to Captain Tsukuda.” Seiki drained his cup, before turning to leave.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The Festival brought many new pleasures at the expense of many simpler ones. Seiki had never imagined he would miss being able to hear his own footsteps until he found himself paying extra attention to the pleasant rustling of the grass around his ankles as he slowly made his way toward the ronin West Plains instance opposite the Renkan Mountain.
The quick trip to Muraki Fort had reminded himself how quiet it was outside the City, and Seiki was glad to find the opportunity to sneak out again. He thought Fubuki would enjoy a little stroll in the sun, so he had dismounted early to let the snowstepper follow him at her own pace to the edge of the instance.