War Games

by Nikita Thorn

  Seeing that Seiki was alone, Umiko broke away from the group and walked over to him. There was some notification about how she had delegated loot distribution rights to Michiyo, which Seiki dismissed.

  “Well,” Umiko said as she casually sat down cross-legged on the ground beside him. “Too bad your friend said you’re not auditioning.”

  Seiki ignored what to say to that. Ippei had always been against clans, and Seiki himself was not in a hurry to swear allegiance to any group of people at the moment.

  Umiko sat in silence with him for a little, seemingly deep in thought. “I’ll talk to Nobuki about getting both of you the Seals,” she finally said. “We could benefit from some fresh eyes on the instance.”

  Seiki made no effort to protest. Despite claiming he would buy his own Seal, after all that just happened Seiki felt he somehow deserved it, and so once again he was not quite sure what to say. It was perhaps still not a fair deal, but he wondered how many Level 14s could claim they were at the frontlines with the rest of the world.

  “Uh, yeah, thanks,” he said at last.

  Umiko smiled, but there seemed to be nothing else left to say, and she prepared to get up and rejoin her group.

  “Can I ask you something?” said Seiki as she sprang back onto her feet.

  “Shoot.”

  “That invasion at Taira Mansion,” said Seiki. “Who invited you in?”

  Umiko frowned. It must have been so long ago that she had nearly forgotten about it. “Oh, that,” she said after a while. “It’s not who you think it was.”

  Seiki looked at her. “Uh, who do I think it was?” he asked carefully.

  “Well, with—”

  “Wait,” Seiki interrupted her. “You know I’m not Reiji, right?”

  Umiko seemed confused, as if not sure how that was relevant.

  Seiki explained. “So whatever you’re going to say, I just want you to know that you’re not speaking to Reiji.”

  The samurai seemed taken aback for a second, before letting out a giggle, as if she had not expected that explanation. “I know you’re not Reiji,” she said quietly.

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, I do now,” she said. “Reiji wouldn’t have done what you did. It’s not his style to take risks.” She paused to take a deep wistful breath. “You see, Reiji knew stuff. A lot of stuff. And he only did what he was a hundred percent sure couldn’t go wrong.” The samurai shrugged, before laughing. “But now I can’t help but wonder who the hell you are.”

  “Trust me, I sometimes wonder the same thing,” said Seiki, perhaps not quite as a joke.

  Umiko turned to look at him, as if she was seeing him for the first time. “Seiki it is, then.”

  She turned back toward her four clan mates, who Ippei was slowly trying to convince to run the next event on the second-level challenge with him. “And your friend, too,” she muttered, shaking her head.

  Since she had not answered his question, Seiki waited, and Umiko thought for a moment.

  “Taira Mansion was an interesting one,” she said. “Nobuki got an anonymous Mumei tip that the Society’s testing their Horn of the Ox Demon at Taira Mansion, complete with this very specific suggestion that there was a fresh Level 5 houshi in there at the time doing their recruitment test. So we all stood outside the wall and sent her a message asking her to join our group, and she did.” Umiko rolled her eyes. “It was a bit too easy, really, with these fresh new players. All you need to do is write ‘Hello, Akari. We’re doing this quest. Wanna join our group?’”

  Seiki almost jumped. “Akari?”

  Given the nature of the things surrounding a houshi called Akari, he really doubted it was a coincidence.

  Umiko shrugged. “Or Akami or something like that,” she said. “You know her?”

  “Maybe,” said Seiki slowly.

  “Hope that didn’t scare her off.” Umiko put a hand to her mouth as if to say ‘Oops’. “She turned so pale when she saw all of us jumping the wall. Sometimes, I can almost understand why that Ichikeya girl has so much fun with new players.”

  Seiki had to chuckle grimly, for a lot of reasons. He knew this particular Akari had the ability to excel at looking pale and frightened if she chose to.

  “Oh.” Umiko did that hand thing again. “Right. That was probably your case with Ichikeya. Sorry.”

  Before she could continue and before Seiki could really piece together what all this meant, Ippei had walked back to them with what he had gotten from the loot pile, looking rather pleased with himself.

  “Here,” said the samurai, handing Seiki several items.

  You have received: Essence of Shadow. Ingredient.

  You have received: 128 gold.

  You have received: Sealed Card.

  “That thing you can probably give to Kentaro,” said the samurai, referring to the shadowy orb, which was glowing in an evil shade of purple and black. “To alleviate his horror when he sees what he has to work with.” The samurai laughed, most likely talking about the overall average 7% durability on both their gear.

  Umiko waved. “Now, I’ll let you appreciate the fruits of your labor in peace,” she said as she got up from the ground. “I’ll be in touch about the Seals. Next run is Wednesday, so make yourselves available.”

  With that, she left to rejoin her clan mates, who were discussing what to do with a pair of shoulder-guards that was not light-infused but had very decent stats otherwise.

  Seiki studied the last item in his hands. It was a thin, gray, nondescript paper envelope, whose size and dimensions he had very recently learned to recognize. “Is this what I think it is?” He looked up at his friend.

  Ippei nodded. “I think you should have it.”

  Tearing open the paper envelope, wondering why it felt rather childishly familiar, Seiki found in his hand a blank paper card, thick, gray and empty. As he peeled away the rest of the wrapping paper, tidy rows of characters started to appear on the card, very much like how a Sheathed Blade came into existence. Before Seiki could read what it said, the paper thickened in his hand, hardening into smooth, carved wood.

  Urgent Event Double Rewards! Instant Upgrade! You have received: Engraved Card of Trained Troops– Samurai Card of the War Deck.

  War unit abilities require only half the normal energy for the next minute. Any successful full-formed player attack on enemies extends the effect by 30 seconds.

  Seiki drew a long breath. Somehow he had a feeling that coming out of their first war game with a total of three War Cards, one of each type, was not something everyone did every day.

  “And, to top it off.” Ippei tossed him another paper scroll.

  You have received: Demonic Military Order [Quest item]

  “Return that to Sakurai to complete the quest and he’ll give you one more Token,” explained Ippei. “And he’ll give you the quest for the second event.”

  Seiki had actually forgotten he was on a quest for Muraki Woods. Grateful for how thorough his friend was, he pulled the scroll out to read. It was a detailed plan on how the Demonic Clan was planning to destroy Togatsu Village, which was the second war event that had just opened up for them. They had now started on the progression storyline that would lead them through various war zones and eventually into the Ruins of Hitsu Temple—the current frontier of War Games that he was getting a sneak peek of very soon.

  Seiki chuckled tiredly. “I guess you’re right about launching our war careers.”

  Eight more war events now lay between them and the world frontline, but it seemed almost within reach now. Something to look forward to every week would be welcome, and the idea of pushing new zones with the rest of the world and maybe checking if they made it on the Shogun’s board every week filled Seiki with a kind of energy that nearly made him forget the effect of Moderate Fatigue. Even when thoroughly exhausted, Seiki actually toyed with the idea of suggesting they went straight into the second event as Ippei had originally plan
ned.

  The forest was too thick and dark to see through toward the west, but it seemed that a path had lit up toward the dark unknown in the western horizon, ready to lead him far away from the unending mess he had somehow landed himself in, and it was filled with promises. Perhaps, there was always a path.

  “But before that,” Seiki said thoughtfully as more pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. It was time to solve this once and for all. “There’s someone I have to talk to.”

  CHAPTER 11

  The jolly cacophony that accompanied the experience of being in the kakigouri shop during peak hours was made up mainly of shouts, laughter and clinks of spoons on ceramic bowls. Now with the festival drawing near, however, the mention of the word ‘festival’ itself seemed to have found its way into the audio medley. And in the past half an hour, Seiki could swear he had heard the phrase ‘festival quest’ more than twenty times from different people.

  War Games out the West Gate had felt like a completely different world, and coming back into the life and civilization of Shinshioka had been rather jarring, especially when Seiki had decided the Rogami Festival was something he had absolutely no interest in.

  “Is there a way to get invited to the Shogun’s special banquet if you’re not a Rogami member?” someone was asking, to which a helpful Social Guild member at the next table said no.

  Ignoring the ensuing protest and discussion, Seiki handed a customer her three purchased charms, dropped the gold into Kentaro’s lockbox and wrote down the sales amount on their record, which was already much longer than usual for a Friday night.

  Just as Ippei had predicted, the festival had drawn a large number of casual and inactive players, making Shinshioka feel very crowded, and much chattier than normal. The city’s festive mood was also reflected in the ubiquity of the Rogami Clan’s yellow and black flags and specially-painted paper lamps that lined the whole length of Trade Street.

  “What is that symbol supposed to be?” Mairin had asked in annoyance when she saw an NPC Shinshioka Soldier hanging one of the yellow lamps up for the first time.

  “A wolf, drawn with the strokes of the ‘wolf’ character,” Kentaro had knowledgeably informed her. And after studying the symbol, the kitsune finally admitted it was rather well-designed.

  The most irritating thing about the excessive decorations was the fact that the flags were labeled Rogami Clan Festival Flag [event item] and made the faulty resource-locating charm go off in Seiki’s consciousness every twenty seconds whenever he was in the city.

  However, despite the symbolic presence of the clan, actual Rogami members were surprisingly nowhere to be seen. According to rumors from out the East Gate, both the Kensoku Temple and the Fuoka Army had decided to challenge their rice villages at the same time, and this had taken much of the clan’s attention.

  Fortunately, East Gate politics was the last thing Seiki wanted to concern himself with at the moment. As he mentally checked his War Tokens and War Coins again, he almost did not notice a Level 13 samurai coming up to their shop table and asking if he could have a Premium Sunlily Potion for ten gold.

  “Of course not,” said Mairin, who was sitting beside Seiki at their table, casually reading her latest issue of the Society’s newsletter. “The potion is 25 gold apiece. Sixty-five for four.”

  “That’s a rip-off,” muttered the man, shifting his attention to something else. “What about this…Oh, is this a teleport scroll?”

  Mairin sighed as she started to suspect she was dealing with a window shopper. “Central Crossing homing scroll. Teleports you to your Central Crossing territory. If you don’t have it, it puts you back in Yanagi Alley. Only works when you’re in Shinshioka.”

  Kentaro had started making these with high-level Enchanting and Calligraphy in case Seiki or any of their group needed to get away from assassins. But since they were costly, Seiki decided if worse came to worst, the Morgue was a more sensible option, and so he had left the one Kentaro had given him safely in his territory box.

  The customer whistled. Teleport scrolls were rather rare after all. “How much?”

  “Two hundred fifty… hey!” Mairin snatched the scroll from the man’s hand before he could unroll it open. “Careful there. If you accidentally use it, you’ll owe us 250 gold or the whole Crafters’ Guild will be after you.”

  The man let out a grunt about another rip-off.

  “Standard Crafter Guild’s prices,” said Mairin. “If you don’t believe me, go check their latest published price guide.”

  The man started muttering something about never having heard of such a thing, and the kitsune simply waved him away and turned to ask Mami the kakigouri seller to bring another bowl of cherry-flavored ice.

  There was perhaps a reason Kentaro did not like Mairin minding the shop, since customer service was, allegedly, something she already did too much of in real life and Seiki could not help noticing that she seemed a little gleeful every time she could turn a customer away. But it was not as if Seiki could have said anything, since he himself was rather pre-occupied with the little book he had just purchased and was actually hoping they would not get too many customers tonight.

  “Want something, Seiki?” asked Mairin as she turned to grab her order from the waitress. “Oooh, thanks, Mami. That looks amazing.”

  The kakigouri girl winked. “Extra scoop for a special customer!”

  The Social Guild had a wild theory about a hidden rep system with all the shopkeepers, separate from the City reputation. If that was the case, Seiki and his friends must have already collectively reached the highest rank with the kakigouri shop, considering how the size of the ice desserts kept growing. This was not a new theory, but it was not until their recent discovery of unmarked quests and items that Seiki and his friends started buying into it.

  “Seiki, anything?” asked Mairin again as she dug into the red ice. “My treat. Gotta keep up those reps.”

  “Uh, no, thanks.” Seiki shook his head. He already had two earlier, and he could still feel the sugar in his system, if such an unmarked buff also existed.

  Spread out on the table in front of him was a Copied Document – War Upgrades: Ronin. Made by Yukimi of the Crafters’ Guild. The book listed all the available upgrades up to the highest military rank, which the copier claimed was the most up-to-date version. This allowed Seiki to have a personal manual on hand to study without having to physically be in Captain Sakurai’s Armory Office, where he was not even permitted to check the options from higher ranks. The moment Kentaro directed him toward a trustworthy source, Seiki had immediately shelled out the 70 gold fee the copier had asked for.

  The copied document did not include all the possible gear and weapon upgrades, since that full version was over three hundred gold, which was far beyond Seiki’s budget at the moment.

  For the fifth time that evening, Seiki flipped through the brown flimsy pages to have another look through the list. As he had learned, War Tokens recruited additional troop members and bought them permanent upgrades, while War Coins secured various types of consumables. When it came to it, however, he discovered that the choices were not that easy to decide on.

  The first page was rather short:

  Unranked Player (0-40 Combat Valor)

  Maximum unit members: 4

  Utility Slots:

  [Standard Slot]: 3 War Tokens.

  Consumables:

  [Standard Healing Potions]: 1 War Coin. Heals up to 500HP per unit member. 10-minute potion lockout applies after use.

  [Standard Energy Potions]: 1 War Coin. Instantly restores 2 Unit Energy Points. 10-minute potion lockout applies after use.

  These basic options were the same ones available right from the start from Captain Sakurai’s office at Muraki Fort.

  To equip troops with anything beyond their standard attack and defense, players needed to purchase a utility slot. Each slot could be assigned a single formation, which was a synchronized t
roops ability modified from the player’s class abilities, or a single dose potion for the whole unit, or various other buff items.

  The tutorial quest line had every player pay for a starting Standard Slot, where Seiki had his Stun formation saved at the moment.

  The second page of the Copied Document was slightly longer:

  Second-Rank Unit Chief (40-99 Combat Valor)

  Maximum unit members: 10

  Slot Upgrades:

  [Consumable Slot]: 2 War Tokens. Replaces a Standard Slot. Increases the effect of the consumable item assigned to this slot by 20%. Only consumables can be assigned to this slot.

  [Formation Slot]: 5 War Tokens. Replaces a Standard Slot. Increases the power of the formation assigned to this slot by 15%. Only formations can be assigned to this slot.

  New Consumables:

  [Greater Energy Potions]: 2 War Coins. Instantly restores 4 Unit Energy Points. 10-minute potion lockout applies after use.

  [Potions of Ward]: 2 War Coins. Your unit takes 30% less damage for the next 5 seconds. 10-minute potion lockout applies after use.

  Enchanted Seals:

  [Seal of Fast Revive]: 5 War Coins. Troops revive at the rate of 25% per 15 minutes out of combat.

  [Seal of Strength]: 5 War Coins: Increases your troops’ damage output by 3%.

  [Seal of Health]: 5 War Coins: Increases your troops’ maximum health by 5%.

  At the second military rank, players could start upgrading their Standard Slots to more specialized slots, which limited the type of things that could be assigned to them but gave specific boosts. Alternatively, they could keep their slot as a Standard Slot, and assign an Enchanted Seal to it, which gave the troops semi-permanent buffs of various kinds.

  Flipping through the pages, Seiki once again checked the 21 War Tokens and 28 War Coins sitting in his currency menu. He also had 115 Combat Valor, which had put him safely in the range of First-Rank Unit Chief, something he was sure was not meant to be achieved only after a total of two war runs. The day after Muraki Woods, he and Ippei had immediately gone for the next event at Togatsu Village, and that was when Seiki finally understood what Ippei had meant when he said early War Cards made all the difference. With several Jade and Wood Cards between them to show, people were falling over themselves to extend invitations, and Ippei had his pick of groups. In the end, the samurai went with the one that agreed to do the run on the second-level challenge. Indeed, with the instance-specific exploit the samurai had mentioned before—which involved sneaking directly up to the boss while skipping most of the demon soldiers scattered around the village—they completed it with only a few strategic deaths and without much difficulty. Now, in Seiki’s Card Menu, were two more cards: one Paper and one Wood.