Bushido Online: the Battle Begins: A LitRPG Saga

by Nikita Thorn

  “List,” cried Kiku. Then she, too, cursed.

  Hiro leapt to his feet. He grabbed Seiki’s Hikari from the floor and threw it at him. “You’ll probably need this now.” His tone, unlike the Society and Kiku, was more excited than worried. “And this,” he said, as he grabbed the named dagger from its box, sheathed it and threw it toward Seiki. “Use it once before they kill you.”

  Seiki caught the blades and, not completely understanding what counted as using it, equipped it instead of his Spirit Dagger. After that, he randomly thought about a list of some sort, and information flooded through his brain.

  Taira Mansion [Property of the Shinshioka Scientific Society] Territory Player List

  (Host) Kazuki of the Shinshioka Scentific Society [Level 25]

  (Host) Ikumi of the Shinshioka Scientific Society [Level 20]

  (Guest) Mimura of Ichikeya [Level 22]

  (Guest) Sayahime of the White Crane Order [Level 27]

  (Guest) Hiro of the White Crane Order [Level 21]

  (Guest) Kiku of the White Crane Order [Level 21]

  (Guest) Hatsuo [Level 22]

  (Guest) Toshi of the West Defenders [Level 23]

  (Guest) Haru of the West Defenders [Level 13]

  (Guest)Michiyo of the West Defenders [Level 17]

  “Whose invite was that?” cried Ikumi. They scrambled to the window at the end of the room and lifted the bamboo shutters. More names were still coming through.

  (Guest) Makoto of the West Defenders [Level 19]

  (Guest) Yoshiaki of the West Defenders [Level 14]

  Seiki followed them to the window, which looked out over the front garden. There were dark shadows moving through the trees and the first of the lot were already coming across the little bridge.

  “Kazuki!” a man’s voice shouted.

  (Guest) Nobuki of the West Defenders [Level 25]

  (Guest) Umiko of the West Defenders [Level 19]

  (Guest) Aki of the West Defenders [Level 24]

  “Territory raid,” cried Kiku, partly to Seiki.

  (Guest) Muji of the West Defenders [Level 18]

  (Guest) Yoshitsune of the West Defenders [Level 24]

  They had all moved away from the window and stood their ground around the door. Sayahime had put on a golden arm guard with +89 defense on it. Her long sword called Mizuyori, gleaming light blue in the dim light, was already drawn. Kiku stood there with a serious expression, and Hiro’s eyes were glittering with joy. Mimura, with a katana that Seiki had no time to inspect, stood calmly in a defensive stance.

  The air was tense with silent anticipation. Ikumi had retreated into the back of the room and Kazuki had mysteriously disappeared.

  Footsteps could be heard running up the stairs, and a voice cried “Not here!” from the other side of the hallway.

  “Kazuki!” someone cried again.

  The footsteps had stopped in front of the room they were in. Presumably, the attackers had already searched through the rest of the house and found nobody.

  “West Defenders. They don’t have the Ambition blade, do they?” asked Kiku.

  “No,” said Mimura. “They lost it to the Red Dawn two weeks ago.”

  “I can confirm,” said Ikumi from the back of the room.

  The atmosphere outside of the room was tense as more and more footsteps joined them. “Kazuki!” cried the man again, presumably the leader of the raid. “Ikumi! I know you’re in there, and I know you know what we’re here for.”

  “What are they here for?” whispered Kiku.

  “The Horn,” said Ikumi.

  Hiro scoffed. “Come in and get it!” he shouted.

  “Whoever is in there that is not the Society, you can leave!” cried the voice. “Sayahime, Hiro.”

  “That’s hime-sama for you!” Kiku shrieked.

  There was a moment of silence. From behind the screen panel, someone cursed. “RPers,” said a woman’s voice.

  Another voice replied in a slightly hushed tone. “Yeah, it’s the Order. They’re gonna fight.”

  Seiki had his sword ready in hand, but Ikumi moved beside him and whispered, “Not your fight, Seiki-san. No need for you to die here.”

  “At least I can try,” said Seiki.

  The panels fell over as the attackers kicked them down, three of them at once, in various gear. They quickly ducked, revealing a second row of ryoushi with their bows fully nocked and drawn.

  A rain of arrows shot into the room, with multiple Rapid shots, and Seiki caught a glimpse of what an army of ryoushi could do. Sayahime glided forward. She slashed her blade up, striking most of the arrows out of the air in a manner that Seiki had not expected to be possible.

  Then all hell broke loose.

  The attackers rushed in with drawn swords and battle shouts, and Hiro leapt forward into a full Sweeping Blade. Mimura Parried one of the swordsmen, and someone cried out as they were struck in the back by Kazuki, who had reappeared out of shimmery air.

  “Why don’t you just give it to people who are actually pushing real content?” cried Nobuki of the West Defenders [Level 25] as Sayahime Parried his attack. Then he shouted, “Get the box!”

  Seiki noticed now a large chest in the corner of the room, and Muji of the West Defenders [Level 18] scurried over to it. “Blood-locked!” he cried as he checked it. Kiku went after him with a cloud of darkness shooting from her hand.

  Seiki was about to join the fight, when Ikumi’s left hand grabbed his arm. Her right hand was raised as she sent out white sparkly heals toward the fray. “We might not be able to hold,” she said. Then, with her eyes still on the fight, she thrust the cloth bundle containing the two special items into Seiki’s hand.

  “Do you have the room at Central Crossing?” asked Ikumi.

  “Uh,” Seiki was not sure if he remembered the name of the place. An arrow whisked by and he ducked before it could hit him. It struck the window pane behind him. Ikumi squatted down and pulled Seiki down with her. She waved her hand to use some other ability Seiki did not recognize.

  “Across the pawn shop,” said the houshi.

  “Yes.”

  Umiko of the West Defenders [Level 19], in Shinshioka armor, had spotted them and ran in with what looked like Focused Strike. Seiki stood up and Parried it, which immediately drained all his energy. Ikumi shot a Hinder at her, slowing her movement, and Kazuki, now on her, forced her to focus on him.

  “All right. Open and read.” Ikumi’s attention was still on the fight as she thrust a paper scroll into Seiki’s hand.

  Hiro was taking heavy damage from two Level 24s that were targeting him. Kiku was now in a wavery form of herself, and spinning blades were flying around the room, tossed by Kazuki.

  Ikumi’s voice was still business-like. “Code phrase is ‘Soul Ward is underestimated’, now don’t give it to anyone else.”

  Seiki had not seen the houshi take damage, but her health was somehow dropping in bouts. “Read,” she said, as she waved her hand again, using the last of her energy. Some of the attackers were dead on the floor around Sayahime. Mimura seemed to be barely clinging on to life.

  Seiki pulled the scroll open, and found only one character on it. “Go?” he said, puzzled.

  You are no longer in a group with Kiku and Ikumi.

  Around, the world blurred and Seiki’s first thought was that an earthquake had struck. He felt as if he was falling, and he grabbed the floor to steady himself as he let out a surprised cry. Then, everyone disappeared.

  Or rather, Seiki quickly perceived he was in an entirely different place. It took him a moment to recognize his room at Central Crossing, Trade Street, which he had only been in once earlier that night.

  Confused, he glanced around and found the cloth bundle in his lap. He opened it and saw both the handicap kote and the Horn of the Ox Demon wrapped up neatly in the middle.

  “Teleport,” he said under his breath, in both wonder and slight disappoi
ntment. He was certain he would have died very quickly, since most, if not all, of the attackers were within range of one-shooting him. But the glimpses he got of what these people were capable of had whetted his appetite for more and he felt restless.

  Someone was yelling his name from outside, and it sounded exactly like Ikumi. He poked his head through the window and saw that it was indeed her, in a red kimono.

  “Meet me at the stairs,” she shouted.

  Seiki hurried out of his room and found her waiting at the bottom of the stairs in the non-instanced area. That was when it hit him: although the woman looked exactly like Ikumi, she was not her but rather Izumi [Level 22].

  Seiki stared at her in puzzlement. “Ikumi?” he asked.

  “Ask me for the code phrase,” said Izumi.

  Seiki blinked. “Oh, uh, what’s the code phrase?”

  “Soul Ward is underestimated,” said Izumi. “Now invite please?”

  Seiki invited her into his territory, and she walked up one step of the stairs, and held out her hand. Understanding what she meant, Seiki gave her the cloth bundle, and she opened to check it, before giving him a smile. “Thanks. Seiki-san. Good-bye.”

  “Wait,” cried Seiki. “Are you Ikumi?” This was not making any sense.

  “There are seven of us. Septuplets, can you believe that?”

  Seiki was not having any more of the mysteries. “But are you actually Ikumi?” he asked again.

  Izumi gave him a playful nudge. “Oh, Seiki-san,” she said. Then she waved good-bye, and disappeared as she left the group.

  Seiki gaped at the empty space where she had been for a moment, before sighing and sitting down on the stairs. From this particular position, he could people-watch as residents came in and out of this busy territory. Although he was completely exhausted from everything that had happened, there were simply so many things he felt he needed to do right now… And it made him feel terribly anxious. Now that the unique blade was safe, he thought he should try to find his way back to Taira Mansion. The only problem? He had no idea where that was. He supposed he could try to locate the morgue first and find his way back from there, and once again he wondered why he had never got round to buying a map.

  “Seiki-san!”

  Someone was yelling his name again. Seiki stepped off the stairs into the public area. A woman in pale yellow came running through the door: Irumi of the Crafters Guild [Level 22], in pale yellow, who, unsurprisingly, looked exactly like her two other clones. “What’s this now?” he said, more exasperatedly than he had expected.

  Irumi smiled briefly and said, “Seiki-san, Ikumi told me to tell you not to come back yet. They will find you again later, but now they have business to tend to. That’s all.”

  “Did they—”

  Before Seiki could finish his question, she had already disappeared up the stairs into her own instance.

  Seiki swore loudly, causing Yumiko [Level 17], who was just coming down the stairs, to jump in alarm. Seiki was not quite sure why—of all the unexpected events that had occured so far tonight—the teleport was the one thing that left him rather upset. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and decided that he needed to walk off his restless energy.

  He felt a sudden urge to talk to Master Tsujihara, and he started to wander aimlessly in the general direction toward South City. Before long, he found himself walking down Market Street, where he had started the night. It seemed like a long time ago, yet the stars were still out and the streets as lively as ever. Shinshioka truly never slept.

  He pushed past a group of people and noticed that it was the Kakigouri shop he had been in, with its perpetual crowd. He glanced in and was surprised to see Ippei, Mairin and Kentaro, sitting at a table.

  “Seiki!” cried Mairin as she spotted him.

  As he approached them, he didn’t fail to note the tray of charms laid out in front of the table. A quick inspection revealed that they were all made by Kentaro. Most were bag charms of various levels.

  The houshi, Kentaro, now with all his gear in a pale shade of light blue that matched his cape, waved. “Hello, Seiki. Long time no see.” His staff was a bit different, and also gave off a soft blue glow.

  “You look terrible,” said Ippei, with an amused smile.

  Seiki looked down at his clothes and discovered that, apart from his chest armor which was still relatively new, everything was torn. There was even a long cut on the side of his yukata where the armor had failed to protect it from Taka’s slash.

  “With that kind of wear and tear.” Ippei mused. “Someone finally killed you.” He chuckled. “Don’t tell me it’s Shousei.”

  Seiki shook his head.

  “Who is Shousei?” asked Mairin.

  Ippei raised his brow. “Weasels?”

  Seiki grinned. “No.”

  “Shadow Manor!” cried Mairin.

  Kentaro looked at them in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  “Here, sit down. Nothing a bowl of sugar can’t fix,” said Mairin.

  “I need to go find Master Tsujihara,” Seiki said, and he was surprised to find that it was not true. It was nice seeing familiar faces, and it was nice being around people who did not talk in riddles.

  That was when Ippei remarked Seiki’s new dagger. “Where did you get that?” he cried.

  As Seiki was about the reply, there was commotion from the streets and a noisy group of people came through. From the corner of his eyes, Seiki saw they were the West Defenders, one of whom was shouting, “—can’t have gone very far!” A few people from their group broke off into different directions.

  Seiki ducked under the table before Makoto of the West Defenders [Level 19] and his three clan mates could detect him. Mairin looked up at the newcomers who had paused briefly in front of the shop before looking back at Seiki, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Don’t tell me these people are after you too.”

  “Might be,” said Seiki. “But I’m not sure.”

  Since he had learned how to Parry—and considering the number of people around—, Seiki was pretty certain he could get away from the West Defenders if he needed to, but he did not want to be responsible for starting a brawl in the middle of Market Street right now.

  Ippei tilted his head to the side. “How did you even have a run-in with a war clan? They’re normally out west beyond the gate.” His eyes narrowed. “You didn’t just rob that dagger off them somehow, did you?”

  “Of course not!” said Seiki.

  “Joking,” Ippei said. “By the way, it’s still unclaimed. So you might want to Focus Strike with it once or something, so that you can throw it off a cliff and still be able to get it back from Lost and Found later.”

  “This is not the time for that,” said Mairin.

  Ippei knitted his brows. “Of course, it’s time for this. Just look at the dagger.”

  Mairin ignored him and turned to Seiki. “Go up the second floor and climb out to the next building,” she whispered. “From there, take a right, then eventually a left down one of the lanes to get back to South City.”

  “This is my charm-selling spot, so come here if you need to find Mairin and me,” said Kentaro.

  Seiki nodded and glanced at the door. Three of the West Defenders had already entered the shop. “Anyone saw any Society members around?” asked Aki of the West Defenders [Level 24], a tall man with a long bow strapped across his back.

  There were much fewer people above Level 20 around. And Seiki grasped now that being that high earned them some prestige. Everyone in the shop looked up at him with interest.

  All of a sudden, Mairin stood up and pointed toward a table at the door. “Oh, you mean like those people?” she asked brightly.

  Everyone turned to look, and Seiki took this chance to slip away behind the counter which held tubs of never-melting ice. The kakigouri seller, apparently a young girl called Mami, gave him a questioning look, but he broke eye contact and she went back to sc
ooping up ice from the tubs.

  “Hmm?” Hisako of the Social Guild [Level 14] raised her head as everyone turned their attention onto her. Her clan mates, Misaki of the Social Guild [Level 11] and Miyuki of the Social Guild [Level 12], in matching low-level green and blue kimonos also looked around in slight confusion.

  “No,” said Aki. “The Shinshioka Scientific Society.”

  “Oh,” said Mairin. She then shrugged. “Never heard of them.”

  Seiki quietly kept to the shadows as he walked up the stairs, making way for Tomoka [Level 12] who was coming down to see what was happening downstairs.

  The second floor turned out to be equally packed with people, and Seiki walked past the tables toward the window looking over Market Street. He peered out and saw that there were four lower-level West Defenders outside, talking among themselves. Outside the window was a small ledge he could climb out onto; it would lead him to an open window of the next building. Seiki grabbed hold of the window sill and swung one leg over.

  “Hey, don’t jump!” someone at one of the tables called out jokingly. “Life’s worth living, man.”

  “As if he’s gonna die falling from the second floor,” said someone else.

  “You can do three floors with armor,” someone else chimed in.

  Seiki smiled at the comments as he carefully placed one foot onto the ledge, which unhelpfully sloped slightly downward toward the street. As he brought his other leg over, he could hear Aki talking from below.

  “There’s also someone else, a Level 8 swordy called Seiki. Anyone know him?”

  One of his clan mates, in the shop and hidden from sight, said, “This is useless, man.”

  “He hasn’t logged out, so he’s got to be here somewhere,” said another. Seiki was surprised that the information was public.

  “Hey, Aki, let’s move on. We’re sending our lowbies to look down South, too.” Kihei of the West Defenders [Level 16] emerged from the shop below. Seiki held still against the outside of the window.

  “Wait!” It was Ippei’s voice. “I think I know the guy.”