by Rick Scott
Whoa! “That much?”
“Don’t worry,” she says. “You should earn enough from your quest to cover it to get back. Or you can just stay in Bangōr and level ninja there.”
“Well I’m going to do some quick research on the quest while we’re traveling,” Gilly says and her eyes go unfocused as she starts multitasking.
Val Helena and I are left staring over the edge of the skyship as it magically crosses the ocean far below us. Wispy clouds add to the setting, giving quite an amazing feeling of freedom. I can tell from her expression, that Val Helena has probably seen this a thousand times and I wonder if she hasn’t gone off to multitask herself.
I contemplate if I should tell her about what happened with Aiko. Part of me fears I might get a similar outburst if I do. But with a million viewers, it was bound to get back to her somehow. And if it did, it was probably better if she heard it from me first.
“Hey Val?”
“Yeah?”
A pause a moment before blurting it all out: “Earlier today, I teamed up with Aiko. She showed me an area to level up my thief really quickly. I wasn’t really thinking about how that might make you feel, but I just want you to know that I wasn’t trying to double cross you or anything. I just accepted her party req—”
“It’s okay,” Val Helena says. “I already know what happened.”
My heart skips a beat. “You do?”
“Yes.”
I guess news traveled faster than I thought. “Who told you? One of her subscribers?”
“No,” she said. “I am one of her subscribers.”
Now my mind really does a double flip. “What? You are?”
“Of course, what better way to keep an eye on her and what she’s doing?”
Unbelievable. “So you saw the whole thing?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Didn’t need to. I trusted you would keep your word to me. And you did. It just reinforced the fact that I made the right decision in putting my faith in you. But thanks for telling me too. That tells me you’re a really good guy at heart, Reece. I’m lucky to have found you. And to have you on my side.”
My insides go a little warm and mushy when she says that and then she looks down at me and smiles. I feel like hugging her again. “Thanks Val Helena. For trusting me like that. It means a lot. Really.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“Why does she hate you so much?”
Val Helena lets out a long sigh before she replies, “I really don’t know if I can even go into all that with you.”
Her sudden withdrawal has me feeling hurt for some reason. Even though I know I’m probably asking too much. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry like that… her reaction was just so extreme. Just had me wondering, is all.”
A moment of silence passes between us.
“Tell you what,” she says. “There’s going to come a time when I’m going to ask for you to trust me with the same level of trust that I do you. And when that happens, I promise, I’ll tell you everything you want to know about me and Aiko.”
“Seriously? When will that be?”
She looks away from me and out at the ocean when she replies, “When we kill the world boss.”
* * *
We land in the city of Kuze in the Eastern continent of Bangōr. The region is modeled after feudal japan rather than a typical fantasy setting like Anderrun. Here, medieval stone buildings are replaced by elegantly crafted timber structures with ornate slate roofs. Japanese like kanji adorn the shops and streets, but I’m able to read them just fine through my HUD. As we walk briskly through the city, Val Helena points out a few shops where I can get buy gear specifically for ninja. I stop and get a couple of Level 1 katanas for 500 each. Technically they’re called kunai, small dagger like weapons, but the game refers to all the ninja weapons as katanas; for ease, I suppose, since katana matches the skill name.
“This stuff is expensive,” Gilly says and I have to agree.
“Everything is over here,” Val Helena says. “Which is why you might to want spend the 1000 credits to go back and level in Anderrun. Most of the guild is back over there as well.”
We leave the city and Val Helena takes us through a few areas that look like peaceful countryside. I’m immediately taken aback by the beauty and newness of it all. Lush, forest covered mountains surround us, and on their slopes lie terraced plots of farmland. Some grow rice in water logged paddies. Others grow row upon row of beautiful tea bushes. It’s all so mesmerizing and serene. I wonder if this was how japan really looked when it still existed.
We encounter a few monsters along the way; mainly aggressive wildlife like wolves and foxes. But Val Helena dispatches them easily with a single hit from her double headed axe.
I take a peek at the combat log and nearly crap myself.
Val Helena hits the wolf for 3756 damage.
“Holy cow!” I say. “Remind me never to tick you off when you’re in warrior mode.”
Val Helena gives me a chuckle while Gilly just rolls her eyes.
She leads us off the main path and up a trail and that dead ends at a massive boulder. The boulder is covered with etchings and has a thick rope tied around its girth. I don’t know exactly what it is, but it gives me the impression of a shrine or a holy object of some kind.
“Here you go, kids,” Val Helena says. “Have fun. And when you get to the boss, be careful, it’s a little tricky.”
“Already got it covered,” Gilly says tapping at her temple. “The plan is all laid out.”
“Right,” Val Helena says. “Research girl. Got it.”
“Thanks for the ride,” I say. “I’ll do you proud.”
“You’d better.” And with that Val Helena un-parties with us and fast travels away.
“See?” I turn to Gilly. “She’s not so bad, is she?”
Gilly just smirks. “Whatever, fanboy. Come on let’s do this!”
I laugh at both her comment and her enthusiasm.
I approach the boulder and it reacts to me, the etching glowing to reveal kanji like runes.
You have been found worthy to face the trial of shadows.
You have received a new Quest: Trial of Shadows
[Once you enter, your home point will automatically be set to the entrance.]
Do you wish to enter now? (Y/N)
I hit yes and Gilly and I both disappear and are transported to another world.
* * *
As we materialize in the new area I pull up my character sheet.
Class: Thief
Level: 15
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 20
Agility: 45
Intelligence: 4
Mind: 6
Vitality: 8
HP: 82/82
Stamina: 48/48
TP: 45/45
45 agility already? Dang! Listening to Aiko really paid off on that one. A couple more levels and I’ll double my attack speed. We find ourselves in an eerie forest or perhaps garden, since there is a cobblestone path leading through the slender trees that bend towards one another, forming a sort of tunnel. I note some of the trees also have the same thick rope tied around them that the bounder did.
“So what’s the scoop here, sweetie?”
“Sweetie?” Gill says. “Oh, so I’m sweetie now that your boss has gone?”
“Gilly…come on, I—”
She shuts me up with a surprise hug from behind and a kiss on my cheek. “That’s to remind you, that you still owe me a real date after this. But this will suffice as one for now.”
I chuckle. “So long as we don’t pick up another third wheel again.”
“No chance of that,” she says. “This is an instanced dungeon. It’s just you and me, hun.”
“Sounds like a date for real. Okay so where do we go?”
“It’s pretty straightforwar
d. We stick to the path and kill stuff until we reach the boss at the end.”
“That’s it?”
“Pretty much. Oh! The guide said to look out for ambushes too.”
“Ambushes. Got it.” Let’s hope my awareness skill kicks in.
Gilly buffs us with Minor Favor and regen and then we start down the cobblestone pathway. I get a weird feeling as we approach a circular clearing ahead that has a fountain in the middle that has been overgrown with vines and weeds.
“Wait here,” I tell Gilly and approach with sneak engaged.
As I round the fountain I see two creatures that look like frog people, lying in wait behind it. They are about the size of a Halfling, around four feet tall and stand on two legs. On their backs they have shells like turtles, but I can’t tell if it’s a part of them or just some kind of armor they’re wearing. They seem semi-intelligent because they also have spears in their webbed hands. I focus on one of them to bring up what they are.
Shelled Kappa
Level: 15
These water spirits are tricksters who love to prey on small children! Their shells provide added protection and are very tough.
Affinity: Water
Nasty looking little dudes. They need to go. I circle behind one of them and then strike with a doubled knifed backstab. I aim for the exposed green skin on its flank but somehow I end up hitting its shell. My knives bounce off with a flurry of sparks.
Your backstab failed to penetrate the shell!
Shelled Kappa takes 0 Damage from your backstab!
Great! Immune to backstab? Both the frogmen burble at me as they turn about, licking their bulbous yellow eyes with long sticky tongues. They come at me with their spears and I duck and weave to avoid them. Their attacks seem surprisingly slow to me and I’m able to avoid them with ease, but they scuttle about on their webbed feet with a speed that unnerves me. I lash out at the first one with my dual blades, quick stabs one after another. It burbles and croaks as I puncture its frog skin chest, adding to my heebie-jeebies. I take its HP down 15% a hit and get it to half health with just a few quick strikes. Wow! Dual wield rocks!
I’m so focused on how much damage I just did that I fail to sidestep a spear thrust from the second Kappa and my HP drop to half.
You take -46 damage!
Holy crap!
I hear Gilly casting and she tops me up with a double heal. But then the second Kappa immediately starts hopping toward her. “Gilly! No!”
I finish off the first Kappa with a couple more double attacks, dodging its spear thrusts in between.
You defeated the Shelled Kappa!
You gain 500 experience points.
You find a poison dart.
“Reece help!” Gilly shouts, frozen in fear.
I go from feeling invincible to helpless. I have no way to stop it from killing her. I throw one of my knives in desperation and miraculously the Kappa burbles as it stabs him through the leg.
You have unlock a new ability “Weapon Toss”
Sacrifice your equipped weapon for a long ranged attack.
The Kappa starts heading back my way, forgetting about Gilly. Yes! I swap my off hand knife into my main hand. Good thing I got two of these. I avoid its spear thrusts as it stabs at me, able to do so by watching its movements. I don’t attack as often with only one weapon. But I eventually take it down.
You defeated the Shelled Kappa!
You gain 500 experience points.
Kill chain x1. You gain 250 experience points.
Behind me I hear Gilly level up.
“Gratz,” I say.
She catches up to me was a look of awe on her face. “Wow! That was so awesome… and so close! Thanks for saving me, babe!”
She wraps her arms around me and plants a big goofy kiss on my lips.
I blush a little but smile. “You’re welcome.”
She leans away from me a bit. “Seriously though, I thought for sure I was dead. How’d you do that?”
I shrug. “I dunno, I just tried it. And it worked.”
I reach down and collect my knife from the Kappa’s corpse.
Gilly grins. “Maybe you’re becoming a ninja for real.”
I laugh. “Maybe. I couldn’t backstab them through their shells though.”
“Oh right. Forgot to tell you about that.” She grins as an apology. “The mobs in here are immune to backstab.”
“So I gathered.” I give her a playful roll of my eyes. “Anything else you’re forgetting?”
“Nothing that I can remember right now.”
“Ok, let’s keep going.”
I take point with Sneak on and get the drop on a few more ambushes. I take a few hits every now and then, but Gilly waits until after the battle to heal me up and then we move on. I eventually gain another level and so does she. After a while I wonder if she’s getting bored though. She’s not really taking part in the combat at all, but she still looks chipper.
I remember my promise to ask her about her family and the lulls in between fights seems the perfect time. When we take a break to sit on a low stone wall that borders an overgrown garden in the center of another clearing, I work up the courage to ask her.
“Hey, Gilly?” I say but tread carefully for fear that maybe there’s a reason she’s never elaborated about her family. “I never really asked about your family before. You mentioned you went shopping with them earlier today?”
“Oh yeah,” she says, and by her tone it seems she has nothing to hide about her family. Maybe she never did and maybe it was only me being self-centered for never asking. “We had to upgrade our nano processor so we went to the hub to pick one out. The maintenance team will come in a few days to upgrade our habitat for it.”
“Wow. I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before.”
“Well my dad works in infrastructure so maybe it’s a bit of a perk or something.”
“Infrastructure?”
“Yeah. He makes sure all the systems and stuff keep working.”
I pause at that. I wonder if her dad and my mom maybe worked together at some point. “Does he work on the air scrubbers?”
Gilly just shrugs. “Maybe. I dunno. He never really talks too much about the details of what he does. Just that stuff is always breaking down and needs repair. And he’s always complaining about nano-shards.”
“What are those?”
“I’m not too sure.”
“Are they like the load sheds?” I remember what happened to my brother and I in the elevator. “It’s when the power goes off suddenly.”
“I dunno. But, yeah he’s always talking about those too.”
I nod but still don’t have a good idea of what her dad does. It was kind of like that with my mom too. Just a vague idea that she did “something” to keep the place running.
“What’s your mom do?” I ask.
“She works with my Dad. They both got the same job. That’s how they met.”
“Oh cool. You have any brothers or sisters?”
“Nope, just me.”
I chuckle. “Some days I wish I were an only child.”
“Don’t wish that. It can be lonely. That’s probably why I spend so much time on here. Mom and Dad are out of the hab most of the day so I’m left here all alone.”
She looks sad when she says that and I feel really bad for her. “Hey, you always got me.”
That makes her smile. “Aw… so when you coming over to keep me company then?”
My heart starts pounding. Is she actually inviting me over? In real life?
She must see the anxiety in my face because she starts laughing. “Just playing. I know we’re just friends online.” And then the sadness returns to her eyes again. “I’m not sure how my mom and dad would even react to someone visiting me. They say I’m still kind of young for that.”
“Young?” I say. I begin to get worried that I’ve been kissing a little kid or something and my stomach goes all queasy. “How old are you?”
“I’m 16.”
Whew! “Well, I just turned 17. So we’re practically the same age.”
She grins. “Maybe there’s hope for us yet.”
I smile back and feel my heart beating faster at the possibility. “Maybe…”
The pause leaves an electricity flowing between us and I stare into her deep green eyes. I lean in and place a gentle kiss on her soft lips. This time she’s the one that actually blushes and when I pull away she takes my hand into hers and gives it a little squeeze.
“Come on,” I say, squeezing her hand back. “Let’s go kill that boss.”
* * *
We arrive at the end of the garden to see another Kappa, but this one is different. It’s standing in the center of a large circular area that looks like an arena. The Kappa is twice as big as the others and in its hands are two blades held in a reverse grip.
“Are those Katanas?” I focus on it.
Kappa Shadow Master
Level: 20
The Kappa are rumored to have learned the Shadow Arts long before the races of men. Although not all Kappa are gifted enough to use shadow skills, some have prowess that can rival even the greatest of Shinobi.
Affinity: Dark/Water
“Cool!” Gilly exclaims behind me. “A teenaged mutant ninja frog!”
“A what?”
“You’ve never seen that old cartoon? It’s prewar vintage. Oh wait… maybe they were turtles.”
I got no clue what she’s talking about. “So what’s the deal with this guy?”
“He uses a whole bunch of magical debuffs. But don’t worry. I got a spell that can remove them. But just watch out when he starts casting. Try to interrupt him with your attacks.”
“Okay, let’s do it.”
We quickly buff and wait for Gilly’s TP to top back up before we enter the arena.
When we do, the Kappa immediately starts casting, kanji runes encircling its body.